Set Design Through Theme Decks

[eomund]

I was inspired a few weeks ago by the most recent Great Designer Search challenge (this one: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/125x) to try designing a set starting with its Theme Decks  (the GDS is Magic: the Gathering online contest to find a new designer ... I strongly recommend checking it out if you are familiar with Magic and interested in game/card design).

This is an experiment, and so I have no idea how it will work. Even if it doesn't evolve into a complete set, I'm more excited by having a complete DC Deck than a collection of random DCs that don't work together. My hope is that by designing decks, there won't be any situations where a culture or strategy almost has enough cards to work (like Moria archers in Fellowship block ... from my experience, all they needed were another couple of minions to really get going).

I expect that the biggest risk with this process is creating a set which feels like decks have been built for the players, and I do have a few ideas to prevent this:

• Each deck will be composed of 1-ofs and 2-ofs
• The decks are not designed to be competitive, just to work; the idea is that they show off how the cards can work together, not the best way for the cards to work together
• If I have the endurance to finish the set, I will be adding to the cards designed for decks at the end of the process
• The cards will be designed so that (most) could fit in decks other than the one they're designed for

If you have any suggestions on how to improve the process further, please post them.

Alright, I think it's time to start talking about the actual set. I'd like the cards to be at a similar power level as the Movie-block sets, although I'm not too concerned about fitting it in with a particular format. I'm not sure what sites I want to use, but I will be using the Movie-block Shadow cultures. I have not thought up any new keywords or abilities (yet), but I want the set to actively promote multiculture. This thread has a lot of good ideas for promoting multiculture, and was the inspiration for the set theme. Here are some more specifics on how I want to approach it:

Idea:	Example:
Identify certain culture groups (of 2-3 cultures) which will be given a mechanical identity and actively pushed with a small number of cards.	•Boromir, Protector of Halflings Companion • Man Str: 7 Vit: 3 While you can spot two unbound hobbits, Boromir is strength -1. While a hobbit is assigned to skirmish, Boromir cannot take wounds.
Create cards that look for unloaded keywords (including races) that span multiple cultures.	Scavenged Weaponry Possession • Hand Weapon Str: +1 Plays to your support area. Shadow: Spot your Orc to transfer this possession from your support area to that minion. Response: If bearer is about to be discarded, transfer this possession to your support area.
Include very few cards which give a bonus to a specific culture (like Swordarm of the White Tower); instead, most cards will require you to spot a character of one culture, but can affect any character.	Gondor Will See it Done Event • Response If a companion is about to take a wound, exert a companion to prevent that wound.
Include a lot of cards which require you to have a character of one culture and a character of any other culture that can be put into a variety of decks, but not mono-culture decks.	Protected Border Event • Skirmish Spot a non-[Shire] companion to cancel a skirmish involving a hobbit.
Include cards which can work in mono-culture decks, but are better in mutli-culture.	•First Line of Defense Condition Bearer must be a Man. While you can spot more minions than companions, bearer is defender +1. At the beginning of each skirmish involving bearer, wound him or her.
Increase the amount of small card-drawing effects, such as tagging "Draw a card" or "Draw a card if ..." onto events, in order to make it easier for players to get at the cards they need.	Well Aimed Stone Event • Archery Exert a hobbit to exert a minion. Draw a card.
I am currently against the idea of characters which are multiple cultures, as they make the "Spot two cultures" cards too easy to use. Cross-culture companions (like Aragorn, Defender of Rohan), don't really help increase the number of cultures in a deck. I do like cross-culture companions in general, however, so if you can think of a way to make them work in this set, I'm all ears.
On the other hand, events, possessions, and conditions which have more than one culture could work, and I'd like to try them out.	Longsword Possession • Hand Weapon Str: +2 Bearer must be a man.
I'm toying with the idea of creating generic "Free Peoples" and "Shadow" cultures which would include a small number of cards which work with any culture. cards without a culture, which could work in any deck.	Hard Earned Rest [Free Peoples] Event • Fellowship Heal 2 companions (or 3 companions if at a sanctuary).

This has ended up being a very long post, so I think I'll wait a couple of days before I post my first deck ( featuring the Boromir above, with Cirith Ungol shadow). Please feel free to express opinions about anything I've said, or suggest card/deck/concept/other ideas for this set. I'm in particular need of help with Shadow cultures ... I've always cared more about Free Peoples than Shadow cards, which makes it tougher for me to design them. I can't see the way anybody other than me sees these cards, so I'd love to know how others see them.

[Thranduil]

I was inspired a few weeks ago by the most recent Great Designer Search challenge (this one: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/125x) to try designing a set starting with its Theme Decks  (the GDS is Magic: the Gathering online contest to find a new designer ... I strongly recommend checking it out if you are familiar with Magic and interested in game/card design).

This is an experiment, and so I have no idea how it will work. Even if it doesn't evolve into a complete set, I'm more excited by having a complete DC Deck than a collection of random DCs that don't work together. My hope is that by designing decks, there won't be any situations where a culture or strategy almost has enough cards to work (like Moria archers in Fellowship block ... from my experience, all they needed were another couple of minions to really get going).

I expect that the biggest risk with this process is creating a set which feels like decks have been built for the players, and I do have a few ideas to prevent this:

• Each deck will be composed of 1-ofs and 2-ofs
• The decks are not designed to be competitive, just to work; the idea is that they show off how the cards can work together, not the best way for the cards to work together
• If I have the endurance to finish the set, I will be adding to the cards designed for decks at the end of the process
• The cards will be designed so that (most) could fit in decks other than the one they're designed for

If you have any suggestions on how to improve the process further, please post them.

