Actually, this didn't just happen to me....but it nearly did.

If, say, Joe is the 4th player to act on the set up? His starting items entitle him to a .45.

As it happened, Mandy drew a .45. When I flicked through the deck, I found - thankfully - there was a 2nd one. But supposing this had been drawn by another player before we got to Joe? (or if there is an investigator entitled to a card of which there is only one and it is previously randomly drawn?)

I guess the fair thing to do is to insist that the investigator who draw the last remaining specified item at random (e.g. the 2nd .45 in the core game) returns this to the deck and draws again, thereby ensuring that all investigators do actually start with their specified items.

My fallback was to give Joe the .38.

I can't find anything in any FAQ about this, so advice appreciated.

And thanks too for the very warm welcome on this forum!

Am loving this game already :-)

This things pops up here and there... I don't remember any official answer, but I guess you should simply give another substitutive item drawn at random from the appopriate deck. If for example you can't give Michael his Tommy Gun, give him a random substitutive common item

A common response is to deal a random item from the appropriate deck (as Julia says). But another common response is that the player gets nothing.

As a side note, if you're referring to the encounter that says you should search the deck and take the .45 Automatic, be advised that the encounter is officially supposed to grant you the .38 Revolver . Nobody would trust Dingby with a .45 Automatic!

I was under the impression that you gave out all of the non-random items before characters selected their random stuff.

I was under the impression that you gave out all of the non-random items before characters selected their random stuff.

Aye, the point is when new characters enter play because you have some others devoured. So, let's say you draw Michael and all the tommy guns are already in possession of other investigators. What should you do? This was the OP's question

OK. That makes sense. I somehow missed that point when I read the topic.

I was under the impression that you gave out all of the non-random items before characters selected their random stuff.

Aye, the point is when new characters enter play because you have some others devoured. So, let's say you draw Michael and all the tommy guns are already in possession of other investigators. What should you do? This was the OP's question

If all of the Investigators have tommy guns, I'd say they are probably doing pretty good already and may not need a new Investigator to join them! XD

Hey, folks, the OP made no mention of this being tied to an encounter (I can see the confusion since we're talking about .45s and .38s), but instead was merely talking about set-up ~ in which you make sure that each Investigator has their Starting Possessions before they start taking the Random ones. In this case, there's absolutely no chance that Joe won't get his precious .45

Cheers,

Joe

Hey, folks, the OP made no mention of this being tied to an encounter (I can see the confusion since we're talking about .45s and .38s), but instead was merely talking about set-up ~ in which you make sure that each Investigator has their Starting Possessions before they start taking the Random ones. In this case, there's absolutely no chance that Joe won't get his precious .45

Cheers,

Joe

:blush: good point Joe... aye, then, if this is to happen during set-up, you deal the fixed possessions first, and then go with the random material

Julia,

Having just read over 1,600 "The War" related posts, a 118-page rule book, and writing an 8-page review of the game, I'm attuned to subtleties. btw, if you get a chance, check out my review over at bgg, under the war game, The War: Europe 1939-1945 .

Cheers,

Joe

So is there not an official ruling on what to do if this happens when an investigator joins mid game after someone has been devoured? I've wondered this for a while actually. It seems to me like it would be very wrong if McGlen came without his tommy gun. Or Sister Mary without her cross, or Jim Culver without his Golden Trumpet, or Ashcan Pete without Duke.

The way I handle it is that whoever is currently in possession of the fixed possession gives it to the incomeing character (if there is more than one and they can't decide, first player chooses) then the person who gave up the item draws a new random item of the same type. I explain it as that investigator came upon the item and recognized it as the other investigator's and decided to pick it up for safe keeping. Then when the new investigator shows up to join the good fight, the item is returned to its owner, and as thanks the new investigator gives them a similar item that they had picked up on their way back to Arkham.

I keep fixed items in the same envelope as the investigator sheet, token and personal story so they only exist when that character is in the game.

I keep fixed items in the same envelope as the investigator sheet, token and personal story so they only exist when that character is in the game.

That makes sense. I personally wouldn't like that certain items would be permanently out of the random deck, though. It especially would suck that an Elder Sign is gone unless Wendy is in the game.

Sounds like someone could SE up all those items into one set and then upload them to BGG. Would save a lot of hassle.