The Last Homely House
Middle-Earth => Chamber of Mazarbul => Topic started by: DáinIronfoot on May 14, 2009, 08:33:31 AM
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Well, once again, I have rushed through another culture ([Gollum]) without a planned endpoint and suddenly realized I am practically done. I wouldn't make a very good novelist...my endings would always seem rushed. :lol:
Anyway, I have very little material left to do for Sméagol (or Gollum, for that matter) in this set, so before I dive into the last couple cards, I think it's time to launch the culture that is most directly tied to [Gollum] in this set and the next. That's right, it's time for those lovable, hairy-footed little Hobbits. Since we're following up on Sméagol, we'll start with an emphasis on the Ring-bound Frodo and Sam and then slowly transition over to the unbound Merry and Pippin as we go along (and revisit some old themes from [Gandalf], [Isengard], and other cultures).
For now, as I said, let's get to the last two true members of the Fellowship Of The Ring after their breaking at Amon Hen. Enjoy!
[2]•Frodo, Bearer of Pity [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 8
Ring-bound.
Frodo is resistance +1 for each [Shire] and [Gollum] tale you can spot (limit +4).
While Frodo bears The One Ring or a [Shire] card (except a possession), each other Ring-bound companion is strength +1 and resistance +1.
“‘We are going to Mordor, of course. And you know the way there, I believe.’”
Not entirely sure why I decided to make a Frodo that was an optional Ring-bearer, but I knew I wanted to do one at SOME point, even if it was just for the heck of it. And this seemed as good a time as any.
Obviously, he's best with lots of tales, able to get up the resistance level of Resolute Hobbit with a little bit of work. He fits well with Hobbits, Sméagol, and/or other Ring-bound companions (like RB rangers). He's also THE best match with my infamous and rather controversial condition Hold To Your Purpose from the last set ("While Frodo is the Ring-bearer, each companion with the Frodo signet is Ring-bound.") Overall, he's a very versatile little Hobbit which can benefit several fellowships even without bearing The Ring, and that is always a good thing. I think this is my favorite self-made Frodo. :D But that may just be me....
[2]•Sam, The Stouthearted [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound.
Regroup: Exert Sam to discard a Shadow condition borne by a companion (or each Shadow condition borne by that companion if he or she is Ring-bound).
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ring-bearer.
“‘‘I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn’t they put in more of his talk, dad?...And Frodo wouldn’t have got far without Sam, would he, dad?’’”
Again, best with other R-B companions, but versatile enough that he's worth tossing in many decks. Just like most of the old-school Sams. :up:
One other little thing: notice he doesn't specify "resistance 5" in his "if Frodo is killed" text. That's right...this version gets to have 6 resistance if he ends up with the Ring. Not a huge difference, but it adds a little oomph for tossing him in with Frodo. I had considered adding in "If Frodo is killed while bearing The One Ring" or something, but since the official LOTR TCG rulebook has already been tweaked to cover this (so that Frodo, Frenzied Fighter's death wouldn't break the game somehow), I didn't see the need to re-cover it here. If you disagree, though, speak up and I'll definitely listen. :up:
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[2]•Frodo, Bearer of Pity [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 8
Ring-bound.
Frodo is resistance +1 for each [Shire] and [Gollum] tale you can spot (limit +4).
While Frodo bears The One Ring or a [Shire] card (except a possession), each other Ring-bound companion is strength +1 and resistance +1.
“‘We are going to Mordor, of course. And you know the way there, I believe.’”
I'd prefer his first ability as "While you can spot a [Shire] and a [Gollum] tale, Frodo is resistance +2" - just so that he then goes to his usual 10, and I don't like limits (as we all know! ;)) I might make his second line more like BoW, BoH etc. and make it "While Frodo bears The One Ring or an artifact...", and I think that would be good, simple and aesthetically pleasing.
That said, I think I'd prefer to have a simpler card overall, again much like a lot of the ARBs from Reflections which do their "bearing the Ring or an artifact thing" and that's it (apart from any skirmish penalties) and just leave him at his usual resistance 10 with only the second line. I like him, he's a good card, but I'm in general a believer of making cards that do only 1 thing - cards that do more than 1 I think should be the exception rather than the norm.
[2]•Sam, The Stouthearted [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound.
Regroup: Exert Sam to discard a Shadow condition borne by a companion (or each Shadow condition borne by that companion if he or she is Ring-bound).
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ring-bearer.
“‘‘I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn’t they put in more of his talk, dad?...And Frodo wouldn’t have got far without Sam, would he, dad?’’”
Love the subtitle (though I'm not sure whether it was intentional or coincidence)! ;) Yeah, he seems fair enough.
One other little thing: notice he doesn't specify "resistance 5" in his "if Frodo is killed" text. That's right...this version gets to have 6 resistance if he ends up with the Ring. Not a huge difference, but it adds a little oomph for tossing him in with Frodo.
I think this is a bit confusing - taking a standard ability and changing it subtly without drawing attention to it seems a bit too misleading to me. It's so much clearer if all Sams do essentially the same thing.
Thranduil
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No more reviews? Awwww. :( And here I've got a couple nifty conditions all ready to go. But I can hardly move on with just one review....
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Sorry DI, I have been sporadic at best with my reviews recently. My TLHH time is getting more and more reduced by the week as I am busy at work, and busy preparing for my son at home. In 2 months that time will be drastically reduced even further as you my friend, are testament to....
[2]•Frodo, Bearer of Pity [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 8
Ring-bound.
Frodo is resistance +1 for each [Shire] and [Gollum] tale you can spot (limit +4).
While Frodo bears The One Ring or a [Shire] card (except a possession), each other Ring-bound companion is strength +1 and resistance +1.
“‘We are going to Mordor, of course. And you know the way there, I believe.’”
Yeah he seems ok.
[2]•Sam, The Stouthearted [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound.
Regroup: Exert Sam to discard a Shadow condition borne by a companion (or each Shadow condition borne by that companion if he or she is Ring-bound).
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ring-bearer.
“‘‘I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn’t they put in more of his talk, dad?...And Frodo wouldn’t have got far without Sam, would he, dad?’’”
Sweet.
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[2]•Frodo, Bearer of Pity [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 8
Ring-bound.
Frodo is resistance +1 for each [Shire] and [Gollum] tale you can spot (limit +4).
While Frodo bears The One Ring or a [Shire] card (except a possession), each other Ring-bound companion is strength +1 and resistance +1.
“‘We are going to Mordor, of course. And you know the way there, I believe.’”
He seem's fair enough, although I think you could cut the hindrance on his second ability to allow him to spread the love at least when bearing a hand weapon. Kind of encouragins his fellows by stepping up to the fight, you know?
[2]•Sam, The Stouthearted [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound.
Regroup: Exert Sam to discard a Shadow condition borne by a companion (or each Shadow condition borne by that companion if he or she is Ring-bound).
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ring-bearer.
“‘‘I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn’t they put in more of his talk, dad?...And Frodo wouldn’t have got far without Sam, would he, dad?’’”
I like him
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Okay, I've only got a quick minute, so there's no time to go into a lot of detail on these. But I think it's safe to say they might blow your mind. ;) Enjoy!
EDIT: Okay, well now I have some more time, and since there are no replies yet, I guess I'll supply some comments now. :up:
(0) I Shall Go [Shire]
Condition
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit. Limit 1 per bearer.
While bearer has resistance 7 or more, he cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Each time the fellowship moves, exert bearer or discard this condition.
“His face was grim and set, but resolute. He was filthy, haggard, and pinched with weariness, but he cowered no longer, and his eyes were clear.”
The films don't do quite the justice to Frodo that the novels do. In the films, his will seems to break down sooner, and he loses some of the dignity and resoluteness he has in the novels, especially in The Two Towers. The scene depicted in the lore, I think, is his defining moment, when he shows how determined he is to see the quest through, even if it means a suicidal charge past an army of Orcs and evil Men through the Black Gate, in full view of Sauron himself. Such a scene deserves a powerful card, I think. I hope I Shall Go captures that well while still being balanced.
[9] What Comes After Must Come [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
This condition's twilight cost is -3 for each unbound companion you can spot.
Response: If the fellowship moves to any site 9 (or Mount Doom), spot an unbound companion and discard each unbound companion to remove all threats, remove up to 4 burdens, and heal the Ring-bearer twice.
“‘I said so, because I purpose to enter Mordor, and I know no other way. Therefore I shall go this way. I do not ask anyone to go with me.’”
Ditto here. The Ring-bearer charges ahead, knowing that only he can see this whole thing through. I tried really hard to make this a high-risk, high-reward card and still keep it balanced, which is tough to do considering the awesome reward. It's not easy to toss in with WTG thanks to the high cost; it's not easy to toss in with tons of unbound companions because, while dirt cheap then, it requires lots of companion discarding; it's not easy to toss into a Ring-bound heavy fellowship because it requires a few unbound companions to work well. So this is best with a mix of Ring-bound and unbound companions, which is what I was going for, or for the big risk-taker that forges ahead with just the Ring-bearer, alone and unaided. Worth the payoff? You tell me. ;)
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(0) I Shall Go [Shire]
Condition
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit.
While bearer has resistance 7 or more, he cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Each time the fellowship moves, exert bearer or discard this condition.
“His face was grim and set, but resolute. He was filthy, haggard, and pinched with weariness, but he cowered no longer, and his eyes were clear.”
Solid card.
[9] What Comes After Must Come [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
This condition's twilight cost is -3 for each unbound companion you can spot.
Response: If the fellowship moves to any site 9 (or Mount Doom), spot an unbound companion and discard each unbound companion to remove all threats, remove up to 4 burdens, and heal the Ring-bearer twice.
“‘I said so, because I purpose to enter Mordor, and I know no other way. Therefore I shall go this way. I do not ask anyone to go with me.’”
I understand the Mount Doom flavour here, but I think you should make this card work for the "mechanical" end of the journey - it doesn't make game sense for this ability to trigger at site 4, for example. And shouldn't it discard the condition as well? But it looks good - I can't really fault the flavour: it is indeed a huge cost for a massive payoff, and looks like it could have some fun deck-building potential. Of course, you could start an Ent fellowship, play this for free from your draw deck with Sméagol, Damned Gate-Stream and that [Gollum] card that plays conditions from your draw deck, then gradually kill off all the unimportant companions for the win. Is that too powerful? Not sure. Perhaps it could be -2 for each?
Thranduil
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Glad you like WCAMC overall. :whew:
I had considered the Ent scenario, but really, there's not much way of preventing that since you could STILL make it free even at -2 per (or even less in Expanded with Bregalad and the Towers Ents!). I figured once you get into the range of 3 unbound companions was around the time it should be very low cost (or, as it worked out, free), since that means you'll either have a tiny fellowship once you cut bait with the unbound guys OR, with several Ring-bound guys, just be adding lots of twilight as you move down the path anyway.
I'd consider taking it to -2 per, but I really like the flavor of [9] as the cost as well. :P I'll chew on it and see what other reviewers say.
Thanks for the review, buddy! :gp:
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(0) I Shall Go [Shire]
Condition
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit.
While bearer has resistance 7 or more, he cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Each time the fellowship moves, exert bearer or discard this condition.
“His face was grim and set, but resolute. He was filthy, haggard, and pinched with weariness, but he cowered no longer, and his eyes were clear.”
Really good, borderline awesome, I think, with healing shenanigans, while also crippling corruption BAD, so I think it should either be unique or have a limit of 1 per bearer.
[9] What Comes After Must Come [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
This condition's twilight cost is -3 for each unbound companion you can spot.
Response: If the fellowship moves to any site 9 (or Mount Doom), spot an unbound companion and discard each unbound companion to remove all threats, remove up to 4 burdens, and heal the Ring-bearer twice.
“‘I said so, because I purpose to enter Mordor, and I know no other way. Therefore I shall go this way. I do not ask anyone to go with me.’”
I'm not sure it's THAT risky, specially with ARBs.
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limit 1 per bearer on the first, uberly powerful on the RB...but I guess its ok.
the second one is schweet. and just so you know, I probably won't be on tomorrow or Sunday.
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No Juicy Fruit? Awww.... :'(
Glad WCAMC was so popular...I was worried it was too powerful. Thanks, guys!
Lem0n, if you have a dissenting opinion, please share. But otherwise, we're moving on to some possessions. Enjoy! :mrgreen:
[1]•Sting, Blade of Beleriand [Shire]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit.
Each time bearer wins a skirmish, you may make another Ring-bound companion strength +1 and resistance +1 until the regroup phase.
“Sting flashed out, and the sharp elven-blade sparkled in the silver light, but at its edges a blue fire flicked.”
The resistance bonus is odd, I know, but it seemed appropriate since Sting's two major appearances in The Two Towers (the taming of Sméagol and the ill-fated trek through Shelob's lair) are two of Frodo's defining moments as the bearer of The Ring. That also inspired the win-skirmish trigger text here.
[1]•Sam's Sword [Shire]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be Sam.
While skirmishing a [Gollum] or twilight minion, Sam gains hunter 2.
Skirmish: Exert Sam twice (or once is he has resistance 7 or more) to make him strength +1 for each Ring-bound companion you spot.
“...he laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword; and as he did so, he thought of the darkness of the barrow whence it came.”
Merry and Pippin both get card versions of their own swords AND daggers, and Sam only manages to weasel his way onto a couple versions of Sting? That ain't right. I couldn't let that injustice go any longer.
The initial strength is low, yes, but that's partly because I intend to make a "may bear this in addition to 1 other hand weapon" version in the next set, so this is kind of planning ahead. The skirmish ability is directly inspired by similar text on Merry's Sword and Pippin's Sword, kind of tying the three together a bit (even if you'd likely never see them all in the same deck!).
[1] Lebethron Stave [Gondor]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Resistance +1
To play, spot a ranger. Bearer must be a Ring-bound ranger or Hobbit.
This weapon may be borne in addition to 1 other hand weapon.
“‘They are made of the fair tree lebethron, beloved of the woodwrights of Gondor, and a virtue has been set upon them of finding and returning. May that virtue not wholly fail under the Shadow into which you go!’”
You may have no idea what the heck this thing is. That's okay...until I dove more into the text of The Two Towers, I didn't either.
Faramir gives both Frodo and Sam one of these walking/fighting staffs as they part ways. They're not mentioned much afterwards, but in one memorable scene, Sam actually breaks his in two over Gollum's head while fighting him in Shelob's lair, using it as an effective (until it snaps, anyway) second weapon to parry Gollum's blows. I would presume the rangers of Ithilien use them in a similar fashion, so I opted to make it handy little secondary weapon for your RB rangers and Hobbits. It makes for a nice way of tying together Faramir's RB rangers and Hobbits, which is something I was definately going for in this set (as you'll see in more detail soon, especially with our second version of Sam). You like?
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No Juicy Fruit? Awww.... :cry:
Glad WCAMC was so popular...I was worried it was too powerful. Thanks, guys!
Lem0n, if you have a dissenting opinion, please share. But otherwise, we're moving on to some possessions. Enjoy! :mrgreen:
[1]•Sting, Blade of Beleriand [Shire]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit.
Each time bearer wins a skirmish, you may make a Ring-bound companion strength +1 and resistance +1 until the regroup phase.
