Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons and "enters the battlefield" triggers

Both your questions can be answered with "yes". Carnifex Demon always has -1/-1 counters on it on the battlefield, AND Hapatra would trigger off Carnifex Demon entering the battlefield. Any object entering the battlefield with counters on it triggers abilities that listen for counters being placed on that kind of object.

121.6. Some spells and abilities refer to counters being put on an object. This refers to putting counters on that object while it’s on the battlefield and also to an object that’s given counters as it enters the battlefield.

When a creature "enters the battlefield with X counters on it", it's a replacement effect and the game never sees that creature on the battlefield without counters. This is in contrast to a triggered ability that can have the same result in the end but the ability goes on the stack and can be responded to, and the creature enters the battlefield without counters.

614.1c Effects that read “[This permanent] enters the battlefield with . . . ,” “As [this permanent] enters the battlefield . . . ,” or “[This permanent] enters the battlefield as . . . “ are replacement effects.
614.6. If an event is replaced, it never happens. A modified event occurs instead, which may in turn trigger abilities.

The event to be replaced is "a creature enters the battlefield", and the modified event is "a creature enters the battlefield with counters on it".


Is Axis and Allies 1940 Balanced without National Objectives?

First, it is not particularly clear that A&A 1940 was balanced WITH all the rules - the changes in the second edition (unless you were referencing that) do in most people's opinions contribute to balance (VCs for Axis and setup changes).

Even with that, though, the NOs do contribute to game balance pretty greatly. Note that they are not symmetric - the US for instance purely gains income when at war, whereas Germany has both peace and wartime NOs. The loss of US and Soviet extra income will definitely be detrimental to their cause. Replacing NOs with free income is a reasonable idea, especially given how nebulous NO "hardness" is, but make sure to not just add it all the time - add NO income when appropriate (when at war, with who, etc).


What options are available to make Diplomacy accessible to a blind player?

Ultimately I think it would be like playing Chess blind, only more difficult because many pieces change positions at the same time. It would certainly be possible for a dedicated player to hold the positions of all pieces in their head, but would likely be extremely frustrating for a new player. It might be useful for the player to have an "adviser" who does not participate in direct negotiations or order placing, but is able to give information to the player throughout the turn about what the board state is, and what opportunities/threats might exist. They could also pass on other "visual" information, such as "Russia and Turkey spent 20 minutes talking in a corner before the first turn".


Removal in response to the Helm of the Host's triggered ability

I found this on Gatherer:

  If the equipped creature leaves the battlefield before the triggered ability of Helm of the Host resolves, or if there is no equipped creature, no token is created. However, if Helm of the Host leaves the battlefield while its triggered ability is on the stack, a token will be created of the creature it last equipped. If that creature has also left the battlefield, its last known information is used to determine what the token looks like.

So, in this case, no token will be created.


Adventure cards and Feather, the Redeemed?

Short answer:
You can do either, your choice, but you have to pick if you intend to return it with Feather or have it exiled as on an adventure while the spell is being exiled, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
Long Answer:
Rule 715.3d creates a replacement effect for when the instant/sorcery resolves, as does Feather's text. Like most other replacement effects, the player gets to choose which order they apply, with some limitations. These limitations are covered in Rule 616.1 from the Comprehensive Rules:

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).

616.1a If any of the replacement and/or prevention effects are self-replacement effects (see rule 614.15), one of them must be chosen. If not, proceed to rule 616.1b.
616.1b If any of the replacement and/or prevention effects would modify under whose control an object would enter the battlefield, one of them must be chosen. If not, proceed to rule 616.1c.
616.1c If any of the replacement and/or prevention effects would cause an object to become a copy of another object as it enters the battlefield, one of them must be chosen. If not, proceed to rule 616.1d.
616.1d Any of the applicable replacement and/or prevention effects may be chosen.

The effects are not self-replacement effects (616.1a), they don't change control of control of an object entering the battlefield (616.1b), and they don't cause an object entering the battlefield to become a copy of another object (616.1c) so 616.1d is what applies, making it your choice.
Feather has 2 rulings on Gatherer that sound like they apply here, the first:

If an instant or sorcery spell’s own effect instructs you to exile it or put it anywhere else, it won’t try to be put into your graveyard or exiled with Feather’s effect, so you won’t return it to your hand.

This is talking about spells like Cyclical Evolution, View From Above or Redeem the Lost. The text on these cards tell you to put the card somewhere as part of the effect. Cyclical Evolution will be in exile suspended when it resolves, View From Above and Redeem the Lost might already be in your hand if you meet their conditions, and if not then they would be sent to your graveyard, and Feather can catch them. This is not what happens with Adventure spells, if it was every adventure would have to say "Exile [adventure half name], as long as it remains exiled, you may cast [creature half name] from exile." on it.
The second is the one that does apply:

If another replacement effect instructs you to exile an instant or sorcery spell, such as that of Dreadhorde Arcanist or the flashback keyword, you may choose to apply Feather’s replacement effect first. If you do, Feather’s delayed triggered ability will return that card to your hand.

This ruling is really just applying the rules of 616.1 as explained above, since there are 2 replacement effects that don't fall into any of the special cases that must be chosen first, the player gets to choose whichever they want.
For your second part of your question, you do have to choose which effect you apply as it happens, and the other replacement effect will not apply at all. An adventure exiled using Feather's replacement effect cannot be cast from exile, an adventure exiled under rule 715.3d will not return to your hand because of Feather. Unless you intend to cast the creature immediately, using Feather's effect is likely the better choice, as you will have the option to do either from the hand again.

As a side note, a self replacement effect would be something like the Finale cycle of spells, where they say "if X is 10 or more" where the trigger condition and replacement are written as part of the effect they are replacing.
If you see this coming up in MTG Arena and it is not giving you the choice, there is a gameplay setting to tell the game to auto choose replacement effect order, turning that off will allow you to pick for yourself which one to apply.


Lands can only have the abilities printed on them. Any land that has one of the basic land subtypes (Plains, Island, etc.) also has an inherent ability to tap for one mana of the appropriate color. Hickory Woodlot is a land, but it has no basic land subtype, so it has no additional abilities of that sort besides what is printed. You can only tap this card for the ability using the depletion counters, to add 2 Green mana to your mana pool.

As to your second question, You perform all steps of an ability in order. First, you pay all costs (in this case, tapping and removing a depletion counter) and then, you perform all effects. The first effect is to generate the mana, then, there is a check against the depletion counters. This will check AFTER the counter has been removed, so you can essentially use this ability twice, and immediately after the second use, the land is sacrificed.


When do "when you cast this spell" effects resolve?

You can exile your opponents' Plains before Ulamog resolves, but you can't stop your opponent from getting mana from them. Assuming no one has anything else to do besides the things you mentioned, it'd go like this:

You cast Ulamog.
Ulamog's "when you cast..." ability triggers, and you target your opponents' two Plains.
Your opponent taps both Plains for white mana, leaving it in their mana pool. (They float two white.)
The triggered ability resolves, exiling both Plains.
Ulamog resolves, entering the battlefield.
Your opponent spends one of the white mana to cast Path to Exile.

From your question it sounds like you might be thinking of lands and mana as being the same thing, but as that sequence of events pretty clearly shows, the lands are separate from the mana they produce.


Enchant artifact used to enchant Artifact creature

Isn't there a difference between Artifact and Artifact creature?

An artifact creature card on the battlefield is an artifact. It's also a creature, but that's not relevant here. As long as it's an artifact, Ensoul can enchant and affect it.

  He always puts this card on an Artifact creature with a gazillion power/toughness, to make it a gazillion +5 power and toughness. Is this possible?

It doesn't grant +5/+5. It sets (replaces) the base power and toughness. That could effectively result in an increase of 5 in both stats, but not necessarily.

Say you have an Ornithopter (0/2) with a +1/+1 counter on it, and the Ornithopter is equipped with Bladed Bracers (+1/+1 to the equipped creature). It's 2/4. Ensoul Artifact would change its base P/T from 0/2 to 5/5, making it a 7/7. The toughness only went up by 3.

On the other hand, Arcbound Bruiser has a base P/T of 0/0, and enters the battlefield with three +1/+1 counters, so it's normally a 3/3. If it were Ensouled, it would becomes 8/8.

  Also, what does "In addition to its other types" mean?

When an effect sets a card's type, it loses its other types unless that wording is used[CR 205.1a-b][1].

With that wording, a non-creature artifact becomes an artifact creature when Ensouled. Without that wording, it would become a non-artifact creature.

There's one exception: effects that set the type to "artifact creature" (very specifically) also don't cause other types to be lost. This doesn't apply to Ensoul Artifact, since the type is being set to "creature" not "artifact creature" (though the presence of the "in addition" wording makes the difference rather minor), but it's important to note for similar cards such as Animate Artifact.


Can a player with 0 life use Soul Conduit to make their opponent lose instead?

No, unless the player has a "Cannot lose" effect in play, like Platinum Angel.

When a player goes to 0 life, before priority is regained (and the player able to activate Soul Conduit), state-based actions are checked and the player loses the game.

Even if the ability were on the stack, it doesn't resolve before state-based actions, again. (e.g. 1 life, activate Conduit, use Underworld Connections)


Specific standard measurements and info necessary for making a standard Shogi set (board and koma)

Finally! This answer is now complete! I know all the measurements now! And they all fit, I made sure. You can find the measurements in this private Gist (meaning you can only access it if you have the link).

Here's a full copy of the Gist, no changes made to it:

This is a related question in boardgames.stackexchange.com:
http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/q/10836/4779

===============================================================================
The measurements for the board:

Length . 33.66cm
Width .. 33.33cm
Height . 30.3mm

Measurements for the squares in the board:

Length . 36mm
Width .. 33mm

===============================================================================
The amount of pieces that I will manufacture:

King ........... 2
Rook ........... 2
Bishop ......... 2
Gold General ... 4
Silver General . 4
Knight ......... 4
Lance .......... 4
Pawn ........... 19

===============================================================================
The exact measurements for each piece.
Measurements provided in this order:

Height, width (bottom), thickness, angle (general, bottom > top),
angle (thickness, bottom > top).

