Question on Trish's personal story...

What qualifies as an "encounter", for passing?

I'm assuming that grabbing two tokens off the board during movement doesn't count, and anything as a result of an encounter card (either Arkham encounters or Other World encounters) do. How about the science building, though; does that count as an "encounter"?

I'm inclined to say that the Science Building does not count, seeing as the text on the board reads, "Instead of an encounter".

Yeah, i've wondered that myself. I can see it both ways, i suppose in the most technical sense, location abilities replace one's encounter. But I guess I always thought of them more as 'alternate encounters'.. I dunno, I think leaving the science building open to her might be okay. It's just so tough to complete her story without it. I've lost her story at least 3 times by the second mythos card, and 2 of those 3 times were with Dagon, before Trish even got a turn.

Bitchiness aside, why should getting Anna Kaslow via encounter at Independence win Trish's mission, but picking Anna up at the boarding house doesn't give you the same benifit?

and aside from that, where is the best location to pick up multiple clues at once? I'm thinking possibly Hibbs Roadhouse?

awp832 said:

Unnamable has that one encounter that doubles your Clues, but if you get more than 3 you're Cursed . Does doubling actually count? I'd be tempted to hit STL though. Nothing to back that up, just for kicks (Spy + crazy lodge). Hibb's is nice, especially if you're packing less than $3 . All of the 4 big 'uns should have multiple clue encounters.

Taking the alternate board elements count as an encounter for purposes of passing missions and tasks, so it should count for personal stories as well.

-Frank

Frank said:

Neither Tasks or Missions require an encounter. For Tasks just need to be at the location at the end of your Arkham Encounter phase (could do Wilson's ability, instead of thingy at Science Building). Missions are done during Upkeep, so encounter isn't required either, though happens in most cases.

Dam said:

Actually, steps of Tasks are done during Upkeep phase just like Missions. It doesn't say it in the rules, but I believe one of Kevin's responses said that a task is just like a mission, but the "sacrifice" made during the Upkeep phase is nothing.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, or hook me up with a quote if I'm right.

Wow, haven't heard/read that.

Hehe, Trish should go hunting for "a monster appears" encounters and hope to draw Warlock .

Tibs said:

The rulebook says you only have to spend your Arkham Encounter Phase in the designated boardspace (and not get "thrown out", I assume). That should be enough to accomplish a Task step. You have to wait until the following Upkeep Phase to perform a Mission's Sacrifice, so if you are tossed out by a "Closed" Mythos card or surprise Gate opening, tough luck.

I'm not going to "correct you if you're wrong", but I've never heard of such a Kevin quote.

I'd agree that using a special ability is not an encounter. I'm pretty sure it specifically doesn't count on rift duty.

That said, I think one of my most disliked rules in the game is that location specials are used (with excptions such as Gilman's) instead of taking an encounter. I'd much rather play take the special after an encounter. Certain locations such as the shops are so underexplored in terms of encounters. And if there is a balance of positive and negative encounters it wouldn't necessarily make the game easier to play encounter first.

- Mariana the ex-nun cultist

Mariana the Ex-Nun Cultist said:

You like to play Ursula Downs then, I take it ?

Ursual kind of undermined the idea of allowing evrey investigator to do this. As a special I don't think much of it, too ambivalent as to whether it will be good or bad for the investigator. More fun though

- Mariana the ex-nun cultist

jgt7771 said:

Actually, the rulebook is self-contradictory. The main text says that "merely spending an Arkham Encounter Phase in the listed areas is enough to complete each step" for a task, but the sidebar example says "Had Jim been working on a Task instead of a Mission, he would not have needed to make a sacrifice at each location. Instead, merely being present in the location during the Upkeep Phase would have sufficed."

My intuition is that the Upkeep Phase is the correct one, and the main text is attempting (poorly) to emphasize the lack of need for a sacrifice for tasks, rather than intending to actually have them completed during the Encounter Phase, but I haven't seen anything official.

Mariana the Ex-Nun Cultist said:

I'm pretty sure those count as encounters. Kevin answered that a while back, though it doesn't appear to have landed in his official answers. I remember because I argued that the English was pretty clear that an "instead of an encounter" shouldn't be an encounter. He said it was. I hoped to be proved wrong. If no one else remembers this, that's OK too.

IIRC he went so far as so say Wilson's special ability also counts as an encounter.

Also, I can't find where Kingsport "specifically" outlaws special encounters.

I too wish the special ability was in addition to a normal encounter. However I have played it that way, the game is much harder and much longer.

I guess you could always play Ursula if you wanted more encounters.

Lactamaeon said:

There we go, thank you. I guess rules right out of the book counts as a "Kevin quote" according to my memory. When both statements are taken together, it is clear that you do not merely accomplish the step of your task by having an encounter. You have to be at the location during Upkeep. When taken independently, I can see how the confusion arises.