SW/LotR Design - The Adventure Path.

[Elessar's Socks]

Hoth
Outer. Tundra. The twilight cost of each card is +X, where X is the number of cards in the Light Side player's hand (limit +4).

Representing the planetary shield the Rebels erected as defense against the Empire's Death Squadron, Hoth is a site not to be trifled with. In the right circumstance, it can rip apart a Dark Side player's strategy; but the harsh conditions of the frozen surface will take their toll on the next turn, when all of your own cards start off costing +4.

Sheer stroke of genius. :gold: Alternatively hiding behind the shield is the equivalent of displaying a huge "Here we are; come get us!" banner. The attention the LS player attracts is going to shoot through the roof.

Nal Hutta
Mid. Urban. Each time you play a card, you may make the next card you play during the same phase twilight cost -1.

is the Fringe culture, which is split across both Light and Dark sides. This site doesn't have a normal ability, but I wanted something 'festering' about it. Nal Hutta is the Hutt homeworld, and its moon - Nar Shaddaa - is a haven for criminal vagrants and those wishing not to be found. Together, they form a criminal paradise. Each act of violence or wrongdoing (playing a card) makes it easier to do it again.

Looks good!

[menace64]

Hehe, thanks for all the kind words, folks. It spurs me on!

Byss
Deep Core. Each time a card adds a burden, you may make the Light Side player wound a destined companion.

Byss. Currently the only deep core site in my designs, and the dark heart of Palpatine's plotting. Byss is a planet completely drowned in dark side energies. Byss was the capital of Palpatine's reborn Empire, and - as such - was the location of the epic showdown before its annihilation by New Republic forces. So this site is directed at those people destined to stand up to fight evil, and also those who are forced to fight the temptation to join with it. Oh yeah... is the Dark Jedi culture.

Carida
Core. When the alliance moves to Carida, each player may make Carida gain one of the following keywords until the regroup phase: forest, desert, tundra, or urban.

Kind of a wacky site. I intended, at first, for Carida to represent the Imperial training facilities there and to help Imperial minions directly in some way. But on further investigation, I realized I could do the planet more justice by representing how diverse its terrain is (which explains why there are so many training facilities to start with). So Carida is the jack-of-all-sites, able to exhibit the particular planetary feature you happen to need at the time.

[Thranduil]

Seems good. Presumably Destined is ring-bound equivalent?

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

Yep, look good to me.

[sickofpalantirs]

lookin good!

[MR. Lurtzy]

Carida
Core. When the alliance moves to Carida, each player may make Carida gain one of the following keywords until the regroup phase: forest, desert, tundra, or urban.

So could each player pick a different keyword?

[menace64]

Yup yup, Mr. Lurtzy. Pretty fun site, eh?  :hey:

Well, I've done 15 sites so far - if I've counted right - and I think doing 10 more will set up a really good foundation for the adventure path.

Now, because I'm really anxious to start spoiling the Mandalorian culture, I'll be doing 3 sites at a time! Try to keep up! 

Coruscant
Core. Urban. When the alliance moves to Coruscant, each player reconciles his or her hand.

I knew from the get-go that Coruscant needed to have a movement-based effect. Being the capital, its highlight is its placement in the galaxy, and after figuring that much, I decided to focus on the fact that Coruscant was a draw for any space-traveling citizen. Coruscant has it all. This site makes everybody reconcile their hand (an obvious boon for a double-moving LS player). This, however, can lead any player intro trouble, as his or her deck may be running low, or maybe there's a card in play that keys off of hand reconciliation (wink wink).

Death Star II
Outer. Vacuum. When the alliance moves to Death Star II, if it is in region 2 or 3, no player may play events or conditions from his or her hand, draw deck, or discard pile until the start of the regroup phase.

This was one of those sites I was both looking forward to and dreading at the same time. It's hard enough to summarize a planet into a sentence or two of gametext; the climactic superweapon of the last installment of the original trilogy is a much taller order. My first instinct was to give this site a generic bonus for piloting characters, but I felt that would lack the "oomph" the site needs. So I wrote something else, basically off the top of my head. After a lot of toiling, I arrived at what you can see above. A site that forces every player to run with what they've got out already. It represents how the Rebels had "one shot" at destroying the superweapon, and how the Emperor held the Imperial fleet in check, choosing to play mind-games with the heroes first.

But I had a different gametext lined up for Death Star II, which migrated to another site:

Endor
Outer. Forest. Each time your companion is killed or discarded from play, you may pay his or her twilight cost to return him or her to your hand instead.

I thought this was a pretty good Death Star II text, until it dawned on me that I was writing to describe the Battle of Endor more than anything else. I mean - throughout that prolonged engagement (ranging from the Rebel insertion on the surface to Lando's escape from the core of the behemoth) - how many "close calls" did all the characters have? I could list them all day... Leia being saved by Wicket, Luke/Threepio saving everyone in the Ewok village, Lando's aforementioned escape. The Force certainly was with our heroes that day, and I felt it pertinent to translate that sense of destiny/purpose into card form.

