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[Kahryl]

Theory: Take a $5 cantrip, remove +1 card +1 action, double the rest of the effect, and you have a $4 card.

Conversely, take a $4 card, halve the effect, add +1 card +1 action, and you have a $5 card.

Example: Remodel is a terminal that upgrades a card by $2. Halve that and make it a cantrip, and you have Upgrade. Take away Upgrade's cantrip and double its effect, and you have Remake!

I did this with a bunch of existing $4 and $5 cards. Some of the results are interesting and most of them surprisingly seem balanced.


$4
Cruddy Inn
+2 cards
+2 actions
Discard 4 cards. When you buy this, shuffle any number of action cards from your discard into your deck.

An extremely punishing village-warehouse. Play this and you'll end up with a 2 card hand. Worth it only really rarely.


$4
Cruddy Market
+$2
+2 buy

Like Woodcutter, but with far too much +buy. Maybe crazy Highway strategies will want this.


$4
Cruddy Treasury
+$2
When you discard this from play, if you didn’t buy a Victory card this turn, you may put this on top of your deck.

I think this very card has been proposed, at this price, before, though without the no-Victory condition. I think it would be a lot of fun, and very strong if there are no other good early terminals, or an abundance of +actions.


$4
Cruddy Highway
While this is in play, cards cost $2 less, but not less than $0.

Too similar to Bridge really. Stronger in theory but with less self-comboing. Most of the time I'd prefer Bridge.


$4
Cruddy Cartographer
Look at the top 8 cards of your deck. Discard any number of them. Put the rest back on top in any order.

What Scout should have been. Not strictly better (no +action), but will make your next turn near-perfect on average.


$4
Cruddy Bazaar
+$2
+2 actions

Festival without the +buy. Or a silver-village. Really good - I'd be more likely to use this than Festival. You could quickly set up an erratic draw engine with Oracle or Smithy without needing to hit $5 or buy money.


Laboratory, Hunting Party, and Stables (all lab variants) become shockingly weak when converted to $4 terminals. Laboratory becomes a vanilla "+2 cards"! It goes to show how much stronger +card is when it's in a cantrip.

City just becomes weird when converted. The $4 version of two-pile City is better than the $5 version! Although the $4 no-pile City is just "+2 actions"


$5
Super Thief
+1 card
+1 action
Each other player reveals the top card of his deck. If they revealed a treasure card, they trash it. You may gain any or all of these trashed cards. They discard the other revealed cards.

Way better than Thief. It'll miss a LOT but you don't sacrifice your hand and action point just to put pressure on their economy.


$5
Super Scout
+1 card
+1 action
Reveal the top 3 cards of your deck. Put the revealed Victory cards into your hand. Put the other cards on top of your deck in any order.

Much better than Scout. This is a Lab variant. Better than Lab if more than 1/3 of your deck is victory cards. I didn't quite halve the effect as I normally do because Scout already has a +action, all he needed for a cantrip was +card.


$5
Super Navigator
+1 card
+1 action
+$1
Look at the top 2 cards of your deck. Either discard both of them, or put them back on top of your deck in any order.

One of many $5 peddler-with-a-bonus cards, and one of the best. Zoom through your deck AND filter it while making money and losing no handsize or actions, how can you go wrong? This is better than Cartographer imo.


$5
Super Silk Road
+1 card
+1 action
Worth 1 VP for every 8 victory cards in your deck, rounded down.

A Great Hall variant. Only worth it if you can get it to 2 VP, and that's hard. 8 of these, 4 provinces, 3 estates and you're still short!


$5
Super Trader
+1 card
+1 action
Trash a card from your hand. Gain a number of Silvers equal to half its cost in coins, rounded down.
—
When you would gain a card, you may reveal this from your hand. If you do, instead, gain a silver.

Similar in purpose to Upgrade. The drawback is you can't get any fun $3 instead of silver for your estate. The upside is the useful reaction effect. Then again, lategame Upgrade is probably better. Trashing a witch will give you 1 gold with Upgrade, 2 silver with Super Trader. Overall a wash with Upgrade. Depends how well you can use silver really.


$5
Super Baron
+1 card
+1 action
You may discard an Estate card. If you do, +$2 and +1 Buy. Otherwise, gain an Estate card.

