Scratch-pad for brainstorming ideas

[Tbiesty]

I just wanted to have a place (sort of a scratch-pad off to the side) to organize some ideas for now.
At this point, it's a brainstorming session to flush out ideas (included many that I've tried out in the past).
This would remove the need for any R-list or X-list for any of the set 1-10 formats.

If you have any thoughts, or other suggestions, feel free to chime in.

•Aggression                      
Condition • Support Area
While you have initiative, each Dwarf is
damage +1.
Fellowship: Spot a Dwarf and
discard this condition to draw a card.

•Aragorn, Heir to the White City
Companion • Man
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ranger.
Each time the fellowship moves during
the fellowship phase, you may exert
Aragorn to remove .

[3K] Base of Mindolluin
Sanctuary. Fellowship: If you cannot spot 2 threats, add a
threat to play a fortification from your draw deck (limit 2).

•Bill the Pony
Possession
Bearer must be Sam.
The Shadow number of each site is -1.
Discard Bill the Pony when at an
underground site.

•Elrond, Lord of Rivendell
Ally • Home 3 • Elf
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
To play, spot Gandalf or an Elf.
At the start of each of your turns, heal
every ally whose home is site 3.
Fellowship: Exert Elrond twice to draw
a card.

•Filibert Bolger, Wily Rascal
Ally • Home 1 • Hobbit
Strength: 1
Vitality: 2
Skirmish: Exert Filibert Bolger and
exert a Hobbit companion twice to
cancel a fierce skirmish involving that
Hobbit companion.

Flaming Brand
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength: +1
Bearer must be a Man.
If bearer is Aragorn, he may bear this
weapon in addition to 1 other hand
weapon, and he is strength +2 and
damage +1 while skirmishing a Nazgul.

Forces of Mordor
Event
Shadow: Spot X roaming minions
to add (limit ).

Frying Pan
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength: +1
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
Skirmish: If bearer is Sam, exert
him to wound a Orc he is skirmishing.

•Galadriel, Lady of Light
Ally • Home 6 • Elf
Strength: 3
Vitality: 3
At the start of each of your turns, heal
every ally whose home is site 6.
Fellowship: Exert Galadriel to play an
Elf ally. Its twilight cost is -2.

•Horn of Boromir
Possession
Bearer must be Boromir.
Maneuver: Exert Boromir, discard this
possession, and spot an ally. Until the
regroup phase, that ally is strength +3
and participates in archery fire and
skirmishes.

•Memories of Darkness
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot a Dwarf.
Each time you lose initiative (except
during the fellowship phase), you may
play a condition from hand.

Mordor Fiend
Minion • Orc
Strength: 9
Vitality: 3
Site: 6
Shadow: If you cannot spot another
minion and there are 3 or fewer twilight
tokens, add (or if this minion is
roaming) (limit once per phase).

•No Stranger to the Shadows
Condition
Bearer must be a ranger.
Each site's Shadow number is -1.

•O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
Condition
Strength: +1
Tale. Bearer must be the Ring-bearer.
Skirmish: If the Ring-bearer is wearing
The One Ring, discard this condition to
take off The One Ring or cancel a
skirmish involving the Ring-bearer and
a Nazgul.

•Ottar, Man of Laketown
Ally • Home 3 • Man
Strength: 2
Vitality: 2
To play, spot Gandalf.
Fellowship: Exert Ottar and discard a
card from hand to draw a card.

Relics of Moria
Condition
Plays to your support area.
Shadow: Remove to play a
possession from your discard pile
(limit once per phase).

•Saruman, Keeper of Isengard
Minion • Wizard
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Site: 4
Saruman may not take wounds during
the archery phase and may not be
assigned to a skirmish.
While you can spot 5 companions,
Uruk-hai are fierce.
Response: If an Uruk-hai is about to
take a wound, exert Saruman to prevent
that wound.

Savagery to Match Their Numbers
Event
Skirmish: Make an Uruk-hai strength
+2, or spot 5 companions to make an
Uruk-hai strength +4 and fierce until
the regroup phase.

•Sting
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength: +2
Bearer must be Frodo.
Fellowship or Regroup: Exert Frodo
to reveal 4 cards at random from an
opponent's hand. Remove for each
Orc revealed (limit ).