King ......................... 32mm 28.7mm 9.7mm  81° 85°
Rook, Bishop ................. 31mm 27.7mm 9.3mm  81° 85°
Gold General, Silver General . 30mm 26.7mm 8.8mm  81° 85°
Knight ....................... 29mm 25.5mm 8.3mm  81° 85°
Lance ........................ 28mm 23.5mm 8.0mm  81° 85°
Pawn ......................... 27mm 22.5mm 7.75mm 81° 85°

Be sure to understand this is not perfect yet. It's not 100% ready yet. Probably... You can use these numbers and get a working set. But I'm still refining them to perfection.


How would Master of the Wild Hunt be worded if it targeted multiple creatures?

The easiest way to do it is to change the operation slightly. Instead of having each wolf deal damage, have the lord deal damage.

  {T}: Tap all untapped Wolf creatures you control. ~ deals damage equal to the total power of those Wolves divided between up to X target creatures, where X is the number of Wolves tapped in this way. Those creatures deal damage equal to their power divided as their controllers choose among any number of those Wolves.

This would be a functional change, for example you could have a black wolf, like Carion Howler, and your opponent could have Darkwatch Elves, who has protection from black, on the board. Under my change, the damage from the howler could be dealt to the elves. Currently, it couldn't (even though the Master does the targeting, the wolf does the damaging). I think the simplicity of it allows for such a sacrifice.


Yes, Keen Sense will trigger three times. Thrashing Wumpus' ability only costs one black mana to activate, so if you've spent three black mana, you've activated it three times. There's nothing weird in the rules about combining identical spells/abilities. When you activate an ability, you simply pay the cost (one black mana in this case) and put it on the stack.

You can choose to let the first activation resolve before activating it a second (and third) time, drawing your card before deciding whether you want to activate it again. Most likely this is the way you want to do it, in case you draw something you'd rather spend your mana on.

But even if you use the ability three times consecutively (without letting the previous ones resolve first), they still all go on the stack separately. If you then let everything resolve, the stack would evolve like this:

{deal 1 damage} {deal 1 damage} {deal 1 damage}
{deal 1 damage} {deal 1 damage} {draw a card}
{deal 1 damage} {deal 1 damage}
{deal 1 damage} {draw a card}
{deal 1 damage}
{draw a card}


In bridge, how do you tell when to use holdup versus blocking plays?

To prevent the lead form RHO through your tenace, you want to win the ace when RHO plays his last card in the suit. If it looks like LHO has 5 cards, with three in dummy and your hand, win the second round with the ace. If you have only two in had with three in dummy, win the third round with the ace.

In regards your Club Kibitzer - yes, the proffered advice is in general sound - however, the cardinal rule is always Count the hand. If you have counted the hand, the answer is often obvious and possibly counter-intuitive from the general rule suggested by heuristic analysis.


Do the benefits of going second in Yu-Gi-Oh! outweigh those of going first?

Well, one reason is because they are computer characters, thus they were programmed that way. But your question goes beyond that.

  Obviously, the benefits of going second outweighs going first, or does development really mean so much?

This will depend on the type of deck  and strategy you play.

But generally speaking, many decks (specially control or combo decks) prefer to go first, as this gives them a head start in development, as you pointed out. In the current format this is perhaps more favorable compared to one extra card or attacking first turn.

Now days one card is not as big a difference as some years ago; it is now not so greater advantage, as many cards now have abilities to search or special summon.

Also, following a greedy strategy by attacking on first turn may not be such a good idea (by that I mean go all in, not greed as in avarice). As your opponent had lead in development surely some nasty traps or effects await you, thus attacking first is also not such a great advantage anymore.

Another aspect is that some decks "need" to go second/first, as per an intrinsic or key part of their strategy. Say you play a Lava Golem deck, you will need a monster on your Opp side to play your Lava Golem, so going first may not be such a great idea. Or say you play some control deck, or play with Traptrix. In that case you surely want to start to lay out your traps and control mechanisms ASAP.

So, to sum it up: in the current format starting with one card or attacking first is less advantageous than before (now many cards search from deck or special summon), except for those decks whose strategy requires or benefits from going second.


what’s the names of the card game that uses 8 decks of cards?

Could it be Hand and Foot, a variant of Canasta? It uses multiple decks and has each player trying to build 7-of-a-kinds while emptying their two hands (the second being called the foot, hence the name). If they aren't playing cut-throat and instead just going for high scores, this game can theoretically go until every single card sans the 3s are melded.


If partner opens one heart, what do I need to respond with one spade?

In Standard American bidding (and 2/1 game forcing for that matter), after partner's 1H opening, 1S promises at least 4 spades. After 1H-1S, partner's mostly likely calls are 1NT (5332 shape with no more than 14 HCP), 2 of a minor (5-4 or better in the bid suits, may have anything short of a game force in terms of values), 2H (6+ hearts, probably less than 17 high card points), 2NT (18-19 HCP, 5332 shape), or some number of spades.

After 1H-1S-1NT, your rebids:

2H: This is a tough one. Probably 5 spades, a doubleton heart honor, and shortness in one of the minors. You're taking the position that playing 2H in a 5-2 fit is better than playing 1NT (if you had 3 hearts and a weak hand, you shouldn't have bothered to show spades).
2S: The 2S rebid shows a weak hand, usually with 6+ spades (though it could be an exceptionally weak hand with shortness somewhere and only 5 spades, e.g. Qxxxx x Kxx xxxx, which rates to take 0-1 tricks at NT but a few tricks with spades as trumps).
2NT: Invitational values, likely exactly 4 spades and 2 hearts.
3NT: Game forcing values, likely exactly 4 spades and 2 hearts.
2m: You should have a discussion with your partners about this auction, but SAYC says this should be non-forcing and natural.
3H: 3-card heart support, invitational values.
pass: any weakish hand not covered above.

After 1H-1S-2m:

Pass: A weak hand with 3- or 4-card support for the minor and usually a singleton or void in hearts.
2H: A weak hand, virtually guaranteed to have a heart doubleton (again, with 3-card support, why not raise hearts in the first place?)
2S: Shows 6 spades or better (or, more rarely, a weak 5-5 in spades and the unbid minor with a singleton heart). With other shapes and a weak hand, correct to 2H with a doubleton heart or pass partner's minor.
2NT: Balanced, invitational.
3m: 4-card support for the minor, invitational values.
3S: 6+ spades, invitational values
The fourth suit at the cheapest level: forcing for one round, unable to make a natural bid at this point. Examples:

Interested in 3NT but unable to stop the unbid minor.
Interested in slam in one of partner's suits and thus unwilling to jump directly to game.
Interest in a spade slam but require more information from partner

After 1H-1S-2H:
 - 2S: This shows a weak hand with 6 spades or better and likely a heart void; why else correct from partner's 6-card suit to yours?

2NT: Natural, invitational.
3m: Natural and game forcing.
3H: Invitational with 3 hearts.

Obviously, this doesn't cover all the bases, but it lays out some of the most common situations.


If I can Special Summon Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon without Polymerization, why would I ever use Polymerization for it?

I should warn you that, perhaps, you may be playing your Blue Eyes Twin Burst Dragon incorrectly (as per your "just by having...").

Let's break down the effect of that card:

  Must be either Fusion Summoned,

This means that one option to Fusion summon it by using Polymerization, as you correctly pointed out, or...

  or Special Summoned by sending the above monsters you control to the Graveyard (in which case you do not use "Polymerization")

instead Special Summon it by sending both Blue Eyes White Dragons to the GY. Do note that you control things that are on your part of the field. Things on hand are not under your control; they are under your possession, though, and you also surely are the owner of that card. These are other two important in-game terms to remember.

  and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways.

Meaning no Call of the Haunted, or back from Banish, nor anything similar. If it's dead, its dead (time for Dragon Mirror maybe?).

Under these considerations we can see that if you want to use the Special Summon you must have two Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field (or at least two cards with that name ;) if you copycat one). This is more restricted as being able to do this from the hand (quite OP to do don't you think?).

Or you can well Fusion summon to be able to use them as materials from your hand or the field (more accessible, but requires Polymerization or similar)

As we can see, either Polymerization or having two Blue Eyes on the field is a "reasonable" requirement to summon such powerful card. Thus, both summon ways balance each other (so it does not become broken).


Looking through the discard pile in canasta

No, you cannot.

One of the important skills in Canasta is keeping track of what has been discarded so far. Not only to decide if it is worth picking up, but to figure out which cards are safer to discard without letting your opponent pick up the pile.

I did not find a specific rule quote stating this, the rules generally only state what you are allowed to do, and there is no rule allowing you to do this. Some rule books do clarify that the pile is kept squared up; the purpose of this is so that only the top card be visible.


When and where can scrolls, curses, and potions be used?

Thus far, the best use cases I've seen have been that scrolls and curses can be used at any time whatsoever even if you aren't in an adjacent room. You do have to read some of the cards carefully, as it may determine before or during a combat phase. Potions are still as they were, only adjacent or same room. With the portal expansion, potions can be used across portals.

There's an older discussion I found on Munchkin Quest forums that seems to back up this train of thought. Seems to also be backed by Steve Jackson.


How many epidemic cards to use with the Bio-Terrorist challenge?

The strategy in the Bio-Terrorist variant is sufficiently different that it probably makes sense to start at 4 epidemics until both sides are comfortable with how it works.  It is easy for players to be too focused on stopping the terrorist and lose to the normal mechanics, or to completely ignore the terrorist and lose to the new mechanics.  A balance between the two is required.

Also, make sure that you are following all the rules for the Bio-Terrorist's actions.  Specifically, many of his actions are limited to only once per turn.


How does Blood Scrivener work if I "draw 2 cards"?

You draw three cards and lose one life.

