I'm a little confused with the pocket watch and Mark Harrigan's special ability. Namely, "you cannot become delayed unless you choose to".

I think this is clear in the case of a beneficial encounter, such as when you can become delayed to gain a skill. But what about cases where the encounter says something like "lose two health or become delayed"? You're still technically choosing to become delayed in this instance, but shouldn't the special protection of the ability be usable to avoid anything bad happening in these circumstances? This situation has come up quite a bit in our games. How have other people been playing this?

If you don't want Mark to lose 2 health, you can choose for him to be delayed.

What Mark Harrigan's ability is useful for are those cards that say "You are Delayed" or "You are Detained" and you have no alternative. In the example above, you are given a choice.

Yeah, it basically come down to this: Did the player have a choice where he did NOT get delayed? Then if he did not want to get delayed he should have chosen that The ability only affects situations where there was no choice involved.

It's actually a fairly weak ability, as being Delayed without choice seems to be a rarer circumstance.

Yeah, that seems to make him one of the worst characters, frankly. And makes the pocket watch almost useless.

While I agree the delayed negation is not strong, there are many times where failures will force you into a detained condition, which Mark Harrigan can just shrug off.

I know those exist, but I've only encountered maybe a handful of them; with all characters in all the games I've played. Compared to literally every other special ability in the game, it still feels extremely weak as written.

I know those exist, but I've only encountered maybe a handful of them; with all characters in all the games I've played. Compared to literally every other special ability in the game, it still feels extremely weak as written.

The Detained condition is kind of rough. If you can't negotiate your way out of it, it basically eats your turn as well as also attempting to do something bad to your character. Sure, its not as bad as a Dark Pact or a Curse, but in a game without a lot of players, one player losing a turn can really hurt.

Yup. Never a pleasant experience being Detained. Agreed, maybe Mark's ability can't be used every turn, but it could actually save a lot of problems under certain occasions. Just be patient, and remember the game is growing: I'm quite confident character's weak spots will be made more interesting with the passing of time (and expansions).

Spoilers, ho!

1 Sea research encounter under Azathoth can result in being Delayed.

2 Wilderness research encounters under Cthulhu can result in being Delayed.

1 Sea research encounter under Cthulhu can result in being Detained.

1 Sea research encounter under Shub-Niggurath can result in Delayed

1 Wilderness research encounter under Shub-Niggurath can result in being Detained.

1 City research encounter under Shub-Niggurath can result in being Detained.

1 City research encounter under Yog-Sothoth can result in Delayed.

1 City research encounter under Yog-Sothoth can result in being Detained.

So 8 out of 96 base possible research encounters, with Shub-Niggurath being slightly more common.

2 Generic City encounter can result in Detained.

1 Generic Wilderness encounter can result in Delayed

1 Generic Sea encounter can result in Delayed.

So 4 out of 36 possible generic encounters.

2 North American encounters, one in San Francisco and one in Buenos Aires, can result in being Detained. None result in Delay.

2 European encounters, one in London and one in Rome, can result in being Detained. A London encounter may cause the character to be Delayed.

4 Pan-Asian encounters may cause the character to be Detained. 1 Encounter in Shang-Hai may result in Delay.

That's 10 out of 72 encounters.

1 Expedition encounter can cause you to be Detained. None will delay you, although six can potentially cause Leg Injuries.

That's 1 out of 18.

7 Otherworld Encounters cause Delay. None cause Detainment.

That's 7 out of 18.

All Injury cards can result in Delayed. Note that two Leg Injury cards would not be affected by Mark Harrigan's ability as they are become Delayed Or style of cards. There are three Injury cards that are affected.

One each of the Amnesia and Paranoia Madness cards can result in Detained. One Debt card can result in Detained.

That's 6 cards, out of a total of 36 Conditions. Note that Conditions can chain, and a nice thing about Harrigan is he can break these chains somewhat.