Can I destroy a Whirler Virtuoso in time to stop it making a thopter?

You can destroy Whirler Virtuoso and prevent them from making a thopter if they don't already have 3 energy to use.

I'm going to assume you already understand how the stack and priority work. If not, I suggest you read this explanation of those features which helped me understand them when I started.

Usually usage of Whirler Virtuoso would look like this:

Whirler Virtuoso enters the battlefield.
Its ETB ability goes on the stack.
Its ETB ability resolves.
Its ability is activated to produce a thopter.
That ability resolves and they get a thopter.

The time you need to cast a Lightning Strike is between steps 2 and 3. That is the earliest time you can cast a Lightning Strike in response, and the last opportunity you have to stop them getting a thopter. Doing so plays out like this:

Whirler Virtuoso enters the battlefield.
WV's ETB ability goes on the stack.
Your Lightning Strike goes on the stack.
Your Lightning Strike resolves. (WV dies and gets removed.)
WV's ETB ability resolves, still giving the opponent 3 energy.

If they already have 3 energy from something else (maybe a previous WV you destroyed this way), they can still activate that thopter-making ability just after either step 2 or step 3, before the Lightning Strike resolves. You can't stop that first thopter, but you can stop them making a second one.


Can anyone identify this variant of Yukon solitaire?

My mom and I also played this version. She called it Long Solitaire. I have looked for this version online but haven’t been able to find it. I still play it with real cards.


How do the +1/+1 tokens created when Hooded Hydra dies play during combat?

Your opponents are mostly right.
What you're missing with this scenario are: combat steps, assigning damage, and triggered abilities.
When anyone attacks with creatures, there are certain steps that are taken.  In general they are:

Before Combat
Declare Attackers
Declare Blockers
Damage

In each combat step, the action is only taken once.  In other words, there is only one "At the beginning of combat".  The attacker selects all attackers at once, and then they are set. The blocker selects all blocks at once, then they are set. Damage happens all at once.
In between and before each step, players get priority and triggers happen.
So, in your scenario:

Opponent declares 3 attacking rhinos
You block with Hooded Hydra
Damage happens

You take 10 damage, hooded hydra takes 5
Hooded hydra dies, and its death trigger goes on the stack
Assuming nothing else happens, the death trigger resolves and 5 snakes are created

Go to after combat (likely second main phase)

So, because the snakes are created after you have your opportunity to block, they can't be used as blockers. But they are created immediately on the death of Hooded Hydra.


In Poker, what happens if paying a blind puts a player all-in?

If a player cannot cover a blind, that player is all-in and the bets are handled just as if that player had gone all-in on an ordinary bet. The main pot gets an amount of money from each player who bets equal to the all-in player's stake. Any further betting goes into a side pot, which the all-in player is ineligible to win.


What is the resolution of tapping a blocking creature?

The resolution is the attacking creature remains blocked and the damage resolves the same regardless if the blocking creature is tapped or not. They both do full damage as they normally would, and trigger any effects they normally would.
If the Blocking creature was removed from play somehow before combat damage was dealt (say it was sacrificed like you asked) then the attacking creature is still blocked and would deal damage to nothing, unless it has trample.

509.1g Each chosen creature still controlled by the defending player becomes a blocking creature. Each one is blocking the attacking creatures chosen for it. It remains a blocking creature until it’s removed from combat or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first. See rule 506.4.
509.1h An attacking creature with one or more creatures declared as blockers for it becomes a blocked creature; one with no creatures declared as blockers for it becomes an unblocked creature. This remains unchanged until the creature is removed from combat, an effect says that it becomes blocked or unblocked, or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first. A creature remains blocked even if all the creatures blocking it are removed from combat.
509.2a During the declare blockers step, if a blocking creature is removed from combat or a spell or ability causes it to stop blocking an attacking creature, the blocking creature is removed from all relevant damage assignment orders. The relative order among the remaining blocking creatures is unchanged.
510.1d A blocking creature assigns combat damage to the creatures it’s blocking. If it isn’t currently blocking any creatures (if, for example, they were destroyed or removed from combat), it assigns no combat damage...


What are the differences between American Megafauna and Bios: Megafauna?

In both games you are playing a phylum of either mammals or lizards (250 million years ago or so).  You place your creatures on an ever-changing board, seeking out biomes that (a) have food you can eat (including other creatures) and (b) give advantages to your genetic advantages (such as being amphibious, being fast, having armor, etc).  You acquire these genetic advantages during the course of play (more later on that), and you can spin off new species that share some of the genetics of the parent species.  The world is not a stable place, though, and the board changes frequently, generally becoming harsher (i.e. you need more of these genetic advantages to remain viable).  Placement is governed by proximity to your existing creatures and size (bigger creatures can move farther).  Tangentially, I note that in both games we have found the rules to be poorly-organized and somewhat confusing to learn.

In American Megafauna, genetic advantages ("DNA") come out one at a time and players bid on them.  When you spin off a new species you inherit all of the DNA of the parent (I think).  You have 14 counters for each of four species, and the game supports four players (five with the expansion).  So the board can get fairly crowded.  DNA is tracked by little cardboard tents on a playing mat, which are pretty hard to see across the table.  The winner is the player with the most creatures on the board when the game ends.

Bios Megafauna makes several changes:

The bidding mechanism for DNA is completely revamped.  Several cards are dealt out on the table; the cards represent a mix of DNA and opportunities to start new species.  A player can take the first card for free, pay one for the second, pay two for the third, and so on.  If you take a card with payment tokens on it, you get them.  Tokens are quite limited.  Cards are replenished, coming in at the end.

There are two ways to spin off new creatures.  One is similar to the earlier game, but you choose which traits to inherit and indicate them with a limited pool of tokens.  So, for example, you may have one "nocturnal" chit that you can use for this, and once it's gone it's gone.  The other way is with cards.  A species card will indicate several genes, and to play it you must match at least half of them with an existing creature (which will be the parent).  So if you have a creature that's marine, nocturnal, and doubly speedy, and the card has marine, speed, armor, and insectivore, you can use it.  The new creature has the DNA on the card.  New creatures can therefore have DNA that you didn't previously have represented, which is handy.

Presumably because of the connection to other games (which use the same idea), Bios Megafauna adds non-DNA characteristics that you can also acquire through cards (things like manual dexterity, language, and a couple others I'm forgetting).  These can give some additional advantages, but in our games they haven't really been well-integrated.

When tiles (mostly biomes) are removed from the board they go into a pile that will eventually turn into victory points.  Points are distributed multiple times during the game based on population at that time -- so instead of "biggest at the end wins", you have several checks and players' fortunes can ebb and flow.

There are many fewer creatures in play.  You get eight tokens (wooden counters now rather than cardboard tents) per species (still four of those), and you have to spend some of them on "tracks" -- one to indicate your current size, and one for each of the "roadrunner" DNA (nocturnal, speed, armor, marine).  So yeah, go ahead and acquire those traits, but you do it at the cost of board position.  In our games it has not been uncommon to have only one or two tokens of a species on the board.  (In both games, if you go to zero that species is extinct -- flush the cards, reclaim your tokens, and carry on.)  The game supports up to four players.

Regarding physical aspects, the biome tiles are larger (so easier to see) and the annoying little tents are gone.  However, DNA for any given species is now represented by the combination of counters on tracks, DNA on cards, and the chits used in spinning off creatures.  Add to this that the counters for the different species are not that visually distinct from a distance, and we have found that it's just as hard to see what that tasty morsel you're considering eating has in place as it used to be, but it's differently hard.  In both games players are constantly having to ask each other questions like "how speedy is that guy again?" and "does that have armor?".

Anecdotally, I have heard that "total party kills" -- that is, world-destroying events that end the game -- are much less likely in the new game, and that this was one motivating factor.  Beyond that I don't know why the author reimplemented the game.

The new game is designed to fit into a family of games in ways that aren't entirely clear to me.  We have played one of these, Origins: How We Became Human, once; it shares the non-DNA traits of Bios Megafauna but the rules are very different.  As the name implies, it is set later in time.  I haven't played it enough to make further connections.

How to choose between American and Bios?  Both have merits and both can make play difficult in different ways.  It seems to be easier to recover from misfortune in Bios and the cards provide more options; American is a harder and I think harsher game, which may be what you want sometimes.


Kemet: Controlling another Player's pyramid and Victory point

Yes, a player who has a pyramid with no units on it in his home city automatically controls the pyramid.

Here's some supporting threads from BGG.  Look at the second (italicized) line.

From BGG "Kemet Supplementary Rules"
(emphasis mine)

  Pyramids: A zero level pyramid means no pyramid is present. You control any pyramid in your city that is unoccupied. You control any
  pyramid in an enemy city where you are in sole occupation, and may
  upgrade it (getting its temporary VP) and/or use it to buy tiles of
  that color and teleport from it.

This is also backed up by the "City Control Question" thread.


Does assassination nullify the bishop's protection?

Yes, the Bishop loses his protection when assassinated. From the last page of the FAQ

Q: Can the warlord destroy a building of a murdered Bishop?
A: Yes. Since the Bishop is not present, he is not able to protect his districts.


Are older copies of current standard-legal reprints playable again?

It doesn’t matter if a card is a reprint or being printed for the first time. A simple and obvious example would be a basic land card; a Mountain would be a reprint of an old card; but it would be standard legal because it was printed in a recent set.

However, cards printed in Duel Decks are not necessarily standard legal. Duel Decks contain some cards that aren’t part of the current or recent block. Standard currently (in January 2018) consists of cards printed in Ixalan, Amonkhet, or Kaladesh block.

To determine if a specific card is legal, you can check Gatherer to see the listing.


In bridge, what are the proper followups to a Jacoby transfer?

Well, the proper followup is what you have agreed upon.

The 'normal' responses to a transfer allow you to bid the major at the 2 level (usual completion of the transfer) or bid the major at the 3 level, which shows a maximum hand and 4 cards in the major in question (called super-accept).

Assuming your agreement is the above, bidding 2NT with doubleton in the major, instead of completing the transfer is just silly.

You partner could have 6 cards in the major and a bust hand and might have been planning to pass the 2H bid from you. With a 6-2 fit, 2H will play very well as compared to 1NT. Even with a decent 5 card suit and nothing else, 2H will likely play better than 1NT. 2NT might just be too high. This is because the trumps serve as stoppers in other suits, and also provide entries into dummy.
With partner having an invitational/game forcing hand and exactly 5 card major, you will always be able to reach 2NT or 3NT when you need to. With an invitational hand and exactly 5 cards in the major, partner will rebid 2NT, which you can then pass (or go on to 3NT if you have a maximum hand). With a game forcing hand and 5 hearts, partner will bid 3N.
You are denying partner the chance to bid 2S after transferring to hearts which can show some hand types (some people play it as 5-5 in majors etc).
Bidding 2NT is a unilateral bid. Remember that your partner is the captain. You have narrowed down your hand with your 1NT bid.

