When a creature affected by a change-of-control effect is destroyed, where does it go?

Yes, cards will always go to the owner's graveyard, not the controller's. The other answer quotes the rules dealing with specific cases of a permanent going to the graveyard, but there's another more general rule that ensures that it is impossible to lose track of which cards are actually owned by which player:

  400.3. If an object would go to any library, graveyard, or hand other than its owner’s, it goes to its owner’s corresponding zone.

This rule is important, because "owner" is more than just an in-game term, it generally refers to the actual real-world owner of a card:

  108.3. The owner of a card in the game is the player who started the game with it in his or her deck. If a card is brought into the game from outside the game rather than starting in a player’s deck, its owner is the player who brought it into the game.

Of course, you may be playing with a friend's deck, etc, so the in-game owner may not be the real-life owner, but this is still a necessary rule for dealing with the common situation of players playing with their own cards.


Can the active player receive free cards in Bohnanza?

Yes, but (as you note) the donations need not be accepted.

From the rulebook, page 5:

  Although trading is preferable to donating, it is often in a player’s
  interest to donate cards rather than keeping them, since cards kept
  must eventually be planted. The active player may donate the two face
  up cards he drew or cards from his hand. The other players may only
  donate cards to the active player and from their hands. Donations
  need not be accepted.


All the moves will fail; everything will end up where it started. From the rules, p9:

  One unit not moving can stop a unit or series of units
   from moving. If a unit is ordered to hold, or is prevented
   from moving, and other units are ordered into its province,
   those other units can’t move. (It’s like a traffic backup!)


Why you can't summon face-up monsters in defense position?

I know it is the rule you can only summon in attack position or set (face-down defense position)

To correct on your phrase, one can only Normal Summon in Face-up attack position.

Unless otherwise restricted, you can Special Summon in Face-up defense position.

The actual reason for doing so I guess is something only Konami knows. If I were to conjecture on the reason, I would say that it is because not only is your monster in defense, which could be tactical advantage, but you will also be able to activate its effects.

To prevent this abuse, the rules force you to Normal summon in Attack position (possibly a disadvantage, or at least open for battle damage) if you wish to activate your monster's effect. Think of it as "if you want to activate this effect you have to take some risks".

On the other hand, I also think this could be a "Legacy" rule, one that has lost its original impact, as now there are many ways to summon in face-up defense position (one barely Normal summons now days). Perhaps Konami decided to let it be, to prevent possible abuse.


Yes, you can plant two grains, and get four more from the general supply. At each harvest, you'll get two grains back, exactly as if the card was two fields.

Note that you don't have to sow two grain - you can choose to just sow one, if you like (as if it was a single field, i.e. get two more from the general supply).


There is no possibility of using 2 Scepter's of Avarice in the same area.
From the FAQ:

Q. May I use the Bag o'Many Things to duplicate the power of a Relic in a region where that Relic already is? For example, may I use the Bag on the Scepter of Avarice to quadruple my region's income?
A. No. The power of a Relic cannot be duplicated in a region where that power already applies.


The text printed on the Ixidron reads as follows:

  As Ixidron enters the battlefield, turn all other nontoken creatures
  face down. (They're 2/2 creatures.) Ixidron's power and toughness are
  each equal to the number of face-down creatures on the battlefield.

As morphed creatures are already face-down they are unaffected.
This is reflected in the Ruling made in 2006:

  2006-09-25 : Turning a face-down creature face-down typically has no effect; the creature’s status is unchanged.


This is a lesson in a technique called "unblocking." And yes, the hand can be made in a "roundabout" way.

The first thing you should notice is that North has five tricks in hearts, from K down to 9. The thing that prevents you from taking those tricks is the "blocking" A in South's hand. So on the lead of the king of spades, declarer takes the ace of spades (one trick) in North and "unblocks" (discards) the ace of hearts from the South hand, thereby allowing North's hearts to "run."

The second thing you should notice is that North has six diamonds that can run, because they follow South's five HIGHER diamonds. But you need to get rid of South's diamonds, first. Fortunately, you can discard them on the KQJT9 of hearts. Then run your six diamonds from North, discarding 6 low clubs. Finally play the club 2 from North to South's ace.

You have one spade, five hearts, six diamonds, and one club trick, 13 tricks in all.


Some mix of the following:

Buy the biggest one you can afford  - Remembering that you have to afford fuel as well.
Try to get a plant that has dual fuel sources
Don't buy a coal only plant if 2 other people already have coal fired plants.
Don't get into bidding wars with more experienced players

If the above isn't working out, switch tactics - save your money and get the cheapest one you can this turn and get a better plant next turn.


Mêlée based, fantasy themed Warhammer 40k army?

Melee combat can be effective in 40k, but armies that focus on it to the exclusion of ranged combat will have serious issues.  Armies like Eldar rely on their shooting to reliably destroy tanks.

That being said many of the 40k armies have fantasy analogs, and most of the armies can field dedicated melee units.  Stylistically, armies like Grey Knights stay pretty close to their fantasy roots.  Chaos demons even use the same models between both games.

GW gamers all also very tolerant of themed conversions.  You can kit-bash Fantasy and 40k kits together to give a more sword and sorcery look to your grim dark.


The rules say to do it without randomizing. This is from official rules (you can find the PDF file here, emphasis is mine):

  Mission Team Vote: After appropriate discussion, the Leader calls for
  a vote on the Team assignments. Each player, including the Leader,
  secretly selects one Vote Token. When all players have their selected
  Vote Token ready, the Leader asks for the Votes to be revealed. All
  players flip over their Vote Tokens so everyone can see how they
  Voted. The Mission Team is approved if the majority of Votes approved
  and fails if a majority rejected the assignments; a tied vote is also
  a rejection. If the Mission Team is approved, play continues in the
  Mission phase. If the Mission Team is rejected, the Leader passes in a
  clockwise manner and the Team building phase is repeated.

I actually don't agree with you that the second method makes much sense. You get way more information about the other players if you know how they voted in the past. Is player X always voting No, is he voting yes only if the player Y or himself get selected to the mission team? You wouldn't be able to tell any of that even after few rounds of play, and say, 10+ votes.

Another thing is convincig other players to vote for the team you want - if you know who voted No, then you present good argument why you think they should change their mind, and they got nothing to reply you with, or say that they agree with you... Then everyone will see if they actually changed their minds or only said so, but voted No anyway. If voting is secret, they could just listen to you, vote No anyway, and they say "Hey, I voted Yes, someone else must have changed his mind". And discussion can become dull.

I also think that randomizing votes would make things easier for the spies - they always should vote no (they might just win the round with 5 teams voted down), unless the team selected is perfect for they needs. They would never have to think harder than that, and that seems less fun for me. That's why I would generally be against secret voting, but might give it a try a couple of times. Hope this helps.

If you're interested in the history of the game, I'm sure you can easily see that The Resistance originates from Mafia/Werewolves games. In those games, players openly suggest who to "linch" each day, and voting is (at least in most cases) open for similar reasons. In the prototype version of The Resistance, actually using your thumb down/up was used to vote Yes/No, and this is the way I do it with in my group to this day.


In Pandemic: on the brink, can I remove multiple bioterrorist cubes at once for a cured strain?

You need 2 actions, 1 per color. The ability to treat a cured disease is described in the original rules, under the list of actions you can perform:

  Remove 1 disease cube from the city you are in, placing it in the cube
  supply next to the board. If this disease color has been cured (see
  Discover a Cure below), remove all cubes of that color from the city you
  are in.

So it is 1 action to remove all cubes "of that color" if that color is cured. Unless On the Brink rules describe a special exception for bio-terrorist cubes, then this still applies.


In which order are cards drawn from the dungeon pile

According to the publisher, you do not shuffle the cards, you simply flip over the most recently added card, and then proceed, finally ending with the card that was added first.

So as you play you are building up the stack of dungeon cards, and then you go back through them in LIFO order (last in first out).


In bridge, are "sequences" more valuable than non-sequences of similar point count?

Yes, it is possible, but it might vary when you are considering the offensive/defensive potential.

Consider your example KQJxx vs AQxxx

Suppose this was the trump suit and say partner has Txx.

With KQJxx, you likely have only one loser. But with AQxxx it is quite possible that you will have 2 losers.

offensively (i.e if that suit is trumps) KQJxx can probably said to be "better" than AQxxx.

Defensively (i.e when you are defending and this is a side suit), AQxxx tends to be more valuable. This is worth an almost sure trick, and is a reasonable chance that you can make 2 tricks.

With KQJxx, you might make one trick, but the second one might be unlikely.

So defensively, AQxxx is "better" than KQJxx.

Of course, I am yet to come across a hand where this difference seems relevant (perhaps we can construct an artificial hand where there is a choice of trump between two suits).


How can I best assess the quality of a game of Scrabble?

Another measure of a good Scrabble game, used amongst serious tournament players: equity points loss. Let me explain.

As another commenter highlighted, sometimes strategy determines that you should play defensively and get lower score instead, in which case high-score may not measure how well the player plays (if that's your definition of good/quality, as opposed to excitement). Similarly, a game where a player has lousy tiles but played well given the circumstances may score lower than one where a player has abundance of easy bingos and can afford to miss one or two good plays and still win.

If what you want to measure if how well the player plays, one other way is to benchmark it against the theoretical best play. Usually what is used is the play made by a powerful Scrabble-playing software in similar circumstances. This is a common practice amongst serious Scrabble tournament players who are trying improve their play quality.

A couple of popular software that can be used for this are Quackle and Elise. I personally use Quackle so my explanation will be based on that, but the same concept applies for all software (and Elise plays better, albeit slower, than Quackle).

