Hello everyone,
Welcome to my first post on the FFG forums. I recently picked up Arkham Horror and all of its current expansions and am enjoying the game quite a bit. I've played 13 games with only the base set thus far as well as couple more with CotDP's Visiting Exhibit option. I've won about 7 of the 15 games (most by sealing), but I have yet to try the game with more than two players or even more than two investigators. I'm really looking forward to trying the game out with larger groups and diving into the expansions a little at a time. I have, however, been saving up a growing list of questions for which I can find no answer on the forums and which I'd like to have answered before they come up with a big group:

1) Can Kate Winthrop's Science! ability prevent a gate from appearing during the mythos phase? If so, am I correct in assuming that, in such an instance, no doom token is added to the doom track and no monster is put into play even if it would normally go directly to the Outskirts (i.e., no gate = no monster)?

2) Does Harvey Walters' Strong Mind ability negate the sanity loss associated with using an Elder Sign (or Michael McGlen's Strong Body ability negate the stamina loss)? I understand his ability does not reduce sanity costs (e.g., for spells), but the Elder Sign describes the sanity reduction linked to its usage as a loss. I suppose this question could be asked more generally as: How does one determine whether a given sanity/stamina reduction should be considered a "cost" or a "loss"? Should one rely solely on the actual wording of a given card, or are there other considerations to take into account?

3) When returning from LiTaS during the upkeep phase, if a player places his marker on a location that contains clue tokens, may he immediately take those tokens, or may clue tokens only be taken at the end of the movement phase and when they appear during the mythos phase?

4) There is one gate encounter in the base game I've run across a couple of times on which I need a little clarification. It calls for skill test to determine whether an investigator immediately returns to Arkham or becomes LiTaS. Regardless of the outcome of this test, the gate through which the investigator entered the Other World is closed. My questions are these: does the player take the closed gate as a trophy? If not, do the monsters with dimension symbols matching the one on the gate still return to the cup? Can the player seal the gate using clue tokens (or even a retroactive Elder Sign, for that matter)? Does the answer to these questions depend on whether the investigator returns to Arkham or becomes LiTaS?

5) There are a number of cards in the game that call for rolls using either an investigator's current sanity or current stamina. Am I correct in assuming that these do not qualify as skill checks and that, consequently, clue tokens may not be spent to provide additional dice for them?

6) Is the Outskirts considered "in play"? That is, can monsters in the Outskirts be affected by cards that affect monsters in play? My gut says yes, since monsters in the Outskirts are affected by closing gates.

7) In a similar vein, are monsters located on the "Terrible Experiment" rumor considered "in play"? I understand that they do not count against the monster limit or even as on the board, but can they be drawn through gates or affected by cards which affect monsters in play?

8) In CotDP, there are a number of mythos cards that instruct the first player to gather several particular monsters and place the gathered markers on a specific street/location. Nothing is said, however, about what to do with the monsters after the time limit on the mythos card to kill them for a bonus is up. Do these monsters count against the monster limit? Are they then placed in the Outskirts if the limit has already been reached? (This could get a little silly as markers gathered from the Outskirts could then be placed directly back into it.) Such a situation could obviously prohibit players from gaining the bonus listed on the mythos card. If the answer to these first two questions is no, I assume the monsters are only temporary and should be returned to the cup after the time limit has been passed. If this is the case, can these temporary monsters be drawn through closing gates or affected by cards that affect/discard monsters in play while they are on the board? Also, if the monsters are temporary, are they returned to the cup when the time limit is up, or are they returned to their original location (i.e., cup, Outskirts, or investigator trophy)?

I enjoy the vibe of CotDP a lot, but I have a feeling I'll be asking more questions about it once I try it out a little more. Thanks for any responses ahead of time!

1> Yes. Her primary ability is that if she is sitting on an unstable location during the Mythos phase and it comes up with a gate that there is no gat and no doom token.

2> Yes. If an item performs a task and then causes a sanity loss, then Harvey can reduce it. If it costs sanity to perform th action, Harvey's power is useless. Elder Signs seal the gate first and cause a Sanity Loss afterwards, so you are golden.

3> By the rules, you only pick up clues during the end of the movement or during placement during Mythos.

4> The player takes the trophy. Also the player may spend clue tokens to seal the gate. It doesn't matter whether they are returned to Arkham or Lost in Time and Space. It doesn't even matter if Yog Sothoth is the GOO.

5> Right. If the dice pool isn't based on one of the six skills, it's not a skill check. Remember that many checks are indrectly based on skills (Horror Checks, Evade Checks, Spellcasting Checks, Combat Checks), and that still counts. But "Roll your Stamina" or "Rolll a die" does not count.

