There are two gates A& B, Kate is at gate B.

On mytho phase, gate A surges, we have 3 players, so we need to distribute 3 monsters to gate A & B.

Since Kate blocks gate B, how many monsters will appear at gate A? 2 or 3?

1. The answer is 2, since Kate blocked 1 monsters from getting out from gate B.

2. The answer is 3. since the blocked monster is not killed, it reroutes and get out from gate A…

Blocked monsters are not re-routed. If the gate opened at A, two monsters should appear.

I'd say only two monsters appear at gate A, since Kate prevents one monster, which otherwise would have appeared, from spawning at gate B. Similarly, if Kate was instead standing at gate A, she would prevent two monsters from spawning. So if Kate was instead standing at gate A, no monsters would appear at gate A, and only one monster would appear at gate B.

sorry dude. This was longly debated on this very forum. Whenever a surge is centered on Kate, the surge is completely cancelled. So no monsters appearing at all, either in A or in B

Cutievalkyrie said:

Julia, I agree with you 100% if Kate is at location A and the monster Surge is centered around her. It'd have to be something that happens very rarely though (Kate has explored the gate and failed her close check last turn). However, Kate is at location B. It makes sense that Kate only prevents monsters from spawning at her location because the MS is centered elsewhere.

I think you're saying the same thing and perhaps misread the post?

Full Doom Track said:

Sorry, Julia, I am the one who misread the post. You are right in your response. I guess I need some coffee.

Julia said:

What? On her sheet it only says that a gate cannot appear. If there is a monster surge, there is no gate appearing. I am confused now.

eiterorm said:

The reasoning goes like this: Look on page 9 of the rules, under "Phase V: Mythos." See step number 1 ("Open Gate and Spawn Monster")? Everything under that, which includes Doom Token, Monster placement, and monster surges, Kate shuts it down if she's at the gate location; it just doesn't happen. Go directly to Step 2: Place Clue Token.

Kate is at gate B, not the surged gate A. It should be working like this,

put 2 monsters at gate A, 1 monster at the suburb, which sounds more reasonable.

But it doesn't go to the outskirts. It just simply does not get placed. Kate has canceled it, not redirected it.

Thomas Cartwright said:

So Kate only prevents things from happening in the "Open Gate and Spawn Monster" part of the Mythos phase? So if Kate happens to be in the Merchant District streets, and a Mythos card releases a couple of monsters there (Headline), she does not prevent the monsters from appearing?

According to her special ability, "Gates and monsters cannot appear in Kate's location…" There are a number of issues arise from these eight words. First, there have been those who have posted based on the premise that 'gates' and 'monsters' were somehom coupled together…so that only during the Mythos Phase this occurs. Others have pointed to the word 'location' ~ this is often misconstrued in this case as anyplace on the board marked by a circular space…not to include the streets. It includes anyplace in the neighborhoods, Other Worlds, etc.

Gates may not appear. Thus, if a Mythos Card reveals a gate where Kate's standing, nothing happens…no gate, if there's a gate and she's there ~ no Monster Surge…nothing. If, during the Arkham Encounter Phase, she draws a card which states. "A monster appears" ~ again, nothiong happens. Finally, if she's in the street and a Mythos card reveals "an ancient ship releases two monsters into the street…nothing happens. Finally, if she's in the Dreamlands and "a hideous monster appears" is drawn…again, nothing.

The Professor said:

Thanks for the clarification. Based on the wording on the sheet, my understanding was that she could not cancel a monster surge, only the monsters spawning at her location. It would seem I have to play even less strict now (in those, as Full Doom Track points out, very few situations when Kate has failed to close/seal a gate _and_ a mythos cards creates a monster surge at her location).

eiterorm said:

The only time we've had Kate stop a monster surge, it wasn't because she had failed to close the gate; it was because she'd had an other world encounter that sent her back to Arkham early and had to wait until the next turn to attempt gate closure.

Full Doom Track said:

No probs :-) I also could have included the original post I was referring to in my answer. Still having troubles while posting comments on this board, though ::gently sgrunting::

eiterorm said:

Indeed. The ability is poorly worded. Just imagine this: she prevents a gate from appearing. What triggers a monster surge? A gate appearing on an already existing gate. But his can't happen, because she's forcing the new gate not to appear. Hence, no monster surge.

Anyway, The Professor answered brilliantly, covering all the possible cases. And he was 101% right. Well done, Prof!

Julia, as always, you're very kind. I don't post often, but when I do, I surely hope that I'm on firm ground based on a careful reading of the rules, interpretations from the various fora, and a lot of games!

The Professor said:

Read your post as that…..

I'll also say something useful in that Kate has prevented several monster surges be being purposly 'parked' at a high gate probability location.

Full Doom Track said:

She can't just hang out at an existing gate though. If she's at a location with a gate during the encounter phase, she's sucked through.

FullDoomTrack,

The commercial would start…he rolls as many dice as he wants to…he never fails a Horror Check, he selects the three skills he wants every Upkeep…he is, the most fascinating Investigator in Arkham.

Time to print a custome Investigator card I think.

DarknessEternal said:

I guess FDT referred to the case of Kate having an explorer marker.

Full Doom Track said:

I should have rephrased this to "prevented several gate openings by being purposely 'parked' at a high gate probability location without a gate yet."

This, in no way, relates to what this thread is discussing and I'm not sure what exactly I was trying to say. Julia is right, Kate has to have an explored marker to prevent surges at that gate. Even then it's better to close/seal the gate instead of using her special ability to prevent a monster from spawning, due to a Surge or a Surge spawning at that gate and having it prevented altogether.

The new FAQ has answered this, and it seems to disagree with this entire thread. =P

Q: When happens during a monster surge when Kate Winthrop has an explored token in the same location as a gate other than one that has the monster surge?

A: The surge is resolved as it normally would be, except monsters do not appear at Kate’s location. The total number of monsters is distributed as evenly as possible among the remaining open gates, with no gate having more monsters placed on it than the gate where the monster surge occurred this turn. (Note: her ability does not reduce the number of monster tokens drawn as a result of the surge, it simply redistributes them to other gates.)

I agree that it totally upends our discussion…but, given that her ability is rarely used, I'll still ignore the monsters that would have appeared at her location. Thus, a Monster Surge throws four monsters into Arkham . Kate's standing at one of the three available gates (not the one in which the Monster Surge occured). The four monsters would be placed as follows…Monster 1 on the gate which experienced the Monster Surge ; Monster 2 on the gate with Kate ~ no, back to the cup; Monster 3 on the other gate; Monster 4 on the gate which experienced the Monster Surge . I'm not a big fan of her Flux Stabilizer deflecting the monster to another gate.