Nova TCG (9/5 - Equipment and Conditions)

[Thranduil]

My worry is that I'm not sure when playing starships that I'd want to add so much twilight on something that isn't a companion. Should starships have better stats for their costs than companions?

Thranduil

[Elf_Lvr]

• ARS Heracles, Ill-Fated Battlecruiser [Atlantic]
Starship – Dreadnaught
Weapons – 10
Armor – 4
Systems – 8
Staff: Gold, Gold
To play, add two threats.
At the start of each of your turns, you may look at the top card of your draw deck. If it is an [Atlantic] card, you may reveal it to take it into hand. Otherwise, you may discard it and add a threat to draw a card.
"‘…Several days ago, all contact was lost with the ARS Heracles, a Eurean Dreadnaught-class warship.'"

Neat.

• ARS Heracles, Eurean Dreadnaught [Atlantic]
Starship – Dreadnaught
Weapons – 10
Armor – 4
Systems – 8
Staff: Gold, Gold
To play, add two threats.
Each time the ARS Heracles wins a combat, you may remove a threat.
While the ARS Heracles has systems 4 or more, it is weapons +2.
"‘Wait… you're telling me our vacation got canceled because some Eurean technician forgot to turn on their comm system?'"
1R?

Nice.

• Hakel, Conspiring Admiral [Atlantic]
Companion – Man
Strength – 7
Vitality – 3
Rank – Gold
Each of your [Atlantic] starships is twilight cost -1.
Each time the company moves, add a threat or discard a card from hand.
Each time your starship wins a combat, or Hakel wins a skirmish, you may exert Hakel and add a threat to take a card into hand from your discard pile.
"‘I need to know every exact word that Hakel said….'"
1R?

That could be a lot of threat-adding for one companion. That, and the ships posted above, and methinks I need to see some serious threat-removal going on before I trust this culture.

I think this guy's returning-cards ability should be limited to shadow cards, at least (since that seems to be more of the intention) but I don't think it needs to limit to a specific culture.

[AgentDrake]

Alright; I've got some threat-removal lined up for the next set of cards. And some of it is pretty potent.

Regarding Starships-- the starships would (theoretically) never skirmish companions directly, thought they could potentially gun down characters indirectly through some sort of cards representing bombardments, et cetera.

Since characters don't go against starships and vice-versa directly, there's no direct correlation between the two sets of stats. 1 Weapons =/= 1 Strength. Heck, realistically, a transport could just land on someone to kill them.

Starships would serve various purposes aside from that, such as "stacking characters" so that you can have additional companions in play beyond the Rule of Nine, since they're not in the company. Companions staffing starships (Staff) can use abilities, be spotted, et cetera. Staff can't skirmish, et cetera, but they can be transferred into the company through various means.

Starships can potentially take out conditions, possessions, et cetera.

[Thranduil]

Fair enough, but in most cases I don't want to spend on any single card as the Free Peoples player, especially if that card is not immediately helping your FP side survive as a companion would, for example.

Thranduil

[AgentDrake]

Sure; that makes sense. I probably should've mentioned that Heracles is the biggest (and, by extension, most expensive) [Atlantia] ship. Ships will normally cost less than . So the benefit of the Heracles is that it can beat up on most other ships right off the bat.

Alright, as has been noted, there as a LOT of cards that have adding threats as a cost. therefore, it do be time to reveal the first three means the Atlantia have of removing threats.

Galactic Stronghold [Atlantic]
Condition – Support Area
Each time a threat is added, you may place an [Atlantic] token here.
Each time the company moves, add or discard this condition.
Regroup: Remove two tokens here to remove a threat.


Said 'Galactic Stronghold' is Sol Prime. AKA, Earth. But no-one calls it that anymore. Well, no-one except the "religious fanatic" group called the Corrinia. It provides some stability by potentially allowing you to cut the overall number of threats added by half, with a single copy. Or, if you have multiple copies out....