“Sting flashed out, and the sharp elven-blade sparkled in the silver light, but at its edges a blue fire flicked.”
fine.
[1]•Sam's Sword [Shire]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be Sam.
While skirmishing a [Gollum] or twilight minion, Sam is strength +2.
Skirmish: Exert Sam twice (or once is he has resistance 7 or more) to make him gain hunter 1 for each Ring-bound companion you spot.
“...he laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword; and as he did so, he thought of the darkness of the barrow whence it came.”
hunter :( blugh. could you use the ability multiple times to make him have even more hunter? or does it not work that way? I think its pretty powerful regardless
[1] Lebethron Stave [Gondor]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Resistance +1
To play, spot a ranger. Bearer must be a Ring-bound Man or Hobbit.
This weapon may be borne in addition to 1 other hand weapon.
“‘They are made of the fair tree lebethron, beloved of the woodwrights of Gondor, and a virtue has been set upon them of finding and returning. May that virtue not wholly fail under the Shadow into which you go!’”
Gollum must have a tough head...wow...thats powerful on isildur and boromir...Toss 2 of these on them...IDK...I guess its ok.
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[1]•Sam's Sword [Shire]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be Sam.
While skirmishing a [Gollum] or twilight minion, Sam is strength +2.
Skirmish: Exert Sam twice (or once is he has resistance 7 or more) to make him gain hunter 1 for each Ring-bound companion you spot.
“...he laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword; and as he did so, he thought of the darkness of the barrow whence it came.”
hunter :( blugh. could you use the ability multiple times to make him have even more hunter? or does it not work that way? I think its pretty powerful regardless
Yeah, you could use the skirmish ability any number of times in the same skirmish, as long as Sam has excess vitality to exert with. Should I limit it to once (or maybe twice) per skirmish, perhaps?
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[1]•Sting, Blade of Beleriand [Shire]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit.
Each time bearer wins a skirmish, you may make a Ring-bound companion strength +1 and resistance +1 until the regroup phase.
“Sting flashed out, and the sharp elven-blade sparkled in the silver light, but at its edges a blue fire flicked.”
The resistance bonus may be flavourfully justified, but I think it makes the card too powerful. In fact, I'm not sure that the resistance +1 to a Ring-bound companion until the regroup phase isn't too powerful given that you could use it at site 9 to avoid corruption. I'd prefer "Bearer must be Frodo" (or at least [Shire] Ring-bearer), without the resistance bonus and with "Each time bearer wins a skirmish, you may make another Ring-bound..."
[1]•Sam's Sword [Shire]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be Sam.
While skirmishing a [Gollum] or twilight minion, Sam is strength +2.
Skirmish: Exert Sam twice (or once is he has resistance 7 or more) to make him gain hunter 1 for each Ring-bound companion you spot.
“...he laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword; and as he did so, he thought of the darkness of the barrow whence it came.”
I agree with SoP's sentiment - blech, hunter! :-X It doesn't make sense on Sam, apart from my natural dislike of the keyword. Make it strength +1 and that would be fine. To be honest, I think there's too much on this card anyway, and I think you should only have one ability or the other and a base strength +2. Right now this card seems fairly ugly! ;)
[1] Lebethron Stave [Gondor]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Resistance +1
To play, spot a ranger. Bearer must be a Ring-bound Man or Hobbit.
This weapon may be borne in addition to 1 other hand weapon.
“‘They are made of the fair tree lebethron, beloved of the woodwrights of Gondor, and a virtue has been set upon them of finding and returning. May that virtue not wholly fail under the Shadow into which you go!’”
Wow, I completely never realised that there were such things! And it seems to me that what this card is doing is providing a [Gondor] RB resistance bonus, not tying together rangers and Hobbits. If you want to do that, then you need to make it less attractive for a Ring-bearer, say (0) without the resistance bonus.
Thranduil
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[1]•Sting, Blade of Beleriand [Shire]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit.
Each time bearer wins a skirmish, you may make a Ring-bound companion strength +1 and resistance +1 until the regroup phase.
“Sting flashed out, and the sharp elven-blade sparkled in the silver light, but at its edges a blue fire flicked.”
Simple and elegant.
[1]•Sam's Sword [Shire]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Bearer must be Sam.
While skirmishing a [Gollum] or twilight minion, Sam is strength +2.
Skirmish: Exert Sam twice (or once is he has resistance 7 or more) to make him gain hunter 1 for each Ring-bound companion you spot.
“...he laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword; and as he did so, he thought of the darkness of the barrow whence it came.”
Not sure where the hunter associates with Ring-bound COMPANIONS, he only hunts down frodo.
[1] Lebethron Stave [Gondor]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +1
Resistance +1
To play, spot a ranger. Bearer must be a Ring-bound Man or Hobbit.
This weapon may be borne in addition to 1 other hand weapon.
“‘They are made of the fair tree lebethron, beloved of the woodwrights of Gondor, and a virtue has been set upon them of finding and returning. May that virtue not wholly fail under the Shadow into which you go!’”
Ring-bound hobbit would fit the flavor better.
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What's become of lem0nhead? :-k Hmmm.
Okay, well, I can't keep waiting, so here are more possessions for our wayward little travelers. Enjoy!
(0)•Sam's Cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer).
The twilight cost of each [Shire] and [Gollum] stealth event is -1.
“‘It is hard even for friendly eyes to see these elven-cloaks: I cannot see you in the shadow even at a few paces.’”
(0)•Sam's Pack, Large and Heavy [Shire]
Possession
Bearer must be Sam.
At the start of each turn, you may discard a [Shire] card from your hand to heal a Ring-bound companion (or 2 Ring-bound companions if at a sanctuary).
“He still hopefully carried some of his gear in his pack: a small tinder-box, two small shallow pans, the smaller fitting into the larger; inside them a wooden spoon, a short two-pronged fork and some skewers were stowed....”
[1]•Elven Rope, Silken-Grey [Elven]
Possession
To play, spot an [Elven] card. Bearer must be an Elf or Ring-bound companion (except the Ring-bearer).
Maneuver: Reveal the top card of your draw deck. If that card is of bearer's culture, you may choose one: capture a minion with strength 6 or less; or remove a burden.
“‘It looks a bit thin, but it's tough; and soft as milk to the hand. Packs close too, and as light as light.’”
And a card to get them all going....
[1] A Help In Many Needs [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot Sam to play a possession from your draw deck on a Ring-bound companion.
“Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it.”
And because I can't wait to spoil it, a card from my next set, The End Of All Things, that ties in so nicely here that I can't help but post it now.
[1] Armed with Little Teeth [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Make a Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer) strength +1 for each possession and artifact that Hobbit bears. If that Hobbit is Sam, he is also damage +1.
“He sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master's sword in his left hand. Then he charged.”
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(0)•Sam's Cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer).
The twilight cost of each [Shire] and [Gollum] stealth event is -1.
“‘It is hard even for friendly eyes to see these elven-cloaks: I cannot see you in the shadow even at a few paces.’”
Nice enough.
(0)•Sam's Pack, Large and Heavy [Shire]
Possession
Bearer must be Sam.
At the start of each turn, you may discard a [Shire] card from your hand to heal a Ring-bound companion (or 2 Ring-bound companions if at a sanctuary).
“He still hopefully carried some of his gear in his pack: a small tinder-box, two small shallow pans, the smaller fitting into the larger; inside them a wooden spoon, a short two-pronged fork and some skewers were stowed....”
Loved it.
[1]•Elven Rope, Silken-Grey [Elven]
Possession
To play, spot an [Elven] card. Bearer must be an Elf or Ring-bound companion (except the Ring-bearer).
Maneuver: Reveal the top card of your draw deck. If that card is of bearer's culture, you may choose one: capture a minion with strength 6 or less; or remove a burden.
“‘It looks a bit thin, but it's tough; and soft as milk to the hand. Packs close too, and as light as light.’”
This one I see no reason to limit being borne by the ring-bearer. And wth does "capture" mean?
[1] A Help In Many Needs [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot Sam to play a possession from your draw deck on a Ring-bound companion.
“Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it.”
This seems like it could become a bit overpowered, specially with a RB Sam, but I'm not entirely sure. It IS a one-time shot anyway.
[1] Armed with Little Teeth [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Make a Hobbit strength +1 for each possession and artifact that Hobbit bears. If that Hobbit is Sam, he also gains hunter 2.
“He sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master's sword in his left hand. Then he charged.”
Seems REALLY good, perhaps it'd make it nearly impossible to overwhelm the Ring-bearer, so you might want to keep it in check, otherwise, it's ONE card they have to save to pretty much guarantee Frodo survives. Can you imagine holding two at site 9?!?
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And wth does "capture" mean?
A brief review of capturing and rescuing:
You may capture an opponent's character much like controlling an opponent's site. Captured characters go in your support area. Captured characters cannot be used by their owner, and the player who captured them can get some benefits from them. Companions, allies, and minions can all be captured, though it usually isn't terribly easy to do so, especially for Shadow players.
Captured characters can become "un-captured" when their owner rescues them somehow, but that's not the only way to get them back....
Captured companions/allies remain captured ONLY while there are minions in play. As soon as the last minion is killed or discarded, all captured companions/allies are automatically rescued...which makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Captured minions, however, remain captured indefinately...which also makes sense, since there are obviously always companions in play to keep those minions captured. If the fellowship chooses to end their turn, they may hold onto captured minions or choose for them to be discarded (as any minions in play would be) on a case-by-case basis.
However, each time the fellowship moves, each player must pay twilight equal to the total printed cost of all characters they have captured. Any character NOT paid for in this way is automatically rescued.
Rescued companions/allies are automatically returned to the fellowship (or support area...wherever they were before), and rescued minions return to play, free to harass the fellowship again. This is true whether automatically rescued as described above, or if some other type of card is played or effect takes place that rescues a character.
I have it sprinkled throughout my sets, but it is most prevalent in my first set (based on The Hobbit, which contains the Three Trolls, Spiders, and Wood-elves capturing the Dwarves of Thorin's Company and Bilbo rescuing them) and my next set (based on Return of the King; capturing here revolving around Shelob and the Orcs/Uruks of Cirith Ungol). Most of its appearances in my Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers sets are in the [Isengard] culture (Saruman capturing Gandalf, Uruk trackers capturing Merry and Pippin), but it gets little token appearances here and there with others. This is one such example.
Make-a sense-a?
[1] Armed with Little Teeth [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Make a Hobbit strength +1 for each possession and artifact that Hobbit bears. If that Hobbit is Sam, he also gains hunter 2.
“He sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master's sword in his left hand. Then he charged.”
Seems REALLY good, perhaps it'd make it nearly impossible to overwhelm the Ring-bearer, so you might want to keep it in check, otherwise, it's ONE card they have to save to pretty much guarantee Frodo survives. Can you imagine holding two at site 9?!?
A very good point. I'll exclude the RB here, since I didn't really intend for this to include the RB anyway. That alright? Should I perhaps raise the cost to [2] as well? I had strongly considered doing so, since it's uncapped....
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What's become of lem0nhead? :-k Hmmm.
Okay, well, I can't keep waiting, so here are more possessions for our wayward little travelers. Enjoy!
(0)•Sam's Cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer).
The twilight cost of each [Shire] and [Gollum] stealth event is -1.
“‘It is hard even for friendly eyes to see these elven-cloaks: I cannot see you in the shadow even at a few paces.’”
fine.
(0)•Sam's Pack, Large and Heavy [Shire]
Possession
Bearer must be Sam.
At the start of each turn, you may discard a [Shire] card from your hand to heal a Ring-bound companion (or 2 Ring-bound companions if at a sanctuary).
“He still hopefully carried some of his gear in his pack: a small tinder-box, two small shallow pans, the smaller fitting into the larger; inside them a wooden spoon, a short two-pronged fork and some skewers were stowed....”
fine.
[1]•Elven Rope, Silken-Grey [Elven]
Possession
To play, spot an [Elven] card. Bearer must be an Elf or Ring-bound companion (except the Ring-bearer).
Maneuver: Reveal the top card of your draw deck. If that card is of bearer's culture, you may choose one: capture a minion with strength 6 or less; or remove a burden.
“‘It looks a bit thin, but it's tough; and soft as milk to the hand. Packs close too, and as light as light.’”
capturing...I remember capturing...kinda...refresher course?
And a card to get them all going....
[1] A Help In Many Needs [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot Sam to play a possession from your draw deck on a Ring-bound companion.
“Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it.”
fine
[1] Armed with Little Teeth [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Make a Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer) strength +1 for each possession and artifact that Hobbit bears. If that Hobbit is Sam, he also gains hunter 2.
“He sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master's sword in his left hand. Then he charged.”
again hunter? damage seems more appropriate, or maybe remove a burden.
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capturing...I remember capturing...kinda...refresher course?
Look one post above yours, skippy. ;)
[1] Armed with Little Teeth [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Make a Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer) strength +1 for each possession and artifact that Hobbit bears. If that Hobbit is Sam, he also gains hunter 2.
“He sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master's sword in his left hand. Then he charged.”
again hunter? damage seems more appropriate, or maybe remove a burden.
Ooooo...I like damage. Excellent idea! :gp: I shall do that.
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(0)•Sam's Cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer).
The twilight cost of each [Shire] and [Gollum] stealth event is -1.
“‘It is hard even for friendly eyes to see these elven-cloaks: I cannot see you in the shadow even at a few paces.’”
Yeah, fair enough. I might just go all the way and say "Bearer must be Sam" given that it's his cloak and all.
(0)•Sam's Pack, Large and Heavy [Shire]
Possession
Bearer must be Sam.
At the start of each turn, you may discard a [Shire] card from your hand to heal a Ring-bound companion (or 2 Ring-bound companions if at a sanctuary).
“He still hopefully carried some of his gear in his pack: a small tinder-box, two small shallow pans, the smaller fitting into the larger; inside them a wooden spoon, a short two-pronged fork and some skewers were stowed....”
Hmmm... Not a fan of the subtitle, but the card seems fairly solid. How about "discard a [Shire] or [Gollum] card"?
[1]•Elven Rope, Silken-Grey [Elven]
Possession
To play, spot an [Elven] card. Bearer must be an Elf or Ring-bound companion (except the Ring-bearer).
Maneuver: Reveal the top card of your draw deck. If that card is of bearer's culture, you may choose one: capture a minion with strength 6 or less; or remove a burden.
“‘It looks a bit thin, but it's tough; and soft as milk to the hand. Packs close too, and as light as light.’”
Weird possession to be unique in the first place, weirder still to have a subtitle. I might just make a new card called "Rope of Lothlórien" and make it non-unique or something.
[1] A Help In Many Needs [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot Sam to play a possession from your draw deck on a Ring-bound companion.
“Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it.”
Yep, I see nothing wrong with this.
[1] Armed with Little Teeth [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Make a Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer) strength +1 for each possession and artifact that Hobbit bears. If that Hobbit is Sam, he is also damage +1.
“He sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master's sword in his left hand. Then he charged.”
Seems a little sub-par. It could be (0) I reckon, or strength +2 for each.
Thranduil
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(0)•Sam's Cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer).
The twilight cost of each [Shire] and [Gollum] stealth event is -1.
“‘It is hard even for friendly eyes to see these elven-cloaks: I cannot see you in the shadow even at a few paces.’”
