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Author Topic: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.  (Read 4912 times)

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November 06, 2019, 01:55:39 AM
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menace64

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Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« on: November 06, 2019, 01:55:39 AM »
Here's one for each of the OG Shadow cultures. I didn't bother with the post-MD Shadow cultures since they're thematically split by race, but I'm sure there are plenty of other atypical Culture/Race combinations out there to explore.

I'd love to see more if you've got any ideas!

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(0) •Regiment of Crows [Dunland]
Minion • Creature
Strength: 3
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 4
To play, spot no minions in play. Discard Regiment of Crows if at a dwelling or underground site.
At the start of the maneuver phase, the Free Peoples player reveals his or her hand. He or she may exert a ranger companion or add [4] to prevent this.
"As they passed overhead, in so dense a throng that their shadow followed them darkly over the ground below, one harsh croak was heard."

Of limited but potent use, the crebain of Dunland make for excellent spies, especially if the Company is moving without the expertise of a ranger.
I don't think "To play, spot no minions in play." is the correct wording to make it work right since I don't believe you can spot nothing.

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[2] Lagging Goblin [Gollum]
Minion • Orc
Strength: 4
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 7
Lurker.
Response: If Gollum is about to take a wound, wound or discard this minion to prevent that wound.
"Goblin he thought good, when he could get it; but he took care they never found him out."

I've often written [Gollum] Orcs with the intent of synergizing them with Web. This one is slightly different from what I've done in the past, and I've tried to push the 'lagginess' of him pretty hard. Overcosted for his stats, roaming late into the game, and last to skirmish, all he can really do is wound himself to death for the sake of a hungry Gollum. In this instance it's a rare stroke of luck when he survives into the Regroup phase (he ain't being played to survive!) but he's still fully-playable with Web, which makes me happy.

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[2] Elder Bark [Isengard]
Minion • Tree
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 5
Damage +1. Lurker. To play, exert an [Isengard] minion (or spot an Ent).
This minion is strength +1 for each wound on a companion or ally it is skirmishing.
"'But there are hollow dales in this land where the Darkness has never been lifted, and the trees are older than I am.'"

All I wanted to do here was write a Dark Huorn card, but I think I've accidentally stumbled into an interesting design space - and not based on what you see here. I envision additional [Isengard] Tree minions designed to 'fuel' Isengard's industry, maybe building a connection between Trees and pulling Machines out of your draw deck? I'd love to see what somebody else comes up with but I might circle back around and write a card or two for such a purpose.

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[2] •Gollum, Wandering the Long Dark [Moria]
Minion
Strength: 5
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 3
Lurker. When you play Gollum, replace the fellowship's current site with an underground site.
Gollum is always roaming.
At the end of each phase, exert Gollum to add [2].
"...like the faint fall of soft bare feet... but it was not an echo, for when they halted it pattered on for a little all by itself, and then grew still."

Okay, so Gollum doesn't actually have a Race and is thus ineligible for this series of cards, but whaaaaaatever :whistle:
I kept this Gollum simple and direct: Play him, and you're underground. End a phase, exert for [2]. Not optional, for Gollum is wandering against his will. (Edit - I spontaneously added the always roaming bit. Figured it made sense.)
Also, yes, this Gollum can bear Goblin Spear. That might bust him, so he might need a "Gollum may not bear possessions" clause to keep additional shenanigans in-check.

------
[4] •Alatar, The Blue Wizard [Raider]
Minion • Wizard
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 9
Easterling. Alatar may not take wounds during the archery phase and may not be assigned to a skirmish.
Skirmish: Exert Alatar and cancel a skirmish involving an Easterling to draw a card.
Sent long ago into the hostile East, few tales have returned to tell of the success - or failure - of his vital mission.

I've smashed Saruman and Gandalf together into a single card. I wanted to boost Easterlings without giving them any additional firepower, since that's not what Alatar is about: he may be a minion, but his mission is to deescalate cultural tensions, and to that end I've made him a skirmish-cancelling machine. Is your Easterling about to lose a skirmish? Think again - Daddy Alatar is here to make things all better.
Of course Alatar costs more than your average Wizard, since he'll drop for [6] right up until the very end due to that absolute blemish of a site number.
I was worried about Alatar becoming busted by bearing [Raider] possessions, but the only one he can bear is Easterling Polearm, which does nothing for him. There's also Staff of Saruman, Fallen Istar's Stave, but there's no way I'd add a clause preventing Alatar from bearing a Staff.

