Hi folks -

I was playing a solo game today with four investigators (my son had agreed to play two of them but ended up staying at a friend's house for tea instead). A couple of cards turned up in OW encounters which allowed me to return to Arkham from the second OW space - now my question is I am not exactly sure how this supposedly speeds up movement because since the Arkham Encounter phase is over by the time the OW phase begins I cannot immediately attempt to close and seal the gate in the location I have returned to and will have to wait until next turn. If I had not drawn that particular encounter card I would have returned to Arkham during the next movement phase anyway and then closed/sealed the gate in the Arkham encounter phase immediately following. Am I allowed to close and seal the gate immediately on my return via the card? If not how does this encounter 'speed up' my movement/return?

Elendil23 said:

If you drew it in the first Other World location, it would have sped you up. In the second Other World location, it is the same speed and slightly more hazardous, since if there is a monster on the gate, you won't be able to auto-evade it next turn before trying to seal the gate.

Good point Avi, never thought of that. I suppose "return to Arkham" OW encounters are not always beneficial, and in fact can be quite harmful... but that doesn't exactly make sense thematically. Drawing an OW encounter when you are in the second area should still be able speed you up.

No, it makes perfect sense thematically Conceptually it may not make sense (though it does to me). But unless you ask the developers, or they start to make cards that say "Return to Arkham. If you were in the 2nd area, you may immediately attempt to Seal/close the gate" then you're just at the whim of the cards (much like the rest of the game!).

Come to think of it, that would actually make a neat set of cards if they made them. I'm sure some people will start houseruling that way if they haven't already, if they don't like those cards...

you get the benefit of a movement phase in arkham, thus you're able to use a tome or two (or other movement dependent spells, items, etc) before closing, which could be the difference between just closing and sealing.

but, as said, at the cost of possible extra monster fighting.

"you get the benefit of a movement phase in arkham, thus you're able to use a tome or two (or other movement dependent spells, items, etc) before closing, which could be the difference between just closing and sealing."

this can be usefull

Anarin said:

I'm sorry, Avi is right. The free-pass against monsters squatting on the gate lasts only for the movement phase of the round you return to Arkham. If you return to Arkham during the normal movement phase (thus: in the Upkeep you're already in the OW 2nd area) and there are monsters on the gate, good for you, you can free-pass them (or cherry picking them for fighting some or all, but that's another story) and then close / seal. If you return to Arkham as result of an OW encounter, then there is a Mythos Phase ending the round in which you return. Thus, during the Upkeep of the following round your free pass has gone, and you have to deal with monsters normally. Having 2nd area encounters forcing you to return to Arkham isn't often a big deal

Julia said:

yea i read that now and i edited my wrong post