"Draw two cards" means "Draw one card. Draw one card."[CR 120.2]

For the first draw, Blood Scrivener's replacement effect would kick in[1]. You draw two cards and lose one life instead.

For the second draw, Blood Scrivener's replacement effect would not kick in because you have two cards in your hand[2].

Referenced Rules

  120.2. Cards may only be drawn one at a time. If a player is instructed to draw multiple cards, that player performs that many individual card draws.

Notes

Divination was the last card in your hand, and it moved from there to the stack when you started casting it.
Assuming you had at least one card left in your library. If you didn't, you'd lose another life. This isn't likely to matter, as you would normally lose immediately after the spell finishes resolving anyway.


Does the first spell from Possibility Storm go on the stack before being exiled?

Let's look at Reiterate first since it's simpler.

Say you have a Possibility Storm on the 'field and you cast some arbitrary spell, Lightning Bolt. Here's how things would unfold without Reiterate.

You cast Lightning Bolt.

You put it on the stack.
You activate mana abilities.
You pay its cost.
Possibility Storm's ability triggers.

Possibility Storm's ability is put on the stack.
Players get priority.
Possibility Storm's ability resolves. Let's say you find Thoughtflare and choose to cast it.
Players get priority.
Thoughtflare resolves.

You can cast Reiterate in response to Possibility Storm's triggered ability (step 3), but if you do, it will trigger Possibility Storm and get exiled, so you won't get to copy the spell.

If you could somehow cast Reiterate from somewhere other than your hand (maybe with the help of Possibility Storm), this is how it would work out:

You cast Lightning Bolt.

You put it on the stack.
You activate mana abilities.
You pay its cost.
Possibility Storm's ability triggers.

Possibility Storm's ability is put on the stack.
Players get priority.
You cast Reiterate (from somewhere other than your hand) targeting Lightning Bolt.
Players get priority.
Reiterate resolves. Lightning Bolt is copied.
Players get priority.
Lightning Bolt-copy resolves.
Players get priority.
Possibility Storm's ability resolves. Let's say you find Thoughtflare and choose to cast it.
Players get priority.
Thoughtflare resolves.

When it comes to Hive Mind and Replicate, we have two triggered abilities that trigger at the same time. When that happens, the abilities are added to the stack in APNAP order. If a player needs to add more than one ability to the stack, they place them in the order of their choice.

  603.3b If multiple abilities have triggered since the last time a player received priority, each player, in APNAP order, puts triggered abilities he or she controls on the stack in any order he or she chooses. [...]

  101.4. If multiple players would make choices and/or take actions at the same time, the active player (the player whose turn it is) makes any choices required, then the next player in turn order (usually the player seated to the active player’s left) makes any choices required, followed by the remaining nonactive players in turn order. Then the actions happen simultaneously. This rule is often referred to as the “Active Player, Nonactive Player (APNAP) order” rule.

Say you have a Possibility Storm on the 'field.

Scenario 1

He casts Gigadrowse on his turn, replicating it twice.

Possibility Storm's ability and Replicate triggers.

Replicate is put on the stack first (since he's the active player).
Possibility Storm's ability is put on the stack.
Players get priority.
Possibility Storm's ability resolves. Let's say he finds Thoughtflare and chooses to cast it.
Players get priority.
Thoughtflare resolves.
Players get priority.
Replicate resolves: Two copies of Gigadrowse are added to the stack.
Players get priority.
Gigadrowse-copy-2 resolves
Players get priority.
Gigadrowse-copy-1 resolves

Scenario 2

He casts Gigadrowse on your turn, replicating it twice.

Possibility Storm's ability and Replicate triggers.

Possibility Storm's ability is put on the stack first (since you're the active player).
Replicate is put on the stack.
Players get priority.
Replicate resolves: Two copies of Gigadrowse are added to the stack.
Players get priority.
Gigadrowse-copy-2 resolves
Players get priority.
Gigadrowse-copy-1 resolves
Players get priority.
Possibility Storm's ability resolves. Let's say he finds Thoughtflare and chooses to cast it.
Players get priority.
Thoughtflare resolves.

Scenario 3

You cast Gigadrowse, replicating it twice.

Possibility Storm's ability and Replicate triggers.

You control both Possibility Storm and Gigadrowse, so you decide the order they are placed on the stack. This becomes Scenario 1 or 2 depending on your choice.

Same as Replicate applies to Hive Mind.


In Bridge, should a defender "encourage" with a "stranded honor?

Yes I think hearts should be discouraged. Given West's lead is top of nothing then South must have the Ace and probably the ten too (if not its one of North's xs) so hearts are pretty disastrous, especially as West's lead has probably given declarer a free finesse.

Of course to really know we need to see the other suits in the visible hands (one would assume there either has to be a better suit to attack or defense has no chance)

It's also probably worth noting that top of nothing is usually a lead made when nothing better is available so we can probably infer that West has a poor hand to lead with.


Where can I find a database of Go games with move times

An earlier question about database for 9x9 games contains a link to a database for 19x19 games:
http://ps.waltheri.net/


Can I complete a quest during the "Waterdeep Harbor" phase?

Yes. But if you have enough cubes to complete that many missions, you'll probably find the spaces at Waterdeep Harbor filled with enemies playing mandatory quests on you...

From the FAQ:

  Q: When you move (reassign) an agent out of "Waterdeep Harbor" to another building, are you taking another turn? Can you complete a quest?
  A: You can complete a quest after moving (reassigning) an agent out of "Waterdeep Harbor" - it is another turn.


You would have 1 life remaining. Action order:

Opponent casts Beacon of Destruction, it goes on stack.
Sunscorch Regent triggers, it goes on stack.

If both players pass, the stack starts resolving top to bottom. First you gain 1 life and put a counter on Regent. You now have 6 life. Next, Beacon resolves, you are dealt 5 damage and now have 1 life.


When I put the robber on someone in Settlers of Catan, does the resource I take HAVE to be random?

It must be random as Pat said, but you could immediately offer to trade whatever he draws with the card you'd rather give him.


If I have 10 gems, can I still reserve a card?

Yes, absolutely.

Very simply, if at the end of your turn you have more than ten tokens discard down to ten by returning your choice of tokens to their respective piles.  The only time when having more than ten tokens is relevant is very specifically at the end of your turn.

From the rulebook:

  Selecting tokens

    A player can never have more than 10 tokens at the end of their turn (including jokers). If this happens, they must return tokens until they only have 10 left. A player can return all or some of those they’ve just drawn. The tokens owned by a player must be visible by all players at all times.

    Reminder: players may not take 2 tokens of the same color if
    there are less than 4 tokens available of that color.


Snitch would have to be valid to undo Simplifier...and the Simplifier card text states that it has no effect for the rest of the game...

So...no Snitching for the Simpleton!


No. From the almanac, p11:

Players with settlements and/or cities adjacent to the target terrain hex receive no resources from this hex as long as the robber is in the hex.

That's it; the robber rules say nothing about maritime trade and the maritime trade rules say nothing about the robber. In the absence of some rule telling you there's an exception, the normal rules must be assumed to apply, i.e. you can continue to trade normally.


How does Le Havre compare with Agricola?

I've played Agricola (my favourite game) about a million times, and Le Havre only once so far.  But I'll give you some of my basic impressions.

Agricola and Le Havre are much more similar to each other than, for example, to other Uwe Rosenberg games like Bohnanza and At The Gates Of Loyang.  Both are about creating a working food engine in an environment of resource scarcity and then making whatever profit you can on top of that.

The key differences, as I see it are these: in Agricola, the resource tiles come out in a partially randomized but largely predictable order.  Once they're out, they're not "owned" by any player: if you're the start player, you get first dibs, but that's all.  In Le Havre, though, the development of the game can be intimately shaped by the players, because they choose which resource spaces to buy and introduce to the game.  Who owns that space is then a consideration - you may desperately desire a resource but desperately not want to pay its owner for it!  In addition, there's quite a nice mechanic in Le Havre that means you can sit on a resource square and thus deprive other desperate players from using it - though quite often you have much more important things for your people to be doing than sitting around, of course...

This makes Le Havre sound much deeper and more interesting than Agricola so far, and it's true, if you're a fan of games on the Caylus end of the complexity spectrum, then Le Havre may be more appealing to you.  But of course, Agricola has some tricks of its own up its sleeve.  Le Havre is completely lacking in an analogue to Agricola's "Occupation" and "Minor Improvement" cards", which are basically hands of cards that are private to each player, and which can exert dramatic effects on the game.  Now, some people HATE these cards: because they add a big whack of randomness to the game, especially if you just deal them out and don't draft them or anything.  I personally like them: they ensure that every game of Agricola is really different, even if, yes, sometimes someone will play a busted Occupation card for their first move and it'll be a huge uphill struggle for everyone else to win for the rest of the game.

Personally, and please forgive me for entering into subjective territory for my final paragraph, so far I prefer Agricola because the theme and mechanics mesh more satisfactorily for me.  Assembling a "food engine" just seems like a more appropriate occupation for a farmer in the Dark Ages than a businessman in an industrial port!  Plus the Occupations and Improvements, with their cartoony illustrations and all, bring the world of Agricola to life with greater verve than the world of Le Havre.  And Agricola is still a fantastic little game, mechanically, if you don't mind the randomness for the card deal.  Le Havre takes a bit longer, is a bit more complex, has a bit more interaction, and has enough randomness to keep things interesting but almost certainly not enough to give any player a significant advantage through sheer "luck of the draw".  I feel like Le Havre was an attempt to improve the Agricola experience for really hardcore gamers, and it does succeed!  But it's still Agricola I want to bring out all the time, saving Le Havre for special occasions.


Underworld Connections: Tapping the Land for mana and ability?

No.

Tapping a land doesn't actually produce mana, activating its ability does. Tapping is merely the paying of the cost to do so.

Unlike abilities that read "Whenever enchanted land is tapped"[1], it's not actually tapping the land that causes Underworld Connections's effect. Tapping is merely paying part of the cost to do so.

