Hi everybody,

a little tricky situation in my latest game: a gate (from Lurker) moving across the board for quite a long time stopped for a while in the Uptown street. I had Hank going clue-hunting in the Woods when he suddently was discovered by the Sheldon gang. The encounter instructed him to move in the nearby streets and that's all. He moved to the street and, being still in the AE Phasem he entered the gate. I was wondering whether this is correct or not. I'm asking this because of an old thread about a similar issue, an encounter instructing an investigator to move to another location with an open gate. Since the card didn't instruct the player to have an encounter on that place, IIRC, it was said he didn't enter the gate at all, unless the investigator would have been still there during the AE in the following round.

Any help is appreciated!

Since the encounter did not say that you get an encounter afterward, I'd say that he does not enter the gate. Clearly any encounter like the one you got won't actually say "move to the street and have an encounter." But I wouldn't allow that, since it's similar to moving them to the street, and then being unable to participate immediately in the rumor or environment targeted on that street (such as Estate Sale or One Thousand Young).

I'm in the same camp here.

Tibs said:

Thank you Tibs and Veet for answering ::smiling::

My doubts were based on this: you will never find any encounter saying "move to the street and have an encounter there", since in general you don't have any encounter while in the street. But in fact, until the Lurker came out, this wording was not necessary. I mean, rumors in general states "if a player discards, during the AE Phase, in the XY street area". This wording is a little different. It's not said you have an encounter in a street area, but simply that it's enough for you to be there and do a certain action. This is why I've always thought you could ask (theoretically; it never happened to me yet, but anyway, I've always thought it's a legal move) Bill Washington a lift to French Hill and then discard the stuff required by the rumor actually running in the very same round. Entering a gate is clearly an encounter, but until the Lurker, there was no need for a character to have an encounter in a street area, and cards could have been written consequently. So, I had to ask.

Wait a second, I don't understand the issue here. There's no timing conflict in this scenario.

If you're moved to the street at which there's an activity and an open gate, then you may participate at the activity first and then you're drawn through the gate. The activity doesn't count as an encounter in this case. The two actions occur during the same phase, but they're not mutually exclusive.

zealot12 said:

Nope, never mentioned the scenario you're talking about! I have only one scenario: a gate in a street area and a character being sent to that street. Stop. Other issues are terms of comparison on how to handle this situation when compared to similar situations we discussed in the past

Then why isn't the investigator drawn through the gate during the Arkham Encounters phase? Since he ended his movement in the street, during the next phase he'll be drawn through the gate at that area.

No, wait. I understand. He already resolved his encounter for the turn by moving to the street, and being drawn through the gate counts as a separate encounter. Oh, well. I haven't thought about that.

zealot12 said:

Yeah, that's it. And the question is: since there are no cards instructing you to move to a street area and have an encounter there (simply because no "proper" encounters happen in street areas unless you use the Lurker gate) AND we're still in AE Phase, do I have to enter the gate or not? I'd say yes, simply because the 99% of the cards were written BEFORE this kind of situation could be possible, and so there was no reason for saying "have an encounter". Tibs and Veet's thoughts are going in a different direction, and we're discussing similarities with other cases (interaction with rumors and enviroment)!

Anyway, we won the game while Hank was still in Another dimension, so whether it should be ruled in a way or the other, the game result wouldn't have changed at all. But I thought it could be interesting to know for similar future situations

I guess it should be resolved in a manner that puts the investigator in danger Moving gates are obstacles, and being thrown into an Other world you had no intention of visiting in the first place is part of the game working against you. So I think he should be drawn through the gate.

This is similar to a gate opening at your location, is it not? If, during your AE phase, you draw an encounter that says a gate appears, you are sucked through that gate. You've drawn your encounter and followed its instructions and thus your AE phase is finished, but now you are in a location with an open gate. The encounter never specifies that you must go through the gate, it just says a gate appears, but the rules do say that you are drawn through the gate if the location has one. Thus, you immediately go to the other world and are delayed. I would think the same thing applies in your scenario. You've drawn your card and had your encounter and as a result have been expelled to the streets and thus your AE phase is finished, but now you are in a location with an open gate just as if one had opened on you. Just this time, instead of a gate appearing at your location, you are pushed to a location with a gate. So, in your scenario, I would think you are sucked through and delayed.

It's not similar. There is a different rule that states whenever a gate opens at the same location as an investigator, the investigator is immediately drawn through and delayed. It's the gate opening that draws you through.

I've always considered the Moving Gate to be kinda like the Werewolf: when the Werewolf moves (or appears) on top of you, you get hurt, but when you move to the Werewolf, nothing happens (unless you pass the Elusive check). So in cases where you've already had your Arkham Encounter and end up on top of the Moving Gate, you have no actions left to take, so you just coexist with the Weregate.

That ought to be FAQed, though; the AH Encounter instructions in the AH Manual are just too old to have even heard of a Gate in the Streets.