WDC #178: Another Person's Treasure
Commentary & ResultsThanks everyone for the submissions! It was fun to see so many new Treasures, and I enjoyed all the different directions people went with these.
OPs are linked, shortlisted entries are bolded, enjoy!
Coppersmith by Augie279A twist on an old favorite, Coppersmith indeed should have been a treasure. It's cool to see another Copper doubler, however doubling + mass trashing from play feels too centralizing (and removes Coppersmith's most unique feature, making you consider keeping Coppers around). At least Mint and Counterfeit create more interesting decisions, this is too much of an autobuy.
Jewelry Box by czzzzA $4 Copper that can topdeck something from your discard pile and can be a Gold if you topdeck a green card. There were a lot of Copper+ treasures this week that conditionally give more money if you discard or topdeck something. My issue with this one is the classic Harbinger problem: in many decks, you often won't have a discard pile to trigger it, and it's just a sad $4 Copper. Making it from hand, or adding a from hand option would help immensely.
Patent by NoMoreFunIt's Treasure Summon without a cost restriction, but with the penalty of opponents getting to play your card before you do. It's a really interesting idea and thematically fun, but I worry the penalty here is just too steep and it will end up with a Contraband vibe, where the negative player interaction outweighs the benefit and players just avoid buying it. I wonder about trying a different penalty like making the card cost $1 less on other players turns or something similar.
Credit by xyz123A cheap non-terminal Merchant Ship that's also a mini-Capital. I'm glad you updated to this version, the first was indeed too weak. The Duration element combines with Debt in a really neat way, by spreading the benefit over two turns--it really is a Loan you take out but must pay later. I actually think 4 Debt would work just fine, it's already a pretty steep penalty.
Nugget by X-traA Gold gainer with +Buy that leaps into play on gain, and plays the Gold (with a modest consulation prize if you play multiple that won't come up that often). At $6, even without the on-gain, this feels too strong. It's a Courtier that always does all four things, and it compares too favorably to other Gold gaining Treasures like Hoard and Treasure Trove, as well as Loots (e.g. Doubloons only gains a Gold once and doesn't give +Buy). With the on-gain, you instantly get $3 and a Buy back which feels wildly generous for an already very generous card. I'll admit, Gold gaining isn't as strong as most people think, and I still think the idea here is neat, but the card's balance could use some tweaking.
Homunculus by LordBaphometThis is a cool one, a Treasure that can Chameleon two of your leftover Action cards for +$. Turn your dead drawn Smithies into Golds or your Peddlers into Silvers! The only thing I'm unsure of is the price. I could see $4 being a bit too cheap for the ability, though it's pretty board dependent so it's maybe okay? Playing just one Action might remedy this (and make the card simpler to resolve). Really creative!
Dollhouse/Chest of Expensive Clothes by LibraryAdventurerA Treasure split pile, we had several of these this week. The top card is a Copper that can optionally sift and draw a card, and play itself again if you draw Curses. The bottom is like a bigger Cursed Gold. It's nice that the Chest's Curses make it easier for Dollhouses to trigger, but I feel like this pile has a bit too much going on for my taste. Dollhouse especially feels like it could be simpler.
Auror Gold/The Early Bird by majiponiAnother split pile, Auror Gold is a next-time Duration that plays sort of like Stockpile--a one-shot Gold plus that you can get back if you start your turn with a small hand. It's fun that it interacts nicely with handsize attacks. The Early Bird is a Silver that can be like a Festival (minus the buy) if you have it in your hand at the start of your turn (and also helps get back your Auror Golds). In games without other ways to reduce your starting handsize, I think Auror Golds are going to feel a little bit weak, but the game of getting them all back with Early Birds is fun. Early Bird could be worth trying out as its own pile too.
Plow by Xen3kA sifter that can play an Action or Treasure from your top four cards and rearrange or discard the remaining. Maybe I'm missing something, but why is this a choose one? If you choose the discard option, do you not get to reveal and play a card from the four? If this shouldn't be a choose one, I don't see much reason to limit discarding to only 2 cards. Playing an Action or Treasure from your top cards is kinda neat and has Treasure Hunter vibes, though I'll admit it maybe has just a little bit less utility as a Treasure vs. an Action.
Printing Press by Builder_RobertsIt's fun that Figurine has finally broken the Treasures don't have +Cards rule. This one feels similar, but with a push your luck element of how lucky do you feel that your + Cards will be worth more than the +$? I'd consider trying it without the Peddler option for simplicity. I worry a little that this may discourage buying other Actions since you can spam Printing Presses, but you do still need trashing and more payload to really make that work. Looks good.
Hand of Midas by silverspawnA one-shot that instantly turns one of your played Actions into a Gold that you can immediately play. Compared with something like Improve, this one is non-terminal and gives +$3 and 2 Buys vs Improves +$2, but there's less flexibility since it's always a one-shot, always trashes one of your Actions, and only gains Golds. I think it could get away with not being a one-shot (and perhaps optionally trashing itself or an Action in play), still preserving a similar premise of upgrading itself (or your Actions) into Golds.