As part of activating either the abilities, you will need to tap the land, which will leave you unable to activate the other ability.

Like in real life, just because two abilities have the same cost doesn't mean you can pay the price just once for both.

An example of such an ability is Utopia Sprawl's. Tapping the enchanted Forest for mana produces {G} as normal and triggers Utopia Sprawl's ability to produce a second mana.


You first sell any one of your available goods for the number of cards indicated by the kind of good (i.e. 2 cards for a Novelty good, up to 5 for an Alien good).  Some cards in your tableau may have Trade powers (marked with a $) that may affect what you get from this trade.

Then you must use as many of the Consume powers (marked with a IV) as you have on your cards as possible, on as many of the remaining goods that you have as you can.  You can use these powers once only each, but you can use them in any order you like.

From the way you phrase your question, it sounds as though you think that the initial Trade is performed based on one of your Consume powers, somehow.  It isn't; the initial Trade is a completely independent bonus and takes place before you refer to the special powers of the cards in your tableau.


Yes, this is allowed. From page 13 in the rulebook:

  If marching units enter an area containing one or more enemy units, a combat ensues (only one combat, however, may be initiated for each March Order).

So there's only a problem if you try to initiate two battles with the same marching order (which you're not permitted to do. But as described on page 24 in the rulebook:

  A Power token on the game board is returned to the Power Pool only after an opponent takes control of its area. Marching into an area containing only an opponent’s Power token (i.e., no enemy units are present) does not result in combat, and the Power token is simply discarded to the Power Pool.

No combat occurs in this instance, therefore it is an allowed action.


When do flip effects happen in the battle phase?

First I must suggest you give some read to the Rulebook, so you get a better understanding of these basic concepts. What you ask here and more is explained there I think.

Now to answer your questions, the flip effects take effect when the card is flipped up, and that is during the Damage Step.

In few words, when a monster attack that attack can be divided into different Steps (it is a bit different and more complex than this description, so do read the Rulebook to get a better and more accurate understanding):

Attack Declaration: Here you are saying "my monster X attacks your monster Y". At this time bot you and your opponent may take turns on activating and chaining cards and effects to that attack declaration. No flip still
Damage Step: According to the rules this step is divided into:

Start of Damage Step
Before Damage Calculation
Damage Calculation
After Damage Calculation
End of Dama Step

The moment Before Damage Calculation is when the monster is flipped if face up. Again, if possible, you and your opponent may take turns activating effects here.
Damage Calculation: This is "main" attack step. Here is where the attack and defense points are added and the result takes place (destroy monsters, inflict damage, etc.). Do notice that even though the attacking monsters was destroyed on Damage Step, the receiving monster will still be destroyed if it has less defense points. This is because destroying the attacking monsters on this step does not cancel the attack that was made; if you want to stop it it should be on Attack Declaration or before.

Another important thing is that the flip effects takes place After Damage Calculation, as per this ruling:

  If the attacked monster has an effect that activates when it is flipped face-up (such as a Flip effect), that effect will NOT activate at this time. Its effect will activate after damage calculation, even if the flipped monster itself leaves the Monster Zone before then.

Let's illustrate this with an example of a monster attacking a face down Man-Eater Bug:

Attack is declared. Opponent may activate cards like Mirror Force, or Magical Cylinders here to prevent the attack. If not, we continue...
Damage Step. MEB is flipped up eventually before damage calculation, before that turns of effects may be activated as well, and after this...
Damage Calculation. Here we compare the ATK and DEF of the involved monsters; say MEB had less defense, so it is then destroyed by battle. Any piercing damage is applied, card is sent to GY, and any after effects take place, as the flip effect of MEB which then destroys a monster.


How does lifelink affect indestructible creatures?

You will gain 4 life.

Lifelink and indestructible have no special interactions with each other. Your 4/4 will deal 4 damage to the 1/1, and you will gain 4 life. This is the same as if your 4/4 had dealt damage to any other creature. It doesn't matter how much toughness the defending creature has, or whether it will eventually die.

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


How to score two tiled cities in Carcassonne?

It seems like the rules have changed since we bought our copies of Carcassonne. Two-tile cities are now worth two points per tile (four points total) like any other city.

I have an old copy published by Rio Grande. In its rules, the following exception is found:

  Exception: a 2 tile city does not get 2 points per tile

A newer copy of the rules (dated 2008) on Rio Grande's site doesn't have that exception. The same example as my rules is used, but the two-tile city now grants two points per tile like any other city. Seeing as both of the documents came from Rio Grande, it's clear there was a shift.

The 2008 rules were only found via Google. Seems like the rights got transferred from Rio Grande to Z-Man, so Rio Grande wiped their site of Carcassonne references. A check of Z-Man's version of the rules also show two-tile cities being worth four points.


Can I sell properties in Monopoly with houses to another player ?

Unimproved properties, railroads and utilities (but not buildings) may be sold to any player as a private transaction for any amount the owner can get. However, no property can be sold to another player if buildings are standing on any properties of that colour-group. Any buildings so located must be sold back to the Bank before the owner can sell any property of that colour-group.
Houses and Hotels may be sold back to the Bank at any time for one-half the price paid for them. All houses on one colour-group may be sold at once, or they may be sold one house at a time (one hotel equals five houses), evenly, in reverse of the manner in which they were erected.

From:
http://richard_wilding.tripod.com/monorules.htm#sellingproperty
The following page is a copy of the rules as printed in the Monopoly® Rule Book.


Any approach to designing solo variants should take into account this impressive body of work on BGG. This user has created 46 (to date) very robust solo versions of popular'highly ranked games.


Traders and builders rulebook:

  The pig counts only if he owns the field. For ownership of the field, only the farmers are counted.

The PDF from Rio Grande Games for the princess and dragon does say that the magic portal can be used by a follower and the PDF from Rio Grande Games for Traders & Builders does call the pig a follower in the rules.

However checking with the Complete Annotated Rules that cites a lot of sources:

  The original rules say: ’12 new
  followers in 6 colours (one builder
  and one pig for each player)’. In the
  Big Box rules, the builder and pig are
  no longer considered to be followers,
  which has a large number of
  consequences for their use. The RGG
  edition of the Big Box also changes
  this rule.

I've always played the portal as Meeple (big and small), Mayor and Wagon are free to be deployed but nothing else which is in line with the above statement.


Can you transform after declaring blockers, but before dealing damage?

Yes, there is nothing that prevents you from Transforming at anytime you could cast Waxing Moon.

There are no special timing restrictions when transforming a double faced card.

Lets break down your example step by step:

You attack with Duskwatch Recruiter, your opponent declares a 1/1 goblin token as a blocker.
After blockers are declared, but before combat damage is assigned, you cast Waxing Moon targeting Duskwatch Recruiter. Your opponent has no responses.
Waxing Moon resolves, Duskwatch Recruiter transforms into Krallenhorde Howler and gains trample.
You proceed to damage step. The goblin assigns 1 damage to Krallenhorde Howler, Krallenhorde Howler assigns 1 damage to the goblin token and 2 damage trample over onto your opponent.

Final Result: Token Dies, Krallenhorde Howler survives, Opponent takes 2 damage.


How does a Channel ability work with my commander?

You cannot use channel from the command zone. Channel is an ability that has both a mana cost, and the requirement to discard the card. Discarding a card is only from your hand, not from the command zone.

This means you need to somehow get your commander into your hand (such as with Command Beacon or Road of Return). Once they're there you can activate their Channel ability and discard them, and this wouldn't involve the commander tax since it doesn't involve casting your commander from the command zone.


Can I defeat an opponent with their own commander?

Yes, you can make a player lose by dealing 21 total damage to them with their own commander. (If it keeps getting stolen by yourself or others, a cumulative total 21 damage from their own commander will make them lose.)

The rule, from mtgcommander.net's Rules — Play section, is:

  If a player has been dealt 21 points of combat damage by a particular Commander during the game, that player loses a game.

That is any one specific commander card, including their own. Commander damage from different commander cards doesn't count together: if you've successfully stolen every commander on the board and dealt 20 damage with each of them to one opponent, they still haven't lost to commander damage.

Also, commander damage never makes anyone win directly, it only makes players lose. You'll only win if them losing made you win, e.g. they were your only opponent.


Can someone explain the Damage on the Stack rule change?

Formerly, in combat, it would go something like this:
Declare Blockers -> (Players can do stuff) -> Stack Damage -> (Players can do stuff) -> Damage resolves

This allowed players to do various combat "tricks." Some examples:
You attack with a 2/2, and I block with my Mogg Fanatic. After damage was stacked, I could use Mogg Fanatic's activated ability, sacrificing him and dealing an additional 1 damage to your 2/2. This 1 damage, coupled with the 1 combat damage on the stack, would kill your 2/2.

Under the new rules, this is not possible (and thus Mogg Fanatic has been significantly weakened). I could either deal the 1 combat damage to your 2/2, OR sacrifice him to deal 1 damage to any target. By sacrificing him, he no longer is alive to deal the combat damage; and I can't sacrifice him after damage because he would already be dead. From a "common sense" perspective, this seems more intuitive, and I think that's why they changed the rules. (Personally I liked Damage on the Stack better; it added more possibilities).

Here's another example, just to be perfectly clear:
Suppose you attack with a 2/2 and I block with a 2/2. Formerly, I could stack the combat damage, and then use a "bounce" card such as Unsummon or Boomerang to return my guy to my hand. The damage would then resolve; your guy would die, and mine would safely be in my hand.

With the new rules, I can block your guy (preventing damage to me) and still bounce my guy to save him from death, but I do not get to also kill your guy. Thus, bounce effects have also been weakened.


When I tap a creature to attack with it, does that also activate abilities that require tapping it?

If you can attack and use the ability depends on exactly what kind of ability it is.