So violating the transfer to bid 2NT to show doubleton is pointless with no real gain (you will always get to deny support later), and has only downsides.

Also, from a system point of view, having 2NT show a doubleton is inefficient, as later followups will clarify that situation. You are just wasting space and getting to a bad contract/wrong siding it for no reason.

That said, some people do have followups other than 2 or 3 of the major, but those typically show 4 card support and some other feature (like doubleton/values in the suit bid).


Does First Strike apply when two creatures Fight each other?

No. First strike only works in combat, and Fight is not a combat ability. See the Comprehensive Rules:

701.12. Fight
701.12a A spell or ability may instruct a creature to fight another creature or it may instruct two creatures to fight each other. Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to the other creature.
701.12b If a creature instructed to fight is no longer on the battlefield or is no longer a creature, no damage is dealt. If a creature is an illegal target for a resolving spell or ability that instructs it to fight, no damage is dealt.
701.12c If a creature fights itself, it deals damage to itself equal to twice its power.
701.12d The damage dealt when a creature fights isn’t combat damage.

702.7. First Strike
702.7a First strike is a static ability that modifies the rules for the combat damage step. (See rule 510, “Combat Damage Step.”)


Yes, you can, but it's not trivial.
While Infect works on objects of any type, you can generally only grant Infect to creatures. Therefore, you have to turn Form of the Dragon into a creature first. You can do that through e.g. Liquimetal Coating, then animate that artifact through e.g. Skilled Animator. Or you can turn it into a creature directly with Opalescence.
Then you can give the resulting creature Infect through e.g. Grafted Exoskeleton.


Best game for two couples, median age 20?

No one can really answer your question directly, but I can give an overview of the four different games and their play styles.

Agricola

Complex rules and might be a bit heavy for a non-gamer initially.
About building a farm.  Everyone likes building a farm.
"Aggressive" play comes from resource denial
Most games will take 30 minutes per player to play.  During learning it'll probably take an extra 15+ minutes per player.
Lots of setup/packup work is required.
Plays best with 4 players.
Highly replayable and highly addictive.

Dominion

Rules are relatively simple.
Very little aggressive play.
Player interaction with each other is limited.
The game plays as a deck building game.
Most games will come in under half an hour.  Some cards will extend this but never more than an hour.
Plays best with 2 players.
There are a lot of worthless cards/card combos, which limits the combinations of possible games more than it seems initially.
Lots of replayability, but expansions are highly recommended to open up the possibilities.

Puerto Rico

Rules are moderately difficult - easier than Agricola, more difficult than Dominion.
Play is generally not aggressive, but has a high degree of player interaction.
Game time is rarely more than 1.5h.
Plays best with 4 players.
Moderate amount of setup/packup work.
Base game is slightly imbalanced, favouring players who start with corn.  This won't have too much of an impact though.

Settlers of Catan

Famous mainly as a "gateway game" into Euro-style games.
Lots more luck involved than the other three games.
Some games will last over 2 hours, depending on luck factors and how decisive each player is.
Plays best with 3-4 players.
Rules are relatively simple to learn.
Dice use will make new players feel more comfortable.
Pretty quick setup/packup time.
Probably has the least long term replayability.  Certainly without the expansions this one will not amuse as long as any of the other games.

My recommendation is actually Puerto Rico, based on what you have described.  I would then recommend Agricola after you have played Puerto Rico a few times and have mastered the mechanics.  I still regularly play both games despite having played them hundreds of times.  I very rarely play settlers and occasionally play dominion.  Dominion's a game I play to fill in half an hour to an hour of time. YMMV.

Certainly if you do not wish to buy expansions the best choices are Puerto Rico or Agricola.  Settlers becomes a lot more fun with the Seafarers expansion and Dominion really opens up as soon as you get at least one expansion.


Can I tap a creature in response to an instant?

Yes, you can tap activate the abilities of a permanent in response to an instant.

Yes, it will save your Sliver. To regenerate something is to give it a shield that will prevent (replace) destruction the next time it would be destroyed that turn.

The system governing when you can cast a spell and activate abilities is called "priority", and you will get priority at some point between when a spell is cast and when it resolves.

That means that you can activate abilities in response to a spell. Restriction to activating the ability apply as normal.

Equip, Loyalty abilities and any other ability that specifically mention they can only be activated "as a sorcery" cannot be activated in response to another spell or ability.
If the tap or untap symbol is in the activation cost, the creature must have been under your control since the start of your turn (must not have summoning sickness).
You must be able to pay the cost. (e.g. The creature cannot already be tapped if the ability has the tap symbol in its cost.)

Say you have

Crypt Sliver (henceforth known as "C")
Battering Sliver (some other sliver henceforth known as "B")
Armor Sliver (some other sliver henceforth known as "A")

Say your opponent casts Hero's Downfall targeting "B".

In response, you can cast instant spells and activate abilities, including the "{T}: Regenerate target Sliver." ability of any of your Slivers.

Say you activate "A"'s ability targeting "B". The stack now contains the ability that grants regeneration and Hero's Downfall. The ability that grants regeneration resolves first because it was added to the stack last. This gives a regeneration to "B".

  614.8. Regeneration is a destruction-replacement effect. The word “instead” doesn’t appear on the card but is implicit in the definition of regeneration. “Regenerate [permanent]” means “The next time [permanent] would be destroyed this turn, instead remove all damage marked on it and tap it. If it’s an attacking or blocking creature, remove it from combat.” Abilities that trigger from damage being dealt still trigger even if the permanent regenerates. See rule 701.12.

Next, Hero's Downfall resolves. It would destroy "B" but for the regeneration shield. Instead, "B" is tapped, it's removed from combat, and any marked damage is cleared.

Note: It would have been much better to use "B"'s "{T}: Regenerate target Sliver." ability targeting itself since it will end up tapped anyway, but you might not be able to if it's already tapped or if it has summoning sickness.


Can I add Ogre mercenaries to any army in Warhammer fantasy?

So, it actually depends on the Version you're using. On 6ed et 7ed, mercenary did exist and (at least for 6ed) ogres had a special rules that let them be purchased as mercenary for anyone except Bretonnia. (I do not recall Lizardman beeing able to recruit them, but i've lost my 6ed book..)

Since 8ed, there is no mercenary that exists per se, there is "pacts" you can do with storm of magic (an extension). During End Times, you did not have mercenary but larger army pool. And nowadays Warhammer doesn't even exist.

During the mercenary era, basically, if it wasn't an enemy of Skaven (Like the pirates dwarfs) it could be recruited by them, and if it's not an enemy of the Empire (and even in some cases), Empire can recruit them. These two factions had a lot of mercenaries available, Chaos very less so, Khemri and Vampire counts had a few mercenaries available only for them (but not the same) and for the others, well, it depends.

Hope it helps!


Are there any restrictions to the number of weapons a survivor can equip?

There are no limits to the number of weapons that a survivor can equip and the effects stack. This has been confirmed in the Dead of Winter Rules forum on BoardGameGeek by Jon Gilmour, one of the designers of Dead of Winter.

Click here to read one of these threads (Jon Gilmour's responses are posted under the user name JonnyRotten).

A second thread reference can be found here.


Is an emphasis on card reading/counting well placed for a learner?

I cannot emphasise enough that card-counting is the fundamental underlying skill for all others in Bridge. Until one has mastered counting every card, every hand, every session, until it has become both habitual and an obsession, one cannot even be considered a top-intermediate player. If you are not already counting the opponent's hands, the range of distributions and points possible, every time they call Pass, one cannot even be a competent bidder.

All advanced card-play techniques, including opening lead, are derivative of and dependent on accurate counting of the points and distribution around the table.

Further, if one has a demonstrated ability to count the hand, stronger players will take an interest in mentoring you and even having a game or two on occasion to check on your skill progression.

On your second point, you have confused "complexity of bidding system" with "accuracy of bidding system". Eric Rodwell and Jeff Meckstroth have been a regular partnership for nearly 30 years now (collectively known as Meckwell), and have an encyclopediac record of their bidding system (maintained by Rodwell) and are widely thought of as the best partnership in the world for much of that time.

By contrast the late Barry Crane played a very straightforward (and aggressive) Four-Card Majors system that any strong player could master in a matter of days. He in turn is regarded as the top Matchpoint player of all time.

Note that Crane's phenomenal success was achieved playing part-time (weekends only) while most of his competitors were able to play the full 5 days of most Regional tournaments. This may have influenced his desire for a simpler system, as he also played with more different partners.

Barry Crane Stories #1
Barry Crane Stories by Grant Baze
Barry Crane Stories by other authors


Do the Saar need to wait a whole round to build a Space Dock?

From page 10 of the Twilight Imperium FAQ (version 2.5):

  Q: What are the restrictions for building a Saar Space Dock?

  A: The player must control 1 planet in the system per space dock he wishes to
  build. Trade stations do not count towards this restriction.

From this the Saar need to have control of a planet, so I would think that why the rule you quoted on needing to have controlled the planet for the entire round would apply.


Am I missing a limitation on double strike (for star wars lcg)?

The engagement isn't over until all ready units have been focused to strike.  Double Strike must be played "after a Character unit is focused to strike," which means it can only be played, and therefore can only remove a focus token, DURING the engagement, allowing multiple strikes at the same objective. If you can destroy an undefended objective in one strike, playing Double Strike does nothing for you- your second strike has nothing to hit.
See "Resolving a strike" on p 20 of the rules, and "Engagment resolution" (p 31).   CArdgamedb.com is the best place for Star Wars rules and discussion. Some real experts post over there.  Check it out!


What is this game involving moving circular levels and small balls that get moved up and down them?

Your description seems to match Stadium Checkers, or it's Tournament variant.


Are multicolor decks in any color combination viable in modern Magic?

Running 60 is still the best plan. You have the highest likelihood of drawing into your best cards when you have fewer cards.

As far as seeing more multi-color, right now we're in a multi-color block. Retrun to Ravnica (RTR)and Gatecrash (GTC) each feature five of the ten Ravnica guilds.

