The Way Into Mordor - Gandalf (8/28: "You still speak in riddles.")

[Thranduil]

A Faint Light Growing
Condition • Support Area
Spell.
Response: If the twilight pool has fewer than 3 twilight tokens and a companion with the Gandalf signet or bearing a condition is about to take a wound, spot Gandalf and add to prevent that wound.
"‘Dark have been my dreams of late, but I feel as one new-awakened. I would now that you had come before, Gandalf.'"

Yeah fair enough. SoP, this is better than Intimidate because it's a condition.

He Is Come Again
Event • Skirmish
If you cannot spot a twilight token, you may play this event from your discard pile.
Spot Gandalf to make an unbound companion bearing a condition strength +1 for each Gandalf signet you can spot (limit +4).
"There suddenly upon a ridge appeared a rider, clad in white, shining in the rising sun."

I would take out the limit just for funsies! Also because it's quite limited.

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

Alright, we've obviously been focused on stuff that plays on companions recently, but now it's time for a whole new theme.

I've been wanting to represent how Gandalf leaves the others occasionally to conduct important business related to the quest of the Fellowship, and racking my brain on how to do so. In the end, I decided to just go with the easiest route and have some fun with the discard pile, much like the infamous discarding Hobbits from the original Tower Block. So here are my first efforts...enjoy!

A Swift Errand
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to discard a condition for each Gandalf signet you can spot.
"‘The Gray Pilgrim, that's what they used to call me. Three hundred lives of men I have walked this earth and now I have no time.'"

Need of Haste
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to make the move limit +1 for this turn. You may draw a card for each other card borne by Gandalf that is discarded in this way.
"He spoke a word to Shadowfax, and like an arrow from the bow the great horse sprang away."

In the Hour of Need
Event • Assignment
Play Gandalf from your discard pile to discard a minion with vitality 2 or less.
"The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness."

[sickofpalantirs]

A Swift Errand
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to discard a condition for each Gandalf signet you can spot.
"‘The Gray Pilgrim, that's what they used to call me. Three hundred lives of men I have walked this earth and now I have no time.'"
cut to 2 IMSO...

Need of Haste
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to make the move limit +1 for this turn. You may draw a card for each other card discarded in this way.
"He spoke a word to Shadowfax, and like an arrow from the bow the great horse sprang away."
fine

In the Hour of Need
Event • Assignment
Play Gandalf from your draw deck or discard pile to discard a minion with viality 3 or less.
"The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness."

vitality...maybe make the shadow player discard a minion

[FM]

I like the discarding theme a lot, makes a fine point to FINALLY play a lot of copies of the same companion, just keep it in check so it won't get too broken, since Gandalf is a nice little wound cushion. Perhaps, for powerful effects, add some exertions BEFORE discarding him, so as to force the FP player to discard a Gandalf with high vitality.

A Swift Errand
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to discard a condition for each Gandalf signet you can spot.
"‘The Gray Pilgrim, that's what they used to call me. Three hundred lives of men I have walked this earth and now I have no time.'"

Fine

Need of Haste
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to make the move limit +1 for this turn. You may draw a card for each other card discarded in this way.
"He spoke a word to Shadowfax, and like an arrow from the bow the great horse sprang away."

Not sure how the last part works. Could you explain it?

In the Hour of Need
Event • Assignment
Play Gandalf from your draw deck or discard pile to discard a minion with viality 3 or less.
"The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness."

I think this one is too powerful, you bring in a HUGE companion, at the peak of a fight, burning away MOST minions (specially tossing in some archery wounds, which generally get soaked by high vitality minions anyway) while not letting the Shadow player benefit AT ALL from all the twilight added... Not sure what you could do to it, but it's just too much.

[Elf_Lvr]

A Swift Errand
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to discard a condition for each Gandalf signet you can spot.
"‘The Gray Pilgrim, that's what they used to call me. Three hundred lives of men I have walked this earth and now I have no time.'"

Fine, I guess. Could stand to cost less.

Need of Haste
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to make the move limit +1 for this turn. You may draw a card for each other card discarded in this way.
"He spoke a word to Shadowfax, and like an arrow from the bow the great horse sprang away."

Fair enough, but again its cost could be lower. I assume the "other cards" would be cards borne by Gandalf when he's discarded?

In the Hour of Need
Event • Assignment
Play Gandalf from your draw deck or discard pile to discard a minion with viality 3 or less.
"The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness."

Agree with Felipe. Limit it to discard pile and it'd be fine, and still fit with your other cards.

[menace64]

I LOVE these cards, overpowered or not!

[lem0nhead]

A Swift Errand
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to discard a condition for each Gandalf signet you can spot.
"‘The Gray Pilgrim, that's what they used to call me. Three hundred lives of men I have walked this earth and now I have no time.'"

