When a gate opens on an investigator as a result of an Arkham encounter, I understand that the investigator is immediately drawn to the other world and is delayed. So does this mean I do 3 encounters in the other world? i.e. (1) on the same turn I was sucked through the gate during the other world encounters phase, (2) the next turn after turning my investigator upright since I was delayed, and (3) the following turn on the 2nd side of the other world. The reason I am not certain of this is due to the following statement in the FAQ:

Q: Why is an investigator delayed when a gate opens
up in their location, but not delayed if he enters the gate
normally?
A: If the investigator was not delayed by a gate opening
up in his location, he would be able to get through
the Other World having only one Other World Encounter
rather than two.

So this statement completely seems to invalidate my reasoning that you do 3 encounters in the other world when a gate opens on you - so what is the proper way to play?

The FAQ question is referring to when a gate opens on an investigator during the Mythos phase, so yes, you are delayed when a gate opens on you.

Well I didn't ask if I was delayed if a gate opened in the same area as an investigator - I already stated that - I asked if I actually resolve 3 encounters when I am sucked through a gate during the Arkham encounters phase.

nethog said:

Yes, 3 Other World encounters. If you think about it this way...

Your investigator gets sucked into the gate at the ARKHAM ENCOUNTERS PHASE.

He/she is delayed!

After the Arkham Encounters phase is Other World Encounters phase. So you draw an other world encounter card.

Next turn at movement phase you get your investigator up.

Draw another other world encounter card!

Next turn you move the the 2nd area of the other world.

Draw an other world encounter card!

Next turn you get out of the Other World!

I hope this answers your question!

While NoizRnel is correct, it might be easier to think of it this way:

Arkham encounters and Other World encounters are independent of each other, and being delayed does not preclude having an encounter.

Ok so a simple answer to my original question would be: when an investigator is sucked through a gate opening in their location, then they will spend 3 turns in the other world if this occured durinig the Arkham encounter phase, and 2 turns in the other world if this occurs during the Mythos phase. Correct?

If they're sucked through in the Arkham Encounters phase, it's more like 2.25 turns, since they've already completed most of their turn. But yeah, you've got it otherwise (plus .5 for the final Upkeep and movement, but I don't want to muddy the waters). I would suggest you think of it in terms of what happens each phase instead of a certain number of turns. Certainly, you have a total of three encounters in the Other World if you're sucked through in an encounter and two if you're sucked through during the Mythos phase (or enter willingly during the Arkham Encounters phase).

nethog said:

basically, yes.

but it's important to understand the reasons for this difference in length of time spent in other worlds, as there are several ways to change the length from 0 turns to practically forever..

nethog said:

Yes. You can expect three encounters if it happened during the AE phase, and you can expect two if it happened during Mythos. Having the "immunity to delay" ability, of course, drops these down by one.

Thanks - you are all very helpful. I do understand that the number of turns spent in an other world may vary. Which reminds me - last night when I resolved an other world encounter I had to perform a luck check which if I succeeded I could return to Arkham, but if I failed it stated "stay here next turn". So on my next turn does this mean that I:(1) continue as you normally do with moving/OW encounter/return to Arkham, or (2) stay in the 1st or 2nd area of the other world you are currently in and do another encounter, or (3) if in the first area of the OW, then move to the second as normal, but if you start the turn in the second area, then during movement do NOT return to Arkham and do another encounter instead?

nethog said:

Stay here next turn = Delayed.

So, if you pass the luck check, then good for you, you return to Arkham. If you don't, then the next turn you start delayed (no movement, just stand up your marker) and then have an OW encounter during the appropriate phase

Ok thanks - same as my number 2. Why on earth wouldn't the card just say you are delayed?

It's my understanding that the term "delayed" was invented partway through game development but not all instances were found and replaced.

But what's strange is that, IIRC, Dunwich has a couple of these instances as well, which implies that either someone forgot about this terminology (which is unlikely because Mark Harrigan's ability is to avoid this), or that Dunwich was in development stages since the beginning, only to go forward with full development when Arkham Horror was deemed a success.

Attempting to exhaustively catalogue and define all the various terms used in AH will send you down the winding road to madness, and attempting to determine the motives for the inclusion and use of same will get you an express ticket.

Well, the big difference between being delayed and having to stay in the same location as a penalty the following turn is that being delayed gives you no movement points. Of course if you're in an OW it wouldn't matter because investigators do not received movement points in OW.

Shred said:

Shred said:

Shred, you can cross reference Trololo (correct) answer here (DH rulebook, pag 11):

Q: If a card tells you to “lose your next turn,” does this mean skip all phases, including Upkeep?
A: Yes. Note that this is different from being told to “stay here next turn,” which means you are delayed.

The question is related to a different topic, but from the answer you can clearly see that "stay here next turn" = "delayed", so in both cases you don't receive movement points. It was clarified even somewhere else, but I'm not able to find it right now

Found! From the "Official answers by Kevin Wilson" sticky thread, reply n.2 (emphasys mine):

Stay here next turn (09/12/06)
Mechanically, stay here next turn is identical to delayed. I believe what happened is that I came up with the "delayed" terminology late in development and then the "stay here next turn" texts slipped past me. So, the soldier is immune to "stay here next turn" as well as "delayed". In the future, I'll be more careful to use "delayed".

Thanks everyone. Too bad info like this is not in the official FAQ.