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[werothegreat]

I was just thinking of a Possession-like effect where instead of another player gaining a card, you do.  I eventually arrived at this, which seems to have more in common with Smugglers.  Not sure if they [you may] should be there or not.

Sleazy Merchant
$5 - Action Duration

Now and at the start of your next turn: +$1

--------------------

While this is in play, when another player gains a card that is not a Victory card, [you may] gain a copy of it.

[popsofctown]

I like it. 

[eHalcyon]

There is an infinite loop here that you have to close.  You have a Sleazy Merchant (SM) in play.  I play Village, my own SM, and then Ironworks to gain a Silver.  You use your SM to gain a copy of Silver.  Now I can activate my SM to gain a Silver.  And then you can again.  And so on.

There is also a timing problem you have to clarify for when multiple other players have SMs that they want to activate.  Probably just activate in turn order from the current player.

[TheOthin]

Maybe tie it to buying rather than gaining?

Could lead to some weird interactions otherwise, like your opponent buys a Border Village and gains a cheaper card and then you can gain your own copy of the Border Village and cheaper card but since you're getting the cheaper card through Sleazy Merchant you can get another cheaper card from your own Border Village.

[ConMan]

Maybe tie it to buying rather than gaining?

Could lead to some weird interactions otherwise, like your opponent buys a Border Village and gains a cheaper card and then you can gain your own copy of the Border Village and cheaper card but since you're getting the cheaper card through Sleazy Merchant you can get another cheaper card from your own Border Village.

I kind of like that that happens, although having it on-buy also creates some weird situations (similarly to what happens with a card like Talisman). If there's one copy of that card in the Supply, then you get to choose whether you gain it, and if you do then your opponent doesn't - which makes buying Knights a very risky tactic.

[werothegreat]

How about:

"While this is in play, when another player buys a card that is not a Victory card, gain a copy of it after they do."

[GendoIkari]

How about:

"While this is in play, when another player buys a card that is not a Victory card, gain a copy of it after they do."

I would only add "after they do" if it turns out to be overpowered otherwise. If it's not overpowered, stopping a player from being able to buy the last copy of a card would be a neat trick.

[market squire]

Nice idea, it has a huge amount of scaling though (much more than Jester).

I made a one-shot Reaction in a similar manner:

Smuggler's Lair (Treasure - Reaction) $2

Worth $1
When another player buys a card costing up to $6 that is not a Victory card, you may trash this from your hand. If you do, gain a copy of that card.

Maybe this should be a Reaction as well? It would provide elements of surprise. You might also buy other cards if you knew your neighbor had a Smuggler, wouldn't you?

[eHalcyon]

How about:

"While this is in play, when another player buys a card that is not a Victory card, gain a copy of it after they do."

I would only add "after they do" if it turns out to be overpowered otherwise. If it's not overpowered, stopping a player from being able to buy the last copy of a card would be a neat trick.

That would make it slightly political though.

[TheOthin]

Reactions to buys can be a bad idea because no one expects to have to pause and wait for them so they'll just keep diving into their next buy if they have one. Maybe I spend $10 to pick up Bandit Camp and Wharf, and if I get the Wharf second you'll have to decide on the Bandit Camp without even knowing for sure you'll get a shot at the Wharf, when normally that wouldn't be a concern because you'd pick both up at once. It'd really slow down in-person play. Online keeps things more organized, but it'd also become an issue because okay I buy my Bandit Camp, now the game pauses to give you a chance to reveal a Reaction in your hand, hmm it sounds like you've got a Smuggler's Lair, maybe I shouldn't buy a Wharf right now.

I mean to be fair Fool's Gold has a similar concern but because it can only do one thing rather than different things depending on the card you activate it on, it doesn't seem to cause those kinds of issues. It's a cool concept though.

[LastFootnote]

Fool's Gold only affects the player that uses it, so the player buying the Province doesn't have to wait to see if others are using Fool's Gold's reaction. The only exception is when the Gold pile runs out, which is pretty rare, especially in Fool's Gold games.

[market squire]

Reactions to buys can be a bad idea because no one expects to have to pause and wait for them so they'll just keep diving into their next buy if they have one. Maybe I spend $10 to pick up Bandit Camp and Wharf, and if I get the Wharf second you'll have to decide on the Bandit Camp without even knowing for sure you'll get a shot at the Wharf, when normally that wouldn't be a concern because you'd pick both up at once. It'd really slow down in-person play.

Good concern, Smugglers does it alright. Maybe it works better with an "after a player's buy phase" wording. Or just Smuggler...

[werothegreat]

Reactions to buys can be a bad idea because no one expects to have to pause and wait for them so they'll just keep diving into their next buy if they have one. Maybe I spend $10 to pick up Bandit Camp and Wharf, and if I get the Wharf second you'll have to decide on the Bandit Camp without even knowing for sure you'll get a shot at the Wharf, when normally that wouldn't be a concern because you'd pick both up at once. It'd really slow down in-person play.

Good concern, Smugglers does it alright. Maybe it works better with an "after a player's buy phase" wording. Or just Smuggler...

With this being a Duration, that's not a problem - the buyer is fully aware of what will happen.  And I think the "after they do" needs to be there.