Resignation and Weakness

By Mkrakoff, in Arkham Horror: The Card Game

So, I tried to find some answers before posting but couldn't. On a recent playthrough I watched, the weakness "Hospital Debts" was in play and the player resigned. They stated that the weakness is discarded according to the resignation/elimination rules and the 2xp penalty does not apply. Is this correct? Seems like a thematic disconnect to me if it is. I've tried the rules reference comparing card ownership/control, elimination/resignation timing etc. and just don't see a clear answer. So....

1. The weakness states "at game end". If the player is "defeated/resigned" and discards ALL cards as stated in "Elimination" it seems as if the weakness effect doesn't trigger. Multiplayer vs solo?

2. Is there somewhere the timing of "game end" is listed?

Thanks!

"Weaknesses with an encounter cardtype are, like other encounter cards, not controlled by any player. Weaknesses with a player cardtype are controlled by their bearer." (Pg.21)

"The cards he or she controls in play and all of the cards in his or her out-of-play areas (such as hand, deck, discard pile) are removed from the game." (Pg. 10)

"Any card that player owns but does not control that is in play remains in play, but if that card leaves play it is removed from the game." (Pg.10)

I'm not the best at Rule Lawyering but from my understanding if you control that weakness when you resign/eliminated it would be discarded. I can understand why thematically it doesn't fit but If you are playing Roland and die from losing your sanity as well as have Cover up in Play you are at quite the disadvantage for the later scenarios. Obviously you are free to house rule since it is a coop game but the game is difficult enough and if your playing with 3 other people and you get absolutely rocked I'm sure they wont want to start over because their tank starts with 3 Sanity next round.

"Weaknesses with an encounter cardtype are, like other encounter cards, not controlled by any player. Weaknesses with a player cardtype are controlled by their bearer." (Pg.21)

"The cards he or she controls in play and all of the cards in his or her out-of-play areas (such as hand, deck, discard pile) are removed from the game." (Pg. 10)

"Any card that player owns but does not control that is in play remains in play, but if that card leaves play it is removed from the game." (Pg.10)

I'm not the best at Rule Lawyering but from my understanding if you control that weakness when you resign/eliminated it would be discarded. I can understand why thematically it doesn't fit but If you are playing Roland and die from losing your sanity as well as have Cover up in Play you are at quite the disadvantage for the later scenarios. Obviously you are free to house rule since it is a coop game but the game is difficult enough and if your playing with 3 other people and you get absolutely rocked I'm sure they wont want to start over because their tank starts with 3 Sanity next round.

This is the conclusion I came to as well. Also I realized that the final step of the elimination section states that the game ends. Therefore, like you said, the cards you control would already have been discarded.

Edited by Mkrakoff

"Weaknesses with an encounter cardtype are, like other encounter cards, not controlled by any player. Weaknesses with a player cardtype are controlled by their bearer." (Pg.21)

"The cards he or she controls in play and all of the cards in his or her out-of-play areas (such as hand, deck, discard pile) are removed from the game." (Pg. 10)

"Any card that player owns but does not control that is in play remains in play, but if that card leaves play it is removed from the game." (Pg.10)

I'm not the best at Rule Lawyering but from my understanding if you control that weakness when you resign/eliminated it would be discarded. I can understand why thematically it doesn't fit but If you are playing Roland and die from losing your sanity as well as have Cover up in Play you are at quite the disadvantage for the later scenarios. Obviously you are free to house rule since it is a coop game but the game is difficult enough and if your playing with 3 other people and you get absolutely rocked I'm sure they wont want to start over because their tank starts with 3 Sanity next round.

This is the conclusion I came to as well. Also I realized that the final step of the elimination section states that the game ends. Therefore, like you said, the cards you control would already have been discarded.

It's not just our conclusion, it's the official ruling. A lot of people don't like it thematically and choose to play against that ruling, so that Weaknesses remain in play and still trigger their negative effects when the game ends, regardless of Resignation.