A good premise. Restrictions breed creativity and all that. I look forward!

Alright, I think it's time to start talking about the actual set. I'd like the cards to be at a similar power level as the Movie-block sets, although I'm not too concerned about fitting it in with a particular format. I'm not sure what sites I want to use, but I will be using the Movie-block Shadow cultures. I have not thought up any new keywords or abilities (yet), but I want the set to actively promote multiculture. This thread has a lot of good ideas for promoting multiculture, and was the inspiration for the set theme. Here are some more specifics on how I want to approach it:

Wow, who's thread was that? That guy Thranduil sounds like a jerk...

I also remembered this thread for lots of different ways to approach multiculture. I of course applaud any and all efforts made for more multiculture love!

Identify certain culture groups (of 2-3 cultures) which will be given a mechanical identity and actively pushed with a small number of cards.

Obviously certain cultures work together better than others ( and was a good example), but pushing this agenda too much just re-factionalises your set so that your not following one culture's identities but the combined identities of 2-3.

Create cards that look for unloaded keywords (including races) that span multiple cultures./

This is easy to do and effective. Again you are in some sense re-factionalising based on class instead of culture if you push too hard.

Include very few cards which give a bonus to a specific culture (like Swordarm of the White Tower); instead, most cards will require you to spot a character of one culture, but can affect any character.

This is I think the key point! By far the most important point you've made so far. This is essential. Most cards should say "Spot a [Culture] companion to..." over "Make a [Culture] companion...".

Include a lot of cards which require you to have a character of one culture and a character of any other culture that can be put into a variety of decks, but not mono-culture decks.

I think you don't want to try to be so prescriptive. Making open cards immediately follows the point above, which is normally enough to promote multiculture.

Increase the amount of small card-drawing effects, such as tagging "Draw a card" or "Draw a card if ..." onto events, in order to make it
easier for players to get at the cards they need.

This works great for MTG, which is why most sets have some sort of mana-smoothing or cycling mechanic, because card advantage is so key. In LotR, however, it is far less effective as everyone cycles every turn anyway and card draw is generally good. So I wouldn't worry too much about this. It works on a spell in MTG because it has the flavour of "cantrip", but I think on an LotR card it would just look weird.

I am currently against the idea of characters which are multiple cultures, as they make the "Spot two cultures" cards too easy to use. Cross-culture companions (like Aragorn, Defender of Rohan), don't really help increase the number of cultures in a deck. I do like
cross-culture companions in general, however, so if you can think of a way to make them work in this set, I'm all ears.

Culture shifting is a very good way (in my opinion) to promote multiculture. As soon as you have an Dwarf or a Man you are increasing deck-building possibilities and culture cooperation because you have a "mismatch" of race, class and culture.

Also see my toil cycles from Back to the Light (and also the toil cycle from The Twilight World is also good for this).

In fact, toil is a good mechanic for a culture-driven set because it cares about culture.

On the other hand, events, possessions, and conditions which have more than one culture could work, and I'd like to try them out.

You should definitely look up the TLHHDCP threat I linked above. My favoured way to do this is to make a keyword (like a class) that makes them spottable as that culture. You'll see what I mean on the link.

I'm toying with the idea of creating generic "Free Peoples" and "Shadow" cultures which would include a small number of cards which work with any culture.

LotR is interesting as it doesn't have a strict colour system like MTG (and many other games). This make cards like this much easier to design and less likely to be broken, but I wouldn't necessarily make a new culture to do it—run it like Get on and Get Away.

Those were probably fairly confused comments, but I hope they made some kind of sense.

Thranduil

[eomund]

Thranduil, I agree with pretty much everything you said. I'm glad to know I'm not coming completely out of left field.

I also remembered this thread for lots of different ways to approach multiculture. I of course applaud any and all efforts made for more multiculture love!

Thanks for the link!

Identify certain culture groups (of 2-3 cultures) which will be given a mechanical identity and actively pushed with a small number of cards.

Obviously certain cultures work together better than others ( and was a good example), but pushing this agenda too much just re-factionalises your set so that your not following one culture's identities but the combined identities of 2-3.

I definitely don't want to merely re-factionalize the game. I'd like the mechanical identities to be subtle and/or modular (by modular I mean that having only a couple of cards with that mechanic can improve your deck) so that they lead you in a direction, but don't force you there. The "small number of cards" I mention are intended to be splashy "build around me"-type cards, again with the goal to show a path, but not force the deckbuilder too hard.

Create cards that look for unloaded keywords (including races) that span multiple cultures./

This is easy to do and effective. Again you are in some sense re-factionalising based on class instead of culture if you push too hard.

I plan for the cards that play off a keyword to act distinctly like they culture they come from, rather than giving a heavy identity to that keyword. For example, there will be and rangers in fairly large numbers, but I want those cards to play more like and cards than ranger cards. I hope to make the fact that they have ranger in common will cause them to be easier to play together, but it'll be a bit of a tightrope walk to keep the balance right.

Include a lot of cards which require you to have a character of one culture and a character of any other culture that can be put into a variety of decks, but not mono-culture decks.

I think you don't want to try to be so prescriptive. Making open cards immediately follows the point above, which is normally enough to promote multiculture.

