Hello, and thanks in advance for any clarification on my question.

The thief and the sorceress have special abilities they can use when they 'land on' another character. If they are encountering another player in the crown of command, can they use these abilities as if they 'landed on' the opponent, even if they didn't actually move onto the crown that turn?

Or can they only use it on the one turn they arrive on a player already on the crown?

I think you can use it one time if you land on the crown of command if you must encounter a other player.

The manual says that you land on the Crown of Command.

Except if it is stated on the character chart as example the assassin.

That seems kind of odd to me, because the rules say to handle character encounters in the crown of command exactly like encounters in the middle or outer region. But really, all you can do is attack if you are already there. The 'use special ability' option is not possible with any character currently in the game because any usable ability also requires that you 'land on' your target. The Thief, Sorceress and the Merchant are the only characters with 'special abilities' they could use in such encounters, unless I"m missing something, and they all say 'land on'. So why is the option even presented in the rules and flow chart if it isn't actually possible?

I also notice the last FAQ states that every turn you are considered to have 'just landed on' the Crown of Command, for the purposes of picking up any objects or followers left there if you're alone. I fail to see why 'land on' works in that instance, but not for special abilities. Especially considering that you can't possibly move if you're on the Crown. Or can you?

The rules should make it clear that either you can only attack if you are not actually moving onto the crown of command, or that you are 'landing on' that space each turn, even though you are not actually moving. Stating that such encounters function exactly like they do in the middle and outer region when they actually function very differently is very confusing.

Not every ability requires to land on a character. The wizard or Sorceress can use their ability to make the combat psychic.

But if you stand already on the crown,then you are not moving anymore. I can't call that landing. So you can't use the ability from the thief, except if you move from the Valley of Fire to the crown. Then you LAND on the crown.

Velhart said:

You have two main options when you choose to encounter a character rather than the space. You can either engage in combat, or you can use a special ability. The ability to engage in psychic combat is still under the 'engage in combat' choice.

Can you (or anyone really) tell me a special ability that falls under the 'use special ability' choice when encountering another player, that doesn't require 'land on', and that is not the combat choice?

Or why you're effectively 'landing on' the crown of command every turn you're there for the purposes of picking up objects/followers/etc but not for the purposes of using special abilities?

Since everything official on the subject was somewhat contradictory, we just rolled 50/50 for it working one way or the other, but we'd like to know for sure for future games.

I'd like to hear from others who have viewed this topic. How do you play it? Am I just making too much of some seemingly contradictory rules/FAQ answers?

Actually, on closer inspection of the rules, it states...

"Characters can only have encounters in the space where they
land."

Seemingly supporting the notion that you are effectively 'landing on' the Crown of Command each turn, without actually moving, since it is a special space. 'Land on' may just be 'the space you are having an encounter on", essentially.

About that characters have encounters in the space where they land is as usual.

The Crown of Command is a special place. If you read on page 20 about the Crown of Command. There stand that a character does not move but remains there. And if a other player LANDS on the crown of command, he must encounter the other character.

For that, they use the word LANDS... ( and not for if you stay on the same space.

I think we need somebody else who takes a look at this.

Velhart said:

Keep reading on page 20. The next sentence in that paragraph continues on to describe when two characters are together on the crown of command.

pg. 20 "If there is already another character
on the Crown of Command space when
a character lands on it, the character
there must be encountered. Once two
(or more) characters are on the Crown, those characters’ turns
consist only of encountering one of the other characters."

pg. 19 "Encounters with other characters on the Crown of Command
are also treated as encounters in the Outer and Inner Regions,
except characters must encounter each other."

pg. 9 "Encounters in the Middle
and Outer Regions - Characters can only have encounters in the space where they
land."

pg. 9 "An encounter with another character always takes one of two
forms. The character whose turn it is may either attack or use one of
his special abilities on the other character."

FAQ - "2.2 - Crown of Command
Each Turn that a Character remains on the Crown of
Command Space counts as though they had just moved there, for the purposes of picking up Objects."

I can't find anything in any of the official documentation to support the idea that you can't use these special abilities on the crown of command, upon further inspection, beyond the literal definition of the words 'land on', which seems more likely to refer to 'the space you're having your encounter in'.

Perhaps the use of "land on" is to suggest that your character gets the initiative and is therefore able to use that particular ability only when he lands on another character, before the other character realises that he is a thieving scoundrel! I don't have a problem with either way it is interpreted tbh. Mark another one for the FAQ...

talismanisland said:

But according to the same rules, you can only attack a character you 'land on' as well. As it stands, the only way the rules make sense is that you are, effectively, 'landing on' the Crown of Command each turn you are there, even if you don't physically 'move' your character. Engaging in combat has the exact same 'land on' prerequisite that these special abilities have, it's just written in the rulesbook and not on each individual character card.

We really need a new FAQ for this.

The makers have not think about if you move each turn on the crown or not. If you have a pvp battle., then you must land on that character, and if you can land, then you are actually moving..

That means you can pick up object too as the FAQ says, but if you ask me, then i say that you can' t do both things( encounter the character and picking up objects. Because then you encounter both the character and the space...

It's good that this topic has been made...

Don't forget that a special ability or card text overrides the rules, so "Land On" could be a deliberate addition in order to limit those particular Special Abilities. As I said above, I don't have a problem with the Thief stealing something at the Crown instead of fighting for a turn. If he wants to lose the chance at taking a life, or maybe has another strategy by removing helpful objects then it is a reasonable thing to do. It will be added to the FAQ questions though...

Velhart said:

True, you can't do both. The rules do handle that though. Under Crown of Command, it says that if there are one or more other characters in the crown, then you must encounter one of them, prohibiting you from encountering the space and therefor from picking up any objects.

talismanisland said:

It doesnt' override any rules though, really. The rules already state that you must 'land on' a space to encounter it or a character on it. Like I said, as the rules stand currently, attacking another player has the exact same prerequisite as these special abilities, in that for both you must 'land on' your opponent.

But ya, something official in the FAQ would be nice. I doubt my group is the first to become confused by the wording.