I've only played a couple of games so far and am a little confused by the idea of taking control of opponents characters. For example, if I choose to put my Honor Guard into play under my opponents control, does my opponent get to choose whether or not they participate in a challenge, or do I?

And House Dayne Reserves has the ability "Any Phase: Kneel 1 influence to return House Dayne Reserves to its owner's hand". Is there a reason you would want to do that if you played House Dayne Reserves? And if somehow my opponent takes control of my House Dayne Reserves, can I Kneel 1 influence to return it to my hand? Or does my opponent have to Kneel 1 influence to return it to my hand? And if it is my opponent's choice, is there any reason they would ever do that? Maybe I just haven't experienced a situation where I'd want to remove a STR 6 card from play and put it back in my opponent's hand, or remove one of my own 8 gold cost characters from play.

In a non-control related question, can the gold accumulated by Joffrey Baratheon (KOTS) be spent during the marshalling phase, or is it only used for increasing Joff's STR if he is the only King in play?

megakilroy said:

Owning a card doesn't change how you can use it if you control it (unless it says otherwise). Your opponent controls Honor Guard. That means your opponent can decide to never use it, use it immediately, kill it off for claim, etc. He or she has complete control over it, just like any other character he or she controls.

megakilroy said:

You may want to protect the other cards in your hand during an intrigue challenge; not to mention, when it comes into play, it does so standing. If Reserves is knelt when your opponent intrigues you and you're going to lose, you may be willing to take chance of it being discarded from your hand for claim so it can be standing again.

megakilroy said:

Generally no, but there are a few possible situations where it may make sense. Maybe you want to play Rule By Decree against your opponent and you both have the same number of cards in hand. The new Clansmen (i.e. Painted Dogs) also seem to get bonus effects/abilities if your opponent has more cards in hand than you do.

megakilroy said:

No, it would have to say that you can spend gold on him as if it were in your gold pool. Unless noted otherwise (i.e. Core Set Tywin Lannister), gold not in your gold pool cannot be spent as if it were in your gold pool.