All that's missing is selling gear for money

First, I know this isn't a full RPG. I've played a couple dozen games at least, so I get that, and don't expect PACG to implement all aspects of an RPG. But wouldn't fun to be able to "sell" the extra gear you collect, rather than just returning it to the box? Then later, use that money to buy new gear? And wouldn't that add another classic RPG aspect to PACG? (And yes, it could unbalance the game too -- but adding to the fun-factor could be worth it).

That catalyst: My friend and I are having a lot of difficulty killing the final villain in the Burnt Offerings adventure. She's really tough for our characters (Seoni and Merisiel), so we keep grinding away, collecting great cards to rebuild with, only to loose them...again...and again...when we fail the fail the scenario. It's a little frustrating after a couple tries. Not "un-fun"...just...well...it's hard to toss all those great new cards. So...

I started thinking about a house rule -- variant -- wherein you "sold" your cards back to the box for "money". Later, you could use the "money" to buy a card of your choice from the box.

I haven't really worked out the details, let alone play-tested it, but I was thinking Basic cards wouldn't tempt a merchant, so you get $0 for those. Non-Basic perhaps you get just $1. Maybe Magic trait cards get $2? Maybe that's too complicated or generous and all non-Basic are $1, plain and simple?

Once you have $x, you may spend them to choose a single Weapon, Item, Armor, Spell, Ally, or Blessing card from the box. I don't know how much X would be though? I *think* I usually acquire at least 5 or 6 cards per scenario, so maybe $10 is a good price? That means one can only make a purchase every other scenario at most? Probably less often than that since Basics are worth $0, unless you pool money within your party, which is another great RPG-game aspect.

You still have to rebuild your deck to spec, of course, so I don't think this would be HUGELY unbalancing. Maybe it's just enough of a boost after grinding through a mission a couple times that you can finally buy that Deathbane Crossbow, or a 2nd copy of Scorching Ray, to get that little bit of extra damage you need to kill the villain?!

I dunno...it's just a thought. Feedback?

I don't think it's needed, but my wife thinks the game is broken without it!

However, one thing...

you do realise that you KEEP your cards if you fail a scenario, right?

So, if you lose a scenario due to the timer deck running out then you limp home, rebuild your decks (based on the cards in your hand, discard pile, deck and buried) and then try again.

If you lose because you died then that's another matter and you lose EVERYTHING and have to start again with a new all-basic deck.

No, I don't think it's needed either. I just thought it might be fun and help a little when you hit a tough spot. For example, when you realize that you should have kept a card from three games ago that you didn't because you didn't see its purpose at the time.

Yes, I realize I get to keep all my cards after a failed scenario, and so far, no one has died -- close though! I've died plenty solo, and it's tough, but "dead is dead" is still the best way to play.

I could really see a house rule on this, but it would be really complicated. The easiest thing I would do would be that you can trade in 1 card with Magic or Elite Trait, or 2 cards with the Basic Trait for 1 card with the Basic Trait.

But then again, my group is so Monty Hall that we allow people to pick up Basic trait cards at will between adventures. I know that means Banishing them is the same as Burying them, but what the heck...they are only Basic cards.

I could see this adding to the game. I think the numbers would need to be balanced so that you could only buy 1 single item every 2-3 scenarios or that the party could pool their resources to buy one player an item.Maybe make the desired cards from the box cost 30-40 gold each? Not sure, definitely worth playing with though! =)

The only thing I see a shop system adding is complexity and book-keeping, which the developers have stated that they have tried to avoid.

The elegance of the current system is its simplicity: there is no accounting involved, no counters or records to keep. You don't need to know anything about your character beyond the cards in the deck and boxes checked on the character card/sleeve.

There's also no cherry-picking your loot, so when you do find that special weapon or armor you've been wanting, you get excited when you find it and will do whatever you can to acquire it.

However, if you feel something is missing, you can certainly house-rule something that fits your needs. Someone else had posted a house rule for shopping after the scenario where they added up all the "Check to Acquire" cost for any items that would be normally be abandoned, cut this number in half (your available gold), then draw a random selection of boons (limited shop selection). After your purchases, any extra is considered spent on lodging, food, drinks, etc and lost. I haven't tried this, but I do think this is a good (and rather thematic) rule.

Also, there's always "grinding" for loot (replaying completed scenarios); just remember that you can't claim the scenario rewards more than once per character, but anything you acquire through exploration is fair game.

A shop could be good for potions and other "banishable" items. I think buying and having the whole box as a stockist would be a little op and would detract from the joy of flipping over that card you've been wanting. Oooo but with currency you should have to pay your allies as well?

And instead of being healed after every scenario, you could have to pay for healing services at the temple...

If you're really intent on having a shop then you'd need to have something like Descent's "limited stock" system (e.g. draw one random boon from the box per player + x) and then you have the chance to buy one of those items.

But it would need to be something like 20:1, since you often end up with far more cards than you need for a deck at the end of a scenario.

I have a variant posted over at BGG that adds selling items (mainly to pay for storing some items in a guild vault).

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1061648/variant-guild-vault

I should point out that if you are going to do a vault or something you want to make sure it is on paper. You don't want to actual remove the cards from the box because you are messing up the distribution.