Welcome to Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs!Each week I'll post the collector's information for one of the cards in the set's card-list.
Contestants are free to create whatever card they see fit for that slot in the card-list, keeping in mind the surrounding cards. As the contest progresses, the card-list will become more and more defined, guiding the contestants' choices.
The theme of our set is Lairs! You're free to interpret this however you want.
Not every card has to fit the theme, of course, but it's something to keep in mind when coming up with entries.
Each week a poll will go up for the previous week's entries. Simply vote for one you like the most. In the event of a tie, I'll let a random result generator make the decision - but each of the tied cards will appear in the final set card list.
On to Stuff!
Before we announce last week's winner...I've got my first work assignment and I'll be out of town most of the next two weeks. There's a marginal chance I'll be able to post on time next Sunday, but if I'm late it's because I'm way out in the middle of nowhere.
Last week's winner...We've got another coinflip this week!
Every entry received votes, but
Cw0rk's
Key of Orthanc and
Durin's Heir's
Cold and Perilous held to their advantage, which brings us to the time-honored decision-maker. Cw0rk lost last week's coinflip, but let's see what the fates have in store...
.
.
.
.
.
Durin's Heir wins the tie with
Cold and Perilous! I'm super curious to see how this card affects Isengard, and Isengard Men specifically.
(Cw0rk, sorry bud for the unlucky flips two weeks in a row! If it makes you feel any better, prepping the image for your card was the closest I've ever felt to being an old school Decipher graphic artist.
Key of Orthanc is a solid addition to the misadventure deck!)
Last week's entries to pick from for Card #9... •Gandalf's Cloak
Possession • Cloak
Bearer must be Gandalf.
Each time a maneuver or skirmish special ability removes , you may heal Gandalf.
Maneuver: Take a event into hand from your draw deck. Discard this cloak.
"The old man with the casket threw aside his hood and cloak. 'Here is Gandalf! And none too soon it seems.'"
Designer's notes: The passive skill is meant to make Gandalf's fragile twilight dependant cards more reliable (TWW, Walking Stick, Focus of Power, Unknown Perils, UtLE, Undaunted, KYFT) by forcing the Shadow player to concede you another much needed resource (vitality) every time he/she uses a special abilities to clear twilight (with the sort of Easterling Captain, Not Easily Destroyed or Greed). The Maneuver skill gives you an event from deck for a desperate need, optimizing Gandalf's use of cards like Intimidate, Roll of Thunder or Strength of Spirit as a support companion (that is, with fewer card slots in the deck).
•The Bee-fields of Beorn
Possession • Support Area
To play, exert Gandalf (or spot Beorn).
Response: If the fellowship moves to a dwelling or plains site in region 2, transfer this possession from your support area to that site. That site gains sanctuary and:
"Fellowship: Exert a unique ally to draw a card."
Designer's notes: I wanted this card to be useful to a player even in an environment where Beorn isn't a legal card. I'm not sure if Beorn is in The Hobbit draft game but I assume he is; and like I said, this card doesn't even need him. It certainly does better with a big beefy ally waiting in the wings to exert for big draw gains, but that is a role you can also fill with Treebeard, or even Barliman Butterbur. This is a highly situational card though, so it won't always be easy to snag the bonus sanctuary. It works in Fellowship block with: Hollin; in Towers: Westemnet Hills, Deep of Helm; and in King: Pelennor Plain, Pelennor Flat, Pelennor Prairie. In a post-10 environment: Yes.
Tamed Spider
Possession • Mount
Bearer must be an Elf or Wizard. This possession's twilight cost is -1 for each Elf or Wizard you can spot.
Bearer is enduring.
"'Are the spiders your tame beasts or your pets...?'"
Designer's notes: The set is called Lairs so it must have spiders! This would be some sort of great spider from Mirkwood that would have ended up being tamed by Radagast and Elves. The quote comes from The Hobbit book.
•Mithril Gates
Condition • Support Area
Fortification.
Each minion is strength -1 for each knight stacked here (limit -3).
While there are 4 knights stacked here, the fellowship archery total is +1.
While there are 5 knights stacked here, companions may not take wounds except in the skirmish phase.
Regroup: Exert a Dwarf companion to stack a knight here.
Designer's notes: Only Dwarves can build this gate, but it takes knights to man it. My goal for this card to bring to life an otherwise non-existent deck type: Dwarves and knights. It needs to be powerful enough to compensate for the inherent inconveniences of blending two cultures. Running low on companions late in the game? Use Dwarven Foresight to play one of the knights stacked here. It's risky having so much invested in a single condition, so Gimli, Feared Axeman is a must-have. The other limitation is that you have to be able to keep the knights alive until the regroup phase (and keep the Dwarves not exhausted). There is not much room left for lore here, but if there were, it would be this from the appendices: "He and his people did great works for Gondor and Rohan. For Minas Tirith they forged gates of mithril and steel to replace those broken by the Witch-king."
O Orofarnë, Lassemista, Carnimírië!
Condition • Support Area
Tale. You may spot Ents and Trees in your dead pile.
Maneuver: Discard this condition to allow each Unhasty Ent to skirmish until the regroup phase.
"‘O rowan dead, upon your head your hair is dry and grey; / Your crown is spilled, your voice is stilled for ever and a day.'"
This week's contest is...Card #15!Let's see some Shadow cards.
- A card (after Wrested Kingdom)
- An card
- A card (before Úlairë Attëa, Khamûl)
Closing date: September 5th/10th (I may not be able to post on time next week - read top of post)! Good luck!
Lairs Card List Number - Name - (Culture • Type) - Contestant - Week it won
1. Burned Village (
• Condition) -
Dictionary - 12
2. •Stronghold of the Adorn River (
• Possession) -
Durin's Heir - 3
3. •Balin, Lord of Moria (
• Ally) -
menace64 - 8
4. SUBJECT OF THIS WEEK'S VOTE
5. Sméagol Lied (
• Event) -
SGollum - 4
6. Worse Than Orcs (
• Event) -
menace64 - 9
7. Commandeered Vessel (
• Possession) -
azogsbane - 16
8. Sheltered Hollow (
• Condition) -
TelTura - 6
9. Cold and Perilous (
• Condition) -
Durin's Heir - 17
10.
11. Smoke From Isengard (
• Condition) -
menace64 - 13
12.
13.
14. •Wrested Kingdom (
• Condition) -
menace64 - 1
15. IN CREATION THIS WEEK
16. •Úlairë Attëa, Khamûl (
• Minion) -
SGollum - 7
17. Angmar Haunts Us Still (
• Condition) -
TelTura - 15
18. Southern Stranger (
• Minion) -
Inspire - 10
19.
20. •Bag End Hearth (
• Condition) -
Inspire - 2
21. •Merry, Conspirator (
• Companion) -
Inspire - 5
22. •Pippin, Out of the Bog and Briar (
• Companion) -
Inspire - 14
23. The Black Gate (Site) -
SGollum - 11
24.
25.
The Misadventure Deck (cards that lost due to coin-flip but will appear in the final cardlist! Maybe?)
26. •Durin's Axe, Omen of Fortune (
• Artifact) -
Durin's Heir - 4
27. From Lowest Dungeon to Highest Peak (
• Event) -
menace64 - 4
28. Oath of Cirion (
• Condition) -
cw0rk - 16
29. Key of Orthanc (
• Artifact) -
cw0rk - 17
30. Orkish Whip (
• Possession) -
Durin's Heir - 7[/list]