I need a name for the extension I .
The cards that have most presence and importance in this Extension set are the 2 Shadow packs. So the name must be in accordance to those Shadow packs' stories. Those packs portray the final clash of good and evil forces: the Company vs Smaug, the White Council vs Sauron and the Free Peoples armies vs the Shadow armies.
So I got this 3 possible names by now:
1.- The Dragon and The One. (A film quote of Thráin.) The alliance between these 2 great forces of evil shapes the rise of an unexpected War, only to be interfered by an old Dwarf-lord's thirst for revenge, the
tireless vigilance of
The Wise, and a hidden power at work who sets the good folks' differences against their own annihilation.
2.- The Gathering of the Clouds. After the Company enters Erebor and the White Council assaults its old Enemy's lair, the evil's plans are untimely unleashed and as result many armies march and meet to an inevitable end before the Mountain's foot.
3.- The Clouds Burst. The Armies meet at the field, and those who were
friends of old are now at the edge of strife and slaughter. But the tide turns, as an outnumbering invading host forces them to set their differences aside and fight not for gold and glory, but for survival.
I like the first most. Tell me what you think.
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Pity: Hmm, ok. There are 2 possibilities now, let's work both. Your really powerful event lacks a proper title and lore text, and the original Pity might remain if a substantially better proposition is done. But I'll put much effort on preserving Pity, because the pack will desperately need healing and/or card recovery.
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For your event, I'd change the title to any of these: "Another Power At Work" or "Meant to Find It", showing
Ilúvatar's providence interfering put Bilbo's path and hand on the One Ring, in the midst of darkness. A corresponding lore text (limited to only 2 lines, as the current game text uses 5) would be this:
"...it abandoned Gollum. Only to be picked up by the most unlikely person imaginable: Bilbo from the Shire!" (Gandalf, FotR book I, chapter 2)
A new picture'd be necessary. When Bilbo
takes picks The Ring with his fingers and examines it. It's at 02:11:34 in the EE.
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For the old Pity, ok to not be dependant on winning skirmishes. It might prevent "all wounds to the losing side" (either Bilbo or the minions!) or even "all wounds in his skirmish" (which is shorter and prevents also mid-skirmish wounds), and if he wears The One, place X cards from discard on top of the draw deck. X can be a fixed number like 3, or a variable depending on Bilbo's resistance (limit 3 or 4), Bilbo's vitality,
companions... An example:
"Make Bilbo strength +2
and prevent all wounds in his skirmish. If he wears the One Ring,
you may place 3 cards from your discard pile on top of your draw deck." (5 lines)
Has almost 2 spare lines, so can still be changed a good bunch. Instead can be "
or
cards", "Free Peoples cards", have an option to "
heal 3 companions or place 3 cards...", or make the number a variable X and explain "while X is...". This new version is much stronger, as prevents wounds to Bilbo and doesn't depend on winning skirmishes (but to draw those recovered cards, you still need Bilbo's "if-he-wins" skill
). And can still be shaped a lot at your will!
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Nazguls: -
Dragon's Malice: But I forgot to mention a thing about this card: if Bilbo wears the One he'll be str +4 (7) and won't take wounds. With
Sting (9) he'll easily confront Smaug, and the dragon won't overwhelm him without events. Followers make things even worse, Dori being the most problematic... All in all, it's ok to make Bilbo stronger but perhaps str +1 will be better than str +2...
Another option is to keep the str +2, but allow to exert
any companion Bilbo besides the doubt if Smaug wins. I like that better, but don't know how it'll behave in the game.
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Underground Lake: There will still be an advantage: playing a condition from deck (or recovering from discard). Conditions can be huge, and Riddles can push to discard the newly-played One Ring. And can be huge with Sauron and the
Ring of Thrór (which as only 2 copies in draft)...
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Azog: The doubt-skill idea was for flavor (I just cannot like the idea of Azog being killed by Kili or an event at the most important site!
). Removing 3 or 6 doubts to keep him (your best
orc warrior!) alive, or to allow him to play 1 or 2 more minions IF you can make the twilight, doesn't seem excessive in my opinion. Moreover with the new weaker Azog (no cost reduction, and having to exert to protect the Were-worms)...
