Hello have a question about this mystery card associated with the ancient one Ithaqua.

the wording is:

”as an encounter an investigator on a city space containing a clue MUST confront the gnoph-keh that threaten civilization: .....”

i might be reading this too too literally but does this mean that an investigator has to do this mystery encounter (as opposed to another location encounter) if they are on a city space with a clue on it?

it seems rather annoying because sometimes you just can’t fight this monster and would instead like to do a general location encounter instead.

52 minutes ago, BlackHalo2 said:

Hello have a question about this mystery card associated with the ancient one Ithaqua.

the wording is:

”as an encounter an investigator on a city space containing a clue MUST confront the gnoph-keh that threaten civilization: .....”

i might be reading this too too literally but does this mean that an investigator has to do this mystery encounter (as opposed to another location encounter) if they are on a city space with a clue on it?

it seems rather annoying because sometimes you just can’t fight this monster and would instead like to do a general location encounter instead.

No, you're not required to do it.

Why?

As I read it you really must. English is not my first language, but why not?

To OP I would say, to avoid the fight avoid spaces with clues, because you only have to fight (if my interpretation is correct) if there is a clue on your space.

3 hours ago, StLemon said:

Why?

As I read it you really must. English is not my first language, but why not?

To OP I would say, to avoid the fight avoid spaces with clues, because you only have to fight (if my interpretation is correct) if there is a clue on your space.

Unless you have the Detained or Lost in Time and Space Condition, as I understand it, you have the option of undertaking whichever encounter you please if you have more than one choice, provided there are no Combat Encounters on the space. A Mystery that let's you do something "as an Encounter" is an option you get if you're on a certain space.

3 hours ago, Matt620 said:

Unless you have the Detained or Lost in Time and Space Condition, as I understand it, you have the option of undertaking whichever encounter you please if you have more than one choice, provided there are no Combat Encounters on the space. A Mystery that let's you do something "as an Encounter" is an option you get if you're on a certain space.

But all of that comes from the language on the cards?

The game is very good at using 'may' and such when you do have a choice and here according to the OP there is a 'must'.

I can't remember a rule that trumps this 'must' here?

Confronting Gnoph-keh is mandatory in this case.

The text on the card ('must') is leading.

Yeah, seems pretty clear to me. All other similar mysteries use "may", not "must".

If it's a must then it's as harsh as we played it.

Basically any city with a clue on it was a "no fly zone" for any investigator who wasn't prepared for the ambush encounter.

Even worse, after the mystery was fulfilled (but not yet completed as that occurs at the end of the mythos phase) it continued to waste the entire round of encounters of other investigators.

=(

Pretty annoying.

Couldn't find anything else to do? Gate closing, expedition?

Unfortunately not, the way the game played out we had a burst of clues being spawned early (some via London).

Clues happened to spawn on cities just out of the randomness.

Then most of the efficient paths to other areas of interest such as gates, expeditions, etc were "blocked" by these clues in cities. In order to zoom through them quickly without ending there (and thus having the forced encounter) we needed travel tickets which wasn't efficient neither.

Making it worse the Acquire Assets were filled with 4 mediocre items as we desperately looked and tried to get some effective weapons to appear to boost strength.

Then the mythos card (forgot the name) which causes the next Acquire Assets action to give you a Cursed condition or discard 2 clues came up while the Rumor cards ticked down....

Oof. Pretty Brutal. I suppose if you had Clairvoyance, you may be able to snag the clue from the city space from a distance, thus allowing someone to have a normal encounter there?

Not sure about this though, as clairvoyance I believe might state that you can have an encounter as if you were on a chosen space (would this facilitate the 'must' clause?)

5 hours ago, Eldan985 said:

Yeah, seems pretty clear to me. All other similar mysteries use "may", not "must".

We've always played it as a requirement as well, since the card clearly says "must".

1 hour ago, Soakman said:

Oof. Pretty Brutal. I suppose if you had Clairvoyance, you may be able to snag the clue from the city space from a distance, thus allowing someone to have a normal encounter there?

Not sure about this though, as clairvoyance I believe might state that you can have an encounter as if you were on a chosen space (would this facilitate the 'must' clause?)

Interesting. I'd say no monster in that case, as the text says it's an encounter with the city which has the clue on it, not encountering the clue.