Fili and Kili

I've been avoiding making the Dwarves because they are such important characters and I wanted to do them justice, but with The Desolation of Smaug quickly approaching, I don't have time to agonize over every detail! 

So I've started big, but basic. A new dual-companion card with vanilla text and nothing overpowering, but representative of the characters.

Let me know what you think!

Gundabad Rider

Wouldn't it be sweet if we could see this card in foil?

Thanks to everyone who has sent me a comment via email. I learned that comments were not always working on the page, but that should be fixed now, so please leave comments here and start a discussion!

Dol Guldur Blade

Another Wraith condition to help make the Sentinel viable.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or giving a +1 to this post!

Dol Guldur

It's been a while since I created a site, so I thought I'd add one that tied in with the recent Wraith theme.

Let me know what you think!

Dol Guldur Sentinel

As alluded to in my prior post. I liked the concept of a minion that doesn't go away if you don't kill it.

Let me know what you think!

The Witch King, Wraith of Dol Guldur

Okay friendly readers, I need your input here! What do you think? I was a bit confused/shocked to see this scene in the movie, so would be completely fine with removing the Wraith culture completely from The Hobbit TCG.

But, it's nice to have options, and I'm envisioning creating a culture that only has this minion and many supporting conditions (including conditions that can fight).

Let me know what you think, this is your game!

Sting, A Light in the Dark

The Hobbit TCG version of Sting. I feel like Bilbo uses it much better than Frodo does in the Lord of the Rings, so here is a weapon that can actually do some damage!

Please leave a comment or +1/Like this post!

Galadriel, Artanis

Please leave a comment or +1/Like this!

The Hobbit TCG Card Back

I've avoided posting this for a while now because I wanted to make sure it looked perfect. I think it's appropriate that I post this as my 100th post on this blog!

I'm 99% pleased with this version, but would love to hear some feedback. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

The Great Goblin's Scepter

Hopefully I got the name right this time! Let me know in the comments.

Bag End Storeroom

Another one of the "very powerful if drawn in your opening hand" cards. Let me know what you think!

Orcrist, Goblin Cleaver

I've been thinking about this mechanic for a while and decided that Orcrist made a good card to add it to. 

Let me know what you think!

Thorin, Leader of the Company

Here's a new version of Thorin (the prior one will not make the final set). The key (pun intended) thing to notice is Thorin's new keyword: Leader. As alluded to in prior cards, the Leader replaces the Ring-Bearer in The Hobbit TCG. The Leader wears the Key to Erebor and takes his company to Mount Erebor. If your Leader dies, you lose the game.

Subservient

Here's another Gundabad culture card. I thought this was a great scene to make a card out of, and also wanted a card that took advantage of leftover twilight. Flood the pool, and risk making Azog or any other Gundabad minion into an overwhelming monster!

Azog, The Defiler (Updated)

The first time I've ever posted two cards in one day! I've got a long weekend vacation (Happy 4th!) and all the card templates ready to create cards more quickly, so hopefully this is the start of a good trend.

I wanted to update my Azog card for a few reasons. The first is: he's not part of the Isengard culture, so thanks to Maarten's Gundabad templates we can give him a much more unique feel. The second is that I wanted to make him play against the courage mechanic.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

He Gives Me Courage

Following up on the new mechanic of loyalty and doubts here is a simple card that helps the Company remain loyal.

Bilbo Adventurer

I finally had time to create Bilbo, and I wanted it to be special. You'll notice three new things: 

1. The new icon in the bottom left. This is the Courage icon, which is a replacement for the Resistance icon (since the threat of corruption is less prevalent in The Hobbit). It works almost exactly the same as the Resistance icon. If a companion's Courage is reduced to 0, nothing will happen immediately, but certain Shadow cards can take advantage of that situation.
2. There is also the new Leader keyword, which replaces the Ring-bearer keyword. This will be Thorin in most cases, but there will be companions who can be alternate Leaders.
3. Finally, there is the Loyalty keyword. This is a loaded keyword. A character with Loyalty can place himself in the dead pile to prevent a wound to the Leader. 

Leave a comment and let me know what you think! And let me know if there's anything else you want to see.

Thranduil, Elvenking

The trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug came out today, and was a great reminder that I am WAY behind on creating The Hobbit TCG base set!

