Hinterlands

The world is big and your kingdom small. Small when compared to the world, that is; it’s moderate-sized when compared to other kingdoms. But in a big world like this one – big when compared to smaller worlds anyway, if such things exist; it’s moderate-sized when compared to worlds of roughly the same size, and a little small when compared to worlds just a little larger – well, to make a long story short – short when compared to longer stories anyway – it is time to stretch your borders. You’ve heard of far-off places – exotic countries, where they have pancakes but not waffles, where the people wear the wrong number of shirts and don’t even have a word for the look two people give each other when they each hope that the other will do something that they both want to be done but which neither of them wants to do. It is to these lands that you now turn your gaze.

Originally, there were just some cards. One day I split up the cards into a main set and two expansions. I divided the expansion cards by themes; the first expansion got one-shots, decision cards, and cards with two types, while the second expansion got cards that did something on your next turn and cards that did something when you gained them.

When I showed the game to RGG, I had five expansions. During development of the main game, I briefly tried out the expansions in 16-card versions. As part of doing this, I split up the second expansion into two expansions - one for the next turn theme, another for the right now theme. Both themes seemed good enough to support an expansion. Later, when I turned everything back into 20-card expansions (which became 25 during work on Intrigue), I kept those two themes separated. The next turn theme came out as the actual second expansion, Seaside, and now finally we have come to the when-you-gain-this expansion.

A few of these cards date back to 2006, and the original expansion with both themes. More are from when I split up the themes, then more got added to get back up to 25, and of course some cards are more recent, due to the usual process of getting rid of duds and trying new things.

For most of its life, this has been an ordinary expansion. For a while there though, I was thinking maybe it would be good to do another standalone. There are various virtures to standalones; someone else can talk them up, as I know there are other people who will argue against them. Anyway it seemed good to me. And so for a bit I focused on trying to make sure the set wasn't as complex as the couple sets before it. It gets some simplicity from the when-gain theme, although some of those cards still look complicated because they need text for both the normal and when-gain abilities. This focus helped protect a few of the simpler cards, and then late in the going Jay decided it would be a normal expansion after all. So the set is 300 cards, with no tokens or anything, and had that extra push towards simplicity, which is nice. And for those of you who were wondering, this is also why the rulebook has an unprecedented number of recommended sets of 10.

Some of you are thinking, simplicity lol. No really; whatever strategic complexity the set has, it does have some simple, easy-to-play cards; it's simpler than Prosperity but more complex than Seaside. You can sit a new player down with Nomad Camp and Crossroads and so forth and while they may not know what they're doing, they won't be confused by their cards.

The when-gain theme was always the focus of the set. A few of the cards are when-buy instead; this was necessary, as I will explain for those cards. I have a few cards that latch onto when-gain from different angles, rather than just doing something when you gain them. And then, when-gain abilities are good fits for victory cards and treasure cards, so the set got three of each. Some of the victory cards died and were replaced by other ones without when-gain abilities, but there are three, see for yourself. With three victory cards and three treasures it seemed cool to have three reactions, and towards the end I managed to squeeze in a third one.

Some of you who are word people or have internet access may note that one meaning of "hinterlands" is, the land behind the coast. So even the flavor is a complement to Seaside.

Endless outtakes:

- Long ago, the set had a one-shot that let you buy a card and set it aside until the end of the game. That card was weak, but I stole it for Island in Seaside and fixed it up. Later I tried to revisit the concept here. First I tried some Woodcutters that let you buy cards other than to your deck, either while in play or as a reaction. Those were crazy. Then there were three versions of a victory card with a when-gain that left bad cards in your discard pile - one shuffled all non-victory cards from your discard pile into your deck, one shuffled all but 5 cards from your discard pile into your deck, one shuffled actions and treasures from your discard pile into your deck. It always took too many words and it was never clear that it was interesting enough. So none of those made it, but I saved part of the concept as the when-gain on Inn.

- There was a victory card for , worth 1 , that came with a Duchy. It had started as a 2  card you got two of, but that pile runs out twice as fast, which I preferred it not doing. This card was cute but space was limited, and it stopped seeming as necessary when Border Village switched to costing .

- Another old victory card was 2  for and came with a Silver. On some early pass it didn't seem good enough and exciting new cards were trying to get in.