Right now in current standard are the ten 'shocklands', lands that come into play tap unless you pay two life and can tap for two colors (in RTR and GTC), for example Blood Crypt; a cycle in M13 of allied dual lands which come into play tapped unless you control a land type that it taps for, for example Glacial Fortress, and a cycle of enemy dual lands which do the same from Innistrad, for example Isolated Chapel.

Dual lands are the primary source of mana fixing. RTR and GTC also released gates, which are dual lands at common that always enter the battlefield tapped. These are typically considered too slow for standard constructed play.

Green is still considered the fixer color, granted access to tools like Caravan Vigil, Arbor Elf, Avacyn's Pilgrim, and Farseek, Mulch, Ranger's Path, Seek the Horizon, or if you have insane mana already like perhaps in a Commander game, Boundless Realms.

Currently Llanowar Elves and Birds of Paradise have rotated out of standard. They aren't usually out for long, so we stand a chance to see them in 2014, but honestly with all the fixing in right now, they aren't as necessary.

As to your question of "pretty much every combination of color is a viable tactic" you could make that argument. Each two color combination has a Ravnica guild, and half of the three color combinations have an Alara shard. Each of the Ravnica guilds is seemingly viable in standard, although many of them do have a third splash color. There are fewer monocolor top decks right now just because the set is so focused on multicolor decks.

Other formats have different archetypes. There is no single Commander deck that is winning everyone's hearts and minds. Jund (and to some extent, Storm) is completely dominating Modern to the extent that the DCI just banned two cards, one core to each deck, to level the playing field a little. Legacy and Vintage I don't follow enough to really comment on, but I'll say as far as I know there are no dominating color patterns there.


What's the price difference in producing different quality game cards?

There are numerous podcasts that cover this sort of thing. Multiple kickstarters have gone into detail on it. I think Dice Tower Productions recently talked about card stock pricng (Episode 450-453 somewhere around there). I think Two Rooms and a Boom's Kickstarter went into detail in card quality because it was certainly an issue in their highly anticipated yet highly delayed product.

Card Quality can vary from a number of ways from the finish which can be variations of smooth glossy or textured matte, the core (notably black core isn't see thru in white areas), the construction (paper or plastic) and the weight (thicker cards weigh more, gsm in the listings below means grams per square meter. Those are just some of the variations in card quality.

  The black core means that no light can pass through the cards regardless of what is or is not printed on either side (TGC)

MakePlayingCardsNow.com's website gives some pricing information that can make a nice jump off point for estimation.

50-99 Bridge Cards (Per Deck)

270gsm promotional quality          $6.55
300gsm premium quality              $6.85
330gsm superior smooth quality      $7.65
310gsm casino quality (French)      $7.45
13pt White Plastic (100%)           $12.85

50-99 Poker Cards (Per Deck)

270gsm promotional quality          $6.55
300gsm premium quality              $6.85
330gsm superior smooth quality      $7.65
310gsm casino quality (French)      $7.45
13pt White Plastic (100%)           $12.85

50-99 Lard Cards (Per Deck)

  Our large sized playing cards measures 3.5" x 5.75" and are popular for marketing needs or used as flash cards in school

300gsm premium quality              $9.80
330gsm superior smooth quality      $11.40
13pt White Plastic (100%)           $23.80

50-99 Tarot Cards (Per Deck)

  Tarot cards measures 2.75" x 4.75" and comes in deck sizes of 78. Perfect for those into tarot card reading or for promotional purposes.

300gsm premium quality              $11.20
330gsm superior smooth quality      $14.00
13pt White Plastic (100%)           $27.20

50-99 Mini Cards (Per Deck)

  Mini size playing cards measures 1.75" x 2.5" and are great as promotional client gifts or re-sell at retail. They make great gifts to friends too.

270gsm promotional quality          $4.20
300gsm premium quality              $4.50
330gsm superior smooth quality      $4.90
310gsm casino quality (French)      $4.90
13pt White Plastic (100%)           $8.50

50-99 Micro Cards (Per Deck)

  Micro custom blank cards measures 1.25" x 1.75" and comes in deck sizes from 54 to 360. These micro card decks are the smallest in our range of customizable cards. They are popular for small card figurines printing for board game or can be used for any other purposes.

270gsm promotional quality          $2.40
300gsm premium quality              $2.70
330gsm superior smooth quality      $2.90
13pt White Plastic (100%)           $4.70

There's even more sizes if you care to go to the website, and of course more pricing schedules. The numbers range from 1 to 15000


How do doors, locked doors, and hidden doors differ?

Okay, I've played through a few times with some shop runners, and pored over boardgamegeek (http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/397178/rules-question-locked-and-hidden-doors) -- Here's my best interpretation.

Doors- 1 movement costFundamentally identital to a passageway. The door itself plays an important role with monsters. If a monster is tiny or human sized, they can usually open doors, unless directed otherwise with their monster card. Huge monsters generally can't go through doors unless they have a skill dictated on the card.

Locked Doors- 3 movement costThieves can treat this as a normal door, meaning it will only cost 1 movement point to pass through. Monsters generally can't pass through these unless their cards specify they can break a door down-- allowing all monsters also moving during that turn to pass through the broken doorway. During combat, the movement cost is ignored, and the room is considered "adjacent" and a neighboring munchkin can participate in combat unless the room tile states otherwise. In the rulebook, this is justified by the statement that combat movement "just happens," and doesn't cost anything.

Hidden Doors- 3 movement costWizards can treat this as a normal door, meaning it will only cost 1 movement point to pass through. Nearly all monsters cannot pass through this door, even if they have the ability to break down doors. Only monsters which can see hidden doors, Like King Tut, can pass through a hidden door. Hidden doors do not have to be "discovered", and are not treated as a wall by munchkins. All combat rules for locked doors apply to hidden doors as well.

At no point do doors get treated as corridors unless a monster breaks it down. The presence of a door has the most significant impact on monster movement and movement cost, not munchkin movement.


Where can I purchase replacement parts for Battleship Galaxies?

I did manage to find some replacement pieces from here.  As you see in the image below, the bases do arrive unassembled.  I'll use the plastic cement (that I ordered at the same time) to attach the vertical column into those center holes.

The part number at this vendor appears to be AFS062-CLR.

Note that, due to trademark restrictions (almost certainly), they have to refer to their pieces as "Galaxy Battle" and make them visibly different from the original.


Is the Commander strictly fixed during deck construction?

It doesn't matter. Since you can change decks between games, you can change to a deck that's identical except for the choice of Commander.

Everyone talks about the Commander as if it's a property of the deck, including the Comprehensive Rules and the EDH site.

CR: In the Commander variant, each deck is led by a legendary creature designated as that deck’s commander.
EDH: Players choose a legendary creature as the "Commander" for their deck.

But that's not necessarily significant. It's simply the obvious and simple way to explain Commander. There's no explicit mention in the rules that the Commander is a property of the deck.
Does it matter?
In a casual setting, one may change decks between games as often as one desires, so you can obviously play two games with decks that vary only by your choice of Commander. The answer to your question is therefore irrelevant in a casual setting.
The answer is only potentially meaningful in a tournament setting, but I can't find anything suggestion that DCI hosts Commander tournaments. That means the the answer to your question is irrelevant as far as Wizard-sanctioned tournaments go.
That leaves non-sanctioned tournaments. Since they're non-sanctioned, there's no way to predict their deck registration policy. The answer is unanswerable for those in general.
The only tournament I was able to find is this league. But since they allow you to change deck between games, the answer to your question is irrelevant there too.

Given all of the above, my answer to your question is as follows:
If you enter a situation where you must reuse a deck for more than one game, consult with those with which you enter into this situation on this matter. Otherwise, it doesn't matter. Since you can change decks between games, you can change to a deck that's identical except for the choice of Commander.


How often do you have to move the outbreak marker in a chain reaction?

You move it once per outbreak, chain reaction or otherwise.

The rules don't seem ambiguous to me:

  When a chain reaction outbreak occurs, first move the outbreaks marker
  forward 1 space. Then, place cubes as above, except do not add a cube to
  cities that have already had an outbreak (or a chain reaction outbreak) as
  part of resolving the current Infection card.

You have to do all of this - moving the outbreak marker, and placing cubes - for each city that has a chain reaction outbreak.

Also, it says "when a chain reaction outbreak occurs" - as in, one outbreak. If it meant you only moved the marker one step even when there are many chain reaction outbreaks, it would presumably say "one or more" or otherwise clarify.


I think 4 is a great number for an easy game. If you find yourself running out of cards in the player deck, then you should really evaluate how you use those cards during the game. Discarding cards to take a flight shouldn't be done too frequently since that depletes that resource used to cure the disease. Also, work together to Share Knowledge, even though it can be challenging since you have to be in the same city as the card. Hopefully, you are playing with roles that negate some of the drawbacks I described above. If you are still having trouble, try playing with 3 and see what that does for you. After while, you'll start to get the hang of the game, and will look forward to the challenge that 4, 5, or 6 epidemic cards adds to the game.


Can a Great Unclean One ruin regions immediately on summoning?

In the FAQ it says:

  Errata
  Rulebook (pages 19–20)
  If a region is ruined, each player who placed at least
  one corruption token in that region during this round
  immediately scores the number of victory points
  indicated for ruiners on that ruination card

So that means the Nurgle player would count as a ruiner if that region was ruined that turn. However, ruination is only checked in the ruination phase, and so the region would not be ruined immediately.


What is the term for a stalemate in Checkers?

According to the American Checker Federation (see rule 12), a tie game is called a draw.  The conditions for a draw are similar to the 50-move rule in chess.  Basically, one player asks the other to prove he can win (or get closer to winning) in the next 40 moves or the game ends in a draw.  I imagine this would only really occur in high level play, perhaps by several kinged pieces moving endlessly around the board with neither side gaining an advantage.

A condition like a stalemate in chess (where a player has no legal move to make) results in a loss for the player whose turn it is to move.


Monopoly Golden Token Bonus release date?

Target has them in stock - just keep checking their website as it alternates between available and not available.


When none of the opening bids are suitable - what do you bid?

Don't be afraid to downgrade the strength of a hand by 1 HCP when it is flawed for the call being made. Here, treat a (exactly) 20 HCP hand as just 19 and open 1D.

Remember that it is very rare for a distributional opening 1 bid to get passed out. Partner needs to have a hand with no excuse to respond; RHO needs a hand with no excuse to reopen; and LHO needs a hand with no decent 5-card suit. Just because you have a strong hand doesn't force you to open above the 1-level. With any doubt at all, just open 1D in tempo - Hands opening with a NT bid should be good examples of the type, not bad ones.

