The Way Into Mordor - Sméagol (5/13: Pitifully Anxious To Please)

[DáinIronfoot]

...in this set, there are three. And that's just the Free Peoples side of the culture!

It seems the culture is the "hip" culture to do right now. Thran and EL have both been reinventing it lately. I know you'll never believe me, but it was the next culture I intended to do for The Way Into Mordor as well. Since Elves are winding down (at least...they may be pretty much done, the more I consider it), and since I am dying to post some new cards and don't want to wait around any longer for new ideas to strike me, I think now is a good time to launch at least the Free Peoples side of the set's culture.

For those who have been following my sets, you might remember that the culture is one of very few Shadow cultures ( and being the others) to appear in both sets thus far. Of course, it makes its biggest splash yet in this set, based as it is on The Two Towers (and as a cousin to the Tower Block sets where Sméagol and Gollum made their first appearances). Long-time reviewers may also know that in the culture's appearances in the other two sets, the Shadow side of the culture greatly outweighed the FP side...which makes sense since really only the dark side of Gollum shows during The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, where the other two sets draw most of their material from.

Not so in The Way Into Mordor. In fact, this will be my ONLY set in which the opposite is true: the FP side of the culture will outweigh the Shadow side, and probably by a larger margin than you'd expect. This is partly to "make up" for the dearth of FP cards in other sets, but also partly because I feel it will show the character's descent (or re-descent) from truly helpful "good Sméagol" to the vengeful liar we know as Gollum. By the time we hit the next set (based on Return of the King), the Shadow side will again have wrested control away and once again sport the majority of the culture's cards.

Make-a sense-a? I hope so, because here we go with, as I hinted before, THREE Sméagols. Enjoy!

•Sméagol, Sly Wanderer
Companion
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound. To play, add a burden.
While you can spot 3 Ring-bound companions, the move limit is +1.
Response: If Sméagol is unwounded and is about to be overwhelmed, discard a card from hand to exhaust him instead.
"‘Follow Sméagol very carefully, and you may go a long way, quite a long way, before He catches you....'"

This is one of the set's two starters (the other being Gimli, Stout and Strong, meant, obviously, to work with the yet-to-be-revealed Frodo and Sam and, to a lesser extent, the already-revealed Ring-bound rangers. He lets such a fellowship zoom down the sitepath faster and forms excellent protection against larger minions, allowing you to exhaust him to avoid being overwhelmed...but it's a one-time trick until you're able to heal him up again. Still, he's clearly one of the better versions of Sméagol out there, giving even Pitiable Guide's excellent Ring-bound support a run for its money.

•Sméagol, Helps Nice Master
Companion
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound. To play, add a burden.
Each time the fellowship is about to move, if the fellowship is at a marsh, river, or underground site, you may exert Sméagol to play the fellowship's next site.
"‘The cold hard lands, / they bites our hands, / they gnaws our feet. / The rocks and stones / are like old bones / all bare of meat. / But stream and pool / is wet and cool: / so nice for feet!'"

Really, how is it that only one Free Peoples cards in Decipher sets deal with rivers (Safe Passage), one with marshes (Scout and Guide), and NONE with underground sites?! That's just not right. This version of Sméagol rights that wrong in a very Sméagol-ish way, gollum gollum!

•Sméagol, Fawning and Would-Be Friendly
Companion
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound. To play, add a burden.
The Ring-bearer is strength +2 and resistance -2.
While the Ring-bearer is assigned to a skirmish, Sméagol is strength +1 for each other Ring-bound companion you can spot.
"‘Sméagol will swear never, never, to let Him have it. Never! Sméagol will save it. But he must swear on the Precious.'"

More Ring-bound support, but this one goes for the gusto and directly aids the Ring-bearer him (or her) self. Risky with most ARBs for obvious reasons, but with Frodo and a couple others...look out! I realized only after making this that he makes an interesting splash with the Northmen Rohirrim of Rise of Saruman too....

[Olorin]

Dain,

Congrats to ya! Very interesting cards...