•The Palantir of Orthanc
Artifact • Palantir
To play, spot an minion. Plays to
your support area.
Shadow: Spot an minion and remove
to reveal a card at random from the
Free Peoples player's hand. Place that
card on top of that player's draw deck.

•Ulaire Nertea, Messenger of Dol Guldur
Minion • Nazgul
When you play Ulaire Nertea, you may
spot 5 companions and another Nazgul
to play a minion from your discard pile.

•Uruk Regular
Minion • Uruk-hai
Strength: 8
Vitality: 2
Site: 5
Damage +1.
Shadow: Exert this minion to play an
Uruk-hai; its twilight cost is -1 for each
other Uruk-hai you can spot.


Not "officially" banned in Movie, but worth considering an erratum:

•Galadriel, Lady Redeemed
Companion • Elf
Strength: 3
Vitality: 3
To play, spot 3 Elves.
Fellowship or Regroup: Exert Galadriel
and discard an event from hand
to discard a Shadow condition or
Shadow possession.


Errata that would "cleanup" some abusive strategies/loops:

-Add (limit once per phase) to each of the "Each time you lose initiative" conditions.
-Change New Chapter to heal a Hobbit companion instead of any companion.


Errata that would make a card actually playable again:

-Change Frenzy of Arrows to spot an minion and only add 1 (instead of 2) to archery for given cases.

[Ringbearer]

Dont restrict cards. That is confusing and unneccesary.

[TelTura]

I just wanted to have a place (sort of a scratch-pad off to the side) to organize some ideas for now.
At this point, it's a brainstorming session to flush out ideas (included many that I've tried out in the past).

If you have any thoughts, or other suggestions, feel free to chime in.

Don't mind if I do.

Elrond, Lord of Rivendell  (restricted to 1 per deck; or errata:  exert twice to draw a card)

I think the errata is better.  I'm personally not a fan of limiting access to a card; if it's OP it's usually OP regardless of number (some obvious exceptions to the rule) and limiting how often you can access the OP'ness is kind of a kludge in my opinion.

Galadriel, Lady of Light  (errata:  exert to play Elven ally at -2)

Or even errata'd to "Exert Galadriel X times to play an Elf; that Elf's twilight cost is -X".  

Ottar, Man of Laketown  (restricted to 1 per deck; or errata:  while you can spot Elrond, Ottar cannot heal)

The solution is kind of awkward, perhaps "Ottar can only be healed by cards" would be better (although I don't even recall if there is such a thing for ally healing.  At any rate Elrond really is the reason he needs adjustment, but no need to specifically call him out on it).

No Stranger to the Shadows  (restricted to 1 per deck)

I'd prefer something like "If you choose to reconcile, if you can spot more companions than minions, discard this condition".

Savagery to Match Their Numbers  (restricted to 1 per deck)

Or perhaps "Skirmish: Make an Uruk-hai strength +2, or, if you can spot 5 companions, exert 2 Uruk-hai to make an Uruk-hai strength +4 and fierce until the regroup phase.

Relics of Moria  (restricted to 1 per deck)

Not sure what's wrong with this one, but if you need to restrict it, make it unique (thus causing clog with multiples in hand and forcing them to discard anyway) or increase the cost to , or both.

Ulaire Nertea, Messenger of Dol Guldur  (errata: when you play, if you can spot another minion,...)

Perfect.

Forces of Mordor  (restricted to 1 per deck)

perhaps errata'd to "Exert a orc and spot X Minions to remove X.  The Free Peoples player may discard a condition to prevent this."  I don't play as much expanded and I imagine that's what the limitation is for, since twilight flows easier in that format.

Sting  (errata:  reveal 4 cards at random from opponent's hand)

Or maybe "Exert bearer to reveal an opponent's hand.  You may exert bearer again to remove for every orc revealed."  Or is it the revealing itself that's being limited?  If that's the case than your solution is elegant.

