D&D 4E 4e Fortune cards = 4e RPGA rewards cards v2?

[mneme]

I think that by intent, the Fortune cards product may be the next iteration of the RPGA rewards card. Think about it:

1. Wizards announced that they were phasing out rewards cards, with the replacement to be announced near the beginning of this year.

2. If you think about the pros and cons of rewards cards, we have:

Pros:

Players love playing with them.
Gives them something they can give out to reward players who show up for events (or use for promotions at organized play events.
Provides another set of options that players can mess with for their characters.
Promotes Teamwork

Cons:

Unfair (divides players into haves and have-nots).
Unbalancing (when used in adventures that aren't written assuming players will be packing cards)
Badly playtested (the cards were of highly varying quality, and some (Lucky Shot, Snap out of It, the "reroll an at-will" cards) were overpowered.
Costs Wizards money overall, rather than gaining them money.

Now, if you look at the Fortune Cards product, they can presumably avoid all the cons (They're fair because players can simply buy them; by promoting Fortune Cards for specific events and keeping them fair, they can design the event difficulty level assuming players will have cards (or maybe give the GM cards to counterweight the players having them), and because they're official products they can get real playtesting) and hit most of the pros (I'm not sure about teamwork; that was a design feature of the rewards cards they might not have kept).

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I agree that when I heard about fortune cards, they reminded me of RPGA rewards cards.

However I think I'm less excited about them then you are.

Cons:

Unfair (divides players into haves and have-nots).

For a while you could download LFR cards and print them out. Plus with groups I play with, we always share with people who don't bring them. I think Fortune cards will be more unfair, because they are not free (though I suspect most players who have them will be happy to share).

Unbalancing (when used in adventures that aren't written assuming players will be packing cards)

You could use the rewards cards in all LFR adventures, and only LFR adventures used rewards cards. I suspect WOTC wants you to use fortune cards for every game, not just events that specifically call for them. I think the RPGA cards have the advantage with "adventures that are written assuming players will be packing cards".

Badly playtested (the cards were of highly varying quality, and some (Lucky Shot, Snap out of It, the "reroll an at-will" cards) were overpowered.

This is fair about RPGA, many fortune cards will be intentionally more powerful than others (i.e. the rare ones). Is that any better?

Costs Wizards money overall, rather than gaining them money.

This assumes that the cards will be successful sellers. If instead WOTC prints a bunch of cards that sit on store shelves, then they are out the print/developing costs, with no profit.

I want WOTC to make money overall, but I will only give them my money if they make products that I am interested in. From what I have seen, there is no way that I'll be purchasing fortune cards, and most of the people I game with feel the same way.

It's possible that I am in the minority here, and fortune cards may be a huge success, but I will not be surprised if fortune cards soon go the way of D&D minis.

 

[Scribble]

I don't think I will be making any special trips to the stores for the cards... But I think these and the Gamma World cards will probably become a regular impulse purchase for me when I'm already at the store buying stuff.

 

[Mirtek]

IUnfair (divides players into haves and have-nots).

Because of that they offered all 4e reward cards for download.

Unbalancing (when used in adventures that aren't written assuming players will be packing cards)

The fortune cards have actually effects just as and some even more powerful

(They're fair because players can simply buy them;

Meaning that anyone leaving $500 on ebay to build a deck of only rares is better than the players with less disposable income. The gap between the have and have not, which has been so nicely closed with offering the LFR cards as free downloads, will now be determined solely by how much money a player is willing/able to spend to buy his advantage

 

[MrMyth]

I had actually immediately jumped to this conclusion when I heard more about Fortune Cards - that they were Rewards Cards v2.0. And I thought that sounded fine in that context...

...but since then, I'm reconsidering.

See, rewards cards were nice, but not necessary. They provided an occasional benefit - but you could only use a handful each adventure. That limited how much an effect that they had overall, and thus, how big of a difference there was between the dude with 3 awesome cards, and the players with none at all.

But with Fortune Cards, from what I understand, you can potentially use one every single round in every single encounter. That's a much bigger impact on the game, especially if you stock up on really useful cards.

That's really the dilemma here for me. I can find ways to use these cards that don't alter the balance of the game. But the default approach WotC is using will have a significant impact on how much power PCs have at the table. That makes them very different from the old rewards cards, which might affect one or two pivotal events in the game, but certainly weren't omnipresent throughout.

 

[Scribble]

Meaning that anyone leaving $500 on ebay to build a deck of only rares is better than the players with less disposable income.

They don't bunch together into combos or anything, so spending all that money doesn't really net the player much of an advantage over someone who did not.

 

[Mirtek]

They don't bunch together into combos or anything, so spending all that money doesn't really net the player much of an advantage over someone who did not.

Have you seen the previews of the rare cards? Getting to draw a raw every round is as close to being able to play a card every round as possible. And their effects are more powerful than the best RPGA reward cards

40% chance of a rare attack card per round and if not you'll guaranteed to either get a rare tactic or rare defense. Compare that to someone who just bought two boosters and has 50% commons in his deck

 

[Insight]

Some of the foregoing discussion assumes that you MUST use the Fortune Cards as WOTC promotes and markets them.

For my game, I am allowing their use, but no one has control over which cards they have at any one time. We have one "communal" deck and players (and the DM) each receive 2-3 random cards and can only use one per encounter. They get a new card whenever they would get a new action point (milestone) or reset their action points (extended rest). I'm also toying with the idea of letting players turn in all their cards at an extended rest and get new ones. I'll probably have the DM (me) get new cards every encounter.

To me, tying the cards to action points makes it easier to remember and easier on me to control.

 

[Scribble]

Have you seen the previews of the rare cards? Getting to draw a raw every round is as close to being able to play a card every round as possible. And their effects are more powerful than the best RPGA reward cards

40% chance of a rare attack card per round and if not you'll guaranteed to either get a rare tactic or rare defense. Compare that to someone who just bought two boosters and has 50% commons in his deck

Yes I've seen them- but my point still stands. Since they're not designed to stack together into "killer combos" having extra rares in your deck isn't going to make you a ton more powerful then someone with a booster pack.

I think you're vastly overstating the divide between the haves and have nots here. (Especially since they're not designed to be competitive either... )

 

[jdcash]

RAW they are not that exciting every round. Many of them are very specific to a situation so if the card you have in your hand does not fit that situation, then it is of no help.

OTOH, when your card matches the situation, it is a lot of fun.

I am not a card guy by any stretch of the imagination. I have never played Magic or any other card game like that, and honestly have never been interested. Fortune Cards are just another way to add some fun to your game.

Don't knock it 'til you tried it!