Boromir, Seeker After Riddles

[azogsbane]

This series of cards is intended for Movie Block. It was inspired by the lines of verse that Boromir heard in his dream and which led him to Rivendell, a.k.a. Imladris:

Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur's Bane shall waken,
And the Halfling forth shall stand.


Boromir, Seeker After Riddles
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Frodo
If Boromir is in your starting fellowship, his twilight cost is -1.
Cards born by Boromir may not be discarded by Shadow cards.


• Boromir's Steed
Possession • Mount
Bearer must be a Man.
You may play this possession any time you could play a Regroup Event.
Bearer is a knight and a ranger.
If bearer is Boromir, each time the fellowship moves from any site 2 or 5, you may exert him to wound a minion and play the fellowship's next site, replacing an opponent's site if necessary.
"And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face...he was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback."


Dream
Condition
Bearer must be Boromir or Faramir. Limit 1 per bearer.
Each time bearer exerts you may draw a card (limit once per phase).
Each time bearer loses a skirmish, you may discard a card from hand to heal another companion.
"'A dream came to my brother in a troubled sleep; and afterwards a like dream came oft to him again, and once to me.'"

• Seek for the Sword That Was Broken
Condition
Bearer must be Boromir or Faramir.
When you play this condition, you may spot Aragorn to remove .
Response: If you play Aragorn, heal each companion and make bearer defender +1 until the end of the turn. Discard this condition.
"'In the West a pale light lingered, and out of it I heard a voice, remote but clear...'"


In Imladris it Dwells
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Spot Boromir bearing Boromir's Steed to play an artifact from your draw deck (or two if you can spot Elrond). Or exert Boromir to play a mount from your draw deck.
"'And here in the House of Elrond more shall be made clear to you,' said Aragorn standing up. He cast his sword on the table that stood before Elrond, and the blade was in two pieces."


• There Shall be Counsels Taken
Condition • Support Area
When the fellowship moves to a sanctuary you may spot Boromir and exert X companions to play a character whose twilight cost is X from your draw deck or discard pile.
Fellowship: Discard this condition to heal Boromir.
"'I come to ask for counsel and the unravelling of hard words.'"


Stronger than Morgul-Spells
Event • Manuever
Spot Boromir to choose one: Draw three cards if you can spot a Dwarf, discard a condition if you can spot an Elf, or discard an Shadow artifact if you can spot a Wizard.
"In this evil hour I have come on an errand over many dangerous leagues to Elrond."


There Shall Be Shown a Token
Condition • Support Area
Fellowship: Exert a Hobbit companion and play a Free Peoples artifact to add 2 tokens to a condition that already has a token on it.
"'Bring out the Ring, Frodo!' said Gandalf solemnly. 'The time has come. Hold it up and then Boromir will understand the remainder of his riddle.'"


• That Doom Is Near At Hand
Condition
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Boromir. Boromir may not heal except at a sanctuary. Each time the fellowship moves, bearer must exert. Bearer is strength +1 for each card born by him.
"'But doom and great deeds are indeed at hand.'"

• For Isildur's Bane Shall Waken
Condition • Support Area
To play, exert the Ringbearer.
When you play this condition, place 1 token here.
Skirmish: Spot Boromir bearing at least 3 cards and remove a token from here to make a companion bearing an artifact strength +1.
"'A new hour comes...Battle is at hand.'"


• And the Halfling Forth Shall Stand
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Spot Boromir bearing at least 3 cards, spot an artifact, and exert a Hobbit companion at a sanctuary to make the move limit for this turn +1.
"'Isildur's Bane is found...The Sword shall be reforged. I will come to Minas Tirith.'"

[TelTura]

(1) • That Doom Is Near At Hand
Condition
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Boromir. Boromir may not heal except at a sanctuary. Each time the fellowship moves, bearer must exert. Bearer is strength +1 for each card born by him.
"'But doom and great deeds are indeed at hand.'"

I love this.  Well, I'm less in love with the Boromir-only restriction (in general I tend to prefer to lean into the game's what-if structure, so "Bearer must be a unique Man" or something to permit near what-ifs like Faramir going up but also distant what-ifs like Madril going up), but besides that it's great.  I wish there were more cards willing to impose strict downsides for big upsides. 

If you've been gone for a while, you may not know that the ban on dream card images has been lifted.  Here's a quick version I threw together for this card using my card generator:

I love the idea of a cycle using each line of the dream like this.  Some of these are a bit wobbly, but it's a great foundation.