I think being this prescriptive is going to be necessary in order to keep card quality strong. A card with less restrictions needs to be at a slightly lower quality, or else it completely invalidates the more restrictive version. For example, no one would choose to play Swordarm of the White Tower if this card existed:

Swordarm of Whatever Tower
Event • Skirmish
Spot a Man to make a companion strength +2 (or +4 if he is defender +1).

because the versatility makes it strictly better. However, this card:

Swordarm of Another Tower
Event • Skirmish
Spot a Man to make a non-[Gondor] companion strength +2 (or +4 if he is defender +1).

gives you an interesting deckbuilding choice. This choice is even bigger if your deck has more non-[Gondor] companions than companions - it helps the larger part of your deck, but needs the smaller part in order to work.

I'm not saying that the restrictive route is always better; I personally think that both are needed in order to strike a good balance between being able to play your cards, and having your cards be good when they work.

Increase the amount of small card-drawing effects, such as tagging "Draw a card" or "Draw a card if ..." onto events, in order to make it
easier for players to get at the cards they need.

This works great for MTG, which is why most sets have some sort of mana-smoothing or cycling mechanic, because card advantage is so key. In LotR, however, it is far less effective as everyone cycles every turn anyway and card draw is generally good. So I wouldn't worry too much about this. It works on a spell in MTG because it has the flavour of "cantrip", but I think on an LotR card it would just look weird.

You make a good point here ... maybe the right move is to take advantage of reconciling, and have a high number of discard costs (perhaps bringing back the initiative mechanic). That way people can still cycle more effectively, but in a way that feels more LotR and less Magic.

I am currently against the idea of characters which are multiple cultures, as they make the "Spot two cultures" cards too easy to use. Cross-culture companions (like Aragorn, Defender of Rohan), don't really help increase the number of cultures in a deck. I do like
cross-culture companions in general, however, so if you can think of a way to make them work in this set, I'm all ears.

Culture shifting is a very good way (in my opinion) to promote multiculture. As soon as you have an Dwarf or a Man you are increasing deck-building possibilities and culture cooperation because you have a "mismatch" of race, class and culture.

While the mismatch can be good, I expect most of the cards in this set will look for culture rather than race, so it will be less useful than in some other sets.

Also see my toil cycles from Back to the Light (and also the toil cycle from The Twilight World is also good for this).

In fact, toil is a good mechanic for a culture-driven set because it cares about culture.

I don't really see why toil is a good multi-culture driven mechanic. What cultures were these cycles in?

On the other hand, events, possessions, and conditions which have more than one culture could work, and I'd like to try them out.

You should definitely look up the TLHHDCP threat I linked above. My favoured way to do this is to make a keyword (like a class) that makes them spottable as that culture. You'll see what I mean on the link.

I'm personally more of a fan of the "just stick two culture icons in the corner" approach; I'm not sure what the keyword does that that doesn't, and (perhaps because I'm a Magic player) it seems like the most straight-forward method.

I'm toying with the idea of creating generic "Free Peoples" and "Shadow" cultures which would include a small number of cards which work with any culture.

LotR is interesting as it doesn't have a strict colour system like MTG (and many other games). This make cards like this much easier to design and less likely to be broken, but I wouldn't necessarily make a new culture to do it—run it like Get on and Get Away.

I'm not a fan of the Get on and Get Away style of card; if I'm looking for cards for my deck, I don't want to have to look through every culture to find cards that might fit. If it plays well in a mono-culture deck, it should be of that culture unless there's a strong reason to do otherwise (for example, Phial of Galadriel, Star Glass makes perfect sense as an card).

After thinking a little more, though, I don't really want a new culture either; what I want is to have cards with no culture, in the same way that artifacts in MTG have no colour, or that Smeagol has no race.

Those were probably fairly confused comments, but I hope they made some kind of sense.

Thranduil

Thanks for the comments, Thranduil. I found them far more sensible than confused.

[Thranduil]

I think being this prescriptive is going to be necessary in order to keep card quality strong. A card with less restrictions needs to be at a slightly lower quality, or else it completely invalidates the more restrictive version. For example, no one would choose to play Swordarm of the White Tower if this card existed:

Swordarm of Whatever Tower
Event • Skirmish
Spot a Man to make a companion strength +2 (or +4 if he is defender +1).

because the versatility makes it strictly better. However, this card:

Swordarm of Another Tower
Event • Skirmish
Spot a Man to make a non-[Gondor] companion strength +2 (or +4 if he is defender +1).

gives you an interesting deckbuilding choice. This choice is even bigger if your deck has more non-[Gondor] companions than companions - it helps the larger part of your deck, but needs the smaller part in order to work.

I'm not saying that the restrictive route is always better; I personally think that both are needed in order to strike a good balance between being able to play your cards, and having your cards be good when they work.

I see your point, but I'm inclined to think that the second card is wordier for no great purpose. I suppose the advantage is that it does immediately plant the idea of putting it in a multiculture deck in a way that "make a companion" doesn't, but then I might be tempted to do something more like "make a companion strength +2 (or +4 if he or she is a companion)" for example.

I don't really see why toil is a good multi-culture driven mechanic. What cultures were these cycles in?

All or most cultures. I ran two cycles, the first of which were cards you could use in any deck but had a bonus from toil if you are using companions from the right culture, the second of which required a different culture than the card to spot but had toil. Examples (these are not the cards from the set, just off the top of my head!):

Restock
Event • Regroup
Toil 2.
Draw 3 cards.

Protect the Halflings
Event • Skirmish
Toil 2.
Cancel a skirmish involving a companion.

Also if you use dual culture cards, then toil looks very nice in multiculture as both culture characters could exert for its toil.

After thinking a little more, though, I don't really want a new culture either; what I want is to have cards with no culture, in the same way that artifacts in MTG have no colour, or that Smeagol has no race.