As I commented to steenbergh's answer:

  Modern treatment (and rules!) now allows the 2NT opening with a singleton K as well [as with a singleton A]. This is an expert call, however, so should only be engaged in if partner is not going to react inappropriately when revealed.


Where can I find the rules for the Roc Pattern Storm Eagle?

The rules for the Roc Pattern are in Imperial Armour Volume 12 - The Fall of Orpheus, from Forge World, p.151.

You can just about see this from the scanned table of contents (2nd image) on the FW page for the book. It's also referenced on the 40K Wiki.


Yes. Basic land cards are cards, so you can choose their names when instructed to choose a card name.

Rule 201.3 governs choosing card names:

  If an effect instructs a player to choose a card name, the player must choose the name of a card in the Oracle card reference. (See rule 108.1.) A player may not choose the name of a token unless it’s also the name of a card.

Basic land cards are in the Oracle reference, so you can choose them.


If the Witch steals the power of the warlord and tries to destroy a player's district, are they protected if they have the bishop?

No

The Witch doesn't get to destroy a district when she is revealed - she skips her turn after taking an action, and only gets to play when (if!) the Warlord is revealed.  By that time, player B has already been revealed to be the Bishop, and is immune to the bewitched Warlord's power.


Whose shadow is in the background of Mox Amber?

I could not find any reference to the in-universe backstory of the art. If the shadows really do represent named characters, it is not clear who they are.

Higher resolution image of Mox Amber. It's not even clear to me that a character really is casting the shadow.

Regardless, the best I could find about the piece's backstory was the blog of Steven Belledin, the card's artist, which has a post on Mox Amber and the process of its creation. Apparently, Steve Belledin had rather large freedom in designing the art of Mox Amber. He only mentions 2 stipulations by the WotC art direction, one of which was later dropped:

  What Wizards asked for initially was a little confounding to me, but it subsequently was simplified a bit. To start, they wanted a silver necklace with the amber being the necklace's charm. The necklace would be cradled in someone's hands. However, there were two specific stipulations: 1) the piece should not feel like it was part of Volkan Baga's cycle of mox paintings that also include the various moxes cradled in hands; 2) there should be no recognizable things floating in the amber (I assume to avoid any reference to Jurassic Park).

Obviously, the "cradling hands" part was later dropped, after some preliminary sketches. Further considering that

  I spent a lot of time trying to hash something out in my sketchbook, but in the end I found it easier to take a piece of my wife's jewelry and arrange it in different ways on the back of her splayed leather jacket

it seems unlikely that the art of Mox Amber is deeply tied to the game's lore.

Just for good measure, I left a comment in the comments section asking about the shadows, but I don't expect an affirmative answer.


How does Infinite Reflection work with Commander and commander damage?

I found the answer to this in the rules:

  903.3. Each deck has a legendary creature card designated as its commander. This designation is not a characteristic of the object
  represented by the card; rather, it is an attribute of the card
  itself. The card retains this designation even when it changes zones.

  Example: A commander that's been turned face down (due to Ixidron's
  effect, for example) is still a commander. A commander that's copying
  another card (due to Cytoshape's effect, for example) is still a
  commander. A permanent that's copying a commander (such as a Body
  Double, for example, copying a commander in a player's graveyard) is
  not a commander.

So the answer is that in the first example (commander copying Malignus) the antagonist loses the game. In the second he/she does not (yet).


Blocking One Attacker with Multiple Creatures

The simplest case is using multiple weaker creatures (say, two 1/1s) to block and kill a single 2/2. Using only one creature would (under normal conditions) be rather bad.
Even better, use two 1/3s to block and kill a single 2/2, while your creatures survive combat unharmed (barring any instants being cast).


Good but inexpensive set:

Decent weight bakelite or similar plastic pieces, readable "engraved" (molded, really) figures.

I've a set I paid $15 for back in 1988; it's got a few thousand hands on it (I used to play a full game of 16 hands every week, sometimes more than one), and it's still in great shape, but the vinyl over cardboard snap case is about dead. Replacing it would be about $25-$35 now. Higher end plastic sets run to about $50-$75

For the simplest "traditional" game, you need set with just the 7 honors (4 each: N, S, E, W, C {Red}, F {green}, and blank). You should hold out for one with 4 flowers and 4 seasons.

For the American game, 8 "big jokers" are also needed.

It's nice if the set has a deal marker and round marker; many times, this is a die for the round, and a carrier which the die fits into as a round marker.

Almost all sets come with 3 pretty poor quality dice.

It's generally worth it to make certain at least the suit of 10,000's (characters) is marked with western numbers as well; it isn't needed, but is nice, on the suits of bamboo and coins (balls).

The better looking the winds and seasons, the easier they are to tell from the 1 bamboo.

Some have marked extra tiles, usually marked "B"... I use these as my 7th honor, and reserve the blanks as replacement tiles.

More expensive set

Look for the wood or bamboo to be slotted, and the ivory or bone to fit that slot tightly; you should see no space, and normally, the slot is dovetailed. Bone will have visible pores, and is pretty opaque; Ivory has a different pattern, and is slightly translucent. In both cases, look for paint only in the engraved areas, even pieces, and consistent size and color.

If you find an ivory set for under $100, suspect that you're being had. Inexpensive ivory sets just don't exist... many that claim it are bleached bone, or even plastic.

Bone sets can look very nice. But they also run $50 to $150 depending on a lot of factors.

Paper Sets

Mah Jongg cards (often spelled kards) are available for under $25. Most are only the traditional set, usually with both the four winds and four seasons, and the blank is replaced with a white dragon image.

So long as the set is a comfortable size, and is plastic coated, it should work fine.

One can make a passable set using a Mah Jongg font, and an business card template. If you laminate the cards with contact laminate, they come out feeling like lightweight japanese cards... And play just fine.

One other word of warning: when searching for Mah Jongg Cards, you'll get some hits that are the scoring combinations for the American Game, rather than cards with which you play the game itself. Kards almost always refers to playing pieces.

Final Thoughts

If you and those you play with are comfortable with the visible symbols, the set is good enough.
if you find an american style set, it gives you the option to play either game. If you get a traditional set, you can't play the american game.


Does a bid of 'Double' make you the declarer?

Your understanding is correct: South would be the declarer, playing a contract of two spades doubled. Doubles (and redoubles) never change who is declarer, just the scores for making or failing to make the contract.


How can I used double-faced cards in casual play without checklist cards?

A checklist card is simply a tournament-sanctioned proxy with a specialized purpose. In casual play, you could make a proxy more-or-less any way you want. Writing with a marker on a basic land is probably the most common custom.

I recommend including the mana cost as well as the card's name, so you can quickly tell whether you are able to cast it without having to look over at your double-faced cards outside of play.

If you wish to get some more of the official checklist cards, you can buy them online for about 10 cents each through a major singles dealer like Star City Games or Channel Fireball (since they resell the token cards that come in boosters).

Note that Innistrad and Dark Ascension have their own separate checklist cards.


Am I allowed to open at the "one" level with hand like AKQxxxx xx xx xx?

The ACBL Convention Charts are a list of allowed agreements in the ACBL (but not necessarily other organizations).  You would need to determine which convention chart was being used by the particular competition you were involved in.
Let's check a few.  Please note the following applies to 1H and 1S and not to the minors, which have different rules related to them (though in this case, likely the same - just being clear it's slightly different spots in the rules.)

On the Basic chart, the rule that would control what you may mean by "1 Spade", is the following:

Opening Bids

Any Natural opening bid in a suit, as long as it shows at least Average Strength.

Further, let's define terms:

(1c). “Average Strength”: A hand that has at least 10 HCP or meets the “Rule of 19”.
(17). “High Card Points (HCP)”: The total number of points in a hand based on honors,
counting 4 for an Ace, 3 for a King, 2 for a Queen, and 1 for a Jack.
(27). *** “Rule of N”: A method of determining hand strength computed by adding the High
Card Points of the hand to the number of cards in the two longest suits. To meet the
“Rule of N”, this total must be at least N. *

There is no relationship to the Weak Two range here; what is specifically controlled is whether the "1 Spade" bid is considered permissible.
So we must evaluate your holding here, and see if it fits the range for "Average Hand".

HCP: It has 9 high card points, and does not meet this standard.
Rule of 19:  The distribution is 7-2-2-2, and with 9 HCP, it is evaluated at 9+7+2 = 18.  Thus, it does not meet this standard.

Thus, it is not permissible under the ACBL Basic Convention Chart to have an agreement to open this hand 1S, as a natural bid.

On the Basic+ chart, the rule is:

Opening Bids

Any opening bid in a suit which is Natural, as long as it shows at least Near-Average
Strength.

Defining Near-Average strength:

(1b) “Near Average Strength”: A hand that has at least 8 HCP or meets the “Rule of
17”

This hand is "Near Average Strength", both because it has 9 HCP and 18 "Rule of N" points.  This would be allowed on Basic+ to be opened 1s.

On the Open chart, the following rule applies as to what is disallowed - Open allows all agreements other than what is disallowed.

*** A Natural or Quasi-Natural 1-level opening bid in any seat that could contain less than Near-Average Strength.

This hand is Near-Average Strength, as previously discussed, and so is permitted.
Open+ is more permissive than Open, and so also permits this hand to be opened 1s.

In summary, here are the options:

Chart
1S permitted?

Basic
No

Basic+
Yes

Open
Yes

Open+
Yes


You have to discard, but have no cards in your hand

Nothing happens.

He is instructed to discard a card.

  701.7a To discard a card, move it from its owner’s hand to that player’s graveyard.

It's impossible for him to discard a card, so he does as much as possible.

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

It does not affect him.


Is a Ritual Summon still considered a Tribute Summon?

A Ritual Summon is a type of Special Summon, and a Tribute Summon is a type of Normal Summon. These types of summoning are distinct, so ritual summoning Chaos Max will not count as a tribute summon.

Yes, it's true that ritual summoning requires you to tribute monsters from your hand or field (or other places, depending on the card), but tributing these monsters is merely a cost for the special summon. Just because tributing is involved doesn't make it the same as normal summoning a level 5 or higher monster by tributing a monster(s) you control.

However, as an aside, it should be noted that in both the case of a ritual summon and a tribute summon, any effect of the tributed monster that triggers when it is tributed will still trigger (for example, Evoltile Najasho's effect will trigger regardless of whether if it was tributed for a tribute summon, a ritual summon or even a card effect like Big Evolution Pill).


