When is it worth competing to farm fields?

If you're losing because your opponent is scoring fields and you aren't, then yes, you will have to fight for those fields.  The tricky thing with fields is that you have to commit to them before you know what they will be worth, so try to estimate in your own mind what a field will be worth at the end of the game and factor it in your calculations.

Watch out for the "cloister with a road" tile coming out early, this will cause there to be one large field at the end and a big fight for the farming.

If fighting for the farming doesn't suit your playing style then try to play in a way that prevents large fields forming -- use road junctions to break them up and try to stop people creating loops with roads.  Then build your cities away from the big fields.  Additionally, opponents who commit heavily to farming early on will be short of meeples during the game and you should be able to bully them during the game by playing tiles to slow or prevent them from completing their cities/roads/cloisters, or joining your meeples into their cities generally obstructing their completion.  With your spare meeples you should be able complete lots of features and rack up the points.


While I hate the Munchkin game...

the cards are of one of the standard card sizes.

Mayday Games makes sleeves intended for card game play. In about 100 hours of play, I've shed 2 sleeves on my dominion set, and both of those because someone riffle-shuffled lengthwise. You'll need to shuffle sideways, rather than lengthways, but sleeving the cards is your best option. Their data sheet says the purple size are correct for Munchkin, and the green size for Munchkin Quest. It also says you'll need two packs per munchkin 168-card box.


You can check for yourself at the Official Scrabble Dictionary.  According to that site:

za is a legal word
lez is not (Keep reading)

Words With Friends uses the Enhanced North American Benchmark Lexicon with a few additions per their website.  ENABLE is a public domain word list for use with word programs.

Thanks to @thesun's research it is obvious that the website is not the final word for Scrabble tournaments.  Apparently the Scrabble folks censor their website, and books of around 200 offensive words.

To get the complete list you have to join the National Scrabble Association and pay for it.  For most tournaments that will be the list used.  If the tournament is televised then perhaps those 200 offensive words will not be allowed.


What happens when a reanimated creature returns from exile?

In the examples you provide, yes, exiling and returning the creature will make it a "regular" creature again that no longer requires the enchantment to live. However, it will return to the battlefield under its owner's control, not yours.
You are correct in most of your assumptions. When a creature enchanted with Necromancy etc. leaves the battlefield, Necromancy no longer enchants a legal target and is put into its owner's graveyard as a state-based action.

704.5m If an Aura is attached to an illegal object or player, or is not attached to an object or player, that Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard.

As its death trigger, it tries to make you sacrifice the creature it enchanted, but since that creature object no longer exists (it becomes a new object on zone change), that sacrifice simply doesn't happen. When the previously-enchanted, now exiled creature returns to the battlefield, it becomes a new object again, with no relation to its former existence. At that point, Necromancy is long gone and has no more effect on the Bear.

400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. [..]

The bear returns under its owner's control, i.e. your opponent's:

610.3. Some one-shot effects cause an object to change zones “until” a specified event occurs. A second one-shot effect is created immediately after the specified event. This second one-shot effect returns the object to its previous zone.
610.3b An object returned to the battlefield this way returns under its owner’s control unless otherwise specified.

Note that there are a few reanimation effects that prevent the order of events as described. For example, the reanimation effect of Isareth the Awakener exiles the Runeclaw Bear when it would leave the battlefield. Even though Bishop of Binding would also exile the creature, Isareth's exile effect replaces the Bishop's, which means the Bishop's never happens, and thus the Bishop leaving the battlefield would not cause the Runeclaw Bear to return.

614.6. If an event is replaced, it never happens. A modified event occurs instead, which may in turn trigger abilities. [..]


What happens when you remove a token creature from the game, and then return it under it's owner's control?

Tokens disappear whenever they leave the battlefield. The relevant rules are:

110.5f A token that's phased out, or that's in a zone other than the battlefield, ceases to exist. This is a state-based action; see rule 704. (Note that if a token changes zones, applicable triggered abilities will trigger before the token ceases to exist.)
110.5g A token that has left the battlefield can't move to another zone or come back onto the battlefield. If such a token would change zones, it remains in its current zone instead. It ceases to exist the next time state-based actions are checked; see rule 704.

So the Wurm token would be gone for good in this example.


There's a contract rummy game called Farmer's Rummy that sounds like what you're describing.


Generally yes, but it will depend on which variant you are playing and any special rules. It sounds like you are playing Japanese Mahjong (since you use the term "ron"), in which case you will need to be sure your hand has at least one yaku if you use someone else's tile to win, and obviously you can't be in a "no ten" state.

Precedence rules may also apply if two players are trying to simultaneously win off of the same discard.


Abilities with the "until" clause and the stack

If Banishing Light leaves the battlefield, the card it had been exiling returns immediately.

The "enters the battlefield" ability of Banishing Light uses the stack. When it successfully resolves, it creates a one-shot effect that exiles the targeted permanent, and another one-shot effect that happens as soon as the event happens; in this case, when Banishing Light leaves the battlefield.

  610.3. Some one-shot effects cause an object to change zones “until” a specified event occurs. A second one-shot effect is created immediately after the specified event. This second one-shot effect returns the object to its previous zone.

This is not to be confused with a triggered ability, which would indeed go on the stack. Banishing Light could be worded to use a triggered ability to return the card, but it wasn't. Some earlier cards with the same idea as BL but with a triggered ability to end the effect do exist, the canonical example being Oblivion Ring.

An effect is just something that happens because of a spell or ability. Only spells and abilities go on the stack. It's important to separate spells, abilities, and their effects.

  609.1. An effect is something that happens in the game as a result of a spell or ability. When a spell, activated ability, or triggered ability resolves, it may create one or more one-shot or continuous effects. Static abilities may create one or more continuous effects. Text itself is never an effect.

When the ability created by BL has finished resolving, it has created two effects: One that exiles the target, and another that returns it later, when the condition is met. Both happen without them using the stack. Only the triggered ability from BL entering the battlefield uses the stack.

For example, if you had a spell that reads "Destroy all enchantments, then destroy all creatures", where the destruction effects are separate and BL has exiled a creature, then the exiled creature would return immediately after all enchantments are destroyed, then the creature would be destroyed by the "destroy all creatures" part of the spell.


Creatures with variable power and toughness

Yes, that creature's power and toughness will change as the number of creatures in your graveyard changes. It doesn't say something weird like "when it enters the battlefield, count the creatures in your graveyard, etc etc". It just says:

  Boneyard Wurm's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creature cards in your graveyard.

So that's what it does. However many creature cards are in your graveyard right at this moment, that's its power and toughness. Add one, they go up by one, remove one, they go down by one.


What sources of damage are not caused by players?

Whenever a player plays a card  that instantly deals damage to one of more players, that damage is considered caused by a player. This includes all possible brown cards with a 'bang' symbol.

If the damage is delayed (as it is with dynamite), it is not caused by any player. This is probably partially because it is impractical to keep track of who played it (especially when there are multiple dynamites going around).

That being said, dynamite is the only card in the base game that has this property. Off the top of my head, the card 'Rattlesnake' in the Valley of Shadows expansion is the only other card I know of that has similar behavior.


In Dice Masters, does an opponent's active character trigger your effects?

Your Robin only gets a bonus from your Batman, and would not get a bonus from your opponent's Batman.

From Page 19 of the rules at http://dicemasters.com/wp-content/uploads/mdm/MDM_Rules.pdf

Powers, Abilities, and Card Text:
Card text that names a character only considers your characters for its effects. Your card’s
text doesn’t trigger because your opponent has the same character, nor do your dice get a
bonus from your opponent’s cards of the same name.

Active and Fielded:
When game text says, “While active,” that means “When one or more of this card’s dice are in the field.”


Am I obligated to identify cards owned by an opponent?

I too was unable to find anything in either the CR or MTR defining this, so I asked Matt Tabak, current Rules Manager of Magic and he said:

  I just assumed that was self-evident. Like, if you get up from the table, you should know which cards to take with you.

And a Level 2 Judge I asked said:

  From a practical standpoint, you’re going to be using different sleeves from your opponent 95% of the time. Even if the sleeves are the same, you have a right to your property, so you have the right to know which cards you own.


The Nexus - when does its ability resolve?

I'm unclear about the timing of the replacement. Does this ability resolve before or after the base scores?

The ability doesn't cause the base to replaced. It simply changes how it is replaced.

Bases are replaced at the end of the base scoring process. A base is normally discarded and replaced by one from the face-down base pile. Nexus is instead replaced by one from the discard pile if possible.

This happens after points are assigned.

  If it's after, why isn't this ability worded similar to The Mothership and other bases in the base set

Space on the card? Better wording?

  Also, what happens if there are no bases in the base discard pile, does the base get replaced from the base draw pile as usual?

Yes. If Nexus isn't capable of changing what normally happens, then it doesn't.


Can I trade exhibit items from the Curse of the Dark Pharaoh expansion with other investigators?

Yes, Exhibit items can be traded like other items.

From the Curse of the Dark Pharaoh rules:

  The Exhibit Item cards represent the ancient Egyptian artifacts
  brought to Arkham as part of the "Legacy of the
  Pharaohs" museum exhibit. They are similar to Unique Items,
  but have no monetary value and can only be gained through
  Arkham, Other World, and Exhibit encounters.

This states that they function the same as Unique Items, but does not disclude them being traded.

