Fill in the Blank Season 2: Lords #3

[menace64]

Welcome to Fill in the Blank Season 2: Lords!

Lords is a Movie-block set - meaning no 11+ cultures, and is Ringwraith, not Wraith. Shadows-era sites are acceptable.

Each week I'll post the collector's information for one of the cards in the set's cardlist. Contestants are free to create whatever card they see fit for that slot in the card-list, keeping in mind the card titles of previously-victorious cards. As the contest progresses, the cardlist will become more and more defined, guiding the contestants' choices. Not every card has to fit the theme, of course, but it's something to keep in mind when coming up with submissions.

To become a contestant, you gotta do three things: PM me your card submission for the active round; Vote on the last round's submissions; and leave a Comment in the current round describing your vote (yes you can vote for yourself), along with any card reviews you wish to provide. (Any unclaimed votes are subject to invalidation!)

By constraining card submissions to PMs, I hope to buff some of the excitement each week, as well as develop a private line of communication with each contestant in order to help eliminate 8-liners and other basic formatting errors that typically kill a submission before it even makes it to a vote. This should also make each newly-posted round more exciting!

In the event of any ties, I'm still unsure exactly what I want to do. It'll either be the same as season 1 (randomized tie-breaker), or we'll start some sort of showdown mechanic I haven't quite worked out yet. Dunno! Whatever the solution, I'd be thrilled to end this season without a single card landing on the misadventure list (but it'll be there should we need it).

If you every have any questions about what to do or who to do it to, please don't hesitate to ask!

VOTING RULES UPDATE:

It was a blessing in disguise that we had a three-way tie in our first round of voting this season, since it primed us for sorting out just what we want to do if/when this comes up again.

Here is the new sequence of tiebreaker rules. As always, we'll keep fiddling with the dials as-needed; just lemme know if you think there's a better way!

• At first light on the fifth day of each round (Thursday), if two or more submissions are tied for the win, I will reset the votes and remove all losing submissions from the voting pool. During this second round of votes, you will still need to announce your vote.
• On the last day of each round (Saturday), if we're somehow back into a tiebreaker situation, the winner of the previous round (The Tiecider) will step in to settle things once and for all.
• (And if that person isn't available, I'll roll for it.)

(Unfortunately, this doesn't resolve this week's tie...)


Last week's winner...
I'm applying a one-off set of tiebreaking rules this week just to get us moving along again. I'm choosing to eliminate Golasgil due to a self-vote. (Note: under every other conceivable circumstance, I endeavor to refrain from penalizing those who self-vote.) And since Inspire was the most-recent winner of a round - having claimed the final card slot in season 1 - I have (entirely-unbeknownst-to-him) made him our Tiecider this week and cast his vote a second time in favor of...

Saruman, Lord of Industry, by azogsbane! Congrats on claiming the first card slot, AB! This makes you The Tiecider this week: if Saturday rolls around and we don't have a clear winner, it'll be up to you!


Last week's entries to pick from for Card #26...

•Théoden, Lord of Rohan
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Frodo
While you can spot another Man, Théoden is strength +1.
While you can spot a valiant Man, Théoden is strength +1.
While you can spot 3 Men, Théoden is strength +2.

•Aragorn, Bewitched
Minion • Man
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 6
Enduring. When you play Aragorn, spot X Shadow artifacts to play X cards on him from your discard pile.
Strength penalties from cards borne by Aragorn apply to each companion (or apply twice if Aragorn is in the dead pile).
"'You have looked into that accursed stone...'"
Designer's notes: The first part of the game text works with The Weight of a Legacy and Mordor Enraged (good with Enduring). The second part of the game text also works with The Weight of a Legacy and acts as an anti-fortification card, which would make sense if the Lord of Gondor turned evil. If the Free Peoples player plays Aragorn, you wont be able to play the minion version until you kill him. This is why I felt like giving a huge bonus if you managed to get rid of him: If you kill the Aragorn companion and manage to have 4 The Weight of a Legacy on your Aragorn minion, all companions would be strength -8, which would be a huge (but not impossible) combo to pull off. As a card in general, it also works with Can You Protect Me From Yourself? (good with Enduring) and Beyond Dark Mountains.

