Vanilla

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'''Vanilla''' cards are cards that have no effect other than some combination of +Cards, +Actions, +Buy, and +{{Cost|}}. These are the simplest card effects to understand and execute; for this reason the bulk of the game's vanilla [[Kingdom card]]s are in the base [[Dominion]] set, whose overall theme is simplicity of effect. They are often a useful baseline of comparison for the effects of similar cards.
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[[Image:Market.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Market]], a vanilla card.]]
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'''Vanilla''' cards are cards that have no effect other than some combination of +Cards, +Actions, +Buy, and +{{Cost|}}. These are the simplest card effects to understand and execute; for this reason the bulk of the game's vanilla [[Kingdom card|Kingdom cards]] are in the [[Dominion (Base Set)|base Dominion set]], whose overall theme is simplicity of effect. They are often a useful baseline of comparison for the effects of similar cards.
  
 
Many cards have vanilla bonuses in addition to their other, seemingly more interesting or unique, effects in order to make them more balanced and interesting to play. For instance, a card saying simply "Each other player gains a Curse" would be too weak to be useful as a [[curser]], so {{Card|Witch}} has a "vanilla" +2 cards bonus in order to make it playable.
 
Many cards have vanilla bonuses in addition to their other, seemingly more interesting or unique, effects in order to make them more balanced and interesting to play. For instance, a card saying simply "Each other player gains a Curse" would be too weak to be useful as a [[curser]], so {{Card|Witch}} has a "vanilla" +2 cards bonus in order to make it playable.
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== List of vanilla cards ==
 
== List of vanilla cards ==
 
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Cards in italics have been [[Removed cards|removed]].
* [[Dominion (base set)|Dominion]]: {{Card|Festival}}, {{Card|Laboratory}}, {{Card|Market}}, {{Card|Smithy}}, {{Card|Village}}, {{Card|Woodcutter}}
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* {{Set|Dominion (base set)|Dominion}}: {{Card|Festival}}, {{Card|Laboratory}}, {{Card|Market}}, {{Card|Smithy}}, {{Card|Village}}, ''{{Card|Woodcutter}}''
* [[Seaside]]: {{Card|Bazaar}}
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* {{Set|Seaside}}: {{Card|Bazaar}}
* [[Prosperity]]: {{Card|Worker's Village}}
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* {{Set|Prosperity}}: {{Card|Worker's Village}}
* [[Dark Ages]]: {{Card|Abandoned Mine}}, {{Card|Necropolis}}, {{Card|Ruined Library}}, {{Card|Ruined Market}}, {{Card|Ruined Village}}
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* {{Set|Dark Ages}}: {{Card|Abandoned Mine}}, {{Card|Necropolis}}, {{Card|Ruined Library}}, {{Card|Ruined Market}}, {{Card|Ruined Village}}
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* {{set|Nocturne}}: {{card|Pouch}}
  
 
=== Semi-vanilla cards ===
 
=== Semi-vanilla cards ===
 
 
Certain cards could be considered vanilla under slightly broader criteria:
 
Certain cards could be considered vanilla under slightly broader criteria:
* {{Card|Great Hall}} and {{Card|Harem}} (from [[Intrigue]]), and {{Card|Monument}} (from Prosperity) are vanilla if [[victory point]]s are considered a vanilla property along with +Cards, +Actions, and so on. {{Card|Candlestick Maker}} and arguably {{Card|Baker}} (from [[Guilds]]) are vanilla if [[Coin token|Coin tokens]] are a vanilla property.
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* ''{{Card|Great Hall}}'' and {{Card|Harem}} (from {{Set|Intrigue}}), {{Card|Monument}} (from Prosperity), and {{Card|Plunder}} (from {{Set|Empires}}) are vanilla if [[victory point|victory points]] are considered a vanilla property along with +Cards, +Actions, and so on.
* {{Card|Fishing Village}}, {{Card|Caravan}}, {{Card|Merchant Ship}}, and {{Card|Wharf}} (from [[Seaside]]) are [[Duration]] cards that have only vanilla effects, but on two consecutive turns.
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* {{Card|Candlestick Maker}}, from {{set|Guilds}}, is vanilla if [[Coffers]] are considered a vanilla property.
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* {{Card|Fishing Village}}, {{Card|Caravan}}, {{Card|Merchant Ship}}, and {{Card|Wharf}} (from {{Card|Seaside}}), {{card|Hireling}} (from {{set|Adventures}}), and {{card|Ghost Town}} (from {{set|Nocturne}}), are [[Duration]] cards that have only vanilla effects, but some or all of them take place on future turns.
 
