Anyone got any info on this coin obstacle course game from Micki Gemla Sweden?

It's a miniature golf sim game played with coins instead of balls. It was made in 1970 by Micki Leksaker Sweden. It was just called "Minigolf"

(Image from https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-1970-wooden-roll-coin-484615066 )

You play by rolling your coin down the tall slot/slide to take each shot.

Rules (printed on the box):

  Playing rules for “roll-a-coin” mini golf game
  Any number of people can play. The game comprises of [sic] nine different obstacles numbered from 1 to 9.
  Obstacles number 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 each have two parts.
  One plays with an ordinary quarter coin or the Swedish 5 öre coin that is included, which is placed in the slot of the stand positioned at the edge of the playing surface.
  The player is awarded one point for each play plus the number of points shown in the divisions (if the coin does not roll into the cup). The player may have 7 plays for each obstacle. If he does not pass the obstacle, then he will receive a 12 point penalty.

  The player who received the smallest number of points is the winner


Differences between Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert?

I own both, and will attempt to tackle each of your questions in turn:

  What are the key differences?

Forbidden Desert removes the 'shrinking map' clock, and adds two new clocks: each player has a canteen with a finite amount of water, and there are limited ways to refill peoples' canteens.  Each "Sun Beats Down" card causes everyone (there are exceptions) to have to drink some of their water.

The other new clock is the 'buried alive' clock- where tiles would be getting flooded in Forbidden Island, they instead accumulate more and more layers of sand.  If you run out of sand, the game   is over.

It also retains the "maxxed out the danger meter' clock.

Replacing the 'shrinking map' mechanic is a 'moving map' mechanic- the game board is basically a 5x5 sliding-square puzzle, and between turns, the map gets shuffled around.

The method for obtaining the MacGuffins is also changed, and player items are one-use-only and not shuffled back into the game.

  Is it different enough to be worth it?

In my opinion, yes; absolutely.  It's definitely harder to 'win', but is different enough from Forbidden Island to not feel like a reskinned version of the same game.

  Which to get first?

If you already are familiar with cooperation-driven games such as Pandemic, I would probably suggest Desert.  If you're also looking for a more introductory experience, I'd go with Island.  Both games would be good buys in the absence of the other, though, and if you prefer one theme to the other, let that make the decision for you.


Claiming a tunnel when no matching cards are turned over

Yes, you can. There were zero cards revealed from the train draw pile which matched the colour of the cards used to claim the tunnel (red), so you must play zero extra red cards - and having done that trivial action, you claim the tunnel.


How to design the end of a race game such that over-rolls do not break the logic of the game?

Is there any way to design the end of the track such that over-rolls do not lead to any confusion?

Write "If your roll is enough to move up to or past the end, you win. If you roll 5 when you're 3 spaces from the end, that counts as winning." on the board, or in the game rules, or even on the end tile itself (with slightly different phrasing).

Designing the end of the track differently is only one means to communicating the rules. There are other ways, and just stating it outright is probably the clearest way.


When figuring out who wins in Texas Holdem you take the best 5 card hand a player can make using their 2 cards plus the 5 community cards on the table. That gives us:

Player 1: 10, 10, 10, K, 6
Player 2: 10, 10, 10, K, 4

Since they both match on the 3 tens you look to the highest kicker card, in this case they both have kings so you need to look at the next highest card. For this card Player 1 has a 6 and Player 2 has a 4 so Player 1 will win the hand.

Reference: Texas Holdem Rules


Unsporting trades in the end-game of settlers of Catan

This situation is called The Kingmaker Scenario.  It is an effect that is largely seen as being undesirable in games, yet at the same time is also considered somewhat inevitable in games with 3 or more sides in a Free-For-All situation to at least some extent.  Game designers are always trying to find ways to fight against this effect, and there are a number of ways to reduce the effect that Kingmaker has on the game when designing a game - here are a few examples:

Completely eliminate a player from the game after they are behind by a certain threshold
Create a "comeback mechanic" that allows a player to fight back against the feedback loop holding them in a low position
Using concealed information to make it more difficult to determine the values involved in the victory conditions

When dealing with a pre-made game like Settlers of Catan and not with a game of your own creation, your options are limited - you can either create house rules of some form, or simply accept that aspect of the game.  It may be best to try and find what others have done to solve the same situation for the same game - if it is widely considered to be a problem by other players, than there may be popular and well-tested house rules that already exist.  On the other hand, if there are not, it may be a sign that regular players do not consider it to be a major factor in play.


Sheriff of Nottingham - Is the sheriff allowed to take your bribe and still search your bag?

No.
The sheriff can either take the bribe or search the bag, not both. From the rules, in Phase 4 (Inspection):

When the Sheriff has made a decision about a Merchant Bag, he has two choices:

Accept whatever final bribe was offered (if any) and hand the bag back to its owner; or

Reject any bribe that may have been offered and unsnap the Merchant Bag, revealing the cards inside.


Does the print version matter, or the card name?

According to this link, the old cards are still valid, but you must ensure that your opponent is aware that the effect has been errata'd and provide them with the new effect.

  If you are using an “Old Text” version of a card in your Deck, you must make it clear to your opponent that the effect of that paricular[sic] card is different to what you are currently playing.

With regards to the Slifer the Sky Dragon example, the original card was never legal to be used in a match, Errata or not. It is a promotional card that includes the explicit text "This card cannot be used in a Duel," and is distinct from the actual card that lacks this text and includes the card's actual effect text.

This can further be established by using that website's Card Database and searching for the card (result of the search). On that page, it shows all the legal sources for a given card. The first time the card became legal to play was in August of 2012 when it was distributed in an issue of Shonen Jump. By extension, this excludes the original versions that were released alongside the Gameboy games in the early 2000s.


How fast can you win against a passive opponent in the Innistrad block format?

A solution for turn 2 on the draw. I can't seem to hit turn 2 on the play, but I -think- it's possible.

Edit: This looks kinda ugly, so here's a link to a picture: http://i.imgur.com/kSheO.png

                                                                           Mana Pool           Cards in Hand
Turn one                                                                    0                   8
Plains                                                                      W                   7
Doomed Traveler                                                             0                   6

Turn two                                                                    W                   7
Mountain                                                                    WR                  6
Infernal Plunge, sacrificing Doomed Traveler                                WRRR                5
Infernal Plunge, sacrificing Spirit, hold priority                          WRR                 4
Increasing Vengeance, targeting Infernal Plunge                             WRRR                3
Increasing Vengeance, targeting Infernal Plunge                             WRRRR               2
Increasing Vengeance, targeting Infernal Plunge                             WRRRRR              1
Resolve Infernal Plunge                                                     WRRRRRRRR           1
Desperate Ravings, discarding Past in Flames                                WRRRRRR             1
Doomed Traveler                                                             RRRRRR              0
Flashback Past in Flames                                                    R                   0
Flashback Infernal Plunge, sacrificing Doomed Traveler                      RRR                 0
Flashback Infernal Plunge, sacrificing Spirit, hold priority                RR                  0
Flashback Increasing Vengeance, targeting Infernal Plunge                   RRRRRR              0
Flashback Increasing Vengeance, targeting Infernal Plunge                   RRRRRRRRRR          0
Resolve Infernal Plunge                                                     RRRRRRRRRRRRR       0
Flashback Desperate Ravings, discarding any card                            RRRRRRRRRRR         1
Devil's Play for X=8, hold priority                                         RR                  0
Flashback Increasing Vengeance, targeting Devil's Play, dealing 16 damage   0                   0
Resolve Devil's Play, dealing 8 damage                                      0                   0


Fortifying an already fortified city (or placing a caravan in a city with a caravan)

Yes. This was covered by the FAQ, v2.0:

Q: Can a player disband an army figure in a city that already contains a fortification marker, or a scout in a city that already contains a caravan marker?
A: Yes. However, the player does not add an additional fortification or caravan marker, or gain an additional bonus.


From the rules, p15:

  Between turns, flip a coin. If you flip heads, the Pokémon wakes up.

So you flip a coin to wake up your pokemon after every turn - both yours and your opponent's. This means that even if the opponent can put your active pokemon to sleep every turn and you have no other way of cancelling it (like evolving the pokemon, or sending it to the Bench with a Switch), there's still a half chance that by the time your turn starts it'll be awake and able to act.


What are the requirements to build a city?

There's only one other requirement: You need to have a spare city in stock.

To summarize, all the requirements are:

You need to have the required resources.
You need to have a settlement on the board.
You need to have a spare city in stock.


I'm assuming here that the player you've named Tree began this exchange with 9 life and Dino began with 18.  That means the sequence will most likely go something like this:

You cast Insult
Electrostatic Field triggers.  It's triggered ability is placed on the stack above Insult, so the stack is currently:

Electrostatic Field trigger
Insult

Each player passes priority.  Electrostatic Field's ability resolves and does one damage to each of your opponents.  This reduces Tree to 8 life and Dino to 17.  Insult is now the only thing on the stack.
Each player once again passes priority.  Insult resolves creating a continuous effect that doubles damage for the rest of the turn.
You cast Lightning Strike targeting Tree.
Electrostatic Field triggers again.  No one has a chance to act between you casting Lightning strike and Field's ability being put on the stack.  The stack is now:

Electrostatic Field trigger
Lightning Strike

From here, there are a couple ways things could play out depending on when Tree acts.  I'll go over the most likely scenario:

Each player passes priority.  Field's trigger resolves dealing 2 damage to each opponent due to Insult's continuous effect.  This reduces Tree to 6 life and Dino to 15 life.  Lightning Strike is now the only thing on the stack.
Tree activates Tree of Redemption, placing it's activated ability on the stack.  The stack now looks like this:

Tree of Redemption's ability
Lightning Strike

You cast another Lightning Strike targeting Tree.
Electrostatic Field Triggers again.  The stack is now:

Electrostatic Field trigger
Lightning Strike
Tree of Redemption's ability
Lightning Strike

Each player passes priority.  Electrostatic Field's ability resolves, dealing 2 damage to each opponent.  This reduces Tree to 4 life and Dino to 13 life.  The stack is now:

Lightning Strike
Tree of Redemption's ability
Lightning Strike

Each player passes priority again.  Lightning Strike resolves, dealing 6 damage to Tree due to Insult's continuous effect.  Tree is reduced to -2 life and loses the game.  All objects owned by them immediately disappear from the game.  This includes all of their permanents on the battlefield as well as the Tree of Redemption ability they own on the stack.  That leaves only your other Lightning Strike on the stack.
Each remaining player passes priority.  Lightning Strike tries to resolve, but it no longer has a target.  Since it has no target it is moved to your graveyard without resolving (often referred to as "Fizzling").


