Solan said:

1. This has been answered officially I believe, although I can't find the source right now. Count the shortest distance possible between the monster and each investigator, counting the move from the train station to a depot as 1 space, regardless of which other boards they are on, because each board is considered equal distance from every other board (quite unrealistic, but it simplifies things). The closest will be the target. If more than one investigator is equal distance from the creature, use the usual rules of lowest Sneak is the target, if this is still a tie, First Player chooses.

2. You cannot discard clues, and you are not allowed to have more than 5 clues. Picking up the 6th clue would put you above this limit, therefore the clue cannot be picked up and remains on the board.

5. Guessing here you are talking about the Strange Sightings Mythos cards. Official ruling is to draw the next Mythos Card and place the monster surge at the location indicated, then discard that Mythos Card.

WHOOPS. Sorry... didn't want to detract from your comments to Roxas and Kevin. But I can't delete this message so I'll just go on to say that the following is food for thought:

Solan said:

I don't remember what I said about The Beast, but it probably wasn't a contradiction. The Beast's "extra bad effect" only takes place if you fail both the horror and combat checks. If you fail to evade The Beast, you haven't yet attempted a Horror check, so you can't have failed both and been devoured. This doesn't contradict the suggestion that you are subject to all extra "bad stuff"; you just don't qualify for death right away in this case.

Whether or not you can be devoured by then failing the horror check is up in the air. I'd say yes—at that point you've failed both. If you're trying to evade The Beast and you probably can't pass the Horror check in case you fail to evade and enter battle, then you're probably going to die.

Actually an Evade check is not a Combat check, even if you suffer the combat damage in both cases if you fail them. I believe that even if you fail the Evade check against the Beast, you'll still have to fail both Horror and Combat check to be devoured.

Morgaln said:

But... if you fail an evade check against a Dimensional Shambler you're Lost in Time and Space still, even though it only says "if you fail a combat check." So failing the Evade check definitely substitutes as a combat check for such penalties.

That's ... actually a very good point, Tibs. I think the fact that the Beast also does regular combat damage has prevented me from seeing it that way, but you could be right.

We houseruled that The Beast devours you when you fail both the Horror and subsequent Evade/Combat check. So, if you encounter The Beast and try to Evade and fail, he does his normal stamina damage. Then you make the Horror check. If you fail that, you have ONE MORE CHANCE to Evade or make a Combat check.

I have just finished learning the game from the rule book and I have to say that it was a bear. A user review on funagain.com says about Arkham Horror, -- "The first horror you will face is the rulebook". It's absolutely true.

Please make a seperate section for basic FAQ questions of the base game for all the newbie questions. For instance,

It is not clear in the rulebook about clue tokens. It never *explicitly* says you can use clue tokens on Combat, Evade, Horror and Spell. It seems like they would be but without an example or an explicit declaration, it's ambigious.

Someone trying to read the rulebook for the first time would need the above basic question answered but not someone who is more advanced, someone who has been playing for years.

The rulebook also never explicitly states you can use Clue tokens on Speed, Sneak, Fight, Will, or Luck checks, it only explicitly states it can be used for Lore checks in the example given. It does, however, say:

"A player may spend Clue tokens, one at a time, after any skill check (failed or not)."

The rulebook also lists, under the heading Skill Checks , the four types of special skill checks that can be made. The section on spending clues makes no differentiation.

While the rulebook could have done with a couple of revisions before print purely to iron out some things that leave room for question, for the most part the rulebook does get it's point across, just sometimes in a roundabout way.

thorgrim said:

I know the rulebook thoroughly (as it is written) but thanks for the recap. "Any skill" is *not* explicit. As I was reading the rulebook I was unsure of the significance of making some skills "Special."; I thought perhaps it was because of the clue tokens and not just that special skills are derived from the basic skills. I'm not the only one; I have run across posts here at FFG and over at BGG with new players who learned exclusively from the rulebook who got it wrong. I did lean toward including "special skills" under "any skills" but I didnt want to make it too easy by favoring a rule that was ambigous. I chose to ignore the special skills until it could be confirmed online. A rulebook should clarify such questions and if not a basic FAQ section in an offocial FAQ should.

