The Last Homely House
Middle-Earth => Chamber of Mazarbul => Topic started by: menace64 on October 04, 2008, 01:29:18 PM
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While the next round of voting is up in the other thread, I decided SoP had a good point. There's no real reason to hold back the [Gandalf] culture, seeing as there's only 4 cards in it. I'll only be revealing 1 card per day.
The Gandalf culture is a light sprinkling of backup in Lands of Shadow, obviously incapable of holding its own, but more than ready to fight alongside other cultures. Gandalf's role is to bolster the defenses and keep the tense alliances between the Free Peoples bound together.
Logically, Gandalf himself shall be spoiled first.
[4] •Gandalf, NOLINKGuardian of All Free Folk [Gandalf]
Companion • Wizard
Strength 7
Vitality 4
Resistance 7
For each Free Peoples alliance you spot, Gandalf is strength +1 (limit +3).
At the start of the fellowship phase, if you can spot a Free Peoples alliance, you may exert Gandalf to take a Free Peoples condition or event of the same culture into hand from your draw deck.
"There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon NOLINKShadowfax... 'You cannot enter here,' said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. 'Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master!'"
M1R9
What Gandalf does here, he does well. If you're running a Gondor/Rohan or Dwarf/Elf alliance deck, throw in Gandalf and he'll hold his own just fine. He doesn't need outside assistance to survive. And even at that, he puts his 4 vitality to good use, strengthening your alliances *and* himself at the same time, since you could fetch yet another alliance, or some other helpful event or condition.
Let me know what you think. Also, if you'd like to see a specific [Gandalf] card next time (the choices being NOLINKGlamdring, In Stead of the Steward, and Passed From My Sight), be sure to mention it.
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[4] •Gandalf, NOLINKGuardian of All Free Folk [Gandalf]
Companion • Wizard
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Resistance 8
For each Free Peoples alliance you spot, Gandalf is strength +1.
Response: If you play a Free Peoples alliance, exert Gandalf to take an event or condition of the same culture into hand from your draw deck.
"There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon NOLINKShadowfax... 'You cannot enter here,' said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. 'Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master!'"
M1R9
This seems a bit like overkill - he's awesomely strong AND fetches all your cards. He may only do one thing but what he does is simply amazing. I think he would be balanced either with his usual strength and resistance or without hist first sentence, or possibly with a keyword that is not strength like damage (though obviously you're not using damage, but I couldn't think of your keywords off-hand) - ie. "For each Free Peoples alliance you can spot, Gandalf is damage +1".
Thranduil
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Having increased strength, plus an uncapped strength bonus.... it's a bit much. Give the first ability a limit.
His second ability should also be each time instead of response - otherwise, he could exhaust himself (and the way [gandalf] culture is, that could be from 3-5 exertions) to pull a bunch of conditions from only one alliance being played.
Actually, I don't like that so much either, because if you play an alliance condition, you can exert him to take another one, then play it and exert for another, and another... etc. True, it's a lot of exertions, but an alliance deck could just exhaust Gandalf to pull their stuff and let him die, which I'm sure wasn't your intent.
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Great points from both of you guys. I suppose you've convinced me to drop his strength/resistance back to 7, and I've reworded the second ability to prevent him from being abused.
What kind of strength cap do you suggest? +3?
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Whats an alliance in your set?
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I think it should be at the start of the fellowship phase so that you can play it, or just play it from your draw deck.
Thranduil
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While the next round of voting is up in the other thread, I decided SoP had a good point. There's no real reason to hold back the [Gandalf] culture, seeing as there's only 4 cards in it. I'll only be revealing 1 card per day.
The Gandalf culture is a light sprinkling of backup in Lands of Shadow, obviously incapable of holding its own, but more than ready to fight alongside other cultures. Gandalf's role is to bolster the defenses and keep the tense alliances between the Free Peoples bound together.
Logically, Gandalf himself shall be spoiled first.
[4] •Gandalf, NOLINKGuardian of All Free Folk [Gandalf]
Companion • Wizard
Strength 7
Vitality 4
Resistance 7
For each Free Peoples alliance you spot, Gandalf is strength +1.
At the end of the fellowship phase, if you can spot a Free Peoples alliance, you may exert Gandalf to take a Free Peoples card of the same culture into hand from your draw deck.
"There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon NOLINKShadowfax... 'You cannot enter here,' said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. 'Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master!'"
M1R9
I'd either make him [5], add a limit to his first ability or make him 7/4/7 instead of 8/4/8. Other than that he's awesome. :up:
What Gandalf does here, he does well. If you're running a Gondor/Rohan or Dwarf/Elf alliance deck, throw in Gandalf and he'll hold his own just fine. He doesn't need outside assistance to survive. And even at that, he puts his 4 vitality to good use, strengthening your alliances *and* himself at the same time, since you could fetch yet another alliance, or some other helpful event or condition.
Let me know what you think. Also, if you'd like to see a specific [Gandalf] card next time (the choices being NOLINKGlamdring, In Stead of the Steward, and Passed From My Sight), be sure to mention it.
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I'd limit it to +2 personally...he's mostly about the gondor rohan and elven gondor alliances...
otherwise looks good...
In Stead of the Steward sounds kewl.
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I think +3 would be a fair cap.
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All righty. He's got a +3 strength limit, and the second ability now triggers at the start of the fellowship phase and can only pull a condition or event.
Oh, and an alliance is a loaded keyword found on conditions that tie cultures together. Take a peek at the Wainrider or the voting thread to get the full explanation.
Today's card:
[2] •In Stead of the Steward [Gandalf]
Condition
Bearer must be Gandalf.
While Gandalf is not exhausted, each unbound Man is resistance +1.
Maneuver: Spot X [Gondor] Men and exert Gandalf to shuffle X [Gondor] cards from your discard pile into your draw deck. Discard this condition.
"Wherever he came men's hearts would lift again, and the winged shadows pass from memory. Tirelessly he strode from NOLINKCitadel to Gate, from north to south upon the wall..."
M1U11
Pretty straight-forward, really. Gandalf's presence lightens the burden of war from the knights of Gondor.
Hmm. Let's go ahead and spoiler a second card today.
(0) Passed From My Sight [Gandalf]
Event • Fellowship
Exert Gandalf to heal the Ring-bearer (and, if the fellowship is in region 3, remove a burden).
"'We have not the Ring. In wisdom or great folly it has been sent away to be destroyed, lest it destroy us. Without it we cannot by force defeat his force. But we must at all costs keep his Eye from his true NOLINKperil. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give the Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be.'"
M1C12
This is also a simple card. It's below the standard power curve, since I believe not every card *should* be blessed with amazing strength. But it doesn't add any twilight to play, and at the later sites you can get a burden removed for free along with the wound.
Next time I'll post NOLINKGlamdring, and then it'll be on to the next culture!
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[2] •In Stead of the Steward [Gandalf]
Condition
Bearer must be Gandalf.
While Gandalf is not exhausted, each unbound Man is resistance +1.
Maneuver: Spot X [Gondor] Men and exert Gandalf to shuffle X [Gondor] cards from your discard pile into your draw deck. Discard this condition.
"Wherever he came men's hearts would lift again, and the winged shadows pass from memory. Tirelessly he strode from NOLINKCitadel to Gate, from north to south upon the wall..."
M1U11
I feel like this could be [1]. Or perhaps it could be an alliance of [Gondor] and have [Gandalf] in the text. Dunno, it just seems like this is a card that wants some kind of keyword.
(0) Passed From My Sight [Gandalf]
Event • Fellowship
Exert Gandalf to heal the Ring-bearer (and, if the fellowship is in region 3, remove a burden).
"'We have not the Ring. In wisdom or great folly it has been sent away to be destroyed, lest it destroy us. Without it we cannot by force defeat his force. But we must at all costs keep his Eye from his true NOLINKperil. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give the Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be.'"
M1C12
Yeah, fair enough.
Thranduil
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[2] •In Stead of the Steward [Gandalf]
Condition
Bearer must be Gandalf.
While Gandalf is not exhausted, each unbound Man is resistance +1.
Maneuver: Spot X [Gondor] Men and exert Gandalf to shuffle X [Gondor] cards from your discard pile into your draw deck. Discard this condition.
"Wherever he came men's hearts would lift again, and the winged shadows pass from memory. Tirelessly he strode from NOLINKCitadel to Gate, from north to south upon the wall..."
M1U11
Pretty nifty. I'm not so sure of how much it would be used. I guess in G For Grand or Sarn Ford it could be pretty handy. I'd like it better if it gave Gandalf some kind of constant bonus.
(0) Passed From My Sight [Gandalf]
Event • Fellowship
Exert Gandalf to heal the Ring-bearer (and, if the fellowship is in region 3, remove a burden).
"'We have not the Ring. In wisdom or great folly it has been sent away to be destroyed, lest it destroy us. Without it we cannot by force defeat his force. But we must at all costs keep his Eye from his true NOLINKperil. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give the Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be.'"
M1C12
Not bad, I suppose. Kinda nifty if you have Gandalf as the Ring-bearer.
Maybe just for fun, make it play sometime outside of the Fellowship phase.
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All righty. He's got a +3 strength limit, and the second ability now triggers at the start of the fellowship phase and can only pull a condition or event.
Oh, and an alliance is a loaded keyword found on conditions that tie cultures together. Take a peek at the Wainrider or the voting thread to get the full explanation.
Today's card:
[2] •In Stead of the Steward [Gandalf]
Condition
Bearer must be Gandalf.
While Gandalf is not exhausted, each unbound Man is resistance +1.
Maneuver: Spot X [Gondor] Men and exert Gandalf to shuffle X [Gondor] cards from your discard pile into your draw deck. Discard this condition.
"Wherever he came men's hearts would lift again, and the winged shadows pass from memory. Tirelessly he strode from NOLINKCitadel to Gate, from north to south upon the wall..."
M1U11
It's unique so it definitely could be [1]. I'd actually prefer (0) as a matter of fact.
Pretty straight-forward, really. Gandalf's presence lightens the burden of war from the knights of Gondor.
Hmm. Let's go ahead and spoiler a second card today.
(0) Passed From My Sight [Gandalf]
Event • Fellowship
Exert Gandalf to heal the Ring-bearer (and, if the fellowship is in region 3, remove a burden).
"'We have not the Ring. In wisdom or great folly it has been sent away to be destroyed, lest it destroy us. Without it we cannot by force defeat his force. But we must at all costs keep his Eye from his true NOLINKperil. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give the Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be.'"
M1C12
That's cool. I love cards that seem to re-create scenes from the books.
This is also a simple card. It's below the standard power curve, since I believe not every card *should* be blessed with amazing strength. But it doesn't add any twilight to play, and at the later sites you can get a burden removed for free along with the wound.
Next time I'll post NOLINKGlamdring, and then it'll be on to the next culture!
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All righty. He's got a +3 strength limit, and the second ability now triggers at the start of the fellowship phase and can only pull a condition or event.
Oh, and an alliance is a loaded keyword found on conditions that tie cultures together. Take a peek at the Wainrider or the voting thread to get the full explanation.
Today's card:
[2] •In Stead of the Steward [Gandalf]
Condition
Bearer must be Gandalf.
While Gandalf is not exhausted, each unbound Man is resistance +1.
Maneuver: Spot X [Gondor] Men and exert Gandalf to shuffle X [Gondor] cards from your discard pile into your draw deck. Discard this condition.
"Wherever he came men's hearts would lift again, and the winged shadows pass from memory. Tirelessly he strode from NOLINKCitadel to Gate, from north to south upon the wall..."
M1U11
it seems like it should have something to do with knights...
(0) Passed From My Sight [Gandalf]
Event • Fellowship
Exert Gandalf to heal the Ring-bearer (and, if the fellowship is in region 3, remove a burden).
"'We have not the Ring. In wisdom or great folly it has been sent away to be destroyed, lest it destroy us. Without it we cannot by force defeat his force. But we must at all costs keep his Eye from his true NOLINKperil. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give the Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be.'"
M1C12
hmmm...maybe and another companion if you cannot spot a burden in the parentheses?
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[2] •In Stead of the Steward [Gandalf]
Condition
Bearer must be Gandalf.
While Gandalf is not exhausted, each unbound Man is resistance +1.
Maneuver: Spot X [Gondor] Men and exert Gandalf to shuffle X [Gondor] cards from your discard pile into your draw deck. Discard this condition.
"Wherever he came men's hearts would lift again, and the winged shadows pass from memory. Tirelessly he strode from NOLINKCitadel to Gate, from north to south upon the wall..."