What happens when you create a gap on your board in Wingspan?

there's options to create empty spaces on your board.

No. From the FAQ:

How do I play a bird on top of a sideways bird?
Some birds like the European Roller allow you to place the card sideways on your player mat, filling two spots. If you then play a bird like the Common Buzzard on top of a sideways bird, the Common Buzzard would also be placed sideways, completely covering the sideways bird.


How do mutate and ownership rules interact?

Reminder text is not rules text. The reminder text for mutate is shortened for readability, since owner and controller of a mutate spell are usually the same. Only the Comprehensive Rules are ultimately relevant.
On reminder text:

Reminder Text
Parenthetical text in italics in the text box of a card that summarizes a rule that applies to that card, but is not actually rules text and has no effect on play. See rule 207.2.

The rules for mutate say:

702.139a Mutate appears on some creature cards. It represents a static ability that functions while the spell with mutate is on the stack. “Mutate [cost]” means “You may pay [cost] rather than pay this spell’s mana cost. If you do, it becomes a mutating creature spell and targets a non-Human creature with the same owner as this spell.” Casting a spell using its mutate ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs (see 601.2b and 601.2f–h).

The reminder text on mutate cards is shortened from its actual rules text. This has been done to improve readability and to fit the lengthy text on the card. However, when it comes to special cases, it's important to remember that it has no relevance for the actual rules.


Trading item cards to another player that already has 5

You may only have 5 cards at any given moment. If you share a treasure card (or cards) with a player that already has 5, that player must immediately discard down to 5.


Illusionist's bracers and werewolf rulings

Illusionist's Bracers only copy activated abilities.

  112.3b Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]”

Most transform cards, like werewolves and Delver of Secrets, have triggered abilities. Illusionist's Bracers have no effect on them. They will, however, double the activated abilities of Bloodline Keeper, causing it to flip twice when it transforms.

All of the abilities of Mayor of Avabruck and Howlpack Alpha abilities are triggered, so he won't benefit from Illusionist's Bracers unless you give him an activated ability from an outside source.


Do cards that say "all creatures" affect creatures with hexproof?

Yes, cards with "destroy all ..." don't target the permanents they affect, so Hexproof does not protect them from being destroyed.

Generally speaking, if the word 'target' doesn't appear on the card, the spell or ability isn't targeting. Auras are an exception (see rule 114.1b), and sometimes the word 'target' is in the reminder text (e.g. the provoke ability).
(There might be more exceptions, since Magic: The Gathering is an ever evolving game.)


Will casting an aura on a creature with heroic trigger the heroic ability?

Heroic only triggers when "you" (the controller of the creature with heroic) cast a spell. So no, your opponent's Battlewise Hoplite will not trigger if you cast Crippling Blight on it.

Aura spells do always target when cast, so it will trigger heroic if you cast an aura spell and target a creature that you control with heroic.

  303.4a An Aura spell requires a target, which is defined by its enchant ability.


Fluxx - Monty Python: Finger of God & Play All

Based on the wording of the card, and a strict interpretation of the rules, yes.

To be more specific, if the rule "Play All" is in effect and your daughter has played the "Finger of God", she may choose to smite a Creeper in play and, in doing so return the FoG to her hand, where she must, at some point in her turn, play it again.

At which point, she can again choose to smite a Creeper, and so on until either there are no Creepers left, or she chooses to not use the FoG's ability, or for some reason she is not able to play the card again (e.g. the rules change back to "Play 1", or she trades her hand with the FoG in it).


In simplest terms possible:  Your opponent can cast any instants in response to your sorcery, but he'll still have to discard 2 cards if he has any.

so, if you cast  mind rot, your opponent can't choose 2 instants to discard and cast them instead.  He can cast instants before he chooses.

If you cast  duress, your opponent can't cast the instant that you pick for him to discard.  He can cast instants before he shows you his hand.

Here's how It works

You have priority
You cast the sorcery.
You pass priority to your opponent
Your opponent may cast instant speed spells
You get priority
You pass priority to your opponent
Your Opponent passes priority
The instant spell resolves
You get priority
You pass priority to your opponent
The sorcery spell resolves from start to finish
You get priority
...

Everything that the sorcery spell does happens while it's resolving.  If you look at your opponents hand and choose the cards, than that would happen while it resolves.  If your opponent chooses, he chooses while it resolves.

Once the spell has begun to resolve, You cannot cast any spells until the spell has finished resolving.


How do Rest in Peace and Progenitus interact?

You (as the controller of Progenitus) get to decide which replacement effect happens. After this first replacement effect happens, the remaining effect doesn't have anything to replace, because the "enters the graveyard" isn't part of the effect.

  616.1. If two or more replacement and/or prevention effects are attempting to modify the way an event affects an object or player, the affected object's controller (or its owner if it has no controller) or the affected player chooses one to apply, following the steps listed below. If two or more players have to make these choices at the same time, choices are made in APNAP order (see rule 101.4).


Do +1/+1 counters go away with -1/-1 counters?

Yes, +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters will cancel each other other. This is done as as state-based action, any time a player is about to receive priority.

704.1. State-based actions are game actions that happen automatically whenever certain conditions (listed below) are met. State-based actions don’t use the stack.
704.5. The state-based actions are as follows:

704.5r If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter on it, N +1/+1 and N -1/-1 counters are removed from it, where N is the smaller of the number of +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on it.


The rule you reference is correct: powers are cumulative so you can get a +2 bonus like that. Some race/power combinations are indeed much more powerful than others in Small World; a key balancing feature is that powerful options will usually be claimed higher up the list, which means you have to pay several points to claim them, while weaker options will sit around at the bottom collecting those points until they're not looking so bad anymore. Also, remember that you always need at least one token to conquer a region, so a +2 bonus does not help any more than a +1 if the region is empty.


settlers of catan expansion: Can I trade with the bank during the special building phase?

No, trading with the bank even with your ports (2:1, 3:1) is not allowed.
If that rule did not exist, it would be very unlikely to have more than 7 cards in your hand.

Taken from the rules (http://www.catan.com/files/downloads/settlers_5-6_rv_rules_100107.pdf):

  • Special Building Phase – Your opponents may build as outlined below. The Special Building Phase occurs just after the end of your turn (i.e., between player turns). All the other players may participate in the Special Building Phase. Each player then takes his turn clockwise around the table, and is allowed to build anything he can create with his resources. 3 Note that no player is allowed to play Development Cards during the Special Building Phase. Also note that players are not allowed to do any trading with other players—nor are they allowed to use Maritime Trade—during this phase. They may only use the resources they have in their hands. For this reason, players are advised to trade as much, and as advantageously, as possible with the current player during his trading phase. They will then have the resources they need to build during the Special Building Phase. The Special Building Phase is an opportunity for all the other players (who are not currently taking their turn) to build roads, settlements, and cities, and/or to buy Development Cards. This phase allows each player to influence the game, even though it is not his turn!


Building a live group on a quarter board where two sides are already black

This has been discussed a lot in Sensei's Library (http://senseis.xmp.net/?BiggestCorner and http://senseis.xmp.net/?10x10CornerGame1). The consensus seems to be that white dies with 8 free spaces, but can live with 9 free spaces using 3-3 point and some clever tesujis. I copied some variations from Sensei's to EidoGo for easier studying: http://eidogo.com/#1ZUwMVRaH


Never. (Note: Many expansions have been released since I first wrote this answer, there are more exceptions than I list here, but the general principles apply.)

Well, almost never. If you have to ask, the answer is "never". Don't buy copper unless you've got a specific strategy that will make it worthwhile. Some new players have a strong urge to use all their buys, or at least to buy something every turn, but buying nothing is better than buying Copper almost always.

OP mentions the Gardens exception in the question; other cards that can be used effectively with Copper include Goons and Forager. If your target buys aren't too expensive (say $5 or less), then Coppers can help you hit $5 consistently; this applies to Duke/Duchy, Gardens, Ill-Gotten Gains, etc. If, however, you are hoping to buy cards costing $6 or more, Coppers hurt.

New players sometimes make the mistake of thinking more money is better, so they'll buy a Copper with a leftover buy. This is bad. The money in your typical hand is what matters, not the money in your deck. With 5 cards in your hand, adding more Coppers
reduces your buying power unless your deck is really bloated (maybe with Curses/Ruins). New players quickly learn to hate a hand full of Coppers when they want to buy a Province or a Gold and stop making this mistake.

When you draw a card, are you thinking please, please, let this be a Copper? If so, then maybe you should buy Copper. If you'd prefer a Copper to what you typically do draw, go ahead and buy Copper. More often, you are disappointed when you draw a Copper - this is your cue to not buy Copper.

Selected Examples

There are cards that make Coppers better, but players with some experience often overestimate their power. Examples include Moneylender, Coppersmith, Bishop, Mine.

