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[Co0kieL0rd]

Greetings, fellow fan card enthusiasts!

Dominion takes place in medieval Europe which has been exposed to the vicissitudes of the Seasons, more so than our modern society. This is not accurately reflected in the gameplay, though. Asper and I proudly present this small expansion that introduces a turn-based card modification mechanic to Dominion.

Dominion: Seasons is a set that wants to change the way games take course and forces the players to adapt their strategy to the current game state. As the game progresses, Seasons change and Season cards get different effects. With this feature come a new level of strategical depth and a unique game style.

Each game that includes one or more Season cards uses the Season mat (see below) on which the progress of Seasons is marked with a Season marker. The game starts in Spring, section 1. After each full turn (e.g. after the last player in turn order took their turn) the Season marker is moved forward one section. After each 5 turns a new Season begins. Summer starts in turn 6, Fall in turn 11, and Winter in 16. After turn 20 it is Spring again.



The set consists of 12 cards (we might add one more) and 1 event. Most of them have been thoroughly tested although we always gladly welcome more playtesting and feedback. Asper and I will present a new card with in-depth commentary every three days or so. Additionally, the next post will be an overview of the set’s contents as a whole.

[Asper]

Note: Since the creation of this thread, Seasons has been re-visited. This brought some changes, like bolding the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter keywords, as well as several balance changes that came up, a tweaked color scheme, and new cards. You can find the original versions of the Seasons cards at the bottom of this post (click to show them full size).

All Season cards have a pink color scheme. We decided it was necessary to make sure players are reminded to take care of the Season token when the game starts.



Original Seasons:

[Asper]

There are a few kinds of cards every dominion set needs. A village. An alt-VP. A card that is better than Scout. And, of course, a junker that reflects the expansion's theme.

Meet Snow Witch, a Curser that gets going only once everyone is already set. It may look cheap for a card that becomes strictly better than Witch once it goes off, but chances are at the time you actually start cursing people with this chilled lady, Curses have become sparse, or those arrogant jerks from the neighbor kingdom are finished building an impenetrable Watchtower defense.

It optionally returns a card to the top of your deck so you can save another copy for a later turn, and also to set itself apart a bit more from normal Witches. The theme is inspired by Snow Women from Japanese folklore and even the image depicts one – no Sir, we did not just paste some word in front of "Witch" to make this card.

So brace yourselves, when the air gets frosty, when the birds start leaving, and when the supermarkets stock up on gingerbread. Winter is coming.

[Roadrunner7671]

Well, this looks profoundly awesome.
I hope Donald sees this!

[gkrieg13]

this sounds awesome!

[enfynet]

I guess that's an appropriate card considering the winter that is finally arriving in the Midwest and Northeast.

[drsteelhammer]

General concept: I really like it, it is indeed pretty original and there is a lot of potential for great cards. The only thing I would change is the moment you move he Season marker. Obviously I don't know the other cards and how they interact with the seasons, but Snow Witch makes the first player advantage a lot worse since it is not unreasonable to expect that P1 gives out 4-5 curses on t11 when an engine is available. If you would change the moment to the beginning of P2 (P3,4,5 etc) the advantage would not be with P1 which I think would be great for a change.

This concept  obviously hurts P2 on cards where Spring/Summer are the desired seasons so I cant say for sure that this would be a good change but judging only from Snow Witch I think it certainly is.

Other than that I'm pretty excited to see the other cards

Also, giving the cards another colour is definitely a good choice

[Asper]

General concept: I really like it, it is indeed pretty original and there is a lot of potential for great cards. The only thing I would change is the moment you move he Season marker. Obviously I don't know the other cards and how they interact with the seasons, but Snow Witch makes the first player advantage a lot worse since it is not unreasonable to expect that P1 gives out 4-5 curses on t11 when an engine is available. If you would change the moment to the beginning of P2 (P3,4,5 etc) the advantage would not be with P1 which I think would be great for a change.

This concept  obviously hurts P2 on cards where Spring/Summer are the desired seasons so I cant say for sure that this would be a good change but judging only from Snow Witch I think it certainly is.

Other than that I'm pretty excited to see the other cards

Also, giving the cards another colour is definitely a good choice

Good point on the P1 advantage. It's certainly something to look out for. With more players, obviously more junk can be dealt out before it's your turn, although the amount of curses you can give out only by playing Snow Witches decreases relative to the amount of curses in the supply. That said, it's not exactly unique to Snow Witch to favour the first player - think Militia. Still, it's an interesting observation, and certainly something we need to keep in mind.

Changing the Season at another time than after the last player made his turn would mean some players spend less turns in their first Spring than others. With 5 turns, if nothing weird happens, you are guaranteed to see your opening buys at least once before Summer. Let's just say there are cases where it matters.

