- Playing a Act I Quest card in the Campaign phase directly before the Interlude is not possible. All published Act I Quest cards include the sentence "You cannot play this card if the Interlude is an available quest." Thus, the "cheeky" OL play is allowed according to RAW.
- I disagree with Zaltyre that the old rule (before starting the Interlude heroes are required to choose a quest from a Quest card if any is in play) is just a poorly worded version of the current rules.
1. That is mostly true. The rumor quests from Lair and Trollfens do not say this.
2. "Sadgit, you're not thinking fourth-dimensionally!"
My case for the Lair rulebook being a case of unfortunate wording is time-dependent. There definitely have been rule changes in addition. I invite you to rewind to 2012:
Lair of the Wyrm is released. As you pointed out, the rulebook contains that infamous passage:
If one or more Act I Quest cards are still in play immediately before playing the Interlude, the heroes must choose one of them to attempt (before proceeding to the Interlude).
April 2013: FAQ 1.2 is posted. It has a Lair section, but no clarification for rumor quests.
Oct 2013: Trollfens is published, and it contains the same phrase quoted above as the Lair rulebook.
Nov 2013: FAQ 1.3 is posted. The Lair section now contains a general rules clarification:
Q: If an Act I Rumor card with an available quest is in play, are the heroes
and overlord forced to play it before the Interlude?
A: No, but that quest will no longer be an eligible choice after the
Interlude has been completed.
At this time, there was no errata regarding a rewrite of the rulebook passage in question. Rather, this answer states clearly that there is no requirement to choose a rumor quest card in play at any point. It also strongly implies that rumor quests may be chosen immediately before the Interlude. That is, rumor quests do not become unavailable before the Interlude, they become ineligible choices
after the Interlude has been completed
.
May 2014: FAQ 1.4 posts, no further developments in the rumor department.
Aug 2014: Manor of Ravens is released, and the rulebook has changed significantly. The sections "Quest Cards" and "Act Specific Quest Cards" present in the Lair and Trollfens rulebooks are revised and combined into a single new section, "Quest Cards".
In the Lair and Trollfens books, the paragraph referencing when rumors could be played read,
"Some Quest cards have the Act I or Act II icon in the upper left hand corner of the
card. These quests can only be attempted during the corresponding act.
If one or more Act I Quest cards are still in play immediately before playing the
Interlude, the heroes must choose one of them to attempt (before proceeding to
the Interlude). After completing this quest, all other available Act I Quest cards are
discarded from the game without effect."
In the Manor rulebook, the relevant paragraph now reads,
"Quest cards that have an act icon can only be chosen during the act designated on
the card. When a quest shown on a quest card is chosen, players begin quest setup as
normal, referring to the quest in the corresponding Quest Guide. Each time a player
chooses a quest during the Choose Next Quest step of the Campaign phase, he can
choose any available quest: either a quest on the campaign sheet or a quest shown on a
quest card in the play area."
Feb 2015: FAQ 1.5 posts, with errata to change the "Act Specific Quest Card" sections in the Lair and Trollfens books to
"Some Rumor cards are restricted to particular acts. This is designated
by the act icon on the upper left of the Rumor card. The overlord can
only play Rumor cards during the act that corresponds with this icon.
At the start of Act II, the overlord must discard all Rumor cards that
have the Act I restriction from his hand. Any Rumor cards that are
in play that have the Act I restriction are also discarded. He does not
draw additional Rumor cards to replace the discarded cards."
FAQ 1.6 retains these changes, and there is no instruction on how to use rumor cards included with the hero and monster packs beyond telling the player to add the cards to their respective supplies, and that the OL card is only gained as a quest reward.
Ok, we've now returned to the present. Why did I drag you through all that? What did we learn?
a. Before the "era 1" (Lair and Trollfens) rumor rules were rewritten, it was clarified in FAQ that there was no requirement to choose a rumor before the interlude, regardless of whether or not a rumor quest was in play. I consider that indisputable as per FAQ 1.3.
b. There is no
rulebook
or
FAQ
prohibition to be found against playing a rumor card between the end of the third Act 1 quest and the beginning of Interlude. There
is
(as you pointed out) a prohibition against this on all rumor cards from Manor of Ravens or the H&M packs. Such a prohibition is absent from Lair and Trollfens cards.
Now, the Lair, Trollfens, and Manor rumor quests all include an instruction,
"If you have played [another rumor quest from this expansion], Rumor card, discard this card and draw a new one."
Because of this, even if you could play and choose a Lair or Trollfens rumor right before the interlude, you could not chain more than 1 Lair and 1 Trollfens rumor quest in this way.
In other words, in the campaign phase after the third Act 1 quest, you could:
-Play a Lair rumor quest
-Play a Trollfens rumor quest
but you could not play a rumor quest from Manor or an H&M pack. In the campaign phase following that (Lair/Trollfens) rumor quest you could play a (Trollfens, Lair) rumor quest. After that point, you would have no choice but to proceed to the Interlude.
c. The Lair and Trollfens rumors do not have a discard reward printed on the card. The Manor and H&M ones all have something to the effect of
"If this card is in play when you transition to Act II, the OL gains..."
I do not believe it is coincidence that these are the same cards prohibited from being played while the Interlude is available.