I made the +buy conditional to "halve" it. This guy is exactly a Grand Market if you discard an Estate. Otherwise he's horrible because you have to give up the cantrip effect if you don't want to gain an Estate.


$5
Super Gardens
+1 card
+1 action
Worth 1 VP for every 20 cards in your deck, rounded down.

Another Great Hall variant. Again very problematic to get to 2VP - you need 40 cards in your deck! Even then, it competes with Duchy. When exactly would you buy this?


$5
Super Horse Traders
+1 card
+1 action
+1 buy
+$1
Discard 1 card
When another player plays an Attack card, you may set this aside from your hand. If you do, then at the start of your next turn, +1 Card and return this to your hand.

Market with an extra advantage and drawback. Not worth it unless there are a LOT of attacks going around. Even if the reaction goes off, you're basically getting a 1-card filter total compared to market and that's it.

Combos with Tunnel and Library and other sicko cards that LIKE discarding effects.


$5
Super Envoy
+1 card
+1 action
Reveal the top 3 cards of your deck. The player to your left chooses one for you to discard. Draw the rest.

Seems insanely strong. +3 cards +1 action in total! We saw when trying to convert Lab to $4 how strong +card is with a cantrip. Now we see it the other way.


$5
Super Salvager
+1 card
+1 action
+1 Buy
Trash a card from your hand. +$ equal to half its cost, rounded down.

If you trash an estate this is a Market. Plus it gets rid of an estate! The problem comes when you start running out of junk in your deck. With Upgrade and Salvager this is (often) no problem because trashing even good cards continually improves your deck with these. But Super Salvager reduces the value of whatever it touches. And like Upgrade it has the conundrum that you have to play it if you want to see your next card, and maybe hope that it's junk. IMO too risky to buy unless it's the only trasher.


$5
Super Monument
+1 card
+1 action
+1 VP

A Great Hall that's worth 1VP for every cycle of your deck. Much stronger than it looks IMO. Crazy in draw-your-whole-deck decks. It'll be worth 1VP per turn in the game!! Alternatively..

$5
Super Menumont
+1 card
+1 action
+$2

Another crazy good card. Compared to Market you sacrifice +buy for +$. Who wouldn't do that?? This is the card Donald originally intended Grand Market to be, and he priced it at $6 (correction: $7!) without the no-copper condition. So this is clearly strong for $5. It seems that no matter how you halve Monument, it looks great as a cantrip. No wonder it's so strong in its terminal form.


$5
Super Moneylender
+1 card,
+1 action
Trash a copper from your hand. If you do, +$2.

Really strong early. Seems too strong for +$2 but too weak for +$1.


$5
Super Militia
+1 card
+1 action
+$1
Each other player discards down to 4 cards in his hand.

Yet another peddler-with-a-bonus. Normally a kind of weak bonus, but hey, so are most of them. Almost everyone is going to have a curse or VP card they don't mind tossing. But this would be great with Council Room and Governor, much moreso than normal Militia because it doesn't shut down your +action/+draw engine.

[One Armed Man]

$4
Cruddy Treasury
+$2
When you discard this from play, if you didn’t buy a Victory card this turn, you may put this on top of your deck.

I think this very card has been proposed, at this price, before, though without the no-Victory condition. I think it would be a lot of fun, and very strong if there are no other good early terminals, or an abundance of +actions.

to really double the effect:

$4
Cruddy Treasury
+$2
When you discard this from play, if you didn’t buy at least 2 Victory cards this turn, you may put this on top of your deck.

[dondon151]

$4
Cruddy Inn
+2 cards
+2 actions
Discard 4 cards. When you buy this, shuffle any number of action cards from your discard into your deck.

I feel like that Inn on its own, without the on-gain clause, is only worth $4.

[rinkworks]

Theory: Take a $5 cantrip, remove +1 card +1 action, double the rest of the effect, and you have a $4 card.

Conversely, take a $4 card, halve the effect, add +1 card +1 action, and you have a $5 card.

This is a really interesting idea.  Like you, I was surprised at how many of the results were balanced, or thereabouts.
A few comments on some:

$4
Cruddy Treasury
+$2
When you discard this from play, if you didn’t buy a Victory card this turn, you may put this on top of your deck.

I think this very card has been proposed, at this price, before, though without the no-Victory condition. I think it would be a lot of fun, and very strong if there are no other good early terminals, or an abundance of +actions.