[lem0nhead]

•Sméagol, Sly Wanderer
Companion
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound. To play, add a burden and a threat.
While you can spot 3 Ring-bound companions, the move limit is +1.
Response: If Sméagol is not exhausted and is about to be overwhelmed, discard a card from hand to exhaust him instead.
"‘Follow Sméagol very carefully, and you may go a long way, quite a long way, before He catches you....'"

Need to add "and prevent him for being overwhelmed"? Weird card. Not sure i can judge the balance.

•Sméagol, Helps Nice Master
Companion
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound. To play, add a burden.
Each time the fellowship is about to move, if the fellowship is at a marsh, river, or underground site, you may exert Sméagol to play the fellowship's next site.
"‘The cold hard lands, / they bites our hands, / they gnaws our feet. / The rocks and stones / are like old bones / all bare of meat. / But stream and pool / is wet and cool: / so nice for feet!'"

Not near as useful as some others but ok.

•Sméagol, Fawning and Would-Be Friendly
Companion
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound. To play, add a burden.
The Ring-bearer is strength +2 and resistance -2.
While the Ring-bearer is assigned to a skirmish, Sméagol is strength +1 for each other Ring-bound companion you can spot.
"‘Sméagol will swear never, never, to let Him have it. Never! Sméagol will save it. But he must swear on the Precious.'"

Shocking subtitle lol. Hes interesting.Ok.

[Thranduil]

•Sméagol, Sly Wanderer
Companion
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound. To play, add a burden and a threat.
While you can spot 3 Ring-bound companions, the move limit is +1.
Response: If Sméagol is not exhausted and is about to be overwhelmed, discard a card from hand to exhaust him instead.
"‘Follow Sméagol very carefully, and you may go a long way, quite a long way, before He catches you....'"

I'm not sure a starter card should be so different from other Sméagol's. I think it makes more sense if he lost some power and only added a burden when played.

•Sméagol, Helps Nice Master
Companion
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound. To play, add a burden.
Each time the fellowship is about to move, if the fellowship is at a marsh, river, or underground site, you may exert Sméagol to play the fellowship's next site.
"‘The cold hard lands, / they bites our hands, / they gnaws our feet. / The rocks and stones / are like old bones / all bare of meat. / But stream and pool / is wet and cool: / so nice for feet!'"

Sure, but it could be a Fellowship or Regroup: special ability.

•Sméagol, Fawning and Would-Be Friendly
Companion
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ring-bound. To play, add a burden.
The Ring-bearer is strength +2 and resistance -2.
While the Ring-bearer is assigned to a skirmish, Sméagol is strength +1 for each other Ring-bound companion you can spot.
"‘Sméagol will swear never, never, to let Him have it. Never! Sméagol will save it. But he must swear on the Precious.'"

I'm not a fan of the subtitle, maybe just "Fawning" would be good. This is interesting and I think fair enough.

Thranduil

[FM]

I think the first smeagol needs to be toned down badly, since he is "basically" immortal. Perhaps you could let his response action be done WITHOUT discarding a card, but only if he's unwounded?

[daisukeman]

There oughta be a card --lets say "sauron's command", it would be some artifact that says:
"plays on any card. Bearer gains the sauron culture". (so the card can be spotted as a sauron card
or for this matter, it can "gain the gollum culture"..
what do you think?

[sickofpalantirs]

I think that first smeagol would lose either ability and still be amazing...

[DáinIronfoot]

Okay, I toned down the first one. Question: should I make that a rare and make the second one the starter? I'm thinking I might like that better....

Anyway, two new cards before I hit the hay. They both deal with Sméagol's Ring-bound companion lovin' in this set. Enjoy!

•A Sad Story
Condition
Strength +1
Resistance +1
Tale. To play, spot a Ring-bound Hobbit. Bearer must be Sméagol.
Maneuver: Exert Sméagol to wound Gollum once for each Ring-bound Hobbit you can spot. Discard this condition.
"‘Cold be heart and hand and bone, cold be travelers far from home....'"

