Village (card category)

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Village, the archetype for this category.

Village is the informal generic name for the family of cards which offer the ability to play more than one terminal Action in a turn—so called because many of them have "village" in their names. The simplest village card is VillageVillage.jpg itself. Typically, these cards offer +2 Actions, but there are some village cards which give this effect in other ways.

The presence of villages in a given Kingdom is important because having a cap on the number of terminal actions that can be played in a turn is a significant limiting factor in the potential of decks that can be built; Kingdoms with villages and Kingdoms without villages play very differently. Without the presence of villages in a Kingdom, the focus of most decks shifts to the non-terminals, plus the most desirable terminal available.

Every small Dominion expansion has at least two villages, and every other expansion has at least three.

Contents

[edit] List of villages

Cards in italics have been removed.

[edit] Villages with no restrictions

These cards increase your terminal space by providing +Actions in a way that is relatively easy to take advantage of.

[edit] Throne Room variants

The Throne Room variants Throne RoomThrone Room.jpg, CrownCrown.jpg, MastermindMastermind.jpg, Royal CarriageRoyal Carriage.jpg, SpecialistSpecialist.jpg, and King's CourtKing's Court.jpg allow you to play the same Action card multiple times on a turn. Although they behave a little differently than the standard villages above, they also increase your terminal space: using a Throne Room variant on a non-terminal Action, or on another Throne Room variant, will allow you to play two different terminal actions. These cards therefore usually enable the same types of decks that other villages do. For more detailed insight into this concept, see here.

Some Throne Room variants with more restricted behavior appear on the lists below.

[edit] Villages that need extra effort or support

These cards are villages that require you to jump through some hoops to get the effect. For some people it may be useful to think of these cards separately than the above list because you have to go through an explicit check to make sure it actually works on a given kingdom, other people don’t see it that way.

  • With TributeTribute.jpg, you only get extra Actions if your opponent reveals an Action card from their deck; this is unreliable enough that the card was eventually removed from IntrigueIntrigue.jpg.
  • With PrincePrince.jpg, there has to be an Action that can cost $4 or less, or else the effect doesn’t work.
  • With DiplomatDiplomat.jpg, there needs to be a way to have 5 or fewer cards in hand after playing it, or else the effect doesn’t work.
  • With GolemGolem.jpg, there needs to be some other non-terminal on the board for the effect to work past the first play of Golem.
  • With TrailTrail.jpg, you only get extra Actions if you gain, trash, or discard this other than in Clean-up.
  • For HeraldHerald.jpg and IronmongerIronmonger.jpg, you need to have enough Action cards in your deck to reveal an Action card often enough to get the effect a useful amount of times.
  • ChampionChampion.jpg gives you unconditional unlimited Actions; but it takes a long time to get a Champion, so you're still going to have to plan to spend most of the midgame depending on other types of villages for your terminal space.
  • With Lost ArtsLost Arts.jpg and TeacherTeacher.jpg you typically need a non-terminal Action to apply the +1 Action token, otherwise you are restricted to extra copies of only one type of terminal (the one you apply the token to).
  • ConclaveConclave.jpg only gives a village effect if you can play an Action you do not have a copy of in play, so in practice, it only works if you have enough different Actions in your deck. InspiringInspiring.jpg has a similar effect, plus it depends on playing the specific card with the Inspiring trait.
  • First MateFirst Mate.jpg and PatientPatient.jpg, on the other hand, allow you to play multiple copies of the same card without using up Actions.
  • With Royal GalleyRoyal Galley.jpg, there needs to be some non-terminal, non-Duration card on the board.
  • AcademyAcademy.jpg gives villagers whenever actions are gained and so usually requires a way to gain non-terminal actions, which is often achievable with +Buy or gainers, especially HorseHorse.jpg gainers like CavalryCavalry.jpg.
  • ProcessionProcession.jpg, SacrificeSacrifice.jpg, RecruiterRecruiter.jpg, and BrokerBroker.jpg can require you to trash cards you might prefer to keep in order to get the village effect.
  • PaddockPaddock.jpg only becomes a village when two supply piles are empty and so the game is likely nearly over.
  • ToilToil.jpg, ScepterScepter.jpg, and Market TownsMarket Towns.jpg allow you to play additional Actions, but only in your Buy phase. This puts some limits on what you can usefully play with them. InvasionInvasion.jpg specifically lets you play an Attack during your Buy phase.
  • Landing PartyLanding Party.jpg doesn't return to your deck until you begin a turn by playing a Treasure, which usually means skipping your Action phase. Thus it lets you play extra Actions on one turn at the cost of forgoing playing Actions on a different turn.
  • TaskmasterTaskmaster.jpg gives you an extra Action on your next turn only if you gain a card costing $5 on this turn (but it will keep doing so for as many turns as you keep gaining $5s).
  • FlagshipFlagship.jpg is a Throne Room variant, but it itself is terminal; so using it doesn't actually increase your total amount of terminal space on the turn when you play it.