Flaming Brand  (restricted to 1 per deck; or errata: bearer must be aragorn; or errata: cannot be borne with another hand weapon)

I posted in another thread: "Bearer must be a Man.  Limit one per bearer.  This weapon may be borne in addition to one other hand weapon.  Bearer is strength +1 when skirmishing a Nazgul (or if bearer is a Ranger, strength +2 and damage +1"  Alternatively, "Bearer must be a Ranger.  This weapon may be born in addition to one other hand weapon.  Response:If a skirmish involving a Nazgul is about to end, exert bearer and discard this possession to wound that Nazgul."

Filibert Bolger, Wily Rascal  (good as is; or new rule: cannot cancel Ring-bearer's skirmishes at any site 9)

Or perhaps "Exert Filibert Bolger and exert a Hobbit Companion (except the Ring-bearer) twice to cancel a fierce skirmish involving that hobbit.

O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!  (good as is; or new rule: cannot cancel Ring-bearer's skirmishes at any site 9)

We could make it more like hobbit stealth "Skirmish: Discard this condition to take off the One Ring. Skirmish: At sites 1-5, discard this condition to cancel a skirmish involving the Ring-bearer and a Nazgul.  At any other site, discard this condition to make bearer strength +3 if skirmishing a Nazgul"

Aragorn, Heir to the White City  (errata:  you may exert to remove 2)

Good.

Horn of Boromir  (errata: discard after using)

You got it right.  Put it in the cost, of course, but that will help avoid abuse a lot, I think.

Saruman, Keeper of Isengard  (errata:  while you can spot 5 companions, Uruk-hai are fierce; or errata: exert Saruman to make an Uruk-hai fierce until regroup)

I think maybe both your errata's should be mixed.  "If you can spot 5 companions, exert Saruman to make an Uruk-hai fierce until the regroup phase."

The Palantir of Orthanc  (errata: remove 3 instead of 1)

Or perhaps "Spot an minion and remove to reveal a card from the Free Peoples player's hand.  You may remove to place that card on top of the Free People's deck."

Bill the Pony  (restricted to 1 per deck; or errata: bearer must be Sam)

I think the errata is elegant.  Makes you wonder why they didn't do that in the first place; Sam's the only one that cared about the darn thing.  For additional flavor you could do "When Bill the Pony is discarded from play, exert Sam."

Frying Pan  (restricted to 1 per deck; or errata: bearer must be Sam)

or "Bearer must be a Ring-bound Hobbit", either way.

Uruk Regular  (restricted to 1 per deck)

or perhaps "Exert this minion and X Uruk-hai (except enduring Uruk-hai) to play an Uruk-hai minon; that minion's twilight cost is -X."

Steadfast Champion  (errata: may not be played during regroup phase)

and perhaps:
"Bearer must be Gandalf.  Each minion gains this ability: "Assignment: Assign this minion to Gandalf to make this minion strength +1 until the regroup phase."  At the start of the Regroup phase, you may discard this condition to discard a minion and heal an unbound companion 3 times"

Aggression  (restricted to 1 per deck)

Make it unique and turn the cost from spot to exert.  

Memories of Darkness  (errata:  limit once per turn; or errata: only can play condition from hand)

or maybe "Each time you lose initiative (except during the fellowship phase), you may play a condition from hand or exert a Dwarf to play a condition from your discard pile."

Galadriel, Lady Redeemed  (errata: exert twice and discard Elven event)

Good errata.  I would also decrease the twilight cost while in the starting fellowship to -2.

Mordor Fiend  (errata:  limit once per turn)

Or "exert this minion to..."

Gondorian Captain  (errata: limit once per turn)

Or "At the start of your fellowship phase..."




All in all, pretty good.  It'd be nice if this could be implemented and a testing realm be set up.

[TelTura]

Dont restrict cards. That is confusing and unneccesary.

And is, unfortunately, how a lot of the official rulings were made, but I agree with you.  If it's gonna be fixed, fix it all the way, don't do it half-assed.

[Ringbearer]

TO be honest I am fan of neither errata or restriction, as it creates a confusion with people who dont visit these boards. Also I dont think allowing these cards will seriously do anything to the meta. People will still play the same things, simply because its good.

The only thing that would spice up the format is creating complete new cards, but thats a whole new ballgame.

