Who has these intersections? I am a beginner at go and we couldn't resolve this situation with my opponent. Neither of us want to play to these liberties because whoever plays loses their stones. Whose are these two intersections at the end of the game?

$$Bcm1 Whose are the points?
$$ |.....
$$ |XXX..
$$ |OOOX.
$$ |.OOX.
$$ |X.OX.
$$ +-----

The White's are dead if the surrounding Black's are alive. The White's are two moves away from being captured by Black. White can make moves to prolong its dying but not prevent it.


Do destination cards have to be completed in a particular direction? When completing a destination card, does the train have to be started from the beginning city on the card or can it be started from the destination city and worked backwards?

All you need is an unbroken chain between the two cities. It doesn't matter which way you started it, how many cities are in between, or whether it is the most direct route.

From the rules:

  Each Destination Ticket includes the name of two cities on the map and
  a Point Value. If a player successfully completes a series of routes
  that connect the two cities, they will add the amount of points
  indicated on the Destination Ticket to their point totals at the end
  of the game. If they do not successfully connect the two cities, they
  deduct the amount of points indicated.

The rules for Ticket to Ride: Europe are similar.

  If, by the end of the game, a player has created a continuous path of his color plastic trains between the two cities named on a Destination Ticket he holds, he scores the additional points indicated by the Point Value on the Ticket. If he has failed to complete a continuous path between those cities, he deducts the Point Value on the Ticket from his total score.


In Stratego, what happens if in the setup a player puts all six bombs in the front row but not behind the lakes? Imagine a situation which is highly improbable in practice but still possible theoretically. A novice player in Stratego, when making his/her initial setup, has put all his/her six bombs in the front row. No bombs behind any of the two lakes, however. So, in other words: two adjacent bombs are on the left flank, two bombs on the right flank and two in the center.

I had been playing wonderful game of Stratego for a long time, but I am so afraid of the above mentioned setup I never dared to try it. Still, I wonder what the game rules say about it. Is this an immediate loss?

If you can't move, you lose the game.

Here is an excerpt from the rules:

  If all of your movable pieces have been removed and you cannot move or attack on a turn, you must give up and declare your opponent a winner.

You have zero movable pieces and they are all removed so it is a loss.


Ancient one awakes and battle When the ancient one awakes, what will happen with the another monsters? They stay in the board or just they're banished? And if they stay in the board, the player needs to evade that monster every time, or just one time or never?

The another question is about the dice success, every FAQ and fourum say the number of cumulative success of dies but, what happens when in one whole round is just one success? It accumulates to the next round or it's just lost.

During the final battle, the only thing that matters is the Ancient One and any Investigators who were not lost in time and space. Everything associated with the old board is irrelevant.

Take a look at the description of the turn structure on page 22 of the rules:

  Combat with the Ancient One is divided into rounds. During a round, players first have an opportunity to adjust their investigators. Then each player attacks the Ancient One. Finally, the Ancient One attacks the investigators. Once these steps have been resolved, a new round begins.

Where in there would monsters attack? And Investigators may only make combat checks against the Ancient One.

Your second question is answered by another paragraph on page 22:

  Instead, keep track of every success an investigator scores against the Ancient One (see "Skill Checks," page 13). These successes are cumulative, and each successive player adds to them with his own attack. When the players accumulate a total number of successes equal to the number of players (including any players that were eliminated from the game), remove one doom token from the Ancient One's doom track and reset their cumulative successes to zero.

And further clarified by the FAQ referenced in this question.

  If the investigators get 9 successes in the first round of combat, they would remove 2 doom tokens, and 1 success would carry over to the next round of combat.


Is it possible to move auras with the equip ability? Let's say my field is:

a bear creature
an elf creature
an aura (for completeness sake: it gives flying to the enchanted creature)
Mycosynth Lattice
Bludgeon Brawl

The aura is enchanting the bear.
The aura has "Equip {x}" granted by Bludgeon Brawl.

If I was to activate the Equip ability targeting the elf, what would the aura be attached to?

Which creature would have the +x/+0 and flying?
Would the answer be the same if the aura could only enchant a land?

An easy way to get an answer will be to look at Bludgeon Brawl's Gatherer tips:

While Bludgeon Brawl is on the battlefield, an Aura enchantment that somehow becomes an artifact in addition to its other types will also become an Equipment. Any of its abilities that refer to either "enchanted creature" or "equipped creature" refer to the creature it's currently attached to. It can be attached to other creatures using its equip ability. If you try to attach the Aura Equipment to a creature it can't legally be attached to, it remains where it is. If the creature it's attached to becomes an illegal permanent for it to enchant, the Aura Equipment will be put into its owner's graveyard as a state-based action.

This is governed by a bunch of rules, but the gist is: you can equip the aura on another legal target, and it will give both the aura and equipment bonuses (it will be attached to a new object).
As for the second part, an Aura which can only enchant a Land will be moved to graveyard if the Land it was enchanting isn't also a creature, because an Equipment can only be attached to a creature. Basically, "enchanting" and "equipped" mean the same - attached to an object. And since the attachment is not legal anymore, the Aura will be moved to graveyard as SBA.

303.4b The object or player an Aura is attached to is called enchanted. The Aura is attached to, or “enchants,” that object or
player.
301.5a The creature an Equipment is attached to is called the “equipped creature.” The Equipment is attached to, or “equips,” that creature.
303.4c If an Aura is enchanting an illegal object or player as defined by its enchant ability and other applicable effects, the object it was attached to no longer exists, or the player it was attached to has left the game, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

And if the current Land it is enchanting is a legal target (it is a creature as well), you may only attach (equip) the Aura-Equipment to another Land if it is a legal target, otherwise it will not move and stay attached to the current Land.


Cards changing mana color What cards across all sets allow the utilization of mana, either colorless or otherwise, as colored mana of another color?

One early example with an unlimited  1:1 ratio:

  Sunglasses of Urza
  Continuous Artifact: White mana in your mana pool can also be used as red mana.

What other cards have similar abilities?

There are nine cards that allow you to spend mana as though it were another color:

Mycosynth Lattice lets you spend mana as though it were mana of any color without restriction.
Daxos of Meletis and Psychic Intrusion allow you to cast a spell from an opponent's library, and allow you to spend mana as though it were mana of any color when paying that spell's cost.
Celestial Dawn and False Dawn both let you tap your lands for white mana and spend white mana as though it were mana of any color. False Dawn additionally makes any other mana you generate white.
North Star lets you spend mana as though it were mana of any color for a single spell, and Unexpected Potential lets you spend mana as though it were mana of any color for spells with a chosen name.
Quicksilver Elemental lets you spend blue mana as though it were mana of any color for its own abilities (which it copies from other creatures).
Sunglasses of Urza lets you spend white mana as though it were red.

There are also 58 cards that allow you to spend mana to get colored mana. I'm not going to list all of them, but here are some highlights:

Bog Initiate filters an arbitrary amount of mana into black mana.
Farrelite Priest filters an arbitrary amount of mana into white mana, with the caveat that you have to sacrifice it if you activate the ability 4 or more times in one turn. Initiates of the Ebon Hand does the same for black mana.
Orochi Leafcaller filters an arbitrary amount of green mana into mana of any color. Nomadic Elf does the same, but at an additional cost of one mana per mana generated.
A cycle of cards like An-Havva Township, which let you tap and pay one mana for one color, or tap and pay two mana for your choice of two other colors.
A cycle of lands from Eventide like Cascade Bluffs, which let you tap and pay one mana in your choice of two colors to get two mana in any combination of those colors.
A cycle of lands like Darkwater Catacombs, which let you tap and pay one mana to get one mana in each of two colors.
The Ravnica guild signets, like Boros Signet, which let you tap and pay one mana to get one mana in each of the guild's two colors.
The land Crystal Quarry, which lets you tap and pay 5 mana to get one mana of each color.


How many Mythos cards can be played during the investigator's turns? I am wondering how playing Mythos cards works. I read that the Keeper can play 1 Mythos card in the investigators' turn. Does that mean:

1) when playing against 4 investigators, the Keeper can play 4 Mythos cards (one card each per single investigator's turn) before his turn comes,

or

2) the Keeper can play only 1 Mythos card per a complete turn cycle of all investigators (i.e. the Keeper can play 1 Mythos card before his turn comes)?

