Why isn't the minimum bid for a property its mortgage value?

From the official rules (emphasis mine):

  BANKER… Select as Banker a player who will also make a good
  Auctioneer. A Banker who plays in the game must keep his/her
  personal funds separate from those of the Bank. When more than five
  persons play, the Banker may elect to act only as Banker and
  Auctioneer.

As many people who play auctions in Monopoly know, starting a typical English-style auction at a $1 minimum bid and allowing increments of $1 each makes for painfully slow auctions, especially for higher value properties.  However, the Auctioneer's primary purpose isn't to make auctions fast, profitable, or even interesting; he's there to sell property.  Selling property moves the game along, and the faster the property gets into the hands of the players, the faster everyone can get to the interesting trading and development part of the game.  There should never be any cases where any property remains on the board after someone lands on it.

However, the rules explicitly state that the Banker needs to be a good Auctioneer.  Any Auctioneer who lets all of his auctions run forever for no good purpose doesn't really qualify as "good".  Adequate, sure.  Competent, maybe.  But not good.

Regardless of the starting bid, any decent auction will result in the property selling at a reasonable market price; the only variable is how long the auction runs before this price is reached.  If the opening bid is too high, nobody will bid until the Auctioneer lowers it.  If the opening bid is so low that everybody's bidding, he can make larger increments to weed out the cheapskates.  He has many tools at his disposal to figure out what this reasonable market price is, and exactly which tool is needed depends on the situation.

An Auctioneer who knows how to control an auction as efficiently as possible to sell property is a good Auctioneer.  An Auctioneer who does nothing but lets his players control the auction is just a Banker.

As the opening question states, properties will rarely if ever sell at below the mortgage value, if for no other reason than because other players don't want their opponents to get free money.  As such, starting an auction at or near the mortgage price is perfectly reasonable in most situations.

However, most situations are not all situations.  There will be cases where nobody actually wants the property at mortgage value; it could be because all cash is tied up in developments, it could be because people are saving up for that last property in a colour group, it could just be because nobody likes utilities.  By having no fixed minimum bid, the Auctioneer thus has the option to sell the property at a loss, just to sell the property.  That is his job, after all.  Sell property.

Breaking one of the tools in his toolbox makes for a less efficient Auctioneer, and we don't want that.

The chances of all players being unwilling to spend $1 on a property, which they can immediately mortgage for what is effectively a full refund, is negligible; if the price is right, any property should sell.  Fixing a minimum bid in the rules would open up too many chances of a property going unsold, which would inevitably slow down the game each time someone lands on that square and the whole process starts up again.

Even a property that's immediately mortgaged can eventually be paid off and activated, or traded to other players.  An unsold property is just useless.


What has been your experience with random villager roles in Werewolf?

I've found that if you introduce too much chaos it becomes way, way more difficult for the villagers to figure out what's going on. Even if they were picking 3 roles from among 4 you've added enough chaos that you'll likely need at least one more villager (depending on the roles).

I've played it that way a few times and it's been kind of fun, but it throws deduction and intuition out the window, leaving it pretty much entirely a game of chance. Which, of course, the villagers almost always lose since only the wolves have any real idea of what's going on.


Which are chess variants that are helpful in teaching chess?

Pushing the pawn

White has a king with its pawn, black only has a king (all at their usual starting locations). White wins if the pawn savely (so either protected by its king or the black king more than one square away) moves to the last row, black wins if he survives 40 rounds (each player has 40 moves).

Teaches opposition

Checkmate for two

White has a king and first a queen, next a rook, then two bishops, then two knights (no forced checkmate possible), then a bishop and a knight. Black has only the king and white wins if he ckeckmates black, black if he survives 40 rounds.

Teaches checkmate options for different pieces.


Do the counters that Ring of Thune adds stay with the ring or the creature?

The Ring of Thune puts counters on the creature, so the counters stay with the creature, not the equipment. If they wanted the power and toughness bonus to stay with the equipment instead of the creature, they would use a wording like on Sigil of Distinction:

Sigil of Distinction enters the battlefield with X charge counters on it.
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each charge counter on Sigil of Distinction.


Can I save my Bristling Hydra by responding to removal with something that gives me energy?

Yes. Players get priority after each spell or ability resolves (starting with the Active Player).[CR 116.3b]

Harnessed Lightning is an instant, so it may be cast in response to Vraska's Contempt. Harnessed Lightning needs to target a creature. You could target your own Bristling Hydra and choose to deal no damage to it on resolution. (It might be safer to target an opponent's creature, but I'm assuming there are no other creatures on the 'field.) As the last spell or ability added to the stack, it resolves next.

After Harnessed Lightning resolves, you can activate Bristling Hydra's activated ability. As the last spell or ability added to the stack, it resolves next.

Finally, Vraska's Contempt would resolve, but is countered by the rules for having only illegal targets. Your opponent doesn't even get the 2 life.

The following is the game flow in detail:

NAP casts Vraska's Contempt targeting NAP's Bristling Hydra.
NAP passes priority.
AP casts Harnessed Lightning targeting their Bristling Hydra.
AP passes priority.
NAP passes priority.
Harnessed Lightning resolves:

AP gains 3 energy.
AP chooses not to pay any.
AP deals no damage to their Bristling Hydra.

AP activates Bristling Hydra activated ability
AP passes priority.
NAP passes priority.
Bristling Hydra activated ability resolves:

AP puts a +1/+1 counter on their Bristling Hydra.
Their Bristling Hydra gains Hexproof.

AP passes priority.
NAP passes priority.
Vraska's Contempt is countered by the rules for having only illegal targets.

The following is how the above might be voiced (using tournament shortcuts):

NAP: I cast Vraska's Contempt targeting your Bristling Hydra. [Implicitly passes.]
AP: In response, I cast Harnessed Lightning targeting my Bristling Hydra. [Implicitly passes.]
NAP: Pass.
AP: Harnessed Lightning resolves. I pay nothing.
AP: In response to Vraska's Contempt, I activate Bristling Hydra's activated ability. [Implicitly passes.]
NAP: Pass.
AP: Bristling Hydra's ability resolves.
AP: [Proposes a shortcut:] Vraska's Contempt is countered.
NAP: [Accepts shortcut:] ok.


Does an activated ability that creates a permanent get affected by Damping Engine?

Damping Engine deals only with the ability to cast things, not the creation of things.

So firstly, Damping Engine does not stop you from using any abilities that produce permanents (e.g. Krenko, Mob Boss) even if you have the most permanents.

Secondly, the ability only applies while you have the most and it only applies to playing lands and casting artifacts, creatures, or enchantments. Spells that make tokens (e.g. Entreat the Angels) are completely unaffected by the ability. If you're tied with another player for most permanents, you'll still be able to cast a creature/artifact/enchantment because you do not have more than everyone else.

Finally, and this is an odd one. The ability to sac creatures to end the effect is only usable by the player with the most permanents and can only be used once per turn.

From the gatherer:

  A player can only sacrifice a permanent to end this effect if they have more permanents than any other player, and they haven't already sacrificed a permanent to end the effect this turn. The ability to sacrifice a creature is granted by the same effect that is being ended.


What happens when I Radiate a Time Stretch with Timesifter in play?

There are several different things going on here, so it's important to understand the key details.  Those boil down to:

1) Nothing in your scenario changes the turn order.  This is essential, because it's the first guide to understand what's going on.  While Time Sifter looks like it effectively changes the turn order, instead it specifically generates extra turns itself.

2) This is relevant because the game maintains what amounts to a stack (not to be confused with the actual stack in the game, for resolving spells) of extra turns; any effect that says '~player~ takes an extra turn after this one' adds an extra turn for ~player~ onto that stack.  This is spelled out in rule 500.7:

  500.7. Some effects can give a player extra turns. They do this by adding the turns directly after the current turn. If a player gets
  multiple extra turns or if multiple players get extra turns during a
  single turn, the extra turns are added one at a time. The most
  recently created turn will be taken first.

Let's look at how this works on its own: suppose you're playing a four-player game, players A, B, C, and D (in that order); the turn order would then normally be A B C D A B C D etc.  Now, suppose player A plays a Time Sifter.  At the start of player B's upkeep, the structure of the upcoming turns looks like (using [] to denote the current turn: [B] C D ...  Technically, the game doesn't actually know that C will be taking a turn after B; instead, it knows that the 'present' turn is controlled by B.  I'll denote this by starring that turn: [B*] C D A ...  Now, Time Sifter's effect resolves; we'll say that D wins.  An extra turn for D (we'll label extra turns with a ' symbol, so D') - is 'inserted' after the current turn: [B*] D' C D A ...  Now, B finishes their turn and it goes on to D's extra turn: B* [D'] C D A ...  Assume that now C 'wins' the Time Sifter fight.  Then the turn structure becomes B* [D'] C' C D A ...; D's extra turn finishes, the turn passes to C's extra turn, and the game all the while is remembering that B took the last 'non-extra' turn and that C is next in turn order: B* [C'] C D A ...  Things go on like this until Time Sifter is removed.

3) Now, the next piece of the puzzle: Radiate's interaction with Time Stretch.  I'll assume that during one of player A's 'extra' turns (so that the current structure is B* [A'] C D A ...) they cast Time Stretch (targeting themselves!), and that player B Radiates it.  As other answers have noted, when Radiate resolves copies of Time Stretch will be generated for players B, C, and D; these copies resolve before the original Time Stretch does.  I'll presume that player B stacks them with his copy on the bottom, D above, and C's copy on top, so that the resolution will be CDBA; this means that after all the copies and the original Stretch resolve, the 'turn stack' looks like: B* [A'] A' A' B' B' D' D' C' C' C D A ...

4) From here, Time Sifter will work as normal.  This means that (once A's turn ends) A will start to take the first of their extra turns, putting the Sifter on the stack: B* [A'] A' B' B' D' D' C' C' C D A ...  Now, suppose D wins.  Then a new extra turn for D will be added, but all of the other extra turns are still there: B* [A'] D' A' B' B' D' D' C' C' C D A ... and once the turn passes from A to D, it'll look like B* [D'] A' B' B' D' D' C' C' C D A ... - but all of those extra turns are still hanging out, waiting for Time Sifter to go away somehow so that they can be had.