Flickering Phantoms
Minion • Wraith
Strength: 8
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 4
When you play this minion, if you can spot more twilight minions than burdens, add a burden.
Skirmish: Spot a twilight minion skirmishing and remove a burden to resolve the current skirmish in favor of the side with the lowest strength.
Designer's notes: Including an excerpt from the rulebook on the overwhelm rules for reference since I had to look them up myself: "If the total strength of one side is at least double the total strength of the other side, all the characters on the losing side are killed (regardless of how many wounds or how much vitality each has)."

Where There's a Whip, There's a Way
Condition • Support Area
While you cannot spot a unique minion, discard all Orcs.
Shadow: Exert a unique Orc and remove to play a non-unique Orc without any printed keywords from your discard pile. It comes into play exhausted.
"'We're going to march all day and night.'"
Designer's notes: The card itself was designed to strike a balance: cracking the whip will get more (tired) orcs to war, but it doesn't buy loyalty: as soon as the leader disappears, the whelps will run away, and the more you crack the whip, the more likely you are to lose your leader and see it all come down. Orc Guard can be useful here, as can Orc Veteran in removing the condition once you've set the swarm.

•Bilbo, Translator of Elvish Verse
Ally • Home 1 & 3 • Hobbit
Strength: 2
Vitality: 3
Each time you play a tale (except a tale), you may exert Bilbo to take a tale into hand from your draw deck or discard pile.
"'He was mighty book-learned was dear old Mr. Bilbo.'"

Full of Pip and Merriment
Condition
Vitality +1
To play, exert a Hobbit ally. Bearer must be Merry or Pippin. Limit 1 per bearer.
Response: If bearer wins a skirmish, heal each Hobbit ally. Discard this condition.
"'Lordly' folk called them, meaning nothing but good; for it warmed all hearts to see them go riding by with their mail-shirts so bright and their shields so splendid."

This week's contest is...

Card #7!

This week's submission must be:

• A card
• An card
• A card

I'm going to carry forward my soft-throttling of what cultures you are allowed to submit this week. While , , , and are all technically viable options, any of those cultures landing on #7 will irretrievably skew the final cardlist beyond sensibility.

Closing Date: November 21st!


LORDS Card List 
Number - Name - (Culture • Type) - Contestant - Week It Won
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. IN CREATION THIS WEEK
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15. •Saruman, Lord of Industry ( • Minion) - azogsbane - 1
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26. SUBJECT OF THIS WEEK'S VOTE
27.
28.
29.
30.


If anybody has any clever ideas on how to get rid of these #$&*@! /list tags at the end of each post, I'm all ears. These friggin things are worse than tribbles and I just can't seem to kill them!

[JamesCB]

•Théoden, Lord of Rohan
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Frodo
While you can spot another Man, Théoden is strength +1.
While you can spot a valiant Man, Théoden is strength +1.
While you can spot 3 Men, Théoden is strength +2.

Ah... such a beautiful card. Just, the greatest card ever created. A card to rival that of Lady Redeemed. (I'm just joking... just joking.... (I'm made this one, incase you don't get it.))

•Aragorn, Bewitched
Minion • Man
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 6
Enduring. When you play Aragorn, spot X Shadow artifacts to play X cards on him from your discard pile.
Strength penalties from cards borne by Aragorn apply to each companion (or apply twice if Aragorn is in the dead pile).
"'You have looked into that accursed stone...'"
Designer's notes: The first part of the game text works with The Weight of a Legacy and Mordor Enraged (good with Enduring). The second part of the game text also works with The Weight of a Legacy and acts as an anti-fortification card, which would make sense if the Lord of Gondor turned evil. If the Free Peoples player plays Aragorn, you wont be able to play the minion version until you kill him. This is why I felt like giving a huge bonus if you managed to get rid of him: If you kill the Aragorn companion and manage to have 4 The Weight of a Legacy on your Aragorn minion, all companions would be strength -8, which would be a huge (but not impossible) combo to pull off. As a card in general, it also works with Can You Protect Me From Yourself? (good with Enduring) and Beyond Dark Mountains.