M1U11
#$&*@! powerful ability but sound.
(0) Passed From My Sight [Gandalf]
Event • Fellowship
Exert Gandalf to heal the Ring-bearer (and, if the fellowship is in region 3, remove a burden).
"'We have not the Ring. In wisdom or great folly it has been sent away to be destroyed, lest it destroy us. Without it we cannot by force defeat his force. But we must at all costs keep his Eye from his true NOLINKperil. We cannot achieve victory by arms, but by arms we can give the Ring-bearer his only chance, frail though it be.'"
M1C12
Meh really useless until site 7 obviously so not sure theres enough incentive to use it.
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well you have to have some crud cards in a set ;)
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Exactly! PBMS is one of those cards that a new player may wish to use for its simplicity (or just because he has nothing better to use), and that a veteran player may eventually put to strong use (as someone else mentioned, using it for free burden removal in a Gandalf RB deck).
Here it is, sports fans: the last [Gandalf] card!
[2] •NOLINKGlamdring, Blade of the Istar [Gandalf]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be Gandalf. He gains dominate.
Maneuver: Exert Gandalf and spot 2 Free Peoples alliances to discard a Shadow alliance. That alliance’s owner may heal 2 wounds from other companions to prevent this.
“‘For I have not ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and fifty leagues, with the speed of wind, only to bring you one small warrior, however courteous. It is naught to you that Théoden has fought a great battle, and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the NOLINKstaff of Saruman?’”
M1R10
Dominate, for those of you who have forgotten, prevents an opponent from exerting any of his characters skirmishing bearer. Beyond that, this card is the "sister-sword" of Theoden's sword, NOLINKHerugrim. Both blades break Shadow alliances. NOLINKGlamdring, however, gives the Shadow player an out; an out that can only ever work to your own advantage.
And with that, I think it's only natural to spoil NOLINKHerugrim, then move full throttle into [Rohan] culture. [Rohan] sports some of the most flavorful, beautiful cards in the entire set, and I hope you enjoy them all!
[3] •NOLINKHerugrim, Blade of the First Line [Rohan]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Théoden. He is damage +1.
Maneuver: Exert Théoden twice and spot 2 Shadow alliances of different cultures to discard both of them.
“Right through the press drove Théoden Thengel’s son… Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard, hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered.”
M1U65
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[2] •NOLINKGlamdring, Blade of the Istar [Gandalf]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be Gandalf. He gains dominate.
Maneuver: Exert Gandalf and spot 2 Free Peoples alliances to discard a Shadow alliance. That alliance’s owner may remove 2 wounds from other companions to prevent this.
“‘For I have not ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and fifty leagues, with the speed of wind, only to bring you one small warrior, however courteous. It is naught to you that Théoden has fought a great battle, and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the NOLINKstaff of Saruman?’”
M1R10
Remove wounds should be phrased "heal" surely? How late at night did you do this one!?
[3] •NOLINKHerugrim, Blade of the First Line [Rohan]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Théoden. He is damage +1.
Maneuver: Exert Théoden twice and spot 2 Shadow alliances of different cultures to discard both of them.
“Right through the press drove Théoden Thengel’s son… Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard, hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered.”
M1U65
Hmmm think its ok.
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lol I couldn't say. I wrote it weeks ago. But with my wording, the Shadow player can remove wounds from companions that "cannot heal", unless I've missed some rule.
Not that that fact means much, since it's obvious that I goofed. I'll fix the wording.
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Haha ok but on a technicality im sure "removing wounds" is the definition of healing vis a vis its still healing and wont work.
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And as a "bonus" to spoiling NOLINKHerugrim:
[3] •Théoden, Lord of the Horse-realm [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 6
Flanking. Valiant. While in your starting fellowship, Théoden is twilight cost -1.
At the start of your fellowship phase, you may exert Théoden to take a [Gondor] or [Rohan] alliance into hand from your draw deck.
“‘Long years in the space of days it seems since I rode west; but never will I lean on a staff again. If the war is lost, what good will be my hiding in the hills? And if it is won, what grief will it be, even if I fall, spending my last strength?’”
M1C71
This Theoden, being common, doesn't push the envelop with anything in particular. He's the only companion in the entire set that comes automatically with flanking (If this companion is not assigned to a skirmish, at the start of another of your character’s skirmishes, you may exert this companion to replace that character in the skirmish), which is the most advanced aspect of him.
The alliance-pulling part, well, you don't need to know much about what the [Gondor] and [Rohan] alliances do in order to understand that this Theoden is key to any good alliance deck. He leads the Rohirrim or splashes nicely with Gondorians.
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Exactly! PBMS is one of those cards that a new player may wish to use for its simplicity (or just because he has nothing better to use), and that a veteran player may eventually put to strong use (as someone else mentioned, using it for free burden removal in a Gandalf RB deck).
Here it is, sports fans: the last [Gandalf] card!
[2] •NOLINKGlamdring, Blade of the Istar [Gandalf]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be Gandalf. He gains dominate.
Maneuver: Exert Gandalf and spot 2 Free Peoples alliances to discard a Shadow alliance. That alliance’s owner may heal 2 wounds from other companions to prevent this.
“‘For I have not ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and fifty leagues, with the speed of wind, only to bring you one small warrior, however courteous. It is naught to you that Théoden has fought a great battle, and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the NOLINKstaff of Saruman?’”
M1R10
soo alliances are always condition cards right?
[3] •NOLINKHerugrim, Blade of the First Line [Rohan]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Théoden. He is damage +1.
Maneuver: Exert Théoden twice and spot 2 Shadow alliances of different cultures to discard both of them.
“Right through the press drove Théoden Thengel’s son… Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard, hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered.”
M1U65
fine by me.
theoden is cool...
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[2] •NOLINKGlamdring, Blade of the Istar [Gandalf]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be Gandalf. He gains dominate.
Maneuver: Exert Gandalf and spot 2 Free Peoples alliances to discard a Shadow alliance. That alliance’s owner may heal 2 wounds from other companions to prevent this.
“‘For I have not ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and fifty leagues, with the speed of wind, only to bring you one small warrior, however courteous. It is naught to you that Théoden has fought a great battle, and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the NOLINKstaff of Saruman?’”
M1R10
Card's awesome; no complaints whatsoever. Where is that lore from?
[3] •NOLINKHerugrim, Blade of the First Line [Rohan]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Théoden. He is damage +1.
Maneuver: Exert Théoden twice and spot 2 Shadow alliances of different cultures to discard both of them.
“Right through the press drove Théoden Thengel’s son… Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard, hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered.”
M1U65
Niftiness. Maybe give dominate with this one as well? Seems pretty useless if you happen to be facing no alliances....
[3] •Théoden, Lord of the Horse-realm [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 7
Flanking. Valiant. While in your starting fellowship, Théoden is twilight cost -1.
At the start of your fellowship phase, you may exert Théoden to take a [Gondor] or [Rohan] alliance into hand from your draw deck.
“‘Long years in the space of days it seems since I rode west; but never will I lean on a staff again. If the war is lost, what good will be my hiding in the hills? And if it is won, what grief will it be, even if I fall, spending my last strength?’”
M1C71
The flanking and starting fellowship cost reduction (something I think at least ONE version of Eomer or Theoden should have had in the actual game) alone make him awesome. The alliance thing is just gravy.
:gp: for some neat stuff.
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[2] •NOLINKGlamdring, Blade of the Istar [Gandalf]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be Gandalf. He gains dominate.
Maneuver: Exert Gandalf and spot 2 Free Peoples alliances to discard a Shadow alliance. That alliance’s owner may heal 2 wounds from other companions to prevent this.
“‘For I have not ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and fifty leagues, with the speed of wind, only to bring you one small warrior, however courteous. It is naught to you that Théoden has fought a great battle, and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the NOLINKstaff of Saruman?’”
M1R10
Is your intention that if you have no wounded companions (say a huge healing engine like [Shire] or [Gondor]) then the effect cannot be prevented? And lem0n's right; as far as I know, removing wounds is the same as healing them.
[3] •NOLINKHerugrim, Blade of the First Line [Rohan]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Théoden. He is damage +1.
Maneuver: Exert Théoden twice and spot 2 Shadow alliances of different cultures to discard both of them.
“Right through the press drove Théoden Thengel’s son… Out swept his sword, and he spurred to the standard, hewed staff and bearer; and the black serpent foundered.”
M1U65
Very cool. Alliance doesn't effect the culture of the card, right? Also, I thought you weren't using any damage bonuses!
[3] •Théoden, Lord of the Horse-realm [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 7
Flanking. Valiant. While in your starting fellowship, Théoden is twilight cost -1.
At the start of your fellowship phase, you may exert Théoden to take a [Gondor] or [Rohan] alliance into hand from your draw deck.
“‘Long years in the space of days it seems since I rode west; but never will I lean on a staff again. If the war is lost, what good will be my hiding in the hills? And if it is won, what grief will it be, even if I fall, spending my last strength?’”
M1C71
No complaints, though it is a powerful common. Perhaps he doesn't need resistance 7.
Thranduil
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Well Thran, that wasn't my *intention* when I wrote the healing text bit, but it sure is neat that it came out like that. No, alliance (which appears only on conditions) doesn't change the card's culture; all alliance does is allow other cultures to utilize the card.
As for not having damage bonuses, the "new" subcultures in this set have none of the old keywords. I think damage shows up twice (the other card being Gimli) and there's only one archer (Legolas).
Dain, I can't say for sure where that lore is from (I'm not in the same building as my books), but I'm almost certain (actually, I *am* certain) that it's from the chapter Minas Tirith, just after Pippin swears service to Denethor and before Gandalf blows his top. Just after Gandalf says the quote, Denethor says something to the effect of, "I have seen this and more" yadda yadda yadda.
But I think I will drop Theoden's resistance to 6.
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Now we push headlong into the [Rohan] cards. Like I said before, these are some of my favorite cards out of the whole set (if not my favorite DC creations ever), combining strong flavors and mechanics to create - in my opinion - balanced, fun cards. The [Rohan] culture in Lands of Shadow doesn't hold to a central strategy or mechanic; all they want to do is run real fast and kill real good!
But you be the judge!
[1] •Courage and Legacy [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
To play, exert a [Rohan] companion (or spot a valiant [Rohan] Man).
Assignment: Assign a minion to skirmish a [Rohan] companion of lower strength. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard this condition to reconcile your hand.
“And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.”
M1C60
Each Free Peoples culture in Lands of Shadow has a card that can somehow reconcile your hand outside of the regroup phase. This is Rohan's. Flavorfully, this represents the Rohirrim knowingly engaging Sauron's forces, obviously striking at the stronger foe. Courage and Legacy also encourages the use of skirmish events (like the one two cards below).
(0) For Lord and Land [Rohan]
Event • Regroup
Play 3 [Rohan] companions from your discard pile to reveal the top 10 cards of your draw deck. Play any [Rohan] possessions revealed and shuffle the rest into your draw deck.
“‘Now is the hour come, NOLINKRiders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far behind. Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own for ever. Oaths ye have taken: now fulfil them all, to lord and land and league of friendship!’”
M1R63
Read this one carefully. The cost on the card is to play 3 [Rohan] dudes from your discard pile. Doing so nets you some free booty from your draw deck, at the risk of "rallying" nothing to the war effort. This card is representing Eomer calling his kinsmen to arms, to ride without stop to the gates of Gondor.
And one more...
[2] Such Fury Unseen [Rohan]
Event • Skirmish
Make a valiant [Rohan] Man strength +1 for each other valiant companion you spot. If that Man wins that skirmish, make him or her damage +1 for each other valiant companion you spot.
“…and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they NOLINKsang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them…”
M1U69
A big theme for Rohan in this set is pushing valiant as a proper mechanic. Valiant never brought across the punch and power that it deserved. Such Fury Unseen is taken from the culminating moment of Eomer and his men as they rode reckless across the Pelennor, hewing and hacking without remorse.
Next time I'm spoiling Eomer and his trusty sword. :mrgreen: Both are loads of fun, and my Eomer alone will give Third Marshal a run for its money.
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[1] •Courage and Legacy [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
To play, exert a [Rohan] companion (or spot a valiant [Rohan] Man).
Assignment: Assign a minion of higher strength to skirmish a [Rohan] companion. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard this condition to reconcile your hand.
“And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.”
M1C60
Tis cool.