At first I thought this was rather anti-thematic, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it makes. "Resigning" is, thematically speaking, the character saying "Nope, I can't do this any more!" and leaving the investigation. It maybe because they can't contribute any more or risk being defeated. But it could be because they have pressing issues in their life outside the investigation. Skids has hospital debts -- he abandons the investigation to concentrate on paying those off. Without the distraction of evading monster and killing cultists, he can focus all his attention (and "actions", if you will) on paying those debts.

Likewise, once Roland is freed from having to protect his comrades and find clues, he can head back to the office and shred all the evidence paperwork he needs to further his cover up.

Once an investigator resigns, he has all the time he needs to succeed at whatever burden his weakness has placed on him.

You read the quote page 21 incorrectly. Hospital Debts and Cover Up are treacheries (not assets, events or skills), which means they are controlled by the encounter deck rather than their bearer. So they are not discarded if the player resigns, and discarding them would be the house rule.

Also found this over on BGG (I'm sure it's somewhere here too):

I don't understand why you're asking this mplain and don't give Matt's ruling on this, since you perfectly know what Matt rulings are on these from the discord channel.

I'll post them here again for everyone else, although from what i gather some things about what to do with weaknesses at the end of the game will only be clear once the faq comes out.

Ruling:
We are looking to clarify many of these interactions in an upcoming FAQ, but for now I will answer these questions to the best of my ability =)

1.1) I understand that other players can activate the action triggered abilities on cards like "Searching for Izzie" and "Haunted" for example. The rule above talks only about action triggered abilities. Does this mean another player cannot help with "Cover Up" and "Hospital Debts" because they are reaction triggered and free triggered abilities? If it is possible to help how does this work with the limit on "Hospital Debts" (can 2 players place 4 resources in a round for example)?

There is currently a gap in the rules with regards to free triggered abilities and reaction abilities. The precedent we are using to cover these rules is the same as the activate action (you may trigger abilities on cards you control, scenario cards at your location, and the act/agenda). We are looking into clarifying this in an upcoming FAQ.

1.2) Does this mean other investigators can't activate the ability on Daisy's "The Necronomicon" because it is a player card and not an encounter card in her threat area.

Correct. The Necronomicon is different because it functions as a player card.

2.1) I think this means that if you have your own "Stubborn Detective" engaged with you it does not get removed from the game and goes back to the location and if another investigator is there it engages them?
2.2) This means "Cover Up" and "Hospital Debts" get removed from the game when resigning (or being defeated) and you don't take trauma from them. Since weaknesses with an encounter cardtype are not controlled by a player this means "Smite the Wicked" and "Searching for Izzie" remain in play when that investigator is eliminated and do get the trauma if the other investigators don't get rid of them. I find it weird that their is a difference here and want to be sure i get this right and works as intended.

The Stubborn Detective will not get removed from the game, it will disengage and return to the location. BUT because its Prey is “Bearer Only” it won’t engage any other investigator (see “Prey” pg. 17 bullet #3). It will still mess people up with its ability though.

With the rules as printed, Cover Up and Hospital Debts would be removed from the game (because they are in your threat area), while Smite the Wicked and Searching for Izzie would not, because they are not in your threat area. We are currently looking into this issue in the first FAQ.

Hope this helps!
------------------------------------------------
Matthew Newman

Edited by Mkrakoff

I missed the bit about discarding all non-enemy cards in the threat area.

You read the quote page 21 incorrectly. Hospital Debts and Cover Up are treacheries (not assets, events or skills), which means they are controlled by the encounter deck rather than their bearer. So they are not discarded if the player resigns, and discarding them would be the house rule.

You are right for the first part, but they are still discarded when the player resigns, as per part 4 of the Elimination process:

All other cards in the eliminated investigator's threat area are placed in the appropriate discard pile.

Edit: And I missed the part where your next message already acknowledged this. ;)

Edited by SuperMarino