Quite good, bout time there was a cloak worth using.
(0)•Sam's Pack, Large and Heavy [Shire]
Possession
Bearer must be Sam.
At the start of each turn, you may discard a [Shire] card from your hand to heal a Ring-bound companion (or 2 Ring-bound companions if at a sanctuary).
“He still hopefully carried some of his gear in his pack: a small tinder-box, two small shallow pans, the smaller fitting into the larger; inside them a wooden spoon, a short two-pronged fork and some skewers were stowed....”
Meh, not bad.
[1]•Elven Rope, Silken-Grey [Elven]
Possession
To play, spot an [Elven] card. Bearer must be an Elf or Ring-bound companion (except the Ring-bearer).
Maneuver: Reveal the top card of your draw deck. If that card is of bearer's culture, you may choose one: capture a minion with strength 6 or less; or remove a burden.
“‘It looks a bit thin, but it's tough; and soft as milk to the hand. Packs close too, and as light as light.’”
Nice enough. Nice flavour on the capture, odd burden flavour though.
[1] A Help In Many Needs [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot Sam to play a possession from your draw deck on a Ring-bound companion.
“Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it.”
Trying to decide if it should be one.
[1] Armed with Little Teeth [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Make a Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer) strength +1 for each possession and artifact that Hobbit bears. If that Hobbit is Sam, he is also damage +1.
“He sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master's sword in his left hand. Then he charged.”
Not bad pump.
What's become of lem0nhead? :-k Hmmm.
Im just having less and less time to using TLHH matey, some stuff has changed a bit at work and im on even less. Some days i get to read DC's but not really to quote, take some time to think about them, and review them. Some days i dont even get chance to read them!
Like i said earlier, get used to it, Come mid July i dont know if youll see me again!
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[1]•Elven Rope, Silken-Grey [Elven]
Possession
To play, spot an [Elven] card. Bearer must be an Elf or Ring-bound companion (except the Ring-bearer).
Maneuver: Reveal the top card of your draw deck. If that card is of bearer's culture, you may choose one: capture a minion with strength 6 or less; or remove a burden.
“‘It looks a bit thin, but it's tough; and soft as milk to the hand. Packs close too, and as light as light.’”
Nice enough. Nice flavour on the capture, odd burden flavour though.
Yeah, I was kind of meh on the burden thing myself, but I couldn't think of anything better. Got any suggestions?
[1] A Help In Many Needs [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot Sam to play a possession from your draw deck on a Ring-bound companion.
“Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it.”
Trying to decide if it should be one.
You mean for the cost?
What's become of lem0nhead? :-k Hmmm.
Im just having less and less time to using TLHH matey, some stuff has changed a bit at work and im on even less. Some days i get to read DC's but not really to quote, take some time to think about them, and review them. Some days i dont even get chance to read them!
Like i said earlier, get used to it, Come mid July i dont know if youll see me again!
Awwww man. You just ruined my summer. :(
Well hopefully you'll at least have time to make it through this culture (and this set). Speaking of which, let's move things along with some more possession stuff. Enjoy!
[2]•Frodo's Cloak, Grey Elven-cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Bearer must be Frodo.
Response: If the fellowship is in region 1 or region 2 and Frodo is about to be assigned to a minion by a Shadow card, add a burden and discard a stealth card from hand or from play to prevent that and assign that minion.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to remove a burden and heal a Ring-bound companion.
“...his grey elven-cloak had melted into the twilight.”
The original Frodo's Cloak was always one of my favorites, even long after the skirmish canceling ability was rendered moot. There's just something fun about healing and removing a burden all at the same time. It makes for excellent Frodo-as-bearer protection. So I brought that part of the skirmish ability back...but it's really only likely to be used once you're in region 3, because the protection this offers before that is quite, quite good. Yes, it requires bringing along some stealth cards, but there are plenty of those to go around in this set anyway.
[1] Hobbit Sword [Shire] (reprint)
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
“‘No orc-tools these!’”
Yeah, yeah...I had to. Partly because I wanted to properly set up this card:
[1] Let Go! [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Make a Hobbit bearing a hand weapon strength +3 (or +4 if that weapon is Sting).
“‘This is NOLINKSting. You have seen it before once upon a time. Let go, or you'll feel it this time! I'll cut your throat.’”
Always wanted a Sting-centric skirmish event like this. Of course, it's plenty good even with, say, a Hobbit Sword too. :up:
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cloaks is good, sword is OP +2 for any hobbit? thats craziness.
as for the pump, I'd be more in favor of +2 or +4. though 3 is a very hobbity number IMSO.
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[1]•Elven Rope, Silken-Grey [Elven]
Possession
To play, spot an [Elven] card. Bearer must be an Elf or Ring-bound companion (except the Ring-bearer).
Maneuver: Reveal the top card of your draw deck. If that card is of bearer's culture, you may choose one: capture a minion with strength 6 or less; or remove a burden.
“‘It looks a bit thin, but it's tough; and soft as milk to the hand. Packs close too, and as light as light.’”
Nice enough. Nice flavour on the capture, odd burden flavour though.
Yeah, I was kind of meh on the burden thing myself, but I couldn't think of anything better. Got any suggestions?
Dunno, even healing would be better than burden. Though apart from capturing, rope isnt a very flavoury item!
[1] A Help In Many Needs [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot Sam to play a possession from your draw deck on a Ring-bound companion.
“Quickly Sam unslung his pack and rummaged in it.”
Trying to decide if it should be one.
You mean for the cost?
Yeah!
What's become of lem0nhead? :-k Hmmm.
Im just having less and less time to using TLHH matey, some stuff has changed a bit at work and im on even less. Some days i get to read DC's but not really to quote, take some time to think about them, and review them. Some days i dont even get chance to read them!
Like i said earlier, get used to it, Come mid July i dont know if youll see me again!
Awwww man. You just ruined my summer. :(
Sorry dude, ill do my best, but you of all people know a kid is gonna dominate my time!
Well hopefully you'll at least have time to make it through this culture (and this set). Speaking of which, let's move things along with some more possession stuff. Enjoy!
[2]•Frodo's Cloak, Grey Elven-cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Bearer must be Frodo.
Response: If the fellowship is in region 1 or region 2 and Frodo is about to be assigned to a minion by any Shadow player, add a burden and discard a stealth card from hand or from play to prevent that and assign that minion.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to remove a burden and heal a Ring-bound companion.
“Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent: not moving, shrouded....”
Good, but im sure that this could lead to some rules confusion. If the shadow has minions left over and u stop them assigning, you shouldnt really be able to assign the minion as everyone else is assigned. Tricky.
[1] Hobbit Sword [Shire] (reprint)
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
“‘No orc-tools these!’”
What SoP said.
[1] Let Go! [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Make a Hobbit bearing a hand weapon strength +3 (or +4 if that weapon is Sting).
“‘This is NOLINKSting. You have seen it before once upon a time. Let go, or you'll feel it this time! I'll cut your throat.’”
Finally a good easy use pump worth using in a hobbit deck.
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[2]•Frodo's Cloak, Grey Elven-cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Bearer must be Frodo.
Response: If the fellowship is in region 1 or region 2 and Frodo is about to be assigned to a minion by any Shadow player, add a burden and discard a stealth card from hand or from play to prevent that and assign that minion.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to remove a burden and heal a Ring-bound companion.
“Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent: not moving, shrouded....”
Good, but im sure that this could lead to some rules confusion. If the shadow has minions left over and u stop them assigning, you shouldnt really be able to assign the minion as everyone else is assigned. Tricky.
That would be sorted by changing "by any Shadow player" to "by a Shadow card".
I didn't see any problems with this stuff. Looks all good to me! :up:
Thranduil
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Nice thought Thran. What he said DI!
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Done and done. Thanks, boys! :gp:
Okay, today is all about Sam. I've always viewed him as a little mini Swiss Army knife, sort of in the same vein as Gandalf. I'm trying to sprinkle a little bit of his many LOTR TCG talents into this set, since he really begins to prove his worth in The Two Towers. Sam FC and Sam FG play possessions...and I've touched on that already. Sam RH and Sam IT do some healing...check, though only through the new Sam's Pack. Sam SoH, Sam StB, and Sam NoV deal with burdens. Hmmm...nothing on that yet.
But after today, all these various sides of Sam should shine through. Enjoy!
[1] It's Not Bad [Shire]
Event • Maneuver or Regroup
Spot Sam to heal a Ring-bound companion (and remove a burden if Sam has resistance 7 or more).
“‘Nothing ever dampens your spirits, does it Sam?’”
[1]•You Have To Fight It! [Shire]
Condition
Resistance +1
To play, exert Sam. Bearer must be the Ring-bearer.
Skirmish: Discard this condition to take off The One Ring.
“‘Mr. Frodo! It’s alright. I’m here.’”
[2]•Worth Fighting For [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Tale. While you can spot Sam, each companion is resistance +1.
Regroup: Exert Sam and discard this condition to remove a burden (or 3 burdens if you cannot spot a twilight token).
“‘But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when he sun shines it will shine out the clearer.’”
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To be honest, I don't really have any issues here. I particularly like Worth Fighting For, but everything else seems great. Second one might have better flavour if the RB couldn't be Sam as well, but it's all good.
Thranduil
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its not bad is very good...but I would say they are all fine.
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its not bad is very good...
Hence the title... :hey:
Thranduil
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[1] It's Not Bad [Shire]
Event • Maneuver or Regroup
Spot Sam to heal a Ring-bound companion (and remove a burden if Sam has resistance 7 or more).
“‘Nothing ever dampens your spirits, does it Sam?’”
I like it. Interesting that it allows Sam to be more effective at burden removal when there aren't many there. It makes sense and allows for burden-heavy shadows to overpower It's Not Bad.
[1]•You Have To Fight It! [Shire]
Condition
Resistance +1
To play, exert Sam. Bearer must be the Ring-bearer.
Skirmish: Discard this condition to take off The One Ring.
“‘Mr. Frodo! It’s alright. I’m here.’”
So... Resistance O Elbereth Gilthoniel! (that requires Sam to exert...). Makes great sense with Frodo RB, some with Sam RB, oddly enough Smeagol RB - others... well not quite enough make sense for them, so it's reasonable.
[2]•Worth Fighting For [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Tale. While you can spot Sam, each companion is resistance +1.
Regroup: Exert Sam and discard this condition to remove a burden (or 3 burdens if you cannot spot a twilight token).
“‘But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when he sun shines it will shine out the clearer.’”
This... could be an interesting one to build around...
They do have the warning that you get a massive bonus if there aren't any twilight tokens. I think it's good, though if you wanted to tone done the ability, I could see it as a start of regroup effect. Still, I think it's prevented from being overpowering by the fact the Shadow player has the warning.
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Glad that last batch was popular. ALSO very glad that the fact that I haven't been able to get in all day until now seems to be the result of some server troubles rather than additional blocks being put up. Whew!
Since things are still slow and could potentially go down again, I'm going to just post these without much comment. All I'll say is that I realized I hadn't done anything with Frodo signets in this set yet (and not much with some of the other signets, which I'll have to go back and fix), so that led to today's cards. Enjoy! :mrgreen:
[1] See Here! [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot Frodo to make a minion skirmishing a companion with the Frodo signet strength -2 (or add a burden to make that minion -4 instead).
“‘Begging your pardon, Mr. Frodo, but this has gone on long enough. He's no right to talk to you so.’”
I had toyed with -2/-3 or perhaps -2/-4, but ended up upping the ante a bit.
[2] Good and True [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Reveal the bottom X cards of your draw deck, where X is the number of Frodo signets you can spot. Place each Free Peoples card revealed this way on top of your draw deck in order and return the rest in any order.
“‘...there is something strange about you, Frodo...an elvish air, maybe.’”
An elvish air indeed. Seems like a very [Elven]-ish ability, but it's perfectly in line with some cards from my sets AND Decipher's (including another Frodo signet card that this happens to pair quite nicely with: Dear Friends). This also ties in with a handful of cards (from the [Gollum] culture, especially) in this set that put cards under your deck. A yet-to-be-spoiled pipeweed will also work quite well with this. ;)
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I'd prefer the first at -2/-4, but it's a solid card.
The second one seems a little bit bad. Or perhaps you've worded it incorrectly? Do you mean to take the Free Peoples cards into hand?
Thranduil
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I'd prefer the first at -2/-4, but it's a solid card.
Like I said, I went back and forth (and forth and back) on the numbers. I'd be happy going to -2/-4, but I'll hold off on another review or two first.
The second one seems a little bit bad. Or perhaps you've worded it incorrectly? Do you mean to take the Free Peoples cards into hand?
Weeeell...I had considered it, but I thought that might be too good, seeing as how you could have 7, 8, even 9 cards being manipulated here. But if you think it's too weak as is, I'm certainly open to something like that. Perhaps take all FP cards into hand and shuffle the rest into the deck, or place them on top of the deck? I dunno...you tell me. My brain's already begun the long weekend. :P
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I think a variation of Servant of the Secret Fire (one of the msot powerful skirmish events) that is actually BETTER most of the time (you can pack the appropriate Ring-bearer and that's it, no need for Gandy at all) might be a bit too much. But, then again, there's nothing that says a card CAN'T be surpassed by another one, I just think this would pretty much kill SotSF in any deck with non-alternate Ring-bearers. I'd cut the resistance part and trade the bigger bonus for adding a burden instead (do not reward their ring-bearer for "not playing against corruption").
I think the second one is fine as it is, take a look at a MtG card called Congregation at Dawn (and keep in mind MtG has a draw ratio of 1 card a turn). It was VASTLY played when it was Standard legal, and very similar.
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I like that burden idea, FM. Consider it done. :up: I also dropped it to -2/-4, since you both think -3 is too good. (And I'm inclined to agree, upon further consideration.)
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Weeeell...I had considered it, but I thought that might be too good, seeing as how you could have 7, 8, even 9 cards being manipulated here. But if you think it's too weak as is, I'm certainly open to something like that. Perhaps take all FP cards into hand and shuffle the rest into the deck, or place them on top of the deck? I dunno...you tell me. My brain's already begun the long weekend. :P
Sorry, completely misread the card! I thought you looked at the top X cards of your draw deck! #-o I think it's fine then.
Thranduil
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Ugh. I've had a headache for almost 24 hours now, so my brain is shot right now. I wanted to put off these guys for a while, but since I simply have no brain power to create new cards, I'm going to post them earlier than I intended. I don't want to keep you guys waiting forever for new cards.
So, here are the second versions of Frodo and Sam. As you'll see, these are meant to work more with companions from cultures other than [Shire] and [Gollum] (unlike their first versions at the beginning of this thread), but they're still more than serviceable in that role too. Enjoy!
(0)•Frodo, Little Stranger [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Fellowship: Play a companion whose race you cannot spot to heal Frodo or remove a burden.
Skirmish: Exert Frodo and add a burden to make a roaming minion strength -1.
“And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go.”
If I understand it right, the first line will NOT work with Smeagol, since he has no race to spot...so no easy burden/threat removal with the discarding-and-replaying Smeagol strategy. It WILL, however, work with rangers, which (if you recall) have a few stealth cards of their own that take them back into hand to be replayed later. Yes, I had that in mind all along. :uh-huh:
[2]•Sam, Worthy Halfling [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Aragorn
Ring-bound.