[Thranduil]

Coruscant
Core. Urban. When the alliance moves to Coruscant, each player reconciles his or her hand.

I can't quite see this at - because it helps Shadow players as well, it should be .

Death Star II
Outer. Vacuum. When the alliance moves to Death Star II, if it is in region 2 or 3, no player may play events or conditions from his or her hand, draw deck, or discard pile until the start of the regroup phase.

Because this is a much bigger deal for the FP player than the Shadow, I reckon it should probably be .

Endor
Outer. Forest. Each time your character is killed or discarded from play, you may pay that character's twilight cost to return that character to your hand instead.

This looks good!

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

Nothing new to add...Thran already covered it. Will vacuum require some special cards for characters to survive there?

[menace64]

Will vacuum require some special cards for characters to survive there?

It's possible, but most likely not. Back on Decipher's old forums, there was a SW/LotR contest, and the cards in that contest were almost literal in function. For instance, characters couldn't do almost anything in "space" sites, characters could stack on starships/vehicles and pilot them free from the alliance. Well, what I'm getting at is sometimes function has to come before form. And vacuum sites scream that to me.

If someone wants a reason why vacuum sites don't straight-out kill people who aren't using starships, I'd say you should imagine them all on some transport or something. Since Star Wars is a galaxy ripe with freighters, starliners, destroyers, and every other term under the sun, I think assuming everyone can afford transport is a given.

[sickofpalantirs]

endor is the one bugging me...I think it should only apply to freeps and be 3 cost.

[menace64]

I made all the suggested changes, but raised the twilight cost on Endor to , seeing as it strictly benefits the LS player now.

Well, since I got 3 reviews already, I may as well move right along...

Ooohh... here's one that should be fun!

Tython
Deep Core. When the alliance moves to Tython, you may play a artifact or possession from your discard pile.

( = Jedi.)
Tython is the planet from which the oldest Jedi emerged. The knowledge of its location is retained only in the Jedi Archives, and - due to its placement within the Deep Core - it is nigh unreachable without precise coordinates. The site only costs because, even though it only helps the LS player, its power is pretty limited. Unless you can control the site path well (I'm still on the fence for whether or not the Jedi culture will be good at that).

Lwhekk
Wild. Forest. Swamp. Skirmish: Exert X of your Ssi-ruu to make your Ssi-ruu strength +X.

The Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium is a subculture within the Wild Space culture (). I've done little with this culture beyond some [very] brief brainstorming sessions. I know that the Ssi-ruuk will work together to overpower their foes. Now, Wild Space is a 'neutral' culture (the only LotR equivalent being ), so at some point I might make some Ssi-ruu companions. The Chiss also show up in Wild Space.

Alderaan
Core. Each time an opponent takes control of a site (even if Alderaan is controlled), you may spot your companion to take up to 2 cards into hand from your discard pile.

( = Rebel.)
Alderaan, as a planet, sympathized with the Rebellion's situation until its fall by the hands of Tarkin in A New Hope. I wanted to capture the feel of "systems slipping through the fingers" as best as I could, and I think I did a pretty good job. No matter where Alderaan is - captured by the Empire or liberated by the Rebellion - it supports freedom in any way it can.

[Thranduil]

Tython
Deep Core. When the alliance moves to Tython, you may play a artifact or possession from your discard pile.

It should still be , though, because it helps the FP player.

Lwhekk
Wild. Forest. Swamp. Skirmish: Exert X of your Ssi-ruu to make your Ssi-ruu strength +X.

Looks good.

Alderaan
Core. Each time an opponent takes control of a site (even if Alderaan is controlled), you may spot your companion to take up to 2 cards into hand from your discard pile.

This one I have some confusion with. A site's gametext is only active if it is the current site (Trollshaw Forest, for example, doesn't happen every turn) or if otherwise it's obviously otherwise (like Nurn or Mount Doom). So, I don't understand the relevance of your parentheses. If you want the ability to continue even when the alliance is not there, you need to say something like 'until the end of the game' or 'while the alliance is in the current region' in which case the brackets become important.

How are you going to represent the Death Star destroying planets?

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

I swear, one of these days I'll have something new to add, but dangit! Thran beats me to the punch again.

I like 'em, but beyond his comments, I really don't have anything to add.

[MR. Lurtzy]

Tython
Deep Core. When the alliance moves to Tython, you may play a artifact or possession from your discard pile.
Needs to cost .

Lwhekk
Wild. Forest. Swamp. Skirmish: Exert X of your Ssi-ruu to make your Ssi-ruu strength +X.
Does this make all Ssi-ruu in play strength +X?

Alderaan
Core. Each time an opponent takes control of a site (even if Alderaan is controlled), you may spot your companion to take up to 2 cards into hand from your discard pile.

Looks good.