I hope this helps somewhat - it's obviously a remarkably complex situation, but once you understand what each effect is actually doing it all flows relatively straightforwardly.


How many missed triggers are necessary before you begin to have Game Losses and/or DQs?

The same pdf referenced contains some text that shows the escalation of warnings on page 7 (2paragraphs before the start of the 'gameplay error - missed trigger' section):

  A third or subsequent Warning for a Game Play Error offense in the same category should be upgraded to a Game Loss. For multi-day events, the penalty count for these infractions resets between days.


First game board to use hexagonal tiles?

One possible answer could be the game Agon (sometimes called "Queen's Guards" or "Royal Guards"). I ran across a reference to the game in the book "A world of chess: its development and variations through centuries and civilizations" (Cazaux, J., & Knowlton, R., 2017). They state the following:

  Perhaps the earliest recorded board game using hexagonal cells is Agon, a very original strategic Pawn game first published in 1842.

There were some claims that the game originated in the 18th century, but apparently the first published record of the game can be verified as 1842.

Cazaux, J., & Knowlton, R. (2017). A world of chess: its development and variations through centuries and civilizations. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., .


Does the red riding hood card allow you to move forward and use the path tokens again?

I would certainly say yes.  Besides the rules implying this, there is no other reason that I can see for them to explicitly tell you to leave the tokens on the cards.


How does Starfield of Nyx interact with the Theros Gods?

The general idea is that each ability is either "on" or "off" depending on whether its "as long as" clause is satisfied, so we just apply the abilities that are "on" to Heliod's base characteristics.

Situation 1. (Devotion < 5, enchantments < 5.)

In this situation, Heliod's "as long as" condition is true and Starfield's is false, so the only relevant active effect from those cards is

  Heliod isn't a creature.

So, Heliod is just a White Enchantment.

Situation 2. (Devotion < 5, enchantments ≥ 5.)

In this situation, both "as long as" conditions are true, so the following effects are active for Heliod:

  Heliod isn't a creature

and

  [Heliod] is a creature in addition to its other types and has base power and base toughness equal to its converted mana cost.

This is the only one of these situations in which timestamp matters.

Both relevant abilities here are static abilities that generate continuous effects. Rule 613.6a says

  A continuous effect generated by a static ability has the same timestamp as the object the static ability is on, or the timestamp of the effect that created the ability, whichever is later.

So, the order in which we apply these effects depends on the order in which the permanents entered the battlefield.

Heliod enters first

In this case, we apply Heliod's effect first. So we apply the effects as follows:

In Layer 3, Heliod's ability makes it not a creature, then Starfield's ability makes it a creature. The result is that Heliod is a creature.
In Layer 7b, Starfields' ability sets Heliod's base power and toughness to 4.

So,  Heliod is a White 4/4 God Enchantment Creature.

Starfield enters first

In this case, we apply Starfield's effect first. So we apply the effects as follows:

In Layer 3, Starfield's ability makes Heliod a creature, then Heliod's ability makes it not a creature. The result is that Heliod is not a creature.
In Layer 7b, Starfield's ability sets Heliod's base power and toughness to 4, but that doesn't matter because Heliod is not a creature.

So, Heliod is again just a White Enchantment.

Situation 3. (Devotion ≥ 5, enchantments < 5.)

In this situation, neither "as long as" condition is true. So, Heliod has its base characteristics, and it is a 5/6 White God Enchantment Creature.

Situation 4. (Devotion ≥ 5, enchantments ≥ 5.)

In this situation, only Starfield's "as long as" condition is true, so the only active effect on Heliod is

  [Heliod] is a creature in addition to its other types and has base power and base toughness equal to its converted mana cost.

So, Starfield redundantly makes Heliod a Creature and sets its base power and toughness to 4. The end result is that Heliod is a 4/4 White God Enchantment Creature.

As a side note, if you replace Starfield of Nyx with Opalescence, situations 2 and 4 apply in exactly the same way. If you replace Heliod with a regular (non-God) enchantment creature, situations 3 and 4 apply in exactly the same way.


Q: Does affecting an action card affect the Minion it has been played on?

A: No.

Q: Can an ongoing action card played on a minion be destroyed when an action played on a base is preventing minions from being affected?

A: Yes.

From the most recent rules (Pretty Pretty Smash Up), page 9:

  Affect: A card is affected if it is moved, returned, destroyed, placed, or is changed in power or controller, or has an action attached.

Removing an action is none of these. Even if you were removing an action that gave +2 power, the action doing the removal isn't changing the the minion's power.


mana floating is a slang mtg term and refers to mana left over after you play a spell.

  Refers to mana added to a player's mana pool and not used immediately.
  For example, a player might tap all of his or her lands for mana, then
  play Armageddon (destroying all land in play), then use the excess
  "floating" mana to play some other card.

http://mtg.wikia.com/wiki/Slang#Float

Talking about floating mana does not imply that you are about to pass priority. This is because you can play multiple spells before you pass priority and you would potentially have mana left in your pool between such plays. After casting each spell you need to make it clear how much and what type of mana you still have in your pool, so talking about how much and of what types of mana are still floating seems appropriate.

In a tournament, as long as your usage is clear and consistent there should be no problems.


What would casting a card with Sunburst do with an effect like Jodah's?

You would get 5 counters.

The reminder text and the comprehensive rules for Sunburst say “for each color of mana spent to cast it.” So all that matters is how many colors you spent to cast it; not what the casting cost is or anything like that.

  702.43a Sunburst is a static ability that functions as an object is entering the battlefield from the stack. “Sunburst” means “If this object is entering the battlefield from the stack as a creature, it enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it. If this object is entering the battlefield from the stack and isn’t entering the battlefield as a creature, it enters the battlefield with a charge counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.”


Help identify this game with four divided concentric circles

It is a Morra board game.
You will find details here on Board Game Geek :
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/41679/morra-board

Here is their explanation of it:

  From the instructions: Morra-board builds on an ancient game - renewing and varying it by linking it to a board.
  The old game on which Morra-board is based is in Danish called 'Klunse', in English 'Odds and Evens'. Each of the two players presents a clenched fist containing a few small stones, coins or matches - both players taking turns at guessing if the sum of the objects in the two hands is even or uneven.

  Players pieces move around the track based on how many total marbles the two players reveal. If the inner track has a marking on it, the piece advances. The goal is to be the first to advance all the way to the center.


How can I play Mystic Sanctuary and not auto-lose to Boil?

The main threat of Boil is that it is a single card that can destroy multiple Islands at once. If you are in a situation where you have multiple Islands to get destroyed, you should be able to have some of them untapped. So you can just handle it like any other threat and play regular countermagic like Negate or Mana Leak or Cryptic Command, and keep mana available when your opponent is threatening Boil.


Returning an attacking creature equipped with Trepanation Blade

Yes, the ability will do as much as it can when it resolves

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

Trepanation Blade triggers whenever the equipped creature attacks. The ability is now on the stack, no matter what happens to the creature afterwards. If the creature has left the battlefield by the time TP gets to resolve, boosting its power will be impossible, but TP will still do as much as possible, i.e. the defending player has to reveal cards and put them into his or her graveyard.


What happens when a Jace, the Mind Sculptor is played in an unspecific format?

Your and your opponent either agree to a format (in which case, you follow the restriction of that format), or you agree to use your own format (in which case you get to decide what cards are allowed in it). The rules have no say in this.


A city in Carcassonne is completed when their are no places you can possibly add any additional tiles to grow that city.

Three Cities, A, B, & C.
Three Tiles that can be laid down (1,2, & 3) in the Green Square..

So in this first picture; only city "B" is completed (3 tiles); as you cannot add any more tiles to that specific city; city A & C are incomplete as you can put at least one more tile on both of those cities (Green Square).

In this picture you will see if we use Tile #1 in the green square; we are actually merging Cities A & C; making a single city of 7 tiles.   City B is unchanged and is still considered completed.

In this picture we played tile #2, it completed both City A (4 tiles) and City C (4 tiles).  None of these cities can grow anymore so they are ALL considered completed.

Using tile #3, will actually keep both City A & C open as they both have at least ONE place to add an additional tile.

Also depending on what additional add-ons you have added to your base game, you could also play a tile like

that closes city C and leave city A open.


No, it won't untap. "Those creatures" is not a check. It's just a nice way of saying "those objects that were targeted". Any later changes to the object's characteristics are irrelevant.

608.2i If an ability’s effect refers to a specific untargeted object that has been previously referred to by that ability’s cost or trigger condition, it still affects that object even if the object has changed characteristics.
Example: Wall of Tears says “Whenever Wall of Tears blocks a creature, return that creature to its owner’s hand at end of combat.” If Wall of Tears blocks a creature, then that creature ceases to be a creature before the triggered ability resolves, the permanent will still be returned to its owner’s hand.

A note on "untargeted"
It seems to me that "specific untargeted object" refers to phrases like "that something" or "those somethings", even if they are short for "that targeted something" or "those targeted somethings". The word "untargeted" is there to exclude "target something" and "target somethings" from being covered by 608.2i since targets are rechecked on resolution.
There are two cards that cannot shorten "that targeted creature" to "that creature" without becoming ambiguous. "That targeted creature" does not target, so 608.2i does apply.


Go: How is a "suicidal" move that captures enemy stones handled?

This is confusing to many new players. The rule is:

Always capture opponent stones first. That means all opponent groups which are without liberties.
Then, and only then, see if your own stone, or more precisely the group it belongs to, is without liberties

If (after capturing) your own stone is without liberties, the result depends on the rule set used:

In Japanese and Chinese rules, your move was simply illegal. So don't do this!
In New Zealand rules, your own stone (group) now gets captured.

For the second point, you may be wondering why one would ever intentionally play a stone that is immediately taken from the board. The simple answer is that this can sometimes be a ko threat. It can rarely also influence a semeai (capturing race).

There are a few details when performing suicide of a single stone regarding ko/superko, but you would likely never encounter it in practice.