What I do is I will key in the racks (i.e. the 7 letters held by a player) for every turn, and also the actual move played, into Quackle. I will ask Quackle to also choose its optimum play (or list of possible plays, ranked in descending order from the best). Quackle can then run a simulation on what happens for the various plays, and calculate the equity point for each move.

Equity point is the nett point for a move, instead of the score itself. By nett point usually it means the score, minus the score of the opponent's reply, plus my score for the next move. This will account for both defence (reducing opponent's score) and tactics (sacrificing current score for me to score bigger next move). Since Quackle can calculate equity points for all moves, I can then compare the equity difference between my move and Quackle's best move. The number of equity point my move is lower than Quackle's best move's equity point, is the equity loss. The lower the equity loss, the better the play was. Sum up the equity loss for each play, and you have the equity loss for the whole game.

A 0 equity loss means a perfectly-played game (even if it's one which is lost to an opponent with better luck in that particular game). This is rare but has been achieved by a few top-flight players. I myself would be very happy with an equity loss below 50 for a whole game. To give a bit of a sense, missing a bingo can easily lead to equity loss of 50 in a single move. Similarly, failing to restrict opponent from scoring an extra 5 points each turn may add up over the 10 moves to be a 50 point loss (not accounting yet for suboptimal scoring on my part).

There are two flaws to this approach of benchmarking against a software:

it assumes the software used plays a perfect game. They don't - Elise
is better than Quackle, for example, and occasionally top players
have identified a better move than the software can (typically for
very unorthodox situations). But by and large, it's safe to say vast
majority of the times, measuring loss of equity is a good indication
of quality of play in a Scrabble game.
it takes effort to get the figure. One must key in the information
into a software to do its calculation. Serious players may put in the
effort, but casual players won't have this information and may prefer
a measure that can be seen at a glance (e.g. score).


Do Fortification Discs Double VPs like Town Discs?

No, Fortification discs do not double VP for locations.
You are misunderstanding the rules. When one of the ending conditions has been met, players total the points they have scored. Locations that you control score double the VP indicated on the map if you have a town disc instead of a village cube on the location to indicate control. The "If you have a disc in a location" phrase was in reference to "control" of the location which is indicated by a blue/red disc and not a fortification.

Each player now adds up the number of victory points he has. You score points as indicated for locations that you control, i.e. that you have a cube or disc in. If you have a disc in a location then you score double the number of points indicated.
You also score two points for each of your opponents cubes that you captured and four points for each disc you captured.
The player who has the highest total of victory points is the winner. In the case of a tie then the French player is the winner.

Under The Board section is a picture indicating that the hexagonal symbol with a number in it scores Victory Points at the end of the game. (Page 4 pdf, labeled page 2 IRL)

Victory points scored at the end of the game. You double the points if you have a town disc in the location.

Fortification discs do not indicate control of an area. What they do is explained on (page 3)

Fortify a location
To fortify a location you must play a fortification card and the location card for the location you wish to fortify. You must also pay three money to the bank. You then place a fortification disc under the cube or disc in the location. A location can only have one fortification disc in it. A fortified location starts a siege with an additional siege strength of two, and is also immune to raids. The number of fortification discs is a limit to the number of times this action can be selected. Note that if you had just resettled a location you could fortify it within the same turn.

Finally, under Starting the Game (page 6), they indicate how you control a location.

Each player starts with a number of cubes and discs on the board, which represent settled locations. Cubes represent villages and discs represent towns. Certain locations are already coloured red and blue, to indicate which side they are initially controlled by.
The British player should place one cube in each red square location and one disc in each red circular location. The French player should do likewise in each blue location. Having a cube or disc in a location indicates that you control it.


I would say yes. The rules state that two pawns can never occupy the same space. Since it is your turn and you advance your pawn with the fire token to the corner, it would make sense to return the opposing player's pawn to start. The only time you wouldn't be able to do this would be if:

There is a pawn with the ice token on the fire corner

One of your pawns is on the fire corner.

Both of these scenarios would involve you not moving your pawn with the fire token to the corner. Otherwise, Sorry! is the name of the game.
The only reason I could see this having an effect would be if you have no other pawns on the board and the card you draw after sending the opposing pawn home is a 4.


If the rebel player has not revealed their base before the beginning of combat, and the system it is on is unoccupied, it is a valid retreat location.  This is true regardless of which player's turn it is or whether or not units involved in the combat came from the rebel base.

Justification

The rules for retreat state:

  A player must choose to retreat to a system that contains his units or
  one of his loyalty markers, if able. He cannot retreat to a system
  that contains his opponent’s units.

  If there are no adjacent systems containing his units or loyalty markers, he can retreat to any adjacent system that does not contain
  units.
  A player cannot retreat to a system that his opponent moved units from to initiate the combat

Meanwhile, the rules for the rebel base state:

  The “Rebel Base” space is not a system.

  When Imperial ground units move into the system, the base is revealed
  after all movement is completed, before resolving combat.

  The Rebel player may optionally reveal his base at any time during one
  of his turns of the Command Phase

Since the rebel base is not a system, units coming from it to participate in combat do not change the situation since units must come from a system to impose a retreat restriction ("A player cannot retreat to a system that his opponent moved units from").

Also as a result of the rebel base not being a system, as long as it is unrevealed, it does not change the retreat eligibility of the system on which it is hidden.  If the rebel base is not revealed and the system on which it is hidden is unoccupied and neutral, then it is a valid retreat location for the empire (so long as there are no imperial systems adjacent to the battle).

If the empire retreats with ground forces, the base is revealed as a a result of having imperial ground forces there and a second battle will ensue.  If the empire still has some forces (such as tie fighters or other ground troops) in the first battle location, the first battle should be concluded before beginning the second rebel base battle.

If the rebels initiated the combat next to their base however, things get a little more complicated because this combat occurs during the rebels' turn.  One consequence of this is that if the empire retreats to the rebels base, the rebels will go first in the resulting combat because it is still their turn (despite the fact that the empire was the one that moved the units that initiated combat).  But more importantly, on the rebels' turn the rebels can reveal their base before initiating combat to prevent it from being a valid imperial retreat location.

Note that the July 2016 FAQ errated away the very problematic "at any time" phrasing in when the rebels could reveal their base.  It now reads:

  If the Rebel player wishes to optionally reveal his base, he can only
  do so at the start of one of his turns of the Command Phase, before
  using one of his leaders.

If the rebels do not reveal their base before attacking an imperial fleet next to their base, however, the empire can still retreat to their base's system.

Aside

Before the errata to when the rebels could reveal their base, the "at any time" clause lead to a glaring timing question, with two possible interpretations:

By the point at which the empire has declared a retreat to the rebel base, it will happen; if the rebel player wants to prevent the empire from retreating to the rebel base, they must reveal the base before the empire declares their retreat.
If the empire declares a retreat to the rebel base, the rebel player can chose to reveal the base in response and invalidate the retreat.

The original rules didn't clarify on this point, but drawing on timing philosophy from other games actually leads to the same result as the errata gives us.

There are two primary philosophies for timing conflicts in games: stacks (such as in Magic the Gathering) and priority queues (like Android Netrunner).  In a stack system, a player can use an "any time" action to respond to another player's action and the responding effect happens first.  Stacks are "last in first out".  In a priority queue system, players can only have their action happen first if the rules specifically define it as superseding the other player's action (such as preventing damage in Netrunner), and otherwise it resolves after.  Queues are "first in first out", unless one thing is given preference by a specific rule.

The rules of Star Wars Rebellion give a lot of clear indicators that it is a priority queue game in terms of timing.  Every part of the game where players interact, there is a defined order for the action, the reaction, and the resolution.  Even with combat tactics cards, there is a separate step during which the recipient of damage gets to play damage block cards, meaning even one of the most classic interrupting actions (blocking damage) must be played in its specific order defined by the rules.  The conclusion of this is that option 1 (defined above) is the case; if the rebels want to prevent the empire from retreating to the rebel base, they must reveal their base before the empire decides where to retreat.  The errata supports this theory by specifying a time in the turn order when the rebels can reveal their base that is distinctly before any other actions that would be impacted by this.


Each one will trigger separately, so you'll check the top card of your library once per Into the Wilds you have in play.

We know this is the case because it's a triggered ability. Those use the words "when", "whenever", or "at". The rules for triggered abilities mention a more detailed format for them:

  603.1. Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as “[When/Whenever/At] [trigger condition or event], [effect]. [Instructions (if any).]”

Other forms of effects will be very carefully worded to not use this same formula.

In general if you've got multiple cards instructing you to do the same thing, you do that thing for each one. Cards in general don't care if you've got another one of them around; they still have their instructions and expect you to follow them regardless of whether another card also gave you those instructions.


If a fighter can't land during combat, can they land on carriers moved to them during the non-combat move phase?

Yes, you can use your non-combat move phase to have a carrier move to a position so that those planes that were moved in the combat move phase can land. Fighters land in the non-combat move phase of the turn.

When you move fighters in the combat move phase, you can only move them to squares where you can show that it is possible (even if it doesn't end up happening, see below) that they have some way for them to land in the non-combat phase.

Note that providing a landing for your fighters is not optional, it is mandatory. However, it is only required to show it is possible, and not carry out the movement. If the fighters are destroyed, you no longer need to provide a somewhere for them to land, and the carrier can move elsewhere in the non-combat movement phase.


The colors adjacent to each other on the pentagon are "allied" and often have similar, complementary abilities. For example, Blue has a relatively large number of flying creatures, as do White and Black, which are next to it. The two non-adjacent colors to a particular color are "enemy" colors, and are thematically opposed. For instance, Red tends to be very aggressive, while White and Blue are often more defensive in nature.

I don't think that white is on the top has a reason though.


Most of the special terminology of Go is just Japanese Go terms adopted by English-speaking players.  Depending on who you're dealing with, you can be just as likely to see references to "shimari" and "fuseki" as you are to see "corner enclosures" and "the opening".