Rolling for Horror Between Rooms with No Door

The rules clearly state that you roll a Horror Test, when a monster enters a room with an investigator or visa versa (page 15). Line of Sight has nothing to do with the question, you do not roll a Horror Test, because you can see a monster.

Room - An area of the map tile that has a name and is separated from the other rooms by solid brown walls, doors, or the edge of the map tile. ... (page 8)
Whenever a monster enters (or is placed in) an investigator’s room (or vice versa), the investigator must immediately make an attribute test called a HORROR TEST. He does so by making a Willpower test modified by the monster’s horror rating (the blue number at the top of its monster token). If he fails this test, he takes one horror (see “Damage and Horror” on page 24)


Can you transmute before taking energy tokens?

No, as you have to to receive energy tokens from your crystal before doing anything else. From the 2nd edition English rulebook, p. 8, emphasis mine:

Resolution order of the actions of the player’s rounds
The following actions on the Seasons dice must always be resolved before performing any other action: drawing a card, receiving energy tokens or crystals, increasing your Summoning Gauge. Once these actions are resolved, the players can perform their other actions, in the order of their choice.

After that, you may transmute at anytime and as many times you want during your turn.


Am I allowed to use archaic words in Quiddler/Scrabble?

The word legality rules of Quiddler appear to be slightly more relaxed than those of Scrabble - according to Wikipedia, capitalized adjectives such as "Iraqi" and "Scottish" are acceptable in Quiddler, where to the best of my knowledge they still aren't in Scrabble.

Archaic words, by contrast, have always been allowed in Scrabble.  Again per Wikipedia:

  "Variant spellings, slang or offensive terms, archaic or obsolete
  terms, and specialized jargon words are allowed if they meet all other
  criteria for acceptability."

So I'd say they were definitely fair game for Quiddler too.  Having said all that, both Scrabble and Quiddler are games that lend themselves well to house rules.  If you're playing with your grandmother you're probably going to dial back on the offensive terms; likewise some people get so offended by the idea of allowing slang or archaisms that it can become easier just not to use them!

As a side note, the funny thing about "quo" is that I suspect most people try to use it as part of the phrase "status quo" - which would be a foreign phrase and therefore not acceptable!  But luckily your dictionary contains a legitimate form of it also.


Mirage Mirror + Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun

If you copy a Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun, you get an Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun, not its front face. The most relevant rule from the Comprehensive Rules:

  711.4b While a double-faced permanent’s back face is up, it has only the characteristics of its back face.

The further down in 711.5, the rules also acknowledge the possibility of copying the back face of a card:

  Example: A Clone enters the battlefield as a copy of Wildblood Pack (the back face of a double-faced card). The Clone will be a copy of the Wildblood Pack. Because the Clone is itself not a double-faced card, it can’t transform.

See also rule 706 for more on copying.


Designing a Yu-Gi-Oh! like card game - the game phases

I'd advise against basing your system on oversimplified YGO rules. These phases that seem arbitrary were added precisely to avoid adding many exceptions and forcing players to remember them all. Having regular rules with such a gigantic deck is much better than writing exceptions on card and then have lots of pain trying to match them together.

BTW, historically first versions of YGO were much simpler and very close to what you describe, which can be seen from many legacy normal and fusion cards. Instead of the fun and dynamic game of today it was just a race to see who would draw or fuse a card with the highest ATK on the board first.


You didn't say which Pathfinder ACG game you are referring to. I will answer from Rise of the Runelords...but the rules are mostly the same for all of the games.

  When can we move to different locations in Pathfinder ACG?

The order of actions for a turn is:

give a card (to a player at your location)
move
explore
discard cards

You can do each one or zero times.

You may get extra explores, as you have mentioned, in many ways. There are a few powers & spells that allow you extra moves. They tell you when you can use them.

  Can we move several times per turn?

No. Unless you've used a spell or power that allows it.

  Also, can we move only in our turn?

Yes. Unless you've used a spell or power that allows it.

  If a player needs help on his combat, can we move in his turn to his location to play some card that requires being in the same location?

No. Unless you've used a spell or power that allows it.

  Finally, what happens when a location is closed? Do all players there instantly move to a new location?

No.

  Or is the move done just when their turn starts?

Yes.

The default answer to everything in Pathfinder ACG is that you can ONLY do what a card says you can do. No more and no less.  And of course, you can do what is explicitly defined in the rulebook.

I found these FAQs very helpful:

Rise of the Runelords: http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1gk
Skulls & Shackles: http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1gu
Wrath of the Righeous: http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1h4


How often can I trigger private security force

As long as you have scored a private security force, and the runner is tagged, you may use a Click to do one meat damage, in the same way you can use a Click to draw a card, or play a card.

It's perfectly allowed to do nothing but 3 meat damage a turn from then on, if you want to!


Are the card backs identical for Once Upon a Time 2nd and 3rd editions?

I can't answer your question directly, but I'm going to guess they're different, based on the redesign information. However, it may not matter. This looks like the 3rd edition blanks pack you're looking for. The release date is October 2012, the same as the 3rd edition release.


Continuous Trap Card Monsters VS Face Down Defense Ruling

These Tiki cards and similar (like Shapesister) can be somewhat confusing.
The ruling on Trap Monsters indicates the following thing specific to this situation (emphasis mine):

... If "Book of Moon" is used against an already active Trap Monster, the Trap Monster is set as a Trap Card again and can be activated and Special Summoned the next turn.

So your Tiki Curse actually returns to your Spell/Trap card zone, set.

Other important details from that link include:

...and are subsequently treated as both Monster Cards and Trap Cards. As such, they take up both a Monster Zone and a Spell & Trap Zone at the same time.

This tells us that they take both a monster and spell/trap zone. Derivated from that fact we have the consequence that they can be destroyed both by effects that destroy monsters or spell/traps (from this other link).

While active, a Trap Monster can be destroyed by effects that affect Monsters and/or Spells/Traps. (You can use either Dark Hole or Heavy Storm to destroy them.)

Finally, if they are negated, they get caught in some sort of "limbo", where they return to their Trap zone:

If they are negated with "Jinzo" or "Royal Decree", they will return to the Spell & Trap Zone as Continuous Trap Cards with no effect, and will remain there even after "Jinzo" or "Royal Decree" are removed.

Some further reference on Trap Monsters on this Konami blog.


Can you ever get a player down to just 2 ships?

No, David MacKenzie of Clever Mojo Games clarified this point in a FAQ on BGG.

Q: The RED player has four red ships on the board...one on the Lunar Mine, two on the Orbital Market, and one on the Terraforming Station. GREEN discards his Plasma Cannon card and removes the red ship from the Lunar Mine.On RED's next turn, the ship on the Terraforming Station returns to the shipyard stock and RED is left with only two ships.
This is a legal move by a strict reading of the rules.. [...] However, it breaks the intent of the rules, which is to insure that no player has fewer than three ships of their own color. During play testing we found it nearly impossible to recover after being reduced to only two ships, so we tried to insure that it would not happen. It now seems that we missed one situation that could lead to this exact problem. The cure is to adjust the wording of the Plasma Cannon's discard power as follows...
Plasma Cannon - You may discard a Plasma Cannon to return one ship belonging to another player to the ship stock. The target player must not be reduced to less than three ships of their own color for use on their next turn.

And a rule book edit

RED has four ships on the board...one on the Lunar Mine, two on the Orbital Market, and one on the Terraforming Station. GREEN would like to discard a Plasma Cannon to attack RED and removed the RED ship from the Lunar Mine, but cannot because doing so would leave RED with only two ships after the RED ship on the Terraforming Station returns to the shipyard stock next turn.


How much damage do I deal? (How is damage dealt if an attacker gains power as combat damage is being assigned?)

You will only deal 6 damage to your opponent.
This is because when determining how combat damage gets dealt the fist thing you do is assign damage based on the power of the creature (in this case 1 gets assigned to the blocking creature and 6 to your opponent), then after you decide how it is assigned it actually gets dealt. The fact that the creature gets bigger at the same time that it is dealing damage doesn't matter since it can only deal the damage it has assigned.

510.1. First, the active player announces how each attacking creature assigns its combat damage, then the defending player announces how each blocking creature assigns its combat damage. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. A player assigns a creature’s combat damage according to the following rules:
510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it’s dealt.


Why can the first pawn move in chess move two spaces?

The reason is history.

At some point in history (between 1200 and 1500 AD in Europe when the old game of Shatranj evolved into Modern Chess), there was a lots of experimenting with different rules in chess, and the double move of the pawn made the game more dynamic and pleasant for the Chess players, therefore it stayed.


Can a player swap position with a dead body in lifeboat?

The FAQ you linked to I believe covers this. Since fights are started by a character refusing a seat exchange, a dead person's seat is just taken from them.

How do I start a fight?
Fights can only be started by a character refusing a mugging or a seat exchange. Incapacitated characters (unconscious or dead) cannot start a fight, join a fight or have a fight fought on their behalf. If somebody wants to take something from them, it just happens.


How Many Standard Attack Modifier Cards?

145

4 base decks of 20 cards for players.
1 base deck of 20 cards for monsters.
10 Bless cards.
10 Curse cards for players.
10 Curse cards for monsters.
15 -1 cards for players.

Each base decks consists of the following cards:

1 x2
1 x0
1 +2
5 +1
6 +0
5 -1
1 -2

The 1st printing didn't have separate Curse cards for players and monsters. I don't know if the total count was the same or not.