Also from the Complete Arkham Horror FAQ (page 4/5):

  Q: Exactly where, when, and what can investigators
  trade?

  A:
  They may trade Common Items, Unique Items, Spells,
  the Patrol Wagon, the Deputy’s Revolver, Exhibit Items
  [CotDP], Rail Passes [DH], and Money.


http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/amiga/games/Elixir_of_Life_Manual.pdf

The table is at the bottom of page 2. When brewing, add the cost of your gem(s) to the dice roll. On a 3 or less, the brewing fails and you lose the ingredients. On a 4 or 5, nothing happens but you can attempt to brew again on your next turn. Finally, on a 6+, the potion is successfully brewed.


tl;dr

  What happens with the region?

It's empty.

  Does the defender lose control of it?

Yes.

  Does the attacker gain control of it?

No.

The long version

Combat resolution is done in four steps, completed in order:

Determine Victor
Casualties
Retreat and Routing
Combat Clean Up

Steps 1 and 2, you don't appear to have an issue with: You know who the victor is, and you know how many casualties there will be for both sides.

Step 3 (page 21) says:

  After suffering casualties, the losing army must retreat from
  the embattled area (supporting units do not retreat.)

"the losing army" is the important part here; you've already determined the victor (and thus also the loser) in Step 1, which means casualties or not you already know exactly who "the losing army" is. They must retreat.

This is emphasised in the errata:

  Q: After winning a combat, if a player would
  suffer casualties that would eliminate all of his units
  in the embattled area, does the loser of the combat still
  have to retreat?
  A: Yes.

Step 4, Combat Clean-Up, then goes on to state:

  If the combat was won by the attacker, remove any Order token the
  defender had assigned to the embattled area (if one remains) as well
  as any Power token in the area

Again, the wording is clear "If the combat was won by the attacker" (Step 1). So in addition to retreating, the defending (losing) army also needs to remove their Power token in the area.

Therefore, the answer to your first question "Does the defender lose control of it?" seems to be an unambiguous "Yes". Without an army or a Power token, the defender no longer has any means to control the area.

Which brings us to the second question: "Does the attacker gain control of it?"

From the rules, I'd have to say "No". From "Controlling Areas" (page 24):

  A House is said to control a land area when it has at least one
  Footman, Knight, or Siege Engine in the area, or has previously
  established control in that area by placing a Power token there

If all your units are dead, you obviously don't meet the first criteria. So the question is, can you have "previously established control"? Further down the same page:

  A player may only establish control when vacating
  an area with a March Order. Events that would leave an area
  vacant (such as negative effects from a Wildling victory) does not
  permit a player to establish control after the last unit is destroyed.

You never actually vacated the area: Your units died before they ever had a chance to gain control in the first place (Step 2 of combat resolution (Casualties) happens before both Step 3 where the loser retreats and Step 4 where the loser removes his Power tokens).

Again, this is emphasised in the Errata:

  Q: At what point does the winner of a combat
  exert control over the embattled area?
  A: Control over an area does not change hands
  until all stages of combat are completed. In the case
  of a completely emptied area, at no point of time
  during the combat would the area be considered
  controlled by the attacker (and so would not count
  towards his victory condition).

And like before, with neither army nor Power tokens in the area, you the attacker also have no means to exert control over the area.

Of note, in the reverse situation (i.e. the defender wins but loses all units), the attacker would still be forced to retreat in Step 3 but the defender could still retain control over the territory if he'd previously placed a Power token, since that wouldn't be lost in Step 4 if he's the victor.


When does a special (non-green) die leave your die pool?

The updated rules state:

  Unless dice are locked or secured by a spell, the player returns any
  dice granted by common or unique items to the supply at the end of the
  Resolution phase.


Is there a method that gets beneficial diminishing returns when adding more dice, yet stays random?

You're actually asking two questions:

How can I design a function that computes a result on a dice roll that gives asymptotically decreasing benefit to adding more dice?

How can I have a system where adding more dice doesn't lead to a predictable result?

The first question is simple.  A trivial answer is to take the highest die, or highest X dice.  Alternatively, set some threshold that you need to roll above, such as roll at least one six, or roll a total of at least 15.  Under any of these schemes, as you roll more dice, you are more likely to have dice with better results, but there is a fundamental limit on how high you can go.  In the case of highest X dice, your limit is the highest value on those dice, and in the case of targets, the limit is a 100% chance of success.
By way of a simple example, let's say you use D6's, and you're taking the highest die.  Your chance of getting a 6 (the best possible result) looks like this:

But while this satisfies your goal of the first question, it is directly contradictory to the goal of your second question.  As you add more dice, the result gets more predictable.  This is a general principle in probability; the more independent random events you aggregate, the lower the collective variance.
Given this, I believe that the answer to your second question is that "it's impossible without a re-framing of the question".  Adding more dice will decrease the variance of the result, and therefore increase the predictability.
The way to re-frame the question is to not have all of the dice be the same.  Here's a simple example, to illustrate the concept, though you likely will want to do something more complex.
You have two kinds of dice, white and red.  White dice contribute to success, red represent risk.  Each item, skill, etc adds some amount of each dice.  Most will add small amounts of white dice (1 or 2), but some better items may add larger amounts of white dice (3 - 5) but some red dice as well (1 - 2).  When you roll the dice, you take the highest result of the white dice... unless any of the red dice came up as a "1", in which case you treat it as a 0.  Through a system like this, you have to make trade-offs between getting increasingly marginal benefit from more white dice vs the risk of catastrophic failure from an additional red die.  Maybe even have everyone roll 1 red die at baseline just for fun.
That's the type of idea you're probably looking for.  Obviously you have to make it your own and fit it to your game.  You can get more interesting if you take the top N dice instead of just the top 1.  You could add a third kind of die.  The list goes on.


In Robinson Crusoe, what happens when you lose an item that acts as an invention prerequisite?

There isn't a direct answer for this in the rules, but there are a couple of very closely-related cases:

On page 16, under Unexplored terrain type, the rules note that when you lose access to the last tile of a particular terrain type, you lose access to that terrain type and cannot build items that still require it, but you also do not lose any Items that you have already built.

A little further down, under Turning Items to Invention side, the only changes noted are that

  If that item was required for building another Item or taking a specific Threat Action, you cannot do it now.

Combining those two sections, I reason that if you lose a prerequisite Item, you do not lose any Item you have already completed construction on as a result of that prerequisite Item. The main idea is that those prerequisite Items allow you to construct other Items; once you have constructed those other items, the prerequisite Item has no further function.

Think of it this way: the Brick invention means you have a source of Bricks; losing the Brick invention does not mean that any existing items suddenly cease to exist. (Also consider another case: the Shovel allows you to build a Cellar. Does losing your Shovel mean that your Cellar disappears in a puff of logic? It certainly isn't made of shovels.)


Wake the Reflections and Young Pyromancer

You are absolutely correct. When a "Whenever you cast" trigger is triggered, the ability will go on the stack above the spell that caused it, meaning it will be resolved first.

Here's the sequence of play.

I cast Wake the Reflections. Populate does not require selecting a target, so I don't have to make any choices about it when the spell goes on the stack.
Young Pyromancer's ability triggers ("Whenever you cast") and goes on the stack. This puts it above Wake the Reflections on the stack.
(Both players pass, so the top of the stack resolves.) We resolve Young Pyromancer's ability, creating an Elemental token.
(Both players pass, so the top of the stack resolves.) We resolve Wake the Reflections. I make a new token of any type I already have, including the 1/1 red Elemental I got a second ago.


The number of cards in your hand equals the number of lives (bullets) you have left.

Cards played do not count as being in your hand. So you can have as much blue cards on the table as you like.


Is there a game similar to Bloodborne the Card Game with a lighter theme?

Cutthroat Caverns might scratch that same itch. Card based combat mixed with some take that.

Basically you fight monsters via cooperation but the player that deals the final blow gets the loot, so that is the competitive part.

Here is the BGG page:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/28259/cutthroat-caverns


Is pocketing an opponent's coin considered a foul?

According to the Laws of Carrom 125

  When a player pockets the C/M of his opponent knowingly or unknowingly, the Umpire shall stop the player from playing further. If unnoticed by the Umpire or by the opponent, the C/M pocketed shall be considered to have been properly pocketed. The turn of the player shall be lost as and when noticed.

So, while the action is not itself a foul, you do lose the turn, and should the action be noticed immediately the pocketed C/M is returned to the board.


Does Upper Deck maintain an official errata for Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game?

Officially they maintain a Facebook page and twitter account for Legendary DBGs

but there is no official Errata currently being maintained.


Dominion: When to use Platinum and Colony

From the Prosperity rulebook:

If only Kingdom cards from Prosperity are being used this game, then the Platinum and Colony piles are added to the Basic cards in the Supply for the game. If a mix of Kingdom cards from Prosperity and other sets are being used, then the inclusion of Platinum and Colony in the Supply should be determined randomly, based on the proportion of Prosperity and non-Prosperity cards in use. For example, choose a random Kingdom card being used - such as the first card dealt out from the Randomizer deck - and if it is from Prosperity, add Platinum and Colony to the Supply. Platinum and Colony are not Kingdom cards; when those are included, there are 10 Kingdom cards, plus Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Estate, Duchy, Province, Colony, and Curse, in the Supply. Use 8 Colonies for a 2-player game, or 12 Colonies for a game with 3 or more players.