While you can spot a Ring-bound ranger, Sam cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may exert Sam to heal another Ring-bound companion.
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ring-bearer (resistance 5).
“‘The Shire must truly be a great realm, Master Gamgee, where gardeners are held in high honor.’”
His synergy with rangers is a little more obvious. :whistle: But the "each time the fellowship moves" ability makes him just fine in plenty of other decks, too. :up:
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(0)•Frodo, Little Stranger [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Each time you play a companion whose race you cannot spot, you may heal Frodo or remove a burden.
Skirmish: Exert Frodo twice to make another companion strength +2 (or +3 if that companion is Ring-bound).
“And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go.”
Maybe change the first line to...Each time you play a Ring-bound companion...
[2]•Sam, Worthy Halfling [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Aragorn
Ring-bound.
While you can spot a Ring-bound ranger, Sam cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may exert Sam to heal another Ring-bound companion (and remove a burden if you can spot a roaming minion).
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ring-bearer (resistance 5).
“‘The Shire must truly be a great realm, Master Gamgee, where gardeners are held in high honor.’”
I like this one
His synergy with rangers is a little more obvious. :whistle: But the "each time the fellowship moves" ability makes him just fine in plenty of other decks, too. :up:
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(0)•Frodo, Little Stranger [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Each time you play a companion whose race you cannot spot, you may heal Frodo or remove a burden.
Skirmish: Exert Frodo twice to make another companion strength +2 (or +3 if that companion is Ring-bound).
“And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go.”
More than that, it'll work with starting fellowships, meaning a rainbow deck can simply start with 2 "free" burdens to bid (and nab a Ranger through The Prancing Pony "for free" if they are playing Three Hunters or whatever. I'd make it a fellowship action to prevent such abuse.
[2]•Sam, Worthy Halfling [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Aragorn
Ring-bound.
While you can spot a Ring-bound ranger, Sam cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may exert Sam to heal another Ring-bound companion (and remove a burden if you can spot a roaming minion).
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ring-bearer (resistance 5).
“‘The Shire must truly be a great realm, Master Gamgee, where gardeners are held in high honor.’”
He seems awesome, I'd make a hybrid A Promise deck with Ring-Bound rangers just for him.
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(0)•Frodo, Little Stranger [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Each time you play a companion whose race you cannot spot, you may heal Frodo or remove a burden.
Skirmish: Exert Frodo twice to make another companion strength +2 (or +3 if that companion is Ring-bound).
“And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go.”
Yep, FM is right - you should sort that out. I really don't think he needs the second ability though: the first one already makes him very appealing and powerful to me (any RB with built-in burden removal seems very solid to me), an built-in strength pump just seems seriously over the top.
[2]•Sam, Worthy Halfling [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Aragorn
Ring-bound.
While you can spot a Ring-bound ranger, Sam cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may exert Sam to heal another Ring-bound companion (and remove a burden if you can spot a roaming minion).
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ring-bearer (resistance 5).
“‘The Shire must truly be a great realm, Master Gamgee, where gardeners are held in high honor.’”
I know you like parentheses and abilities that can do 2 things, but I honestly think it is unnecessary in this case, and it means you are running out of room on the card. I think an ability like "Each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may heal another Ring-bound companion" seems really strong and really simple, and I don't see why he would need anything else. FM is right again - this concept looks like it makes some fun decks, so kudos on that!
Thranduil
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Thran and FM are all over these.
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Tweaked the cards a bit. I'm reluctant to drop the second ability from Frodo...so I changed it a bit. I think the new cost helps balance out the whole card and actually makes more sense story-wise. Better?
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Ugh. I've had a headache for almost 24 hours now, so my brain is shot right now. I wanted to put off these guys for a while, but since I simply have no brain power to create new cards, I'm going to post them earlier than I intended. I don't want to keep you guys waiting forever for new cards.
So, here are the second versions of Frodo and Sam. As you'll see, these are meant to work more with companions from cultures other than [Shire] and [Gollum] (unlike their first versions at the beginning of this thread), but they're still more than serviceable in that role too. Enjoy!
Advil is your best friend! :mrgreen: Always seems to erase my headache problems. Hmm, sounds like these two might steward a 9 walkers strategy. Time to see!
(0)•Frodo, Little Stranger [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Fellowship: Play a companion whose race you cannot spot to heal Frodo or remove a burden.
Skirmish: Exert Frodo and add a burden to make another companion strength +2 (or +3 if that companion is Ring-bound).
“And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go.”
If I understand it right, the first line will NOT work with Smeagol, since he has no race to spot...so no easy burden/threat removal with the discarding-and-replaying Smeagol strategy. It WILL, however, work with rangers, which (if you recall) have a few stealth cards of their own that take them back into hand to be replayed later. Yes, I had that in mind all along. :uh-huh:
Hmm...maybe it's just my opinion but a burden and exertion for essentially a 0 cost universal skirmish event just doesn't balance. Frodo (as does most hobbits) has a 4 vitality, and if you combine any vitality +2 ring with him you'll have an extra 2 exertions to toy with. His 10 resistance gives you a lot of leeway with adding burdens. If used with the pippin engine, this could get very sickening. I would say Dain, to make it +1 instead of +2 just to make you work harder to bump any companion up.
[2]•Sam, Worthy Halfling [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Aragorn
Ring-bound.
While you can spot a Ring-bound ranger, Sam cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may exert Sam to heal another Ring-bound companion.
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ring-bearer (resistance 5).
“‘The Shire must truly be a great realm, Master Gamgee, where gardeners are held in high honor.’”
His synergy with rangers is a little more obvious. :whistle: But the "each time the fellowship moves" ability makes him just fine in plenty of other decks, too. :up:
Like this one! :up:
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Advil is indeed usually a good helper, Foresight. :up: I'll go back and review your comments and make further changes (as necessary) shortly. But right now, I have a backlog of Frodo/Sam cards that I'm itching to get up. I may have been away from the forums again for a bit, but this time, I've still been DCing in the background. Got a bunch today before we transition to the Merry & Pippin side of the culture, but you've got the weekend to chew on them. Enjoy! :mrgreen:
[1]•What A Fix! [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot 2 Hobbits.
Each time the fellowship moves to a site in region 1, draw a card.
Each time the fellowship moves to a site in region 2, draw a card and then discard a card from your hand.
Each time the fellowship moves to a site in region 3, discard a card from your hand.
“‘That's the one place in all the lands we've ever heard of that we don't want to see any closer; and that's the one place we're trying to get to!’”
This is one of those cards where I took the title and lore and the text just kind of wrote itself. I think I was partially inspired by the old-school [Sauron] cards that forced you to discard...they were centered around the Tower of Barad-dur, I believe, so as I thought of Frodo and Sam approaching Mordor, I subconsciously thought back to that theme.
[1]•A Brave Deed [Shire]
Condition
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit.
Each other Ring-bound companion is resistance +1.
Each time the fellowship moves to a river or marsh site, exert bearer.
“‘He's not alone. Sam went with him.’”
Always loved that little scene where Gandalf smirks when learning of Sam keeping his promise to stick with Frodo ("don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee!"). This is another card where I started with that, and the rest just wrote itself.
[2] Great Tales [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Tale. To play, spot 2 Ring-bound Hobbits.
At the start of the maneuver phase, you may discard a tale from play to choose a Shadow player who must remove [2] or a burden.
“‘I wonder if people will ever say, ‘let’s hear about Frodo and the Ring.’ And they’ll say ‘yes, that’s one of my favorite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn’t he, dad?’ ‘Yes, my boy, the most famousest of hobbits. And that’s saying alot.’’”
Not a ton of tales in this set, but there are plenty throughout my sets on the whole. Is the maneuver ability too much, though?
(0)•Cliffs of Emyn Muil [Shire] (updated reprint)
Condition • Support Area
Response: If the fellowship moves from a mountain site in region 1 and you can spot a Ring-bound Hobbit, discard this condition to remove up to 2 burdens.
Skirmish: Discard this condition to wound a minion skirmishing a Hobbit companion.
“...away from the steep edge of the Emyn Muil, down the broken stony slopes towards the vast fens below. They faded swiftly and softly into the darkness.”
I reprinted the Tower block [Gondor] cards like Forests of Ithilien and Ruins of Osgiliath, tweaked in a manner similar to this one, and people seemed to like those a lot. So I decided to do the same here: update an old favorite to make it viable in this post-Shadows world. Like it?
Now some stealth, which will be a big theme with Merry and Pippin but also plays into Frodo and Sam's journey. After all, both Sam's Cloak and !Frodo's Cloak, Grey Elven-cloak (found on Page 2 (http://lotrtcgdb.com/forums/index.php?topic=2354.15)) deal with stealth cards already.
[2] Sprawled On The Ground [Shire]
Event • Assignment
Stealth.
Prevent a Hobbit from being assigned to skirmish minions with strength less than that Hobbit's resistance until the regroup phase.
“Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks.”
I realized I had already used this lore for the aforementioned Grey Elven-cloak, so I went back and changed that to free it up here. Too cool a lore not to use somewhere!
[1] Give Him The Slip [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Choose one: cancel a skirmish involving a Hobbit bearing an artifact or cloak; or make a Hobbit strength +3.
“Drawing his grey hood well over his face, Sam crept stealthily towards the cliff.”
Those cloaks are a big part of what make Frodo/Sam stealth work in this set, and artifacts like the various versions of Mithril-coat keep them going in other sets, so I wanted to reward their use. I know the canceling won't work with a Frodo or Sam (or Bilbo) bearing the Ring, so I opted to make the alternate strength boost work in that case as well rather than the typical "at any other site" or "otherwise" type text usually found on cards like this.
EDIT: Since no one's posted anything yet, I also redid the much-maligned Little Stranger version of Frodo from last time. Upon further review, I just dropped the second line and made him like a beefed-up Frodo, Tired Traveller.
(0)•Frodo, Little Stranger [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Fellowship: Play a companion whose race you cannot spot to heal Frodo and remove a burden.
“And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go.”
Have a good weekend, and look for Merry and Pippin on Monday!
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Don't have time to review them all now, but should What a Fix be a condition?
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You know, I actually think Great Tales should be something that GAVE "Tale" to stuff, and perhaps even NOT be a tale itself, just for the lulz of it.
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Don't have time to review them all now, but should What a Fix be a condition?
Doh! #-o Yes. Yes it should. :gp:
Felipe, I did it that way as a sort of cousin to A Dragon's Tale. On steroids. :mrgreen: But your idea intrigues me, and I'll have to see if I can make a card like you suggest in the future.... :-k
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[2]•What A Fix! [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot 2 Hobbits.
Each time the fellowship moves to a site in region 1, draw a card.
Each time the fellowship moves to a site in region 2, draw a card and then discard a card from your hand.
Each time the fellowship moves to a site in region 3, discard a card from your hand.
“‘That's the one place in all the lands we've ever heard of that we don't want to see any closer; and that's the one place we're trying to get to!’”
Certainly interesting, especially because discarding a card is not always bad. I like it, I think it makes an elegant and solid card. Nice one! A tiny bit strange in [Shire] though...
[2] A Brave Deed [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit. Limit 1 per bearer.
Each other Ring-bound companion is resistance +1.
Each time the fellowship moves to a river or marsh site, exert bearer.
“‘He's not alone. Sam went with him.’”
It seems that you forgot to remove the "Support area" sub-type! Apart from that, I'm worried about the ability stacking. I think I would prefer it as unique and cost (0) with "Bearer must be Sam".
[2] Great Tales [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Tale. To play, spot 2 Ring-bound Hobbits.
At the start of the maneuver phase, you may discard a tale from play to choose a Shadow player who must remove [2] or a burden.
“‘I wonder if people will ever say, ‘let’s hear about Frodo and the Ring.’ And they’ll say ‘yes, that’s one of my favorite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn’t he, dad?’ ‘Yes, my boy, the most famousest of hobbits. And that’s saying alot.’’”
Well you could argue this card is about making just regular tales into great tales! ;) Seems like it's expensive - could be [1].
(0)•Cliffs of Emyn Muil [Shire] (updated reprint)
Condition • Support Area
Response: If the fellowship moves from a mountain site in region 1 and you can spot a Ring-bound Hobbit, discard this condition to remove up to 2 burdens.
Skirmish: Discard this condition to wound a minion skirmishing a Hobbit companion.
“...away from the steep edge of the Emyn Muil, down the broken stony slopes towards the vast fens below. They faded swiftly and softly into the darkness.”
Yeah, fair enough.
[2] Sprawled On The Ground [Shire]
Event • Assignment
Stealth.
Prevent a Hobbit from being assigned to skirmish minions with strength less than that Hobbit's resistance until the regroup phase.
“Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks.”
This brings up rules questions. What happens if the minion's strength is subsequently boosted? I think the snapshot rule would mean that it only counts minions with strength less than his resistance when the card is played, but I'm not sure. It also seems a bit too dangerous to be used. Essentially, I think my problem with this card is that it may as well be Crouched Down which is more reliable, simpler and doesn't give me a rules headache! :-S
[1] Give Him The Slip [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Choose one: cancel a skirmish involving a Hobbit bearing an artifact or cloak; or make a Hobbit strength +3.
“Drawing his grey hood well over his face, Sam crept stealthily towards the cliff.”
Wow, very cool!
(0)•Frodo, Little Stranger [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Fellowship: Play a companion whose race you cannot spot to heal Frodo or remove a burden.
Skirmish: Exert Frodo and add a burden to make a roaming minion strength -2. Limit once per skirmish.
“And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go.”
I still think a RB with in-built burden removal, healing and strength pumps is ludicrously powerful. Why would I use any other Frodo? I still say you should choose one of the abilities and stick with it, or do something entirely different.
Thranduil
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[2] A Brave Deed [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit. Limit 1 per bearer.
Each other Ring-bound companion is resistance +1.
Each time the fellowship moves to a river or marsh site, exert bearer.
“‘He's not alone. Sam went with him.’”
It seems that you forgot to remove the "Support area" sub-type! Apart from that, I'm worried about the ability stacking. I think I would prefer it as unique and cost (0) with "Bearer must be Sam".
Well, seeing as how there are only 3 RB Hobbits (I haven't added more), you're looking at a max of +2 resistance for each of them.
Hmmm. You know what, even that is likely too much considering all the other resistance boosters I've made in this set. I think I'll go with your idea after all.
[2] Sprawled On The Ground [Shire]
Event • Assignment
Stealth.
Prevent a Hobbit from being assigned to skirmish minions with strength less than that Hobbit's resistance until the regroup phase.
“Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks.”
This brings up rules questions. What happens if the minion's strength is subsequently boosted? I think the snapshot rule would mean that it only counts minions with strength less than his resistance when the card is played, but I'm not sure. It also seems a bit too dangerous to be used. Essentially, I think my problem with this card is that it may as well be Crouched Down which is more reliable, simpler and doesn't give me a rules headache! :-S
Well, it is a touch better than Crouched Down since it lasts until regroup...CD is a one-time shot, after all. I don't see why it's such a big rule-bender, though...once the assignment phase is done, any strength modifiers don't matter anyway since assignments are already done. If someone modifies strength before the end of the assignment phase, then that would come into play, yes, but I still don't see why that's such a mind-blowing thing. Am I just missing something obvious? :-?
