Yup, sorry for hijacking the thread.

As said, rules seem to be pretty clear on how long a spell cast remains in effect, so that Zebulon seems to allow recasting of the same spell in case the usual conditions are met.

If you cast it and fail, you can't use that hand for that round of combat, but that's it, you can refresh & recast and use it with your other hand. Point is that using a spell "blocks" you one (or two hands), not having the card exhausted.

If you're still bothered by this, just play it the way you feel more comfortable with. Or use Ockham's razor and ask FFG, Tim usually is rather quick in covering Arkham questions.

Semiaddict,

If I understand her position entirely, I'm in full agreement with Julia. While an Investigator with this Ally may fail to cast the spell and lose the ability of that hand AND exhaust the spell, he may un-exhaust it the very next round against the same monster in combat. Additionally, if an Investigator were to cast Wither and defeat a Cultist in the location, alongside a Ghoul, the Investigator, through the use of the Ally may unexhaust the Wither Spell and attempt to defeat the Ghoul. He's a great Ally.

Cheers,

Joe

Yes, Joe, that was my exact reading of the card, thanks for help in wording it in a proper English!

Page 3 of the official arkham FAQ version 2.0 states:

Weapons and Spell Limits

(page 15 in the first printing of the

Arkham Horror

rules)

A spell or weapon that gives you a bonus (even one that

says it lasts until the end of combat) only continues to give

you the bonus while you devote the required number of

hands to it. You can choose to switch weapons/spells in

later combat rounds, but as soon as you “release” a spell or

weapon, it stops working for you. Similarly, spells that are

refreshed (such as at the beginning of each combat round

in the Final Battle) cease to work and must be re-cast.

Thanks for all the input

LOL

I missed this part in the FAQ entry I quoted earlier

" Similarly, spells that are refreshed (such as at the beginning of each combat round in the Final Battle) cease to work and must be re-cast "

Then you're totally correct (and Tibs was correct as well). Sorry guys for the misleading answer

Julia ,

No problem, my friend! By the, I'm home safe and sound...Susan is still in Germany visiting a school friend from Hong Kong.

Reynier ,

I hope my post made sense as that's exactly what I stated and how I play it.

Cheers,

Joe

I took Julia's advice and went to FFG on this. Here's the response (not from Tim but from Daniel Clark):

And this is in clear contrast with the quoted FAQ:

" Similarly, spells that are refreshed (such as at the beginning of each combat round in the Final Battle) cease to work and must be re-cast "

This is the second time in few days that Daniel gives an answer not compatible with the rules. Really, I miss Tim

EDIT: I misread the implications of the answer. Thanks Tibs

Julia,

Inconsistency is one of the many charming things about FFG games...wait, no, not really...

Cheers,

Joe

Julia: I think you should scrutinize Dan's answer again. I don't think he's saying that refreshing it allows the bonuses to stack: I think he's saying that, by virtue of the fact that you failed the check in the first place, you're still forced to make the first combat check with that hand used up. Whether or not you get the +6 bonus will depend on whether or not you attempt to cast it again before making the combat check and pass.

Note that Dan is referring to if you failed the spell check the first time and would like another go at it. He has not indicated that you could pass the check, refresh the spell, and then immediately pass it again to get a +12 for the next combat round.

Uh, correct, thanks Chris.