If it is a triggered ability like Fallowsage that says "Whenever Fallowsage becomes tapped, you may draw a card." you get to use the ability anytime that card becomes tapped, attacking is the most common way but any other way of tapping it would also work.

If it is an activated ability that has tapping as a cost like Elvish Mystic that says "{T}: Add {G}." you have to choose whether you are tapping it to attack or if you are tapping it to pay for its ability. This is because tapping the creature is a cost and if it is already tapped from attacking you can't tap it again to pay for the cost.


Is an incident recorded when an outbreak occurs?

You do not increase the incident track.

You've already cited the rule here, which is pretty specific: "An incident happens whenever a plague cube is placed into a location." If a city has three plague cubes, you aren't placing a new plague cube, so the incident rate will not increase.

A compiled FAQ on BGG also has this to say (emphasis mine):

  Incident marker: Always remember to move the incident marker when placing a plague cube on the board.

Also, this forum and this forum on BGG agree with the literal interpretation of the rules that you allude to.


Will "enter the battlefield" triggers happen if I gain control of an opponent's creature?

No.  Taking control of your opponent's creature will not trigger an "enters the battlefield" ability.
The glossary section of the Comprehensive Rules defines "Enters the Battlefield" as follows (emphasis mine):

Enters the Battlefield
A nontoken permanent “enters the battlefield” when it’s moved onto the battlefield from another zone. A token “enters the battlefield” when it’s created. See rules 403.3, 603.6a, 603.6d, and 614.12.

In your example, the Ravenous Chupacabra was already on the battlefield.  Changing its controller does not cause it to change zones (i.e. it never leaves the battlefield) so the creature does not "enter the battlefield."


Do dead monsters really have to leave the game?

There are a few things you could do, but they would have a significant impact on the way the game works.

There are 2 ways to win King of Tokyo. Get 20 points, or be the last monster alive. Any suggestion that makes it no longer a game of elimination would remove the second way of winning.

The trick is that if losing all your health doesn't eliminate you from the game, you need to decide what it does mean. There are a few options of how you could handle it though:

If you have no health, you cannot earn any points or attack. Thus the only thing you can do on your turn is heal. So you are still in the game, but you are slowed down a bunch, making it harder to win.
Similar to above; if you have no health, you just skip your turn, and instead automatically heal some given amount of health. This way you aren't relying on continually re-rolling, hoping for health, to get back in. But you are still slowed down as you miss a normal turn.
When the game ends, consider your health points to be part of your score. Thus someone who has no health left will not have as many points. He could still win, but it would be harder.
When you have 0 health, damage takes away your points instead. In this way, your points act kind of like additional health. Having no health is still really bad, because then you can't win by getting enough points either.


So this is really a question about how the stack works.  First, to ansewer your question, Animar, Soul of Elements has protection from Black, so Murder can't be cast targeting Animar, unless Animar somehow lost protection from black.
Ruling:

  702.16. Protection

  702.16a Protection is a static ability, written “Protection from [quality].” This quality is usually a color (as in “protection from black”) but can be any characteristic value or information. If the quality happens to be a card name, it is treated as such only if the protection ability specifies that the quality is a name. If the quality is a card type, subtype, or supertype, the ability applies to sources that are permanents with that card type, subtype, or supertype and to any sources not
  on the battlefield that are of that card type, subtype, or supertype. This is an exception to rule 109.2.

  702.16b A permanent or player with protection can’t be targeted by spells with the stated quality and can’t be targeted by abilities from a source with the stated quality.

But let's assume the person who cast Murder picked a valid target and then you turned Mistfire Weaver face up.  Stack is first in, last out.  So Murder goes on the stack targeting a valid creature.  Mistfire Weaver gets turned face up triggering it's ability and goes on the stack targeting the same creature (if the creature has protection from blue, then Mistfire's ability can't target the same creature).  Mistfire's ability resolves first (top of the stack, first out) giving the creature hexproof.  Then Murder tries to resolve, but sees it no longer has any legal targets and leaves the stack without doing anything.


Spells have all their characteristics on the stack, including abilities, which allows other cards to interact with them conditionally. That doesn't mean that their abilities are functional on the stack. They usually are not, though they can be.

Spells are objects:

  109.1. An object is an ability on the stack, a card, a copy of a card, a token, a spell, a permanent, or an emblem.

Abilities are part of an object's characteristics:

  109.3. An object’s characteristics are name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, abilities, power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier. [..]

There are many cards interacting with spells that have certain characteristics, for example:

Negate (type),
Red Elemental Blast (color),
Disdainful Stroke (CMC),
Meddling Mage (name),
Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma (power),
Hand of the Praetors (abilities),
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (supertype),
Bog-Strider Ash (subtype).

There are four kinds of abilities: spell abilities, activated abilities, triggered abilities, and static abilities (113.3)

In the vast majority of cases, spell abilities are abilities that take effect when the spell they're on resolves, such as Lightning Bolt, and the others only work on the battlefield.

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


The only true property that these games share are that they all use one or more "stashes" (set of 15) of pyramids sold by the game company Looney Labs.  Given that the pieces themselves come in three sizes, they can be stacked on top of each other or nested inside of each other.  This, along with the fact that they are pointed, gives rise to a weak theme of directionality through the games, but really any game that has been created using these pieces can call themselves a pyramid game.

There is a fertile area of game development surrounding these pieces, so there is a large number of official and unofficial games played using these rules. Icehouse was the original, but really isn't that strong of a game and isn't a good indicator of how the pieces are usually used. I would suggest looking at a few of the old favorites to get a feel for the type and style of games the the pieces are involved in:

Zendo - a game of inductive logic
Gnostica - a game played using a tarot deck for a board
Volcano - a game similar to Mancala


When the game is started the roles are shuffled together and each player is dealt a random role. Having more roles then players allows for some greater variations in the game as you will not always get the same roles in every game which can change how you play the game. You can see in the rules how it deals with the extra roles. Also it should be noted that in the current edition there are 7 roles for 4 players in the base game.


Yes, if Kalamax conspires to cast your first instant of the turn, you get 2 copies of that spell.

Tapping Kalamax for conspire happens before the spell becomes cast, since it's an additional cost:

  702.77a Conspire is a keyword that represents two abilities. The first is a static ability that functions while the spell with conspire is on the stack. The second is a triggered ability that functions while the spell with conspire is on the stack. “Conspire” means “As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that each share a color with it” and “When you cast this spell, if its conspire cost was paid, copy it. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for the copy.” Paying a spell’s conspire cost follows the rules for paying additional costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2f–h.

By the time the spell becomes cast, Kalamax is tapped and its own ability will trigger.

  601.2i Once the steps described in 601.2a–h are completed, effects that modify the characteristics of the spell as it’s cast are applied, then the spell becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time. If the spell’s controller had priority before casting it, they get priority.


No, you don't have the opportunity to sacrifice that goblin. Every time someone would receive priority, just beforehand, state based actions are checked and carried out. One of these state based actions is:

  704.5f If a creature has toughness 0 or less, it’s put into its owner’s graveyard. Regeneration can’t replace this event.

Priority has to be obtained to be able to activate Goblin Bombardment's ability. By this point, state based actions have already been checked and the goblin is in its owner's graveyard.

For all intents and purposes in this scenario, you might as well consider the goblin to have died instantly as soon as you put the Skullclamp on.


Are there any other card packs for Agricola other than the E, I, and K?

Yes, the "G" pack exists, as well as the "WM" (World Championship Deck"), France deck, and a few others. The most solid, "balanced" decks IMO are the WM and G decks respectively. They can be purchased online from re-sellers like amazon and such.

They are, however, not in print anymore as far as I know as the Anniversary Collectors edition is due to come out late 2017 with 1000 or so cards that are a combination of all of the current decks in existence, as well as some that are being made to plug in the gaps. That version is going to be for the dedicated type of crowd. There is also a version that just came out with 96 cards that is more of a casual type of crowd.

More info can be found here


To what extent is a Runner forced to take actions to pay for a Tollbooth?

From the official FAQ, regarding Tollbooth:

  The Runner must pay 3 [credits] if he or she is able to do so, even by spending temporary credits (such as bad publicity credits).

Also from the FAQ, on encountering ice:

  When the Runner encounters a piece of ice, he or she must resolve any abilities triggered by the encounter before he or she can trigger paid abilities or break subroutines.

If there are at least 3 credits on Ghost Runner and/or Net Mercur when Tollbooth is encountered, then they must be spent upon encounter. If the Runner doesn't have 3 credits available to spend at that moment, without triggering other abilities such as Cloak's, then the run ends.


How does the timing work when area-of-effect damage creates new targets?

Cards are resolved in order. So for instance in this scenario if you deal your damage you might look like this:

Gloomweaver 3 damage (Because he's the first card that came out) <-- not actually true, damage is dealt in player's choice order
Environment Card (Because something has been sticking around)
Villain Card (Dead; Add Zombie)
Villain Card (3 Damage)
New Zombie (3 Damage)

So yes you would do that damage to the zombie.


How can we play a shorter but satisfying game of Arkham Horror?

3-4 hours is good.  8 is way too long!

Without seeing you play it's hard to say with precision where your time is being spent inefficiently, I do have a couple suggestions though.

Setup efficiently

Setup can be done in 5-10 minutes but can easily drag on for half an hour.

Setting up is a job for several people.  The most experienced person should be handing out tasks like:

Shuffle the Mythos deck
Get clue tokens on every space with this red diamond on it
Hand out character cards to everyone, figure out what fixed items are needed and search for them.
etc

Play Cooperatively

My group got a lot more efficient when we started talking before we moved.  A simple 30 second discussion of what each player's plans are for that turn can end up saving a lot of time.  For example: I found that big stalls happened when the 2nd player to move took the clue tokens I was aiming for.  With a brief chat, that sort of conflict can be hammered out.

This also allows an opportunity for someone to mention that they really can't do much unless someone else kills that pesky Dark Young hanging out in the streets.