Yeah fair enough. If you were working for LotR TCG, then obviously you'd be having to think about new templates for cultureless cards and dual-culture cards, but as its a DC set this is not an issue!

Thranduil

[eomund]

Alright, it's deck and card time. I didn't appreciate at first how long this would get, so I'm only going to post the free peoples cards for now. The Shadow deck will wait for another day. Each card below would be a 2-of in the deck, unless otherwise noted. Comments on these cards (as well as the set in general) are always welcome.

Ring-bearer

•Frodo, Friend to All (common, 1-of)
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
Res: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Fellowship: Play non- companion to heal Frodo.

Starting Fellowship

•Boromir, Protector of Halflings (premium)
Companion • Man
Str: 7
Vit: 3
While you can spot two unbound hobbits, Boromir is strength -1.
While an unbound hobbit is assigned to skirmish, Boromir cannot take wounds.

•Merry, Fast Learner (common, 1-of)
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
While you can spot a companion, Merry is strength +2.
Skirmish: Exert Merry to make a non- companion strength +1.

•Pippin, In Over His Head (common, 1-of)
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
While you can spot a companion, Pippin cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Skirmish: Exert a non- companion to make Pippin strength +1.

Other Companions

•Aragorn, Unseen Protector (rare)
Companion • Man
Str: 8
Vit: 4
Ranger.
Skirmish: Exert Aragorn twice to have him replace another companion (except the Ring-bearer) skirmishing a minion.

•Sam, Frodo's Protector (rare)
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
Sam and Frodo are strength +1 for each minion assigned to skrimish Frodo.
Skirmish: If Sam is not assigned to a skirmish, exert Sam twice to add his strength to Frodo's.
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ringbearer (resistance 5).

Possessions and Conditions

•Blade of Gondor, Steward's Sword (uncommon/rare, 1-of)
Possession • Hand Weapon
Str: +2
Bearer must be Boromir.
He is damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Boromir to make him strength +1 for each companion you can spot (limit once per skirmish).

•First Line of Defence (uncommon, 1-of)
Condition
Bearer must be a Man.
While you can spot more minions than companions, bearer is defender +1.
Exert bearer at the start of each skirmish involving him.

Kingsfoil (common, reprint)
Possession
Bearer must be a Man.
Fellowship: Discard this possession from play to heal a companion and, if that companion is a companion, you may discard a condition he or she bears.

•Ranger's Sword, Blade of Arnor (uncommon/rare, 1-of)
Possession • Hand Weapon
Str: +2
Bearer must be Aragorn.
Response: If Aragorn wins a skirmish involving a fierce minion, that minion loses fierce and cannot gain fierce until the regroup phase.

Well Defended (uncommon)
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot two hobbits.
Response: If Whenever a non- companion wins a skirmish, make a minion skirmishing a hobbit strength -1 until the regroup phase (or -2 if that companion was a Man).

Westernesse Dagger (common/uncommon)
Possession • Hand Weapon
Str: +1
Bearer must be a or companion.
If bearer is a Man, this weapon may be borne in addition to 1 other hand weapon.
If bearer is a Hobbit, he is strength +1.

Events

Strength of Gondor (common)
Event • Skirmish
Spot a companion to make a companion strength +2 (or +4 if he or she is a companion).

Look Out! (uncommon)
Event • Assignment Skirmish
Exert a companion who is not assigned to skirmish to add that his strength to another companion's.

Protected Border (common)
Event • Skirmish
Spot a non- companion to cancel a skirmish involving a companion.

Well Aimed Stone (uncommon)
Event • Archery
Exert a hobbit to exert a minion.

Herbs and Gardens (common)
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Heal a companion if you can spot a companion.
Heal a companion if you can spot a companion.

Hard Earned Rest [no culture] (uncommon, 1-of)
Event • Fellowship
Heal 2 companions (or 3 companions if the fellowship is at a sanctuary).

[Thranduil]

Alright, it's deck and card time. I didn't appreciate at first how long this would get, so I'm only going to post the free peoples cards for now. The Shadow deck will wait for another day. Each card below would be a 2-of in the deck, unless otherwise noted. Comments on these cards (as well as the set in general) are always welcome.

Ring-bearer

•Frodo, Friend to All (1-of)
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
Res: 10
Ring-bearer. Ring-bound.
Fellowship: Play non- companion to heal Frodo.

Starting Fellowship

•Boromir, Protector of Halflings
Companion • Man
Str: 7
Vit: 3
While you can spot two unbound hobbits, Boromir is strength -1.
While an unbound hobbit is assigned to skirmish, Boromir cannot take wounds.

•Merry, Fast Learner (1-of)
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
While you can spot a companion, Merry is strength +2.
Skirmish: Exert Merry to make a companion strength +1.

This guy looks a tiny bit off, just because I would normally expect Merry to work with . But in the context of FotR, then obviously this does make sense. Are there any rarities for these cards?

•Pippin, In Over His Head (1-of)
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
While you can spot a companion, Pippin cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
Skirmish: Exert a companion to make Pippin strength +1.

Other Companions

•Aragorn, Unseen Protector
Companion • Man
Str: 8
Vit: 4
Ranger.
Skirmish: Exert Aragorn twice to have him replace a companion (except the Ring-bearer) skirmishing a minion.

This guy is fine in the context of this deck, but he's very limited otherwise. Is it possible to have him do something like "Exert Aragorn three times to have him replace a companion (except the Ring-bearer) in a skirmish (or exert Aragorn twice if that companion is a companion)"? Or something that does allow him to have a use in other decks?

•Sam, Frodo's Protector
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
Sam and Frodo are strength +1 for each minion assigned to skirmish Frodo.
Response: If Frodo is killed, make same the Ringbearer (resistance 5).