The keeper can play one Mythos card per investigator's turn.

From the rules, bottom of the first column on page 16:

  The keeper may play a
  maximum of one Mythos card per investigator turn and may
  never play Mythos cards during the keeper’s own turn.

Each player/investigator has his own turn each round.  Playing against 4 investigators, the keeper could play a maximum of 4 Mythos cards a round.

From pg. 6

  Playing the Game

  Mansions of Madness is played over a number of game rounds.
  During each round, each player resolves his turn (starting with
  the investigators)


Does mana stay in your mana pool after the land has been destroyed If I tap a bunch of land and then it gets destroyed after I tapped it, does the mana stay in my mana pool?

Yes, it will stay in your mana pool until the end of the current step or phase.

There are effects that empty your mana pool, but they specifically say so, such as Mana Short.

  106.4. When an effect produces mana, that mana goes into a player’s mana pool. From there, it can be used to pay costs immediately, or it can stay in the player’s mana pool. Each player’s mana pool empties at the end of each step and phase.


Can You Reroll Successes For Reserves? Say I have 2 influence and want the shotgun which is 4 successes. If I roll 2 successes, can I spend 2 clue tokens to reroll my success to attempt to get the shotgun or does rerolling a die remove that success and in theory I wouldn't be able to get the shotgun with my default influence and without a loan?

You only count successes once all rerolls have been made. This can be inferred from this clause in the rulebook:

  Rerolling Dice
  Immediately after rolling dice during a test, an investigator
  may spend a Clue token to reroll one die. He may perform this
  multiple times, as long as he spends a Clue token each time. He
  determines whether he passed or failed after resolving all rerolls.

(Emphasis mine)

Also, in the reference guide, you'll find:

  When a die is rerolled, use the result of the reroll, even if the new
  result is worse.

So, clearly a reroll can remove a success if that dice is rerolled! This makes it entirely clear you are just manipulating the result of a roll of a fixed number of dice. You can never get more successes than the original number of dice in the pool.

This becomes even clearer when you remember that there are effects that allow an investigator to roll additional dice. If the intent was to allow rerolls to create additional successes, there wouldn't have been any need for the additional dice mechanic.


What happens if, after battle, board is still full? What happens, if the board is full and after battle (resulting from the full board) it stays that way?

Moreover, what happens if - in such situation - opponent has the possibility to perform action despite full board? For example sniper, small bomb, large bomb, ability to replace opponent or self units with new ones etc.

You have another Battle immediately.

On page 5 of the game rules:

  If at any time during the game the board is filled up and no single space is left to place a tile on, a Battle commences (see BATTLES section below).

Even if the Battle results in a stalemate, the game will eventually end. As soon as the Battle ends, so does the active player's turn:

  The player who starts a Battle (by playing Battle tile or filling up the board) finishes his turn, regardless of the number of tiles he has left. As soon as the Battle commences, no other tiles can be used or even discarded.

As such, the next player takes their turn, drawing and discarding. Because the board is full, a battle happens immediately (before they can play tiles or use other abilities). Eventually, a player will draw their last tile. An automatic battle happens on that turn due to the board being full, then again on the opponent's turn, and then the final battle happens.

If both HQs have the same points left, each player takes an extra turn (a.k.a. two more battles), and then there's an additional final battle. If there's still no winner, it's a draw.


Does having Smallholder and Acreage when Sowing yield extra grain? If I have the smallholder, and I sow I should get extra to place one extrs grain when I do so as long as I have two or fewer fields.

Acreage does not count as a field when scoring points, but I can sow grain on it.

If I sow grains on Acreage while I have two or fewer fields, do I get to place extra grain when Sowing on the fields and on the Acreage?

Acreage counts as two fields for Smallholder, so you will not get extra sowing unless it is your only field.

Source:

  Acreage, Bean Field, Lettuce Patch and Turnip Field count towards the indicated maximum of 2 fields, and you receive extra grain or vegetables on them because of the Smallholder. The Acreage counts as two fields.

It is worth noting that this is an "unofficial compendium", so it is not as definitive as an actual rulebook. But it has been compiled based on rulings from the designer, as well as discussions in the rules forums at boardgamegeek.com.


Do copied spells use the original's casting location? Let's say I flashback an Increasing Vengeance in order to copy a Shock twice.  Then, I cast Reverberate from my hand targeting the Increasing Vengeance which in turn will also copy the Shock.  Will the new copy of Increasing Vengeance make one copy of the Shock I target or two?

The new copy of Increasing Vengeance will only make one copy of the Shock - it was never cast, much less cast from your graveyard.

This isn't particularly simple - most of the time, when a spell or ability is copied, most of its characteristics are copied along with it (costs paid, choices made, etc.) - however, in this instance, since the evaluation of whether or not an extra copy is provided on resolution of Increasing Vengeance, that information is not actually copied. If it was phrased different it might actually work - something like "if the flashback cost was paid, copy twice." But phrased the way it is, you get only a single copy.

Relevant rule:

  706.10. To copy a spell or activated ability means to put a copy of it onto the stack; a copy of a spell isn't cast and a copy of an activated ability isn't activated. A copy of a spell or ability copies both the characteristics of the spell or ability and all decisions made for it, including modes, targets, the value of X, and additional or alternative costs. (See rule 601, "Casting Spells.") Choices that are normally made on resolution are not copied. If an effect of the copy refers to objects used to pay its costs, it uses the objects used to pay the costs of the original spell or ability. A copy of a spell is owned by the player under whose control it was put on the stack. A copy of a spell or ability is controlled by the player under whose control it was put on the stack. A copy of a spell is itself a spell, even though it has no spell card associated with it. A copy of an ability is itself an ability.


Is Dimir's milling strategy viable in Gatecrash sealed deck? If not, what can they do instead? The situation is similar to wesdfgfgd's question MTG Gatecrash Simic Strategies for a Prerelease event

I'm a habitual Dimir player.  In Gatecrash, many Dimir cards are strongly themed towards their millstone strategy or generating card advantage.

In sealed deck, and to a large extent in draft, millstone wins seem hard to pull off.  Many of the capstone cards for this approach are rare, so I probably won't have them.  (Milling is hard in general, and the format makes this kind of one-method-to-win focus inherently unreliable.  To win on turn ten, I'd have to average milling 2.3 cards per turn - while defending myself.)

While many Dimir creatures are rather nice for reasons of evasion or card advantage, I'll hardly win with a direct creature approach against Boros or Gruul.

Looking through the non-rare spells with Cipher, most are two or 4-drops, with a few areas of effect.  Most either generate card advantage (Last Thoughts) or fend for time (Hands of Binding, Voidwalk).  With 18 uncommons I can hardly count on getting enough Call of the Nightwing to token flood the ciphers through, and that's the most aggressive card.  (I don't feel Shadow Slice compares particularly well to a 5-drop creature in a sealed deck format.)

So, can the basic milling approach be made to work?  And if not, where should I be going for the win?  (And which splash colours would help me achieve it?  That decision depends on my draws, obviously, but of the obvious white-splash Orzhov or green-splash Simic, what would you recommend?)

(EDIT: This question originally referred to the Gatecrash prerelease, but has been edited to be less time-dependant.  The focus is primarily on sealed, but most answers are probably just as relevant to draft format; answers discussing the differences are particularly welcome.)

Well, it's up to you to figure it out based on your card pool, really.

However, some numbers are handy:

At the start of the game, your opponent will have at least 33 cards in his or her deck (more if there are mulligans).
Each instance of the "mill until you hit a land card" ability will mill something like 2.5 cards on average. That's pretty weak.

What Dimir does have going for it is that a lot of the milling in this set is attached to other stuff -- the common Balustrade Spy is a feeble mill card but also gives you a 2/3 flyer for a reasonable cost, for instance. And you do have access to some repeatable milling, like the prerelease promo Consuming Aberration and lower-rarity carsd like Paranoid Delusions, Sage's Row Denizen, Undercity Informer, and Duskmantle Guildmage.

