Dominion > Variants and Fan Cards

Alternative Prize-Getting Cards

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rinkworks:
Initially, I was disappointed to learn there would be only one card in Cornucopia that would make use of the Prize cards.  I think Tournament turned out fine, but I still wonder about other possible cards that would be fun for earning Prizes.  I really think the Prize cards add a lot to the game, as it provides a fun subgoal to pursue on the path to victory.  (Similarly, striving to earn Grand Markets and Peddlers are other subgoals I enjoy, if more subtle.)

The problem with Tournament, though, is the high luck/variance for it, similar to that on Treasure Map.  So I wondered about lower variance ways to earn Prizes.

How about this?

Piggy Bank
$4 - Action
Place up to 3 Coppers from your hand on your Piggy Bank mat.  If you have at least 8 Coppers on your Piggy Bank mat, you may trash 8 of them.  If you do, gain a Prize or a Duchy.

I haven't playtested it, but what I think this card might have going for it:

- Pursuing the goal is beneficial even if you never reach it, as it will thin your deck.
- Actually reaching the goal requires (barring things like Mountebank/Jester/Ambassador hitting you) the unusual purchasing a Copper.  But you don't have to do it early, and hopefully by the time you do, you'll have been able to get some +Buy and not waste a turn purchasing the eighth Copper.
- Possibly lower variance.  Maybe drawing your Piggy Bank with your last Copper still has the same variance as drawing your Tournament and Province together.  But as I say, setting Coppers aside is a great benefit to you even if you never reach 8.
- Most of the time (a Goons game possibly being an exception) you'll only be able to meet the goal once, and so you'll have to be all the more careful about which Prize you choose to take.  (In Tournament games, often once you earn that first prize, more will soon follow.)
- Cutpurse potentially rises from middling attack to significant counter.

Thoughts?

Anybody have any other ideas for Prize-earning cards?  kazztawdal, in http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=149.0 , has what I thought was a great idea for a Monster card that could be adapted into a Prize-earner fairly simply.

WanderingWinder:
I think the card is pretty broken. Just culling the coppers this fast even without being able to gain prizes is pretty strong. If it were only 1 copper at a time, it would be interesting. You'd probably want to lower the number of coppers needed on the mat then though. Maybe 5 or 6.
Interesting idea though

rinkworks:
I thought about 2 Coppers at a time initially, but I figured Steward is cheap and lets you trash two cards of ANY kind.   This would only get rid of Coppers, so it would be less useful than Steward unless you landed a Prize from it.  And then you'd still usually only be able to have one.  But yeah, maybe 3 is still too many.

Kn:
Too weak. It would take more effort than it's worth to get a prize out of it. Otherwise, it's like an expensive chapel that only trashes copper. I would redo the card to give the option of setting aside any treasure, or allowing you to trash the piggy bank to get all the treasure that you set aside in your hand, and +2 buy. That way, it's kinda like a native village that only can be drawn from once, and only for treasures. I'd also reduce the cost to 2. And get rid of the prize benefit since it's irrelevant. Sorry, that goes against the whole idea of the card, but with a name like piggy bank, it needs to act like one.

rinkworks:
Ok, how about this one?

Archivist
$4 - Action
Place a card from your hand on your Archivist mat.  If there are 5 differently-named cards on your Archivist mat, trash all 5 and gain a Prize or a Duchy.

Like my earlier idea, this provides a benefit even if you never claim a prize:  It could be used as a slow trasher, and/or a re-usable Island.  But, appropriately, it's weaker than other trashers and doesn't give 2 VP that Island does.  However, if you do go for a prize with it, it requires you to work a bit for it.  Although stowing away a Copper, an Estate, and possibly a Curse is an easy decision, you still need to come up with two other unique cards.  Possibilities include fast-trashers, once your deck is slim; another Archivist, if you bought multiples to speed the process; cursing attacks after the Curses are gone.

Possible ways to tweak this, if necessary:  (1) Require that ONLY unique cards ever get stowed on the mat, preventing you from pseudo-trashing multiple Coppers or Estates; (2) Trash ALL cards on the mat if you trash any, which prevents you from using it as a reusable Island AND go for prizes; (3) Change the number of unique cards required to claim a prize, obviously; (4) Trash the Archivist itself after claiming a prize, if the potential to use it as a reusable Island AFTER claiming a prize makes it too strong.

I'll probably try to playtest this soon, but I'm curious to hear what people think.  I love the idea of these little sub-quests, and I think this sort of thing would be more fun to pursue than simply trying to draw a Tournament and a Province together (even though I still like Tournament itself a lot).

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