A good beginner's resource for learning Go can be found at Sensei's Library.  In particular, they have a page dedicated to common Go terminology.


What happens with Poison Counters in Two Headed Giant?

In Two-Headed Giant you need 15 or more poison counters. See Comprehensive Rules.

704.5t In a Two-Headed Giant game, if a team has fifteen or more poison counters, that team loses the game. See rule 810, “Two-Headed
Giant Variant.”

Also

810.5. With the exception of life total and poison counters, a team’s resources (cards in hand, mana, and so on) are not shared in the
Two-Headed Giant variant. Teammates may review each other’s hands and
discuss strategies at any time. Teammates can’t manipulate each
other’s cards or permanents.

You share those poision counters as a team. So if your teammate is
being hit for 5 poison counters, your team has 5 poison counters.

810.8a Players win and lose the game only as a team, not as individuals. If either player on a team loses the game, the team loses
the game. If either player on a team wins the game, the entire team
wins the game. If an effect says that a player can’t win the game,
that player’s team can’t win the game. If an effect says that a player
can’t lose the game, that player’s team can’t lose the game.

You win as a team, you lose as a team. There is no 'I' in team.
Further clarification regarding poison counters in Two-Headed Giant.

810.10. Effects that cause players to get poison counters happen to each player individually. The poison counters are shared by the team.
810.10a If an effect needs to know how many poison counters an individual player has, that effect uses the number of poison counters
that player’s team has. If an effect needs to know how many poison
counters a player’s opponents have, that effect uses the number of
poison counters opposing teams have.
810.10b If an effect says that a player loses poison counters, that player’s team loses that many poison counters.
810.10c If an effect says that a player can’t get poison counters, no player on that player’s team can get poison counters.
810.10d If a rule or effect needs to know what kinds of counters an individual player has, that effect uses the kinds of counters that
player has and the kinds of counters that player’s team has. A player
is “poisoned” if his or her team has one or more poison counters.


The commander tax never resets, but it also doesn't count times when it isn't cast from the command zone; so you must pay an additional {4} in your case.

  903.8. A player may cast a commander they own from the command zone. A commander cast from the command zone costs an additional {2} for each previous time the player casting it has cast it from the command zone that game. This additional cost is informally known as the “commander tax.”

The additional 2 per time it has been cast counts every time it is cast from the command zone.


How do you resolve Polarity Stabilizer when Bifurcation Conduit has triggered?

I don't think a definitive answer exists from the designer or publisher, but here is my informed opinion.

The first interpretation treats Polarity Stabilizer as you would any other contraption that affects your opponents. You would take the top 3 cards from the scrap pile, put 2 in your hand, then the remaining card to the first opponent. Then you would repeat this process for each remaining opponent (top 3, keep 2, 1 to opponent). This is obviously how you would play Radiometric Disruptor (Opponent scraps a card from their hand). And is probably the way you would play a card like  Entropic Processor (if you have the cards to put cards from your hand into each opponents hand)

The other possible interpretation is that you take the top 3 cards from the scrap pile, put 2 in your hand, and choose an opponent to receive the remaining card. This interpretation hinges on the giving the card to your opponent part, not being considered a way to affect your opponent and the rules example :

  For example, Entropic Processor states, "Put one card from your hand into your opponents hand and draw two parts from his parts pile." ... On the other hand, if you put one card from your hand into your opponent's hand and he doesn't have two cards in his parts pile, the effect takes place as much as possible. If your opponent has one card in his parts pile you get it.

I am personally leaning toward the latter interpretation.


What happens when a double-sided card is returned to the battlefield or a copy of it appears?

It will come back as the Garruk Relentless with 3 loyalty counters since it enters the battlefield as a new object. See comprehensive rules 110.6 and 110.6b

  110.6. A permanent's status is its physical state. There are four status categories, each of which has two possible values:
  tapped/untapped, flipped/unflipped, face up/face down, and phased
  in/phased out. Each permanent always has one of these values for each
  of these categories.

  110.6b Permanents enter the battlefield untapped, unflipped, face up, and phased in unless a spell or ability says otherwise.


Losing points for partially completed destination tickets in Ticket to Ride

There's no such thing as a ticket that's "started" vs "not started". Unless it refers to the act of taking the ticket. When you take a ticket, you must complete that route, or lose points for not having completed it. It doesn't matter if you've touched those cities with any trains or not.


Can Japanese Cards be played if using an English based Deck?

No, although you can use foreign language cards from the TCG, OCG cards are not allowed.
From Konami's Yugioh FAQ, that lists several Official Tournament Stores

Q: Can I use foreign language cards in my Deck?
You can use foreign-language copies of legal-for-play cards printed for the TCG market, as long as you can show an official translation of the card, kept outside of your Deck and Deck box, when asked to do so by an opponent or tournament official.
Q: Can I use OCG cards in my Deck?
No. Cards printed for Asian markets are not legal for play in TCG tournaments.

There are several reasons for this, which make the cards identifiable in a regular TCG deck.


What happens if I play Cloudshift during combat?

No, playing Cloudshift would not end your combat phase, but the creature it targeted will no longer be in combat. If this leaves you with no attackers, then the rest of combat is uninteresting and can usually be skipped.

When you Cloudshift a creature, it enters the battlefield as a new creature, and has no memory of its previous existence. This means that it loses all counters, enchantments, equipments, and status. This means that (unless it says otherwise), it will enter untapped, unflipped, face up, and phased in. The specific rule about status is 110.6. It will also have summoning sickness because it just entered the battlefield.

Combat follows specific steps: beginning, declare attackers, declare blockers, damage, and end of combat. So if you declare a creature as an attacker, and then you cloudshift it, you can't declare it as an attacker again because you're already done declaring attackers.


Do you get an extra turn at the end of the age?

In the rulebook in small italicized text on page ten above the header 1. Construct a Building

it states:

  If a player has a replay effect that would allow them to take another turn at the end of an Age (when the structure is empty), the effect is lost.


While I wouldn't call myself an expert, I have played a lot, and here are some of my thoughts on the matter.

Classic is the most simple of the three, and does not lend itself to defence, both players are rather open. For this reason, classic games tend to be short when the players know what they are doing.

Dynasty is my personal favorite. The defences of this setup are very tight. Players normally will have to attack from both the front and side. This results in long games, while players march up the side and get into position.

Lastly, Imhotep! Imhotep opens a lot of options; the defences are good, but not too tight, and many types of pieces are scattered across the board. The end game is often a dance of hiding the opening in your defences long enough to close in on the enemy.

I developed a fourth one a while back, mainly for use with the beam splitter, but still good without it, if I can find it somewhere around here, I will post it if you like.

So there you go, there you have it.


How to solve problems with the Invisibility power

Obstacles block line of sight and movement and Invisible characters are not considered obstacles, thus people can attempt to move and shoot through spaces containing invisible characters, as they don't "know" the invisible character is there. But that doesn't mean that characters won't affect the results of that action. I believe the "not an obstacle" is there to resolve any situations like "Well you're aiming at Garbonzo, but Invisible Sinistra is in the way so you can't".

Invisibility isn't Intangibility (as you're aware). Characters cannot occupy the same locations normally, and just because one of them is Invisible doesn't change anything. I don't remember if there's anything in the rules that say you can't choose to run into someone (thus forcing a "bump"), but I play like that can happen. So as soon as the Invisible character's square is entered, the "bump" gets resolved as normal, and then the active player's turn continues.

Similarly, as Invisible people are subject to burst attacks and line of effects, I say they suffer the brunt of any targeted effects that were going to pass through the square they occupy to get to the intended target.

But honestly, we just take out Invisibility and Intangibility because we feel it unnecessarily prolongs the game...

EDIT:

At the end of the obstacles section there is a clarification for thrown gadgets which says "Nothing may be thrown through a warrior's square". While this is in the obstacle section (which an invisible character is not) the phrasing of the paragraph leads me to believe it doesn't matter. Rather than saying "Nothing can be thrown through a square with an obstacle and Nothing can be thrown into a square with a permanent obstacle." they specified warrior. However, this doesn't cover ranged attacks from non-gadgets that attempt to pass through an invisible character, such as Zorch Ball. I would say that these other attacks don't "need" to travel in a straight line, so the invisible character gets bypassed.

Ranged attacks are aimed at specific squares rather than warriors. In the ranged strike section, it specifically says that two warriors occupying the same square do not block each other from ranged attacks. So if all involved warriors could be subject to the attack, all of them get attacked.

The rules say that permanent obstacles and living warriors are obstacles. Warriors cannot move into or through a space occupied by an obstacle. Invisibility says that this warrior is not an obstacle. Therefore other warriors can move into and through the invisible warriors space. But the other warriors are still obstacles, so the invisible warrior cannot move into or through their space, at least not without causing a bump. While this doesn't make much sense, that's how it's written.

Then there's the problem of reappearing. Since Intangibility specifically mentions the case where an intangible warrior appears in a space that another warrior occupies and Invisibility doesn't, this means either they forgot about this possibility for Invisibility or they didn't intend for it to happen in the first place. First, occupying the same space as another warrior shouldn't prevent an invisible warrior from appearing; there's no basis for that.

So there's a couple ways to resolve this

Use the same thing that intangbility does and kill both characters.
Make both characters resolve a bump and make one/both of them resolve random movement
Don't allow this situation to happen in the first place and make bumps occur when any two non-intangible warriors attempt to move into the same space.


If all the cities on the map have been filled in (35 cities in 5 regions), then SOMEONE will have built 14 cities and so the game ends -- 13 cities each for 6 players is only 78 of the 105 available places.

Its not necessary for a player to be able to power all 14 cities -- they just have to build them to trigger the end of the game.  The player who powers the most cities at the end of that turn (even if it is less than 14) wins.