I don't think Gatecrash's milling is nearly as explosive as similar decks in Dark Ascension Limited. And Dimir creatures are by far the weakest of all the guilds; if you want to actually play a solid defense, you're likely to need Orzhov or Simic to help you stabilize (Dimir can work well with both those guilds because it offers them the missing component they need to be a control deck -- lots more removal for Simic, countermagic for Orzhov). If I'm mixing guilds like this, though, I'd much rather be trying to win off of cipher+extort than straight-up milling.

Mostly I just don't think the power cards are there in any capacity. It feels like black in AVR -- you can get a reasonable deck going in draft if no one else is in your colors, but the card pool's pretty thin overall. Magic pro Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa had this to say about Dimir in Sealed, for instance:

  This means Dimir has a bad promo, a bad Keyrune, an OK Guildmage, an
  OK Charm, horrible rares, horrible uncommons, and horrible commons! To
  top it all, pretty much all of the guild pack’s slots are filled with
  cipher cards, which are not very useful—you want mill cards and
  defensive cards, but those won’t be found in that pack. Unless I
  underrate cipher very much, I’d stay away from Dimir, because it
  doesn’t look like you’ll beat anything but the Orzhov decks.

  In the end, if you want to play the Dimir colors, I think the best
  alternative is an esper deck. You get the milling from Dimir and the
  defense from Orzhov. If this is your plan, then I think the Orzhov
  pack actually offers better cards for you—you lose the Dimir promo,
  which is better, but instead of useless cipher cards you get 1/4
  defenders and regenerating Thrulls.


Am I allowed to pass unequipped weapons (or items) to any survivor? What is the rule regarding passing an unequipped weapon to a survivor that is not in your location?

For example, if I pickup a gun at the police station and want to pass it to another player that has a survivor at the grocery store.  Can I pass the player the card to equip to that survivor? Or would I have to move to that survivor's location?

There are two types of moves that involve giving cards to other players.  They are Hand Off and Request.  The one you probably want is request.

  Request: During his turn a player may request 1 or more item cards from other players. Other players may give the requesting player an item card from their hand, if they do, that card must be revealed and immediately played. The requested card cannot be added to the crisis.

Request allows a player, on his turn, to get cards from other players as long as he plays it immediately.  I'm presuming that the card you want to give to someone is unequipped so in your hand.

  Hand Off: During his turn a player may have a survivor he controls that has an item equipped hand that item off to another survivor at the same location. When an item is handed off it is unequipped from the survivor that is handing it off and is immediately equipped to the survivor that it is being handed to.

Hand off is basically if a survivor already has an item equipped (i.e. it is "in play" and out of your godly control to move around to other survivors without restriction), then he or she can give the item to another survivor in the same location.

So, yes, you can pass that unequipped card but not on your turn.  You have to wait until that player's turn before they can request it from you to place on that survivor.


Leyline of Combustion w/ two Pandemonium triggers If player A controls two (2) Pandemonium and player B controls Leyline of Combustion, how would this resolve. Player A has a creature enter the battlefield and has it deal damage to player B twice using each Pandemonium trigger. Does player B have Leyline of Combustion deal 0, 2 or 4 damage to player A?

The main concern is does the creature target the player.

The Leyline deals 2 damage twice, for a total of 4 damage.

The current oracle text of Pandemonium's ability is:

  Whenever a creature enters the battlefield, that creature's controller may have it deal damage equal to its power to any target of their choice.

This ability has a target, so it can trigger Leyline of Combustion's ability.

The exact sequence of events looks like this:

The creature enters the battlefield under player A's control. Each Pandemonium's ability triggers.
Player A puts one of the Pandemonium triggered abilities on the stack and chooses player B as the target. Player A controls the ability and player B is the target, so player B's Leyline's ability triggers.
Player A puts the other Pandemonium triggered ability on the stack and makes the same choices. Player B's Leyline's ability triggers again.
Player B puts each of the Leyline triggered abilities on the stack.
Each of the Leyline triggered abilities resolves dealing 2 damage to player A, for a total of 4 damage.
Each of the Pandemonium triggered abilities resolves, making the creature deal damage equal to its power to player B.


What does Tarot card size mean What does tarot card size mean?

If you're asking for dimensions, what I found is Mayday sleeves for french tarot cards listing size as 61x112mm

And FFG "tarot sized" sleeves are 70x120mm


What do the numbers in parentheses mean? In Gosu (Goblin Supremacy), what do the numbers in parentheses on each card's description indicate?  For example:

(Justice) When Justice comes into play draw 3(+1) cards.

We had been playing that the player with the Advantage token got to do the () actions.

You get the bonus if at least one other player has more victory points than you. I'm basing that on the description at the end of this unofficial rules summary.

The official rulebook is available online, but I seem to be missing the font for the text, so I can't read it to confirm.


Will this bounce work? Here is my problem:
I made a really awesome Animar EDH deck and one of my infinite combos involves Animar, Soul of elements with 4 +1/+1 counters on it. This will allow me to summon Pierce Strider for free. I would then use Cloudstone Curio's ability in order to bounce back pierce strider back into my hand and virtually allow me to cause 4 points of damage to my opponent infinitely!
Can this combo actually WORK!? It says on cloudstone curio that

  "Whenever a nonartifact permanent enters the battlefield under
  your control, you may return another permanent you control that shares
  a permanent type with it to its owner's hand"

and pierce strider is an artifact but is also a creature. So will this work?

Your combo will not work for two reasons.

Cloudstone Curio never triggers.

Cloudstone Curio triggers when a nonartifact permanent enters the battlefield. Pierce Strider is an artifact, and so it will not cause Cloudstone Curio to trigger.

You must choose another permanent.

Cloudstone Curio says you may return another permanent. "Another" in this case means "not the thing that caused the trigger".


Is there more strategy with the two card variation of Candyland? Candyland has a variation for older players where you draw two cards each turn and then choose one to use.

Obviously you would normally choose whichever card moved you the furthest down the board. But is there any situation where you would pick the other card? Maybe to take advantage of better draws later on?

When playing the two-card variant, both cards will end up in the discard pile at the end of the turn. The only choice is which of the two colours to advance to.

There is one obvious case where choosing the card with less movement distance is the better choice: Liquorice.

Suppose one card X moves the player to a liquorice space, and the other card S stops short. X is 100% going to skip the player's next turn (or worse depending on the rule variant). S has at most 100% to skip, if that colour is drawn again next turn, but this has been made less likely by the discard of the first card, and generally the presence of other colours still in the draw pile further reduces the likelihood of repeating X in the next turn.

If playing with the rule whereby Liquorice/Dot is cancelled by drawing the same colour again, then this probability has been reduced by the removal of the original X that put the player there.

The net result is that taking S will never put the player in a worse position than taking X, but is very likely to give a better position at the end of the turn following the skipped turn.

It is therefore always better to avoid the Liquorice space, when the choice exists.


What is this game that's similar to Go? I always thought that Go was played by trying to place 5 of your pieces in a row while blocking your opponent from doing so, but I just recently looked up the rules, and it's completely different.
Is the game I was playing real? What is its name?

There are two strong possibilities that are both played on a 19x19 board, Pente and Go Moku. Both have as a goal to get 5 in a row.  Pente also allows capturing and you can win by capturing 5 pairs of stones.

Pente

Pretty good game, I had it confused with Go for the longest time as well.  There have been a bunch of editions over the years, you shouldn't have any trouble finding a set.


In bridge, what happens if a bidder makes a wrong bid that can't be corrected? Suppose opener bids one spade. Second seat doubles (takeout). Responder redoubles. Then fourth seat "bids" one club and the opener declines to let it stand.

That is an easy fix. Fourth seat has mentioned clubs, and is now forced to say "two clubs" to make the bid sufficient.

But suppose fourth seat (a newbie) says something like "double," or "double the redouble." You can't play one spade for eightfold stakes. But the bidder has presumably given away unauthorized information. So in a tournament, what would be the penalty and how would it be assessed?

The Laws of Contract Bridge's Law 36 deals with inadmissible doubles. If the player in first seat takes a call before somebody realizes that the double was inadmissible, the double and all subsequent calls are cancelled, it becomes fourth seat's turn to call, and everything proceeds as normal.