(0)•Frodo, Little Stranger [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Fellowship: Play a companion whose race you cannot spot to heal Frodo or remove a burden.
Skirmish: Exert Frodo and add a burden to make a roaming minion strength -2. Limit once per skirmish.
“And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go.”
I still think a RB with in-built burden removal, healing and strength pumps is ludicrously powerful. Why would I use any other Frodo? I still say you should choose one of the abilities and stick with it, or do something entirely different.
Sigh. Alright, I relent: I'll drop the second line. :gp: for your persistence even if it pains me. :P I think I'll have to go back and make a card that ties Frodo and Sam in with roaming minions later, though. That's still a connection I want, to help tie them in a touch more with the RB rangers.
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[2] Sprawled On The Ground [Shire]
Event • Assignment
Stealth.
Prevent a Hobbit from being assigned to skirmish minions with strength less than that Hobbit's resistance until the regroup phase.
“Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks.”
This brings up rules questions. What happens if the minion's strength is subsequently boosted? I think the snapshot rule would mean that it only counts minions with strength less than his resistance when the card is played, but I'm not sure. It also seems a bit too dangerous to be used. Essentially, I think my problem with this card is that it may as well be Crouched Down which is more reliable, simpler and doesn't give me a rules headache! :-S
Well, it is a touch better than Crouched Down since it lasts until regroup...CD is a one-time shot, after all. I don't see why it's such a big rule-bender, though...once the assignment phase is done, any strength modifiers don't matter anyway since assignments are already done. If someone modifies strength before the end of the assignment phase, then that would come into play, yes, but I still don't see why that's such a mind-blowing thing. Am I just missing something obvious? :-?
Thing is, I'm not sure that modifying strength before the end of the assignment phase does change this cards effect. Basically, my problem with this card is that I don't understand its implications, and that's a bad thing for a card. Plus it's exceedingly dangerous because, depending on whether subsequent strength boosts apply or not, it could end up forcing you to assign a massive minion to your Ring-bearer. And it does effect the fierce assignment phase, and I'm not sure how. It's just giving me a headache all round.
I also don't see why you need to make such a complicated card when Crouched Down explores essentially the same concept and is ready and ripe for reprinting. But I'm sure that's just me.
Thranduil
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Probably NOT just you, actually. Hmmmm. :-k I'll kick it around in my head and see if I can think of something else to do with it.
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[2]•What A Fix! [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot 2 Hobbits.
Each time the fellowship moves to a site in region 1, draw a card.
Each time the fellowship moves to a site in region 2, draw a card and then discard a card from your hand.
Each time the fellowship moves to a site in region 3, discard a card from your hand.
“‘That's the one place in all the lands we've ever heard of that we don't want to see any closer; and that's the one place we're trying to get to!’”
Interesting, each could have its advantages and disadvantages. I think it could easily cost 1 or maybe 0. Dont think it justfies a cost really.
[2]•A Brave Deed [Shire]
Condition
Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit.
Each other Ring-bound companion is resistance +1.
Each time the fellowship moves to a river or marsh site, exert bearer.
“‘He's not alone. Sam went with him.’”
Because of the exert i think this could cost 1.
[2] Great Tales [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Tale. To play, spot 2 Ring-bound Hobbits.
At the start of the maneuver phase, you may discard a tale from play to choose a Shadow player who must remove [2] or a burden.
“‘I wonder if people will ever say, ‘let’s hear about Frodo and the Ring.’ And they’ll say ‘yes, that’s one of my favorite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn’t he, dad?’ ‘Yes, my boy, the most famousest of hobbits. And that’s saying alot.’’”
Hey I like it. Not sure about its non uniqueness. Though more than 1 tale per turn is quite a cost. Probably fine.
(0)•Cliffs of Emyn Muil [Shire] (updated reprint)
Condition • Support Area
Response: If the fellowship moves from a mountain site in region 1 and you can spot a Ring-bound Hobbit, discard this condition to remove up to 2 burdens.
Skirmish: Discard this condition to wound a minion skirmishing a Hobbit companion.
“...away from the steep edge of the Emyn Muil, down the broken stony slopes towards the vast fens below. They faded swiftly and softly into the darkness.”
Yeah its sound. Need to be a rare again though as it approaching OP for a 0 cost.
[2] Sprawled On The Ground [Shire]
Event • Assignment
Stealth.
Prevent a Hobbit from being assigned to skirmish minions with strength less than that Hobbit's resistance until the regroup phase.
“Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks.”
Seems ok, not quite sure how useful it would be though. I suppose ring bearer applications would be ok especially against swarm.
[1] Give Him The Slip [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Choose one: cancel a skirmish involving a Hobbit bearing an artifact or cloak; or make a Hobbit strength +3.
“Drawing his grey hood well over his face, Sam crept stealthily towards the cliff.”
Wow, hobbits have no good standard legal pumps then whamo this comes along and is both awesome and versatile. not sure if this shouldnt cost 2 its so useful.
(0)•Frodo, Little Stranger [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Ringed Resistance: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Fellowship: Play a companion whose race you cannot spot to heal Frodo or remove a burden.
“And here he was a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go.”
Meh, hes ok, probably ok to change 'or' for 'and'.
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Good to have you back, juicy fruit! :gp:
Alright, made some tweaks to the last batch (though I still have to figure out what to do with Sprawled On The Ground...when I figure that out I'll re-post it). For now, though, I promised Merry and Pippin on Monday, and lo and behold, it's Monday! So here they are. Enjoy!
You know I'm not big into rarities, but I know for certain that the other versions of Merry and Pippin in this set are rare, so these two are probably...hmmm...uncommon.
[1]•Merry, Young and Brave [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Gandalf
Pippin may not be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Maneuver: Discard Merry to return a non-minion Shadow card to its owner's hand (or 2 such [Sauron] or [Orc] cards). Any Shadow player may remove a threat to prevent this.
“‘The fires of Isengard will spread and the woods of Tuckborough and Buckland will burn. And all that was once green and good in this world will be gone.’”
[1]•Pippin, Very Small [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Gandalf
Merry takes no more than 1 wound during each phase (except archery).
Maneuver: Discard Pippin to return a non-minion Shadow card to its owner's hand (or 2 such [Isengard] or [Uruk] cards). Any Shadow player may remove a burden to prevent this.
“‘The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. It’s the last thing he’ll expect.’”
As you can see, the discarding-and-replaying strategy is big with our unbound Hobbits in this set, just as it was way back in Tower block. But unlike those versions of our little Hobbits (which never took off too well since they were, frankly, pretty lousy for the most part), these have a very nice built-in bonus as well: paired up, they become very difficult to kill. Because of this, I almost made their abilities regroup instead of maneuver, but decided that it would probably do more good earlier in the turn.
So what do you think? Do they capture the flavor of the originals without being utterly useless like the originals as well? :roll:
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Good to have you back, juicy fruit! :gp:
Ditto nice to see u posting DC's again.
[1]•Merry, Young and Brave [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Gandalf
Pippin may not be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Maneuver: Discard Merry to discard a non-minion Shadow card (or 2 such [Sauron] or [Orc] cards). Any Shadow player may remove a threat to prevent this.
“‘The fires of Isengard will spread and the woods of Tuckborough and Buckland will burn. And all that was once green and good in this world will be gone.’”
Erm yeah ok not too shabby.
[1]•Pippin, Very Small [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Gandalf
Merry takes no more than 1 wound during each phase (except archery).
Maneuver: Discard Pippin to discard a non-minion Shadow card (or 2 such [Isengard] or [Uruk] cards). Any Shadow player may remove a burden to prevent this.
“‘The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. It’s the last thing he’ll expect.’”
Yeah u captured it well DI and yes they are more useful for sure!
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[1]•Merry, Young and Brave [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Gandalf
Pippin may not be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Maneuver: Discard Merry to discard a non-minion Shadow card (or 2 such [Sauron] or [Orc] cards). Any Shadow player may remove a threat to prevent this.
“‘The fires of Isengard will spread and the woods of Tuckborough and Buckland will burn. And all that was once green and good in this world will be gone.’”
[1]•Pippin, Very Small [Shire]
Companion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Gandalf
Merry takes no more than 1 wound during each phase (except archery).
Maneuver: Discard Pippin to discard a non-minion Shadow card (or 2 such [Isengard] or [Uruk] cards). Any Shadow player may remove a burden to prevent this.
“‘The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. It’s the last thing he’ll expect.’”
Hmm... Given that these guys support [Shire] condition or possession discard, it seems like they ought to be rare at minimum. But at uncommon, I feel like these guys need abilities more common in the [Shire] culture. I would suggest returning minions to its owner's hand (like Make Haste).
Thranduil
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Hmm... Given that these guys support [Shire] condition or possession discard, it seems like they ought to be rare at minimum. But at uncommon, I feel like these guys need abilities more common in the [Shire] culture. I would suggest returning minions to its owner's hand (like Make Haste).
Two options: I can do something like you suggest and change "discard a non-minion Shadow card" in each of their texts to "return a non-minion Shadow card to its owner's hand", OR I can leave them common and change THIS version from the planned rare to an uncommon instead:
[2]•Merry & •Pippin, Little Shirelings [Shire]
Companions • Hobbits
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Each hunter companion is strength +1.
The twilight cost of each [Shire] pipeweed and [Shire] stealth card is -1.
Skirmish: Exert Merry & Pippin to make each Ent and Tree strength +1 until the regroup phase.
“‘Our friends are out there. They need our help. They cannot fight this war on their own.’”
Yes, one of my fabled dual-character cards. (If you forget the gist of how such cards work, just ask.) This one is quite versatile, able to help out most of the main fellowship types from this set (hunters, stealthiness, pipeweeds, or Ents/Trees). None of those abilities are super-powerful, though, so the more I think about it, the more I think uncommon might be better than rare anyway.
What do you think, though?
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[3]•Merry & •Pippin, Little Shirelings [Shire]
Companions • Hobbits
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
While in your starting fellowship, Merry & Pippin's twilight cost is -1.
Each hunter is strength +1.
The twilight cost of each [Shire] pipeweed and [Shire] stealth card is -1.
Skirmish: Exert Merry & Pippin to make each Ent and Tree strength +1 until the regroup phase.
“‘Our friends are out there. They need our help. They cannot fight this war on their own.’”
I'm afraid that I think that dual characters are so complicated that they should always be rare, just like MTG planeswalkers and legendary creatures - it doesn't matter how complicated their texts are, having that card type means they are rare, because they are also good to collect.
To review this guy, I definitely feel he has too much text. I would certainly make them cost [2] without the starting fellowship reduction (which seems a little bit of a waste of space to me) and I also don't see why Merry & Pippin should help your opponent's hunters, and so I would remove that line too. Then you're left with a very coherent card that hearkens back to the In the Bloom of Health Hobbits - 1 pipeweed ability, 1 Ent ability.
Thranduil
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Dropped the cost and starting reduction, which is actually how it was originally written before I began fretting that was too good. As for the hunter thing, I want to leave that for now because, at least to me, it DOES make sense for hunters on both sides. Hunter is focused in this set on three main groups: the Three Hunters (and Gandalf), the Orc/Uruk trackers that capture the Hobbits, and the Rohirrim. Since Merry and Pippin are really at the center of all of those groups' "hunting", I figured it made perfect sense to have them boost all those aforementioned hunters. If you think it's just too powerful or something, then we can certainly discuss based on that. But as far as story goes, I personally think it fits very well.
I'll keep the dual-character at rare, which means Merry YaB and Pippin VS will stay uncommon and be scaled back a bit in the way you recommended. Thanks, man! :gp:
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I understand why working with hunters makes sense, but why does boosting your opponent's hunters? Merry and Pippin's presence doesn't make the Uruks any better.
Thranduil
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But it made then Hunters, they hunted them. The problem here is not the flavor, is how Decipher approached the hole "Hunter" mechanich, which was a very poor way.
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Hmm... Given that these guys support [Shire] condition or possession discard, it seems like they ought to be rare at minimum. But at uncommon, I feel like these guys need abilities more common in the [Shire] culture. I would suggest returning minions to its owner's hand (like Make Haste).
Two options: I can do something like you suggest and change "discard a non-minion Shadow card" in each of their texts to "return a non-minion Shadow card to its owner's hand", OR I can leave them common and change THIS version from the planned rare to an uncommon instead:
[2]•Merry & •Pippin, Little Shirelings [Shire]
Companions • Hobbits
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Each hunter is strength +1.
The twilight cost of each [Shire] pipeweed and [Shire] stealth card is -1.
Skirmish: Exert Merry & Pippin to make each Ent and Tree strength +1 until the regroup phase.
“‘Our friends are out there. They need our help. They cannot fight this war on their own.’”
Yes, one of my fabled dual-character cards. (If you forget the gist of how such cards work, just ask.) This one is quite versatile, able to help out most of the main fellowship types from this set (hunters, stealthiness, pipeweeds, or Ents/Trees). None of those abilities are super-powerful, though, so the more I think about it, the more I think uncommon might be better than rare anyway.
What do you think, though?
I think dual characters are WAY too complicated at uncommon. Just the deck-saving space alone justifies it being rare. Also, I think a dual-4-vitality-hobbit should have more than 4 vitality. Perhaps even the full 8, but I'm guessing 6 might be enough. I'd also make them unable to take wounds during the archery phase, so as not to hose those decks too much while ALSO fitting the flavor of the TTT scene, since there are NO archery whatsoever except for that first javelin thrown by a rohirrim.
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I understand why working with hunters makes sense, but why does boosting your opponent's hunters? Merry and Pippin's presence doesn't make the Uruks any better.
But it made then Hunters, they hunted them. The problem here is not the flavor, is how Decipher approached the hole "Hunter" mechanich, which was a very poor way.
Hunter is not one Big D's better ideas, no. So many other things they could have done with keywords instead, as many of our DCers have shown. Sigh.
That all being said, it exists, so I make use of it, but I try and only do so where it makes sense. With the groups I mentioned, it DOES make sense. As you said, FM, Merry and Pippin really MADE the Orcs and Uruks into hunters, as they also made the Three Hunters...well, the Three Hunters. To me, it makes sense for the "Little Shirelings" to help out both, even if it is, like in the story, inadvertent. In this case, it's a potential drawback on an otherwise powerfully useful companion (especially now that it only costs [2]).
[2]•Merry & •Pippin, Little Shirelings [Shire]
Companions • Hobbits
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Each hunter is strength +1.
The twilight cost of each [Shire] pipeweed and [Shire] stealth card is -1.
Skirmish: Exert Merry & Pippin to make each Ent and Tree strength +1 until the regroup phase.
“‘Our friends are out there. They need our help. They cannot fight this war on their own.’”
I think dual characters are WAY too complicated at uncommon. Just the deck-saving space alone justifies it being rare. Also, I think a dual-4-vitality-hobbit should have more than 4 vitality. Perhaps even the full 8, but I'm guessing 6 might be enough. I'd also make them unable to take wounds during the archery phase, so as not to hose those decks too much while ALSO fitting the flavor of the TTT scene, since there are NO archery whatsoever except for that first javelin thrown by a rohirrim.
We've got to stop posting things at the same time, FM! :P
For dual-characters, I tend to have certain things that make sense to "stack" (like strength and cost) added to each other, but things that make sense to share (or merge, if you will) NOT be added together. In my mind, vitality is one of those.
