When playing with 'The Gauntlet' alternative ending, how are the encounters in the inner region treated? For example, one player is on the Plain of Peril, and he succeds with his Nether Realm card encounter. A replacement card is drawn for the next player to encounter. On the next turn another player then crosses the Portal of Power. In what order shall he/she face the card/player already on the Plain of Peril? Say she wants to have a battle with the player already there to steal his Talisman or other object of interest. Is the character encounter or the card encounter resolved first? Also, on any other space in outer-/middle region, encountering a character prevents the 'attacker' from encountering the space. Is this also true for inner region; i.e. can a player skip encountering a Nether Realm card on Plain of Peril/Valley of Fire/Crown of command by encountering the player instead? This seems to be against the rules of The Gauntlet, but in line with the basic rules.

If, on the Crown of Command, a player draws Nightmare (same craft including bonuses as the player) and the Nether Drake (craft 6), can he turn back or must he stay and lose (unless he has the Cross to destroy Nigthmare) and thus lose the game? I guess the question is: if you go from the Valley of Fire to the Crown of Command, while there are Nether Realm cards that you cannot beat, are you still considered to be 'on' the Crown of Command, i.e. you cannot turn back as per the regular rules, or do these rules apply after you have successfully encountered the cards? And if you in fact are considered to be on the Crown of Command, would you not win the game since The Gauntlet states that the first player to reach it and survive is the winner?

I am almost certain that if you encounter unbeatable cards on the Crown of Command, it's tough luck and you're doomed, as with a hidden boss that you can't beat.

Jon New is the best person to answer the rest of your questions but I will also provide a list of questions which arose for our group! Some are the same as yours.

1. Can encountering a character on the PoP/VoF allow a player to "skip" Nether Cards in the same way he skips them on a normal space? (We assume yes, simply because the alternative would be, "Players can't move forward off the PoP/VoF unless they encounter the space, but they can use spells like Transference..." I can see why it was left out of the ending! So it might be against the spirit of the ending but we have always assumed encountering characters leads to skipping cards just for consistency of rules.)

2. If you fail to resolve a Nether Card, does it remain face-up on the space for the next character (you or someone else) to encounter? (We assume yes.)

3. Are face-down cards moved or affected by game effects? (We assume no; until they are turned face-up, we play as if they do not exist.) We assume face-up cards ARE affected by game effects.

4. When are Nether Cards replaced on non-Crown spaces? (We assume that when there are no more Nether Cards on a space, including face-up and face-down cards, a new face-down card is placed at end of turn .)

5. Are Nether Cards replaced on the Crown of Command? (We assume no, the replacement rule does not apply to the Crown of Command. This ensures a player is not required to resolve both cards in a single turn to win, but it has the side effect of allowing a second player to only resolve one card when he catches up.)

6. Can players encounter each other on the Crown of Command instead of the cards/space? (We assume yes, but the victory condition is that the first player to resolve all the cards on the Crown of Command wins the game.)

7. If you encounter your own space (i.e. fail the Crypt, Death, Werewolf, Mines, Pitfiends and repeat it), do you encounter Nether Cards? (We assume no, you will have replaced the Nether Card on your previous turn, but encountering your own space in the Inner Region means you are immune from encountering Nether Cards until you leave the space).

This thread was very interesting but has been lost, waiting for Jon New's answers. Let's bring it up and perhaps he will manifest himself.

I give you my impressions and thoughts.

1. Can encountering a character on the PoP/VoF allow a player to "skip" Nether Cards in the same way he skips them on a normal space? (We assume yes, simply because the alternative would be, "Players can't move forward off the PoP/VoF unless they encounter the space, but they can use spells like Transference..." I can see why it was left out of the ending! So it might be against the spirit of the ending but we have always assumed encountering characters leads to skipping cards just for consistency of rules.)

(...)

6. Can players encounter each other on the Crown of Command instead of the cards/space? (We assume yes, but the victory condition is that the first player to resolve all the cards on the Crown of Command wins the game.)

I think characters can encounter each other on PoP, VoF and CoC, but they cannot move away/win the game until they have successfully encountered the prescribed number of the Nether Cards for the space (1 card on all Inner Region spaces, 2 cards on CoC). In other words, this is not a good way to skip the challenges of the Gauntlet.

2. If you fail to resolve a Nether Card, does it remain face-up on the space for the next character (you or someone else) to encounter? (We assume yes.)

(...)

7. If you encounter your own space (i.e. fail the Crypt, Death, Werewolf, Mines, Pitfiends and repeat it), do you encounter Nether Cards? (We assume no, you will have replaced the Nether Card on your previous turn, but encountering your own space in the Inner Region means you are immune from encountering Nether Cards until you leave the space).

The Gauntlet card does not give instructions for these cases, but they all fall into the same category: "having to encounter a space again without having completed all challenges on it, either Nether Cards or space challenges". I give you my ideas.

If a character comes while another character is on a space with a faceup (=not resolved) Nether Card, the coming character should encounter the faceup card (along with another card on CoC, either faceup or facedown). If successful he must draw a new Nether Card for the other character to face on his next turn. I know this could be tricky to handle on the Crown of Command in some cases.

If a character has already successfully encountered a Nether Card on his space, his obligation is fulfilled and can forget about it.

The key to understand how it works is the "landing on" wording. A character lands on a space when he finishes his movement there; if he starts his turn on a space, he's not landing anymore, so he won't be dragged into a Nether Card loop if he doesn't overcome the challenges of the space, nor is he relieved if another character defeats the challenge he was unable to beat.

3. Are face-down cards moved or affected by game effects? (We assume no; until they are turned face-up, we play as if they do not exist.) We assume face-up cards ARE affected by game effects.

Unfortunately the rules do not say “placed faceup on the board”, just "placed on the board", but like you I think Nether Cards shall not be affected when facedown.

4. When are Nether Cards replaced on non-Crown spaces? (We assume that when there are no more Nether Cards on a space, including face-up and face-down cards, a new face-down card is placed at end of turn .)

You're probably right, the cards are replaced only when they have been successfully encountered. There shouldn't be faceup and facedown cards on a non-CoC space at the same time, though.

5. Are Nether Cards replaced on the Crown of Command? (We assume no, the replacement rule does not apply to the Crown of Command. This ensures a player is not required to resolve both cards in a single turn to win, but it has the side effect of allowing a second player to only resolve one card when he catches up.)

They are replaced, but as said before only a character "landing" on the CoC will have to encounter facedown cards, as well as faceup cards. If a character has 1 card yet to defeat and that card is defeated by another character, who doesn't win the game with that action, then he has to encounter a new Nether Card.

You must admit that some of these cases are very unlikely to happen.