Spiral of Tharizdun: Someone Has a Twisted Mind (Fortune Cards Discussion)

[Shatteredtower]

Up until now, Fortune Cards followed a simple formula for numbering: alphabetical arrangement of attack cards, then the same for defense cards, and finally tactic cards. With the exception of a few errors (such as putting Entwining Fronds before Cyclops Retort in the Feywild set), this had been the arrangement for the first three series.

Spiral of Tharizdun changed the order to count up from common to rare cards in each category, but reversing the order of tactic and defense cards. The first change makes some sense, the second seems a bit random, and then there's a third I'm pretty sure was done with the intention of reflecting the theme of chaos: they threw alphabetical order out the window. I'm pretty sure this was done at random, but part of me wonders if there's an intentional pattern behind this. Rearranging the nine common attack cards alphabetically, we'd get 6, 5, 3, 2, 1, 8, 9, 7, 4. If there is a pattern, it may instead lie within the full category and another arrangement. And if there is no pattern, I apologize in advance to anyone about to give up more than an hour or two looking for one.

Some concerns about Fortune Cards in general have not materialized. They aren't required for play in any WotC supported program. (Encounters comes closest for rewarding participation with promotional cards.) They haven't created a rift between "haves" and "have-nots", as they don't let anyone buy their way to victory. I've also noticed that players who do buy complete sets tend to equip their entire group with a deck in preparation for Lair Assault, though it's yet to decide an outcome.

A few commentators noted that if they wanted random effects in their games, they'd draw up a table. I think this misses the point. That's a DM privilege. The cards provide a mechanism for letting players create their own personalized table of random effects. If a random event could go either way on me, sometimes I'd like to be the one who opted to include that possibility. As a DM, you get final say on whether players are allowed that option, and I've yet to see any players walk away from a table that didn't allow it. If your players do buy the cards, however, at least consider a few alternative ideas for making use of them in some limited capacity.

I'd like to discuss the card sets in particular as well, but I've run on long enough. Maybe in later discussion?

[Shatteredtower]

Not a popular topic for commentary, but I see there have been a few score viewers. Well, let's see if I can add anything relevant.

If you find yourself in a game that asks you to buy two packs of Encounters cards to play and you're in a store offering all series, I suggest buying one pack of Nentir Vale cards and one for the Spiral of Tharizdun. The former set is light on (non-rare) attack cards, while the latter set is light on defense.

No, seriously, Spiral of Tharizdun is crazy light on defense cards. There are only fifteen in the entire set of eighty: four common, three uncommon, and eight rare. The first promotional card also comes from the defense category, but it's in very limited supply. As for the cards awarded by Encounters participation, this marks the first season in which all three come from the same category, all attack.

All three cards demonstrate a major theme for this season: the double edge. Each gambles risk or injury in exchange for the possibility of extra damage. None of them equals the devil-may-care audacity of Heedless Charge or the recklessness of Capable of Anything, but your risk takers may find this set to their liking.

One other feature in the new set is the Panicked Reaction card, this season's answer to Nentir Vale's Stroke of Luck. As with the Stroke of Luck, this only becomes available when triggered by another card in play. Instead of a reroll, however, you can use Panicked Reaction whenever you take damage from an attack, letting you either respond with a move your speed or make a basic attack (depending on the result of a die roll) as a free action.

The triggering cards for Panicked Reaction are also unique in one way: you do not have to discard them after use. For example, if you have Sundered Confidence drawn and an ally gets a 1 on an attack roll, you can hand the ally a Panicked Reaction and keep Sundered Reaction in play, waiting for the next attack roll to suffer the same misfortune.

This season's made an effort to encourage actions such as aid attack and aid defense, though both options could stand to be better supported by the rules themselves. One or more free moves on the defense and extra damage on the attack don't quite add up what you could otherwise do with a standard action, but the attack card can potentially nova for up to 150 hp of extra damage in a party of six before considering free attacks, out-of-turn attacks, or action points.

Even if you don't let players use them, the last two sets, this and Feywilld, loan themselves to terrain ideas quite well. Leaves of Mithrendain and Glimmers of Azalian work pretty well as consequences of standing upon a feywilld border, for example, while Uncontrolled Anger's effect offers a suggestion for haunted terrain.