It's funny because you had already seen it, but nevermind I guess. Mind that this card forms a part of a larger collection of other wizards and wizard.related cards. Also, just now I noticed I didn't add a flavor text. I think i should do that.

Mind sharing your version?

P.S.: "absolutely despise" is a very strong statement. I know its on it's weaker side, but that horrible? I would've never imagined...

I guess I was overreacting. It's not that terrible. I just don't like that he belongs to a sphere and that he is a little overpowered IMO. In-sphere for Steward, and after a while you get a pretty strong hero? Granted you have to keep the resources on him, but he has little to no drawback IMO.

Have you played a lot with your version of Saruman? I'm asking because having Doomed 1 on everything you pay with him seems to be a very strong drawback on the paper. Nice art by the way, I somehow never seen it in my endless pursuits for various LotR art

I'll try to do my neutral version of Saruman, I guess.

I haven't played with any of my custom cards. I just make them for fun mostly, because I enjoy making thematic cards with cool art based on things that I think are missing from the game (actual rings, more artifacts and wizards). I do try to make them balanced though, as much as I can. As for his drawback, when I play Gríma I use his ability almost every round, so I didn't think it's too much of a drawback. But now that you mention it (and I take your opinion on custom cards seriously), I think I'll modify one of the attachments I made for him, or maybe create a new one, to neuter his Doomed ability.

Well, with Grima you actually influence the cost of the card, saving you a resource and/or potentially enabling the card for you (playing a 4-cost card on your first turn), while your version of Saruman raises the threat of all players just by spending resources, which can possibly happen multiple types per turn.

Me and my solo mentality, I never thought of the rest of the players! Then maybe I should make his ability a bit more multiplayer-friendly. I do like the doomed cost, and it works with cards like Keys of Orthanc. Maybe if I add something like "Do not raise other player's threat by this effect" or something like that?

In the same way that Gandalf is strong by himself but combos so well with Elrond and Vilya, I think it would be really cool to have a Saruman hero that can be individually strong but has a nice combo with Grima and Keys of Orthanc.

Edit: It should also have to do with the top of the deck, as that is the Istari mechanic (See Wizard Pipe and Flame of Anor)

I'll try to do my neutral version of Saruman, I guess.

You already did:

Edit: It should also have to do with the top of the deck, as that is the Istari mechanic (See Wizard Pipe and Flame of Anor)

I don't think it's an Istari mechanic as much as a Gandalf mechanic. If it was the universal Istari theme, all Istari heroes would need to have a mechanic dealing with the top card of the deck, and there's only so many abilities different from Gandalf's that you can make. I would prefer (as I did) to give each Wizard a different theme (for example, my version of Radagast deals with the discard pile), but the support attachments and events can be played with any Wizard, even though they will work best with their "main" Wizard.

I remember that one, but that was even more bland than the Leadership version. I just sat, thought for 5 minutes, and created this card. No depth involved.

This one, I will (and already am) put much thoght into it, and consider all the stuff involved.

Edit: It should also have to do with the top of the deck, as that is the Istari mechanic (See Wizard Pipe and Flame of Anor)

I don't think it's an Istari mechanic as much as a Gandalf mechanic. If it was the universal Istari theme, all Istari heroes would need to have a mechanic dealing with the top card of the deck, and there's only so many abilities different from Gandalf's that you can make. I would prefer (as I did) to give each Wizard a different theme (for example, my version of Radagast deals with the discard pile), but the support attachments and events can be played with any Wizard, even though they will work best with their "main" Wizard.

Well since I don't expect any blue wizard heroes I could imagine them coming up with 3 unique abilities that deal with the top card.

Here is my take:

The first action has a doomed effect, which fits in with the Isengard theme, but this time it actually helps all players so they are more likely to be open to it. It also makes sense to include Wizard pipe in such a deck to give yourself more flexibility over Saruman's sphere. The ability becomes stronger when more players are around because there are more people he can influence.

The second action is a take on the theme of the "devices" of Saruman. His study of various crafts allows him to get an extra use out of rings, palantir, and other items. With both Saruman and Grima, for example, you could trigger keys of Orthanc twice.

And yes, he is very strong. I think he should be.

I wish I could errata Legacy of Numenor and Deep Knowledge into being Planning Actions, but... here goes nothing:

Now, let me share some insight regarding how it came to this...

I had a lot of stuff to consider. FFG, willingly or not, created an Istari theme that involved top of the deck interactions by introducing two cards that work with all the Istari characters but would be kind of dull without the knowledge of the top card of your deck: Flame of Anor and Wizard Pipe . I had to design Sarumans ability with those two things in mind - Saruman was bound to see the top card of your deck (to take full advantage from both of these cards), and he also would have to interact with that top card of your deck in some manner, that should not involve playing it, because Gandalf .

Then, there was Voice of Isengard that pushed the Doomed keyword as an Isengard theme, so I thought it was a good idea to somehow tie Saruman to the Doomed keyword, and then the problems started rising. Most obvious thing: Saruman couldn't lower the cost by giving Doomed, because Grima , as he couldn't generate resource when Doomed triggers because Keys of Orthanc , yet it would be nice to have him interact with both of them in some way. Plus, there is that The Seeing-stone event that should be an extreme thematic fit for him.

