Ashcan Pete's ability allows him to pull cards off the top or bottom of the Unique, Common and Spell decks. I have a few questions and while I'm sure this has been discussed in the past, I apologize for bringing it back up again since the history has apparently been lost.

1) When Pete is instructed to draw more than 1 card from a deck (e.g., three Common Items in place of an encounter at the General Store), does he draw all of them from the top or all from the bottom -- or can he choose to take some from the top and some from the bottom?

2) An item can only be used once per turn (e.g., the Motorcycle can be traded to another investigator, but only be used by one of the two investigators once that turn). If a card is used and then discarded, however, can it be reused later that same turn if Pete picks it off the bottom of the deck (i.e., does it count as the same item)?

3) Timing is also important when card effects cause both a discard and a draw. In such cases, are cards always discarded to the bottom of a deck before new ones are drawn? The card text itself is usually ambiguous since most seem to imply the discard and draw happen simultaneously -- which would make me think that Pete could ****** something out of the trash before it's covered up by whatever drops into it.

Two examples:

a) The crowbar can draw itself if it is discarded before the draw. If Pete's Sneak is high enough, he could potentially draw the entire common deck in one turn if the crowbar can be reused (as per #2 above). If two crowbars are in play (i.e., Pete has one and the other is at the bottom of the common deck) then the same thing can happen if the crowbar is discarded after the draw.

b) If Pete uses the Flute of the Outer Gods to kill a Mi-Go, it can drop the flute right back into Pete's hands if the flute is discarded before the Mi-Go's Unique Item draw.

Pete's ability makes for some interesting and fun combos, but I'm not always sure how to play them.

Thoughts?

1) In this example, Pete may choose three times to either draw from top or bottom. He also may draw two from the bottom and the last one from the top, if he wants to. His choice.

2) It counts as a new item and can therefore be used again.

3) We always play that cards that have to be discarded for an effect return to the bottom of the piles after the effect had taken place.

Thinking of your sick crowbar action, I get the feeling that we played it right ;D

With two crowbars, on the other hand, Ashcan is theoretical able to draw everything out of the common item pile... if he's lucky enough not to get caught, that is.

Agreed. Extra note on #2: an item "can only be used once per turn" only if it says so (like if it requires you to exhaust it). So you can't use your Motorcycle and then hand it to a buddy while passing by, allowing him to use it the same turn. But if you exhaust the Motorcycle and then discard it for some reason, and then Pete draws it in the same turn, it comes into play refreshed (because items don't come into play exhausted).

Thanks for your input. We've been playing Pete mostly the ways you suggest:

1) He can draw from top and/or bottom of the deck when he draws more than one card.

2) If an item has been both used and discarded this turn, then it can't be used again. It comes back (in effect) exhausted. This stops the runaway dual crowbar.

3) Discards go on the bottom of the deck after the effect is resolved. If the effect triggers another effect (e.g., a Lightning Gun shooting down a Mi-Go), then the discard goes to the bottom of the deck before the second effect occurs (so in the example, the Lightning Gun could be redrawn by Pete immediately -- but it is exhausted as described above).

This seems reasonable to me until, heh, a ruling/clarification is ever made.