1. BACKGROUND :

I've read the FAQ and 4ed Errata and Rule Update v1.1 and they do not explicitly address this question - that appears silly on its face, until one contemplates the implications.

I understand that Adventure cards Drawn during a character's turn having the same encounter number must be encountered in the order drawn.

I also understand that Face-up Cards must be encountered in the order of their encounter number - with "no number" cards being treated as "0" (encountered before any cards with encounter numbers).

2. PROBLEM:

I have recently seen the assertion that Face-up cards with the same encounter number must be encountered in the order drawn (or the order ditched )

I believe this is a misapplication of the ordering rule for encountering Drawn cards with the same encounter number.

3. IMPLICATIONS

Sustaining this assertion would intrude into the fun of playing Talisman, by requiring tracking of the exact order EVERY card came into play,... or was ditched during a game.

Worse, this interpretation guarantee's the counter-intuitive scenario where a character attempting to pick up a mixture of objects and followers ditched by a character that was "killed" or "toadified" would be unable to "pick up" all the objects because they would be unable to first pick up the object carrying followers (porter, mule, horse & cart, etc.) that were carrying them - even though ***followers and objects generally have the same encounter number***

3. REQUEST FOR CLARIFICATION:

Could someone authoritative please definitively state whether (or not) characters can encounter Face-up cards with the same encounter number in ANY order the character desires.(when no new cards are drawn)?

Cheers,

ChaoticOne

Official rules maintain that cards with the same encounter number must be resolved in the order drawn. The rule was likely designed to deal with "just-drawn" cards, neglecting to clarify how this applies to face-up cards.

The Digital Edition reinforces this rule by tracking draw order for all cards. Currently, there is no official alternative.

It is impractical to track these numbers in face-to-face play. Thus, players are left to their own devices to use a substitute rule. Commonly, players simply encounter cards of the same number in the order of their choice.

In such a swingy and imbalanced game, the difference is insignificant.

3. REQUEST FOR CLARIFICATION:

Could someone authoritative please definitively state whether (or not) characters can encounter Face-up cards with the same encounter number in ANY order the character desires.(when no new cards are drawn)?

Cheers,

ChaoticOne

As Artaterxes stated it the way it is... DE is the only way this can be tracked, per the rules. Most people, and I think in all fairness the best alternative, is allowing you to choose the order in which you encounter them for the board game.

I agree, the character sees ahead there is a shrine and a cave, which do they check out first, I would say maybe in the very rare circumstance where there are multiple events already on a space to randomly encounter them, as it doesn't make sense to allow a character to choose the order of events.