Swift As Shadows
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
If the fellowship is in region 1 (or at a marsh site), spot Sméagol to cancel a skirmish involving a Ring-bound companion. At any other site, spot Sméagol to make a Ring-bound companion strength +3.
"‘Hurry, hobbitses, hurry! Very lucky we find you.'"

[lem0nhead]

•A Sad Story
Condition
Strength +1
Resistance +1
Tale. To play, spot 2 Hobbit companions (or a Ring-bound Hobbit). Bearer must be Sméagol.
Maneuver: Exert Sméagol to wound Gollum once for each Ring-bound Hobbit you can spot. Discard this condition.
"‘Cold be heart and hand and bone, cold be travelers far from home....'"

Ok.

Swift As Shadows
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
If the fellowship is in region 1 (or at a marsh site), spot Sméagol to cancel a skirmish involving a Ring-bound companion. At any other site, spot Sméagol to make a Ring-bound companion strength +3.
"‘Hurry, hobbitses, hurry! Very lucky we find you.'"

Very awesome card, well useful. Would be a staple i imagine.

[Thranduil]

Okay, I toned down the first one. Question: should I make that a rare and make the second one the starter? I'm thinking I might like that better....

I'm not sure; people would love to buy starter sets for that first Sméagol!

•A Sad Story
Condition
Strength +1
Resistance +1
Tale. To play, spot 2 Hobbit companions (or a Ring-bound Hobbit). Bearer must be Sméagol.
Maneuver: Exert Sméagol to wound Gollum once for each Ring-bound Hobbit you can spot. Discard this condition.
"‘Cold be heart and hand and bone, cold be travelers far from home....'"

Seems like I'd just go ahead and make the spotting requirement "Spot a Ring-bound Hobbit". It's fair enough.

Swift As Shadows
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
If the fellowship is in region 1 (or at a marsh site), spot Sméagol to cancel a skirmish involving a Ring-bound companion. At any other site, spot Sméagol to make a Ring-bound companion strength +3.
"‘Hurry, hobbitses, hurry! Very lucky we find you.'"

Hmmmm..... Seems cool. I think I'd remove the parentheses or make marshes the point of the card.

Thranduil

[Elf_Lvr]

•A Sad Story
Condition
Strength +1
Resistance +1
Tale. To play, spot 2 Hobbit companions (or a Ring-bound Hobbit). Bearer must be Sméagol.
Maneuver: Exert Sméagol to wound Gollum once for each Ring-bound Hobbit you can spot. Discard this condition.
"‘Cold be heart and hand and bone, cold be travelers far from home....'"

Are -costing cards that play on companions some sort of cycle here are are you doing it just to mess with me?

I think it could cost , being unique and all. And go with Thran on the spotting requirement.

Swift As Shadows
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
If the fellowship is in region 1 (or at a marsh site), spot Sméagol to cancel a skirmish involving a Ring-bound companion. At any other site, spot Sméagol to make a Ring-bound companion strength +3.
"‘Hurry, hobbitses, hurry! Very lucky we find you.'"

With the skirmish canceling, I'd make this one cost . Could very easily replace No Visitors, after all.

[DáinIronfoot]

Swapped the twilight costs of the last two.

Now some big conditions based on chapter titles from The Two Towers. And coincidentally, just like the last pair, one is a tale and the other is a stealth card. I intended to do several of each for Sméagol in this set, but it's kinda funny that that's ALL I've done so far.

•The Taming of Sméagol
Condition • Support Area
Tale. To play, spot Frodo.
While Sméagol has resistance 7 or more, each minion is twilight cost +2.
While Sméagol has resistance 5 or more, each time he wins a skirmish, you may remove a threat.
While Sméagol has resistance 2 or less, he may be exerted only by Shadow cards.
"‘Sméagol,' said Gollum suddenly and clearly, opening his eyes wide and staring at Frodo with a strange light. ‘Sméagol will swear on the Precious.'"

I was debating whether or not to go with the minions thing, but it was just too good to pass up.

