Dear fellow investigators,

I really apologize for asking my questions here, but I read the rules again and again but fail to grasp the actual meaning on the time and duration of trying to close a gate...

When a player first enters a location with a Gate, does he immediately get absorbed into the first half of the dimension? Or does he have to wait for the next turn to enter?

That being addressed, the second question is that when a player is now in the first half of the dimension, he only gets to move ONCE to the second half of the dimension right? And from there he will only leave the dimension on his NEXT turn, where he will return to Arkham and get a chance to close the Gate?

Overall, is it correct to say that a player needs 3 full turns to close a gate?

1 turn to reach the Gate and enter the Gate

1 turn to move to the second half of the Dimension

1 turn to return to Arkham and attempt to close the Gate immediately

Wanderer999 said:

In normal circumstances, yes, that's the duration required.

Key rule of thumb for AH: Follow the Phases.

Wanderer999 said:

An investigator reaches the location with a gate during Phase 2, movement.

He enters the gate during the Arkham encounters phase (Phase 3)

He then has an OW encounter during Phase 4

Respecting Phases, as Dam pointed out, is the basis for having some effective team strategies!

Julia said:

Not only those, FTFP (Follow the F*** Phases ) solves many of the budding rules issues many new players tend to ask about.

Julia said:

OMG! No wonder I felt it took too long to close a gate!! By what you wrote, this means the gate can be reached, entered and with 1 Otherworldly encounter ALL IN ONE TURN!

How about the second part? Does the player move to the second half of the Dimension in the movement phase (phase 2), then enters back to Arkham during the Encounter phase (phase 3) and in Phase 4 gets to close the gate? This means a gate can be closed in as short as 2 turns from the point of walking towards it, all the way up till it closes.

(in other words, each time a player enters a gate, he normally gets to draw only one otherworldly encounter before he leaves the next turn and returns to arkham for a chance to close the gate?)

Standard View of Gate Travel, just to get the visual:

Turn 1, Movement Phase (MP): Investigator ends movement on Open Gate
Turn 1, Arkham Encounter Phase (AE): Investigator “enters Gate”, relocates to First Area space of Other World
Turn 1, Other World Encounter Phase (OW): Investigator has Other World Encounter

Turn 2, MP: Investigator moves to Second Area space of Open Gate
Turn 2, OW: Investigator has Other World Encounter

Turn 3, MP: Investigator “returns to Arkham”, relocates to Open Gate corresponding to the Other World from which he is returning, receives Explored Token
Turn 3, AE: Investigator may close Gate and/or Seal Gate Location

There are several incidents that may interrupt, accelerate, or prolong this general procedure, but we'll handle that if or when you ask.

Jg covered it well enough to clear up any remaining uncertainties, I think. I'd just add that you should remember that if you fail to close/seal on your first turn back in Arkham, remember that you retain the "explored" marker as long as you don't move away from the gate. That means you can stand there and keep trying (one attempt per turn) until you get it done or until you choose/are forced to move away.