Terminality
The terminality of a card refers to whether it, when played, results in a net positive, net negative, or net neutral amount of Actions remaining.
[edit] Overview
A large part of strategy in Dominion revolves around dealing with the rule that a player may only play one Action per turn. Some cards allow you to play a single other Action after being played, some allow you to play multiple other Actions, and some are able to do something with other Actions they've collided with. In general, cards are balanced so that ones that do not provide +Action are more powerful than ones that do at the same cost. For example, Laboratory provides +2 Cards and is non-terminal, and costs 
, while Moat provides +2 Cards and is terminal, and costs 
. Ignoring Moat's Reaction, the cards are identical, apart from their terminality. The ability to play another Action after Laboratory merits an increase of 
in cost.
[edit] Levels of Terminality
Net positive Actions:
Net neutral Actions:
Net negative Actions:
- Terminals
- "Hard" terminals
- Soft terminals
In addition to the broad classes mentioned, there are a few cards, such as Ironmonger and Tribute, whose terminality is not fixed, but dependent on the outcome of other effects on the card. The terminality of a card can also be deliberately changed through Teacher and Lost Arts. Champion makes all of your Action cards non-terminal. Finally, there is a class of cards that are (generally) terminal, but allow the playing of additional Actions in other ways - Throne Room variants.
