On episode 123 of CotR, Chad and Chris (me) interview the lead designer of LotR: The Card Game, Caleb Grace. We dive deep into the inner workings of the game with the help of other employees of Fantasy Flight Games, including past designers Nate French and Matt Newman.

Also in this episode:

• Caleb gives some advice for those of you attending a Fellowship Event.
• We discuss the evolution of a couple of player-favorite cards.
• Chad and Chris reveal the new Patreon page.
• And much much more.

Thanks for listening!

https://cardboardoftherings.com/2017/10/28/episode-123-caleb-of-the-rings/

Awesome!

P.S. Minas Tirith Lampwright is baller!

P.P.S. Can't wait for worlds!

10 hours ago, Bullroarer Took said:

P.S. Minas Tirith Lampwright is baller!

I Agree!

There is value in guaranteeing that a certain type of card is not pulled from the surge keyword. Over the course of a game there is often one card type that you cannot tolerate dealing with. Maybe you're on the verge of location lock, maybe you're strapped for defenders. But, maybe there is one specific card that you know will end the game. There is value in reducing that probability to zero.

But, does anyone do this? I'm armchair quarterbacking on this one. I don't usually play with the lampwright that often.

It's being reported on BGG that Caleb said on this show that there was going to be a "big announcement" this week.

1 hour ago, JonG said:

It's being reported on BGG that Caleb said on this show that there was going to be a "big announcement" this week.

That report is indeed correct. He also confirmed that for the last year he worked on LOTR stuff which haven't been released yet.

11 minutes ago, wolframius said:

That report is indeed correct. He also confirmed that for the last year he worked on LOTR stuff which haven't been released yet.

Oooh very exciting!

3 hours ago, Thanatopsis said:

I Agree!

There is value in guaranteeing that a certain type of card is not pulled from the surge keyword. Over the course of a game there is often one card type that you cannot tolerate dealing with. Maybe you're on the verge of location lock, maybe you're strapped for defenders. But, maybe there is one specific card that you know will end the game. There is value in reducing that probability to zero.

But, does anyone do this? I'm armchair quarterbacking on this one. I don't usually play with the lampwright that often.

I hadn't tried him until recently thinking that he would be a fail too often. But when I did try him - against a quest I knew well - he was great. He is a control card, and as with all control decks you need to know your opponent. If you are playing against a quest blind he will not be as effective. One of the worst things that can happen in a quest is cascading surge, and he is great at stopping that because often the surge only comes from one card type and you can metagame that. In other words, you can make your odds of success much greater than 1 in 3.

I ran him in my Palantir support deck to guarantee his cancels.

6 hours ago, JonG said:

It's being reported on BGG that Caleb said on this show that there was going to be a "big announcement" this week.

Unfortunately, we've received word that this announcement has been delayed until early December.

1 minute ago, Seastan said:

Unfortunately, we've received word that this announcement has been delayed until early December.

Thanks for telling us! Saves us the disappointment when Friday rolls around uneventfully.

Should we take bets on whether we see the announcement or the next AP first?

Gotta love the merger...

10 hours ago, Seastan said:

Unfortunately, we've received word that this announcement has been delayed until early December.

Thanks for the update.

On 10/30/2017 at 9:31 AM, Thanatopsis said:

I Agree!

There is value in guaranteeing that a certain type of card is not pulled from the surge keyword. Over the course of a game there is often one card type that you cannot tolerate dealing with. Maybe you're on the verge of location lock, maybe you're strapped for defenders. But, maybe there is one specific card that you know will end the game. There is value in reducing that probability to zero.

But, does anyone do this? I'm armchair quarterbacking on this one. I don't usually play with the lampwright that often.

I think it would be great if it had the Rohan trait. With the ability to recur it through Gamling and set off a bunch of response triggers when discarded... It could have been a nice tool for the Rohan discard deck.