Moneylender can be a great card. New players may think it's a great card because of the $3, but the real value of Moneylender is the trashing of Copper. It shines in the absence of more efficient trashers because it cleans your deck of Copper. Since Moneylender is a terminal action, buying several Moneylenders and then buying Coppers to feed them is not a viable strategy by itself. It requires 2 cards and an action to generate $3; a hand with two Silvers instead of Money Lender + Copper has an extra $1 and an extra action. Even Silver + Money Lender without a Copper can be better than Copper + Money Lender if you've got a different action card worth playing. Spice Merchant and Miser are similar.
Coppersmith - there are decks in which Coppersmith can work very well (@BlairHippo brings up Apothecary/Coppersmith), but it takes more than just Coppersmith. You need a lot of card draw to make an engine out of Coppersmith, but card draw helps almost everything so there are usually better strategies on the board.
Bishop can convert Copper to VP, which is great. But anything costing $2 or more gets you more VP. With extra buys, you'd be better off buying Estates than buying Coppers to feed to a Bishop.
Mine is like Money Lender in that what makes it a good card is that it gets rid of bad treasure, replacing it with better treasure. If you buy more bad treasure to feed to a Mine, you're missing the point.

The themes above are that some cards let you trash Copper for some bonus. The main value in using them is trashing Copper. If you buy more Copper, you are undoing this work.

Counting House/Travelling Fair is an effective strategy that is Copper-centric.

Of course, if you have a bunch of activated Cities (lots of actions and cards) and a few Goons (lots of buys, rewards for buying), go ahead and buy some Coppers, and throw in some Moneylenders/Coppersmiths/Spice Merchants too! But if you've got a good Goon engine going, you don't need me to tell you that you shouldn't normally buy Copper.


How to reach either a 6 Hearts or a 6 NT contract?

Assuming you are also playing Texas (highly recommended) then the Jacoby Transfer by Responder followed by a jump in the transfer suit always shows exactly 5 card length. This allows partner to jump to 6H, giving you the choice to correct to 6NT with only a doubleton, as you had.

If Partner has 6 card length sufficient to play slam opposite a small doubleton, then partner transfers at the 4-level and jumps to 6H, which is to play.

Don't even think about a 6D jump without serious partnership discussion. Both sides of the table will be wondering if it is telling or asking; and what precisely the subject of the tell/ask is.

Here are some additional agreements for Responder's rebid that are typically employed by partnerships playing both Texas & Jacoby:

Texas followed by 4NT = Blackwood (your usual variant)
Jacoby followed by 4 NT = Quantitative
Jacoby followed by 4C = Gerber
Jacoby followed by 4 of the transfer suit = slam interest with a weak 6 card suit


Is killing an enemy scout considered a battle?

No. If you aren't drawing square unit cards, a battle isn't taking place

From the FFG rule book (page 23)

  Battle is the struggle of one civilization against another for dominance. When an army figure moves into a square containing a village marker, an enemy army figure, or an enemy city, a battle takes place.

If you had continued reading the section ENEMY FIGURES, you should have realized that.

  Scouts cannot enter a square containing enemy figures. If an army enters a square containing any enemy figures, its movement immediately ends. If the square contains only enemy scouts, the scouts are immediately killed and the attacking player collects loot as though they had won a battle (see page 25). If the square contains at least one enemy army, a battle occurs (see page 23). If the square contains a mix of both enemy armies and scouts, a battle occurs, but if the losing side in the battle has any scouts in the square, they are killed along with the armies; loot is then collected as normal.


Can you play trump if trump hasn't been played and you have action cards in Rage?

No.
Yes, but it would have no effect.
Yes.
Has its own question (asked two hours after yours, but separate questions are better)

PDF of the rules


What happens if you control two Krark's Thumb and you have to flip a coin?

Krak's ability is a replacement effect. The relevant rule is

614.5. A replacement effect doesn’t invoke itself repeatedly; it gets only one opportunity to affect an event or any modified events that may replace that event.
Example: A player controls two permanents, each with an ability that reads “If a creature you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals double that damage to that permanent or player instead.” A creature that normally deals 2 damage will deal 8 damage—not just 4, and not an infinite amount.

Like the example, two Krark's Thumbs would cause you to flip four coins.
These flips technically aren't at the same time, but you can generally get away with flipping four coins at the same time and taking whichever you prefer. However, if they want, your opponent can insist on you flipping them two at a time. You can probably also declare before you flip any of them which result you prefer, then flip all of them at the same time; this would probably fall under the general concept of "shortcut". It's generally obvious which result you prefer, but if you don't want to reveal it, and your opponent is a stickler for the rules, you'll have to flip two at a time. Obviously, if the coins come up with different results, then which one you pick will reveal which you prefer, but if you flip two at a time, and they all come up the same, you can keep which you would have preferred secret. This is more of an issue if you had two Krark's Other Thumbs and you would roll a die: if you want to roll all four dice at the same time and it's not obvious what your preference ordering is, you have to declare it ahead of time, and it'll probably be faster to just roll the dice two at a time.


Would the stack resolve their ability first?

Yes. A spell cast in response to another resolves first (Last In, First Out).

  116.4. If all players pass in succession (that is, if all players pass without taking any actions in between passing), the spell or ability on top of the stack resolves or, if the stack is empty, the phase or step ends.

  would I be allowed to change target for indestructible?

No.

When you are about to resolve a spell, the following happens:

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. [...] The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. [...]

If your spell isn't countered by the above check, it continues on to resolve.

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

  do I still pay the mana cost?

You already did. The mana cost to cast a spell is payed when casting the spell. Acting in response to a spell means acting after the spell is cast, but before it resolves.

  601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. [...]

You don't get a refund if your spell is useless. You don't even get a refund if it's countered.


Destroying opponent's creatures with hexproof

All of these cards would work since they do not specifically target any card. A creature with hexproof cannot be the target of an effect an opponent uses, however, it can still be affected by opponent's effects, so long as it is not targeted. A boardwipe will still wipe the  board, including the hexproof creatures, so long as it does not read the specific word "target." Since Wakening Sun's Avatar states "destroy all non-Dinosaur creatures," it will destroy all non-Dinosaur creatures, unless they have indestructible (permanent cannot be destroyed by rules or effects).


What happens when I blink a Manic Scribe multiple times?

What you are describing is possible, but I will go over various interpretations of what you described. We will assume that you already have a Manic Scribe on the battlefield.

The most likely way you will accomplish what you're trying to do is by casting Momentary Blink on the scribe, letting the spell resolve so it can come back and trigger its "enters the battlefield" ability, and then casting your second Momentary Blink on it. This will cause it to leave and re-enter twice, triggering its ability twice, and overall making each opponent put 6 cards in their graveyard.

You could also cast Momentary Blink on it, then hold priority and cast the second Momentary Blink on it before the first one resolves. This is a Bad Idea, because after one of them resolves, the other will not have a valid target and be countered (fizzle) on resolution (as the scribe left the battlefield and came back, so is a new object). Then, you wasted one of your blinks! Your opponent will only put 3 cards into their graveyard, because Manic Scribe only entered the battlefield once.

Manic Scribe has a triggered ability that triggers on your opponent's upkeep (if you have Delirium) in addition to the one that triggers when it enters the battlefield, however you cannot cause this trigger to repeat in the same way. Your opponent's upkeep happens and the trigger is put on the stack. At this point, if you blink the scribe, it will leave and re-enter, and the "enters the battlefield" trigger will go on the stack too, but there is no way to get a second "beginning of upkeep" trigger to occur.


Your text is slightly off.  It's actually:

  Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may return target nonland permanent card from your graveyard to your hand. If that land is a Plains, you may return that nonland permanent card to the battlefield instead.

So, it's referring to the land that triggers landfall, not the nonland permanent you're targeting in your graveyard.


If a blank POI marker is set on fire, does it still count as a victim?

No, blank markers are "False Alarms", not "Victims".  They do not count towards the loss condition of "4+ Victims Lost", just like you place revealed False Alarms on the Rescued space but they do not count towards the victory condition of "7 Victims Rescued".


Eye of the Storm—Simultaneous or Sequential?

Sequential.

"The player may cast the copies" would simultaneously cast the copies. This is practically impossible to do (since casting is a long and complex procedure), so the card uses the wording "For each copy, the player may cast the copy" instead. The instruction only has you cast a single object, so there's nothing for it to be simultaneous with.


Could i run a stormcast eternals body with a head from a space wolf?

Definitely you can. The Hobby has a long history of converting models, e.g. head swaps, weapon swaps, extra legs/arms/tentacles etc.

If the conversion is likely to cause confusion, just point out what it 'counts as' to your opponent before the game.


What if multiple players have the same hand via using all the shared cards?

This would be a split pot if cards are revealed at show down.

In Texas Hold 'Em players make the best 5 card they can from the 7 they have available.  When those best 5 are the 5 community cards this is known as 'Playing the board'.  If multiple players best hand is 'the board' and this is the winning hand then it is a split.  the 2 cards they have in there hand take no part in determine the winner.

eg. two players hole cards are AA and 23.  The board comes out 6789T.  Both players have a Ten High Straight and nothing more so split if cards shown at showdown.


I think this would actually be less balanced.

Assassin
From the perspective of the choosing player, the main strength of the Assassin is rarely the actual assassination. The Assassin's main strength is actually that since he plays first, he is able to avoid attacks by the Thief and Magician. (Occassionally the Assassin's player will benefit directly by eliminating the Magician or Warlord)

The player who generally benefits most from an assassination is the non-involved player, since (unless he took Warlord) is the only one who can take two actions towards city improvement.

Thief
The thief in a 3-player game still has a lot of things that can go wrong.

He could be killed by the Assassin prior to being able to steal.
If one opponent has coins and the other does not, he has a 50% chance to choose the wrong player and get no money.
If he only sees roles late in the rotation, (ex: Merchant and Architect), there is a good chance the target will also have an earlier role and have spent the money already.

Probable Effects of Removing Assassin and Thief
This would be extremely unbalanced.  Can you imagine a game where the Magician goes first every round?


How likely is it to survive a game of Barbarian Prince?

I would estimate between 60%-70%. The best strategy to use when attempting to survive for 70 days, is to try to avoid wounds. If the wounds that the Barbarian Prince receives are ever 1 less than his Endurance (fall unconscious), or greater than or equal to his Endurance you lose the game. This basically means that we need to avoid combat at all costs. The best way to achieve that is to hideout in a relatively safe location.

North of the Tragoth River

The first thing that is necessary to avoid combat is to cross the river. If you don't, at the end of each day, just before your evening meal you have a 50% chance (4/6) of being attacked by Mercenary Royal Guardsmen (e002). This encounter deals you on average about 1.71-1.55 wounds (depending upon if you Negotiate/Evade/Fight), and because it occurs about 50% of the time it also prevents you from Healing Wounds (r222) about 15% of the time. This is in addition to the normal event for the day that might prevent healing if combat or an escape occurs. If we stay North of the Tragoth River we will heal less than 0.85 wounds on average, but we will receive 0.86 (1/2 of 1.71) wounds on average plus any additional damage from other encounters.

Crossing the River

(I will fill in the percentages of crossing the river without dying at a later time. It is a little difficult to write up all the possibilities, because the strategy changes slightly based upon where you start)

Getting to the Mountains

After you get across the river, you need to head to the nearest mountain hex. Depending upon where you start, you should head to a different mountain range.

Ogon (0101): Head to 0103 mountain hex.
0701: Head to 0703, Barrier Peaks.
Ruins of Jakor Keep (0901): Head to 0703 Barrier Peaks.
1301: The worst starting position, head to 0703 or south to 1204.
Weshor (1501): Head south or west to the nearest mountain hex.
1801: You should already be in the mountains after crossing the river.

Hiding in the (safe) Mountains

The only way to receive wounds in the game, is through events and through combat. All events including combat are a function of the terrain that the Barbarian Prince is either resting in, or the terrain he was trying to move into before getting lost. Therefore, to minimize wounds, we only need to examine the likelihood of getting into combat for all 36 possible events for a terrain type and the amount of damage that you are likely to receive. Particular attention needs to be paid to encounters that prevent the Barbarian Prince from escaping (r220e), because escaping is one of the best tools for avoiding damage. Escaping is effective 50% of the time, but causes the prince's party to flee to a random adjacent hex (that isn't across a river). What is nice about this is, as long as we don't rest in the random hex we fled into, but instead travel back into the mountain hex then we will roll for an event on the relatively safe mountain encounter chart. I have included some of the safer terrains, and their percentage chance for combat, and percentage chance for a deadly inescapable combat.

Countryside: 10.74% combat, 2.83% lethal* (3x Wolves, 1x Goblin Keep)
Forest: 10.01% combat, 1.54% lethal* (1x Wolves, 1x Spectre)
Hills: 6.11% combat, 0.79% lethal* (1x Wolves, 1x Dragon)
Mountains: 2.82% combat, 0.39% lethal (1x Goblin Keep)

*Note: Forest, Countryside, and Hills all have at least one Great Hunting Cat encounter that prevents the victim from escaping. I didn't include this within the lethal calculation, because it doesn't occur that often for most terrains and with a combat encounter percentage of 10% or less you will usually be healed up enough to survive the encounter.

Wrapping it All Up

If you can make it to the mountains, you only have to survive the remaining days. This will usually mean that you will be escaping from combats (if they occur), and then attempting to travel back into the mountains to rest on subsequent turns. You will likely be suffering from starvation for much of the game, but since starvation only affects Combat Skill and Carrying Capacity (not escape chances), it shouldn't have much of an effect if you are only trying to survive. To figure the chances of not having a lethal encounter after X days, just take 1-(lethal encounter%) and raise it to the DAYS power. The result is about 76% chance. If you figure in the river crossing, the time to get to the mountains, the true survival percentage is probably a little bit lower. I would estimate a 60%-70% chance of surviving (with the above strategy).


Strategy for succeeding at Crisis skill checks

Crisis Deck Management

You haven't put much emphasis on crisis deck management, which is important.

You can scout to bottom deck crisis cards.
Roslin can select one crisis out of two on her turn.
Boomer gets to see the next crisis before it is revealed.

All of these abilities can mitigate the damage caused by failing a crisis.

Track Destiny

You can keep track of destiny, so you can avoid playing when its stacked against you.

Evil and clever brig hack

If you can get around the players personal objections to this, having a player (even human) in the bring increases the number of skill cards drawn per crisis.

Imagine everyone is in the brig.  Then you can cycle through the skill deck, getting all of the best cards into players hand before ever having a crisis check.


How does +1 damage interact with a power with two damage types?

It increases damage dealt by hero's each time they deal damage so in this case Fanatic would deal 1 target 2 melee damage and 2 radiant damage. It should be remembered that in a case like Fanatic each hit if the damage is considered a different damage. And in the case of Legacy it increases all hero damage.

Now where you need to be careful is if you where dealing with something that said the next time the character did damage or the first time that turn they do damage in a case like that only the melee portion of the damage would be increased.

This is how the it works in the iPad app when using Fanatic's power while Legacy's power is in effect.


Differences between Clue/Cluedo and Clue: Discover the Secrets

Character changes, mostly now its a teen approach: Kasandra Scarlet, Jack Mustard, Diane White, Jacob Green, Eleanor Peacock, Victor Plum. Starting spaces have changed.

The House is now complete with Spa and Observatory inhabited by the Hollywood elite such as the bat wielding ex-football player and software billionaire fond of dumbbells. Rooms are: Hall, Guest House, Dining Room, Kitchen, Patio, Spa, Theater, Living Room, Observatory.

Characters have special powers. I.e., Kasandra Scarlet can once a game look at a card that one player has just shown another player.

Intrigue cards offer new rules. And there are some slight other changes in rules.

Purists hate it. My kids think its fun.


Yes.  The rules say that you must draw a card and that you must discard a card as part of your turn. (At least my edition) It does not state specifically about not being able to discard the draw off the discard pile.

However, I do question it as a strategy.  If the card to be picked up from the discard does not help the hand, then there is a much greater probability that the card from the draw pile will help the hand.


Necroskitter and creatures dying because of placing -1/-1 counters

If it's a regular 1/1 creature, it will die and you'll get it back with Necroskitter, since when it dies it had a -1/-1 counter on it, so it qualifies.

If it's a 1/1 creature with a +1/+1 counter and 1 normal damage already, it will get a -1/-1 counter; that -1/-1 counter 'merges' with the +1/+1 counter, which would make them both vanish at the same moment the creature leaves the battlefield.

  608.2g If an effect requires information from the game (such as the number of creatures on the battlefield), the answer is determined only once, when the effect is applied. If the effect requires information from a specific object, including the source of the ability itself, the effect uses the current information of that object if it’s in the public zone it was expected to be in; if it’s no longer in that zone, or if the effect has moved it from a public zone to a hidden zone, the effect uses the object’s last known information. See rule 113.7a. If an ability states that an object does something, it’s the object as it exists—or as it most recently existed—that does it, not the ability.

The 'creature' referred to by Necroskitter is expected to be on the battlefield; creature cards in graveyards can't have -1/-1 counters on them. So last known information will be applied; it 'sees' a creature with a -1/-1 counter (and a +1/+1 counter) on it, so you'll get it back with Necroskitter.

It's essentially the same situation as Why doesn't Undying trigger if a creature with +1/+1 counters dies from -1/-1 counters?, the answer there explains the timing in great detail.


A rubber is a series that consists of an odd number of matches where a majority of wins takes the series.  For example, in baseball, the World Series is an example of a rubber; the team that wins 4 games out of 7 wins the series.  Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge where the teams play best out of three games.  (Wiktionary lists this the etymology of this definition of rubber as "unknown."  If you want more information, English Language & Usage would be a good place to ask.)

The rubber match is a match that decides a series after a tie.  For example, in this year's World Series, after 6 games the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals were tied 3-3.  The last game on October 29 was the rubber match, and the winner, San Francisco, won the series.  In rubber bridge, the rubber match is the third game.

A dead rubber is a match in a series that has already been decided, but the match is still played.  In the World Series, this doesn't happen; once a team has four wins, no more games are played.  However, this term is used in other sports, such as some tennis tournaments, cricket, or the FIFA World Cup.  For example, in the group stage of the FIFA World Cup, you might have a match at the end of the group stage where it is already known which teams will advance to the knockout stage before the match begins.  This is a dead rubber match, and no matter who wins, the result of the tournament doesn't change.

In rubber bridge, the rubber is over when one team has won two games, so I don't think that "dead rubber" is a bridge term.


What is the average lifetime of a pack of casino cards?

Ultimately, it's going to vary on many more factors than the casino, but I think I can sort of answer the question

does this lack of reuse factor into the build quality of the cards?

First I should note that as I started Googling around for an answer to this, it is abundantly clear that there is not a definitive answer on this. This answer will assume you're talking about plastic playing cards since paper playing cards have such a short life span that they probably couldn't be resold.
There also is a lot of discrepancy on the length of time a casino even uses a pack of cards before retiring them. I have seen references that the Bellagio uses a deck of plastic playing cards for poker for 2 months, but this isn't official or even supported. That same page has a user saying they saw on a TV show that cards are used between 2 and 24 hours depending on what game it is and how they are shuffled, a claim that is impossible to check. This probably refers more to games like blackjack, where the house's money is on the line and they'd want to ensure that no money would be lost because players could identify cards.
The best information I could even find relating to casino cards was on the COPAG Cards website. In talking about use of their cards in casinos, they say

The primary use for 100% plastic playing cards in the casino is in the poker room. Since poker is a game where the players handle the cards extensively, plastic cards are preferred due to the durability and additional security that they provide over their paper counterparts. COPAG cards are used in casinos throughout the world and are dealt in many of the finest poker rooms across the United States.

Later in that same FAQ, there is this question and answer:

How long will COPAG cards last?
The longevity of your COPAG cards differs depending on how they are handled during play. Therefore, we can not give an accurate length of time that they will last. However, 100% plastic playing cards will last significantly longer than paper playing cards.

This is where I'm going to do some fuzzy logic. Given that on the same website they a.) talk about their cards being used for poker in casinos, and b.) they talk about the length their cards will last as if answering anyone that could buy their cards (and you can buy COPAG cards from their website), I would think that the used cards you buy from a casino are not qualitatively different than the cards you could buy new from a store, except that they've already been used.
I'm unsure how long a pack of plastic cards normally lasts since this also varies on how much it's used and how rough it's shuffled and myriad other factors. If you knew that, you could guess that any used pack you buy from a casino will have either 1.) months of almost constant play reduced from their life if they were used for poker, or 2.) a much smaller amount of time, potentially only a few hours of play, reduced from their life if they were used in games where the house's money was at stake.
Edit:
Figures that just after I post this, I noticed that there are separate tabs for purchasing on the COPAG website for retail and casinos, so some clarification is needed. On the retail purchasing tab, the plastic poker cards are measured at 63mm by 88mm. On the casino tab, the size of plastic poker cards is 63mm by 88mm. They are the same size.
Additionally, I would think there is no qualitative difference between the two for economic reasons. It wouldn't be cost efficient to have separate machines for different qualities of plastic for different cards, but changing the pattern on the back would be pretty simple.


According to the rules, your boss's "Level Up" ability is triggered when your dungeon is 5 rooms in size. "Triggering" implies necessity. So yes, the only way to avoid levelling up is by not building a fifth room.

Secondly, and more to your concern... according to the Advanced Rules (see the entry for Robobo in the glossary using the link above), using Robobo's level up does not trigger the "destroy this Room" ability for the destroyed room.


If you knock, but actually have a gin hand, is it valid to change it after you've knocked?

It is important to note that knocking and going gin are not mutually exclusive. From Pagat:

  Knocking with no unmatched cards at all is called going gin [...]

And Wikipedia:

  Knocking with 0 points of deadwood is known as going Gin or having a Gin hand [...]

If you announced a zero count, then you have gone gin.

If you announced a non-zero count, then you are stuck with the count that you announced and cannot take it back. Your opponent may proceed to lay off cards.

If you did not announce a count, but you have arranged your cards into matched and unmatched groups, then your count is the total of the unmatched cards, and it is too late to change your mind. If you are still in the process of arranging your cards, then your count is not finalized yet, and you can still change your mind.


In Bridge, Is There A Way To Shorten "Reaction Time" For "Real Time" Play

In tournaments, there is no time limit, official or unofficial for a hand or trick; taking 5 minutes to play to the first trick is not unusual.  Tournaments don't grind to a halt (i) because there is usually a time limit for a section or session (so you play most hands quickly and have time to spare on the tricky ones) and (ii) because by the time somebody has reached tournament level, he or she will have enough experience to recognize the simple situations (draw trumps/crossruff, duck a trick/cash winners), and will only take a long time for genuinely complex decisions.  The only way to reach this point, I am sorry to say, is practice. Find a group who take the game seriously enough to take time over it: join a duplicate club: make a mental note after every hand of the one thing you want to remember about it.  And then get some more practice.  It won't on its own make you a good player (ask any of my partners), but it will improve your speed.

(There is also the factor that tournament players have to write down their system of bidding and discards, so don't have to worry about remembering them; but it sounds like you shouldn't worry about that at present.)


Yes, your wall has to be declared a blocker before you can target it with that glyph. Your wall remains a blocker (and thus a legal target) until the end of that combat phase, though you'll have to target it before the Combat Damage step if you want it to actually deal that +10 damage in combat.

A creature is only considered blocking or attacking once it is declared as such, and ceases to be those things once combat is over. There is no such thing as a blocking or attacking creature outside of combat.


Could I still play cards from the activated ability of Golos while the Epic effect is active?

Yes, you would be able to activate Golos's activated ability.
No, you couldn't cast cards exiled by Golos's activated ability (but you could play lands exiled by the ability).

Golos's ability instructs you to play a card.  To play a card means to play that card as a land or to cast that card as a spell.[CR 701.13b]
Epic creates a continuous effect that says you can't cast spells for the remainder of the game.[CR 702.49a]
For non-lands, we have a conflict resolved by the second Golden Rule:

101.2. When a rule or effect allows or directs something to happen, and another effect states that it can’t happen, the “can’t” effect takes precedence.

This means the restriction from Epic's continuous effect trumps all instructions to cast spells, including the permission granted by Priority (the normal way of casting spells) and effects from abilities such as Golos's.
If Golos's ability exiles a land, you may play it as a land (subject to the usual timing restrictions and the limit on the number of lands per turn).
If Golos's ability exiles a non-land, you may not play it, as that would involve casting it.

101.2. When a rule or effect allows or directs something to happen, and another effect states that it can’t happen, the “can’t” effect takes precedence.
701.13b To play a card means to play that card as a land or to cast that card as a spell, whichever is appropriate.
702.49a Epic represents two spell abilities, one of which creates a delayed triggered ability. “Epic” means “For the rest of the game, you can’t cast spells,” and “At the beginning of each of your upkeeps for the rest of the game, copy this spell except for its epic ability. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for the copy.” See rule 706.10.


Abilities interrupting effects on a cast card

Abilities that trigger during the resolution of a spell or effect wait until that spell or effect has finished resolving before they go on the stack.

As you suspect, you have to wait until the spell or ability has finished resolving before the triggered abilities go on the stack. Then you have to wait until Golos' ability actually resolves to get its benefits.

  116.2a Triggered abilities can trigger at any time, including while a spell is being cast, an ability is being activated, or a spell or ability is resolving. (See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”) However, nothing actually happens at the time an ability triggers. Each time a player would receive priority, each ability that has triggered but hasn’t yet been put on the stack is put on the stack. See rule 116.5.


How does Haktos the Unscarred's protection ability work if no number was chosen?

If no number was chosen, the ability does nothing.

This is a result of rule 706.7a:

  If an ability causes a player to “choose a [value]” and a second, linked ability refers to that choice, the second ability is the only ability that can refer to that choice. An object doesn’t “remember” that choice and use it for other abilities it may copy later. If an object copies an ability that refers to a choice, but either (a) doesn’t copy that ability’s linked ability or (b) does copy the linked ability but no choice is made for it, then the choice is considered to be “undefined.” If an ability refers to an undefined choice, that part of the ability won’t do anything.

This is also stated in one of the card's Gatherer rulings:

  If Haktos somehow has no choice made for its ability, its last ability grants it no protection abilities.


Gruul Turf will have 6 separate activated abilities. One of them is to tap for RG, the others each tap for 1 mana, 1 ability for each color. So no, you cannot tap for 2 mana of any color.

Also a note on terminology, tapping a land adds a mana to your pool, it does not add a land or land type.


What are the reasons behind naming the "community chest" and "chance" cards in Monopoly?

Community Chest is named from the original Atlantic City version of Monopoly.

In Atlantic City, the Community Chest was a welfare organisation.  Therefore, Community Chest cards are more likely than not to give money.

On the other hand, Chance cards are more likely to move you to a random 'chance' location.


If I activate Shambling Vent's ability after it has been 'awakened', what happens at the end of the turn?

Both Awaken and Vent's ability generate a continuous effect that applies changes in layers 4 and 7b – type and power/toughness accordingly (also some other layers which do not intersect).

611.1. A continuous effect modifies characteristics of objects, modifies control of objects, or affects players or the rules of the game, for a fixed or indefinite period.
613.1d Layer 4: Type-changing effects are applied. These include effects that change an object’s card type, subtype, and/or supertype.
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.

Awaken's effect is not "overwritten" by Vent's ability. Rather, Vent's ability is applied "over" it and takes precedence due to being more recent (timestamp rule).

613.6. Within a layer or sublayer, determining which order effects are applied in is usually done using a timestamp system. An effect with an earlier timestamp is applied before an effect with a later timestamp

Therefore, after Shambling Vent's ability wears off it will go back to being a 0/0 Land Creature - Elemental due to Awaken's effect.


Yes, counters should be represented by physical objects.

  122.1. A counter is a marker placed on an object or player that modifies its characteristics and/or interacts with a rule, ability, or effect. [...]

There has been official products for use as counters. Punch cards including -1/-1 counters and brick counters were provided alongside the Amonkhet block (Apr 2017). To help support the keyword counters it introduced, the Ikoria set (Apr 2020) provided punch cards with +1/+1 counters and keyword counters.

You aren't required to use these. The objects used as counter can be anything. Dice and flat-bottomed glass beads meant to be used in flower vases are popular. You can get the latter at Michaels or Jo-Ann, among others. Some gaming stores carry them as well.

I've seen people use pennies, but they will scratch your cards if the cards aren't protected. (Anything could, but beads and dice have rounder edges.)


What happens when I copy Precursor Golem with Rite of Replication?

The short answer, assuming that your Precursor Golem still has (exactly) his two buddies with him: 28.  The sequence goes something like this:

Rite of Replication (kicked) targets Precursor Golem.  Note that the text of Rite now effectively reads 'Put five tokens that are copies of target creature onto the battlefield', and the copies of Rite of Replication will all copy that version of the text.  (From rule 706.10: "A copy of a spell or ability copies both the characteristics of the spell or ability and all decisions made for it, including modes, targets, the value of X, and additional or alternative costs.")
Precursor Golem's ability copies Rite and targets the 'lesser' golems (the ones without the 'make extra golems' ability); note that these copies of Rite go on the stack on top of the original Rite (this isn't relevant here, but can be if you kick another Rite!)
The copies of Rite resolve, each one making an additional five 'dumb' golems; this puts 10 new golems into play.  You now have 1 Precursor Golem and 12 'dumb' golems.
The original Rite resolves, making five additional Precursor Golems.  Each of the five 'make two dumb golems' abilities of these new Precursor Golems goes on the stack.  Right now you have 6 Precursor Golems and 12 dumb golems.
The new Precursors' token-making abilities resolve, giving you 10 more dumb golems.  You end up with 6 Precursor Golems and 22 dumb golems.

Beyond this - well, beyond this things get interesting.  The next step in the sequence - a second kicked Rite - brings you up to more than four million Golems; for the details, see https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L_FIQrjBdh5J66KKAT2JJ2gTx1KfbXJUfXrdydjzhrY/edit - which also goes into what happens if you kick yet a third Rite...


Do you score for all smaller words within the long one in the same move in scrabble?

You only score each tile in a word once, where a word is the full sequence of letters added or modified in each column or row by your tile placement.

If you check the scoring example in the official rules from Hasbro (click on the Scoring tab, then scroll to the bottom), it will show you how it works.

The first word in their example is HORN which gives a total score of 14. This is reached by adding 4 points for H, plus one point each for O, R, & N for a subtotal of 7. Because it is the first word played, it is given a double word score bonus for a total of 14.

Note that there is no additional score for the O and R making a subword of OR.

This can also be seen in the second word placed where FARM only scores a 9 - the subwords of FAR and ARM cannot be counted as part of the total score.

Note that a tile you place that creates or modifies words on 2 or more columns or rows can be counted multiple times (as in turn 4 of the linked example where adding O & B creates three words - MOB, NOT, & BE) but this is the only way that a tile can be scored multiple times on the same turn.


Whom is a player bankrupt to if a Chance card tells him to pay $50 to each player and he can't pay?

There are indeed no instructions in the official rules on how to resolve multiple payments. A common mechanism in game design to handle such cases is to pay your debts in turn order. You go bankrupt to the player who you cannot pay.

Example: turn order is Alice, Bob, Charlie, Daniel and Eve. It's Alice's turn and she is instructed to pay $50 to each player. Her entire liquid assets are $149. She pays $50 to Bob and Charlie, respectively, but since she's $1 short of paying the debt to Daniel, she goes immediately bankrupt and turns all her assets to Daniel. Eve gets nothing.

Turn order is clockwise, as indicated by the rules:

  THE PLAY... [...] After you have completed your play, the turn passes to the left.


Game with 37 diagonally-oriented holes, 10 black pegs and 10 white pegs

It appears to me that the board you have is a visually stylized version of Two-Player Chinese Checkers. Unlike the regular, 6-player version, the two-player variant utilizes an alternative, smaller board (but can also be played on the regular layout) that could look like this:

While this is the variant I'm familiar with, a quick search also returned this board, which (although presented in a drastically different layout and with a different number of pieces) is used for the same game:

This looks much more familiar to your image, and is equally less diamond-shaped, but still adheres to the basic four-corner principle. Not all variants do, however, like the following one that cuts the sideways corners (which to me seems more true to the 6-player variant):

The last image is identical to your board, with the exception of the outermost rows of three holes.

My guess is that there's a wide variety of two-player Chinese Checkers boards out there, made by people who tried to compress the "original" game down in size to accomodate for the reduced player count. I would put your board in the very same category.


What is the sequence of actions when my Shocker removes cards and places cards in my opponents hand?

When two or more trigger happen at the same time, the player controlling those triggers put them on the stack in an order of his/her choice, beginning with the active player.

So in your scenario, you can put the discard/draw trigger first and the bounce creature trigger second on the stack. This way, the bounce trigger will resolve first, so he/she will have to discard this creature, too, when the other trigger resolves.

Note, that he/she can respond to all triggers placed on the stack. If the bounced creature has Flash for example, he/she could replay it, before he/she has to discard


Question about Join the Military square of The Landlord Game?

From the rules : The rules

Join the Military. When passing through this square, Unemployed and
Employees may choose to stop on this square and join the military,
with the following results:

The rules clearly state
«When passing through this square... may choose to stop...»
Joining the military is therefore NOT compulsory for Employees and the Unemployed; you can just move on, i.e. «pass through».
Since this rule applies only to the specified players, one can logically deduce that the other players, Owner and Manager, do not have this choice. [Edit : The author has confirmed this. See below]
The copyright holder of the game must then decide which of the alternatives these latter players must take. I have contacted Randal Sean Harrison, Ph.D. at the University of Notre-Dame and asked him to give a ruling.
Edit :
The author, Dr. Randal Sean Harrison, has answered in a private email.

It’s totally optional. Certain player classes [Employee and Unemployed]  “may choose” — is the key phrase.
Managers and Owners may not join the military—as the rules were
written.
I suppose you could change that rule, but why would you? What
benefit would it provide the owner? In Landlord, that mechanic is a
vehicle for rising socioeconomically. I don’t know many business
owners or MBA or capitalist billionaires who join the military, etc.
:-)

Dr. Harrison also gives further information concerning play involving the «Join the Military» square that is not germane to your question but I expect would be extremely useful; so here it is:

Certain player classes “may choose” — is the key phrase. The idea
being that, say, I’m an unemployed player, am 2 squares away from
Military square and I roll a 6. I move the two squares and stop on the
military square. I exchange my unemployed card for employee. I’m not
an enlisted man/woman. I move now with a D6 (as an “employee class)
-1, since, the military restricts movement in ways civilian life does not. > And until I pass the Payday square next, I roll an additional D6.
If that roll is a 1, I roll again. If I roll again, I’m killed in
combat.
When I play this with students, some choose to join, some don’t.
Without college or the military, though, it’s nearly impossible to
rise up through the socio-economic classes. There are change cards
which will allow you to rise up, but they are few and the odds of
striking them are slim. Another fun fact. Every class of four boards
with 4-5 students, 1 or two students who join the military die. It’s
1/36 chance after all.
All that said, the most important way this is NOT monopoly (sic) is that
you can and should make rules (analog for politics). You (the player) can
remake the world. So the ultimate arbiter of the Military square
question is the player in the game in the moment.

In my estimation, this is the ultimate game for Monopoly players who like house rules. The way I understand it, the author's objective is to get you to tweak the game rules so that you become more aware of what policies (rules) are overpowering certain social classes and what is required to make a more level playing field for all.
Also, the game's name is «The Landlord Game», and not «The Landlord's Game», the latter of which is Elizabeth Magie's 1904 game.
The Landlord's Game 1904


Can a resource card be used more than once in a turn when allowed to build more than one structure?

The consensus opinion, based on asking the games' creators how situations such as these were intended to be resolved (see this BGG thread), is that you should treat Babylon's "play last card of each age" power as, in effect, a 7th and separate turn.  If you do, then naturally you would be able to use your resources once per build, not have to divide them between the last two cards.

I think this is definitely the way to go, just for pragmatic reasons: Babylon's power seems pretty poor if you have to pay for your last two cards in an Age with one set of resources.  It's hard enough to buy one card with the resources available in the final stages of the game - buying two at once would be an almost impossible feat!


There are a number of variants listed in the rulebooks (Wrath of the Elements, in particular, has solo play and epic variants printed in it among others).  Having tried most of them out, I have to say that I still greatly prefer just the basic scenario.  In particular, the small size of the Village stacks means that any longer variants tend to turn into just grinding towards the end, as there is little purchasing one can do once the premium Village stacks are exhausted.


Looking to identify a particular form of solitaire played in-hand, not on a table

It sounds like you're describing One-Handed Solitaire, or a variant of it. Here's a second description of the rules. It's actually possible to play several solitaire games in this way, where you use the top of the deck as a kind of compressed tableau, and store the discards in the draw deck itself.


Are there other legal/recognized Roulette variations than just the standard European and American?

A google image search will find the various different layouts including a triple zero layout.

This wheel was 0 and 00 adjacent.  the page I found it on  Says it in a casino in Australia.

If you search for 'triple zero roulette'  You will find many images of that layout as well and casinos that use them.


Which, if any, colored cards can be made colorless after being cast?

No spell has an inherent way to become colorless after it has been cast while it's still on stack. There are ways to do this however, but it requires using other cards. This means that almost all spells can be made colorless, the only ones that can't are spells that can't be targeted or prevent using the stack until they resolve (split second).

Change target spell to colorless:

Ersatz Gnomes is an artifact creature that a tap ability to turn a targeted spell on the stack colorless.
Moonlace is a one cost blue spell that will turn a target spell on the stack colorless.

Permanents that change themselves to colorless. (all red creatures)

Ancient Kavu 2 cost activated ability to turn itself colorless.
Blazing Blade Askari 2 cost activated ability to turn itself colorless.
Raging Spirit 2 cost activated ability to turn itself colorless.

Turns another permanent colorless.

Ersatz Gnomes has a second tap ability to turn a targeted permanent colorless until end of turn.
Moonlace can also target a permanent to turn it colorless. This effect is permanent.
Xathrid Gorgon is a black creature that has a tap ability costing 3 mana that will permanently turn a target creature into a colorless artifact and gives it defender (flavored turn to stone gorgon ability).

Change everything to colorless.