(0) For Lord and Land [Rohan]
Event • Regroup
Play 3 [Rohan] companions from your discard pile to reveal the top 10 cards of your draw deck. Play any [Rohan] possessions revealed and discard the rest.
“‘Now is the hour come, NOLINKRiders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far behind. Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own for ever. Oaths ye have taken: now fulfil them all, to lord and land and league of friendship!’”
M1R63
Funky, though one would hope that 3 companions weren't in your discard pile so I'm not sure how much use it would have.
[2] Such Fury Unseen [Rohan]
Event • Skirmish
Make a valiant [Rohan] Man strength +1 for each other valiant companion you spot. If that Man is then winning the skirmish, make him or her damage +1 for each other valiant companion you spot.
“…and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they NOLINKsang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them…”
M1U69
[/quote]
Good stuff.
Thranduil
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[1] •Courage and Legacy [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
To play, exert a [Rohan] companion (or spot a valiant [Rohan] Man).
Assignment: Assign a minion of higher strength to skirmish a [Rohan] companion. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard this condition to reconcile your hand.
“And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.”
M1C60
Niiiiiice.
(0) For Lord and Land [Rohan]
Event • Regroup
Play 3 [Rohan] companions from your discard pile to reveal the top 10 cards of your draw deck. Play any [Rohan] possessions revealed and discard the rest.
“‘Now is the hour come, NOLINKRiders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far behind. Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own for ever. Oaths ye have taken: now fulfil them all, to lord and land and league of friendship!’”
M1R63
Ooof discard the rest is nasty but playing 3 companions from discard is crazy. Id abuse this with where now the horse.
[2] Such Fury Unseen [Rohan]
Event • Skirmish
Make a valiant [Rohan] Man strength +1 for each other valiant companion you spot. If that Man is then winning the skirmish, make him or her damage +1 for each other valiant companion you spot.
“…and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they NOLINKsang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them…”
M1U69
Not sure youre phrasing is great, isnt if that man wins the skirmish make him damage.... the same? Dont you win the skirmish then wounds are applied?
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[1] •Courage and Legacy [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
To play, exert a [Rohan] companion (or spot a valiant [Rohan] Man).
Assignment: Assign a minion of higher strength to skirmish a [Rohan] companion. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard this condition to reconcile your hand.
“And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.”
M1C60
I think the wording would be clearer as "Assign a minion to skirmish a [Rohan] companion of lower strength." Probably also better with "wins that skirmish". Very, very cool card, though.
(0) For Lord and Land [Rohan]
Event • Regroup
Play 3 [Rohan] companions from your discard pile to reveal the top 10 cards of your draw deck. Play any [Rohan] possessions revealed and discard the rest.
“‘Now is the hour come, NOLINKRiders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far behind. Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own for ever. Oaths ye have taken: now fulfil them all, to lord and land and league of friendship!’”
M1R63
Wow, Decipher never used that title? :-k I'll have to remember that....
In a companion-heavy deck with multiple copies of several companions (or with Where Now The Horse, as lem0n noted), this is swiggity-sweet. I think I'd like it a LOT better with a low twilight cost (like [1] or [2]) and sending the non-possessions to the bottom of the deck rather than discarding, or perhaps even shuffling them into the deck.
[2] Such Fury Unseen [Rohan]
Event • Skirmish
Make a valiant [Rohan] Man strength +1 for each other valiant companion you spot. If that Man is then winning the skirmish, make him or her damage +1 for each other valiant companion you spot.
“…and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they NOLINKsang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them…”
M1U69
Yeah, valiant never really took off. Again, I think "that skirmish" would be best. Nifty to the extreme, though. :gp:
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Thanks for the input on wording guys. You think with how often I nitpick I'd get those sorts of things right!
So, like I promised, today I'm showing Eomer and his sword, Guthwine. Since both are alliance-heavy, I'm starting things off with the non-unique [Rohan] alliance in Lands of Shadow.
[3] Answering the Call [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
Alliance: [Gondor]. (You may replace [Rohan] with [Gondor] anywhere in this card’s gametext.) To play, spot 3 valiant Men.
Each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may spot 5 [Rohan] companions to make each Shadow player wound a minion. Then, if you can spot 4 valiant companions, discard a minion.
“‘NOLINKDark tidings,’ said Théoden, ‘yet not all unguessed. But say to Denethor that even if Rohan itself felt no NOLINKperil, still we would come to his aid… We will come.’”
M1U59
To help beat this mechanic into you guys, I went ahead and included the reminder text for alliance. Even then, it still basically requires 3 [Rohan] companions to play, and adds 3 to boot. Now, this may seem too expensive for the card's ability - which certainly isn't bad - but I'm being very careful about making cross-cultural cards. This card is pricey for two key reasons: first, because it's so darned flexible with who can use it; and second because it's non-unique. If you can maintain 5 [Rohan] OR 5 [Gondor] companions during a double move, you can net 4 wounds (and lots more in multiplayer)... and 4 discarded minions if you spot enough valiant companions.
It's not easy to set up, but great alliances between great kingdoms never is.
[3] •Éomer, Unscathed in Battle [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 6
Flanking. Valiant. While you can spot a [Rohan] Man, Éomer is twilight cost -1.
For each [Gondor] alliance you can spot, Éomer is strength +1.
Response: If Éomer wins a skirmish, exert him to heal another companion.
“For once more lust of battle was on him; and he was still unscathed, and he was young, and he was king: the lord of a fell people.”
M1R62
The reminder text looking clunky on the card, so here is flanking again: (If this companion is not assigned to a skirmish, at the start of another of your character’s skirmishes, you may exert this companion to replace that character in the skirmish.)
Sporting both flanking and valiant, Eomer shines in cross-cultural fellowships. Those [Gondor] alliances will bolster Eomer's resolve, and when he punches an baddie in the face, you can exert him once or twice (thrice?) to remove annoying wounds from others. PLUS, with Theoden being twilight cost -1 in a starting fellowship, you can start 2 flanking companions that work well with alliances. Talk about teching. :hey:
On a style note, I (like Dain) tend to stray from including the subtitle in the lore; in this case though I wanted to reinforce the moment. It's just too freaking cool.
[2] •Gúthwinë, Blade of NOLINKthe Riddermark [Rohan]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be a valiant [Rohan] Man (or Éomer).
Each time you play a [Rohan] or [Gondor] alliance, if bearer is Éomer, you may remove a Shadow culture token or heal a companion of another culture.
“And so at length Éomer and Aragorn met in the midst of the battle, and they leaned on their swords and looked on one another and were glad.”
M1R64
I'm aware that Guthwine doesn't require a subtitle, but all of the swords in this set have a "Blade of the..." thing going for them. Guthwine is pretty basic, granting an additional power from the expensive alliances you might be playing. And, if borne by Unscathed in Battle, this little killer can double (even triple if you have lots of alliances coming into play) the amount of healing you accomplish in a turn.
And if you want to get a really good idea of how much [Rohan] loves alliances, scroll up and have another look at Theoden. Then reread Guthwine while borne by the new Eomer. You'll see some sweet stuff.
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[3] Answering the Call [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
Alliance: [Gondor]. (You may replace [Rohan] with [Gondor] anywhere in this card’s gametext.) To play, spot 3 valiant Men.
Each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may spot 5 [Rohan] companions to make each Shadow player wound a minion. Then, if you can spot 4 valiant companions, discard a minion.
“‘NOLINKDark tidings,’ said Théoden, ‘yet not all unguessed. But say to Denethor that even if Rohan itself felt no NOLINKperil, still we would come to his aid… We will come.’”
M1U59
It seems to me that I would not use this in a cross-cultural deck - in fact, I would only use it in a [Rohan] deck - which seems to defeat the purpose of alliances. The reason is because it requires 5 [Rohan] or 5 [Gondor] companions and to therefore add an extra culture forces you to break the rule of 5 which is not necessarily what you want. Also, by far its best text is with valiant companions and so it makes most sense in a [Rohan] valiant deck. That said, I'm not sure how I'd recommend changing it but it does not seem to be a card encouraging multiculture.
[3] •Éomer, Unscathed in Battle [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 6
Flanking. Valiant. While you can spot a [Rohan] Man, Éomer is twilight cost -1.
For each [Gondor] alliance you can spot, Éomer is strength +1.
Response: If Éomer wins a skirmish, exert him to heal another companion.
“For once more lust of battle was on him; and he was still unscathed, and he was young, and he was king: the lord of a fell people.”
M1R62
He's awesome. He does seem to have a lot of text though - I'm not sure he needs all of it (the strength bonus is perhaps a little OTT).
[2] •Gúthwinë, Blade of NOLINKthe Riddermark [Rohan]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be a valiant [Rohan] Man (or Éomer).
Each time you play a [Rohan] or [Gondor] alliance, if bearer is Éomer, you may remove a Shadow culture token or heal a companion of another culture.
“And so at length Éomer and Aragorn met in the midst of the battle, and they leaned on their swords and looked on one another and were glad.”
M1R64
I'm not sure why this removes Shadow tokens - is it defence against Shadow alliances? I can't see that text being used nearly as much as the healing, so I would remove it to keep the card as clear as possible. I'm also not sure why it needs to cost [2] - I feel that it could definitely grant a damage bonus.
Thranduil
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Ditto Thran on Answering the Call and Guthwine.
Eomer's second ability might need to be "Each time" instead of "Response," because he could exert multiple times from winning a skirmish once. Or add a limit.
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quote author=menace64 link=topic=928.msg15103#msg15103 date=1223607630]
[1] •Courage and Legacy [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
To play, exert a [Rohan] companion (or spot a valiant [Rohan] Man).
Assignment: Assign a minion to skirmish a [Rohan] companion of lower strength. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard this condition to reconcile your hand.
“And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.”
M1C60
you may discard this condition?
(0) For Lord and Land [Rohan]
Event • Regroup
Play 3 [Rohan] companions from your discard pile to reveal the top 10 cards of your draw deck. Play any [Rohan] possessions revealed and shuffle the rest into your draw deck.
“‘Now is the hour come, NOLINKRiders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far behind. Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own for ever. Oaths ye have taken: now fulfil them all, to lord and land and league of friendship!’”
M1R63
hmmm....brings up LOTS of possibilities.
[2] Such Fury Unseen [Rohan]
Event • Skirmish
Make a valiant [Rohan] Man strength +1 for each other valiant companion you spot. If that Man wins that skirmish, make him or her damage +1 for each other valiant companion you spot.
“…and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they NOLINKsang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them…”
M1U69
works
[3] Answering the Call [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
Alliance: [Gondor]. (You may replace [Rohan] with [Gondor] anywhere in this card’s gametext.) To play, spot 3 valiant Men.
Each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may spot 5 [Rohan] companions to make each Shadow player wound a minion. Then, if you can spot 4 valiant companions, discard a minion.
“‘NOLINKDark tidings,’ said Théoden, ‘yet not all unguessed. But say to Denethor that even if Rohan itself felt no NOLINKperil, still we would come to his aid… We will come.’”
M1U59
noice...I like it...
[3] •Éomer, Unscathed in Battle [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 6
Flanking. Valiant. While you can spot a [Rohan] Man, Éomer is twilight cost -1.
For each [Gondor] alliance you can spot, Éomer is strength +1.
Response: If Éomer wins a skirmish, exert him to heal another companion.
“For once more lust of battle was on him; and he was still unscathed, and he was young, and he was king: the lord of a fell people.”
M1R62
shouldn't it be, you may exert him?. he's snazzy
[2] •Gúthwinë, Blade of NOLINKthe Riddermark [Rohan]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be a valiant [Rohan] Man (or Éomer).
Each time you play a [Rohan] or [Gondor] alliance, if bearer is Éomer, you may remove a Shadow culture token or heal a companion of another culture.
“And so at length Éomer and Aragorn met in the midst of the battle, and they leaned on their swords and looked on one another and were glad.”
M1R64
[/quote]
nice and basic...does it need to cost 2?
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[1] •Courage and Legacy [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
To play, exert a [Rohan] companion (or spot a valiant [Rohan] Man).
Assignment: Assign a minion to skirmish a [Rohan] companion of lower strength. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard this condition to reconcile your hand.
“And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains.”
M1C60
Nice. :up:
(0) For Lord and Land [Rohan]
Event • Regroup
Play 3 [Rohan] companions from your discard pile to reveal the top 10 cards of your draw deck. Play any [Rohan] possessions revealed and shuffle the rest into your draw deck.
“‘Now is the hour come, NOLINKRiders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far behind. Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own for ever. Oaths ye have taken: now fulfil them all, to lord and land and league of friendship!’”
