This variant follows the TV show rather than the books but with some key changes. Theon and his soldiers escaped before the Bolton invasion and Euron has returned to the Greyjoy fold to assist his brother. King’s Landing has been captured by The High Sparrow and his clan of religious extremists forcing both the Lannister’s and the Tyrells to retreat to their respective strongholds. The Starks have retaken the north with assistance from the Knights of the Vale. Dorne still stings from the loss of one of its favourite sons. The Baratheon line has all but disappeared from existence. Danaerys Targaryen has taken control of Dragonstone using a fleet of ships ‘gifted’ to her by the Iron Bank. She now plans to take King’s Landing and then the rest of Westeros.


Aims

I want this game to only use characters that have appeared on the TV show. Some of whose names had to be figured out via process of elimination.
To keep cards in theme with their characters.
To make Greyjoy – Lannister battles a fairer fight.
To make the win rate closer to evens amongst houses without changing the game board or the initial track positions.
Have the deck available to download and print.
Create a trade-in system which adds an extra dynamic to the game.


The Trade-In House Cards

Each house card deck now has a backup deck of 5 extra cards. These cards can be swapped with a card of the same printed combat strength under certain circumstances:

1: At the start of the game players may trade-in at the cost of one power token for two cards.
2: When players have used all of their house cards and are getting their deck back they may trade one card for free. They may trade further cards at the cost of one power token per card. The final house card played may be traded at a cost of two power tokens. When this happens the card is immediately returned to the player’s hand giving them a full deck.
3: Players may use a special order consolidate power to trade one card. This order does not need to be placed in a stronghold or castle.
4: As part of the effects of some house cards or wild cards.


Other Changes

All houses now start with 6 power tokens.

---

Houses

Stark

The Starks are now a risky family to play as with less defensive options. The Roose Bolton regenerator is gone but that doesn’t make the Starks weak. Jon and Sansa are strong cards. Lyanna and Robett are good trade-in options should the Stark player get stuck in a battle for the North. Arya is an extremely flexible card.

Click for details.

4: Sansa – If you win this combat, gain two Power tokens. If you lose this combat take two power tokens from your opponent and any other player supporting them.
3: Jon Snow – When Night King threat level is 6 or more, this card gains +1 combat strength, a sword and a tower.
2: Brienne ST
2: Arya – Choose the text or symbols from a discarded House Card from either your opponent’s deck or a supporting player’s deck.
1: Davos – If you win this combat increase supply one level. If you lose this combat you can muster into White Harbour Port if you control it.
1: Tormund S
0: Bran – After combat has finished you may search any Westeros Deck or the Night Kings Deck and place a card on top.

Optional Replacements

Click for details.

2: Lyanna Mormont – If the embattled area is Moat Cailin or further north this card gains +1 combat strength and a sword.
2: Yohn Royce – If you win this combat, you may choose the area to which your opponent retreats. You must choose a legal area where your opponent loses the fewest units.
1: Podrick Payne T
1: Robett Glover – If the embattled area is Moat Cailin or further north this card gains +1 combat strength and a tower.
0: Petyr Baelish – If you lose, move Stark up an influence track with the number of positions equal to that of the combat strength of your opponents house card.

Targaryen

The Targaryen’s take the black pieces on the board. Drogon can lay waste to enemy forces but at the expense of the respect and support of the local citizens. If more cavalry are being used then Qhono can be swapped in for Grey Worm. Tyrion can help stop other houses grouping up to destroy Targaryen.

Click for details.

4: Daenerys Targaryen – If your opponent has a higher position on the Iron Throne Influence track than you, this card gains +1 combat strength.
3: Jorah S
2: Tyrion – Any player other than your opponent who grants support to your opponent must grant that support to you instead.
2: Grey Worm – All friendly footmen in this battle have +2 combat strength rather than +1.
1: Missandei T
1: Daario – S
0: Varys – After combat, you may look at your opponent's hand and discard one card of your choice.

Optional Replacements

Click for details.

