Maze

The Maze will remain here for the rest of the game. Whenever you land here, if your Craft is less than 5, you must miss one turn.

and

Marsh

The Marsh will remain here for the rest of the game. Whenever you land here, if your Strength is less than 5 you must miss one turn.

I am wondering what the purpose of those 2 cards is and I'm also kinda unsure how they work. If the player who draws one of them has craft/strenght of less than 5, does he miss his next turn or does his current turn end here? Since those cards are places and have an encounter number of 6 there is not much you can do after interracting with them anyway so do you always lose your next turn after landing on them?

If all they do is to waste your next turn, not to mention the turn you have already wasted drawing or landing on them, is there any point in using those cards? They add nothing to the game except for wasting everyones time and they aren't any fun for anyone.

Demarki said:

In most cases with the Marsh or Maze, you will miss your next turn.

read page 16 losing a turn. ( If there are other cards on the space, your current turn ends. and you can play further on your next turn.

But if there are no other cards to be encountered, then you must miss your next turn.

There is a point in using those cards.

characters with low strength or craft can miss a turn there.

It becomes also a space that characters want to avoid.

The reason the cards have an encounter number is in case they are

1. drawn/placed on a multi-draw space, and/or
2. other cards with encounter numbers somehow get placed/dropped on the same space.

It is then clear that most other cards on the same space are encountered before encountering the Maze/March.

Whether or not there are other cards present, the character with less than the require S/C encountering the maze/march by ending all movement must miss its "next" turn. The current turn does not end until all encounters on the space are completed.

Personally, I feel your angst, as these cards are annoying. Often they just end up blocking a draw space later in the game when characters are already potent enough to ignore them. Then again, by that point, many of the spaces have filled up. That's sometimes a signal that its time to get to the Crown of Command.

JCHendee said:

When using the Maze & the Marsh in my group, the cards go to the discard pile when each character playing the game can't be affected (ie: everyone above 5 strength or craft). It can be justified as the Marsh drying up or the Maze reverting to a hedge.

It just clears some of the spaces so more cards can be drawn.

nodgenesor said:

I like it if some spaces are covered with cards.

This means that you must find a other way where you want to draw new cards.

The Marsh and the Maze are very good in this job.

However, Only characters with less than 5 can miss a turn here, and they could make it higher, to give the card a greater effect.

Less than 5, is mostly starting strength or craft, depending on what for character you are playing.

nodgenesor said:

You can stil be affected later in the game, e.g. become a toad.

We preferred to leave in the Maze and Marsh, though they're status was altered and the cards eventually rewritten.

First, they were given a new classification as "Obstacles" since they aren't really "Places." Our Obstacle type cards do not count against cards drawn as Places would, since Places are often settle locations with an influence that would minimize general adventuring, meaning what comes out of the Adventure deck.

Second, they were rewritten as a roll against Craft and Strength respectively, since it made more sense to use than just a blanket level attribute which was done on the original cards for quickness and efficiency. Then again, a roll of one dice on encountering them isn't going to use up much time and didn't confuse even the youngest of our players. The Maze and Marsh became a challenge, via Order Number, instead of automatic blockage for characters and or adventuring on the said space.

We also later added other new and reclassified "Obstacles" that brought a momentary newness to the game. One doesn't have to be trapped in the either/or of whether to use or not any particular card... as shown by some other choices mentioned here.