While I am committed to finishing cards for the first movie, I wanted to create a card for Thranduil, who I'm really excited about (along with Legolas and Bard!)

Let me know what you're looking forward to seeing and I'll do my best to create cards for it.

Contract of Terms

I've bitten the bullet and moved to completely designing my cards in Gimp for OS X. You should notice a change in the quality of the image.

Let me know if anything else stands out to you that needs improvement!

This card is a bit vanilla, so judge away on that as well!

The purpose of moving to Gimp is to be able to design new icons that should make for more interesting new cards, which I'll be working on right away.

Keep the comments coming!

The Arkenstone

I wanted to do something very special for The Arkenstone, and also try out a new mechanic. I thought the idea of wildly expensive cards, that were much cheaper if you were lucky enough to get them in your starting hand was an interesting idea.

What do you think? Leave a comment!

Lindir, Elven Minstrel

Sorry for the delay between posts! I had used pretty much all the templates I had, so I needed to start making new ones for new card types, like Followers. If you want the templates, just leave a comment and let me know. 

Gundabad Hunter

Please leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Treasures of Erebor

What do you think of the choice of image on this one? I thought it looked gorgeous in the film, but I feel like this image doesn't quite capture the majesty of Erebor.

The flavor text is also made-up, so if anyone has a better suggestion, I'm all ears. Leave a comment!

Bag End

I thought it was time for another site. This one has the same title as a Lord of the Rings TCG card, but unlike Goblin Bowman, it has different text.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Elven Hunting Group

If anyone wants to suggest better flavor text here, please leave a comment!

I'm also playing around with my font sizes to see which ones look and feel better. Take a look at this and compare it to Elrond to see which one seems right to you.

Gandalf's Staff, Staff of Power

More frequent updates are coming! Please keep the comments coming, they're an inspiration for me!

Going on an Adventure!

My first Shire card to be spoiled! Let me know what you think!

Gandalf's Pipe, Toy of Fire and Smoke

It took me a while to come up with this as it's getting harder for me to find images to go with the cards we've designed.

This card brings back the pipeweed mechanism that was popular in the Fellowship of the Rings block. Maarten and I were trying to figure out how to make decks less cluttered with both pipes and pipeweed conditions, so I went with using tokens.

Let us know what you think!

Outnumbered

I'll move on to some non-Moria spoilers next, I promise.

Keep the comments coming and let us know what you think about the cards so far! Is there anything you'd like to see that you haven't seen yet?

Goblin Bowman

There are some cards that were so classic and well-balanced in the Lord of the Rings TCG that they appeared in multiple sets: Hobbit Sword, Elven Bow, Uruk-hai Raiding Party to name a few.

There will be a few familiar titles carrying over to The Hobbit TCG as well, though they'll come with fresh images and lore, and here is the first.

We're finishing up the card list now, but there is still room for some familiar cards; which card would you like to see reprinted for The Hobbit TCG? Leave a comment!

The Great Goblin, King of Moria

Today's card continues down the Moria theme. We will most likely be replacing the word "Horde" with the word "Swarm"

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment!

Goblin Hacker

Today we get our first look at the new face of the Moria culture and a new keyword, Horde. Goblins return, angry and swarmy as they were in The Lord of the Rings TCG and the Horde keyword allows them to call back their friends from the dead.

With such a powerful ability, it will be important to balance these Orcs with low power and vitality. But we want the Goblin King and his minions to be a force to be reckoned with!

Let us know what you think in the comments.

If He Loses

The counterpart to yesterday's If I Win card.

Take a look at Maarten's Blog for a peek at Sméagol, who we've cast as a Follower for now. 

Keep checking back for what Gollum looks like!

If I Win

We're making great progress on the set, and while the final text isn't finished I want to keep posting card ideas so everyone can give us their feedback on them.

Today I venture into Gollum culture, where you can see we'll be showcasing both a Sméagol and a Gollum card. Can you guess what the next card is?

Keep the comments coming!

Growl of the Warg

I wanted to throw up a card before the weekend to get feedback on a replacement for the burden mechanic that we have been working on.

Simply put, replace the word "resistance" with the word "courage" and replace the word "burden" with the word "doubt".

Story-wise I think this makes much more sense. The journey of Thorin's company is at risk of failing if they lose their courage. They lose their courage as they begin to doubt themselves, their leader, their tasks.

