Outpost

Outpost
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action - Duration
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Seaside
Illustrator(s)	Claus Stephan
Card text
You only draw 3 cards for your next hand. Take an extra turn after this one (but not a 3rd turn in a row).

Outpost is an Action-Duration card from Seaside. When played, it lets you take an extra turn—albeit an extra turn where you draw fewer cards.

FAQ

Errata

Outpost has received errata so that you can't take multiple extra turns in a row [1]. Here are rulings that will change as a result.

• If you play Outpost multiple times in one turn, you aren't able to take more than 2 turns in a row, so all Outposts after the first will fail.
• If you play Outpost on an extra turn, you draw a 3-card hand, and then fail to get a 3rd turn.
• If you set up multiple extra turns at once (e.g. one from Outpost, one from Mission), you choose one turn to take, and the others fail.
• If you are Possessed, and they make you play Outpost, you draw a 3-card hand, take the Outpost turn, and then take your normal turn.

Official FAQ (2022)

• Outpost only does anything the first time you play it in a turn, and only if the previous turn was another player's (meaning, you are not already taking an extra turn).
• If these conditions are met, you take an extra turn, and only draw 3 cards for your next hand rather than 5 (thus usually only having 3 cards in hand on the extra turn).
• Except for the smaller starting hand, the extra turn is a normal turn.
• If you play e.g. Merchant Ship in the same turn as Outpost, the extra turn will be when you get the + from Merchant Ship.
• Extra turns do not count towards the tiebreaker of which tied player had fewer turns.

Other rules clarifications

• Remember that the extra turn is completely normal (if it happens); it is the turn in which you play Outpost which is different, in that you only draw three cards during Clean-up.
  • This makes Outpost arguably an exception to the basic rule that Duration cards are discarded from play during the Clean-up phase of the last turn on which they "do something"; Outpost doesn't do anything on the extra turn it creates other than cause it to happen, but it is not cleaned up until the end of the extra turn regardless. This is because, while you are discarding cards from play during the turn on which you play it, the Outpost still has "something to do" (i.e., making you draw only three cards instead of five).
• Playing Throne Room (or similar cards) on Outpost will only give 1 extra turn, but the Throne Room will still have to stay out with the Outpost as long as it does.
• If an Outpost turn fails (e.g. due to Lich), you discard the Outpost during the next Clean-up that happens (either yours or another player's).
• If you gain a Gondola during another player's turn (e.g. from their Barbarian attack) and play an Outpost, you'll take an extra turn after that player's turn (assuming it won't be your 3rd turn in a row), with your current hand. When you draw your hand during that turn's Clean-up, you'll only draw 3 cards.
  • If they played their own Outpost on the turn that you did this, they'll take their extra turn before you get your extra turn. And if you play another Outpost during their extra turn, you'll take a 2nd extra turn.
• In the unlikely event that you play an Outpost when it's not your turn, you'll draw 3 cards whenever your next Clean-up phase is.

Strategy

Outpost is generally a very powerful card when the Kingdom offers an engine that’s strong enough to allow you to play it consistently and achieve as much on each extra turn as you can on your main turns; this is comparable to doubling your deck's payload (including the 1 Buy you start all turns with). However, if your deck is such that the three-card starting hand makes your Outpost turns mostly very weak, it's unlikely to be worthwhile unless you can put these turns to some specific use in improving your next main turn.

Outpost is highly valuable when you've thinned your deck thoroughly and built a reliable engine so that you stand a good chance of drawing your deck even when starting from a smaller hand. Gaining Outpost before achieving deck control, or in a Kingdom that doesn't offer it at all, is less likely to pay off. Outpost is better still if there's a way to further increase your chances of a full Outpost turn, such as duration draw (e.g. Wharf), topdecking of draw cards (e.g. with Supplies), or draw-to-x (e.g. Hunting Lodge). Guide is also a reliable way to draw a new five-card hand at the start of each Outpost turn.

Once all players are using Outpost consistently and effectively, the net outcome is to change how the turns are ordered, with everyone getting two turns at a time. This has a strong impact on endgame considerations: when deciding when to begin greening, how much you need to score on a particular turn, or whether it's safe to lower the Supply piles, you must account for the fact that more turns than usual will take place before your next one. Since you can also use two turns to close out the game, Outpost can occasionally produce risky endgame plays in which (for example) you lower the piles significantly on the assumption that you'll be able to win on your Outpost turn, but you leave your opponent an easy victory if that turn is a dud.

The asymmetry between a player using Outpost effectively and one who’s not using it is unusually great, especially since only one copy of the card is needed to access its full power. This means that a slow engine is somewhat more likely to be worth building in the presence of Outpost, and it can be a game-winning purchase from the Black Market.

Outpost’s interaction with Duration cards brings certain trade-offs. In addition to the boost provided by Duration draw, you also need only half as many copies as usual of any Duration card that you want to keep in play during your opponents’ turns, e.g. Swamp Hag or Guardian, as you can play them on your Outpost turn and discard them from play at the end of your main turn. However, this has to be managed carefully and means any start-of-turn benefit can only be reaped on your main turns.

