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I don't think [the Curios] are balanced with each other at all, assuming they're all supposed to be about the same strength. Chest and Cauldron are by far the best IMO, with Armoire up there as well if you aren't playing with Prosperity. On the other hand, Hammer is usually a worse version of University, and Figurine is easily the weakest of all the Curios.
I don't think the Curios need to be balanced with respect to each other because they are auctioned and not chosen, but I did want each to be a bit better than a $5 card (with the added considerations that there is only one of each so gaining them in multiples is not a concern). With 10 cards, I expect and even want that,
a priori an actual Kingdom, some will be better than others simply because they are more generically useful.
Because players can't control when or if they will appear, they need to be good enough to gain on a dime. With that in mind: Curious Doll and Curious Figurine are probably the weakest of them, being expensive in terms of +actions and dependent on what the other players can do in response; Curious Armoire and Curious Hammer will be intensely Kingdom dependent, as the key Actions (and $5+ cost Actions) on the board will wildly change how much benefit they give; Curious Cauldron and Curious Chest will be the most generically useful as a super good tempo-trasher and a wild payload.
Curious Armoire
Types: Victory, Curio
Cost: $0*
8VP
When you gain this, each other player gains an Action and a Treasure.
(This is not in the Supply.)
I disagree about Curious Armoire in Colony\Platinum games. The 8VP it is worth matters less, and each other player gaining a free Platinum in addition to any Action is a big cost.
Curious Hammer
Types: Action, Curio
Cost: $0*
+2 Actions. The player to your left chooses an Action in the Supply costing at least $5. You may gain a copy of it, putting it into your hand. If you don't, each other player gains a copy of it and you may gain a card costing up to $4.
(This is not in the Supply.)
Curious Hammer might give the weakest $5+ cost Action on the board straight to your hand (emphasis added), or could just flood other players with it as you get a generic
Workshop, so I don't think that
University is even a fair comparison
Curious Figurine
Types: Action, Curio
Cost: $0*
+$3. Each other player may take <4> for +1VP. If anyone does, each player who didn't (including you) may take <4> for +1VP. If no one does, +2VP.
(This is not in the Supply.)
So the core idea of this one is being a bigger
Monument, but other players can prevent the big
Monument effect by taking debt. Would +4 Cards be more fun than a
Monument thing (there is only 1 of them, so infinite Curious Figurine would only be a mild concern with
Royal Carriage)? Do you suppose one of the following it would be more more compelling?
- +$3, +2VP. Each player (including you) may take <4> for +1VP.
- +$3. The player to your left chooses: Each other player takes <4>; or you get +2VP.
- +4 Cards, +2VP. Each player (including you) may take <4> for +1VP.
- +4 Cards. The player to your left chooses: Each other player takes <4>; or you get +2VP.
Curious Chest
Types: Treasure, Curio
Cost: $0*
$5, +1 Buy. When you play this, each other player draws a card.
(This is not in the Supply.)
Do you think the benefit for other players could be improved to make Curious Chest less obscene? Would +$4, +1 Buy be good enough with its current "Each other player draws a card" (I thought it would be too weak in comparison to
Council Room, though maybe its exclusivity and typing counterbalances that)?
Thank you for your feedback!
Climber
Types: Action, Duration
Cost: $3
Until your next turn, at the start of every player's buy phase, if another player has more cards in hand than you, draw until you have the same number of cards in hand. At the start of your next turn, +1 Card.
So, this will be mandatory on every board where you can increase your hand size, right? I mean, it has this terrifying feedback loop where Climbers continuously out-climb each other until every player just gets their deck in their hand every turn (which is fun thematically, but painfully centralizing). You can only combat it in a 2-player game (so two players can't feed each other in order to leave a third in the dust) by refusing to ever draw cards so that a bought Climber will be largely be a terminal "Now and at the start of your next turn: +1 Card."
Shaman
Types: Action
Cost: $3
+1 Card, +1 Action, +1 Buy
If the type with the most cards in the trash is... Treasure: Trash this for +$3; Victory: Trash this for +3VP.
Trashing is such a powerful tool in Dominion that it is rarely passed up. I for one would like to see more cards that reward players for skipping trashing for a few turns. Shaman is my shot at such a card. Akin to Forager, the interactive part comes from forcing players to think a little harder about what cards they put in the trash. This plays a bit different with 3+ player games, but that's just how some cards are.
I think that is a wild understatement. Players only have 3 Victory cards each, so I imagine a lot of games will be decided by whoever gets the +VP out of Shaman before forcing Treasures or Shaman to outnumber the Victory cards in the trash.
Antiquarian
Types: Event
Cost: $2P
Once per turn: +1 Buy. Choose one: Trash up to two cards from your hand; or gain up to two cards from the trash, setting them aside and put them into your hand at the start of your next turn.
Interaction is pretty limited on this card. It really acts more as a deterrent to putting good stuff in the trash. This will largely make trash-for-benefit tricks with Provinces wildly overpowered and impossible to do except when you can immediately Antiquarian them back into your deck. I think the inability to gain Provinces from the trash is an important design choice in Dominion.
Exhibition
Types: Night, Duration
Cost: $2
Set aside an non-Duration Action you have in play. Until your next turn, when another player gains or plays a copy of it, they get +$1. At the start of your next turn, play it.
This is gained to your hand (instead of your discard pile).
This is a nice Duration
Throne Room. I hold concerns about multiplayer games having cards end up with multiple Exhibitions applied to them (or players being forced to lose by not getting to Exhibition what they want: A double-bind kind of thing). This also encourages players to mirror each other, so you can abuse any cards that get Exhibited (and that abuse is so much more important in multiplayer games because it can theoretically provide so much economy).
Bartender
Types: Action, Reserve
Cost: $3
+1 Buy, +$3.
When you gain this, put it on your Tavern mat, then you may move your Ale token to any Supply pile. When another player gains or trashes a card from the pile with your Ale token on it, you may discard this from your Tavern mat.
I think turn order issues will be huge with this. Often there is a clear opening strategy, and Player 1 can often abuse that in a way that the last player in turn order can't.
Commune
Types: Action
Cost: $2
+1 Action. Choose two: +1 Coffers, +1 Villager, or +1VP. Each other player gets the bonus you didn't choose.
The concept of this is interesting, but the unbounded +Coffers it can provide between turns I think will make the game oddly accelerated in multiplayer games, especially because players will buy this for the +Actions. Point being that if each player plays 2 Communes on their turn, I may end up being flooded with Coffers.