M1R63
Holy crud! :o Are you sure you didn't mean "Remove 3 [Rohan] companions in the discard pile from the game to reveal the top 10 cards of your draw deck."
[2] Such Fury Unseen [Rohan]
Event • Skirmish
Make a valiant [Rohan] Man strength +1 for each other valiant companion you spot. If that Man wins that skirmish, make him or her damage +1 for each other valiant companion you spot.
“…and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they NOLINKsang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them…”
M1U69
Believe it or not menace, each card doesn't have to be a complicated work of art with a ton of lore to be functional. :roll:
[3] Answering the Call [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
Alliance: [Gondor]. (You may replace [Rohan] with [Gondor] anywhere in this card’s gametext.) To play, spot 3 valiant Men.
Each time the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, you may spot 5 [Rohan] companions to make each Shadow player wound a minion. Then, if you can spot 4 valiant companions, discard a minion.
“‘NOLINKDark tidings,’ said Théoden, ‘yet not all unguessed. But say to Denethor that even if Rohan itself felt no NOLINKperil, still we would come to his aid… We will come.’”
M1U59
Sweet.
[3] •Éomer, Unscathed in Battle [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 6
Flanking. Valiant. While you can spot a [Rohan] Man, Éomer is twilight cost -1.
For each [Gondor] alliance you can spot, Éomer is strength +1.
Response: If Éomer wins a skirmish, exert him to heal another companion.
“For once more lust of battle was on him; and he was still unscathed, and he was young, and he was king: the lord of a fell people.”
M1R62
Not bad. ;)
[2] •Gúthwinë, Blade of NOLINKthe Riddermark [Rohan]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be a valiant [Rohan] Man (or Éomer).
Each time you play a [Rohan] or [Gondor] alliance, if bearer is Éomer, you may remove a Shadow culture token or heal a companion of another culture.
“And so at length Éomer and Aragorn met in the midst of the battle, and they leaned on their swords and looked on one another and were glad.”
M1R64
Me likey.
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lol GT. I've got simple cards too! In fact, today is all about simple cards.
Thanks for the pile of reviews, guys. I really like your insight on Answering the Call, Thranduil. I'll send it back to the Workshop and see what else I can cook up. As for Guthwine, I threw the [2] cost on it before writing the text, expecting the text to warrant the cost. I'm not sure I want it to cost [1], so I'll think of what could be done about it.
All right. Here are the simple cards for [Rohan].
[2] Death-wielding Rider [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 5
Vitality 3
Resistance 6
Valiant. To play, spot a [Rohan] Man.
While this companion is wounded, he gains flanking.
While this companion is exhausted, he is strength +2.
“NOLINKDoom drove them on. Darkness took them, / horse and horseman; hoofbeats afar / sank into silence: so the songs tell us.”
M1C61
Not much to say about him. Originally his strength was a base 6, but I lowered it (obviously).
[1] Let Hammer Fall [Rohan]
Event • Skirmish
Make a [Rohan] Man strength +2 (or +3 and gain flanking until the regroup phase if he or she is valiant).
“‘Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! / NOLINKFell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! / spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, / a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! / Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!’”
M1C66
More complicated than the simplest of events, this one is still fairly basic. Just another strength pump.
[3] Sweep the Field [Rohan]
Event • Regroup
If you can spot 4 valiant companions, you may play this event anytime you could play a maneuver event.
Exert 2 mounted [Rohan] Men to discard each exhausted minion.
“Well nigh all the northern half of the Pelennor was NOLINKoverrun, and there camps were blazing, orcs were flying towards the River like herds before the hunters; and the Rohirrim went hither and thither at their will.”
M1R70
:twisted:
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[2] Death-wielding Rider [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 5
Vitality 3
Resistance 6
While this companion is wounded, he is valiant.
While this companion is exhausted, he is strength +2.
“NOLINKDoom drove them on. Darkness took them, / horse and horseman; hoofbeats afar / sank into silence: so the songs tell us.”
M1C61
Raise his strength back or hes so not worth using, i know im not alone in saying the 5 str conditional 7 strength guys are crap and mostly arent used.
[1] Let Hammer Fall [Rohan]
Event • Skirmish
Make a [Rohan] Man strength +2 (or +3 and gain flanking until the regroup phase if he or she is valiant).
“‘Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! / NOLINKFell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! / spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, / a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! / Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!’”
M1C66
Fine.
[3] Sweep the Field [Rohan]
Event • Regroup
Exert 3 mounted [Rohan] Men to discard all exhausted minions.
“Well nigh all the northern half of the Pelennor was NOLINKoverrun, and there camps were blazing, orcs were flying towards the River like herds before the hunters; and the Rohirrim went hither and thither at their will.”
M1R70
Lower cost to 2 or maybe 1 as thats insanely painful for the freeps. Or indeed lower to 2 exertions as well as reduce cost.
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[2] Death-wielding Rider [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 5
Vitality 3
Resistance 6
While this companion is wounded, he is valiant.
While this companion is exhausted, he is strength +2.
“NOLINKDoom drove them on. Darkness took them, / horse and horseman; hoofbeats afar / sank into silence: so the songs tell us.”
M1C61
I think he should start valiant and get something else for being wounded, like flanking (which would make exhaustion easier to accomplish).
[3] Sweep the Field [Rohan]
Event • Regroup
Exert 3 mounted [Rohan] Men to discard all exhausted minions.
“Well nigh all the northern half of the Pelennor was NOLINKoverrun, and there camps were blazing, orcs were flying towards the River like herds before the hunters; and the Rohirrim went hither and thither at their will.”
M1R70
A more usual wording would be "discard each exhausted minion", but otherwise seems solid - could cost [2] or have 2 exertions or perhaps something to do with valiant.
Thranduil
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But I LIKE impressive works of art!
[2] Death-wielding Rider [Rohan]
Companion • Man
Strength 5
Vitality 3
Resistance 6
While this companion is wounded, he is valiant.
While this companion is exhausted, he is strength +2.
“NOLINKDoom drove them on. Darkness took them, / horse and horseman; hoofbeats afar / sank into silence: so the songs tell us.”
M1C61
another one of those bad cards that n00bs will use and experienced players will make broken combos out of them ;)
[1] Let Hammer Fall [Rohan]
Event • Skirmish
Make a [Rohan] Man strength +2 (or +3 and gain flanking until the regroup phase if he or she is valiant).
“‘Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! / NOLINKFell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! / spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, / a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! / Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!’”
M1C66
really, just + 3 if they are valiant would be fine ;) (and I WUV THAT LORE!)
[3] Sweep the Field [Rohan]
Event • Regroup
Exert 3 mounted [Rohan] Men to discard all exhausted minions.
“Well nigh all the northern half of the Pelennor was NOLINKoverrun, and there camps were blazing, orcs were flying towards the River like herds before the hunters; and the Rohirrim went hither and thither at their will.”
M1R70
I would say slightly overcosted...maybe exert 2 of them, and make it cost 2.
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Others have made my comments for me.
On Sweep the Field, I think [3] cost is still okay, but the exertions should be lowered to 2.
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I decided to keep the basic rider at strength 5, but gave him valiant and and let him be able to gain flanking. Because of that, he requires a spot to play.
I also added a heinous bonus to Sweep the Field, as well as lowering the cost of exertions by 1. It was just a random idea; let me know if it's too much.
More [Rohan]!
(0) On the Wind [Rohan]
Event • Response
If the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, make each [Rohan] Man gain flanking until the end of the turn.
“Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the NOLINKknights of his house, but he was ever before them.”
M1U67
I'm afraid this card is neither exciting nor overly-useful. It's free and will certainly give you more options in the next round of skirmishes, but I don't think it would come up very often. Oh well. It's a pure utility card. If you want flanking easily, this is what you use.
[3] •Rallied All Horse and Man [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
Alliance: [Gondor]. To play, spot 3 [Rohan] companions.
Fellowship: Play X [Rohan] companions to play X [Rohan] mounts from your draw deck.
“Merry wondered how many Riders there were. He could not guess their number in the gathering gloom, but it looked to him like a great army, many thousands strong.”
M1C68
And here's the second [Rohan] alliance. To help spell out what this can do, let's say you play X [Gondor] companions. This card lets you go into your deck and pull the same amount of either [Gondor] or [Rohan] mounts. You could have played some [Rohan] companions instead, of course. But the real shiny part of this card is that it's one of the few alliances that truly blends cultures: the 'to play' requirement can spot [Rohan] or [Gondor].
Huh... those are the last two cards in the culture. Weird. That sure went by fast! Well, since we're on the subject of alliances...
[2] •The Honor of Gimli [Dwarven]
Condition • Support Area
Alliance: [Elven]. To play, spot a Dwarf. While you can spot Gimli and Legolas, this card is twilight cost -2.
Each time a [Dwarven] companion is assigned to a skirmish, you may exert a Dwarf to make that companion strength +1 for each Free Peoples alliance you spot (limit +3).
“‘NOLINKI will go with you even on the NOLINKPaths of the Dead, and to NOLINKwhatever end they may lead,’ said Gimli.”
M1C2
I'll update the voting presently.
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verily I luv that second card ;)
I would possibly limit it to +2 on the honor of gimli...not sure about it though.
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(0) On the Wind [Rohan]
Event • Response
If the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, make each [Rohan] Man gain flanking until the end of the turn.
“Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the NOLINKknights of his house, but he was ever before them.”
M1U67
Coolio.
[3] •Rallied All Horse and Man [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
Alliance: [Gondor]. To play, spot 3 [Rohan] companions.
Fellowship: Play X [Rohan] companions to play X [Rohan] mounts from your draw deck. End your fellowship phase.
“Merry wondered how many Riders there were. He could not guess their number in the gathering gloom, but it looked to him like a great army, many thousands strong.”
M1C68
Dont quite understand the point in the end the phase thing. Surely you would just do everything else first then do that? Rendering it useless!
[2] •The Honor of Gimli [Dwarven]
Condition • Support Area
Alliance: [Elven]. To play, spot a Dwarf. While you can spot Gimli and Legolas, this card is twilight cost -2.
Each time a [Dwarven] companion is assigned to a skirmish, you may exert a Dwarf to make that companion strength +1 for each Free Peoples alliance you spot (limit +3).
“‘NOLINKI will go with you even on the NOLINKPaths of the Dead, and to NOLINKwhatever end they may lead,’ said Gimli.”
M1C2
Ok.
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I also added a heinous bonus to Sweep the Field, as well as lowering the cost of exertions by 1. It was just a random idea; let me know if it's too much.
Heh, heh, heh...! :hey: :twisted: :evil: :uh-huh:
(0) On the Wind [Rohan]
Event • Response
If the fellowship moves during the regroup phase, make each [Rohan] Man gain flanking until the end of the turn.
“Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the NOLINKknights of his house, but he was ever before them.”
M1U67
Interesting.
[3] •Rallied All Horse and Man [Rohan]
Condition • Support Area
Alliance: [Gondor]. To play, spot 3 [Rohan] companions.
Fellowship: Play X [Rohan] companions to play X [Rohan] mounts from your draw deck. End your fellowship phase.
“Merry wondered how many Riders there were. He could not guess their number in the gathering gloom, but it looked to him like a great army, many thousands strong.”
M1C68
Lem0n has a point - why does it need to end the phase? Just in case you manage to draw more cards after shuffling which happen to be companions so you can use its text again? Or so you can't kit out those characters you just played with anything but mounts? Seems unnecessary. Since you shouldn't be playing more than 5 or 6 companions in a game, it appears to me that the ability could be a 1 for 1 (ie. 1 companion for 1 mount without ending the phase) without much trouble. Also not sure that this should be common.
[2] •The Honor of Gimli [Dwarven]
Condition • Support Area
Alliance: [Elven]. To play, spot a Dwarf. While you can spot Gimli and Legolas, this card is twilight cost -2.
Each time a [Dwarven] companion is assigned to a skirmish, you may exert a Dwarf to make that companion strength +1 for each Free Peoples alliance you spot (limit +3).
“‘NOLINKI will go with you even on the NOLINKPaths of the Dead, and to NOLINKwhatever end they may lead,’ said Gimli.”
M1C2
Meh, it's fair enough. As a common, it seems fine.
Thranduil
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Well I don't actually remember why I put the phase-ending clause on that card. Hmm. Oh well. It's removed now.
I forgot to put up a new poll, so I'm going to start spoiling a small cycle of cards all revolving around The Witch-King. In Lands of Shadow, this guy is the sole representative of the Nazgul. In fact, he's the only minion in the [Wraith] culture. But he's fun and he's deadly; can we ask for more?