You have to assign lethal combat damage to all blocking creatures before you can assign any to the player.  From the rules (emphasis mine):

  702.19b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking
  creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned
  as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the
  player or planeswalker the creature is attacking. 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. The attacking
  creature’s controller need not assign lethal damage to all those
  blocking creatures but in that case can’t assign any damage to the
  player or planeswalker it’s attacking.

Short answer: no, you can't assign 0 to the 2/2 and the 3/3 and still hit the defending player.  You have to assign enough damage to all the blockers to otherwise kill them before you can assign any leftover damage to the player.


Your combo will not work for two reasons.

Cloudstone Curio never triggers.

Cloudstone Curio triggers when a nonartifact permanent enters the battlefield. Pierce Strider is an artifact, and so it will not cause Cloudstone Curio to trigger.

You must choose another permanent.

Cloudstone Curio says you may return another permanent. "Another" in this case means "not the thing that caused the trigger".


How to define "to the best of your ability"?

In the rules for Harbor, under "How Buildings Work":

  Some actions have two separate parts which are not dependent on each
  other, and in those cases you may perform the parts in any order, or
  perform one part and not the other.  However, you must perform both if
  you can.  The actions with two separate parts are the Library, Bank,
  Traders Guild, Architectural Society, Privateer Ship, and Seaside
  Crane, and they all have the '&' symbol.

So in your case you would exchange goods and then end your turn.


What cards transfer mana from colorless to any color?

For once per turn effects, something like Mana Prism or Prophetic Prism do that. For permanent "spend mana as if it were any kind", something like Mycosynth Lattice might be your only option.


No. The Commander rules state (CR903.3) state: "[Being a commander] is not a characteristic of the object represented by the card; rather, it is an attribute of the card itself. The card retains this designation even when it changes zones." and drives the point home with the last example: "A permanent that's copying a commander (such as a Body Double, for example, copying a commander in a player's graveyard) is not a commander."


Can proliferate be applied to loyalty counters?

Yes you can proliferate loyalty counters on planeswalkers because they are permanents.

Planeswalkers are not players however, the only time they sort-of act like players is "If noncombat damage would be dealt to a player by a source controlled by an opponent, that opponent may have that source deal that damage to a planeswalker the first player controls instead." And really that is just a rule so that cards like Lightning Bolt will be effective against them without needing errata.

  110.4. There are five permanent types: artifact, creature, enchantment, land, and planeswalker.


Model positioning during multiple close combats after removing models

This exact situation is covered under Incomplete Ranks in the Close Combat section of the rules (pg 49.)

  If the unit is fighting to its rear (or fighting to both flanks) some
  enemy models might not end up in base contact because of the models in
  the incomplete rear rank. In this specific situation, the models can
  fight across the gap, even if not physically in base-to-base contact.
  In reality, the chargers would not have stopped one step away from the
  enemy and would have moved in to continue the fight — treat these
  models as being in base contact with the enemy.

They count as being in base contact even though there is a gap.


Magic: The Gathering - Does Captivating Crew's ability resolve if I bounce it in response?

Yes, they still gain control of your creature.

  112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time won't affect the ability.

This is the same for any sort of ability; removing the source does nothing to the ability itself.


Can items and Tokens still be claimed from the Mansion even if the character is defeated?

You would apply the effect of any [Token][Item][Event], or any other Non-Infected card when it is revealed, before defeating or failing to defeat the infected. You resolve combat only after applying the effects of the Non-Infected cards.
The official Rules say:

Non-Infected Cards
Sometimes Events can be found when Exploring the Mansion instead of an Infected. In this case, When the Event is revealed, perform the effect listed on the card.

There is also the Comprehensive FAQ (which appears to be answered mostly by Alex_Bandai, who I assume is a Bandai Representative):

If I am defeated can I still collect Tokens or Items reveled?
Yes, you collect all tokens and items as soon as you discover them.


Do I have to "choose" when not targetting?

If Narset is the only Red or Black source you will have to choose her when the ability resolves if you activate Penance. The only way you could not make a choice is if there are no Red or Black sources to choose, but you would still be able to activate the ability. Note that the source you choose doesn't have to be something that will ever deal damage, it can be something like Doom Blade or Aggravated Assault.

  608.2d If an effect of a spell or ability offers any choices other than choices already made as part of casting the spell, activating the ability, or otherwise putting the spell or ability on the stack, the player announces these while applying the effect. The player can’t choose an option that’s illegal or impossible, with the exception that having a library with no cards in it doesn’t make drawing a card an impossible action (see rule 120.3).

  119.7. The source of damage is the object that dealt it. If an effect requires a player to choose a source of damage, he or she may choose a permanent; a spell on the stack (including a permanent spell); any object referred to by an object on the stack, by a prevention or replacement effect that’s waiting to apply, or by a delayed triggered ability that’s waiting to trigger (even if that object is no longer in the zone it used to be in); or, in certain casual variant games, a face-up card in the command zone. A source doesn’t need to be capable of dealing damage to be a legal choice. See rule 609.7, “Sources of Damage.”


Can I use sleeve protectors for Dominion cards and still fit them back into the box?

I use the Mayday games sleeves for all my Dominion cards.

The sets of 10 Kingdom cards will still fit in their slots in the box just fine.  More numerous cards (like the Treasure and VPs) either will not fit at all, or will have to be jammed in pretty tightly.

Personally, I put Dominion, Intrigue, Seaside and Alchemy into two "long boxes" that you see used for CCGs, with little labeled tabs I printed from BGG separating them.  This takes up a lot less room than the 3 large boxes and half-size Alchemy box, and makes the game portable.

Prosperity is still in its original box since I'm out of space in my long boxes.  I keep all the Kingdom cards in their original slot, but keep Colony and Platinum in some of the larger unused slots rather than the ones labeled for them, because I don't like the tight fit.


According to the rule 109.3 which states:

  109.3. An object’s characteristics are name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype,  supertype, rules text, abilities,
  power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier. Objects
  can have some or all of these characteristics. Any other information
  about an object isn’t a  characteristic. For example, characteristics
  don’t include whether a permanent is tapped, a spell’s  target, an
  object’s owner or controller, what an Aura enchants, and so on.

Which means that the expansions symbol on the card is no longer a characteristic.

This might explain it more: https://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/255c&page=3

  109.3

  Expansion symbols are no longer a characteristic. Magic cards are
  recognized as individual game pieces by their English card names. One
  of the central tenets of that system is that all cards with the same
  name are considered the same for deck building and play purposes. This
  system lets us reprint cards, print promo cards, and have cards appear
  in many languages. But three older cards referred to cards from a
  specific expansion, and that runs contrary to the system. The Arabian
  Nights Bird Maiden and the Fourth Edition version should be the same,
  but City in a Bottle says they're not. In fact, it makes the original
  version worse!

  So, cards will no longer refer to expansion symbol as a
  characteristic. The three cards that used to do this (City in a
  Bottle, Golgothian Sylex, and Apocalypse Chime) will receive errata in
  a future update to refer to cards "originally printed" in the Arabian
  Nights, Antiquities, and Homelands sets, respectively). This means
  that City in a Bottle no longer affects any cards named Mountain. It
  also means that those three cards can affect cards that were in the
  appropriate set and then reprinted. City in a Bottle will affect the
  aforementioned Fourth Edition Bird Maiden.


Why does Dryad of the Ilysian Grove grant all basic land types even if it loses all abilities?

Dryad of the Ilysian Grove applies a type changing effect to all of your lands at layer 4, which takes effect before the Ichthyomorphosis removes the abilities of the Dryad at layer 6.  The ability to play an additional land would go away due to Dryad losing it's abilities and the additional land rule only taking effect after the layers are applied.

The Layer System is one of the most convoluted parts of MTG and can seem confusing at times.

Layers are one of the more difficult parts of the Comprehensive Rules to learn (613). They are often a bane to both players and beginning judges, but why do we have them? What do they do?
Magic is a very complex game, with literally thousands of cards that have continuous effects. When these continuous effects start to pile up, we need to know how they interact. The rules for layers give us a structure to make sure that when the same three cards end up in play at a tournament in Japan, the result is the same as when it happens in Italy, the U.S., and Brazil.

The rules for applying continuous effects is described in section 613 of the comprehensive rules.

613.1. The values of an object’s characteristics are determined by starting with the actual object. For a card, that means the values of the characteristics printed on that card. For a token or a copy of a spell or card, that means the values of the characteristics defined by the effect that created it. Then all applicable continuous effects are applied in a series of layers in the following order.

The ability

Lands you control are every basic land type in addition to their other types.

is a type-changing effect.

Any effect which would add, change or remove types, subtypes or supertypes from the object you’re evaluating. These should be easy to spot, but they’re often thrown in as part of a larger ability.

This applies at Layer 4, whereas ability adding or removing effects applies at Layer 6.

Any effect which would add or remove abilities to an object you’re evaluating.

Because of how layers work, the type changing ability of the Dryad applies before the Dryad loses his abilities.

If a continuous effect (i.e. Dryad's land changing effect) has started applying in an earlier layer, it will continue to apply in later layers even if the ability that created that effect has been removed.

This means that your lands are still every basic land type, even though the Dryad doesn't have that ability anymore.

The ability

You may play an additional land on each of your turns.

is a modification of the game rules; specifically 305.2.

305.2. A player can normally play one land during their turn; however, continuous effects may increase this number.

This ability is applied after the regular layers are applied.  Since this is after the ability-removing effect, the ability disappears and doesn't do anything.  From the MTG Comprehensive Rules

613.10. Some continuous effects affect game rules rather than objects. For example, effects may modify a player’s maximum hand size, or say that a creature must attack this turn if able. These effects are applied after all other continuous effects have been applied.  Continuous effects that affect the costs of spells or abilities are applied according to the order specified in rule 601.2f. All other such effects are applied in timestamp order. See also the rules for timestamp order and dependency (rules 613.6 and 613.7)

The Ichthyomorphosis effect from Layer 6 is applied before the effect that modifies game rules to allow you to play an additional land on your turn.  This ability disappears and thus doesn't allow you to play an additional land.
So, ultimately, you have the following application of effects in your game.

613.1d Layer 4: Type-changing effects are applied. These include effects that change an object’s card type, subtype, and/or supertype.