Seems like there isn't much I can add to that!


How to choose initial directives for Adam?

Safety first - Avoid this when playing against Sync, you will have a much harder time surviving BOOM! with a 3 card hand size. The same is true for Jinteki and Weyland IDs in general, most of the damage in the game is in one of these two factions, so the reduced hand size helps the corp to flatline.

Always Be running - Weyland has some of the biggest ice strength wise in the game, and they have very cheap ways to res this ice. Though neither side of this is as good as it once was, the runner lost e3 Feedback Implants and Weyland lost Oversight AI, Priority Construction still makes it very easy to rez space ice, like making Wormhole free. That click to break ability can help a lot here. That forced first run every can be a problem however, particularly against Jinteki due to traps that work in archives like Breached Dome or Shi.Kyū. When playing against Haas-Bioroid, particularly IDs like Architects of Tomorrow this can be redundant.

Neutralize All Threats - Like you said in your question, Controlling the Message punishes trashes, being forced to trash the first card you access can really make that hurt. Punishing trashes is starting to be more common in general, with cards like Wake Up Call, but CtM on the ID is worse due to consistency. There isn't much else ID wise that will let you know that trashing is going to be a bad thing.

Find the Truth - This one is relatively safe in general, no major upside, no major downsides with regards to the corp you face. The corp knowing what's in the grip shouldn't matter unless your deck has an unusual gimmick they will now know to play around, but knowing when it's worth making a run on R&D definitely can help.

For some matchups two of the directives are an issue, like you mention for CtM, that's why Adam needs Dr. Lovegood. Or perhaps he could pawn off his bad directives to Aesop. Just remember the good comes with the bad in directives, you can't just shut off the downside.

There are ways to play around these situations, For instance I've Had Worse or Beach Party can help offset the downside of Safety First, but for the purposes of this question we're looking at the corp, not the runner, and building around the objectives makes it harder to switch them based on the corp, Beach Party's click loss can really be an issue if you aren't getting the free draw from Safety First to offset, for instance.


Does the rule for auras remaining in their zone apply when an aura token is created?

The token is not created.
While a token is not in any zone before it was created, the spirit of 303.4g is that an aura can't enter the battlefield if it has no legal targets to enchant and, if it's currently in any zone, remains in its current zone (except the stack). If such an aura would be a token, rule 111.5 takes effect:

111.5. If a spell or ability would create a token, but a rule or effect states that a permanent with one or more of that token’s characteristics can’t enter the battlefield, the token is not created.

Also note this rule:

303.4i If an effect attempts to put an Aura onto the battlefield attached to an object or player it can’t legally enchant, the Aura remains in its current zone, unless that zone is the stack. In that case, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard instead of entering the battlefield. If the Aura is a token, it isn’t created.

The only difference to 303.4g is that it deals with effects that put an aura on the battlefield with a pre-determined attachment target. Arguably, 303.4g missing the last sentence of 303.4i is an oversight.


Where can I find raw data for DCI sanctioned Constructed tournaments?

In terms of offline (non-MTGO) information, the only data point that is brought away from a tournament match is the match record - mulligans, die-roll winners, and life totals are not processed in any way.

There are not any resources online with general match records (i.e. how often matches end 2-0, etc.) that I am aware of. You can go into the archives of GPs and parse the information from the round results pages if you wanted to, but that's likely about it. I'm confident WotC has the capability to derive this type of information internally, but the data for more global audiences to derive it is not public. (nor would WotC likely make such data public)

The site you linked gets it's information by monitoring Magic Online and recording metadata based on games played there - there's definitely more data there, but you'd need to keep in mind that MTGO and paper Magic may have different results for different events, especially when you take into account the difference in draw procedures, and the occasional prevalence of decks in paper Magic which cannot be effectively piloted on MTGO. (or vice versa)


Everybody needs to team up on Khorne, at least at the start. If he gets powerful early, he's hard to stop.

Khorne's biggest weakness, as I see it, is that he goes first. Early on, you should be able to spend some low-cost cards and force him to make his moves first. Then, put your lepers elsewhere. If he gets on the same space as you, see if you can move off it.

With this practice, my groups generally manage to keep Khorne in check. You'll still lose a few lepers, but as long as he's not double-ticking his dial, you should be able to tick yours or dominate for points. Later on, he'll be a spread-out unstoppable killing machine, but usually the game ends before that will cause you undue worry.


If I move X from one hand to another using his tap ability, when does he untap?

The tap symbol in X has no significant meaning while X is in a player's hand.

This is based on the comprehensive rules dealing with "tapping":

  701.19. Tap and Untap

    701.19a To tap a permanent, turn it sideways from an upright position. Only untapped permanents can be tapped.

    701.19b To untap a permanent, rotate it back to the upright position from a sideways position. Only tapped permanents can be untapped.

  107.5. The tap symbol is {T}. The tap symbol in an activation cost means “Tap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already tapped can’t be tapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.

A couple things here. Note that the idea of tapping as a general concept only applies to permanents. There is no reason to think from the comprehensive rules that a non-permanent can become tapped.

So how can you activate the ability? Well, you can still pay the cost of "tapping it", it's just that paying that cost will have no effect on its state; it won't become tapped. So tapping a permanent causes it to become tapped, but tapping a card in your hand doesn't.

Also, even if it did somehow become tapped; there's nothing in the rules from tapping it again to pay the cost... 107.5, which prevents you from paying the tap cost if its tapped, only refers to tapped permanents.

Since X in a player's hand is not a permanent, the regular rules regarding it being tapped or untapped simply don't apply.

Finally, if it somehow were tapped, there's no reason in the rules to think that it would ever untap (until it becomes a new object by changing zones, or some spell/ability untaps it). The only thing that causes untapping normally is this rule:

  502.2. Second, the active player determines which permanents he or she controls will untap. Then he or she untaps them all simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. Normally, all of a player’s permanents untap, but effects can keep one or more of a player’s permanents from untapping.

As this rule only applies to permanents, the card in your hand wouldn't get untapped during the untap step.

Considering that these cards were creating primarily for the humor of seeing what silly things can be done, it would not surprise me if one of the reasons for having "tap" in the cost of the ability is simply to add to the silliness of the idea of taping a card in someone's hand. Though that is of course just speculation.


Catan - Cities & Knights - Barbarian Attack

One ignores players with no cities when determining who loses a city, so Player A must convert one of their cities into a settlement.

If the barbarians are stronger, they are victorious! If the barbarians win the battle, they pillage one or more cities. Pillaged cities are reduced to settlements (replace the city piece with a settlement). The barbarians pillage one city belonging to the player who had the lowest total strength of active knights when the barbarians attacked. Any player who contributed no knights are automatically considered to have the lowest total strength of active knights. If various players tie for having the lowest total strength of active knights, each of those players loses 1 of his cities.
Important: When determining which player has contributed the weakest group of knights, do not count any player who has no cities or any player who has only metropolises. These players are immune to the effects of the barbarian attack.

5th ed rules


Power Tile Effect: Initiative and Movement/Victory

The rulebook says:

  If the attacker wins the battle, and has at least one unit left, he gains a permanent Battle VP.

The English rulebook doesn't seem to be clear about the movements, but the German version clearly states that in the case of an Attack:

  The movement ends in every case.


What are "triggered effects" in Unstable Unicorns?

Ok, so after looking through my game and rulebook and I read the "Triggered and Continuous Effects" section and all the examples you gave ("at the beginning of your turn, When this card enters your Stable, discard a card, you may sacrifice this card") are triggered.
The last two are triggered because "Some triggered effects are mandatory (ex. 'If this card is in your stable at the beginning of you turn, DISCARD a card'), while others are optional ('If this card is in your stable at the beginning of your turn, you may STEAL a Unicorn')"

The other two are triggered because triggered effects can also be preceded by a "when" like in your example ("Triggered effects are always preceded by an 'if' or 'when.'"). Some more proof that are triggered is that the next paragraph states that "Any effect on an Upgrade card, Downgrade card, or Unicorn card that is not a triggered effect can be assumed to be a continuous effect. A card's continuous effect is active as long as that card is in a Stable (unless otherwise stated)." and none of the examples you gave up in your question are continuous so therefore they must be triggered.

As for your "in other words", it's not the same because unicorn cards like the Queen Bee Unicorn can have continuous effects (If you're wondering what the Queen Bee Unicorn's effect is, it's "Basic Unicorn cards cannot enter any other player's Stable").


What qualifies as a "monocolored creature"?

Soulfire Grand Master is monocolored. Monocolored cards have exactly one color of mana in their cost. Colorless does not count as a color. So, a cost of 1 white and 1 colorless mana contains only one color - white. Of course, anything that specifically alters a card's color overrides this general rule.

105.2. An object can be one or more of the five colors, or it can be no color at all. An object is the color or colors of the mana symbols in its mana cost, regardless of the color of its frame. An object’s color or colors may also be defined by a color indicator or a characteristic-defining ability.
105.2a A monocolored object is exactly one of the five colors.
105.4. ... “Multicolored” is not a color. Neither is “colorless.”


You did do something wrong: the market should always be in order by cost.

  When players add new power plants to the power plant
   market, players rearrange all power plants in the power plant market in ascending order with the 4 cheapest plants in the actual market.

