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October 18, 2020, 12:44:07 AM
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menace64

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Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
« on: October 18, 2020, 12:44:07 AM »
    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!


    Last week's winner...
    The die was cast to break our tie: Shelob's Lair by Inspire takes the win! (Let me know if you'd be interested in having this portion of the contest spited up a bit in season two. Pageantry can be arranged.) (Also, we know where Cw0rk's Dwimorberg is headed!)


    Last week's entries to pick from for Card #13...

    Quote from: Entry #1
    [2] Ill-fated Quest [Moria]
    Event • Maneuver
    Spot X [Moria] Orcs to suspend this phase. Begin a skirmish phase between a [Moria] Orc and an unbound companion with twilight cost X or less; that Orc gains hunter X. When it ends, resume the maneuver phase.
    "'Yestreday... Balin lord of Moria fell in Dimrill Dale. He went alone to look in Mirror-mere...'"

    Designer's notes: An event to set an ambush with a [Moria] Orc to try and kill a key/annoying companion of your choice... and before archery takes place! Such ambush will favor a Goblin with damage bonuses or overwhelming strength, so the Moria Axe will shine there. But surprisingly will also favor good old Goblin Spearman, who can finally dust himself off from oblivion and have his day removing Greenleaf, Boromir SoD or Eowyn LoI from the equation. (The card title and lore text are in allusion to Durin's Axe's subtitle and lore.)

    Quote from: Entry #2
    (0) A More Dangerous Road [Moria]
    Condition • Support Area
    To play, spot a weather condition. Any site 4 or 5 gains marsh and underground.
    Shadow: If the fellowship is at an underground site, discard an [Isengard] card (from hand or from play) and play a [Moria] minion to add a threat.
    "And if that fails, where then will you go?"

    Designer's notes: This card is my attempt to open up a threat-generating subculture in Fellowship block, a card written to encourage the swirling of [Moria] and [Isengard] (specifically, [Isengard] weather). The goal is to get at least one of these down before site 4, since that's the earliest access you have to underground sites in Fellowship block - although in other formats this card can be useful much sooner, and much later. Beyond all that, I wanted this card to represent the turning of the fellowship's course into danger. The weather-spotting requirement is cute (imo), but adding both marsh and underground to any site 4 or 5 is my way of interpreting a malevolent power forcing the fellowship into 2 turns' worth of absolute garbage.

    Quote from: Entry #3
    [4] •Watcher in the Water, Scourge of Westgate [Moria]
    Minion - Creature
    Strength - 9
    Vitality - 4
    Site - 4
    Game Text: Discard all other minions (except tentacles).
    The current site gains marsh.
    All minions are strength +2 and damage +1.
    Shadow: Play a tentacle from your draw deck, discard pile or hand; its twilight cost is -2.

    Designer's notes: My problem with the other watchers in the waters are that they never let you get your minions out. MTC lets you do it from discard, but first there has to be some in there, this one should give tentacles more of a chance.

    Quote from: Entry #4
    [3] •Goblin Horn [Moria]
    Possession • Support Area
    Each time a [Moria] Orc is killed (except in the skirmish phase), you may place it beneath your draw deck.
    Regroup: Discard Goblin Horn to discard the top 4 cards of your draw deck.
    "...a great horn was blown in the hall, and answering horns and harsh cries were heard further off. There was a sound of many hurrying feet."

    Designer's notes: Swarm attacks are usually all-or-nothing. Against archer or direct wounding fellowships, it's all too often nothing. This card won't save your orcs from dying, but it can make an otherwise futile attack still count for something, setting up a strong hand at the end of the game. The regroup action is there to help dig down to the Orcs at the bottom of your deck if you haven't cycled quite as much as planned. Note: This possession can be played from your discard pile with Relics of Moria but will not trigger Goblin Armory.