All lands you control gain each of the subtypes: "Plains", "Island", "Forest", "Swamp", "Mountain" (from Dryad of the Ilysian Grove) and by extension of rule 305.6 gain the ability to tap for any color of mana (but not colorless, as "Wastes" is not a basic land type)
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is a Fish and loses all other subtypes (from Ichthyomorphosis)

613.1e Layer 5: Color-changing effects are applied.

Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is Blue and loses all other colors (from Ichthyomorphosis)

613.1f Layer 6: Ability-adding effects, ability-removing effects, and effects that say an object can’t have an ability are applied.

Dryad of the Ilysian Grove loses all other abilities (from Ichthyomorphosis), note that this does not effect the sub-type changing effect from Layer 4 but does affect the additional land rule that would be applied after Layer 7

613.3b Layer 7b: Effects that set power and/or toughness to a specific number or value are applied.Effects that refer to the base power and/or toughness of a creature apply in this layer.

Dryad of the Ilysian Grove has it's P/T set to 0/1 (from Ichthyomorphosis)

After Layer 7

Normally, the additional land rule would effect the game here, but as it was removed in Layer 6, it does not have any effect.  You cannot play an additional land each turn.


Does Doubling Season creates attacking tokens with Hanweir Garrison?

Yes, all token creatures created by Hanweir Garrison etc. will be tapped and attacking, no matter how many are created.

Doubling Season (and Anointed Procession), as you noted, are replacement effects. The original effect never happens. In particular, Doubling Season replaces Hanweir Garrison's ability with the same ability, except it doubles the number of creature tokens the effect creates.

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

When Hanweir garrison's ability resolves with Doubling Season in play, its effect will simply read

  Put four 1/1 red Human creature tokens onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.


Mystery Mansion?

http://boardgamegeek.com/image/586882/mystery-mansion

I remember playing this game. Interesting idea.


Answered here:
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2248798/shieldgate-question

What is the correct way to score Shieldgate when you have three villages of size say 8, 8, and 3. Is one of the eights your second largest or are they both the largest and you score the three?

8 would be your second largest.

This was confirmed in the thread by Keith Matejka of Thunderworks Games.


What's the order of resolution for "everybody discard" in MTG?

You go in AP-NAP order around the table to choose a card.  However, the actual act of discarding is considered simultaneous, which means the chosen cards are still in the hand, a hidden zone, until all are chosen.  It is perfectly fine to, for example, set the chosen card aside face down until everyone has chosen one.

  101.4. If multiple players would make choices and/or take actions at the same time, the active player (the player whose turn it is) makes
  any choices required, then the next player in turn order (usually the
  player seated to the active player‘s left) makes any choices required,
  followed by the remaining nonactive players in turn order. Then the
  actions happen simultaneously. This rule is often referred to as the
  ―Active Player, Nonactive Player (APNAP) order‖ rule. Example: A card
  reads “Each player sacrifices a creature.” First, the active player
  chooses a creature he or she controls. Then each of the nonactive
  players, in turn order, chooses a creature he or she controls. Then
  all creatures chosen this way are sacrificed simultaneously.

  101.4a If an effect has each player choose a card in a hidden zone, such as his or her hand or library, those cards may remain face down
  as they‘re chosen. However, each player must clearly indicate which
  face-down card he or she is choosing.


During the final battle, the only thing that matters is the Ancient One and any Investigators who were not lost in time and space. Everything associated with the old board is irrelevant.

Take a look at the description of the turn structure on page 22 of the rules:

  Combat with the Ancient One is divided into rounds. During a round, players first have an opportunity to adjust their investigators. Then each player attacks the Ancient One. Finally, the Ancient One attacks the investigators. Once these steps have been resolved, a new round begins.

Where in there would monsters attack? And Investigators may only make combat checks against the Ancient One.

Your second question is answered by another paragraph on page 22:

  Instead, keep track of every success an investigator scores against the Ancient One (see "Skill Checks," page 13). These successes are cumulative, and each successive player adds to them with his own attack. When the players accumulate a total number of successes equal to the number of players (including any players that were eliminated from the game), remove one doom token from the Ancient One's doom track and reset their cumulative successes to zero.

And further clarified by the FAQ referenced in this question.

  If the investigators get 9 successes in the first round of combat, they would remove 2 doom tokens, and 1 success would carry over to the next round of combat.


You do not get "change". Loan cards are simply a penalty for playing a route that you can't afford to play. The loan is not a loan for 5 Euros, rather it is simply a card that counts as minus 5 points at the end of the game. The rules don't distinguish between being only 1 toll token short of playing a route or being short more than that... if you are short at all then you get -5 points at the end of the game. The loan card is just the reminder for that point loss.
From the rules:

If a player doesn’t have enough Bridge Toll Tokens left to
pay for the cost of a route, that player must take a single
Loan card from the bank when claiming that route, and
place it face up in front of him for the rest of the game.
The player pays no Tokens (even if he could have made
a partial payment), and can never reimburse this Loan.


Reducing the Imperial strategy's power in Twilight Imperium

"Imperial" is Twilight Imperium's biggest design flaw (IMO, of course).  As you'll typically get the card about twice in a game, and 2 vps is a winning margin in almost all circumstances, it makes the mid/endgame entirely about being the first person to grab Imperial for a second time.  In turn, this forces choice of card 1 to get the initiative whenever possible, so you can take "Imperial".  Which eliminates a lot of the interest provided by the actual strategies.

Your opinion is widespread, and the official Twilight Imperium variants FAQ has an "Ancient Throne" variant designed to deal with this problem.  Play with the "Age of Empire" variant in the rulebook (i.e. face-up Objective cards), and replace the primary ability of "Imperial" with:

Imperial Claim

Choose either a) or b).

a) If you control Mecatol Rex, immediately gain 1 victory point. Also, regardless of your control of Mecatol Rex, during the upcoming Status Phase, you may qualify for any
number of Public Objective Cards (but must still meet the individually stated requirements of each card).

b) You may choose to execute the secondary ability of the Imperial Strategy Card (at no cost). No other player may execute this secondary ability this game round.

Play the secondary as normal.

This became such a popular solution that they printed an "Imperial II" card with this wording in the "Shattered Empire" expansion.

The expansion also contains a more complex solution: It has a variant completely-different set of strategy cards for an alternate style of play; obviously this avoids the problem entirely.


duplicate bridge rules for revoke,and any penatly should be imposed

The Short Answer: The Director finds which card is missing and restores the player's hand. This card is considered to have belonged continuously to the owner's hand, and as a result may have caused an accidental revoke, which is penalized as if it was any normal revoke.

The long answer:

The first step of a Director in this circumstance is to review each of the tricks, starting with the most recent, until a irregularity is detected. Most likely, the player with 3 cards left will eventually find a trick where they played 2 cards, at which point law 67: Defective Trick handles the rest:

  (a) When the offender has played more than
  one card to the defective trick, the Director
  inspects the played cards and requires the
  offender to restore to his hand all extra
  cards, leaving among the played cards the
  one faced in playing to the defective trick
  (if the Director is unable to determine which
  card was faced, the offender leaves the
  highest ranking of the cards that he could
  legally have played to the trick). Ownership
  of the defective trick does not change.

  (b) A restored card is deemed to have
  belonged continuously to the offender’s
  hand, and a failure to have played it to an
  earlier trick may constitute a revoke.

  The Director should avoid, when possible, exposing
  a defender’s played cards, but if an extra card to be
  restored to a defender’s hand has been exposed, it
  becomes a penalty card (see Law 50).

Should the rewind result in what appears to be normal play, then the card must be either on the ground/otherwise hidden, or it doesn't exist. Law 14 gives the solution for this problem:

  if the card is found elsewhere, it is restored
  to the deficient hand. Rectification and/or
  penalties may apply (see 4 following).
  if the card cannot be found, the deal
  is reconstructed using another pack.
  Rectification and/or penalties may apply
  (see 4 following).
  a card restored to a hand under the provisions
  of Section B of this Law is deemed to have
  belonged continuously to the deficient hand.
  It may become a penalty card, and failure to
  have played it may constitute a revoke.

The same concept is used if a card is missing during the auction/ just prior to the play: The hand is re-constructed by finding the card or using a new deck, and the hand continues as if the offender had the card all along. However, in any case, the fact that there was a missing card is unauthorized information should it happen after the first call, and Director should make sure that partner doesn't make any inferences based on the fact that some/all of the offender's calls or plays were made with 12 cards.

There's also the highly unlikely but amusing possibility that the problem isn't that one player is missing a card, but three players have an extra card. This results in a similar process, but a much harsher one, as a player who played no card to a trick would "complete" it by playing a card (following suit if possible,) but counting that play as an automatic revoke regardless. If it turns out they had an extra card before the play of the cards, then it's entirely up to a Director judgment call as to whether the situation can be rectified (usually no) or if adjusted scores are required.


My understanding of this is that it should be from the current round of play.

I must admit but it's been a while since I've played Arcana. Good game, with enough innovations to have a place among my deck builders!


Do I have to move all units in the area I have attacked?

Yes, you already moved those troops during the March Orders step.
The rule book indicates that all troops are moved or not moved during the March Order, before combat begins. If you wanted to leave some troops behind, you need to do so before you begin combat and you cannot add those units to your combat strength.

-When a player moves one or more units into an area containing units from another house, he starts a combat as the attacker.  See rules for combat on page 17.
-Before resolving combat, all other non-combat movement from the area assigned the March Order must be completed.

This is further supported by the rules for retreating on page 21. The retreating units are currently in the embattled area, and must retreat back to the area they marched from.

If the attacker lost the combat, his surviving units must retreat back to the area from which they marched.


Triggered abilities from multiple players. Whose resolves first?

Triggers controlled by your opponent will resolve first, so you cannot use Obzedat's ability to exile it before the Archfiend's ability resolves. Rule 603.3b says

  If multiple abilities have triggered since the last time a player received priority, each player, in APNAP order, puts triggered abilities he or she controls on the stack in any order he or she chooses. (See rule 101.4.) Then the game once again checks for and resolves state-based actions until none are performed, then abilities that triggered during this process go on the stack. This process repeats until no new state-based actions are performed and no abilities trigger. Then the appropriate player gets priority.

