I have noticed some queries have been raised concerning followers that you have to take when you encounter them (the poltergeist, the hag, etc), especially with regards to discarding/ditching them by other means.

I will refer to them as bad followers, as they seem to cause a hindrance rather than a help.

This discussion also applies to objects that you must take.

I believe there are four aspects where you can/cannot discard these followers:

1) You FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS on the card and that pesky follower gets discarded.

2) You are FORCED to discard/ditch a follower.

Examples include rolling a 1or 2 at the chasm, or discarding a follower at random.

In those cases, it is normally down to chance.

(The Cell space in the Dungeon says you MUST ditch one follower, but I've decided to put this in the next aspect as one might have more than one bad follower).

3) You are REQUIRED to discard/ditch a follower.

Examples include a Warlock's Quest, the Temple, the Cell in the Dungeon (that space does say MUST), or rolling a 2 for the Reaper (whose card says that one follower determined at random MUST be discarded).

My opinion is that if you have other followers that you chose to take, then only these can be discarded.

But what if the only followers you have are bad ones (i.e. you only have the poltergeist and the jester), or just one bad follower such as the hag?

In the latter case, would the fact you only have one bad follower be acceptable for discarding?

If so, what if you have more than one? Do you select one at random if it's a MUST scenario? If it's not a MUST scenario, can you still discard one at random, or ignore the instructions?

Also, would ditching the other followers, so you have only bad followers so you can get rid of one of them, then try to get the other followers back by returning to the space on a later turn, be acceptable?

4) You are given the CHOICE to discard followers amongst other choices.

Examples include the Vampire's Tower, and the Shrine Priest from the Cadorus deck of the Dragon expansion.

In both cases, you have the choice of losing a life, or losing a follower if you have any.

In my opinion, if you only have bad followers, then you can only choose the other option, even if you only have one life left.

Anyways, these are just my thoughts, and not a be-all-and-end-all.

I am sure we can all agree on the first aspect, and the second aspect was referred to in the FAQs.

But I realise that others will have different views on the other the second, third and fourth aspects.

If you have other views, you are welcome to raise them here.

So called bad Followers can be forcefully or voluntarily discarded in any given situation. You don't have to discard so called good Followers over bad Followers either.

In your 4th scenario a character is given the choice what to do. It does not matter whether he has just bad Followers.

So called bad Followers can be forcefully or voluntarily discarded in any given situation. You don't have to discard so called good Followers over bad Followers either.

In your 4th scenario a character is given the choice what to do. It does not matter whether he has just bad Followers.

We also play it like this as your only being instructed on the fact that you've to take the follower (and that you can't leave it on the board). Although, the old editions of the game made more sense having the hag and poltergeist listed as events, one reson among others is the fact that you're currently having a curse as a follower, what the hag does after cursing you is irrelevant. Another is that we wouldn't have these discussions about how to ditch them. On the other hand to treat them as events would make gypsy (if my memory serves me correctly, and she's the one who can ignore events) better instead.

The follower's effects are irrelevant in all cases. Followers and objects you must take cannot be ditched, but that's the only additional rule.

Older editions made some distinction, but not this one.

It appears I may be wrong about the third and fourth aspects, and that is fine.

Many thanks.

And one can assume that you can do the same for bad objects.

For example, to get rid of the False Grail, you need to visit the Castle.

But you can use alternate methods i.e. it can be alchemised if you are the Alchemist character, have the Alchemist follower, or visit the Alchemist in the City.