I've always assumed that you cannot ready insane characters because they need to be restored before they can be readied. But after searching the rules and FAQ I couldn't find any indication that it wouldn't work.

E.g. Could I use Y'Golonac's action to ready an insane character? I'm pretty sure I can target an insane character, but what happens to the character afterwards? Is he actually readied (and thus has to commit to the same story as Y'Golonac, if able)?

Finally, if it is possible to ready an insane character, is the character also considered to be restored (e.g. to trigger the response of Mad Genius or Student Archaeologist)?

jhaelen said:

Well, the first thing I can say is that ignoring everything else, if it is insane, Y'Golonac couldn't have it commit to the story due to the 'if able' part of Y'Golonac and this from the rulebook: "An insance character cannot commit to a story and is never considered to be committed to a story"

Now the next part. There is a section in the fact that addresses Insanity and that Insanity is a state and an insane character cannot be considered Exhausted or Ready. Further, if you read the FAQ section on Y'Golonac they talk about how the first part is independent of the second. You can target a ready character, and even though the first part doesn't happen (i.e. you can't ready a ready character) the second part still does.

What this highlights, is that the only valid target for the 'ready' effect is a card in the Exhausted state. So what I believe this ends up meaning is that no, you cannot ready and Insane character.

Reposted from the other thread:

Very last page of the FAQ, it's actually the second-to-last of those italicized questions:

Can I ready Insane characters during my Refresh Phase?
No, Insane is a state like Ready and Exhausted. Insane characters that are not restored cannot be Ready or Exhausted.

Deek said:

The question is also a bit too specific. It's obvious that you cannot ready insane characters during the refresh phase since the Core Rules specifically say to ready all _exhausted_ characters (except the one just restored). So, the question the should have added:

"Can I ready Insane characters?" No, Insane characters cannot be readied or exhausted.

jhaelen said:

I agree. "... during my Refresh Phase" ultimately has no impact on the overall ruling and could even be a little misleading. Oh well! Better than nothing!

"Can I ready Insane characters during my Refresh Phase?
No, Insane is a state like Ready and Exhausted. Insane characters that are not restored cannot be Ready or Exhausted."

Yeah... I really wish it instead said:

"No, Insane is a state like Ready and Exhausted. Insane characters that are not restored cannot be Ready or readied. They similarly cannot by Exhausted or exhausted."

I understand why they actually have the clause in there about the Refresh phase. There was some confusion about whether or not you actually readied all the insane characters except the one you restored.