The following are the class-specific Attack Modifier cards (including Forgotten Circle):

6 BRU:+1 cards
1 BRU:+1,Shield1S card
1 BRU:+3 card
1 BRU:r:DISARM card
1 BRU:r:MUDDLE card
2 BRU:r:PIERCE3 cards
6 BRU:r:PUSH1 cards
2 BRU:r:STUN cards
2 BRU:r:TARGET cards

1 TIN:+0 card
1 TIN:+0,TARGET card
2 TIN:+1 cards
2 TIN:+1,Heal2S cards
2 TIN:+1,IMMOBILIZE cards
2 TIN:+1,WOUND cards
1 TIN:+3 card
2 TIN:r:FIRE cards
3 TIN:r:MUDDLE cards

1 SPE:+0,STUN card
6 SPE:+1 cards
1 SPE:+1,CURSE card
1 SPE:+1,IMMOBILIZE card
1 SPE:+1,WOUND card
2 SPE:+2,FIRE cards
2 SPE:+2,ICE cards
1 SPE:r:AIR card
1 SPE:r:DARK card
1 SPE:r:EARTH card
1 SPE:r:LIGHT card

1 SCO:+0 card
1 SCO:+1 card
2 SCO:+2 cards
4 SCO:r:+1 cards
1 SCO:r:INVISIBLE card
2 SCO:r:MUDDLE cards
2 SCO:r:PIERCE3 cards
4 SCO:r:POISON cards

3 CRA:+1 cards
2 CRA:+1,IMMOBILIZE cards
2 CRA:+2 cards
2 CRA:+2,MUDDLE cards
1 CRA:-2 card
2 CRA:r:AIR cards
4 CRA:r:EARTH cards
2 CRA:r:PUSH2 cards

1 MIN:+0 card
2 MIN:+2 cards
2 MIN:+2,ICE cards
4 MIN:r:+1 cards
1 MIN:r:DISARM card
2 MIN:r:IMMOBILIZE cards
4 MIN:r:MUDDLE cards
3 MIN:r:PULL1 cards
1 MIN:r:STUN card

1 SUN:+0 card
2 SUN:+1 cards
1 SUN:+2 card
4 SUN:r:+1 cards
4 SUN:r:Heal1S cards
4 SUN:r:LIGHT cards
1 SUN:r:STUN card
2 SUN:r:Shield1S cards

3 QUA:+0,Refresh cards
2 QUA:+1 cards
2 QUA:+2 cards
4 QUA:r:+1 cards
3 QUA:r:MUDDLE cards
2 QUA:r:PIERCE3 cards
1 QUA:r:STUN card
1 QUA:r:TARGET card

1 SUM:+0 card
5 SUM:+1 cards
2 SUM:+2 cards
1 SUM:r:AIR card
1 SUM:r:DARK card
1 SUM:r:EARTH card
1 SUM:r:FIRE card
6 SUM:r:Heal1S cards
2 SUM:r:POISON cards
2 SUM:r:WOUND cards

2 NIG:+1 cards
2 NIG:+1,DARK cards
2 NIG:+1,INVISIBLE cards
2 NIG:-1,DARK cards
2 NIG:r:CURSE cards
2 NIG:r:Heal1S cards
6 NIG:r:MUDDLE cards
1 NIG:r:TARGET card

1 PLA:+0 card
4 PLA:+1 cards
3 PLA:+1,AIR cards
2 PLA:+2 cards
2 PLA:r:CURSE cards
2 PLA:r:IMMOBILIZE cards
3 PLA:r:POISON cards
2 PLA:r:STUN cards

2 BES:+1 cards
2 BES:+2,FIRE cards
1 BES:r:+1,DISARM card
2 BES:r:+2 cards
2 BES:r:Heal1S cards
2 BES:r:STUN cards
4 BES:r:WOUND cards

1 SOO:+0,STUN card
1 SOO:+1,DISARM card
1 SOO:+1,IMMOBILIZE card
1 SOO:+2,CURSE card
1 SOO:+2,POISON card
1 SOO:+2,WOUND card
1 SOO:+3,MUDDLE card
2 SOO:+4 cards
3 SOO:r:+1 cards
4 SOO:r:CURSE cards

1 DOO:+0,STUN card
6 DOO:+1 cards
1 DOO:+1,IMMOBILIZE card
1 DOO:+1,POISON card
1 DOO:+1,WOUND card
1 DOO:+2,MUDDLE card
4 DOO:r:+1 cards
2 DOO:r:TARGET cards

1 SAW:+0,Refresh card
2 SAW:+1,IMMOBILIZE cards
2 SAW:+2 cards
2 SAW:r:+2 cards
2 SAW:r:Heal3S cards
1 SAW:r:STUN card
4 SAW:r:WOUND cards

4 ELE:+0,AIR cards
4 ELE:+0,EARTH cards
4 ELE:+0,FIRE cards
4 ELE:+0,ICE cards
1 ELE:+0,STUN card
1 ELE:+0,TARGET card
1 ELE:+1 card
2 ELE:+1,PUSH1 cards
1 ELE:+1,WOUND card
2 ELE:+2 cards

3 BEA:+1 cards
2 BEA:+1,IMMOBILIZE cards
2 BEA:+1,WOUND cards
2 BEA:+2 cards
2 BEA:r:EARTH cards
6 BEA:r:Heal1S cards

2 BLA:+1 cards
1 BLA:+1,AIR card
1 BLA:+1,DARK card
1 BLA:+1,EARTH card
1 BLA:+1,LIGHT card
2 BLA:+1,POISON cards
2 BLA:+1,WOUND cards
1 BLA:+2,MUDDLE card
4 BLA:r:Heal1S cards

2 DIV:+1 cards
1 DIV:+1,Heal2A card
1 DIV:+1,Shield1A card
1 DIV:+2,CURSE card
1 DIV:+2,DARK card
1 DIV:+2,LIGHT card
1 DIV:+2,REGENERATE card
1 DIV:+3,MUDDLE card
2 DIV:+3,Shield1S cards
2 DIV:r:CURSE cards
2 DIV:r:Heal1S cards

"r" indicates a Rolling Modifier. "S" (on Shield and Heal cards) means "Self", while "A" means "Ally".


Are you allowed to shuffle your library at any time?

You can't shuffle whenever you want; rule 401.2 explicitly handles this case.

  401.2. Each library must be kept in a single face-down pile. Players can’t look at or change the order of cards in a library.

Plus, if you could shuffle at will, it would make cards that let you shuffle like Ponder pretty redundant.


Can I activate an ability after part of a spell has resolved? (please read example)

As you guessed, this little trick doesn't work. There are only two ways to activate an ability or cast a spell while another spell or ability is resolving, and your combo doesn't fall into either one:

If the spell/ability that's resolving lets a player pay mana, that player can activate mana abilities.
If the spell/ability currently resolving explicitly tells you to cast a spell or allows you to cast a spell, you can cast that spell. Even in this case, the newly cast spell waits on the stack until the current spell/ability finishes resolving.

  CR 608.2f If an effect gives a player the option to pay mana, he or she may activate mana abilities before taking that action. If an effect specifically instructs or allows a player to cast a spell during resolution, he or she does so by putting that spell on top of the stack, then continuing to cast it by following the steps in rules 601.2a–h, except no player receives priority after it's cast. The currently resolving spell or ability then continues to resolve, which may include casting other spells this way. No other spells can normally be cast and no other abilities can normally be activated during resolution.


No, you are exchanging a keeper for a keeper, and a keeper is not a creeper.

That said, in some varieties of Fluxx (I don't have Zombie myself), certain creepers attach themselves to keeper cards you have on the table.  If that is the case, the creeper follows the keeper.  If you are trading the keeper that has an attached creeper, the other player will take the creeper as well.


Why do dwarves only have a racial base of 3 tokens?

Because their power continues to work in decline, Dwarves are not intended to be played for very long. In most cases probably 2 turns with them is all you should be doing. Get 2 or 3 mine spots, and move on to your next race. This is why there are fewer Dwarves, because you aren't intended to use them for more than a couple turns or to conquer more than just a few spots.


What would be a good set of topics for a quiz game?

Obviously this question has no correct answer, as it's completely subjective, but if you're just looking for an idea, I'd suggest making your categorical break-down theme based.

If you compare other popular quiz games, say Classic Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy, the first is trying to cater to being a family game that everyone can play, so it makes its categorical breakdown along typical areas of interest for different types of people Arts people, Sports people, Science people, etc.   Jeopardy prides itself on cleverness and wordplay, so its categories reflect that.

Keep in mind that the act of categorization isn't sorting things into existing buckets base don obvious differences, it's about creating a differentiating metric and categorizing things based on that metric.  For example, if you restrict your set of things to visible objects, you have an infinite set of metrics like color, weight, size, density, use, origin, lifespan, etc.  One you choose a metric there's often a continuum within that metric which you must create arbitrary points.  For example, you take color and break it into Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet.  Those categories now artificially group your world.  Of course, you could just as easily have chosen lifespan and grouped thing into "fleeting", "temporary", "normal", "durable", and "indestructible".  It's really unbounded.

So, what's your theme?  Is this about energy aliens, looking at a human world and trying to figure things out in terms that make sense to them?  Maybe the categories are "hairy" and "smooth".  With those terms in which category would you place "Key" and "Shoe" into?  Part of the fun is seeing how the category informs the question's answer.

One of the fun things about many board and card games with themes is doing just this trick.  For example, Magic the Gathering needs to thematically sort every spell and creature into a color, and does this quite well.


When is it optimal to purchase a Mint on a 5/2 split?

Almost never. A first turn Mint wrecks your economy, and being able to buy good cards on turns 3 and 4 is really important in order to not fall behind your opponent.

Mint/Fool's Gold is an elite opening because it allows you to get a massive density of Fool's Gold in your deck quickly.

Mint/Lighthouse is acceptable, especially if there are lots of attacks, but you need a plan to transition your deck into higher value cards quickly.

Every other opening is sub-optimal, according to the Councilroom statistics (which are derived from Isotropic games).


Which tiles came with which Rallyman GT expansion?


Looks like it's Breakthru.
Breakthru is a modern game based on historic Tafl games, released in 1965.


chess
checkers
six-sided dice
playing cards
pen & paper
coins
simple play pieces (meeples or other incarnations)


Can Haphazard Bombardment destroy something with two aim counters?

Permanents with multiple aim counters can be destroyed by Haphazard Bombardment.

In standard English, "has an aim counter" means "has at least one aim counter", not "has exactly one aim counter". If someone asks "do you have a dollar?", you don't say "no" because your wallet is full of them.

I can't find any rulings that address this directly, but Gladehart Cavalry has this ability:

  Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it dies, you gain 2 life.

and a corresponding ruling that says

  You gain 2 life per creature, not per +1/+1 counter.

which is only meaningful if creatures with multiple counters can trigger it.


A librarian at the University of South Australia was able to help me get an image of the rules sheet. (Well, for the self-published 1982 edition, the one with the white box, not the Petra Press edition with the black box).
It is a version of 4x4 tic-tac-toe ("noughts and crosses" on the game description), but with the connection matrix of the board determined by magic square number sums (and these connections are indicated as "constellations" around the board, for easier figuring).
Players take turns playing to squares, trying to be the first to make a four-star constellation (having four squares that sum to 34). For this, they take the card matching the constellation made. Each card shows the number of points it is worth.
The game continues (resets), with the loser of the round starting the next round, until the a constellation made matches the top card of the deck (unseen; it is only checked when a constellation is made).
Most cards and highest points wins. (The rules sheet is vague on the what happens when one player has the most cards but the other player has the most points; I assume this was corrected in the Petra Press edition to just be "most points").


