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[HLennartz]

I'm making a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic themed expansion for Dominion. The main theme is cards that help your opponents...like Governor or Council Room, for example. It also has sub-themes of discouraging big money, and interactive cards where you must pay attention to your opponent's strategy.

Here are some card I'm considering:

Cottage
$2
Action - Duration
+2 Actions, +1 Card. While ~ is in play, at the beginning of your opponents' turns, they get +1 Action.

The basic Village of the set.

Zecora
$2
Action
+1 Action. Each player may trash a card from their hand. For each player that does, draw a card.

You do get to trash a card yourself, and draw a card from that. The one thing I don't like about this is how it's of different powers in different game sizes. In 4p, it's probably too strong at $2.

Dragon
$4
Action - Attack
+2 Cards
Each opponent discards a Gold or reveals a hand with no Gold.

This will need a lot of playtesting to get the perfect balance. I want it to be relatively low-cost, and with a weak non-Attack part (maybe even "+1 Card" or nothing) so there's a tension between being stronger in the late game, but being most effectively bought at early game price points.

I've also considered making it "Gold or Platinum," but that's a bit awkward when there are no Platinum cards in the game. Like Noble Brigand, I guess it's a very stupid Dragon with a poor sense of valuation.

Pinkie Pie
$4
Action - Duration
+2 Actions, +1 Buy, +$2
At the the start of each opponent's turns until your next turn, they get +1 Action, +1 Buy

Of course, I couldn't resist making Equestria's foremost party pony a "Festival for everyone."

Princess Celestia
$4
Action
You may choose an action card in your hand. Play it three times.
Return ~ to the supply. Each other player gains a copy of Princess Celestia.

Rarity
$4
Action - Attack
Choose one: +$3, each opponent gains a gold, or +$2, each opponent gains a silver; or +$1, each opponent gains a copper.

Maybe a bit powerful, in it's ability to bounce from a mini-Mounteback (bought on turn 1) to a late game Gold-lite. Making it work at $5 would be hard, though...and the silver ability would just be totally worthless. It might be best to just take out the +$2 ability.

Applejack
$4
Action
+2 Cards, +2 Actions, +1 Buy
Each other player gets +1 VP.

Too many $4's...Applejack is, of course, a Trusty Steed in disguise.

[jonts26]

Would you believe this isn't the first my little pony expansion?
http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=2455.0

[jonts26]

I think the cards which give your opponents +1 action are likely way too weak for you and strong for your opponents. Consider just how strong fishing village is because it gives free actions. I think you need to buff the effect it gives you.

[Titandrake]

Some notes from the guy who made the linked expansion:

1. I tried to make the benefits mostly "draw a card", because I was worried about memory problems, especially in multiplayer. Drawing a card is immediate: getting actions and buys requires you to remember when it gets to your turn. This might not be as big a problem as I think, but it's worth remembering.

2. Cards that help everybody speed up the game a lot. It also makes +Buy a lot stronger. +Buy is useful in the original game, but only when the game gets to the point point where you have excess money. When you help everyone, you reach that point faster.

3. The usefulness of the effect given to the opponent is directly related to how well they can use it. There's little difference between an 8 card and 10 card hand if there isn't +Buy, and there's not much point in getting +1 Action unless you have plenty of actions. So, you want to make sure that there is generally a use for the benefit they get. Cottage is an example of a way to do this: it probably won't be picked up unless there's an engine, so the extra action is going to help.

Edit: Oh, and also there are some balance changes to the cards I posted that I want to make. I'll probably just edit them in at the end, it's not worth bumping the thread.

[Jack Rudd]

Cottage
$2
Action - Duration
+2 Actions, +1 Card. While ~ is in play, at the beginning of your opponents' turns, they get +1 Action.

Assuming ~ means "this card", this card (as written) acts identically to Village. Assuming this isn't the intended effect, you may want to give it a next-turn effect.

[HLennartz]

Some notes from the guy who made the linked expansion:

1. I tried to make the benefits mostly "draw a card", because I was worried about memory problems, especially in multiplayer. Drawing a card is immediate: getting actions and buys requires you to remember when it gets to your turn. This might not be as big a problem as I think, but it's worth remembering.

I was thinking that them being Duration cards would help solve this. As well as push the idea that "yes, you actually need to look at what your opponent is doing on their turn." At the start of your turn, it should easily jog your memory by just looking in front of your opponent's and seeing what Duration cards they have in front of them. Although it still could get tricky in 4-player games, with all those little +1s out.

2. Cards that help everybody speed up the game a lot. It also makes +Buy a lot stronger. +Buy is useful in the original game, but only when the game gets to the point point where you have excess money. When you help everyone, you reach that point faster.