Thran Lens this 2 cost artifact makes all permanents colorless, this applies to all permanents controlled by all players.
Mycosynth Lattice this changes everything to colorless, in play, on the stack, in the hand, in the deck, etc.
Ghostflame Sliver this 2 cost black and red creature doesn't apply to everything, but it applies to all slivers, regardless of who controls them.


Can Apex Install Non-Virtual Resources via Assimilator?

Yes you can.  First, you can include non-virtual resources in your deck, since there is no restriction on this.  Then, the rules reference says the following on facedown runner cards:

  Runner cards that are installed or turned facedown do not have a name, type, or subtypes, and their abilities are not active.

Since you are installing the resource facedown, it is not a resource and thus not subject to Apex's install restriction.

Finally, turning it face up with Assimilator is not an installation, so is also not subject to Apex's restriction.  Support for this can be found in the rules reference:

  Turning an installed facedown Runner card faceup does
  not trigger install effects


Use 2 standard decks of 52 cards and deal 10 piles with the following rules:

Dealing the cards

When dealing each row, the first and last card is always face up, while the rest is face down.
In each row, after you have dealt the card to the 5th pile, the next card is dealt face up to the "devil's six" pile.  The "devil's six" pile is placed on the upper left hand of the tableau.  You always deal to the "devil's six" pile after dealing to the 5th pile, regardless of which pile you began dealing in that row.  After dealing to the "devil's six" pile, you continue dealing to the 6th pile as normal.
For the first row, start with the first pile and deal to the 10th pile.
On the second row, start on the 2nd pile and deal to the 9th pile.
On the third row, start on the 3rd pile and deal to the 8th.
On the forth row, start on the 4th pile and deal to the 7th.
On the fifth row, deal face up to the 5th pile directly and deal next card face up to the "devil's six" pile.  Then deal a card face up to the 6th pile, and deal the next card face up to the "devil's six" pile.
At this point the devil's six pile should have 6 cards in total.
The rest of the cards remain face down and form the stock pile.

Gameplay

Same as other solitaire rules, you build up in sequence with alternating colors in descending order (K->Q->J->10->...).
The entire ordered sequence in the pile can be moved (e.g. If the pile is 2->5->9->8->7, you can move 9->8->7 to a different pile with a top card of 10 as long as they are alternating colors).  Also note any number of cards in the sequence can be moved, it doesn't have to be the entire sequence (e.g. you can move 7, 8->7, or 9->8->7).
If after moving cards to other piles results in the top card being a face down card, turn the top card face up.
If a pile is empty, only K or a sequence starting with K can be placed to the empty pile.
Any Ace is immediately moved to the "Victory Rows" (foundations).
The cards in the devil's six pile can only be moved to the Victory Rows directly, the cards cannot be used to build any sequences.
Only the top card of the pile is available for moving to the Victory Rows, including the "devil's six" pile.  You cannot move a card underneath the top card in the "devil's six" pile to the Victory Rows.
Moving cards to the Victory Rows is optional.  You may, for strategic purposes, choose to leave cards in play and delay moving them to the Victory Rows.
You move cards to the "Victory Rows" in ascending order (A->2->3->...).
When you run out of moves, you can deal from the stock pile, dealing one card to each pile that does not start with K as the first card of the pile.
You win the game when all cards are moved to the Victory Rows.


Can I use Bind Monster in addition to the combat check?

If you fail to cast a spell, none of its effects happen. So you're left exactly where you started: you have a combat check to make. Of course, Bind Monster is two-handed, so... you won't have any weapons and may not fare too well in the check.

(Side note: combat checks are a special kind of fight check; this is a combat check, not just a fight check.)


Can you play 99 relentless rats in commander?

Yes, you can, for the same reason you can in other formats.

The first Golden Rule:

  101.1. Whenever a card’s text directly contradicts these rules, the card takes precedence. The card overrides only the rule that applies to that specific situation. The only exception is that a player can concede the game at any time (see rule 104.3a).

They'd have to ban or restrict the card to limit its use, but it's legal in that format.


Is there efficient token generation in Black or White?

I cannot think of anything that combos with them for as many iterations as you want. There are a number of effects that create tokens once per turn based on gaining/losing life.

In standard (as both cards you mentioned are standard legal):
Regal Bloodlord
Resplendent Angel

Outside of standard, the best I can find is:
Crested Sunmare
Regna, the Redeemer
Angelic Accord
First Response

In general I think they are quite careful with this effect, and restrict it to happening once per turn specifically to not enable the combo that you're seeking.


When a face-down permanent dies, do other cards responding to its death see its face-up side?

It was a face-down creature when it left the battlefield, so it wasn't an artifact (creature) to trigger Trawler's ability.
As for why that's the case:

603.10. Normally, objects that exist immediately after an event are checked to see if the event matched any trigger conditions, and continuous effects that exist at that time are used to determine what the trigger conditions are and what the objects involved in the event look like. However, some triggered abilities are exceptions to this rule; the game “looks back in time” to determine if those abilities trigger, using the existence of those abilities and the appearance of objects immediately prior to the event. The list of exceptions is as follows:

603.10a Some zone-change triggers look back in time. These are leaves-the-battlefield abilities, abilities that trigger when a card leaves a graveyard, and abilities that trigger when an object that all players can see is put into a hand or library.


When you have two simultaneous effects that need an order to resolve, the active player gets to decide the order.  So the player whose turn it was would probably choose themselves to receive the point for First Blood (though they could choose which either player to get it).

Alternatively if it's a friendly game you and your opponent might agree that both players score First Blood, or that neither player got it. Or even that it hasn't been scored yet.

That said there are several variants of First Blood out there since it almost always goes to the first player. Last Blood is fairly popular, where to score it you have to kill a unit and then not lose a unit on the opponent's turn.

This question has given an alternative idea which I plan on implementing when I can get my opponent's permission. I'm going to make a "Blood Trophy" and the first unit to kill another earns the Trophy. However if a unit kills the unit that controls the trophy, they gain the trophy. Whichever army controls the trophy at the end of the gain gets a victory point.


Is "create a token" the same as "put a token onto the battlefield" in Kaladesh?

It's identical; it's just a new way of writing it introduced in Kaladesh. The release notes explain it:

“Create” is a new term for an old concept: the act of putting a token onto the battlefield.
[...]

To create a token, put it onto the battlefield under your control.

This new term doesn’t represent any functional change from tokens as you’ve known them. No rules for tokens or putting them onto the battlefield are changing other than the words used to present this game concept. The text of older cards that create tokens will be updated.


Can Selective Adaptation be used to get equipment or enchantments?

Basilisk Collar gives lifelink to equipped creature, but it doesn't have lifelink.

Correct, therefore Selective Adaptation cannot fetch Basilisk Collar. For example, if an unequipped Basilisk Collar is animated with Karn, the Great Creator's +1 ability:

+1: Until your next turn, up to one target noncreature artifact becomes an artifact creature with power and toughness each equal to its converted mana cost.

the collar itself won't have deathtouch.
While Selective Adaptation can't fetch Basilisk Collar itself, there are some non-creature non-vehicles which have either indestructible or hexproof and therefore can be fetched with Selective Adaptation, for example:

Darksteel Axe, an indestructible equipment
Lotus Field, a hexproof land
Nine Lives, a hexproof enchantment

(Credit to mreux and the Scryfall folks for the query!)


How does the timing of mana draining compared to ending phases?

Aaron can cast the second Nest Robber and swing with it.

Mana drains from the mana pool at at the end of each step or phase as per CR (emphasis mine):

  106.4: When an effect produces mana, that mana goes into a player’s mana pool. From there, it can be used to pay costs immediately, or it can stay in the player’s mana pool. Each player’s mana pool empties at the end of each step and phase.

So in order for Nick to cast Opt, he must cast the spell before Aaron's precombat mainphase ends. After Nick casts Opt and it resolves Aaron will once again receive priority as per CR:

  116.3b: The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.

Once Aaron receives priority he will be able to cast the Nest Robber as the stack is empty and it is still his precombat main phase (as per CR, emphasis mine):

  116.1a: A player may cast an instant spell any time he or she has priority. A player may cast a noninstant spell during his or her main phase any time he or she has priority and the stack is empty.


Interactions with Razaketh and Black Sun's Zenith

No.

The State-Based Action that would put Razaketh into the graveyard happens the next time a player would get priority after Razaketh gets the -1/-1 counters, so it happens before you get priority to activate Razaketh's activated ability.

The last chance you have to activate Razaketh's activated ability occurs before Black Sun's Zenith starts resolving, and Black Sun's Zenith isn't in your library at that point.

If Black Sun's Zenith was an instant (or gained flash), then you could make it work. You'd start by activating Razaketh's activated ability, then cast Black Sun's Zenith in response. Black Sun's Zenith would resolve first, then Razaketh would die, then Razaketh's activated ability would resolve.


Can you stack cards of the same number but different colors?

You may only play a single card each turn and note the rules mention playing "a card" not multiple.

Rules

  You have to match either by the number, color, or the symbol/Action. For instance, if the Discard Pile has a red card that is an 8 you have to place either a red card or a card with an 8 on it. You can also play a Wild card (which can alter current color in play).


Rules reference here

1)  No, you may not build another building.  As you are aware the rules say: -

  If a player gains several favors during the same phase (for
  instance, during a count or when the monument is built), the
  favors must be used on different lines. So, it is impossible
  to gain more than 4 favors in a phase.

You gained the favour allowing you to build in phase 6, building the castle.  If you build a building that give you more favours the phase has not changed.

2) Yes,  You advance your marker unless prevented by the stage of the game (ie building the keep, walls etc).

  Whenever a player earns a favor, they must choose a line at
  once, and, if it is possible, advance their marker to the right.
  Then, the player can use one of the effects provided on the
  chosen line, between level 1 and the level currently indicated
  by the marker.