Spot Boromir bearing at least 3 cards, spot an artifact, and exert a Hobbit companion at a sanctuary to make the move limit for this turn +1.

This one in particular is just a bit cumbersome.  I assume that it's basically trying to only work on Boromirs that are used as main companions instead of splash throwaway Son of Denethors or whatever.

How about:

"Response: If the fellowship is at a sanctuary, discard a card borne by a Man to make the move limit +1 until the end of the turn.  You may exert a Hobbit companion to place that card on top of your deck."

[azogsbane]

Thanks. It's neat to see the card visualized like that. Looks great!

I love this.  Well, I'm less in love with the Boromir-only restriction (in general I tend to prefer to lean into the game's what-if structure, so "Bearer must be a unique Man" or something to permit near what-ifs like Faramir going up but also distant what-ifs like Madril going up), but besides that it's great.  I wish there were more cards willing to impose strict downsides for big upsides. 

I actually like cards that are specific to certain characters. You don't find too many like that in the game except cards for Gandalf and Aragorn and, for some reason, Gimli. I love it thought when cards promote less deck-types or combinations of cultures. That's why I through included a use for Elrond in "In Imladris It Dwells", and the need for hobbit companions in others. That's also why I never specified that the artifacts needed to be "".

Spot Boromir bearing at least 3 cards, spot an artifact, and exert a Hobbit companion at a sanctuary to make the move limit for this turn +1.

This one in particular is just a bit cumbersome.  I assume that it's basically trying to only work on Boromirs that are used as main companions instead of splash throwaway Son of Denethors or whatever.

How about:

"Response: If the fellowship is at a sanctuary, discard a card borne by a Man to make the move limit +1 until the end of the turn.  You may exert a Hobbit companion to place that card on top of your deck."

Your right, it is a bit cumbersome. I did it that way for two reasons: (1) it fits the lore exactly (perhaps too exactly), and (2) it makes it hard to use. I think cards that increase the move limit should come with a cost, especially ones that are not event and so can be used at will. This one has the potential to be used twice, and the cost is almost nothing so getting the circumstances just right is the trick you have to pull off in order to use it. As for spotting Boromir with cards on him, I did that so as to work in combination some of the other cards I wrote (e.g. Boromir's gametext, or the conditions that play on him). My hope in writing these cards is to turn Boromir into a keystone companion like Aragorn or Gandalf (or Gimli).

That said, I like your version too, especially the last part. But I think it should be a Fellowship/Regroup event with a twilight cost of (3).

[TelTura]

Whoops, yeah, it being Fellowhip/Regroup is a good call; my original version was a response to getting healed at a sanctuary to force it to be used in a more specific circumstance, but then forgot to change the response trigger after iterating.

[menace64]

This series of cards is intended for Movie Block. It was inspired by the lines of verse that Boromir heard in his dream and which led him to Rivendell, a.k.a. Imladris:

Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur's Bane shall waken,
And the Halfling forth shall stand.

Sweet!

(3) Boromir, Seeker After Riddles
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Frodo
Companion • Man
If Boromir is in your starting fellowship, his twilight cost is -1.
Cards born by Boromir may not be discarded by Shadow cards.

This is merely a formatting thing, but usually we stick the card type before the stats. It works either way, but you'll likely get more of a response by "sticking to the script" as it were. And if you want to use twilight cost symbols, use [ ] instead of ( )!
That all being said, I really like the angle on this card. There aren't many versions of Boromir without any sort of unloaded keyword, and I think lacking the typical Ranger or Knight keywords acts as a counter-balance for the early start. This Boromir also slots into the starting fellowship of any of the starting Faramirs which is a flavor+.
I'm a fan of the discard-prevention. It illustrates how Boromir has "gone off the grid", really sticking this persona into his 100-day journey to Imladris.

(2) • Boromir's Steed
Possession • Mount
Bearer must be a Man.
You may play this possession any time you could play a Regroup Event.
Bearer is a knight and a ranger.
If bearer is Boromir, each time the fellowship moves from any site 2 or 5, you may exert him to wound a minion and play the fellowship's next site, replacing an opponent's site if necessary.
"And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face...he was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback."

Neither "regroup" nor "event" need be capitalized. (See Rohirrim Army from Set8.)
I'd say cut the knight/ranger bit entirely, since it detracts from the focus of the card. It's already doing enough, playing out of phase and placing/replacing sites.

You could even toss a Strength +1 in there for a bit more "oomph".

