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I really like this. I like all the cards that try to put a Potion on top of your deck so you can use an Elixir - including good old Herbalist.

I don't think every card from the original alchemy needs a direct replacement (Familiar comes to mind). On the other hand I really like Ritualist and the way it can play other Ritualists (which isn't always desirable) - maybe it could be cheaper for that reason.

I think just having an event that costs P should be enough to add potions to the supply. Dispense could have an "in games using this" text.

Contest Closed

Judging should take me at most three days. I aim to get it out tomorrow, though.

I don't know if 6 is the right number.

Inspired by Distant Lands of course, instead of only worth points after something, it's only worth points before something. Does that count as "fitting in modern Dominion" enough?

Isn't this just "Better Duchy" in most cases where you would want a Duchy? At the time you would want to buy this, there is likely not going to be more than 6 rounds left in the game. Even if nobody could afford province, just taking turns buying this empties the pile in four rounds (and it stays out of your deck, not to slow you down in any way). I'm not sure if changing the number would help, it's still just better Duchy, and when it isn't, it's super dead.

Ice House
$4 - Action - Duration
Now and at start of your next turn: freeze a card from your hand with 3 Ice tokens.
While this is in play, when you remove the last Ice token from your card, you may put that card into hand.

NEW ENTRY



I like this one better, so I'm submitting it instead of Frozen Lands.

In FMC9 there was a big discussion on how best to word it. People used "freeze x with y ice tokens" and "freeze x y times".

For the first one, the definition of freeze is "set this aside", for the second one it's "if this isn't set aside, set it aside. Either way, add an ice token to it."

I prefer "freeze x y times" as it's shorter and just as intuitive.

BryGuy, the problem with "Freeze-Y" is that you're not telling us what card to freeze.

The two entries are fine, but please mind the wording around the Ice Tokens, so that we have a consistent look and the same understanding of function in all entries.

And yes, your mechanic is more than fine, Tiago!

After seeing these, I think you did a good job of making Potion worthwhile! I like the Elixir idea, it's really thematic. You use a potion to buy other cards, but what kind of potion is it exactly? Well, here's a card telling you what it does. And the spells are kind of like a trait you buy.

Some thoughts on the specific cards (Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not a pro.)
In a draw-your-deck kinda situation, Homunculus is a payload that is really easy to buy one or two every turn. Just looking at it, it looks a lot more busted than Stockpile in most situations, with the caveat that you can't buy it the first shuffle. The +buy on gain turns every potion to a borderline Loot gainer, and I think that it is too strong.

In general, "When you gain this, +1 buy" makes it pretty nicely on a potion cost card, since the amount of potion value you can have is strictly limited.

I think that Illusionist is a really slick card. It's not too fast, but it is what you need, when you need it. Using it to gain itself and then turn into a market makes for an interesting dynamic. The player interaction emerges out of a very simple card. I like it.

Adept is also nice. A DtX card that doesn't mind coming in multiples.

Alehouse feels a bit weird. It feels a lot stronger than Village, but when it's a dud, it either doesn't matter at all, or it's really a dud. It's also really easy to proc in a deck that needs it to. Should at least cost 4$ imo.

I don't think that Dark Path compares very favorably to Scheme. Sure, it gives you an additional card next turn, but it is terminal (Doesn't have to be, but it's nice on an attack card.)
I think that it could do with either costing a lot less, or giving +2$ for example.

Elixir of Vitality, Elixir of Clairvoyance and Elixir of Agility are all ways to try to bail out of a bad draw, and I like it.

Elixir of growth is like a mini Coppersmith, you're betting on that Potion turning into a Gold, and in the early rounds, it often will (A gold for 4$?). I thought about maybe removing the restriction to be more fun during later turns and possible to build your deck around, but that would absolutely wreck the early rounds with swingyness. Imagine getting a potion and four coppers, compared to drawing the potion later during the turn. This swingyness is there still, even if it remains as is. 4$ compared to 6$ on turn 3-4 is a big deal. I don't know what to do with this idea. It gains a lot from the fact that the potion can be used to buy something hopefully useful, even if you don't get to gild it.

Now onto Pupils. These feel like they could play out in three major different ways:
1. You just activate them directly, or next turn, if you've drawn your deck. Kinda like Barge.
2. You try to use them sparingly, carefully measuring up what you need. Harder than coffers
3. You save up for a megaturn. This one might lead to unfun game situations.
I reread the rules and it seems like you can only activate one Pupil per action card. Is that right?
Knowing how to play when #2 or #3 are relevant makes for interesting choices.

These are my 2¢, good job with these ones, playtest with your friends, and don't forget to keep us updated!

Thanks!

That's indeed a good question. Well at first it just felt right, even though the first Elixirs I made were too powerful, I toned them way down by now. The main thing is, I want Potion to be a currency for cards, Events and (some) Spells first and a vehicle for Elixirs second. That's why I don't want to push players to get the Potions for the Elixirs only. In turn, this is why Elixirs are more of a turn-by-turn tactical decision instead of a strategic one. Even though that makes them a bit swingier, it just seemed more interesting to me as opposed to discarding them whenever. It also helps with keeping the complexity down. The Elixirs are an additional landscape slot, like Allies. So they can't be too complex, that's why you have to make that decision of discarding the Potion once per turn only, if at all. And then the decision has to be made right at the start, with the limited information of your starting hand, which also makes the decision more interesting (can I play 3 Actions in order to activate Elixir of Cleansing?).

That also makes certain cards like Herbalist, Ritualist, Dark Path (whose attack also works against it though) and Glassblower as well as Excavation (from the Events) more relevant. Sometimes Adept benefits from a discarded Potion.