    Quote from: Entry #5
    [1][6] •Lord Gothmog, Servant of Morgoth [Moria]
    Minion • Balrog
    Strength: 21
    Vitality: 5
    S/N: 4
    Damage +2. Fierce.
    Lord Gothmog's twilight cost is -1 for each Balrog in your discard pile.
    When you play Lord Gothmog, you may take a [Moria] event into hand from your discard pile.
    "He fought with Gothmog, until another Balrog came behind..."

    Designer's notes: Lord Gothmog was the Lord of Balrogs. Made it so it can take full advantage of the "From Morgoth's Lair They Came" event which make "Balrogs are twilight cost -3 for each other Balrog you can spot and are not unique until the end of the turn".

    Quote from: Entry #6
    [3] Goblin Sentinel [Moria]
    Minion • Orc
    Strength: 6
    Vitality: 2
    Site: 4
    Archer.
    Each time a Free Peoples player reveals this card from your hand, he or she must exert a companion.
    "For an instant the wizard looked out. Arrows whined and whistled down the corridor as he sprang back."


    This week's contest is...

    Card #25!

    It seems the fates wanted the last round of this first season to be the last card slot in the original card list. Neat.

    So it's either a Site or a "Premium-Level" card of some type. Take a look at how your submission from two weeks ago fared in the polls - let that response guide your design this week!

    Season One Closing date: October 24th!


    :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. •Mithril Gates ([Dwarven] • Condition) - azogsbane - 18
    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. Cold and Perilous ([Isengard] • Condition) - Durin's Heir - 17
    10. Isengard Test Subject ([Isengard] • Minion) - Cw0rk - 22
    11. Smoke From Isengard ([Isengard] • Condition) - menace64 - 13
    12. From Morgoth's Lair They Came ([Moria] • Event) - Cw0rk - 21
    13. SUBJECT OF THIS WEEK'S VOTE
    14. •Wrested Kingdom ([Moria] • Condition) - menace64 - 1
    15. Primitive Cave Paintings ([Raider] • Event) - Cw0rk - 19
    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. Dark Communion ([Sauron] • Event) - menace64 - 20
    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 (S Site) - SGollum - 11
    24. Shelob's Lair (K8 Site) - Inspire - 23
    25. IN CREATION THIS WEEK


    The Misadventure Deck (cards that lost due to coin-flip [or a menace64 blunder] but will appear in the final cardlist! Maybe?)
    26+. •Durin's Axe, Omen of Fortune ([Dwarven] • Artifact) - Durin's Heir - 4
    26+. From Lowest Dungeon to Highest Peak ([Gandalf] • Event) - menace64 - 4
    26+. Oath of Cirion ([Gondor] • Condition) - Cw0rk - 16
    26+. Distant Howl ([Isengard] • Event) - azogsbane - 22
    26+. Key of Orthanc ([Isengard] • Artifact) - Cw0rk - 17
    26+. Host of the Upper Hall ([Moria] • Minion) -menace64 - 21
    26+. Orkish Whip ([Orc] • Possession) - Durin's Heir - 7
    26+. •Alliance ([Raider] • Condition) - azogsbane - 19
    26+*. •Mountains of Shadow ([Sauron] • Condition) - menace64 - 2
    26+. Dwimorberg (K4 Site) - Cw0rk - 23[/list]

    October 18, 2020, 01:51:49 AM
    Reply #1

    Durin's Heir

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #1 on: October 18, 2020, 01:51:49 AM »
    My last input for the Lairs Set... must Gandalf of course:

    [4] •Gandalf, Tharkûn [Gandalf]
    Companion • Wizard
    Strength 7  Vitality 4  Gandalf signet
    While all other unbound companions have the same culture (except [Gandalf]), each unbound companion is strength +1.
    Fellowship: Play a non-spell [Gandalf] event from your draw deck (limit once).
    "'You are quite right. If I had no other purposes, I should not be helping you at all.'"