Donald reported experimenting with this card in (I think) the Secret History of Dark Ages, or possibly the discussion thread about that.  He said that one of his playtesters persuaded him that it was a broken card and eventually agreed, but he didn't say what was broken about it.  Now I'm wondering if the no-Victory clause would have fixed it.

$5
Super Scout
+1 card
+1 action
Reveal the top 3 cards of your deck. Put the revealed Victory cards into your hand. Put the other cards on top of your deck in any order.

Much better than Scout. This is a Lab variant. Better than Lab if more than 1/3 of your deck is victory cards. I didn't quite halve the effect as I normally do because Scout already has a +action, all he needed for a cantrip was +card.

Top 2 cards only, right?  At only 2 cards, Vagrant will often be better (in cursing or DA games) but not usually.  $5 still seems steep.

$5
Super Salvager
+1 card
+1 action
+1 Buy
Trash a card from your hand. +$ equal to half its cost, rounded down.

If you trash an estate this is a Market. Plus it gets rid of an estate! The problem comes when you start running out of junk in your deck. With Upgrade and Salvager this is (often) no problem because trashing even good cards continually improves your deck with these. But Super Salvager reduces the value of whatever it touches. And like Upgrade it has the conundrum that you have to play it if you want to see your next card, and maybe hope that it's junk. IMO too risky to buy unless it's the only trasher.

Shouldn't be any riskier a buy than Junk Dealer, which is a worthwhile point of comparison.  When you trash Copper or Curses, this is a Junk Dealer that gives +1 Buy instead of +$1, but if you trash anything priced $2 or above, it's strictly superior to Junk Dealer.  Strong card, in other words.

$5
Super Monument
+1 card
+1 action
+1 VP
A Great Hall that's worth 1VP for every cycle of your deck. Much stronger than it looks IMO. Crazy in draw-your-whole-deck decks. It'll be worth 1VP per turn in the game!! Alternatively..

Why not +$1 and +0.5 VP?  That's also crazy strong.

$5
Super Menumont
+1 card
+1 action
+$2

Another crazy good card. Compared to Market you sacrifice +buy for +$. Who wouldn't do that?? This is the card Donald originally intended Grand Market to be, and he priced it at $6 without the no-copper condition.

He priced that version at $7, in fact.  It would make sense at $7.  Were the +1 Card another +$1 instead, you'd have a Gold equivalent, balanced at $6.  But +cards on a non-terminal is stronger than +$, hence why Laboratory costs $5 instead of $3.

[LastFootnote]

Shouldn't Super Scout have +2 Actions?

[AJD]

Hee hee:

$5
Super Throne Room
+1 card
+1 action
Choose an Action card in your hand. Play it once.

...In other words, a slightly weaker Village for $5.


$5
Super Treasure Map
+1 card
+1 action
Trash this. Gain 2 Golds, putting them on your deck.

...I'd buy that.

[Kahryl]

Shouldn't Super Scout have +2 Actions?

Top 2 cards only, right?

Super Scout takes revenge on the community that torments him by confusing Dominion veterans.

Original Scout is this:
+1 action
Inspect 4 cards

Halved Scout is this:
+0.5 action
Inspect 2 cards

Super Scout is this (add cantrip to his halved state):
+1 card
+1.5 action
Inspect 2 cards

You can't have 1.5 actions, so instead I gave Super Scout 1 action and 3-card inspection. Or another way of looking at it, as I put in my original post:

I didn't quite halve the effect as I normally do because Scout already has a +action, all he needed for a cantrip was +card.

If Super Scout only inspected 2 cards, you would need a 50% VP density in your deck for it to equal a Lab. This is the same density you need for the $4 Scout to equal a Lab. Since Super Scout costs more, it should be stronger!

[ftl]

Alternatively, Super Scout could have been +1 card, +2 actions, inspect 2 cards. Would become a $5 village variant, and not a very good one.

[Drab Emordnilap]

$5
Super Treasure Map
+1 card
+1 action
Trash this. Gain 2 Golds, putting them on your deck.

...I'd buy that.

I think:

$5
Super Treasure Map
+1 card
+1 action
Trash a Super Treasure Map from your hand. If you do, gain 2 Golds, putting them on your deck.

[Kirian]

Super Coppersmith
$5
+1 Card
+1 Action
Each pair of Coppers played this turn produces an extra $1.