Evaluating tactical situations in Puerto Rico

Captain: I would argue that this is actually the most complicated role in the game. If calculating its effects seems easy to you, then Captain might be getting chosen too often in your games. In the group that I play with, it is usually not cut and dry...ie...not all goods will be shipped.

When that happens, so many things come into play:

Which of my opponents is likely to
captain if I don't?
Will I still be able to ship all my
goods if they captain instead?
Can I force someone else into loading
a coffee or tobacco boat when they
would rather not?
Will the other players in the game
understand and silently collude to
make that happen?
Can I start a coffee or tobacco boat mid/late game to block my indigo and corn shipping opponents?
Who has harbors, and how many times
will they get to ship?
How full is each boat and will the
other players get to ship what they
want?
What about warehouses?
How will the leftovers affect the
next trader phase?
If I delay captaining now, will the
next craftsman cause a shortage of
goods (ie. the supply will run out)?
Will the players with factories be
affected by the shortage (and get
shortchanged on doubloons)?

Trader:

If trader is a great move for me now,
then it's likely that other players
won't want to take it. I can wait a
turn and it will have accumulated an
extra doubloon.
If I don't trade, will I still get to
if someone else trades (often the
answer is yes).
What goods are players left with
after a trade and who will be set up
well for the next trade?

Mayor: the other responses in this thread make good suggestions about mayor.

Look for a big gap in benefit
(getting 3 colonists vs. 1
colonists).
Do other players want me to mayor? If
I've got early production (corn and
indigo), and they are sitting on
coffee and tobacco with unmanned
production facilities - there is
almost no way I would ever choose
mayor. Force them to choose mayor, so
it will delay their craftsman by a
whole rotation.

Craftsman - Many of the considerations are actually covered in the Captain section. But also:

The benefit of taking craftsman is
only one extra good, which is not
that significant most of the time.
When you take it, you are setting up
all the other players to have huge
moves on the subsequent turns, while
you are in the worst position.
If you don't craft, will you get shut
out because of good shortages?
Do you have a factory? Do not craft
just so you can get your extra
doubloons. Someone else will craft,
and you will still get them.

Settler: I try to always take it in the first two or three rounds if I can get a quarry. After that, it feels like the turn you give up to take it is almost always a waste. You'll usually be able to get what you want anyway when someone else chooses settler. If your strategy depends on getting a specific mix of plantations, then you might want to reconsider how you play the game. Which plantations come out is the only element of chance in Puerto Rico, why put yourself at the mercy of it?

Builder: Most of the time I feel like this is one of the easier roles. I usually only take it if:

I can build and my opponents cannot.
Passing will give an opponent the
chance to buy the last of a
particular building that is crucial
to my own strategy.
The 1 doubloon discount will enable
me to buy a key building one or two
rounds earlier than if I let someone
else take it. (although as mentioned by Lance, you might be able to get this doubloon some other way on this turn - often by taking another role with a doubloon bonus already on it)
It is mid/late game and I am trying
to end the game by filling up all of
my building spaces

.


This is an abstract strategy game known as Luzhanqi ("Land Battle Chess").


Basically, as Wikipedia hints at, to make sure that a different player acts first before that flop than after the flop — just as in non-heads-up, where “Under The Gun” (the player after the Big Blind) acts first before the flop, and the Small Blind acts first after the flop.

In heads up, if the non-dealer would post the Small Blind and the dealer the Big Blind, then the non-dealer would act first both before and after the flop.

I guess it would be possible to “reverse” the rule, and instead “simply” let the dealer act first after the flop, but that would be a rule exception after the flop, so if someone would make a mistake in the order of play it would probably be more complicated to “clean up” or “reverse” that mistake after the flop than before it.


Layers: Lose abilities vs creatures have ability

Yes, these both happen on layer 6: ability-adding and ability-removing effects. When one effect is adding one or more abilities, and a second effect is trying to remove them, then the one that "wins" is the one generated last in timestamp order. The Borderland Minotaur won't have deathtouch in that scenario: it gains it, then loses it.
Rule 613.8 actually provides a direct example about this, using Flying rather than Deathtouch:

613.8. One continuous effect can override another. Sometimes the results of one effect determine whether another effect applies or what another effect does.
Example: Two effects are affecting the same creature: one from an Aura that says “Enchanted creature gains flying” and one from an Aura that says “Enchanted creature loses flying.” Neither of these depends on the other, since nothing changes what they affect or what they’re doing to it. Applying them in timestamp order means the one that was generated last “wins.” The same process would be followed, and the same result reached, if either of the effects had a duration (such as “Target creature loses flying until end of turn”) or came from a non-Aura source (such as “All creatures lose flying”).

The example uses auras, but the very last sentence in this example says you'd also do the exact same thing if the effects came from "a non-Aura source", such as your Archetype of Finality or Turn to Frog.


Special Summoning After the Seal of Orichalcos

My question is this, after you activate the seal can you Special summon monsters from other places?

Yes. The card is being explicit by stating that you can't special summon "from your extra deck".

You are free to Special summon from other places (hand, deck, graveyard, banish).

  However once the card has been out on the field can you Special summon again or is the effect continuous and would destroy any addition Special summoned monster?

Once the card leaves the field all of it's effects stop working. It is a continuous effect, but precisely because of that is that it's effects only last while face up on the field. From the wiki on Continuous effects we have, emphasis mine:

  Continuous Effects (Japanese: 永続効果 Eizoku Kōka) are a type of monster effect that applies while the monster [or card] remains face-up on the field.


Identify board game with a castle divider, air plungers, soldier-shaped plugs?

I think you might mean Battleboard.  I found it typing "air plungers board game castle" into google image search

According to information on BGG it was from 1972. It is a two player game.

The photos fit your description of being green with a castle.

the description says :-

  Each player has four knight pieces and one king piece. At the
  beginning of the game they are placed in the row furthest from the
  dividing wall. Players take turns moving one of their pieces one space
  (orthogonally). They then get to use their "air catapult" to try to
  pop out one of their opponent's pieces. This is done by placing their
  plunger in one of the vacant spaces on their side of the board and
  then banging it. If their opponent has a piece in that corresponding
  space, it will pop up into the air. Pieces captured in this way remain
  out of the game until that player moves his king up to the dividing
  wall, at which point he can claim a captured knight piece back (but
  also tips off his opponent that his king is in the front row). The
  first player to move two pieces into the front row (next to the
  dividing wall) wins the game.


Where can I find a copy of Betrayal at House on the Hill

The game is not currently in print; so the only copies that exist are ones that were printed before, and people have bought.

Unless you get extremely lucky, and stumble upon a game store that has a random copy sitting around that hasn't sold (not very likely at all), then the only options are to go online to places like Ebay, BGG Marketplace, Amazon, etc, where you will have to pay an increased price because of high demand.

You can follow this thread for updates and details; it seems like they are keeping that up to date with info about a possible re-re-release (it was already re-released once).

Also, keep checking constantly online! Check Ebay and Amazon at least once a day; every once in a while you get lucky and find one for a reasonable price.


Should we take good cards out for better cards while sideboarding (magic 2014 rules update)?

Short answer

Yes.  You should take cards out to keep a 60 card deck size.

Medium answer

Yes.  It's always legal to play more than 60 cards.  But when you design a deck, you don't - you keep it to 60 as much as possible.  When you sideboard, you're redesigning your deck on the fly - and the same reasons that you kept it to 60 cards in the first place still apply.

Long answer

In a typical game (some highly specialised graveyard decks aside), you will only ever hold in hand and play a fraction of your deck - even in a game that goes to 13 turns (possible in casual but pretty unlikely in constructed), you will typically only have drawn 20 of your 60 cards - around a third of your deck.

The other two thirds, no matter how awesome the cards are, did you no good whatsoever.

So Magic is won on the draw.  (After all, you win games not because you had great cards in your deck but because you had great cards on the battlefield.)  If you've designed the deck properly, it's based around a winning strategy and some key cards that support that.  You want to have as great a chance of drawing those winning cards as possible.

The mathematics of card draw and distribution for Magic have been extensively studied.  (There's a pretty good article on the mathematics of card draw available.)  And one of the reasons for the 60-card minimum is that it makes your deck unpredictable.  Even if you have 4 of a key card in the deck, your chance to see one in the opening hand is just under 40%, and even by turn ten your chance is only 71.5%.  (And if you haven't drawn it by turn ten, you're probably never going to play it.)

Increasing the deck size by only one card - to 61 cards - immediately takes about 1% off both those chances.  So why harm your odds like that?  If the new card is better for your strategy than the increased odds of drawing one that you have four of, your should remove one of those four.  And if not, then you shouldn't be adding it.

(A telling point is that all of the top players field exactly 60 card decks.  They don't have to; constructed rules permit more.  They choose to.)

Some of the top players will occasionally play a 61 card deck.  They do this to protect against decking and to subtly adjust their probabilities.  But you can believe they plan for ages while considering the benefits of that 61st card, and they don't hesitate to remove it.  If you're still at a level where you're asking this, you probably shouldn't try it.

So: Yes.  Keep to 60 cards.


Cauldron of Souls is not really a good card in a Hydra deck.

  107.3f If a card in any zone other than the stack has an {X} in its mana cost, the value of {X} is treated as 0, even if the value of X is defined somewhere within its text.

That means that if the Hydra enters the battlefield in another way (e.g. from the graveyard through an animate effect, Flicker, or persist), it has no knowledge about the X you spend when you originally cast it (which may be turns ago, or have not even happened at all). Instead, X=0, the Hydra re-enters the battlefield with 0 +1/+1 counters and it instantly dies (unless it has a base toughness higher than 1 - it needs to survive the -1/-1 persist counter as well).

Otherwise, it would be a little overpowered, since +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters cancel each other out, and you would be able to repeatedly bring it back. (Though for 5 mana + the cost of the Hydra, you might expect such a powerful effect.)


Today I talked with a friend who has experience playing Dog this way. According to him the game is much more competitive when played 2 vs 2 vs 2 instead of 3 vs 3. There are more enemy pieces underway and they have more opportunities to intercept yours.

I'm still looking forward to playing this variant myself one day, but at least the question is answered.


What's the easiest way to prototype a board game design?

Your instinct is correct. In the first stage you're only interested in seeing if your mechanics are feasible so all you need are some abstract representations of your game components. A game may consist of roads, towns and cities but to test, all you really need are three different things.