    Just Uncle Gandalf spending some time with a group of somewhat clueless fellows that are all trying to get something specific done. That is, as a support companion: an Istar doing his job in guiding a Free People to preserve and increase its freedom. The passive skill shows that: when he joins 1 or more Unbound companions, all with the same culture (but not Gandalf's), he turns them into a solid all-for-one Company focused on achieving their common goal.

    The Special Ability makes easier for Gandalf to bring his Swiss-army knife of Fellowship phase tricks to the Company he is joining: cards like Speak Friend and Enter to choose your own sites, Have Patience / Citadel to Gate to heal, On Your Doorstep / Borne Far Away to recover resources / companions lost in the fray... not depending anymore on lucky draws (and thus, not forcing you to pack 3x or 4x of said event to increase chances). But limited to one per turn, and not spells (so anti-condition nukes are out of the question).

    Like an event-oriented cousin of Gandalf Returned.
    « Last Edit: October 18, 2020, 02:06:20 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

    October 18, 2020, 05:43:17 AM
    Reply #2

    Legion

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #2 on: October 18, 2020, 05:43:17 AM »
    [2] Ill-fated Quest [Moria]
    Event • Maneuver
    Spot X [Moria] Orcs to suspend this phase. Begin a skirmish phase between a [Moria] Orc and an unbound companion with twilight cost X or less; that Orc gains hunter X. When it ends, resume the maneuver phase.
    "'Yestreday... Balin lord of Moria fell in Dimrill Dale. He went alone to look in Mirror-mere...'"

    A nice idea, especially making Goblin Spearman viable. I would prefer it if it gave a simple strength instead of Hunter bonus, and if x were the Twilight cost the orc, rather than the companion. That means you'd need more of a swarm to get a really big minion on, but still keeps the spearman nice and useful.

    Quote from: Entry #2
    (0) A More Dangerous Road [Moria]
    Condition • Support Area
    To play, spot a weather condition. Any site 4 or 5 gains marsh and underground.
    Shadow: If the fellowship is at an underground site, discard an [Isengard] card (from hand or from play) and play a [Moria] minion to add a threat.
    "And if that fails, where then will you go?"
    Seems balanced, but not sure how effective it would be. Threats would only help Moria archery, and they generally won't want isengard cards clogging the deck.

    Quote from: Entry #3
    [4] •Watcher in the Water, Scourge of Westgate [Moria]
    Minion - Creature
    Strength - 9
    Vitality - 4
    Site - 4
    Game Text: Discard all other minions (except tentacles).
    The current site gains marsh.
    All minions are strength +2 and damage +1.
    Shadow: Play a tentacle from your draw deck, discard pile or hand; its twilight cost is -2
    I try never to be completely negative when reviewing dream cards, but I'm afraid this is totally broken. For 8 twilight at site 4, you get a 17 minion swarm set up by one card (or 13 minions for 4 twilight). MTC is a perfectly fine Watcher: I've built successful decks with it.

    Quote from: Entry #4
    [3] •Goblin Horn [Moria]
    Possession • Support Area
    Each time a [Moria] Orc is killed (except in the skirmish phase), you may place it beneath your draw deck.
    Regroup: Discard Goblin Horn to discard the top 4 cards of your draw deck.
    "...a great horn was blown in the hall, and answering horns and harsh cries were heard further off. There was a sound of many hurrying feet."
    I really like this card. Totally revolutionises Underdeeps decks, and would be a huge thorn for archery, but no other fellowship, so very anti-meta. Great idea!