Upkeep as well as Encounters (Arkham or Offworld) can generally be done simultaneously.  However my group prefers that all encounter cards be read aloud so the whole group can enjoy them.  The shuffling and drawing is done ahead of time so there isn't much waiting though.

Job 1 - Closing Gates

Arkham Horror is a great game, dripping in style.  It is a lot of fun to have encounters, kill monsters and collect a lot of items and spells.

The game plays a lot faster if you keep closing gates as job 1.  With 5 players several people should be tasked with collecting clues and hopping off world as quickly as possible to close the first couple gates.

Injury and Madness

The Dunwich Horror expansion added Injury and Madness cards.  These cards greatly change what happens when an investigator loses all of her sanity or stamina.

Under the original rules losing all of your sanity or stamina causes

loss of half your items
loss of half your clue tokens
reset the sanity or stamina to 1

With the Injury and Madness rules

No loss of items
No loss of clue tokens
reset sanity/stamina to maximum
Gain an injury or madness card

Either way you move to Saint Mary's Hospital or the Arkham Asylum as appropriate.

Whether or not you own Dunwich Horror, I would encourage you to use these rules.  The original rules are too harsh and potentially cost the player many turns to regain the lost items/clues/stamina/sanity and results in a slower game while the player recoups.

If you don't have the cards, just ignore them.  Or pick a couple that sound cool off of the Arkham Horror Wiki and make your own custom chart and roll a die to get a result.

The Great Old One equals Game Over

If our game is running long, we declare that we have lost if the Great Old One shows up.  In the first edition of the game (late 80's) this was the rule.  Fantasy Flight adjusted it when they remade the game.

This can depend a lot on the GOO as well.  Some of them, particularly in the base set, make for long combats.  They neither kill the investigators very fast or have the decency to die quickly themselves.

You can easily just skip all that and stay true to the the Chthulu Mythos by admitting that the world is lost when the GOO shows up.

Note - if you follow Job 1(noted above), you'll be seeing a lot less of the Great Old Ones!


Why is there a bonus for holding honors in bridge? Isn't having 4-5 of the highest trumps privileges enough?

The rule of honors applies to any side. So if you are defending hearts holding AKQJ of hearts, you get the requisite number of points.

It really does not matter that there is a bonus for this. In the long run, the luck factor will even out: as the points go above the line.

As to why this is there: Most of initial bridge (i.e. auction bridge) terms and rules (like rubber is two games etc) and initial scoring were derived from Whist.

Giving points for honors is no different. Doing a bit of research turns up this book on Whist: The Bridgewater treatise on Whist which details out when the honor sequences can be used to add points to your score.

In fact, I suppose some of the auction bridge rule makers felt like you did and made a rule for adding points for chicane: when you have a void in the trump suit. This seems to have been dropped from the current contract rubber bridge scoring though.

As to that making a difference, here is a story from the autobiography of Howard Schenken(Education of a Bridge Player).

Howard Schenken was playing auction bridge (note: weird scoring) and held a hand with four Aces and a Queen, when he heard his RHO bid 1NT. Without thinking, he bid 2NT and was doubled. He went down 2. So he lost 200 and gained 100 (for the honors) for a net loss of 100. He later realized that if he had just passed, he would give 10 for 1NT (remember auction bridge scoring) but gained 100 for honors for a net gain of 90!

I also remember there was a hand (possibly in Zia's autobiography Bridge My Way) where he was given a hand (as a wager) and asked "Play or Defend". After going through all the possibilities, Zia decided to defend, getting the contract down 1. At which point the puzzle giver claimed money from Zia, because declarer has hundred honors!

In contract rubber bridge, since the honor points go above the line, they ideally should not (drastically) change the way the game is played. Though, there will definitely be a difference, I suppose.

For instance, holding xxx,AKQJT, Kxx, xx  you could potentially gamble a 3H bid over opponents 2S, get doubled, going down 1 but yet come out ahead as compared to letting them play 2S, because of the honor points.


Why would you want to play with a deck that had 3 or more colors in it in Magic? (limited and constructed)

Your mana base is the chief constraint, but it's not always as restrictive as you think.
This really depends on the format and your budget, but, sometimes, it's really not "substantially more difficult to get the mana you need to play the cards in your hand" with a three-color deck.
In something like 20 playtest games with Domain Zoo, which is (albeit nominally) a five-color deck, I never once got color-screwed. The fetches+shocks mana base was just that good. Why did the deck play a fourth color? Because Dark Confidant, by itself, was worth it. Why did the deck play "Islands"? To get 1 point of extra damage out of Tribal Flames.
How far you can push the color distribution in your deck depends on the particular mana base available to you, and the overall "speed" of the metagame (which determines whether you can afford to devote your early turns to playing tapped lands like Zagoth Triome or color-fixing spells like Farseek).
In Scars + Innistrad Standard, the distribution of multi-colored lands (one cycle of allied-color "fast" duals in Scars, one cycle of allied-color "buddy" duals in M12, one cycle of enemy-color "buddy" duals in Innistrad; Evolving Wilds as the only fetchland) makes a friendly-color three-color mana base comparable to an enemy-color two-color deck's. The reason most tournament decks are playing two allied colors instead is that this lets them cut colored-mana lands to run more utility lands like Nephalia Drownyard, Moorland Haunt, and Kessig Wolf Run + Inkmoth Nexus, which are some of the best ways to add depth and resilience to your deck.
Indeed, it's when you need your lands to do something special that you're most constrained on colors. Some examples:

Valakut requires lots of Mountains to operate. Valakut the deck, consequently, had a pretty awful mana base for a two-color deck, because most of the cards were green but the deck needed to max out on plane old basic Mountains to do get its combo.
A deck with Dungrove Elder will want copious Forests regardless of its color distribution. If you pick him in M12 draft but can't force mono-green, it still behooves you to play as many Forests as reasonable if you want to make use of the Elder.
Vedalken Shackles is, sometimes, considered reason enough to go mono-blue all by itself.
Tron devotes half its lands to the (colorless) Urza's lands, leaving it with very starved for colored mana. Balancing two colors and a ton of colorless lands is actually much harder than getting a working three-color mana base, because there's not a lot of flexibility in how you can pay for your spells.
Metagame-hater decks playing lots of non-basic-land hate (e.g. Back to Basics, Ruination) can find it limiting their own mana base.

The main benefit is, as you said, access to stronger and more varied cards.
Some prominent historical examples of very different applications:

Weissman's original archetypal control deck was a five-color deck. The majority of the cards were blue, but it used the other colors to cast "silver bullet" cards like Moat, meant to nullify entire strategies.
Many of the Alara-era Cruel Control decks you're probably thinking of when you talk about tri-color finisher cards were actually four- or five- color decks, in order to run cards like Wall of Denial, Oblivion Ring, Celestial Purge, and Cloudthresher -- not quite silver bullets, just efficient answers to the metagame.
In the Mirage era, World Championship winner Jakub Slemr played a black weenie aggro deck that used City of Brass and Gemstone Mine to play all the different-colored "ETB" creatures, which were some of the best weenies in the format. Of course, this also enabled him to stuff his sideboard with lethal hosers from all colors.

For a more recent (2012) example, consider control in Scars + Innistrad Standard. These days, blue-based control decks usually use other colors to supplement their counterspells with strong finishers and removal. Assume you're choosing between U/W, U/B, or W/U/B ("Esper").

Black offers a variety of instant-speed spot removal for creatures (Doom Blade, Go for the Throat, Dismember, Tragic Slip, Virulent Wound) but only rather slow sweepers (Black Sun's Zenith, Life's Finale).
White has superior sweepers (especially Day of Judgment, but also Elesh Norn) and can answer any type of permanent (Oblivion Ring, Revoke Existence, Celestial Purge), but really can't match the efficiency of black's creature removal.
Three-color "Esper" control gives you the best of both worlds, and the ability to play a couple of good white-black effects (Sorin, Unburial Rites, Lingering Souls, Vault of the Archangel), but greatly curtails your ability to play utility lands -- in particular, Ghost Quarter, which is a critical answer to a class of cards you otherwise can't deal with directly.

In the Modern format, where players have access to Path to Exile, the strategic calculus changes: white is just as good, if not better, for powerful spot removal, while black's advantage is powerful targeted discard (Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek). At the tournament level, it only takes a few strong cards to effectively shift the color pie.


Can the active player choose the order of simultaneous effects?

The order is fixed. First the active player (the one who's turn it is) chooses the order for their own simultaneous effects (if any) then the other player chooses the order for theirs.

So no, you cannot take the tag and then bypass, you must bypass first, or not bypass and take the tag.


Note: I Am Not A Lawyer, this is mostly just accumulated internet knowledge, and may be inaccurate.
Card game mechanics are patentable. This means your mechanics could be already be patented by another company.

A patent protects a unique invention or process. It protects it by preventing someone else from duplicating your invention/process for a period of time (typically 20 years).
Yes, Richard Garfield patented tapping. The patent, by my reading, runs out on June 22 of this year (2014). Wizards went back and tacked on some other parts to that same patent, which you can read here. The patent covers just about everything you could imagine in a TCG. It covers building decks, casting spells, the process of trading with others and more.
Wizards is saying that Hex violates a lot of its patents. Hex probably does. Here’s the problem:
Those patent claims are beatable.
For example, they might be too abstract. They might be too broad. Having a patent does not guarantee that it will be valid in the face of someone challenging it. And importantly, if they run out when I think they will, Hex/Crypto can limit the damages they pay out to only the infringing time. After that, Hex isn’t infringing on any sort of patents held by Wizards. They’re probably still infringing on all the patents that early adopters lined up on the internet regarding downloads, backups, dropboxes and other horror stories. Litigating patents takes an incredible amount of money, especially when you’re trying to get it declared invalid one way or another.
Source

While your game is in development/playtesting, this is not a big deal, as you're not charging money, and so the worst you could expect would be to be told to stop.*
Once that changes and you're actually trying to charge for this stuff, you should seek actual professional paid-for advice. Apart from anything else, you should consult a lawyer about starting a company to control the game, so that in the event of lawsuits or contracts, only the assets of the company will be liable.
*: Warning: I may be completely wrong about this.