The Passage of the Marshes
Condition • Support Area
Stealth. Toil 1. To play, spot Sméagol.
The Shadow number of each marsh site is -1.
Maneuver: If the fellowship is at a marsh site, spot 2 Ring-bound companions and discard this condition to discard a minion with strength less than the Ring-bearer's resistance. You may not take any more maneuver actions.
"‘Here! We can get down here. Sméagol went this way once: I went this way, hiding from Orcs.'"

Gollum will benefit from marshes, and Sméagol gets to do the same. It's a site type that really should have gotten more loving from the culture all along.

[lem0nhead]

•The Taming of Sméagol
Condition • Support Area
Tale. To play, spot Frodo.
While Sméagol has resistance 7 or more, minions may not be played.
While Sméagol has resistance 5 or more, each time he wins a skirmish, you may remove a threat.
While Sméagol has resistance 2 or less, he may be exerted only by Shadow cards.
"‘Sméagol,' said Gollum suddenly and clearly, opening his eyes wide and staring at Frodo with a strange light. ‘Sméagol will swear on the Precious.'"

Interesting. Think its cool probably!

The Passage of the Marshes
Condition • Support Area
Stealth. Toil 1. To play, spot Sméagol.
The shadow number of each marsh site is -1.
Maneuver: If the fellowship is at a marsh site, spot 2 Ring-bound companions and discard this condition to discard a minion with strength less than the Ring-bearer's resistance. You may not take any more maneuver actions.
"‘Here! We can get down here. Sméagol went this way once: I went this way, hiding from Orcs.'"

Meh, alright i guess.

[Thranduil]

•The Taming of Sméagol
Condition • Support Area
Tale. To play, spot Frodo.
While Sméagol has resistance 7 or more, minions may not be played.
While Sméagol has resistance 5 or more, each time he wins a skirmish, you may remove a threat.
While Sméagol has resistance 2 or less, he may be exerted only by Shadow cards.
"‘Sméagol,' said Gollum suddenly and clearly, opening his eyes wide and staring at Frodo with a strange light. ‘Sméagol will swear on the Precious.'"

I think the first ability is too much of a one-hit wonder. It makes a lot of sense, but it completely destroys Gollum decks and does nothing to anyone else. I think it should be "Each Shadow card is twilight cost +1" or "each minion is twilight cost +2" or something like that.

The Passage of the Marshes
Condition • Support Area
Stealth. Toil 1. To play, spot Sméagol.
The shadow number of each marsh site is -1.
Maneuver: If the fellowship is at a marsh site, spot 2 Ring-bound companions and discard this condition to discard a minion with strength less than the Ring-bearer's resistance. You may not take any more maneuver actions.
"‘Here! We can get down here. Sméagol went this way once: I went this way, hiding from Orcs.'"

You need to capitalise "Shadow" in "shadow number". Can I also say that with toil on cards, can you exert Gollum if he's around? Interesting. I think I'd rather it was less cost for less effect, like discarding the condition to wound a minion with strength less than the Ring-bearer's resistance but allowing you to continue with your maneuver phase.

Thranduil

[sickofpalantirs]

•The Taming of Sméagol
Condition • Support Area
Tale. To play, spot Frodo.
While Sméagol has resistance 7 or more, minions may not be played.
While Sméagol has resistance 5 or more, each time he wins a skirmish, you may remove a threat.
While Sméagol has resistance 2 or less, he may be exerted only by Shadow cards.
"‘Sméagol,' said Gollum suddenly and clearly, opening his eyes wide and staring at Frodo with a strange light. ‘Sméagol will swear on the Precious.'"
very interesting

The Passage of the Marshes
Condition • Support Area
Stealth. Toil 1. To play, spot Sméagol.
The shadow number of each marsh site is -1.
Maneuver: If the fellowship is at a marsh site, spot 2 Ring-bound companions and discard this condition to discard a minion with strength less than the Ring-bearer's resistance. You may not take any more maneuver actions.
"‘Here! We can get down here. Sméagol went this way once: I went this way, hiding from Orcs.'"
toil 1? seems like a waste of space