* {{Card|Pawn}}, {{Card|Conspirator}}, and {{Card|Nobles}} (from Intrigue) and {{Card|City}} (from Prosperity) have only vanilla effects, but ''which'' vanilla effects they have is dependent on the circumstances in which they are played, or the player's choice.
 
* {{Card|Pawn}}, {{Card|Conspirator}}, and {{Card|Nobles}} (from Intrigue) and {{Card|City}} (from Prosperity) have only vanilla effects, but ''which'' vanilla effects they have is dependent on the circumstances in which they are played, or the player's choice.
* {{Card|Grand Market}} and {{Card|Peddler}} (from Prosperity), {{Card|Nomad Camp}}, {{Card|Cache}} and {{Card|Border Village}} (from [[Hinterlands]]), {{Card|Fortress}} and {{Card|Hunting Grounds}} (from Dark Ages), and {{Card|Masterpiece}} (from Guilds) have special properties when you buy, gain, or trash them, but only vanilla effects while they are actually in your deck.
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* {{Card|Grand Market}} and {{Card|Peddler}} (from Prosperity), {{Card|Nomad Camp}}, {{Card|Cache}} and {{Card|Border Village}} (from [[Hinterlands]]), {{Card|Fortress}} and {{Card|Hunting Grounds}} (from Dark Ages), {{Card|Masterpiece}} and {{Card|Baker}} (from Guilds), {{Card|Port}} and {{Card|Lost City}} (from {{Set|Adventures}}), {{Card|Emporium}}, {{Card|Rocks}} and {{Card|Villa}} (from Empires), {{Card|Blessed Village}} and {{Card|Haunted Mirror}} (from {{Set|Nocturne}}), and {{Card|Ducat}} and {{Card|Silk Merchant}} (from {{Set|Renaissance}}) have special properties when you buy, gain, or trash them, or at the beginning of the game, but only vanilla effects while they are actually in your deck.
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* {{Card|Moat}} (from Dominion), {{Card|Tunnel}} (from Hinterlands), {{Card|Market Square}} (from Dark Ages), and {{Card|Faithful Hound}} (from Nocturne) are all [[Reaction|Reactions]] that have only vanilla effects until revealed under the condition of their Reaction.
  
 
== Thoughts on design ==
 
== Thoughts on design ==
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<p>For example, Dominion has Village: "+1 Card +2 Actions." It costs {{Cost|3}}. Village means I can never make a card that's Village-with-a-bonus, without charging {{Cost|4}} or more for it. I make Village-with-a-bonus sometimes - Mining Village in Intrigue is one. And when I do it has to cost {{Cost|4}}.... I can do Village-with-a-bonus cards at {{Cost|4}} forever. As long as each bonus is different, the cards don't end up too close. Sure they're both Villages, but is the one bonus always better than the other?</p>
 
<p>For example, Dominion has Village: "+1 Card +2 Actions." It costs {{Cost|3}}. Village means I can never make a card that's Village-with-a-bonus, without charging {{Cost|4}} or more for it. I make Village-with-a-bonus sometimes - Mining Village in Intrigue is one. And when I do it has to cost {{Cost|4}}.... I can do Village-with-a-bonus cards at {{Cost|4}} forever. As long as each bonus is different, the cards don't end up too close. Sure they're both Villages, but is the one bonus always better than the other?</p>
  
<p>...The solution to the vanilla card problem is not to do vanilla cards. If your basic version of a concept includes a bonus, you can vary the bonus and keep the cost the same. Only when you do the bonus-less version are you stuck with increasing the cost. But you can't just not do vanilla cards. You need them for how simple they are. So in the end you pick and choose. For example Dominion does not have a card that just says "+1 Card +1 Action +{{Cost|1}}." If I made that card, it would limit what other cards I could make. So instead I just do variations on it.</p></blockquote>
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<p>...The solution to the vanilla card problem is not to do vanilla cards. If your basic version of a concept includes a bonus, you can vary the bonus and keep the cost the same. Only when you do the bonus-less version are you stuck with increasing the cost. But you can't just not do vanilla cards. You need them for how simple they are. So in the end you pick and choose. For example Dominion does not have a card that just says "+1 Card +1 Action +{{Cost|1}}." If I made that card, it would limit what other cards I could make. So instead I just do [[Peddler variant|variations on it]].</p></blockquote>
  
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{{Navbox Base set}}
 
{{Navbox card categories}}
 
{{Navbox card categories}}
 
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[[Category:Other card categories]]
[[Category:Card categories]]
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Revision as of 06:03, 11 January 2019

Market, a vanilla card.