Good point. I was thinking it'd make it more like Prosperity games, but that only holds when there are the big VP options to go along with the engine. I was thinking stuff like this:

Empire (or "Orchard," to go with Garden/Vineyards theme)
$7
Victory
Worth 2 VP for every 10 cards in your deck (rounded down)

Super Garden...although it's a lot harder to make work with a "Copper flood" sort of engine, and also out of reach of Workshop/Ironworks.

I will also need a Goons/Bishop type card, or more than one. VP tokens will be featured in this set.

3. The usefulness of the effect given to the opponent is directly related to how well they can use it. There's little difference between an 8 card and 10 card hand if there isn't +Buy, and there's not much point in getting +1 Action unless you have plenty of actions. So, you want to make sure that there is generally a use for the benefit they get. Cottage is an example of a way to do this: it probably won't be picked up unless there's an engine, so the extra action is going to help.

Yeah, I wanted to make part of the skill in this set adjusting your own deck to what your opponent buys. Like, if they're getting lots of Cottages or Pinkie Pies, to go more Terminal heavy than you normally would.

To make the strategies more dynamic, and not just a self-reinforcing loop of "everyone ends up doing the same thing," I should also add cards that give opponents benefits contrary to what the card does for its player. Like an exaggerated Embassy...it wants high variability in your own cards (Golds to keep, Coppers/Green to discard), but gives your opponent middling consistency (Silvers).

Coincidentally, with cards like my Princess Celestia I thought it'd be cute for them to be used as a semi-attack in some situations. Like, if you're opponent is going very Treasure-heavy, and it's likely to be a dead card. That's why it's specifically not a "may gain.

Cottage
$2
Action - Duration
+2 Actions, +1 Card. While ~ is in play, at the beginning of your opponents' turns, they get +1 Action.

Assuming ~ means "this card", this card (as written) acts identically to Village. Assuming this isn't the intended effect, you may want to give it a next-turn effect.

Yup...

Cottage
$2
Action - Duration
+2 Actions, +1 Card.
At the start of each other player's turn until your next, they get +1 Action.

[Kahryl]

Cottage
$2
Action - Duration
+2 Actions, +1 Card. While ~ is in play, at the beginning of your opponents' turns, they get +1 Action.

This is awful. I would NEVER use this. If there's a decent terminal on the board, then I'm wasting a turn buying something that will help my opponents as much as me. A $2 should be almost as good as a $3 and a vanilla village is much better than this. Brainstorming here, but maybe (changes in bold):

Cottage
$2
Action - Duration
+2 Actions, +1 Card.
When you buy this, +1 buy.
If this is in play and you have more than 1 action point at the start of Clean-up, at the beginning of your opponents' turns, they get +1 Action.

(so, you can build as many as you have the money to. And if you actually need to use the cottage for something, then your opponents don't benefit, but if there's space available, the magic of friendship compels you to share. The wording might need some tweaking to handle the possibility of multiple cottages in play. And it still seems to weak if it's a duration - it will then miss reshuffles. So a wordsmithing that will let it go into the discard at clean-up is also a good idea.)


Zecora
$2
Action
+1 Action. Each player may trash a card from their hand. For each player that does, draw a card.

I like this, although running thru the scenarios it's a bit too good. To take the scaling out of it, how about:

Zecora
$2
Action
+1 Action. Each player may trash a card from their hand. If you do, +1 card. If any opponent does, +1 card.

(Non-exclusive, so this could give you 2 cards at most)
This is a bit weaker than how you had it, but if you think about it.. if only you trash, then this is a trashing cantrip, which is like a weaker Upgrade - strong for $2. If you and your opponent(s) trash, then this is a lab that also gives everyone an equal benefit - GREAT for $2. If only your opponent(s) trashes, then this is a cantrip that helps them - lousy. And if nobody trashes than this is a dead card like most late-game trash cards. Overall the effect for $2 is balanced I think.

Dragon
$4
Action - Attack
+2 Cards
Each opponent discards a Gold or reveals a hand with no Gold.

+2 Cards is similar to +$2 in power, so offhand this looks like a strictly better cutpurse.. except that you have no choice but to use copper, but you do have a choice whether to use Gold.

If you want to hit platinums too without awkward wording, try:

Dragon
$4
Action - Attack
+2 Cards
Each opponent discards a treasure with a cost of at least $6 or reveals a hand with no such treasures.

It would be like a dragon to keep harems, too..


Pinkie Pie
$4
Action - Duration
+2 Actions, +1 Buy, +$2
At the the start of each opponent's turns until your next turn, they get +1 Action, +1 Buy

Man, this is the same issue as Cottage, as it "nets" you only +1 action, +$2 which is roughly the same as silver. So reduce the cost to $3 maybe?


Princess Celestia
$4
Action
You may choose an action card in your hand. Play it three times.
Return ~ to the supply. Each other player gains a copy of Princess Celestia.