------
[2] •Frodo Baggins, Succumbing to The Ring [Wraith]
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 1
To play, spot a Nazgûl (or 6 burdens).
Frodo Baggins is strength +1 for each burden you can spot.
The Ring-bearer may not be assigned to a skirmish. The Free Peoples player may not assign a character to skirmish Frodo Baggins.
"'Don't you know your Sam?'"

The SWCCG dork in me will never die - long live split-personas!
Frodo Baggins is half Bill Ferny, SSF and half Stinker, conferring full protection to the Free Peoples player's Ring-bearer in exchange for (potentially) a significant strength boost. This is possibly the most busted card of the lot.

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[6] •Shelob, Keeper of Ancient Paths [Sauron]
Minion • Spider
Strength: 8
Vitality: 8
Site Number: 8
Enduring. Lurker.
While the fellowship is at a mountain site, your conditions may not be discarded by Free Peoples cards.
While the fellowship is at an underground site, Shelob is damage +1.
"...swollen till the mountains could no longer hold her up and the darkness could not contain her."

Nothing too complicated to be seen here - just a [Sauron] Spider that'll eighthandedly protect all of your conditions from meddling, provided you can get the fellowship to a mountain site.
« Last Edit: November 06, 2019, 12:34:18 PM by menace64 »

November 08, 2019, 11:39:46 AM
Reply #1

Phallen Cassidy

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2019, 11:39:46 AM »
Hmm... Interesting ideas, but I'm not sure what you're hoping to get out of them. I think there's a lot I'm not understanding.

(0) •Regiment of Crows [Dunland]
Minion • Creature
Strength: 3
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 4
To play, spot no minions in play. Discard Regiment of Crows if at a dwelling or underground site.
At the start of the maneuver phase, the Free Peoples player reveals his or her hand. He or she may exert a ranger companion or add [4] to prevent this.
"As they passed overhead, in so dense a throng that their shadow followed them darkly over the ground below, one harsh croak was heard."

The wording is somewhat awkward because you can't spot a minion that isn't in play anyway, but other than that I don't see a problem with it. "To play, spot no minions." You can spot nothing, in fact Held has essentially the same wording. But what's the point of that first sentence, to ensure it's not used with Leaping Blaze? It's unique, and the extra 3 strength wouldn't matter so terribly, would it? Might make Dunland Swarm attractive for once, haha.

[2] Lagging Goblin [Gollum]
Minion • Orc
Strength: 4
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 7
Lurker.
Response: If Gollum is about to take a wound, wound or discard this minion to prevent that wound.
"Goblin he thought good, when he could get it; but he took care they never found him out."
I think you'll have to add some more to this deal: I wouldn't pay [4] to use Sweeter Meats twice. There's some interesting synergy with a few cards that reference [gollum] minions, but overall it's just not worth it I'm afraid.

[2] Elder Bark [Isengard]
Minion • Tree
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 5
Damage +1. Lurker. To play, exert an [Isengard] minion (or spot an Ent).
This minion is strength +1 for each wound on a companion or ally it is skirmishing.
"'But there are hollow dales in this land where the Darkness has never been lifted, and the trees are older than I am.'"

All I wanted to do here was write a Dark Huorn card, but I think I've accidentally stumbled into an interesting design space - and not based on what you see here. I envision additional [Isengard] Tree minions designed to 'fuel' Isengard's industry, maybe building a connection between Trees and pulling Machines out of your draw deck? I'd love to see what somebody else comes up with but I might circle back around and write a card or two for such a purpose.
This card is going to depend on the strategy you mentioned. Currently, it's a smaller Uruk-hai Berserker with access to fewer tools but I like the potential connection with Machines. Site number might want to drop as well, Fangorn Forest is 2T.

[2] •Gollum, Wandering the Long Dark [Moria]
Minion
Strength: 5
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 3
Lurker. When you play Gollum, replace the fellowship's current site with an underground site.
Gollum is always roaming.
At the end of each phase, exert Gollum to add [2].
"...like the faint fall of soft bare feet... but it was not an echo, for when they halted it pattered on for a little all by itself, and then grew still."