I might actually buy this version.

Crappy Festival
$4
+2 Actions
+$4
+2 Buys
Discard two cards.

This is so much better than Horse Traders it's not even funny.

Crappy Highway
$4
When this is in play, cards cost $2 less, but not less than $0.

Worse than Princess.  Better than Bridge? Hard to say.

Crappy Apprentice
$4
Discard a card.
Trash a card.  +2 cards for every $1 in the cost of the trashed card.

Probably not that crappy.

Crappy Bandit Camp
$4
+2 Actions
Gain two Spoils from the Spoils pile.

YES PLEASE.

Also, have to disagree with you on Hunting Party:

Crappy Hunting Party
$4
Reveal your hand.
Do this twice: Reveal cards from your deck until you reveal a card that isn't a duplicate of one in your hand.  Put it into your hand and discard the rest.

With other +Actions, a +2 Card sifter is plenty powerful.

[Young Nick]

Kirian, I don't think your downgraded Festival is right.

[Taco Lobster]

Kirian, I don't think your downgraded Festival is right.

It looks odd, but I think the logic is that Festival isn't a $5 cantrip, so to de-cantrip it, you need to discard a card and lose an action.  Then you double everything - the one action goes back to 2, the discard goes up to 2, and the other bonuses are doubled. 

[eHalcyon]

$4 - Crappy City
+2 Actions
If there are one or more empty Supply piles, +2 Cards.  If there are two or more, +$2 and +2 Buys.




Cheaper, but also way weaker to start.  A level 1 City is worth $2 less than its purchase price ($3 Village).  A Crappy City is worth ~$3 less than its purchase price ($1 Necropolis, or just "less than $2 NV).

When a pile is emptied, it becomes equivalent to a City.

When a second pile empties, it is SO much stronger.

I don't know how it would play out compared to City.  Unlike the original, which is harmless, it is actually a hindrance until it gets to level 2.  But it is also easier to gain, e.g. with Ironworks.

[Kahryl]

Kirian, I don't think your downgraded Festival is right.

It looks odd, but I think the logic is that Festival isn't a $5 cantrip, so to de-cantrip it, you need to discard a card and lose an action.  Then you double everything - the one action goes back to 2, the discard goes up to 2, and the other bonuses are doubled.

"discard a card" isn't equal-and-opposite to "+1 card" though. If it were, Warehouse would be useless!. I'd say discarding TWO cards negates the advantage of a +card. In which case his Crappy Festival should discard a total of FOUR. Ironically, I think that's balanced. A $4 that gives such crazy benefits should outright nuke your hand.

[Guy Srinivasan]

Kirian, I don't think your downgraded Festival is right.

It looks odd, but I think the logic is that Festival isn't a $5 cantrip, so to de-cantrip it, you need to discard a card and lose an action.  Then you double everything - the one action goes back to 2, the discard goes up to 2, and the other bonuses are doubled.

"discard a card" isn't equal-and-opposite to "+1 card" though. If it were, Warehouse would be useless!. I'd say discarding TWO cards negates the advantage of a +card. In which case his Crappy Festival should discard a total of FOUR. Ironically, I think that's balanced. A $4 that gives such crazy benefits should outright nuke your hand.

During your cleanup, draw 1 less card? Discard a random card from your hand? Both closer to an opposite of +1 Card than discard a card, IMO.

[Guy Srinivasan]

The level 2 city example, thought through, shows that cards which are better than +1 Card, +1 Action more than a cantrip will become better, not worse, after your transform. As multiplication of effects goes, I am more of a fan of something like the following:

1. Subtract a cantrip.
2. Multiply the result by a factor. Like x2 to make a 5-cost out of a 4-cost.
3. Add a cantrip back in.
4. Add or subtract actions to make the resulting card have the same number of +Actions as the original, and subtract or add a bit of value to compensate.

Super Scout
$5 - Action
+1 Action
Discard a random card.
Inspect 8 cards.

Super Treasure Map
$5 - Action
You may discard 2 cards at random. If you discarded a Super Treasure Map this way, gain 9 Gold, putting them on top of your deck. If you did, you may trash all Super Treasure Maps in play and in your discard pile.
You may trash this card.