A last thing: if he has to exert to protect the Were-worms, might protect ANY
condition instead. That way a Banner of Command in a new Extension would have a support from such skill. (The Stone Giants will probably work only with posessions and events).
The Shadow player can play a lot of Goblin Footman, bringing back many Vicious Warg (I would like to put it in 4 copies, but what can I remove ?).
Perhaps Azog. Bolg has 3 copies, while Azog has 4. Or Were-worms, which has 3 copies can is still very useful with 2, as The Wolves Army can play it from draw deck.
I'd try with Were-worms (to not reduce the minion count). Hmmm, changed my mind: if Were-worms had only 2 copies, it'd be easy to counterdraft. Try reducing Azog then to 3 copies (like Were-worms, can be pulled from deck by The Wolves Army, and from discard by Hatred Rekindled / Hosts of Thousands).
EDIT: Here are th 3 missing cards.
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Savage Warg: That's the idea, to make it usable by other cultures. But cultures that discard Orcs to be played / gain benefits (Spiders, Nazguls, Trolls) won't like to spend
or more in a Footman (3), this mount (3) and a Gundabad Orc of
or more. So those
players who seek Nazguls or Spiders in the draft, they'll pick this Savage Warg mostly to counterdraft it.Can be cost
, str +2 & vit +1, with a bonus of str +1 for Gundabad orcs; it'd be the worst
Warg in cost vs benefit for non-Gundabad orcs, but exactly like
War-warg for Gundabad ones. Or can be cost
, str +2 and vit +1 to anyone, and +2 bonus to Gundabad for a total +3 str (it'd be still adding valuable vitality and fierce keyword to other cultures). But if this
warg can't be borne by any Orc, non-Gundabad Orcs like the Great Goblin or the
versions of Azog and Bolg won't have any mount option to make them fierce and/or more durable (except if they meet the Swarm pack 2).
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Vicious Warg: There's another thing this mount might do if
the current site is a battleground: draw a card. That way, Demolition Troll might do anything else instead of drawing a card.
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His Wrath Was Redoubled: Hmmm, alright, 2 minions is enough
. But Barrels is a regroup action, and as such can stop perilous Shadow regroup actions (Smaug, Jail, Bolg's army...). And the cost much higher: discard Beorn (can only return with The Eagles Are Coming) and add
(which'll feed the next shadow phase). And can't make the move limit +1.
So I firmly believe it should be a regroup event, and not a response to double moves.
His Wrath Was Redoubled
Event • Regroup
Spell. Discard Beorn to discard up to 2 minions (except Smaug).
(3 lines)
Now, there's another loose end. This event takes place in the film/book
at site 9, where there's no regroup phase. So this event
should be usable at either "site 9" or at "a battleground" site. I think it should be this: "At a battleground site, you may play this event during a skirmish phase".
Too mighty, I know, but can be controlled if it affects only minions that are "not assigned to a skirmish". That way, at site 9 Bilbo or Thorin won't be saved from being killed in a fight, but whatever is the end of that fight, Beorn can kill the minions that survived it to erase their influence (The Orc Army, Sauron) or prevent them from participating in the fierce round...
His Wrath Was Redoubled
Event • Regroup
Spell. Discard Beorn to discard up to 2 minions
not assigned to skirmish (except Smaug).
At a battleground site, you may play this event during a skirmish phase.(5 lines, so the current 2-lines lore text can remain unchanged)
I made this event, and later noticed it is
very similar to
(
12R120)
Diversion (in both effect and wording). But
Diversion can discard a minion that's still skirmishing. So Beorn can't save Bilbo from being killed by, let's say, Bolg mounted + a Troll. But if Bilbo survives somehow (
Gwaihir can cancel the skirmish due to Bolg's mount), Beorn can then destroy those minions (and erase the Troll's skirmish skill, and Bolg's fierce skirmish).
This new version can portray much more precisely the story told by Tolkien: Thorin fights Bolg + his Bodyguards (at a battleground site), and is wounded to death (Beorn can't save him). Then comes Beorn and crushes the orc leader + his bodyguards (Bolg's leadership vanishes among his troops). But the damage is done, as Thorin + his nephews die irremediably. Those orcs that survived and are still willing to fight ("fierce"), don't have the support of Bolg's command anymore.