[Vroengard]

My playgroup plays the Cards as they are and just with our personal forbidden-list, for example:

Galadriel, Lady Redeemed


thats it, and we have own errata for example for Frenzy of Arrows, it spots an Orc and just adds +1 to the archery and +1 additional for every follower to spot. Thats pretty good but not broken as it was before.

[TelTura]

Errata and restriction are not really as important for smaller groups except for when you have that one #$&*@! that likes to take advantage of it.  However, in a bigger group like this, if there's an exploit that's just OP, it needs to be taken care of for the health of the community as a whole. 

If we were still on GCCG, I would agree with you two about minimizing changes, but in a format that is enforced like Gemp, I think it's a lot easier and intuitive.  The one thing I would like to be changed is to make it more obvious when a card is errata'd...the game, for being based on a visual medium such as cards, has a really unintuitive manner of looking at them.  Checking and combing each individual card on the table is the only way to do it, and while I have no problem with that, the current method is slow and clunky. 

At any rate, so long as it was done behind the scenes as transparently as possible, there shouldn't be much of a problem.  I might suggest putting red borders on an errata'd card, though, or something like that that could be toggled in the options menu.

[Tbiesty]

Made a couple more updates...

I might suggest putting red borders on an errata'd card...

I think that it be could be very useful, at least while things are being tested out; sort of a reminder to "pay attention to this".
I've tried out overlaying a red border on the actual card images and it works well.  Who knows, perhaps Gemp-Lotr itself could overlay a border over the image like you said (based on an option the user could toggle).  Neat idea.

[Ringbearer]

Lets make one thing sure beforehand: I seriously dont like erratas on cards, and I hope they will not be forced trough on GEmp, cause then I will quit, BUT I will give an honest review.

•Aggression                      
Condition • Support Area
While you have initiative, Gimli is
damage +1.
Fellowship: Spot a Dwarf who is
damage +X to draw X cards. Discard this
condition.

I find this card tackled on the wrong way. The banhammer was a result of the extreme card draws. The card drawing is the problem, not the damage +x bonus. There are enough ways already to make a dwarf damage +4 easily, so its still a 4 card drawing that can be played 4-of.

•Aragorn, Heir to the White City
Companion • Man
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ranger.
Each time the fellowship moves during
the fellowship phase, you may exert
Aragorn to remove .

This might work, its still playable but how much compared to a ranger of the north I dont know. There is enough healing in the block to make it work, and a choked fellowship simply wont face much.

•Bill the Pony
Possession
Bearer must be Sam.
The Shadow number of each site is -1.
Discard Bill the Pony when at an
underground site.

Actually a simple but elegant solution.

•Elrond, Lord of Rivendell
Ally • Home 3 • Elf
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
To play, spot Gandalf or an Elf.
At the start of each of your turns, heal
every ally whose home is site 3.
Fellowship: Exert Elrond twice to draw
a card.

Hmmm. I think the card is still playable, but borderline. It depends ont he healing, and a shoulder fire package can still very much abuse the card drawing, but its more situational.

•Filibert Bolger, Wily Rascal
Ally • Home 1 • Hobbit
Strength: 1
Vitality: 2
Skirmish: Exert Filibert Bolger and
exert a Hobbit companion twice to
cancel a fierce skirmish involving that
Hobbit companion.

Might be still too strong for hobbit decks in FOTR block. They have enough helaing for allies as it is.

•Flaming Brand
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength: +1
Bearer must be a Man.
This weapon may be borne in addition
to 1 other hand weapon.
Bearer is strength +2 and damage +1
while skirmishing a Nazgul.

Not sure if it is strong enough to restrict its play on the table. I still find it a very powerful card that effective shuts down a lot of strategies.

Forces of Mordor
Event
Shadow: Spot X roaming minions
to add .

Still ridiculously good with roaming orc strategy. I would tackle it in another way, probably with a cap to twilight addition.

Frying Pan
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength: +1
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
Skirmish: Exert bearer to wound a
Orc he or she is skirmishing.

Exactly the errata it doesnt need. It was banned cause it cancels out the entire moria block. Other orcs suffer much less from it compared to Moria.

