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Author Topic: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18  (Read 1882 times)

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August 22, 2020, 10:23:19 PM
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menace64

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Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
« on: August 22, 2020, 10:23:19 PM »
    Welcome to Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs!

    Each week I'll post the collector's information for one of the cards in the set's card-list.

    Contestants are free to create whatever card they see fit for that slot in the card-list, keeping in mind the surrounding cards. As the contest progresses, the card-list will become more and more defined, guiding the contestants' choices.

    The theme of our set is Lairs! You're free to interpret this however you want.

    Not every card has to fit the theme, of course, but it's something to keep in mind when coming up with entries.

    Each week a poll will go up for the previous week's entries. Simply vote for one you like the most. In the event of a tie, I'll let a random result generator make the decision - but each of the tied cards will appear in the final set card list.


    On to Stuff!

    Before we announce last week's winner...
    ...here's the updated image for Inspire's Pippin!

    Last week's winner...
    It came down to a coinflip this week for the card slot! (And you'd better believe I waited until after midnight to flip that coin.)

    The vote ran clean down the middle for both Cw0rk's Oath of Cirion and azogsbane's Commandeered Vessel.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    Azogsbane wins the tie with Commandeered Vessel!

    (Oath of Cirion is bound for the misadventure deck!)

    Last week's entries to pick from for Card #9...

    Quote from: Entry #1
    [1] Ill-Gotten Weed [Isengard]
    Possession • Support Area
    Pipeweed.
    When you play this possession, you may discard up to 2 cards from hand.
    Regroup: Spot Saruman and discard a Free Peoples possession to heal Saruman X times, where X is the number of Free Peoples possessions you can spot (limit once).
    "My dear Gimli, it is Longbottom Leaf! How it came here I can't imagine. For Saruman's private use I fancy."

    Designer's notes: The reason for the first sentence of game text is right there in the lore. The effect of the special ability could be quite useful in combination with Saruman, Rabble-Rouser and No Retreat, though of course the cost is even more useful than the effect. With the pipeweed keyword, your opponents' companions can smoke it too (if they've got their pipes with 'em) -- but that's all to the good since it's exactly what happens in the story.

    Quote from: Entry #2
    [2] Key of Orthanc [Isengard]
    Artifact • Support Area
    Regroup: Stack Saruman on a site you control.
    Shadow: Play Saruman stacked on a site you control. Until the regroup phase, replace the first sentence of his game text with the game text of that site.
    "Saruman remains to nurse his hatred and weave again such webs as he can."

    Designer's notes: Note: An alternative to the staff. Can also be good in movie block with King's Tent or some of the site 4 (if you can manage to control it).

    Quote from: Entry #3
    [3] Informant of Orthanc [Isengard]
    Minion • Man
    Strength: 8
    Vitality: 2
    Site: 3
    [Isengard] conditions may be played on any character regardless of race (except the Ring-bearer).
    "‘...are you not a wizard, some spy from Saruman, or phantoms of his craft?'"

    Quote from: Entry #4
    [2] Cold and Perilous [Isengard]
    Condition • Support Area
    Free Peoples cards borne by your [Isengard] minions lose their game text.
    Maneuver: Exert an [Isengard] Wizard or Man to transfer a card borne by a character to another eligible bearer (regardless of culture). Its bearer may exert instead.
    "'...as if a cold laughter was in his heart.'"

