The result of a failed skill check in an Other World encounter was "lose all sanity." The character had a Whiskey card at the time. Can it be played, to preserve one sanity? Or does the character go insane before it can be played, and thus end up Lost in Time and Space?

You'll get answers on both sides of this question. As for me, I'd permit the use of the Whiskey to salvage 1Sanity.

I agree with The Professor on this one. The card says "lose all sanity", and not "you are driven insane". If you have five points of sanity, then that's how much sanity you lose. If you choose to use the whiskey in this situation, you only lose four points of sanity, and are thus still sane.

I disagree with both of the above. If you use Whiskey and prevent a sanity loss, then you haven't lost all sanity. In other words, the encounter does enough sanity so that after reducing the loss, you still wind up at zero.

Achievement Unlocked: Debate Discoverer. You have discovered, without assistance, a debate that has been unresolved since the first FAQ came out and while the second FAQ remains hidden, possibly nonexistent.

Thanks for the replies (on both sides of the issue). For what it's worth, I decided during the actual game that Whiskey COULD NOT be used, since the card explicitly stated "lose ALL sanity" (my caps). My reasoning: For Whiskey to reduce the sanity loss by one, there has to be a specific number of potential lost points.

I agree with The Professor. I decide to interpret "all sanity -1" as "all but one sanity."

Tibs said:

I say the whiskey overrules encounters. If the encounter says "lose three sanity " and you use the whiskey, you haven't lost three sanity. I say the same goes for this case. I do understand your point of view though.

As always, I appreciate this forum because there's dynamic and lively dialogue. This is a game about rules (especially Phases), but also about interpretations. That's what makes the game…and by extension, this forum so great.

I'm gonna drink some whiskey until the debate is over, and then, i'll tell you if i still have some sanity or if i lost all of it

Clearly the answer is that the investigator must pass a Luck (+2) [2] check to have the rules interpreted in the manner desired.