Can someone clarify to what action does the "once per game" refers to? Is it for the whole action or just the "draw 3 cards" part?

The max applies to the whole 2nd action ability.

It also applies to every player and every copy. That is to say, once you use Timeworn Brand's second ability, nobody can use it a second time, even if they have their own copies of the card.

16 hours ago, rsdockery said:

It also applies to every player and every copy. That is to say, once you use Timeworn Brand's second ability, nobody can use it a second time, even if they have their own copies of the card.

Is that correct? I’d expect it to say “group limit” if that were the case?

20 minutes ago, General Zodd said:

Is that correct? I’d expect it to say “group limit” if that were the case?

From Limits and Maximums: "'Max X per ' imposes a maximum across all copies of a card (by title) for all players ... If a maximum appears as part of an ability, it imposes a maximum number of times that ability can be initiated from all copies (by title) of cards bearing that ability (including itself), during the designated period."

Yeah, a 'group limit' is still governed by the specific card itself @General Zodd: so if I had three locations each with a group limit, each one could be triggered once by the group. We've not seen it yet on player cards I don't think... Max is a neater formulation, certainly.

Thanks for the responses, @Assussanni and @zooeyglass. So, if I’m getting this right, I need to change my thinking to match previous player card ‘Max’ limits like the core set neutral skills and the Desperate skills. Rather than ‘Max 1 committed per skill test’, this is about a once per game effect. I guess I was confused because a once per game clause hasn’t come up before on a player card, as far as I’m aware? That’s usually the preserve of scenario cards.

I just hadn’t realised they’d decided to have distinct formulations for effectively the same rule effect, one formulation for player cards the other for scenario cards. This is my first card game of any complexity, and these semantic rules nuances mess with my simple minded Wargaming/roleplaying mentality! So if I’ve missed the point, or the distinction, please feel free to correct me.

Thanks again!

12 hours ago, General Zodd said:

I just hadn’t realised they’d decided to have distinct formulations for effectively the same rule effect, one formulation for player cards the other for scenario cards. This is my first card game of any complexity, and these semantic rules nuances mess with my simple minded Wargaming/roleplaying mentality! So if I’ve missed the point, or the distinction, please feel free to correct me.

Thanks again!

Group limit and Max are slightly different, and either could occur on a scenario card or a player card.

Hopefully the following will make it clear, using Timeworn Brand for the example:

• Timeworn Brand, as written: Investigator A plays Timeworn Brand and uses the second ability. Investigator B plays another copy of Timeworn Brand. Investigator B cannot use the second ability because "Max" applies to all copies of Timeworn Brand regardless of where they came from.
• Timeworn Brand, with group limit instead of max: Investigator A plays Timeworn Brand and uses the second ability. Investigator B plays a another copy of Timeworn Brand. Investigator B may use the second ability because "Group limit" applies to each copy of Timeworn Brand separately.
  • Investigator C then uses Teamwork and takes the first copy of Timeworn Brand from Investigator A. Investigator C cannot use the second ability because the ability on this copy of Timeworn Brand has already been triggered by Investigator A and the limit is a group limit.

I hope that helps, rather than making it more confusing!

11 hours ago, Assussanni said:

Group limit and Max are slightly different, and either could occur on a scenario card or a player card.

Hopefully the following will make it clear, using Timeworn Brand for the example:

• Timeworn Brand, as written: Investigator A plays Timeworn Brand and uses the second ability. Investigator B plays another copy of Timeworn Brand. Investigator B cannot use the second ability because "Max" applies to all copies of Timeworn Brand regardless of where they came from.
• Timeworn Brand, with group limit instead of max: Investigator A plays Timeworn Brand and uses the second ability. Investigator B plays a another copy of Timeworn Brand. Investigator B may use the second ability because "Group limit" applies to each copy of Timeworn Brand separately.
  • Investigator C then uses Teamwork and takes the first copy of Timeworn Brand from Investigator A. Investigator C cannot use the second ability because the ability on this copy of Timeworn Brand has already been triggered by Investigator A and the limit is a group limit.

I hope that helps, rather than making it more confusing!

Yes, got it now, thanks for taking the time!