- To go along with the victory cards, there was a card that let you discard victory cards for each. It just wasn't interesting enough.

- There were a bunch of cards that tried to be when-gain card-trashing attacks. The oldest one trashed your choice of each player's top 2 cards (including your own), both when played and when gained. From back when trashing attacks were crazy. Most of the other versions trashed your choice of the top 3, but at least limited you to cards costing or less, and only did it once. One version was a one-shot, which was Bill Barksdale's idea - it was a one-shot with a when-gain, so it wasn't normally in your deck; really it was just, you could use your buy to make this attack happen. That seemed cute but well like many versions of the card, it made the game have a sub-phase in which we bought out the stack, before getting to play the real game. There was a version that was a treasure worth that only attacked when you bought it. I especially liked that one, though of course it had the sub-phase problem, and could shut someone out of the game. There was also a version that whiffed if the top card of their deck was Copper, but attacked repeatedly.

- Similarly there were several versions of a when-gain discard-based attack card. The longest-lasting one was a Woodcutter for that made the other players (with 5+ cards in hand) put a random card from their hand on their deck when you bought it or played it. It's amazing how long that card was around, given how painful it made games. There was an earlier version that made players discard their most expensive card, or most expensive non-vp card. Then when I killed the concept, I tried a Militia with a when-gain that Militia'd your own next hand when you gained it - look at your top 5, discard 2, put the rest back. That seemed cute conceptually but I liked Margrave better and that's what you got here. I also tried an attack that gave the other players a choice between being Militia'd or Ghost Ship'd, which is pretty weak.

- There was an attack that was +, each other player puts 2 Coppers from his discard pile on top of his deck. For . It basically sucked but occasionally really annoyed someone. An earlier version put a victory card from their discard pile on their deck; Fortune Teller is a better take on that.

- There were a couple versions of a Remodel that had you discard a card rather than trash a card. Discarding Province to gain Province is crazy, so it was either "costing exactly more" or "a different card."

- Then I tried a Remodel that had you draw two cards first. It's a simple card but seemed worth trying. The extra cards give you more of a chance for Remodel to hit what you want, you know. Anyway +2 Cards is a huge bonus to add to Remodel.

- There was a Workshop variant that gained you a card costing up to plus the number of Coppers you discarded. It seemed innocent and kind of cute. It's fun to gain more expensive cards with your Workshop, and if you pull off gaining a Province with it, good for you. Well. Workshop is like + +1 Buy, except you can't combine that with your other money. That hurts it a lot. This card could be combined with your other money, but only with Copper. Well with card-drawing you can base your economy on Copper. You draw cards, discard a bunch of Copper to this, gain a Gold or Province... then draw more cards and get those Coppers back, plus that Gold if any, and spend your money a second time. It seemed like it might not usually be overpowered, but it also seemed overpowered too often when the set was played by itself, and at the time it was looking like it would be a standalone.

- Where's the when-gain Chapel? I hear you asking. Right here dude. There was an Explorer (gain Silver to hand) that let you trash any number of cards from hand when you gained it, gaining that many Silvers, yes that was crazy. There was a Mandarin (the top half) that Chapel'd when you gained it; there was a Mandarin that trashed up to 2 cards when you gained it. There was +, put any number of cards from your hand on your deck, when gain trash up to 2 cards. Oracle also had a when-gain trashing ability once. It was a tough ability to balance; trashing cards is so good that you would tend to buy the card for its when-gain and then randomly have whatever it was in your deck. Anyway none of these cards worked out.

- I tried several cards that had a when-gain ability that Navigator'd everybody - look at their top 5 and either make them discard them or make them put them back. They had problems on early turns and late turns.

- There was a card that gained you a Silver per card the previous player gained. That may sound weak, and well it cost , but I have seen it gain a pile of Silvers. One trick is, it adds up if it keeps getting played - I play it for one Silver and buy a card, you play it for two Silvers and buy a card, I play it for three Silvers. I thought the card was okay, but the set at the time had too much Silver-gaining. People thought it was a theme. Some of that stuff had to go, and this was an easy one to drop.

- Another card was +, get the Ironworks bonus for cards the previous player gained. You know, if they gained an Action you get +1 Action, etc. It just didn't thrill anybody.