This card got my vote. Although it's not true to the book lore, I love the uniqueness of this card. Just thinking about all the different things you could do with this gets me excited.

Flickering Phantoms
Minion • Wraith
Strength: 8
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 4
When you play this minion, if you can spot more twilight minions than burdens, add a burden.
Skirmish: Spot a twilight minion skirmishing and remove a burden to resolve the current skirmish in favor of the side with the lowest strength.

An interesting card for sure. My only problem (not that it's a big problem) it that the twilight minions aren't going to be the weaker ones most of the time. (But I might be going crazy. Who knows.) But, it is a good counter to a strength 15 Elessar Telcontar.

Where There's a Whip, There's a Way
Condition • Support Area
While you cannot spot a unique minion, discard all Orcs.
Shadow: Exert a unique Orc and remove to play a non-unique Orc without any printed keywords from your discard pile. It comes into play exhausted.
"'We're going to march all day and night.'"

Another unique card (pun intended), but it requires building a deck around unique minions, which comes with an obvious disadvantage. However, I do really like being able to set up a decent swarm with only one Tower Lieutenant and some twilight.

•Bilbo, Translator of Elvish Verse
Ally • Home 1 & 3 • Hobbit
Strength: 2
Vitality: 3
Each time you play a tale (except a tale), you may exert Bilbo to take a tale into hand from your draw deck or discard pile.
"'He was mighty book-learned was dear old Mr. Bilbo.'"

I like this one. A fun idea, great way to get out Red Book of Westmarch, The Tale of the Great Ring, There and Back Again, Three Monstrous Trolls, even Everyone Knows, all at once. The only thing I would change is make it only site 3 or 1. This Bilbo doesn't need Hobbit Party Guest and Lord of Rivendell.

Full of Pip and Merriment
Condition
Vitality +1
To play, exert a Hobbit ally. Bearer must be Merry or Pippin. Limit 1 per bearer.
Response: If bearer wins a skirmish, heal each Hobbit ally. Discard this condition.
"'Lordly' folk called them, meaning nothing but good; for it warmed all hearts to see them go riding by with their mail-shirts so bright and their shields so splendid."

Another fun one. Great way to give Merry, From O'er the Brandywine a massive (for a hobbit) 9 strength when combined with Everyone Knows. Or, you could have Friend to Sam add his strength twice. The only reason this one didn't get my vote is it didn't quite fit with the theme.

[menace64]

•Théoden, Lord of Rohan
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Frodo
While you can spot another Man, Théoden is strength +1.
While you can spot a valiant Man, Théoden is strength +1.
While you can spot 3 Men, Théoden is strength +2.

A burrito Theoden! I don't see anything blanketly wrong with this card, except maybe that I'd prefer his strength to start at 5-6. As it stands, in a normal Rohan deck this Theoden taps out at a base of 11 strength, which is a bit absurd once you add the other Rohan staples.

•Aragorn, Bewitched
Minion • Man
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 6
Enduring. When you play Aragorn, spot X Shadow artifacts to play X cards on him from your discard pile.
Strength penalties from cards borne by Aragorn apply to each companion (or apply twice if Aragorn is in the dead pile).
"'You have looked into that accursed stone...'"
Designer's notes: The first part of the game text works with The Weight of a Legacy and Mordor Enraged (good with Enduring). The second part of the game text also works with The Weight of a Legacy and acts as an anti-fortification card, which would make sense if the Lord of Gondor turned evil. If the Free Peoples player plays Aragorn, you wont be able to play the minion version until you kill him. This is why I felt like giving a huge bonus if you managed to get rid of him: If you kill the Aragorn companion and manage to have 4 The Weight of a Legacy on your Aragorn minion, all companions would be strength -8, which would be a huge (but not impossible) combo to pull off. As a card in general, it also works with Can You Protect Me From Yourself? (good with Enduring) and Beyond Dark Mountains.