What is the best way to describe the turn order in Puerto Rico?

Just say the turns have a 'rotating starting player'.  If you have players familiar with poker or card games in general, you can use the dealer & blinds as an example.


Yes. Two opposing nations can't have units in the same zone simultaneously. But if the units of one side were "eliminated" in earlier fighting, then the surviving (attacker) can move units into the formerly disputed zone.


5.

By default, "minion" refers to any minion card on any base. Qualifiers such as "your", "each other player's" and "on the same base" are added to refer to subsets of those.

Since Group Hug uses neither qualifier "your" nor "each other player's", who controls the minion is not a consideration when counting the other minions on the base.

The game consistently uses "each other player's minions" to refer to minions you don't control. The lack of this qualifier indicates not just the minions others control are included.

For example, Compare Ninja Master and Nukebot.

  Ninja Master: You may destroy a minion on this base.

  Nukebot: ..., destroy each other player's minion on this base.

The game consistently uses "your" to refer to minions you control. The lack of this qualifier indicates not just the minions you control are included.

For example, Compare Friendship is Power and Snow White.

  Friendship is Power: Move one of your minions ...

  Snow White: Talent: Move a minion ...


The mana cost is only for the first ability, dealing the damage.

Thornbite Staff gives the creature 2 complete separate and unrelated abilities. The first is an activated ability; because it has the format {cost}:{effect}. The second is a triggered abilitty, because it starts with the word “whenever”. Each ability is surrounded separately by quotes, with “and” in between.


How do you keep track of the diplomas you've previously left?

You can tell because you can only take a diploma right when you place a painting that causes you to meet the requirements. So if you are placing a card with a tree on it, and it is your 4th tree, then you can see at that time that you must have chosen not to take the 3-tree diploma previously.
In other words, you don’t need a list of everything you have passed up previously; when deciding to take a diploma you can know based on the card you just finished playing which diplomas you are now allowed to take. Placing a 4th tree only enables you to take the 4-tree diploma; placing a card that has 2 trees on it, when you already had 2 other trees, would allow you to take either the 3-tree or the 4-tree diploma.


What is the name the creature that is X/X where X is the number of sorcery and Instant cards in your graveyard?

There is no such card (creature or otherwise) that matches your description.

MTG gatherer search for sorcery + instant + graveyard

The closest I could find was the same one you posted in a comment.

Runechanter's Pike


Border Token Placement in Battle for Rokugan

The rules say:

  Only one combat token can be placed on each border.

No qualification or exception is made to this statement, so I see no reason to not interpret it as only one total. Furthermore, none of the battle examples show more than one token on each border.


Does the Jol-Nar promissory note allow the recipient to research faction technology unit upgrades?

No. The card says "Gain that technology". It does not allow gaining your faction specific variant of that technology. Effectively, this means that you cannot use the card in that situation (or if you did, it would not get you any benefit).

I don't have an official ruling to back this up, but a literal reading of the card text seems pretty clear. This thread on BGG agrees.


From the official rules:

  All tiles played in any one turn must be placed in one row only across, or one column only down the board.

As you know, it is perfectly fine to score for multiple different words you made on your turn, but only if you made them from tiles played that turn. Since any tiles played on that turn must be in a single row or column, you cannot play two letters in one column and start a word, and then finish it by playing another letter in a different column. If I'm understanding your example properly, then you are correct in that she made an illegal move. :D


Can the Diplomat power be used against a player without an active race?

We were wrong.  Consulting the Day's of Wonder FAQ I learned:

Q: Is a race with the Diplomat power allowed to nominate a player, who has just declined or who has not yet had a turn (and therefore has no active race) as an ally?
A: Yes indeed, the only restriction in the choice of an ally is that you cannot choose a player if you just attacked his active race.


Costs are paid when the ability is put on the stack.  Sacrificing Selfless Spirit happens as soon as you put the ability on the stack. The selfless spirit is no longer there to be the target of unsummon, even though the ability is still on the stack.


Are the gods of Theros considered creatures in my hand?

You can still play it with the Amulet. On Xenagos' page:

  The type-changing ability that can make the God not be a creature functions only on the battlefield. It’s always a creature card in other zones, regardless of your devotion to its color.


How does the full-size board change the game of Go?

The small board focuses on close fighting. You're right; it is recommended for beginners for developing fighting skill and tactics, but the strategy component is lacking--at least when compared to a 19x19 board.

The big board is not just like playing 4 small board games next to each other. Through ladders and potential escape routes, the stones on one side of the board interact with the stones on the other side. When you start playing on big boards this is a very hard part of the transition because on a 9x9 or even 13x13 board you don't have to keep thinking about stones that seem to be far away. This is related to the concept of "influence", which is largely absent on smaller boards, but is of great strategic importance on the bigger board.

A Go teacher in my area likes to say that what makes professional Go games really interesting is the trades. You see professionals let massive groups die yet come out ahead, because in so doing they gain forcing moves that make up for it elsewhere. A popular example is the Yi Sedol ladder game. These sorts of trades are nearly impossible on a small board, and the game is much more exciting with them.

Overall, on a big board Go

is more complex, which many would argue means more interesting
uses both tactics and strategy
for an amateur, allows for more mistakes. You can mess up in one area, but still come back, playing better elsewhere and using leftover aji
allows for more varied games. There are many different opening styles on a full size board, and they will lead to games that feel very different.
is more fun!


Why do people call an n-sided die a "d-n"?

It's a Dungeons & Dragons convention
The "d" dice notation originates with Dungeons & Dragons, which innovated in the use of multiple types of polyhedral dice and often requires multiple such dice to be rolled at once. The frequency with which rolls are required necessitates a dice notation in order to present it in an abbreviated form. It dates back at least as far as 1977.
Dice notation did not appear in the original 1974 D&D box set, requiring writers to type it in full. For example:

Prior to the character selection by players it is necessary for the referee to roll three six-sided dice in order to rate each as to various abilities, and thus aid them in selecting a role.

In a 2013 article, RPG historian Jon Peterson traces it to the fanzine Alarums & Excursions, issue #1 (June 1975), in the article Dice as Random Number Generators by Ted Johnstone, an alias for writer David McDaniel:

It is the intent of this monograph to examine the statistical distribution of different numbers and combinations of the five types of dice available to us: 4-sided, 6-sided, 8-sided, 10-sided and 12-sided, referred to hereinafter for convenience's sake as D4, D6, D8, D10, and D12. [...]
To demonstrate this thesis in its simplest form, compare one D12 against two D6.

This illustrates the original meaning and purpose of dice notation:

D-number (e.g. d8) is an abbreviation for the benefit of brevity in written form. Most gamers in 1977 were not mathematicians or computer programmers, and the Web did not exist for research. As such, they would not have been influenced by these concepts, and terms like "n-tuple" would have been unknown to them. Johnstone, or someone who influenced him, simply decided that "D-number" was a sufficient syntax.
The syntax for multiple dice, e.g. 2d8, literally means two "d8"s. One eight-sided die is d8; 2d8 is literally two of them.

Use in D&D
The earliest instance of its use in D&D which I can find is Dragon Magazine #7 (June 1977), in the article What To Do When the Dog Eats Your Dice, by Omar Kwalish, an alias of the magazine's editor Tim Kask. The AD&D Monster Manual (1977) did not adopt dice notation, but the Player's Handbook (1978) officially introduced dice notation to the game's standard rules. For example:

The cleric has an eight-sided die (d8) per level to determine how many hit points (q.v.) he or she has.

Kask worked at TSR and was heavily involved in the development of AD&D 1st edition. It's unclear whether Kask introduced the term to D&D, or its appearance in Dragon #7 represents that a tendency already in use internally at TSR. We also know that Gygax read Alarums #1, and wrote a letter which was published in the second issue, though TSR didn't adopt the dice syntax for another two years.
The "d" is usually pronounced "dee", though there is a regional variant which pronounces it "die" (see “Dee-twenty” and “die-twenty” pronunciations on RPG Stack Exchange). It's certainly an abbreviation for "die" or "dice".
It's unclear whether or not "d8" was intended to represent an extant spoken form (e.g. "die 8"). The RPG community in 1977 was fragmented, and connected largely by regional word-of-mouth and fan-typed newsletters like Alarums & Excursions. What I do know is that reading "d" as "die" was actually practiced by a certain subset of gamers. We see this in some much later self-published works by Len Lakofka, an RPG writer from Chicago who was also an active fanzine author.
However, Gary Gygax was also connected to Lakofka via many of the same fanzines and groups. We might infer from the fact that Tim Kask speaks it as "dee" in his videos, and no TSR book that I'm aware of wrote "die", that TSR did not interpret it that way. I suspect that "D" was an abbreviation necessitated by limited pagecount of fanzines, and that "die 8" was a reading some groups made from the abbreviation.
If you're interested in more specific detail as to which exact individual coined the "d" notation and the circumstances of came to enter D&D, you might leave a comment on the current latest video on Tim Kask's YouTube channel. He frequently answers viewer questions on such matters.
Addendum
Some commenters have suggested that the XdX notation comes from a need to avoid ambiguity in cases such as "20d6", which if written "20 6D" could be misheard in speech as "26D". I disagree with the notion that this was the origin of the notation, for the following reasons:

The problem only happens when rolling exactly twenty, thirty, or another multiple of ten dice. "19 6D" and "21 6D" aren't ambiguous in the way "20 6D" is.
Rolls as high as 20 dice were almost unheard of in June 1975 when Johnstone defined the syntax. The only D&D books published at this point were the original boxed set and possibly the first printing of Greyhawk, which was brand new at the time (source) and first introduced rules for magic users of up to 20th level who would be capable of using twenty dice. There were no rules for 30th level characters. It was also common for characters to retire around level 14 when their high power levels meant the game was no longer sufficiently challenging.
If you thought someone did say "roll 26D", it wouldn't make any sense anyway, because all other die rolls specify the die type. Twenty-six of what type?
XdX notation actually creates a more common problem in this regard. 4d6 can be misheard as "forty-six"; similarly 6d6 as 66, 7d6 as 76, 8d6 as 86, and 9d6 as 96. Rolling four dice is considerably more common in D&D than rolling 20 dice.
Considering why Johnstone (or whoever may have coined the syntax before him) selected XDX rather than X XD would only be speculation. While can certainly debate which format is superior or more sensible, the main reason that we use XdX notation is simply that it was adopted by TSR beginning with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition Player's Handbook (1978), and this work was so influential that it became standard in roleplaying games.