"APNAP" here means Active Player, Non-Active Player. When the abilities trigger, first the active player (the player taking the turn) puts abilities they control on the stack, then the other player does. This means that your Obzedat's ability goes on the stack, followed by the Archfiend's ability, so the Archfiend's ability resolves before you have a chance to exile Obzedat.


Vampiric Link says:

  Whenever enchanted creature deals damage, you gain that much life.

"You" on a card refers to the controller of the card - and regardless of what Vampiric Link is enchanting, you (the person who cast Vampiric Link) will always* control it. So you'll always be the one gaining life, not your opponent.

*barring any control changing effects that occur


BRIDGE - What to do with 5 or more trumps in my partners (opening) major?

It depends on a few things, but basically you have a choice between a simple raise to 2M or a jump to 4M. First, did partner open in first seat, or later? If partner opened in first seat, your LHO has not had a chance to enter the auction yet and opponents are more likely to have a game. This makes the jump to 4 of the major more attractive. If LHO has already passed, opponents are unlikely to have a game, so the preemptive value of 4M is less useful and partner may have some extras. When partner has moderate extras, you're propelling your side to a shaky contract at best while the opponents are unlikely to find a plus.

Next, what is the shape of your hand? If it's 5332, 4M is less attractive. If it's 5431 or shapelier, 4M is more attractive.

If you decide to bid 2M only, your plan is to bid 3M over opponent's part-score interference and then go away, and not to accept partner's game tries. If you bid 4M, you've essentially shown your hand and you're done in the auction unless partner makes some forcing bid (essentially a cue bid or blackwood).


Identify a numbers game where you strike out numbers

Only thing I've been able to find refers to the game as TenPair

http://www.logicgamesonline.com/tenpair/


40K: strategies to help my Ork Trukks/Battlewagons survive long enough to deliver their passengers into assault range?

The best way to get Battlewagons across the board, that I've see used, is to attach a Big Mek with a Kustom Force Field to the squad inside.

This will make the Battlewagon(and I think every other vehicle within 6 inches of the Battlewagon) obscured.  A 4+ cover save should help you get across the board a little more consistently.


Note: all rules quotes below are from the Munchkin rulebook PDF. The same or very similar text is found in the Adventure Time rulebook PDF.

Can you use the "if you discard this card" effect for items you carry?

If you are talking about one-shot items, absolutely (as long as there is not a restriction on the item that you do not meet).

The rules specifically state under "One-Shot" Treasures on page 3 that they:

  may be played from your hand or from the table.

This does not specify that they have to be equipped to use.

If you have a different item that is not a one-shot and provides a discard ability, as long as you meet the other requirements (if any), then I would think that it is fine to use with carried items.

What kind of cards can be carried? example can I carry a class card?

No, you cannot carry class cards.

The rules state that only Items can be carried, where an Item is defined  in the Items section on page 3 by:

  Most Treasures are Items. Items have a Gold Piece
  value. (“No Value” is equivalent to zero Gold Pieces, and
  these cards are also Items.)

Thus any card with a listed gold piece value (or "No Value") is an Item and can be carried. Class cards do not have a value, nor do they come from the Treasure deck, and therefore cannot be carried.

Is there limits to what I can carry? example I'm carrying 4 armor cards.

You can carry any number of Items that are not Big, but only one Big Item.

The rules state under Big Items on page 3 that:

  You may carry any number of Small items, but only one Big
  one. (Any item not marked Big is considered Small.)

Can I sell cards for gold that I'm carrying?

Absolutely. Under the Selling Items for Levels section on page 3 it states:

  You may sell Items from your hand as well as those you are carrying.

Are cards you carrying considered to be "in play"?

Yes. Under Card Management on page 1 of the rules:

  In Play: These are the cards on the table in front of you, showing your Race and Class (if any) and the Items you are carrying.

Some items don't have body icon, is there limits of how many of that type of item I can equip?

There is no limit to how many untyped Items you may have equipped, but where the item has a type there is a limit (for Adventure Time this is the icon in the top left, which is what I assume you mean by the body icon).

Under the Items section of page 3 of the rules:

  Anyone can carry any Item ... but you may equip only one Headgear, one suit of Armor, one pair of Footgear, and two “1 Hand” Items (or one “2 Hands” Item)

Any item that does not have a type can be equipped without limit.


Do minor improvement actions have any meaning in the family version of Agricola?

The rules are pretty clear, the Minor Improvement cards are not used, so you ignore it.

Agricola as a Family Game (for 1-5 people from 10 years)
In the simplified version of Agricola, the Occupation and Minor Improvement cards are not used - players do not have a hand of cards.
The first game board is turned face down, showing the "Agricola Family Game" side, and in a 3-5 player game only the "Family Game" Action cards are used.
The Major or Minor Improvement action is restricted to Major Improvements.
Otherwise, the rules are the same as for the full game.


How does combat damage work with Party Crasher if he is both Attacking and Blocking simultaneously?

Party Crasher simultaneously deals damage equal to its power as an attacking creature, and again as a blocking creature. At the same time, creatures that it is blocking and creatures blocking it deal damage to Party Crasher equal to their power.
The combat damage step rules have these subrules:

510.1. First, the active player announces how each attacking creature assigns its combat damage, then the defending player announces how each blocking creature assigns its combat damage. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. A player assigns a creature’s combat damage according to the following rules:

510.1a Each attacking creature and each blocking creature assigns combat damage equal to its power. Creatures that would assign 0 or less damage this way don’t assign combat damage at all.

510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it’s dealt.

For this card, the first rule has to be modified to account for how this card works. I would say that the first sentence should say this instead:

First, each attacking player announces how each attacking creature they control assigns its combat damage, then each defending player announces how each blocking creature they control assigns its combat damage.

Then, this process would play out for the given example as follows:

Each attacking creature assigns combat damage equal to its power. In this case, there are two attacking creatures, each blocked by one creature, so Hill Giant A assigns 3 damage to Party Crasher, and Party Crasher assigns 3 damage to Hill Giant B.

Each blocking creature assigns combat damage equal to its power. Hill Giant B assigns 3 damage to Party Crasher, and Party Crasher assigns 3 damage to Hill Giant A.

All combat damage that's been assigned is dealt simultaneously. Hill Giants A and B each deal 3 damage to Party Crasher. Party Crasher deals 3 damage to each of Hill Giants A and B. Party Crasher's controller gains 6 life.

State based actions are evaluated. All three creatures have been dealt lethal damage, and die.

This is backed up by two questions that Mark Rosewater answered on his Tumblr blog:

mroltv asked: Party Crasher: how does a creature that's both attacking and blocking assign combat damage? If it isn't blocked, does it have to deal damage to the creature it's blocking before the player? Does it get to deal damage to both?
If it is both blocked as an attacker and blocks as a defender, all damage in combat is done at the same time (save last strike, first strike, double strike and triple strike).

otterofslaughter asked: In regards to the question about Party Crasher, we know WHEN it does damage, the problem is if it's both attacking and blocking, does it deal damage to what it's attacking AND blocking or do you divide it's damage between the things it's hitting
It does its full damage to each creature and takes full damage from each creature. It’s simultaneously fighting.


Insufficient resources for full resupply

You just supply with what you can. In your case, supply just 2 coal, instead of 3, because one player has been hoarding coal.

From the rulebook, page 6:

  If there are not enough resources left in the supply, that resource is
  not fully re-supplied! This might happen, if the players store too
  many resources in their power plants. The resource tokens in the game
  are limited.


What is the best way to deal with cheats?

If you're playing in any kind of organised play, there should normally be a store owner, tournament organiser or some kind of official you can report this to. This is normally the best approach as you don't then accuse the person directly and it's then in the hands of the official to investigate and discover what has happened. If you then report over time it builds up a profile of this persons continued actions (this is based on my experience playing competitive Magic the Gathering)
I'd even consider reporting it if it was casual games if you're playing in a store. Letting the owner know someone is coming in and cheating others let's them become aware of the sitation.

To ensure you can accuratly report things I'd make note of things like life totals and just being aware of the sitation. The moment something happens you should ask the person to stop the game, and go report the sitation.

If you're just talking about casual games, I'd suggest you just stop playing with this person. "Punishing" them by refusing to play games with them will teach them that if they want to ruin run for other people then you aren't going to let them play in your group at all. I'd try and talk to them and explain that it's meant to be fun and by cheating you take the fun away from other people and only add to their own experience.


What HQ to take for my 1500pts codex Space Marine army list

Captains and Masters are OK.  They are good at combat, but they don't really do anything to support the army.  They make a good second HQ choice unless you want to run bikes as troops.

Chaplains can boost a single squad, but he'll really only get one or two opportunities to earn his points.

Master of The Forge can be good, but he can get pretty expensive and never is quite as efficient as a Captain or Master.  Take him only if you want to run a list with 6 dreadnoughts.

The Librarian is the best generic HQ option for this list. Join him to the Terminator Squad and he will be protected by the independent character rules.  I'd personally just run him in power-armor to save on points, but Terminator armor with a storm shield is also a good setup.  Power-wise, I'd give him Null Zone and Gate of Infinity.  Gate will allow him to move the terminators around the board and Null Zone will help against any annoying invulnerable save death star units

If you want a good special character option to run with your list, I think Shrike would be the best fit.  Infiltrating fleeting terminators or assault squads can be lots of fun.


Double faced cards multiple transform triggers

Several points for the first question:

Elusive Tormentor's ability is not triggered, it is activated.
Discarding the card is not part of its effect, but part of the cost, and there is no limit to how often you activate that ability.
Even if it was part of the effect, you could still activate the ability several times and discard several cards, because the discard and the flip would be separate effects. If one effect of a spell or ability gets prevented or replaced somehow, the other effects are not affected.


I expect they'll need to FAQ it, possibly either making a new Game Area or have the card be in a special Masterplan area.

Technically, since the card under Masterplan did not change Game Area, it is still in your hand. This means you can look at it, play it (if you choose the correct house), discard or Archive it.


Casual trick taking penalties for illegal plays

Generally when I play games like that and a miss play is caught before the next trick is played then the play is corrected.  However if it is caught later then the player that messed up losses the hand. In hearts for example they would take all 26 points and everyone else would get 0. In a game where you want points they take the penalty for not getting the minimum bid or whatever they bid. This seems to be a quick and fair way to handle miss plays that you can't correct.

It may sound harsh but following suit in a card game should be a very simple strategy.

Only other option is to throw out the hand and redo it.


Attacking someone that is using the Ring

You were correct; the attacker determines the stat used.

The Ring reads:

  If you attack an opponent that has a Sanity trait, you can attack with Sanity instead of Might.

As it states, one can only use the Ring when taking the attack action. If someone is merely the subject of an attack, they may not use the Ring.

As usual, the attacker determines the stat used for both the attack and the defense. In this case, Might is used by both the attacker and the defender.


Does removing a creature from the battlefield during the blockers declaration phase affect the damage the player will take?

Here's a breakdown of the five stages in the relevant part of the turn:

Declare attackers step

(1) attackers are declared
(2) players get priority (to cast instants and activate abilities)

Declare blockers step

(3) blockers are declared
(4) players get priority

Combat damage step

(5) damage is assigned and dealt
...

For the most part, you only check what something does and if it's legal right when it happens. So damage (dealt in stage 5) is only dealt by creatures that are still in combat at stage 5, and is based on their power at the moment stage 5 happens. Blocking (done in stage 3) is legal if it is legal at the moment stage 3 happens. So to answer your questions:

1) yes, since the creature is not still in combat at stage 5.

2) 3, since their power is 1 each by the time stage 5 happens.

3) As long as you use Path to Exile in stage 2 (or earlier in the turn), blocking the sliver will be legal since nothing will be preventing that when stage 3 happens. If you cast it during the declare blockers step (i.e. during stage 4) then it will be irrelevant because all blockers are declared in stage 3.


Identify a fantasy board game from the 90's

I think you are thinking about Dark World (1991) and/or its two expansions:
Dark World: Village of Fear (1993)
Dark World: Dragon's Gate (1993)

Grim Reaper:

Green Arch-villain:

more images here


Opened Legendary Dragon Decks; wrong card order?

Are these cards fake?

tl;dr: No, they seem original. Cards may have slightly different details (like coloring) between different printings. Also, cards appear ordered by card number and not by card type.

I doubt it. Besides, I also doubt that Amazon would sell fake products advertised as legit.

You mention that the order were some monsters first, then spell/traps, and then other monsters. However, cards appear ordered based on their card number, not by card type.

The Legendary Dragon Decks cards have a specific card number, for example Dark Magician, the Dragon Knight is number "LEDD-ENA00". This card, as it is number 00, should come first in the order. Then number "LEDD-ENA01" comes, etc...

If we check the first link I included we can see that this is true. Some monsters come first, then a bunch of spell/traps, and finally other monsters, all based on the card number and ordered in ascending manner.

Edit given card images:

Judging by the images you included, I'd say that those cards seem to be legit. Be careful, as they are from two different sets, so the newest version (the one on the left, from the LEDD collection) may have slightly different coloring (as it's newer), but that doesn't make either fake:

We can see that the card number corresponds to the official one: LEDD-ENC23. The one on the right also displays it's corresponding number from the Yuya Starter Deck: YS16-EN040
We can see the dimensions fit, and all parts of a YGO card are there (type, the frames, copyrights, etc.).
The First Edition golden Millenium Eye sticker on the corner seems like the original ones (holographic). Do check both of them more closely but from here it seems ok).
The card code matches for both of them: 77826734


While low interaction is a frequent critique of the game, I think most experienced players would tell you that you're not playing the game as effectively as you could. First, I'm assuming you're playing the game without the Brink of War rules which add direct player conflict to the game. Second, a large part of the subtlety of the game is the need to very carefully make decisions about role selection - optimally, you want to balance your selection against the roles you think other players will select while avoiding selections that benefit other players more than they benefit you (in other words, you want to maximize the value/activity you achieve during a term while minimizing the value/activity of your opponents).

Another subtle point is the need to review other player's tableaus for point scoring combos - when you see someone else's combo fall into place, it's generally advisable to move the game to its end (unless of course your own combo is up and running and superior). The last tidbit that is typically overlooked is card denial. In most games of RftG, the deck will be shuffled a few times, increasing the odds that your opponents will get the chance to play rarer cards that can shift the victory point totals significantly. Holding on to cards that you intend to spend for a bit longer can mean that a useful card never sees play due to the timing of shuffles!


Can I use Trait Doctoring to to make a Circle of Protection monocolor or multicolor?

No, it cannot.
As per the ruling on the card:

The type-changing effect can change part of a word such as “nonblack” or “swampwalk” if the part of the word is being used to refer to a color or basic land type.

Referring to color in general does not refer to a color.
As per the comp rules:

105.1. There are five colors in the Magic game: white, blue, black, red, and green.
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."


Most Omens are also regular items, yes.

From the first edition rulebook (sorry, second edition rulebook isn't available online anywhere).

  Most omen cards (except the Bite card) are also items you keep,
  and they’re used like other items.

And

  Some omens, like the Dog, aren’t items at all, so they can’t
  be dropped or traded. They’re companions that follow
  the explorer who has custody of them. (The Dog, Girl, and
  Madman all work this way.)

The second edition added the keyword "Companion" to The Dog, Girl, and Madman.

A Companion can't be dropped, traded, or stolen. But if it is lost, usually due to the owner being killed, then it stays where it is until another player enters the room with it; at which point it starts following the new player instead.

  If you die and you have a companion (the Dog, the Girl, or the Madman), its token stays in the room where you died. Set aside that omen card. If another explorer enters the room, he or she gains custody of that companion (and takes that omen card).


How is my mouse's ability attack resolved?

For the Mystic Bolt you roll three dice an perform a ranged attack, i.e. you want to roll bow and arrow symbols.

The bonus from the Enchanted Bow only applies, if you attack using the enchanted bow, and not Maginos' Staff, e.g. by casting said Mystic Bolt.


You have three A's, let's call them AC, AS, AH (no diamond), and two 7's, let's say 7C and 7S.

First, you have 6 points in 15s: 7C/7S/AC, 7C/7S/AS and 7C/7S/AH.
You have no runs or double runs.
Next, you have 6 points in Ace pairs: AC/AS, AC/AH, and AC/AH (also known as a Pair Royal).
Next, you have 2 points in Seven pairs: 7C/7S.
You have no flushes.
You have no Jacks for his nobs.

This is a total of 6+2+6=14.


How many units do you use to attack a dead zone in Axis and Allies?

If I'm attacking a dead zone I won't use tanks. So I determine the attacking force structure by determining the number of aircraft available for the attack and then adding infantry until my gut (or a battle calculator) tells me I'll have enough to occupy the territory.

Often, I'll find that absent these dead zone attacks my planes wouldn't have anything else to do anyway, so more often than you might expect dead zone attacks utilize overwhelming airpower.

Against 1 infantry with 2 fighters: I'd probably send two infantry because this almost guarantees I can capture the territory (with one fighter I'd still only send 2 inf--stranding 3 inf in a dead zone is too many and the odds of winning are still decent). If I'm stretched thin I might only send one, but I'd prefer occupying the territory with two infantry than not taking it at all. If you take it you get 3 IPCs that turn and you make the other side answer the more difficult question of how many inf they send to re-take the territory.

Against 2 infantry: the problem is more difficult. Typically in this scenario I'm almost resigned to not capturing it with high probability and only want to make sure I take enough infantry that there's no chance of taking fighter damage. So if I can afford it I'll attack with 3 inf, knowing that I'm going to retreat before any combat round when I don't have at least as many infantry has he does.

As for specific probabilities I target in my attack structure, that's all game dependent and balanced against the opportunity cost of those units elsewhere on the board. My key metric in planning dead zone attacks is minimizing downside (i.e. the risk of losing fighters and/or stranding more than 2 inf in the dead zone).


Unless the Haunt specifically says to not count dead adventurers, then you should always include them when calculating goals and other numbers.

And as long as the Haunt says number of adventurers and not number of heroes, then yes, the traitor would receive 4 cultists.

From the rulebook (page 13 under Playing the Haunt):

  Certain haunts require something to be done a number of times equal to the number of adventurers or heroes. Unless the haunt states otherwise, that number includes any adventurers or heroes who have died during the haunt.


According to the official ICF rules:

  71) If a C/m resting perilously at the mouth of the pocket and
  actually falls into the pocket for any reason, it shall be considered
  to have been properly pocketed.

source

So the coin is pocketed.


What happens if Ravager of the Fells can't target an opponent?

You must be able to declare legal targets for all targets of a spell or ability. Since Witchbane Orb prevents you from targeting your opponent, you cannot choose their creature to target either. Therefore CR603.3d forces you to remove it from the stack.

It should be noted that if your opponent gains Hexproof after you choose valid targets, the spell will still resolve because the creature is still a valid target (it knows that it is controlled by the same player that you targeted, even if it cannot target that opponent)

  114.1. Some spells and abilities require their controller to choose one or more targets for them.The targets are object(s), player(s), and/or zone(s) the spell or ability will affect. These targets are declared as part of the process of putting the spell or ability on the stack. The targets can't be changed except by another spell or ability that explicitly says it can do so.

  114.1d A triggered ability is targeted if it identifies something it will affect by using the phrase "target [something],"where the "something" is a phrase that describes an object, player, or zone. The target(s) are chosen as the ability is put on the stack;see rule 603.3d.

  603.3d The remainder of the process for putting a triggered ability on the stack is identical to the process for casting a spell listed in rules 601.2c–d. If a choice is required when the triggered ability goes on the stack but no legal choices can be made for it, or if a rule or a continuous effect otherwise makes the ability illegal, the ability is simply removed from the stack.


What are the odds of getting the following hands in euchre?

Solutions (TLDR)

The probabilities of a single player getting one of the above hands, from a single deal, are:

Scenario 1: 0.09%
Scenario 2: 1.54%
Scenario 3: 0.05%

Below I have calculated the probabilities and also simulated them to check the calculations.

I have also simulated the scenarios to find the probabilities of any player getting one of the above hands, from a single deal.  I think this more closely matches the observations described in the question.  These probabilities are:

Scenario 1 for any player: 0.38%
Scenario 2 for any player: 5.98%
Scenario 3 for any player: 0.19%

Introduction

A standard euchre deck contains the 9, 10, J, Q, K and A in each of the four suits, making a total of 24 cards.  Each of the four players are dealt a hand of five cards, and there are four cards left over.

We will split the deck, D, into the four Jacks J, and the other twenty non-Jack cards N.  We refer to the player's hand as H, and the table cards as T.

We use the notation nCk to refer to the Combinations function; the number of ways of choosing k elements from a set of size n.

We refer to the probability of an event using the notation P(Event).  We will refer to the conditional probability of event 2 happening, given that event 1 happens, with the notation P(Event 2 | Event 1).  In several places we do not explicitly state that an event is conditional on another event, but hopefully the context makes it obvious when this is the case.

Scenario 1: What are the odds that you get dealt both Jacks of the same color, plus three other cards all of the same suit in the same color? (i.e. Jack of Hearts, Jack of Diamonds, plus Ace, Queen and Ten of Diamonds).

P(Scenario1) = P(H contains exactly 2 Jacks) * P(The Jacks are the same colour)
               * P(3 other cards are same suit) * P(The suit is the same colour as the Jacks)
P(H contains exactly 2 Jacks) = (Ways to pick 2 from J) * (Ways to pick 3 from N)
                                / (Ways to pick 5 from D)
                              = (4C2)(20C3) / (24C5)
                              = 6*1140 / 42504
P(The Jacks are the same colour) = 1/3
P(3 other cards are same suit) = P(The second card is the same suit as the first)
                                 * P(The third is the same suit as the other two)
                               = 4/19 * 3/18
P(The suit is the same colour as the Jacks) = 1/2
∴ P(Scenario1) = 6*1140 / 42504 * 1/3 * 4/19 * 3/18 * 1/2
               = 5/5313
               ~= 0.09%

Scenario 3: What are the odds you get dealt all 4 Jacks?

This calculation is slightly more straightforward than for Scenario 1, as we no longer need to worry about suits.

P(Scenario3) = P(H contains exactly 4 Jacks)
             = (4C4)(20C1)/(24C5)
             = 1*20 / 42504
             = 5/10626
             ~= 0.05%

Scenario 3 is exactly half as likely as scenario 1.

Scenario 2: What are the odds you get dealt four of the cards asked in Scenario 1, and the fifth card you need is the face-up card in the pile of 4 remaining cards?

This is harder to compute.  First we split the calculation down by distribution of H.  I've written d(H)=(3,2) to mean that H contains 3 Jacks and 2 non-Jacks. Note that it is only possible to get Scenario 2 if H contains 1,2 or 3 Jacks.  We refer to "Scenario 2" as S2 for brevity.

P(S2) = P(d(H)=(3,2))P(S2 | d(H)=(3,2)) + P(d(H)=(2,3))P(S2 | d(H)=(2,3))
        + P(d(H)=(1,4))P(S2 | d(H)=(1,4))
P(d(H)=(j,n)) = (4Cj)(20Cn) / (24C5)

Scenario 2, Part 1: Three Jacks in the hand

Consider the case where H contains 3 Jacks and 2 non-Jacks.

P(S2 | d(H)=(3,2)) = P(2 of the Jacks are same colour) * P(2 non-Jacks are same suit)
                     * P(Suit of non-Jacks is same colour as 2 Jacks)
                     * P(T contains at least one non-Jack of same suit)
P(2 of the Jacks are same colour) = 1
P(2 non-Jacks are same suit) = 4/19
P(Suit of non-Jacks is same colour as 2 Jacks) = 1/2
P(T contains at least one non-Jack of same suit) = 1 - P(T contains 0 non-Jacks of same suit)
                                                 = 1 - 16/19 * 15/18 * 14/17 * 13/16
                                                 = 514/969
∴ P(S2 | d(H)=(3,2)) = 1 * 4/19 * 1/2 * 514/969 = 1028/18411

Scenario 2, Part 2: Two Jacks in the hand

Next consider the case where H contains 2 Jacks and 3 non-Jacks.  We treat the cases where the Jacks are the same colour separately from the cases where they are different.

P(S2 | d(H)=(2,3)) = P(Jacks are same colour)P(S2 | d(H)=(2,3) and Jacks are same colour)
                     + P(Jacks not same colour)P(S2 | d(H)=(2,3) and Jacks not same colour)
                   = 1/3 P(S2 | d(H)=(2,3) and Jacks are same colour)
                     + 2/3 P(S2 | d(H)=(2,3) and Jacks not same colour)

When the Jacks are the same colour, we need exactly two of the three non-Jacks to share a suit, and that suit to be the same colour as the Jacks.

P(S2 | d(H)=(2,3) and Jacks are same colour) = P(Exactly 2 non-Jacks share a suit)
  * P(Suit is same colour as Jacks) * P(T contains at least one non-Jack of same suit)
  = (3*(4*15)/(18*19)) * (1/2) * (514/969)
  = 2570/18411

When the Jacks are different suits, we need all three non-Jacks to share a suit.

P(S2 | d(H)=(2,3) and Jacks not same colour)
 = P(All 3 non-Jacks share a suit) * P(T contains other Jack of same colour)
 = (4*3)/(19*18) * 4/19
 = 8/1083

Putting these two cases together we get:

P(S2 | d(H)=(2,3)) = 1/3 * 2570/18411 + 2/3 * 8/1083 = 2842/55233

Scenario 2, Part 3: One Jack in the hand

The final distribution of H to consider is 1 Jack and 4 non-Jacks.

P(S2 | d(H)=(1,4)) = P(At least 3 non-Jacks share a suit) * P(The Jack is the same colour)
                     * P(T contains other Jack of same colour)
P(At least 3 non-Jacks share a suit) = (4*4*3*15 + 4*3*2) / (19*18*17) = 124/969
P(The Jack is the same colour) = 1/2
P(T contains other Jack of same colour) = 4/19
∴ P(S2 | d(H)=(1,4)) = 124/969 * 1/2 * 4/19 = 248/18411

Scenario 2: Conclusion

So putting all of that together.

P(S2) = (4C3)(20C2)/(24C5) * 1028/18411 + (4C2)(20C3)/(24C5) * 2842/55233
        + (4C1)(20C4)/(24C5) * 248/18411
      = 4*190/42504 * 1028/18411 + 6*1140/42504 * 2842/55233 + 4*4845/42504 * 248/18411
      = 4670/302841
      ~= 1.54%

Simulation

To check my calculations I have written a Python script to evaluate ten million deals, to see how frequently each of the scenarios occurs.  The script is here.

I also used it to compute the probability of any of the four players satisfying each of the three scenarios for a given deal.  I thought this would be interesting, as this is what was observed in the question, although not actually the probability being asked for.

Probability for a single player   | Probability across all four players
Scenario1 | Scenario2 | Scenario3 | Scenario1 | Scenario2 | Scenario3
 0.0972%  |  1.5319%  |  0.05  %  |  0.3703%  |  5.9367%  |  0.1748%
 0.0927%  |  1.519 %  |  0.0442%  |  0.3716%  |  5.9698%  |  0.1914%
 0.0911%  |  1.5607%  |  0.0466%  |  0.3896%  |  5.9523%  |  0.187 %
 0.096 %  |  1.5207%  |  0.0442%  |  0.3753%  |  5.9583%  |  0.1853%
 0.0946%  |  1.5594%  |  0.0457%  |  0.3711%  |  5.9709%  |  0.1844%
 0.1004%  |  1.561 %  |  0.0466%  |  0.3824%  |  6.0065%  |  0.1916%
 0.0964%  |  1.5367%  |  0.0476%  |  0.3776%  |  5.9651%  |  0.1882%
 0.098 %  |  1.563 %  |  0.0452%  |  0.3775%  |  6.0131%  |  0.188 %
 0.0942%  |  1.5385%  |  0.0469%  |  0.3849%  |  6.0205%  |  0.1852%
 0.0983%  |  1.535 %  |  0.0418%  |  0.3641%  |  5.9913%  |  0.1931%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 0.0959%  |  1.5426%  |  0.0459%  |  0.3764%  |  5.9785%  |  0.1869%

Happily the simulation backs up the calculations.


Ok, so I did a little research about the game. Here are the results. Hope this helps. Sorry about the long post.
Simple online Flash version - no original artwork
Here you can play simple Flash version against AI, but I guess that's not really what you are looking for. However, If you get your hands on 8 suited card deck (for example here or here). You can even make your own 8 suits deck combining standard card deck and jumbo version with the identical back. Just an idea.
Games with similiar mechanics
If you're looking for a game with similiar feel, user called Ooops mentioned on BGG that it reminds him of the game Can't Stop (you can try the game online on BGArena):

The developers have even designed their own card game from scratch, (...). Called Somnium, it features amazing art and
a push-your-luck gameplay in the vein of "Can't stop".

Original artwork
I've looked through forum discussion about the cards artwork in Somnium.
User Psychic_Llamas said that

the artist for the somnium cards is actually using the art for a deck
of Tarot cards. she is planning on releasing the deck in 2010 i
believe.

In the same discussion you can find a link to the ZIP file with JPEG Cards (the graphics are small unfortunately, 160x240px) from the FFH2, with "numbering". You can also find there a PDF file with card graphics (low quality). I guess you could print those and glue them on cards from one or two standard decks with the identical back. Or you could glue backs as well. On the other hand, you don't need to glue them, you could simply use card sleeves. Many options here.
However, I don't know how much of the original art is available online, but you definitely should have a look at both artist websites.

Stephanie Pui-Mun Law (Tarot section?) (Some other link)
Jason Engle's Gallery (probably in Illustration?)

As game designer stated in the mentioned forum discussion:

There are a few pics from Jason Engle in there. But most of them are
from the amazing Stephanie Pui-Law.

Cards are in much better quality, however they don't have Somnium numbering and game-relevant info, frames etc. You would need to do that yourself, apply it on the artwork, and then back to the printing aptions.
Purchase the deck
What you can also find on the Stephanie Pui-Mun Law website is information about buying Tarot deck in question. I would strongly suggest to look here first, as it is the best answer to your question I can get. You can buy this Tarot deck on Amazon.com.
I guess  you could buy a deck and glue necessary numberings on them?
About the game
This doesn't answer your question, but can give some insight about the game for those users who know nothing about it (as did I until I saw game's artwork in your post).
Credits

Game Designer: Derek "Kael" Paxton
Original programmer: Stéphane "Sto" Nadry
Art: Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Jason Engle

Brief game explanation
Borrowed from the tarotforum.com:

In a popular mod for the fourth installation of the Civilization game
series, Fall From Heaven II, there is a funny on-the-side minigame,
Somnium, which is played with a deck of 54 cards; 3-7 in ten suits
(Angels, Devils, Pentacles, Staves, Suns, Moons, Towers, Dragons,
Swords and Cups) as well as three "Fool" cards and a "Death" card. The
objective of the game is to gather cards so that your set of
highest-of-each-suit sum beats that of your opponent, and you and your
opponent each takes one turn at a time at drawing cards; You turn one
card at a time and can "bank" the cards at any time, but if you hit
the "Death" card or turn up two of the same suit, all drawn cards are
discarded. The "Fool" cards allow you to steal a card from the
opponent. o You can win a minor diplomacy bonus towards leaders by
besting them in a tournament game, but will suffer a likewise relation
penalty by losing such a game.

Origins
Part of an interview with the game designer, Derek "Kael" Paxton:

Soren: I enjoyed trying out Somnium, the card-based, diplomatic
mini-game you recently added. Because the game encourages thinking
about probability, I would like to try a version of it where all drawn
cards are shown, including the ones underneath the top “banked” cards.
Considering that humans are so bad at estimating probability, I don’t
think that revealing more information would hurt the game. (To mix
things up, you could also remove five randoms cards each game.) Why
did you decide to build Somnium, and how was it designed?
Derek: Fall is a huge mixture of options that tie together in a
variety of ways.  I wanted Somnium to be the opposite, only one
decision, but a lot of complexity in it.  I didn’t want there to be a
right or wrong answer but instead to simplify the risk/reward mechanic
down to one yes-or-no choice.
I thought about showing the “banked” cards but, in the end, it got cut
because I wanted the interface to stay simple, and I wanted the player
to be running off of instinct and laboring over the choice.  If we let
all the banked cards show, the player who drew the 3 of swords could
see all the other swords cards banked and would know that he should
draw again.  I wanted to avoid that certainty.
As to why it was designed, we like doing things no one else has done,
things people don’t expect from modders.  Functionally, it offers a
nice break in long games if you want to jump in and play a few games
against the AI or play while your waiting for other players in a
multiplayer game.


Does the Dread Curse of Azathoth spell stay active for multiple monsters?

From the base rules:

  Whenever an investigator enters combat with a monster, resolve the following steps, in order.

You enter combat separately with each monster. "Combat" refers to that set of steps (horror check, fight or flee, monster damage). So no, it doesn't stay active for multiple monsters, and yes, "this combat" means combat with a single monster.


Assuming nobody has any poison counters before Bruna attacks, Bruna's controller will lose the game assuming that her power is at least 10, but less than 20 when she deals damage, and it will be a draw if her power is 20 or greater, if her power is less than 10 her controller will have poison counters equal to her power.

This occurs because Shining Shoal replaces the first X damage dealt by the chosen sources (in this case 10) and redirects it to the chosen target (presumably Bruna's controller). The redirection doesn't change the source of the damage so it will still have infect, thus it will still deal damage in the form of poison counters.

So if Bruna's power is less than 10 all of the damage will be redirected to Bruna's controller; nobody will win or lose. If her power is at least 10, but less than 20, ten damage will be redirected to her controller and you would take the remainder; her controller would lose. If her power is 20 or greater 10 of the damage would be redirected to her controller and the remainder of the damage would be dealt to you, since you both have 10 or more poison counters you would both lose the game a the same time which ends up being a draw.

  702.89b Damage dealt to a player by a source with infect doesn’t cause that player to lose life. Rather, it causes the player to get that many poison counters. See rule 119.3.


Which Reference Materials are Allowed During a Chess Match?

In a word: No.

FIDE:

  12.3 a. During play the players are forbidden to make use of any notes, sources of information or advice, or analyse on another
  chessboard.

  12.3 b. Without the permission of the arbiter a player is forbidden to have a mobile phone or other electronic means of communication in the
  playing venue, unless they are completely switched off.

The USCF scholastic rules similarly disallow electronics, but do not explicitly address the topic of notes. (Section 21.6)

As noted in the comments, this is because the scholastic rules are just a supplement to the USCF rules. Unfortunately, the USCF rules themselves are not available on the USCF site.

However, section 20C of the USCF rules do prohibit the use of notes. And that prohibition is quite strict (or was in 2014), according to section 15A of this link.


Elimination when a player loses all herds, but still has a Chupacabra

From talking (on the phone) with the lovely people at Steve Jackson Games in Austin:

If you still have a die, you're still in the game.

Rolling a Chupacabra essentially means you're safe and can't get kicked out of the game that round. There's no way to "kill" a fellow Chupacabra.

I think that when the game rules say "Even if they haven't attacked" they mean "Even if they haven't had a turn yet".


With which "non-trump" holdings is a 4-4 fit superior to a 5-4 fit?

This is sort of an odd question. The cards you get are the cards you get, and you should do the best you can with the cards you have. You don't get to decide whether you have a 4-4 fit or a 5-4 fit, so in a sense this information doesn't help you. But as a way to improve your hand evaluation, let's consider this.

One answer comes from the law of total tricks, which basically says, if you add up the tricks your side can get when declaring in your best trump suit to the tricks your opponents can get when declaring in their best trumps suit, it'll add up to the number of trumps you have plus the number of trumps they have. Of course, this isn't actually a law (it's easy to construct counterexamples), but it's a good rule of thumb. In this case, you're comparing 8+7=15 to 9+8=17, so it seems likely that your 9-card trump fit will have more trick-taking potential for the same number of high card points.

You can also look at this from the losing-trick-count point of view. If you move a spot in a 2- or 3-card suit into a suit that already has 4 cards, you're removing a loser from your hand (in losing trick count, you count the number of cards that will lose to an A, K, or Q not in your hand, so AKx, AKxx, and AKxxx all have one loser, while xxx has 3 and xx only 2).

Even good old high-card-point evaluation methods typically give some sort of value to distribution -- either adding a point for the fifth card in a suit, or adding points for having doubletons instead of tripletons, singletons instead of doubletons, etc.

So this is a lot of ways to say, your intuition is correct. All things being equal, in a pair of hands that only have one fitting suit, having more cards in that suit tends to increase the number of tricks you can take.


Are chain reaction outbreaks considered part of the original outbreak, in regards to "Containment Failure"

Pandemic co-creator Tom Lehmann gave an example (answering another question, admittedly) indicating that further outbreaks add only one cube.

  In your Manila/Taipei example, each with three cubes, you will first place 2 cubes in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Osaka; then do one chain reaction outbreak in Manilla, placing cubes in San Francisco, Sydney, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hong Kong, for a total of 10 cubes and 2 outbreaks.


The controller of a permanent always controls that permanent's triggered abilities. This is covered in rule 603.3a:

  A triggered ability is controlled by the player who controlled its source at the time it triggered, unless it’s a delayed triggered ability.

The source, in this case, is the Oath of Scholars enchantment itself. This ability is not a delayed triggered ability, so you don't have to account for that.

So, Rayne's ability will not trigger if you are chosen as the target for your own Oath of Scholars.


Are these "temporary defense gained by discarding cards" markers?

According to the Rulebook, next to a picture of these markers:

  Two counters are supplied to track a player’s total possible Military on
  defense (for use with Rebel Pact).

These markers are for use on your military track to show you (and your opponents) your potential maximum defense if you count both your defensive bonus from Rebel Pact and all your sources of temporary Military (denoted by the discard symbol on the token).

Page 8 of the rulebook has an illustration.


What is the best way to print cards for my game?

You could use common card protectors like people use to protect cards from trading cards games (Magic, etc). What your stuff in there (printed cardboard, paper-glued-on-other-cards,...) then becomes pretty much irrelevant.

If not, what about photo printing services? Look for ones making postcards, you can probably easily fit 4 cards on a potcards and they ought to be rigid enough.


One issue with the wording is that "remove from game" is text that MTG used to use prior to the 2010 rules update, and all cards that said to remove something from the game were given errata to say that they exile it instead.
Because of this, "remove this emblem from the game" could easily be confused with "exile this emblem", as people have learned that things that say "remove from the game" actually now say "exile".
There is no wording on any existing abilities or effects that actually remove something from the game (AWOL excluded). Things are only removed from the game through rules that use the wording "ceases to exist", such as a token not on the battlefield; or "leaves the game", such as objects owned by a player leaves the game. Neither of these translate well into an effect that could be written on an ability.
That being said, I don't see any issue with the emblem saying "Exile this: Add one mana of any color or one colorless mana". Sure it's a bit weird to have an emblem hanging around in the exile zone; but it will have no effect on the game. Its ability cannot do anything while in exile:

114.4. Abilities of emblems function in the command zone.

And there wouldn't be any way to ever remove it from exile; anything in the game that gets things back from exile specifies what type of thing it can bring back.
But if you were modifying rules anyway, you could always go ahead and alter 704.5 to make it so that the emblem doesn't hang around:

704.5d If a token is in a zone other than the battlefield, it ceases to exist.
704.5e If a copy of a spell is in a zone other than the stack, it ceases to exist. If a copy of a card is in any zone other than the stack or the battlefield, it ceases to exist.

Append a new state-based action similar to those two:

704.5f If an emblem is in any zone other than the command zone, it ceases to exist.

In terms of your second idea of making it a one-per-game activated ability that costs {0}, I don't see any issues related to possible cost-increasers, because 99% of the time, the right move is going to be to use that ability on turn 1, maybe turn 2; making it very unlikely your opponent will have gotten an increaser out. And also cards like Suppression Field do not work on mana abilities, which this is.