Fortune cards.

delericho said:

Can you cite this? I haven't been able to find any comment to this effect. It's notable because it's at odds with the product description, which talks about collecting the cards, and building and trading decks - not much point in those activities if you can't reuse the cards!

(Not that I'm doubting you; I'm just keen to read the rest of what they have to say about the cards.)

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Apparently it was mentioned in a podcast. I got the info from this WotC 4e Future Releases forum thread: D&D Fortune Cards.

I wasn't sure what to think of fortune cards at first, but after seeing what I have about them, I'm not too keen on the idea. Here's basically why.

First off, it's my opinion that the idea of simulating the vagaries of fate, divine influence, favorable conditions and the like are already simulated by rolling dice. Your character's own prowess and skills are represented by bonuses to those rolls, but other variable factors are already riding on the dice. To me, the idea that they simulate "the chaotic and unpredictable nature of adventuring in a fantastic world of danger and magic" usurps the basic thrill of rolling high or low for an important task.

More power in the hands of the character also dilutes the challenge of the game. I enjoy challenge in the game, and giving me more resources to deal with various challenges dilutes them. I'm going to be less worried about making a saving throw when I have more resources that allow me to make a save.

Finally, it seems to me that many people like the idea of fortune cards because the cards are entirely beneficial. Are there any cards that provide minor hindrances on the same scale as the benefits? Could you be forced to reroll a saving throw that you have succeeded on? If not, the effects are not "chaotic and unpredictable." You know that fortune is always on your side, always benefits you--there's no chance that fortune could work against you. One of 4E's major design tenets was to remove swingy effects that could ride on a single die roll (things like save-or-die effects, poisons that could kill a character outright, et cetera). Fortune cards add another layer of insulation to protect characters from the consequences of failure. Maybe some people like it. I don't.

Do fortune cards provide players with an interesting new method to benefit their characters? Sure. Do they add another layer of complexity to designing and managing your character? That too. Is there potential for abuse? Of course. Ultimately, the benefits and drawbacks of integrating them into your campaign are up to individual groups to determine.

I can appreciate the fact that some people enjoy playing the game differently than I do. I'm just not excited about it myself.

DaveMage said:

You can certainly spin it any way you want, but when a chart and a dice roll could accomplish the same thing - sorry, it's a money grab in the format it's in.

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Yeah! That's right! It's the format! Just like when WotC released all those extra HARDCOVER BOOKS! Damn them! They could have easily just given us all the information in those 'Power' books in a cheaper paperback form, or even a downloadable PDF on the website... but they had the audacity to BIND THE PAGES! Pure money-grab! Giving us players more options to use but CHARGING us for it! For no other reason than to just make money off of us! How dare they?!?

WotC obviously hates D&D and their customers since they keep wasting money on things like artwork, and glossy paper, and color printing, and maps, and writers, and artists, and editors, and then expect us to pay for it!

DEFCON 1 said:

Yeah! That's right! It's the format! Just like when WotC released all those extra HARDCOVER BOOKS! Damn them! They could have easily just given us all the information in those 'Power' books in a cheaper paperback form, or even a downloadable PDF on the website... but they had the audacity to BIND THE PAGES! Pure money-grab! Giving us players more options to use but CHARGING us for it! For no other reason than to just make money off of us! How dare they?!?

WotC obviously hates D&D and their customers since they keep wasting money on things like artwork, and glossy paper, and color printing, and maps, and writers, and artists, and editors, and then expect us to pay for it!

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Ok, you win.

They are a great value.

You should buy the fortune cards. They made them just for you.

DaveMage said:

What does it say about my hang ups?

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No one reading this thread cares about CharlesRyan's personal opinion of you and your "hang ups", Dave ... so why in the world would you?? You really shouldn't.

You can certainly spin it any way you want, but when a chart and a dice roll could accomplish the same thing - sorry, it's a money grab in the format it's in. (Especially if it's *required* by some of the organized play activities.)

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That's the thing. I don't think they're being very smart in the method of introduction here. Kenzer IMO had the right idea - put them in the back of books as a freebie, and then after people got used to them, sell coupon books seperately for "completing the collection". Much more psychologically subtle and conducive to sneaking into people's gaming habits by stealth, instead of seeming an obvious and cynical money grab by immediately selling booster packs for a game which works fine without them already.

So one of the free B&M store based WPN games now requires these cards after they are released? Is that what I am reading?

rounser said:

That's the thing. I don't think they're being very smart in the method of introduction here. Kenzer IMO had the right idea - put them in the back of books as a freebie, and then after people got used to them, sell coupon books seperately for "completing the collection". Much more psychologically subtle and conducive to sneaking into people's gaming habits by stealth, instead of seeming an obvious and cynical money grab by immediately selling booster packs for a game which works fine without them already.

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Yeah, tossing a couple cards into MV or the DM kit would have been a very smart marketing ploy.

I was actually thinking of getting some of the cards for my Pathfinder game. I know that the cards are designed for 4e so I'll have to make a few changes. Or maybe I can just buy a booster and design my own cards. I'm fairly decent with Publisher 2007 and created game cards for other stuff before.

delericho said:

From what I heard, it might have actually been a fairly interesting system. Oh well.

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I played the Marvel Super Heroes SAGA version and it was a total blast. Probably one of the best RPGA games I ever played.