Basic Game Rules Questions and Some Innsmouth Ones as well

By MegamanX, in Arkham Horror Second Edition

Sorry, if these have been asked before. I tried using the search functionality of the forums, but it was kind of useless.

Basic Game Rules Questions:

  1. Has there been official clarification on what happens to an investigator when they fail an evade check (either before combat begins or during) against Nightguants, Dimensional Shamblers and the like?
  2. There are some Arkham and Other World encounter cards which instruct the investigator to close an open gate. Can the investigator claim the gate as a trophy? Can the investigator use clues and/or an elder sign to seal the location that gate was on? Just an example of a card I'm referring to: An other world card says, "You've completed your task, but now you must escape before the portal closes! Pass a Speed (-2) check to return to Arkham. If you fail, you are lost in time and space. In either event, you automatically close the gate you entered through."

Innsmouth Rules Questions:

  1. Can an investigator move to Devil's Reef when returning from being LiTaS? Can an investigator use the patrol wagon to reach Devil's Reef? Basically, is Falcon Point the only legal way to reach Devil's Reef?
  2. An other world encounter for Yuggoth reads, "The spores that the alien creatures implanted beneath your skin are changing you... Return to Arkham, but keep this card. Each time a new gate opens, draw 1 Spell and place a Clue token on this card. If there are 1-3 Clues on this card, you gain a +1 bonus to all Fight and Lore checks. if there are 4 Clues, treat all Sanity costs for spells as 0. If there are 5 Clues on this card, you are devoured." Alright, so the other night we were playing a game and one of the players gained this card. Later on, he obtained "The Messenger" as an ally. "The Messenger" allows an investigator to discard him instead of being devoured. What are some thoughts on the interaction between the two cards? The main issue I have is that the card doesn't say to discard in the case of being devoured. After using "The Messenger", would an investigator keep the other world card? If this is allowed would the investigator gain a spell everytime a gate opens with no penalty, remember the card specifically says 5 Clues and not "5 or more Clues" for the devoured condition. I have the feeling that the card probably should have said, "If there are 5 Clues on this card, discard this card and you are devoured."
  3. Concerning "The Messenger" and his avoid being devoured ability again. When in a battle with an Ancient One, how would this work? For example, Battling Rhan-Tegoth, if an investigator has "The Messenger" and loses all his stamina, can "The Messenger" save him? There are other Ancient Ones were I think it gets a bit tricky with "The Messenger" in play.

Thanks for any insight. And if any of you think these questions are valid for the FAQ project then please feel free to move them to there.

You can extrapolate from another ruling on what happens if you fail an evade check vs. nightgaunts, etc. (I believe it was the one referring to The Beast). Failing an evade check means you fail a round of combat. Play accordingly.

From my reading of the new FAQ it looks like cards that say close a gate *mean* close a gate. You can't put in extra clues or an elder sign to seal them.

I think it needs to be asked whether they get to keep the trophy though (although personally I'd think they would, after all, they closed the gate, and you are supposed to be able to take a gate trophy if you close it). I'll ask though.

Innsmouth Patrol Wagon/Migo Brain Case/LITAS still hasn't been appropriately clarified in the FAQ (I'll write up a question addressing them all). Devil's reef does shut down with Tsathoggua though (ugh).

The new FAQ clarifies a bunch of Messenger devoured situations. The Yuggoth card is not one of them. He would not help you against Rhan though. That one can be extrapolated from the list. Unfortunately, I don't know if the Yuggoth card is a continual state of devouring or a discard at five type thing. I would imagine he could prevent you from being devoured.

MegamanX said:

Sorry, if these have been asked before. I tried using the search functionality of the forums, but it was kind of useless.

