Couple of questions from a new player

By Silverset, in CoC Rules Discussion

What happens when a Doppelganger is put into play from the discard pile?

When a character is insane it is considered to have no icons, skill, or text box, would Gibbering Soul's ability trigger if it's killed while insane?

Thanks for your help!

Silverset said:

What happens when a Doppelganger is put into play from the discard pile?

Well, let's say that you are trying to use Unspeakable Resurrection to put Doppelganger into play. Since Doppelganger's ability is only when you play it from hand, putting it into play from the discard would not allow you to use its ability.

Unspeakable Resurrection
Type: Event Faction: Yog-Sothoth
Cost: X
Spell
Action: Choose a character in your discard pile with cost X or lower. Put that character into play.

So since "put into play" is not the same as "play", then anytime you put it into play, X would be treated as '0'. Doppelganger would essentially be a 0-cost, 0-skill, icon-less character with no relevant text.

From the FAQ:
(2.1) “X” (The Letter “X”)
Unless specified by a preceding card, card effect, or granted player choice, the letter “X” is always equal to zero. For example, Darrin controls Shadow Company (Summons of the Deep F89), which has an “X” for the card’s skill value. His opponent, Tommy, targets it with Called By Azathoth (Summons of the Deep F9). Since the Shadow Company has a blank text box, it does not have a value assigned to X. Thus, its skill is now zero.

Silverset said:

When a character is insane it is considered to have no icons, skill, or text box, would Gibbering Soul's ability trigger if it's killed while insane?

We know that characters that are blanked don't do anything when entering the discard pile.
From the FAQ:
(1.12) Card States
If a card has an ability that triggers in response to said card entering the discard pile, that effect does not resolve or trigger if that card had blank text due to a card effect, was attached to a domain as a resource, or was insane before it entered the discard pile , unless that card specifically states otherwise.

In this case, the answer is similar. Since "destruction" would happen when the text box is still blank, it wouldn't have an ability at that point to be able to respond.

Thanks!

could a zero skill iconless character with no abilities win a story icon due to it being uncontested?

nope, you need at least 1 skill for uncontested to count

also opponent needs more than 0 skill to stop it from being uncontested

Silverset said:

Thanks!

could a zero skill iconless character with no abilities win a story icon due to it being uncontested?

I think you mean a struggle, right? Like investigation or combat? Yes, characters with 0 skill can still win struggles, but they can't win the skill check at a story if it's uncontested. So the most a character (or characters) with 0 skill can do at a story is get one success token for the investigation struggle.

Maybe youre asking about winning icon struggle becouse no one showed up.

You can win an icon struggle with no opponent, but you need at least 1 icon of the kind.

If you have no books you dont win Arcane struggle, even if noone shows up.

I thought that you won an additional story icon if you are uncontested at a story. I guess what I'm trying to ask is if a skilless character goes uncontested at a story can it win an icon(s) if its the only character involved?

and when I say "icon" I mean that little cardboard thingy with the magnifying glass that you place on the story when you have the most skill, go uncontested, or win an investigation struggle. I just realized that I may have confused people by not being clear(I think I may be using the wrong vocab :) )

Silverset said:

and when I say "icon" I mean that little cardboard thingy with the magnifying glass that you place on the story when you have the most skill, go uncontested, or win an investigation struggle. I just realized that I may have confused people by not being clear(I think I may be using the wrong vocab :) )

Ah, that's a token , a success token to be exact. No, if your characters have no skill they cannot get a token for succeeding at a story (because having no skill is not succeeding), nor can you get an additional one for being unopposed. The most you can do is get 1 for winning the investigation struggle.

"Icons" the things on the left side of the character card - terror, combat, arcane, and investigation icons .

Sorry for the mix up. Thanks for clearing this up!!