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I've been talking with another player from my area about the faction cards, and our general consensus is that the Sovereign Court faction card from season 8 is really bad. Perhaps unbearably so. What I'm trying to figure out is if anyone out there thinks differently. Perhaps I'm missing something.
* Practiced Diplomat is awful in my view. It gives a minimum result to a skill check of your choice, but for many of the skills the minimum provided is too low to be of any use. It would be a *very* dedicated member of the Court to get their minimum up to 17 in a time frame where that sort of skill check result was of any use for, say, Diplomacy. Knowledge (nobility) could perhaps work, but the same card encourages Court members to put points into that skill as they complete their goals.
* Advocate is similarly bad. I just don't make enough prestige point purchases to make this trait worthwhile. I could perhaps imagine someone purchasing a whole lot of vanities, but the savings wouldn't be extreme even then.
* Spymaster is pretty decent. If the whole party is having to make certain skill checks, this could help. But if you select Stealth, for instance, the heavy armor guys are still going to blow it 90% of the time even with a bonus. A better use might be to boost a party member that's good at a skill to make them even better. Overall, I consider Spymaster to be good, but not nearly good enough to be the only worthwhile reward on a faction card.
Am I missing something? Or should we be making some noise to get a better card for season 9?
I agree that the bonuses seem pretty lack-luster, especially when you compare it to the other factions. Like it's one thing if all the cards do like nothing, but when there are mostly cards that are worth getting the few that aren't really seem sad.
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My Sovereign Court character is probably my favorite one, my view on the card is this:
Practiced Diplomat: Really not that great, I'll give you that. Having the assurance on Disguise and Diplomacy is alright if you really screw up, but it's a contingency rather than a bonus, and not a very strong one at that.
Advocate: As my character purchases *a lot* of vanities, this is the most useful one of the three for me, it's saved me over 10 prestige thus far.
Spymaster: In the example you gave, where someone is likely to fail anyways, yeah, it's not very good. I prefer to use it to buff the party's Knowledge (nobility) or Diplomacy at social functions; things where having a bonus is useful but not detrimental if we fail.
I thought about making a Sovereign Court Character, but these are awful. Advocate was the only one I was mildly interested in trying to get. Glad I wasn't the only one to think these are bad.
As a side question. What happens when Season 9 starts? Do we throw away the old cards, no matter where we are at on them? Will some things transfer over?
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As a side question. What happens when Season 9 starts? Do we throw away the old cards, no matter where we are at on them? Will some things transfer over?
Unless the rules change, you can keep and fill boxes on the previous season's card if you have at least one box checked before the new cards come into play, and if you qualify for rewards with the same name on both cards, their effect counts as if you had completed one more goal in total (which may be more goals than you could have on one card). The Faction Cards document has details.
Hmm.. did I misunderstand Practiced diplomat? I thought it was the minimum roll you added to your skill but if it's the minimum skill check..it's a waste given I'm in the 32+ Range with a 'take 1' On diplomacy
They made official clarification soon after the cards were published that it's the minimum result.
The minimum roll would make it really good, being able to roll and have a min result be a take 10 or better would be really awesome.And that's why it's viewed so bad, most if not all the skills on there are going to be higher than that if they are trying to be a real member and thus a waste. It's only real benefit is the 5 cha dwarf that wants to auto-aid on the skill with no ranks into it.
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Hmm.. did I misunderstand Practiced diplomat? I thought it was the minimum roll you added to your skill but if it's the minimum skill check..it's a waste given I'm in the 32+ Range with a 'take 1' On diplomacyThey made official clarification soon after the cards were published that it's the minimum result.
The minimum roll would make it really good, being able to roll and have a min result be a take 10 or better would be really awesome.And that's why it's viewed so bad, most if not all the skills on there are going to be higher than that if they are trying to be a real member and thus a waste. It's only real benefit is the 5 cha dwarf that wants to auto-aid on the skill with no ranks into it.
Whereas the lowest I can make on the skill rolls I make On that list is matching fr k(nobles). Everything else is nearly mid-20s or higher. Sigh.. totally useless
Whereas the lowest I can make on the skill rolls I make On that list is matching fr k(nobles). Everything else is nearly mid-20s or higher. Sigh.. totally uselessHmm.. did I misunderstand Practiced diplomat? I thought it was the minimum roll you added to your skill but if it's the minimum skill check..it's a waste given I'm in the 32+ Range with a 'take 1' On diplomacyThey made official clarification soon after the cards were published that it's the minimum result.
The minimum roll would make it really good, being able to roll and have a min result be a take 10 or better would be really awesome.And that's why it's viewed so bad, most if not all the skills on there are going to be higher than that if they are trying to be a real member and thus a waste. It's only real benefit is the 5 cha dwarf that wants to auto-aid on the skill with no ranks into it.
Exactly.