Having Saruman gain all 4 printed resource icons while the top card is a Doomed one is not as reliable as Gandalfs simple "play the top card of your deck", however having him have all the printed stuff for the entire turn might open some space for interesting combos, bringing us back to the far away Against the Shadow cycle.

I decided to limit his response to once per phase instead of once per round to promote agressive Doomed events usage, and also to breathe life into those underused Doomed events like The Wizard's Voice or Waters of Nimrodel . I understand how this can impact the game in the unintended way (players playing Legacies of Numenor and Deep Knowledges each phase, that's why I started this post by wishing those were only Planning Actions), but Saruman is a whopping 14 threat hero (it's almost 1/3 of threat elimination threshold by himself) who's mechanicly tied to Doomed cards, he begs for some sort of threat mitigation for the whole party to even justify his inclusion. And paired with him, Grima will stop being frowned upon in the multiplayer for once.

I like your version a lot too. It crosses off everything I had in my mind when considering what Saruman should do.

If you really wanted to push the underused doomed cards you could limit his sphere to whatever sphere the doomed card happens to be.

For his statline, I thought the designers had set a precedent with the allies that Saruman had less willpower than Gandalf, but that's a minor point.

Yeah, I think that he should be 2-4-3 instead of 3-4-2.

I think both Gandalf and Saruman simple and unconditionally seeing the top card of the deck is boring. They just need to know what is on top some way. Maybe letting you put the top card of the discard on the top of the deck when you use the doomed keyword or something similar is enough.

For the rest, that is the best Saruman I´ve seen. I like his niche and ability. Don´t like that the deck builds itself, but that is a price to pay sometimes.

Yeah, I think that he should be 2-4-3 instead of 3-4-2.

That would make him cost less Threat and be "weaker" in fluff but stronger in card evaluation then Gandalf (since specialized heroes are considered better). His stats are fine as suggested, in my humble and useless opinion =D

I like your version a lot too. It crosses off everything I had in my mind when considering what Saruman should do.

If you really wanted to push the underused doomed cards you could limit his sphere to whatever sphere the doomed card happens to be.

For his statline, I thought the designers had set a precedent with the allies that Saruman had less willpower than Gandalf, but that's a minor point.

I had that thought in my mind, but having a Doomed card on the top of your deck is already conditional enough, and usually not too beneficial for the purposes like Flame of Anor, so I decided against it. Less fiddly bits.

Yeah, I think that he should be 2-4-3 instead of 3-4-2.

To address the stats, I know that ally version was made with less willpower and more attack, but I gave it some thought and decided against it.

If we have 3wp/3atk/3def as a default stats, then any deviations from them would mean something. And less Willpower but more Attack seems more like some thug/brute stat modification, which I can't bring myself to apply to the Saruman. While having less Defense but more Attack feels to me like being reckless, which I can apply to Saruman with an extreme ease.

I think it was more of a matter of lore. Saruman gave in to the lure of the ring, Gandalf didn't.

I understand that, but I simply can't give him 2 willpower. He is a 14-threat neutral hero situated around Doom. He needs to pull his weight during the questing phase for the few first rounds. For me, when gameplay and theme contradict each other - gameplay always wins.

Upd: That low Willpower "theme" is kinda weak anyways. Saruman is an extremely cunning person, smart also. I'm afraid not the weak will (or not just the weak will) has led to his betrayal, but also the cynism, which is a result of being "too smart", you know. If anything, Saruman should have inflated Willpower, not reduced.

All aboard the OP train!

If Gandalf has his toys, why Saruman can't?!

I don't like that Palantir has to be attached to Saruman. After all, Pippin and Aragorn used it too, though not long. It could however give boosts with a risk of high doomed effect. And I must say I really like this version of Saruman

Yeah, believe me or not, but I do hate the whole concept of stuff being attached to a specific name, but this Palantir I designed as a sort of "Shadowfax, but for Saruman"

The whole purpose of this Saruman is to mirror Gandalf's playset, but with his own theme.

I have tried to make a good Saruman hero, and thik it would be cool if it was something like;

15 threat cost

2 wp

4 atk

3 def

5 hit Points

istari

Play with the top card of the encounter deck faceup.

Forced: At the end of the round, raise your threat by 2.

Neutral

Proably owerpowerd, but is it theamatic?

Question: How are you posting your custom images with no apparent URL?

I tried uploading some custom card images on Google Drive and posting them on the forums with that link, but got an error message. I feel like I'm missing something here...

I copy the direct link of the image and paste it into the "Image" thingy here on forums.

So, it's been a while since I've made anything, and my design itch started activating again.

I've been brewing this kind of theme for some time, the unofficial nickname is a "Loner".

The point of this sort of cards is that they are overpowered as hell, but only effective while you are the first player. So, if people want an easier time playing solo single-handed, they may go for this kind of stuff. Running this stuff in multiplayer fades in effectiveness with more players, unless you agressively use Follow Me!

So, without further ado, proof of the concept set of cards: