Battlestar Galactica vs. Shadows over Camelot

One thing I noticed is that Shadows is much more... unfocused.  There are a ton of quests all over the board, and the players are going to be split up doing various things the whole time.  They're not much interacting with each other, just responding to the general board conditions and their own quests.

In Battlestar, you still have multiple threats (4 dials, 3 kinds of Cylon ships, Cylon boarders) but it seems like you're all working together more against these threats.  Perhaps it's the fact that the roles (Political/Military/Pilot) make it clear that each person is most useful in one area (whereas in Shadows it feels like any character can do any quest, mostly).

Most of all, though, the fact that all players are actively involved in every skill check that happens gives Battlestar much more interaction - there's more opportunity to really sabotage, but more opportunity to be exposed, and the Brig offers a way to "hedge your bets" and contain someone you suspect to be a traitor.

I also really like the second round (Sleeper Agent phase) in Battlestar, where some players may discover they're a traitor after all.  This means nobody's past behavior can totally prove anything, and that in the first round nobody really wants to do TOO well as a human, lest they turn out Cylon and be hopelessly behind.

When Jeff declined to help us pass that skill check, was he really out of green cards?  Or is he a Cylon?  OR is he a human, but afraid he'll end up Cylon and lose to the humans?


Can you cast a creature with Bestow while you control a Steel Golem?

Under the current rules, you can bestow despite "you can't cast creature spells."
The rules changed in the Magic Origins rules update to tweak the spell casting procedure and also to address the bestow interaction explicitly.
Matt Tabak (then the rules manager) writes:

I made some tweaks to the procedure of casting a spell or activating an ability. It basically boils down to the proposal of the spell, including making all necessary choices such as modes and targets. Then the game checks to see if what you've proposed is legal. Finally, assuming the spell is legal, you calculate and pay costs. In practice, not much is changing. Bestow gets a little easier to figure out. For example, if an effect stops you from casting creature spells, you can still cast one as an Aura. There are some strange cases with things like split cards or flash that become a bit clearer as well.

(emphasis mine) and

We've deleted [rule 601.5] that says you can't begin to cast a spell that's prohibited from being cast. The legality check now happens at one defined point, according to the changes to rule 601.2. [...]

The updated rules now include 702.102c which explicitly addresses this interaction:

702.102c. The check for whether a spell can legally be cast happens after its controller has chosen whether to pay its bestow cost; see rule 601.2e.
Example: Aether Storm is an enchantment with the ability "Creature spells can’t be cast." This effect doesn't stop a creature card with bestow from being cast for its bestow cost because the spell is an Aura enchantment spell, not an enchantment creature spell, when the game checks whether the spell is illegal.


Recording Go games and importing into software

That format is called SGF (Smart Game Format).  Pretty much all Go software can read it.  Eidogo lets you work with it in your browser.


Where are the building entrances in Zombies?

I believe the only available answer may be: that there is no certain answer, but the building entrances should be located by player agreement, based on the application of some degree of common sense to the visual appearance of the tiles.

I don't own Zombies, but I remember when I played it I thought it was definitely a "fast and loose" style of game design, rather than having the sort of very precise, loophole-closing ruleset that I personally prefer.  Bad news for us obsessive-compulsive rules lawyers, in other words!


Are there multiplayer equivalents to trading places after the first move?

Mathematically the Pie rule can be generalized. This is actually a well known problem.

One of the solutions is to let people take it in turns to add what they want from the common lot to a set of goods until one person calls that he wants that set. For example, in the 40 thieves problem, the goal is to share the bounty in 40 equal sets, which seems difficult, since there are jewels, gold, weapons etc. So the leader prepares a set and each thief adds one thing at a time until one thief claims he wants that set. Then the thief leaves with his share and the problem is reduced to n-1 people.

I never heard of a board game using exactly this principle, however in some board games the players bid point to determine the order of the players for the turn. For example, in the expert-variant of the game Tikal, each turn you draw as many tiles as there are players, and they bid to play first.

The strict application of the principle to a board game would be to have a first turn where you set up some initial position on the board. And afterwards, the players declare: "I add X money to the white meeple", "I add X pieces of wood to the white meeple", "I add X card to the blue meeple", "OK STOP, I take the blue meeple".

Actually, there are probably some games that use this kind of mechanic, I just don't recall one now.

[Edit:] You probably wonder what to do when several players wants to take a share. In that case, you just subtract something until nobody or (only one person) wants it any more, and then you continue adding.


How inappropriate is it to track semi-secret information using paper or other memory aids?

There's two schools of thought on this subject - one is that you can do anything unless the rules say you can't, the other is that you can only do what the rules say you can. I believe there's a better argument for the second case, because the rules are generally written to define the game, and can't expressly prohibit everything you might try to do. The rules of Catan don't specifically say you can't look through the Development Card deck, but I don't think anyone would consider that fair play. By-hand tracking is never mentioned in the rules, so I don't think it should be included.

In my opinion, a board game should be one person's brain and luck against the other's. Would it be fair to run an app computing my odds of winning a Risk battle? Or compute my chance of drawing that straight flush in a poker game? These are things I could figure out myself if I had the time and math skills, but are much easier with an aid. Similarly, tracking resources could be done with a good memory, but augmenting that with paper and pencil doesn't seem right.

TL;DR: I would consider by-hand point or resource tracking at best unsporting, and at worst, against the rules.


Why is Wizards breaking the color pie (at least in Legacy)?

Simple: "really bad creatures" isn't part of Blue's slice of the color pie.  It's not part of any slice.  Thus, making good creatures doesn't violate the color pie, especially not when those creatures' abilities are already very color-appropriate.


What are some good tactics for the early game in Risk?

If you are an offensive player, Craig Reade wrote a good strategy page discussing starting in South America, which is a continent I like to start in, if I can.  The basic elements of the strategy are:

Don't play defensively.  You'll get boxed in and die.
You don't want to gain the continent, but lose the game because it cost you too much to take it.  That said, if you are not holding onto the entire continent early, you'll find yourself in an indefensible position, surrounded by foes and your turns will be numbered.
Grab some North American territories during initial placement - especially Central America.  North America is likely to be the next area you'll be heading into, so any territories you can grab now, go for it.  Plus Central America makes a great early buffer against attack.
Don't play defensively.
Ideally, plan on having gained a second continent before your Australian opponent starts their offensive push.
Don't allow yourself to get trapped.

If you can hold both of the Americas, you're in excellent position: 2 continents with 13 territories and only 3 access points.  Sweet.

Not sure if I mentioned this, but you don't want to play defensively ;-)


Can you use Halicarnassus' special ability to build the wonder or to discard the card for 3 gold?

No. The special ability can only be used to build the structure (for free).

The rules say "build it [the card] for free", which excludes the other two cases (where you discard a card, or build a wonder stage, not the structure/card itself).

Also confirmed by the official FAQ:

  Q: Using Solomon (take a card from the discard pile and put it in play for free) or stages of Halicarnassus, can I use this card to build a Wonder stage?

  A: No.

It’s the same with Olympus (side A, second stage).

Only with the special ability of Babylon (side B, second stage) it is possible to build the wonder OR to discard the card OR to build it (paying its costs!).

Related threads on boardgamegeek.com:

Halicarnassus - playing from the discard - is it like playing any other card?
Mausoleum Question
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus?
Olympus 2 Stage Wonder
Olympia board wonder - 2nd stage question


Your interpretation #1 is correct.
Whenever a combat phase starts, you name all the creatures that you want to attack with (or have to). Then if the player (or controller of the planeswalker) you attack has an untapped AoT, you determine the total mana costs (1 per creature that is about to attack), then you choose whether or not to pay the mana costs. If you don't, none of the creatures can attack. If you do, they can. This process repeats in every combat phase, regardless of what you have done or not done in previous combat phases.

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.
508.1g If any of the chosen creatures require paying costs to attack, the active player determines the total cost to attack. Costs may include paying mana, tapping permanents, sacrificing permanents, discarding cards, and so on. Once the total cost is determined, it becomes “locked in.” If effects would change the total cost after this time, ignore this change.
508.1h If any of the costs require mana, the active player then has a chance to activate mana abilities (see rule 605, “Mana Abilities”).
508.1i Once the player has enough mana in his or her mana pool, he or she pays all costs in any order. Partial payments are not allowed.

The equivalent thing happens when you declare blockers while an enemy AoT is attacking.

509.1c The defending player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it’s affected by any requirements (effects that say a creature must block, or that it must block 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 blockers is illegal. If a creature can’t block unless a player pays a cost, that player is not required to pay that cost, even if blocking with that creature would increase the number of requirements being obeyed.
509.1d If any of the chosen creatures require paying costs to block, the defending player determines the total cost to block. Costs may include paying mana, tapping permanents, sacrificing permanents, discarding cards, and so on. Once the total cost is determined, it becomes “locked in.” If effects would change the total cost after this time, ignore this change.
509.1e If any of the costs require mana, the defending player then has a chance to activate mana abilities (see rule 605, “Mana Abilities”).
509.1f Once the player has enough mana in his or her mana pool, he or she pays all costs in any order. Partial payments are not allowed.


Is an old edition of Cinder Wall able to attack?

No; Oracle is the authorative source of card wordings.

From the Comprehensive Rulebook:

  108.1. Use the Oracle™ card reference when determining a card’s wording. A card’s Oracle text can be found using the Gatherer card database at Gatherer.Wizards.com.

The official text on all versions of Cinder Wall is:

  Defender
  When Cinder Wall blocks, destroy it at end of combat.

"Wall" specifically is mentioned in the Glossary:

  Wall

  A creature type with no particular rules meaning. Older cards with the Wall creature type but without defender had an unwritten ability that precluded them from attacking. Those cards have received errata in the Oracle card reference to have defender. Some older cards that referenced the Wall creature type have also received errata. See Defender.


What are some methods for delivering questions to players?

Maybe the original question is "overly broad"; I'll answer a related question:

  How can I implement academic drills into existing games?

Some games, such as "Jeopardy!", "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", "Are You Smarter...", etc. are already set-up for academic Q & A. We can also adapt other games to fit this requirement. Off the top of my head:

Monopoly - properties are always auctioned (not bought), with the winner being the first player to correctly answer a question.

Egyptian Rat Screw (played with a standard deck of cards): whenever a "double" or a "sandwich" occurs, the winner is decided by Q & A (not by who slaps first/fastest)

Fore more serious games like Agricola, Power Grid, and Puerto Rico, you could require students to pass the "first player" marker left/right if they fail a Q&A check. Of course, if they all fail, then the marker could work its way back to the original owner...


Does the Lab Challenge make Pandemic easier or harder?

As with the original game, the more you play the In the Lab expansion, the better you get at it. When I started playing the original version with my friends, it was hard to win with 4 regular epidemics but, by the time we got the expansion pack, we were beating the game easily with 6 epidemics (or 5 virulent strain epidemics with the added mutation disease if you have the On the Brink expansion).  With the In the Lab expansion, we have almost never been able to win with 5 virulent strain epidemics and the mutation disease.  It seems like the more you add (such as virulent strain and mutation) In the Lab is harder than the regular game, but it will all depend as time goes by.


Killing Avacyn Before She Transforms During Upkeep?

Yep, this works just like you think it does. Avacyn's delayed trigger goes on the stack, you have a chance to respond and kill her. If you do, she can't transform, so the triggered ability does nothing as it resolves.


Has any mathematical analysis of The Resistance been done?

Here's a mathematical analysis of a potential winning strategy for the Resistance side: http://amininima.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/the-resistance/

And there's a thread on Boardgamegeek where they're trying to determine a formula for "spy-ness": http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/759016/using-excel-to-find-spies

Hope this answers your question!


Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8 and Return of the Dragon Lords

Can he still use Return of the Dragon Lords to resurrect it from the Graveyard?

No.

Horus lvl 8 specifically indicates:

  This card cannot be special summoned except by the effect of "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6".

So the only way you can special summon it is with Horus lvl 6; once dead you can't bring it back with other cards.

On a further note, there are some cards that you can bring back after they are destroyed. If you see any card that says "Must be first special summoned by...", then those cards you can bring back after they die, but only if the first time you special summoned them was as the card specifies. After that you can repeatedly special summon it by other means.

One example is the famous Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning:

  Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by banishing 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster from your Graveyard. [...]

This means you must first banish one light and dark monsters to summon BLS, but after that successful summon you can special summon it by other means (like Call of the Haunted).

Edit: As per @Kitsunezeta suggestion, one card that your friend could use to do ignore that special summon condition is [Level Up!]:

  Send 1 face-up "LV" monster you control to the Graveyard; Special Summon 1 monster from your hand or Deck that is listed in the sent monster's text, ignoring its Summoning conditions.

Of course this enables to pull Horus from the deck or hand, so still if it's destroyed its gone for good.


When to choose Terrans and how to make the most from them

Terrans will become more attractive to pick, the more of the following are true:

You are able to pick starting positions, where you can use your terraformer. Ie. the purple planet is next to or close to a blue planet. Preferably both your starting planets.
During the first or second turn, you will get bonus points for building your Planetary Institute
During the game, you will get bonus points for colonizing Gaia planets.
The round booster giving points for colonized Gaia planets is available.

During the game, you will probably want to:

Get your Planetary Institute on the board early, enabling your special ability to obtain stuff for free during the Gaia phase.
Get hold of the tech tile, which allows you to take a special action giving you 4 power.
Use this tech tile in combination with your terraformer. Use the terraformer to move a bunch of power tokens from your 1-bowl into the Gaia bowl. In the next turn, these will return to your 2-bowl. And with the special action, your will quickly have 4 power pushed into your 3-bowl. Once they are spent, one of your last actions that turn, should be to use your terraformer, thereby emptying your 1-bowl. Clean-rinse-repeat.
If one of the late game turn bonuses is the 4-points for colonizing Gaia Planets, you may want to go deep in the Gaia tech track, enabling you to terraform three purple planets on the turn just before that, and then follow up with colonizing three Gaia planets and netting 12 points.
If it suits your plans, you may also want to pick up the tech tile, that gives you 3 points every time you colonize a Gaia planet. The earlier the better.


What game? Matching dice with two each of d4, d6, d8, and d10

Ah-ha. I searched for the 2015 gen con convention map, looked up the booth number and found the associated store.

Lumps, by Continuum Games There are a couple of printings, with various packaging and dice colorings (I'm a bit partial to the coal-colored ones).

https://continuumgames.com/shop/lumps-non-seasonal-edition/

As mentioned in the question, a matched pair gives the face-value of those dice, with additional matching dice increasing the total by the face-value again (two 2s are two points, three 2s are four points, etc). First player to 100 points wins.

Later printings include additional rules, such as a solitaire mode, which is just a race to 100 points; a hard mode where you have to set aside dice every roll  instead of banking on the last roll to save you, and some other quirky optional rules, such as all even numbers granting a bonus (or odd numbers).


Does Unsubstantiate work on graveyard or exiled cards?

It does not return cards from graveyard or exile.

"Spell" only refers to a card when it is on the stack:

  111.1. A spell is a card on the stack. As the first step of being cast (see rule 601, "Casting Spells"), the card becomes a spell and is moved to the top of the stack from the zone it was in, which is usually its owner's hand. (See rule 405, "Stack.") A spell remains on the stack as a spell until it resolves (see rule 608, "Resolving Spells and Abilities"), is countered (see rule 701.5), or otherwise leaves the stack. For more information, see section 6, "Spells, Abilities, and Effects."

And it cannot target a creature in the any such zone because "creature" refers to a permanent in this instance which means it must be on the battlefield:

  114.2. Only permanents are legal targets for spells and abilities, unless a spell or ability (a) specifies that it can target an object in another zone or a player, (b) targets an object that can't exist on the battlefield, such as a spell or ability, or (c) targets a zone.

If a spell or ability does intend to target something in graveyard or exile it will mention the zone specifically and refer to the target as a card:

  108.2a In the text of spells or abilities, the term “card” is usually used to refer to a card that’s not on the battlefield or on the stack, such as a creature card in a player’s hand. The term “card” can also refer to a card in any zone that’s moving “from anywhere.” On rare occasions, the text of a spell or ability may refer to a nontoken permanent as a “card . . . on the battlefield.” For more information, see section 4, “Zones.”

For example Treasured Find reads:

  Return target card from your graveyard to your hand. Exile Treasured Find.


Can We Play Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild Seasons With Normal Characters?

My playgroup did this for both Skulls and Shackles and Wrath of the Righteous. We enjoyed it.

Technically, yes, the playthrough is slightly easier if you are ignoring the class deck restrictions (which are not very fun). You can't count it as an organized play game, however.

One recommendation if you want to maintain some of the challenge of the character deck version: Restrict players to changing one card per scenario from their decks. This is the biggest part of the difficulty in using the character decks.

[The other part is that the character decks are not very well constructed to support all their characters. One glaring example is the warrior who can use 1 spell in her deck. So the warrior character deck has spells in it (which is useless for the other warriors), but only a few (which means very little selection for her). One recommended change for a home game that does want to use the character decks is to allow characters to dip into a second deck that fits their character's theme. Another would be to just allow a player to use all the decks they have.]


There is a fantastic article on this topic by Miguel Sicart called Defining Game Mechanics, it is mostly related to Video Games, but the the same definitions can broadly be applied to Board Games as well.

Essentially Game Mechanics are actions that modify the game state, and it is this modification of the game state that results in gameplay.
While Game Mechanics can, and should, be defined by rules, they are not themselves rules.

In a more colloquial form, if you're changing anything in the game, whether physical or conceptual, you are implementing a Game Mechanic.


Can a Seafaring race attack the land from a sea or lake region?

Yes, you can attack these new adjacent regions after conquering the seas or lake. The Seafaring rules state that the seas and lake are considered empty regions for you:

  Seafaring

  As long as your Seafaring race is active, you may conquer
  the Seas and the Lake, considering them as 3 empty Regions. You keep
  these Regions even once you go into Decline, and continue scoring for
  them for as long as you have tokens there. Only Seafaring races may
  occupy the Seas and the Lake

Since they are just regions, the rules for subsequent conquests apply:

  The active player can repeat this process to conquer as many new
  Regions as he wishes during his turn, provided he has enough Race
  tokens left to accomplish these successive conquests. Each of the
  newly conquered Regions must be adjacent to (i.e. sharing a border
  with) a Region already occupied by his active Race tokens, unless
  permitted otherwise by his Race and Special Power combo.

Go forth and conquer!


Are players permitted to resolve errors between themselves, without involving a judge?

As far as I can tell, there is no specific rule in the tournament rules that requires a player to call a judge when a rule is broken. All it says is that a player is responsible for

  Calling attention to any rules or policy infraction they notice in their matches.

In fact, the infraction procedure guide says

  If a minor violation is quickly handled by the players to their mutual satisfaction, a judge does not need to intervene.

You should consider, though, that it may be unwise to make such an agreement when your opponent breaks a rule. These agreements are informal and do not involve a judge, so your opponent is under no obligation to extend the same courtesy to you. Plus, an unscrupulous player could use these agreements to their advantage.


The short answer is that Dryad Arbor can't be countered because it can only be played as a land, not a spell. Here's the supporting statement from the card's Oracle rulings:

  Dryad Arbor is played as a land. It doesn't use the stack, it's not a
  spell, it can't be responded to, it has no mana cost, and it counts as
  your land play for the turn.

And the card's reminder text:

  (Dryad Arbor isn't a spell, it's affected by summoning sickness, and
  it has "{T}: Add {G} to your mana pool.")

If you prefer rules over rulings, let's start with the rule saying you can't counter land:

  305.1. ... Playing a land is a special action; it doesn't use the stack (see rule 115). Rather, the player simply puts the land onto the
  battlefield. Since the land doesn't go on the stack, it is never a
  spell, and players can't respond to it with instants or activated
  abilities.

Moreover, you'll want to note this section of the comp rules:

  305.9. If an object is both a land and another card type, it can be played only as a land. It can't be cast as a spell.

Essentially, this rule is saying that the Land card type overrides the normal behavior of the various spell card types.

This rather esoteric rule isn't actually required for Dryad Arbor to work the way that it does -- simply having no listed mana cost would mean that you can't play it like a normal spell, while being of the Land type would allow it to be played as a land. My best guess as to why it's there is that the original multi-typed lands, Mirrodin's artifact lands, were much more "land" than "spell," so this was codified in the rules for playing them. I take it as not so much saying that a land with a mana cost would still be uncastable as precluding the existence of such a card altogether.


You cannot.

From the ruling on Gatherer for Plague Engineer:

  The choice of creature type is made as Plague Engineer enters the battlefield. Players can’t respond to this choice. The -1/-1 effect starts applying immediately.

The reason this is the case is because plague engineer's ability is static. You can't respond to the choice of creature type because it's not an ETB trigger. For as long as the engineer exists on the battlefield his ability is in effect, and he needs to be on the battlefield in order to target him, so once you are able to target him your goblins have been dead for a while.


Can I name cards that are not legal in the format I am playing?

Yes.
You must state the name of a card in the Oracle, but the card doesn't need to be legal in the format of the game being played.

201.3. If an effect instructs a player to choose a card name, the player must choose the name of a card in the Oracle card reference. (See rule 108.1.) A player may not choose the name of a token unless it’s also the name of a card.
201.3a If a player is instructed to choose a card name with certain characteristics, the player must choose the name of a card whose Oracle text matches those characteristics. (See rule 108.1.)
Example: Dispossess reads, in part, “Choose an artifact card name.” The player can choose the name of any artifact card, even one that’s not legal in the format of the current game. The player can’t choose Island, even if an Island on the battlefield has been turned into artifact by some effect.

Emphasis mine.
This wasn't always the case. There used to be a requirement for the card to be  legal in the format of the game the player is playing. The rules were changed to remove this requirement when Guilds of Ravnica was released.

We've removed the forgettable requirement that names chosen when choosing a card name must come from the format being played. This was originally added to protect players from accidental misnamings in tournament settings (for example, "Shackles" in Modern—you meant Vedalken Shackles, not the white Aura Shackles) but tournament policy has evolved to protect players in other ways (you may recall some arguments around naming "Borborygmos" in Modern that led to this evolution) so the game rules don't need to do this anymore. The game rules are generally agnostic to the format being played, so this is a nice change.

Thanks to @murgatroid99 for pointing out the change.


"At the beginning of the end step" meaning and comparison to "your end step" and "each end step"

"At the beginning of the end step" refers to any player's end step.

That wording is equivalent to "At the beginning of each end step", but it is used for abilities that are expected to trigger only once, often because the ability instructs you to sacrifice the permanent it is on.


Does a winning strategy exist for Don't Break the Ice?

If I understand the game correctly, there should be a winning strategy for the player going last. If we first disregard the corners, then the bear will fall when the second last block is removed:

--X---
--X---
--BB--
--BB--
------
------

(or similar)
Since the number of blocks is even, this block will be removed by the player going first.
Now, there are two complication. First, the last block removed may include the corner:

-X----
-X----
-XBB--
--BB--
------
------

or

-X----
-XX---
--BB--
--BB--
------
------

Since the number of remaining blocks is now odd, the player going last would lose.
Second, a block may fall due to being disconnected. As Steven notes, only four blocks can possibly fall this way. If an odd number of blocks fall, then the player going last will be the one to make the last move in the first setting.

However, both of these can easily be avoided by attacking the corner blocks first. Since it requires two moves to remove a corner block, the second player can always remove the corner block before the first can make it fall, and of course before all side blocks are removed. This ensures that the final position will be of the first kind, and thus that the player going first loses.


How do I (self) publish a pencil and paper game?

If your game doesn't need any materials (or those would be more easily to come by on their own, such as graph paper), I would suppose the elements of your game you're trying to ship would be the rules. Since you're not trying to distribute them commercially, the only real problem is to get it out there.
If I'm correct so far, here's what I'd do:
Pick a Licence
An important part for both you, as well as players of your game, is the licence you intend to release it under. A licence determines what you intend to do, and what people may do with it - for example, whether they may redistribute it, and whether they need to give credit to you.
If you're willing to allow remixing and redistribution, there are a number of tested licences available for choosing, and the GNU project provides some recommendations about what you choices. They are rather software-oriented, so you might want to have a look at the Creative Commons licenses as well, which work for every type of work, or specific game licenses such as the OGL (Open Game Licence).
This is an important step, seeing as some licences aren't revokeable, and depending how popular your game gets, you'll be on stable ground legal-wise. Even for smaller games, this step is worth reading into for a little bit. Of course, until you decide on a licence, your country of origin's default copyright laws will apply, but a licence will still be helpful with attribution of the original author, for example if you end up hosting it on some friend's webspace.
Launch a Web Page
The easiest, probably cheapest way would be to set up a webpage from where people would be able to download a version of your game, and possibly get additional information about it, such as errata or update information, and maybe even a discussion forum. This has a few advantages over any print-reliant method:

you will be able to publish new versions with no delay at all, and players will know where to get the latest version of the game
you save the costs of printing copies of your rules on paper, as well as shipping costs and effort for the finished products
you maybe want a webpage anyway at some point in order to advertise your game
even without a monetary interest and a free game, you can provide information on how to donate money towards you or the project easily
aside from providing written rules, you could provide videos or other media that won't work on print

Making a web page dedicated to your game (as opposed to a blog post in your [insert your probably unrelated topic here] blog) would likely be preferrable, as it will not only appear more serious, but also give you the possibility to adjust the features and layout of the page to your liking.
If you don't have any experience in making web pages, you could rely on one of many web services that offer free blogs and a user interface that doesn't require HTML or programming skills, or find a friend or person online to put one up for you. There are too many possibilities to name them all, and more specialized communities at that.
Of course, asking a professional web designer would be a possibility if you're willing to spend the money.
Advertise your Web Page
Once you have your web page up and running, you probably want people to find it. I won't be getting into much detail here since it's not directly a part of your question, but advertising it on social media, your local game stores, local and online playgroups that play similar games (as you mentioned Go), general online game communities, and friends are general good starting points in my experience.


When can you take commodities out of the warehouse?

Play as if the cards are in your hand (besides the obvious new rule: you don't need to discard them).

So when can you use them? When you like. Replacing? Assume all the cards are you in your hand, so this question is now irrelevant. When? In the progress step.

Justifications:

  At the end of this phase, the players must discard all unused cards
  (unless they are placed in a warehouse).

Note it does not say the cards are put on top of the warehouse cards.

  Warehouses are valuable because they can
  store unused goods at the end of a round.

That's all warehouses do - there are no further clarifications on timing or anything else because there doesn't need to be any.

Practical:

In play, I tend to put the cards that can fit into my warehouses, on top of the warehouse cards - just because it permits me to play quicker, knowing that I've set aside the cards that I believe are important to keep and thus calculating the rest of my purchases can continue unencumbered. Understand that this convention is not in the rules, nowhere does it say you need to put your cards "on top" of the warehouse.


Do Bolas's Citadel and Experimental Frenzy take reduced mana cost into account?

No, mana cost reductions have no effect on Bolas's Citadel alternative cost. Furthermore, Bolas's Citadel and Experimental Frenzy have no interaction.
All the cards you listed reduce the mana cost of spells. Since you pay an alternative life cost for Bolas's Citadel, those effects are irrelevant here. The CMC of a card has a clear definition:

202.1. A card’s mana cost is indicated by mana symbols near the top of the card. (See rule 107.4.) On most cards, these symbols are printed in the upper right corner. [..]
202.3. The converted mana cost of an object is a number equal to the total amount of mana in its mana cost, regardless of color.
Example: A mana cost of {3}{U}{U} translates to a converted mana cost of 5.

The rules for casting spells, especially calculating the total cost of a spell, are:

601.2f The player determines the total cost of the spell. Usually this is just the mana cost. Some spells have additional or alternative costs. Some effects may increase or reduce the cost to pay, or may provide other alternative costs. Costs may include paying mana, tapping permanents, sacrificing permanents, discarding cards, and so on. The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost (as determined in rule 601.2b), plus all additional costs and cost increases, and minus all cost reductions. If multiple cost reductions apply, the player may apply them in any order. If the mana component of the total cost is reduced to nothing by cost reduction effects, it is considered to be {0}. [..]
601.2h The player pays the total cost in any order.

So for example, when you want to play a card with CMC 5 with Bolas's Citadel, you determine the alternative cost of 5 life and zero mana cost. Then the mana cost reductions try to reduce that mana cost, but it's already at zero and the reductions have no effect.
As a hypothetical, if Bolas's Citadel could take mana cost reductions into account, it would have to be worded something like "Instead of paying that spell's mana cost, you may pay that much life instead." In that case, mana cost reductions would apply in 601.2f, and Bolas's Citadel would take effect in 601.2h.
As for Experimental Frenzy, EF does not offer or mandate an alternative cost like Bolas's Citadel does. With EF, you simply play the spell as you would from your hand, and all mana cost reductions apply. You have to choose whether or not you use BC to play the top card of your library.


Yes, your opponents' spells cost 2 more for each Aura of Silence you have on the battlefield.

While I haven't found a ruling for this situation specifically, your question can be broken down into two components: how multiple static abilities coexist, and how multiple cost-changing abilities interact.

The first question is pretty straightforward: all continous effects are applied independently of one another, even if two of them happen to do the same thing.  For instance, if you had two Glorious Anthem on the battlefield, all creatures you control would get +1/+1 from each enchantment, for a total of +2/+2.

The second question is covered by rule 601.2f (excerpt, emphasis mine):

  The player determines the total cost of the spell.... The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost, plus all additional costs and cost increases, and minus all cost reductions.

So it is definitely possible for multiple abilities to increase the cost of spell.

Combining the two leads to the logical conclusion that any number of Auras on the battlefield will each increase the spell cost by 2 mana.


Is there a way to play The Generals without a referee?

The referee's job is fairly simple, so a computer can fill in for them.

There was an electronically-assisted version released in the '80s, which did exactly that. You may still be able to find a copy online, but be careful to check the condition — some may have busted electronic components.

Wikipedia suggests that there are online clones of the game as well, probably under the name "Salpakan."

Stratego is a commonly-available game with a lot of similarities, that simply has players reveal the pieces to each other when they clash. It's also got different special pieces (including, notably, immobile 'mine' tokens). Depending on the particular dynamics of play you enjoy, you may find it a good alternative or a pale imitation.


Can City of Brass be used to cast Kozilek, the Great Distortion in Commander?

No. City of Brass adds one mana of any color, and colorless is not a color.

  105.4. If a player is asked to choose a color, he or she must choose one of the five colors. “Multicolored” is not a color. Neither is “colorless.”

In the past, if you attempted to add mana to your pool that did not share a color with your commander's color identity, that mana became colorless instead.

  Rule 4. If a player would produce mana of colors that are not in their General card's color identity, they instead get that much colorless mana.

This rule was removed with the release of Oath of the Gatewatch, which introduced new colorless symbols and colorless costs.


If you look closer at the rules it is explained that you always start placing the zombies at spot 1 when adding new zombies. Also of note if you have to add more then 6 zombies in a turn you cycle around from spot 6 to spot 1 again

  Whenever adding zombies, they are added 1 at a time until
  all zombies that need to be added have been added.

  When adding zombies to the colony, always place the first
  zombie on any empty space in entrance 1, the second zombie
  on any empty space in entrance 2, the third zombie on any
  empty space in entrance 3, etc. until all of the zombies that
  need to be added have been placed. When adding a seventh
  zombie, place it on any empty space in entrance 1 again, an
  eighth zombie on any empty space in entrance 2, etc. If there
  are no empty entrance spaces in the entrance the zombie
  would be placed but there is a barricade token in one of
  those spaces, destroy that barricade token and remove the
  zombie that would have been placed. If there are no empty
  spaces and no barricade tokens, the entrance has been
  overrun, remove that zombie and kill the survivor at the
  colony that has the lowest influence value. If there are only
  helpless survivors at the colony, kill a helpless survivor. If
  there are no survivors at the colony remove the zombie that
  would have been placed without further effect. Every time a
  survivor is killed (including a helpless survivor), decrease
  morale by 1. When adding zombies to non-colony locations
  follow all of the same rules, except there is only 1 entrance to
  place zombies in so all of the zombies are placed in spaces at
  that entrance.


Can I create an online version of a game?

Sort of. Maybe.
What you definitely can't do is to use the name "Rick and Morty", any art from the game or anything else which is covered by copyright, trade marks or any other form of intellectual property which is owned by anyone other than you.
However, it is probable that game mechanics themselves cannot be copyrighted, so you may be able to create a game which has exactly the same mechanics as Rick and Morty: Total Rickall, but with your own art, your own name, etc. However, if this becomes at all popular, I'd still expect the publishers of the game and/or the Rick and Morty rights holders to make your life difficult. You might win in court, but it's probably not worth the fight.


According to the rulebook pages on Deep Strike (p.36), I think the relevant rule-- for the sake of calculating 50%--is:

  When working out how many units can be placed in reserve, units that
  must be deployed by Deep Strike (along with any models embarked upon
  them) are ignored.

To apply to your situation, take your entire army and subtract (put aside mentally or physically) all the units that must be Deep Striking.  Whatever remains is the value that helps you determine 50%, so in this case corresponds to Case #2, 3 units (50 percent of 6 units) is your maximum reserve capacity.

EDIT: According to the General Rulebook FAQ v1.5, this is clarified further:

Q: Do units that are transported in a vehicle that MUST start in
reserve count towards the number of units that can be placed in
Reserves? For example, must I count the units in a Drop Pod or
Valkyrie towards the 50% of units I can place in Reserves?
(p124)
A: No.


What cards have good potential for a combo with Mayor of Avabruck // Howlpack Alpha?

Why settle for two or three wolves when you can have seven or more of them instead?


We just got the game a few weeks ago as well. I found the rules here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6u03sg6m6dvtesn/rules.pdf?dl=1


What tools exist to manage an M:TG tournament?

So this is a bit of an outside idea, but this website:

https://us.leaguerepublic.com/gaming.html

is what our local store uses for their MTG leagues, and it works pretty well. Its also free (to a point) but looks like what you're looking for.

Otherwise, a whiteboard displayed in a publicly visible place can work great too.


Can a creature be destroyed just before Shalai gives it hexproof?

Yes, you can destroy the creature before it gains Hexproof.

Shalai's ability is a static ability which does not take effect until after casting Shalai resolves (i.e. the spell leaves the stack and Shalai enters the battlefield).604.2  While Shalai is still on the stack, the static ability is not "active" and has no effect.

Before Shalai resolves, Player A is given priority and can then use Walking Ballista's ability, which is also placed on the stack.  This ability will resolve before Shalai, killing the 1/1 creature before Shalai can give it Hexproof.


Are there any card games that enforce "Dealer's Respect"?

It's a common convention wherever cards are involved; the game doesn't have to be a traditional card game played with a poker or bridge deck.

I think the convention evolved from the trick-taking family, especially Bridge, and the manners and social conventions thereof. Poker, and its emphasis on ensuring a clean deal, is another good possibility for the origins of the convention.

In general, it's just a good idea; here are a couple of reasons why, off the top of my head.

If nobody touches the cards, then any discrepancy in the number or order dealt is on the dealer, making "misdeals" a little easier to spot.
Picking up an incomplete hand can be very distracting to the dealer who is attempting to count the cards dealt, which can cause a misdeal.
The dealer, when dealing across a larger table, often uses the pile of cards already dealt as a target and backstop for the ones he's now skimming across the table. Picking up that pile makes the target go away and can cause the dealer to miss.
The cards you're picking up, if the dealer isn't very accurate, may not be your own, and if that happens you've just forced a misdeal, when otherwise the errant card can simply be pushed over to the correct player's pile.

I've commonly heard the superstition that it's bad luck to pick up an incomplete hand. Theoretically that's hogwash, but it actually has some merit; those of us with terrible poker faces give others at the table information not only about the hand, but about each individual card picked up as it's dealt.

However, I can't think of or find any set-in-stone rule (outside of a casino) that requires it to the point of prescribing a penalty for the specific action of picking up or looking at an incomplete hand. It is simply good manners.


How should I modify Risk to play with 7 persons?

We used to play Risk 2210 a lot, often with more than the recommended 5 players, and used the rule that if you are wiped out, when your turn comes around, you can start a rebellion.

Rebellions

Take two cards and choose one of the shown territories to rebel in.
Roll 3d6. That many troops in the chosen territory are replaced with your troops.
If there are any enemy troops remaining in the territory, you must fight them, but if you win, you can continue your turn as normal. If you lose,  your rebellion failed but you can try again on your next turn.

It leads to a more chaotic game but it's a LOT more fun that one or two people sitting around doing nothing for hours.


On the streets a zone is a variable-sized area edged by building walls and pedestrian crossings.
From the Zombicide rulebook (page 5):

ZONE
Inside a building, a Zone is a room.
On the street, a Zone is the area between two pedestrian
crossings and the walls of buildings along
the street. A single Zone may extend over two tiles
or even four tiles.

For example, in the following image, the red boxes identify the different zones of the map:


Question about targeting a Hexproof creature

The guide for judges handling rules infractions is called the Infraction Procedure Guide. The situation in question looks like a "Game Play Error — Game Rule Violation". The remedy section for that item says that a judge should first consider a simple backup. The backup rules say

  To perform a backup, each individual action since the point of the error is reversed, starting with the most recent ones and working backwards. Every action must be reversed; no parts of the sequence should be omitted or reordered.

The GRV remedy section then further says that partial remedies can then be applied to only a specific set of situations, none of which match the situation in question. It is not inconceivable that a judge could interpret these instructions as allowing them to do a backup to after you announced the spell and before you chose targets, but that would be a stretch, and essentially inconsistent with rule 721.1:

  If a player takes an illegal action or starts to take an action but can’t legally complete it, the entire action is reversed and any payments already made are canceled. [...] If the action was casting a spell, the spell returns to the zone it came from. [...]

The fact that the judge took their cue from the opponent when determining the remedy makes this additionally questionable. From that description it seems likely that they simply assumed that the opponent was correct, or knew what they were talking about.

In general, if you disagree with a judge's ruling or remedy, you can appeal in accordance with section 2.9 of the Magic Tournament Rules:

  If a player disagrees with a judge’s ruling, they may appeal the ruling to the Head Judge. In larger, Premier-level tournaments (such as Grand Prix and Magic Tabletop Mythic Championships), with prior approval, the Head Judge may designate additional Appeals Judges who are also empowered to hear appeals. They will be wearing the same uniform as the Head Judge.


Fury of Dracula 3rd ed. - Bats Token and Defeated Hunter

The rules say:

  The bats token functions as a reminder that Dracula can move
  that hunter to an adjacent city during that hunter’s next action.

When the hunter is defeated and moved to another city, it isn't of the hunters own volition, but it is a must and doesn't cost the hunter an action.

then:

  For the purposes of game rules and effects, if a hunter is in
  a hospital space, he is adjacent to and not in the location
  attached to that hospital.

  While on a hospital space, the only actions a hunter may
  perform are a modified version of either the supply or move
  action, as follows:
  » Supply: The hunter may perform a supply action to draw
  one item card. He always draws one item card but cannot
  draw an event card.
  » Move: The hunter may move from the hospital to the city
  attached to that hospital.

So when the hunter wants to do any action in the hospital (eg supply or move) Dracula must move him to an adjacent city, which is, in this instance, the city attached to the hospital.


No doom tracker markers when sealing a gate with an Elder Sign

This would be very rare -- the only time a gate would be placed without a doom token is if it came from a gatebuster. But, theoretically, it could happen -- you seal a gate with an Elder Sign, then a gatebuster opened up another gate, then you used a second Elder Sign to seal it. And you got monster surges all other times.

The two rulings I could see is either you couldn't use the Elder Sign (because you couldn't fulfill the full requirements, just like if you didn't have enough clues or money to purchase something), or you would ignore that part of the card and simply seal the gate. Our group would probably choose the latter (although you probably would be smarter to not use the Elder Sign at this point).


What has been the evolution or progression of traitor/betrayal/defector games?

These days Mafia is renowned as the worst game in the mafia genre.  The unifying element behind all of these is the hidden information about player allegiance.  It was an interesting mechanic in mafia, but the issue with mafia was that it had player elimination, so players spent a statistical third of the game sitting around doing nothing.  Another issue with mafia is that it was really only good with large numbers of players.  Board game designers being who they are adapted the hidden team mechanic to create better behaved versions of mafia, or include mafia like elements in various games.

Games like Resistance, Avalon, One Night Werewolf, Two Rooms and a Boom, etc. are all trying to address the fundamental problem that mafia had a great concept with a rather poor implementation of it.  (Werewolf proper is just a mafia reskin.)

Games like Battlestar the Boardgame and Shadows over Camelot are trying to include this in a set of broader mechanics to have the game have more intrigue than just a fully cooperative game (such as Pandemic) or a many vs. one game (such as Descent).


Do I resolve non-Shadow "Revealed" effects when revealing a Shadow card?

Step 3 of the Combat phase in the rulebook:

  Resolve shadow effect. The active player flips that enemy’s shadow card faceup and resolves any shadow effect that card might have.

You only use the shadow part of the card when resolving shadow cards. When you flip a card like The Necromancer's Reach where there is no shadow effect, you are in luck.


If you discard Immortal Phoenix, does it return to your hand?

No, it won't. Dies is a term with a very specific meaning: it means to be put in the graveyard from the battlefield. If it is put there from your hand, the ability won't trigger.

  700.4. The term dies means “is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.”


Do most good pre-empters do so within "tight" point ranges?

The choice a partnership makes in this regard will influence their relative strength at Matchpoints vs IMPS. Opening wide-range pre-empts facilitate more frequent interference with the opponent's auctions, but make finding game or slam yourself more difficult. This is a clear Matchpoint strategy (as emphasizing the frequency of a winning result on the hand).

However opening narrow-range pre-empts eases the task of finding a good slam or game, but reduces the frequency of being able to interfere with the opponents auctions. This is both more constructive, which eases partnership harmony, and a clear IMP strategy (which emphasizes weighted value of results).

Most published systems tend to emphasize IMP -oriented systems, because this is also appropriate strategy for Rubber Bridge. Consequently, in their published works most authors recommend narrow-range pre-empts.

It is worth noting that Barry Crane, arguably the ultimate Matchpoint player and an avid proponent of early-in, early-out bidding, recommended in 1st and 2nd seat wide-range pre-empts in the majors, but narrow-range in the minors.

  "The rule of 1-2-3" means that you should be within one trick
  of making when vulnerable versus nonvulnerable, within two
  tricks at equal vulnerability, and within three tricks at
  favorable vulnerability. ....

  Generally, for an opening bid at the three level, you should have a
  seven card suit.  To open 3C or 3D, you must also have the A and two
  of the next three honors in your suit.  This facilitates getting
  to 3NT (and makes an opening bid of 3 in a minor alertable).

The reason given is that this gives opener's partner the most detailed information on how high to raise the pre-empt. It does sacrifice some capability to pre-empt at the three level in the minors, but his is probably the least effective, and most informative for the opponents, pre-empt range. One could do much worse than to follow Crane's guidance.


Do physical implementations of single player board games have any advantages over their electronic counterparts?

A lot of this really applies to all games, not just single-player ones.

Computer versions have limited interfaces: small screen, limited controls.

This is the biggest reason for me. It's pretty much impossible, with current technology, for a computer game to provide a comfortable view of a table-sized board and components, or for it to make it really easy to grab a small object out of that landscape. It's a bit of an extreme example, but take a game like Arkham Horror (which can be played solo in various ways). Imagine dealing with that on a computer screen, even a huge one. (There's actually a Vassal module for it - the interface definitely could be improved a lot, but it still gives you an idea of the issues faced.)

Physical versions are more intuitive and satisfying.

Even when things are of a size that's possible to fit on a screen, I usually find that "physical interfaces" much more comfortable. There's just something about physically seeing and moving objects, and having at least a little bit of a third dimension to them, that makes it a lot easier on my mind. I'm often frustrated by a feeling that things are somehow trapped in two dimensions on a screen.

Physical games are easier to customize.

If there's for whatever reason an issue with a game, it's a lot easier to fix it by drawing on a card or adding some more tokens if it's a physical game, or just changing the rules in a way that a computer version might not let you.

Board games have been optimized as board games.

There's a bit of a circular nature to the question. These games were designed to be physical, trying to take advantage of everything there is to offer in the format, and to minimize disadvantages. Electronic games are a different format, and hypothetical optimal games in that format (even confining ourselves to a similar category, turn-based things, and so on) will not end up being the same games.

I'm not trying to suggest that these reasons always justify choosing a physical game - there are a lot of things computers can do that physical games can't (e.g. instantly shuffle an enormous deck) - but that seems to be outside the scope of the question.


How many of each type of path cards are there in Saboteur?

You are not missing any.

As you can see, the treasure card ("la carte Arrivée avec le trésor") and the rock cards ("les cartes Arrivée avec des pierres") and the starting card ("carte de départ") are not listed in the contents. There are 40 "normal" path cards, or 44 when you include those four.


How are jokers colored in decks with more than two jokers?

There is no common convention for 4 Jokers.

According to Wikipedia

  There are usually two Jokers per deck, often noticeably different. For instance, Bicycle Playing Cards prints their company's guarantee claim on only one. More common traits are the appearance of colored and black/non-colored Jokers.

and other websites, there are normally only two jokers. The qualities of which, including appearance were probably borrowed from the Tarrot trump cards the Magacian/Juggler and (which is red in color, and outranks) the Fool (which is black in color), both of which have the apperance of a court jester.


In Midway, would it make sense for the U.S. player to save his "punch" for the arrival of the Atago on Day 2?

The drawback of such a strategy (I've tried it as the US player in the 1960s edition, and responded as the Japanese player) is that you can, in fact, prevent the Atago from being sunk - unless you happen to roll very, very poorly as the Japanese player.

All Dive Bombers have to be placed atop the target ship.

All Torpedo Bombers are placed in sectors surrounding the target ship.

But all of any given type of aircraft in any given sector (5 possible total sectors - atop, starboard, port, aft, bow) attack as one for that attack wave.

It's not all that hard to properly space your vessels, as the Japanese player, to [nearly] guarantee the attack fails.

And if you're playing the advanced game, with the addition of Fighters and CAP, it becomes easier yet.

The only way this method can work, in my experience, is to attack pretty much everything in the board unit that holds the Atago - presuming, of course, you "know" which unit that is. That way even if you fail to sink the Atago, you may be able to inflict serious damage to the carrier groups, allowing the possibility of preventing the Japanese occupation of Midway itself.

The 60s edition, which I've played most, reflects well the relative strengths of both sides in that battle - and I've only seen the Japanese player win twice (both of which were when I was playing as the Japanese): and this is in dozens of times through the game, will various aspects of official (and occasional house) rules used, against both novice- and highly-seasoned players.


Can you trash Crisium Grid to make the run Successful?

This is a little technical.

The run is successful, but doesn't count as successful for card effects. This distinction usually doesn't matter.

The point you access cards (and are therefore able to trash) is after the success or otherwise of the run is determined. If you need to make a successful run, e.g. on HQ to trash Off the Grid, then you need to make a second run once you have trashed it.

If you make a run with a card that has mandatory replacement effects on a successful run, e.g. Keyhole, you may access cards (and therefore trash Crisium Grid) since the Keyhole thinks you weren't successful so its replacement effects don't happen.

There's a slightly clunky interaction with Security Testing. The original run does not get you credits because it doesn't count as a successful run for purposes of card effects. However if you make a second successful run after trashing the Crisium Grid, it is not your first successful run of the turn on that server, so you don't get credits there either.

Hope that's clear.


Can I build a strong knight with Deserter if the victim removes a mighty knight?

No. The rules say you may build a mighty knight, a basic knight if you have no mighty knights available, or nothing at all if you have neither mighty knights nor basic knights.


Is there a way to determine how much of a "fighting chance" I had?

A fat chance/A slim chance, whatever you wish to call it.

Even if you could get the last railroad AND the last utility AND get all hotels on your set for $0, you will still lose, unless a miracle happens, i.e. you never land on his hotels or on the set until his hotels are down.

There is a 7.54% chance (2 decimal places) you will land on his hotels (and pay at least $750) = equivalent to you losing $56.55 (2 decimal places) every turn (assuming you will land on his hotels at EXACTLY 7.54%)

There is a 4.29% chance he will land on your hotels (250 for Medit, 450 for Baltic) ($15.06/turn)

If you have the 4 railroads, 11.38% chance (gives $200) ($22.76/turn)

2 utilities: Average rent 7*10=$70, 5.41% chance = ($3.79/turn)

Total "gain": $41.61/turn

Total "loss": $56.55/turn

So this means that you may lose.

Note again that this is the most general case and I am only working with probabilities, that is, if the dice never or always leads to a space, this answer might be wrong.

Credits http://www.tkcs-collins.com/truman/monopoly/monopoly.shtml for all the probabilities


Does lifelink still trigger if I concede before damage?

The lifelinking creature does not deal damage, which means your opponent does not gain life, and the rest of the table will need to keep playing.


What are the drawbacks of an automatic card shuffler?

Mechanical shufflers come in several types. The simplest are the hand cranked gravity fed multi-wheel versions... and are the only ones I've much experience with, having owned two. (Both inherited.)

These particular ones both use a wheel to throw cards into the central bay from two elevated bays.

some cards end up face up - I've averaged 1 face-up per 3 shuffles or so.
cards can get scratched on the metal surfaces
can't handle anything that's not "standard height" - it'll do bridge and poker decks of the 3.5" tall variety, but it won't do larger cards, as they get stuck, nor smaller, as they don't stack up in the center bay.
crunches over-thick cards badly. In other words, 110# cardstock won't work well, as home cutting results in being too thick to work.
Kem and other solid plastic cards don't grip right - increased flipping, and more manual downpressure required
older machines' rubber wheels lose tackiness, and don't drag cards as effectively
not quiet.

All the automated ones I've seen have the same issues plus

not stopping if a jam occurs
needing a source of electricity
being even noisier.

I've not used it enough to determine edge wear effects, but Kem used to note that shuffling machines voided their warrantees.


Does Keep score points when another Keep is completed?

If a Keep is built next to another Keep, neither are completed as a city. The next feature that's scored next to either of them, though, will trigger both. First the Keep that's next to the feature, and then the other Keep that's adjacent to the now-finished Keep.


Can I special build after rolling the dice?

There are 2 possibilities of how to handle this here, and neither one would allow your opponent to build the road instead of you.

1) Have the special building phase; pretend like you never rolled. In this case, because it would be your turn next, you would get the first turn during the special building phase to build where you want.

2) Don't allow the special building phase; because it's too late for that. The special building phase would happen before your turn; now that you've rolled, it is your turn. People missed their chance to build. In this case, you can just build during your turn like normal.

The rules don't clearly state whose responsibility it is to ensure that people get a chance to build in the special building phase. However, they do state that the phase does happen. It's not optional (though each player building during the phase is optional). So you technically shouldn't have rolled the dice yet; because it wasn't your turn yet.

  The Special Building Phase occurs just after the end of your turn (i.e., between player turns).

But in a friendly game; we either do a quick check ("is anyone building in between turns?") or just assume that no one is unless someone speaks up ("hold on, I want to build before you roll").

Either way, I don't see any situation in which the rules would imply that you don't get a chance to build your road before your opponent; you have first chance at it.


Can you activate a system where you have no units and not move any units?

You can (barring an rules reference update by FFG).

The rules on Tactical Actions have the following restrictions:

  The active player must activate a
  system that does not contain one of his command tokens.

  • To activate a system, the active player places a command
  token from his tactic pool on that system. That system is the
  active system.

  • Other players’ command tokens do not prevent a player
  from activating a system.

As noted in the question, moving ships is not a requirement of the movement step of tactical action.  Nowhere in this are you prevented from activating such a system.

Three things to note if you are doing this to get a space cannon volley:

You will not be able to subsequently move units into that system this round (unless you use the Warfare strategy ability) as it already has one of your command tokens.
You cannot do this if you have already activated that system this round (unless you use the Warfare strategy ability).
The only space cannons that work with this are your own (see this question for details).


Are eliminated "Vulture Sam" and "Herb Hunter" triggered by "Ghost Town"?

Yes, according to a dodge city faq from the developer. It should be noted that when ghost town is in play players who have been eliminated are still considered eliminated and not part of the game when it is not their turn. If a player had been previously eliminated any abilities their character had will not activate unless it is their turn.

FAQ

  Q15. How the ability of Greg Digger and Herb Hunter must be applied when a ghost leaves play due to the Ghost Town?
  A. Each time a ghost leaves play, Greg Digger regains 2 life points while Herb Hunter draws 2 cards from the deck.

It should be noted that when ghost town is in play players who have been eliminated are still considered eliminated and not part of the game when it is not their turn. If a player had been previously eliminated any abilities their character had will not activate unless it is their turn.


Order of events with Stitcher's Apprentice

When an ability resolves, all parts of it are resolved in the listed order. You can't interpose any other actions (including playing another ability, but also including ending a step). So, you must sac a creature immediately after the homunculus comes into play (before any ETB triggers even go off).

What you can do is chump block with a creature you already have on the field (including the Apprentice itself), then activate the Apprentice's ability between the declare-blockers step and the combat-damage step, sacrificing your chump. Even if you end up saccing the Apprentice to its own ability, you're still trading up to a 2/2 and getting a body in your graveyard, which is useful in an Innistrad blue deck looking for corpses to enable cards like Skaab Goliath and Stitched Drake.


Is it ever better pass and not hit in backgammon?

In your own home board it is often unwise to hit blots unless you can point on them. Leaving two blots in your home board with enemy stones on the bar approaches suicidal in all circumstances I can conceive of just now.


Is the 4-player variant unbalanced? Is there a fix?

The 4-player game is extremely unbalanced.
Greyjoys need to play fast and aggressive with building a navy to stay in the game to begin with, in a 4-player game that need is greatly expanded; if they don't get an army down south, they'll never be able to be a real competitor.
(My group is current on hiatus from playing this game as the last game we played I (as my first time as the Lannisters) took over Ironman's Bay, and stranded the Greyjoy player for the rest of the game, continually raiding his Consolidate Power so he couldn't bid on the Influence Tracks, and kept him unable to place a single starred order the entire game.)
5-player has similar Greyjoy issues, but the inclusion of Tyrell (starting in the completely undefended south) usually makes a huge advantage for the lucky 5th player.
Generally speaking, I never used to play when I don't have 3 or 6 players, however, one of my friends stumbled upon this:
Using this overlay, and the rules that come with it (no Martells, a strength 5 neutral token on Sunspear, take out Greyjoy and make Pyke unclaimable with only 4 players), we were able to have quite a few successful games.
Then... I found these:
Rumble in the South  puts everybody deep in awesome. From boardgamegeek:

4 Players: Rumble in the South
In this variant, Stark and Greyjoy are unplayable and their lands are
impassable. The impassable regions thus include: Bay of Ice, Flint's
Finger, Ironman's Bay, Seagard, The Mountains of the Moon and The
Narrow Sea. This variant is excellent at creating a true 4-way battle
with shifting alliances! However I tend to make the win condition only
6 castles instead of 7 to speed up the game.

After a full 6-player game, this is my favorite way to play. Boardgamegeek also has 3 other game variants:

4 Players: Struggle in the North
In this variant, Tyrell and Martell are both unplayable and their lands are impassable. The impassable lands start at: Highgarden, The Reach, The Boneway, Storms End and includes all lands south of there. Interestingly, this variant leaves the oceans around the southern end of the continent open, and I recommend The Arbor remain in the game as well.
5 Players: Race to King's Landing
In this variant, Baratheon is unplayable and Dragonstone is impassable. But all other areas on the board are fair game. I like this variant since everyone else, except Greyjoy really, has a shot at taking King's Landing first.
5 Players: King in the North
Despite its name, this variant has Stark as the unplayable house, with their lands and the Arryn's lands impassable. This includes: Bay of Ice, Moat Calin, The Twins, The Mountains of the Moon and The Narrow Sea. I don't like this variant as much since Greyjoy goes at Lannister, and Tyrell tends to go at Martell, leading to a relatively easy Baratheon victory unless Tyrell and Martell team up on Baratheon. But it's still better than the neutral armies in the rules!