This Aragorn feels more attuned to the meta than any card I've read in a while, since it makes use of cards otherwise bound to bulk boxes and binders. Bonus points are awarded to any submission giving fresh life to TWoaL, but obviously this Aragorn seems limited to one incredibly-specific Shadow build, which prevents me from scoring it very highly. Still, it's wholly original and feels very much like a Decipher card.

Flickering Phantoms
Minion • Wraith
Strength: 8
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 4
When you play this minion, if you can spot more twilight minions than burdens, add a burden.
Skirmish: Spot a twilight minion skirmishing and remove a burden to resolve the current skirmish in favor of the side with the lowest strength.
Designer's notes: Including an excerpt from the rulebook on the overwhelm rules for reference since I had to look them up myself: "If the total strength of one side is at least double the total strength of the other side, all the characters on the losing side are killed (regardless of how many wounds or how much vitality each has)."

It's hard to speculate on what Wraiths need to become viable, but a "free" burden certainly wouldn't hurt the subculture. Given the lack of strength pumps in and the relative weakness of its Wraiths, I think this card could be a shot in the arm for the rest of the subculture.

Where There's a Whip, There's a Way
Condition • Support Area
While you cannot spot a unique minion, discard all Orcs.
Shadow: Exert a unique Orc and remove to play a non-unique Orc without any printed keywords from your discard pile. It comes into play exhausted.
"'We're going to march all day and night.'"
Designer's notes: The card itself was designed to strike a balance: cracking the whip will get more (tired) orcs to war, but it doesn't buy loyalty: as soon as the leader disappears, the whelps will run away, and the more you crack the whip, the more likely you are to lose your leader and see it all come down. Orc Guard can be useful here, as can Orc Veteran in removing the condition once you've set the swarm.

While the flavor is on point, I worry that this card accomplishes little more than painting a big bullseye on your unique Orcs. If the first line were replaced with, "To play, exert a unique Orc" I think it would serve as less a detriment to the Shadow player.

•Bilbo, Translator of Elvish Verse
Ally • Home 1 & 3 • Hobbit
Strength: 2
Vitality: 3
Each time you play a tale (except a tale), you may exert Bilbo to take a tale into hand from your draw deck or discard pile.
"'He was mighty book-learned was dear old Mr. Bilbo.'"

Quite seriously, "Home 1 & 3" is nearly enough on its own to win my vote. How no other Bilbo has received such a treatment escapes my imagination. This card nails the flavor of Mad Baggins. My only nitpick here is in the subtle wording: I think it would flow better as, "Each time you play a tale (except ), you may..." But that's faaaaar too nitpicky to lose standing in my mind. Excellent Bilbo!

Full of Pip and Merriment
Condition
Vitality +1
To play, exert a Hobbit ally. Bearer must be Merry or Pippin. Limit 1 per bearer.
Response: If bearer wins a skirmish, heal each Hobbit ally. Discard this condition.
"'Lordly' folk called them, meaning nothing but good; for it warmed all hearts to see them go riding by with their mail-shirts so bright and their shields so splendid."

I must out myself as the writer of this card in order to refute James' claim that it doesn't fit the theme of the set. This card represents Merry and Pippin as Lords of the Shire, champions of foreign wars and masters of their kind. When I sat down to write this card, I was specifically thinking of how to incorporate "Lords" into the culture - the fact that there's Tolkien-text outing them as Lords hits a bullseye as far as I'm concerned. I was aiming for something akin to Escape, but meant to function with Hobbit allies.


My vote goes to Bilbo. Aragorn was a close second. I really want to vote for Flickering Phantoms but I think it doesn't quite fit the #26 slot.

[JamesCB]

Full of Pip and Merriment
Condition
Vitality +1
To play, exert a Hobbit ally. Bearer must be Merry or Pippin. Limit 1 per bearer.
Response: If bearer wins a skirmish, heal each Hobbit ally. Discard this condition.
"'Lordly' folk called them, meaning nothing but good; for it warmed all hearts to see them go riding by with their mail-shirts so bright and their shields so splendid."

