Dominion Strategy Forum
Dominion => Variants and Fan Cards => Topic started by: Graystripe77 on November 06, 2011, 06:39:13 pm
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Me and my friend are going to create a fan expansion, but we can't come up with a good theme. Any ideas?
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Things with... gray stripes? :P
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Things with... gray stripes? :P
;D Nice, make fun of my name.
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Some suggestions:
Medieval Warfare - Sounds basic, but cards that feature cross bows, ballistas, maces and old medieval maneuvers and troops like insignias, flanking, charging and the like.
Winter - It's Christmas soon, think of a medieval/feudal setting in winter time, with lots of winter-based themes. Northern Lights, Fuel, Furnace, Hearth, Furrier, as well Blizzard, Maelstrom and Hibernation might all be card names.
Medieval Court/Titles - Still all kinds of medieval court, titles and names to use: Thanes, Criers, Earls. Chequer, Cardinal, Arch-Bishop, Parliament, Abbey, Puritan, Yeoman, Exchequer, Roundhead, Royalist
Civil War - Feudal times were ripe with civil wars (check out England's history with them some time), this means rebellion, treason, banishment and sects within your own deck actively working against you and ways for you to put cards in your opponent's deck that actively work against his.
These are just random ideas off the top of my head, but maybe they help lead you to the place you need to go to get started!
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Oh, sorry, i meant the effects of the cards, not the names.
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Oh, sorry, i meant the effects of the cards, not the names.
Well, to expand on ChaosRed's flavor themes a bit:
Medieval Warfare/Civil War -- An expansion like this would probably deal a great bit with attacks and other cards that affect opponents (whether for good or ill).
Winter/Holidays -- Since winter is a good time for people to get together and endure the elements together, perhaps a mechanical theme could center on cards that affect everyone, not just attacks like in the above war theme.
Medieval Court/Titles -- Hmm, tricky one. Well, a lot of the royal court titles already used (Nobles, Baron, Duke, etc.) deal with Victory cards in some way. Perhaps make Victory cards the central mechanical theme here.
Other mechanical theme ideas -- Resource Management/"Fueling" (something I've been trying with my own fan expansion, Locomotion), Gambling, Two-in-One Actions (you can play one of the two Action-sides, or use two actions to play both), Power Cards (cards that require a new resource to use to their fullest powers).
Also, just as a reminder, the primary mechanical themes for each expansion have been:
Intrigue -- Choices
Seaside -- Next Turn
Alchemy -- Potion Costs/Actions
Prosperity -- Wealth/VP Chips/Something like that
Cornucopia -- Variety
Hinterlands -- Effect on Buy/Gain
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I think that, of the fan-expansions I've seen, the most interesting ones are expansions that don't simply add more Kingdom cards. The sets that add stuff outside of the usual Kingdom are the exciting ones. The Leaders (http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=652.0) and Change of Seasons (http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/629120/fan-mod-a-change-of-seasons-for-dominion) expansions, for example, created interesting new phases and mechanics. By the time all of the official Dominion expansions are out, the benefit of additional Kingdom cards will be quite minimal. Reshaping Dominion's structure itself could be more rewarding.
Or you could make a dice expansion. :P
Also, don't be afraid to add Kingdom Cards with mechanics that are "taboo" in the game. For example, targeted attacks and "political" cards have been dismissed (by Donald X (and, I would argue, with very good reason)) because many people don't like them, they slow the game down too much, and it's difficult to integrate them with certain reactions. If, however, you are the sort of person who enjoys cut-throat games, then why not make a set that's all about making political cards fun?
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I like the winter theme idea.
I would draw more inspration from "Game of Thrones" than from actual Holidays. :)
As far as a mechanic is concerned, how about characters whose services you can hire, but who will never become humble servants of your realm?
You could draw some random characters (say 3 from a bag of 10) and just lay them out.
An extra phase (character phase) can be added (one character can be hired per player per turn) in which the players can hire these characters.
A simple vanilla example:
Neutral Merchant
You may reveal and discard two Treasure cards from your hand.
If you do: +2 Cards, +1 Action, +1 Buy
So, you get to use a Worker's Village every turn for the cost of 2 Treasures (paid by discarding to avoid confusion with the total money laid out for the Buy phase).
Don't shoot me down over this single card, but I like the basic idea of action cards that are available to everyone without needing to have them specifically in your own kingdom/pile.
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I've got a couple cards now, and i think a theme. But i need names for the cards.....