Minh Thi Phan's personal story says, "each time Minh reads a tome." Does "read" mean pass the lore check or simply attempt it? After all, spending the movement points symbolizes the actual action of reading the tome. Please clarify if Minh needs to succeed at skill checks on 3 different tomes or simply needs to attempt 3 different times (possibly all on the same tome).

An encounter at the South Church from the Kingsport expansion says to "draw a mythos card and go to the gate location shown. Draw four location cards and choose one of them to encounter, discarding the others." Are we to randomly draw a mythos card or draw the next card at the top of the deck?

When you trade a spell that is exhausted, does it remain exhausted or does it refresh for the new investigator? If I cast an "any phase" spell during upkeep, then trade it to another investigator during movement, can that investigator then use it during his movement or any subsequent phase during that same turn, or does it remain exhausted?

I remember reading somewhere that all monsters (regardless of dimensional symbol) that are sitting on an open gate are returned to the cup when that gate is closed/sealed; they are sucked back into the netherworld as it closes. I don't remember where I read it, but it's not in the rules. Can somebody confirm or deny this please?

I also remember reading somewhere that you could buy all 3 items at the General Store and Curiositie Shoppe even though the location says you may buy one and discard the other two. Again, please confirm or deny.

Some of these, I've seen posted answers, and a few are new to me, at least.

Regarding Minh Thi Phan, I would imagine that the Investigator need not pass the check, as you stated she has already expended Movement Points (and possibly lost Sanity) in the "reading" of the Tome.

The South Church encounter seems to indicate that you would take the very next Mythos card and resolve the encounter.

A traded, "exhausted" spell remains exhausted, similar to exhausted weapons such as the Flamethrower.

Regarding the monsters, only return those to the cup which match the closed and/or sealed gate's Dimensional Symbol

For the General Store, unless an encounter tells you to do otherwise, it's pik three and may select one to purchase.

Movement: Exhaust and spend 2 movement points to make a Lore (-2) check. If you pass, draw 1 Spell and gain 1 Clue token, but lose 2 Sanity and discard Cultes Des Goules. If you fail, nothing happens.
Price: $3

- Do the Investigators lose 2 sanity if they fail the Lore Check?

- Does Harvey Walters lose 2 or 1 sanity? I suppose it is a loss not a cost, so I would say just 1, right?

Sanity isn't lost unless the lore check is successful and Harvey would reduce that loss by 1.

Musha Shukou said:

I would say let her count attempts as readings. As you say, she's already paid the cost whether she wins or loses.

Musha Shukou said:

The term "draw a card" in AH, as in most other games, generally means "draw the top card off the deck." Unless the rules explicitly give you different instructions, I would stick to that. =P

Musha Shukou said:

Remains exhausted. "Exhausted" is a state of the card, not of the investigator carrying it, therefore a card will remain exhausted no matter where it goes or who carries it. Cards only lose the "exhausted" state in the next Upkeep phase (or when they get discarded.)

Musha Shukou said:

Perhaps you're thinking of the old Avalon Hill edition of the game? I seem to recall that being a rule in the old edition, but it's not in FFG's edition as far as I know.

Musha Shukou said:

Not familiar with that rule either. I know there's an errata that says you MUST buy one of them, if able, or get kicked out into the street. That was mainly to prevent people from cycling the deck without buying anything until they found all the Elder Signs. Allowing the investigator to purchase multiple items in a single draw sounds like a reasonable house rule, if it's not an actual rule that I've forgotten about.

Advosan said:

What happens if you fail the Lore check is spelled out quite clearly in a sentence all by itself: nothing. So no, you don't lose sanity if you fail the check. You are correct that Harvey would only lose 1 sanity because of his special ability, if he successfully read the tome.

Musha Shukou said:

This was a suggested house rule in Richard Launius House Rules.

I'm going to say "read" means "successfully read." The reward for passing her personal story is enormous, and being able to sabotage your Lore just so that you could deliberately fail the check and hold onto the tome she begins with three turns in a row is most definitely not the intent.

Tibs said:

if you see the letters in rows on all the pages but don't understand them, you're not reading the book. i'm with Tibs here, even if the sheet could be better worded.

Veet said:

Yep! That's where I read it! Thanks, Veet!

Veet said:

That's one I embrace whole-heartedly, because nothing sucks worse than getting trapped with a Dark Young at a sealed location.

The Professor said:

Haven't seen Tibs' answer. Ignore my comment

Given the varied answers, I decided to send the question on FFG's way and wait for an answer. The following came from the big Kevin Wilson, himself: Minh Thi Phan must succeed at the Lore checks for reading tomes in order to put a token on her Personal Story.

Good to hear, MS. But there are a couple lingering questions:

There is at least one tome that offers a reward for passing and for failing. Does failing still count? Probably not.

There is at least one tome that requires a check other than Lore. Does passing this check still count? Probably.

the tomes that are neither discard nor exhaust on use, can they be counted just by owning them?

Taurmindo said:

I'd say they do not count at all. Minh's personal story reward is very great, so it's better to err on the side of difficulty.

Or, thematically, if there is no "exhaust" or "discard" to use, then there's no pertinent information to be gleaned from the tome.

Tibs said:

Yeah, I would agree with that.