4: Daenerys Stormborn – S
2: Viserion & Rhaegal – If you are attacking and win this combat, place and resolve a Raid order token in the conquered area.
2: Qhono – If you are attacking, all of your participating Knights (including supporting Targaryen Knights) add +3 to combat strength instead of +2. If you are defending, all of your participating Knights (incl. supporting Targaryen Knights) add +1 to combat strength instead of +2.
1: Ornela – T
0: Drogon – Choose which attacking or defending enemies are killed. For every soldier or ship, discard 3 power tokens. For every knight or siege engine discard 6.

Martell

Ellaria is a lot weaker than Oberyn but this deck should be more balanced overall. Trystane can now provide Martell with a large influx of power tokens but you have to control the Prince’s Pass to gain them.

Click for details.

4: Ellaria – S
3: Areo Hotah – TT
2: Trystane – If you control Prince’s Pass after this combat, gain a number of power tokens equal to twice the printed combat strength of your opponent’s house card.
2: Obara – S
1: Tyene – Immediately destroy one of your opponent’s footmen.
1: Myrcella - If you are defending and lose this combat, your opponent may not move his units into the embattled area. They return to the area from which they marched. Your own units must still retreat.
0: Doran – Immediately move your opponent to the bottom of one Influence track of your choice.

Optional Replacements

Click for details.

3: Lord Blackmont - If you win this battle you may take your opponents order token to be used as if it were your own.
2: Daemon Sand – S
2: Nymeria – If you win this battle switch one of your opponents House Cards with another House Card of the same combat strength.
1: Deziel Dalt – S
0: Caloette – Immediately move your opponent down one position Influence track of your choice and then move Martell up one position on that same influence track.

Tyrell

Tyrell deck is already relatively strong, with their main handicap being their positions on the tracks. Mace offers Tyrell the chance to muster even if Clash takes a long time to appear. Margaery disrupts opponent’s defences. Queen Margaery can be swapped in if you face an aggressive Lannister.

Click for details.

4: Margaery – Immediately swap two of your opponents order tokens (excluding march order tokens).
3: Loras – If you are attacking and win this combat, move the March Order token used into the conquered area to resolve again later this round.
2: Randyll SS
2: Mace – If you win combat, you may place any Consolidate Power token in the embattled area regardless of Tyrells placement on the King’s Court.
1: Dickon S
1: Mira Forrester T
0: Olenna – Immediately remove one of your opponent's Order tokens in any one area adjacent to the embattled area. You may not remove the March Order token used to start this combat.

Optional Replacements

Click for details.

4: Queen Margaery – Gain +1 for every sword your opponents House Card has.
3: The Knight of Flowers: If you win this combat, you may upgrade one of participating Footman (or one supporting Footman of any army) to a Knight or Siege Engine.
2: Melessa Florent T
1: Elinor Tyrell T
1: Talla Tarly – If you are defending, this card gains a fortification icon. If you are attacking, this card gains a sword icon.

Greyjoy

Greyjoy (now in the yellow) has a slightly weakened deck. Yara replaces Victarion but with a little less firepower and Balon isn’t as monstrous as his original card. Black Lorren now gives the Grejoy player better access to power generation if you can find an easy victory.

Click for details.

4: Euron SS
3: Theon – If combat is initiated utilizing ship transport, this card gains a sword and a tower.
2: Yara – If you are attacking, all of your participating Ships (including supporting Greyjoy Ships) add +2 to combat strength instead of +1.
2: Balon Greyjoy – The printed combat strength of your opponent's House card is changed to 1.
1: Dagmar – ST
1: Black Lorren – If you win this combat, gain a number of power tokens equal to twice the number of boats your opponent has in his ports.
0: Aeron Greyjoy - You may immediately discard two of your available Power tokens to discard Aeron and choose a different House Card from your hand (if able).

Optional Replacements

Click for details.

3: Reek T
2: Drennan T
2: Stygg S
1: Adrack Humble – If you are not being supported in this combat, this card gains two sword icons and one fortification icon.
1: Ralf Kenning – This card gains +1 Tower icon for each sea territory adjacent to the embattled territory.

Lannister

House Lannister can be attacked on more fronts than any player other player and hence need a strong deck to help them survive. Qyburn should help keep House Lannister’s biggest killer coming back for more.

Click for details.