- There was a late card that was a one-shot double Workshop with a when-gain Chancellor ability. I liked it. For most people it just seemed okay though, not a hit, and as it happens this was not a great set for the card. Where are all the 's you want a million of? Yes there's Silk Road. I would have just pushed this into another set, to further consider its merits there, but there are only two more sets and neither one could fit this. If there ever turns out to be a 9th expansion, just forget you read this.

- There was a card that was +1 Card +1 Action, while in play when you draw a card, first reveal your top card and you may discard it if it's a victory card. It was too slow and confusing.

- There was a Village with "when you gain this, you may put a card from your hand on your deck." I had a few cards that let you save a card for next turn as a when-gain, but it was never that interesting of an ability. Mandarin kind of takes up that space in a cooler way.

- A couple card-drawing cards had the penalty of when-gain, each other player may trash a card from his hand. These cards barely got tested, didn't excite people, and then I used a version of that penalty on Bishop.

- Farming Village started here for with only +1 Action.

- It's only fitting that Masquerade got passed around from expansion to expansion. It was in Prosperity, it was in the original 4th expansion, and it was here once too. Mountebank was also briefly here, when it was missing from Prosperity.

- There is a card that started in Prosperity that was here for a while but now is in the 8th set. There are two cards that started here and have variations surviving in the 8th set. And there's an attack from Cornucopia that I tried a bad version of here before fixing it up for the 7th set. Hey I try to make these posts complete.

And that's how it happened.

Odds are I wasn't going to be so unhappy with this one either, given how recent it is. The one thing I can say is, I thought the set was simpler than people think it is, and I would be strongly tempted to simplify it a little given that I know people think it's complex. Basically make it a little more like the standalone it didn't end up being. To that end the obv. changes are to drop the reactions from Fool's Gold and Trader, to drop the above-line text on Duchess (just leave it +), and make a version of IGG that just has or on the top. Possibly either Inn or Mandarin could change, I like them both as-is but they would be some of the wordiest cards left at that point. Noble Brigand is wordy but it needs those words. Probably all of these changes sound awful to you, dear reader, but that's the way of the world. It's hard to see the value in the simplicity I'd gain, but there really is value there. Anyway I went with the more complex versions and it's not so bad that I did.

When-buy exists in Prosperity, because at the time it seemed reasonable, it was a thing that was distinct in the game and I didn't think "people won't recognize that this is different from when-gain." In Hinterlands I wanted everything to be when-gain, but some cards didn't work that way, and making everything when-buy meant giving up lots of fun. No playtesters could get behind giving that fun up. So I gave up and used a mix and well despite Prosperity I still should have gone with all when-gain. And if I'd thought of it in time, all when-gain in Prosperity too.

Here is some portion of my opinion on 8 other Hinterlands cards. I got sick of leaving some cards in the box whenever I played with the set, and proxied up changes for my personal version. I don't see how to publish these - we don't want to make people who already have Hinterlands buy an update pack to get things like "Fool's Gold without the reaction." And we'd have to have an update pack and well it's a problem. I could replace cards with new cards (that update pack is a reasonable product); I can't just tweak cards. But, I am sharing these card texts with you anyway...

Apprentice: Action, [Replacing Oracle; originally from hinterlands, published in Alchemy]

+1 Action

Trash a card from your hand. +1 Card per it costs.

Cache: Treasure, , worth

[big coin]

+1 Buy

---

When you gain this, gain 2 Coppers.

Duchess: Action,

+

Look at the top card of your deck; you may discard it.

---

In games using this, when you gain a Duchy, you may gain a Duchess.

Fool's Gold: Treasure - Reaction, , worth

If this is the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, +, otherwise +.

Ill-Gotten Gains: Treasure, , worth

[big coin]

---

When you gain this, each other player gains a Curse.

Mandarin: Action,

+

Put a card from your hand onto your deck.

---

When you gain this, put all Treasures you have in play on top of your deck in any order.

Margrave: Action - Attack,

+3 Cards

Each other player draws a card, then discards down to 3 cards in hand.

Noble Brigand: Action - Attack,

+

Each other player reveals the top 2 cards of their deck, trashes a revealed non-Copper Treasure that you gain, and discards the rest. If they didn't reveal a Treasure, they gain a Copper.

---

When you buy this, do its attack.