    Designer's notes: So Saruman can finally steal a Wizard Staff (or Ash Staff) and other equipment from Wizards (Radagast's Herb Bag, Roaring Wind, GotM, Brego), while [Isengard] Men can confiscate and use the weapons and gear of Free Men. They can try to resist, but that only turns the stealing into grind (for SotE's joy). ;) The first sentence is there to block the FP player from using those stolen cards' skills against their new owners (and protects your [Isengard] minions from text-based fortifications). Them Isengarders can rip off things they cannot benefit from for the mere pleasure of stealing (Boromir's Gauntlets, TLAOEAM, Rohirrim Helm, I Will Go, horses...), or transfer things they cannot bear to suboptimal bearers in order to weaken the Fellowship (like giving a Hobbit Sword or Elven Bow to an ally; kill an exhausted guy bearing Ent Draught / Ranger's Cloak...). Or pile them upon the same companion to trigger Wormtongue

    Quote from: Entry #5
    [2] •Gríma, Taken by Dark Powers [Isengard]
    Minion • Man
    Strength: 4
    Vitality: 3
    Site Number: 3
    You may play this minion any time you could play a regroup event.
    Regroup: Exert Gríma to add a threat.
    Regroup: Exert Gríma to wound an ally.
    Regroup: Exert Gríma to make the move limit for this turn -1.
    "'You see much, Éomer, son of Éomund. Too much.'"

    Designer's notes: It took a few passes on this one to get the right sort of scheminess into the card. Like other Grima cards out there, he lacks cultural enforcement, enabling him to slip into whatever matchup you're expecting to run into, and can handle threat generation (an exceedingly rare power in [Isengard], perhaps a unique example within the culture), ally-trimming, and/or speedy fellowships. Grima effs ess up, as you kids might say. ...also, yes, this fits on a card template.


    This week's contest is...
    Card #4!

    Eliminating a BUNCH of cultures this week.

    • A [Dwarven] card (after Balin, Lord of Moria)
    • An [Elven] card
    • A [Gandalf] card
    • A [Gollum] card (before Sméagol Lied)


    Closing date: August 29th! Good luck!


    :cheers: Lairs Card List  :cheers:
    Number - Name - (Culture • Type) - Contestant - Week it won
    1. Burned Village ([Dunland] • Condition] - Dictionary - 12
    2. •Stronghold of the Adorn River ([Dunland] • Possession) - Durin's Heir - 3
    3. •Balin, Lord of Moria ([Dwarven] • Ally) - menace64 - 8
    4. IN CREATION THIS WEEK
    5. Sméagol Lied ([Gollum] • Event) - SGollum - 4
    6. Worse Than Orcs ([Gollum] • Event) - menace64 - 9
    7. Commandeered Vessel ([Gondor] • Possession) - azogsbane - 16
    8. Sheltered Hollow ([Gondor] • Condition) - TelTura - 6
    9. SUBJECT OF THIS WEEK'S VOTE
    10.
    11. Smoke From Isengard ([Isengard] • Condition) - menace64 - 13
    12.
    13.
    14. •Wrested Kingdom ([Moria] • Condition) - menace64 - 1
    15.
    16. •Úlairë Attëa, Khamûl ([Raider] • Minion) - SGollum - 7
    17. Angmar Haunts Us Still ([Wraith] • Condition) - TelTura - 15
    18. Southern Stranger ([Wraith] • Minion) - Inspire - 10
    19.
    20. •Bag End Hearth ([Shire] • Condition) - Inspire - 2
    21. •Merry, Conspirator ([Shire] • Companion) - Inspire - 5
    22. •Pippin, Out of the Bog and Briar ([Shire] • Companion] - Inspire - 14
    23. The Black Gate (Site) - SGollum - 11
    24.
    25.


    The Misadventure Deck (cards that lost due to tied-decision but will appear in final cardlist! Maybe?)
    26. •Durin's Axe, Omen of Fortune
    27. From Lowest Dungeon to Highest Peak
    28. Oath of Cirion
    29. Orkish Whip
    30. •Mountains of Shadow[/list]
    « Last Edit: August 23, 2020, 05:22:41 PM by menace64 »

    August 23, 2020, 05:30:33 AM
    Reply #1

    Durin's Heir

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #1 on: August 23, 2020, 05:30:33 AM »
    [1] •Gandalf's Cloak [Gandalf]
    Possession • Cloak
    Bearer must be Gandalf.
    Each time a maneuver or skirmish special ability removes [X], you may heal Gandalf.
    Maneuver: Take a [Gandalf] event into hand from your draw deck. Discard this cloak.
    "The old man with the casket threw aside his hood and cloak. 'Here is Gandalf! And none too soon it seems.'"