Think about it. If Merry and Pippin were separate companions that you somehow got in the same skirmish, their strength would be added together to calculate the results of the skirmish. But if they were to lose, they would BOTH take damage, so thus both of their vitality would be reduced. That same concept then applies here by adding their strength together (3+3=6) but "merging" their vitality (they each normally have 4, so combined they ALSO have only 4). Not only does this keep the cost down (I can get away with a [2]-cost 6/4 companion, but 6/8 or even 6/6 would require something around [4] or more, don't you think?), but it also makes the most sense, in my opinion, in lining up with the current character rules. Now if two companions with different vitalities ended up on the same dual-character card (which I don't THINK I've done anywhere to avoid confusion, but just hypothetically), then I would likely go with the higher one, but I don't see any really logical reason to go higher than normal otherwise.
I like the archery idea, but I think I'll save that for a condition or something instead, so that ANY version of Merry or Pippin (or both, in this case ;)) can make use of it. They'll have plenty of stealth in this set, so I should be able to tie those two together.
Oh, and Little Shirelings WILL be a rare. I already decided, as you have, that all dual-characters likely should be, so I went back and nerfed the other versions of Merry and Pippin a bit to make them acceptable as uncommons. :up:
:gp: for all the good thoughts, my friend.
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I have a bone to pick, you DO realize that Uruk card that settles skirmishes by vitality WOULD count both, right? ;)
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I have a bone to pick, you DO realize that Uruk card that settles skirmishes by vitality WOULD count both, right? ;)
Now you're just TRYING to cheese me off. :P
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Well, I AM a lawyer, I can't have my point made moot that easily, now can I? :P
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I was kind of hoping for a review from someone who either has a juicy brain or gets ill around palantirs....
Hopefully one of those will happen by this afternoon, but if not, I have the next cards queued and ready to roll then.
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Someone who... loves elves, perhaps?
[2]•Merry & •Pippin, Little Shirelings [Shire]
Companions • Hobbits
Strength: 6
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Each hunter is strength +1.
The twilight cost of each [Shire] pipeweed and [Shire] stealth card is -1.
Skirmish: Exert Merry & Pippin to make each Ent and Tree strength +1 until the regroup phase.
“‘Our friends are out there. They need our help. They cannot fight this war on their own.’”
I like it. However... I think you could limit it to just Free Peoples hunters. Having Merry and Pip in one card has its advantages, sure... but it has drawbacks (esp. when it comes to cards that require exertions), so I don't think they need any sort of downside.
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Very well, the people have spoken. Merry & Pippin will only affect FP hunters. I'll tweak that in just a sec.
First, let's keep things moving with some good ol' pipeweed. Enjoy!
[1]•Merry’s Pipe [Shire]
Possession • Pipe
Bearer must be Merry.
When you play Merry's Pipe from hand, you may play a [Shire] pipeweed from your draw deck.
Fellowship: Discard a pipeweed to heal a Hobbit and remove a threat.
“...the other, with crossed legs and arms behind his head, leaned back against a broken rock and sent from his mouth long wisps and little rings of thin blue smoke.”
Between Decipher's set and my own, so far Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Thorin, and even Saruman (a FP version) have their own pipes. Yes, while Merry and Pippin have always been able to make use of pipes like Bilbo's Pipe or The Gaffer's Pipe, they've never had their own. Until now, of course. :)
Merry's Pipe does something certain versions of Merry (Merry RS and Merry TTO from Decipher's sets, Merry, YaB from this very set) already do: work with threats. I figured it made sense to do a little threat removal with pipeweed, since the old-school pipes already do about everything else and even Big D recognized the potential of trying the two together (Hornblower Leaf).
Notice that like the other pipes in my sets so far, this does not refer to a pipeweed possession, but ANY old pipeweed. So you can potentially even use this with the newer pipeweed conditons Decipher played around with in their later sets.
[1]•Pippin’s Pipe [Shire]
Possession • Pipe
Bearer must be Pippin.
When you play Pippin's Pipe from hand, you may play another pipe from your draw deck.
Fellowship: Discard a pipeweed and spot X pipes to heal an unbound Hobbit companion X times.
“‘I keep a treasure or two near my skin, as precious as Rings to me. Here’s one: my old wooden pipe.’”
Not as strongly themed here, since Pippin doesn't have multiple versions that work with threats or anything. He DOES tend to work with burdens (HoSI, WfR, ItBoH), but that's already covered so well by other pipes that I didn't want to mess with that here. So mass healing instead gets the call.
UPDATE: I have added additional text to each pipe that lets you pull extra stuff when you play them. The "from hand" may seem unnecessary, but you'll see in a near-future update that it is actually very important.
I personally love the flavor of playing an extra pipe when you play Pippin's Pipe, since in the story Pippin actually pulls out TWO pipes from his pockets: one for himself and one for Gimli, who lost his pipe somewhere in Moria. Anyway, obviously the best order is to play Pippin's Pipe, pull Merry's Pipe, and then pull a pipeweed. It's a one-time deal, but it makes for a sweet combo that hopefully encourages using them (and their owners) together.
[1] Imported Pipe-weed [Shire]
Possession • Support Area
Pipeweed.
When you play this possession, you may spot 2 Hobbits or a [Shire] tale to reveal the top X cards of your draw deck, where X is the current region number. Replace those cards in any order.
“‘How it came here, I can't imagine....I never knew that it went so far abroad. But it comes in handy now?’”
This set's simple pipeweed, in the same vein as oldies like Longbottom Leaf and Old Toby. Not much else to say, so....
[1]•Hornblower Barrel [Shire]
Possession • Support Area
Pipeweed. When you play this possession, you may draw a card for each unbound Hobbit you can spot (limit 3).
Regroup: Place this possession beneath your draw deck to heal each character bearing a pipe.
“‘There was this large barrel, full of pipeweed....’”
Kind of a super-pipeweed, looking much more like the pipeweed conditions than the pipeweed possessions. Chances are you won't discard this as the cost of a pipe's ability unless you're desperate, but that's okay because it works fine with pipes in another way with that regroup ability. And the "when you play" ability pairs beautifully with Imported Pipe-weed, don't you think?
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[1]•Merry’s Pipe [Shire]
Possession • Pipe
Bearer must be Merry.
Fellowship: Discard a pipeweed to heal a Hobbit and remove a threat.
“...the other, with crossed legs and arms behind his head, leaned back against a broken rock and sent from his mouth long wisps and little rings of thin blue smoke.”
I think it's a shame that this one doesn't count the number of pipes. I would make it remove X threats, which given Gandalf's Pipe does the same with burdens, looks fine to me.
[1]•Pippin’s Pipe [Shire]
Possession • Pipe
Bearer must be Pippin.
Fellowship: Discard a pipeweed and spot X pipes to heal an unbound Hobbit companion X times.
“‘I keep a treasure or two near my skin, as precious as Rings to me. Here’s one: my old wooden pipe.’”
Yeah it's fair enough. I'd probably play this just for another pipe.
[1] Imported Pipe-weed [Shire]
Possession • Support Area
Pipeweed.
When you play this possession, you may spot 2 Hobbits or a [Shire] tale to reveal the top X cards of your draw deck, where X is the current region number. Replace those cards in any order.
“‘How it came here, I can't imagine....I never knew that it went so far abroad. But it comes in handy now?’”
I like this, but there's no reason it can't be "look at" instead of reveal. I don't think you need the spotting requirement, but I can imagine spotting 2 Hobbits for flavour reasons.
[2] Hornblower Barrel [Shire]
Possession • Support Area
Pipeweed. When you play this possession, you may draw a card for each unbound Hobbit you can spot (limit 3).
Regroup: Place this possession beneath your draw deck to heal each character bearing a pipe.
“‘There was this large barrel, full of pipeweed....’”
Hmm... Love the regroup ability (though it does strike me as odd that, unlike every other pipeweed, it doesn't need discarding), but not convinced by the CIP ability: seems just very good and off-culture.
Thranduil
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I don't think the card-drawing is OP, and surely not out of flavor, in the very first set, it WAS common to see abuse in the way of Hobbit Party Guest and a bunch of [Shire] allies to draw nearly your whole deck.
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[1]•Merry’s Pipe [Shire]
Possession • Pipe
Bearer must be Merry.
Fellowship: Discard a pipeweed to heal a Hobbit and remove a threat.
“...the other, with crossed legs and arms behind his head, leaned back against a broken rock and sent from his mouth long wisps and little rings of thin blue smoke.”
I think it's a shame that this one doesn't count the number of pipes. I would make it remove X threats, which given Gandalf's Pipe does the same with burdens, looks fine to me.
Except that one of the earlier pipes I made did just that: spot X pipes to remove X threats. I certainly COULD do that again here, but....
I have an idea for adding a little something that might make this better. Check the original post again in a minute....
[2] Hornblower Barrel [Shire]
Possession • Support Area
Pipeweed. When you play this possession, you may draw a card for each unbound Hobbit you can spot (limit 3).
Regroup: Place this possession beneath your draw deck to heal each character bearing a pipe.
“‘There was this large barrel, full of pipeweed....’”
Hmm... Love the regroup ability (though it does strike me as odd that, unlike every other pipeweed, it doesn't need discarding), but not convinced by the CIP ability: seems just very good and off-culture.
I opted to go with placing under the deck rather than discarding because it creates a fun cycle with a couple other [Shire] cards from this and the last set (including another pipeweed from The Road Ahead) that retrieve cards from the bottom of your deck. As for the card drawing, keep in mind that card drawing and discarding is THE theme of the old-school pipeweeds. I was basically just making this a super-Old Toby and adding a little cultural enforcement at the same time. Like FM, I think it's balanced, especially since you can grab at most three cards at a time. If you would prefer, though, I might be able to make it a 'discard X to draw X' ability instead....
Any other comments? Anyone?
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[1]•Merry’s Pipe [Shire]
Possession • Pipe
Bearer must be Merry.
Fellowship: Discard a pipeweed to heal a Hobbit and remove a threat.
“...the other, with crossed legs and arms behind his head, leaned back against a broken rock and sent from his mouth long wisps and little rings of thin blue smoke.”
Quite a good effect compared to some of the other pipes. Questionable power here but probably ok.
[1]•Pippin’s Pipe [Shire]
Possession • Pipe
Bearer must be Pippin.
Fellowship: Discard a pipeweed and spot X pipes to heal an unbound Hobbit companion X times.
“‘I keep a treasure or two near my skin, as precious as Rings to me. Here’s one: my old wooden pipe.’”
Ditto point above. This has some major MAJOR healing potential.
[1] Imported Pipe-weed [Shire]
Possession • Support Area
Pipeweed.
When you play this possession, you may spot 2 Hobbits or a [Shire] tale to reveal the top X cards of your draw deck, where X is the current region number. Replace those cards in any order.
“‘How it came here, I can't imagine....I never knew that it went so far abroad. But it comes in handy now?’”
Yeah thats fine, odd where you determine X from but whatever.
[2] Hornblower Barrel [Shire]
Possession • Support Area
Pipeweed. When you play this possession, you may draw a card for each unbound Hobbit you can spot (limit 3).
Regroup: Place this possession beneath your draw deck to heal each character bearing a pipe.
“‘There was this large barrel, full of pipeweed....’”
Unique it or you could build them up and have some major healing, or just play a couple and draw 4 cards (rule of 4).
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I tweaked the two pipes a bit to give them a little more oomph. This should make Thran in particular happy. ;)
EDIT: Gack! lem0n, you snuck up on me!
I disagree about the pipes being OP. Look at the originals. Neither have healing potential any higher than Aragorn's Pipe or Frodo's Pipe, in my opinion. If anything, I agree with Thran...they needed a little something extra to put them over the top.
I'll make the Barrel unique, though. I had begun to strongly consider doing that anyway, especially since other [Shire] cards, as I mentioned, can pull it back from under your deck. I think I'll reduce the cost then, too.
So, you may want to re-review if you have a second, Mr. Juicy Fruit. ;)
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Can you put both Merry's pipe and Pippin's pipe on the card Merry and Pippin?
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Good question...and the answer is yes. As a dual-character, the card Merry & Pippin, Little Shirelings represents two characters: Merry and Pippin. For each of those distinct characters, normal rules still apply, so each can bear one hand weapon, one armor, one pipe, etc., meaning that the actual card Merry & Pippin can bear two hand weapons, two armors, two pipes, etc. That includes cards that play specifically on just one of the characters on the card (like Merry's Pipe or Pippin's Sword, for example.) It's still two characters, they just happen to share the same card in this case. Does that make sense?
You can find a more thorough description of dual-character cards here (http://lotrtcgdb.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=3623), though it might need a little updating seeing as that was written...yikes, nearly two and a half years ago.
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Alright, I think we're ready to move on...though if anyone has any further comments about the pipes and pipeweeds (especially the pipes, since they HAVE been tweaked), then by all means, bring it up and I'll be happy to go back.
Today's possessions are much simpler, after all. Enjoy!
(0) Hobbit Belt [Shire]
Possession • Belt
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
Response: If bearer is about to be discarded or captured, discard this possession to prevent that.
Frightened, in the dark, and closely pursued, only quick thinking and Hobbit agility allowed Merry to escape capture and almost certain death, leaving Grishnákh with just a strip of leather and cloth for his troubles.
If you're unclear what capturing means here, just refer back to Page 2 of this very thread (http://lotrtcgdb.com/forums/index.php?topic=2354.15). If you still have more questions after that, don't hesitate to ask! :D
In most cases, though, the capturing part won't matter, as this will likely trigger with the discarding. Keep in mind that our unbound Hobbits in this set like to discard themselves for benefits, so this is bascially a one-time "get out of jail free" card when used as part of that strategy. It IS an effective way to keep your opponent for doing !nasty discard/capture stuff, sure, but in the context of this set you're likely to trigger this card yourself. At least, that was the idea I had in mind when I designed it...which probably means it would NEVER see use like that. :roll:
[2] Hobbit Cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
While you can spot an [Elven] card, this possession is twilight cost -2.
Skirmish: Discard a [Shire] stealth card from hand to cancel a skirmish involving bearer. Any Shadow player may make a minion in that skirmish strength -2 to prevent this.
“Whether because of some special keenness of sight, or because of some other sense, the horse lifted and sprang lightly over them; but its rider did not see them, lying covered in their elven-cloaks....”
I wanted to make this something you could play without Elves, but I went back and forth on whether or not it should spot them, since they would never have HAD their cloaks without passing through Lothlórien. So in the end, I went with the "spot [Elven] stuff to make this cheaper" text. After all, I think the ability is powerful enough (especially when combined with a little resistance boost) to work at [2] anyway.
Now I know what you might be thinking...why would I use possessions with companions that are going to be discarded and replayed over and over? I'll address that soon, but for now, suffice to say that there's a reason I added "When you play this possession from hand..." on the pipe rewrites. ;)
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The belt is good and nice flavour but cancelling skirmishes is really powerful and this is a very easy way to do it. Not sure if its not a bit good.
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The belt is good and nice flavour but cancelling skirmishes is really powerful and this is a very easy way to do it. Not sure if its not a bit good.