Is there a way to play the mafia party game online ?

I have previously played on Epic Mafia (which is linked to from the Wikipedia page in the question).  They have the largest set of player characters I have seen, some of which makes the game extremely complicated!


How to store and organize cards for Magic the Gathering?

For more than 10k cards, a Card Catalog:

You can find them on CraigsList, eBay, antique stores ($$$) and occasional garage sales.

In my catalog I have one drawer per block. Separated in the drawer by set. In each set they are sorted with Rares & mythics in the front, as I have a lot less of those. I buy sets of commons & uncommons for each set from eBay, so those follow the rares, sorted by color then alpha, which ends up being in collector number order. Some more valuable/more frequently used cards get their own drawer.

For 2k-10k cards I'd stick with 1600, 4000 or 5000 count boxes, depending on which you can comfortably lift & fit on your shelves. You should label the boxes with sticky notes, not by writing on the boxes, as your collection will grow. Initially you should find a divider to use in each row that will hold up the cards, like this. Better dividers exist that clamp on to the cardboard, but I cannot find a link to them right now (they may be discontinued).
 At this size I would sort by set first, since some of your cards will probably have rotated out of standard.

For less than 2k cards I would use binders & deckboxes. There are some fancy ones that have 4 cards to a row instead of the traditional 3 here. They are not cheap, but the reviews are decent. Otherwise I would buy a few Magic Card Binders and Ultra-Pro pages. (buy them a box at a time to save $).
I would probably sort them by color then card type, as you are likely to want to look them up that way (unless you build your decks in a computer, see below).

Buy these supplies at your Local Game Store if you can!

For any size collection, if you think it's eventually going to grow large,
track it in software!

Currently I use MTG Studio ($20), which is a very full-featured windows desktop application. Upsides: it's very easy to do a bulk-add of cards, like 4x of a set, it's very fast to search for cads (just start typing the name). Downsides: doesn't get updates for new sets very quickly and uses non-standard set names, lacking most foreign cards. I am thinking of switching to Deckbox.org- Downsides: no easy way to add 4x of a given sets commons/uncommons in one action, requires internet access. Upsides: online access, facilitate very easy online trading, if that interests you.

There is an open source tool that I am considering moving to, Magic Assistant, which gets its updates straight from gatherer.

The goal is for it to be easy for you to find cards in the future, and to file new ones. If either are difficult then you need to change something. You may need to change your approach over time- I moved mine from alpha by block to alpha by set when I computerized my tracking.

I have an inbox that all cards go into before they get filed. They sit there until I put them in the computer system. Then they go to a 'to be filed' drawer. Once that drawer reaches a critical mass, I sort it by block & set, then put away each set.


Data on how large a particular Magic the Gathering tournament was?

Further exploring the link you provided, it seems that, after selecting an individual event, you can see it's Coverage by days.

Among that information the number of assistants is reported. For example, on the United States National Championship 2018 event it reads on the first paragraph (emphasis mine):

  It was a weekend that comes only once a year – US Nationals, when players compete for the title of National Champion and a spot on the US World Magic Cup Team. On Saturday, 739 players arrived at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, ready and eager to play for their chance at the title of US National Champion.

The same seems to apply for any of the events they list, like this other, Sao Paulo's Celebration of the 25th anniversary:

  1,429 players gathered in São Paulo to celebrate Magic's 25th anniversary, making this the largest tournament South America had ever seen. Needless to say, they also came to play thousands upon thousands of matches of Modern!


Why does this ability have its mana cost written twice?

It's written like that because that's what the ability means; "Scavenge [cost]" means "[Cost], Exile this card from your graveyard: Put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to this card's power on target creature. Scavenge only as a sorcery.". The italic text in parentheses is called reminder text, and it's there in this case to tell you what scavenge does.


How do the various Pathfinder base sets differ?

In terms of system and rules all of the base sets are relatively similar with minor differences stemming from rules clarification and the system refinement that comes with the game makers continuing to improve.

The biggest differences are thematic ones, with different settings and characters for each set, for example Skull & Shackles has a ship based movement system, because it's set on the sea, whereas Rise of the Runelords and Wrath of the Righteous are land based.

The similarity is evidenced by the ability to use characters from one set in any of the others. However the adventures are designed to be started with new characters, so you wouldn't want to start with a previously leveled character.


In Puerto Rico If only one prospector is chosen during a round, does the other one get a coin placed on it?

Yes.

Any role not chosen at the end of the round gets a coin placed on it.

I can't find the official rules online, but I can point you to the Universal Head rules summary, which says, under "Reset the Roles":

  Place one doubloon on each of the three role cards not
  chosen this round and then return all role cards.


The token will disappear, and it will never enter the battlefield.

You are correct that state based actions are only checked after the entire ability resolves. However, there is an additional rule that applies here: rule 110.5g says

  A token that has left the battlefield can’t move to another zone or come back onto the battlefield. If such a token would change zones, it remains in its current zone instead. It ceases to exist the next time state-based actions are checked; see rule 704.

So once the token is exiled, it stays in exile even when the Conjurer's Closet instructs you to return it to the battlefield.

So, the use of the phrase "that card" on Conjurer's Closet is not the reason that it only returns to the battlefield if it's a card, but it's a hint that that's how it works anyway.


Are There Any Real-Life Applications of Chess?

If you play chess a lot, you'll probably develop some or all of these:

Critical thinking (Are some moves better than others?)
Analytical skills (What's my opponent likely to do?)
Spatial awareness (Where can a given piece move?)
Patience (Good strategies take time to develop)
Courtesy (Be a good loser and winner, no table flips, etc.)

I think one would be hard-pressed to argue that any of those aren't useful for everyday life.


Games with flipping tokens for action selection?

Sadly I don't think its new.

I've seen flipping discs for action selection in various games such as Mr Jack Pocket.

There are also games that when actions are taken that a token or card is flipped and another action becomes available such as Planet Defenders

Another similar to what you described is Coin Age where the options you have are literally determined by the way coins land when flipped.


Is there a real disadvantage for the player kicking off step two in power grid?

There is a significant disadvantage to kicking off Step 2, which is something a player will have to do deliberately by building their sixth/seventh/eighth city (depending on the number of players). As you point out, the other players will be much more interested in saving their money to buy the (likely-cheaper) second spot in several cities instead of buying additional cities this turn (which probably have high connection costs at this point).

In most games I've played, someone kicks off Step 2 for one of four reasons:

They think that the extra income this turn, and having more cities sooner, is profitable enough. If you enter Step 2 with 8 cities, and everyone else has 7 or fewer, you might be able to stay ahead of your rivals in city-building. If you build to 9 or 10 cities, this is an even bigger advantage and you're more likely to be the person who builds the game-ending number of cities. And if you're the person who builds the game-ending city, you can control when the game ends, and not build that city unless it's advantageous to you. (About half of the games I've played end with the winner not powering all of his cities, just having the most powered cities and building the game-ending city.)
They've gotten bored with waiting. The games I play sometimes have a full turn (or even two or three!) of everyone sitting with one-less-than-the-Step-2-trigger number of cities.
They desperately need to build a city somewhere, and avoid being hemmed in.
They don't understand the full implications of going last when building cities, the turn that second slot opens up in each city.


From my experience, the UltraPro 9-Pocket Platinum Pages are some of the sturdier pages out there and therefore will be more resistant from the start to the kind of wear you're describing. You don't have to worry about your cards much, though, as the pages or binders will be damaged before the cards will.

They work well and last long if you use them with keeping the following things in mind:

Use a proper binder with three rings (or, as many rings as your pages demand).
This will give your pages the proper stiffness in order to never damage your cards, since the pages will be held as straight as possible. Those binders are not easy to come by where I live, especially since it's tempting to buy them at office supply stores instead of from UltraPro directly for cost reasons, but they're certainly worth it compared to using four-ring pages in two-ring binders, or even punching new holes in these yourself.
Don't expose the binder to much stress - don't carry it around as a trade binder.
The most damage you'll get will be from browsing, moving or yanking your binder, as that's when the most force is applied to the pages. That's why these don't make for excellent trade binder solutions. There's a reason for binders made especially for carrying cards around not using rings to hold their pages. However even then, your cards won't likely get damaged before the pages.
Fill the whole page, starting from the inner side.
The more pockets you fill, the stiffer the page will get on it's own, making it less likely to end up with accidentally folded page. For those pages you can't find enough cards for, make sure to start from the inner end of the page - it's fine to start from the top, though.
Use little more than two cards per pocket.
You always end up with multiple copies of even rares or mythics, and the pockets will easily let you put more cards in the pockets than the two I'm suggesting. However, the weight factor will contribute to how much the topmost hole will be stressed over time.

Most of that is rather self-explanatory or at the very least sounds obvious once you read it. There really isn't much you can do particularily wrong, since those products are made exactly for this purpose.

As mentioned in the comments, storing the folders hanging from the fold, or standing them on the opposite side (both of which likely would require a special kind of stand) will distribute the weight more evenly. Of course the most safe, yet least convenient way is to just lay them on their back, not putting strain on anything - if you only have a single or a couple of binders, this is feasible and will leave you with folders in pristine conditions. As long as they're reasonably full, you can easily place multiple binders on top of each other this way.


How to make custom Cards Against Humanity Cards?

A simple solution if you are willing and able to spend some money:

Buy another copy of the game, a foam paint brush, and a small container of white paint. Using the foam brush you can paint a nice, even, thin coat of white paint over the face of the cards and use a black permanent marker when they dry to write whatever your heart desires!


Arkham: Harvey Walters Sanity loss for tome or elder sign

I'm gonna throw some text at you (emphasis mine)

From the text on Necronomicon:

  Exhaust and spend 2 movement points to make a Lore (-2) check. If you pass, draw 1 Spell and lose 2 Sanity. If you fail, nothing happens.