[NoMoreFun]

Super Smithy
$5
+2 cards
+1 action

[NoMoreFun]

Super Steward
$4
+1 card
+1 action
Choose one: +1 card, +$1 or trash a card from your hand

Super Chapel
$3
+1 card
+1 action
Trash up to 2 cards from your hand

Super cellar
$3
+1 action
+1 card
You may discard any number of cards from your hand. +1 card for every 2 cards you discard.

Super Secret Chamber
$3
+1 action
+1 card
You may discard any number of cards from your hand. +$1 for every 2 cards you discard this

Super Survivors
$1
+1 card
+1 action
Reveal the top card of your deck. Either discard it or put it back.

Cruddy Haven
$1
Set aside 2 cards from your hand. Put the set aside cards in your hand.

Not So Cruddy Familiar
$2P
Each other player gains 2 curses

Somewhat Cruddy Apothecary
$1P
Reveal the top 8 cards of your deck. Put the revealed coppers and potions in your hand, and put the other cards back in any order.

[One Armed Man]

Kirian, I don't think your downgraded Festival is right.

It looks odd, but I think the logic is that Festival isn't a $5 cantrip, so to de-cantrip it, you need to discard a card and lose an action.  Then you double everything - the one action goes back to 2, the discard goes up to 2, and the other bonuses are doubled.

"discard a card" isn't equal-and-opposite to "+1 card" though. If it were, Warehouse would be useless!. I'd say discarding TWO cards negates the advantage of a +card. In which case his Crappy Festival should discard a total of FOUR. Ironically, I think that's balanced. A $4 that gives such crazy benefits should outright nuke your hand.

During your cleanup, draw 1 less card? Discard a random card from your hand? Both closer to an opposite of +1 Card than discard a card, IMO.

I think "put a card from your hand on top of your deck" for a non-terminal is about the opposite of +1 card. Often, the next action you play will draw it anyway.

[NoMoreFun]

Cruddy Lighthouse
$1
Now and at the start of your next turn:
+$2, put a card from your hand on top of your deck
---
While this is in play, attack cards don't affect you

A much worse merchant ship, but interesting for $1

Cruddy Caravan
$3
At the start of your next turn, +2 cards

A worse wharf, but an interesting $3

Supermerchant Ship
$6
+1 card
+1 action
+$1
---
At the start of your next turn, +$1

I believe I saw this exact card as a $5 fan card.

Cruddy Rats
$3
Gain 2 cruddy rats. Trash 2 cards from your hand (or reveal a hand of all cruddy rats)
---
When you trash this, +2 cards.

Like regular rats, except much, much riskier.

Not so Cruddy Farming Village:
$3
+2 Actions
Put a card from your hand on top of your deck
Reveal cards from the top of your deck until you reveal 2 that are actions or treasures. Put them in your hand and discard the other revealed cards.

Strictly better than Farming Village

[zahlman]

Super Conspirator $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
+$1
If you've played 6 or more Actions this turn (counting this): +1 Card, +1 Action.

Super Navigator $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
+$1
Look at the top 2 cards of your deck. Either discard both of them, or put them back on top of your deck in either order.

Crappy Tactician $4
Discard your hand. If you discarded any cards this way, then at the start of your next turn, +8 Cards; +2 Buy.
(I kid!)

Ace of All Trades $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
You may gain a Copper. Look at the top card of your deck; you may put it on either the top or bottom of your deck. Draw until you have 4 cards in hand. You may trash a Curse from your hand. (I tried...)

Crappy Stables $4
You may discard a Treasure. If you do, +4 Cards.

Super Armory $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
Gain a card costing up to $2. Put it on top of your deck. (Hrm...)

Super Death Cart $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
+$3
Trash this.
When you gain this, gain a Ruins.

Super Feodum $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
Worth 1VP for every 6 Silvers in your deck.
When you trash this, gain a Silver.

Crappy Junk Dealer $4
+$2
Trash two cards from your hand.

Crappy Mystic $4
+$4
Name a card. Reveal the top card of your deck. If it's not the named card, discard two cards.

Super Scavenger $5
+1 Card
+1 Action
+$1
Look through your discard pile and put one card from it on top of your deck.

Crappy Sir Bailey $4
Each other player reveals the top 4 cards of his deck, trashes two of them costing from $3 to $6, and discards the rest. If a Knight is trashed by this, trash this card.

Super Envoy
Umm... yeah, that's not going to work.