[drsteelhammer]

Good point on the P1 advantage. It's certainly something to look out for. With more players, obviously more junk can be dealt out before it's your turn, although the amount of curses you can give out only by playing Snow Witches decreases relative to the amount of curses in the supply. That said, it's not exactly unique to Snow Witch to favour the first player - think Militia. Still, it's an interesting observation, and certainly something we need to keep in mind.

Changing the Season at another time than after the last player made his turn would mean some players spend less turns in their first Spring than others. With 5 turns, if nothing weird happens, you are guaranteed to see your opening buys at least once before Summer. Let's just say there are cases where it matters.

Exactly, cards like Militia and situations where P2 shuffles a curse in whereas P1 doesn't made me suggest the above, basically to balance this a bit. However, I didn't consider that the opening buys are guaranteed to be played once after 5 turns, this distinction is probably more important than what I suggested. I take back my previous criticism!

[Asper]

Good point on the P1 advantage. It's certainly something to look out for. With more players, obviously more junk can be dealt out before it's your turn, although the amount of curses you can give out only by playing Snow Witches decreases relative to the amount of curses in the supply. That said, it's not exactly unique to Snow Witch to favour the first player - think Militia. Still, it's an interesting observation, and certainly something we need to keep in mind.

Changing the Season at another time than after the last player made his turn would mean some players spend less turns in their first Spring than others. With 5 turns, if nothing weird happens, you are guaranteed to see your opening buys at least once before Summer. Let's just say there are cases where it matters.

Exactly, cards like Militia and situations where P2 shuffles a curse in whereas P1 doesn't made me suggest the above, basically to balance this a bit. However, I didn't consider that the opening buys are guaranteed to be played once after 5 turns, this distinction is probably more important than what I suggested. I take back my previous criticism!

Nah, don't take it back. It's a pretty interesting observation at least. I suppose in a game where several players build a very tight engine that relies on Snow Witches for draw, a few Curses could make it increasingly hard for players down the line to successfully chain theirs. Of course, only if they shuffle, but still. I guess the fact that you can prepare for a Snow Witch attack is twofold - you can take defensive precautions (making sure your draw pile is big enough not to shuffle might be one), or you can make sure your Witches hit as hard as they can at once.

Helpful criticism like this is very appreciated.

[drsteelhammer]

Good point on the P1 advantage. It's certainly something to look out for. With more players, obviously more junk can be dealt out before it's your turn, although the amount of curses you can give out only by playing Snow Witches decreases relative to the amount of curses in the supply. That said, it's not exactly unique to Snow Witch to favour the first player - think Militia. Still, it's an interesting observation, and certainly something we need to keep in mind.

Changing the Season at another time than after the last player made his turn would mean some players spend less turns in their first Spring than others. With 5 turns, if nothing weird happens, you are guaranteed to see your opening buys at least once before Summer. Let's just say there are cases where it matters.

Exactly, cards like Militia and situations where P2 shuffles a curse in whereas P1 doesn't made me suggest the above, basically to balance this a bit. However, I didn't consider that the opening buys are guaranteed to be played once after 5 turns, this distinction is probably more important than what I suggested. I take back my previous criticism!

Nah, don't take it back. It's a pretty interesting observation at least. I suppose in a game where several players build a very tight engine that relies on Snow Witches for draw, a few Curses could make it increasingly hard for players down the line to successfully chain theirs. Of course, only if they shuffle, but still. I guess the fact that you can prepare for a Snow Witch attack is twofold - you can take defensive precautions (making sure your draw pile is big enough not to shuffle might be one), or you can make sure your Witches hit as hard as they can at once.

Helpful criticism like this is very appreciated.

This surely won't stop me from posting my critique in the future, all I meant was that I (probably) don't agree with my own point anymore. Sure, getting to curse your opponent first is pretty nice regularly, but now I think a card missing the shuffle and "missing spring" sounds worse than the first option. Of course that's speculation since I don't know the card yet, but your explanation made a lot of sense and to me it sounds like a greater design.

[enfynet]

I misunderstood when the "Season Token" moved, until now. Here I was thinking that a 3p game would suck being 3rd player because your 2nd turn is now Summer.

[singletee]

Now I need a deck-building themed Seasons fan expansion called Dominion.

[Asper]

I misunderstood when the "Season Token" moved, until now. Here I was thinking that a 3p game would suck being 3rd player because your 2nd turn is now Summer.

The token is supposed to move with each complete round. Technically, it moves immediately before the first player takes his regular turn. So extra turns caused by Outpost, Possession and Mission are not considered. They will all happen in the same Season as the turn they were played/bought.

To make sure the last player doesn't forget to move the token, we have been using a colorful "Season Reminder" card that's put in front of that player. If anybody has a suggestion how this could be done better, juyt tell.

