Editing Split pile

[[Image:Encampment.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Encampment]], the top card of a Split pile.]]
[[Image:Plunder.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Plunder]], the card under Encampment.]]

'''Split piles''' are [[Kingdom card]] piles containing multiple differently named cards, in a particular order.  Typically, the cards in a split pile have some particular [[synergy]] with each other.  Split piles were introduced in [[Empires]] and revisited in [[Allies]]. In Empires, the cards on top of the pile had to be gained or trashed before the cards on the bottom would be available; but Allies introduced the mechanism of [[rotate|rotating]] a split pile, allowing the top cards to be moved to the bottom of the pile to make the next cards accessible. 

[[Dark Ages]] featured [[Knights]] and [[Ruins]], a precursor to split piles; these supply piles contain multiple differently-named cards, but they are shuffled at the start of the game rather than appearing in a prescribed order. 

The cards in a split pile usually have different [[cost]]s and may belong to different [[card type]]s. When an effect depends on the cost or types ''of a pile'', rather than of an individual card, the information listed on a split pile's [[randomizer]] card determine what the cost and types of the pile as a whole are considered to be. For instance, the {{card|Gladiator}}/{{card|Fortune}} pile is labeled a {{cost|3}} [[Action]] pile, and therefore may be designated the Bane pile for {{card|Young Witch}} and have various [[Adventures token]]s placed on it, even though {{card|Fortune}} is not an Action and costs more than {{cost|3}}.

== List of split pile cards ==

Piles are sorted by the cost of the top card (which is shown on the randomizer card for the pile).

{{Cost|2}} {{Card|Encampment}}/{{Card|Plunder}}, {{Card|Patrician}}/{{Card|Emporium}}, {{Card|Settlers}}/{{Card|Bustling Village}}, {{Card|Townsfolk}}
<br>{{Cost|3}} {{Card|Castles}}, {{Card|Catapult}}/{{Card|Rocks}}, {{Card|Gladiator}}/{{Card|Fortune}}, {{Card|Augurs}}, {{Card|Clashes}}, {{Card|Forts}}, {{Card|Odysseys}}, {{Card|Wizards}}
<br?>{{Cost|4}} {{Card|Sauna}}/{{Card|Avanto}}
=== Randomizers ===
<gallery>
File:Encampment_Plunder.jpg|Encampment/Plunder
File:Patrician_Emporium.jpg|Patrician/Emporium
File:Settlers_Bustling_Village.jpg|Settlers/Bustling Village
File:Castles.jpg|Castles
File:Catapult_Rocks.jpg|Catapult/Rocks
File:Gladiator_Fortune.jpg|Gladiator/Fortune
File:Sauna_Avanto.jpg|Sauna/Avanto
File:Townsfolk.jpg|Townsfolk
File:Augurs.jpg|Augurs
File:Clashes.jpg|Clashes
File:Forts.jpg|Forts
File:Odysseys.jpg|Odysseys
File:Wizards.jpg|Wizards
</gallery>

