In our game tonight the Reckoning card Through the Threshold was drawn. All the investigators were drawn into a gate. The question I have is since the card says "drawn" are they delayed just as if they had a gate open on them? The rules for a gate opening on an investigator say " If a gate opens on a location that contains an investigator, that investigator is immediately drawn through the gate into the first area of the corresponding Other World. This also disorients the investigator, causing them to become delayed. " so the delay isn't due to the gate opening but the act of being drawn through, right?

I would say most definitely, yes, he is delayed. Otherwise he moves right on through the first area of the Other World having no encounter there.

And the act of being drawn through doesn't always cause delays. The Nightgaunt says that you are drawn through the nearest gate, but as far as I know you are not delayed with that, correct me if I'm wrong. The difference is if you are drawn through with the Nightgaunt, it's going to happen during movement or Arkham encounter phase and so you'll still end up drawing an Other World encounter that same turn. And then, if you draw a NIghtgaunt during an Other World encounter and come back to Arkham you're going to be staying there anyway to close/seal the gate. The key is, make sure you're not skipping any Other World location areas without having an encounter there, unless you use a spell/item that allows you to do so or an encounter tells you to.

This came up on BGG recently. I said no, they're not delayed, because it wasn't the result of a gate opening. Note that when you fail a combat check against a Nightgaunt, you're "drawn" through the nearest gate but not delayed. Nothing has ever been said that Nightgaunts were an "exception" to some general non-standard gate-entering rule, so we can assume it applies here as well.

You are making a deal with the Lurker, and occasionally the deal is in your favor. Of course, this play may not want to go to the Other World right now...

I think I'll just house rule that anytime anyone is drawn through a gate they're delayed. I've already house ruled that power tokens can't be spent when the pact is exhausted, that you can't spend power power tokens to offset the loss of sanity/stamina from Reckonings and that you lose all power tokens if the Ancient One wakes up. Might go as far as power tokens gained are bound to the pact they're gained from so you can't get a bunch from one and spend them with another.

The Lurker is open to way too much abuse if going with RAW and I really hate house rules but without them this guy is a cakewalk. Heck, we lost our last game because Nyarlathotep woke up and I refused to use my pact to gain power since it seemed so contrary to the point of a herald. I really hope MH comes with a comprehensive FAQ that clears all this up.

arkhamresident said:

While some reckonings help, the ones that hurt (such as losing stamina etc) can wear you down (provided you don't allow an investigator to spend power to block) if they come up enough. So draw a reckoning for every gate shown on a mythos (even if the gate is already open); also, if they gate doesn't open because it's blocked, then draw a second reckoning (so as more seals are placed, the more reckonings will be drawn). This way you will go through a lot more of the reckonings, making it more likely you will hit the really bad ones.

Tibs said:

My two cents on this issue... I'd play this card the same way Tibs does. Since the gate is already there then no, no delay. And if you're playing with a specialized party (one sealer, one monster wacker, and so on) this can be horrible enough even without any extra boost. Not to mention that if you literaly play the fact that "being drawned through a gate is like having the gate opening under your feet" then all gate effects should be triggered (devouring gates, doom gates and so on) and this could mean game over. But of course, feel free to play it the way you find more appropriate

Oh crap Julia. I forgot about Lurker gate effects. Yeah, as nasty as that would be, I still believe they don't trigger.

Come to think of it, as per my training scenarios, I've only ever played with the Lurker herald against Yog-Sothoth using the Dunwich board. Of course, I always got murdered. I'd like to randomly draw the Lurker herald sometime and see what he brings to an all-expansion game. Those reckoning cards are, of course, the best part of the herald.