That's the whole market - all 8 power plants - that you sort. (The lists you provided were possibly sorted within the actual and future market individually, but that doesn't do anything. The point is to make sure that only the cheaper ones become available for purchase.)

While things can get out of order a bit - for example power plant 20 is a 5 and power plant 22 is a 2 - there's no way a 6 is going to come before a 2, and in most cases, it'll be after the 4s too. With the power plants sorted properly, you wouldn't have been able to buy that 6. Your actual market would've more likely just contained 2, 3, 4, 4.

Given that you missed that rule, it's possible you also missed another: during steps 1 and 2, in phase 5, you remove the highest numbered power plant from the market, replacing it with a new one.

  Update the power plant market: Place the highest numbered power plant from the future market face down under the draw stack and draw a new one to replace it.
  Rearrange the market appropriately (see phase 2: this will change in Step 3, see the steps of the game). Because of this, the highest numbered power plants are collected under the »Step 3« card and become available during step 3 in the game.

This makes it much, much less likely that a 6 even becomes available in the early game. On top of that, it gets you to step 3 faster, when suddenly high-numbered power plants start becoming available more rapidly, making it less likely that one player gets one long before others.


How Can I Improve Combat in DungeonQuest?

I really don't like the combat stack, particularly its use for death blows - it seems like a misguided attempt to add some influence between one round and the next without much thought about what part of combat it might be representing. The rule-book claims this represents "players manoeuvring for a stronger attack", but why is this stronger attack being directed by which losing attacks were made in the past... and even by your past opponent's losing attacks?
Respecting the need to not slow combat any more, I developed some rule amendments - they seem to work well:

losing cards and cards from a stalemate are returned to the bottom of the deck not the combat stack

the combat stack, now representative of "environmental opportunity", is populated by turning cards face up from the deck at the end of the combat round to maintain a total of 3 face-up cards. These may be used in the same way as before for so called "death blows", although that's a misnomer as death is likely but not certain.

the winning player from the previous round draws replacement cards first

Drawn cards may be taken from the visible "opportunity stack" or from the deck. If taken from the opportunity stack, both players will know what they are.

A further simple enhancement to represent reinforced/renewed attack:
The attacking player may add more cards of the same type from his hand against a counter attack made by his opponent. So may the counter-attacker, in any order.

A further enhancement to represent exhaustion:
Players may only draw up to 3 cards a round to renew their hand. Hence their hand may contain less than 5 cards.

I also think monsters need to carry treasure (who works for free these days!) - otherwise the encounter is purely punitive. It's easy to add a treasure card draw for a kill.
Up to 2 other players are going to be bored by combat not involving them, so to me it looks like the game should be recommended for two players.


In mahjong, how will joker tiles change the game strategy?

I don
t see that this would significantly change strategy or play. I concur that playtesting would be a good idea.
My understanding is that the "joker" was never a part of the traditional game, and was added when the "American" rules were defined. I learned to play with slightly modified Chinese rules, and the jokers were never used. But if you are defining a new rules set, you can use them however you wish, of course.


Do you have to pay the mana cost for cards exiled with Muse Vessel?

Yes, you do.
From the comprehensive rules (emphasis mine):

701.13b To play a card means to play that card as a land or to cast that card as a spell, whichever is appropriate.
701.4a To cast a spell is to take it from the zone it’s in (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect.

Muse Vessel lets you play the card, which equates to casting a spell, but does not change the requirement to pay the cost for the spell.


Is Haphazard Bombardment legal with fewer than 4 nonenchantment permanents under my opponent's control?

Yes, you can cast Haphazard Bombardment even if there are fewer than 4 valid choices for its ability, and you put aim counters on permanents even if there are fewer than 4.

Haphazard Bombardment's first ability is an "enters the battlefield" triggered ability. If you cast Haphazard Bombardment, the ability triggers after the spell resolves and becomes a permanent. Even if it did require you to choose targets, it would have no effect on whether you could cast the spell.

The ability itself has no conditions that might prevent it from triggering or resolving. So it will trigger and resolve no matter what the board state is. Then when it resolves you choose the permanents to put counters on. Rule 609.3 says

  If an effect attempts to do something impossible, it does only as much as possible.

So if it is impossible to choose 4 permanents you don't control, you choose as many permanents as possible and put counters on them.


I don't think you'll find jokers used in live poker (against other humans) in a casino. However, there are many variations of poker played in home games that use jokers and/or other wild cards. In home games, the rules are quite varied because usually the person suggesting the game (dealer's choice) gets to make whatever rules they'd like. Typically though, the Joker is treated as a wild card which you can assign any value you wish. Scoring (hand ranking) is done identically to without wild cards, except that now 5 of a kind is possible, and that is the best hand. (5 deuces beats a royal flush, and 5 Aces is the best possible hand.)

This page lists some home poker games that use jokers.


It was the end of the world...but we didn't know it!

I'm going to assume that since you mentioned the Miskatonic Horror expansion and environments you're using the Act cards from that expansion and not the one originally present in King in Yellow.

For those that don't know the differences between the two: Originally in the King in Yellow expansion, the Acts only advanced when 'The Next Act Begins!' was drawn as a mythos card. The Miskatonic Horror expansion adds an alternative Act deck to use. This deck, in addition to advancing when 'The Next Act Begins' is drawn, advances when specific types of Environment Mythos Cards are drawn. Act I Begins when an Environment (Mystic) is drawn, Act II begins when an Environment (Urban) is drawn, and Act III begins when an Environment (Weather) is drawn. Another important difference between the two decks is the price that has to be paid to prevent an Act from beginning. In the original expansion, the price to prevent Act I and Act II from entering play was (respectively) by adding two doom tokens to the doom track and removing two elder sign tokens from the board. The MH version of the Act deck requires adding a single doom token and removing a single elder sign token from the board.

So, using the MH version or not makes a difference because the Act Cards are more likely to enter play, but the cost is less when they do.

Now, actually getting around to the question. For us, preventing an Act or not is a factor of how many expansions are in play, how many investigators are playing, who the Ancient One is, how far along the path to victory we are, and most importantly how lucky we're feeling.

First off, the large majority of the Act stopping we do is with Act I. Act II is really painful to stop. In a game where gate bursts already happen too often for comfort, choosing that voluntarily is just depressing.

With the original Act deck, the number of expansions is important. If we're using a lot of expansions, the odds of hitting a 'Next Act' card are pretty low since there's only ~7 of them, so we'll just let 'em pass. I don't know what the odds of of drawing specific types of weather cards, but I'll assume the chances are more or less the same regardless of how many expansions are in play, so when we're using the MH deck the expansion count doesn't really influence our decision.

The Ancient One you're up against is also important. You'll have to weigh a combination of doom track length, in-game effects, and difficulty of the final fight. If it's someone we think we can stomp in a fight, we'll stop Act I. Otherwise, if we're up against someone that wakes up quickly we'll let all of the Acts pass by. If they can eat us without blinking, since there's no chance for us later, we'll probably opt to stop Act II once. With Ancient Ones that have a longer track we'll look at what in-game effects they cause. We definitely won't stop Act II against AOs that make getting seals harder (Hastur, Yog).

If we're doing really well clue-token wise, or we have some Elder Signs to burn, or we've sealed some low-frequency locations, we'll feel pretty safe about stopping Act II. The penalty for removing seals is that the game goes on longer, but if you're fairly confident the additional mythos cards won't add doom tokens it may not be a bad choice. We'll have to be doing pretty well though if we're confident enough to get rid of a seal or two. We'll never stop Act II more than once.

TL;DR: Is the Ancient One going to eat you? Don't speed up the doom track! Don't remove a seal unless you're feeling pretty good! Do you have a shot at winning if it wakes up? Stop an Act once or twice! Find yourself thinking 'What are the odds'? Definitely stop an Act.


What incentive do humans converted into aliens have to keep playing?

Consider a special rule used in some scenarios for Betrayal At House On The Hill.

If a player is "converted" to the Traitor side, they will lose despite a Traitor win, unless they can demonstrate that they have notably contributed the success of their new side - this invariably means either killing or converting another player who has not yet joined the Traitors.

This provides motive for any players converted prior to the endgame. They can still win if they begin playing in favour of their new side as quickly as possible, and achieve results for them.

Applying a similar condition to humans-turned-aliens would allow almost all players a second chance to achieve a victory in some way, and reduce the number of players unable to win, and reduce the time of play in which it is known they're unable to win. You could consider including any other important milestones as counting towards this condition.


Does Battlestar Galactica just poof out of existence the very instant Fuel drops to 0?

The humans do not lose the moment a resource drops to zero. They only lose if a resource is zero at the end of a player's turn.

From the base game rulebook:

  If at least one resource is depleted to 0 or less at the end of a player’s turn, the game immediately ends and the Cylon players win. This is the most common way for the Cylons to win. Note that it is possible for the human players to reach 0 of a resource type and then increase it during the same turn without losing the game.

I don't believe the expansions change this.


How little strength should I have in bid suits for a negative double?

First the general points - if you and partner have a fit, opponents are almost guaranteed to have a fit also. Values in the opponents' suit detract from the overall playing strength of your hand, and should be evaluated accordingly, but that does not relieve you from the obligation to share information with partner.