Even at the cost of [2] or having to mesh Hobbits and Elves? And discarding a specific card type from hand? I understand your point, but I don't see how this is any worse than, say, Halfling Leaf.
All the same, how about a built-in buy-out for the Shadow player? Something like, I don't know, making the minion strength -3 instead or something?
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Hmm having seen halfing leaf again im inclined to withdraw my comments, however that doesnt make me think that both cards aren't too strong. :)
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(0) Hobbit Belt [Shire]
Possession • Belt
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
Response: If bearer is about to be discarded or captured, discard this possession to prevent that.
Frightened, in the dark, and closely pursued, only quick thinking and Hobbit agility allowed Merry to escape capture and almost certain death, leaving Grishnákh with just a strip of leather and cloth for his troubles.
Needs "instead" instead of "prevent" otherwise, it would stop any cards you have that say "Discard unbound hobbit to do X" because it would be prevented. Do I make sense?
[2] Hobbit Cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
While you can spot an [Elven] card, this possession is twilight cost -2.
Skirmish: Discard a [Shire] stealth card from hand to cancel a skirmish involving bearer.
“Whether because of some special keenness of sight, or because of some other sense, the horse lifted and sprang lightly over them; but its rider did not see them, lying covered in their elven-cloaks....”
Methinks it is too powerful... The thing about halfling leaf is, in addition to its own cost, you have to pay for the other pipeweed you use with it, and some of those pipeweeds serve little purpose once seeing play besides being discarded for effect. On the other hand, with a few of these, you could negate 2-3 skirmishes every turn simply by choking and stockpiling stealth cards - which by themselves will have plenty of uses, I'm sure.
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Alright, I think we're ready to move on...though if anyone has any further comments about the pipes and pipeweeds (especially the pipes, since they HAVE been tweaked), then by all means, bring it up and I'll be happy to go back.
Just a quick word, though I like all that's changed, and a lot of my review was made moot because I didn't know about previous cards you'd made, but never mind. I think it's misleading to have Merry's and Pippin's pipes fetch different things when you play them. The titles automatically suggest a cycle, and the wording of the ability is the same, and so I automatically expected the 2nd pipe to fetch pipeweed, and it didn't. When you have a card that people expect to be one thing when actually it's something else, this is, I think, a call to change the card to what people would expect - players don't like to be surprised! ;)
(0) Hobbit Belt [Shire]
Possession • Belt
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
Response: If bearer is about to be discarded or captured, discard this possession to prevent that.
Frightened, in the dark, and closely pursued, only quick thinking and Hobbit agility allowed Merry to escape capture and almost certain death, leaving Grishnákh with just a strip of leather and cloth for his troubles.
Okay cool. Might want a "from play" to be inserted in there for clarity, but otherwise fine.
[2] Hobbit Cloak [Shire]
Possession • Cloak
Resistance +1
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
While you can spot an [Elven] card, this possession is twilight cost -2.
Skirmish: Discard a [Shire] stealth card from hand to cancel a skirmish involving bearer.
“Whether because of some special keenness of sight, or because of some other sense, the horse lifted and sprang lightly over them; but its rider did not see them, lying covered in their elven-cloaks....”
Why would you discard stealth cards to cancel skirmishes when (I'm assuming) a lot of them are going to cancel skirmishes anyway?
Thranduil
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Why would you discard stealth cards to cancel skirmishes when (I'm assuming) a lot of them are going to cancel skirmishes anyway?
Thranduil
To save twilight?
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Hobbit Cloak is insanely overpowered. Really.
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Okay, I added an easy out for the Shadow player on the cloak. Better?
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Okay, I added an easy out for the Shadow player on the cloak. Better?
Clever mechanic, but I'm unconvinced by the flavour. I don't know what other cards you have going, but could the cloak reduce the cost of stealth events or allow for recursion/fetching of stealth events etc. instead?
Thranduil
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Recursion might be a possibility, but Sam's Cloak from this same set already reduces the cost of stealth events.... :-k
What if I make the minion a little weaker instead, like strength -2? That makes a little more sense, at least.
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It does. Surely, it never happened this way, but should the hobbits decide to strike from under the cloak, they WOULD get that first minion flat-footed - of course, they'd be killed shortly after by the other 10,000, but anyway... TO me, at least, it makes some sense. And playing with POSSIBILITIES is nothing wrong, see ARBs.
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Alrighty. As always, if anyone has more comments on the last batch, then feel free to post them. But for now, I want to move on. I haven't had a streak of posting cards every day this long for quite some time, so I'm loathe to break it now. Onward and upward with some stealth and discarding fun. Enjoy! :mrgreen:
[1] Now For It! [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
If the fellowship is at a battleground or forest site, spot 2 unbound Hobbits to cancel a skirmish involving a Hobbit. At any other site, discard an unbound Hobbit.
“They crawled. The turf was deep and yielding, and that helped them....They gave the watch-fire a wide berth, and wormed their way forward bit by bit....”
Yes, the two main versions of Merry and Pippin in this set hearken back to the old Towers block and can auto-discard for benefits, but what's the harm in creating some alternate ways to discard them? The second part of this is no different from Warmed Up a Bit; I almost just did a reprint, but I wanted to spice it up a little instead. Now For It! is the result.
[2] Squatted and Listened [Shire]
Event • Regroup
Stealth.
If the fellowship is at a battleground site or you can spot 3 hunters, you may add 2 threats to play this event during a skirmish involving an unbound Hobbit.
Discard an unbound Hobbit to discard a minion.
“The hobbits remained flat on the ground, as Grishnákh had left them.”
This is ALSO rather similar to an existing card: Diversion. But there are some key differences...this card lets you potentially discard a Hobbit involved in a skirmish (like WUaB does) rather than being limited to non-skirmishing Hobbits (which Diversion is). I also wanted to potentially tie in the Hobbits with a typical hunter deck, so I added a little hunter love here (while keeping Diversion's battleground flair, which makes perfect sense here as well). So...how is the card? Balanced?
(0) Here We Find Tokens [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Each time a Hobbit is played from your discard pile, you may add [1] (or spot 2 hunters) to play a [Shire] possession or [Shire] artifact on that Hobbit from your discard pile.
“‘They were borne by the hobbits....I will take these things, hoping against hope, to give them back.’”
I teased about a way to !get back possessions borne by discarded Hobbits, and now I deliver. I worried that the [1] each time might be too harsh, so I added a second (and otherwise free) option of having some hunters around. This makes sense flavor-wise (since the Three Hunters actually retrieved the Hobbits' gear), but maybe not gameplay-wise. I dunno...you tell me!
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(0) Now For It! [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
If the fellowship is at a battleground or forest site, cancel a skirmish involving a Hobbit. At any other site, discard an unbound Hobbit.
“They crawled. The turf was deep and yielding, and that helped them....They gave the watch-fire a wide berth, and wormed their way forward bit by bit....”
I think both abilities should say "unbound Hobbit" to make the card more coherent. Other than that, should probably cost [1].
[2] Squatted and Listened [Shire]
Event • Regroup
Stealth.
If the fellowship is at a battleground site or you can spot 3 hunters, you may add 2 threats to play this event during a skirmish involving an unbound Hobbit.
Discard an unbound Hobbit to discard a minion (or 2 roaming minions).
“The hobbits remained flat on the ground, as Grishnákh had left them.”
I don't think you should have those 2 unrelated requirements - I would choose one or the other. I also think for power level concerns it should be 2 burdens, and even then I'm not convinced it should be able to discard 2 minions. Yes Diversion is not very good, but I think the fact it costs [2] and allows you to also save a Hobbit already makes it much better, and all the other stuff is rather OP to me.
(0) Here We Find Tokens [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Each time a Hobbit is played from your discard pile, you may add [1] (or spot 2 hunters) to play a [Shire] possession or [Shire] artifact on that Hobbit from your discard pile.
“‘They were borne by the hobbits....I will take these things, hoping against hope, to give them back.’”
I think you could expand it to "each time a Hobbit is played" and if this is the main recursion card, then I also don't think the "from hand" clauses are necessary on the pipes. It's a fairly nice card to have; I'm not sure I'd use it - I'd probably just stick to not having possessions in my Hobbit discard deck - but that's probably fine.
Thranduil
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[1] Now For It! [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
If the fellowship is at a battleground or forest site, spot 2 unbound Hobbits to cancel a skirmish involving a Hobbit. At any other site, discard an unbound Hobbit.
“They crawled. The turf was deep and yielding, and that helped them....They gave the watch-fire a wide berth, and wormed their way forward bit by bit....”
prolly could cost 0. but with the canceling, guess its fine.
[2] Squatted and Listened [Shire]
Event • Regroup
Stealth.
If the fellowship is at a battleground site or you can spot 3 hunters, you may add 2 burdens to play this event during a skirmish involving an unbound Hobbit.
Discard an unbound Hobbit to discard a minion (or 2 roaming minions).
“The hobbits remained flat on the ground, as Grishnákh had left them.”
fine.
(0) Here We Find Tokens [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Each time a Hobbit is played from your discard pile, you may add [1] (or spot 2 hunters) to play a [Shire] possession or [Shire] artifact on that Hobbit from your discard pile.
“‘They were borne by the hobbits....I will take these things, hoping against hope, to give them back.’”
looks fine to me...Though maybe the artifact is a bit hefty, being able to use phial of galadriel once a turn...should be fine though.
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[1] Now For It! [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
If the fellowship is at a battleground or forest site, spot 2 unbound Hobbits to cancel a skirmish involving a Hobbit. At any other site, discard an unbound Hobbit.
“They crawled. The turf was deep and yielding, and that helped them....They gave the watch-fire a wide berth, and wormed their way forward bit by bit....”
Wow thats an uber event, its just so flexible. Not sure if thats isnt too good for 1.
[2] Squatted and Listened [Shire]
Event • Regroup
Stealth.
If the fellowship is at a battleground site or you can spot 3 hunters, you may add 2 burdens to play this event during a skirmish involving an unbound Hobbit.
Discard an unbound Hobbit to discard a minion (or 2 roaming minions).
“The hobbits remained flat on the ground, as Grishnákh had left them.”
I might drop the roaming bit.
(0) Here We Find Tokens [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Each time a Hobbit is played from your discard pile, you may add [1] (or spot 2 hunters) to play a [Shire] possession or [Shire] artifact on that Hobbit from your discard pile.
“‘They were borne by the hobbits....I will take these things, hoping against hope, to give them back.’”
I think this is ok.
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Yay! It warms my heart to have my three "normal" reviewers all together again, even if it turns out to be brief. :gp: for all of you, for old times' sake. :mrgreen:
Alright, I dropped the much-maligned roaming minion text from Squatted and Listened, and went back to the original 2 threats rather than 2 burdens to play it during a skirmish; otherwise I think it's way too similar to Diversion.
We've got plenty of cards to discard our Hobbits, but what about replaying them? Well, we've already seen two cards in other cultures that can do it:
[1] Nice Little Hobbitses [Gollum] (re-post)
Event • Maneuver
Discard Sméagol to play a Hobbit from your discard pile, or discard a Hobbit to play Sméagol from your discard pile.
“‘We'll be nice to them, very nice, if they'll be nice to us, won't we, yes, yess.’”
[5]•Treebeard, Eldest Ent [Gandalf] (re-post)
Companion • Ent
Strength: 12
Vitality: 4
Signet: Gandalf
Unhasty.
Maneuver: Spot a [Gandalf] Wizard and exert Treebeard to play an unbound Hobbit from your discard pile.
Maneuver: Discard 2 cards from hand or exert an unbound Hobbit to allow Treebeard to skirmish and participate in archery fire until the regroup phase.
“‘I told Gandalf I would keep you safe, and safe is where I’ll keep you.’”
Additionally, I also reprinted Treebeard, Earthborn, who can substitute as your discard pile with discarded Hobbits.
But we need some [Shire] cards that get in on the act, so here we go....
[1] Where Are We Going? [Shire]
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Play an unbound Hobbit from your discard pile to make each site's Shadow number -2 until the end of the turn.
“‘I suppose I was knocked on the head....’”
Unlike the original Knocked On the Head, this one not only replays the Hobbit, but does so with an additional benefit, an idea that seemed popular with the discarding/replying Sméagol strategy. (See the bottom of this thread (http://lotrtcgdb.com/forums/index.php?topic=1450.0) if you need to refresh your memory.)
[1] Out of Reach [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Play an unbound Hobbit from your discard pile to make a minion skirmishing an unbound companion strength -2.
“There was for a moment turmoil and confusion. Pippin sprang up and ran.”
Same story here. I tried to go with things that made sense for Hobbits, like trimming twilight and making enemies less effective in battle.
Now, look back at Nice Little Hobbitses and Eldest Ent up above. Notice which phase they replay Hobbits in? Remember, that's the same phase that this set's Merry, Young and Brave and Pippin, Very Small discard themselves in, so it would obviously be advantageous to discard them (and reap the benefits of doing so), then replay them and discard them again in the same phase, now wouldn't it? Currently Nice Little Hobbitses and Eldest Ent are the only cards (including Big D's) that do this, and for good reason: it shouldn't be TOO easy to pull off such a potentially powerful combo, so forcing you to combine them with Wizards and Ents or Sméagol is a good thing. But I wanted to have at least one way that the Hobbits could pull it off without relying on other cultures/companions, so here's my stab at it:
[1]•So Far So Good [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Stealth.
Each time a Hobbit is discarded from play, you may add a [Shire] token here.
Maneuver: Remove 3 [Shire] tokens from here to play a Hobbit from your discard pile.
“‘You will get almost a chapter in old Bilbo's book, if ever I get a chance to report to him.’”
What do you think?
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[1] Where Are We Going? [Shire]
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Play an unbound Hobbit from your discard pile to make each site's Shadow number -2 until the end of the turn.
“‘I suppose I was knocked on the head....’”
The problem with the design of this card is that you're having to compensate for the fact that fellowship choke is much better than regroup choke... Though I suppose the fact that it replays discarded Hobbits balances it... The problem with reviewing this card is that it has a very different focus depending on whether it's fellowship or regroup, but I think in order to be useful in the fellowship phase it would have to be (0), which doesn't change all that much in the regroup.
[1] Out of Reach [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Play an unbound Hobbit from your discard pile to make a minion skirmishing an unbound companion strength -2.
“There was for a moment turmoil and confusion. Pippin sprang up and ran.”
This is all cool.
[1]•So Far So Good [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Stealth.
Each time a Hobbit is discarded from play, you may add a [Shire] token here.
Maneuver: Remove 3 [Shire] tokens from here to play a Hobbit from your discard pile.
“‘You will get almost a chapter in old Bilbo's book, if ever I get a chance to report to him.’”
I'm fine with this. Any sort of powerful combo you could make with it would likely be so card intensive as not to be worthwhile.
Thranduil
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Anyone else? SoP? Lem0n? FM? EL? John-boy? Anyone? :'(
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[1] Nice Little Hobbitses [Gollum] (re-post)
Event • Maneuver
Discard Sméagol to play a Hobbit from your discard pile, or discard a Hobbit to play Sméagol from your discard pile.
“‘We'll be nice to them, very nice, if they'll be nice to us, won't we, yes, yess.’”
Nice flexibility. Not sure it need 1 cost.
