If I've understood the rules correctly;

1) Asset cards are played from a players hand and stay in play (on the table) for the rest of the game.

2) Skill cards are played from a players hand at the time a skill test is undertaken and then go to the discard pile.

My question is; Do Event cards act like Asset cards (stay in play), or Skill cards (one-off usage)?

I've got an event card called Ward of Protection which says you must play it when you draw a non-weakness treachery card to cancel the card's effect and then take 1 damage. That sounds like a one-off usage (like a skill card), but it also has the wildcard symbol (?) on it - does this mean the card stays in play to add to any further skill checks in the game?

So you play ward of protection on a encounter card to block it (taking the 1 horror) the willpower pip is only used if you choose to discard the card for a skill test (if you do this you ignore the text on the card)

So no events don’t come into play and stay around, they’re one off

Events are one-off, but there is an important oversight here.

Only Assets and Events are played. Skill cards are 'committed'. If a card is played, you do not do anything with the skill icons/symbols on the side of the card. The only time those are used is if you commit the card (instead of playing it) and they are applied to the single test you are committing them to.

Any card may be comitted if it has matching icons to the test you are performing (and then is discarded), but skill cards have extra effects on the card that apply when committing the card, but you can never 'play' them.

Thank you for the answers everyone.

I'd missed the bit about the difference between playing cards and committing cards to a skill check.

No problem it’s something me and my group also struggled with at first lol, there’s a lot to learn about the game

47 minutes ago, petszk said:

... Ward of Protection which says you must play it...

Just wanted to point out that Ward of Protection specifies when you can play it, but you still have the choice of whether or not to play it on any given treachery. If you want to hold onto for several rounds, you can do that; you're not forced to play it in response to the first treachery you draw.

Good luck!

10 hours ago, Soakman said:

Events are one-off, but there is an important oversight here.

Only Assets and Events are played. Skill cards are 'committed'. If a card is played, you do not do anything with the skill icons/symbols on the side of the card. The only time those are used is if you commit the card (instead of playing it) and they are applied to the single test you are committing them to.

Any card may be omitted if it has matching icons to the test you are performing (and then is discarded), but skill cards have extra effects on the card that apply when committing the card, but you can never 'play' them.

Ohhhhh. <lightbulb goes on over my head>

That means that the Knife (for example) can be committed to a skill check to give +1 to the combat test and then discarded OR it can be played for a cost of 1 resource and put into play. But if it is played, the combat icon in the upper LHS corner means nothing, is that right?

I had thought that once you played it, it gave you +1 to combat (because of the icon in the LHS corner) AND then could be used with an action for an additional +1 to combat.

Oh dear. I think the game is now even harder than it was the way I was (incorrectly) playing it.

Yeah, the harder way is correct (which is a common theme here).

The only cards that give you static boosts to skills will have a line of text in the text box saying something like, "You get +1[skill icon]" Look at the Beat Cop, for example.

Exactly petszk . Using the rules as written, the game is quite challenging.

But you'll find that it really allows certain factions to shine in different areas. Guardians and mystics tend to lean heavily on expensive assets that provide more consistent bonuses, seekers often end up playing a lot of dirt-cheap assets and relying more on events and skills, and survivors and rogues are often flexible and seem to work more with card draw and resources to further enhance their options (they also have some very unique skills and events).

That's not a be-all end-all, but the distinction is important and really helps make the factions feel different and worth trying all of them with various investigators.

Just wanted to bump this thread one last time before the forums are closed down, and say an extra, extra, extra, special " Thank you " to everyone who finally managed to get me grasping the rules of this great game correctly.

Thanks to you, my gaming group has got a team of 4 investigators 2 scenarios into the Dunwich cycle, and we're all loving it!