I want to start a topic specifically for showcasing and discussing custom content. I've seen a couple of custom decks on here, so far, and I'd like to try and encourage more! The fact is, the game is amazing, but after a few hundred plays... the core decks kind of start to lose their appeal. A bit of personal flair can really revitalize the game.
Of course, just willy nilly creating cards has a good odds of breaking the balance of the game. So, that's where the community comes in! Nothing like a good and hard playtesting to work the kinks out of a deck. As a note, I'm not worried about Lore, or aesthetically appropriate to the game, but it would be nice if the deck had a theme consistent within itself. This means, a deck that features droids, storm troopers, and AT-ST walkers is fine, but a deck with Archers, Nuclear Missiles, and Muppets might not really flow. Then again, if you can make it fit... go for it!
To that end, I have three custom decks. Two new factions: Beastmen and Elementals, and one new Scenario: Journey into Madness. All of them are works in progress, and I'd say that only the Beastmen deck is really close to where it needs to be in power, balanced roughly with the other 6 decks. Sadly, I don't have awesome pictures, like in that goblin deck I saw, but hopefully everything makes sense when you read it.
Beastmen - Faction
Gnoll - 1 Gold, 1 Strength - Resolution: If there is a friendly Centaur in the combat, +1 S.
Harpy - 2 Gold, 2 Strength - Resolution: Unless there is a friendly Centaur in the combat, wound another friendly unit in combat. Your opponent destroys one of their units costing up to twice the number of your harpies in combat.
Centaur - 3 Gold, 3 Strength - When Played: Cancel the Resolution effect of an enemy unit.
Satyr - 3 Gold, 3 Strength - Action: Destroy this card. Discard a card into any player’s discard pile. Draw a card.
Minotaur - 5 Gold, 3 Strength - Resolution: Add 1 strength for each full 4 enemy unit or monster combat strength.
Chimera - 6 Gold, 5 Strength, Mythic - Resolution: Immediately use the When Played or Resolution effect, or gain the End of Combat effect of any other unit in the combat, max card cost of 4 for enemy cards.
Elementals - Faction
Sparkfiend - 1 Gold, 1 Strength - When Played: Unless you control another Elemental Reward, claim this as an Elemental Reward that reads: You may discard this card when you play a unit to add 2 to its combat strength.
Rumbler - 2 Gold, 2 Strength - When Played: Unless you control another Elemental Reward, claim this as an Elemental Reward that reads: You may discard this card when you play a unit to draw 2 cards, then place one card from your hand on top of your deck.
Summoner - 3 Gold, 3 Strength - When Played: Immediately make a purchase, using only gold from your hand, of a Sparkfiend, Rumbler, Blazing Horror, or Rime Lord. It may immediately use its When Played effect.
Blazing Horror - 3 Gold, 3 Strength - Action: Unless you control another Elemental Reward, claim this as an Elemental Reward that reads: You may discard this card when you play a unit to Destroy an enemy unit.
Rime Lord - 5 Gold, 4 Strength - When Played: Unless you control another Elemental Reward, claim this as an Elemental Reward that reads: You may discard this card when you play a unit to make another player reveal a card, then you have them discard or destroy that card.
Prism Force - 6 Gold, 5 Strength, Mythic - If an Elemental Reward is used in reaction to Prism Force, you may add it to the combat, wounded. It may not use when played effects.
Journey Into Madness - Scenario
Object:
This Scenario may be played cooperative or competitive. The goals are similar, and both require the defeat of the fourth tier boss. In the co-op version, all players must be Sane for victory. In the competitive version, the victor is the sole Sane person at the beginning of the Event Phase after all bosses have been defeated. In both modes, if all players become Insane, the game is over; nobody wins.
Sanity:
Damage tokens represent Sanity. Each player begins with 10 Sanity tokens on their Home Realm. If a player wins Battle, or a Siege as the attacker vs a friendly player, they gain 1 Sanity. Winning a Siege as the atracker against an enemy player grants 3 Sanity. If a player loses a battle, or fails to defend in a Siege, they lose 1 Sanity. A person with more than 0 Sanity is Sane. If a player does not gain at least as much Sanity as the tier of a boss in the central play area during their turn, they lose 1 Sanity at the end of their turn. If no bosses are in the central play area, then no Sanity is lost.
Insanity:
A player with 0 Sanity is Insane and must play with their hands revealed. They must Siege the home realm of the player with the most Sanity, their own choice in the case of a tie. Insane players may not pass until they have no more cards to play, or the opponent has passed. An Insane player always gains 2 Sanity upon winning a Siege, and a losing defender loses 2 Sanity. Defeating an Insane player does not grant Sanity. Sanity may not go below 0.
Lairs:
Lairs replace Cities in this Scenario. There are always 5, regardless of the number of players. Lairs cost Strength, Gold, Influence, or a combination of these, which must be met to gain a benefit. Each time a boss is revealed, the Gold and Influence values are increased by 1, while the Strength value is increased by 2. Meeting the price of a lair counts as winning a Battle, regardless of the method, and so grants a Sanity. Lairs remain in the central play area. Each Lair may only give its benefit once each turn.
Strongholds:
Like benefitting from Lairs, purchasing a Stronghold with Gold counts as winning a Battle, and so the player gains a Sanity.
Relics:
Each player is randomly assigned a Relic at the beginning of the game. Relics start in the Barracks and have a Strength cost to Purchase. Relics may be Sieged as an additional target from the home realm, and a successful Siege grants the option of destroying the Relic instead of gaining Sanity. The opponent still loses Sanity. Each Relic has an ability which may be activated in Combat by exhausting the Relic. Additionally, Relics may be destroyed to weaken a boss. A Relic which is destroyed during a Siege does not halt the Siege.