Showing The Witch-king is going to ultimately lead us into the new subculture of The Dead Army - since both the unliving king and the arisen forces of Aragorn have something mechanically in common. However, today I am holding back on showing the Witch-king himself.
Today y'all get this:
[2] •NOLINKThe Witch-king’s Beast, The Devourer [Wraith]
Possession • Mount
Strength +2
Bearer must be The Witch-king. When you play NOLINKThe Witch-king’s Beast, discard a Free Peoples mount.
The Witch-king gains flanking, and each time he wins a skirmish, you may return a [Wraith] card in your discard pile to your hand.
“Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon Éowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw.”
M1R127
Giving a minion as potent a killer as The Witch-king flanking (If this minion is not assigned to a skirmish, at the start of another of your character’s skirmishes, you may exert this minion to replace that character in the skirmish) is absolutely devastating to an unprepared fellowship. The original The Witch-king's Beast grants its bearer an additional skirmish; flanking could potentially result in 3-5, depending on how well you protect The Witch-king's vitality and how he's paired up in skirmishes. If you've got lurkers in play, then this guy can swoop in and take their places as easily as cake.
And if that weren't enough, each time The Witch-king wins, you get a card back! And you eat a mount when this card comes into play!
Yup. It's very powerful. But it can only go onto one minion, and flanking is dependent solely on how the assignment phase pans out, which can sometimes leave the flanker empty-handed.
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[2] •NOLINKThe Witch-king’s Beast, The Devourer [Wraith]
Possession • Mount
Strength +2
Bearer must be The Witch-king. When you play NOLINKThe Witch-king’s Beast, discard a Free Peoples mount.
The Witch-king gains flanking, and each time he wins a skirmish, you may return a [Wraith] card in your discard pile to your hand.
“Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon Éowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw.”
M1R127
Awesome subtitle! Perhaps it shouldn't be any [Wraith] card - getting all your Nazgûl back seems too strong, especially as you could potentially keep your hand always full of a Witch-King and his Beast. I'd be happier with "[Wraith] event" or "[Wraith] event or [Wraith] condition" or maybe "[Wraith] non-minion card" but I'm less enthused about that option.
Thranduil
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[2] •NOLINKThe Witch-king’s Beast, The Devourer [Wraith]
Possession • Mount
Strength +2
Bearer must be The Witch-king. When you play NOLINKThe Witch-king’s Beast, discard a Free Peoples mount.
The Witch-king gains flanking, and each time he wins a skirmish, you may return a [Wraith] card in your discard pile to your hand.
“Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon Éowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw.”
M1R127
Now I can't wait for the Witch-King! :P That is one nice card, perhaps tipping the balance of card-power a little, but then again, not all cards have to be equal.
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[2] •NOLINKThe Witch-king’s Beast, The Devourer [Wraith]
Possession • Mount
Strength +2
Bearer must be The Witch-king. When you play NOLINKThe Witch-king’s Beast, discard a Free Peoples mount.
The Witch-king gains flanking, and each time he wins a skirmish, you may return a [Wraith] card in your discard pile to your hand.
“Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon Éowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw.”
M1R127
Id add "you may" before discard a freeps mount. I think this card is cool.
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I decided not to put "you may" for the mount-discarding clause because I wanted to retain a bit of "scary, uncontrollable beast". This is a living, breathing demon that wants to eat, and it deciding to chomp down a horse isn't something anyone but it can decide to do.
That being said, I'm glad you guys enjoyed the first card in the cycle. Here's possession #2.
[2] •NOLINKThe Pale Blade, The Abhorrer [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +3
Bearer must be a Nazgûl. He gains dominate.
Shadow: If bearer is The Witch-king, exert him and spot a companion with resistance 3 or less. That companion and all companions of the same culture lose a keyword of your choice (and cannot gain that keyword) until the start of the regroup phase.
“In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast NOLINKmenace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face.”
M1R117
Dominate: (A character skirmishing this minion may not exert.)
All right. The first version wasn't well-received by you guys, so I wrote up something new. I think it's more in line with the scene the lore was taken from. This weapon (along with The Witch-king's latent terror) can rip apart the morale of an entire line of defense. So, for instance, if you see a valiant companion that isn't feeling very valiant (low resistance) you can use that companion to instill fear in everybody else.
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[2] •NOLINKThe Pale Blade, The Abhorrer [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be a Nazgûl. He gains dominate.
Shadow: If bearer is The Witch-king, exert him and spot a companion with resistance 4 or less to play a [Wraith] possession or [Wraith] artifact on The Witch-king from your discard pile.
“In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast NOLINKmenace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face.”
M1R117
Hmmmm.... :-k I'm afraid I don't see why a sword should be able to get you back rings and mounts and stuff - I don't get the flavour. The Pale Blade has always been a deadly weapon in itself causing havoc through discarding conditions, adding burdens, damage, +3 strength; this one doesn't feel quite right to me.
Thranduil
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Agree with Thran but id also add i dont think it should be borne by anyone but the wikkie. I dislike specifically targeted items as it reduces there usability, but i feel the wikkie is the only one who would ever use this sword.
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ditto my lemony and elveny colleagues.
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I'm actually okay with it being borne by potentially any Nazzie, but I DO agree that the Shadow ability just seems a bit off. I'd rather it do something directly nasty to the FP player then pull stuff from the deck.
I also think it should get its normal +3 strength back. :up:
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[2] •NOLINKThe Pale Blade, The Abhorrer [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be a Nazgûl. He gains dominate.
Shadow: If bearer is The Witch-king, exert him and spot a companion with resistance 4 or less to play a [Wraith] possession or [Wraith] artifact on The Witch-king from your discard pile.
“In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast NOLINKmenace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face.”
M1R117
Mehr. You changed it heretic. All Pale Blades give +3 strength bonuses. The subtitle is kinda awkward too.
I don't know about all these new keywords though, I's have to have some game exprience with Flanker and Dominate and all that jazz to be able to rate it well. Besides that, okay, I guess. :-|
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I'm still not showing The Witch-king - he should be up tomorrow or so.
Until then, here's another card for your viewing pleasure:
[2] Feast on His Flesh [Wraith]
Event • Regroup
Spot a mounted Nazgûl and a companion (except the Ring-bearer) with 2 or more wounds. If that Nazgûl has at least twice the strength of that companion, that companion is killed.
“Down, down it came, and then, folding its fingered webs, it gave a croaking cry, and settled upon the body of NOLINKSnowmane, digging in its claws, stooping its long naked neck.”
M1R110
Perhaps a better wording would be "place that companion in the dead pile", but I liked the straight-up sound of killing him.
Do you think this card should have a lower twilight cost?
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yeah 3 twilight cost should be fine.
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Agree with SoP, and I also like the new Pale Blade. Fun stuff.
Thranduil
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The cost could definitely come down. It'd still be pretty hard to use.
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[3] Feast on His Flesh [Wraith]
Event • Regroup
Spot a mounted Nazgûl and a companion (except the Ring-bearer) with 2 or more wounds. If that Nazgûl has at least twice the strength as that companion, that companion is killed.
“Down, down it came, and then, folding its fingered webs, it gave a croaking cry, and settled upon the body of NOLINKSnowmane, digging in its claws, stooping its long naked neck.”
M1R110
"of" that companion not "as". Seems fine otherwise except....
Perhaps a better wording would be "place that companion in the dead pile", but I liked the straight-up sound of killing him.
I think it should be changed as you suggest.
Do you think this card should have a lower twilight cost?
Yes definately. A mounted nagzul is quite a requirement for the regroup so 2 would be perfectly fine.
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Señor Juicy Fruit's got this one covered. :up:
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With all the other Shadow [Wraith] cards spoiled, we've arrived at last at The Witch-king himself. This minion is the only fierce minion in the whole set, and sports a NOLINKbrand new keyword that is sure to change just about everything:
[8] •The Witch-king, The Undoing of Man [Wraith]
Minion • Nazgûl
Strength 14
Vitality 4
Site Number 3
Fierce. Unliving.
Each minion assigned to skirmish a Man gains pillage 2.
Each time a Nazgûl wins a skirmish, you may exert The Witch-king to return a Free Peoples card (except a companion) to its owner’s hand.
“He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered…”
M1R126
As a reminder, pillage adds [X] when the minion wins the skirmish.
The Undoing of Man truly can undo a fellowship's strategy, picking it apart piece by piece. But that's not what the highlight of this card is, most certainly. Unliving is the only other new keyword in this set and it is part of the very fiber of the new Dead Army [Wraith] subculture. What does it do? Well:
Unliving (When this character is discarded from play or killed, you may discard a card from hand to shuffle it into your draw deck instead.)
Yup. Unliving makes it extremely hard to actually kill a character. And, when applied to companions, pretty much circumvents entirely the Rule of 9. So here we go: it's time to plow through the Dead Army!
[3] Cursed Warrior [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. While you can spot 3 unliving companions, this companion is twilight cost -1.
For each wound on this companion, it is strength +1.
“‘Strange and wonderful I thought it that the designs of Mordor should be overthrown by such wraiths of fear and darkness. With its own weapons was it worsted!’”
M1U108
A homage to the enduring Wraiths of old, this guy has less to do with the Dead Army's central mechanic and more to do with simple power.
[1] Wraith of the Twilight City [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 6
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. To play, exert Aragorn or spot 3 [Wraith] companions.
“‘Some I saw riding, some striding, yet all moving with the same great speed. Silent they were, but there was a gleam in their eyes. In the uplands of Lamedon they overtook our horses, and swept round us, and would have passed us by, if Aragorn had not forbidden them.’”
M1C128
Nothing to say about this one.
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[8] •The Witch-king, The Undoing of Man [Wraith]
Minion • Nazgûl
Strength 14
Vitality 4
Site Number 3
Fierce. Unliving.
Each minion assigned to skirmish a Man gains pillage 2.
Response: If a Nazgûl wins a skirmish, exert The Witch-king to return a Free Peoples card (except a companion) to its owner’s hand.
Response: If a Man companion loses a skirmish, discard 2 [Wraith] cards from hand to heal The Witch-king.
“He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered…”
M1R126
The pillage part is fine. The first response ability is a bit OP; I'd limit that to fierce skirmishes won, or perhaps exerting Wikkie twice. I also think it should simply be an "Each time" ability so you can't use it over and over when just ONE Nazzie wins...that's a bit too mean for my tastes. The second response ability seems a little underpowered...I think one [Wraith] card discarded would be fine.
Now, about unliving. After much internal deliberation, I think it's relatively balanced, but I would prefer that it require discarding a card of that character's culture to do the shuffling.
[3] Cursed Warrior [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. While you can spot 3 unliving companions, this companion is twilight cost -1.
For each wound on this companion, it is strength +1.
“‘Strange and wonderful I thought it that the designs of Mordor should be overthrown by such wraiths of fear and darkness. With its own weapons was it worsted!’”
M1U108
Um...why the change to [Wraith] culture? I think I would prefer they still be [Gondor] culture so they can work with the old-school ones. I also think it would be fine with just a regular old enduring, since it doesn't really do anything else besides potentially costing only [2]. Save you a bit of text that way, too.
Question: is that lore from Return of the King? I don't recognize it.
[1] Wraith of the Twilight City [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 6
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. To play, spot Aragorn or 2 [Wraith] companions.
“‘Some I saw riding, some striding, yet all moving with the same great speed. Silent they were, but there was a gleam in their eyes. In the uplands of Lamedon they overtook our horses, and swept round us, and would have passed us by, if Aragorn had not forbidden them.’”
M1C128
Again, I would really REALLY prefer they stay in the [Gondor] culture, just for flavor's sake. Got no problems with it otherwise. Strider and three of these starting...mwaha. :twisted:
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With all the other Shadow [Wraith] cards spoiled, we've arrived at last at The Witch-king himself. This minion is the only fierce minion in the whole set, and sports a NOLINKbrand new keyword that is sure to change just about everything:
[8] •The Witch-king, The Undoing of Man [Wraith]
Minion • Nazgûl
Strength 14
Vitality 4
Site Number 3
Fierce. Unliving.
Each minion assigned to skirmish a Man gains pillage 2.
Response: If a Nazgûl wins a skirmish, exert The Witch-king to return a Free Peoples card (except a companion) to its owner’s hand.
Response: If a Man companion loses a skirmish, discard 2 [Wraith] cards from hand to heal The Witch-king.