I think that one of the best pairs to face ninja-zombies would actually be more unconventional. I have found that robot-wizards do extremely well against that match for a few reasons. The first is that they don't focus on killing your opponent's minions at all. This means that they focus entirely on their own thing and don't waste cards killing your opponent's zombies.
The second reason is that they build themselves up a lot. If your opponent manages to kill something (seeing stars), then you still have a base full of microbots and chronomages to score easily.The final reason is that ninja-zombies are very inconsistent. They cant draw as much and portions of their hand will always be useless. This makes cards like tech center and winds of change very useful because you can always have the cards you need.
I don't know what your preffered play-style is, but robot-wizards works very well against most factions. You just need to watch out for pirates and trickster because of base blocking and large removal cards.


It enters with 2 -1/-1 counters.

  Wickerbough Elder enters the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.

is equivalent to

  As Wickerbough Elder enters the battlefield, place a -1/-1 counter on it.

Similarly, Persist is also an ability that redefines entering the battlefield (ETB) to add the placement of a counter on the card.

Both are replacement effects that modify the same ETB event, so you apply them in the order of your choice.

For the card in question, the first replacement effect applied redefines ETB to add the placement of a -1/-1 counter. The second replacement effect applied then further redefines ETB to add the placement of a -1/-1 counter. Two counters are now placed as it enters the battlefield.


Will a spell like Fiery Cannonade kill Wayfaring Temple if Temple had more toughness than the damage before casting?

The Wayfaring Temple will die.

When Fiery Cannonade resolves, it deals 2 damage to each non-pirate creature, which in this case is 2 damage to Wayfaring Temple, 2 damage to creature A, 2 damage to creature B, and 2 damage to creature C. When state-based actions are checked, creatures A and B die because they have as much damage as toughness. Because state-based actions caused something to happen, they are checked again. This time, Wayfaring Temple is a 2/2 with 2 damage, so it dies as well.

  State-Based Actions

    704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 116, "Timing and Priority"), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. If any state-based actions are performed as a result of a check, the check is repeated

      704.5g If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and the total damage marked on it is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event.

Damage only wears off at the end of the turn; so if it survived, it would have 0 damage at the start of the next turn. But it still has that 2 damage for the rest of the current turn.


In a normal game of Rivals, there are 4 draw stacks that do not belong to either player. In a tournament game (rules), each player has their own 4 piles containing the cards they most want to play with. In the version of Rivals I could find, no card says "from your draw stack" unless it also explicitly references tournament mode - for example, the text of Library is

  When you build the Library, you may immediately choose a card from a draw stack (Tournament: from your own stack.)

I know there are some differences between this version and the older one you are presumably playing, but I'd guess that references to "your draw stack" just mean any draw stack outside of tournament mode, and that you might be able to find a fixed wording of your card by looking it up in the back of the linked updated rulebook.


Where can I watch recorded Go games from Masters?

The best place I find to watch amateur games and learn to play go is KGS. It's a fairly friendly Go server with an emphasis on teaching. You can watch and kibbitz on games in progress, or you can look through many game records. It's also good for finding stronger players to play in teaching games, in which they review how you played afterwards.

IGS/PandaNet tends to broadcast more professional games, so if you want to watch and learn from pro games, rather than higher level amateurs, that might be a good place to look. There are other Go servers as well; there's a list on Sensei's Library.

If you're interested in reviewing older games, not watching live games, there are many professional games available for purchase or sometimes even free download, such as the "Games of Go on Disk" collection. Or if you prefer paper, you can find collections of games by master players, such as Honinbo Shusaku or Go Seigen.


What happens if you run out of cards in Streaking Kittens

The streaking kitten expansion introduces the streaking kitten card, it allows a player to keep one (and only one) kitten in her hand:

  Streaking Kitten 1 Card

  While this card is in your hand, you can also secretly hold 1
  Exploding Kitten without exploding.

  But...

  If the Streaking Kitten leaves your hand for any reason, the Exploding
  Kitten in your hand will explode.

  If another player steals or receives an Exploding Kitten from your
  hand, they explode. They must defuse it or lose the game.

  If you take any action causing you to play an Exploding Kitten from
  your hand into the Discard Pile, you explode. You must defuse it or
  lose the game.

  IMPORTANT - Streaking Kittens and Exploding Kittens can not be used
  with the 5 Card Special Combo. This means you can't use either of them
  in your collection of 5 cards, nor can you remove either of them from
  the Discard Pile.

  Why? Because it breaks the game. Don't break the game...the game loves
  you.

If for example, there are 4 players. Using streaking kittens expansion, the deck has 4 kittens. The moment you are running out of cards, 4 kittens must have been played of which at most one is streaking at one of the players. The other 3 kittens must have been exploded eliminating 3 players. So there is only one player left who is the winner.

This can only occur if something went wrong:

You put 3 kittens in the deck. This expansion adds one kitten for each player.
A defused kitten is discarded. Defused kittens are put back in the draw pile.
The player with the streaking kitten card collected more than a single kitten. A streaking kitten card only let you keep one kitten.
The streaking kitten card was stolen, enabling an other player to collect a kitten, but the original kitten "forgot" to explode. If you lose the streaking kitten card while holding a kitten, it explodes.


In reversi, can you overwrite two chips in one move?

No. From the Rules of Play:

  Each piece played must be laid adjacent to an opponent's piece

  so that the opponent's piece or a row of opponent's pieces is flanked by the new piece and another piece of the player's colour.

  All of the opponent's pieces between these two pieces are 'captured' and turned over to match the player's colour.

where I have split up and numbered the clauses of the paragraph for easier reference.

Note that:

from (1), the suggested move is illegal, not being adjacent to an opposing piece;
even if one is playing to make -xxyxy-- into -xxyxyx-, by (3) only the second 'y' is flipped, resulting in -xxyxxx- upon completion of the move; and
playing to make -xxxyy-- into -xxxyyx- does convert multiple opposing counters, by (2) and (3), flipping to yield -xxxxxx- upon completion of the move.

Reason:

"All of the opponent's pieces between the these two pieces [(the just placed piece and the enabling friendly piece at the far end of the just surrounded enemy row of pieces)] are 'captured' and turned over to match the player's colour."


In what systems are opening 4 card majors ok?

There are plenty of systems that open on 4-cards, I myself play one, and that is not very uncommon here. 4-card systems are commonly used to teach Bridge. Most people prefer 5-card major though, and 4-card major feels outdated these days.

A couple of the more well-known 4-card systems are

ACOL
Standard American, originnal


Identify this two-player game with wheels in a wall

In Dutch it was called "Onderuit". Also known as Downspin.

There where several discs that could be replaced to make the game harder or simpler. The later versions of the game worked with keys (one for each player) to avoid turning one disk when your opponent has just turned it. The early versions could be turned without key.

As far as I know, the board was blue and the disks where white. There where 4 sets of coins (4 colors) each player had to dock 2 sets. And they where numbered. So you could rule that you had to dock them in order to make the game harder.


MTG Trapjaw Tyrant vs Butcher of Malakir and tokens

The description you wrote is very similar to what happens, but there are some minor differences. Here's the actual exact sequence of events, starting with the spell.

The spell resolves, dealing 3 damage to each creature. The Trapjaw Tyrant's triggered ability triggers.
State-based actions are evaluated. Each creature that was dealt lethal damage dies. The Butcher of Malakir's ability triggers for each other creature its controller controls that dies this way.
All of the triggered abilities that triggered this way are put on the stack, starting with the active player's triggered abilities. Targets for these abilities are chosen at this time.
The active player gains priority for the first time in this process, and players can start responding to the abilities or allowing them to resolve.

The end result is that all of the abilities trigger and resolve, creatures need to be sacrificed to the Butcher's ability, and in the end, the Butcher will be exiled by the Trapjaw Tyrant.

There are a couple of caveats to be aware of here:

If the active player sacrifice Trapjaw Tyrant to Butcher of Malakir's ability before the Tyrant's ability resolves, the Butcher will not be exiled at all because the "until Trapjaw Tyrant leaves the battlefield" period has already ended.
Other than that, the outcome isn't much affected by who is the active player, or which ability is on top of the stack. Once abilities go on the stack, they exist independent of their source. So even if the Butcher is exiled while its abilities are still on the stack, those abilities will still resolve, and still force players to sacrifice creatures.


In two- and three-player Citadels, how does the Bishop's ability work?

In two and three player citadels each player still only has one city so the protection of the bishop will protect it no matter your other character.  Your two characters do not directly interact, you simply get two turns and the perks for each.

For example, if you draw both the assassin and the bishop, the murder by the assassin is not undone by the bishops turn.  If you draw the bishop and the merchant, the protection of the bishop is not undone by the merchant turn.


Who decides what does the informer reveal?

UPDATE: Cosmic Evil's release changed the effects of two characters: the Police Officer and the Informer.

With the release of Cosmic Evil, two base game characters were rebalanced to prevent certain complex timing issues, those being the Police Officer and the Informant, and cards were included to replace the corresponding character cards in the base game. New releases of the base game will have these new cards as well.