I must out myself as the writer of this card in order to refute James' claim that it doesn't fit the theme of the set. This card represents Merry and Pippin as Lords of the Shire, champions of foreign wars and masters of their kind. When I sat down to write this card, I was specifically thinking of how to incorporate "Lords" into the culture - the fact that there's Tolkien-text outing them as Lords hits a bullseye as far as I'm concerned. I was aiming for something akin to Escape, but meant to function with Hobbit allies.

I feel no need to defend myself on this matter, as I have been convinced that I am wrong. While it didn't immediately jump out at me as a Lords card, but, after reviewing the lore, (honestly, I originally read it as lordy, not lordly, and figured it was some type of old English adjective) and listening to Menace defend himself, I must agree. This fits.

[Cw0rk]

My vote goes to Aragorn as I feel that it is creative, well balanced and a useful addition to the game.

I'm also a fan of the idea behind "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way", but the first sentence feels a bit too harsh. Also, I would suggest changing the wording of  "without any printed keyword" to "it loses all game text keywords" which already exists for cards like Eowyn, Northwoman.

[Legion]

•Théoden, Lord of Rohan
Companion • Man
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Signet: Frodo
While you can spot another Man, Théoden is strength +1.
While you can spot a valiant Man, Théoden is strength +1.
While you can spot 3 Men, Théoden is strength +2.

I love the idea of a Theoden that powers up with more men, but it just has a bit too much. Imagine a Fellowship of Gandalf, Theoden, Eowyn and Eomer. With two cards (so Grima proof), you get a strength 15 vitality 5 companion with Herugrum and Hearken to Me. If he had the TTT base stats of 6 strength and 2 vitality, he would have got my vote.

•Aragorn, Bewitched
Minion • Man
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Site Number: 6
Enduring. When you play Aragorn, spot X Shadow artifacts to play X cards on him from your discard pile.
Strength penalties from cards borne by Aragorn apply to each companion (or apply twice if Aragorn is in the dead pile).
"'You have looked into that accursed stone...'"

A fun and very novel idea, especially with Weight of a Legacy, but what lets out down is the lack of Shadow Artifacts, and the for exertions this would cost on your orcs (as well as being useless early game)

Flickering Phantoms
Minion • Wraith
Strength: 8
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 4
When you play this minion, if you can spot more twilight minions than burdens, add a burden.
Skirmish: Spot a twilight minion skirmishing and remove a burden to resolve the current skirmish in favor of the side with the lowest strength.

Also interesting. I feel that for four twilight, it could also be a twilight minion: It Wants to be Found only costs two. As part of a set I could see it working, but one card like this won't fix twilight wraiths, and I don't want to tie is into patching this in another card this set. If the author is the same as the Isengard man last time, I do apologise. I love both cards, and appreciate the masochism, but I still can't quite give them my vote.

Where There's a Whip, There's a Way
Condition • Support Area
While you cannot spot a unique minion, discard all Orcs.
Shadow: Exert a unique Orc and remove to play a non-unique Orc without any printed keywords from your discard pile. It comes into play exhausted.
"'We're going to march all day and night.'"

This was my card. The reason I wanted no printed keywords rather than making them lose it was that besiegers are strong enough in Movie, and the implications for this and encirclement are huge. It definitely is a card that requires a shadow be built around it, but with Gollum, Ville Creature, ESF, Ithil Stone (x4 as you can now free up have space), I think you could get some good swarms going. It wasn't a serious card, anyway, so I'm happy with the one vote.

•Bilbo, Translator of Elvish Verse
Ally • Home 1 & 3 • Hobbit
Strength: 2
Vitality: 3
Each time you play a tale (except a tale), you may exert Bilbo to take a tale into hand from your draw deck or discard pile.
"'He was mighty book-learned was dear old Mr. Bilbo.'"