• Kutsyama, Hakel's Predecessor [Atlantic]
Follower
Strength/Weapons +1
Aid –
To play, spot a [Gold] [Atlantic] companion.
Each time bearer wins a skirmish or combat, you may remove a threat (or, if bearer has [Gold] rank, remove two threats.)
"…After the council, he had a few strings pulled by High Admiral Kutsyama."

High Admiral Hakel -- the conspirator -- is preceded in his office by a friendly fellow who is easily talked into doing favors for his friends.

Taken Lightly [Atlantic]
Event – Regroup
Spot 3 [Atlantic] companions to remove up to 2 threats (or exert 2 politicians to remove up to 4 threats.)
"‘Sure, but what are we going to do then? Announce to the High Council that we were attacked by aliens? We'd get laughed off the planet.'"

I believe the lore pretty much explains the story connection here. Ignore the threat, and it might just go away.... And as long as you're not double-moving, there's not too much problem with the cost. I don't think it's too OP, given the massive number of threats the Atlantia has to add. Besides. Every now and then, spotting those threats is a good thing. not often, granted, but sometimes:

Unexpected Strike [Atlantic]
Event – Combat
Make an [Atlantic] starship weapons +1 for each threat you can spot (limit +6.)
"They had nearly escaped when the Atlantic Fleet arrived early."

I was going to post this with some more ships and people who staff them, but I felt like posting it now. So there it is.

[Thranduil]

Galactic Stronghold [Atlantic]
Condition – Support Area
Each time a threat is added, you may place an [Atlantic] token here.
Regroup: Spot X [Atlantic] companions and 2X tokens here to remove X threats. Discard this condition.

I have to say that I don't too much algebra on cards. I think I'd prefer a simple repetitive action like "Remove 2 tokens from here to remove a threat" and would suggest that you complement that with a movement cost to keep it in play (like the Dark Ways cycle).

• Kutsyama, Hakel's Predecessor [Atlantic]
Follower
Strength +1
Aid –
To play, spot a [Gold] [Atlantic] companion.
Each time bearer wins a skirmish or combat, you may draw a card or remove a threat (or, if bearer has [Gold] rank, remove two threats.)
"…After the council, he had a few strings pulled by High Admiral Kutsyama."

So followers can be borne by both ships and companions? Given the parentheses, I think I would just make the card remove threats.

Taken Lightly [Atlantic]
Event – Regroup
Spot 3 [Atlantic] companions to remove up to 3 threats (or exert 2 politicians to remove up to five threats.)
"‘Sure, but what are we going to do then? Announce to the High Council that we were attacked by aliens? We'd get laughed off the planet.'"

I think the parentheses is too much. Perhaps it should be "Spot 3 [Atlantic] companions (or 2 politicians)..." and I might up the cost to with a toil 2.

Unexpected Strike [Atlantic]
Event – Combat
Make an [Atlantic] starship weapons +1 for each threat you can spot (limit +3.)
"They had nearly escaped when the Atlantic Fleet arrived early."

I don't like such low limits. I'd prefer it to cost more without a limit, or at least with a higher limit. And I'm also not sure that events for starships should be made on the same scale as events for companions and so perhaps the limit could be raised anyway.

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

Galactic Stronghold [Atlantic]
Condition – Support Area
Each time a threat is added, you may place an [Atlantic] token here.
Regroup: Spot X [Atlantic] companions and 2X tokens here to remove X threats. Discard this condition.

I agree with Thran. This certainly works, and it's your game to do with as you please, but my poor brain might not be able to take it if you start making cards like this.

• Kutsyama, Hakel's Predecessor [Atlantic]
Follower
Strength +1
Aid –
To play, spot a [Gold] [Atlantic] companion.
Each time bearer wins a skirmish or combat, you may draw a card or remove a threat (or, if bearer has [Gold] rank, remove two threats.)
"…After the council, he had a few strings pulled by High Admiral Kutsyama."

Seems alright.

Taken Lightly [Atlantic]
Event – Regroup
Spot 3 [Atlantic] companions to remove up to 3 threats (or exert 2 politicians to remove up to five threats.)
"‘Sure, but what are we going to do then? Announce to the High Council that we were attacked by aliens? We'd get laughed off the planet.'"

