With her Dark Insight it says "Any Phase: Gain 1 Sanity or 1 Stanima each time a doom token is added to the Ancient One's doom track". Can Diana Stanley increase her Sanity or Stanima above her maximum stats of 4 Sanity and 6 Stanima.

No, you can't have more stamina than your maximum, unless the game explicitly states that you can.

One example where this is allowed is an encounter in Gardners' Place in the Dunwich expansion, in which you can get 3 points of stamina over your maximum, that cannot be regained once lost.

If that is the case the Dark Insight should be worded heal 1 Sanity or 1 Stanima not gain.

I am not questioning your answer as l have noticed other cards that are ambiguous.

alboy said:

Similarly, there's a general rule that an effect that increases your max doesn't also increase your (current) San/Sta, unless the effect says so.

It is ambiguous if it says gain.

I agree with you, alboy, but the rules say that you can't gain more stamina/sanity than your maximum.

alboy said:

Too much Talisman for you ? I can see the heal vs gain POV there.

Oh alboy, we missed you and your questions.

Your right about too much Talisman, l can not get enough of that game.

I am sure l will have plenty more questions as l rarely get to play AH as much as l would like and keep forgetting what to do next.

alboy said:

There is only one interpretation that is compatible with the rest of the rule set, therefore it's not ambigous.

From the core rules, pag 16, second column (emphasys mine):

SANITY AND STAMINA
An investigator begins the game with a number of Sanity and Stamina tokens equal to the values listed on the investigator’s sheet. These two values are the investigator’s maximum Sanity and maximum Stamina. While an investigator may gain and lose Sanity or Stamina over the course of the game, the investigator’s current Sanity or Stamina may never exceed the investigator’s maximum Sanity or Stamina.

The wording is "gain" and it's clearly stated you may not go beyond your current maximum. So, I'd say there is no ambiguity at all

I still disagree, if you are not meant to go above your starting Sanity and Stanima then it should say heal not gain.

alboy said:

From the Oxford dictionary: gain = to get more of something, especially something that is wanted or needed

I respect your position of disagreement, but really, there is no issue. The wording "gain" is correct even from a linguistical point of view. You generally need something you're lacking of, don't you?

Anyway, I'm afraid that even if it'd be uncorrect, still no issue exists, since the core rules wording matches exactly the wording of Diana's ability. If you'd say that even the core rules are uncorrect, that's another story, but no way - in my opinion - you can play Diana in a different way

alboy said:

Okay, you still disagree.

You came to ask our opinion, you got it. Till now you got answers saying that it is not ambiguous. The rules says that current Stamina (Sanity) can't go over the maximum Stamina (Sanity) (except for one specific card which explicitly overruled the main rule). So now read "gain" as "heal" if you want or as "Kowabunga" as i'm doing. And each time i read "Kowabunga", i add points as long as it's not going over the maximum.

Believe it or not l am not trying to annoy anyone here, just trying to understand the mechanics of the game. I take it the specific card you refer to is the Ally Duke, this card is why l was at odds with the rules, so this card is an exception, are there any other cards which allow this from the other expansions.

Maximum means maximum. You can't go above a maximum, or else it wouldn't, by definition, be a maximum.

Tibs said:

Fermat theories applied to Arkham ::shock::

alboy said:

I think you got the terminology of another game mixed with Arkham Horror here. I don't recall the term "heal" used anywhere in AH! On the other hand, "gain" appears probably in dozens of encounters. And as the rules say, you cannot gain more Sanity or Stamina than your maximum allows (unless explicitly stated otherwise).

This is perfectly clear in the rules.

-Villain

alboy said:

Nope, i'm not referring to Duke, but to the card mentionned in the first reply by zealot12 (or whatever the numer, i don't remember... then let's say Zealot).

There is no problem with Duke. Let's take an example.

You're playing Pete. Max sanity=4. Thanks to Duke, Max Sanity=5. So, if you gain Sanity, whatever how many, you'll be stuck at 5 max.

If you discard Duke to restore your Sanity to his max, your new Max Sanity is 4, so your current Stamina score will be 4. Maybe if your score was 5 before the discard, i think you'll go to 4.

Maximums are simply caps/limits you cannot exceed. You may gain a bonus to your maximums from various game effects or similarly, get your maximums lowered, but your stamina/sanity may never exceed your current maximum. The only exception is that one encounter in Gardner's Place. I don't recall another instance where you can gain more than your maximum.