If, on the other hand, the irregularity is called out immediately, the double is cancelled and the player may substitute any call. Their partner (in second seat) is forced to pass every time they make a call for the rest of the auction. In addition, there will be lead restrictions:

  Declarer may prohibit offender’s partner from leading any one suit at his first turn to lead, including the opening lead, such
  prohibition to continue for as long as offender’s partner retains the lead.


Do my own villages/cities interrupt my "longest road" in Catan? In a monthly game night, my friend interprets the rules to say that if I have a village or city on my road, it reduces the "longest road" length. I interpret the rules as saying that my village/city on my road does not impact the road length.

Which is the correct interpretation?

You are correct.

Your own cities do not affect your status towards the "Longest Road" You can view the official rules here, from pg. 9 (emphasis is mine).

  You can break an opponent’s road by building a settlement
  on an open intersection along his road!

On page 8, in the example, Emily has the longest road card with 7 segments.  She has two houses within those 7 segments.

This was also answered directly in the online FAQ as pointed out by @shemmon.


Can a character without a skill use a card that adds to that skill? I'm playing Seoni who has a d4 for Strength and no Melee skill. If I want to resolve a combat check with my strength can I play a Soldier card which adds 1d4 to a Melee combat check if I don't have the Melee skill? Are my normal attacks, by default, Melee?

After reading some other forums, I believe the answer is actually Yes
Note: someone of the below is copied from David C Ellis's answer.
From the Paizo FAQ's Attempting a Check section:

Cards that require a check specify the skill or skills you can use to attempt the check. Each check to defeat or acquire a card lists one or more skills; you may choose any of the listed skills for your check. For example, if a check lists Dexterity, Disable, Strength, and Melee, you may use any one of those skills to attempt your check.

and

Even if your character doesn’t have any of the skills listed for a check, you can still attempt the check (unless you’re trying to recharge a card; see Recharge on page 15), but your die is a d4.
(Recharge on page 15 reads:)if you don't have at least one of the skills listed for the check, you cannot attempt to recharge the card

and

Players may not play cards that modify a skill unless you’re using that skill, and players may not play cards that affect combat unless you’re attempting a combat check.

So based on the first and second quote, you have to choose one of the skills listed on the card you're attempting to acquire/defeat/etc. even if you don't have that skill on your character card, but your die will be a d4. The wording "Even if your character doesn’t have any of the skills" simply suggests an extreme case, it doesn't mean that's the only situation where you can use a d4. It implies that you may use a d4 for a skill check with a skill you don't have, even if there are other skills (that you do have) to choose from. The only exception is recharging. In that case, you must recharge using one of the skills that you do have.
Then, based on the third quote, you can only play cards that modify the skill you chose so if you chose melee (even though it's not on your character card), you may use an ally that modifies your melee check. This third quote just states that you may not use an ally that, say, adds a die to your intelligence check if you chose melee as your check attempt skill.


Does declaring victory end your turn? A scenario that played out in our game of Settlers of Catan:

What happens if a player falsly declares he won when he was at 9 points instead of 10?

Does declaring he won end his turn? (and this is after the said player laid down his cards and left the table)

I ask this because after we told him he didn't win, the player was able to play two resource cards to make a road and then have sufficient points. However, if declaring your win ends your turn, does it not leave the possiblity of at least one more round and the other players to play for the win?

The offical rules (bottom of page 5) state:

  ENDING THE GAME

  If you have 10 or more victory points during your turn the game ends and you are the winner!

Interpreted literally, this is a state of the game, not an action - if at any point during your turn, you have 10 or more victory points, you win, independent of what you say or do. "Declaring victory" is not something which is covered in the rules, so it can't end your turn. However, this literal interpretation of the rules leads to an obvious problem if somebody does have 10 victory points on their turn but doesn't declare victory - are they still the winner?

As such, this is going to depend on the context you're playing in - in any of my gaming groups, we'd give the person claiming victory a ribbing for not being able to count to 10 and let them continue their turn - but that's a decision for your group to make, not one the rules are going to make for you; you can't expect the rules to cover every mistake a player can possibly make. If you're in a more formal context like a tournament, this is the time to call the referee over to your table - that's what they're there for.


Regenerate: Tap before regeneration? I have a creature with the regenerate ability. If I activate this ability I generate some sort of a regenerate shield according to the following rule:

  701.12a: The next time [permanent] would be destroyed this turn, instead remove all damage marked on it and tap it. If it’s an attacking or blocking creature, remove it from combat.

Now, do I have to tap the create after I activated the ability? Or is the creature tapped after the creature would be destroyed and the regenerate shield "wears off"?

How does regeneration work in Magic the Gathering? according to this, I guess the creature get tapped when regenerate shield "wears off". (I'm sorry, I don't know a better word for the shield to take effect...)

The creature is tapped when it would be destroyed (this turn). The most common example of this is:

You attack with your creature (whom has a regenerate ability)
The enemy blocks with a creature with the same or more power than your creature's toughness
You recognize that your creature will die if it is not regenerated, so you activate the regenerate ability BEFORE that lethal damage is dealt, creating the "Regeneration Shield" that will last until the creature is destroyed, or the turn ends.
Combat damage is exchanged. Your creature now has more marked damage than its toughness.
Immediately after, state based actions are checked and performed. Creatures with more marked damage than their toughness are destroyed. Since your creature has an active regenerate shield, when your creature would be destroyed, the replacement effect from regeneration kicks in. Instead, you tap it (if it is not already tapped), remove it from combat (if it is in combat) and remove all marked damage from it.

There are 3 elements of regeneration:

Tapping the regenerated creature - this tends to be relevant only to creatures with Vigilance
Removing the creature from combat - If a regeneration shield is being used during combat but before combat damage, such as to prevent a Doom Blade killing the creature, the creature is removed from combat and will no longer deal or receive combat damage.
Removing all marked damage from the creature - When a creature gets damaged, that damage is "remembered", but only until the end of that turn. If at any point during a turn the damage exceeds a creature's toughness, that creature gets destroyed the next time state based actions are checked.


Is it possible to play league games with the base Ninja-all-stars game? I'm quite interested in a very lightweight skirmish game with chibi miniatures, and it seems Ninja all-stars has it all.

What I'm wondering (and no ressources online talks about it) is, are clan boxes mandatory for league play ? Can I play Clan Ika(or whatever special clans there is) ninjas with the generic minis? Is the "core" box made only for one-shots plays?

So having read the rules, I've got my game not so long ago, I'm able to answer.

The base game provides 4 teams that correspond to a shrine, which is roughly - but not exactly - the same as playing the Clan attuned to that specific element.

Without the clan box, it's impossible to play Onis (no miniatures compare in the base box), Heroes and most ronins. You can proxy (and in fact is the solution given by the rules) any clan with the base set - except Onis, Heroes and any ronin which happened to not be a Samurai.

So it's doable to play league games with only the base game, but is kinda hard to read, unless people limitate themselves, and not all is available even then.


Can I sacrifice a sacrificed permanent? If I cast Perilous Research and I choose to sacrifice my Chromatic Star, can I sacrifice Chromatic Star and get one mana and also draw two cards?

No.

Either:

You sacrifice Chromatic Star before Perilous Research resolves, in which case it's not there and you have to choose something else.
You sacrifice Chromatic Star as part of Perilous Research, in which case it's gone before you have the opportunity to activate its own ability.

However, you'll still draw the card from Chromatic Star's graveyard triggered ability, as it doesn't care how it got there.

This is because, in general, you can only activate abilities at certain times (when you have priority). When a spell is resolving, nobody gets priority until it's finished, so you can't activate the Chromatic Star during the decision to sacrifice it. That is, when a spell resolves, it has to finish completely before anyone can do other things.


Animated Planeswalkers Say I have a Liliana of the Veil that is also a 3/3 creature (possibly via Enchanted Evening and Opalescence).

My opponent attacks Lilly with a 4/4 lifelink, trample and I decide to block with Lilly.

Does my opponent gain three or four life from her creature?

