First impressions! (Thanks to Nolan, Mameluke and Marcory for compiling the text.)
I wrote this before reading most of the discussion that followed. I'm reading that discussion now, before posting this, and I'll try to bold any of my observations that weren't already mentioned by others.
[/u]Artisan Action
Gain a card to your hand costing up to $5.
Put a card from you hand on to your deck.
Feast replacement? No self-trashing though, so this reminds me more of Workshop which
hasn't[/b] been removed. The top-deck requirement is a cool, underused thing to include. The good thing about it is that it gives the player a more interesting decision than discarding, and it could be either a benefit or a drawback for the card depending on your hand and how you use it.
Oh, maybe this is also partially the Adventurer replacement -- $6 cost, thing goes into your hand.
Bandit Action
Gain a Gold.
Each other player reveals the top 2 cards of their deck, trashes a revealed treasure other than Copper, and discards the rest.
Basically this is what you always wanted to do with Thief in Base-only games -- trash good treasures, gain the Gold. Bandit is Thief at its best in Base-only (at least for 2p games).
Sentry Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
Look at the top 2 cards of your deck.
Trash and/or discard any number of them.
Put the rest back in any order.
Replacement for Spy, right? Now more functional with expanded surveillance and optional trashing, but without the slow attack. Seems like a much stronger Lookout, which I'm fond of already. The name reflects that too!
Poacher Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
+
Discard a card per empty supply pile.
Closest thing to the theoretical basic Peddler so far; AJD mentioned how this is the first "strictly" worse Peddler we've gotten. It's interesting because it may not actually be a drawback very often -- it obviously doesn't apply early and often not into the mid-game, and when it does start to kick in then you'll often be greening and/or have a way to draw junk into your hand to discard, so it's a minor penalty overall.
The cool design aspect of this extra line is that it doesn't close off design space via "strictly better/worse" walls.Harbinger Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
Look through your discard pile.
You may put a card from it onto your deck.
RIP fan card name. I've seen lots of variations on this general concept and made a few fan cards like it myself, so I'm definitely a fan. It has plenty of uses (obvious one: slower but
potentially wider-reaching Scheme), but
its main weakness will be Counting House syndrome -- draw it too early in your shuffle and it won't do much for you.
It bothers me a tiny bit that it says "onto your deck" instead of "on top of your deck".
I guess I'll count this as the Chancellor replacement? Not really similar at all, but they both interact with the discard pile, ha. Or maybe it's more like Adventurer, but with more flexibility (depending on size of discard pile).
Merchant Action
+1 Card
+1 Action
The first time you play a Silver this turn +.
I'm surprised that this is in Base instead of in Intrigue, since this is a Coppersmith/Peddler hybrid and Base is already getting Poacher, but I guess Coppersmith wasn't really on-theme for Intrigue anyway.
I don't know about this one. My first impression is that this would be really easy to use, so it may as well just be a straight up Peddler for $3. Still, a restriction is a restriction.
Vassal Action
+
Discard the top card of your deck. If it is an Action card, you may play it.
It's a Herald variant! It'll play very differently since it's "terminal" and optional, and the guaranteed discard is a small change as well. Sounds neat. If you can flip non-terminals with it, it's like an activated Conspirator!
Didn't really identify something as "the Woodcutter replacement", so Vassal can be it. They're both terminal Silver, sort of! (I know removals and replacements aren't supposed to match up perfectly.)
Courtier Action
Reveal a card from your hand.
For each type it has (Action, Attack, etc.), choose one: +1 Action, or +1 Buy, or +, or gain a Gold.'
The choices must be different.
Tribute replacement. It loses the minor player interaction of Tribute, but lots of inexperienced players disliked it anyway (I've seen plenty of people complain about it being an attack, heh). The change makes it more reliable, and the Pawn-like choices make it flexible. The non-vanilla options stand out to me because if you choose those two specifically, this is effectively Explorer.
Patrol Action
+3 Cards.
Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Put the Victory cards and Curse cards into your hand. Put the rest back in any order.
I think this is an excellent new take on Scout. The 4 card filtering should feel pretty great on top of the +3 cards -- you could draw up to 7 cards in one go! Most of those 7 cards would be junk, but it would still be fun to have that huge draw from just one play.
Replace Action/Attack
Trash a card from your hand. Gain a card costing up to more than the trashed card. If the gained card is an Action or Treasure, put it onto your deck. If it's a Victory card, each other player gains a Curse.
Remodel variant, not really a direct replacement. Saboteur maybe, since it's an Attack (but a really different one).
As a second Curser for Intrigue, it's nice for those groups out there who permaban Torturer.Diplomat Action/Reaction
+2 Cards.
If you have 5 or fewer cards in hand (after drawing), +2 Actions
-----------------
When another player plays an Attack card, you may first reveal this from a hand of 5 or more cards, to draw 2 cards then discard 3.
The top is an interesting parallel to Shanty Town. The reaction makes this the Secret Chamber replacement, and it seems like a good change. This version of the reaction leaves your hand 1 card smaller, but discarding instead of putting cards back on top is usually going to be better for you, I think.
I'm curious about why it got the awkward phrasing to prevent multiple uses of it. Did it slow the game too much and become unfun for players as they used it multiple times to try to get a better hand, only to end up hurting themselves?
Mill Action/Victory
Worth 1
+1 Card
+1 Action.
You may discard 2 cards for
Great Hall, now with a partial Secret Chamber effect. Sounds like a fine improvement.
Secret Passage Action
+2 Cards
+1 Action
Take a card from your hand and put it anywhere in your deck.
What stands out to me the most is that this is a variation on the "Lab, discard 1" outtake which was deemed too strong for $4. Here, instead of discarding, it's "put it anywhere in your deck". Like Artisan, doing this instead of discarding is a neat change. I guess it works because putting cards back is
often worse than discarding, because you can't just toss the junk. If you put junk back, it'll come back to hurt you.
With this card, at least you can put the junk on bottom. You also have the option to top-deck something, or to put it second from the top for combos with Wishing Well and other cantrips that care about the top of your deck. Are there any other deck positions that really matter besides bottom, top, second from top? I guess sometimes you'll want to put stuff just low enough that you'll get it next hand, but it won't interfere with any additional draw you'll play this turn.
Overall, I really, really like "put it anywhere in your deck" and I can't believe it didn't exist already. I wish I had thought of it and put it on some fan cards earlier.
Lurker Action
+1 Action.
Choose one: Trash an Action card from the Supply, or gain an Action card from the trash.
I feel like this has to exist as a fan card somewhere already. It kind of makes me nervous, but I guess it's a good thing that
it has some second-player advantage. If multiple players open with it, it'll be risky for the first person to play it to trash a good action card.
I wonder how often the right move will be to open double Lurker (which, if successful, combine into "Gain any Action card from the Supply"). Probably not often, but... sometimes?
Some notes after reading other posts...
@Seprix -- it's Harbinger, not Harbringer. I see that J Reggie already pointed it out, but I needed to mention it myself.
Also note that the -g sound there is like in "binge".
@trivialknot -- they'll always be Peddler variants to me.