[Grujah]

I guess that's an appropriate card considering the winter that is finally arriving in the Midwest and Northeast.

http://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/08/10/11/nedstark.jpg

[Aleimon Thimble]

I can think of a better name for this card!

[Asper]

I can think of a better name for this card!

Please, let it go.

[LastFootnote]

I'm glad these are being posted! I've only played one game with Seasons cards so far, but I'm really excited about the expansion. It's a very cool concept that seems to translate to fun new Dominion experiences!

As it happens, the game I played (with Co0kieL0rd) had Snow Witch, and thanks to his Snow Witches and Bladesmiths (another delayed junking attack, from Enterprise), I suddenly found myself with 8 Curses come Fall. I almost made a comeback, but alas.

I'm a little disappointed that we're only seeing one card every three days, but so it goes. Thanks for the cool set, Asper and Co0kieL0rd. Are you open to feedback with these cards, or are they set in stone?

[Asper]

I'm glad these are being posted! I've only played one game with Seasons cards so far, but I'm really excited about the expansion. It's a very cool concept that seems to translate to fun new Dominion experiences!

As it happens, the game I played (with Co0kieL0rd) had Snow Witch, and thanks to his Snow Witches and Bladesmiths (another delayed junking attack, from Enterprise), I suddenly found myself with 8 Curses come Fall. I almost made a comeback, but alas.

I'm a little disappointed that we're only seeing one card every three days, but so it goes. Thanks for the cool set, Asper and Co0kieL0rd. Are you open to feedback with these cards, or are they set in stone?

We are absolutely open to feedback. There are some cards we are relatively happy with for now, and Snow Witch is - in general - one of them. Allthough, you never know what you missed before you see it. We partially decided to post what we have currently because i felt i needed more time for other things, and so we had the choice between posting it in a not-100%-finished state or keeping it a secret for who-knows-how-long. You know, fan sets, when can you ever say you're finished with them?

Also, when i talked to Co0kieL0rd yesterday, he was already anticipating when he'd be able to post the next card. So if no one feels we are going to fast, i bet he'd love to deliver the next one soon.

[Roadrunner7671]

You guys are not going fast enough. That is my only complaint.

[LastFootnote]

We are absolutely open to feedback. There are some cards we are relatively happy with for now, and Snow Witch is - in general - one of them. Allthough, you never know what you missed before you see it. We partially decided to post what we have currently because i felt i needed more time for other things, and so we had the choice between posting it in a not-100%-finished state or keeping it a secret for who-knows-how-long. You know, fan sets, when can you ever say you're finished with them?

I definitely like Snow Witch as-is. It's simple, but a good example of the mechanic. In fact I think I like the four Seasons cards I've played with better than the ones I haven't, but I don't know how much of that was Co0kieL0rd showing off the best stuff and how much was just, I like them better because I've played with them. Hopefully I'll get to play with the rest soon.

[Roadrunner7671]

We are absolutely open to feedback. There are some cards we are relatively happy with for now, and Snow Witch is - in general - one of them. Allthough, you never know what you missed before you see it. We partially decided to post what we have currently because i felt i needed more time for other things, and so we had the choice between posting it in a not-100%-finished state or keeping it a secret for who-knows-how-long. You know, fan sets, when can you ever say you're finished with them?

I definitely like Snow Witch as-is. It's simple, but a good example of the mechanic. In fact I think I like the four Seasons cards I've played with better than the ones I haven't, but I don't know how much of that was Co0kieL0rd showing off the best stuff and how much was just, I like them better because I've played with them. Hopefully I'll get to play with the rest soon.

You and Cookielord played IRL with them?

[Asper]

We are absolutely open to feedback. There are some cards we are relatively happy with for now, and Snow Witch is - in general - one of them. Allthough, you never know what you missed before you see it. We partially decided to post what we have currently because i felt i needed more time for other things, and so we had the choice between posting it in a not-100%-finished state or keeping it a secret for who-knows-how-long. You know, fan sets, when can you ever say you're finished with them?

I definitely like Snow Witch as-is. It's simple, but a good example of the mechanic. In fact I think I like the four Seasons cards I've played with better than the ones I haven't, but I don't know how much of that was Co0kieL0rd showing off the best stuff and how much was just, I like them better because I've played with them. Hopefully I'll get to play with the rest soon.

He told me which cards you guys used, but i can't remember which exactly. I do remember most were stuff we both are rather happy with for now.

[LastFootnote]

You and Cookielord played IRL with them?

No, on Tabletop Simulator.

[Roadrunner7671]

You and Cookielord played IRL with them?

No, on Tabletop Simulator.

That's a thing? Can you provide a link? Is it an app?