It would have made more sense for FFG to use an example that includes a basic skill (e.g. lore) like they did but then also include one that includes a special skill (e.g. combat). The best thing would have been to name all ten skills (basic game) that clue tokens made be used on. Actually it would also make even more sense that in the next revision of the rules to include a FULL turn (phase I through V) example which could answer most ambigious rules. Also a flowchart like the one's online seems necessary. The fans are making up for the shortcomings.

Not all the people who buy the game get to play it because the difficulty in understanding the rulebook. I know two people locally who have owned for two years but haven't played it yet. They were happy that I was going to dive on that grenade for them. That's a problem for FFG and they need to think outside of the box on teaching people to keep this from being a niche market product. This new FAQ being planned is a good step forward.

When *exactly* can trading occur. And when can't it occur. This question still comes up. Can trading happen at any time investigators are not having encounters? Is there a time in between the drawing of encounters where players can trade if they are on the same spot, or can it be done at any time, provided a card has not been drawn and is in the process of being read?

Does Rex Murphys ability work during the setup?

In other words, does he gain a 4th clue token when he receives his initially 3 clue tokens from his "fixed posessions"?

Vitus_Prem said:

I'd like to know :')

Any progress on this? Please, at least give us official answers to those aeons old questions on CotDP - it's the first expansion for the game, but there are still about a dozen very ambiguous cards in there. Thanks in advance.

-Villain

Where is the most current of the FAQ, anyway? I'd like to see this.

Thank you!

Vitus_Prem said:

100% he gets only 3 tokens as its his fixed possesion and in his ability description clearly states " Any Phase" not the setup (its not the phase) .

Well if you use the any phase logic then Bob, Jack, etc shouldn't get a extra card draw for there setup items either.

MrsGamura said:

well i think that would be the best but i think answer is simple couse those are mostly random possension (meaning they get it at the start of the game). this way i think would be the most logical way to interpret rules

P.S. Still i would go for abilitys not active until the game starts.

LithStud said:

Yes, but the base game rulebook specifically states that abilities which affect the drawing of random item cards work during set-up. It has nothing to do with interpreting whether "any phase" abilities.

In the new rulebook under Gates and Other Worlds the first question/answer sequence seems to imply that the Gate Box no longers allows investigators to close or seal gates that aren't the other world they emerged from. Is this correct? Has the Gate Box been nuked?

Vitus_Prem said:

I'm not entirely sure, being a new player and all, but I think in the base game rulebook, under Receive Random Possessions on Game Setup it reads, "Note: Abilities that affect drawing cards from the card decks, such as Monterey Jack's Archaeology ability, do work when drawing random possessions at the start of the game." So I assume that his ability doesn't work at the start of the game.

re: Innsmouth arrests.

The manual says that the delay from them is unpreventable. Is the arrest also unpreventable? I.e. are Harrigan and Wendy with an Elder Sign immune?

re: Deputization

It only makes you immune to Curfew Enforced, not to arrests in general, right (I'm 95% sure of this, but I want 100% clarification if possible)?

How do you handle monster combat when your told to skip your next turn. For Example Pete is chosen in place of a retired investigator... the river docks is closed due to Shudlle' Me ability... Pete placed in street and a monster flys on him.

Also can investigators who loss their next turn trade?

Can investigators use general abilities (such as Mandy's re-roll or Leo's damage prevention) when they lose their turn?

When you exit a gate to the Marsh Refinery or the Esoteric Order of Dagon, do you need to roll an evade check to prevent yourself from being arrested? How does martial law interact with those two gates? Do you need to roll the check when you first land on the locations, when you first land on them and when you return, or not at all if there is a gate there? I'd imagine it's the first option, but I'm not really sure.

Also, does Finn Edward's ability mean that he can default on his Bank Loan while he still has cash and not have to discard items (or is that considered a cost)?

MrsGamura said:

when it says to skip your turn you do so, nothing happens no upkeep, no combat just you and monster staying in same place and drooling at each other

trade possible if started by other investigator (since you skipped your turn you never got a chance to do somethin).

Can investigators use general abilities (such as Mandy's re-roll or Leo's damage prevention) when they lose their turn?

I think those abbilitys works - since they work during any investigators turn.