    Quote from: Entry #5
    [1][6] •Lord Gothmog, Servant of Morgoth [Moria]
    Minion • Balrog
    Strength: 21
    Vitality: 5
    S/N: 4
    Damage +2. Fierce.
    Lord Gothmog's twilight cost is -1 for each Balrog in your discard pile.
    When you play Lord Gothmog, you may take a [Moria] event into hand from your discard pile.
    "He fought with Gothmog, until another Balrog came behind..."
    A nice other balrog. Strong but expensive. It goes nicely with the previous card in this set, so that's a nice tie in

    Quote from: Entry #6
    [3] Goblin Sentinel [Moria]
    Minion • Orc
    Strength: 6
    Vitality: 2
    Site: 4
    Archer.
    Each time a Free Peoples player reveals this card from your hand, he or she must exert a companion.
    "For an instant the wizard looked out. Arrows whined and whistled down the corridor as he sprang back."
    Simple, effective and I love it! Great lore for the text as well. I'm trying to decide if it is too much better than Goblin Marksman for the same cost (2 vitality and the text for one strength: I think it could have only been strength 5 and still very worthwhile), but it is exactly what Moria Archery would need. Still gets my vote, though, with the horn just in second place.

    It would have been really interesting if it played a condition from the discard instead of exerting...

    « Last Edit: October 18, 2020, 05:45:43 AM by Legion »

    October 18, 2020, 10:19:19 AM
    Reply #3

    Legion

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #3 on: October 18, 2020, 10:19:19 AM »
    9K The Crack of Doom [9]
    Mountain Underground The Ringbearer is strength +3. Each other companion is strength -2.
    « Last Edit: October 18, 2020, 05:10:10 PM by Legion »

    October 18, 2020, 12:05:36 PM
    Reply #4

    TelTura

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #4 on: October 18, 2020, 12:05:36 PM »
    8K Wastes of Gorgoroth [7]
    Site
    At the start of the maneuver phase, the Free Peoples player must discard their hand or discard a number of their cards with a total twilight cost at least equal to the number of cards in hand.


    Notes: The intent is that if the freeps player has 7 cards in hand, then they can either discard a single freeps card costing [7]; or three cards costing [2] and another costing [1]; or four (0), a [5], and a [2] cost card.  Since there is no limitation on what card types are selected, one could potentially use this as a risky tactic to throw away exhausted companions just to bring them back, or to redistribute freeps conditions or something, but most of the time it's really just Frodo and Sam stripping either their hopes for the future or the packs on their back.
    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.

    October 18, 2020, 12:51:56 PM
    Reply #5

    menace64

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #5 on: October 18, 2020, 12:51:56 PM »
    8K Wastes of Gorgoroth [7]
    Site
    At the start of the maneuver phase, the Free Peoples player must discard their hand or discard a number of their cards with a total twilight cost at least equal to the number of cards in hand.

    That's 4 lines of text!

    October 18, 2020, 01:22:58 PM
    Reply #6

    TelTura

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #6 on: October 18, 2020, 01:22:58 PM »
    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.

    October 18, 2020, 01:25:05 PM
    Reply #7

    menace64

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #7 on: October 18, 2020, 01:25:05 PM »
     :lol:

    [Site-6K] Durthang (0)
    Mountain. At the start of the regroup phase, each Shadow player heals up to 5 wounds from his or her minions.
    <---

    Site 6 that isn't a sanctuary. But it kind of is.
    « Last Edit: October 18, 2020, 06:09:06 PM by menace64 »

    October 18, 2020, 08:09:58 PM
    Reply #8

    Durin's Heir

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #8 on: October 18, 2020, 08:09:58 PM »
    Site 6 that isn't a sanctuary. But it kind of is.

    Quote from: Comprehensive Rules 4.0
    A sanctuary is any site 3 or site 6 on the adventure path. Sites preceding the Shadows expansion set mark this with a keyword.
    The printed "sanctuary" keyword is just a mark in Pre-Shadows cards, but not the source. The source is being "any site 3 or site 6 on the adventure path." (Similar to what happens to pre-Towers versions of Frodo and Sam: those -and all versions of them- are always Ring-bound, no matter what keyword is present or missing.)