(1) Dream
Condition
Bearer must be Boromir or Faramir. Limit 1 per bearer.
Each time bearer exerts you may draw a card (limit once per phase).
Each time bearer loses a skirmish, you may discard a card from hand to heal another companion or to play a condition from your discard pile.
"'A dream came to my brother in a troubled sleep; and afterwards a like dream came oft to him again, and once to me.'"

Aaaaaaabsolutely cut the condition recursion haha. All I see coming from this is an infinite recycling of Gondor Bowman and that hurts me deep inside.

(2) • Seek for the Sword That Was Broken
Condition
Bearer must be Boromir or Faramir.
When you play this condition, you may spot Aragorn to remove (3).
When Aragorn is played you may discard this condition to heal each companion and make bearer defender +1 until the end of the turn.
"'In the West a pale light lingered, and out of it I heard a voice, remote but clear...'"

I like that it has a payoff before or after Aragorn gets onto the table.
The second effect should be:
"Response: If you play Aragorn, heal each companion and make bearer defender +1 until the end of the turn. Discard this condition."

(1) In Imladris it Dwells
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Spot Boromir bearing Boromir's Steed to play an artifact from your draw deck (or two if you can spot Elrond). Or exert Boromir to play a mount from your draw deck.
"'And here in the House of Elrond more shall be made clear to you,' said Aragorn standing up. He cast his sword on the table that stood before Elrond, and the blade was in two pieces."

This is a bit too specific for my taste but I appreciate your adherence to flavor. It's also kinda clunky.
"Exert Boromir bearing a mount to play a artifact from your draw deck (or 2 artifacts if you spot Elrond)." In this configuration, I'd also recommend changing it to just a Regroup event.

• There Shall be Counsels Taken
Condition • Support Area
When the fellowship moves to a sanctuary you may spot Boromir and exert X companions to play a character whose twilight cost is X from your draw deck or discard pile.
Fellowship: Discard this condition to heal Boromir.
"'I come to ask for counsel and the unravelling of hard words.'"

This isn't the best condition out there but I sure do love it. It's slightly under-pushed on the front end but the utility of the sanctuary effect leaves it wide open for experimentation - and it would actually increase the viability of unbound Hobbit discard strats!

(1) Stronger than Morgul-Spells
Event • Manuever
Spot Boromir at a sanctuary to discard a condition and draw two cards (you may also discard an artifact).
"In this evil hour I have come on an errand over many dangerous leagues to Elrond."

Hold up! We gotta talk cultural strengths/weaknesses now. is bad at condition discard. Seeing "discard a condition" on a Gondor card makes my spidey sense tingle, but I think the balance otherwise is fairly on-point, since this is an event you'll need to hold onto until either site 3 or 6. That's awfully inconvenient... but still a bit of a cultural no-no.
"If the fellowship is at a sanctuary, spot Boromir to draw 2 cards or to discard a Shadow artifact."
This tweak would eliminate the condition-removal aspect, but would provide a situational option for targeting the even-more-difficult-to-eliminate Shadow artifacts.

(2) There Shall Be Shown a Token
Condition • Support Area
Fellowship: Exert a Hobbit companion and play a Free Peoples artifact to add 2 tokens to a condition that already has a token on it.
"'Bring out the Ring, Frodo!' said Gandalf solemnly. 'The time has come. Hold it up and then Boromir will understand the remainder of his riddle.'"

(1) • That Doom Is Near At Hand
Condition
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Boromir. Boromir may not heal except at a sanctuary. Each time the fellowship moves, bearer must exert. Bearer is strength +1 for each card born by him.
"'But doom and great deeds are indeed at hand.'"

"Bearer must be Boromir. He is strength +1 for each card borne by him and he may only heal while at a sanctuary.
Each time the fellowship moves, exert Boromir."

This is one of those cards that simply requires playtesting to discern its power level. It basically turns Boromir into Gandalf, Mithrandir, which is definitely an interesting idea!

(2) • For Isildur's Bane Shall Waken
Condition • Support Area
To play, exert the Ringbearer.
When you play this condition, place 2 tokens here.
Skirmish: Spot Boromir bearing at least 3 cards and remove a token from here to make a companion bearing an artifact strength +1.
"'A new hour comes...Battle is at hand.'"

I'd reduce the number of tokens placed to 1 and add a self-discard option. It probably doesn't need to cost + a Ring-bearer exertion though, in either case. Probably + the exert.

