Mythos Event Conflict

By any2cards, in Mansions of Madness

Today, a Mythos Event caused me to acquire damage that resulted in me ending up wounded (damage greater than or equal to my over all health value).

When you are wounded, you are suppose to discard all of your face down damage cards.

Part of the above Mythos Event that caused me to take additional damage and resulted me in being wounded also stated that after taking the damage, I was to turn face up all of my damage cards and resolve those now face up cards.

So, what occurs first? Do I finish the Mythos event and turn over all of my face down damage cards and resolve them, -OR-

Since I am now wounded, do I get rid of all of them without turning them over and resolving them?

(NOTE: Due to the type of cards I had, this would make a big difference).

My friends and I had this same scenario happen on the last gaming session and being that the rules reference specified wounded as a state reached upon a threshold of damage, we unanimously interpreted it as being an immediate effect, thereby modifying the Mythos event's outcome.

My friends and I had this same scenario happen on the last gaming session and being that the rules reference specified wounded as a state reached upon a threshold of damage, we unanimously interpreted it as being an immediate effect, thereby modifying the Mythos event's outcome.

We did the same. We figured that once you reached a state of wounded, that superseded anything else, including the on-going mythos event.

I just wonder if it is the correct ruling. After re-reading the entire set of rules (learn to play, rules reference, unofficial FAQ), I still haven't found anything "official".

Thanks for your input ! At least this way, I am in the current majority :D

I think the rules reference is pretty clear on this and the good news is you played it right. Straight from the rules reference:

"If an effect cause an investigator to suffer Damage in excess of his health, he suffers all Damage from that effect before becoming Wounded and discarding his facedown Damage"

The moment your health is equal to or greater than the damage received you complete the wounding effect which would clear off the facedown cards. Then per your wording the ,"after taking the damage" you would resolve the mythos effect and flip any cards face up. Clearly at this point, all facedown cards are are all removed thanks to being wounded.

I think the rules reference is pretty clear on this ...

To be honest, I disagree that the rules reference is clear at all on this. This basically comes down to a timing issue, and which takes effect first. I can see someone taking the position that you are in the middle of a mythos event, and need to process it, and all of its effects completely, before moving on to the result of those effects ... the fact that SOME of those results ended up in you being wounded, does not necessarily mitigate the immediate need of processing ALL of those results.

The Rules Reference never states anywhere that the moment you become wounded, you immediately stop processing anything currently occurring, and move on to the wounded rules.

Again, I would disagree with that position, but I can understand how it could be argued thus ...

Edited by any2cards

Right, so you would also suffer any effects from that extra damage. For example if an excess damage card caused you to take horror then flip the damage card. You would still take that point of horror before you were wounded. Then the damage cards would be removed. That scenario also correct?

Right, so you would also suffer any effects from that extra damage. For example if an excess damage card caused you to take horror then flip the damage card. You would still take that point of horror before you were wounded. Then the damage cards would be removed. That scenario also correct?

This is essentially what we are debating. Some feel that the moment you become wounded, you ignore all of the other instructions that may exist (part of the mythos event which in my case was to flip over all of the damage cards face up and do what they say), and remove all of the damage cards and do nothing else.

Some feel you complete the mythos event (performing everything in the mythos event including flipping the damage cards faceup and processing them), before becoming wounded and removing all face down damage cards.

There is a significant difference here, and I really would love to know the proper way to play this.

Depending on the wording... you definitely take all the damage before you get wounded, which may possibly give you horror or conditions. But then you're wounded and discard face down damage. You definitely don't wait till the end of the mythos to get wounded, it is immediate. So depending on the wording, if it said 'take damage AND flip damage cards' then both would happen. But if it said 'take damage THEN flip damage cards' you could argue you become wounded before that happens. That would be my opinion.

So depending on the wording, if it said 'take damage AND flip damage cards' then both would happen. But if it said 'take damage THEN flip damage cards' you could argue you become wounded before that happens. That would be my opinion.

This is an interesting distinction, and not one I considered. To be honest, due to my advanced age (75), I cannot remember the precise wording. If we run into this again, perhaps your suggestion is the one to implement.

I think I am going to pose this question to FFG and see what they have to say.

Right, so you would also suffer any effects from that extra damage. For example if an excess damage card caused you to take horror then flip the damage card. You would still take that point of horror before you were wounded. Then the damage cards would be removed. That scenario also correct?

I would agree with you boar. You take all the damage, resolve any face up stuff, then you go through the wounded steps, then complete any after taking damage items.

I think the rules reference is pretty clear on this ...

To be honest, I disagree that the rules reference is clear at all on this. This basically comes down to a timing issue, and which takes effect first. I can see someone taking the position that you are in the middle of a mythos event, and need to process it, and all of its effects completely, before moving on to the result of those effects ... the fact that SOME of those results ended up in you being wounded, does not necessarily mitigate the immediate need of processing ALL of those results.