“He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered…”
M1R126
Wow. =D> Definitely worth waiting for.
[3] Cursed Warrior [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. While you can spot 3 unliving companions, this companion is twilight cost -1.
For each wound on this companion, it is strength +1.
“‘Strange and wonderful I thought it that the designs of Mordor should be overthrown by such wraiths of fear and darkness. With its own weapons was it worsted!’”
M1U108
Neat! :)
[1] Wraith of the Twilight City [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 6
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. To play, spot Aragorn or 2 [Wraith] companions.
“‘Some I saw riding, some striding, yet all moving with the same great speed. Silent they were, but there was a gleam in their eyes. In the uplands of Lamedon they overtook our horses, and swept round us, and would have passed us by, if Aragorn had not forbidden them.’”
M1C128
Imagine: Starting Fellowship = Boromir, Bearer of Council + Ring of Doom + Strider + Wraith of the Twilight city x3 :o
I'd make him [2].
A King of the Dead ring-bearer would be interesting... :-k
-
With all the other Shadow [Wraith] cards spoiled, we've arrived at last at The Witch-king himself. This minion is the only fierce minion in the whole set, and sports a NOLINKbrand new keyword that is sure to change just about everything:
[8] •The Witch-king, The Undoing of Man [Wraith]
Minion • Nazgûl
Strength 14
Vitality 4
Site Number 3
Fierce. Unliving.
Each minion assigned to skirmish a Man gains pillage 2.
Response: If a Nazgûl wins a skirmish, exert The Witch-king to return a Free Peoples card (except a companion) to its owner’s hand.
Response: If a Man companion loses a skirmish, discard 2 [Wraith] cards from hand to heal The Witch-king.
“He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered…”
M1R126
I likey...
Unliving (When this character is discarded from play or killed, you may discard a card from hand to shuffle it into your draw deck instead.)
Yup. Unliving makes it extremely hard to actually kill a character. And, when applied to companions, pretty much circumvents entirely the Rule of 9. So here we go: it's time to plow through the Dead Army!
[3] Cursed Warrior [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. While you can spot 3 unliving companions, this companion is twilight cost -1.
For each wound on this companion, it is strength +1.
“‘Strange and wonderful I thought it that the designs of Mordor should be overthrown by such wraiths of fear and darkness. With its own weapons was it worsted!’”
M1U108
works for me...
[1] Wraith of the Twilight City [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 6
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. To play, spot Aragorn or 2 [Wraith] companions.
“‘Some I saw riding, some striding, yet all moving with the same great speed. Silent they were, but there was a gleam in their eyes. In the uplands of Lamedon they overtook our horses, and swept round us, and would have passed us by, if Aragorn had not forbidden them.’”
M1C128
nice and simple...I feel like they should all have that +1 enduring text though.
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[8] •The Witch-king, The Undoing of Man [Wraith]
Minion • Nazgûl
Strength 14
Vitality 4
Site Number 3
Fierce. Unliving.
Each minion assigned to skirmish a Man gains pillage 2.
Response: If a Nazgûl wins a skirmish, exert The Witch-king to return a Free Peoples card (except a companion) to its owner’s hand.
Response: If a Man companion loses a skirmish, discard 2 [Wraith] cards from hand to heal The Witch-king.
“He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered…”
M1R126
It seems like the second response ability is overkill and the first is seriously OP. I would remove the second (this card really has an unnecessary amount of text) and change the first to an "each time" as DI suggested. Unliving seems pretty decent, especially with the already existing theme of shuffling [Wraith] cards back into your draw deck.
[3] Cursed Warrior [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. While you can spot 3 unliving companions, this companion is twilight cost -1.
For each wound on this companion, it is strength +1.
“‘Strange and wonderful I thought it that the designs of Mordor should be overthrown by such wraiths of fear and darkness. With its own weapons was it worsted!’”
M1U108
He does seem that he could just be straight enduring. Also, I think he should either have or be able to gain the [Gondor] culture (as well as or instead of [Wraith], it doesn't bother me which) so that you can use him with the SoG Wraiths.
[1] Wraith of the Twilight City [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 6
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. To play, spot Aragorn or 2 [Wraith] companions.
“‘Some I saw riding, some striding, yet all moving with the same great speed. Silent they were, but there was a gleam in their eyes. In the uplands of Lamedon they overtook our horses, and swept round us, and would have passed us by, if Aragorn had not forbidden them.’”
M1C128
Solid.
Thranduil
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nice and simple...I feel like they should all have that +1 enduring text though.
Ditto SoP here. Wraith of the Twilight City should be 5/3/5 Enduring.
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[8] •The Witch-king, The Undoing of Man [Wraith]
Minion • Nazgûl
Strength 14
Vitality 4
Site Number 3
Fierce. Unliving.
Each minion assigned to skirmish a Man gains pillage 2.
Response: If a Nazgûl wins a skirmish, exert The Witch-king to return a Free Peoples card (except a companion) to its owner’s hand.
Response: If a Man companion loses a skirmish, discard 2 [Wraith] cards from hand to heal The Witch-king.
“He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered…”
M1R126
I'd second Thran: However cool it is, drop the second ability. And the first definitely needs to be "Each time" so, again, it can't trigger 3 times from one skirmish.
Unliving (When this character is discarded from play or killed, you may discard a card from hand to shuffle it into your draw deck instead.)
I'd agree with Dain - the discarded card should share a culture.
[3] Cursed Warrior [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. While you can spot 3 unliving companions, this companion is twilight cost -1.
For each wound on this companion, it is strength +1.
“‘Strange and wonderful I thought it that the designs of Mordor should be overthrown by such wraiths of fear and darkness. With its own weapons was it worsted!’”
M1U108
I actually think these guys might be okay outside [gondor], because they lack enduring and threat-focus, but have Unliving. So long as you build up a nice theme with that, they can stay as-is, IMO. Although the psuedo-enduring is nice.
[1] Wraith of the Twilight City [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 6
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving. To play, spot Aragorn or 2 [Wraith] companions.
“‘Some I saw riding, some striding, yet all moving with the same great speed. Silent they were, but there was a gleam in their eyes. In the uplands of Lamedon they overtook our horses, and swept round us, and would have passed us by, if Aragorn had not forbidden them.’”
M1C128
Drop strength to 5 and add the "wound +1"-type text.
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Yeah I'll fix TWK exactly as specified; it's obvious I let myself get carried away with him.
Now, two things must be further explained before I can move on with the new Wraiths. These guys aren't meant to be an expansion to the SoG/MD Wraiths; this new subculture is a rehash of the entire idea (much like the [Orc] or [Men] cultures). Along with that goes the entire theme of the set: to use none of the existing keywords with completely new cultures.
In the end, I gave the Cursed Warrior a pseudo-enduring text because I think it helped him carry out the role of a non-unique fighter. I didn't give the same text to the other Wraith (nor will any other Wraith get that text) because it does stray too closely to enduring. Also the Wraith of the Twilight City needs to stay at [1] cost because I think the Wraiths will need a cheap, recurring Wraith in order to survive. As you'll see down the road a bit, they rely heavily on their unliving ability. But I'll edit his to play cost a bit.
So let's show some more unliving tech. Oh, and I did consider making unliving require to discard a card of the character's culture, but that seemed like too much of a headache to be of any real use. I'm not sure it needs such a limited cost anyhow, since no other keyword has any inherent cost at all. But as we move forward into the culture, let me know if your opinion of unliving changes or if it remains the same and we can figure something out.
And yes, Dain, that snippet of lore is from RotK. It's in The Last Debate chapter, when Legolas and Gimli recount the quest to stop the Corsairs and the ensuing ride to Gondor.
[1] Hour of Need [Wraith]
Event • Fellowship
Spot Aragorn to play an unliving companion from your draw deck.
“‘Keep your hoards and your secrets hidden in the Accursed Years! Speed only we ask. Let us pass, and then come! I summon you to the Stone of Erech!’”
M1C112
Unliving - in case you're just joining us or if you've already forgotten - can shuffle a dying or discarded-from-play character back into your deck by discarding a card from your hand. Hour of Need retrieves them, or brings forth untested Wraiths into the fray.
Well, actually, I think now would be a good time to go ahead and spoil the Aragorn that goes with the new Wraiths...
[4] •Aragorn, NOLINKOf the Grey Company [Gondor]
Companion • Man
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Resistance 8
Ranger. For each unbound companion of another race you spot, Aragorn is twilight cost -1.
Each time Aragorn wins a skirmish, you may play a Free Peoples [Wraith] card from your draw deck.
“‘But we must go in, and therefore the horses must go too,’ said Aragorn. ‘For if ever we come through this darkness, many leagues lie beyond, and every hour that is lost there will bring the triumph of Sauron nearer. Follow me!’”
M1C21
Now, this Aragorn actually fits rather nicely into two different deck types in Lands of Shadow. On one side there's the Grey Company, which gets its strength from having many races in the fellowship; then there's the Wraiths on the other side, which Aragorn supports through winning his skirmishes.
And how can he win them without a whole mess of support cards? Well...
(0) Raising of the Grey Host [Gondor]
Event • Skirmish
Spot Aragorn to shuffle your draw deck and reveal the top 6 cards of your draw deck. Make an unbound companion strength +2 for each revealed unliving companion. You may play those unliving companions by discarding the other revealed cards (or return all 6 cards in any order).
“Then NOLINKElrohir gave to Aragorn a silver horn, and he blew upon it; and it seemed to those that stood near that they heard a sound of answering horns… No other sound they heard, and yet they were aware of a great host gathered all about the hill on which they stood…”
M1U29
Yes, yes, another [Gondor] card. But trust me, the only other [Gondor] card directly referencing unliving companions is the new Anduril, which won't be coming up for a good while yet. Raising of the Grey Host has the potential to get those recycled unliving Wraiths to the top of your deck with the shuffle, and even has the power to bring them 'back from the dead', all while throwing out strength bonuses! Quite a lot of options here, but I left the twilight cost at 0 simply because it's all up to chance whether or not the card will do anything. If you think it should cost something, let me know and I'll make the necessary change!
-
(0) Hour of Need [Wraith]
Event • Fellowship
Exert Aragorn to play an unliving companion from your draw deck.
“‘Keep your hoards and your secrets hidden in the Accursed Years! Speed only we ask. Let us pass, and then come! I summon you to the Stone of Erech!’”
M1C112
Spot would be ok surely?
[4] •Aragorn, NOLINKOf the Grey Company [Gondor]
Companion • Man
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Resistance 8
Ranger. For each unbound companion of another race you spot, Aragorn is twilight cost -1.
Each time Aragorn wins a skirmish, you may play a Free Peoples [Wraith] card from your draw deck.
“‘But we must go in, and therefore the horses must go too,’ said Aragorn. ‘For if ever we come through this darkness, many leagues lie beyond, and every hour that is lost there will bring the triumph of Sauron nearer. Follow me!’”
M1C21
Niiiiiice.
(0) Raising of the Grey Host [Gondor]
Event • Skirmish
Spot Aragorn to shuffle your draw deck and reveal the top 6 cards of your draw deck. Make an unbound companion strength +2 for each revealed unliving companion. You may play those unliving companions by discarding the other revealed cards (or return all 6 cards in any order).
“Then NOLINKElrohir gave to Aragorn a silver horn, and he blew upon it; and it seemed to those that stood near that they heard a sound of answering horns… No other sound they heard, and yet they were aware of a great host gathered all about the hill on which they stood…”
M1U29
Seems a bit too risky for use, the shuffle stops any kind of telepathy and its not even freeps card its just wraiths so i wouldnt use this.
-
Now, two things must be further explained before I can move on with the new Wraiths. These guys aren't meant to be an expansion to the SoG/MD Wraiths; this new subculture is a rehash of the entire idea (much like the [Orc] or [Men] cultures). Along with that goes the entire theme of the set: to use none of the existing keywords with completely new cultures.
I am personally not a fan of most of the new cultures (Dunlendings, Southrons, and the Men of Bree all together in [Men]? [Moria] goblins and Sauron's orkish armies and Saruman's Orcs all together in [Orc]? WTF?), but I understand your point. Fair enough, and certainly not a point I will continue to harp on.
In the end, I gave the Cursed Warrior a pseudo-enduring text because I think it helped him carry out the role of a non-unique fighter. I didn't give the same text to the other Wraith (nor will any other Wraith get that text) because it does stray too closely to enduring. Also the Wraith of the Twilight City needs to stay at [1] cost because I think the Wraiths will need a cheap, recurring Wraith in order to survive. As you'll see down the road a bit, they rely heavily on their unliving ability. But I'll edit his to play cost a bit.