Plantation by AquilaA simple +2 Coffers Treasure that let's you take the Tea Artifact if you have $3 unspent. Tea grants an optional Remodel from hand or discard every turn while you have it. One question, do you get to use Tea the same turn you take it? Hopefully that is the case, and it can work like Enhance (it even costs $3). It's like a deconstructed Butcher in a lot of ways, but with some added player interaction. I think Tea could lose the from discard option and still be plenty strong.
Ledger by faustThis is the best fixed Mandarin I've seen. DXV has said before that it could've cost $2, so it seems right that a Treasure version could cost $3. It's also kinda nice that it can just be a Copper if you want. Simple and far more useful than its terminal counterpart. Excellent entry.
Quill by JWA Treasure Duration that plays an Action twice next turn, either one from your hand this turn or one from your hand next turn. It seems straightforward and having options is cool. It can't be played on itself which makes things much simpler. It feels like there's maybe a better wording but I can't think of what it would be. Nice one.
Journal by GubumpAn Action-Treasure that's a Peddler if played as an Action and a Bazaar if played as a Treasure. On some boards, you might just mostly just play this as an Action, which is a bit boring, but on boards where this is your only Village, things get a lot more interesting. Being able to dead draw this and another Action and play them both is super cool. As you mentioned, it's a Village that you don't have to play before your terminal, which we don't see very often in Dominion, and this is an elegant rendition of that idea.
Delicate Coin/Crumbling Coin by BryGuyI'm assuming that Delicate Coin IS in the Supply, right? Otherwise, you can't get any of these! Delicate Coin is a $5 one-shot Gold that exchanges into a Crumbling Coin. Crumbling Coin is a a Silver with a Buy that rewards you with Nice if you buy two cards. The State is unnecessary and could easily be eliminated by making Delicate Coin a Duration for the next turn +Card and then return to the Supply. I don't have much else to say for these, they seem fine, if a little bit convoluted--Crumbling Coin could likely be its own pile for $5.
Pleasure Dome by emtzalexA Treasure with a Poor House like bonus that scales down the more Actions you have in play. The self-trash into another Action feels a bit odd and unnecessary. At best, this is a Gold for $4 which isn't bad I guess, but I really don't like how much this hates Action cards. Outside of basic decks like Smithy-Money where you can get the exact one Action card you need in play, this just feels too niche otherwise and it's completely worthless in games where you want to build an engine. I think Poor House and Souk's way of generating payload is neat and worth experimenting with further but this implementation of it doesn't feel like it would be a pleasure to play with on most boards.
Atlas by SignErrorSort of a mini-Harem that counts differently named VP cards in hand for $ and counts differently named Treasures for VP. I like alt-VP cards but I worry this one is a little underwhelming on both fronts (especially compared to something like Humble Castle). The top is a Copper or worse much until the endgame, which feels pretty bad. Counting the number of VP cards instead of unique would help a little or just a simple flat +$. The bottom will be worth 2VP in most games, but getting it to more than that is very board dependent.
Door Knocker by LTacoAnother simple Copper+, this time letting you discard a VP card for a sort of half-Baron. Early game, it's basically a Silver+Buy for $3 so long as you have an Estate around. I'd be curious to see if making the +Buy unconditional instead of the Copper (i.e. +1 Buy, discard a VP card for +$2) would make make it a little more interesting in the mid game and late game. I like it as is too though.
Papyrus Roll by fika monsterA Treasure Duration that can Exile for benefit on your next turn. I'm assuming the +Buy is separate from the +$ from the Exiled card's cost. It's an interesting idea for sure, and the inherent risk of a mandatory Exile from your next hand makes playing this always a bit of a gamble (the from discard option feels a little tacked on and I think makes the card less interesting). However, I agree that in a lot of cases there's usually something you won't mind Exiling, and the sheer amount of money this can generate will more than make up for it. I'd be curious about trying trash instead of Exile, which would make it a next turn Salvager (and maybe then you could keep the from discard), but then this gets less OP in the endgame when it can't freely Exile VP cards for boatloads of cash.
Purse by UdzuA $2 Copper that also draws a card and can either sift a little or put something back on top. The discard option is Oasis, and the other option makes dead drawn Actions less sad. I like how simple it is, and it seems balanced at $2. My only complaint is that it's not terribly exciting.
Honorable Mentions: Printing Press by Builder_Roberts, Door Knocker by LTaco, Quill by JW, Journal by Gubump
Runner Up: Ledger by faust
WINNER: Homunculus by LordBaphometCongrats to LordBaphomet and thanks everyone for participating!
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Topic: Weekly Design Contest #178: Another Person's Treasure (Read 5782 times)