Neutral Cards:
This Scenario has special Neutral cards that reference scenario specific mechanics, and should not be included when using the Random Neutral Cards special rule.
Scenario Cards:
There are 4 tiers of Event cards. Each tier contains a Boss card. If an Event card would be drawn that is of higher tier than that of the current boss, instead shuffle the discard pile, place it on top of the deck, and then draw a new Event card. If the deck is empty when an Event card should be drawn, reshuffle all event cards from the discard pile into the event deck, then draw.
Bosses:
Bosses are Enemy Event cards. Each Boss has two abilities. One of those abilities deactivates if the attacker destroys a Relic. When a Boss is defeated, it is claimed as a Reward, and all Event cards of the Boss's tier or lower are discarded from the top of the Event deck. Exhaust a boss to reduce a loss of a Sanity by 1. A player who wins a Siege against a player that controls a Boss Reward may choose to claim a Boss Reward from that player, but they gain 2 less Sanity.
Neutral Cards:
Curse of Weakness - 2 Influence - Action: Destroy a card from your hand to ignore the penalty of revealed Bosses on a Lair this turn.
Jabberwocky - 4 Influence, 3 Strength - Resolution: You or your opponent destroy one of your own units, If the chosen player is Sane and an ally, that player gains 1 Sanity.
Paladin of Chaos - 6 Influence, 5 Strength - Prevent the Attrition die. End of Combat: Opponent loses 1 Sanity.
Relics:
Golden Chalice - 6 Strength - Start of Combat: Destroy to negate a Boss Relic ability. End of Combat: If Sane, exhaust to return 1 friendly Unit and another 4 friendly Units, reduced by 1 for each 3 Sanity, to your hand.
Vorpal Sword - 6 Strength - Start of Combat: Destroy to negate a Boss Relic ability. Resolution: If Sane, exhaust to Add 13 Strength, reduced by 1 for each Sanity, to a friendly Unit. Then, discard every other friendly Unit.
Mystic Tome - 6 Strength - Start of Combat: Destroy to negate a Boss Relic ability. Resolution: If Sane, exhaust to Purchase a card into your hand for free with cost 7 or less. Reduce the max cost by 1 for each 2 Sanity. You may discard a friendly Unit from combat and replace it with the purchased card, ignoring card text.
Shadow Cloak - 6 Strength - Start of Combat: Destroy to negate a Boss Relic ability. End of Combat: If Sane, exhaust to draw 1 card and then 4 additional cards, reduced by 1 for each 3 Sanity. Immediately make a Purchase action, placing bought cards into your hand. Place 1 less than the number of cards drawn on top of your deck, from your hand, in any order.
Lairs:
Black Market - 3 Strength OR 2 Influence - Your next Purchase action this turn is reduced by 1 Gold plus 1 Gold per 2 Strength or 1 Influence expended above the cost of the Lair, maximum of 3 Gold reduction.
Goblin Warren - 3 Strength OR 3 Gold - Roll the Attrition Die and reduce the Influence cost of your next Purchase action this turn by 1 plus the number of rolled skulls.
Troll Den - 3 Strength - Your next Purchase action this turn is reduced by 1 Influence plus 1 Influence per 2 Strength expended above the cost of the Lair, maximum of 3.
Carnivorous Grove - 3 Strength - Your next Purchase action this turn is reduced by 2 Influence.
Mercenary Camp - 3 Gold OR 2 Influence - Grant 3 Strength to your next Combat this turn.
Scenario Cards:
Arcane Web - Tier 1 - Other than Relics, ignore ability text on all players’ cards until the beginning of the next Event Phase.
Psychic Venom - Tier 1 - Lose a Sanity each time a Unit is destroyed in Combat until the beginning of the next Event Phase.
Drider - Tier 1, 6 Strength, Attrition - This is a Boss. While Drider remains in the central play area, when a player passes in combat, they discard the last card they played. Relic, Start of Combat: Discard a random card from your hand.
Dominate the Weak - Tier 2 - The player with the least Sanity reveals his hand and immediately sieges another player as if Insane. No Sanity is gained, but the loser suffers a loss of 2 Sanity.
Vicious Thrall - Tier 2, 0 Strength, Attrition - Unless defeated during a player's turn, return Vicious Thrall to the Central Play Area. Beginning of the Event Phase: Attack the player with the most Sanity, moving clockwise in the case of ties. Resolution: Add 1 Strength for each Sanity. End of Combat: Instead of losing 1 Sanity, lose the difference in Strength.
Mindflayer - Tier 2, 9 Strength, Attrition - This is a Boss. While Mindflayer remains in the Central Play Area, all units have 1 less Strength, down to 1. Relic, Resolution: All Units with the lowest Strength are instead Strength 0.
Null Gaze - Tier 3 - Until the beginning of the next Event Phase, each time a player makes a Purchase, they lose a Sanity.
Volley of Sight - Tier 3 - Each player chooses an option they can completely fulfill: Destroy up to 8 cost worth of cards from your hand; Destroy the top 3 cards from your deck; Lose 2 Sanity; Lose all Sanity.
Beholder - Tier 3, 12 Strength, Attrition - This is a Boss. While Beholder remains in the Central Play area, player hand size is reduced by 1. Relic, Start of Combat: Reveal your hand and destroy the card with the highest cost.
Madness - Tier 4 - Each player immediately Purchases all their 1 cost cards from their Barracks for free, shuffles their hand and discard pile into their deck.
Horror - Tier 4 - Each player loses 3 Sanity.
Cthulhu - Tier 4, 15 Strength, Attrition - This is a Boss. Add 1 Strength for each Sanity on each player. While Cthulhu remains in the Central Play Area, every Combat has attrition for all involved players. Relic, Attrition: Roll the Attrition die once for each Unit played into combat and apply all results.