The informer's goodwill ability is now as follows:

  Goodwill 5 (1×∞): Leader names the name of any subplot. Then, the Mastermind must name the title of another active subplot.

From a practical standpoint, this is mostly the same, however there are a few situations in which the order of the subplots actually matters (e.g. Cosmic Mythology's Extra-2 effect, which reveals the first subplot at the end of the loop), and this rebalance prevents that information specifically from leaking. This also means that it is possible for the Mastermind to actually have a choice - if the Protagonist Leader names a subplot not actually in use, the Mastermind can name either of the subplots that are active.

The rebalanced ability's wording does present an issue in the event of the protagonist leader naming the only active subplot when using the "First Steps" set. For that set alone, an obvious rule patch is to treat the ability as "Reveal the script's subplot."

As for the Police Officer, the abilities are now as follows:

  Goodwill 4 (1×∞): Reveal culprit for former incident.

  Goodwill 5 (1×∞): Put an Extra marker on another character in same location. Remove that marker to prevent that character from dying.

This change has two effects: First, it allows the Protagonists to stick a "shield" (so to speak) on a different character they need to protect. Secondly, it means the Police Officer himself can no longer be protected by his own ability, since he is no longer a valid target.

When a goodwill ability is activated, the player activating the ability decides target and intended effect.

The protagonist leader for the turn, when they activate goodwill abilities, decide on the target(s) and the intended effect when there are multiple candidates for the ability. For the original Informer character, the possible targets are either of the subplots (unless the first steps tragedy set is used, in which case it's the one subplot in play). The only input the Mastermind may have on a Goodwill ability is if the character has optional goodwill refusal (which the Mastermind may then invoke, AFTER the protagonist has decided on the target and effect). When the mastermind activates an ability, he decides the target (and effect) himself.

Some other notes:

For abilities that reveal a character's role, note that "Person" is considered a role, which means the valid targets of that ability include characters that do not have a role in the plot or any sub-plot. It is entirely legal for a protagonist leader to pick one of these characters as the target.
Boy Student and Girl Student can only have their abilities used on other students. (You'd be surprised how many people forget to check this)
The AI's ability (see Midnight Circle expansion) effectively grants full control over any one incident to the protagonist leader, which means THEY decide the target instead of the Mastermind. It also prevents the incident from being counted as an event (which is important for some scenarios)
Goodwill Refusal (mandatory or optional) can be damaging to the protagonist's initial plan, but it does give them information since Goodwill Refusal is determined by the character's role. Goodwill Refusal on the Doctor is particularly powerful for the Mastermind as it gives him access to the Doctor's first goodwill ability as a Mastermind ability.
Due to rule priorities, the Alien's second ability CANNOT be used on the Key Person, as the loop would have already ended on their death. The original Police Officer's second ability, however, can, since it prevents the death entirely. (The rebalanced Police Officer's second ability can also stop the death, but it has to be used in advance)
It is perfectly legal for a protagonist to use an ability in such a manner that it causes the loop to end. An example would be using the Alien's first ability to kill the Key Person.


In Monopoly Deal, can I put properties of the same color on the table, but not in a "set"

If you have enough to make a set, then you have a set.
From the compiled FAQ on BGG:

If you have more properties of one color than is needed to make a complete property set, you must form as many complete sets as possible, and group the remaining properties of that color together.


Fortifying move to complete a Risk mission

Yes.  You can even win during your opponents turn when they complete your missions for you.

Do you control 18 territories?  Do they have at least 2 armies on them?  If yes to both, you win.


Your creatures will not have hexproof, but they will be unblockable
Glaring Spotlight's activated ability creates 2 continuous effects. One grants hexproof, so it changes the objects' "abilities" characteristic. The other  ("creatures you control can't be blocked") modifies the rules of the game. Because of that difference, the first is locked in to the set of objects and will not affect other objects (such as those objects that are created after the blink from Legion's Initiative), whereas the second affects all applicable objects as long as it's active.

109.3. An object’s characteristics are name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, abilities, power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier.
400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence.
611.1. A continuous effect modifies characteristics of objects, modifies control of objects, or affects players or the rules of the game, for a fixed or indefinite period.
611.2. A continuous effect may be generated by the resolution of a spell or ability.
611.2c If a continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability modifies the characteristics or changes the controller of any objects, the set of objects it affects is determined when that continuous effect begins. After that point, the set won’t change. (Note that this works differently than a continuous effect from a static ability.) A continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability that doesn’t modify the characteristics or change the controller of any objects modifies the rules of the game, so it can affect objects that weren’t affected when that continuous effect began. If a single continuous effect has parts that modify the characteristics or changes the controller of any objects and other parts that don’t, the set of objects each part applies to is determined independently.


Can a non-instant or sorcery ever have flashback?

That's correct.

It's currently impossible for a permanent card to gain Flashback[1], but let's say it's possible. Instead of being put on the battlefield on resolution, the card would be exiled instead.

  “Flashback [cost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.”

Flashback can only be granted to instants and sorceries, and it would be too messed up for a card with a permanent type to gain one of those types.


Yes.  If someone bet (or reraise), other players can reraise after him.  The round of bets is finish when all players either: called, fold, or bet all-in.


May opponent play fatal leaky pipe on my pipeline?

From a scan of what looks like the official rules:

  If a leaky pipe is connected to the last pipe card it can be any shape as long as it continues the pipeline.

Reviewing the rules from this site, the relevant line is:

  "If the player adds a leaky pipe to the end of the player’s set of
  pipes the card can be any shape as long as it allows the player to
  have at least one path available to add pipes in future turns."

I could not find any rules that expressly forbids forcing a players pipeline towards a path that blocks the player's ability to win. So as long as the player can continue their pipeline path at least once more after a leaky pipe is placed, then it's a fair play (based on the rules).

Personally, for better games, I would bring up this situation with my opponents and decide if we want to allow this tactic and declare the blocked player lost, or disallow this tactic by assuming the rules mean:

  ...as long as it continues the pipeline with sufficient space for the player to meet the required number of pipes to win.

If you are the Rule Lawyer type, then the play you described is allowed. I just suggest you bring it up before play, so everyone can guard against it, instead of springing it on your opponents, causing this type of argument.

Good Question.


Once your party gets more used to the game, the time you take should get closer to the time the app states. It still varies strongly, but we usually fall within the designated timeframe by now, often with one "new player" and a bunch of veterans.


Can a Zooloretto Enclosure Score Money if Filled Via Enclosure w/ Breeding?

It's a good question: the rules state that pairs united by an exchange DO breed; and that you DO NOT collect money for filling an enclosure through an exchange action.  It really comes down to whether exchanging-then-breeding counts as "filling an enclosure through an exchange action", or whether the breeding is really subsequent to and distinct from the exchange action.

My gut reaction was that, sure, it's a bit ambiguous, but why not give the benefit of the doubt, don't be cheap, dish out some money.  Fortunately, I managed to find a passage in the rules that proves my gut is an idiot:

  Exception: NO bonus is awarded when
  all enclosure spaces are filled as a
  result of an exchange. There is also
  NO bonus awarded if an offspring
  produced by the exchange fills the
  last space.

So there you have it!  (Incidentally, I found a useful combined rules pdf online here: http://files.boardgamegeek.com/file/download/48p5z9a045/Zooloretto.pdf?)  You're welcome!


In Robo Rally, do robots that get pushed onto a conveyor by a pusher also move via conveyor?

The order of board element movement is in the rules (page 6).

Express conveyor belts move 1 space in the direction of the arrows.
Express conveyor belts and normal conveyor belts move 1 space in the direction of the arrows.
Pushers push if active.
Gears rotate 90° in the direction of the arrows.

The belt moves first. So if you are pushed on the belt, you are not also moved because it has already moved this phase.


The timing structure for accessing the server is:

  4 The Runner APPROACHES the attacked server.

    4.1 [Paid abilities]

    4.2 The Runner decides whether to continue the run.
        ...Either the Runner JACKS OUT: [end the run unsuccessfully]
        ...Or the Runner continues the run: go to 4.3.

    4.3 [Paid abilities and non-ice can be rezzed]

    4.4 The run is considered to be successful. (‘When successful’ conditionals meet their trigger conditions)

    4.5 Access cards, then [end the run].

Effects triggered by a successful run fire in 4.4. There is an opportunity to rez upgrades (4.3) before this step and after the Runner has committed to accessing (4.2).

To answer your final question directly, when I play, I normally say: "Would you like to access?", then, if they confirm, I say "Before you do, I rez...". (I actually ask if the Runner would like to access regardless of what's in the server.)


No, unless the specific haunt says otherwise, monsters can never carry items.

From the rulebook (first edition quote; though this did not change between editions):

  Monsters can’t carry items (unless the haunt says
  otherwise).


What does "played from your hand" actually mean?

This is old wording. You may check the Gatherer for the most recent wording of cards. Currently that Myojin's gatherer text says the following instead:

  Myojin of Cleansing Fire enters the battlefield with a divinity counter on it if you cast it from your hand.

"Cast from your hand" means you took it from your hand, cast it onto the stack, and then it entered the battlefield.

This is as opposed to:

simply being put onto the battlefield without being cast (e.g. via Champion of Rhonas)
being returned from your graveyard to the battlefield (Rescue from the Underworld)
being cast from a zone other than your own hand:

from the graveyard (Havengul Lich)
from exile (Daxos of Meletis)
from your library (Vizier of the Menagerie)
from the command zone in a game of Commander
from someone else's hand (Desertion or Sen Triplets).


Death Mask Duplicant Imprint of Platinum Angel

No. Death-Mask Duplicant only allows you to copy the effects that are explicitly listed on it - flying, fear, first strike, double strike, haste, trample, and all forms of landwalk and protection. Exiling Platinum Angel would only give the duplicant flying.