None of the 5-player games are nearly that interesting, so what we do with 5-player games is simply add +1 to all Martell neutral tokens; it seems to be enough to slow the onslaught of destruction set on by the Tyrells. At least enough for the Lannisters to join into the fun.
Variant 4/5-player board:


Multiple stack abilities and casting spells in that time

Yes, it is possible to respond to one trigger after others have finished resolving.

After Splinterfright's ability resolves, the active player (you) gets priority to play spells/abilities. See rule 116.3b:

  The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.

At this point, you have an opportunity to cast Dark Ritual. If no player has any further responses, then your Ritual will resolve, followed by Endless Ranks of the Dead's ability.


What game is this d6 with a blank two for?

Considering that that looks like a very generic die it might actually not be from a game but instead from a magic trick / illusionist kit.
I'd post a link to the various online stores that offer them, but none of them had a whole lot of information about how the trick would work.
It boils down to switching it out with a regular die though.

Of course it very well might be from a board game, but custom dice tend to have some flairs or branding or even a colour.


In Magic: The Gathering, can I include a card in my deck that I can't play based on my land setup?

If you are playing a typical constructed game, there is nothing that stops you from putting Progenitus in your deck even if you don't have anything that will give you the mana required to cast it. The Magic Tournament Rules for constructed tournaments don't have such restrictions: Deck Construction Restrictions.

On the other hand, there are formats which won't allow you to put Progenitus in your deck, unless specific conditions are met. One example is Commander, where you would need a Commander of all colors (or make Progenitus your Commander).


Must a caught novice walk back to her cell even when passing out of sight?

In short terms, no.

When the honest movement takes you out of the guard's line of sight, you may then take the last one or two steps (since you are only walking) in your preferred direction.

In longer terms: I've interpreted the rules literally. It says on page 3

  If you are caught by the guard, you are required to walk (not run) in the direction of your cell by the most direct route, as long as you are visible to the guard. Flip your novice status card over to "caught" as a reminder.


Playing cards without a check in Pathfinder

Yes playing both cards outside of an encounter are allowed. From the Pathfinder Skull and Shackles rulebook (and probably the others as well as the rule hasn't changed) on page 9:

  Playing Cards

  Anyone can play a card whenever the card allows it. Playing a card
  means using a power on that card by revealing, displaying, discarding,
  recharging, burying, or banishing that card or by performing another
  action specified by that card.


These are both correct. You see a difference because the abilities are on different permanents.

When you take control of an opponent's creature that is equipped with Rogue's Gloves, the Rogue's Gloves stays attached to the creature but the equipment itself is still controlled by the opponent, and the triggered ability is on the equipment. So, when the creature deals combat damage to the opponent, the opponent controls the Gloves' triggered ability and they get to draw the card.

  301.5d An Equipment’s controller is separate from the equipped creature’s controller; the two need not be the same. Changing control of the creature doesn’t change control of the Equipment, and vice versa. Only the Equipment’s controller can activate its abilities. However, if the Equipment grants an ability to the equipped creature (with “gains” or “has”), the equipped creature’s controller is the only one who can activate that ability.


Can you hide your number of cards in Uno?

The official rules of most games tell you what is allowed, and usually only tell you what isn't allowed when it seems that it would be possible otherwise.

For instance, there is no rule that says I can't add four cards to your hand whenever I feel like it. (feel free to add your own ridiculous rule here)

Should this be allowed because the rules don't specifically prohibit it? No! Of course not! The rules can't possibly list everything that's not allowed.

It's an important part of Uno that you can easily tell how many cards your opponents have so that they can be penalised for not calling "Uno" on their last card. The only way they can get out of this penalty is if the other players don't say anything about this before they can play their last card.

So, no, while it isn't specifically prohibited, it's not legal to hide your cards to gain an unfair advantage.

Of course, if you have a house rule that says you can do this (and all the players have agreed before the game began), it is allowed. However, you're not truly playing Uno anymore, just a game that's very similar to Uno.


Can you peek at your cards from future years in Seasons?

From the rulebook section II - Constructing your deck:

From the nine power cards chosen, each player should assemble three
sets  of three cards each. The first set immediately forms the
player’s hand, as it  corresponds to the cards with which the players
will begin their tournament.
The second set is placed under the
Library II token and will be added to  the player’s hand during the
second year of  the tournament. As for the third set of power  cards,
it is placed under the Library III token  and will be added to the
player’s hand during  the third and final year of the tournament. At
any point during the game, players can look  at the power cards
they’ve selected.

Emphasis mine.  Assuming I've understood your question correctly, there is no bar to looking at your cards for year two and year three to remind yourself what they are.


The order of events in this case is as follows:

Prosperity resolves
Resolve the text on the card in its entirety, so each player draws X cards.
Jace's Erasure's ability is triggered once for each card drawn, but we wait until the resolution of Prosperity is complete before putting the triggers on the stack.
The triggered abilities of Jace's Erasure resolve one at a time, and you mill cards from your opponent's library one at a time as they do.

Summary:
You both draw, then you mill the cards from your opponent's library. Changing whoever cast the spell does not affect this outcome.


In Warhammer fantasy, is it permissible to make an army using an old version of a race's codec?

Every tournament has its own specific rules, but I've never seen one that hasn't required the use of the latest/greatest rules sets available, both for the game itself and the army. There are often additional restrictions, e.g. banned items or characters, troop limits etc, as well as model requirements (minimal painting requirements, no use of non-GW models, etc).

There are several good reasons to require the latest rules for a tournament:

Everyone is on a level playing field (tournament organiser understands the environment)
Everyone knows exactly what to expect
Army list checking and meta game preparation is much simpler
Strange, unbalanced or just broken loopholes from previous editions are obsolete
Games Workshop gets you to spend more money


Do rounds progress independently from scenes?

Rounds are independent from where scenarios begin and end. In fact, when I play we are cognizant of that and will try to make sure a scenario finishes right before the next Crossfire card is drawn


Warlock Quest is to take life from another player, but I'm not allowed to attack them. Can I complete the quest?

If the particular game scenario (such as Lightbearers) prevents any player-player combat, then the quest is never achievable, and the quest should be discarded and another one picked instead. However, if there is a possibility that a character could die and be replaced by another that could be attacked, then the quest should be retained against that possibility. That would be one of the risks of taking a Warlock Quest! Of course, your group could decide together to discard any unachievable quests and pick another.


Which of Magic's 1v1 tournament constructed formats is most popular?

In my answer I only discuss the large, official tournaments like Pro Tours and Grand Prix, since they are the only ones with readily available data. Everyone can register a sanctioned event of their own, and there doesn't seem to be an overview with attendance numbers or format used. The best numbers to obtain would probably come from WotC's own market research, but they're never going to publish that in any detail.

In terms of all-time number of events and players, Grand Prix are the most important event type. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Limited and Standard are the most common formats, accounting for 446 of total 654 GPs.

Limited: 290 events, 294,076 players
Standard: 156 events, 172,203 players
Modern: 76 events, 115,227 players
Legacy: 31 events, 47,223 players
Pioneer: 5 events (3 played, 2 planned), 4276 players
Vintage does not have any GP or PT events.

Going by average number of attendees per event, the ranking looks almost inverted:

Legacy: 1,523
Modern: 1,516
Pioneer 1,425
Standard: 1,103
Limited: 1,014

The inversion in ranking of the non-Pioneer formats from total numbers to average numbers per event seems to show that the less-supported formats still have a dedicated player base that makes use of any opportunity to play competitively, while the more supported formats spread out their player base over more events.

Pioneer meanwhile does show a strong popularity, going by average number of players per event. Since it's a brand-new format with all events played in 2020, only time will tell if its popularity is sustainable, or if it's just due the novelty of the format that will eventually wear off.

Pro Tours are harder to quantify by format since they are mostly played in mixed formats, but since their total numbers are much lower and proportionally similar to GPs, they don't change the overall picture. Combinations of Standard and Limited formats account for the plurality of players and events.

In terms of prize pool, however, PTs are much more significant. GPs range from $10K to $80K, while PTs range from $100K to $850K, an order of magnitude more.

Sources:

Mtg Pro Tour, List of events

MtG Grand Prix,
 List of events


Does a legendary creature "die" when put into the graveyard due to the Legendary rule?

Yes, it's considered as died.

  700.4. The term dies means “is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.”