Quest phase begins. I commit Elrond, who doesn't have to exhaust due to Light of Valinor. Then, I use Vilya and I put an ally into play.

- Is Elrond still considered to be commited to the quest, despite being exhausted along with Vilya?

- The new ally that came into play with Vilya, can be commited to the quest?

-yes

-no

;-)

Why is the 2nd a "no"? afaik, you have an action window during the "commit characters to the quest" part, so I don't get why you couldn't commit the ally that just arrived

Yes, you can commit the character put into play by Vilya so long as you do so before you start revealing cards from the encounter deck during staging.

As you rightly pointed out, Rajam, committing characters to the quest has a green action window, so you're good to go. And Elrond would remain committed to the quest (you can do the same with other heroes using Unexpected Courage, Cram, Westfold Horse-Breaker, Steed of the Mark, etc.).

Why is the 2nd a "no"? afaik, you have an action window during the "commit characters to the quest" part, so I don't get why you couldn't commit the ally that just arrived

Emilius was correct: if you read pg. 14 of the Core rules carefully, there is only one "instant" that the framework grants you to commit characters to the quest. There is no framework "action" that commits characters to the quest (only specific player card effects allow that), so the fact that it is a green action window is not really relevant. To quote Teamjimby, as I think he put it quite succinctly, questing commitment is "simultaneous, one-time commitment of all your questing characters".

Why is the 2nd a "no"? afaik, you have an action window during the "commit characters to the quest" part, so I don't get why you couldn't commit the ally that just arrived

From FAQ:

Quest Phase:

The final sentence of the first paragraph in this section should read: “Players have the opportunity to take actions and play event cards at the beginning and ending of each step.”

However, the Turn Sequence on p. 30 of the Core rulebook highlights "Players Commit Characters to Quest" in green, and green means "Any player can take actions generally, or between the game steps stated in the rules." (emphasis added)

This, as I read it (and pretty sure I've seen others make similar observations in the past), implies that one can take actions "generally" and simultaneously while one is committing characters to the quest (i.e., one does not need to wait for the action window that will open up between Characters Committing to Quest and Staging, as per p. 14 of the rule book).

So as part of an action done simultaneously with Committing Characters to the Quest, Elrond should be able to exhaust Vilya, put an ally into play, and commit that ally to the quest as we have not yet moved to the action window beyond Commit Characters to the Quest.

Interested to hear what others think of this issue.

However, the Turn Sequence on p. 30 of the Core rulebook highlights "Players Commit Characters to Quest" in green, and green means "Any player can take actions generally, or between the game steps stated in the rules." (emphasis added)

This, as I read it (and pretty sure I've seen others make similar observations in the past), implies that one can take actions "generally" and simultaneously while one is committing characters to the quest (i.e., one does not need to wait for the action window that will open up between Characters Committing to Quest and Staging, as per p. 14 of the rule book).

So as part of an action done simultaneously with Committing Characters to the Quest, Elrond should be able to exhaust Vilya, put an ally into play, and commit that ally to the quest as we have not yet moved to the action window beyond Commit Characters to the Quest.

Interested to hear what others think of this issue.

You most certainly only have one opportunity to commit characters to the quest. The "why" is already included in this thread. Emilius has listed it.

In the quest phase, the players attempt to make progress on the current stage of their quest. This phase is broken into three steps: 1) commit characters, 2) staging, and 3) quest resolution. Players have the opportunity to take actions and play event cards at the end of each step.

However, the Turn Sequence on p. 30 of the Core rulebook highlights "Players Commit Characters to Quest" in green, and green means "Any player can take actions generally, or between the game steps stated in the rules." (emphasis added)

This, as I read it (and pretty sure I've seen others make similar observations in the past), implies that one can take actions "generally" and simultaneously while one is committing characters to the quest (i.e., one does not need to wait for the action window that will open up between Characters Committing to Quest and Staging, as per p. 14 of the rule book).

So as part of an action done simultaneously with Committing Characters to the Quest, Elrond should be able to exhaust Vilya, put an ally into play, and commit that ally to the quest as we have not yet moved to the action window beyond Commit Characters to the Quest.

Interested to hear what others think of this issue.

The turn sequence for commiting characters to the quest is green because in this sequence every player commits 0-x characters to the quest beginning by the first player an move clockwise. Before and after each player commits his characters their is an action window. So.. to simplyfy this whole sequence there is a green background.

From the FAQ, page 9:

Q: Does a player commit his characters to a quest at once, or one character at a time? When can a player trigger responses to committing his characters to a quest?

A: A player commits all characters he wishes to commit to a quest at once. Responses to the characters committing (such as those on Aragorn and Theodred) can then be triggered in the order of that player’s choice. After a player has committed his characters (and triggered any responses to those characters committing), the next player has the opportunity to commit his characters to the quest.

So .. there is no action window between commiting one character from player A and commiting a second character from player A. After all commits from player A are done, you trigger responses. After that every player can do actions. Then player B commits his characters .. .....

Action windows happen before and after other game framework effects, and are not simultaneous with them. So you wouldn't be able to simultaneously use Elrond+Vilya's action and commit characters to the quest.

Disregard...

I concede that you are all correct.

Fortunately, I don't think this has an impact on any of my previous results. Pretty sure that I've never tried to combo Elrond/Light of Valinor/Vilya to put into play and commit an ally to the quest.

Good to have that reminder going forward, though.

I mean, thank heaven for Late Adventurer, amirite?

Disregard...

I concede that you are all correct.

Fortunately, I don't think this has an impact on any of my previous results. Pretty sure that I've never tried to combo Elrond/Light of Valinor/Vilya to put into play and commit an ally to the quest.

Good to have that reminder going forward, though.

It's not the only way to come across this ruling. Another common example would be if a person commits Theodred to the quest with the intention of getting a resource to play Sneak Attack + Gandalf and then commit Gandalf to the quest.

So, if I'm getting it right, you have an action window before and after you commit characters to the quest, but not in between

Hence, let me change the example now:

Example 1: Quest phase begins. Before commiting characters to the quest, I play Sneak Attack + Gandalf, and I choose to draw 3 cards. One of those cards is Timely Aid. I play that event and I put an ally into play. Now, I decide whether I commit Gandalf and/or the new ally to the quest. Is that allowed?

Example 2: Pretty much the same. I have Elrond + Vilya + Unexpected Courage. Quest phase begins. Before deciding which characters I commit to the quest, I use Vilya, a new ally comes into play, and I ready Elrond with UC. Now, I decide whether I commit Elrond and/or the ally that just arrived with Vilya. Is that a legal move?

Example 1 .. yes

Example 2 .. yes

The key is, to sum up your characters before commiting to the quest.