Tormentor
| Tormentor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Info | |
| Cost |
 |
| Type(s) | Action - Attack - Doom |
| Kingdom card? | Yes |
| Set |
Nocturne |
| Illustrator(s) | Claus Stephan |
| Card text | |
+ If you have no other cards in play, gain an Imp. Otherwise, each other player receives the next Hex. | |
Tormentor is an Action-Attack-Doom card from Nocturne. It's a terminal Silver that either gains you an Imp, or Hexes other players.
FAQ
Official FAQ
- Cards in play from previous turns are still cards in play; cards you played this turn but which are no longer in play (such as a Pixie you trashed) are not in play.
Other rules clarifications
- If you play a Tormentor but it isn't in play, it still checks the rest of your play area to see if there are other cards.
- So if you play a Tormentor with Overlord, there are other cards in play (the Overlord itself), so it gives out a Hex.
- If you some how play a Tormentor in such a way that there are no cards in play at all—e.g., you play a Tormentor as Way of the Horse, and then replay it normally (with Citadel)—there are no other cards in play, so you gain an Imp.
Strategy
Tormentor is an expensive terminal silver and Attack card whose strongest function is gaining Imps, which are nearly as good as Laboratories.
Tormentor’s main limitation is that its best effect will usually be difficult to activate. Because Tormentor is a terminal Action card, playing it first will usually cause you to run out of Actions, terminating your Action phase before you can play any additional Action cards. Tormentor is best gained early in the game (especially on turn 1 or turn 2) when your deck is unlikely to have many other Action cards in it so that Tormentor can be played for an Imp without interfering with other cards you want to play.
Cards that give out Villagers synergize well with Tormentor. By banking up Villagers on prior turns, you can begin by playing Tormentor for an Imp and then spend a Villager to continue on with the turn as normal. Similar effects can be achieved with Barracks, Coin of the Realm, and Villa, among others.
Tormentor interacts poorly with Duration cards. Even if you play Tormentor as the first card of the turn, it will still fail to gain an Imp if you have Duration cards still in play from prior turns.
While Tormentor can also be used for attacking, its attack is not very strong for a Action card, as Hexes are variable and not consistently damaging to your opponents. This can be somewhat mitigated by playing multiple Tormentors per turn, as you are more likely to find a Hex that significantly hurts your opponent. This can make Tormentor more attractive than most terminal silvers as payload in draw-to-x decks, or in Kingdoms with Capitalism or King's Court.
Versions
English versions
| Digital | Text | Release | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
+ If you have no other cards in play, gain an Imp from its pile. Otherwise, each other player receives the next Hex. |
Nocturne | November 2017 |
 |
+ If you have no other cards in play, gain an Imp. Otherwise, each other player receives the next Hex. |
Nocturne (2021 printing) |
Other language versions
| Language | Name | Digital | Text | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | Kwelgeest | ||||
| French | Persécuteur | ||||
| German | Folterknecht |  |
+ Wenn du keine anderen Karten im Spiel hast, nimm ein Teufelchen vom Teufelchen-Stapel. Ansonsten empfängt jeder Mitspieler die nächste Plage. |
(2017) | |
| Folterknecht |  |
+ Wenn du keine weiteren Karten im Spiel hast, nimm ein Teufelchen. Ansonsten empfängt jeder Mitspieler die nächste Plage. |
|||
| Japanese | 迫害者 (pron. hakugaisha) | + 場に他のカードがない場合、(インプの山から)インプ1枚を獲得する。それ以外の場合、一番上の呪詛を捨て札にし、他のプレイヤーは全員、 その呪詛を受ける。 |
|||
| Polish | Gnębiciel |  |
+ Jeśli nie masz w grze innych kart, dodaj Diablika. W przeciwnym razie każdy z pozostałych graczy otrzymuje następny Urok. |
(2022) | |
| Russian | Истязатель (pron. istyazatyel') |  |
Trivia
Secret History
For strumphf's 2022 advent calendar, Donald X. went in-depth on the development of Tormentor.
and handed out a Hex, to test them out. This card seemed fine, but space was tight, and did we really need both Bard and it, and other Hex-giving cards quickly crowded it out. I briefly tried a version that tried to do the Tracker trick of being a combo with Hexes, but it wasn't much of a combo with them. Then later on I was considering, are there ways to get a little more use out of the Spirits, and made this, a card that only gives you an Imp if it's alone. It could have been first play or only card in play; the latter is simpler but is messed up by Duration cards. The Imp is good, it felt like not playing nice with Duration cards was okay. The "no other cards" mechanic had been on another card earlier with a less sexy bonus. And then one late change to the set was having Tormentor not Hex them if you got the Imp; previously you got both, yeeha. The idea behind the change was just to get the order of effects better on the card; you want to reach for the Imp right away, while the other players want to reach for the Hex. It can't delay the Imp, but if the Imp is first then it's more awkward to phrase if you get both. But you know, once you are getting an Imp, you are happy, you don't need to Hex people too. And they're happy not to get Hexed; it's win-win.
Relevant outtakes
that was also +1 Card +1 Action +
if you had no cards in play other than copies of it. There were a few variations; it stopped being an anti-combo with Duration cards, it gave you a little something instead of nothing. Player interest varied but it was not a star and also ate up 2 extra cards due to being a Victory card. I needed the space, something had to go. The concept is vaguely preserved on Tormentor.