Let me know what you think! 

A special thanks to Maarten who has been a phenomenal collaborator. I look forward to working on this set with him more!

Balin, Son of Fundin

Today's card introduces one of the new mechanics in The Hobbit TCG: Loyalty.

Loyalty 

When the Leader of the company is about to take a wound, you may sacrifice a companion with Loyalty to prevent that wound by placing the companion in the dead pile.

(Note that we have replaced the keyword Key-Bearer with Leader)

Let me know what you think of the new mechanic!

Bower of the Council

I am going to be pausing cards for a bit as I want to come up with a full set list and fleshed out card texts before creating new cards, but while I do that I needed to complete my site template anyway, so I created this site. 

What do you think of how it looks? (I'm less concerned about the text as it will most likely change, but leave your thoughts on it if you feel compelled!) 

I know that the collector box still needs to be removed/changed.

Key to Erebor, Thorin's Birthright

The new One Ring! In another departure from the rule of the Lord of the Rings, I've removed the concept of burdens. I alluded to how resistance doesn't make sense in prior posts, and neither do burdens since Thorin isn't at risk of being corrupted by any means. 

Instead, the focus of Thorin's journey will be on the loyalty of the company, and how his companions are willing to put their lives on the line for him.

On a side note, I'm particularly proud of this dream card as it's the first time I used GIMP to edit images for creating the card. Let me know what you think!

Elrond, Of the White Council

Here is another take on Elrond, and the faux-ally card type. I'm trying to strike a balance that would make you want to play this card, but not make it too powerful. 

There's no reason we can't have two versions of a companion either.

What do you think?

Elrond, Counsillor

So today I am suggesting another major departure from the Lord of the Rings TCG rules: No more allies or followers. I always found allies to be unnecessary, and the followers rules to be difficult for new players.

Instead, I suggest that anybody that would be an ally, is a companion that is simply discarded at some point.

What do you think? Keep the comments coming!

Beguile

My first foray into a non-character card! I have two concerns:

1. These cards are too powerful. Obviously we don't know how good a Troll is, but you can always assume that canceling a skirmish is powerful.
2. I'm being too literal to the movie. I think Lord of the Rings TCG did this as well, but there doesn't need to be a card for every scene of the movie, and even cards that are from the movie don't need to match the events exactly.

What do you think? Leave a comment!

Azog, The Defiler

I thought it was high time to start making some minions, even though I'm not quite ready (I'd really like this to be on a Moria template at least, if not a completely new template!).

I also want to start introducing "flavors" to each of the cultures. Gandalf focusing on spells, Shire (Bilbo) focusing on stealth, Dwarves focusing on strength and loyalty, and Azog's Orcs focusing on Dwarf hate.

Let me know what you think!

Gandalf, Friend to Thorin

Here's my first foray into a non-Dwarven card for The Hobbit TCG.

I wanted to mention that I'm intentionally leaving Resistance off of these companions as I don't think it will apply to the version of the game I have in mind (Without a One Ring and burdens, resistance just doesn't apply, right?).

You'll note the relatively low cost, strength, and vitality on this Gandalf. As mentioned in prior comments, if we're going to allow 14 companions, they need to be relatively beatable. Even with the twilight you provide each time you move 14 companions, the Shadow side would need to be able to play at least 14 minions to even have a chance at overwhelming or killing the Key Bearer. 

More to come. Keep the comments coming!

(If anyone has a hi-res Moria template, please let me know!)

Thorin, Son of Thrain

Here's the next dream card!

Thanks for all the comments on Fili. There's some great work on making dream cards going on at The Last Homely House as well. Unfortunately, the site is not always up and is often slow, so I'll continue creating and hosting dream cards here as well.

This card introduces a concept mentioned by Nate in the prior comments, "Key Bearer." My intention is for the Key to Erebor to be similar to The One Ring in The Lord of the Rings TCG. One companion can carry the key, and there are consequences (most likely a game loss) if that companion dies.

I'll keep making dream cards and coming up with proposed rules for The Hobbit TCG. I'm definitely thinking that the Rule of 9 should be changed to account for the larger troop, as mentioned in the prior comments; however, we then need to make the companions weaker, or the minions stronger.

Let me know what you think!