4: Cersei – If you win this combat, move your opponent down one space on the Iron Throne influence track. If they are already at the bottom of the Iron Throne track, switch one of their remaining House Cards with another House Card of the same combat strength.
3: Mountain SSS
2: Jaime – The player takes control of the Valyrian Steel blade for this battle. If the opposing player was owner of the Valyrian Steel blade gain a sword.
2: Bronn – S
1: Tommen – After this combat, if your opponent has more available Power tokens than you gain 5 Power tokens.
1: Kevan – S
0: Qyburn – If the Mountain house card is in your discard pile, immediately return it to your hand. If you lose this combat, you may return Qyburn to your hand.

Optional Replacements

Click for details.

4: Queen Cersei – If you have a Defence Order token in the embattled area, its value is tripled.
2: Addam Marbrand – If you are defending an area that contains either a Stronghold or a Castle, this card gains +1 combat strength and a tower icon.
1: Harys Swift – Immediately downgrade one of your opponents participating Knight or Siege Engine units to a Footman.
1: Bernadette T
0: Maester Pycelle – If you win this combat, you may remove one of your opponent's Order tokens from anywhere on the board.

Feedback

I would some feedback on the cards and the trade-in system. Is there anything that looks dangerous for in-game balance? Anything that stands out as a terrible idea? What could/should be changed?

Last edited by QggOne on 2018-Mar-26 18:11, edited 2x in total

---

Arya S2 is too much swap her with Tormund
Dont like Sansa being a 4 card, those are only house leaders who are battlecommanders of some sort which she clearly isnt. Maybe swap her with Jon and keep the abilities. Like this Stark has access to a 5 card aswell.

I like Davos since there are no housecards yet which are supply related.

The Targaryen cards are pretty nice!

Call me a sexist but Ellaria being the 4 card bothers me aswell. She has no fighting or commanding skills and is not the head of house Martell

Tyrell aswell: Maybe put Loras as highest card or Randyll Tarly. Actually Randyll since he is seen as the one of the finest commanders in westeros. Kepe their abilities but Margaery as 2 card.
Mira Forrester? Someone liked the telltale series

Greyjoy pretty nice and looks balanced while being close to the story.

Lannister...you know what I would suggest dont you
While she is kinda the head of the Lannister family she has no military authority. Jaime fits better into this role. Abilities perfectly fine.

---

AFFC PBF - #10
You do not need to know everything, but where to read it.-Albert Einstein-

Reading is overrated.-sarcasm off-

Some really nice and innovative ideas - great work. Just one question about the abilities: Does Lord Blackmont work if you are defending? It could mean you can take the opponents march order (which he just resolved against you) and start a counter attack. That would make this card extremely powerful as you might very often destroy the rooted army and also gain an additional march.

Last edited by obmit on 2018-Mar-26 21:43, edited 1x in total

[quote]Arya S2 is too much swap her with Tormund.[/quote]

Her ability is dangerous but situational. Moving Davos might to 2 might be a little better. There needs to be a degree of usefulness to the trade-in cards. Otherwise Arya and Davos would make Podrick completely useless.

[quote]Dont like Sansa being a 4 card, those are only house leaders who are battlecommanders of some sort which she clearly isnt. Maybe swap her with Jon and keep the abilities. Like this Stark has access to a 5 card aswell.[/quote]

I never considered it that way. I just assumed it was the heads of houses. Mace really shouldn’t be a 4 card in the original set then. His battle commander experience solely consists of twiddling his thumbs outside of Storms End! I always linked swords to being markers of the actual fighters.

[quote]The Targaryen cards are pretty nice! [/quote]

It’s hard to tell how balanced Drogon is. He uses a lot of power tokens but is potentially a game winner. Targaryens have more powerful cards than the Baratheons but they lack protection to sea based backstabbing.

[quote]Call me a sexist but Ellaria being the 4 card bothers me aswell. She has no fighting or commanding skills and is not the head of house Martell[/quote]

I get it when it comes to commanding skills but she is definitely the head of Dorne in the show.

[quote]Maybe put Loras as highest card or Randyll Tarly. Actually Randyll since he is seen as the one of the finest commanders in westeros. Kepe their abilities but Margaery as 2 card.
[/quote]

Loras as a 4 could definitely work. I’m kinda a fan of keeping Randyll as a risky devastating card. Margaery is supposed to have board controlling skills like Olenna but with a difference. They can be comboed too.