Okay, so Gollum doesn't actually have a Race and is thus ineligible for this series of cards, but whaaaaaatever :whistle:
I kept this Gollum simple and direct: Play him, and you're underground. End a phase, exert for [2]. Not optional, for Gollum is wandering against his will. (Edit - I spontaneously added the always roaming bit. Figured it made sense.)
Also, yes, this Gollum can bear Goblin Spear. That might bust him, so he might need a "Gollum may not bear possessions" clause to keep additional shenanigans in-check.
I, for one, am all in favor of shenanigans. That's one of the reasons cultures are separated the way they are, to limit access of certain minions to certain tools. Shouldn't opening those tools up be the purpose of having an unusual race in a culture (e.g., Sauron Uruk-hai)?

So this guy will add somewhere between [2] and [6] between the end of the Shadow phase and the end of the Archery phase. What's Moria gonna do with all that twilight? Making the sites underground is a nice feature, though. MIght be worth two Gollums: one for Moria and one for Sauron.

[4] •Alatar, The Blue Wizard [Raider]
Minion • Wizard
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 9
Easterling. Alatar may not take wounds during the archery phase and may not be assigned to a skirmish.
Skirmish: Exert Alatar and cancel a skirmish involving an Easterling to draw a card.
Sent long ago into the hostile East, few tales have returned to tell of the success - or failure - of his vital mission.

I've smashed Saruman and Gandalf together into a single card. I wanted to boost Easterlings without giving them any additional firepower, since that's not what Alatar is about: he may be a minion, but his mission is to deescalate cultural tensions, and to that end I've made him a skirmish-cancelling machine. Is your Easterling about to lose a skirmish? Think again - Daddy Alatar is here to make things all better.
Of course Alatar costs more than your average Wizard, since he'll drop for [6] right up until the very end due to that absolute blemish of a site number.
I was worried about Alatar becoming busted by bearing [Raider] possessions, but the only one he can bear is Easterling Polearm, which does nothing for him. There's also Staff of Saruman, Fallen Istar's Stave, but there's no way I'd add a clause preventing Alatar from bearing a Staff.

Maybe drop the twilight cost to [2]? I'm not totally sure what the benefit to using him is, though, except to make double moving a potentially terrible idea. I guess saving a fierce fellow from Cirdan?

[2] •Frodo Baggins, Succumbing to The Ring [Wraith]
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 1
To play, spot a Nazgûl (or 6 burdens).
Frodo Baggins is strength +1 for each burden you can spot.
The Ring-bearer may not be assigned to a skirmish. The Free Peoples player may not assign a character to skirmish Frodo Baggins.
"'Don't you know your Sam?'"

The SWCCG dork in me will never die - long live split-personas!
Frodo Baggins is half Bill Ferny, SSF and half Stinker, conferring full protection to the Free Peoples player's Ring-bearer in exchange for (potentially) a significant strength boost. This is possibly the most busted card of the lot.
This is a strange one. There are a good number of cards to support generic [Wraith] minions, but it's hard to say how much good they'd do since he won't be taking anyone down on his own (except perhaps a Hobbit, humorously enough), and any tools he can use would also be usable by whatever minion he's fighting with. I might allow the Free Peoples to assign Frodo Baggins in favor of something along the lines of "Each time Frodo Baggins is about to take a wound in a skirmish, wound the Ring-bearer." Unless you can overwhelm him, you're darned if you do and darned if you don't.

[6] •Shelob, Keeper of Ancient Paths [Sauron]
Minion • Spider
Strength: 8
Vitality: 8
Site Number: 8
Enduring. Lurker.
While the fellowship is at a mountain site, your conditions may not be discarded by Free Peoples cards.
While the fellowship is at an underground site, Shelob is damage +1.
"...swollen till the mountains could no longer hold her up and the darkness could not contain her."

