Dominion Strategy Forum
Dominion => Variants and Fan Cards => Topic started by: infangthief on April 22, 2022, 09:40:53 am
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A new mechanism idea: Holidays. You can go on holiday and take your favourite cards with you!
Once per game you may take a Holiday turn instead of a regular turn. You get to choose which cards are in your deck for your Holiday turn.
The Holiday itself is a landscape with special effects which apply on your Holiday turn. It is like a Landmark or free Project that applies for just one turn.
In the card generator I am using a lovely lilac colour: R 1.2, G 1.1, B 1.5.
Rules:
- Once per game, before the start of your turn, you may choose to take a Holiday turn instead of whatever turn you were going to take (whether it was going to be a regular turn, or an Outpost/Voyage/Possession/Mission etc turn).
- This choice happens after anything that triggers after the previous turn (like determining what type of turn it is) but before anything that triggers at the start of your turn.
- A Holiday turn is the same as whatever turn it is replacing except:
- At the start of your turn, you do the Going on Holiday effect. If other things also trigger at the start of your turn (including any special effects on the Holiday card itself), you choose the order.
- At the end of your turn (after Clean-up), you do the Returning Home effect. If other things also trigger at the end of your turn (including any special effects on the Holiday card itself), you choose the order.
- The special effects on the Holiday card apply.
Going on Holiday effect:- Put your deck into your discard pile.
- Look through your discard pile and set-aside any number of cards, putting them under the Holiday card.
Returning Home effect:- Put your hand and deck into your discard pile.
- Take the cards you set aside under the Holiday card and put them into your discard pile.
- Shuffle your discard pile and draw 5 cards.
My thoughts on power level / interest:
A generic holiday with no special effects is already a good thing, and free, so it would probably be used by each player at some point in the game.
I think this is ok - it is only once per game, and the decision of when to take the holiday should always be an interesting one.
The special effects on the holiday should be not too strong; they could even be negative. They should certainly be situational, and increase the interest in when (or if) the holiday should be taken.
Feedback appreciated.
I'll put some example Holidays in the next post.
EDITED 27th April: Changed the "Going on Holiday" effect to leave your current hand untouched. Removed the rule against taking a holiday in your first 2 turns.
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Here are some Holiday ideas:
Sponsored Walk
Holiday
When you discard a card other than during Clean-up, +$1.
At the start of your Buy phase, discard your hand.
Caving
Holiday
When you discard a card other than during Clean-up, trash it.
Market Day
Holiday
At the start of your turn, +1 Buy.
Ignore any further +Buys.
Coach Party
Holiday
When you gain a card, choose a card of the same cost. Each other player gains a copy of that card.
Rock Climbing
Holiday
When you gain a Victory card, return it to the Supply. For each $1 it cost, +1VP and take 2 debt.
Gap Year
Holiday
At the start of your turn, +$5
When you play or gain a card, take 1 debt.
Spa
Holiday
At the start of your Buy phase, discard your hand, revealed. For each Treasure card, +1 Coffer. For each Action card, +1 Villager. You may not buy cards.
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Holiday: Staycation
When you trash a card, +$1 and gain a Copper.
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So, my initial reaction is that these are pretty busted in any Kingdom that enables game-ending mega-turns. Just as an example, imagine a kingdom with King's Court and Bridge. If you could have a hand with 2 KCs and 3 Bridges, you could buy up to 9 Provinces. With a Holiday, 7all you need is those 5 cards in your deck.
Since this happens before the start of your turn, executing it is unaffected by handsize attacks (except Relic). And since the rest of your cards are set aside, you don't need to give anything up (as you would with Donate, which is already sort of an insane mega-turn enabler, which also sticks you with 8 Debt).
This means that in any KC - Bridge - [Holiday] kingdom, the only strategy is to try and get 3 Bridges and 2 KCs and execute your mega-turn before the other players do.
Some of the Holidays (Rock Climbing, Market Day) would prevent executing that mega-turn while others would enhance it (Coach Party lets you Curse your opponents for every discounted-to-$0 Victory card you gain).
I don't have an obvious solution, but it is something to consider.
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I'm thinking of changing the "Going on Holiday" effect so that it doesn't touch your current hand. So it would become just:
- Put your deck into your discard pile.
- Look through your discard pile and set aside any number of cards, putting them under the Holiday card.
That would make game-ending mega turns less straightforward (thanks for pointing that out emtzalex - this would improve/fix that problem I think?).
It would also open up the design space for holidays to do things to your hand at the start of your turn.
And probably it would allow me to ditch the restriction on taking 2 turns before you can take a holiday.
Thematically I liked the idea of a holilday being a big break from the current game state (I've discarded my whole hand to Torturer? Time for a holiday!). But maybe I can live without that and leave you stuck with your current hand.
Probably I'll leave the "Returning Home" effect as it is; if I change it so that you get to keep your hand from Clean-up, then you might still be able to set up the KC-Bridge example on your next turn.
27th April - now updated the OP with this change.
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Some more holiday ideas:
Sunset
At the end of your Buy phase, gain a card costing up to $1 per card you gained this turn.
A little bonus (or penalty) as the sun goes down.
Busman's Holiday
When you set aside cards under this, gain a copy of one that costs $2 or less.
You don't totally get away from the junk on this holiday. But it's good if you like the cheap cards.
Fishing
When you play a card, first discard a card for +1 Action.
Leave the Villages behind you, load up on terminal draw and go fishing.
Backpacking
At the start of your turn, set aside your discard pile under this.
Travel light - this restricts your choice of what cards you take on holiday with you. You can get around the restrictions though, if you have something like a Caravan to help.
Sunbathing
At the start of your turn, +2 Actions. Ignore any further +Actions you get.
A holiday where you take it easy and don't do much.
Camping
You may not play cards which have more than 1 type.
Nothing too complicated on this holiday.
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Restricted Allowance
All cards you play that give $ this turn, give only +$1 instead of the amount on the card.
from this RBCI:
http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=114.msg891299#msg891299