Ok, so the creature is attacking Liliana. Even with trample, the controller can choose to assign all 4 damage to Liliana. So, the controller gains 4 life.

Also, even if you decided to trample the damage over, it would still go to hit Liliana (she wouldn't be dead yet), since all damage is dealt simultaneously.

What's interesting about the scenario is that Liliana is marked for damage as a creature AND loyalty is also removed for each point of damage.


What effect does Coat of Arms have on face-down creatures? I was playing a Sliver deck vs a co-worker today, and he played an illusion deck with Ixidron. I was having a hard time grasping how Coat of Arms would work with Ixidron turning everything face down.

Ixidron basically says all face-down cards are creatures. Is creature a type that Coat of Arms would be pairing with and make everything huge, or would coat of arms essentially do nothing to all of those face down cards?

From that same page (emphasis mine):

  Creatures turned face down by Ixidron are 2/2 creatures with no text, no name, no subtypes, no expansion symbol, and no mana cost.

"Creature type" is a shorthand for a creature-specific subtype (205.3m in the Comprehensive Rules). Face-down creatures have no creature type, so Coat of Arms does not affect them.


Does excess Planeswalker damage hit the player? A friend said that excess damage will spill over and hit the player, but I can't find anything to support that. I've seen 306.7:

  306.7. If noncombat damage would be dealt to a player by a source controlled by an opponent, that opponent may have that source deal
  that damage to a planeswalker the first player controls instead. This
  is a redirection effect (see rule 614.9) and is subject to the normal
  rules for ordering replacement effects (see rule 616). The opponent
  chooses whether to redirect the damage as the redirection effect is
  applied.

but that doesn't mention excess damage.

For example, in any of the following scenarios, does the excess damage hit the player after killing the Planeswalker?

If I hit a Planeswalker with 4 loyalty like Samut, the Tested with a 5/5 creature like Collasapede?
If I hit a Planeswalker with 4 loyalty like Samut, the Tested with a 5/5 creature with trample like Giant Warthog?
If I hit a Planeswalker with 4 loyalty like Samut, the Tested with an instant or sorcery that does 5 damage like Explosive Impact?

Does excess Planeswalker damage hit the player?

No.

An creature only deals damage to the player or planeswalker it is attacking. In this scenario, it must assign 5 damage to the planeswalker.

  510.1b An unblocked creature assigns its combat damage to the player or planeswalker it’s attacking. If it isn’t currently attacking anything (if, for example, it was attacking a planeswalker that has left the battlefield), it assigns no combat damage.

Remember, when a creature is declared as an attacker, you must explicitly choose which player or planeswalker that creature is attacking.

  508.1b If the defending player controls any planeswalkers, or the game allows the active player to attack multiple other players, the active player announces which player or planeswalker each of the chosen creatures is attacking.

Trample doesn't help deal damage to a player or planeswalker the creature isn't attacking. Trampling has no effect if there are no blockers, so this scenario is identical to the previous one.

  702.19b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking. [...]

The damage source's controller either redirects the damage or they don't. (If there were multiple sources dealing damage simultaneously, or if a source dealt damage multiple times, each could be redirected or not independently.)

  306.7. If noncombat damage would be dealt to a player by a source controlled by an opponent, that opponent may have that source deal that damage to a planeswalker the first player controls instead. This is a redirection effect (see rule 614.9) and is subject to the normal rules for ordering replacement effects (see rule 616). The opponent chooses whether to redirect the damage as the redirection effect is applied.

  that doesn't mention excess damage

Damage to a planeswalker results in loss of loyalty counters. Dealing an amount of damage to a planeswalker that's larger than the number of loyalty counters is has is simply waste. (You can't remove a counter it doesn't have.)

  306.8. Damage dealt to a planeswalker results in that many loyalty counters being removed from it.


Website / software for playing bridge against computer, but partnering with a human There seems to be a lot of websites offering games against computer AND with a computer partner. There is also plenty of portals where you can play with 3 other people. I am looking for something in between - there is two of us and we want to practice by playing with computer opponents.
Anything that works in a browser, on a desktop (Linux / Windows only) or on an Android phone would be great.

It does not have to be free, but I would like to be able to get a free trial at least to be able to make sure it gives me what I need. Thanks.

Bridgebase Online will do this. They call their computer players "robots". "Advanced" robots are $1/day, "Basic" ones are $1/week. The advanced ones are slower and stronger. I recall that they once offered free robot access one day per month, but it's not mentioned in the FAQ.


Where can I get these Carcassone expansions? Where can I find the mini-expansions for Carcassonne? I've seen there are several such as "The Cathars" and "Crop Circles" but don't know where to get them, my local board game store doesn't have them.

First off, the expansions you have listed are official.  Depending on which expansion you're trying to find (and which print run) may be a little challenging:

The Cathars (BGG) (German: Die Katharer) was originally released in the German magazine "Spielbox", and then again in the set "Der Carcassonne Almanach".  It was re-released in the US as part of the "Cult, Siege and Creativity" set (although it was renamed to the "Siege" in the set, explaining why you may have had a hard time finding it, and apparently the artwork was altered for the US release as well).
Starting in 2010, the Crop Circles (BGG) (German: Die Kornkreise) can be found in German versions of the base game.  I'm guessing it will be released in an anthology set (like "Cult, Siege and Creativity") at some point, but that's speculation on my part.


What happens if Genesis Wave puts Fists of Ironwood onto a battlefield with no creatures? This question arose as a response to a recent question about putting Auras onto creatures with Shroud.

What happens if I cast Genesis Wave, let's say for 2, and reveal Fists of Ironwood on an otherwise creatureless battlefield.  Does Fists still come into play for a while without creatures to enchant, giving me two 1/1 Saprolings?  Or do I even get two 1/1 Saprolings one of which has an enchantment giving it Trample (lucky me)?

Bonus question: what happens if I Genesis Wave for 5 instead and reveal 3 instants, Fists of Ironwood and Bramble Elemental?

There's a possible clue in Bramble Elemental's Oracle text (I'll leave finding that as a treasure hunt for the reader) but it still leaves me unclear - when Genesis Wave does its work, does it Fists of Ironwood come into play already attached to the Elemental, or do they both come into play and then get attached by the player?

GW + FoI + no other creatures

Let's say you cast Genesis Wave and reveal Fists of Ironwood, with no creatures in play and no creatures revealed by GW. Genesis Wave talks about putting cards in play, not casting them as spells, so this situation is covered by rule 303.4g:

  303.4g If an Aura is entering the battlefield and there is no legal object or player for it to enchant, the Aura remains in its current zone, unless that zone is the stack. In that case, the Aura is put into its owner‘s graveyard instead of entering the battlefield.

To see how this interacts with Genesis Wave, note that the resolution of Genesis Wave contains three actions:

Reveal the top X cards from your library. This doesn't say to put the cards anywhere else, so the revealed cards are still considered to be in your library while they are revealed.
Put any number of revealed permanent cards on to the battlefield. If the only permanent you reveal is an Aura but it has nothing to enchant, rule 303.4g specifies that it remains in your library.
Put all revealed cards that weren't put on the battlefield into your graveyard. This includes the Aura that wasn't put on the battlefield since there was nothing for it to enchant.

So Fists of Ironwood would wind up in the graveyard.

Bear in mind that (in general) it is not possible for Fists of Ironwood to come into play enchanting one of the tokens it creates. Those tokens are created by a triggered ability that only triggers (and goes on the stack) when Fists of Ironwood enters the battlefield. But the enchantment needs something to enchant right from the moment it enters the battlefield; it can't wait for the triggered ability to resolve to create a creature for it to be attached to. But the tokens don't come into existence until the triggered ability resolves, which occurs later, after both players have had a chance to respond.

GW + FoI + another creature revealed

If Genesis Wave does reveal a creature that would be a legal target for Fists of Ironwood, this post on the Wizards community forums states that you still can't put the Aura into play enchanting the creature. The reason is basically what I guessed before. Placing a permanent on the battlefield consists of two "substeps:"

Make any choices required prior to placing the permanent in play. For an Aura, this includes determining whether it can legally enchant something, and if there are multiple options, choosing which one it will enchant.
Actually put the permanent on the battlefield subject to the choices (if any) made in the previous substep.