Axis and Allies 1940, why are the axis always losing

One strategy to deal with one side always losing is to have an auction to decide who gets which side: each person bids a certain amount of IPC. Whoever gives the highest bid takes the Allies, and the other person gets to place units equal to that bid at the start.


Anytime a card with Imprint (or other cards that have a triggered ability that is linked to a second ability) refers to 'the exiled card' it really refers to both cards. In cases like Prototype Portal (where it looks at properties of exiled card) you would have to look at both cards, and add their CMCs together. You would then get to make tokens of both cards.
From the Gatherer rulings on Panharmonicon:

If a triggered ability is linked to a second ability, additional instances of that triggered ability are also linked to that second ability. If the second ability refers to “the exiled card,” it refers to all cards exiled by instances of the triggered ability. For example, if Isochron Scepter’s enters-the-battlefield ability triggers twice and two instant cards are exiled, both will be copied when its second ability is activated. You may cast either or both of the copies in any order.
In some cases involving linked abilities, an ability requires information about “the exiled card.” When this happens, the ability gets multiple answers. If these answers are being used to determine the value of a variable, the sum is used. For example, if Elite Arcanist’s enters-the-battlefield ability triggers twice, two cards are exiled. The value of X in the activation cost of Elite Arcanist’s other ability is the sum of the two cards’ converted mana costs. As the ability resolves, you create copies of both cards and can cast none, one, or both of the copies in any order.


How can one reach 20 points in At The Gates of Loyang?

My first game, I got almost to 19 and the winner got 20; my second game, I scored 20 points (no loans, 15 coins left). It caused a big of a stir on boardgamegeek, since Uwe said nobody beat 19 in testing.

It's been a couple of years, so I can't remember the details, but I see this game as an exercise in efficiency. Use your veggies right so you never have to discard them, always go up two steps early on when it's cheap (although the turn I went 3 steps was 8-9-10), never take loans, keep the 2-packs cheap..

I found this bit I wrote about the game back then, discussing the game on BGG.

  I usually had 2-3 regular customers and one fewer casual customer; I
  skipped delivering to each regular customer 1 time to plant. I believe
  I bought 2 extra fields. I never sold to the shop (although I
  considered it once) and I actually used the helper who refills the
  shop so I could buy more grain. I used two-packs to manage the number
  of customers so that I always had more regular than casual without
  letting any regular customer go unsatisfied more than once. Like last
  game, I started with radishes, although next time I think I want to try
  starting with grain if possible. The first time I played I concentrated
  on keeping max{shops, helpers} to 1 for cheap 2-packs; this time I used
  the helper who makes your 2-packs free regardless (I think I got him
  twice, once when I had several helpers covering customers I was saving)

  It could be my group just isn't that nasty - we didn't really use any
  of the interaction cards to mess each other up.

  Edit: yes, I realize I used the word shop to refer to two different
  things, but I don't have the rules handy and I think it's fairly
  obvious what I mean


Mexican train Dominos.

It also goes as train dominos as well.


Should I "take out" a double, using a two card suit?

With xxx xx Jxxx Jxxx, the decision between 1S and 2C is very close. Any move that makes spades less attractive (eg holding only a doubleton) or clubs more attractive (eg a 5-card suit) breaks the "tie" in favor of 2C. Any of those three hands would be a clear 2C call for me.


Does the School of Magic count as all colours, or do you choose one colour when it's played and it is that colour permanently?

I believe you choose each round.

In my version of Citadels (Fantasy Flight, 2009) there isn't a card called 'Mage Tower'.  There is however a very similar card called 'School of Magic' which text states.

  For purposes of Income, the School is considered to be of the colour
  of your choice.  If for you are the King this round, for example, the
  school is considered to be a nobel (yellow) district.

To me that sounds like the card you are describing with extra text clarifying which sound like it may be missing from your edition?  Also if you had to decide when it was build there should be some way of marking that and the game does not come with tokens for doing so.


"Remove from the game" means "exile", and all cards that say it have been given errata to say exile.

For example, Swords to Plowshares in newer printings reads "Exile target creature." And no matter what, the Oracle text for cards (the card text shown on Gatherer) will always have the correct wording with "exile", even if the card has never been physically reprinted to fix it.

There's a historical reference in the comp rules:

  406.7. Previously, the exile zone was called the "removed-from-the-game zone." Cards that were printed with text that "removes [an object] from the game" exiles that object. The same is true for cards printed with text that "sets [an object] aside." Cards that were printed with that text have received errata in the Oracle card reference.

Specifically, this change was made in the Magic 2010 rules update. One of the big reasons for the change (besides "exile" just being shorter) was to try to clarify that they're not 100% for sure forever removed from the game, since that's not really true in general:

  The Reality: "Removed from the game" is increasingly a misnomer as we design more cards that use the removed-from-the-game zone as a temporary holding cell for cards that are very much still in the game. Like the "in-play zone," the name "removed-from-the-game zone" does a poor job of maintaining the game's fantasy metaphor.

  The Fix: The phrase "remove from the game" is being changed to "exile," which is shorter, more flavorful, and not at all misleading about actually being in the game. The zone is now called the "exile zone" and cards in it will be referred to as "exiled cards."

Note that some cards do still refer to "outside the game" (e.g. Burning Wish). This has absolutely nothing to do with exile, which is a zone that is part of the game. "Outside the game" in tournaments means sideboards, i.e. actually totally outside the game, wasn't in your deck in the first place. In casual play it could mean your collection or something more restricted, depending on who you play with. Either way, they don't work with exiled cards. They used to back when it was called "remove from the game", but it was changed in the same rules update.


Are there any good white and/or blue token generators?

If you accept planeswalkers as your tool to generate tokens multiple turns you may use one of these:

Dovin, Grand Arbiter as a Blue and White option
Karn, Scion of Urza as a Colorless option
Nahiri, the Lithomancer as a Mono White option
Ugin, the Ineffable as a Colorless option
Tezzeret, Artifice Master as a Mono Blue option

Now if you want creatures, these are the two best options I've got:

Mycologist as a Mono white option
Pallid Mycoderm also as a Mono White option


Can I play unequipped on-the-table cards in combat?

One-shot items you are "carrying" can be used just like ones in your hand. From the rules*:

  All Items you have in play are considered “carried.” Items that are actually
  giving you a bonus are “equipped.” You should indicate Items that are not
  equipped by turning the cards sideways.

  A Treasure card that says “Usable once only” is often called a “one-shot”
  Treasure. Most of these are used during combat to strengthen the munchkins
  or the monsters, and may be played from your hand or from the table.

  Cards in play may not be returned to your hand.

Thus the main things that change when you put a one-shot card in play are

Pro: it doesn't count against your hand limit.
Con: other players can see you have it and can e.g. target it with steal-an-item effects.

Finally, I notice you are using the word "card" everywhere instead of "item", so I want to make sure you know the difference: an "Item" is any card with a gold cost (including "No Value"), and only Items may be carried. So if your hand is overfull with monsters and stuff, you'll have to give them to charity or find a different way to get rid of them.

*those are the base game rules, but to my knowledge none of the many other versions and expansions significantly change the rule in question.


How is gameplay improved in the Cities & Knights Expansion?

I often describe Cities and Knights as "the version of Catan where every limitation has a way around it." You can only hold seven cards… unless you build these walls. You only get cards when your numbers roll… unless you have an aqueduct. Etc.

Cities and Knights takes Catan and adds a layer of interesting shortcuts, passthroughs, special cases and escape hatches on top. There's slightly more to learn, but it's still a simple game. But the increase in complexity is outweighed by the vast increase in interesting mechanics between players and events in the gameworld.


Do you have to give others a chance to say "Uno"?

From the original Uno rules:

  The game continues until a player has one card left. The moment a player has just one card they must yell “UNO!”. If they are caught not saying “Uno” by another player before any card has been played, the player must draw two new cards.

It doesn't explicitly specify that you must give someone a chance to say "Uno", though it does seem to advocate doing it as soon as you have one card left.

In my experience it has always fallen under the category of house rules as to how much time constitutes a "chance".  Agree on something.  If you can't, maybe ask "J" how much he likes playing Uno with you and if he would like to be invited back.


What happens if your partner hits you in Pegs and Jokers?

Yes, that is actually (and strangely) correct.

https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/72993/instruction-sheet

  Rule 3: ...If player 2’s ("Your partner's") home position hole is occupied by one of his/her own pegs then move that peg to his/her start position. If player 2’s ("Your partner's") home position is occupied by any other peg, follow rules 3 and 4 recursively until the last peg has found an unoccupied hole.

Some of the basic rules:

  You cannot pass or land on your own marble (either moving forward or moving backward).
  You can pass or land on your partner's or an opponent's marble.
  If you lands on your partner's marble, your partner's marble is moved to its "In Spot"
  (the space just outside of the "Safe Area").
  If your partner's "In Spot" is occupied by one of your marbles, that marble is moved to its "In Spot" and then the landed on marble is moved to your partner's now empty "In Spot".
  If your partner's "In Spot" is occupied by any other marble, that marble is returned to its starting position ("Home Area").
  If you lands on an opponent's marble, the opponent's marble is returned to its starting position ("Home Area").

Other links:

https://liftbridgefurniture.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Lift-Bridge-Furniture-How-to-Play-Pegs-and-Jokers.pdf

http://www.rovin.texasgoodsam.com/Games/Jokers%20&%20Marbles%20Game%20Rules.pdf


Why are the OCG and TCG banlists radically different?

How could banlists be so radically different?

Well, TCG (Trading Card Game) and OCG (Original Card Game) are two separate and different games actually; you can't use cards from one on official games from the other. I am not Konami, but seems logical to me that such lists exist separately.