Nothing too complicated to be seen here - just a [Sauron] Spider that'll eighthandedly protect all of your conditions from meddling, provided you can get the fellowship to a mountain site.
Mordor Enraged. This is probably the card I'd most want to use, since [Sauron] has so many cards for any minion and no shortage of ways to take advantage of the Enduring keyword. Still, she costs enough to make using her a meaningful choice. The site conditions are cool, but secondary -- it only works on effects after the Fellowship phase and the Free Peoples can always wait until next turn for the rest (unless you can time it just right), and the damage bonus doesn't mean much to me unless combined with one of the Advance orcs from set 1 (but having a fierce, damage +2 minion with 18 strength sounded neat until I realized I was describing a 3-card Demon of Might).

Overall, I think once you can say what you're trying to accomplish by adding unusual races to the cultures there will be more space to see the uses for them.

November 08, 2019, 03:16:25 PM
Reply #2

Not a Zombie

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2019, 03:16:25 PM »
Here's one for each of the OG Shadow cultures. I didn't bother with the post-MD Shadow cultures since they're thematically split by race, but I'm sure there are plenty of other atypical Culture/Race combinations out there to explore.

I'd love to see more if you've got any ideas!

------
(0) •Regiment of Crows [Dunland]
Minion • Creature
Strength: 3
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 4
To play, spot no minions in play. Discard Regiment of Crows if at a dwelling or underground site.
At the start of the maneuver phase, the Free Peoples player reveals his or her hand. He or she may exert a ranger companion or add [4] to prevent this.
"As they passed overhead, in so dense a throng that their shadow followed them darkly over the ground below, one harsh croak was heard."

I like. Make it: When you play Regiment of Crows, discard all other minions from play.
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I'm imploring people I've never met to pressure a government with better things to do to punish a man who meant no harm for something nobody even saw, thats what I'm doing!

November 09, 2019, 02:51:46 PM
Reply #3

menace64

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2019, 02:51:46 PM »
Quote from: Phallen Cassidy
Hmm... Interesting ideas, but I'm not sure what you're hoping to get out of them. I think there's a lot I'm not understanding.

There's no greater context or intent than what has been presented. I sat down wanting to write a handful of atypical minion cards.

Quote from: Phallen Cassidy
Regiment of Crows
---
But what's the point of that first sentence, to ensure it's not used with Leaping Blaze?

Entirely flavor-based. The crows are 'first responders', the first sign of trouble for the fellowship. I wanted to push that theme. Leaping Blaze wouldn't work on the Crows, nor would any of the other skirmish-based [Dunland] minions from sets 5/6.

Quote from: Phallen Cassidy
Lagging Goblin
---
I think you'll have to add some more to this deal: I wouldn't pay [4] to use Sweeter Meats twice. There's some interesting synergy with a few cards that reference [gollum] minions, but overall it's just not worth it I'm afraid.

Would it be beneficial to have another avenue for a Gollum player to absorb archery wounds, even directed archery? When paired with Web, Lagging Goblin is a recurring source of wound-prevention. But I'm not petitioning for this being a good card - I rarely write cards to be Good over Flavorful, since generally I feel a card game is at its best when lots of quirky cards are available for experimentation. Too much of a good thing gives you cavities.

Quote from: Phallen Cassidy
Elder Bark
---
This card is going to depend on the strategy you mentioned. Currently, it's a smaller Uruk-hai Berserker with access to fewer tools but I like the potential connection with Machines. Site number might want to drop as well, Fangorn Forest is 2T.

It's also immune to every Uruk-hai-targeting card in the game, which is certainly worth something. I love the idea of dropping the site number to 2T - excellent point.

Quote from: Phallen Cassidy
•Gollum, Wandering the Long Dark
---
What's Moria gonna do with all that twilight?

No idea! That'd be up to the Moria player to determine, should they choose to include Gollum. There might be a hypothetical version of the meta where splashing a Gollum into your deck is a good idea (maybe there's a really powerful Gollum-centric site?) and in that instance having a [Moria] Gollum in your deck could be a boon, especially one that turns sites underground and nets you twilight.

Quote from: Phallen Cassidy
Might be worth two Gollums: one for Moria and one for Sauron.

I'll need to give that a shot.

Quote from: Phallen Cassidy
•Alatar, The Blue Wizard
---
Maybe drop the twilight cost to [2]? I'm not totally sure what the benefit to using him is, though, except to make double moving a potentially terrible idea. I guess saving a fierce fellow from Cirdan?

