Charlatan

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Charlatan
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action - Attack
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Prosperity
Illustrator(s)	Franz Vohwinkel
Card text
+ Each other player gains a Curse. In games using this, Curse is also a Treasure worth .

Charlatan is an Action-Attack card from the second edition of Prosperity. It is a cursing attack with a twist: its presence somewhat mitigates the badness of Curses by turning them into Treasures similar to Copper. You still don't want a ton of Copper-like junk in your deck, and the Curses are still worth negative  , but at least now they're not totally dead cards.

Its role in the second edition is to replace the removed first-edition card Mountebank, replacing its distribution of Coppers and Curses with distribution of Copper-like Curses.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• This turns Curses into Treasures for the entire game and in all situations; it's just like the bottom bar says "Curse - Treasure."
• They may be played for + in the Buy phase. They are trashed from play when gaining Mint, Magnate counts them in your hand, Courtier (from Intrigue) gives you two choices when revealing one, and so on.
• They are still Curses and still worth –1  at the end of the game.

Other rules clarifications

• Curses in the trash are Treasures, which may matter for e.g. Forager.
• Unlike Capitalism, Charlatan makes Curses stay as Treasures during scoring, so they will count for Keep.
• Curses will be Treasures if Charlatan is in the Black Market deck, even if no one actually gains it. [1]

Strategy

Alternate Curse art in the online game by TGG.

Antisynergies

• Jack of All Trades, Hermit – your trashers limited to non-Treasures

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		+ Each other player gains a Curse. In games using this, Curse is also a Treasure worth .	Prosperity (Second Edition)	June 2022

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Dutch	Kwakzalver			+ Iedere andere speler pakt een Vloek. In spellen met deze kaart is een Vloek ook een geldkaart met waarde .	2. Edition (2022)
German	Wunderheilerin			+ Jeder Mitspieler nimmt einen Fluch. In Spielen mit dieser Karte ist ein Fluch auch eine Geldkarte mit dem Wert .

Trivia

Official card art.

Preview

Mountebank is easily one of the most miserable powerful attacks in the game. It fits the theme of Ghost Ship and Ambassador: you get so much junk that you don't get to see your deck. It's the card I most wanted to replace in Prosperity.

Charlatan also gives out Curses and Treasures that make , but makes them the same card, which is way more manageable. There are a lot of cool interactions that come up as a result.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Prosperity 2E Preview 1

Secret History

Several times over the years, I've tried and abandoned attacks that give out Coppers (some can do it, e.g. Jester, but you know, not every time you play them). They vary a lot based on the number of players and thus size of the Copper pile, which turns out to be a problem. I tried another one here, man, still didn't work, go figure. But wait, I could set the size of the Copper pile, by making it the Curse pile. And thus, Charlatan. It's sometimes very fun that the Curses are Treasures.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of Prosperity 2E