Basic Game Rules Questions:

  1. Has there been official clarification on what happens to an investigator when they fail an evade check (either before combat begins or during) against Nightguants, Dimensional Shamblers and the like?
  2. There are some Arkham and Other World encounter cards which instruct the investigator to close an open gate. Can the investigator claim the gate as a trophy? Can the investigator use clues and/or an elder sign to seal the location that gate was on? Just an example of a card I'm referring to: An other world card says, "You've completed your task, but now you must escape before the portal closes! Pass a Speed (-2) check to return to Arkham. If you fail, you are lost in time and space. In either event, you automatically close the gate you entered through."

Innsmouth Rules Questions:

  1. Can an investigator move to Devil's Reef when returning from being LiTaS? Can an investigator use the patrol wagon to reach Devil's Reef? Basically, is Falcon Point the only legal way to reach Devil's Reef?
  2. An other world encounter for Yuggoth reads, "The spores that the alien creatures implanted beneath your skin are changing you... Return to Arkham, but keep this card. Each time a new gate opens, draw 1 Spell and place a Clue token on this card. If there are 1-3 Clues on this card, you gain a +1 bonus to all Fight and Lore checks. if there are 4 Clues, treat all Sanity costs for spells as 0. If there are 5 Clues on this card, you are devoured." Alright, so the other night we were playing a game and one of the players gained this card. Later on, he obtained "The Messenger" as an ally. "The Messenger" allows an investigator to discard him instead of being devoured. What are some thoughts on the interaction between the two cards? The main issue I have is that the card doesn't say to discard in the case of being devoured. After using "The Messenger", would an investigator keep the other world card? If this is allowed would the investigator gain a spell everytime a gate opens with no penalty, remember the card specifically says 5 Clues and not "5 or more Clues" for the devoured condition. I have the feeling that the card probably should have said, "If there are 5 Clues on this card, discard this card and you are devoured."
  3. Concerning "The Messenger" and his avoid being devoured ability again. When in a battle with an Ancient One, how would this work? For example, Battling Rhan-Tegoth, if an investigator has "The Messenger" and loses all his stamina, can "The Messenger" save him? There are other Ancient Ones were I think it gets a bit tricky with "The Messenger" in play.

Thanks for any insight. And if any of you think these questions are valid for the FAQ project then please feel free to move them to there.

Avi_dreader said:

From my reading of the new FAQ it looks like cards that say close a gate *mean* close a gate. You can't put in extra clues or an elder sign to seal them.

Doesn't happen that often, but still seems kinda harsh.

Dam said:

Avi_dreader said:

From my reading of the new FAQ it looks like cards that say close a gate *mean* close a gate. You can't put in extra clues or an elder sign to seal them.

Doesn't happen that often, but still seems kinda harsh.

Agreed. But it's possible they decided to do it that way just to reduce confusion. I'll ask again, just to make sure.

Avi_dreader said:

Innsmouth Patrol Wagon/Migo Brain Case/LITAS still hasn't been appropriately clarified in the FAQ (I'll write up a question addressing them all). Devil's reef does shut down with Tsathoggua though (ugh).

You mean Falcon Point? If Tsathoggua shuts down Devil Reef's "accursed" ability, it would be a good thing, but totally counterintuitive.

I think we should get them to say that Tsathoggua shuts down all abilities that use the word "may" somewhere in the extra text. Falcon Point does, Devil's Reef does not.

It already does that, more or less. Tsathoggua's ability means that investigator's can't use a location's special ability. But the special abilities of Devil Reef and Y'ha-nthlei can't be "used" in the first place.

Tsath doesn't shut down the train station so it doesn't become impossible to travel to expansion board locations, so I just assumed that the same applied to Falcon Point for the same reason.

avec said:

Avi_dreader said:

Innsmouth Patrol Wagon/Migo Brain Case/LITAS still hasn't been appropriately clarified in the FAQ (I'll write up a question addressing them all). Devil's reef does shut down with Tsathoggua though (ugh).

You mean Falcon Point? If Tsathoggua shuts down Devil Reef's "accursed" ability, it would be a good thing, but totally counterintuitive.

Errr yeah, sorry, brain glitch ;')