Dominion Strategy Forum

Dominion => Variants and Fan Cards => Topic started by: Ankenaut on April 12, 2016, 12:37:30 pm

Title: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Ankenaut on April 12, 2016, 12:37:30 pm
I've playtested this several times with an unlimited number of Mortgage tokens, and admittedly, it feels sort of like a variant. If you want it to play more like a normal Event, just limit players to 1 or 2 Mortgage tokens (which you can re-use after removing from the pile via the rule on the event).

(http://s20.postimg.org/orj8ya2lp/mortgage.png)

The art is public domain from here: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=76955&picture=country-home-painting (http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=76955&picture=country-home-painting)
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Gubump on April 12, 2016, 12:42:04 pm
I've playtested this several times with an unlimited number of Mortgage tokens, and admittedly, it feels sort of like a variant. If you want it to play more like a normal Event, just limit players to 1 or 2 Mortgage tokens (which you can re-use after removing from the pile via the rule on the event).

(http://s20.postimg.org/orj8ya2lp/mortgage.png)

The art is public domain from here: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=76955&picture=country-home-painting (http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=76955&picture=country-home-painting)

Certainly looks interesting. I wouldn't be surprised if this was close to one of the events in the upcoming Empires expansion.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Ankenaut on April 12, 2016, 12:44:23 pm
Yeah, I thought that when I read the initial teaser (which I quoted in the topic title). This idea came before that announcement though.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: eHalcyon on April 12, 2016, 01:33:47 pm
What happens if the pile goes empty?  Can you still pay off the mortgage?  Thematically I would say yes, but I don't think it would work as worded since the "would gain" is impossible if there are no cards left to gain.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Jack Rudd on April 12, 2016, 02:10:35 pm
Let's all get a mortgage on some Rats.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Ankenaut on April 12, 2016, 03:33:01 pm
What happens if the pile goes empty?  Can you still pay off the mortgage?  Thematically I would say yes, but I don't think it would work as worded since the "would gain" is impossible if there are no cards left to gain.

When I play this IRL, we allow you to pay off the mortgage on an empty pile. However, I don't know of a way to clearly and concisely say that using Dominion terminology. If someone can think of a good way to say it, I can definitely change it. Otherwise, for simplicity's sake, this wording does indeed disallow it. Thematically, it's like a mortgage with a fixed term. If you don't pay it off in time, we foreclose.

FWIW, I also don't have a problem with it working on any Kingdom card (that is, Action, Alt-VP, and Alt-Treasure supply piles), but because that wording is confusing, it hasn't been used where it otherwise works.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Marcory on April 12, 2016, 06:10:09 pm
You could set aside a card from the pile (maybe onto your Tavern mat), that you can return to the supply (thus paying off the mortgage) when you have $X unspent (like Wine Merchant's discard clause). You'd have to test whether to have this set-aside card count for end-game conditions.

But shouldn't a Mortgage charge ongoing interest? For example, "At the start of Cleanup, if you have a Mortgage token on a Supply pile, take your -$1 token." (A second Mortgage token could incur the "-1 Card" token, etc). Or else 'At the start of your Buy phase, discard a treasure or reveal a hand with no Treasures", or some such.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Ankenaut on April 12, 2016, 07:49:32 pm
But shouldn't a Mortgage charge ongoing interest? For example, "At the start of Cleanup, if you have a Mortgage token on a Supply pile, take your -$1 token." (A second Mortgage token could incur the "-1 Card" token, etc). Or else 'At the start of your Buy phase, discard a treasure or reveal a hand with no Treasures", or some such.

Yeah, the theme breaks down a little there, but I view the $2 and the buy used on the event as the interest. With this mortgage, you just pay the interest up front.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Marcory on April 13, 2016, 12:08:26 am
That's pretty generous interest, considering that you typically play twice as much interest as principle on a typical mortgage  :P . But I'm not sure that they did so much with compound interest in the Middle Ages--before double-entry bookkeeping and all--and in any case, I digress.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Deadlock39 on April 13, 2016, 12:53:12 am
That's pretty generous interest, considering that you typically play twice as much interest as principle on a typical mortgage  :P . But I'm not sure that they did so much with compound interest in the Middle Ages--before double-entry bookkeeping and all--and in any case, I digress.

Don't get a 30 year mortgage... get a 15 year, and you'll pay about 1/3 the total value of the property in interest over the term at current rates.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: GendoIkari on April 13, 2016, 09:36:22 am
That's pretty generous interest, considering that you typically play twice as much interest as principle on a typical mortgage  :P . But I'm not sure that they did so much with compound interest in the Middle Ages--before double-entry bookkeeping and all--and in any case, I digress.

Don't get a 30 year mortgage... get a 15 year, and you'll pay about 1/3 the total value of the property in interest over the term at current rates.

And if at all financially possible, make an entire extra payment worth towards the principle on the day you close. The savings in interest from that alone will shorten your mortgage by many months.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: GendoIkari on April 13, 2016, 09:36:48 am
F.DS: your resource for mortgage and financing strategy.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Marcory on April 13, 2016, 10:15:22 am
Actually, this event might be more like an Islamic mortgage (murabaha) in which the lender and borrower agree on a fixed margin of profit and fees. The lender actually buys the property, and then the buyer rents the property while simultaneously making a contribution toward the purchase cost. The borrower and lender share liability for the property until the sale is complete.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortgage_loan#Islamic_countries

Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Marcory on April 13, 2016, 10:19:51 am
That's pretty generous interest, considering that you typically play twice as much interest as principle on a typical mortgage  :P . But I'm not sure that they did so much with compound interest in the Middle Ages--before double-entry bookkeeping and all--and in any case, I digress.

Don't get a 30 year mortgage... get a 15 year, and you'll pay about 1/3 the total value of the property in interest over the term at current rates.

And if at all financially possible, make an entire extra payment worth towards the principle on the day you close. The savings in interest from that alone will shorten your mortgage by many months.

Also, if you're paid biweekly, make a mortgage payment every other paycheck instead of on the 1st of the month, so that you effectively make an extra payment every year.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: 461.weavile on April 25, 2016, 05:45:45 pm
I hate to say it, but I already did an extremely similar Event, except mine had a potion-cost.

...And I based it on somebody else's card idea which didn't work as a card, but was fine as an Event.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Ankenaut on April 26, 2016, 11:50:04 am
I hate to say it, but I already did an extremely similar Event, except mine had a potion-cost.

...And I based it on somebody else's card idea which didn't work as a card, but was fine as an Event.

Why would you hate to say that? Do you have a link? I'd love to see it.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Awaclus on April 26, 2016, 11:52:09 am
mine had a potion-cost.

Mine doesn't have a potion cost. It just trashes all the treasures you have in play when you buy it.
Title: Re: Mortgage: An Event that lets you buy now and pay later.
Post by: Witherweaver on April 26, 2016, 03:39:07 pm
Cool.  Then for the next expansion you can do mortgage-backed securities, which is an event that can give or lose you victory points based on the mortgages that are left out when the game is complete, maybe tranched by the cost of the (top card of the) pile that its on.

Fun fact, Sir Martin lets you pay off your mortgage at a discount.