I just playtested a bunch of these Havens against a scenario and was very surprised. Erebor was the only one that worked perfectly, a perferct balance between cost and benefit. The other Havens, though, were actually not really good at all. Their effects were not totally worth it, especially in the beggining, playing an ally in the Haven can actually be very crippling, even my Mono-leadership gondor deck struggled if I played an ally in Minas Tirith early on, and when its text became active, it was not useful at all since Gondor allies are all so wimpy anyway... it was just that their ffect was so minimal that it was just not worth it to play a cheap chumpblocker in the Haven to get it.. So I came with new abilities for some of them (Dunharrow, Minas Tirith, Edoras, Dol Amroth) and made the effects more interesting.

New versions:

Minas Tirith

limit of 4, A player must control at least 2 gondor heroes to control this haven. Restricted to Gondor allies. While each of your heroes has at least 1 resource in its resource pool, Minas Tirith gains "Action: exhaust 2 allies played here to choose a player. Each Gondor character controlled by that player gets +1 attack until the end of the phase (limit twice per round)"

Edoras

Limit 4, A player must control at least 2 Rohan heroes to control this Haven. Restricted to Rohan allies. Response: after a character leaves play, you may exhaust 3 allies played here to look at the rop 4 chards of your deck. Add 2 of theose ards to your hand and discard the others.

Dol Amroth

Limit 3, A player must control a Leadership and a Tactics hero to control this Haven. Leadership and Tactics heroes you control get +1 defense for each ally played here with a printed cost higher than 1 (to a limit of +2).

Dunharrow

Limit 3. A player must control a Spirit and a Tactics hero to control this Haven. Restricted to Spirit and Tactics allies. Response: After the players quest successfully, you may exhaust 2 allies played here to deal 2 damage to an enemy in the staging area.

Okay, so you can see that basically there Havens got a pretty big buff. They did. The ability of Dunharrow, for example, was a joke. It required an active location that had to be cleared, and an enemy in the staging area, which, if you already were high enough in threat, could be only one that had been just revealed from the encounter deck. And all the while I had spent a few valuable resources on allie that were ust going to be waiting there to be exhausted and it just never happened. Now it actually works, and without being overpowered. Same for Edoras. The effect was just never triggered and if it did, it was pretty insignificant. Now I have made the cost higher, but the potential benefit is higher as well. What do you think of the changes?

Also playtested Bree, and that one works just perfectly.

I think the idea of these is absolutely brilliant!

Are you thinking of continuing with the idea and tweaking what you have? I'm not sure whether you've quite got it right yet and balanced?.

I'm all for having these and sites like Beorn's House, Hobbiton etc (I'm a big MECCG fan!) in this brilliant game.

The artwork is stunning - where did you find them?

If I can help at all - please let me know?

Hey my supposedly Welsh friend. No, I haven't continued this idea much further. I think I corrected some of the havens to be more playable, but really that's it. However, I think I could revisit this idea if there's people wanting to improve it and give suggestions. Maybe I could tweak the rules a bit, though I think they're fine as of now. But now that the traits have gotten some more development (especially silvan), I think a new batch of these could be good. If you're willing to help me make some more Havens with the places you're mentioning, that'd be awesome. I'm going out right now but later I can give you the Haven template I created. If you want to create your own Havens, you'll need photoshop.

Hi there

Haven't got photoshop I'm afraid - so I'm an ideas man only - rather than graphic design.

Would it be possible to post the latest designs of all the ones you've done so that I'm up to speed?

From what I gather, this is the premise:

1. You have 1 Haven at the start of the game.

2. What Haven you have is independent of the quest but rather thematic of what heroes you have? Kind of 'where you come from'?

3. Havens give a bonus to play in some way. So if you play one, for balance, there must be a cost? A small threat cost would be obvious (say 1-3?) balance? Havens could reduce costs of Allies played there? Butterbur at Bree for example? Beorn and beornings could play cheaper if Beorn's House is your Haven? Radagast at Rhosgobel?

4. You can play allies at Havens. If an Ally is at a Haven what does this mean? They cannot be attacked or defend? Can they Quest? Questing kind of makes sense as it can be Erestor's advice for example. But an Ally at a Haven is no affected by Treachery cards revealed I the Quest phase? Can Allies leave Havens to join you on the Quest (perhaps you have to pay 1 Resource to move them from haven to your party??) Allies at havens can still use abilities though?

is this about it?.

1: Yes

2: Yeah, kinda. It goes with your deck while not being part of it, like heroes, and represents where you come from. But it doesn't need to be thematic. If you're playing with Elladan and Elrohir but your deck works best if using Dol Amroth as a haven, then use it.

3: I think that losing the bodies on the table is enough of a drawback. The thing with havens is that you have to be very careful of when to play allies with your company or in the haven. You have to measure the cost and benefit of having the bonus later on if you can afford it or trying to reach it early if you need it. They are kinda like planeswalkers, in a way.

4: Allies in a haven cannot quest, attack or defend. They can, however, use their special abilities. Since the encounter cards and decks do not consider havens and characters played at them, they are considered non-existent, or out of play, by treachery cards, archery effects and the like, so that the rest of the game stays pretty much intact.

I haven't thought of the possibility of allies leaving the haven to join you on the quest. That is interesting, and I could make a rule out of it, though I'd prefer if it was a neutral event that let you do that.

Another thing I haven't decided yet is whether allies played at havens are immune to play card effects or not. They can of course affect the game with their abilities, but I don't know if it is balanced or thematic if a ranger at Henneth Annun can shoot arrows at the staging area in Rohan, or throw rocks at enemies and such.

Also, suggestions for Helm's Deep? I'm making it now.

These are excellent!

I particularly like how you have captured Rivendell and the quote.

Can you squeeze a quote in for helm's Deep and Pelargir?

Can you repost the earlier ones like Bree etc - they still need their unique symbol and have you changed Edoras??

I can just see Lothlorien, Rhosgobel and Beorn's House to go??

Still think we need to nail what an Ally can or can't do at a Haven.

I also think that it should be a rule rather than a card that allows Allies to leave a haven and join you (or vice versa....??)

I'm going to make a file or gallery something like that to put up on the web so I don't post multiple versions of the same cards. I'll be making revised versions of the older havens as well as the new ones, since some of those were oriented towards decks that are heavy or even mono of that sphere, so I'll change the requirements to 2 heroes. Can anybody help me with creating an online gallery?

A Gallery sounds like a good idea - not sure how to go about it though.

I think a few Havens can be heavy as long as they are thematic.

Would you consider multiple Havens (ie duplication- 2 different Rivendells for instance)) with different abilities on each to give some player choice? I don't think many would do this but Rivendell is a contender perhaps?

Nah, I don't want to do multiple versions of one haven. I've already covered most sphere combinations as well as deck archetypes, so I don't feel it's necessary.

I think these are great! Do you think you will post up a printable page with the rules for havens on BBG?

When I figure out the rules, yeah sure!

great cards, I would really like these to surface in new expansion sets! great work!

Rules & updated cards: http://boardgamegeek.com/article/17887628#17887628

Amazing work - well done sir!

May I ask you who's the artist behind Peargir's art? Really like this one (sorry I don't know the game good enough to comment on the rest)

The artist is Ted Nasmith, who I chose for many other havens like Hobbiton and Dol Amroth.

The artist is Ted Nasmith, who I chose for many other havens like Hobbiton and Dol Amroth.

Thanks. I knew the guy, but didn't know this specific work. Lovely to know *off to check a higher res picture*

Thanks for covering this