Now this is cool. Being site 3 doesn't help much as this set is for movie block, where Elrond, LoR is banned, and HtGG is costing a heal on your companions to use. It would best fit in my Movie Deck that played the Bilbo Ringbearer with Glorfindel, Merry, Pippin and Boromir, SoD with The Council of Elrond and loads of tales, though at the expense of not having an invincible ringbearer. Hmm. Without a way to pull him early, this is a big drawback. WSG is another excellent Bilbo, too, but this has flavour: he hears a dwarven or elven tale, and turns it into one for the Shirefolk.

Full of Pip and Merriment
Condition
Vitality +1
To play, exert a Hobbit ally. Bearer must be Merry or Pippin. Limit 1 per bearer.
Response: If bearer wins a skirmish, heal each Hobbit ally. Discard this condition.
"'Lordly' folk called them, meaning nothing but good; for it warmed all hearts to see them go riding by with their mail-shirts so bright and their shields so splendid."

A lovely title, but inferior to Escape in almost all ways: harder to play an generally gives a worse bonus, so the only reason I would play it is in conjunction with Escape, but that would be so dependent on getting Everyone Knows (and hoping the shadow cannot exert you)

[Inspire]

I voted for Where There's a Whip, There's a Way. I'm not sure it's viable as is - the restrictions are severe and (particularly swarm) doesn't struggle with hand extension, but rather is limited by twilight generation and wound management (both of which are exacerbated by WTaWTaW). However, it's a wonderfully creative idea and I appreciate the concept of card which seemingly forms a subculture on its own. 

[Inspire]

Flickering Phantoms
Minion • Wraith
Strength: 8
Vitality: 2
Site Number: 4
When you play this minion, if you can spot more twilight minions than burdens, add a burden.
Skirmish: Spot a twilight minion skirmishing and remove a burden to resolve the current skirmish in favor of the side with the lowest strength.

Also interesting. I feel that for four twilight, it could also be a twilight minion. It Wants to be Found only costs two. As part of a set I could see it working, but one card like this won't fix twilight wraiths, and I don't want to tie is into patching this in another card this set. If the author is the same as the Isengard man last time, I do apologise. I love both cards, and appreciate the masochism, but I still can't quite give them my vote.

It was meant to be a twilight minion. That was an oversight on my part.

[Durin's Heir]

If anybody has any clever ideas on how to get rid of these #$&*@! /list tags at the end of each post, I'm all ears. These friggin things are worse than tribbles and I just can't seem to kill them!

You're leaving 2 orphan "[list!]" without the corresponding "[/list!]" to close them. Look here:

- [list!][size=15pt!][u!]Welcome to Fill in the Blank Season 2: [b!][i!]Lords[/i!][/b!]![/u!][/size!]
- [list!][size=15pt!][u!]VOTING RULES UPDATE:[/u!][/size!]

Remove them and the automated /list tags at the end should disappear.

[Durin's Heir]

My vote goes to Bilbo, Translator. Very flavorful idea, and very well balanced also as an ally instead of a companion. Flickering Phantoms is also very cool, but the lack of the Twilight keyword AND a clarification about overwhelming (because str 5 Dead Ones would be overwhelming str 10 Mithrandir, without further specification) makes it sink in the end.

WTaWTaW's "discard all Orcs" built-in counter is so heavy that will swallow all the benefit it would bring to a Sauron Swarm (forces a 40%+ unique vs non-unique rate of minions to be viable I believe, which is a shot to your foot in a Swarm); a cost of like They Are Coming would have been much better.

Théoden looks a bit lackluster and overpowered to me (also, in an already overpowered skirmish-oriented culture). Aragorn as a minion gets my automatic dislike; as a condition (that can "bear" or "stack" cards whose bearer must be Aragorn) would be OK, lorewise. But it also fails on the rules: if "Aragorn" is unique and already dead or in play, no card titled "Aragorn" can be played (see Radagast as companion and as follower); "Aragorn Bewitched" would have circumvented that problem easily (just like Radagast Deceived does).

Full of Pip and Merriment is good too, but still lesser than Bilbo Translator to my taste.