•Galadriel, Lady of Light
Ally • Home 6 • Elf
Strength: 3
Vitality: 3
At the start of each of your turns, heal
every ally whose home is site 6.
Fellowship: Exert Galadriel to play an
Elf ally. Its twilight cost is -2.

Still ridiculously good, cause all the other elven allies cost 2. The problem didnt lie in the playing companions, its the huge healing factor.

•Galadriel, Lady Redeemed
Companion • Elf
Strength: 3
Vitality: 3
When Galadriel is in your starting
fellowship, her twilight cost is -3.
Fellowship or Regroup: Exert Galadriel
twice and discard an event from
hand to discard a Shadow condition or
Shadow possession.

She is seriously neutered into implayability. Exert once could have been enough.

Gondorian Captain
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Knight.
Fellowship: Discard a fortification to
remove a threat (limit once per turn).

I would rather cap the Base of Mindolluin to twice per turn then this guy. He was already unplayable, and it didnt get any better.

•Horn of Boromir
Possession
Bearer must be Boromir.
Maneuver: Exert Boromir, discard this
possession, and spot an ally. Until the
regroup phase, that ally is strength +3
and participates in archery fire and
skirmishes.

I think an elegant solution. People can still play 4, but the effect is much less.

•Memories of Darkness
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot a Dwarf.
Each time you lose initiative (except
during the fellowship phase), you may
play a condition from hand.

Its probably unplayable, but I dont see a decent way to solve it either.

Mordor Fiend
Minion • Orc
Strength: 9
Vitality: 3
Site: 6
Shadow: If you cannot spot another
minion and there are 3 or fewer twilight
tokens, add (or if this minion is
roaming) (limit once per phase).

Its now even worse than a goblin runner. Its unplayable.

•No Stranger to the Shadows
Condition
Bearer must be a ranger.
Each site's Shadow number is -1.

A solution that probably will work, unsure tho if people will still play it.

•O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
Condition
Strength: +1
Tale. Bearer must be the Ring-bearer.
Skirmish: If the Ring-bearer is wearing
The One Ring, discard this condition to
take off The One Ring or cancel a
skirmish involving the Ring-bearer and
a Nazgul.

This card creates an oxymoron in movie, as ringbearers skirmishes cannot be cancelled. Also, in fellowship the ring putting on is a response to a wound, in which you cannot cancel annymore. It might have a niche use in Towers Standard but as a whole: unplayable.

•Ottar, Man of Laketown
Ally • Home 3 • Man
Strength: 2
Vitality: 2
To play, spot Gandalf.
Fellowship: Exert Ottar and discard up
to 3 cards from hand to draw a card.

Unplayable. Not worth the slot in any deck that I can think of.

Relics of Moria
Condition
Plays to your support area.
Shadow: Remove to play a
possession from your discard pile
(limit once per phase).

Might be a good solution, tho i dont know for sure.

•Saruman, Keeper of Isengard
Minion • Wizard
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Site: 4
Saruman may not take wounds during
the archery phase and may not be
assigned to a skirmish.
While you can spot 5 companions,
Uruk-hai are fierce.
Response: If an Uruk-hai is about to
take a wound, exert Saruman to prevent
that wound.

A nice solution, tho it creates a problem when there is a fierce skirmish and someone dies. I would reword it to: shadow Spot 5 companies to make each uruk fierce until the regroup phase.

[skirmish] Savagery to Match Their Numbers
Event
Skirmish: Make an Uruk-hai strength
+2, or spot 5 companions to make an
Uruk-hai strength +4 and fierce until
the regroup phase.

Upping the cost doesnt really work if all uruk players play sarumans ambition.

•Sting
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength: +2
Bearer must be Frodo.
Fellowship or Regroup: Exert Frodo to
reveal 4 cards at random from an
opponent's hand. Remove for each
Orc revealed (limit ).

Still too good. The probelm with sting was that its always playable, and hobbit vitality usually isnt an issue.

•The Palantir of Orthanc
Artifact • Palantir
To play, spot an minion. Plays to
your support area.
Shadow: Spot an minion and remove
to reveal a card at random from the
Free Peoples player's hand. Place that
card on top of that player's draw deck.

