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[NoMoreFun]

Grifter
Action/Attack/Looter - $5
+3 cards
Each player (including you) discards any number of cards, and gains an Action card with a cost no more than the number of cards discarded this way.
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When you gain this, gain a Ruins if you do not have any Treasure in play

A strange combination of Workshop, Vault and Torturer. You could create a massive draw engine easily but without discarding you'll probably gain some unwanted cards along the way. Meanwhile it's an "attack" that can guarantee you a $5 turn in slogs, but you will have to forgo your turn. If your opponent chains it you're going to end up with Ruins when you fail to discard any cards. The when trash is so it can reference Ruins and be a looter.

EDIT: Clarified the sentence about chaining.
EDIT 2: Changed the card to a $5 card, disincentivised self gaining. The original card was: Grifter

Action/Attack/Looter - $6
+4 cards
Each player (including you) discards any number of cards, and gains an Action card with a cost no more than the number of cards discarded this way.
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When you trash this, gain a ruins in hand

[Ozle]

Why would chaining it give you a Ruins? Did you mean to have that as 'Discard' ?

[SirPeebles]

I don't understand this card.  So, it just gives players the option to get free Ruins?  Why would they discard?  Seems like this would just play like Hunting Grounds, but with a usually worse trashing benefit.

[NoMoreFun]

The gain isn't optional. So you can get +4 cards, but you will gain a ruins unless you discard enough cards to gain something else.

Meanwhile it's an attack. The opponent has to either discard some cards (at least 2) to gain something or discard nothing and gain a ruins.

The on trash effect is purely so I can justify making it a Looter. The card needs to be a looter to work as intended.

[SirPeebles]

Ohhh, I read that as, for each card he discards, he gains an action card costing $0 or $1.  So like, if I discard three cards, I would gain 3 Ruins, unless Poor House is available or Highway shenanigans.  I guess you mean, I pick a numer X, then discard X cards and gain an action costing up to $X.

[NoMoreFun]

Ohhh, I read that as, for each card he discards, he gains an action card costing $0 or $1.  So like, if I discard three cards, I would gain 3 Ruins, unless Poor House is available or Highway shenanigans.  I guess you mean, I pick a numer X, then discard X cards and gain an action costing up to $X.

That's correct. Is there a better way to word this? The pick a number wording means that you can pledge to discard 7 cards when you're empty handed and still gain the King's Court.

[Grujah]

The "action" requirement makes it interesting, you can't gain provinces (nor duchies/alternate victory on opponent's turn).

I do not like the artificial "gain a ruins when trashed" thing - it seems like it is there only to enforce looter.

Dunno if it would be better if it simply just said "looter" or maybe "when you discard this, gain a Ruins" - which might weaken the card a lot...

Wording is fine.

[SirPeebles]

Well, eventually you don't want to gain Actions anymore, so that's sort of a built in penalty for trashing the card when it's no longer useful.

As for the wording something like:

Each player discards any number of cards from his hand, and gains an Action card whose costs in coins is at most the number of cards discarded.

[NoMoreFun]

It just doesn't feel right putting Looter on the card without having Ruins in the wording somewhere. When Trash effects (except Fortress and Rats' +1 card) seem arbitrary so why not.

[LastFootnote]

It just doesn't feel right putting Looter on the card without having Ruins in the wording somewhere.

Do it, dude. It's a type that exists for the sole purpose of putting the Ruins pile out. No reason to have the on-trash penalty.

[GendoIkari]

It just doesn't feel right putting Looter on the card without having Ruins in the wording somewhere.

Do it, dude. It's a type that exists for the sole purpose of putting the Ruins pile out. No reason to have the on-trash penalty.

Agreed. I'm all for having "Looter" on a card that doesn't specifically mention Ruins, especially when the card has a strong interaction with Ruins like this does. Putting "Looter" on some random card like Smithy; that would be awkward and silly.

[eHalcyon]

It seems like a pretty weak attack though.  If you play this, I can just discard my hand and gain a power $5.  Maybe my hand had some junk and I wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise!

[GendoIkari]

It seems like a pretty weak attack though.  If you play this, I can just discard my hand and gain a power $5.  Maybe my hand had some junk and I wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise!

Yeah, I definitely agree. Even in a decently-built deck, there are a fair number of turns where I would gladly discard my hand to gain a $5 action. And this is going to be true even more often in games with a Looter. Of course, if you managed to play Militia before playing this...

[heron]

It may be a weak attack sometimes, but that's good, because it has a pretty strong action part. Better than Hunting Grounds. Also, if you play this in multiples, your opponents are forced to gain ruins after their power $5.

[NoMoreFun]

It seems like a pretty weak attack though.  If you play this, I can just discard my hand and gain a power $5.  Maybe my hand had some junk and I wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise!

A valid point, but then if another one gets played you are gaining a Ruins. But yes it is a weak attack; it both creates a slog and helps you get out of it.

It may be a weak attack sometimes, but that's good, because it has a pretty strong action part. Better than Hunting Grounds. Also, if you play this in multiples, your opponents are forced to gain ruins after their power $5.

It's not necessarily better than Hunting Grounds because if you don't discard a healthy number of cards, you're gaining a Ruins. True, you can get a $5 card by overall discarding a card, which makes it similar to Altar with sifting instead of trashing.

I originally wanted it to be +3 cards and $5, but I didn't want you to be able to easily gain a copy of this outside your turn. I guess I could make the bottom: If you gain this and did not buy it/with no treasure in play, gain a Ruins. It would solve the Looter issue as well.

[NoMoreFun]

I changed it to a $5 card with an on gain penalty. This card still seems very powerful for 5: It can guarantee you a King's Court every turn, and it's a +3 cards attack that can gain its own Villages.