The point is having a [Raider] Wizard! :lol: But surely you see the potential benefit to saving your Easterling from a skirmish he may be about to lose? Let's say you're playing against Dwarves and you've got 3 Easterlings about to eat it hard. Alatar can save each of them, making it incredibly scary for that Dwarf player to move again. Alatar is a minion-saving, card-drawing engine when used properly.

Quote from: Phallen Cassidy
•Frodo Baggins, Succumbing to The Ring
---
This is a strange one. There are a good number of cards to support generic [Wraith] minions, but it's hard to say how much good they'd do since he won't be taking anyone down on his own (except perhaps a Hobbit, humorously enough), and any tools he can use would also be usable by whatever minion he's fighting with. I might allow the Free Peoples to assign Frodo Baggins in favor of something along the lines of "Each time Frodo Baggins is about to take a wound in a skirmish, wound the Ring-bearer." Unless you can overwhelm him, you're darned if you do and darned if you don't.

Frodo would function as a splash-pump, similar to how Bill Ferny used to work back in the day but slightly accelerated and more suitable towards the endgame. I really like your idea for an alternate Ring-bearer effect; I'll re-examine what I wrote and give it a whirl.

Quote from: Phallen Cassidy
•Shelob, Keeper of Ancient Paths
---
Mordor Enraged. This is probably the card I'd most want to use, since [Sauron] has so many cards for any minion and no shortage of ways to take advantage of the Enduring keyword. Still, she costs enough to make using her a meaningful choice. The site conditions are cool, but secondary -- it only works on effects after the Fellowship phase and the Free Peoples can always wait until next turn for the rest (unless you can time it just right), and the damage bonus doesn't mean much to me unless combined with one of the Advance orcs from set 1 (but having a fierce, damage +2 minion with 18 strength sounded neat until I realized I was describing a 3-card Demon of Might).

Yup. I didn't want to make Shelob too technical, knowing that 8 vitality would always be her strongest selling point as a [Sauron] minion. Owing to that I kept her site-relevant text flavorful but simple and only of a secondary advantage. I really like how she'd pair with Mordor Enraged, a card I totally forgot about when writing her card.

Quote from: Phallen Cassidy
Overall, I think once you can say what you're trying to accomplish by adding unusual races to the cultures there will be more space to see the uses for them.

I accomplished everything I set out to do: write an off-race card for each Shadow culture.

Now, about that [Sauron] Gollum...

[2] •Gollum, Prisoner of Barad-dur [Sauron]
Minion
Strength: 5
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 3
Each time the fellowship moves, if this card is in your discard pile, you may discard 2 Free Peoples cards (or 1 tale) from hand to draw a card. If the card you draw is a [Sauron] card, you may reveal it to take a [Sauron] minion into hand from your discard pile.
"'Yess. Yess. No!' shrieked Gollum. 'Once, by accident it was, wasn't it, precious? Yes, by accident. But we won't go back, no, no!'"

I have no idea how this Gollum would interact with other cards, but I'm not particularly thrilled with how it would function once you have several copies of it in your discard pile. I do like the flavor of the card, independent of how broken it might be.

November 09, 2019, 02:52:52 PM
Reply #4

menace64

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2019, 02:52:52 PM »
Quote from: Not a Zombie
•Regiment of Crows
---
I like. Make it: When you play Regiment of Crows, discard all other minions from play.

That could work, but might read a bit too similar to The Balrog, which is a bit of subtle flavor I wouldn't really want to push.

November 09, 2019, 05:22:20 PM
Reply #5

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #5 on: November 09, 2019, 05:22:20 PM »
Gollum, Wandering the Long Dark seems better for [Raider] or [Men] with all that post-shadow phase twilight.
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November 09, 2019, 07:29:03 PM
Reply #6

menace64

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #6 on: November 09, 2019, 07:29:03 PM »
Gollum, Wandering the Long Dark seems better for [Raider] or [Men] with all that post-shadow phase twilight.

[2] •Gollum, Skulking Spy [Raider]
Minion
Strength: 5
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 3
Lurker.
Each time you play a minion with ambush, add [1].
Assignment: Exert Gollum and spot X [Raider] minions with ambush to add [X].
"'We're not in decent places. Time's running short, yes, running fast. No time to lose. We must go.'"