    The passive skill is meant to make Gandalf's fragile twilight dependant cards more reliable (TWW, Walking Stick, Focus of Power, Unknown Perils, UtLE, Undaunted, KYFT) by forcing the Shadow player to concede you another much needed resource (vitality) every time he/she uses a special abilities to clear twilight (with the sort of Easterling Captain, Not Easily Destroyed or Greed).

    The Maneuver skill gives you an event from deck for a desperate need, optimizing Gandalf's use of cards like Intimidate, Roll of Thunder or Strength of Spirit as a support companion (that is, with fewer card slots in the deck).
    « Last Edit: August 24, 2020, 09:04:10 AM by Durin's Heir »
    “If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”  - Malcolm X

    August 23, 2020, 12:42:41 PM
    Reply #2

    menace64

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #2 on: August 23, 2020, 12:42:41 PM »
    (0) •Gandalf, Prisoner of the Enemy [Gandalf]
    Companion • Wizard
    Strength: 7
    Vitality: 4
    When you play Gandalf, stack him on a controlled site or place him out of play.
    While stacked on a controlled site, your cards with culture tokens on them may not be discarded by the Shadow.
    Response: If this site is liberated, transfer Gandalf into the fellowship.

    If I've machinated this game text correctly, you play Gandalf like you'd play any other companion, except if there isn't a controlled site to stack him on you lose him immediately. Once at his non-fellowship home, Gandalf offers blanket protection to your FP cards with culture tokens on them - this represents Gandalf refusing to cooperate with Saruman's torturous ambitions, in effect shielding those whose secrets he kept. Originally I was conceptualizing other cards that would 'release' Gandalf into the fellowship, but decided to self-contain that effect by writing the Response ability to trigger if you liberate the site.


    [4] •The Bee-fields of Beorn [Gandalf]
    Possession • Support Area
    To play, exert Gandalf (or spot Beorn).
    Response: If the fellowship moves to a dwelling or plains site in region 2, transfer this possession from your support area to that site. That site gains sanctuary and:
    "Fellowship: Exert a unique [Gandalf] ally to draw a card."

    I wanted this card to be useful to a player even in an environment where Beorn isn't a legal card. I'm not sure if Beorn is in The Hobbit draft game but I assume he is; and like I said, this card doesn't even need him. It certainly does better with a big beefy [Gandalf] ally waiting in the wings to exert for big draw gains, but that is a role you can also fill with Treebeard, or even Barliman Butterbur. This is a highly situational card though, so it won't always be easy to snag the bonus sanctuary. It works in Fellowship block with: Hollin; in Towers: Westemnet Hills, Deep of Helm; and in King: Pelennor Plain, Pelennor Flat, Pelennor Prairie. In a post-10 environment: Yes. (also, dual-credit should totally go to DH should this card secure a win)
    « Last Edit: August 29, 2020, 02:11:10 PM by menace64 »

    August 23, 2020, 04:13:51 PM
    Reply #3

    TelTura

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #3 on: August 23, 2020, 04:13:51 PM »
    You're missing the entry for #17.
    Come join the Player's Council to help us run events, create new cards, and steer the direction of this great game!

    Join our Discord here for more information.

    August 23, 2020, 05:24:02 PM
    Reply #4

    menace64

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #4 on: August 23, 2020, 05:24:02 PM »
    Well that certainly explains why my count was off.

    Fixed!

