"At the end of every mythos phase after the first, move 1 doom token from this card to the terror track and increase the terror track by 1. Any player may exhaust a ready exhibit item or discard a unique item to negate both effects."

So, if you don't burn an item, the number of tokens on the card goes down; otherwise it stays the same. All you can do is delay the inevitable. So you can't ever pass! Is that really the intent?

Also, after 5 turns of not spending an item (possibly interspersed with other turns where you do), you have a terror level of +5, and 5 doom tokens on the terror track. So does the terror level then go up by another 5, a total of 10 caused by this card?

Ouch!

Argon said:

Sadly the card was very poorly worded. You remove a doom token from it each turn no matter what happens; sacrificing a Unique Item or exhausting an Exhibit Item keeps that Doom token from being placed on the Terror Track and keeps the Terror Track from increasing by 1.

Yes, this Rumor potentially takes the Terror Track from 0 to 10, just as the Terrible Experiment can. It's a nasty one, no doubt.

can you exhaust ANY exhibit item ? If yes, this only prevents you to use one exhibit item for 5 turns (given that you owe one). Is this correct ?

(I encountered this question many times and could not decide what I was suppose to do :-).

Yes, you can exhaust any Exhibit item. But note that you do this at the end of the Mythos phase: immediately following is the Upkeep phase, where you refresh the Exhibit item again. In effect, you don't lose access to that exhibit item at all!

Essentially the only thing to look out for is a Mask exhibit item that you've already exhausted to "wear"; since it's already exhausted, you can't exhaust it for the rumor. And a Mask that isn't currently being worn doesn't suddenly "activate" if you tap it for the rumor.

Solan said:

It does say "... to negate both effects," which is pretty clear, so I think "poorly worded" is a bit of an understatement.. So it's a mistake, then? Is there an official errata list, somewhere? If there's some new wording, I'd like to write it on the card for future games. Maybe it could be fixed in a future reprint, like the lantern and the healing stone were?

Thanks much!

If it's not in the officially published FAQ, then it is in the ghostly proto-FAQ definitely. I'm sure I've seen it. Yes, taking the wording literally, it is impossible to pass the rumor, and yet there is a pass condition listed; there must be a typo.

I would not hold out for a re-print. I've never seen reprints except for those items you've mentioned. Particularly, I've heard that Kevin Wilson didn't have a hand in the development of this expansion, so that makes an updated reprint less likely.

Tibs said:

Is this "ghostly proto-FAQ" an existing thing, or just some spectral excrescence beating at the gates of time and space, seeking entry into our reality, and our very minds?

I've read of various ambitious attempts to create vast master tomes including all the knowledge that exists on this eldritch subject; has such ambition ever borne fruit, or merely fallen into the pit that inevitably awaits all doomed human folly?

Even partial, incomplete or fragmentary information would be helpful to those who seek the truth ...

I appreciate your loquacious response, Argon. Unfortunately my brain is a bit too slow tonight to reciprocate.

As far as I can tell, the FAQ is on hold again. I can't publish it, but I'll answer some questions about it. Essentially if you have a rule question that isn't covered in existing FAQ material, I can check if it has been laid to rest once and for all in the proof.

I don't know when the FAQ will pick up again. I think it was announced first before Black Goat was published, so I guess it's nice that there's been time to collect questions on the last few expansions. One of the other FAQ proofers has the latest version of our comments now, but I guess he's been bogged down with a bunch of different things. Ah, things happen. Also, I know what it's like to start something ambitious and then get bored of it right when it's about to be finished, only to return at a much, much later date (my RPG Maker project, for example, has been in the works since '03 and is just now knocking on the "completed" door).

All we can do now, I suppose, is wait. And play—don't forget to play

Tibs said:

Cool, thank you. This one is settled for me then. ;o)

What's truly odd about Cursed Relics is that it's one of the very few components that gets harder as more expansions are added. Since Exhibit items become more rare as Dark Pharaoh components are diluted out with multiple expansions, there is a greater chance that the investigators will have no Exhibit items available to coast through the rumor. Rationing which Unique Items you're willing to give up to prevent two terror-ups is what makes this rumor awesome.