Madman

Madman
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action
Kingdom card?	No
Set	Dark Ages
Illustrator(s)	Claus Stefan
Card text
+2 Actions Return this to the Madman pile. If you do, +1 Card per card in your hand. (This is not in the Supply.)

Madman is a one-shot Action card from Dark Ages. You can only get it by playing a Hermit, and you return it to the Madman pile as soon as you use it once.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• This card is not in the Supply; it can only be obtained via Hermit.
• When you play it, you get +2 Actions, return it to the Madman pile if you can (this is not optional), and if you did return it, you draw a card per card in your hand.
• For example if you had three cards in hand after playing Madman, you would draw three cards.
• Normally nothing will prevent you from returning Madman to the Madman pile, but you may fail to due to playing Madman twice via cards like Throne Room.
• So, for example, if you Procession a Madman, you will get +2 Actions, return Madman to the Madman pile, draw a card per card in your hand, get another +2 Actions, fail to return Madman and so not draw cards the second time, fail to trash Madman, and then gain an Action card costing exactly if you can.

Other Rules clarifications

• Since Madman is not in the Supply, the Madman pile being empty does NOT count towards the three-pile end-game condition.

Strategy

Refer to the Hermit strategy section.

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Notes	Release	Date
		+2 Actions Return this to the Madman pile. If you do, +1 Card per card in your hand. (This is not in the Supply.)		Dark Ages	August 2012
		+2 Actions Return this to the Madman pile. If you do, +1 Card per card in your hand. (This is not in the Supply.)	Digital version may have a cost of rather than .	Dark Ages (2017 printing)	September 2017

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Czech	Šílenec			+2 akce Vrať tuto kartu do balíčku karet Šílenců. Pokud tak učiníš, +1 karta za každou kartu, kterou máš v ruce. (Nepatři do společné zásoby.)	(2016)
Dutch	Krankzinnige
Finnish	Kylähullu (lit. village idiot)
French	Fou
German	Verrückter			+2 Aktionen Lege diese Karte zurück auf den Verrückten-Stapel. Wenn du das machst: +1 Karte pro Karte, die du auf der Hand hast. (Der Verrückten-Stapel ist nicht Teil des Vorrats.)	(2012)
	Verrückter			+2 Aktionen Lege diese Karte zurück auf den Verrückten-Stapel. Wenn du das tust: +1 Karte für jede deiner Handkarten. (Diese Karte gehört nicht zum Vorrat.)	(Nachdruck 2019)
Japanese	狂人 (pron. kyōjin)			+2 アクション これを狂人の山に戻す。戻した場合、手札と同じ枚数のカードを引く。 (このカードはサプライに置かない。)
Korean	미치광이 (pron. michigwang-i, lit. lunatic)
Russian	Безумец (pron. byezumyets)
Spanish	Loco			+2 Acciones Devuelve esta carta al montón de Locos. Si lo haces, +1 Carta por cada carta que tengas en la mano. (Este montón no está en el Suministro).	(2014)

Trivia

Official card art.

Secret History

I tried the bottom [of Hermit] on another card that didn't survive, then put it here. Originally I thought I would have several cards that upgraded into specific non-supply cards, but each one both requires 10 extra cards to handle it, and gives me a card with a ton of text on it. So there are only two. The premise originally came from thinking about Pirate Ship, at a point when it was too late to change it. I realized that I could have made it that Pirate Ship either attacked or upgraded, and it upgraded into a Retired Pirate that made money. This change wouldn't have addressed any problems, it was just a cute thing I could have done, if I'd thought of it in time and had been willing to give up a card slot for it. So after that I planned on one day doing such cards. "If you didn't buy anything" was an obvious simple trigger, and a nice fit for a Hermit. If he doesn't go into town often enough, he goes mad.

Madman started as an Intrigue card for . At first it was +2 Actions, +3 Cards, trash this; then I moved it to the large version of Alchemy, which at the time was planning on having a hand-related sub-theme, and changed it from +3 Cards to doubling your hand size, because hey, that's cool. Then of course I moved it to Cornucopia when Alchemy ended up being small and Cornucopia took on the hand theme. Then Cornucopia lost that theme, but this card left first; it was too strong. What would happen was Bill Barksdale would be losing, and moaning about it, and he'd buy a Madman, because what other chance did he have, ugh, ugh, ugh. And then he'd buy two more. And he'd have a turn where he played all three and drew his deck and bought out the Provinces. It seemed like a card still worth doing; it just had to be harder to get them. And so it is.

Madman originally was trashed. I switched it to going back to the pile as part of my ruthless weeding out of the Graverobber / Madman combo.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Dark Ages Cards