I don't like the fact that the bonus applies to both. I think it probably ought to just pump Sam, but if you want the card to be a bit better, then it should pump Frodo.

Possessions and Conditions

•Blade of Gondor, Steward's Sword (1-of)
Possession • Hand Weapon
Str: +2
Bearer must be Boromir.
He is damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Boromir to make him strength +1 for each companion you can spot (limit once per skirmish).

•First Line of Defense (1-of)
Condition
Bearer must be a Man.
While you can spot more minions than companions, bearer is defender +1.
Exert bearer at the start of each skirmish involving him.

Very limited. Not saying this is a bad thing, but this card is very weak. I think I'd like it better if it gave him straight defender +1—that way the skirmish drawback would encourage you to fight more than 1 minion just because you're going to take an exertion no matter how many people you fight.

Kingsfoil (reprint)
Possession
Bearer must be a Man.
Fellowship: Discard this possession from play to heal a companion and, if that companion is a companion, you may discard a condition he or she bears.

•Ranger's Sword, Blade of Arnor (1-of)
Possession • Hand Weapon
Str: +2
Bearer must be Aragorn.
Response: If Aragorn wins a skirmish involving a fierce minion, that minion loses fierce and cannot gain fierce until the regroup phase.

Well Defended
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot two hobbits.
Response: If a non- companion wins a skirmish, make a minion skirmishing a hobbit strength -1 (or -2 if that companion was a Man).

This card can go on forever... Needs a non-infinitely-repeatable cost.

Westernesse Dagger
Possession • Hand Weapon
Str: +1
Bearer must be a or companion.
If bearer is a Man, this weapon may be borne in addition to 1 other hand weapon.
If bearer is a Hobbit, he is strength +1.

Very nice, except that I don't think it's actually a card given that it was made by Anor not the Shire.

Events

Strength of Gondor
Event • Skirmish
Spot a companion to make a companion strength +2 (or +4 if he or she is a companion).

Look Out!
Event • Assignment
Exert a companion who is not assigned to skirmish to add that his strength to another companion's.

This card currently does nothing because the strength bonus is lost after the assignment phase. I would make it an exact copy of Friend to Sam's game text.

Protected Border
Event • Skirmish
Spot a non- companion to cancel a skirmish involving a companion.

Well Aimed Stone
Event • Archery
Exert a hobbit to exert a minion.

Herbs and Gardens
Event • Fellowship or Regroup
Heal a companion if you can spot a companion.
Heal a companion if you can spot a companion.

Hard Earned Rest [no culture] (1-of)
Event • Fellowship
Heal 2 companions (or 3 companions if the fellowship is at a sanctuary).

Got no other problems here! If I didn't comment, then I thought it was fine. I would appreciate some rarities on the cards which would make me understand them and the set a little better, but a good job overall!

An important question you're going to have to ask yourself when following through this project is "Why would I buy this product? What cards are there in the deck that make me want to have this?"

Thranduil

[eomund]

•Merry, Fast Learner (1-of)
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
While you can spot a companion, Merry is strength +2.
Skirmish: Exert Merry to make a companion strength +1.

This guy looks a tiny bit off, just because I would normally expect Merry to work with . But in the context of FotR, then obviously this does make sense. Are there any rarities for these cards?

I agree that he looks a bit off, but I made a similar justification to you (looking at FotR). However, you bring up rarities, which changes my opinions a bit. I didn't think about them when I first designed the cards (other than Frodo and Boromir), so here's my best impression of an impartial view of rarities of these cards:

Frodo, Friend to All - C
Boromir, Protector of Halflings - P
Merry, Fast Learner - U (he seems too complicated and narrow for common, but not splashy enough for rare)
Pippin, In Over His Head - U (same comment as Merry)
Aragorn, Unseen Protector - U (same comment as Merry)
Sam, Frodo's Protector - R (this Sam would nerf a draft-power-level swarm strategy too well to show up anywhere else)

Blade of Gondor, Steward's Sword - U or R
First Line of Defence - U
Kingsfoil - C
Ranger's Sword, Blade of Arnor - U or R
Well Defended - U (continuous effects like that would be overwhelming if they could be drafted in large numbers)
Westernesse Dagger - U

Strength of Gondor - C
Look Out! - U
Protected Border - C
Well Aimed Stone - C or U (depending on how annoying it turned out to be)
Herbs and Gardens - C
Hard Earned Rest - U (I feel the cultureless cards should be U or R to keep draft decks from looking too similar to eachother)

Looking at that, I'd say I'm happy with every thing except the lack of common companions. I think conditions should skew towards higher rarities, events and possessions (except unique possessions) towards lower rarities, and characters should be all over the map. I think the best thing to do is to make Merry and Pippin simpler and less narrow, so that they can be commons.

The easiest way to do that would be to drop one ability from each of them and replace with non- . I'm just not sure whether to remove the static ability or the skirmish ability. Any opinions?

•Aragorn, Unseen Protector
Companion • Man
Str: 8
Vit: 4
Ranger.
Skirmish: Exert Aragorn twice to have him replace a companion (except the Ring-bearer) skirmishing a minion.

This guy is fine in the context of this deck, but he's very limited otherwise. Is it possible to have him do something like "Exert Aragorn three times to have him replace a companion (except the Ring-bearer) in a skirmish (or exert Aragorn twice if that companion is a companion)"? Or something that does allow him to have a use in other decks?

