Sorry this took so long. I was away from my computer for the July 4 holiday here in the states, and when I got back I got somewhat buried in work. I still really like this mechanic, and appreciate those who submitted entries.
Muckraker • $5 • Action - Reaction - Conditional
Flip Rainy/Dry.
If it is Rainy, +4 Cards;
otherwise reveal your Deck's top five cards. Trash up to two of them. Return the rest.
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If another player gains a Victory card, you may reveal this to flip Rainy/Dry.
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Muckraker is a terminal Action which alternates between Sentinel and Hunting Ground. These are obviously very different power levels, as reflected by their price (although HG has a bonus). It also has a reaction which lets a player flip its operative condition when an opponent buys a victory card. I like the concept of a Reaction as a secondary means for flipping a Condition, and I think that was a really creative use of the mechanic (except for the issue I mention below).
One potential risk with terminal Conditional cards is that, in a 2-player game, you end up with a situation where one player gets to keep playing the "strong" version, while the other player ends up repeatedly playing the weak version. After this happens a few times, the "lucky" player has a built in advantage, and can even forego playing a copy of the card while waiting for the other player to flip the condition back to them. And even if that player also forgoes playing the card, the lucky player has a baked in advantage (since early benefits in Dominion tend to snowball), and therefore is in a better position to not use the card.
This risk is at least somewhat mitigated by the fact that, early in the game, the difference between the two cards' power is less significant (since thinning is most effective early, and +4 Cards matters less when you're mostly drawing Coppers). Still, I think most players would take HG over Sentinel, even in the earliest part of the game. In the late game, the Reaction helps with that problem in a different way. If someone uses the strong/HG version to buy a Province, their opponent can use the Reaction to get HG as well. But even that is far from certain, as (again, especially late in the game), it might be in that player's next hand.
Additionally, there is an issue with the Reaction. As I understand the Reaction rules, while players generally react to an occurrence in turn order (starting with the current player), if any player uses a Reaction, each other player then gets the chance to react as well. This can create a problem in multiplayer games: player A gains a Province, and both B (going next) and C (going after B) both have a Muckraker in hand. B wants it to be Dry, so their Muckraker will give +4 cards. But C wants it to be Rainy, so that after B plays that Muckraker, it will be Dry for C's turn. Thus, they would go back and forth, both revealing their Muckraker to flip Rainy/Dry, and nether player would have any incentive to stop. You probably need to limit the reaction (for example, to only trigger when the player to your right gains a Victory card).
Definitely a good effort with some real potential.
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Arsonist
$3 - Action
+$2
If it's Rainy, trash a card from your hand. Otherwise, trash a card from the Supply.
In games using this, when a Supply pile empties, flip Rainy/Dry.
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Arsonist is a terminal Silver for $3 that flips between being a regular mandatory trasher (trashing a card from your hand), and an unrestricted Lurker/Salt the Earth (trashing a card from the Supply). Rather than flipping the condition on-play, the it happens whenever a Supply pile empties.
Thematically, the use of the Condition is a lot of fun. However, I think in a lot of games, the first pile to empty is the Province pile (ending the game). Additionally, one common way for a Supply pile to empty is when there is a Curser (and the Curse pile runs out), which is arguably the worst time for your trasher to stop trashing. You can use the Supply trasher to flip it back, but that would likely take most of the game (if you ever get there). Alternatively, in a game with another Kingdom card that uses Rainy/Dry, the Condition might get flipped repeatedly, and on play your Arsonist has arbitrary swings in its power level.
If it just serves as a terminal Silver mandatory trasher, I think it is on the strong side, but probably not busted. The most obvious comp (to me) is Moneylender, which gives you more $ when you trash a Copper, but cannot trash Estates or Curses (and, if you trash one of those and play the Copper you would have trashed with Moneylender, you get the same total $). I think this makes it a bit stronger than Moneylender, yet it costs less (it's not a direct comparison, as Moneylender doesn't sometimes become inactive).
If you do get the Supply trasher, I think it will generally be of limited use, but occasionally be very potent. If you can build a strong engine with lots of +Actions (with its efficiency helped by Arsonist's earlier trashing), you can potentially get into a situation where (presuming each player has bought 2 Province) you play 3 Arsonists, trashing 3 of the 4 remaining Provinces, and buy the last one to swoop in and win the game. This seems a little busted, and not that remote a possibility.
Still, I actually really like this card. I think it fits in most decks as just a trasher, and would get me excited about how I could abuse it (even though I probably never get to because setting up the engine I never even out the Province count).
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Monsoon
$4 Action - Conditional
If it is Rainy, +3 Cards. Otherwise gain a card costing up to $4.
If this made you shuffle (at least one card) flip Rainy/Dry.
Forecaster
$2 Action - Conditional
+2 Actions
You may flip Rainy/Dry
This turn, when you play a Monsoon you may first discard a card for +1 Action.
A split pile with 5 copies of Monsoon on top of 5 copies of Forecaster.
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This is a split pile. On top, Monsoon flips between a Smithy and Workshop (but only flips if you cause a shuffle). Below, Forecaster is a Necropolis that optionally flips Rainy/Dry, and allows you to make Monsoon non-terminal by discarding a card before you play it. On their face, both of these cards are pretty weak. Monsoon at $4 fluctuates between a $4 card and a $3 card. It also potentially changes in an unpredictable way. While Forecaster mainly serves as a support card to flip the condition, it still feels weak at $2.
I have really struggled with judging this one. Conceptually, I like the idea of a Conditional split pile. It opens up some interesting possibilities of, for example, having 1 card that flips the condition and another card(s) that reacts to the flip. The most obvious way to make that work would be to have the cheaper, top card do the flipping, and the other cards react.
On one hand, this pile tells kind of a fun, interesting story. Initially, you try to tap the force of the Monsoon's power for the stronger effect. Eventually, someone goes to far, weakening the card (but the gainer can potentially help you spam the 1/2 pile). Once you get a Forecaster, you have better control over the weather, allowing you a lot more flexibility to use complementary Engine pieces (and to potentially convert the Monsoons into gainers if you draw your deck).
On the other hand, I'm not sure this ultimately works out that way. Given the fact that Monsoon will eventually convert to a Workshop, unless you have a deck that you want to have either card in, I'm not sure you take the risk of a card that your opponent can render less useful (while doing the same to themselves, unless they want the gainer). I think a lot of the time they get left on the table.
I think this is by far the best underlying idea, but I think the execution is not quite there.
One other thing. The phrase "If this made you shuffle" creates some ambiguity. Emissary, where the wording comes from, only ever gives +3 Cards, so whether or not that causes a shuffle is straightforward (with the clarification that shuffling 0 cards isn't shuffling). But the fact that it comes after the gainer ability suggests that the phrase applies to (at least) that as well. While gaining a card can't directly trigger a shuffle, there are a variety of ways it can do so indirectly: think Footpad, Innovation, Sheepdog, and Trail. It's not clear if some, all, or none of those would trigger flipping Rain/Dry, so I think you need some clarification (maybe just in an FAQ).
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Topic: Fan Card Mechanics Week 95: Mint Condition (Read 1377 times)