[5]•Treebeard, Eldest Ent [Gandalf] (re-post)
Companion • Ent
Strength: 12
Vitality: 4
Signet: Gandalf
Unhasty.
Maneuver: Spot a [Gandalf] Wizard and exert Treebeard to play an unbound Hobbit from your discard pile.
Maneuver: Discard 2 cards from hand or exert an unbound Hobbit to allow Treebeard to skirmish and participate in archery fire until the regroup phase.
“‘I told Gandalf I would keep you safe, and safe is where I’ll keep you.’”
Hmmmm ok, i hate the unhasty mechanic though, so unworth it. Dont no what d were thinking.
[1] Where Are We Going? [Shire]
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Play an unbound Hobbit from your discard pile to make each site's Shadow number -2 until the end of the turn.
“‘I suppose I was knocked on the head....’”
Wow thats good. Not sure if -2 is too good.
[1] Out of Reach [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Play an unbound Hobbit from your discard pile to make a minion skirmishing an unbound companion strength -2.
“There was for a moment turmoil and confusion. Pippin sprang up and ran.”
Yeah ok.
[1]•So Far So Good [Shire]
Condition • Support Area
Stealth.
Each time a Hobbit is discarded from play, you may add a [Shire] token here.
Maneuver: Remove 3 [Shire] tokens from here to play a Hobbit from your discard pile.
“‘You will get almost a chapter in old Bilbo's book, if ever I get a chance to report to him.’”
Coolio, very viable.
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I'll drop the cost of Where Are We Going? to (0). I just realized that since you still have to pay the cost of the Hobbit you're replaying, the benefit of the -2 Shadow number isn't quite as great as I initially thought. If there are any objectives, then please raise them and I'll reconsider. Thanks! :up:
Now, for something completely different. ;) Since there are only two unbound Hobbits--and four Hobbits total--in this set (the least in any of my sets besides Lasting Alliances...only three total Hobbits there, and all Ring-bound), I figured this would be a good opportunity to create some cards that encourage splashing them in with companions from other cultures. So here are cards that do that for the three cultures you'd most likely pair them with in this set. I tried to do things that made sense for those cultures, but it is up to you to tell me how I did in that mission. Oh, and of course, to enjoy! :mrgreen:
(0) Get Under Cover [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Spot a valiant companion to prevent an unbound Hobbit from being overwhelmed unless that Hobbit's strength is tripled.
“‘It will not be any comfort to us, if these riders discover that we are not Orcs after we are dead.’”
[1] Drawn To Battle [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot a ranger or knight to make a Hobbit strength +3.
“Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight.”
[1] A Hasty Folk [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot an Ent or Tree to wound a minion skirmishing an unbound Hobbit.
“‘We will come with you. We will do what we can.’”
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(0) Get Under Cover [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Spot a valiant companion to prevent an unbound Hobbit from being overwhelmed unless that Hobbit's strength is tripled.
“‘It will not be any comfort to us, if these riders discover that we are not Orcs after we are dead.’”
[1] Drawn To Battle [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot a ranger or knight to make a Hobbit strength +3.
“Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight.”
[1] A Hasty Folk [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot an Ent or Tree to wound a minion skirmishing an unbound Hobbit.
“‘We will come with you. We will do what we can.’”
I love all of them! Great cards. :gp: Drawn to Battle is the one I'm least sure about... Rangers do better for Ring-bound Hobbits, but knights kind of only work for unbound... unless you follow the film I suppose. I'm sure it's fine!
Maybe the other two can also get unloaded keywords? Tale?
Thranduil
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(0) Get Under Cover [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Spot a valiant companion to prevent an unbound Hobbit from being overwhelmed unless that Hobbit's strength is tripled.
“‘It will not be any comfort to us, if these riders discover that we are not Orcs after we are dead.’”
[1] Drawn To Battle [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot a ranger or knight to make a Hobbit strength +3.
“Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight.”
[1] A Hasty Folk [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot an Ent or Tree to wound a minion skirmishing an unbound Hobbit.
“‘We will come with you. We will do what we can.’”
Maybe you can change ranger or knight into just [Gondor]? And A Hasty Folk is a bit odd in my eyes. Direct wounding from the trees? I don't know. Direct healing would be more to my liking, since the draught was healty for those young hobbitses. But it's your party.
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Maybe you can change ranger or knight into just [Gondor]?
I had seriously considered that, but I wanted this to potentially include rangers from other cultures ([Elven], mostly). I wouldn't be strongly opposed to changing it if you feel strongly about it, though.
A Hasty Folk is a bit odd in my eyes. Direct wounding from the trees? I don't know. Direct healing would be more to my liking, since the draught was healty for those young hobbitses. But it's your party.
There's a good bit of both healing and wounding with my Ents and Trees. (Check here (http://lotrtcgdb.com/forums/index.php?topic=1450.0) to see what I mean.) But there's more healing than wounding, and one area Ents (and Trees) always struggled in was finishing minions off. So I wanted to toss in a simple little helper like this.
Thanks for the review, buddy! :gp:
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(0) Get Under Cover [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Spot a valiant companion to prevent an unbound Hobbit from being overwhelmed unless that Hobbit's strength is tripled.
“‘It will not be any comfort to us, if these riders discover that we are not Orcs after we are dead.’”
Fine as long as you cant make hobbits valiant.
[1] Drawn To Battle [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot a ranger or knight to make a Hobbit strength +3.
“Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight.”
Sound.
[1] A Hasty Folk [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot an Ent or Tree to wound a minion skirmishing an unbound Hobbit.
“‘We will come with you. We will do what we can.’”
Thats quite good, as hobbits mix better with ents than knights or valiant men. Hmm...
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(0) Get Under Cover [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Spot a valiant companion to prevent an unbound Hobbit from being overwhelmed unless that Hobbit's strength is tripled.
“‘It will not be any comfort to us, if these riders discover that we are not Orcs after we are dead.’”
Fair enough.
[1] Drawn To Battle [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot a ranger or knight to make a Hobbit strength +3.
“Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight.”
Again, fair. I like the splashability
[1] A Hasty Folk [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot an Ent or Tree to wound a minion skirmishing an unbound Hobbit.
“‘We will come with you. We will do what we can.’”
Also nice.
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(0) Get Under Cover [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Spot a valiant companion to prevent an unbound Hobbit from being overwhelmed unless that Hobbit's strength is tripled.
“‘It will not be any comfort to us, if these riders discover that we are not Orcs after we are dead.’”
I think it'd be fine even if you could make hobbits valiant, but whatever.
[1] Drawn To Battle [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot a ranger or knight to make a Hobbit strength +3.
“Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight.”
Cool.
[1] A Hasty Folk [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Spot an Ent or Tree to wound a minion skirmishing an unbound Hobbit.
“‘We will come with you. We will do what we can.’”
Interesting. Although I think the Ent/Hobbit combination lacks other wounding... this could be really good in a Gandalf, PG deck with Treebeard.
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(0) Get Under Cover [Shire]
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Spot a valiant companion to prevent an unbound Hobbit from being overwhelmed unless that Hobbit's strength is tripled.
“‘It will not be any comfort to us, if these riders discover that we are not Orcs after we are dead.’”
I think it'd be fine even if you could make hobbits valiant, but whatever.
Well, I DO have one valiant Hobbit in my RotK set...bet you can guess who. ;) But anyway....
The [Gandalf] culture already has some unbound Hobbit love thanks to Ents and Trees, so now it's time to tie them together more from the [Shire] side. Off we go! :mrgreen:
[1] Their Aim True [Shire]
Event • Archery
Exert an unbound Hobbit and spot an Ent to make the fellowship archery total +1. Any Shadow player may exert a minion to prevent this.
“‘A hit! A fine hit!’”
I know that, by rule, [Shire] and [Gandalf] should only very rarely (if ever) have archery. But combined, it makes perfect sense when you think about the lethal stone-throwing Merry and Pippin did from Treebeard's back.
[1] Hold On, Little Hobbits! [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot 2 unbound Hobbits and an Ent to make the move limit for this turn +1. Each Shadow player may draw up to 4 cards.
“‘I always like going south. Somehow it feels like going downhill.’”
I really just wanted to find a use for that lore, but I also wanted a card that again took something neither [Shire] nor [Gandalf] should be good at...unless, again, combined. So I just meshed that with the lore, and it actually seemed to work. How do YOU like it?
[1] Singing and Laughing [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot X [Gandalf] companions to heal an unbound Hobbit X times.
“The old Ent now took the hobbits back, and set them on his shoulders again, and so they rode proudly at the head of the singing company with beating hearts and heads held high.”
This is inspired by cards like Peace of Mind, but obviously encourages decks with several [Gandalf] companions (like, say, Ents? :roll:) rather than just Gandalf. But it's flexible enough that you can use it with just the good Wizard as well...after all, [1] for a single heal ain't bad, right?
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the first card is slightly UP, but considering Ents lack of final killing power, an extra wound could be nice.
other 2 are fine.
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Well, I DO have one valiant Hobbit in my RotK set...bet you can guess who. ;) But anyway....
Oooo ooo Sam??
[1] Their Aim True [Shire]
Event • Archery
Exert an unbound Hobbit and an Ent to make the fellowship archery total +1. Any Shadow player may exert a minion to prevent this.
“‘A hit! A fine hit!’”
Wow TWO wounds for 1? Never would use. Not even targeted.
[1] Hold On, Little Hobbits! [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot 2 unbound Hobbits and an Ent to make the move limit for this turn +1. Each Shadow player may draw up to 4 cards.
“‘I always like going south. Somehow it feels like going downhill.’”
Interesting. Not sure.
[X] Singing and Laughing [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot X [Gandalf] companions to heal an unbound Hobbit X times.
“The old Ent now took the hobbits back, and set them on his shoulders again, and so they rode proudly at the head of the singing company with beating hearts and heads held high.”
Sound.
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Tweaked Their Aim True so it's now a one-for-one exerter. Since [Shire] and Ents don't have archery other than this, though, I wanted SOME kind of exerting as a cost. If you think it's okay without it, let me know.
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[1] Their Aim True [Shire]
Event • Archery
Exert an unbound Hobbit and spot an Ent to make the fellowship archery total +1. Any Shadow player may exert a minion to prevent this.
“‘A hit! A fine hit!’”
Much better. But why would you prevent it? The net result is identical. Think about it, fellowship archery total 3, total vitality of minions 4, you play this card: they can either take an additional archery wound or exert first - either way the archery kills all the minions. I can't think of a single situation when exerting before the archery wounds are placed is not equivalent to adding 1 to the archery total (apart from if all the minions have 1 vitality in which case the prevention is illegal anyway).
[1] Hold On, Little Hobbits! [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot 2 unbound Hobbits and an Ent to make the move limit for this turn +1. Each Shadow player may draw up to 4 cards.
“‘I always like going south. Somehow it feels like going downhill.’”
I think this is probably fine.
[X] Singing and Laughing [Shire]
Event • Fellowship
Spot X [Gandalf] companions to heal an unbound Hobbit X times.
“The old Ent now took the hobbits back, and set them on his shoulders again, and so they rode proudly at the head of the singing company with beating hearts and heads held high.”
Compare to Hobbit Appetite. No reason it couldn't cost (0) or [1].
Thranduil
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Well, lately my DCs have been bits and pieces from my fourth set, The End Of All Things...I guess I've been more inspired by Return of the King the last few weeks than The Two Towers. :wuh?: But see, there's a problem with that: I HAVEN'T FINISHED THE WAY INTO MORDOR YET! :fire:
So, as fun as it's been to peek into a set I shouldn't even be starting yet, it's time to get back to the business at hand. Let's finish what I've already started, and then I can let myself roam through the pages of RotK.
And where I left off was with Merry and Pippin. More specifically, the last two [Shire] postings (from nearly three months ago :-[) were cards that make it easier to splash your Hobbits (besides the Ring-bearer, of course) in with companions of other races, since this set has only four Hobbits total, and it's tough to make a [Shire]-only deck with just that. So, two posts ago we had cards that tie them in with [Gondor], [Rohan], and [Gandalf], and the last posting tied them in especially well with Ents. But there are other FP cultures and races we haven't touched on yet, so let's get to them now, eh?
[1] Well-earned Comfort [Shire]
Event • Regroup
Spot a Dwarf and a Hobbit to play a tale or pipeweed from your draw deck or discard pile.
“‘...here we find you feasting and idling-and smoking! Smoking! Where did you come by the weed, you villains? Hammer and tongs! I am so torn between rage and joy, that if I do not burst, it will be !a marvel!’”
Obviously the [Dwarven] culture already likes tales. It's been so long that you've likely forgotten, but Dwarves in this set (and the last) also dabble with pipeweed. Gimli has a rather powerful pipe (see here (http://lotrtcgdb.com/forums/index.php/topic,319.30.html)) in this set, and his culture has some other pipeweed support (like Flint and Tinder, found here (http://lotrtcgdb.com/forums/index.php/topic,319.60.html)). So this card is even better than it might appear at first glance. At least, it's intended to be better. :whistle:
[1] Wonderful Folk [Shire]
Event • Regroup
Spot an Elf to play a possession or artifact from your draw deck on a Hobbit.
“‘It goes hard parting with anything I brought out of the Elf-country. Made by Galadriel herself, too, maybe.’”
Remember back on the first and second pages of this thread, when I had all those possessions that Hobbits could bear (including a new version of Elven Rope)? Here's a card to help fetch them. Seemed to make perfect sense with all the special gear the Elves of Lorien supplied the fellowship (and especially the Hobbits).
More cards soon! And by "soon", I don't mean three months this time. :-[
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Well, lately my DCs have been bits and pieces from my fourth set, The End Of All Things...I guess I've been more inspired by Return of the King the last few weeks than The Two Towers. :wuh?: But see, there's a problem with that: I HAVEN'T FINISHED THE WAY INTO MORDOR YET! :fire:
Oh, I do that very often. Half the fun of posting one set is getting all the ideas for the next!
[1] Well-earned Comfort [Shire]
Event • Regroup
Spot a Dwarf and a Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer) to play a tale or pipeweed from your draw deck or discard pile.
“‘...here we find you feasting and idling-and smoking! Smoking! Where did you come by the weed, you villains? Hammer and tongs! I am so torn between rage and joy, that if I do not burst. it will be a marvel!’”
I like this a lot. It's a shame Gandalf doesn't get a look in here, but otherwise very awesome. I'm tempted to say only discard pile to tie into one of the [Dwarven] culture's strengths. And I think I would also remove the "except the Ring-bearer" clause - what's to stop you using BoG for your Dwarf instead? Seems unnecessary.
[1] Wonderful Folk [Shire]
Event • Regroup
Spot an Elf to play a possession or artifact from your draw deck on a Hobbit (except the Ring-bearer).
“‘It goes hard parting with anything I brought out of the Elf-country. Made by Galadriel herself, too, maybe.’”
Also very good card. But again, I have no issues helping the Ring-bearer with this, which is after all the essence of this card's flavour.
Thranduil
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I like cards like Wonderful Folk, since they account for, say, Merry`s Dagger #2-5, allowing you to pack a single one in your deck, as well as a LOT of other singletons, and simply go fetch what you need for strategy at the moment. Also, this is the closest to "sideboarding" I think LotR can get, meaning you can pack hosers or help even if it is situational.