Do you think "Exert Aragorn twice to have him replace a companion (except the Ring-bearer) in a skirmish" would be too powerful? What about a "non- " companion? I think three exertions is too steep, and the text gets very long with the "or exert Aragorn twice ..." text.

•Sam, Frodo's Protector
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
Sam and Frodo are strength +1 for each minion assigned to skirmish Frodo.
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ringbearer (resistance 5).

I don't like the fact that the bonus applies to both. I think it probably ought to just pump Sam, but if you want the card to be a bit better, then it should pump Frodo.

What don't you like about the bonus applying to both? I don't think the card would be very useful if it only pumped Sam, but only pumping Frodo could be okay. I really want this to be a counter-swarm card ... maybe something like this would be better:

•Sam, Frodo's Protector
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
Skirmish: If Sam is not assigned to a skirmish, spot Frodo skirmishing more than one minion and exert Sam twice to add his strength to Frodo's.
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ringbearer (resistance 5).

•First Line of Defence (1-of)
Condition
Bearer must be a Man.
While you can spot more minions than companions, bearer is defender +1.
Exert bearer at the start of each skirmish involving him.

Very limited. Not saying this is a bad thing, but this card is very weak. I think I'd like it better if it gave him straight defender +1—that way the skirmish drawback would encourage you to fight more than 1 minion just because you're going to take an exertion no matter how many people you fight.

I like the first drawback better than the second ... do you think it would be okay as:

•First Line of Defence (1-of)
Condition
Bearer must be a Man.
While you can spot more minions than companions, bearer is defender +1.

I think that this way, it's a card that could work in any deck, but is especially good in a mutli-culture deck. I felt this might be too strong in a deck with only one companion, which is why I originally added the second drawback.

Well Defended
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot two hobbits.
Response: If a non- companion wins a skirmish, make a minion skirmishing a hobbit strength -1 (or -2 if that companion was a Man).

This card can go on forever... Needs a non-infinitely-repeatable cost.

Oops ... here I was thinking I'd done a good job of making it sound like a LotR card by adding a response ability. I'd rather it remain no cost, but limited to once per skirmish:

Well Defended
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot two hobbits.
Whenever a non- companion wins a skirmish, make a minion assigned to skirmish a hobbit strength -1 until the regroup phase (or -2 if that companion was a Man).

(I also rephrased it so that it actually does something ... there would be no hobbits skirimishing at the time another companion wins a skirmish).

Westernesse Dagger
Possession • Hand Weapon
Str: +1
Bearer must be a or companion.
If bearer is a Man, this weapon may be borne in addition to 1 other hand weapon.
If bearer is a Hobbit, he is strength +1.

Very nice, except that I don't think it's actually a card given that it was made by Anor not the Shire.

I'm on the fence about the culture of this card ... I think that because Hobbit Sword is a card, it's okay. It's definitely something I would wait until the polishing stages of set design to handle, because I'd want the number of dual-culture cards to have some sort of pattern. Having a card like this which could be or just could be helpful in balancing the numbers.

Look Out!
Event • Assignment
Exert a companion who is not assigned to skirmish to add that his strength to another companion's.

This card currently does nothing because the strength bonus is lost after the assignment phase. I would make it an exact copy of Friend to Sam's game text.

My bad ... I had originally tried to make this card also give defender +1 (which would need the assignment phase), but that got a little crazy (as the companion would not yet be assigned to skirmish, so it would need a restriction on whether or not the companion could be assigned, but should that apply to both players, or just the FP player, and what happens if the hobbit somehow ends up in a skirmish anyway, etc.), so I aimed to match Friend to Sam's game text. Obviously I forgot to update the type along with the text.

In case you were also commenting on the number of exertions, I think because it's an event (and therefore harder to repeat), a single exertion is okay.

Got no other problems here! If I didn't comment, then I thought it was fine. I would appreciate some rarities on the cards which would make me understand them and the set a little better, but a good job overall!

An important question you're going to have to ask yourself when following through this project is "Why would I buy this product? What cards are there in the deck that make me want to have this?"

Thranduil

Thanks again for the comments, Thranduil. I hope the volume of cards is not what's daunting other people ... if it is, I welcome comments on individual cards, not just entire decks.

I think the rarities at the top of this post still hold, except for Merry and Pippin; hopefully the changes I suggested make them wholly common. I'd love to know what you think about the rarities, as I'm not 100% sure on any of the rarities I assigned ... I just went with my gut feelings on them.

As for "Why would I buy this product?", that is a good question. It's a tough question to answer, because obviously I'm trying to make cards I would want to own. Based on previous forum discussions I think the idea of multi-cultural decks is something people are at least intruiged by, so I expect that would be the biggest draw for people.

The Cirith Ungol shadow is currently going through a bit of an overhaul (a couple days ago I figured out a much better mechanic for them), so it'll still be a day or two before I post them. Which is probably fine, because this post ended up long again.

[Thranduil]

Frodo, Friend to All - C
Boromir, Protector of Halflings - P
Merry, Fast Learner - U (he seems too complicated and narrow for common, but not splashy enough for rare)
Pippin, In Over His Head - U (same comment as Merry)
Aragorn, Unseen Protector - U (same comment as Merry)
Sam, Frodo's Protector - R (this Sam would nerf a draft-power-level swarm strategy too well to show up anywhere else)

Blade of Gondor, Steward's Sword - U or R
First Line of Defence - U
Kingsfoil - C
Ranger's Sword, Blade of Arnor - U or R
Well Defended - U (continuous effects like that would be overwhelming if they could be drafted in large numbers)
Westernesse Dagger - U

Strength of Gondor - C
Look Out! - U
Protected Border - C
Well Aimed Stone - C or U (depending on how annoying it turned out to be)
Herbs and Gardens - C
Hard Earned Rest - U (I feel the cultureless cards should be U or R to keep draft decks from looking too similar to eachother)

Yes I like Merry and Pippin being common. Not sure why Westernesse Dagger couldn't be C though. If multiculture is your theme, then make it your theme at common!