The Rules Reference never states anywhere that the moment you become wounded, you immediately stop processing anything currently occurring, and move on to the wounded rules.

Again, I would disagree with that position, but I can understand how it could be argued thus ...

I will agree it would be helpful to have a chart and breakdown the timing of each step, but I do think it is clear if the wording you stated was correct (I haven't seen that effect yet so I am trusting you here). Let's look at this in separate parts:

1. What is receiving and when does it end?

Per the RRG When an effect causes an investigator to suffer Damage or Horror, he claims the top card of the Damage deck or Horror deck, respectively." Based on this once all the cards are drawn and face up cards are resolved, all damage has been dealt.

2. When does a character become wounded?

As stated above when the character has suffered wounds equal to or greater than their health, with the sidenote that effects require you to go above your health you draw all the cards.

If the effect states after "damage is dealt," I believe there is a check prior that overrides everything to this triggering to see if anyone is wounded. I can't prove it with a chart but there is nothing between the instructions for being wounded and receiving damage to tell me otherwise. It seems clear that once an "investigator has suffered Damage—whether faceup or facedown—equal to or exceeding his health, that investigator becomes Wounded." The RRG even elaborates that you would take damage above your health from an effect, but is silent on effect resolution because they are probably relying on what the effect says. If the effect says take damage and then flip I would view it differently. I think this is important wording because taking damage and flipping would almost create the opportunity to one shot an investigator and end the game.

In short, "after damage is dealt" flip the cards is the key here.

This is a great question though and worthy of discussion.

I tried to spend all this time spelling it out and neo beat me to it. Either way happy investigating everyone!

I view the wounded/insane rules as constantly polling their respective conditions throughout the game; therefore their effect is immediately resolved as soon as requirements are met.

Hence; if there are no more damage cards, they can't be flipped. Mythos events and other encounters don't handle exceptions so it falls upon the player/s to deduce this. It's akin to if a player is instructed to drop, say, a unique item card at random, but the player doesn't have any.

Edited by Aelitafrommars

I have submitted this question to FFG, and provided a link to this thread, so that they can see some of the excellent points and discussion they have elicited.

I will post the response when I get one.

I have submitted this question to FFG, and provided a link to this thread, so that they can see some of the excellent points and discussion they have elicited.

I will post the response when I get one.

Just sit and wait, sent a couple of questions and bug reports (on MoM and RtL) a month ago and nothing ... :mellow:

I have finally received the following response from FFG (albeit 3 months later):

Message body
Hi Will,

I apologize for the time it has taken to get back to your questions! The hectic nature of the last few months has been unprecedented, and I am only just now getting the time to respond to rules questions. You should never have to wait this long for a rules answer from me again.

An investigator can get wounded during a mythos event and is not required to resolve all parts of a mythos event before becoming wounded. So in the case of a mythos event where an investigator suffers Damage and is then instructed after suffering Damage to flip all their Damage faceup, the investigator would suffer all the Damage, resolve becoming wounded, and then resolve flipping Damage faceup.

Thank you for your patience,
Kara Centell-Dunk
Game Developer
Fantasy Flight Games
EDIT: Note that I have followed up with Kara, to ask the clarifying question:

Kara ...

Your answer below does not seem to address the debate of timing that is occuring. Specifically, if you become wounded as part of a Mythos event (due to damage that you take because of the mythos event), does the fact that now activating all things that occurs during the wounded step, alleviate you from having to do the second part of the mythos event?

Specifically, during the wounded stage I would discard all of my face down damage cards. Do I do this first, and then the second part of the mythos phase which says turn face up all of your face down damage cards?

If I get rid of my face down damage cards as part of the wounded step, then I don't have anything to turn over.

If, instead, I COMPLETELY process the mythos step (parts A and B first), even though I am wounded, I could potentially be turning over many damage cards, executing all of their text, and then discarding anything that becomes face down during the wounded phase.

There is a significant difference here.

Edited by any2cards

Kara's clarification, and how I thought it would/should work:

Message body
If you become Wounded/Insane after suffering all Damage/Horror from a mythos event, you would stop and resolve the effects of becoming Wounded/Insane after suffering all Damage/Horror, but before resolving any further effects of the mythos event.
So if a mythos event instructs you to "suffer 2 Damage/Horror. Then flip all Damage/Horror faceup” and suffering that 2 Damage/Horror makes you meet or exceed the threshold of your Health/Sanity, you suffer all Damage/Horror from the mythos event, then you would become Wounded/Insane by gaining that condition and discarding all facedown Damage/Horror. Then, after that, you would attempt to resolve flipping the Horror/Damage faceup, though since you would no longer have Horror/Damage to flip faceup, you would not resolve that part of the mythos event.
Does this clarify?
Kara Centell-Dunk
Game Developer
Fantasy Flight Games
Edited by any2cards