January 06, 2020, 05:48:14 PM
Reply #7

Durin's Heir

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2020, 05:48:14 PM »
What about this one?


[6] •The Witch-King, Spear of Terror [Sauron]
Minion • Nazgul
Strength 14  Vitality 4  Site 5
Besieger. Fierce.
Shadow: Play a [Sauron] minion to add a threat.
Shadow: Exert a besieger and remove a threat to take a [Sauron] condition (or a [Wraith] card) from your draw deck into your hand.
"For yet another weapon, swifter than hunger, the Lord of the Dark Tower had: dread and despair."


So the Witch-King commands the siege. He can sow threats by playing cheap [Sauron] minions, like Morgul Skulker or Gorgoroth Assassin. And can reap those threats to either set up a specific [Sauron] strategy against the Fellowship (like pulling 3x or 4x engines, Tower of Barad-dur or DDotR asap), or to push a critical assault on the good guys (by getting Stricken Dumb, the Pale Blade + Winged Mount, This Is My Hour, Fear, Unhindered, a key Nazgul...). Imagine piling up many DDotR on the same FP tank and playing both Ferny and Toldea MoM to trigger them twice...

By being both a Nazgul and a [Sauron] besieger, he bridges those cultures strongly so they can use the tricks of both, and also pulls them at will (provided he has enough twilight and minions/threats). A field marshall, different from the typical brute monster we usually see stacking lame-#$&*@! Black Breath + Blade Tip on his victims. Never actually seen a strategist Witch King, and that's what he did most in the 3rd book.


So what do you think?
« Last Edit: January 06, 2020, 08:58:26 PM by Durin's Heir »
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January 08, 2020, 02:13:41 PM
Reply #8

menace64

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2020, 02:13:41 PM »
I'm all for a strong Witch-king besieger, but I think his cost should stay at [8] here, making him slightly more expensive than other WKs earlier along the site path.

Or perhaps curtail the first shadow ability slightly: "When you play The Witch-king, you may play a besieger to add a threat."

It's tough to say though, in either case. Spear of Terror would be a really fun card to playtest!

---

(0) •Caradhras, The Cruel [Isengard]
Ally • Home 4[F] • Mountain
Strength: 14
Vitality: 9
Ambush [3]. Caradhras may not take wounds or be overwhelmed.
Any site 4[F] is a mountain.
Shadow or Skirmish: If the fellowship is at site 4[F], exert Caradhras and discard an [Isengard] minion from hand to play a weather condition from your draw deck.
"'Caradhras was called the Cruel, and had an ill name long years ago, when rumour of Sauron had not been heard in these lands.'"

lol it's probably waaaay too much but I felt like writing something spunky. I gave Caradhras the same stats as Tom Bombadil to represent its incredible age. Ambush was an afterthought that can easily be cut. The not taking wounds / immunity to overwhelm was to help set it apart as a minion you can't beat to death with weapons or pumps... Caradhras simply exists, and you're probably going to take a wound by losing to it (big deal, right?). But its activated ability encourages more weather use for [Isengard], yet its impact is highly restricted to but a single site along the adventure path.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2020, 02:15:35 PM by menace64 »

January 09, 2020, 01:48:50 PM
Reply #9

Durin's Heir

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2020, 01:48:50 PM »
I'm all for a strong Witch-king besieger, but I think his cost should stay at [8] here, making him slightly more expensive than other WKs earlier along the site path.
Yes, making him cheaper past site 4 is advantageous in comparison to the [Wraith] versions. But the [Sauron] culture has no way of creating twilight (save OLoAGT and Forces of Mordor; or Encirclement in late game in dedicated decks) and dumping an [8] Nazgul and also playing [Sauron] minions and conditions requires too much resources to be viable often. In that scenario, might be better to keep the cost at [6] while reducing both the Strength and Site Number by 2 (a str 12 fierce Nazgul, like Attea/Toldea, who can get back to 14 str + wound prevention by pulling a Winged Mount with relative ease). :-k

I mean, Great Hill Troll is stronger by 2 and can cost much less... Troll of Cirith Gorgor is cheaper by [1] and damage +1, and can go much, much stronger with support area cards. But they are brute force, like Lord of Angmar or Black Captain. This isn't another brute Witch-king, but an intelligent strategist (more like Saruman SotE or Shelob HL, or Desert Lord). So being strength -2 and twilight -2 seems like a good deal to me.