(I don't think this is specifically detailed in the rules, but it should make sense that you have to choose what an Aura will enchant before putting the Aura into play enchanting that thing.) When multiple permanents are revealed with Genesis Wave, substep 2 occurs simultaneously for all of them (rules 101.4, 608.2e), so substep 1 necessarily happens prior to putting any of the permanents in play. And you can't choose something that's not on the battlefield for an Aura to be attached to.

This also covers the case with Bramble Elemental: Fists of Ironwood can't be put on the battlefield enchanting Bramble Elemental if both are revealed with Genesis Wave.


Should I mill myself if I have graveyard synergies in my deck, but haven't drawn them yet? It's well-established that one should usually choose to loot if one can. It's the strictly superior play, and there are only a few valid reasons not to do so.
This question is about a different scenario. If I have cards that use the graveyard in my deck, but have not drawn them yet, under what circumstances should I mill myself? Concrete example:

My board: 20 life, no cards in hand, no cards in graveyard, 40 cards in deck, lots of lands, a Hill Giant, Skull Prophet.
Opponent's board: 20 life, no cards in hand, lots of lands, two Grizzly Bears.

Right now neither of us can attack. If I do, he double blocks and I trade down. If he attacks I simply eat his creature. The board is stalled.
It's the end of my opponent's turn. I have Survivors' Bond still in my deck, but I haven't drawn it yet. Should I activate Skull Prophet?
I'm wondering if the answer is "yes" (because I can potentially mill good cards for Survivors' Bond), or "no" (because I can potentially mill the Survivors' Bond itself). If the answer is "it depends", then I'd like to know under what circumstances it becomes desirable - e.g. how many copies of Survivors' Bond vs. good creatures do I need in my deck before it's preferable to mill myself?
Edit: Since this question became a HNQ, here's a nontechnical version.
There are two zones for cards, "in the deck", and "in the graveyard". I have a deck of X cards, from which I draw a card every turn. There are Y copies of a card ("Survivors' Bond") in the deck that prefer cards to be "in the graveyard". Every turn I'm given the option to put two cards from my deck into the graveyard. Should I do it because it makes my Survivors' Bond better, or should I not do it because I could end up putting Survivors' Bond into the graveyard? If it depends on what X and Y are, for what parameter range does it become preferable?

Let's assume the game will end within 13 turns. In those 13 turns, you will draw 13 cards, and since you have no information where the Survivors' Bonds are, the milling has no effect on how fast you draw one or how likely you are to draw one. If you don't mill at all, you will draw the top 13 cards; if you mill every turn, you'll draw the cards at positions divisible by three. (Well, if you're unlucky enough to mill all of them, you can stop milling of course.)

Milling does however increase the value of a Survivors' Bond; without creatures, it's a dead card, and the more options you have, the better.

So bottom line: always activate Skull Prophet.


How do twitch effects work with the stack vs activated tap abilities? I'm becoming more and more confused as I learn about how things have changed during a break in play I had some time ago. Seems the stack has changed now, and oft times abilities use a source's last known status rather than its current stats when resolving.

That being mentioned, if I have a card that taps a permanent, and I want to tap a creature in response to it activating an inherent tap ability, does that work? Can I tap it to prevent it from using such an ability? Is this different for mana abilities?

Some examples:

Player B says he is tapping his Steel Overseer to put a +1/+1 counter on all of his artifact creatures. Can I tap it first to prevent him from doing so?
Player B says he is tapping his Forest to add a green mana to his mana pool, can I tap it first to prevent him from doing so?

If I cannot, then what use is my ability to tap his permanents other than to prevent him from attacking or to take advantage of his tapped status (either by counter-attacking or perhaps an 'assassination' effect)?

Also, if I cannot, is there a point in a turn when I COULD tap his lands and accomplish starving him of mana? If in theory, he could always tap his lands for mana in response to my attempt to tap them, how long would such mana remain unused in his pool until it expires and he cannot use it?

There are certain actions that you undertake in Magic which do not use the stack, and therefore cannot be responded to. (AFAIK this has never been different for as long as the stack has existed, so this is not really a recent change.) The most important of these are:

Paying costs
Activating mana abilities

Your first example above is an instance of #1. The cost of the Steel Overseer's ability is to tap the Overseer. After the Overseer is tapped, the +1/+1 ability goes on the stack, and each player gets priority. At this time it's too late to tap the Overseer, since it's already tapped and the ability is already on the stack.

Your second example is an instance of #2. Tapping a land for mana does not use the stack,  so you cannot attempt to tap a land in response to your opponent starting to play a spell. By the time you receive priority, the land is already tapped and the mana is in your opponent's pool (or has already been spent to put the spell on the stack).

Generally, then, you need to play your tap abilities before your opponent has the chance to do anything. This means:

If you're trying to deprive your opponent of mana, you should tap his lands in his upkeep step. Your opponent will be able to tap them in response to pay for instant-speed spells and abilities if he has any, but he won't be able to use that mana for any main-phase spells.
If you're trying to keep a creature from attacking, the last time when you can do so is the Begin Combat step. By the time you get priority in the Declare Attackers step, your opponent's creatures are already tapped and attacking, so tapping them has no effect.
If you're trying to prevent your opponent from using some sort of other tap ability on a creature or artifact, your best bet is to tap it at a time when the ability is not relevant or has no targets. For example, tap your opponent's Avacynian Priest in his end step. He could activate the ability in response, but it doesn't matter since your creatures will untap at the beginning of your turn anyway.
If you're trying to tap something like the Steel Overseer, which has an ability that's always relevant, you're basically SOL.


Ticket to Ride Europe: Drawing destination cards I cannot find anywhere in the rules whether or not a player may hold NO destination cards. Is a player obliged to pick up new destination cards when he or she has run out? This is currently causing dispute in my household, so any help is appreciated!

Thanks

Destination tickets are kept secret until the end of the game and the final scores are counted. You can't start the game with no cards, and you can never discard the ones you keep, so there is no way to hold zero destination tickets at any point in the game.

This is written on the last page of the Ticket to Ride rules, the last paragraph under "drawing destination tickets".

  Destination Tickets are kept secret from other players until the Game's final scoring. A player may have any number of Destination Ticket cards during the game.

http://cdn0.daysofwonder.com/tickettoride/en/img/tt_rules_en.pdf


Dark Confidant and split cards On my upkeep controlling a Dark Confidant I trigger revealing a card and losing life to it's cmc cost. What happens if I have a split card with 2 identifiable spells? Do I get to choose which one I would prefer to lose my life on?

If it's somewhere other than on the stack or if it's fused, a split card's CMC is the sum of each half's CMC.

708.4. In every zone except the stack, the characteristics of a split card are those of its two halves combined. This is a change from previous rules.
708.4b The mana cost of a split card is the combined mana costs of its two halves. A split card’s colors and converted mana cost are determined from its combined mana cost.
Example: Assault/Battery’s mana cost is {3}{R}{G}. It’s a red and green card with a converted mana cost of 5.  If you cast Assault, the resulting spell is a red spell with a converted mana cost of 1.

708.4b is rather poorly worded. As the example shows, the mana cost and converted mana cost of a split card is only the combined mana costs or converted mana costs of its two halves when it's not on the stack or when it's fused.


Do abilities like "becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it" happen even if the spell is countered? Do I need to sacrifice a creature with the ability "becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it" (e.g., Frost Walker or Illusionary Servant) if the spell or ability has been countered?

Yes, you will still have to sacrifice the creature even if the spell that triggered it gets countered.

Examples

Let's use Frost Walker as an example. The following events happen:

Your opponent casts Lightning Bolt, targeting Frost Walker.
Frost Walker's ability triggers.
You cast Counterspell, targeting Lightning Bolt.
Counterspell resolves. Lightning Bolt is countered.
Frost Walker's ability resolves. You sacrifice Frost Walker.

Countering Lightning Bolt does not also counter Frost Walker's triggered ability. You could, however, use Stifle to counter the ability itself.

