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Variants and Fan Cards / Card Modifications: Scout, Adventurer, Lookout, Harvest
« on: February 20, 2014, 11:32:31 am »
Hey guys!
I am new to the forum but have enjoyed playing Dominion for the last year and a half. I am familiar with most of the expansions, and I believe the game to be very balanced. However, I recently read Donald X's "Time Machine" post, and it got me thinking about several of the cards I enjoy playing with but could also use some "buffing up." I know many of these cards have already been discussed, but I have not seen any modifications like these or any that I have found especially compelling. My goal with these modifications was not to make the card a powerful "must-buy" but to simply broaden its appeal. The costs and the basic function of the cards remain the same. With that being said, I have also yet to playtest any of these, but am hoping to implement them in "house rules" soon in games with my playing group. The texts are as I imagine they would appear on the cards. Some of these are wordy, so I would love to get feedback from anyone. On to the cards:
Scout: cost 4
+1 Action
Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Put the revealed Victory cards into your hand. If there are no revealed Victory cards, the player to your left chooses one of the revealed cards. Put that card in your hand. Either way, put the other cards on top of your deck in any order.
What I like about this is the new dynamic of player interaction and always getting at least one card from Scout. Often this card will simply be a Copper or a Curse, but that is still a useless card that won't be in your hand next turn. I can see how this can suddenly become a powerful card in a streamlined Chapel deck, but I like how as soon as it hits green it returns to its original function and does nothing further for you. It's a little swingy, but I do not think it is unbalanced. Its appeal is certainly broadened past simply its interactions with Harem, Nobles, and Great Hall. This is my favorite modification so far, so I am very curious to hear what you all think.
Adventurer: cost 6
+2 Buys
(everything else remains the same)
I believe Adventurer is a super-powerful card in the narrow niche where it excels. That just doesn't happen on many boards. I believe this broadens that niche some, particularly in games with few Buys; while making it more appealing and often times a better mid-game purchase than Gold. Also, I just love this card and want to be able to buy more things with it.
Lookout: cost 3
+1 Action
Look at the top 3 cards of your deck. Trash one of them, discard one, and put the other on top of your deck.
When you buy this, reveal the top card of your deck. Trash it or put it back on top of your deck.
This is just a fun little bonus that I thought might increase Lookout's chances of getting bought. Also, I don't own Hinterlands and thought some "when gain/buy" mechanics might be fun to play with. I do realize it is similar to the over-pay mechanic on Doctor, but I don't care. This card never gets bought in my playing group.
Harvest: cost 5
Reveal the top card of your deck. Discard it. Reveal the next card on top of your deck. Either discard it or put it back. Do this up to 3 times. +1 coin per differently named card discarded.
This is the last and trickiest modification I have made. The wording is very fickle. What I am trying to accomplish is that you do not have to discard your good cards from the top of your deck if you don't want to. You do discard the first one, so you are at least getting +1 coin from Harvest. You then reveal the next card. At that point you can discard it or put it back. If you put it back, you are done (although the wording does give you the option to look at it two more times and potentially change your mind.) If you discard it, you can go to the next one. Discard that, and reveal the next one. The most coin you can generate from Harvest is still 4, but now you have some flexibility. Have 7 coin in your hand? Simply discard the top one, and you get to keep that Gold on top of your deck for the next hand. This makes Harvest a little bit more like Vault, but with a Spy-like effect on your own deck.
So that's it. Maybe I'll let you guys know how the playtesting goes. Thanks for reading!
I am new to the forum but have enjoyed playing Dominion for the last year and a half. I am familiar with most of the expansions, and I believe the game to be very balanced. However, I recently read Donald X's "Time Machine" post, and it got me thinking about several of the cards I enjoy playing with but could also use some "buffing up." I know many of these cards have already been discussed, but I have not seen any modifications like these or any that I have found especially compelling. My goal with these modifications was not to make the card a powerful "must-buy" but to simply broaden its appeal. The costs and the basic function of the cards remain the same. With that being said, I have also yet to playtest any of these, but am hoping to implement them in "house rules" soon in games with my playing group. The texts are as I imagine they would appear on the cards. Some of these are wordy, so I would love to get feedback from anyone. On to the cards:
Scout: cost 4
+1 Action
Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Put the revealed Victory cards into your hand. If there are no revealed Victory cards, the player to your left chooses one of the revealed cards. Put that card in your hand. Either way, put the other cards on top of your deck in any order.
What I like about this is the new dynamic of player interaction and always getting at least one card from Scout. Often this card will simply be a Copper or a Curse, but that is still a useless card that won't be in your hand next turn. I can see how this can suddenly become a powerful card in a streamlined Chapel deck, but I like how as soon as it hits green it returns to its original function and does nothing further for you. It's a little swingy, but I do not think it is unbalanced. Its appeal is certainly broadened past simply its interactions with Harem, Nobles, and Great Hall. This is my favorite modification so far, so I am very curious to hear what you all think.
Adventurer: cost 6
+2 Buys
(everything else remains the same)
I believe Adventurer is a super-powerful card in the narrow niche where it excels. That just doesn't happen on many boards. I believe this broadens that niche some, particularly in games with few Buys; while making it more appealing and often times a better mid-game purchase than Gold. Also, I just love this card and want to be able to buy more things with it.
Lookout: cost 3
+1 Action
Look at the top 3 cards of your deck. Trash one of them, discard one, and put the other on top of your deck.
When you buy this, reveal the top card of your deck. Trash it or put it back on top of your deck.
This is just a fun little bonus that I thought might increase Lookout's chances of getting bought. Also, I don't own Hinterlands and thought some "when gain/buy" mechanics might be fun to play with. I do realize it is similar to the over-pay mechanic on Doctor, but I don't care. This card never gets bought in my playing group.
Harvest: cost 5
Reveal the top card of your deck. Discard it. Reveal the next card on top of your deck. Either discard it or put it back. Do this up to 3 times. +1 coin per differently named card discarded.
This is the last and trickiest modification I have made. The wording is very fickle. What I am trying to accomplish is that you do not have to discard your good cards from the top of your deck if you don't want to. You do discard the first one, so you are at least getting +1 coin from Harvest. You then reveal the next card. At that point you can discard it or put it back. If you put it back, you are done (although the wording does give you the option to look at it two more times and potentially change your mind.) If you discard it, you can go to the next one. Discard that, and reveal the next one. The most coin you can generate from Harvest is still 4, but now you have some flexibility. Have 7 coin in your hand? Simply discard the top one, and you get to keep that Gold on top of your deck for the next hand. This makes Harvest a little bit more like Vault, but with a Spy-like effect on your own deck.
So that's it. Maybe I'll let you guys know how the playtesting goes. Thanks for reading!