[Just for fun] Chinese Zodiac Cards

They will be based on old Chinese folk tales. If you are not familiar with it, you can read the story first.

We can develop them into a series, like immigration cards for the United States, plan cards for the Mexicans, tongue cards for the Maltese.

The existing 4 cards get changed.

  • Year of the Goat (I): Each village and TC spawns 2 goats, 1 of which is half-fattened.

  • Year of the Ox (III): Each village and TC spawns 2 water buffaloes; water buffaloes can work on rice paddies.
    The water buffalo is an important part of Chinese agriculture. In the traditional agricultural society, there is even a taboo not to eat beef to show the respect.

  • Year of the Tiger (III): Ships 1 pet white tiger for every TC built and 1 pet tiger for every 3 villagers; pet tigers get x1 attack (to be x1.2) multiplier against villagers.
    A beautiful, powerful and fearless creature, the tiger is considered the king of beasts and is often seen alongside the dragon in Chinese culture, both feared and adored as sacred creatures. In many ancient Chinese stories, the tigers in mountains are often considered to be a man-eating scourge and are feared by the villagers. On the other hand, people also worship the tiger, and it is said that the tiger will turn into a white tiger when it is 500 years old, and seeing it is a good omen.
    The design of the 3 villagers is based on the famous Chinese idiom “Three men make a tiger”.

  • Year of the Dragon (IV): Each castle will spawn 1 flamethrower, and upgrades them to honored.

Then the another 8 cards.

  • Year of the Rat (I): Symbol of cleverness, grants a trickle of 1.5 XP per second, and makes military units slightly better at siege, especially against walls.
    Based on the folklore of the Mouse’s Bride, the Mouse won a bride because of its ability to destroy walls.

  • Year of the Rabbit (I): The Moon Rabbit brings elixir herbs that allows villages to heal nearby units and makes the healer units of the team heal faster.

  • Year of the Snake (IV): Ships 2 Consulate Maltese Basilisks with no x0.5 multiplier against cavalry.
    The Basilisk is called like “snake monster cannon” in Chinese translation, and according to the story of the Zodiac, the snake was faster than the horse because it gave it a fright.

  • Year of the Horse (II): Ships 1 Mongol scout for every village and TC, and reduces the cost of cavalry upgrades by 33%, and refunds 33% of the cost of cavalry upgrades if already researched.

  • Year of the Monkey (II): Ships 2 pet monkeys for every War Academy and adds 2 pet monkeys into the composition of the Territorial Army; pet monkeys get a x1.2 multiplier against outlaws.
    This is based on the folklore about General Qi Jiguang. In the forest near the garrison, the monkeys watched General Qi’s troops training day and night. They grew close to the army and became accustomed to the blast of gunpowder, and even observed how the army used arquebuses. One day, the Wokou attacked quietly, and the soldiers failed to find them in time. However, after seeing these strangers, the monkeys took the initiative to go to the warehouse of the garrison to get arquebuses and fired at those enemies, which surprised the soldiers.

  • Year of the Rooster (I): Ships 3 turkey scouts, or 12 huntable wild turkeys.

  • Year of the Dog (III): Each village and TC spawns 1 war dog, and makes hunters work 30% faster.

  • Year of the Pig (II): Each village and TC spawns 1 pet warthog, and grants villages a food trickle.
    Pigs are the most important livestock animals in China since ancient times, and are one of the core elements of Chinese food culture. If herdable pigs are introduced in the future, then this card will be more suitable for providing pigs rather than pet warthogs.

Welcome to share your ideas.

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Next year is the Year of the Rabbit in the lunar calendar, and there may be a Year of the Rabbit card to deliver a bunch of edible rabbits.

There is no such unit in the game, not even a single unit related to rabbits or hares.

And I hope the Zodiac card doesn’t always just ship units or food.

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