According to the AH rulebook, an investigator who has explored a gate "may now attempt to close the gate." What if the investigator wants to wait a turn -- say they have The King In Yellow tome, but are a few clues short for sealing and want to wait until next turn to seal the gate. Should the investigator be forced to try and close the gate anyway, take an Arkham Encounter card for the location instead, of simply pass on an action? We play that the investigator can either attempt to close or have an AE instead -- which recently lead to an investigator at the Woods getting beaten up by the Sheldon Gang and moving to the street.

Does anyone else play this way? Are we a strange group?

We play that you do not have to close the gate once you explored it. If you want to wait another turn to delay or anticipate a key event, that may work in the investigators' favor.

However, you cannot have an Arkham Encounter if the gate is still open.

JerusalemJones said:

If an investigator does not want to seal or close a gate for whatever reason, when they first come out, they then have to deal with the fact that after their first turn out, their investigator does not have immunities from attacks; nevertheless, the normal game rule is that while there is a gate on a location, there is no location, hence nowhere to have encounters ;') but, of course, you can do whatever you want, you strange strange group.

Avi_dreader said:

It's not that strange; my group has done this too. Having a tome that provides clue tokens is the usual motive for waiting.

I think that when the rulebook says "you may", it's really just trying to contrast it to all the times when you may not attempt to close a gate (such as when you've just stepped on to it).

However it seems like an interesting tactical choice for the investigators in some situations, so I don't see any harm in letting people opt out of the check. You shouldn't really get the encounter though.

I've had a couple other reasons for waiting. A couple times I've ended up with another investigator in that same other world (due to a nightgaunt or some other effect) and waited to seal the gate so they wouldn't be LiTaS. Or waiting out the environment Mythos card that stops you from sealing gates.

thecorinthian said:

No no no. The strange part is having encounters on a location when a gate is open there. I also wait for clues sometimes. I've even sacrificed a character before if I needed a gate sealed in a rush and for some reason lost clues (so I'd run someone through with a tome or an elder sign to give to the investigator who had explored, then I'd seal the gate on them, heh).

Well, there are many situations when it is advisable to wait a turn or two before trying to close a gate.

As has already been mentioned, you may want to wait for another investigator to return from the other world or to hand you an elder sign or something which can be used in place of clue markers or maybe you want to synchronize efforts with other investigators ready to close gates (Atlach Nacha comes to mind).

While you do not (and cannot) have normal encounters while the gate is open, it's still a somewhat dangerous gamble because monsters may enter the location while you're there (either from normal monster movement or from monster floods).

jhaelen said:

Only Stalkers can enter a location from the street (Flyers if you're at D. Reef or that one Environment is in play) and Greens might move onto you. Monster surge can more than 2 on you, but rarely. Then it's luck of the draw what that one monster is.

Of course, Dam, when jhaelen says "enters," he means, "via monster surge." It is a gamble. Last night I had Pete waiting on a gate because he spent too many clue tokens. While waiting for another investigator to deliver an Elder Sign, a Formless Spawn appeared on him, and then a Hound of Tindalos moved onto him. Luckily he had the Golden Sword, the Enchanted Knife, and a blessing. And a guitar and dog I guess, but they don't do much.

Tibs said:

Why does he then put this in brackets: "either from normal monster movement or from monster floods"?

Dam said:

Stalkers? Hounds?

Avi_dreader said:

That's what I said, but then the other end of our Zhar, Tibs, went off on some weird, magical trip .

Dam said:

I'm the Magical Immunity half. Dam is the Physical Immunity half, but he is also immune to shotgun. BEWARE.

Tibs said:

BS! I will clueshotgun Dam!

Thanks for the clarifications, Dam & Tibs! I was just being too lazy for a more detailed response ( and have to remember that 'Monsterflut' is called a monster surge in the original rules...). Cheers!