Yeah, it's a bit much. Perhaps 2 and 4 instead of 3 and 5? Even that probably warrants a cost of .

Unexpected Strike [Atlantic]
Event – Combat
Make an [Atlantic] starship weapons +1 for each threat you can spot (limit +3.)
"They had nearly escaped when the Atlantic Fleet arrived early."

Hmmm. Probably could cost as written, though Thran's right: a higher limit would be better, even if it's just limit +4.

[AgentDrake]

Alright; I was worried that the first one would be too complicated, and I hadn't figured a good wording for it to do what I wanted anyways.

As for Kutsyama, I forgot to explain that winning a combat bit, but yeah. Borne by a companion or starship. Which actually reminds me that I forgot to have him be "Strength/Weapons +1" instead of just strength.... must change.

With the starship pump, I originally had no limit at all, but at the last minute thought that could potentially be too powerful, so I cut it down to 3, just because that's the standard pump number which came to mind. Looking back at it, is 6 a better limit? Or should I just leavit it uncapped? That's a potential +9 weapons pump, with most starships having a base 8 or so. Then again, who wants to have risk having 9 threats, anyway...?

  thran

These look better now?

[AgentDrake]

• ARS Emancipator, Chicom Warship [Atlantic]
Starship – Imperial
Weapons – 8
Armor – 3
Systems – 8
Staff: Gold, Silver
At the start of each combat involving the ARS Emancipator, you may reveal the top card of your draw deck. If the twilight cost of that card is lower than the Emancipator's systems, you may discard it to make the Emancipator weapons +2.

Remember: Systems is -1 for each card the ship bears. So, with staffing requirements onboard, the Emancipator has a maximum Systems of 6. With a few weapons here and there, sensor probes, a couple conditions... the systems starts to drop quickly. Still, it shouldn't be too difficult to keep the Emancipator in fighting condition, as long as you pile up stuff like your Enforcement Fleet (below) on other ships, so the Emancipator should be going into most battles with Weapons 10, so long as you can bear to discard that card. If needed, you could always pull back Shadow cards with Hakel, Conspiring Admiral (see Aug. 13th post).

Enforcement Fleet [Atlantic]
Condition – Starship
Weapons +1
Must be equipped by an [Atlantic] starship.
Limit 1 per ship.
Maneuver: If the equipped starship has systems 2 or more, exert X staff to place X wounds on minions. Discard this condition.
The Fleet had arrived to destroy or capture the pirate nest. Whichever was quicker.

Here you want to keep a fair balance on your ship: Enough staff to make the card useful in a pinch (too many minions gunning for your hero!) while not completely depleting your starship's system capabilities. Remember that the condition itself cuts 1 systems, and there's weapons to pile on each ship, too. But we'll get to those later.



The Peacekeepers are a group of high-ranking military officers, whose loyalties lie not with any particular nation within the Atlantia, but to the High Council. Sort of international SpecOps forces.

A reminder: the number of uniqueness dots indicates how many copies of a card may be in play. One dot means unique, and only one copy. Two and three dots are semi-unique, and are two and three copies, respectively. No dots is non-unique, and there's no theoretical limit, besides the fact that you're still limited to four copies in your deck, so realistically, the limit is four in play.

•• Atlantic Peacekeeper [Atlantic]
Companion – Man
Strength – 6
Vitality – 3
Rank – Silver
Guard - [Atlantic] 2 (While you can spot another [Atlantic] companion, this companion is strength +2.)
While staffing a starship, that starship is weapons +1.
Maneuver: Exert this companion to transfer him from a starship he is staffing to the Company. Each Shadow player may take a card into hand from his or her discard pile.
"‘I thought you said the Peacekeepers weren't supposed to show up for another two hours?'"

This guy is nice, because he can jump into your company during the maneuver phase (so long as that doesn't violate the rule of 9; companions killed from the Company count towards the rule of 9; Companions killed staffing a starship do not, so you might actually have 2 separate dead piles....)