The scoring table clearly favours major suits over minors, and generally it is true that with both a 4-4 fit and either a 5-3 fit or 5-4 second fit, the 4-4 fit plays on average almost a trick better. Of course in a minor you must contract for a full additional trick for game, and often for the privilege of outbidding opponents. This analysis leads the following guidelines:

Don't pass if you have the values and support required for any type of raise. Your known fit improves the opponents' expected fit at about 75%, and you must inform partner of this valuable datum.
Prefer to look for a 4-4 major suit fit in preference to raising partner's known major or minor suit unless you have 5-card support for partner's major.
Prefer to raise partner's major in preference to looking for a 4-4 minor suit fit.
Don't pass in expectation of passing a reopening double by partner unless you expect a doubled penalty greater than your game (500 white, 800 red) - if you can't yet set the opponents this much you owe partner a bid first. Bridge is a partnership game.
After the auction 1C 1D a negative double shows at least 4-4 in the majors - otherwise just bid one; such a response at the one-level should not require a 5-card suit or you are letting the opponents steal bidding room too cheaply.
After the auction 1D 2C a negative double shows at least one 4-card major, to protect against partner having one also, playing 5-card majors.
In other low-level auctions you are promising at least 4-3 in the unbid suits, or extra values and an inability to bid any of notrump, trap pass, or a raise.


What are effective strategies for passing cards in Hearts?

As with most strategy games, I don't think there's an optimal way to answer this.  I tend to focus on what cards I want to keep.  I'll address a non-Shoot-The-Moon hand because that's the majority of hands I play.

I like the Ace of Clubs.  Having the early lead puts you in control.
I prefer to void Clubs or Diamonds as soon as possible.
I won't ever pass 2 through Jack of Spades to void the suit.  That leaves you open to get passed a single high spade that might stick you with the Queen.
I'll hold the Queen of Spades if it's protected by several other spades and I can easily void another suit.  Otherwise, I say pass it so you reduce the risk of being stuck with it.  Again, it's about being in control.
I like holding A-2 of Diamonds.  I'll pass middle Diamonds to set that up.  You can usually win an early trick (before Hearts are broken) with the Ace, then lead the 2 (or similar low card) to void the suit.
I don't mind holding a high Heart or two.  At worst it's 4-8 points, and you have a play to stop a Shoot-the-Moon by someone else.

I've never really considered where I'm passing cards.  I probably should, but I'm not serious enough of a player to learn why it might matter.  My main goal is flexibility.  Unless I'm holding 2-5 of each suit, I'd rather not have to play follow-the-leader.


How many players realistically possible in Pandemic Board Game 2nd edition

The On the Brink expansion does allow for five player games . I believe the only rule change in On the Brink that would affect this is only shuffling two event cards per player into the deck. I'm not sure if this would affect only playing with the base game (the expansion includes many more event cards which makes this necessary), I can't remember how many event cards there were with just the base game.

The main issue you face with playing with more people is the game's built-in time limit (when you run out of city cards). I've never tried altering the rules to better accommodate more players.

I can't remember where I saw it posted. But I believe the creators of the game said that they limited the number of players to such a small number as playtesters didn't find it to be fun having to wait so long between turns. If a player traveled to a city to treat diseases on their next turn. A game with five other players meant that ten more infection cards would be played before they had a change to clear anything up.


Suggested reading:

  Talent: If you have played another minion here this turn, draw a card.

This is a reasonable interpretation, limiting the time per turn to match the talent usage. This solves long-term memory issues (remembering what's been played, moved and removed) and also has the game effect of encouraging the player to continue playing minions in the same place, which suits the faction well.

This is also supported by Barliman on BGG, who says that this was the intended functionality during playtesting.

Under this interpretation (and the RAW interpretation coming next), it doesn't matter if the qualifying minions were played and subsequently removed. It also won't work if minions have only been moved there.

Read as written:

As a talent, you can draw a card if you have ever played a minion other than that Rainbow on the base that Rainbow's currently on. This functions similarly to the above rule mechanically, but without the time limit and without a reason for the player to continue piling minions up.

Alternate reading:

  Talent: If you have another minion here, draw a card.

While this seems like a reasonable way to play the card, it would be odd that it wasn't worded like this. It's not too dissimilar, but it doesn't remotely match the way the card is written.


You must be referring to MTGO (the online version of the game). You generally enter a draft with seven other players (for a total of eight). The postfix refers to how many packs you will receive when the tournament is over.

The postfix "6-2-2-2" indicates three rounds of Swiss. Swiss means that you will continue to play whether you win or lose. After three rounds of 6-2-2-2 are completed:

One player will have three wins. That player receives six packs.
Three players will have two wins. They will each receive two packs.

The postfix "8-4" indicates three rounds of single elimination. This means that when you lose, you are out. After three rounds of 8-4 are completed:

One player will be the winner. That player receives eight packs.
One player will be the runner-up. That player receives four packs.

This is described in more detail on the Wizards of the Coast website (which I just noticed you also linked to in the question).


Warhammer 40k - Tau detachment benefit clarification

With the errata* released in July of 2016, this is now a much clearer rule.  The rule now reads that the shots are resolved at the same time, but does not indicate that the shooters are all counted as the same unit.  Just like the rule read before, the benefit of the improved BS and shared markerlights still applies, but you no longer get to share unit-wide special rules.  Darkstrider no longer confers the toughness reduction to all the shots in the coordinated firepower attack.  A Commander with the Signature Systems that buff his unit if he does not attack no longer confers ignores cover and twin-linked to an entire coordinated firepower volley.

*GW publishes errata and FAQs on facebook first for comments, then pushes them to their site later.  Bell of lost souls reposted them for those without facebook accounts here


How do I search for cards without a casting cost (excluding {0})?

You can search for cards that have a CMC of 0 but don't have a mana cost of 0 or that contains X. Here is an example on Gatherer. Many of them are transform cards or tokens.


How prepared will I be to play Arkham Horror after reading just the Rulebook?

The best thing would be to learn the rules from someone who's very proficient in them, from their own experience playing. My experience, however, consisted of learning to play Arkham Horror with four friends who were all new to the game as well. In that case, I would suggest that anyone who has not played the game before at least attempt to read the entire rulebook and FAQ first.

If you don't have at least one person participating who's very conversant in the rules, then you'll probably be referring to the rulebook a LOT, not just checking the FAQ for clarifications. Note how long the "short" version of a quick reference guide in this answer is. It's pretty hard to explain the game concisely, and a lot of complications arise beyond the basic rules of the game. Naturally, the FAQ derives from those complications, and simply being aware of which characters, cards, etc have clarifications written about them will help you know whether to consult the rulebook or FAQ while playing. Don't expect to remember everything you read, there's just so much, but do everything you can to make it easier to refer to later.

If you consult some other questions on Arkham Horror, you'll see some comments about the importance of at least one player having the expertise to guide other new players. If you don't have that one expert player, then simply reading the rules AND the FAQ may not be enough to get everything right when first playing. So in short, you should read everything, and still be okay with the expectation that it may take a while to get it all right!


Can you only buy one extra die with the The Calm Before The Storm destiny square?

You can only buy a single die, per Threat Phase.
The Destiny Board says:

Any Die Score: Roll an extra Die of Destiny during the next Threat Phase.

Rules page 8

(red) The Calm Before The Storm (red) allows the Demon player to roll an extra Die of Destiny during their next Threat phase.
Abilities printed in (red) can only be selected once per game Threat Phase (Errata: claustrophobia-theboardgame.com/fr/?p=441). There are no limitations for the Abilities printed in (black).


When purchasing the 13th technology, can you use its power right after doing so?

No you can not.

From the FAQ file on BGG here the following Q and A is included.

  Q: When do Technology benefits trigger? A: Each Technology triggers at
  most once during your turn. Most Technologies trigger after performing
  the Main action on the board (or boards) listed at the bottom of each
  Technology tile. No Technology will trigger during the turn when it
  was acquired.

I've tried to find evidence to back this up in the rules printed though and could not.


When can the "build a wonder stage for free" tokens be used?

You have to also use a card, as in the base game. In order to understand it better, look at the previous token, "construct a building for free".

  The player takes from the reserve a corresponding token. They can return this token to the reserve to construct a Building for free.

In order to construct a building, you have to play it from your hand, right? So, next time you construct a building from your hand, you may throw in the token and declare "I am constructing it for free". You can't obviously construct immediately an additional building for free, as your hand would have less cards than the other players and thus break the game's mechanism. It works exactly like Olympia's A 2nd wonder bonus.

Same story for the wonder token:

  The player takes from the reserve a corresponding token. They can return this token to the reserve, to construct a Stage of their Wonder for free. Note: if the cost of the Wonder stage contains 1 or more coins, these must still be paid.

In order to construct a wonder, you have to put a card below the corresponding wonder stage, to indicate that it has been built (and to remove a card from the game, as well). Thus, you keep the token and the next time you construct a wonder stage you may discard the token to ignore the resource cost. If you could immediately construct a wonder stage, how would you indicate that the wonder has been constructed? A basic principle of the game is that no memory is required; thus, you have to use a card. But you can't just take an extra card from your hand, as you'd leave your hand with less cards and break the game's mechanism.

TL;DR: you keep the wonder token and the next time you use a card to build a wonder stage, you may discard the token to ignore the resource cost of your wonder.


How does Rageblood Shaman's ability work?