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(0) •Caradhras, The Cruel [Isengard]
Man that card is sick! Bombadil's stats? I love the idea! :up:

But still, the notion of skirmishing a motionless mountain is a bit absurd to me (you can bruise your knees at most, but how can you lose against it?), I'd change the wound+overwhelm protection to Rabble-rouser's protection text. The mountain should just watch. Also, with Saruman's Snows will overwhelm Boromir, it's not a mere wound. Motionlessly.

I'd also change the ability's phase from "Shadow and Skirmish" to "Maneuver and Skirmish," and "weather condition" to "weather card," so it can include Cruel Caradhras the event. (Cruel Caradhras is a great card that never got a good development with other cards to synergize.) Also, I'd make it "discard an [Isengard] card" instead of "minion" (too expensive), and "play a weather card from your draw deck at twilight cost -2" so you can drop everything at site 4, and have sites 5 and 6 to put the remaining nails on the coffin. For support companions, if not the RB, at least.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2020, 01:51:01 PM by Durin's Heir »
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January 09, 2020, 03:11:34 PM
Reply #10

menace64

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #10 on: January 09, 2020, 03:11:34 PM »
My initial intention was to prevent Caradhras from skirmishing as you suggest, but then it makes the Strength a bit pointless beyond flavor (not that I'd ever argue against making the flavorful choice when possible), but then again - as you pointed out - physically skirmishing a mountain also doesn't make a lot of sense. I've swapped out Shadow for Maneuver (makes sense) and made it able to pull weather cards rather than conditions.

Without the ability to skirmish Ambush becomes extraneous, so it's out. I've used the space to insert some cultural enforcement and then I felt comfortable altering the ability cost to simply discarding a minion from hand.

(0) •Caradhras, The Cruel [Isengard]
Ally • Home 4[F] • Mountain
Strength: 14
Vitality: 9
Weather. To play, discard a Unique [Isengard] character from hand. Caradhras may not take wounds or be assigned to a skirmish.
Any site 4[F] is a mountain.
Maneuver or Skirmish: If the fellowship is at site 4[F], exert Caradhras and discard a minion from hand to play a weather card from your draw deck.
"'Caradhras was called the Cruel, and had an ill name long years ago, when rumour of Sauron had not been heard in these lands.'"

This version helps cycle extra copies of Caradhras out of your hand, and by adding the Weather keyword it becomes even easier to get it into play by site 4 using any number of methods for pulling it.

Now, about making use of Caradhras' stats...

[5] The Mountain Has Defeated Us [Isengard]
Event • Skirmish or Regroup
Weather.
Exert a mountain X times (limit thrice) to make the Free Peoples player exert X companions, each of a different race. If a Hobbit is exerted, the move limit for this turn is -1.
"Bill the pony stood patiently but dejectedly in front of the hobbits, and screened them a little; but before long the drifting snow was above his hocks, and it went on mounting. If they had no larger companions the hobbits would soon have been entirely buried."

I made it a Skirmish/Regroup event so it could be pulled by Caradhras itself but it might be too potent as-is. It feels more like a Regroup event anyhow.

This would synergize well with [Isengard] Orcs and also puts the pressure on the FP player not to dump exertions on their hobbits, since doing so automatically kills any chance of double-moving. Bonus win for getting the word thrice onto a card.

---

(0) •Purpose of His Own [Isengard]
Condition
Weather. Bearer must be Caradhras.
Skirmish: If the fellowship is at a mountain site and a Free Peoples character with strength equal to or greater than Caradhras is about to win a skirmish, exert Caradhras twice to make that companion strength -3. Discard this condition.
"'There are many evil and unfriendly things in the world that have little love for those that go on two legs, and yet are not in league with Sauron...'"

I wanted to target Caradhras' strength somehow without tying directly into it being involved in a skirmish. This card is vulnerable to Sleep, Caradhras (flavor win) and puts Caradhras' impressive strength to use in a roundabout way by punishing companions who become a bit too tanky during a skirmish. It also extends Caradhras' value beyond just Site 4[F].