A difficult card to errata but in this way its rendered unplayable. 2 probably would have been enough.

•Ulaire Nertea, Messenger of Dol Guldur
Minion • Nazgul
When you play Ulaire Nertea, if you can
spot another Nazgul, you may play 1
minion from your discard pile for each
companion over 4.

Unsure if this is enough as swarm decks can still find a way to incorporate a second nazgul if needed.

•Uruk Regular
Minion • Uruk-hai
Strength: 8
Vitality: 2
Site: 5
Damage +1.
Shadow: Exert this minion to play an
Uruk-hai; its twilight cost is -1 for each
other Uruk-hai you can spot.

I dont think this card needs such an errata. Outside towers standard the card is fine as it is, and with the deep of helm its still ridiculous.


IN short, some erratas are nice, but there are enough erratas that make a card unplayable, in which I wouldnt errata is cause people wont play it anyways.

[Tbiesty]

Lets make one thing sure beforehand: I seriously dont like erratas on cards, and I hope they will not be forced trough on GEmp, cause then I will quit, BUT I will give an honest review.

Thanks for the review.  I seriously doubt you would quit.  But if you do, GCCG is still there (and forever unchanging) for your use.

•Aggression                      
Condition • Support Area
While you have initiative, Gimli is
damage +1.
Fellowship: Spot a Dwarf who is
damage +X to draw X cards. Discard this
condition.

I find this card tackled on the wrong way. The banhammer was a result of the extreme card draws. The card drawing is the problem, not the damage +x bonus. There are enough ways already to make a dwarf damage +4 easily, so its still a 4 card drawing that can be played 4-of.

Good point. Just what I needed to know.  Updated to limit card drawing instead...

•Aragorn, Heir to the White City
Companion • Man
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Signet: Frodo
Ranger.
Each time the fellowship moves during
the fellowship phase, you may exert
Aragorn to remove .

This might work, its still playable but how much compared to a ranger of the north I dont know. There is enough healing in the block to make it work, and a choked fellowship simply wont face much.

Good. Then this is likely a good balance.

•Bill the Pony
Possession
Bearer must be Sam.
The Shadow number of each site is -1.
Discard Bill the Pony when at an
underground site.

Actually a simple but elegant solution.

Great!

•Elrond, Lord of Rivendell
Ally • Home 3 • Elf
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
To play, spot Gandalf or an Elf.
At the start of each of your turns, heal
every ally whose home is site 3.
Fellowship: Exert Elrond twice to draw
a card.

Hmmm. I think the card is still playable, but borderline. It depends ont he healing, and a shoulder fire package can still very much abuse the card drawing, but its more situational.

Good. Then this is likely a good balance.

•Filibert Bolger, Wily Rascal
Ally • Home 1 • Hobbit
Strength: 1
Vitality: 2
Skirmish: Exert Filibert Bolger and
exert a Hobbit companion twice to
cancel a fierce skirmish involving that
Hobbit companion.

Might be still too strong for hobbit decks in FOTR block. They have enough helaing for allies as it is.

Good.  I'm not out to affect FOTR block too much, but still keeping things in check.

•Flaming Brand
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength: +1
Bearer must be a Man.
This weapon may be borne in addition
to 1 other hand weapon.
Bearer is strength +2 and damage +1
while skirmishing a Nazgul.

Not sure if it is strong enough to restrict its play on the table. I still find it a very powerful card that effective shuts down a lot of strategies.

Good.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

Forces of Mordor
Event
Shadow: Spot X roaming minions
to add .

Still ridiculously good with roaming orc strategy. I would tackle it in another way, probably with a cap to twilight addition.

Good point.  Updated to add cap to twilight...

•Frying Pan
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength: +1
Bearer must be a Hobbit.
Skirmish: Exert bearer to wound a
Orc he or she is skirmishing.

Exactly the errata it doesnt need. It was banned cause it cancels out the entire moria block. Other orcs suffer much less from it compared to Moria.

This card was intended to counter moria, but they made it too general.  Updated to unique...

•Galadriel, Lady of Light
Ally • Home 6 • Elf
Strength: 3
Vitality: 3
At the start of each of your turns, heal
every ally whose home is site 6.
Fellowship: Exert Galadriel to play an
Elf ally. Its twilight cost is -2.

