Retrying the location heavy slog that is Emyn Muil - without Northern Trackers! - I was pumping up my card draw with lots of Mathom and put one on one of the starting locations Amon Lhaw. First reaction was:- What a waste! While Amon Lhaw is the 'Active' location - it was at the time - treat all 'Attachments' as blank. But then I thought that 'Mathom' responds after a location is explored, so by then it is no longer 'active'. I hope I played this correctly. I know I could keep Amon Lhaw in the staging area and explore it there, but it was a 2 group game so had 4 Threat and I wanted it gone early so it wouldn't spoil more 'Attachments' while 'Active', before I added too many of them. Trying this scenario without Northern Trackers may seem silly, but I wanted to make it more of a challenge. With Eowyn, Protector of Lorien and tons of Rohan cards, it was still pretty easy, but a long slog to get the 20 VPs and clear the Emyn Muil locations. I still find the earlier quests much easier with all the new cards added, so artificial 'restrictions' helps to even things up. Cheers!

I asked this question through FFG's contact form on the website and never got a response. I am hoping it will be released in the new FAQ that is right around the corner (fingers crossed!!).

So, this situation hasn't as yet been officially resolved. Hopefully it will turn out to be as I stated. It seems logical. However, I had better leave off writing up this as a story until it is 'officially legal'. I like to write up the best attempts at each scenario as a story - just for my own amusment. The 'theme' of this game is so rich in flavour that each attempt at a quest lends itself to a cracking adventure, even the 'epic' failures. Of course, my writing skills are nowhere near on par with Tolkien, but it is fun to come up with reasons for strange happening. Why was the 'Mathom' at that location? How did an ally used as 'canon fodder' to block some nasty beast, survive to come back to 'Stand and Fight'? What did a Hero do to be made 'Steward of Gondor'? Your imagination can really fly!

Hopefully all my efforts so far have been fully legal and not tinkered with. It is so tempting to alter something knowing that if you had done 'B' before 'A' things would have turned out better. Although I play these 'write ups' solo - normally 2 groups - it really makes no difference, but I give myself a 'slap on the wrist' if the 'devil' tries to tempt me. There is nothing to be gained for cheating. Therefore I shall hold off this story until my assumption can be verified. Plenty more to try. At the moment I am about halfway through the first part of 'Escape from Dol Guldur'. Gloin was captured, so my big 'Resource' booster and only 'Leadership' Hero has temporarily gone, but I got a 'Song of Kings'. But that is another story! Cheers!

I think you could do that. Since the Mathom triggers AFTER a location is explored I see nothing wrong with it or with its text. Let's say the Ancient Mathom triggers when you "discard" (in this case put into your victory display) the location…so it is not the ACTIVE location anymore…at least I see it like that…

But you see, the card text that has the response needs to be there when the triggering effect happens. While questing in this situation, Ancient Mathom has no text, and therefore no response. Once the location is explored, the text returns, but now the triggering event is past, so you can't fulfill Ancient Mathom's response text. I think you simply discard the card without drawing the three cards.

the text reads : "after attached location is explored " this means you have a small window open to trigger the effect…if it said "when" I would agree with you…

Hmmm. I guess it really can be interpreted both ways. I'm really interested in seeing how/if this gets ruled.

Thanks for your replies! It looks like this issue is still open to debate. Come on FFG, resolve this! My instinct is still that it is legal as this was how I had previously played it. It is only when you think about it more deeply that doubts creep in. Won't spoil my enjoyment, but my 'stories' have to be proper plays with no cheating or tinkering. I still have plenty to do as the 'Escape From Dol Guldur' was a nice success. The rush of allies at the end meant the 'guards' and remaining 'Beast Master' were out run. Cheers!

Rashley said:

Feel free to submit a rules question via the link on the bottom of the page, and let us know what they say! (Asking for a response on these forums is a waste of energy - it'll never happen.)

Perhaps I will give that site a try as Budgernaut hasn't got a reply yet. If I get a response, I will post it here. Cheers!

I received a reply from Nate this morning about this issue. Pretty quick seeing as I am UK and many time zones away. This is the verdict!

'Mathom' cannot be placed on 'Amon Lhaw' while it is the active location as the Attachments text would be blank and thus preventing it from being attached. It can be placed while in the Staging Area, and if 'Amon Lhaw' gets explored, even if subsequently it becomes the active location, the 'Mathom' will become 'alive' and cards can be drawn.

That all seems logical and hopefully will get into the next FAQ. Cheers!

Thanks for the update! This makes sense - an attachment will always say what it is allowed to be attached to. If it's blank, it can't be attached to anything. I approve.

The thing that a lot of people forget is that Attachments have the text 'Attach to ****'. This is also blanked by the active Amon Lhaw, so they cannot even be attached. Those already attached when Amon Lhaw was inactive, still remain attached but have no effect. As soon Amon Lhaw is explored all attachments become 'live' again. It is all very simple and obvious but I will have to think up a 'thematic reason' why Amon Lhaw blanks attachments. Any ideas? Cheers!

The first part about attaching to Amon Lhaw when it's active was obvious, but I don't think the resulting ruling was obvious. I still think it makes more sense that you don't draw cards, but I'm glad to have an official ruling. Despite my opinion, I'll play it this way from now on without questioning it.