---

This card tumbled out of my head as well:

[1] His Arm Has Grown Long [Isengard]
Event • Maneuver
Spell.
Exert Caradhras and reveal an [Isengard] Wizard from your hand to remove up to 3 weather cards from your discard pile. Place 1 of those cards into your hand and shuffle the other 2 into your draw deck.
"...the sounds were those of shrill cries, and wild howls of laughter."

Weather recursion would be handy in a deck dedicated to such a strategy. This gives a Shadow player an effective starting point by giving them 1 card of their choice while shuffling 2 other cards back into circulation. Wonky wording though.

January 09, 2020, 03:15:02 PM
Reply #11

menace64

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2020, 03:15:02 PM »
I'm all for a strong Witch-king besieger, but I think his cost should stay at [8] here, making him slightly more expensive than other WKs earlier along the site path.
Yes, making him cheaper past site 4 is advantageous in comparison to the [Wraith] versions. But the [Sauron] culture has no way of creating twilight (save OLoAGT and Forces of Mordor; or Encirclement in late game in dedicated decks) and dumping an [8] Nazgul and also playing [Sauron] minions and conditions requires too much resources to be viable often. In that scenario, might be better to keep the cost at [6] while reducing both the Strength and Site Number by 2 (a str 12 fierce Nazgul, like Attea/Toldea, who can get back to 14 str + wound prevention by pulling a Winged Mount with relative ease). :-k

I mean, Great Hill Troll is stronger by 2 and can cost much less... Troll of Cirith Gorgor is cheaper by [1] and damage +1, and can go much, much stronger with support area cards. But they are brute force, like Lord of Angmar or Black Captain. This isn't another brute Witch-king, but an intelligent strategist (more like Saruman SotE or Shelob HL, or Desert Lord). So being strength -2 and twilight -2 seems like a good deal to me.

I honestly didn't consider the intrinsic limitations of the [Sauron] culture. If anything though I think it might be neat to keep your WK at [8] and give him a slight strength boost to compensate, maybe at the sacrifice of Fierce? I dunno. There are lots of ways to play with a [Sauron]-culture Nazgul, and I reckon just about any permutation could be made to work.

January 11, 2020, 02:19:08 PM
Reply #12

Inspire

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Re: Minions of unusual Culture/Race combinations.
« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2020, 02:19:08 PM »
I'm all for a strong Witch-king besieger, but I think his cost should stay at [8] here, making him slightly more expensive than other WKs earlier along the site path.
Yes, making him cheaper past site 4 is advantageous in comparison to the [Wraith] versions. But the [Sauron] culture has no way of creating twilight (save OLoAGT and Forces of Mordor; or Encirclement in late game in dedicated decks) and dumping an [8] Nazgul and also playing [Sauron] minions and conditions requires too much resources to be viable often. In that scenario, might be better to keep the cost at [6] while reducing both the Strength and Site Number by 2 (a str 12 fierce Nazgul, like Attea/Toldea, who can get back to 14 str + wound prevention by pulling a Winged Mount with relative ease). :-k

I mean, Great Hill Troll is stronger by 2 and can cost much less... Troll of Cirith Gorgor is cheaper by [1] and damage +1, and can go much, much stronger with support area cards. But they are brute force, like Lord of Angmar or Black Captain. This isn't another brute Witch-king, but an intelligent strategist (more like Saruman SotE or Shelob HL, or Desert Lord). So being strength -2 and twilight -2 seems like a good deal to me.

I honestly didn't consider the intrinsic limitations of the [Sauron] culture. If anything though I think it might be neat to keep your WK at [8] and give him a slight strength boost to compensate, maybe at the sacrifice of Fierce? I dunno. There are lots of ways to play with a [Sauron]-culture Nazgul, and I reckon just about any permutation could be made to work.

It's mostly a matter of preference, but I usually try to avoid changing the established base attributes (twilight cost, strength, vitality) of unique companions and minions. Generally, there is way to achieve a similar result through game text. For a besieger Witch-king, perhaps something along the lines of "the twilight cost of each [Sauron] card/besieger is -1" rather than a reduction to the Witch-king's own twilight cost. This would also support the theme of the Witch-king being a commander of the [Sauron] army, rather than a solitary skirmisher.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2020, 04:41:12 PM by Inspire »