Still ridiculously good, cause all the other elven allies cost 2. The problem didnt lie in the playing companions, its the huge healing factor.

Good.  I'm not out to affect FOTR block too much, but still keeping things in check.

•Galadriel, Lady Redeemed
Companion • Elf
Strength: 3
Vitality: 3
When Galadriel is in your starting
fellowship, her twilight cost is -3.
Fellowship or Regroup: Exert Galadriel
twice and discard an event from
hand to discard a Shadow condition or
Shadow possession.

She is seriously neutered into implayability. Exert once could have been enough.

With the healing available, and as useful as she is, I think two exertions is best.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

Gondorian Captain
Companion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 3
Knight.
Fellowship: Discard a fortification to
remove a threat (limit once per turn).

I would rather cap the Base of Mindolluin to twice per turn then this guy. He was already unplayable, and it didnt get any better.

The point wasn't to make a weak card way better.  If he's no good, you don't have to use him.  But now you at least have the choice.

•Horn of Boromir
Possession
Bearer must be Boromir.
Maneuver: Exert Boromir, discard this
possession, and spot an ally. Until the
regroup phase, that ally is strength +3
and participates in archery fire and
skirmishes.

I think an elegant solution. People can still play 4, but the effect is much less.

Good.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

•Memories of Darkness
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot a Dwarf.
Each time you lose initiative (except
during the fellowship phase), you may
play a condition from hand.

Its probably unplayable, but I dont see a decent way to solve it either.

The ability to still play conditions like Dark Ways from hand (after you moved) can still be useful.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

Mordor Fiend
Minion • Orc
Strength: 9
Vitality: 3
Site: 6
Shadow: If you cannot spot another
minion and there are 3 or fewer twilight
tokens, add (or if this minion is
roaming) (limit once per phase).

Its now even worse than a goblin runner. Its unplayable.

Now he works the way he was intended.  (Goblin runner is great, so worse than that is still useful in some situations).

•No Stranger to the Shadows
Condition
Bearer must be a ranger.
Each site's Shadow number is -1.

A solution that probably will work, unsure tho if people will still play it.

Good.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

•O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
Condition
Strength: +1
Tale. Bearer must be the Ring-bearer.
Skirmish: If the Ring-bearer is wearing
The One Ring, discard this condition to
take off The One Ring or cancel a
skirmish involving the Ring-bearer and
a Nazgul.

This card creates an oxymoron in movie, as ringbearers skirmishes cannot be cancelled. Also, in fellowship the ring putting on is a response to a wound, in which you cannot cancel annymore. It might have a niche use in Towers Standard but as a whole: unplayable.

The format rules ultimately determine whether or not the Ring-bearer's skirmish can be cancelled, so no issue there.  In FOTR, the Ring-bearer can still put on the ring when about to take a wound during a regular skirmish, then use this condition to cancel a fierce skirmish.  At least now he generally will have to fight at least once to get the ring on.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

•Ottar, Man of Laketown
Ally • Home 3 • Man
Strength: 2
Vitality: 2
To play, spot Gandalf.
Fellowship: Exert Ottar and discard up
to 3 cards from hand to draw a card.

Unplayable. Not worth the slot in any deck that I can think of.

With healing I think he is still usable.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

Relics of Moria
Condition
Plays to your support area.
Shadow: Remove to play a
possession from your discard pile
(limit once per phase).

Might be a good solution, tho i dont know for sure.

Good.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

•Saruman, Keeper of Isengard
Minion • Wizard
Strength: 8
Vitality: 4
Site: 4
Saruman may not take wounds during
the archery phase and may not be
assigned to a skirmish.
While you can spot 5 companions,
Uruk-hai are fierce.
Response: If an Uruk-hai is about to
take a wound, exert Saruman to prevent
that wound.

A nice solution, tho it creates a problem when there is a fierce skirmish and someone dies. I would reword it to: shadow Spot 5 companies to make each uruk fierce until the regroup phase.