From the text on Elder Sign:

  When sealing a gate, lose 1 Stamina and 1 Sanity and return this card
  to the box. You do not need to make a skill check or spend any Clue
  tokens to seal the gate. In addition, remove one doom token from the
  Ancient One's doom track.

From Harvey's Strong Mind ability:

  Strong Mind - Any Phase: Harvey reduces all Sanity losses he suffers by 1, to a minimum of 0.

From the 'Casting Spells' section of the AH rulebook:

  Every spell has a casting modifier, and most have a Sanity cost

And finally from the Fantasy Flight FAQ:

  Q: Does the Strong Mind ability (reduce all Sanity loss
  by 1) of the professor, Harvey Walters, apply to the casting of spells?

  A: No. The professor’s ability works on losses, not costs.
  The same distinction applies to the gangster, Michael
  McGlen, and his ability to reduce Stamina losses.

I can see where'd you be confused due to the wording in the DH rulebook, but Harvey would reduce the sanity loss from both tomes and the Elder Sign. It's a fine line between paying some price in order to activate some ability and losing something due to activating some ability. If the text in question specifically states loss or loses, etc. then damage reduction abilities can be used.

EDIT:
For an additional example of cost vs. loss, consider the card 'Pentagram of Blood' from the Curse of the Dark Pharaoh expansion:

  Discard this card and X Stamina to ward your current street.

Or from the revised edition:

  Spend X Stamina and discard this card

Loss of staminia isn't explicitly called out in either of those ability descriptions. You could almost break it down as a 'Do X to do Y, then Z'. The necronomicon is '..spend 2 movement...to make a Lore (-2) check...then lose 2 sanity'. This wording structure won't work all the time, but hopefully it'll aid in determining when damage reduction abilities can apply.


In Secret Misson Risk which player is the winner when 2 missions are simultaneously achieved?

From these rules:

  The player who completes his or her mission first-and reveals the Mission
  card to prove it-wins.

The rules make no mention of ordering, or of only being able to win at a specific time. If both players achieve a mission at exactly the same time, and both reveal their completed missions, then they have both fulfilled the win condition. You could assign a single winner in any arbitrary manner, but personally I'd say they both win; after all, does victory have to be exclusive?

Extra note: regarding the timing of defeating the final army and capturing a territory, the rules say:

  As soon as you defeat the last opposing army on a territory, you capture that territory and must occupy it immediately.

While the rules don't specifically set out timing, I'd say that the "as soon as" and "immediately" mean that capturing a territory happens at the same moment as defeating the last army.


In bridge, how would you bid the "worst" 14 point hand?

You bid it like you’d bid any other minimum balanced hand with no five-card major.

Open one of a minor. Rebid NT, raise partner’s major, or pass partner’s 1NT as appropriate.

Which minor you open is a matter of partnership agreement. The usual agreement in the US is that 1D can be on three with this shape, but there are some who prefer to have 1D always be four, and so open 1C here.

Passing is a poor plan, even if you made it slightly weaker, as is upgrading it if it had slightly better spots; it’s a perfectly respectable minimum balanced hand, and pretending it isn’t is just going to lead to reaching the wrong contract.


What are the differences between the various version of Nosferatu?

There are differences between all three editions - what they are exactly I do not know
From the Board Game Geek page, your first image appears to be the 2017 edition, while the second image is the 2014 edition.  The third image is listed as the "English/French first edition (2013)".
I found a thread called Which version to buy asking about the different editions.  The thread dates back to 2015, meaning that it is likely comparing the 2014 and 2013 editions.  There are evidently noticeable game-play differences between them.
From the thread:

The new version plays much better imo, as the race against the rituals allows the vampire to be much more strategic than the throne card from the original version. In the original, the vampire regularly had to make very risky plays just to avert crisis when then deck ran out. In larger games, this was a huge downside that often relieved some people of suspicion too early in the game.
The only downside to the new version is that the publisher removed the graphics from the cards for whatever reason. This makes it a little harder to remember what's going on, as new players might forget what bites do, what the rituals do, etc.

Finding information on possible changes in the 2017 version was a bit trickier.  Among the publishers listed on BGG I could only find the newer version being displayed by one publisher - the Brazilian publisher Conclave Editora.  Conclave lists the 2017 edition as Nosferatu 2nd Edition, and includes downloadable rules for both that edition and the 2014 edition.  Alas, I do not speak Portuguese, so I cannot tell you whether the rules have changed substantially.  There are at least some differences - the newer version includes 7 Vampire Hunter cards instead of 6 and 2 vampires instead of 1.  The listed player-count has changed from 4-8 to 4-10.
The rulebook has been significantly changed in appearance and layout between the editions, further challenging my ability to find discrepancies between them.  However the art on the game pieces illustrated in the rulebook do not seem to have changed at all.
The 2017 edition appears to be able to accommodate two extra players that the 2014 edition could not.  I suspect that there are no other significant changes, but cannot confirm that without the ability to read Portuguese.


How do I tell which cards are "bombs" in draft?

First off, what is a bomb? According to a Limited Information article it is ... a powerful, game-ending, stabilizing card." though the author does admit that other people might have slightly different definitions. The MTG Salvation Wiki describes a bomb as "...a card, generally used in conjunction with Limited play, that always makes a large card impact on a game in which it is played."

From these definitions we can gather that 'bombs' are cards that when you play them have a high impact on the board, making it so that if you were behind you have now caught up, or even pulled ahead (stabilizing), and if unanswered will win you the game quickly (powerful, game-ending). In general I would say a bomb is anything that when played, regardless of board state, makes you go 'Oh crap' when played against you.

In general this means that a lot of bombs are creatures with high power and toughness (usually 5/5 or bigger), evasion or protection from removal is nice but not always required especially on ones with powerful 'enters the battlefield' triggers, speaking of which ETB triggers are also help make bombs because even if they have removal you still got some value out of the card. There can be other factors that that make creatures bombs but these are the big ones.

While a lot of bombs are creatures it is possible to have non-creature bombs too, most Planeswalkers are bombs, for other non-creature non-Planeswalker cards generally you want things that will have a large impact on the board for example End Hostilities or any other board wipe, Overrun or Flying Crane Technique or other things that give your entire team a boost and/or evasion. For these though it is a bit harder to define exactly what makes a bomb since bomb creatures are designed primarily to attack, but non-creature bombs can do a wide variety of things.

As for Mystic of the Hidden Way, according to the definition I've been using it is not a bomb. While it does have evasion in its 'can't be blocked', it doesn't have very impressive stats at 3/2. This means it neither helps you stabilize your board if you are behind, since it can't block most cards without dying too, and while it will inevitably win the game for you if you keep attacking it will take a long time. This doesn't mean that it is a bad card, it just means it isn't a bomb.


In the card game Do-Over Deluxe, can a Take That! card override another Take That?

Direct Answer:

Yes, a "Take That!" card can be played on top of another "Take That!" card. A "Bomb" card can also be used to defend against a "Take That!" card. Relevant rules snippet:

  Take That Card - When this card is played, the next player going clockwise must take the entire discard pile and place it in their hand! However, you can defend against this! If you also have a Take That Card you can play it and force the next player going clockwise to take the discard pile. If playing with two players, you send the discard pile back to the player. A Bomb Card can also be used to obliterate the discard pile during a Take That and no one has to take the discard pile; it is placed to the side.

Full Rules:


What Talisman expansions give a PvE end goal?

I am going to assume that you only are considering the Fourth Edition Expansions by Fantasy Flight Games, since I assume that the Games Workshop editions are incompatible. The Dragon and Sacred Pool Expansion should fit your needs with all 3 alternate endings being PvE.

Talisman: The Reaper Expansion (2008): No alternate endings.
Talisman: The Dungeon Expansion (2009): No alternate endings.
Talisman: The Frostmarch Expansion (2009): Crown and Sceptre, Ice Queen and Warlock Quests
Talisman: The Highland Expansion (2010): Battle Royale, The Eagle King, and Hand of Doom.
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Expansion (2010): Demon Lord, Judgement Day, and Sacred Pool
Talisman: The Dragon Expansion (2011): Dragon Slayers, Dragon King, and Domain of Dragons
Talisman: The Blood Moon Expansion (2012): Horrible Black Hole, Lightbearers, and Blood Moon Werewolf.
Talisman: The City Expansion (2013): Merchant's Guild, ??? (not released)


flush on the board in texas hold'em poker

The pot is split.

In hold-em, each player is judged by the best 5 cards that they can put together between the board and their hand. In this case, for both players, that is just the five cards on the board. Sherry's queens cannot be used as kickers because they do not appear in the best five card hand.


Coup: Do you lose your coins when trying to assassinate a Contessa?

Yes, you do lose the coins.  While the rules are not available online, this  action flowchart has been verified by the game's creator as being correct.  I'll go and try and find out what I've done with my copy and try and get a direct quote from the rules for you, but hopefully this should suffice.

Edit: Joe's comment is correct - although this is from the Coup: Reformation rulebook, it is under the basic rules, not the expansion rules.  On the fourth page, under the Counteractions heading, the last line reads "If an action is successfully counteracted, the action fails but any coins paid as the cost of the action remain spent.


Why Is Two Clubs the Preferred "Strong Two" In Bridge?

2 Clubs is the most useful because it leaves the 2 level open for you to describe your hand.  Your side has the preponderance of strength, and thus your side would benefit the most from the extra bidding space.  Conversely, keeping 2 Spades preemptive prevents your opponents from starting to investigate their hands on the 2 level.  If your opponents have a heart fit, they can start to investigate it with a 2 heart bid over a preemptive 2 clubs, while they would have to start with 3 hearts over a preemptive 2 spades.

The system of responses you describe is one that exists in various formats, called Step Responses, where the weaker partner quantitatively reveals the strength of his hand to the 2 club bidder so that he may make a guess as to whether end up in game or slam.