Do you think "Exert Aragorn twice to have him replace a companion (except the Ring-bearer) in a skirmish" would be too powerful? What about a "non- " companion?

Both of those would be fine for R. Exerting Aragorn twice to replace a companion is not too powerful—he's Aragorn! He's supposed to be flashy and awesome.

What don't you like about the bonus applying to both? I don't think the card would be very useful if it only pumped Sam, but only pumping Frodo could be okay. I really want this to be a counter-swarm card ... maybe something like this would be better:

•Sam, Frodo's Protector
Companion • Hobbit
Str: 3
Vit: 4
Skirmish: If Sam is not assigned to a skirmish, spot Frodo skirmishing more than one minion and exert Sam twice to add his strength to Frodo's.
Response: If Frodo is killed, make Sam the Ringbearer (resistance 5).

It wasn't the power level, it was the aesthetics. I like this version much better. I like this Friend to Sam sub-theme in !

•First Line of Defence (1-of)
Condition
Bearer must be a Man.
While you can spot more minions than companions, bearer is defender +1.

I think that this way, it's a card that could work in any deck, but is especially good in a mutli-culture deck. I felt this might be too strong in a deck with only one companion, which is why I originally added the second drawback.

I think this is fine—it's still unique. Also this is a well-designed deep card: you have to think about it for a little to notice that this is good in multiculture.

Oops ... here I was thinking I'd done a good job of making it sound like a LotR card by adding a response ability. I'd rather it remain no cost, but limited to once per skirmish:

Well Defended
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot two hobbits.
Whenever a non- companion wins a skirmish, make a minion assigned to skirmish a hobbit strength -1 until the regroup phase (or -2 if that companion was a Man).

(I also rephrased it so that it actually does something ... there would be no hobbits skirimishing at the time another companion wins a skirmish).

It's grating on me that half of this card cares about culture and the other half race. I think it should all be culture. But good fix otherwise.

As for "Why would I buy this product?", that is a good question. It's a tough question to answer, because obviously I'm trying to make cards I would want to own. Based on previous forum discussions I think the idea of multi-cultural decks is something people are at least intruiged by, so I expect that would be the biggest draw for people.

The thing I was thinking about in particular is that you need some flashy cards to "sell" the set, not just themes.

Thranduil

[eomund]

I put Westernesse Dagger at uncommon because of its volume of text; nothing is terrible complex, there's just a lot of it. Well Defended cares about Men because I want to leave space for a Pippin, and I'm not sure I would want him triggering the condition. It's not something I've given a huge amount of thought to, just my gut feeling.

Finally, here is the Cirith Ungol Shadow that goes with the FP. I threw in Shelob because I think she'd play well in this shadow, plus it's flavourful that she gets paired with the Cirith Ungol Orcs and Uruks.

Minions

Cirith Ungol Bully (common)
Minion • Uruk-Hai
Str: 9
Vit: 3
Site: 6
Damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Cirith Ungol Bully and your minion of lower strength to make each strength +2 until the regroup phase.

Cirith Ungol Rabblerouser (uncommon)
Minion • Uruk-Hai
Str: 11
Vit: 3
Site: 6
Damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Cirith Ungol Bully and your minion of lower strength to make each strength +2 until the regroup phase.

Cirith Ungol Inciter (uncommon)
Minion • Uruk-Hai
Str: 14
Vit: 2
Site: 6
Damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Cirith Ungol Bully and your minion of lower strength to make each fierce until the regroup phase.

Cirith Ungol Sentry (common reprint)
Minion • Uruk-Hai
Str: 8
Vit: 2
Site: 6
Damage +1.

•Shagrat, Inciting Captain (rare)
Minion • Uruk-Hai
Str: 13
Vit: 3
Site: 6
Damage +1.
While you can spot Gorbag, Shagrat is fierce.
Skirmish: Exert Shagrat twice and each of your Orcs once to make Shagrat strength +2 for each minion exerted this way.

Cirith Ungol Taunter (common)
Minion • Orc
Str: 7
Vit: 2
Site: 4
Whenever Cirith Ungol Taunter is exerted, you may make it strength +2 and fierce until the regroup phase.

Cirith Ungol Brawler (common)
Minion • Orc
Str: 8
Vit: 3
Site: 4
Whenever Cirith Ungol Brawler is exerted, you may make it strength +2 until the regroup phase.

Cirith Ungol Scrapper (uncommon)
Minion • Orc
Str: 9
Vit: 3
Site: 4
Whenever Cirith Ungol Scrapper is exerted, you may make it damage +1 until the regroup phase.

•Gorbag, Brawl Starter (rare)
Minion • Orc
Str: 11
Vit: 3
Site: 4
While you can spot Shagrat, Gorbag is fierce
Gorbag is strength +1 for each wound on each of your Uruk-Hai.

•Shelob, Always Hungry (rare)
Minion • Spider
Str: 8
Vit: 8
Site: 8
Enduring. Fierce.
Skirmish: Discard your minion to make Shelob strength +3.

Conditions and Events

Tried to Knife Me! (uncommon)
Event • Skirmish
Discard your minion to make a Uruk-Hai strength +4 (and heal that Uruk-Hai if the discarded minion was a Orc).