    August 23, 2020, 05:42:16 PM
    Reply #5

    Cw0rk

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #5 on: August 23, 2020, 05:42:16 PM »
    [8] Tamed Spider [Elven]
    Possession • Mount
    Bearer must be an Elf or Wizard. This possession's twilight cost is -1 for each Elf or Wizard you can spot.
    Bearer is enduring.
    "'Are the spiders your tame beasts or your pets...?'"


    Designer's note : The set is called Lairs so it must have spiders! This would be some sort of great spider from Mirkwood that would have ended up being tamed by Radagast and Elves. The quote comes from The Hobbit book.


    « Last Edit: August 23, 2020, 05:48:47 PM by Cw0rk »

    August 24, 2020, 12:28:48 PM
    Reply #6

    Durin's Heir

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #6 on: August 24, 2020, 12:28:48 PM »
    If I've machinated this game text correctly, you play Gandalf like you'd play any other companion, except if there isn't a controlled site to stack him on you lose him immediately.
    Seems well machinated to me. But I'd word the first sentence differently: "When you play Gandalf, stack him on a controlled site or place him out of play discard him."

    By being stacked he's not actually in play, so he cannot fight, exert / take wounds, or bear other cards, it's alright, and I guess that's what you want. BUT... by not being actually in play, you can play another Gandalf from hand: a different version to the Fellowship line, or even another copy of the same Gandalf to stack on a site immediately. Because uniqueness applies only to active cards (and cards in dead pile), not to stacked ones. Is that OK, to have up to 4x Gandalf, Prisoner stacked on a single site (or many sites)? If yes, the anti condition-discard would "stack" (pun intended) with any different version of Gandalf in play (like Wise Guide, for anti-event protection also).

    Originally I was conceptualizing other cards that would 'release' Gandalf into the fellowship, but decided to self-contain that effect by writing the Response ability to trigger if you liberate the site.
    The intrinsic response will work well, but implies a total dependency on your opponent's Shadow side controlling a site. It's your opponent's build, something you can't control... your own Shadow side might control the site on which Gandalf will be stacked, but then when that site is liberated, you're necessarily a Shadow player so the text of your FP cards isn't active (unless otherwise stated); your Strong Arms for instance remains on the site when you're a Shadow player, but has no effect (and can't be discarded; it's just inactive). So the Response action won't be available (and will be discarded by default). So your deck build has no intrinsic, independent means of forcing the liberation of Gandalf to your Fellowship line.

    You can try to use Crashed Gate on King sites, but even so nobody forces a Nazgul or Moria player to take control of a site (moreover if knows you packed -or might pack- this card in deck).
    « Last Edit: August 24, 2020, 12:33:02 PM by Durin's Heir »
    “If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”  - Malcolm X

    August 24, 2020, 01:03:57 PM
    Reply #7

    menace64

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #7 on: August 24, 2020, 01:03:57 PM »
    Quote from: Durin's Heir
    you're necessarily a Shadow player so the text of your FP cards isn't active (unless otherwise stated); your Strong Arms for instance remains on the site when you're a Shadow player, but has no effect (and can't be discarded; it's just inactive). So the Response action won't be available (and will be discarded by default). So your deck build has no intrinsic, independent means of forcing the liberation of Gandalf to your Fellowship line.

    I was writing a compromise-rebuttal-edit until this part. Being inactive does nuke the card, and exposes how many question marks such a card would induce.

    Scratched version 1!

    August 24, 2020, 02:08:42 PM
    Reply #8

    Durin's Heir

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #8 on: August 24, 2020, 02:08:42 PM »
    Imperfect as is, it's a really cool concept, keep it alive! If I were you, I'd change the subtitle to something more Tolkienian and tasteful, like "A Fly On A Treacherous Web" (a bit long, but actually shorter than "Heir to the Throne of Gondor").
    “If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”  - Malcolm X

    August 25, 2020, 04:11:15 AM
    Reply #9

    azogsbane

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #9 on: August 25, 2020, 04:11:15 AM »
    (0) • Mithril Gates [Dwarven]
    Condition • Support Area
    Fortification.
    Each minion is strength -1 for each knight stacked here (limit -3).
    While there are 4 knights stacked here, the fellowship archery total is +1.
    While there are 5 knights stacked here, companions may not take wounds except in the skirmish phase.
    Regroup: Exert a Dwarf companion to stack a knight here.