This ability is a static ability. The important rules from that page say

  604.1. Static abilities do something all the time rather than being activated or triggered. They are written as statements, and they're simply true.
  604.2. Static abilities create continuous effects, some of which are prevention effects or replacement effects. These effects are active as long as the permanent with the ability remains on the battlefield and has the ability, or as long as the object with the ability remains in the appropriate zone, as described in rule 112.6.

From the first rule, Minotaurs "getting" +1/+1 isn't an event that happens (and definitely not repeatedly), it's just stating a fact: that each other Minotaur has one more power and toughness than it would otherwise.

Regarding continuous effects, the rules say

  611.3a A continuous effect generated by a static ability isn’t "locked in"; it applies at any given moment to whatever its text indicates.
  611.3b The effect applies at all times that the permanent generating it is on the battlefield or the object generating it is in the appropriate zone.

Basically, any time Rageblood Shaman and another Minotaur are on the battlefield, that Minotaur gets +1/+1 and trample. It doesn't matter which entered first, and it only works when the Shaman is on the battlefield.


What do these special spaces do in Elefant Hunt?

They score 3d6 points when returned to port.
From the rules:

When a player lands on the Elefant Graveyard, he
takes an Ivory marker. When he lands in the Lost City,
he takes a Relic marker. Ivory and Relics are worth a
variable number of points upon their return to port, as
determined by a roll of three dice.

The value of each Relic and piece of Ivory is determined by totalling the roll of three dice.


It does not work like that. The spell will not be countered. It will resolve and it will do nothing.

This is explicitly stated in Oracle rulings on cards where the difference matters more: spells that affect "up to [some number] of target..." and also have another effect. Adverse Conditions, for example, has the following ruling:

  You can cast Adverse Conditions with no targets. When it resolves, you’ll get an Eldrazi Scion. However, if you cast Adverse Conditions with any targets and all of those targets are illegal as it tries to resolve, it will be countered and none of its effects will happen. You won’t get the Eldrazi Scion in that case.

Note that the beginning of the rule quoted in the question, 608.2b, says

  If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal...

and rule 114.5 says

  Spells and abilities that can have zero or more targets are targeted only if one or more targets have been chosen for them.

I think that saying that a spell "specifies targets" is the same as saying that it "is targeted", and I would conclude that the procedure in rule 608.2b is intended to be performed only on spells for which one or more targets have been chosen.


How to deal with being a 'dungeon master' and the other players finding the missions too hard?

Efficiency and focus is the name of the game in Imperial Assault. Let's look at your specific issues:

  Running out of time

My group ran into a similar issue until we realized that many of the missions in Imperial Assault are not designed to be completed by "clearing the dungeon". Instead, we had to pay careful attention to the specific mission objectives and focus on the most efficient way to do that, often completely ignoring many of the enemies. This may help your players as well, and as the Imperial player (basically the Game Master in classical RPG terms) you can assist them by reminding them of what is important before and during the mission.

  Too many enemies to deal with

Similar to the time issue, the answer to this is to pick-and-choose what is worth fighting and what isn't. Unlike Descent 2E (another FFG tactical miniatures game), you can move through enemy figures in Imperial Assault, meaning it's almost impossible for them to completely block you from reaching an objective. Some figures are truly too dangerous to leave alive, while some are mostly just a nuisance that can be ignored (and potentially left behind if your team moves fast enough across the board).

  Rebel characters not able to pump out enough damage

For those times when you need to pump out damage, coordinated fire can be very important to completely eliminate a target in one round (instead of just damaging several separate targets). It is also important to note that status effects can be more powerful than any amount of damage: an immobilized melee character with no targets within reach is a non-entity, and a 1-hit immobilize can be much easier to achieve than a 1-shot kill. Similarly a stunned ranged character with no targets in line-of-sight is also negated for a full round, since they cannot move-and-shoot that round.

One final note I will offer is that not all heroes are created equal. By comparison to each other, some specific heroes are really great in any situation, other heroes are bottom-of-the-list no matter what situation you set up for them, and a lot are hanging out in the middle. Ranged characters tend to have an advantage in efficiency over melee because they have much more flexibility in where they can position themselves. Your Rebel players may need to accept a compromise to "I want to be a Jedi" in the name of effectiveness.


If an opponent's creature attacks my defense position creature and in response I destroy it with a trap or spell, do I still have to flip my creature?

If my opponent attacks my face down creature and I destroy her attacking creature with my trap, do I still have to flip my creature at all?

If you destroyed it before damage step then you don't have to flip.

This you can do when the attack is declared. This is the first step of the attack action. If you don't prevent it here, then you will proceed to Damage Step and then Calculation, where you will then have to flip your monster.

As per my answer to your past question, there we can see an example of how a flipping may or may not take place during an attack. Again, it will flip if you let it continue to Damage Step, and then even though the attacking monsters dies your flip monster can still be destroyed by the attack if it's defense is lower.


If Anafenza, the Foremost dies at the same time as another creature, will the other creature be exiled?

It will be exiled.

Anafenza's relevant ability is not a triggered ability. It's a static ability that creates a continuous replacement effect.

The effect from Anafenza's ability modifies the instruction "Put Fetid Imp, the two Disowned Ancestors and Anafenza into their owner's graveyard" because replacement effects must necessarily be applied before taking the action they replace, at which time Anafenza is still on the battlefield.

This is confirmed by a ruling on Void Maw. Void Maw has the ability "If another creature would die, exile it instead", and the ruling reads "If Void Maw and another creature would be put into the graveyard from the battlefield at the same time, [...] the other creature is exiled."

Also, @Vilmar points out this article, which specifically answers this question (in the "Anafenza and Day of Judgment" section).


Do Warhammer models that have no models have specific dimensions stated any where?

The answer to your question really ends up being no.  Units with no purchasable model have no defined dimensions, and so are up to you and your opponent as to what is reasonable.

However, as of the most recent codex and updates, the Mycetic Spore is no longer a valid unit.  It has since been replaced with the Tyrannocyte, which serves largely the same purposes.  This unit does have a model, and is, as expected, about as large as a drop pod.  If you want to continue using the Mycetic Spore in friendly games, make sure you and your opponent agree on size, line of sight and rules before beginning.

As an aside, the reason for the change between Mycetic Spores and Tyrannocytes are largely legal, and there's quite the backstory behind the removal of the Mycetic spore option.  It's worth looking into if you're curious.


Do you restock hand cards at the end of each turn? Different language editions seem to have different rulings

You don't restock your hand of cards, you restock the four money cards on the board which are available to take, the same way you restock the tiles available to buy. That looks consistent with the English and German rules; I would assume the Dutch is the mistake, that they meant until each supply has four cards/tiles.

I would say the English and German rules are fairly specific about that, and it takes some substantial stretching to get them to mean anything else. And the Dutch sounds like fairly awkward phrasing for restocking the supply on the table, which surely must be done.


interaction between Fiery Emancipation and trample

Damage was probably calculated correctly, combat damage assignment does not take into account effects like Fiery Emancipation.
When you assign combat damage, effects that modify how much damage is actually dealt (such as Fiery Emancipation) are not taken into account. Assuming the defending creature had no damage assigned to it already, you have to assign all 4 of your damage to it, and none to the defending player. After all damage has been assigned, damage is actually dealt, and only now is it modified by Fiery Emancipation. The defending creature will take 12 damage, while your opponent takes none.

510.1c [..] When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that’s being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that’s actually dealt. [..]

Basically, you assign damage as though Fiery Emancipation was not on the battlefield at all. Dealing and modifying the damage happens after damage assignment, not before.


Childhood dangers card game made in the 70s/80s

Sounds like "Safety Quartett" (One of the thousands of Quartett / Go Fish! thematic decks).

Example card: https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1538979/quartett

And the one  with the rake: https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1538975/quartett


Does recasting Omnath, Locus of creation, reset it's "Landfall Counter?"

Yes. Comprehensive rules 400.7:

An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence.

Followed by some exceptions, none of which apply here. As it's moved from the battlefield to your hand and then back to the battlefield again, it's a new object, so the next land entering the battlefield is the first one it's seen and you gain 4 life.


Do creatures from outside the game go to the graveyard?

Once a card has been brought into the game, it is treated like any card you have started the game with.

The game rules make no distinction between cards from your deck and those that have been brought into the game after the game has started, they function exactly the same. Therefore, any card you bring into the game with  Spawnsire will do whatever it usually does, including going to the graveyard if the game rules require it.

The only difference is that you have to remove those cards from your deck before the next game starts, but that's a matter of tournament rules rather than game/match rules.


Yes.

Eventually, the Legacy deck will tell you during setup to place the existing inhabitants into the Tomb and replace them with new ones.

Bear in mind that if you kill an inhabitant, they get moved to the Tomb without the Legacy deck telling you to and do not appear in subsequent chapters.

Do not destroy inhabitant cards unless the game explicitly tells you to as they may be relevant to the game later.


What does "each other player" mean on Unwinding Clock?

You untap your artifacts during player two's untap step, player three's untap step, and player four's untap step.

This isn't anything that's in the comprehensive rules or anything, it's just the meaning of the words on the card. "Each other player" could be explained as "each player who is not you" or to be really clear "every single player who is not you". None of those players is you, so you untap your artifacts during each of their untap steps.