[quote]Mira Forrester? Someone liked the telltale series [quote]

The show leaving out so many Tyrells gave me little choice! It’s semi-cannon to the show so it works fine.

[quote]Greyjoy pretty nice and looks balanced while being close to the story. [/quote]

Greyjoy needed to be less auto-win but without military aggression what do they have? So I gave them a way to gain power tokens and more towers to make up for it.

[quote]While she is kinda the head of the Lannister family she has no military authority. Jaime fits better into this role. Abilities perfectly fine.[/quote]

His ability might be too dangerous against Greyjoy in the first few rounds. It already forces Greyjoy to be more defensive with the Iron Bay in turn 1. I’ll have to test out those moves a few times to see.

[quote]Does Lord Blackmont work if you are defending? It could mean you can take the opponents march order (which he just resolved against you) and start a counter attack. That would make this card extremely powerful as you might very often destroy the rooted army and also gain an additional march.[/quote]

Yes it works that way but you won’t often see enemies risking marching into Martell unless they are sure they can beat them. He can also work as a pseudo-Loras if you jump on an opponent who wants to march. Trading away Hotah to get him removes Martell’s best counter to Randyll. It’s a risk.

---

I never considered it that way. I just assumed it was the heads of houses. Mace really shouldn’t be a 4 card in the original set then. His battle commander experience solely consists of twiddling his thumbs outside of Storms End! I always linked swords to being markers of the actual fighters. But unlike Sansa, he is the Warden of the South and a man=>Soldiers follow him more likely than a woman(Sorry feminists), especially when there is a male "alternative"(see Martell for no alternative). Take the knights of the vale as example: They did not come for Sansa, they rode on Littlefingers Order. He has DIRECT Control of an army which most females in this world do not have.

Martell might be the exception of that "rule" because they lack any potential male who could step in that position.

---

AFFC PBF - #10
You do not need to know everything, but where to read it.-Albert Einstein-

Reading is overrated.-sarcasm off-

Martell might be the exception of that "rule" because they lack any potential male who could step in that position.
And are more “feminist“ than the other seven kingdoms (women may inherit).

@topic: I love the idea of swaping house cards and hope that I will find enough time in the next few days to think about all the new house cards thoroughly. If you plan to make a pbf out of it, count me in.

---

“The only way to treat disease is to understand disease.“

In general, the card-swapping idea seems overcomplicated to me, and vastly more difficult to balance.  But I do like the general idea of coming up with more thematically-appropriate cards, so I'll throw out some thoughts on that.  I sorta agree with both OP and Harakon, in that I think card strength is a more direct measure of a character's prowess as a battle commander, but not their personal fighting ability. So Tywin wouldn't stand a chance against Brienne (or even Nymeria) in a duel, but he is one of the most ruthless and effective generals in the realm.  To that end, there are not a lot of women in Westeros who have the ability and experience to command troops in the field.  So I would mostly have the women be lower strength cards with special abilities.  Though true to the series, it is often the unique attributes of those less directly powerful cards that dictate the flow of the entire game.

Anyway, let's start with Sansa.  I'd think she has little to no direct combat value, and her character has spent most of her time prisoner/wife of various enemies, but she has a way of becoming more trouble than she's worth and the enemy's grand designs never come through.  This would make her a good candidate for the "cancel all icons and abilities on opponent's card" option.

A more elaborate version would be one that reflects her hot potato status.  Like she is a 0 str card with the text "after this battle, instead of placing this card in the discard pile, put it in your opponent's House Card hand. If this card is returned to House Stark in this manner, it gains 4 power tokens."

This is a much more complicated scenario for game balancing, but I like how it makes "defeating" Sansa just a further complication for the enemy, while winning her back is still an unalloyed victory for the Starks.

Sticking with the Starks, I do love the OP's ideas for Arya and Bran abilities.

Jon should be their 4 card, if both Edd and Robb are out of the picture.  I was thinking an ability that would work for either he or Brienne, to reflect their righteous avenger status in the latter seasons, would be to give them +1 combat strength for each house card with "Stark" in the name in your discard pile, for a total possibility of up to +3 if one were including Arya, Sansa and Bran in the mix.

