Take sample - keeper action card

By sserre, in Mansions of Madness

Hi,

Can anyone clarify this for me, plz how if im playing it right.
Just played scenario 3 with 1a as objective, where the keeper needs to place 3 sample tokens on the altar to win.

Now if im reading this card right take sample, the keeper may place a sample token on a monster that has an investigator with him at the same space and then move 1 one space.

If the monster is at the start of your turn on a altar , the keep may place a sample token on an altar to gain 5 threat.
now my questions:

1 ) if keeper triggers the final part of the card and puts a sample token on the altar with the take sample action card, does that sample token still counts towards his objective or not?

2) you can play the card only once per turn, but can the keeper play the card on his turn when the first part cannot trigger. Imagine that keeper has an monster with sample token moved to an altar. If at the beginning of his turn a monster is on an altar he may play the sample token on the altar to gain 5 threat. Now can keeper play this card even when he cannot do the first part of the take sample card? the part that says: "place a sample token on a monster in the same space as an investigator + move it one space."
If you don't have any monster left just the one one the altar can you then still trigger the second part of the take sample card?

and something else concerns me. The word "THE" in second part, revers imo to the the monster that just has recieved the sample token. so in that case, this means you can only win scenario 3 1a when a investigators and zombies are in the altar room, or adjacent to it. otherwise the keeper can never place a sample token on a monster and be at the altar at the same time during one turn..

3) or third question, is it possible to take a sample token on a monster with an investigator, and then still gain 5 threat from another monster which was already on the altar.

Hey,

@ 1: In order to get the threat, your monster places the token on the altar. Feel free to *really* place the token there. Now check the objective again. If there are 2 or more tokens on the altar, etc. - well, just count the tokens. You gain threat AND get closer to your objective. Hurray :)
Besides, using the card is the only way of putting the tokens on the altar, so yeah, you HAVE to get the 5 threat in order to complete your objective.

@ 2: Oh, I think you got that one wrong. The card goes like this... ummm... You have a Zombie and an investigator in the same space. You play "Take Sample" on the Zombie, add a token to the miniature and move it one space.
The Zombie then is able to fulfill the second part of the card at any time, even in other turns. You don't have to spend 1 Threat or use the card if the Zombie is at an altar. It just has the special ability "Can put token on altar", if you want, because you used "Take Sample" on it! It keeps this special ability as long as it has tokens = as long as it's alive and hasn't already put the tokens down.
This ALSO means that you can place more than 1 Token on the altar in the same round, since it doesn't say "place one token" in the second part.

@ 3: Yes, since the second part of the card doesn't need you to spent 1 Threat or use "Take Sample" at all, you can place as many tokens as you want at the beginning of your turn and then use Take Sample on any monster in an investigator's space :)

Hope this helps!

thx for the answers, then imo this objective is way to easy for the keeper; Impossible to win for the investigators...
scenarrio 3 blood ties objective 1a... I think an errata on this would be necessary.

Oh, not necessarily.

Since the investiators are allowed to know your action cards, they know that you gain 5 threat (which is a lot) if you place a token. So their course of action should be to kill the monster. Don't stand around doing nothing but kill. The. Monster.

Maybe they'll lose once, then learn that a monster that runs AWAY from them is WORSE than a monster that attacks them ;)

Haven't heard a lot of cries about Story 3 1a being unbalanced, so I guess if the investigator team isn't THAT bad, they have a chance. Moving the token to the altar isn't as easy as it sounds :D

well, if investigators don't kill for example the mi-go that comes up after the second event. You can move it three spaces, thru the vent and your almost at the altar with the mi-go... if he has multiple sample tokens then its done; the third one you can get as keeper when the cult leader pops up, now way that investigators can kill him in one turn.. and all the zombies you can spawn...

As i see it "take sample" card should have an errata. The text that you can place tokens on altar at start of your turn should be printed in bold text (to indicate ongoing effect that doesnt need to use the action, as on the other action cards).