•• Peacekeeper's Armor [Atlantic]
Possession – Armor
Bearer must be an [Atlantic] companion.
Bearer cannot take more than one wound per skirmish.
While bearer is Atlantic Peacekeeper, each time he wins a skirmish (or, while staffing a starship, each time that starship wins a combat), you may add to remove a threat.

And here's another way to get rid of them nasty threats, though potentially a bit dangerous in and of itself, depending on the circumstances. If you've still got combats or skirmishes to go, do you really want your opponent to have the extra twilight? Maybe not, but sometimes it;s better than having another threat about to drop when your "pincushion" character finally bites the dust.

[Elf_Lvr]

• ARS Emancipator, Chicom Warship [Atlantic]
Starship – Imperial
Weapons – 8
Armor – 3
Systems – 8
Staff: Gold, Silver
At the start of each combat involving the ARS Emancipator, you may reveal the top card of your draw deck. If the twilight cost of that card is lower than the Emancipator's systems, you may discard it to make the Emancipator weapons +2.

Fine.

Enforcement Fleet [Atlantic]
Condition – Starship
Weapons +1
Must be equipped by an [Atlantic] starship.
Maneuver: If the equipped starship has systems 2 or more, exert X staff to place X wounds on minions. Discard this condition.
The Fleet had arrived to destroy or capture the pirate nest. Whichever was quicker.

Unless the fact that it's a "Condition - Starship" limits it to one per bearer, you need to add that limit. Otherwise, it looks okay.

•• Atlantic Peacekeeper [Atlantic]
Companion – Man
Strength – 8
Vitality – 3
Rank – Silver
Guard: [Atlantic] 2 . While you can spot another [Atlantic] companion, this companion is strength +2.
While staffing a starship, that starship is weapons +1.
Maneuver: Exert this companion to transfer him from a starship he is staffing to the Company. Each Shadow player may take a card into hand from his or her discard pile.
"‘I thought you said the Peacekeepers weren't supposed to show up for another two hours?'"

cost for 10 strength is waaaaaaaaaaaay over the line.

•• Peacekeeper's Armor [Atlantic]
Possession – Armor
Bearer must be an [Atlantic] companion.
Bearer cannot take more than one wound per skirmish.
While bearer is Atlantic Peacekeeper, each time he wins a skirmish (or, while staffing a starship, each time that starship wins a combat), you may add to remove a threat.

Fine.

[AgentDrake]

3 cost for 10 strength?

Oops.... 

Forgot about that Guard bit when I added his cost.

No, the Condition - Starship doesn't mean it's limited, so yeah, it did need the limit 1 per ship text.

  to you, my good vampiric emo-elf!

[DáinIronfoot]

• ARS Emancipator, Chicom Warship [Atlantic]
Starship – Imperial
Weapons – 8
Armor – 3
Systems – 8
Staff: Gold, Silver
At the start of each combat involving the ARS Emancipator, you may reveal the top card of your draw deck. If the twilight cost of that card is lower than the Emancipator's systems, you may discard it to make the Emancipator weapons +2.

Neato.

Enforcement Fleet [Atlantic]
Condition – Starship
Weapons +1
Must be equipped by an [Atlantic] starship.
Limit 1 per ship.
Maneuver: If the equipped starship has systems 2 or more, exert X staff to place X wounds on minions. Discard this condition.
The Fleet had arrived to destroy or capture the pirate nest. Whichever was quicker.

Okie-doke.

•• Atlantic Peacekeeper [Atlantic]
Companion – Man
Strength – 8
Vitality – 3
Rank – Silver
While staffing a starship, that starship is weapons +1.
Maneuver: Exert this companion to transfer him from a starship he is staffing to the Company. Each Shadow player may take a card into hand from his or her discard pile.
"‘I thought you said the Peacekeepers weren't supposed to show up for another two hours?'"

I'd rather he have 6 strength and get the guard back. But he's fine.