Again seems to benefit opponents way too much. Playing something three times is nice but carries a huge cost in this case. Maybe:

Princess Celestia
$4
Action
You may choose an action card in your hand. Play it three times.
Each other player gains a copy of the played card.

Princess Celestia masters something, then teaches her subjects how to do it. But she's still better at it.


Rarity
$4
Action - Attack
Choose one: +$3, each opponent gains a gold, or +$2, each opponent gains a silver; or +$1, each opponent gains a copper.

I don't think this is too powerful. Coppers are way less bad than curses, and you're hurting your own potential by $1 and an action point by using her to spread coppers instead of having bought a silver.


Applejack
$4
Action
+2 Cards, +2 Actions, +1 Buy
Each other player gets +1 VP.

I like this a lot. Without the enemy-benefit this would be a strong $6 or a weak $7. I think it's balanced.

[iangoth]

I'm making a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic themed expansion for Dominion. The main theme is cards that help your opponents...like Governor or Council Room, for example. It also has sub-themes of discouraging big money, and interactive cards where you must pay attention to your opponent's strategy.

Here are some card I'm considering:

Cottage
$2
Action - Duration
+2 Actions, +1 Card. While ~ is in play, at the beginning of your opponents' turns, they get +1 Action.

The basic Village of the set.

Helps your opponent more than it helps you, since you had to purchase it. I think I like Karhyl's fix.

Zecora
$2
Action
+1 Action. Each player may trash a card from their hand. For each player that does, draw a card.

You do get to trash a card yourself, and draw a card from that. The one thing I don't like about this is how it's of different powers in different game sizes. In 4p, it's probably too strong at $2.

I think the basic idea is alright, but it's too cheap. If your opponents don't trash, it's essentially a cantrip trasher, which is easily a $4 card. You could balance this card for 3p+ by limiting the card draw to 2. Maybe something like this:

Zecora - $4 - Action
+1 action
Each player may trash a card from their hand. If you trashed a card, +1 card. If any other player trashed a card, +1 card.

Dragon
$4
Action - Attack
+2 Cards
Each opponent discards a Gold or reveals a hand with no Gold.

This will need a lot of playtesting to get the perfect balance. I want it to be relatively low-cost, and with a weak non-Attack part (maybe even "+1 Card" or nothing) so there's a tension between being stronger in the late game, but being most effectively bought at early game price points.

I've also considered making it "Gold or Platinum," but that's a bit awkward when there are no Platinum cards in the game. Like Noble Brigand, I guess it's a very stupid Dragon with a poor sense of valuation.

This card would be too swingy for my taste. It's not likely to hit consistently on most boards, but it'd be brutal when it did.

Pinkie Pie
$4
Action - Duration
+2 Actions, +1 Buy, +$2
At the the start of each opponent's turns until your next turn, they get +1 Action, +1 Buy

Of course, I couldn't resist making Equestria's foremost party pony a "Festival for everyone."

Like cottage, too good for your opponents. Not only is your net gain only $2, but your opponent doesn't have to use a card slot to get the +actions, so he has a better chance of making use of them than you do.

Princess Celestia
$4
Action
You may choose an action card in your hand. Play it three times.
Return ~ to the supply. Each other player gains a copy of Princess Celestia.

No idea whether it's balanced, but this is an interesting idea. Probably a little worse than a one-shot king's court, since you're pretty likely to get one more Celestia play if you buy the first one. You'd definitely want to buy it with cursers on the board, since getting triple cursed hurts so much. In 3p+ games, you'd run into problems when all the Celestias are gone, since only the player to your left gets one. And the celestias are extremely likely to run out, since you hand out more than you return. Not sure if that problem can be addressed.

Rarity
$4
Action - Attack
Choose one: +$3, each opponent gains a gold, or +$2, each opponent gains a silver; or +$1, each opponent gains a copper.

Maybe a bit powerful, in it's ability to bounce from a mini-Mounteback (bought on turn 1) to a late game Gold-lite. Making it work at $5 would be hard, though...and the silver ability would just be totally worthless. It might be best to just take out the +$2 ability.

I think I like it. The copper attack is nothing compared to sea hag, and the +$3 is a cool way to give the card late-game utility. The +$2 ability would be sometimes worth it midgame, say to buy a province. I also like the amusing interaction with lighthouse. "I play Rarity, choosing +$3, and you gain a gold. Oh wait, attacks don't affect you this turn. Too bad."

Applejack
$4
Action
+2 Cards, +2 Actions, +1 Buy
Each other player gets +1 VP.

Too many $4's...Applejack is, of course, a Trusty Steed in disguise.

Again, cool idea. I have no idea whether this is balanced, but it's probably not too strong. You'd probably have to buy it as a support card to your engine rather than as the primary draw mechanism, unless you have a crazy goons machine or megaturn in the works.