(1) • And the Halfling Forth Shall Stand
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Spot Boromir bearing at least 3 cards, spot an artifact, and exert a Hobbit companion at a sanctuary to make the move limit for this turn +1.
"'Isildur's Bane is found...The Sword shall be reforged. I will come to Minas Tirith.'"

Is it your intention to include Shadow cards borne by Boromir in the spotting? I didn't mention this with That Doom Is Near At Hand because I rather like the idea of Boromir getting stronger when he's being assailed by Shadow. That's kind of his shtick, really, but I'm curious if that's intentional in the design or a "happy accident".

Thanks for sharing your cards! You've turned a dreamy prophecy into a legit cycle of cards and that's no small feat.

Also, since I didn't recognize your username I pulled up your profile expecting to find a new user, but you're a veteran of these parts! Welcome back, old friend, and I apologize for not remembering you right away, especially since we appear to be from the same city!

[azogsbane]

Thanks for the perceptive feedback!

(3) Boromir, Seeker After Riddles
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Frodo
Companion • Man
If Boromir is in your starting fellowship, his twilight cost is -1.
Cards born by Boromir may not be discarded by Shadow cards.

This is merely a formatting thing, but usually we stick the card type before the stats. It works either way, but you'll likely get more of a response by "sticking to the script" as it were. And if you want to use twilight cost symbols, use [ ] instead of ( )!

Good to know. I'd forgotten how that some of that stuff was done.

(2) • Boromir's Steed
Possession • Mount
Bearer must be a Man.
You may play this possession any time you could play a Regroup Event.
Bearer is a knight and a ranger.
If bearer is Boromir, each time the fellowship moves from any site 2 or 5, you may exert him to wound a minion and play the fellowship's next site, replacing an opponent's site if necessary.
"And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face...he was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback."

Neither "regroup" nor "event" need be capitalized. (See Rohirrim Army from Set8.)
I'd say cut the knight/ranger bit entirely, since it detracts from the focus of the card. It's already doing enough, playing out of phase and placing/replacing sites.

You could even toss a Strength +1 in there for a bit more "oomph".

I put in the keyword-adding part because it would enable various versions of any Gondor (or Rohan!) companion to act as a ranger or a knight. There could be a lot of potential in that (although possibly some OP combos, idk).

(1) Dream
Condition
Bearer must be Boromir or Faramir. Limit 1 per bearer.
Each time bearer exerts you may draw a card (limit once per phase).
Each time bearer loses a skirmish, you may discard a card from hand to heal another companion or to play a condition from your discard pile.
"'A dream came to my brother in a troubled sleep; and afterwards a like dream came oft to him again, and once to me.'"

Aaaaaaabsolutely cut the condition recursion haha. All I see coming from this is an infinite recycling of Gondor Bowman and that hurts me deep inside.

Good point. I'll fix it in the original post.

(2) • Seek for the Sword That Was Broken
Condition
Bearer must be Boromir or Faramir.
When you play this condition, you may spot Aragorn to remove (3).
When Aragorn is played you may discard this condition to heal each companion and make bearer defender +1 until the end of the turn.
"'In the West a pale light lingered, and out of it I heard a voice, remote but clear...'"

I like that it has a payoff before or after Aragorn gets onto the table.
The second effect should be:
"Response: If you play Aragorn, heal each companion and make bearer defender +1 until the end of the turn. Discard this condition."

Huh. I guess that wording is a little more streamlined. Fine by me.

(1) In Imladris it Dwells
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Spot Boromir bearing Boromir's Steed to play an artifact from your draw deck (or two if you can spot Elrond). Or exert Boromir to play a mount from your draw deck.
"'And here in the House of Elrond more shall be made clear to you,' said Aragorn standing up. He cast his sword on the table that stood before Elrond, and the blade was in two pieces."

This is a bit too specific for my taste but I appreciate your adherence to flavor. It's also kinda clunky.
"Exert Boromir bearing a mount to play a artifact from your draw deck (or 2 artifacts if you spot Elrond)." In this configuration, I'd also recommend changing it to just a Regroup event.

I have to admit is a bit clunky. I know there are some cards that have an "or" in them, but I had trouble finding one to use as a good model for this. I really want the card to have both the ability to play artifacts (preferably of any culture since you've already got incentive to invest in Elrond) if Boromir is mounted and the ability to play a mount if the conditions for the first part are not met.

(1) Stronger than Morgul-Spells
Event • Manuever
Spot Boromir at a sanctuary to discard a condition and draw two cards (you may also discard an artifact).
"In this evil hour I have come on an errand over many dangerous leagues to Elrond."

