Dominion: Penguicon, a Fan Expansion, Part 5
A class required that I create the above image. While I was at it, I figured I'd get the Matt Dominion Card out there. There are still three disclaimers.
Success with this card relies on the other players doing tons of things. If they take super-huge turns, they go through their deck faster, and have to shuffle to go through it again, and the Matt card produces for you. If they trim their deck down to a tiny machine of super power, so that they play the whole thing every turn, they have to shuffle constantly and the Matt card produces for you. It thrives on the work of others. Especially when that work would, in other circumstances, steamroll you.
Of course keep in mind that you also get to draw a card after you shuffle.
Thematically, you might appreciate that my card is a Duration card, even if you don't know what that means in the game. I considered inventing a new kind called the Permanent, just because the bottom banner is filled with so much text. There has never been an actual Dominion card that is both Duration (orange) and Reaction (blue). You never know when you'll shuffle and someone will kaPOW, react with the Matt card from their hand and draw a card, as if they are sitting next to their email client just waiting for someone to message the list. When they play it, it will sit there in front of them, between turns, a visible presence.
Ironically, Matt's omnipresence, and involvement with the activity of others, means when other players get all the money they need in order to buy the card they had in mind, they'll stop. They'll choose not to play any more cards, so as not to reward you. In playtests, this sped up the game in the later stages.
For more Penguicon cards, continue to part six!
Comments
pstscrpt on Dec. 10, 2010 2:54 PM
It seems a bit odd that the "You" card would be most useful when playing against you.
nicegeek on Dec. 10, 2010 4:31 PM
Matt's not the only one to use that style. :-)
pstscrpt on Dec. 13, 2010 4:35 PM
I'm prone to it myself, but Matt's kinda the exemplar of that style among people I play with.
nicegeek on Dec. 15, 2010 8:51 PM
Hmm...it seems a bit overpowered; not only is it the perfect counter to the small fast deck strategy, but because it triggers on your own shuffle, it's an extremely potent enabler of a small fast deck. Also, when you've drawn your whole deck +1 card with it in play, Matt goes into an infinite loop of drawing and shuffling zero cards, and the universe implodes.
In other words, Matt's trying to do too much.
I might change it so that it only triggers on other people's shuffles. That fixes the infinite loop issue and still makes it useful, and an effective counter to the small fast deck strategy.
matt-arnold on Dec. 16, 2010 2:13 AM
Hmm, good point. I haven't playtested it with the Reaction ability, just the Duration ability. Whether it was over- or under-powered depended on which other cards were available, like Golem, Venture, Adventurer, or Loan. I think I will make the change you suggest.
nicegeek on Dec. 16, 2010 2:53 AM
Two other minor comments, and one interesting idea:
First, I'd use the standard "+1 Card" phraseology rather than "draw a card".
Second, as written, the card's effect will commonly last for two rounds (one round as a Reaction in your hand, and then a second round as a Duration on the table). That seems like a long time, but not having seen the card in action, I can't really judge.
And the interesting idea:
What if instead of being a Duration card, it was an Attack card, with the effect "Each other player places their deck into their discard pile"?
matt-arnold on Dec. 16, 2010 2:39 PM
"Each other player discards their deck" seems like a different card. An interesting effect indeed! I'm not sure I like the way it would adjust the luck/strategy ratio.
nicegeek on Dec. 16, 2010 3:10 PM
The existing Reaction cards all seem to have very different effects for their Action and Reaction plays. Making the Action effect a deck discard would be pretty weak on its own (I might add +1 Action as well), but if you could get another such Matt card in your next hand (or in your current one with a way to make the other players draw or reveal a card), it would set up a powerful combo.
matt-arnold on Dec. 16, 2010 4:26 PM
I see where you're going with this. That's really clever.
matt-arnold on Dec. 16, 2010 4:42 PM
Counting House might demolish this card. And when it comes to making the game more random, I'm not sure it would, after reading this article. I love it more and more.
nicegeek on (None)
matt-arnold on Dec. 16, 2010 4:48 PM — Re: How about this:
The "places one card from their hand on top of their deck" effect actually slows down the Reaction effect. Is that deliberate?
nicegeek on Dec. 16, 2010 4:47 PM — How about this:
Each player (including you) either places one card from their hand on top of their deck, or places their entire deck into their discard pile, your choice.
When another player shuffles their deck, you may reveal this card from your hand. If you do, +1 Card.
nicegeek on Dec. 16, 2010 4:55 PM — Re: How about this:
(I deleted and reposted the parent due to a small typo)
The "places one card from their hand on top of their deck" effect actually slows down the Reaction effect. Is that deliberate?
Yes; it adds two additional levels of interplay to the card. First, it allows Matt to be played to slow down other Matts. But it also allows you to hit yourself with it to send a surplus Matt into your next hand, where it can react to the upcoming reshuffles from the other players.
matt-arnold on Dec. 16, 2010 5:20 PM — Re: How about this:
This is fantastic...
nicegeek on Dec. 16, 2010 5:22 PM — Re: How about this:
Also, when the effect is purely causing people to discard their decks, there are going to be many times when it's not worth playing; as your article notes, cycling opponents' decks actually helps them in the early game. Providing the choice of effects makes the card usable in a wider range of situations.
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