== Official Rules ==
=== [[Empires]] ===
* Five Kingdom Card piles in Empires have two cards in them, with 5 copies of each - Catapult / Rocks, Encampment / Plunder, Gladiator / Fortune, Patrician / Emporium, and Settlers / Bustling Village.
* The Randomizers for those piles show both cards. During set-up, always put the cheaper card on top, e.g. Patrician (cost {{Cost|2}}) above Emporium (cost {{Cost|5}}). 
* To mark the pile, turn the bottom half sideways. That way players remember that the other card is there. Turn it back when those cards are uncovered.
* Players may only Buy or Gain the top card of a pile; players have to work through the top 5 cards to get to the bottom 5. 
* Players can read the covered card to remember what it does, but cannot buy it or gain it until it is uncovered. 
* If the card is covered back up somehow - for example Encampment can return to its pile - then once again players cannot Buy or Gain the covered cards, until again uncovered. 
* Returning cards to a pile, such as with {{Card|Ambassador}} (from {{Set|Seaside|Dominion: Seaside}}), can also result in the pile being in an unusual order; an Ambassador could return a Plunder to the Encampment/Plunder pile on top of an Encampment.
* Some cards refer to the [[cost]] or [[type]]s of a pile as if it is just one card. In these cases go with what is on the Randomizer card, which usually matches the top card. 
* Some things refer to cards from a particular pile; these things work on both cards from a split pile. 
* For example {{Event|Training}} (from {{Set|Adventures|Dominion: Adventures}}) lets a player put a token on an Action pile, which causes them to get +{{Cost|1}} when playing a card from that pile. The token can be put on the Catapult / Rocks pile, despite Rocks being a Treasure; and the token causes both Catapult and Rocks to produce an extra {{Cost|1}} when played.
* Emptying the top half of a split pile does not count as emptying a pile, for the game end condition or cards that refer to empty piles. The entire pile needs to be gone for the pile to be empty. 
* One Kingdom Card pile in Empires has 8 different cards - the Castles. They behave similarly to the other split piles; only the top card can be bought or gained, they go in order by cost with Humble Castle on top, and so on. This pile is treated as a Victory - Castle pile, as per the Randomizer, despite the top card being a Treasure - Victory - Castle. In 2-player games, use one of each Castle; with more players, use all 12 cards.

=== [[Allies]] ===
* {{Set|Allies|Dominion: Allies}} has six split piles, that have four different cards in each of them.
* The cards start the game in order by cost. For example, the Augurs pile starts out with 4 {{Card|Herb Gatherer|Herb Gatherers}} on top, then 4 {{Card|Acolyte|Acolytes}}, then 4 {{Card|Sorceress|Sorceresses}}, then 4 {{Card|Sibyl|Sibyls}}. This order may get messed up by cards like {{Card|Swap}}; that's fine.
* As with the split piles in {{Set|Empires|Dominion: Empires}}, only the top card of a split pile can be bought or gained.
* You can look through the cards in a split pile at any time, without changing the order.
* The top card of each split pile has an ability that can "[[rotate]]" the pile (or with {{Card|Battle Plan}}, any pile). Rotating a pile means taking the top card, and all copies of it directly under it, and putting them on the bottom. For example, if three Herb Gatherers were at the top of the Augurs, followed by Acolytes, you would put those three Herb Gatherers on the bottom, and Acolyte would now be on top.
* Some cards refer to information about a pile as if it's just one card. In these cases, go with what's on the Randomizer card, which usually matches the top card.
* Some things refer to cards from a particular pile; these things work on all cards from a split pile. For example {{Event|Training}} (from {{Set|Adventures|Dominion: Adventures}}) lets a player put a [[Adventures tokens#Vanilla_bonus_tokens|token]] on an [[Action]] pile, which causes them to get +{{Cost|1}} when playing a card from that pile. The token can be put on the Odyssey pile, and then {{Card|Sunken Treasure}} will also make +{{Cost|1}} when played.

== Trivia ==
=== Preview ===
{{Quote
|Text=So how do these work exactly? The top cards are paired with the bottom ones. Each pile has 5 copies of the first (cheaper) card, then 5 copies of the second (more expensive) card. You can only buy/gain the card on top; if you want the other card, you have to dig it out. There are special randomizers for these piles, that list both cards and have art showing both things. You will see those when the set comes out; the six actual cards will have to do for today. And uh some things in the game care about stats for a pile, and well they go by the randomizer, which usually matches the top card. {{Card|Young Witch}} can have Gladiator/Fortune as its bane (and then both cards will do the trick), {{Event|Training}} lets you put your +{{Cost|1}} [[Adventures tokens|token]] on the Catapult/Rocks pile (and then both cards give +{{Cost|1}}), and so on.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=15373.0 Empires Previews #2: Split Piles]
}}