You can either:

Repurpose components from other games
Have a collection of generic components in various shapes and colors (Maybe even something like Piecepack)
Do everything on slips of paper or cardboard

Anything beyond that would probably be overkill at this time. I've recently read an article about 3 German game designers (1 aspiring, 1 first-timer and 1 "pro"). Among other things the article described the pro's design room, which had a huge selection of meeples, dice, cubes, chits and other generic game pieces in various colors. Such a selection takes time and money to build but is probably the fastest way to test an idea.


Is buying older power plants than what you have disallowed?

someone we play with regularly insisted on a rule that you're not allowed to purchase a "lower" technology power plant than you already have. e.g. if you have 13,17,25 as your power plants, you can't buy 24 or lower if they come up.

Incorrect.  You can buy any power plant that is in the market (the lowest four numbered plants).

  if a player didn't win their power plant auction that the market isn't refreshed before they got another chance to bid.

Incorrect.  After any power plant is purchased or destroyed, the market is immediately refreshed and realigned.

http://riograndegames.com/uploads/Game/Game_5_gameRules.pdf

Page 3, section 2b (this is retyped and not copy-pasted, so there may be typos)

  The player chooses one power plant from the actual market (top row) and then makes a bid to purchase it.  [...] He pays his highest bid to the bank and takes the power plant.  Players then immediately draw a new card to replace the card sold and place the new card in the market.


texas holdem full house showing in table, splitting pot among players

If player 2 has K2 in the hole and the community cards are KKK22, then player 2 has KKKK2 as their best hand, 4 of a kind, which beats everyone else's community full house.

That being said, if everyone had their hand made up of the community cards, or perhaps someone had a 2, matching the pair (which has to be lower than the three of the kind), the hand is a push and all players still in the game at that point get an equal share of the pot, or whatever of the pots they are still in (If short stacked players go all in, that can create side pots between those that had more chips left and still bet). Only 5 cards per player matter in holdem, and in most poker variants in general, whether they come from the hole, the river, the turn or the flop doesn't have any bearing on who wins and loses.


How to make a small slam in bridge with less than 30 points between the partnership?

I propose the following sequence playing a standard approach, with EW passing throughout:

1C 1D
1S     4 Spades, denying a hand suitable to rebid 1NT
   2H  4th Suit Forcing to game, suggesting dislike for NT
3C     5-card Club suit, dislikes NT also, often denies Heart control
   4C  agreeing clubs, still forcing, extras
4D     1st or 2nd round control in Diamonds
   4H  1st or 2nd round control in Hearts
6C     We have the controls, and 5C is almost always a bad result

Another possibility using Single Raise Forcing (10+ Pts)  is:

1C  2C  forcing raise, 4+ support and 13+ support points
2S      4 Spades, two suited with longer Clubs than Spades
    3H  Denies Diamond A or K, shows Heart A or K, Game Force
3S      Spade A or K and Diamond A or K or singleton denied by partner
    4H  Holding both A and K, or singleton A, of Hearts; and
        likes the Diamond and Spade controls from Opener
6C      Looks like a super fit

It is also faulty analysis to claim that NS have less than 30 points combined. The South hand is worth 16 to 17 points in a Club contract (15 HCP and either 1 point for the fifth Club or two points for the two doubletons) and the North hand is worth 16 Dummy points in a Club contract (14 HCP - 1 for the unsupported QS + 3 for the singleton Spade). This is a combined partnership strength of 32-33 points, and as the auctions above indicate that it is quite reasonable, using standard methods, to find the Club slam.

If finding reasonable slams were easy, they wouldn't be worth so much. Bridge is designed to reward those who can accurately reassess hand strength during the auction, in light of bidding by partner and the opponents.


Are stations used in Ticket to Ride: The Heart of Africa?

No, the rules explicitly state what pieces are required from an earlier set:

  This game is an expansion and requires that you use the following game
  parts from one of the previous versions of Ticket to Ride:

  A reserve of 45 Trains per player and matching Scoring Markers taken
  from any of the following:
  - Ticket to Ride / Ticket to Ride Europe  110 Train Car Cards taken from:
  - Ticket to Ride / Ticket to Ride Europe / USA 1910 expansion

Anything not mentioned in the above list should be considered surplus to official requirements.  Though you could always try playing with stations as an interesting variant!

EDIT: yes, without stations Heart of Africa is a very claustrophobic Ticket to Ride game.  But this does seem to have been the intention of the designers, as they've admitted as much in a footnote in the rules booklet:

  In 5 player games, the Heart of Africa (center of the map) area can
  get crowded very quickly. Players beware! - and if you like your games
  to be less competitive, stick with 4 players or less.


Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic vs Starlight Road

No, Starlight Road cannot be activated.
In order to chain Starlight Road, it must be certain that 2 or more cards will be destroyed at the time of resolution; see various OCG rulings:
Dark Master Zorc/Time Wizard

"Starlight Road" cannot be Chained to the activation of effects like that of "Dark Master - Zorc" or "Time Wizard", since it is unknown whether or not the effect will destroy two cards on your side of the field.

Elemental Hero Stratos

If the effect of "Elemental Hero Stratos" which destroys Spell/Trap Cards is activated, then when resolving the effect its controller can choose to not destroy any Spell/Trap Cards. Thus, "Starlight Road" cannot be Chained to this effect, since it is unknown whether or not the effect of "Elemental Hero Stratos" will destroy two Spell/Trap Cards you control.

As Endymion's effect destroys "up to" that many cards on the field, the player can theoretically choose to destroy fewer than two cards, so Starlight Road cannot be activated.


No.

Krasis Incubation's ability only functions on the battlefield[1], but Cancel can only target spells, and spells only exist on the stack[2]. Therefore, you won't be able to use KI's ability to protect the KI from being countered.

On the other hand, the ability could possibly be used to prevent KI from being destroyed (as opposed to being countered). For example, if your opponent casts Abolish targeting KI, you would normally be able to activate KI's ability in response, and this would return KI to your hand before Abolish resolves.

Generally speaking, if it makes sense for an ability to work when the object on which it resides is on the battlefield, the ability can only be used when the object on which it resides is on the battlefield.[CR 112.6]
A spell is a card on the stack, a copy of a card on the stack, or a copy of a spell.[CR 111.1]


Can players activate Quick-Play spells or Traps as face-down monsters are flipped face-up in battle?

It Depends On What the Card Does.

So, keep in mind that because the monster is being flipped face-up in battle, it means that we're in the damage step at the time of the flip. Because of this, there are some restrictions on what kinds of cards can be activated. A card/effect may only be activated during the damage step if:

It is a counter-trap card
Its activation is mandatory
It negates the activation of a card/effect (Note Activation, not Effect of)
It directly modifies the Attack/Defense of any monster(s)

Forbidden Chalice happens to hit one of the criteria here (modifies ATK/DEF), so it can be activated in the given scenario. If, on the other hand, one wanted to use Breakthrough Skill, one would not be able, since it does not meet any of the above criteria.


How can creatures with indestructible end up in the graveyard?

Indestructible prevents the permanent from being destroyed.  This usually is caused by damage exceeding a creature's toughness, or an effect that explicitly says that it will destroy a permanent.
The main ways that a creature with indestructible will die (being put to the graveyard from the battlefield) will be:

Having its toughness reduced to zero via -X/-X effects. (Tragic Slip, Black Sun's Zenith or -1/-1 counters, including damage from a source with infect)
Being sacrificed. (Innocent Blood)
Losing indestructible and being destroyed (Hour of Devastation, Turn to Frog + destruction effect)

Other ways to deal with indestructible permanents that do not cause them to "die" include:

Exiling. (Swords to Plowshares)
Bounce. (Unsummon)
Interacting with them on the stack. (Counterspell)
Discard. (Thoughtseize)
Removal from the deck. (Memoricide)
Taking control of them. (In Bolas's Clutches)
Move them to their owner's library. (Condemn)


More conveniently randomizing the cardboard tokens

We just put the tokens on the table, face down, move them around a bit, and then pick them up at a random order. We never felt as if the result is not random enough, and it doesn't take a lot of time and effort.


Is there an explanation as to what the DLCs add with the Talisman Digital Edition?

If you're looking for the rules applicable to all the various mechanics added by a given expansion, your best bet is to start reading the manual provided by nomad games. There are sections detailing the mechanics added by each expansion and their rules. This will also include the three released Digital Edition Exclusive expansions, which are not part of the Season Pass. (The Season Pass specifically only includes the physical expansions, the full Runestone card set, and a sizable bunch of extra characters with the notable [and then-controversial] exception of the Shaman character).

If you're looking to see what cards specifically are added by an expansion, you can go to My Collection from the Digital Edition's main menu, select the expansion (or even the base game), then Browse Pack. This will allow you to view all the cards from that expansion, including alternate endings and special cards like The Reaper and The Werewolf.

You can also try looking up information about the physical editions of the expansions themselves, but keep in mind that the following expansions do NOT have a physical version and only exist for the Digital Edition:

Realm of Souls Expansion (Players become ghosts when killed and interact on a separate plane until they revive or their ghosts gets killed off.)
Ancient Beasts Expansion (Adds Ancient beasts, some of which can "Apex" triggering an automatic game loss for everyone)
Clockwork Kingdom Expansion (introduces material cards and the ability to create inventions)


Lilith Lady of Lament special summoned by Tour Guide from the Underworld

Yes, Lillith's Effect Can Still Be Activated.

Tour Guide From the Underworld's effect states that the effects of the Special Summoned Monster are negated - not that they may not be activated. The distinction is important, because simply negating the effects of a card does not disallow attempts to activate those effects.

Applying the concept in the opposite direction, consider Majesty's Fiend, which simply says:

  Monster effects cannot be activated.

Given that continuous monster effects are not impacted by effects like that of Majesty's Fiend, we can clearly see a separation. In conclusion, unless the card specifically says "cannot be activated," or some rearrangement thereof, you can still attempt to activate the effect - provided of course that you can pay activation cost.


Spoons: is passing your cards w/o looking cheating?

Given that this is a highly variable kitchen table game, most of the answers you'll get here are opinions. That said, I think that keeping your hand hovering next to the spoons is practically cheating, at the very least, it's a pretty cheap way to play. Not looking at your cards is fine, but everyone should have their hands in front of them unless they're actually grabbing a spoon.

While what you're doing may be within the rules in some circles, it may detract from the game. Imagine a game where everyone played with your strategy!