I think you might have been wondering whether "each other" meant alternating (yes 1, no 2, yes 3, no 4...) like "every other" sometimes does. But "each other" doesn't ever mean that, so there's no ambiguity here!

You can see this demonstrated indirectly a few places in the rules, for example:

  103.4. ... First, the starting player declares whether or not he or she
  will take a mulligan. Then each other player in turn order does the same. ...

Obviously that applies to all players, not alternating players! And of course, all the cards that say "each other player" wouldn't really make much sense if they meant alternating starting with you - in a two player game, that'd be just you.


MTG. Using goblin chirurgeon's ability only for sacrifice

Yes, you must choose a valid target when activating a targeting ability. The ability says "target creature", so you must target a creature. Any creature will do[1]. Fortunately, you have plenty of valid targets (i.e. creatures), including your Goblin Sharpshooter and Goblin Chirurgeon (or even the token you are sacrificing, although that won't save it).

The following describes what happens in detail:

Activate Goblin Sharpshooter activated ability targeting your opponent.
Goblin Sharpshooter activated ability resolves

Goblin Sharpshooter deals one damage to your opponent.

Activate Goblin Chirurgeon's ability targeting Goblin Sharpshooter, sacrificing a token.

Goblin Sharpshooter's triggered ability triggers.

Goblin Sharpshooter's triggered ability is placed on the stack.
Goblin Sharpshooter's triggered ability resolves.

Untap Goblin Sharpshooter.

Goblin Chirurgeon's ability resolves.

Goblin Sharpshooter gains a regeneration shield.

Repeat.

Regenerating a creature grants it a shield that replaces its destruction the next time it would be destroyed that turn, if any. There's no requirement that you think it will be needed.

Unless an ability prevents it (e.g. "Protection from Red").


Yes it would get the go but it could only happen if these are the last 3 cards since it the only way 15 can be a go.


In what ways does a Commander in their Command zone influence the game?

Only Oloro's third ability functions in the Command Zone, and none of Gahiji or Sydri's.

Abilities of permanent cards usually only work on the battlefield, not in the Command Zone.

  112.6. Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack. Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the battlefield. The exceptions are as follows:

It is notable that characteristic-defining abilities (e.g. Ghostfire's first ability) function in all zones, and even outside of the game.[112.6a] The rest of the exceptions are quite intuitive. For example, if an ability can only be activated in a particular zone, it can be activated in that zone.[112.6i] And if an ability can only be triggered in a particular zone, it can trigger in that zone.[112.6j] This exception is what permits Oloro's third ability to function in the Command Zone.

But none of the other abilities of the three cards you mentioned meet one of the exceptions that would allow them to work in the Command Zone.


How does this Interaction between Lifeline and Lethal Vapors work?

No, there will not be an infinite loop. The card will not return to the battlefield until the following turn.

Once the end step has begun, and Lifeline's delayed trigger is put on the stack, it is too late for more “beginning of the next end step” stuff to happen during that end step.

  513.2. If a permanent with an ability that triggers “at the beginning of the end step” enters the battlefield during this step, that ability won’t trigger until the next turn’s end step. Likewise, if a delayed triggered ability that triggers “at the beginning of the next end step” is created during this step, that ability won’t trigger until the next turn’s end step. In other words, the step doesn’t “back up” so those abilities can go on the stack. This rule applies only to triggered abilities; it doesn’t apply to continuous effects whose durations say “until end of turn” or “this turn.” (See rule 514, “Cleanup Step.”)

So what will happen is that every end step, the card will return and then be destroyed right after (assuming no one responds to either ability). This will repeat every turn, but only once each turn.

If instead of Lifeline, you have something that brings the creatures back immediately (such as an undying creature with Solemnity on the battlefield), then it would be an infinite loop, and the game will end in a draw unless one player chooses to respond by breaking the loop (such as activating Lethal Vapr's other ability).


Why was Kird Ape banned in very first Extended ban list?

The simple answer is that at the time of the banning, WotC saw this card as a problem for the metagame in Extended. It could put an opponent pretty far behind pretty early, and many decks had to tailor early plays just to deal with Kird Ape. As Mark Rosewater notes in an article from 2003 (emphasis mine):

  We ban and restrict cards because we believe there is something worse than not allowing players to use a particular card, and that is having a play environment become so degenerate that the game is no longer fun. Sometimes individual cards have to be sacrificed for the needs of the larger game.

When an individual card takes over a format because it seems unbalanced, WotC bans it in order to try and change the metagame. This is constant battle for them in the Modern format, where they're trying to figure out a way to ensure it's a four-turn format.

If it's any consolation, in the same article by Rosewater he admits the Kird Ape ban may have been a mistake:

  Why did you ban Kird Ape in the original Extended format when Hypnotic Specter was not?

  I’ll let you in on a little secret. We’re not infallible. We occasionally, gasp, make mistakes. We correct them when we catch them, but hey nobody’s perfect. Was the above a mistake? To quote my grandfather: “If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and has a giant sign on it that says: ‘I’m a freakin’ duck!’, odds are, it might be a duck.”

I'm also skeptical that you are going to find a direct quote online referencing the Kird Ape ban. The earliest articles on the WotC website for Magic are from December 2001. I legitimately can't figure out when Kird Ape was actually banned and then unbanned, but this timeline shows Hypnotic Specter being banned in October of 1997. Since the above Rosewater quote references the banning of Kird Ape instead of Hypnotic Specter, I can only assume Kird Ape had both its banning and unbanning before then, more than four years before WotC decided to start using the internet to disseminate information about their game.


When Runed Crown says "A rune card" it means "A card with the subtype Rune" not "A card with Rune in its name". This is the same way that Forest Bear can't be found with Three Visits but Dryad Arbor can - when a card is talking about card name it will say "card(s) named ~" and it uses the whole name of cards. When it says "a(n) ___ card." that blank is always some combination of colors and types (including subtypes, like rune here, and supertypes, like legendary or basic). Forging the Tyrite Sword is a perfect example of both, letting you search for "a card named Halvar, God of Battle" or "an Equipment card" the first is searching based on the name, the second option is searching based on type.
Kaldheim created Rune as a subtype of enchantment, always beside Aura (at least for now) because the runes are meant to modify whatever they are put on, either the creature directly or the equipment. There are currently 5 rune cards, one in each color, all 2 cost enchantments that can go on any permanent, but only have an effect when attached to a creature or equipment.
It's possible they could errata cards like Wall of Runes to add the rune type to it, but this is extremely unlikely. While you could arguably attach Wall of Runes to Runed Crown (since equipping attaches the two cards, though it attaches the equipment to the creature) the crown is meant to gain abilities that can then be given to whatever creatures the crown gets attached to using the search.
If cards with the word Rune in their name were Rune cards, that would make Runed Crown a Rune card too - you could play one Runed Crown and use it to search for your second one, use that to get the third, then the fourth and the fourth finally finds something like Runes of the Deus or Wall of Runes. The crowns would fall off eachother since equipment can't attach to equipment, leaving you with 3 unequipped basic crowns and one equipped or enchanted crown, pulling 4 cards worth 10+ mana out of your deck and into play for 3 total mana.


In the game "En Garde!" - How do optional routines work?

If my opponent starts with a Furious Lunge, I believe our sequences would go:

  -L-X-X-C-X-X-
  -P-R-P-X-L-X-

No: your written sequence would be P-P-X-L-X-X-S... (to 12 actions)

The optional routines kick in when the duel is resolved.

So, when you see that your opponent's first action is a lunge, which is stopped by your Parry, you may replace your next routine with a Riposte. If you do so, the sequence that is executed is P-R-X-L-X-X-S...

Note that it replaces the next routine. If your opponent went X-L-X-X-S... to start with, your second Parry works and you may then Riposte. However the R replaces the X-L-X routine (padding with rests), so you end up executing P-P-R-X-X-X-S... As a Riposte does less damage than a Lunge, you might well prefer not to Riposte in these circumstances.

Personally, I don't think the other optional routines are particularly useful. There are some very specific circumstances where they can be used to avoid damage from an opponent's attack that you can see coming an action or two in advance, but this is often at the cost of sacrificing an attack of your own.

In a postal/turn-based game like mine (www.pevans.co.uk/LPBS), the optional routines have to be used as conditional orders in a player's duelling orders: "If the first parry succeeds, then riposte; if the second succeeds, do not Riposte" for example. This can get very complicated...

The duelling rules work much better face-to-face - as originally intended - as there's the element of out-guessing your opponent.


How do Strionic Resonator and Charmbreaker Devils interact?

You will get two cards.

The following describes what happens, in order:

Charmbreaker Devils's ability triggers.
Charmbreaker Devils's ability is placed on the stack. [Stack: CD]
You activate Strionic Resonator's ability targeting Charmbreaker Devils's ability.  [Stack: SR, CD]
Strionic Resonator's ability resolves.

Make a copy of Charmbreaker Devils's ability. [Stack: CD#2, CD#1]

Charmbreaker Devils's ability #2 resolves.

Return an instant or sorcery card at random from your graveyard to your hand. [Stack: CD#1]

Charmbreaker Devils's ability #1 resolves.

Return an instant or sorcery card at random from your graveyard to your hand. [Stack: -empty-]

Whichever card was returned to your hand by #2 (step 5) will not be around when #1 resolves (step 6). You cannot obtain the same card from both (unless you cast it between step 5 and 6).


Why does Bonded Horncrest have to attack with another creature?