Coolio.

Need of Haste
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to make the move limit +1 for this turn. You may draw a card for each other card borne by Gandalf that is discarded in this way.
"He spoke a word to Shadowfax, and like an arrow from the bow the great horse sprang away."

Nice.

In the Hour of Need
Event • Assignment
Play Gandalf from your discard pile to discard a minion with viality 3 or less.
"The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness."

Need a t in vitality, also seems a bit harsh to the shadow to do it in assignment when theyve missed the pool for shadow and maneuver.

[Anvar]

In the Hour of Need
Event • Assignment
Play Gandalf from your discard pile to discard a minion with viality 3 or less.
"The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness."

This now looks a lot better but still seems a bit too powerful. How about vitality 2 or less? Or make it a skirmish action so Gandalf can't fight as well.

Anvar

[DáinIronfoot]

Reduced the vitality (not "viality" ) of the minion targetted with In the Hour of Need to 2 or less. Hopefully it's better now.

No new cards today...just been too busy the last couple days and I've exhausted my "reserve". But to all for the helpful comments on the last batch. I'll have some new stuff up tomorrow.

[DáinIronfoot]

Two new cards in the same theme today, and probably the last ones like this before we move on to something else. For now, enjoy!

In a Tremendous Hurry
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to take up to 3 other cards (except characters) into hand from your discard pile.
"‘This is a perilous night, and I must ride fast. But the dawn may be brighter; and if so, we shall meet again.'"

Is 3 too many, do you think? Perhaps 2 would be better?

Beyond Wonder, Joy, and Fear
Event • Fellowship
Play Gandalf from your discard pile and add to heal X companions with the Gandalf signet or bearing a condition.
"‘Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide has turned.'"

[lem0nhead]

In a Tremendous Hurry
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to take up to 3 cards into hand from your discard pile.
"‘This is a perilous night, and I must ride fast. But the dawn may be brighter; and if so, we shall meet again.'"

Holy crap thats powerful, no no leave it at 3 for sure.

Beyond Wonder, Joy, and Fear
Event • Fellowship
Play Gandalf from your discard pile and add to heal X companions with the Gandalf signet or bearing a condition.
"‘Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide has turned.'"

Seems quite strong but probably ok.

[DáinIronfoot]

Tweaked the first one, as I realized I was creating a potentially OP loop by allowing you to snag a discarded Gandalf as one of the 3 cards. Now it's limited to non-characters.

[menace64]

In a Tremendous Hurry
Event • Regroup
Discard Gandalf to take up to 3 other cards (except characters) into hand from your discard pile.
"‘This is a perilous night, and I must ride fast. But the dawn may be brighter; and if so, we shall meet again.'"

I'd say that it's fine, since the usefulness of cards is stricken once you get rid of Gandalf himself.

Beyond Wonder, Joy, and Fear
Event • Fellowship
Play Gandalf from your discard pile and add to heal X companions with the Gandalf signet or bearing a condition.
"‘Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide has turned.'"

Clunky wording. To make it clearer:
"Play Gandalf from your discard pile and add to heal X companions with the Gandalf signet or companions bearing a condition."

It's amazing what one word can do for a sentence.

[Elf_Lvr]

Both look fine now.

[DáinIronfoot]

And now for some -cost cards that are a little more normal. Well, kind of. Enjoy!

Opened Clearly
Event • Assignment
You may add to play this event during the fellowship phase.
Spot Gandalf to reveal each player's hand. Choose an opponent to discard a card from your hand, then discard a card from each opponent's hand.
"‘I have forgotten much that I thought I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten. I can see many things far off....'"

Nothing like a little telepathy, eh?

Speaking In Riddles
Condition • Support Area
Riddle.
Each time you play a spell, you may exert Gandalf to remove a burden or a threat.
Each time the fellowship moves, add a burdens or 2 threats or discard this condition.
"‘A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying.'"

Most reviewers probably have no idea what a "riddle" is, so a very brief explanation.... My first set, Lasting Alliances, was centered mostly in The Hobbit, which features the rather famous "riddle game" between Gollum and Bilbo. I created several riddles (events and conditions) to represent that battle of wits. (I had a lot of fun with it, actually, and I'd strongly encourage anyone interested to go back to the Lasting Alliances spoiler list and check them out.) Since that set, riddle is a very infrequently used unloaded keyword that I mostly just put on cards for fun. This, I figured, was a good opportunity to dust it off and use it again, even if it doesn't particularly do anything with it.

Now, with that out of the way, how's the balance on this one? I envision it at being best held in your hand until you have a couple spells to play with, meaning that it's only most effective when you intentionally clog your hand. Is that enough for such a powerful ability, though? Should it also have something like "to play, add a burden or 2 threats" or a high twilight cost?