    So if you want to cancel the usual Sanctuary healing, you need some text that specifies that. Besides the "sanctuary for minions" effect.
    “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

    October 19, 2020, 10:07:23 PM
    Reply #9

    menace64

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #9 on: October 19, 2020, 10:07:23 PM »
    Hmm. Well, in that case: what is anyone's thought on submitting a card of an imaginary/postulative type?

    October 20, 2020, 04:00:50 AM
    Reply #10

    JamesCB

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #10 on: October 20, 2020, 04:00:50 AM »
    Hmm. Well, in that case: what is anyone's thought on submitting a card of an imaginary/postulative type?
    I'm fine with that.
    « Last Edit: October 28, 2020, 04:40:31 AM by JamesCB »

    October 20, 2020, 04:14:12 AM
    Reply #11

    JamesCB

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #11 on: October 20, 2020, 04:14:12 AM »
    [2] •Gimli, Stout Companion [Dwarven]
    Companion • Dwarf
    Strength - 6
    Vitality - 3
    Signet - Frodo
    or
    Resistance - 4
    For each other companion you can spot, Gimli is strength +1 and damage +1.
    « Last Edit: October 28, 2020, 04:40:22 AM by JamesCB »

    October 22, 2020, 11:20:47 AM
    Reply #12

    menace64

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #12 on: October 22, 2020, 11:20:47 AM »
    Okay. Let's go balls to the wall here.

    •This Foe is Beyond Any of You (FP/SH)
    Moria Quest • Support Area
    To play, spot The Balrog bearing a [Moria] artifact and exert him twice.
    When played, suspend the current phase. Begin a skirmish phase involving The Balrog and an unbound companion with strength 10 or more (or any Wizard). Each player discards the top card of their draw deck and adds that card's twilight cost to their involved character's strength. If The Balrog loses, place him (and all copies of him in your draw deck) out of play. If the companion loses, place it out of play.

    This is a 12-line Quest card. Quest Type is not a new concept, but one long-tinkered-with inside the Council and deep into the history of Cobra Cards. Quests are both Free Peoples and Shadow (front/back diffraction), and thus count for both when slotted-in during deck construction. When you play it, simply play it on its active side and then carry on as usual. Note that TFiBAoY is a "Moria Quest" and not a "[Moria] Quest", denoting a particular region instead of the culture. Quests don't have cultures.

    As for TFiBAoY itself, it's fairly straightforward. I've aimed for something reminiscent of the earliest of SWCCG's Epic Event cards, where the end-goal is to induce an involuntary random-assisted battle between two well-armed opponents (or any Wizard!) - the fact that I managed to sneak a destiny draw into a LotR card makes me giddy. The stakes are simple: whoever loses, disappears... mostly.

    October 22, 2020, 08:42:36 PM
    Reply #13

    Cw0rk

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #13 on: October 22, 2020, 08:42:36 PM »
    [5] •Beorn, Founder of the Beornings [Gandalf]
    Companion • Man
    Strength: 4
    Vitality: 5
    Signet: Gandalf
    When you play Beorn, discard cards from the top of your draw deck until you discard a minion. Add [X], where [X] is that minion's twilight cost, then stack it on Beorn.
    While stacked on him, Beorn gains that minion's strength and vitality.
    "He came alone, and in bear's shape."

    Designer's note: I thought it made sense to have a shapeshifting man/werebear as a premium character in a set called Lairs. Gave him a similar statline to Grimbeorn but an higher cost as his ability is more permanent, although it forces you to play certain kinds of deck to take full advantage of it.
    « Last Edit: October 23, 2020, 08:40:25 AM by Cw0rk »

    October 22, 2020, 09:45:56 PM
    Reply #14

    Inspire

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    Re: Fill in the Blank Season 1: Lairs #25
    « Reply #14 on: October 22, 2020, 09:45:56 PM »
    9[K] Carchost [9]
    Site
    Skirmishes are resolved in an order determined by the first Shadow player.
    --->
    « Last Edit: October 22, 2020, 10:18:37 PM by Inspire »