My group played our first few games of Cosmic Encounter this weekend. We had a blast! Because we are a chaotic group of peeps, we decided to use the classic Filch flare card. In our first game, someone was playing as Filch, so we knew it was likely the Filch flare was in someone's hand. Now here's the funny part. The guy that had the Filch flare was stealing from the deck of unused flare cards! We were not watching that deck as we considered the deck to be "out of play" for the current game. When we caught him, he had a nice little collection of extra flares in his hand. We told him that we didn't think the unused flare cards were a valid target for theft, but he claimed the flare card said " any deck", so we laughed and continued to play.

Now for my question. Once he is caught, he is supposed to place the card face-up on the table. But isn't the card still considered to be in his hand? Couldn't the card be received as compensation? And wouldn't he be forced to discard it when drawing a new hand due to a lack of encounter cards?

I was under the impression that the Filch flare reads "cards from the deck" as opposed to any deck. If it IS "the" deck, it means the encounter deck, and rules lawyering one's way into a broader meaning is just weak.

The card is unusual in that it isn't played to be used. It should still count as the one flare limit though, so if a player is stealing, he or she shouldn't be able to play any other flares, and vice versa. The card should then be available for compensation.

The Warp said:

You are absolutely correct! It says "the" deck and discard pile. Even though he was allowed to cheat, he was cheating beyond what the card said he was allowed to do. I'll have to make sure I clarify this for the next game. Honestly, the new Filch wild flare seems more powerful than the classic one. You can get some nice flares and artifacts at the cost of a negotiate card. It can be used as defense against such cards as well! I think that sounds much better than trying to steal ships or cards without getting caught.

And thank you for answering my question. I felt pretty sure that the card would be available for compensation. I guess when it's time to collect compensation, the player would pick up the card and shuffle it into his hand. It's just that most cards that you leave face-up on the table wouldn't be considered in your "hand" anymore... but it would make sense that this one would be an exception. Otherwise, it would give you incentive for getting caught the first time (on top of bringing the deck next to you for easy access).

The Warp said:

The FAQ says that, until you get caught, you aren't actually "using" the flare when you filch things, so I'd say this doesn't count against the limit. Once you're caught, though, you're using the flare (and I guess that means now you can only filch one thing per encounter?).

As time goes on I'm liking those flare limits less and less. The original flares were never designed with those limits in mind, and as the number of fiddly situations grows I'm thinking we should ignore both kinds of flare limit and just play according to the original design.

Just_a_Bill said:

Are you saying that you prefer the "Freewheeling Flares" variant? If so, I think I agree with you. It feels more chaotic... and as I said, our group likes a chaotic game. =)