Spellskite cannot save Frost Walker. Frost Walker triggers immediately upon being targeted. Frost Walker's ability does not care if you redirect the target to Spellskite.

Standard Bearer can save Frost Walker, at least from spells that only have one target. If your opponent targets Frost Walker, you say "That's illegal. You have to target Standard Bearer." The game then rewinds to the point before your opponent cast the spell.


Am I doing something wrong when I shuffle guild cards into the Age 3 cards In 7 Wonders Duel, the instructions say when you are preparing the Age 3 deck you should remove 3 cards from the deck and add 3 random guild cards. I assume the guild cards should be shuffled in so I usually just put the 3 cards in random positions and shuffle the deck. However, the guild cards have different colored backs (they are purple like the Age 3 cards but are darker) so I can clearly see where the guild cards are and know where they are going to be when I build the oval-shaped layout. This seems wrong to me. Should I close my eyes when I shuffle the deck or is there a reason why they stand out? Should they go in a certain position when the cards are placed?

You are not doing anything wrong.

Looking at rules here it says :-

  Return to the box, without looking at them, 3 cards from each Age deck.
  Then randomly draw 3 Guild cards and add them to the Age III deck without
  looking at them. Return the remaining Guilds to the box.

My other reference for this is playing the 7 Wonders Duel app.  I can confirm that also places the guilds in random positions and the face down ones have a visible darker back.

As for the reasons you would have to ask the designer for the certain answer.  However as a player its very useful to know if a face down card is a guild.  Lets say your opponent is close to achieving military or scientific supremacy?  if you are going to be forced to reveal a card on your turn wouldn't be better to reveal a card that you know cant give them an automatic win?

Like wise if you as a player are close to winning with military or scientific supremacy, would it be better to build a wonder granting those all important extra turns in the hope you reveal the exact card you need and knowing its not a guild increases that chance.


Do Ticket to Ride expansions work with the Europe set? I have and love Ticket to Ride: Europe, and would like to try out some of the new expansion packs (Switzerland, Asia, etc... Don't really care about 1910). I was just wondering if I would have to buy the original USA game first or if the new maps would work with the Europe set. Thanks!

No, you only need one of the base games (Europe or USA) in order to access the train car cards, scoring markers and the player carriage pieces. It doesn't matter which base game you own. For example, the rules for Heart of Africa tell you:

  This game is an expansion and requires that you use the following game
  parts from one of the previous versions of Ticket to Ride:

  A reserve of 45 Trains per player and matching Scoring Markers taken from any of the following:

  Ticket to Ride / Ticket to Ride Europe

  110 Train Car Cards taken from:

  Ticket to Ride / Ticket to Ride Europe / USA 1910 expansion

You can also confirm this yourself by looking at the Games of Wonder website descriptions for each map, for example Asia. They all say the same thing:

  NOT A STAND-ALONE GAME! Requires an original copy of Ticket to Ride® or Ticket to Ride® Europe to play.


Is Magic: The Gathering a consistent game? Is Magic: The Gathering a consistent game? That is, is there any possible situation where the rules contradict on what to do next, and also, can a game hypothetically go on indefinitely?

The game can never end up in an undefined state.

There are rules for every situation, and they don't contradict each other. It is possible for the game to go into an infinite loop because of card/rule interactions, but the players have to either break the loop by doing something else, or the game ends in a draw, depending on the exact circumstances. In competitive settings such as a tournament (from world championships down to local prerelease events), there are also official judges present who can resolve any rules dispute.


In Catan, can I ask how many cards are in a player's hand? While playing Catan tonight, I rolled a 7 and moved the robber.

No one had more than 7 cards, but I still asked how many cards people had in their hand because I wanted to know who had the most.

All the other players told me false numbers and said they didn't have to tell me how many cards they had if I was going to use the knowledge to steal from someone.

Is this right? Am I not allowed to ask how many cards a player has?

Per the Settlers of Catan FAQ here:

  Is it true that the number of cards in your hand is always open and
  available information? Specifically, should it be readily apparent how
  many development cards you have, but have not yet played? Or can you
  hide the resource cards under the table or in your pocket so that no
  one can see how many cards you have?

  Yes. The quantity of cards you have in your hand is public
  information. But the identity of those cards is not. If another player
  asks, for example, how may resource cards do you have, right before he
  moves the robber, you must tell him truthfully the number of resource
  cards you have in your hand. The same goes for Development or Progress
  cards. The number of each type of card (resource, development, etc.)
  that you have is public knowledge at all times. (But, not the specific
  cards, i.e. wood, sheep, rock…)

It's a terrible idea to allow players to dissimulate about the number of cards in their hand.  For one thing, it means that unscrupulous types could pretend they didn't need to lose resources to the robber.  For another, it runs the risk of creating a situation where everyone has to keep track on paper or mentally of what everyone else draws just to make sensible plays, and that would be a big waste of time and effort.


MTG Android App for Cataloging I recently began using tappedout.net to keep track of my cards and I couldn't help but wonder if there was an Android app that fulfilled the same purpose. Might you assist me in my search?

Yes, there is. I was looking into how I could catalogue my own collection at a decent pace, and manually typing in card names just wasn't going to cut it. I have a Windows + Android device, so I went searching too.

Since you're using TappedOut, it would be remiss of me to not mention that TappedOut has its own Android app: the TappedOut MTG Companion which includes a "visual collection updater": in theory, it lets you lay out your cards nice and neatly, photograph several of them at once, then add them to a collection. I say "in theory" because I've not yet been able to use it successfully — I've just gotten an error when I try.

The app I went with to scan my own collection was Delver Lens. Out of every Android app, it is the only one that scans cards and lets me output the list to TappedOut. (In fact, it's even got a custom export format prepared just for TappedOut!) It does one-by-one card scanning, and it's a little finnicky but easy enough to get the hang of. Overall I was able to catalogue ~140 cards in a few minutes using this, then export them to my TappedOut inventory just fine.

All Windows and other Android applications I'd found didn't give me an exportable list, or only existed to check market prices. Accordingly, I have zero other apps to mention that perform this purpose.

I have no affiliation with any of the products I've mentioned beyond being a ordinary user, and I do not gain anything from recommending them.


Eye of the Storm—Simultaneous or Sequential? With Eye of the Storm and Thousand-Year Storm on the battlefield, I cast Lightning Bolt. Storm count goes to one, and Eye exiles the Bolt. Through Eye, I copy and recast it, and Thousand-Year Storm copies it once. Storm count to two. This much makes sense.

Now I cast Shock. Copied twice, the original is exiled, and my storm count goes to three. Now Eye copies both Shock and Bolt. Are these two cast in order (so one is copied three times and the other four), or do I cast them simultaneously, only choosing their order on the stack (and copying each only three times)?

Sequential.

"The player may cast the copies" would simultaneously cast the copies. This is practically impossible to do (since casting is a long and complex procedure), so the card uses the wording "For each copy, the player may cast the copy" instead. The instruction only has you cast a single object, so there's nothing for it to be simultaneous with.


Quacks of Quedlingburg Crow Skull Set 2 Keep Drawing The Crow Skull Set 2 bonus allows you to receive Victory points and Coins even if your pot explodes within the next 1/2/4 draws.

Does this mean you can make that full number of draws even if your pot explodes straight away?

To be clear, I draw a 4 value blue chip, then the next chip is white taking me over 7 Cherry Bombs. Can I draw and place the next 3 'safe' chips anyway?

No you can't continue to draw after your pot explodes.

The only ability listed for the Crow Skull set 2 is that you receive both victory points and coins if your pot explodes in the next 1/2/4 draws - it says nothing about allowing you to continue to draw after your pot explodes.

Thus the normal rules for stopping when your pot explodes would still apply.


Revised Farmers of the Moor expansion on the non-revised based set I own the non-revised edition of Agricola.

I want to get the FOTM expansion - but it looks like only the expansion for the revised edition is available.

Would this expansion work with the non-revised base set?

The simple answer is no the updated Farmers of the Moor is not directly compatible with an unrevised Agricola.

Mostly this is due to changed terminology and art between the classic and revised versions of Agricola.

The longer answer is that you can use the new expansion with the unrevised edition, but you will need to spend a little bit of time "patching" the rules to be compatible with the base game.