{{Quote
|Text=Split piles are back! Only this time they rotate. Also they have four different cards in them. Let's see one to better talk about this. It's: Augurs.<br>So the pile starts with 4 copies of {{Card|Herb Gatherer}}, then 4 copies of {{Card|Acolyte}}, then 4 copies of {{Card|Sorceress}}, then 4 copies of {{Card|Sibyl}}. And you can only buy/gain the top card. But, the first card lets you "rotate" the pile. This puts all copies of whatever's on top onto the bottom. If the top has three {{Card|Herb Gatherer}}s and then {{Card|Acolyte}}s etc., rotating it puts all three {{Card|Herb Gatherer}}s on the bottom. If it was just one {{Card|Herb Gatherer}} and then {{Card|Acolyte}}s, that one {{Card|Herb Gatherer}} goes on the bottom. If the pile has different cards left in it, then rotating it will uncover a different one. It gets you through the pile.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=21085 Allies Preview 2: Split piles]
}}
=== Secret History (Empires) ===
{{Quote|Text=One day Jeff Boschen complained that one of the [[Debt]] cards (an earlier version of {{Card|City Quarter}}) was dominating games, that in particular you could always get all the copies you needed, even in a 2-player game. And I thought, hmmm, I could have piles that were only 5 cards. And then from there went immediately to, wait, 5 cards, then 5 of another card. And I tried some cards like that and it seemed pretty cool. You get to tie together the cards somehow. A big issue was making sure you would get through the top 5 often enough; not necessarily every game, but you know, not as some rare thing. So three are cheap [[cantrip]]s, and {{Card|Gladiator}} eats its own pile for you.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
 |Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=15660.0 The Secret History of the Empires Cards]
}}
=== Secret History (Allies) ===
{{Quote|Text=
The split piles originally had a variety of mechanics to ensure that you could somehow get through the pile to the cards you wanted. Some piles had every card able to upgrade to a card from the pile, just like how {{Card|Acolyte}} does. Two piles tried having the top card gain a card from the pile; two piles, including one of those, tried having the top card able to trash cards from its Supply pile. One pile had no trick but was all villages. In the end we have rotation. It gets you through the pile, provided that someone gets the top card. The upgrading and {{Card|Lurker}}-ing meant we didn't get to play with cards from the piles as much, and the gaining was crazy. The first version of rotation just moved one card; then it got the word "rotate" and did what it does.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
 |Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=21129.msg888578#msg888578 The Secret History of Dominion: Allies]
}}
=== Why are Empires split piles 10 cards? ===
{{Quote|Text=I would certainly consider 6/6 if doing them again, but what that does varies with the pile. I want to make sure we get to the 2nd card sometimes, so that's a downside/limitation.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
 |Source=[https://www.reddit.com/r/dominion/comments/f90p4m/menagerie_expansion_theories/fisx1d4?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Menagerie Expansion Theories]
}}
=== Split pile synergies ===
{{Quote|Text=
I do not see such great value in having the split pile cards all be super-synergistic. The danger is that then that's all you do in those games, you do those synergies and they're in every game with that pile. You can see this in action in {{Card|Sauna}} / {{Card|Avanto}}. The split piles were an opportunity to do a card like {{Card|Elder}} and ensure it had something to do, and I did some of those. I have no regrets about not making every card neatly interact with the rest of its pile.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
 |Source=[https://www.reddit.com/r/dominion/comments/tv6kve/comment/i38qs1b/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Allies is great but I wish the Split piles had more synergies.]
}}
=== Split pile complexity ===
{{Quote|Text=
I did the split piles because they were fun. They are for sure complex; even with lots of simple cards in them, you have to read four cards and think about them as a whole in order to play well with a pile. It's a lot to ask new players. The set does have lots of regular cards that are great for new players though.

There were 8 split piles at one point. I cut it down to 6 in part because then when you played an all {{Set|Allies}} game, you wouldn't have three split piles at once all the time.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
 |Source=[https://www.reddit.com/r/dominion/comments/tv6kve/comment/i3niz8t/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Allies is great but I wish the Split piles had more synergies.]
}}
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