I guess I'm the only one that thought the WotTC was okay as it was. :P I understand you didn't want to make enduring a theme with these guys, which is cool by me. I STILL say the Cursed Warior could just have enduring--the lone exception--and be fine, but no skin off my nose either way.
So let's show some more unliving tech. Oh, and I did consider making unliving require to discard a card of the character's culture, but that seemed like too much of a headache to be of any real use. I'm not sure it needs such a limited cost anyhow, since no other keyword has any inherent cost at all. But as we move forward into the culture, let me know if your opinion of unliving changes or if it remains the same and we can figure something out.
You got it, chief! :up:
And yes, Dain, that snippet of lore is from RotK. It's in The Last Debate chapter, when Legolas and Gimli recount the quest to stop the Corsairs and the ensuing ride to Gondor.
Aha. I've tinkered with [Gondor] Wraiths for my RotK set, but haven't narrowed down all the passages for good lore yet, so that's why I was wondering. Thanks!
Now, let the games begin....
(0) Hour of Need [Wraith]
Event • Fellowship
Exert Aragorn to play an unliving companion from your draw deck.
“‘Keep your hoards and your secrets hidden in the Accursed Years! Speed only we ask. Let us pass, and then come! I summon you to the Stone of Erech!’”
M1C112
Since unliving guys can get back into the deck so easily, I think the exertion is fine. You COULD do spotting and make it cost [1] if you wanted to, though. I think either would be fine.
[4] •Aragorn, NOLINKOf the Grey Company [Gondor]
Companion • Man
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Resistance 8
Ranger. For each unbound companion of another race you spot, Aragorn is twilight cost -1.
Each time Aragorn wins a skirmish, you may play a Free Peoples [Wraith] card from your draw deck.
“‘But we must go in, and therefore the horses must go too,’ said Aragorn. ‘For if ever we come through this darkness, many leagues lie beyond, and every hour that is lost there will bring the triumph of Sauron nearer. Follow me!’”
M1C21
Nifty. Too bad though Wraiths likely can't help you that turn, but on the flipside, that helps keep it balanced.
(0) Raising of the Grey Host [Gondor]
Event • Skirmish
Spot Aragorn to shuffle your draw deck and reveal the top 6 cards of your draw deck. Make an unbound companion strength +2 for each revealed unliving companion. You may play those unliving companions by discarding the other revealed cards (or return all 6 cards in any order).
“Then NOLINKElrohir gave to Aragorn a silver horn, and he blew upon it; and it seemed to those that stood near that they heard a sound of answering horns… No other sound they heard, and yet they were aware of a great host gathered all about the hill on which they stood…”
M1U29
I'd like it much better if it were a unique condition that could only be used once (maybe twice) per turn...perhaps at the start of each skirmish involving Aragorn. OR perhaps make it an assignment event, thus allowing any companions you pull to fight and making it a much more useful (albeit still risky) card to use.
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(0) Hour of Need [Wraith]
Event • Fellowship
Exert Aragorn to play an unliving companion from your draw deck.
"‘Keep your hoards and your secrets hidden in the Accursed Years! Speed only we ask. Let us pass, and then come! I summon you to the Stone of Erech!’"
M1C112
I'd make it [2] otherwise you could just keep bringing them back.
[4] •Aragorn, NOLINKOf the Grey Company [Gondor]
Companion • Man
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Resistance 8
Ranger. For each unbound companion of another race you spot, Aragorn is twilight cost -1.
Each time Aragorn wins a skirmish, you may play a Free Peoples [Wraith] card from your draw deck.
"‘But we must go in, and therefore the horses must go too,’ said Aragorn. ‘For if ever we come through this darkness, many leagues lie beyond, and every hour that is lost there will bring the triumph of Sauron nearer. Follow me!’"
M1C21
Nice. Would probably make a nice splash for a rainbow deck thanks to his first line.
(0) Raising of the Grey Host [Gondor]
Event • Skirmish
Spot Aragorn to shuffle your draw deck and reveal the top 6 cards of your draw deck. Make an unbound companion strength +2 for each revealed unliving companion. You may play those unliving companions by discarding the other revealed cards (or return all 6 cards in any order).
"Then NOLINKElrohir gave to Aragorn a silver horn, and he blew upon it; and it seemed to those that stood near that they heard a sound of answering horns… No other sound they heard, and yet they were aware of a great host gathered all about the hill on which they stood…"
M1U29
I think that’s risky enough to stay (0).
Personally I like unliving, however its just a little too powerful. How about making it so that when an non-unique
unliving wraith wins a skirmish you place him in the dead pile, or something like that. Basically, once the wraith has
done its job it's not needed anymore and go evaporate. However, if it dies before doing its job it still comes back.
Just some food for thought.
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[4] •Aragorn, NOLINKOf the Grey Company [Gondor]
Companion • Man
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Resistance 8
Ranger. For each unbound companion of another race you spot, Aragorn is twilight cost -1.
Each time Aragorn wins a skirmish, you may play a Free Peoples [Wraith] card from your draw deck.
“‘But we must go in, and therefore the horses must go too,’ said Aragorn. ‘For if ever we come through this darkness, many leagues lie beyond, and every hour that is lost there will bring the triumph of Sauron nearer. Follow me!’”
M1C21
snazzy
(0) Raising of the Grey Host [Gondor]
Event • Skirmish
Spot Aragorn to shuffle your draw deck and reveal the top 6 cards of your draw deck. Make an unbound companion strength +2 for each revealed unliving companion. You may play those unliving companions by discarding the other revealed cards (or return all 6 cards in any order).
“Then NOLINKElrohir gave to Aragorn a silver horn, and he blew upon it; and it seemed to those that stood near that they heard a sound of answering horns… No other sound they heard, and yet they were aware of a great host gathered all about the hill on which they stood…”
M1U29
nice...though a tad length text wise...
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I'm not sure what to do about Raising of the Grey Host. I reckon I'll change it eventually. But I did change Hour of Need to [1] and spotting Aragorn, since I realized bringing unliving companions into play is a core mechanic of the new Wraiths and they need to do it easily.
Now. I keep saying these new cultures lack old keywords and that they have new ways to punish opponents. Without damage bonuses, however, it would be extremely difficult to do away with characters.
These Wraiths know how to get by! Today I'm showing 4 cards, but the first 3 are very similar.
[2] Spectral Banner [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Bearer is strength +1 for each other unliving companion bearing a hand weapon.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and pale banners like shreds of cloud… Faint cries I heard, and dim horns blowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices…’”
M1C120
This weapon sacrifices a steady strength bonus for the potential of much more. But it's the skirmish ability that I'm wanting you to focus on. The two possessions below share this text. This is how Wraiths pile on the wounds.
[2] Spectral Horse [Wraith]
Possession • Mount
Strength +1
Bearer must be an unliving companion. Bearer gains flanking (If this companion is not assigned to a skirmish, at the start of another of your character’s skirmishes, you may exert this companion to replace that character in the skirmish).
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘The Dead are following,’ said Legolas. ‘I see shapes of Men and of horses…’”
M1U121
Nothing to comment on. It costs 2 because flanking is not a cultural staple for Wraiths. The Free Peoples player would have to pay a little extra to get it.
[1] Spectral Spear [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and spears, like winter-thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.’”
M1C122
And the most basic weapon in the bunch.
I knew immediately that such a system wouldn't work if there weren't a decent way to recycle those possessions.
[5] •Twilight Host [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 11
Vitality 4
Resistance 5
Dominate. Unliving. To play, spot Aragorn or NOLINKKing of the Dead.
Each time a [Wraith] possession is discarded from your unliving companion, you may exert Twilight Host to transfer that possession to another unliving companion instead of discarding it.
“‘There they stood silent, hardly to be seen, save for a red gleam in their eyes that caught the glare of the ships that were burning.’”
M1R124
Dominate. (A character skirmishing this character may not exert.)
This fella is a one-stop possession-recursion machine. Get him into play, and suddenly those possessions can start bouncing about the table, moving to the companions who need them at the right time. All you have to do is keep Twilight Host from getting beat up in skirmishes. Even then, though, if Twilight Host dies, use unliving to cycle it back into your deck, then use Hour of Need (or one of the other cards that pulls unliving companions) and you're right back into the game!
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[2] Spectral Banner [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Bearer is strength +1 for each other unliving companion bearing a hand weapon.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and pale banners like shreds of cloud… Faint cries I heard, and dim horns blowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices…’”
M1C120
Looking good. I'd probably take away the second ability as wounding should never be that cheap,
especially with your almost broken Unliving abilty. If you can keep resurrecting them their abilities should be rubbish to compensate.
[2] Spectral Horse [Wraith]
Possession • Mount
Strength +1
Bearer must be an unliving companion. Bearer gains flanking (If this companion is not assigned to a skirmish, at the start of another of your character’s skirmishes, you may exert this companion to replace that character in the skirmish).
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘The Dead are following,’ said Legolas. ‘I see shapes of Men and of horses…’”
M1U121
I'd make it [1] and remove the second text.
[1] Spectral Spear [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and spears, like winter-thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.’”
M1C122
I think this could be left alone if you changed the Sword and Banner as well as Twilight Host. Otherwise, good basic strength bonus. :up:
[5] •Twilight Host [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 11
Vitality 4
Resistance 5
Dominate. Unliving. To play, spot Aragorn or NOLINKKing of the Dead.
Each time a [Wraith] possession is discarded from your unliving companion, you may exert Twilight Host to transfer that possession to another unliving companion instead of discarding it.
“‘There they stood silent, hardly to be seen, save for a red gleam in their eyes that caught the glare of the ships that were burning.’”
M1R124
I'd change his 'Each time a Wraith possession is discarded from your unliving companion, you may exert Twilight Host to transfer that possession to another unliving companion instead of discarding it.' to 'Manuever: Play a [wraith] possession on a companion from your discard pile.'
Way OP. Wounding should never be that cheap, pack four banners swords and spears and you have tons of cheap nasty wounding. 'Those discard to wound' texts combined with Twilight Host's recycling are insane. For example, discard Spectral Spear. Use Twilight Host to bring it back and discard it again. Repeat twice. That turns one [1] possession into a three wound machine. Not to mention Unliving. I'd probably change each 'Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.' to 'Skirmish: Discard this possession and exert bearer to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.' With the exception of the Spectral Spear I think the wounding should be way reduced
It needs to have at least a couple of modifiers. ;)
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[1] Hour of Need [Wraith]
Event • Fellowship
Spot Aragorn to play an unliving companion from your draw deck.
“‘Keep your hoards and your secrets hidden in the Accursed Years! Speed only we ask. Let us pass, and then come! I summon you to the Stone of Erech!’”
M1C112
Seems fair enough.
[4] •Aragorn, NOLINKOf the Grey Company [Gondor]
Companion • Man
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Resistance 8
Ranger. For each unbound companion of another race you spot, Aragorn is twilight cost -1.
Each time Aragorn wins a skirmish, you may play a Free Peoples [Wraith] card from your draw deck.
“‘But we must go in, and therefore the horses must go too,’ said Aragorn. ‘For if ever we come through this darkness, many leagues lie beyond, and every hour that is lost there will bring the triumph of Sauron nearer. Follow me!’”
M1C21
Excellent (and obvious) choice of subtitle! I'm not sure [Wraith] need this much fetching, or is this designed to work with unliving? I might make it character in that case.
(0) Raising of the Grey Host [Gondor]
Event • Skirmish
Spot Aragorn to shuffle your draw deck and reveal the top 6 cards of your draw deck. Make an unbound companion strength +2 for each revealed unliving companion. You may play those unliving companions by discarding the other revealed cards (or return all 6 cards in any order).
“Then NOLINKElrohir gave to Aragorn a silver horn, and he blew upon it; and it seemed to those that stood near that they heard a sound of answering horns… No other sound they heard, and yet they were aware of a great host gathered all about the hill on which they stood…”
M1U29
I love this card - good job!
[2] Spectral Banner [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Bearer is strength +1 for each other unliving companion bearing a hand weapon.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and pale banners like shreds of cloud… Faint cries I heard, and dim horns blowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices…’”
M1C120
Ah, so I can see this representing the fear inspired by the Army of the Dead. Nice.