No issue there. If the fierce minion has been assigned prior to someone dying, the fierce skirmish still takes place.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

Savagery to Match Their Numbers
Event
Skirmish: Make an Uruk-hai strength
+2, or spot 5 companions to make an
Uruk-hai strength +4 and fierce until
the regroup phase.

Upping the cost doesnt really work if all uruk players play sarumans ambition.

Updated cost to 2, but 1 may still be good enough. We'll see if this is the right balance.

•Sting
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength: +2
Bearer must be Frodo.
Fellowship or Regroup: Exert Frodo to
reveal 4 cards at random from an
opponent's hand. Remove for each
Orc revealed (limit ).

Still too good. The probelm with sting was that its always playable, and hobbit vitality usually isnt an issue.

Updated to 3 cards.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

•The Palantir of Orthanc
Artifact • Palantir
To play, spot an minion. Plays to
your support area.
Shadow: Spot an minion and remove
to reveal a card at random from the
Free Peoples player's hand. Place that
card on top of that player's draw deck.

A difficult card to errata but in this way its rendered unplayable. 2 probably would have been enough.

I want to keep it on par with Alive and Unspoiled.  It still needs to not be too easy to make opponent lose initiative.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

•Ulaire Nertea, Messenger of Dol Guldur
Minion • Nazgul
When you play Ulaire Nertea, if you can
spot another Nazgul, you may play 1
minion from your discard pile for each
companion over 4.

Unsure if this is enough as swarm decks can still find a way to incorporate a second nazgul if needed.

Good.  We'll see if this is the right balance.

•Uruk Regular
Minion • Uruk-hai
Strength: 8
Vitality: 2
Site: 5
Damage +1.
Shadow: Exert this minion to play an
Uruk-hai; its twilight cost is -1 for each
other Uruk-hai you can spot.

I dont think this card needs such an errata. Outside towers standard the card is fine as it is, and with the deep of helm its still ridiculous.

Having this unique lessens the usefulness of having 4 of these in hand with Deep of Helm.  We'll see if this is the right balance.


Ultimately, to find the right balance, games (and specifically, lots of games) need to be played where players can give feedback.
This hopefully offers a solid starting point.

[tanzhamster]

I think Savagery to Match Their Numbers could be: make an Uruk +2 or if you can spot 5 companions make it +4 OR fierce until the regroup.

Saruman, Keeper of Isengard maybe should loose his wound preventing and get exert saruman to make an uruk fierce until the regroup.

Maybe Lady Redeemed should loose her -3 in the starting and get to spot 3 elf companions to play her, because she still will destroy to many strategies.

Sting could get: exert frodo twice to... so it's not usable each fellowship AND regroup

Lady of light maybe should get: at the start of your fellowship heal another ally whose home site is 6

Lord rivendell maybe should be able to heal himself.

[Tbiesty]

Maybe Lady Redeemed should loose her -3 in the starting and get to spot 3 elf companions to play her, because she still will destroy to many strategies.

Good point about not being able to start with her.  Updated...

[Not a Zombie]

I think Lady Redeemed could get away with just one exertion, especially since you can't start her now. Any idea when the league will start to test these bad  boys?

[Vroengard]

How about... just dont play her? Its quite easy actually. Try it out, you'll be amazed afterwards.

[Tbiesty]

I think Lady Redeemed could get away with just one exertion, especially since you can't start her now. Any idea when the league will start to test these bad  boys?

True. Removing the ability to start with her may be enough to avoid her causing too much damage before a Shadow side can get set up at all.  Ok, we'll start with one exertion.

As far as when a league could start, that'd be up to MarcinS.

I have the updated card images all ready to go at a moment's notice, so it would mainly require him to create a new "test version" of a card and make that version available to that league.

My preference would be to keep gathering other options and suggestions for another week or so.  I'm trying to be as true to the original card as possible while removing the OP and NPE stuff, getting as much input as I can before continuing.  After that, an announcement could be put on the Gemp-Lotr page to let players know about the upcoming league (at least a couple weeks before it starts).

Probably start with a FOTR league, after that do a TS league, and finally a Movie league.  After that, there should be sufficient gameplay to gather a lot of good feedback.

Perhaps put a post over at this topic, or send a message to MarcinS, and let him know if you are interested.

Thanks!