Vanilla cards are cards that have no effect other than some combination of +Cards, +Actions, +Buy, and +$. These are the simplest card effects to understand and execute; for this reason the bulk of the game's vanilla Kingdom cards are in the base Dominion set, whose overall theme is simplicity of effect. They are often a useful baseline of comparison for the effects of similar cards.

Many cards have vanilla bonuses in addition to their other, seemingly more interesting or unique, effects in order to make them more balanced and interesting to play. For instance, a card saying simply "Each other player gains a Curse" would be too weak to be useful as a curser, so WitchWitch.jpg has a "vanilla" +2 cards bonus in order to make it playable.

Cards that are the simplest examples of what is seen as a larger family of cards are sometimes referred to specifically as "vanilla". For instance, VillageVillage.jpg is sometimes referred to as "vanilla Village" to distinguish it from the family of other villages, even though Worker's VillageWorker's Village.jpg and BazaarBazaar.jpg, both in the "village" category, are both vanilla cards themselves.

List of vanilla cards

Cards in italics have been removed.

Semi-vanilla cards

Certain cards could be considered vanilla under slightly broader criteria:

Thoughts on design

Donald X. Vaccarino has this to say on the subject of designing vanilla cards and their relationships to similar cards:

"Okay the vanilla card problem is this: vanilla cards limit what other cards you can make, without having two similar cards such that one is too obviously better than the other.

For example, Dominion has Village: "+1 Card +2 Actions." It costs $3. Village means I can never make a card that's Village-with-a-bonus, without charging $4 or more for it. I make Village-with-a-bonus sometimes - Mining Village in Intrigue is one. And when I do it has to cost $4.... I can do Village-with-a-bonus cards at $4 forever. As long as each bonus is different, the cards don't end up too close. Sure they're both Villages, but is the one bonus always better than the other?

...The solution to the vanilla card problem is not to do vanilla cards. If your basic version of a concept includes a bonus, you can vary the bonus and keep the cost the same. Only when you do the bonus-less version are you stuck with increasing the cost. But you can't just not do vanilla cards. You need them for how simple they are. So in the end you pick and choose. For example Dominion does not have a card that just says "+1 Card +1 Action +$1." If I made that card, it would limit what other cards I could make. So instead I just do variations on it.


Cards $2 CellarCellar.jpgChapelChapel.jpgMoatMoat.jpg $3 HarbingerHarbinger.jpg • MerchantMerchant.jpgVassalVassal.jpgVillageVillage.jpgWorkshopWorkshop.jpg $4 BureaucratBureaucrat.jpgGardensGardens.jpgMilitiaMilitia.jpgMoneylenderMoneylender.jpgPoacherPoacher.jpgRemodelRemodel.jpgSmithySmithy.jpgThrone RoomThrone Room.jpg $5 BanditBandit.jpgCouncil RoomCouncil Room.jpgFestivalFestival.jpgLaboratoryLaboratory.jpgLibraryLibrary.jpgMarketMarket.jpgMineMine.jpgSentrySentry.jpg • WitchWitch.jpg $6 ArtisanArtisan.jpg
Removed cards $3 ChancellorChancellor.jpgWoodcutterWoodcutter.jpg $4 FeastFeast.jpgSpySpy.jpgThiefThief.jpg $6 AdventurerAdventurer.jpg
Combos and Counters Beggar/GardensChancellor/StashWorkshop/Gardens
Other concepts Vanilla
Attacks Attack immunityCurserDeck inspection attackDeck order attackHandsize attackJunking attackTrashing attackTurn-worsening attack
Buy/Money +BuyCost-reducerDisappearing moneyOverpayPeddler variantTerminal silverVirtual coinVirtual +Buy
Cycling Deck discarderDeck inspectorDiggingDiscard for benefitSifter
Terminality CantripNon-terminalNon-terminal drawSoft terminalTerminalTerminal drawThrone Room variantVillageConditional non-terminal
Other Alt-VPBasic cardsDuration drawCommand variantGainerLuck-basedNon-Attack interactionOne-shotRemodelerSplit pileTop deckerTrasherVanillaExtra turn
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