As you probably know, Yu-Gi-Oh! started first as a Manga, and then an Anime went out (and then translations). Only after some time later is that the OCG was created, and shortly after the TCG. We can see that since it's inception they were conceived differently and for different target audiences.

Another reason that justifies different lists is the fact that cards first come out on OCG, and some time later they appear (or not) on TCG in the latest Booster set available.

This means that for a period of time some cards actually don't exist on the TCG and are legally unable to be played on official events. This shows that OCG has different needs/situations, and at different moments, than TCG regarding the cards that need buffing, nerfing, or erratas.


Does my creature get stunned after killing Pip Pip with a Red Planet Ray Gun?

The active Player chooses

Do you want your creature to be stunned? If there are multiple abilities that trigger after the reap, the active player chooses the order to resolve them in. So, if there was some reason you wanted your reaping creature to be stunned, you could resolve Pip Pip first, then the Ray gun. If you didn't want to be stunned, you could resolve the Ray Gun first, killing Pip Pip before it's ability could be applied.


What happens if Metamorphic Alteration is enchanting a non-Creature?

The Metamorphic Alteration stays on the permanent. It doesn't matter why the permanent is a creature. The important thing is that it is a creature, so Metamorphic Alteration is legally attached to it.


Can all all ability bonuses aside from weapons "+" effects be stacked?

1) +N bonuses do not compound. From rules (Section Additional Rules - Tests p.12:

  An investigator can use only one card effect that provides a skill
  bonus during each test (for example, an Asset that reads “Gain
  +1 [”). If he has multiple card effects that provide a bonus, he
  uses the highest bonus.

An ally is an asset just like a weapon, so having +1 to Strength from an ally and a +1 to Strength from a gun will result you in having a +1.

2) Yes. From reference guide (Section Reroll):

  If multiple effects allow an investigator to reroll a die, he may
  resolve each effect separately. There is no limit to the number of
  times a die or test can be rerolled, so long as the investigator has
  the means to do so.


Can the Powder Tower be used while its owner is bewitched?

No one can use the Powder Tower this turn.

The Thief can't use the Powder Tower, because he's bewitched he loses his turn after taking his action (choose 2 gold or 1 card).

As the Witch, when you bewitch another character you still play with your own city. Since the Powder Tower is not in your city, you can't use it.

A quote from the rules that best describes this:

  When the bewitched character is called upon, its player must show his character card, take an action, and then immediately end his turn. [...] You now resume this player’s turn as if you were playing the bewitched character,
  using all the character’s powers in your city. You still build districts from your hand of cards and pay with your gold (including taxes).


MTG Does "Emerging" cause summoning sickness?

Yes, your Mockery of Nature will have summoning sickness when it enters the battlefield.

When you pay the emerge cost of Mockery of Nature, it is just an alternate casting cost.  As such, it doesn't change the summoning sickness rule in anyway.


Do I remove eldritch tokens placed on the board after a mystery that placed them is solved?

According to the Reference guide, page 8:

  When the active Mystery is solved or removed from play, discard
  all tokens on it or placed by it. Then draw a new Mystery, placing
  it on top of any solved Mysteries.

So, in almost all cases, tokens placed my mysteries would be removed, and then replaced if the next drawn Mystery card requires additional tokens to be placed on the board.

If an individual Mystery card specifies differently, the text on the card supersedes the text in the rules.  E.g., there is a Cthulhu-specific mystery that specifies that all eldritch tokens placed as a result of that card remain even after the mystery is solved.


Where can I find the offical rules to the Dominion promo cards

http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Promo. This page links to all promo cards, each page quotes the official FAQs. Note that there are no special "rules" associated with the promo cards, in general what you need to know to play them is on the card text. But there are official FAQs/clarifications, like there are for every card. They should have come on a sheet with the cards themselves.


Gate and monster appear when returning to Arkham from Other world

I think the "Gate and a monster" effect still needs to follow the basic rules on placing a gate. This means if you are at a location with an Elder Sign, the gate doesn't open, and if you are at a location with an open gate, then a monster surge happens.

So, you are on a location with an open gate, and you have explored it. A gate opens in your location. This means a monster surge happens, and no second gate.


Competitive/Matched Play answer.

No. They shouldn't get the save, since each individual unit is a single model.

Narrativist/Open Play Answer.

Yes. If it makes your game more fun, and everyone agrees, change things however you all like. It's your game do what you want even if it's not technically correct.


Kingsbridge Scarlet: trade 1 cloth for 3 VP

I cannot find an authoritative source, but according to my best reading of the rules and BGG's forums, you can make the trade once per turn, during the phase of your turn when you play your action card, as long as that event is in play.

My justification:

p. 7 of the rulebook indicates that "for long-term events, you may make the trade once per round."
p. 3 indicates that blue event cards must be taken into account when playing your action card.

Together, I take these to mean that you can only make the trade once, but that you can make it every turn, and around the time of your turn when you are using your action card.

These threads on BGG suggest the same thing. One of the posters cites an official Mayfair answer, but it's not linked anywhere.


Does Marchesa and a creature with modular work together?

Yes.

Both are triggered abilities, both would be added to the stack when the Arcbound Ravager dies and resolve independently. It's certainly possible, and indeed happens quite often in the game, that multiple triggered abilities trigger from the same event.


Additional/Made up roles in Resistance or Resistance avalon

Here's a few we like to play with. Names are a work in progress, and you do have to think through how you combine these roles, some combinations can be unbalanced. Also, for some reason most of these are Good Characters.
Oracle (Nimueh)
Ability: Once per round, (or once at the start of the game), can look at a single characters card.
Best In: Large games, where 5 cards isn't enough to know everything.
Options:

If Evil kills Nimueh instead of Merlin, it's a draw.
Instead of looking at a card, can look at one token a player in a mission has put.
Could be an Evil player as well. Note: This requires some balancing, because otherwise seeing Merlin's card is an instant win. Best is Oracle has separate win conditions: Wins by Failing Enough Missions, but Loses if Merlin dies.

King Arthur
Ability: At the start of the game, reveals his card. Is a Good player.
Best In: Smaller games, where his help in winning missions is cancelled out by making it easier to guess who Merlin is.
Options:

Limited number of missions he can take part in. (One or Two is best)
If he is on a losing mission, can no longer join missions. (Or, Good loses)

Witch
Ability: Once per game, can change a Fail token to Success. However, the next turn, one Success Token is changed to Fail
Best In: Any game, but can be a bit OP in combo with Arthur.
Options:

Sees tokens first, then changes.
Can also change a Success to Fail first, and then change a Fail to Success at any later turn.
Is an extra assigned role, meaning may be a Good or Evil character, or and one with another Role.

Cupid
Ability: At the start of the game, chooses two people to be lovers. Lovers see each others Character Cards. If Good falls in love with Evil, then the Good player wins if Evil does.
Best In: Any game
Options:

Instead of a Cupid character, start with a random pairing.
Evil converts to Good because of love.

Sir Robin
Ability: Is a Good Player, but can only play Fail Tokens.
Best In: Random Roles, i.e there may or may not be a Sir Robin in the game.
The Rat
Ability: Is an Evil Player. When included in a mission, after all tokens have been played, the rat can look at the tokens and change his if he wants.
Best In: Medium to Large games, where he won't be able to use his ability too many times.


Are you forced to play both abilities when you cast the spell?

Yes. Unless there are qualifiers ("may"/"up to" are popular ones), you must resolve all of a spell's effects.

  Is that because those are spell abilities, whereas in the first example above they are activated abilities?

Not quite. It is because you are never forced to activate (pay the cost) of an activated ability.

For the spell, you are rarely forced to cast a spell, but if you do choose to cast the spell, you must resolve all of the spell's effects.

  Is the following outline of what is supposed to happen when you play that spell correct?

You've got it. Normally, as part of putting a spell on the stack, you must also choose all of the targets of the spell. These targets are then checked for validity upon resolution. But that particular spell doesn't target, you "choose" the opponent(s) upon resolution.

  Since the abilities are both spell abilities, they don't go on the stack. So there is no counterplay possible once Intellectual Offering resolves. Is that correct?

You can (nearly) always respond to a spell on the stack, but if the spell has multiple effects, you must resolve all of them (and they cannot be responded to any longer) once the spell starts resolving.


Does my Scrabble play have to be all adjacent tiles?

No, they need only be in a single line.
For example, your EYE is allowed.
The official Scrabble rules has this legitimate example for playing FARM across a previous play of HORN:


My opponent used Huatli's ability with a creature that had died. Was that allowed?

No, that won't work. If your opponent's creature has died, your opponent no longer controls it, and Huatli's ability will not see it.

If your opponent wants to get the life for the creature that would die from the sweeper, he has to activate Huatli before casting the sweeper.

Once your opponent has cast the sweeper (MtG slang for a spell or ability that damages/destroys/exiles etc. multiple permanents), it's on the stack and nobody can respond to it with a planeswalker's loyalty ability:

  113.5. Some activated abilities are loyalty abilities. Loyalty abilities follow special rules: A player may activate a loyalty ability of a permanent they control any time they have priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of their turn [..]

The sweeper resolves and kills all applicable creatures. A creature that dies moves to the graveyard:

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

Objects in the graveyard have no controller:

  109.4. Only objects on the stack or on the battlefield have a controller. Objects that are neither on the stack nor on the battlefield aren’t controlled by any player.

"Creatures" is shorthand for "creature permanents", and permanents can only exist on the battlefield:

  109.2. If a spell or ability uses a description of an object that includes a card type or subtype, but doesn’t include the word “card,” “spell,” “source,” or “scheme,” it means a permanent of that card type or subtype on the battlefield.

Therefore, when Huatli's loyalty ability selects the greatest toughness among creatures you control, it only looks at your creatures on the battlefield.