Blade in Your Gut (common)
Event • Skirmish
Exert your Orc to make a minion strength +2.

•Tower of Cirith Ungol (rare)
Condition • Support Area
Shadow: Discard this condition at any site 8 or 9 to play a minion and/or a minion from hand. Those minions are twilight cost -2.

Revenge [No Culture] (common)
Event • Skirmish
Make a minion strength +2 for each wound on that minion.

Shiny Trinket [No Culture] (uncommon)
Event • Response
If your Orc or Uruk-Hai wins a skirmish, exert it to discard a possession borne by a character in that skirmish. Add , where X is the twilight cost of the discarded possession.

[Thranduil]

Cirith Ungol Bully (common)
Minion • Uruk-Hai
Str: 9
Vit: 3
Site: 6
Damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Cirith Ungol Bully and your minion of lower strength to make each strength +2 until the regroup phase.

Most of the time for common characters (unlike in MTG), you don't mention the name of the character in the text, but say "this character". Also "lower strength" is ambiguous. Lower than what? I would go for:

Skirmish: Exert this minion and another of your minions with strength less than 9 to make each of those minions strength +2 until the regroup phase.

But I'm even then not sure it's worth the extra text that this requires. What's wrong with "Skirmish: Exert this minion to make a minion with strength less than 9 (or 8 or less?) strength +2"?

Cirith Ungol Rabblerouser (uncommon)
Minion • Uruk-Hai
Str: 11
Vit: 3
Site: 6
Damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Cirith Ungol Bully and your minion of lower strength to make each strength +2 until the regroup phase.

Again see what I said above. I'm not sure about the flavour your trying to get across, and if people don't get it at first glance, chances are it's too subtle. You're presumably trying to capture the Uruks and Orcs teaming up? You also forgot to change the guy's title in the text, and in any case it should say "this minion".

Cirith Ungol Inciter (uncommon)
Minion • Uruk-Hai
Str: 14
Vit: 2
Site: 6
Damage +1.
Skirmish: Exert Cirith Ungol Bully and your minion of lower strength to make each fierce until the regroup phase.

With all the provisos I mentioned above, sure.

Cirith Ungol Sentry (common reprint)
Minion • Uruk-Hai
Str: 8
Vit: 2
Site: 6
Damage +1.

Broken as anything! How could you possibly design such a ridiculous card?

•Shagrat, Inciting Captain (rare)
Minion • Uruk-Hai
Str: 13
Vit: 3
Site: 6
Damage +1.
While you can spot Gorbag, Shagrat is fierce.
Skirmish: Exert Shagrat twice and each of your Orcs once to make Shagrat strength +2 for each minion exerted this way.

This guy I like. No messy "of lower strength" or anything like that. I think I might have it "Exert Shagrat twice and any number of your Orcs" for power, though I suppose for the fighting flavour you probably want it as is.

Cirith Ungol Taunter (common)
Minion • Orc
Str: 7
Vit: 2
Site: 4
Whenever Cirith Ungol Taunter is exerted, you may make it strength +2 and fierce until the regroup phase.

Sure...? This is a weird ability, coming out of the blue on a common creature... Nothing inherently wrong with that, it just does seem crazy, especially if you haven't already seen the Uruk-hai.

Cirith Ungol Brawler (common)
Minion • Orc
Str: 8
Vit: 3
Site: 4
Whenever Cirith Ungol Brawler is exerted, you may make it strength +2 until the regroup phase.

See above.

Cirith Ungol Scrapper (uncommon)
Minion • Orc
Str: 9
Vit: 3
Site: 4
Whenever Cirith Ungol Scrapper is exerted, you may make it damage +1 until the regroup phase.

Again see above. Doesn't need to to be U either.

•Gorbag, Brawl Starter (rare)
Minion • Orc
Str: 11
Vit: 3
Site: 4
While you can spot Shagrat, Gorbag is fierce
Gorbag is strength +1 for each wound on each of your Uruk-Hai.

I love it! So far, I've loved your flagship guys but been seriously underwhelmed by their grunts. I'd like to see a different way of capturing their wounding and fighting flavours.

•Shelob, Always Hungry (rare)
Minion • Spider
Str: 8
Vit: 8
Site: 8
Enduring. Fierce.
Skirmish: Discard your minion to make Shelob strength +3.

Yep, love it.

Tried to Knife Me! (uncommon)
Event • Skirmish
Discard your minion to make a Uruk-Hai strength +4 (and heal that Uruk-Hai if the discarded minion was a Orc).

Sure. I don't think has ever done healing before, but in a strategy that cares about exerting your guys it might be okay. Still, I might like another bonus instead.

Blade in Your Gut (common)
Event • Skirmish
Exert your Orc to make a minion strength +2.

Yeah cool.

•Tower of Cirith Ungol (rare)
Condition • Support Area
Shadow: Discard this condition at any site 8 or 9 to play a minion and/or a minion from hand. Those minions are twilight cost -2.

Probably should read:

Shadow: If the fellowship is at any site 8 or 9, discard this condition to play a and/or a minion from your hand; those minions are twilight cost -2.

But I think it's a great card.

Revenge [No Culture] (common)
Event • Skirmish
Make a minion strength +2 for each wound on that minion.

Yep, brilliant. Might cost it for no enforcement whatsoever.

Shiny Trinket [No Culture] (uncommon)
Event • Response
If your Orc or Uruk-Hai wins a skirmish, exert it to discard a possession borne by a character in that skirmish. Add , where X is the twilight cost of the discarded possession.

Sure. I think my problem with this might be that it looks like it could be an card.

Thranduil