Hi,

If a location is closed for whatever reason, do the clues remain there and can be still be picked up?

The way i understood the rules is, that when a location is closed, an investigator can no longer move there AT ALL...

However, i recently read someone mentioning that a gate can still open on top of a closed location and in that case, an investigator CAN enter the location, but only to go through the gate (no location encounter or special action) - this makes sense, but in that case, it would make sense that if a location is closed, that clues remain (provided there is not a gate there!) and that investigators can still go there to pick up the clues (ie end their movement on the closed location) - the only thing is, they would only get the clues as no location encounter or special encounter occurs (its closed, duh ) - is this the correct understanding?

Thanks!

Kendovich said:

The clues would remain there, but if the investigator isn't allowed to enter a closed location, then he isn't allowed to enter. Period. Those clues cannot be picked up until the location is opened again (if that's even possible.) This really only becomes important if you run out of clue tokens, since they are limiting as far as I know, but that's highly unlikely to happen in my experience with the game.

When a gate opens, the location and all it's properties are suppressed until the gate closes. Thus investigators may enter the location while the gate is open, but they can only encounter the gate since everything else is suppressed. If I'm not mistaken (and I might well be) all clues at a location are removed when a gate opens, so that would put the tokens back into circulation at least.

Clue tokens are removed from a location once a gate opens there, and as long as the gate remains open, no new clue tokens may appear there as well.

If a gate opens at a closed location(rare), the gate overrides the closed condition; investigators may move there only to get drawn through the gate. Monsters will also emerge from a gate at a closed location. If a gate at a closed location is sealed or closed, the closed condition once again takes effect(if applicable) and any investigators/monsters there are immediately moved to the adjacent street

You just have to follow the phases and everything becomes clear. When you end your movement on a location without a gate, you draw an encounter card during the Arkham Encounter Phase. If however there's an open gate there, the investigator being drawn through the gate counts as an Arkham encounter by and within itself, so you can't get any encounters in locations with open gates

Thanks for the good feedback

Still a little unclear about whether it is definitely not possible to even enter a location that is closed - lets forget all about the Gate at a closed location scenario, now im talking about just a closed location...

Is it possible to go a location that is closed, just to pick up the clues, even though its closed?

Is a closed location mean that it just not possible to have any encounter or special action there? or is it completely off-limits?

A closed location cannot be entered.

Closed locations are off limits to both investigators and monsters.The three major locations that may close permanently due to the terror level increasing are the three shops on the Arkham board. Once closed, investigators cannot enter them nor can they shop there. In the expansions there are some other locations that may close for the rest of the game as a result of a rare encounter.

In the event that a street location is closed temporarily due to a Mythos card, it is simply blocked for passage for both monsters and investigators-that is, no one can pass through it as long as the closed condition remains in effect. In the rare case that a street is closed when an investigator is standing on it, he simply remains there and cannot leave the street until the closed marker is removed.

Also note that if you want to pick up clues at a location, you have to end your movement there, which is why clue tokens are inaccessible in closed locations, because you cannot enter them.

Unless a clue appeared at a closed street location and an investigator already stood at that location, when it was closed, but such a scenario is too far-fetched if at all possible.

zealot12 said:

I think it's just possible, though it requires two expansions and an improbable set of coincidences. Investigator in Merchant District streets. Fourth of July Parade is drawn closing the street and trapping the Investigator there. Doubles are rolled for Zhar and another card is drawn, which is Old Debts Come Due from Dunwich, which puts a clue into the Merchant District streets.

The Vision Quest spell lets you get all clue tokens that are in the neighborhood you are currently in when you cast it.

zealot12 said:

I only have the base set. I don't see this in the rules. Is it in an expansion?

No, it's not exclusive to any expansion. There are several headlines in the Mythos deck that may cause a street location to close, and it's only temporary(until the end of next turn) This is not discussed in the rules-the closed condition is explained on the cards in question.

The only one I can think of is "4th of July Parade," wherein investigators cannot enter or leave the Merchant District streets for a turn. For all intents and purposes the streets count as closed here. If a location in Merc District neighborhood is closed and an investigator is booted into the parade, he has to move out of the street into an adjacent street, I think.

No, I think he remains trapped in the street with a closed marker(since it says "cannot leave"). He can still read tomes then and use any other items/spells that don't require actual movement.

Tibs... I vaguely recall this creating a problem based on something that was said in the first 12 pages of the FAQ :'/ it needs clarification I think.

My original question was, if a location is closed, should any clues there be removed? If not, then it should be possible to pick them up, after the location reopens (in the case of temp. closures)...

Sorry about the derail. Clues on closed locations stay on closed locations, unless a gate opens there, or an investigator takes them using some (expansion-based) effect that says "take a clue from any location" or the like.

So far as I know, clues and other counters are unlimited (except in the 2nd Arkham league), so this only really affects something like Yibb-Tstll's final combat modifier, or perhaps a personal story or two (again, both are expansion-related).

Tibs said:

Really? I thought clues were limited.. a couple of times we ran out of clue tokens (Professor Rice + Akachi passing her personal story in the same round), and we didn't put any proxy on the board ::shock::

Huh. Well there are mythos cards, for example, that distribute doom tokens in order to track particular effects, and running out of doom tokens doesn't mean the AO can't receive any. Likewise, clue tokens are often used to mark uses or steps of conditional cards such as multi-use items or personal stories, so it seems silly that the investigators may be short of access to as many clue tokens as are in use marking such cards.

I'll include it in the FAQ, then we'll know for sure.

Tibs said:

Tibs said:

Yeah, thx! I'd be pleased to see neverending tokens (c'mon FFG, give us the possibility to buy some extra tokens / cards in order to be able to play with 10 investigators... a cover-up rumor passed in a game with 10 investigators requires some more stuff), I simply remembered something different being said some time ago. If FAQs clear this point, it'll be great!

Tibs said:

Don't, it's already in the FAQ. Page 11, right column.

I think the FAQ needs a table of contents...

Yikes, how many pages are there already?

zealot12 said:

Let's just say it's a supplementary manual ;'D