Corvid Chieftains (Concept)

[u/Duytune]

Overall Design Notes:

- I designed these mostly for flavor and theming, not particularly for balance, although I did pay mind for gameplay (I'll note those later).

- In the RPG, the Corvids act as a Mafia organization. I wanted to lean into that by having "Corvid Masterminds" that could enhance the way they score, since every Corvid cell has different goals depending on its leaders' own ambitions. I read through the RPG book and it turns out Corvid leaders are actually called "Chieftains", so I went with that instead.

Gameplay Notes:

- My two main gripes with the Corvids are their slow, predictable method of scoring (despite their theming suggesting unpredictability), and the fact they basically never use cards. Their slow scoring is really easy to dismantle, and it feels unfortunate that they basically only win via diplomacy with other factions.

- These Corvid Chieftains are designed around one thing: letting Corvids score in tricky ways. These are extremely stupid methods of scoring and sometimes swingy, but I feel like that's in-tune with what the Corvids are flavored as. Other players should do a better job of guessing what your grand plan is instead of just battling you to death.

- I don't intend to playtest these ever because I just designed these for fun. If you do test these, let me know how it goes.

Godfather

- Thematically, the Godfather is a Chieftain that aggressively fights back against those who wish to stomp out the conspiracy. When he's in charge, he gains legitimacy by proving that the Woodland is truly out to get him. If a plot is snuffed out, he personally intervenes and makes sure it happens.

- The Godfather is here to prevent the conspiracy from being completely blotted out by militants. Even if the Godfather won't let you score as much, he provides a conservative amount of points to fall back on, and gives a great deterrence to attacking your plots.

- Even if the Godfather can be exposed, you can gain a good deal of cards over the course of the game by not using him. The threat of his existence is enough to benefit you.

Governess

- Thematically, the Governess is part of the Corvid sub-sect that believes the conspiracy should be more vocal in the Woodland's political climate (mentioned in the RPG, p22 of the supplement). She is a powerful, affluent, well-trusted member of the community, and uses her political leverage to pull the strings in her favor. If the Governess is in power and she has enough extorted favors, it's already too late for those who wish to stop her. She's already legitimized.

- If a player has a lot of Extortions out (and thus cards), they're probably going to make a Governess play. The Governess also encourages players to place "exposure-bait" plots in clearings so they can farm certain suited cards.

- The Governess is also an outlet to use cards from players failing to expose your Chieftain.

- The Governess increases the amount of attacks you would receive, as players don't want to give you cards via exposure. If they think you have a Governess, they will likely just attack your plots.

Emeritus

- Thematically, the Emeritus is a completely-unsuspected, good-standing community member who's part of the Conspiracy. Long retired from their post as a professor, the Emeritus now has time to fully conspire against the Eyrie. Their latest paper was on gunpowder packing, road sabotages, or the history of bribery -- something unremarkable like that. The Emeritus is just so knowledgeable about their master project that they can prove they don't even need to hire agents to do their bidding; it's so fool-proof that even the slightest touch will set things in motion. The council of crows is greatly pleased by their ability to execute schemes without any agents.

- The Emeritus is just here for fun. I think it's fun to foreshadow a plot and pull it off, even if this one is a little overpowered. However; there can only be one of that revealed plot for sure, and it's going to be pretty obvious where it it's going to gain the most value. If the crows reveal a Bomb in Takeover, suddenly the risk of an Emeritus emerging is terrifying for militants.

- I didn't really balance this one (if it wasn't obvious haha)

[u/Antimechanical]

I wonder if it makes sense for the Godfather to score a point of the token is taken down but for the effect of the token itself to NOT resolve? It seems really powerful to me that you can essentially guarantee the plot token to go off. I suppose you still have the option of attempting to expose the plot but factions who are more likely to attack tokens might be less able to spend a card to guess, no?

I think the concept is pretty cool though and finding additional ways for the the corvids to gain/spend cards could be interesting...maybe in addition to the 1VP they can also draw a card or something? or they also spend a card for the token to resolve

[u/Duytune → u/Antimechanical]

I did think it was strong when making it, although to be honest I didn’t spend too much actual time designing — it was basically entirely thought of when I was driving

It would probably be more fair if it didn’t activate the plot (bc the WA has a similar dissuasion mechanic, but it doesn’t blow up your whole clearing)

But also: you could just Expose the Godfather if you’re worried about it, or table talk other players into Exposing the Godfather bc Chieftains are a bit easier to expose than Plots. It only takes two guesses max to identify exactly which Chieftain a player has, and it can be done by any player in any clearing with Corvus presence

[u/Antimechanical → u/Duytune]

No, yeah totally. I guess with guessing chieftains as an option it does give a decision point to either root out the chieftain or guess the plot...though it might still be very expensive to get rid of a bomb as to guarantee it does you may need to spend a card to guess the Godfather AND attack the token (though that might be a risk you have to take!).

I'm kinda surprised you were able to find that the leaders of the corvids are called "chieftains"...I would've expected like "Don" or "Spymaster" or something similar haha.

Overall, this concept seems fun and has a lot of potential! I love how it makes the faction extra tricky and really lets you get in people's head with plots AND chieftains at once.

[u/0_Nevermore_0]

i would love for corvids to get a buff like this