[edit] Villages offering limited terminal space

These cards are villages that are only available in very limited numbers, or have some other restriction that means you can only play one or very few extra terminals per turn.

When given a kingdom with only these villages, it can be useful to go through the line of reasoning for when there are no villages, but modify it with the limiting factor — “What can I do when I can only play 2 terminals per turn?” instead of just one per turn, for example.

  • TacticianTactician.jpg can usually only be played once per turn, and it really only moves your terminal space around, since it's terminal when you play it and only provides one extra Action next turn.
  • CrossroadsCrossroads.jpg will only allow two additional terminal actions per turn.
  • NecropolisNecropolis.jpg, Trusty SteedTrusty Steed.jpg, Dame MollyDame Molly.jpg, CourserCourser.jpg, and DemesneDemesne.jpg are villages you can (usually) only get one copy of, allowing you only one additional terminal action per turn.
  • BarracksBarracks.jpg can only be bought once, and lets you play only one extra terminal per turn. CitadelCitadel.jpg and PiazzaPiazza.jpg have the same issue in more complex ways.
  • MadmanMadman.jpg works great when played, but it’s a one-shot, and in order to get more of them, you have to not buy any cards on a turn, which is often a very high cost.
  • SaunaSauna.jpg/AvantoAvanto.jpg, as a split pile, is difficult to get a lot of, so the number of terminals that can realistically be played is limited by that and the fact that sometimes it can be difficult to line them up properly and get maximum value.
  • DiscipleDisciple.jpg, GhostGhost.jpg, and StaffStaff.jpg can be hard to get in multiples and there is a limited supply of them.
  • Acting TroupeActing Troupe.jpg is a one-shot; it gives you a bunch of villagers that can be used for +Actions whenever you want, but once you've used them up, you're out of +Actions.
  • Snowy VillageSnowy Village.jpg gives you a lot of actions, but prevents you from getting any more Actions after that.
  • LichLich.jpg gives you +Actions, but at the steep price of making you lose a turn, so you really don't want to play it very often.
  • GondolaGondola.jpg allows you to play an extra Action card while gaining it, which in general can only happen a limited number of times.
  • LaunchLaunch.jpg is an Event that gives you +Action in exchange for $3, but may only be used once per turn.

[edit] Cards Gallery

[edit] Villages and Throne Room variants with no restrictions

Bandit Camp.jpgBazaar.jpgBlessed Village.jpgBorder Village.jpgBustling Village.jpgCapital City.jpgChampion.jpgCity.jpgCity Quarter.jpgCoin of the Realm.jpgCrown.jpgCursed Village.jpgEncampment.jpgFarming Village.jpgFestival.jpgFishing Village.jpgFortress.jpgGhost Town.jpgHamlet.jpgHideout.jpgHostelry.jpgHunting Lodge.jpgInn.jpgKing's Court.jpgLost City.jpgMastermind.jpgMerchant Camp.jpgMining Village.jpgMountain Village.jpgNative Village.jpgNobles.jpgPlaza.jpgPort.jpgRoyal Carriage.jpgShanty Town.jpgSpecialist.jpgSquire.jpgSwamp Shacks.jpgThrone Room.jpgTown.jpgUniversity.jpgVilla.jpgVillage.jpgVillage Green.jpgWalled Village.jpgWandering Minstrel.jpgWealthy Village.jpgWorker's Village.jpgWay of the Ox.jpg

[edit] Villages that need extra effort or support

Broker.jpgConclave.jpgDiplomat.jpgGolem.jpgHerald.jpgIronmonger.jpgPaddock.jpgPrince.jpgProcession.jpgRecruiter.jpgRoyal Galley.jpgSacrifice.jpgScepter.jpgTrail.jpgTeacher.jpgAcademy.jpgLost Arts.jpgMarket Towns.jpgToil.jpgSummon.jpg

[edit] Villages offering limited terminal space

Acting Troupe.jpgCrossroads.jpgDame Molly.jpgDisciple.jpgGhost.jpgLich.jpgMadman.jpgNecropolis.jpgSauna.jpgAvanto.jpgSnowy Village.jpgStaff.jpgTactician.jpgTrusty Steed.jpg
Barracks.jpgCitadel.jpgPiazza.jpg

[edit] Trivia

Donald X. Vaccarino has explained that the reason cards that give +2 Actions are often named after "villages" or other populated places (e.g., City, Hamlet) is because extra Actions are thematically represented by "a group of people doing things for you". Starting with Dark AgesDark Ages.jpg, there have been villages without these thematic names.

The related names both help you remember what a card does, and help me name cards. So I had them right away; they were not unintentional. There's a 2nd "village" on the 2nd page of cards; I probably had it within a week of the first one. I wasn't always consistent though, for random reasons.

Ruined VillageRuined Village.jpg is the only card with "village" in its name that does not provide +2 Actions; as a Ruins, it is notionally a village that has been stripped of most of its ability.

An inexperienced player who buys too many villages and not enough terminal Actions is informally referred to as a "village idiot".


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