6> The Outskirts are in play, but they are not in Arkham. However, Kingsport and Dunwich are in Arkham, as is the Sky.

7> They are in play. They aren't in any location, and they don't count against any of the varios limits.

8> Those monsters count as being in Arkham. If you on't kill them in time they just sit there until you do something about them and you'll get nothing for it. Worse, if the Monster Limit is already reached, one or more of them may end up in the Outskirts. Then you can't beat them down for a reward. They just suck.

-Frank

Frank said:

Hmmm... I didn't know that (the sealing part)— although it makes sense to me. Is there an official ruling on that?

The rules on sealing by Elder Sign explicitly say you have to be in the same space as the gate. The rules on sealing by clues don't - they just say that you have to do it immediately after closing the gate. I don't know that there's an official ruling that says this is how it's supposed to be instead of an unintentional inconsistency.

Nothing official I believe, all just based on a thread from a while ago. I still don't quite agree with the idea of long-distance sealing though, I think it is in the "unintentional inconsistency" basket.

As for a further clarification on Question 4, whether long-distance sealing is passed as official or not, you can't use the Elder Sign if you aren't at the location of the gate, so no sealing with a Sign from LiTaS.

Frank said:

So monsters on "Terrible Experiment" can be drawn through closing gates?

A followup on #1.

I played with Kate for the first time last night and found myself wondering whether her Science! ability stops monsters from appearing in an encounter in the Other Worlds? I assume it would in an Arkham Encounter, but I wasn't sure about OW.

Seang,

I'm in the middle of a game (oh, alright, an "adventure") with Mike McGlen, Kate Winthrop, Sister Mary, and Bob Jenkins. Kate has managed to prevent two gate openings in Arkham and passed quite easily through the OW, as her ability does prevent either gates "from opening" and monsters "from appearing" at her location. Sometimes, I believe, players have made the interpretation based on the order of the words "Gates and monsters" can't appear located on her sheet. For clarity, "Gates and/or Monsters can't appear. . . " is the correct interpretation.

I would assume that monsters on the Terrible Experiment are not affected by closing gates or by the Greater Banishment spell (same effect) because they are not on the board. However, I've been told that Yig's ability still activates when you kill a Cultist on the Terrible Experiment.

I don't allow Kate's ability to work in the Other World or streets because they are not locations. Her ability thematically stops monsters from passing between dimensions, but when you're in the OW they're not in other dimensions—they're right there with you. And often the monsters that appear in the streets are for some reason other than dimensional travel (old basement is opened, inmates escaped, etc)

"4> The player takes the trophy. Also the player may spend clue tokens to seal the gate. It doesn't matter whether they are returned to Arkham or Lost in Time and Space. It doesn't even matter if Yog Sothoth is the GOO."

I have to pretty much completely disagree with that idea. If you're lost in time and space.. you're done. You only get the explored marker if you return to arkham directly... therefore you only get the opportunity to seal if you return to Arkham directly.

On a slightly less critical note.. I wouldn't even give the investigator the trophy if they fail and are LiTaS. The consolation for this "happy" failure is there's one less gate on the board and the appropriate monsters were removed.

Now if you pass the check and make it back through the gate you entered from.. all is fair at that point.

Torn said:

Monsters on Terrible Experiment cannot be removed by gate closing. As stated on rulebook page 18: "When a gate is closed, all monsters in Arkham, the Sky, or the Outskirts that have the same dimension symbol.....".

Terrible Experiment states: "These monsters do not move, are not considered to be on the board, and do not count against the monster limit".

If a monster isn't on the board, it cannot be in Arkham, the Sky, or the Outskirts.

someone want to post this entire thread in the F.A.Q.?

thorgrim said:

So, is there any way at all to affect the monsters on Terrible Experiment except by having an encounter on University street?

I don't think so...

Either engage them in the location or ignore it and let the rumor fail. There is no other way to get rid of the monsters on the card.

Yeah, the only real effect of the monsters on the Terrble expriment being "in play" is that they get bonuses from the Ancient One and some Mythos cards. So Rituals of Power would give a witch on the experiment +1 Toughness because she is "in play". But Black Sabbath! would not send the same witch on the card to the cup, because she's not "in Arkham."

-Frank

Frank said:

Also I could not imagine having to pass a evade check to catch Elusive monsters on the Terrible Experiment...after all it says somewhere on the card you can fight any monsters...the Wear Wolf is in a test tub so how could it get away from you? lol

Good point do negative effects affect the monsters on the Rumor...like in the Witch example?