•• Peacekeeper's Armor [Atlantic]
Possession – Armor
Bearer must be an [Atlantic] companion.
Bearer cannot take more than one wound per skirmish.
While bearer is Atlantic Peacekeeper, each time he wins a skirmish (or, while staffing a starship, each time that starship wins a combat), you may add to remove a threat.

Cool beans.

[AgentDrake]

Alright, gave the Peacekeeper guard back.
Here's another politician and another Lord again, this time more generic versions.

Atlantic Representative [Atlantic]
Companion – Man
Strength – 5
Vitality – 3
Rank – Bronze
Politician.
Each time another [Atlantic] companion wins a skirmish, you may add to make this companion strength +1 until the regroup phase.
"‘The council was nothing more than a shouting match today…'"

Simple, not great, but can get strong fast, if your other companions are doing well. A quintessential sidekick for any politician.


Clan Lord [Atlantic]
Companion – Man
Strength – 7
Vitality – 3
Rank – Silver
Lord.
Skirmish: Discard a card from hand to make this companion strength +2.
"‘They're doing everything they can to get their way, and there's going to be no way to stop them from each going their own individual way, when it comes right down to it.'"

Like most other lords, this guy deals with discarding to keep himself alive in skirmishes. I'm wondering, though, if maybe he's too powerful. I mean, Gollum and Smeagol only got +2 conditionally. On the other handm, this guy is cost 4, not 2, and low stats for a 4-coster. Too powerful, though? Or maybe I should make it start of the skirmish, or some other limit?


Declassified [Atlantic]
Event – Maneuver
Toil 2.
If you have initiative, spot 3 [Atlantic] politicians (or 2 [Atlantic] Lords) to make every player reveal his or her hand, then shuffle it into his or her draw deck and draw four cards.
"‘The people are spooked too, and they don't even know half the story of what's going on. No thanks to the Chicoms and Masai, who want to expose the whole thing to the public, regardless of any mass panic effects it could have.'"

Like Change of Plans. On steroids. Wreak havoc with your opponent's plans. And your own, for that matter, if you're being stupid about it.


What War? [Atlantic]
Event – Regroup
Spot 2 politicians and add three threats to make a Shadow player discard two of his or her minions.
"Another question that needed answering…."

Ignore the problem, it might just go away. Too expensive? Not enough? Shadow gets to pick which two, so I'm not sure if it might be overcosted.

[Elf_Lvr]

Very nice batch. I have no complaints.

I might have Declassified require initiative, or something, though, and reduce the cost a little. It'd help cost the card well.

[Thranduil]

Atlantic Representative [Atlantic]
Companion – Man
Strength – 5
Vitality – 2
Rank – Bronze
Politician.
Each time another [Atlantic] companion wins a skirmish, you may add to make this companion strength +1 until the regroup phase.
"‘The council was nothing more than a shouting match today…'"

Unfortunately vitality 2 companions are basically not worth having. I don't see any particular reason why he can't be vitality 3.

Clan Lord [Atlantic]
Companion – Man
Strength – 7
Vitality – 3
Rank – Silver
Lord.
Skirmish: Discard a card from hand to make this companion strength +2.
"‘They're doing everything they can to get their way, and there's going to be no way to stop them from each going their own individual way, when it comes right down to it.'"

I reckon it's fine, though it does depend on the usefulness of Lord and Silver rank.

Declassified [Atlantic]
Event – Maneuver
Toil 2.
Spot 3 [Atlantic] politicians (or 2 [Atlantic] Lords) to make every player reveal his or her hand, then shuffle it into his or her draw deck and draw four cards.
"‘The people are spooked too, and they don't even know half the story of what's going on. No thanks to the Chicoms and Masai, who want to expose the whole thing to the public, regardless of any mass panic effects it could have.'"

I can see where EL is coming from and it might be a good idea. Maybe something like "If you cannot spot 4 threats", or perhaps if you can, or some other trigger to bring down its cost.

What War? [Atlantic]
Event – Regroup
Spot 2 politicians and add three threats to make a Shadow player discard two minions.
"Another question that needed answering…."

2 of their minions perhaps?

Thranduil