Hold up! We gotta talk cultural strengths/weaknesses now. is bad at condition discard. Seeing "discard a condition" on a Gondor card makes my spidey sense tingle, but I think the balance otherwise is fairly on-point, since this is an event you'll need to hold onto until either site 3 or 6. That's awfully inconvenient... but still a bit of a cultural no-no.
"If the fellowship is at a sanctuary, spot Boromir to draw 2 cards or to discard a Shadow artifact."
This tweak would eliminate the condition-removal aspect, but would provide a situational option for targeting the even-more-difficult-to-eliminate Shadow artifacts.

I always think of Dwarves as the ones with poor condition removal, and when I played them, I always envied Aragorn for having Athelas. Still, I guess your right. Here's another go:

Stronger than Morgul-Spells
Event • Manuever
Spot Boromir to choose one: Draw three cards if you can spot a Dwarf, discard a condition if you can spot an Elf, or discard an Shadow artifact if you can spot a Wizard.
"In this evil hour I have come on an errand over many dangerous leagues to Elrond."

How is your spidey sense now? I took out the part about a sanctuary since the Council of Elrond is already represented in a different way here. It probably wouldn't see much play, but again it makes for some interesting possibilities. Previously, I didn't specify the artifact as "Shadow" because thought there might be a scenario when it would be useful to discard Shards of Narsil so as to get the cards stacked on it into your discard pile, but flavor-wise it's not so good. Still, I'm leaving the condition part open to Free Peoples conditions since it could be really helpful to discard That Doom is Near at Hand (see below).

(1) • That Doom Is Near At Hand
Condition
Vitality +1
Bearer must be Boromir. Boromir may not heal except at a sanctuary. Each time the fellowship moves, bearer must exert. Bearer is strength +1 for each card born by him.
"'But doom and great deeds are indeed at hand.'"

"Bearer must be Boromir. He is strength +1 for each card borne by him and he may only heal while at a sanctuary.
Each time the fellowship moves, exert Boromir."

This is one of those cards that simply requires playtesting to discern its power level. It basically turns Boromir into Gandalf, Mithrandir, which is definitely an interesting idea!

Agreed.

(2) • For Isildur's Bane Shall Waken
Condition • Support Area
To play, exert the Ringbearer.
When you play this condition, place 2 tokens here.
Skirmish: Spot Boromir bearing at least 3 cards and remove a token from here to make a companion bearing an artifact strength +1.
"'A new hour comes...Battle is at hand.'"

I'd reduce the number of tokens placed to 1 and add a self-discard option. It probably doesn't need to cost + a Ring-bearer exertion though, in either case. Probably + the exert.

You're right. What was I thinking? Well, I was thinking that the ability to pump any companion bearing an artifact, including possibly Frodo. I'll reduce the cost and the tokens added but keep the ringbearer exertion for flavor.

(1) • And the Halfling Forth Shall Stand
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Spot Boromir bearing at least 3 cards, spot an artifact, and exert a Hobbit companion at a sanctuary to make the move limit for this turn +1.
"'Isildur's Bane is found...The Sword shall be reforged. I will come to Minas Tirith.'"

Is it your intention to include Shadow cards borne by Boromir in the spotting? I didn't mention this with That Doom Is Near At Hand because I rather like the idea of Boromir getting stronger when he's being assailed by Shadow. That's kind of his shtick, really, but I'm curious if that's intentional in the design or a "happy accident".

Absolutely that is the intention! And I like the way you put it: "Boromir getting stronger when he's being assailed by Shadow." Still, I think I will edit this one to incorporate one of TelTura's ideas.

Thanks for sharing your cards! You've turned a dreamy prophecy into a legit cycle of cards and that's no small feat.

Why, thank you!

Also, since I didn't recognize your username I pulled up your profile expecting to find a new user, but you're a veteran of these parts! Welcome back, old friend, and I apologize for not remembering you right away, especially since we appear to be from the same city!

No worries! I had no idea you were from Wichita. I actually only moved here a couple of years ago, but I'm loving it here. By the way, are there any good game stores around here? Also, it's not a gamestore, but I loved going to Sente (https://sentecafe.com/) before it had to close down because of the quarantine. They had a lot of great games to play there.

[menace64]

I hadn't made it to Sente before the shutdown. The only gamer space I've spent any amount of time at in town has been Hero Complex but, even then, I haven't actually sat down there or played a game inside the store: just in-and-out for whatever token item I was after.

I'm glad you're enjoying Wichita. I grew up in these parts and I loathe being back.