    Only Dwarves can build this gate, but it takes knights to man it. My goal for this card to bring to life an otherwise non-existent deck type: Dwarves and knights. It needs to be powerful enough to compensate for the inherent inconveniences of blending two cultures. Running low on companions late in the game? Use Dwarven Foresight to play one of the knights stacked here. It's risky having so much invested in a single condition, so Gimli, Feared Axeman is a must-have. The other limitation is that you have to be able to keep the knights alive until the regroup phase (and keep the Dwarves not exhausted).

    There is not much room left for lore here, but if there were, it would be this from the appendices: "He and his people did great works for Gondor and Rohan. For Minas Tirith they forged gates of mithril and steel to replace those broken by the Witch-king."

    Note: I've changed this radically from what I posted at first.
    « Last Edit: August 26, 2020, 11:57:05 AM by azogsbane »

    August 29, 2020, 02:06:28 PM
    Reply #10

    Durin's Heir

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #10 on: August 29, 2020, 02:06:28 PM »
    [4] •The Bee-fields of Beorn [Gandalf]
    Possession • Support Area
    To play, exert Gandalf (or spot Beorn).
    Response: If the fellowship moves to a dwelling or plains site in region 2, transfer this possession to that site. That site gains sanctuary and:
    "Fellowship: Exert a unique [Gandalf] ally to draw a card."
    Cool idea! Beorn indeed exists in The Hobbit Draft Game... except that he's a follower and not an ally (so can be spotted but not exerted). You might take a look at all those cards, for either fun or inspiration:
    - http://hobbitdraftgame.free.fr/Main_deck.html
    - http://hobbitdraftgame.free.fr/Boosters.html

    There's a small problem with this card, easy to correct: can be transferred over and over to the next Region 2 site, either from support area to a site or from a site to a site. Which multiplies the sanctuary effect. So it should specify "transfer this possession from your support area to that site".
    “If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”  - Malcolm X

    August 29, 2020, 02:08:47 PM
    Reply #11

    menace64

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #11 on: August 29, 2020, 02:08:47 PM »
    Thanks for catching me this week  \:D/

    I hadn't considered that Beorn might be a follower in Hobbit Draft, but it makes me happy that the overlap is maintained.

    August 29, 2020, 02:24:41 PM
    Reply #12

    Durin's Heir

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #12 on: August 29, 2020, 02:24:41 PM »
    I hadn't considered that Beorn might be a follower in Hobbit Draft, but it makes me happy that the overlap is maintained.
    I never said this to Enola (he must have realized anyway), but the way I made my card proposals and lobbied for cards to be done when developing the Hobbit DG, was not only meant to have the Hobbit be playable as both Draft and Casual formats, BUT also to be merged with Decipher's card pool in a mixed LotR + Hobbit format in Gemp. So your Bee-fields card coincide with that old plan of mine, and helps me to create a demand for such format to be supplied. :up:

    Thanks for catching me this week  \:D/
    At your service! :)
    “If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”  - Malcolm X

    August 29, 2020, 11:19:57 PM
    Reply #13

    Inspire

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #18
    « Reply #13 on: August 29, 2020, 11:19:57 PM »
    [1] O Orofarnë, Lassemista, Carnimírië! [Gandalf]
    Condition • Support Area
    Tale. You may spot Ents and Trees in your dead pile.
    Maneuver: Discard this condition to allow each Unhasty Ent to skirmish until the regroup phase.
    "‘O rowan dead, upon your head your hair is dry and grey; / Your crown is spilled, your voice is stilled for ever and a day.'"