The ruling is correct, you have to attack with that creature if you can make it happen.

  508.1c The active player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it’s affected by any restrictions (effects that say a creature can’t attack, or that it can’t attack unless some condition is met). If any restrictions are being disobeyed, the declaration of attackers is illegal.

Note that an ability like "x:(this) loses defender" such as on Gargoyle Sentinel is an ability that indirectly lifts the restriction, but that ability is not part of the restriction because it doesn't follow the wording as described in 508.1c, and therefore you wouldn't have to pay the cost of that ability.

  508.1d The active player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it’s affected by any requirements (effects that say a creature must attack, or that it must attack if some condition is met). If the number of requirements that are being obeyed is fewer than the maximum possible number of requirements that could be obeyed without disobeying any restrictions, the declaration of attackers is illegal. If a creature can’t attack unless a player pays a cost, that player is not required to pay that cost, even if attacking with that creature would increase the number of requirements being obeyed.

Bonded Horncrest being unable to attack or block alone is a restriction. Declaring another creature as an attacker or blocker is not a cost, as in cost:ability, but simply fulfilling the condition to meet the restriction.

Bounded Horncrest being forced to attack is a requirement.

Therefore, if you do not enable Horncrest to attack through declaring another creature, you disobey one requirement, but you could obey it by meeting the condition of the restriction. Therefore, you disobey more requirements than you had to, and therefore not attacking with Horncrest is illegal.


What happens when I copy a spell with cascade?

The copy of the spell does not have cascade, and even if it did, the cascade ability wouldn't trigger.

Copying objects in general is described in rule 706.2:

  When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original object’s characteristics and, for an object on the stack, choices made when casting or activating it (mode, targets, the value of X, whether it was kicked, how it will affect multiple targets, and so on). The “copiable values” are the values derived from the text printed on the object (that text being name, mana cost, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, power, toughness, and/or loyalty), as modified by other copy effects, by its face-down status, and by “as . . . enters the battlefield” and “as . . . is turned face up” abilities that set power and toughness (and may also set additional characteristics). Other effects (including type-changing and text-changing effects), status, and counters are not copied.

The cascade ability is not printed on the card or part of a copy effect. It is also not a choice made while casting the spell. It is granted by a continuous effect created by Yidris's ability. That effect is not copied, so the copy of the spell will not have cascade.

In addition, the rule for specifically copying a spell is 706.10:

  To copy a spell, activated ability, or triggered ability means to put a copy of it onto the stack; a copy of a spell isn’t cast and a copy of an activated ability isn’t activated. [...]

And the definition of Cascade is in rule 702.84a:

  Cascade is a triggered ability that functions only while the spell with cascade is on the stack. “Cascade” means “When you cast this spell, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card whose converted mana cost is less than this spell’s converted mana cost. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. Then put all cards exiled this way that weren’t cast on the bottom of your library in a random order.”

Since the copy of the spell is not cast, cascade never triggers for a copy.


Can you attempt to counter an "can't-be-countered" spell?

Yes you can, since the targeting requirement for counter spells is just 'target spell' not 'target spell that can be countered'.

When the counterspell goes to resolve it will do as much as possible, so it won't counter the spell but any other effects it would have (like Frightful Delusion's discard) will still happen.


Firefly artful dodger starting drive core

The latter.

  To use the Artful Dodger, during set-up pull a "Modified Radion Accelerator Mark II" drive core from the Osiris Supply Deck to serve as the Artful Dodger's starting drive core. With its faster core and higher crew capacity, captaining the Dodger means working fewer delivery jobs and focusing on riskier, more profitable crime jobs.

That's from the product's BGG page. It looks like a quote from an official source.


In Phase 10, can you draw any card from the discard pile or just the top card?

You can only draw the top of the discard pile. From the rules:

  On your turn, draw one card, either the top card from the draw pile or the top card from the discard pile, and add it to your hand. End your turn by discarding any one of your cards onto the top of the discard pile.

So the discard pile is 1 single stack, like the draw pile, with only the top card visible.


How does Talisman 4th Edition compare with earlier versions?

According to the posters on this thread, the only changes between 1st and 2nd edition were cosmetic.
 Although one poster mentions slightly different wording on some of the wands.

The differences between 2nd edition and 4th edition are noted on this thread.

  Cosmetic changes, including larger board, cards, plastic bits, and cardboard cutout characters.

RULES and GAME Mechanics

  6) Major Difference - Craft can be gained for every 7 points of craft monsters defeated.

  7) Major Difference - Spell Casting Limitations - In their turn, the maximum number of Spells a character may cast is equal to the number of spells, and whichever spells they possessed at the start of that Turn. A Character may only cast one Spell during another Character's Turn. This does not apply to the Command Spell. (If you ALWAYS have a Spell due to the Wand or Ability, you draw your 'new' spell at the end of your turn)

  8) Major Difference - Mules are NO LONGER OBJECTS, they are considered 'FOLLOWERS' "The mule can carry an extra 4 objects for you while it is your follower. If you lose the mule, you will leave any surplus objects of your choice in the space you are in." I.E Mules can be 'Mesmerised' by the spell but NOT 'Acquisitioned' by the spell, hence if you win a character to character battle, you can no longer 'take' the mule, as its no longer an object.

  Visiting the Villiage shops is not optional, Market Day allows everyone to buy from a market rather than trade with each other, Orb of Knowledge is no longer one use.


Is a card that was played and immediately trashed "in play"?

It is not considered in play if it has moved from your play zone to the trash.

The 'no more than one action card in play' trigger will not count mining villages that were played and then immediately trashed.

Sources: forum post by Donald X. (games creator)

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/682203/description-sheet

  Walled Village: When you play this, you draw a card and can play two
  more Actions this turn. At the start of your Clean-up phase, before
  discarding anything and before drawing for next turn, if you have a
  Walled Village in play and no more than two Action cards in play
  (counting the Walled Village), you may put the Walled Village on top
  of your deck. If the only cards you have in play are two Walled
  Villages, you may put either or both of them on top of your deck.
  Walled Village has to be in play to be put on top of your deck. Walled
  Village only checks how many Action cards are in play when its ability
  resolves; Action cards you played earlier this turn but which are no
  longer in play (such as Feast from Dominion) are not counted, while
  Action cards still in play from previous turns (duration cards from
  Dominion: Seaside) are counted, as are Action cards that are in play
  now but may leave play after resolving Walled Village (such as
  Treasury from Dominion: Seaside).

The example 'Feast' in the quote is an action with a self trashing ability similar to mining village.


Bridge simple open bid for 7♠, 2♥, 1♦, 3♣?

Playing any natural system, or any system where the opening of 3 Spades or 4 Spades is played as natural, I would open 3 Spades Vulnerable and 4 Spades Not Vulnerable.

Some may prefer to open just 3 Spades in both vulnerabilities, but that is likely more a matter of partnership style and agreement. This should be discussed with partner, as some partnerships are stricter than others on the need for an 8-card suit to open 4S.

The key qualities of a hand considering an opening of 3 or 4 Spades are:

A 7-card or longer suit of good quality - a standard requirement for opening bids of either 3S or 4S for most partnerships playing traditional preempts. This Spade suit clearly qualifies
No significant defensive values outside the suit opened. Your holding of:

♥: T3
♦: 4
♣: JT8

meets that eminently. The Club holding even has the potential of a slight additional offensive value, with little defensive prospect.
Roughly 8 -10 High Card Points. At just 8, all but one in the opened suit. this hand is perfect. The point here is that as your hand will take just one call, this one, the hand should be such as to have no other values that might result in an erroneous decision by partner.
The reasonable prospect of taking within 3 tricks of the bid Not Vulnerable and 2 tricks of the bid Vulnerable (to limit loss if the opponents opt to double and defend). With 6.5 Spade tricks and 1/4 offensive trick in Clubs in hand, again the expectation is met.

In summary: you could do far worse than to hold this hand in your mind as being relatively close to a model opening preempt in a Major suit - of 4 Not Vulnerable and 3 Vulnerable. (The minors have more complex issues even for early intermediates, but at your stage just ignore that with the proviso of a pending amendment.)

Alexander Woo makes the point below that opposing vulnerability is also relevant to a decision between opening 3♠ or 4♠. Less aggressive partnerships might choose to open 4♠ only at favourable Vulnerability (i.e. Not Vulnerable vs Vulnerable opponents). This is probably the more general practice when considering a 4♠ opening, as here, on a 7-card suit. However this should be discussed with partner an an agreement reached. An accumulation of even small differences in choice of call can, over time, undermine the partnership confidence required to play good bridge.

A consideration that may seem irrelevant when one is learning bridge, but becomes of ever increasing significance as one's own, and one's opponents', skill increases, is that preempts gain in the bidding but lose in the play. If opponents win the hand, the opening preempt has frequently provided a roadmap to avoiding the consequences of a bad break.

This is where the significance of playing sound preempts shows up. When partner can make sound and successful raise/pass/double decisions, boldly and with confidence, your preempt has truly achieved the goal of interfering with the opponents' successful bidding. If partner must instead hesitate, your preempt is probably just helping the opponents overall by keying their Declarer (and even Defense) play.


1953 version of Scrabble includes 4 wooden dice - why?

Sounds like 4 stowaways from a game of Kismet, which was Yahtzee with green, red and black spots on dice.