The Uzi is ok (although it maybe ought to cost more, since it is absolutely superb) but the Enchanted Sword is a bit too good, especially if more than one copy was available in the same game.

Someone dual-wielding Enchanted Swords would automatically defeat any monster apart from the Dunwich Horror. Adding 1 automatic success is considerably better than adding three additional dice (which is about how many you need to give a good expectation of adding an additional success ), so on terms of the expected outcome, the Enchanted Sword is the equivalent of at least a +6 (or better) one-handed weapon. AND, these weapons wouldn't be affected by Physical/Magical resistance, as they're not providing a bonus in the normal sense.

What you could do is have the items exhaust to add the successes (therefore only being useful against one monster per turn anyway) and require all the user's focus to refresh.

(Edited to add: sorry, you addressed some of these points while I was typing)

kroen said:

You're right, I was thinking of the blade. I'm not sure exhausting will make them reasonable. Exhaust, 50% price increase (7 for uzi, 12 for sword) and ineffective against immunity (Resistance is fine). Then they might be balanced.

New batch:

kroen said:

Corrupting Blade doesn't seem very... corrupting. Other than that it looks like a great item. Both Four-Leaf Clover and Wishing Well are cool mechanics. Does Wishing Well stay the whole game? That might make clues too abundant.

::Laughter:: I know, I was thinking the same thing about the blade. Liked the concept and the picture. Not the name (can't see why corruption would make you *more* sane, especially in *this* game).

The flavor is that it makes you corruped with power. It makes you feel strong, almost invulnerable. But yeh, I guess it is pretty confusing and I should have came up with a better name.

Regarding the well, well it's like the throne and temple. Why wouldn't it stay there all game? and it's not that good.

In cases where characters have very low lucks i is entirely possible for an investigator to get a number of successes equal to their Luck Skill and still not pass the test. I suggest that the Clover would be about a million times cleaer if its text was replaced with:

"Discard to gain a number of successes on a Luck Test equal to your Luck skill."

It pretty much does the same thing, but it's clear instead of vague and one sentence instead of sprawling assault on the English language.

-Frank

I'm pretty sure that saying "luck skill" is the same as saying "current luck skill". maybe "your maximum luck value"?

Re: Fourleaf Clover. Maybe I'm being thick, but does it actually matter how many extra successes you're getting? Surely most Luck checks only require 1 success anyway. Requiring 2 successes is very rare, and I don't think I've ever seen a card which required 3. The practical function of the Four-Leaf Clover is just: "Any Phase: discard to pass a Luck check." You don't really need a more complex phrase than that, and it would still be an interesting item which wouldn't be too similar to anything that already exists.

And if anything, it seems like owning a four-leaf clover ought to be more useful to people who naturally have not much luck. How about making it cost a number of dollars equal to your current luck (or something like that) so that unlucky people have an easier time buying it? One last thought: I think it should be a Unique item.

Other than that, good work! The Corrupting Blade is an interesting one (although the name might be a bit misleading as said above). The Wishing Well reminds me of a Talisman card. Maybe it should have a limited total number of Clue tokens on it (say, six or seven) so that it can disappear once the investigators have got a certain amount of use out of it.

Good idea there! I added to it an idea of my own and here's the result:

What about: Four Leafed Clover - $1 - Discard to add one success to a Luck check.

kroen said:

Well, one of the reasons that the latter parts of a game can become slightly more difficult is the potential lack of clue tokens on the board. If you have a dedicated location in which a character with maxed luck can expect to get at least 1-2 clues per turn, things become significantly easier.

thecorinthian said:

I thought it was intended for use with those encounters where either you make a luck check and something happens according to the number of successes, or you may a luck check and gain something for each success. We don't currently have an item to help with that and that's kind of what made it cool in the first place.

2 difficulty levels:

kroen said:

Overflow doesn't seem so good as to warrant a -6. Maybe a -3. Drought is just wicked, hah. Looks like a quick (Well, as quick as possible) closing method would be in order.

**** it, editing error. First, I meant a clue on every stable location. Second, there should be "clues can appear on locations with gates".

kroen said:

Ah, I thought that part was a bit superfluous. Well, that's much better then, maybe a -4 or -5 (Would need testing to see how big an impact the extra clues are) but still not a -6.

kroen said:

No way for alternate reality. All you need is captain of the white ship. Easy to get and you can shut off monster surges and gate burst. Nope. I'd even be against it if you had to get to four 2nd areas, but not as much.

Oh, so you're against this, but not against For the Greater good? My card+white ship will help you win the game, For the Greater Good+white ship will win you the game.

Yeah but Kroen... For The Greater Good is part of the official game... we can't help make the design decisions there. There are plenty of cards in official sets that I think are too powerful (Grapple) or pointless (Join The Winning Team).

I don't actually think Alternate Reality is that bad an idea, but I'd never go for it if I got it in a game. For one thing, I quite like monster surges! But I guess it's fair enough to have it in the Unique deck, in case the investigators really really need to put an end to gate bursts.

What you do need to do, though, is add a phrase at the end of the 'Effect' text, saying something like "Leave this card beside the board to indicate this." That's what they usually do for cards like this, in order to try to make the game idiot-proof. And the price should probably be $0. Doing the mission is going to be costly enough as it is.

Sunglasses: a bit dodgy. What happens if you're getting lost in time and space as a result of losing all your Sanity or Stamina in an Other World? This effect text is the equivalent of saying 'Discard to avoid going to Arkham Asylum', but it doesn't explain what happens to you instead. Do you stay where you are and regain 1 San/Stam?

thecorinthian said:

Yes.

I don't believe it need further explaining on the card, as the same question can be asked for The Messenger- what happens if you discard it after both your sanity and stamina are reduced to 0? the answer is, obiously, you restore them both to 1.

Well, hmm, ok, but I thought that was far from clear on The Messenger too, and it was a rules question that had come up before in my group.

I wouldn't be so quick to cite official cards as your 'gospel' of how cards should be phrased - there are plenty of ambiguities on official AH materials! For example, you say that the Messenger would put you back on 1 Sanity/Stamina. I'd have gone the exact opposite way - I'd have said that it can save you from an instantaneous 'devouring' - for example, against a Shan, or that encounter where a stone angel falls on you - but that if you've got into a continuous state which causes you to be devoured, and you've no seperate way of getting out of that state, then the Messenger doesn't help because the state will still apply to you after you've discarded the Messenger. Is there a ruling on this?

What happens if you're LiT&S because you're in an Other World with no gate back? If you discarded the sunglasses, would you just be LiT&S again immediately anyway?

I don't know about any official ruling, but what I said is what I think.

And if you use the Sunglasses with no gate back then you would simply stay in the same location. in the following turn, if you still can't go back, you will then be litas.