[2] Spectral Horse [Wraith]
Possession • Mount
Strength +1
Bearer must be an unliving companion. Bearer gains flanking (If this companion is not assigned to a skirmish, at the start of another of your character’s skirmishes, you may exert this companion to replace that character in the skirmish).
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘The Dead are following,’ said Legolas. ‘I see shapes of Men and of horses…’”
M1U121
Yeah, good.
[1] Spectral Spear [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and spears, like winter-thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.’”
M1C122
Also good, though seems very cheap wounding. I'd prefer some limitation on which minions it can wound, [2] cost or strength +1 (for a common, those seem to sit better). Also, perhaps the first one could be rare - it feels a bit like a rare and that makes a nice vertical cycle of possessions.
[5] •Twilight Host [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 11
Vitality 4
Resistance 5
Dominate. Unliving. To play, spot Aragorn or NOLINKKing of the Dead.
Each time a [Wraith] possession is discarded from your unliving companion, you may exert Twilight Host to transfer that possession to another unliving companion instead of discarding it.
“‘There they stood silent, hardly to be seen, save for a red gleam in their eyes that caught the glare of the ships that were burning.’”
M1R124
I agree with GT up to the point that it seems to me that such easy direct wounding is more than powerful enough that it doesn't need such easy and powerful recursion - once you've packed 4 of each of the above possessions, you're already cooking on a lot of gas. If you're dead set (no pun intended :roll: ) on some recursion, have a much more one-off ability like "At the start of the fellowship phase, you may exert Twilight Host to play a possession from your discard pile on your unliving companion."
I have 2 generic points on the emerging Wraiths, first on Wraiths in general and secondly on unliving as a keyword:
1) Trying to make a re-hash of the Army of the Dead immediately begins to run into problems because players have expectations and preconceptions of what Free Peoples Wraiths are all about (enduring, threats) and so even though I know that these cards do not do this, I am still finding myself reading them as if they do. For example, I was looking at the Twilight Host and thinking "Great: more exertions". This is not a problem with your cards or strategies, just a problem of people's perceptions of them - lem0n ran into similar troubles when he posted non-enduring Wraith DCs.
2) From a practical point of view, unliving bothers me because it requires so much shuffling and re-shuffling of your draw deck. This may seem like a menial point, but I think a valid one if you approach DC-making from a "people will be playing these cards" standpoint (which, though obviously unlikely, is surely part of the point of making DCs). I think that I want them to go to some place outside the draw deck and discard pile, either removed from the game in some kind of "ether" or in the dead pile and have cards that play Wraiths straight from there.
Thranduil
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[2] Spectral Banner [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Bearer is strength +1 for each other unliving companion bearing a hand weapon.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and pale banners like shreds of cloud… Faint cries I heard, and dim horns blowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices…’”
M1C120
Ok doke.
[2] Spectral Horse [Wraith]
Possession • Mount
Strength +1
Bearer must be an unliving companion. Bearer gains flanking (If this companion is not assigned to a skirmish, at the start of another of your character’s skirmishes, you may exert this companion to replace that character in the skirmish).
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘The Dead are following,’ said Legolas. ‘I see shapes of Men and of horses…’”
M1U121
Dont like the horse discarding itself and doing a wound thing, makes no sense.
[1] Spectral Spear [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and spears, like winter-thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.’”
M1C122
Borderline ok.
[5] •Twilight Host [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 11
Vitality 4
Resistance 5
Dominate. Unliving. To play, spot Aragorn or NOLINKKing of the Dead.
Each time a [Wraith] possession is discarded from your unliving companion, you may exert Twilight Host to transfer that possession to another unliving companion instead of discarding it.
“‘There they stood silent, hardly to be seen, save for a red gleam in their eyes that caught the glare of the ships that were burning.’”
M1R124
Good because its his only purpose but as he has dominate i think 4 vitality is too much.
1) Trying to make a re-hash of the Army of the Dead immediately begins to run into problems because players have expectations and preconceptions of what Free Peoples Wraiths are all about (enduring, threats) and so even though I know that these cards do not do this, I am still finding myself reading them as if they do. For example, I was looking at the Twilight Host and thinking "Great: more exertions". This is not a problem with your cards or strategies, just a problem of people's perceptions of them - lem0n ran into similar troubles when he posted non-enduring Wraith DCs.
Im glad you mentioned this Thran thanks, as i was sitting here thinking, why does menace get away without being mercilessly criticised for taking a change in direction with a particular sub culture when i did?
m64, i dont know why, but with wraiths no one will let you alter their abilities without moaning. Everything else is fair game but nooooo wraiths have to be enduring apparently!
Personally i think theyre fine, if someone wants to use the enduring ones they can doesnt mean id overlook these its just another strategy.
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[2] Spectral Banner [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Bearer is strength +1 for each other unliving companion bearing a hand weapon.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and pale banners like shreds of cloud… Faint cries I heard, and dim horns blowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices…’”
M1C120
should have a limit on the strength bonus..., and almost rather just make it +1 and get rid of the first sentence
[2] Spectral Horse [Wraith]
Possession • Mount
Strength +1
Bearer must be an unliving companion. Bearer gains flanking (If this companion is not assigned to a skirmish, at the start of another of your character’s skirmishes, you may exert this companion to replace that character in the skirmish).
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘The Dead are following,’ said Legolas. ‘I see shapes of Men and of horses…’”
M1U121
fine by me
[1] Spectral Spear [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and spears, like winter-thickets on a misty night. The Dead are following.’”
M1C122
I guess...
[5] •Twilight Host [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 11
Vitality 4
Resistance 5
Dominate. Unliving. To play, spot Aragorn or NOLINKKing of the Dead.
Each time a [Wraith] possession is discarded from your unliving companion, you may exert Twilight Host to transfer that possession to another unliving companion instead of discarding it.
“‘There they stood silent, hardly to be seen, save for a red gleam in their eyes that caught the glare of the ships that were burning.’”
M1R124
I think he's a tad powerful, cut strength by 1-2 and he's ok though.
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[2] Spectral Banner [Wraith]
Possession • Hand Weapon
Bearer must be an unliving companion.
Bearer is strength +1 for each other unliving companion bearing a hand weapon.
Skirmish: Discard this possession to wound a minion skirmishing bearer.
“‘…and pale banners like shreds of cloud… Faint cries I heard, and dim horns blowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices…’”
M1C120
should have a limit on the strength bonus..., and almost rather just make it +1 and get rid of the first sentence
Actually SoP, the first ability is the whole point of the card, the second one is just to tie it in with the other Spectral
possessions. Personally I'd get rid of the second ability.
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oh meh. I meant the second one, the + strength one ;)
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Sorry for the bit of delay - work work work!
Now, I'm really glad you guys hit me so hard on those possessions. For whatever reason I simply didn't consider power when I wrote those skirmish-wounding abilities. I'm definitely going to completely redesign them.
Tonight I'm putting up just two more new cards; I'll edit this post in a minute with the rewritten possessions from last time.
(0) Insurmountable Will [Wraith]
Event • Skirmish
Spot X unliving companions to make a minion skirmishing an unliving companion strength –X. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard all losing minions.
“‘…for the Dead needed no longer any weapon but fear. None would withstand them.’”
M1R113
This is the only skirmish "pump" within the FP [Wraith] culture, but it sure does pack a wallop. This is one of the ways the new Wraiths gets around lacking damage, enduring, etc.
[3] •Unrelenting Spirit [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving.
At the start of each assignment phase, you may exert Unrelenting Spirit, spot 2 or more minions and choose 1 of them. That minion’s owner may assign that minion, but it is strength -5 unless assigned to skirmish Unrelenting Spirit.
“…pursued by a groping horror that seemed always just about to seize him; and a rumour came after him like the shadow-sound of many feet… he must either find an ending and NOLINKescape or run back in madness to meet the following fear.”
M1U125
This guy is probably my favorite companion in the entire set. It is the embodiment of a stalking terror, as seen within the lore. The only snag I see with him is his lack of cultural enforcement; the culture can't afford too many "to play, spot a [Wraith] companion" clauses and I can't find a decent place for enforcement within the ability. Any help here would be stellar if you think he needs it.
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(0) Insurmountable Will [Wraith]
Event • Skirmish
Spot X unliving companions to make a minion skirmishing an unliving companion strength –X. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard all losing minions.
“‘…for the Dead needed no longer any weapon but fear. None would withstand them.’”
M1R113
Good stuff!
[3] •Unrelenting Spirit [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving.
At the start of each assignment phase, you may exert Unrelenting Spirit, spot 2 or more minions and choose 1 of them. That minion’s owner may assign that minion, but it is strength -5 unless assigned to skirmish Unrelenting Spirit.
“…pursued by a groping horror that seemed always just about to seize him; and a rumour came after him like the shadow-sound of many feet… he must either find an ending and NOLINKescape or run back in madness to meet the following fear.”
M1U125
Cost and effect need to be more clearly defined I think: "At the start of each assignment phase, you may exert Unrelenting Spirit and spot 2 minions to choose a minion..." How about more implicit enforcement like making the strength reduction "X", where X is the number of unliving companions you can spot?
Thranduil
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(0) Insurmountable Will [Wraith]
Event • Skirmish
Spot X unliving companions to make a minion skirmishing an unliving companion strength –X. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard all losing minions.
“‘…for the Dead needed no longer any weapon but fear. None would withstand them.’”
M1R113
Good. Not too much.
[3] •Unrelenting Spirit [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving.
At the start of each assignment phase, you may exert Unrelenting Spirit, spot 2 or more minions and choose 1 of them. That minion’s owner may assign that minion, but it is strength -5 unless assigned to skirmish Unrelenting Spirit.
“…pursued by a groping horror that seemed always just about to seize him; and a rumour came after him like the shadow-sound of many feet… he must either find an ending and NOLINKescape or run back in madness to meet the following fear.”
M1U125
Seems a little awkward, perhaps: At the start of the assignment phase if there is more than one minion in play you may exert Unrelenting Spirit and name a minion. Unless that minion is assigned to skirmish Unrelenting Spirit it is strength -5.
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I'll edit this post in a minute with the rewritten possessions from last time.
Once you do, I'll be happy to review them, especially since I never got to them the first time around. #-o
(0) Insurmountable Will [Wraith]
Event • Skirmish
Spot X unliving companions to make a minion skirmishing an unliving companion strength –X. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard all losing minions.
“‘…for the Dead needed no longer any weapon but fear. None would withstand them.’”
M1R113
I'd reword the last part as "discard each minion in that skirmish". But it's pretty neat.
[3] •Unrelenting Spirit [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving.
At the start of each assignment phase, you may exert Unrelenting Spirit, spot 2 or more minions and choose 1 of them. That minion’s owner may assign that minion, but it is strength -5 unless assigned to skirmish Unrelenting Spirit.
“…pursued by a groping horror that seemed always just about to seize him; and a rumour came after him like the shadow-sound of many feet… he must either find an ending and NOLINKescape or run back in madness to meet the following fear.”
M1U125
One more rephrasing suggestion:
"At the start of the assignment phase, if you can spot 2 minions, exert Unrelenting Spirit to choose a minion. That minion is strength -5 unless assigned to skirmish Unrelenting Spirit."
I really think that covers it succinctly and clearly. There's no need to specify that its' owner may assign it since that is always assumed unless something overrides it (which is NOT the case here).
I think you could add some quasi-cultural enforcement by making the cost -1 if you can spot a [Wraith] (or just simply Wraith) companion. Helps get it into your starting fellowship, too.
Speaking of which, I think these guys BADLY need a [2]-cost companion to get them going. As it is, it's very, very difficult to start with them without tossing in Strider, which I know is not what you're going for.
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(0) Insurmountable Will [Wraith]
Event • Skirmish
Spot X unliving companions to make a minion skirmishing an unliving companion strength –X. If that companion wins the skirmish, discard all losing minions.
“‘…for the Dead needed no longer any weapon but fear. None would withstand them.’”
M1R113
maybe cost 1? and maybe have a limit as well? -4 perhaps?
[3] •Unrelenting Spirit [Wraith]
Companion • Wraith
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Resistance 5
Unliving.
At the start of each assignment phase, you may exert Unrelenting Spirit, spot 2 or more minions and choose 1 of them. That minion’s owner may assign that minion, but it is strength -5 unless assigned to skirmish Unrelenting Spirit.
“…pursued by a groping horror that seemed always just about to seize him; and a rumour came after him like the shadow-sound of many feet… he must either find an ending and NOLINKescape or run back in madness to meet the following fear.”
M1U125
yeah needs to be rephrased. fine.