Another thing that occurred to me when trying to think up abilities that don't have any precedent in the original game (like my Sansa potato suggestion), would be that either Jon or Tormund have an ability that says "if you win this combat, you may immediately trigger a Wildling Attack, to be resolved before any further orders".  That would have the potential to be hugely disruptive to the entire board in the middle of a turn, which I kind of love.  The Game Of Thrones is nothing if not chaotic.

Final thoughts on adopted Starks:

Davos - 2 strength, text reads "this card gains +1 combat strength for each house providing neutral support to this battle"

The Onion Knight may seem like a basic bro, but his value only seems to go up the more complicated shit gets.


Littlefinger - 0 strength, "immediately remove all your opponent's support orders from any areas adjacent to the area of battle".

Because his signature move is to isolate his opponents and flip the script when they are convinced they are operating from a position of strength (Ned in the succession, Lannisters at the Red Wedding, Boltons at the Battle Of The Bastards).

I do not know how a family model of the 1950s can help to make the attempt of creating tv-show based house cards more comprehensible or accomplishable, but due to your lack of alternatives I'd like to offer an adjustment (Sorry, beta-malists) in this approach:
This family modell is not a new idea and not only existing since 70 years, also I did not look at the 50s, I looked at the world GRRM created. Why this approach makes it more comprehensible and accomplishable? Because it fits to the world he created==>We have a feudal system in which sons are the heirs to their fathers and as soon as a daughter heirs her fathers position, this house is seen to be in a weak position(Hedgeknight 2nd Book). Also everyones favourite Ned orginally doesnt want his daughter Arya to become a fighter because woman dont fight or should not fight wars in this world. We could make educated guesses about his longterm intentions but he is dead and this goes offtopic.
Fact remains: In Westeros the head of the house and/or military leader of this house is a male. The story of Daenerys breaking this tradition is the main focus of this whole thing.
Sansa isnt Warden of the North, the Boltons are at that time in the story and the Starks still are rebels to the crown. Littlefinger is Lord Protector of the Vale, which still puts him higher in the chain of command in a feudal system than a Robar Royce. While Royce leads them into Battle, Littlefinger decides who they will fight for.

Also I did provide alternatives to make the cards better fit into the whole context but nevermind. Point is: Woman in this show can have a very great impact on the whole story, but this is more through cunning and charm and not by being the head of an army. Only exception again here is Daenerys who inspired thousands with her personality but is also relying on cunning and her charm to defeat her enemies(the cloak changing mercenaries).

I would love to see the Tormund wildling attack(of course with the limitation that Stark cannot be a victim).

---

AFFC PBF - #10
You do not need to know everything, but where to read it.-Albert Einstein-

Reading is overrated.-sarcasm off-

Thought for Targaryen:
Atm the "orginal" deck lacks real swords and while writing this a new idea pops up^^. To show Jorahs dedication towards Dani, give him two Towers while she is in the deck (her loyal protector) and two Swords when she is discarded (his dedication to find her)

Thoughts on Lannister:
Again not seeing from a balance perspective or direct counters, I just noticed Cerseis alternate potential. She is basically a strength 10 card on the defense. This is too strong. You basically need both SEs and two knights(a full 4 army) just to compensate the raw card strength

---

AFFC PBF - #10
You do not need to know everything, but where to read it.-Albert Einstein-

Reading is overrated.-sarcasm off-

Thoughts on the Stark "alternates":

Glover and Podrick can peace out, replaced by Meera Reed and HODOR, respectively. Or maybe even "Meera and Jojen Reed" as a single card. In any case, they are closer allies of the Starks than Podrick with much more screentime (since we're focusing on the show) than Glover.

As for Lady Mormont, I would suggest as a more appropriate reflection of her ability to shame other Lords into service to the Starks, an ability that says she can force one other house with a neutral support order to declare for Stark into the battle.

That's probably overpowered, but I'd at least suggest a language change from "Moat Cailin or further north" to "Winterfell or an adjacent territory" would be clearer, since the north-south borders are irregular.