It is also worth noting that if you play a Possession^†, your opponent will not get an additional turn by playing Outpost on their next turn.

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		You only draw 3 cards (instead of 5) in this turn’s Clean-up phase. Take an extra turn after this one. This can’t cause you to take more than two consecutive turns.	Seaside	October 2009
		If this is the first time you played an Outpost this turn, and the previous turn wasn't yours, then take an extra turn after this one, and you only draw 3 cards for your next hand.	Seaside (2017 printing) Seaside (Second Edition)	July 2017
		You only draw 3 cards for your next hand. Take an extra turn after this one (but not a 3rd turn in a row).	Extra turn errata	December 2023

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Chinese	前哨 (pron. qiánshào)
Czech	Strážnice (lit. guardhouse)
Dutch	Voorpost			Is dit de eerste keer dat je deze beurt een Voorpost speelt en de vorige beurt was niet de jouwe, voer dan na deze een extra beurt uit. Je trekt echter maar 3 kaarten voor je volgende hand.	Hijs de Zeilen (2de Editie) 999 Games (2022)
Finnish	Rannikkoasema (lit. coastal station)
French	Avant-poste
German	Außenposten			Ziehe in der folgenden Aufräumphase nur 3 Karten nach. Führe danach sofort einen weiteren Zug aus. Du kannst auf diese Weise nur einen weiteren Zug ausführen.	(2009)
	Außenposten			Wenn dies der erste in diesem Zug gespielte Aussenposten ist und der vorherige Zug nicht deiner war, führe nach diesem Zug einen Extrazug aus und ziehe für deine nächste Hand nur 3 Handkarten.	(Nachdruck 2018)
	Außenposten			Wenn dies das erste Mal in diesem Zug ist, dass du einen Außenposten gespielt hast und der vorherige Zug nicht deiner war, dann spiele nach diesem Zug einen Extrazug und ziehe für deine nächste Hand nur 3 Karten.	(Nachdruck 2021)
	Außenposten			Wenn dies dein erster in diesem Zug gepielter Außenposten ist und der vorherige Zug nicht deiner war, führe nach diesem Zug einen Extrazug aus und ziehe für deine nächste Hand nur 3 Handkarten.	2. Edition (2022)
	Außenposten			Du ziehst nur 3 Karten für deine nächste Hand. Führe nach diesem Zug einen Extrazug aus (aber keinen dritten Zug in Folge).	(Errata 2023)
Italian	Avamposto
Japanese	前哨地 (pron. zenshō-chi)			これがこのターンに使用した最初の前哨地で、直前のターンがあなたのものでない場合、クリーンアップフェイズに3枚のみカードを引き、このターンの後に追加の1ターンを得る。
Korean	전진기지 (pron. jeonjingiji)
Polish	Przyczółek (lit. bridgehead)			W fazie porządków tej tury dobierasz 3 karty (zamiast 5). Po zakończeniu tej tury rozegraj dodatkową turę. Nie możesz dzięki tej karcie rozegrać więcej niż dwie tury z rzędu.	(2016)
	Przyczółek (lit. bridgehead)			Jeśli zagrałeś Przyczółek po raz pierwszy w tej turze – i jeśli poprzednia tura nie była twoja – to po zakończeniu bieżącej tury rozegraj dodatkową turę, dobierając tylko 3 karty na rękę.	II Edycja (2022)
Russian	Аванпост (pron. avanpost)			Если вы играете Аванпост в певый раз за этот ход, и предыдущий ход не был вашим, тогда получите дополинтельный ход после текущего, и вы тянете только 3 карты для вашей следующей руки.
Spanish	Puesto Avanzado			En la Fase de Mantenimiento de este turno, roba sólo 3 cartas (en vez de 5). A continuación, haz un Turno Extra (pero nunca puedes hacer más de dos turnos consecutivos).	(2009, 2015)

Trivia

Official card art.

Secret History

This underwent a bunch of changes to the text, while keeping the functionality fairly close. The issues were 1) it had to not be too confusing; 2) it couldn't let you get infinite turns; 3) in fact even 3-4 turns in a row is no good; 4) it had to have clear and fair interactions with Throne Room and Tactician. Throne Room was tricky. There was an evening where I spent a few hours discussing possible wordings with Chris West, and at one point it was like, man, this is work. Those of you who think game design is all good times: sometimes you have to spend hours rewording Outpost. Anyway the best possible wording was to have you take a normal turn, but discard 2 cards at the start of it. That was just too powerful though. I tried not having an anti-recursion clause once and immediately got infinite turns with it. I also tried having you draw 2 fewer cards for each extra turn. In the end it got a brutal "This can't cause you to take more than 2 consecutive turns." That just guarantees no shenanigans.

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

Retrospective

Outpost could be simpler. Ideally it would have you discard 2 at the start of your next turn, rather than having the wonky Clean-up-modifying effect it has. There was not enough time between when I realized that and when the card had to be finalized.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, What Donald X. Might Do With a Dominion Time Machine