The restriction on moving the marker is the stage of the game, not if you are able to carry out the action.  Don't forget when moving on the favour track you don't have to carry out the action you move to, you can select any of the action you passed on that row.  Also if you are the end of the row you can still keep selected that row and carrying out any action.


Does casting a Partner commander add a the +2 mana cost to your other commander as well?

Each Commander will keep track of its own extra 2 mana separately.

  702.123d Except for determining the color identity of your commander, the two commanders function independently. When casting a commander with partner, ignore how many times your other commander has been cast. When determining whether a player has been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander, consider damage from each of your two commanders separately.


Does Deserter's Quarters get overriden by Horizon Boughs?

Deserter's Quarters becomes next to useless.

If someone casts Burst of Energy targeting your Deserter's Quarters, it would untap since it's not your untap step. Same thing here.

When in Horizon Boughs, your Deserter's Quarters untaps in the other players' untap steps since you only have the option of not untapping him in your untap step. (The creature held in Deserter's Quarters remains tapped.)

Similarly, the creature held in Deserter's Quarters untaps in your untap step since Deserter's Quarters only prevents it from untapping in its controller's untap step.

Horizon Boughs makes Deserter's Quarters really inefficient. At best, you could retap a creature every turn for 6 mana in a two-player game.


Should I respond to 1 NT in a suit or NT holding 17 HCP and a void?

I would bid 4C (Gerber) to ask about aces. If partner has 3, bid 7D. If partner has only 2, bid 6D.

The weak point in this hand is if partner has, say, the KJ in spades; some other responder might have a fancier convention to pick out the specific high cards.


Is there an equivalent of Deep Blue in the Go world?

AlphaGo

Now there is AlphaGo by Deep Mind, a company recently bought by Google playing currently a match against 9p Lee Sedol. It is the Deep Blue of Go.

EDIT: The final result of the match of five games was AlphaGo 4 – Lee Sedol 1. This confirms the former conjecture: AlphaGo is the Deep Blue of Go.


What happens to a spell that is cast with flashback when it gets countered by a Remand?

A spell that was cast using Flashback will always be exiled, no matter how it left the stack

702.33. Flashback
702.33a Flashback appears on some instants and sorceries. It represents two static abilities: one that functions while the card is in a player’s graveyard and another that functions while the card is on the stack. “Flashback [cost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.” Casting a spell using its flashback ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2f–h.


What is the penalty for failing to follow suit?

In Duplicate Bridge the penalty for a revoke (failing to follow suit) is very clear.

The official rules handle revokes in Laws 61 to 64.  Wikipedia's summary of 61-64 is

  A revoke may be corrected (correct card substituted) without trick penalty before any player of the offending side plays to the next trick; otherwise, it becomes established. If a revoke is corrected, the exposed card becomes a penalty card and the opponents may change their played cards as they see fit (however, the revoking side may not take advantage of those seen cards—see Alcatraz coup). When a revoke is established, in general, one of subsequent tricks won by the offending side is transferred to the opponents. If the revoke card has won the trick, that trick is transferred too. (If the offending side did not win any subsequent tricks, no penalty is assessed). Additional tricks can be transferred if the revoke has caused more damage to the opponents than was redressed by those penalties.

If the revoke is not immediately corrected, there is no difference in penalties based on the person who establishes the revoke.  It makes no difference whether the mistake was intentional or unintentional.


Precondition costs for structures built with Halicarnassus "build for free"?

There are no building prerequisites. The building names next to the cost indicate that you may construct the building for free, without having to fulfill the resource cost. From the rulebook, p. 4:

  Free Construction (Chains):
  Some structures in Age II and Age III have, to the right of their resource
  cost, the name of a structure of a previous age. If the player has built the structure named there during a previous Age, that  player  can  build  the  structure  for  free,  meaning  without  having  to  fulfill the resource cost.

Since Halikarnassos allows you to construct any building in the discard pile for free, anyway, the "chained" card is irrelevant at that point. Nevertheless, you are still forbidden from constructing a duplicate card.


Does a countered Mimeoplasm still exile creatures?

The wording clearly says

  As The Mimeoplasm enters the battlefield, you may exile two creature cards from graveyards. If you do, it enters the battlefield as a copy of one of those cards with a number of additional +1/+1 counters on it equal to the power of the other card.

(emphasis mine)

So if it's countered, it will not enter the battlefield, the replacement effect won't happen and the creature cards won't be exiled from their graveyards.


The different options for setting up games are located on pages 22 and 23 of the starter set rules. I have no idea if WizKids replicated these in the rulebook for the Civil War starter, but the link should get you going. Assuming you only have the starter set, you're best off going with the draft option for now. If you start buying additional packs it will become more feasible to build teams before a game using the Basic Teams setup. And if you really get into the game, the Tournament Teams setup will probably be what you'd use at your local gaming store. Below are the rules for each.

Draft:

This is a useful style of play when only one player has a set of dice.
Choose a number between 8 and 20, based on the size of the collection being used. Both player will field up to that number of dice, and start the game with that many life. Shuffle the basic action cards and choose three or four of them at random to use. This makes for a different environment to consider when drafting.
Place all the dice, sorted by type, in the center of the table. Place all the available  character and action cards in the center, stacking cards that share the same name together, even if they have different subtitles. Determine the first and second players. The second player picks first, choosing one card stack. If that player picks a stack with more than one card, that player must choose which card to use. The second player also takes all the dice for that character and decides how many (up to the max listed and the chosen team limit) to use. The first player then chooses. The players alternate until all cards have been chosen. Players use all cards for which they have dice. Cards that have no dice to them (e.g., the player drafted them after reaching the team limit) are not used in the game.

Basic Teams:

Use this variant when you want to explore new potentials and try new strategies. Each player starts with 15 life. Build your team to the following specifications.
Choose two different Basic Action cards. You cannot bring two of the same Basic Action card. However, when you play, it’s possible that your opponent may have chosen the same card(s) as you did. That’s fine; there are just twice as many of those dice as normal.
Choose up to 6 cards. You can choose any mix of characters and actions (except Basic actions), and you can mix teams, etc. However, you cannot choose more than one card with the same title on it, even if the cards have different subtitles. For example, if you choose Iron Man, Philanthropist, you cannot also choose Iron Man, Inventor. Choose up to 15 dice. Note that all cards have a limit on how many dice can be on the card. You cannot bring more dice than the card allows. You can bring less, of course, to make room for dice on other cards. However, each of your six cards you choose must have at least one die assigned to it.
Each player reveals the two Basic Action cards they want on the battlefield. It is possible that both players choose the same Basic Action card(s); in that case, there are two sets of those dice available. Assign colors to each of the Basic Action cards revealed, place them in the center of the table, and place the three matching dice on each one.
Then both players reveal their personal cards, and place their matching dice on them. Choose a first player and start fighting!

Tournament Teams:

For tournament competition, each player starts with 20 life. Build your team to the following specifications.
Choose two different Basic Action cards.  Choose up to 8 cards. You can choose any mix of characters and actions (except Basic actions), and you can mix teams, heroes with villains, etc. However, you cannot choose more than one card with the same title on it, even if the cards have different subtitles. Choose up to 20 dice. Note that all cards have a limit on how many dice can be on the card. You can bring less, of course, to make room for dice on other cards. However, each of your eight cards you choose must have at least one die assigned to it.
At the tournament, reveal all the cards and dice you chose at the same time, and simultaneously with your designated opponent.


Exploding kittens. How many turns can an attack card "really" skip?

I'm going to answer my own question here.
ThankYou Ken and Toon for the replies. :)

How many turns can an attack card “really” skip???
It can skip all the turns that you have piled up on you. +  it will make the next player take any remaining turns plus 2 more.
Scenario:
P1 plays attack
P2 plays attack.
P3 has 4 turns on her.
P3 plays a turn and draws a card.
P3 has 3 turns left.
P3 plays her attack.
What happens?
P3 gets to skip her remaining 3 turns, they are transferred to P4.
P4 so has to play 3 + 2 (P3's attack) = 5 turns in total.
(P4 has to play only 2 turns - if playing acc to the nerfed version of the attack card)

The rules talk about the existence of a THE NERFED VERSION, where The remaining turns are not carried over to the next player. Its for the players to decide before game how they want to play.


Settlers of Catan (Knights & Cities): Lose to barbarians attack - same amount/strengths of active knights, different amount of cities

When determining who wins when fighting the Barbarians, and if you lose to the Barbarians who loses a city is based only on the strength of each player's activated knights. Note every instance of knight in this post actually means activated knights.

First to determine if the Barbarians win or you do count up the number of cities on the board (including metropolises) and count the strength of your knights (basic knights are worth 1 point, strong 2, and mighty 3). If the strength of the knights is greater than or equal to the number of cities you win, if it is less than the number of cities the Barbarians win.

If the Barbarians win count the strength of each individual player (ignoring ones with no cities or only metropolises). The player (or players) with the lowest strength of knights loses a city. The number of cities each player has doesn't matter when determining who loses one.


What is the definition of an unused Station?

It means for each Station that you don't play, you get four points at the end of the game. The idea is to force you to weigh up the cost (cards, loss of bonus points) against the benefits (completing your route).

It would be a pretty weird rule if it rewarded you for placing Stations, but making sure you don't use them on any route...


Trader vs Torturer, where does the Silver go?

The Silver Gained from Trader works exactly the same as any other Gain; as Trader's text doesn't specify anything to the contrary, the Gained card goes directly to your discard pile.  This situation is explicitly mentioned on page 11 of the Hinterlands instructions:

If the card you were going to gain was not going to your discard pile, the Silver still goes to your discard pile; if the card you were going to gain did not come from the Supply, the Silver still comes from the Supply.