Ally, Follower "fixed"

[simplegarak]

Talking on another post got me to thinking... what would have fixed the problem Decipher had with portraying the home front in this game.  So here's some rambling thoughts I had.

First up: Allies (original cards will be linked in title)
The most problematic: Elves

Dinendal
Add to text: "Discard Dinendal, if you cannot spot an companion."
Regroup: Exert or discard Dinendal to remove  .

Uruviel
Silinde
While characters with site game text is interesting, just get rid of these two.

Galdor
To play, spot an Elf "Discard Galdor, if you cannot spot an companion."
Regroup: Exert or discard Galdor to return an unwounded minion to its owner's hand.

Saelbeth
Golradir
I'm... actually kind of ok with these guys since they fit the elf voodoo theme. I'd add the "discard if no companions" text to them that the others have and allow them to discard for their effects.

Orophin
Rumil
Calaglin
These guys should almost be companions, but they are part of the reason I though "discard if no companions" was a good balance.  I'd probably also tweak their text to, "exert/discard to make fellowship archery total +1 if you spot Orc/Uruk-hai" and Calaglin like the iOrcs "exert/discard to make the shadow player wound a minion".

Celeborn
Add the condition that you need an companion to keep him around and I don't think he's that bad.

Elrond
Lord of Rivendell
Ok, I admit, this guy is just too broken, plus the drawing takes away from dwarves.  Just ditch him.
Herald to Gil-Galad
This one is a bit better.  Exerting to heal isn't bad and fits Elrond's & the Elves' theme.  Add the "spot an companion" condition and I'd change his first text to:
At the start of each of your turns, you may spot an ally whose home is site 3 and add to heal that ally twice.
Keeper of Vilya
Discard Elrond, if you cannot spot an companion.
At the start of each turn, you may discard a card from hand to heal Elrond.
Fellowship: Exert Elrond to discard the top card of your draw deck. If it is an card, you may take it into hand and OR heal an Elf companion.

Galadriel
Lady of Light
Again, broken beyond repair, just ditch her too and start over from scratch.
Lady of the Golden Wood
Discard Galadriel, if you cannot spot an companion.
At the start of each of your turns, you may add to heal an Elf.
Maneuver: Exert Galadriel to make the fellowship's current site gain forest until the end of turn.
Keeper of Nenya
Discard Galadriel, if you cannot spot an companion.
At the start of each turn, you may add to heal Galadriel.
Skirmish: Exert Galadriel to discard the top card of your draw deck. If it is a Shadow card, make a minion skirmishing an Elf strength -3.

Gondor
Gondorian Merchant
So... what does a merchant have to do with roaming?  Balance wise I don't think he's that bad (other than the whole "initiative" fiasco) I'm just not sure about his flavor.  I'd probably make something like "Gondorian Farmer" make a minion roaming and give the merchant something to do with knights (representing selling his wares to them, helping build fortifications, etc)

Dwarf
Thrarin
Maneuver: Spot a companion and exert Thrarin to allow him to participate in archery fire and skirmishes until the regroup phase.
Really, even that might be too powerful.  Might make it so he can only help if your ENTIRE fellowship is

Grimir
Anyone really think Grimir is that OP?  I'd just change him to:
Fellowship: Spot a companion and exert Grimir or discard him from play to shuffle a event from your discard pile into your draw deck.

Gandalf
These allies aren't too bad, though I'd say they need a companion to keep in play rather than just spotting Gandalf to enter.  Exception would be Treebeard, he should require unbound hobbits.  Otherwise, they're not terribly bad, but I would rework Erland and Jarnsmid such that they don't have flat effects.  No, they should have actions or exertions or costs of some kind.  No ally should have just a flat effect on the game.

Rohan
More of the same.  There should be a requirement for companions instead of the "if opponent controls home site" nonsense.  Some I would also change so they would have an "exert or discard" for their effect.

Shire
Ah shire... I like "Hobbit Hospital" even if it was very annoying.  Of course, Old Noakes, Hobbit Farmer and Filibert Bolger should both be fixed or junked - no flat effects.  Of course, adding "discard unless you spot a companion" wouldn't be much use since everyone would always have at least one.  Maybe "discard unless you spot 2 companions" or "an unbound companion".

I have to go, next post I'll talk about followers and later, shadow responses on balancing these.

[Thranduil]

First think: you don't need to worry about manually linking your cards - there's an autolinker! You just type Galdor and you're away.


I think 90% of allies are fine. As I said on the other thread, as long as they can't fight and are not broken, there are no issues. I don't even think that one-off fighting effects like Support of the Last Homely House and One Whom Men Would Follow are an issue, except when very repeatable like The Horn of Boromir.

Thranduil

[simplegarak]

First think: you don't need to worry about manually linking your cards - there's an autolinker! You just type Galdor and you're away.

Ah, thank you.

I think 90% of allies are fine. As I said on the other thread, as long as they can't fight and are not broken, there are no issues. I don't even think that one-off fighting effects like Support of the Last Homely House and One Whom Men Would Follow are an issue, except when very repeatable like The Horn of Boromir.

I would largely agree with you, though there are some combos that could get mightily out of hand.  I think their easy splashibility was also a problem.

As I was about to say, I also think it would have been better split.  Elves and Hobbits should have been very "ally" heavy while Gondor and Rohan should have been "follower" oriented. (Gandalf could be a little of both but not as strong as either of the other two)  The "hopping" conditions from Age's End is actually the way I would have designed followers.  "Bearer must be" along with transferring conditions built in.  Maybe also put something on them so they could play like events (to further distinguish them from conditions) but then I'm obsessed with flavor. ;-)
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