Helpfully Harry Bosch over on BGG has done most of the work for you:

Solo game
2 player game
3 player game
4 player game


Interesting non-zero-sum games In game theory, a zero-sum or constant-sum game is a game in which there is a single constant payoff that will be divided equally between the players; in order for one player to get a better result, one or more other players have to get worse results. For instance, in many games, there can be one winner and everyone else loses; there is a single "win" available. In others, you might have draws, but a draw could be considered as all of the given players splitting the win equally; for instance, in chess, a win is 1 point, a loss 0, and a draw 0.5 for each player. In some games, like poker, that constant payoff to split is 0; in order for one player to make money, another has to lose money.

A cooperative game is not be zero-sum. There are two possible outcomes; either everyone wins, or everyone loses. Thus, from the perspective of game theory, there is one outcome in which the total payoff for the players is greater than in another outcome. However, this is somewhat trivially non-zero sum; there aren't any interesting decisions that affect how much the total payoff is. Poker played at a casino, likewise, is non-zero sum as you are always losing the rake to the casino; but again, it's not in an interesting way as you don't make any interesting decisions that affect the total value of the game.

Note that all of these non-zero sum games could be made zero-sum if you consider the game itself or the house as a player; then there is one "win" split between the players and the game, or one pool of money split between the players and the casino. This is true of any non-zero-sum game; you can always posit an extra hypothetical player, or consider the interests of the house, whose gain or loss is the negative of the gain or loss of the players of the game. But it's still interesting to consider games as non-zero sum from the perspective of the players themselves.

So, are there any games which are non-zero sum in an interesting way? That is, in which players have to make interesting decisions during the game, that affect the total payoff of the game. For instance, a game in which, depending on the action of the players, the outcome could be that one player gets 10 points, or two players each get 8, or three players all get 7 points would be non-zero sum game; the total value of the game depends on decisions that the players make within the game. A game like Shadows over Camelot, which will randomly be zero-sum or non-zero sum depending on whether there's a traitor, isn't really interesting as the actions of the players don't affect what the possible payoffs are, only a random card chosen at the beginning affects this.

I am only interested in actual fun playable games, not hypothetical mathematical examples, and only interested in how games are actually played in practice, not hypothetical tournament setups that you could play; in almost any game with a variable score, you could institute a system in which your absolute score in the game was used in the tournament results, but that's not the way that most tournaments I've seen are played. I want to know about games or tournament structures that people actually play.

Note that in order for this question to even make sense, there may need to be some kind of external value associated with the game; some metagame that the game is played within, such as a tournament or ranking system, or a gambling game in which the players in an individual game may wind up with more or less money than they started with. If so, please describe how this metagame works, and interacts with the outcome of individual games.

There's an old game called Plank that might fit your description. When you play with three players, the player to the left of the winner receives a penalty of two points, and the third player receives a penalty of one point. When the players have played some multiple of three games, the player with the fewest points wins the match. This way, when a player has to choose between stopping one player or the other, he will always stop the player to his right.

I first ran across Plank in Sid Sackson's A Gamut of Games book. He added the rule for  scoring three-player games to solve the king maker problem. Plank was described in The Young Folks' Cyclopaedia of Games and Sports in 1890 (complete rules at the link). I've since seen a commercial version called Hack Attack. I really like the game as a light filler, and I made my own set out of Lego. For me it has a similar feel to Quarto.


Catan: Play any development card before rolling In Settlers of Catan, I have always played that you can play a knight development card before your turn, which is obviously useful to get the robber off or your own hex before you roll the dice. Is this the same with all playable development cards? I have played lots of Catan but I have never raised this question with my friends before since I did not think there was any scenario in which it would be advantageous to play a different Development card before rolling.

However, consider this scenario:

I have 11 cards (6 ore, 4 wheat, 1 brick), 8 victory points, and the ability to build 2 cities next turn, giving me the victory. If I roll a 7, I will lose 5 cards, which will ruin my ability to build both cities and win on my turn. If, however, I play a Monopoly and take 8 arbitrary resources (say lumber), even if a 7 is rolled I will lose 9 resources but still be able to keep the 10 resources (4 wheat, 6 ore) necessary to build my cities and win.

Does anyone know if in situations like this it legal to play any playable development card prior to rolling?

Also, I still cannot see a benefit to playing a Road Building card prior to rolling. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

You can play a development card at anytime on your turn.

From the Catan Rules p. 7:

  You can play the [development] card at any time, even before you roll the dice. You may not, however, play a card that you bought during the same turn.

However if you have Year of Plenty there is no reason to play it before the roll because you can just play it after the roll and get the ore you need in order to win (and still have a card left over), and if you were not in a position to win playing it before the roll would mean you have one fewer cards than playing it afterwards.


Is it an official rule that interference in Monopoly requires paying $50 to free parking? I have a question in regards to a rule, that I and a lot of family friends have always played by in monopoly, but a few new comers don’t get that rule, and I can’t find it in writing.

We play by the rule that if a third party interferes or makes a comment and throws someone under the bus they have to pay $50 into the middle (for free parking).

For example: if I own pall mall, John lands on pall mall and I don’t notice, and then Jane tells me they John landed on my property, Jane would have to pay $50 into the middle.

The same with bidding, so if I’m making a deal with John and Jane interrupts and goes “no” “don’t do it” she has to pay $50 into the middle.

Is this an actual rule? Or did we make it up?

That is a house rule as there is nothing in the base rules about communicating with other players and there is also no such thing as paying free parking. Honestly it is a rule that hurts less experienced or younger players as it discourages others from helping them play when other players may try and take advantage of their inexperience/age.

While the rules do say that you can't collect rent if you don't notice before the next two players throw the dice it does not say that other players can't remind you to collect the rent you are owed.

Rules

PAYING RENT…

  When you land on property owned by another
  player, the owner collects rent from you in accordance with the list
  printed on its Title Deed card.
  If the property is mortgaged, no rent can be collected. When a
  property is mortgaged, its Title Deed card is placed face down in front
  of the owner.
  It is an advantage to hold all the Title Deed cards in a color-group
  (e.g., Boardwalk and Park Place; or Connecticut, Vermont and Oriental
  Avenues) because the owner may then charge double rent for
  unimproved properties in that color-group. This rule applies to
  unmortgaged properties even if another property in that color-group
  is mortgaged.
  It is even more advantageous to have houses or hotels on properties
  because rents are much higher than for unimproved properties.
  The owner may not collect the rent if he/she fails to ask for it before
  the second player following throws the dice

Free parking is just a safe space on the board and you don't gain anything from it.

“FREE PARKING”…

  A player landing on this place does not receive
  any money, property or reward of any kind. This is just a “free”
  resting place.


Can the Mask of Avacyn be targeted by spells after being equipped to a creature? Can the Mask of Avacyn be targeted by spells after it's been equipped to a creature?

This is an odd question, because the mask gives the equipped creature a +1/+2 and has hexproof  and says it "can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponent controls", where "it" refers to the equipped creature. However, can your opponent use a spell or ability to directly destroy the Mask of Avacyn (in this case an Artifact - Equipment card)?

Example: Mask of Avacyn is attached to a creature.  Can my opponent use the Planeswalker ability of Nicol Bolas that reads: "Destroy target noncreature permanent"?

Alternatively, can my opponent use a spell card that reads, "Destroy target permanent" or Recoil, an Instant that reads:, "Return target permanent to its owner's hand. Then that player discards a card"?

Yes. The Mask doesn't have hexproof, shroud or similar.

Even when attached, the equipment and the equipped creature are two separate permanents. Only the creature gets +1/+2 and hexproof. Nothing in the scenario you described gives the Mask any abilities (such as hexproof) when attached.


Can I choose difference house card without discard two power tokens? I have an issues with my play group that When I use this card, Can I choose difference house card without discard two power tokens or discard only one if I have only one power token or dont discard any power token ?
There 's one player in my group understand that he can either choose to discard two power tokens or not and take "choose difference house card" effect. Is he right ?

I think the correct way to read this would be:

Discard 2 power tokens immediately
Discard Aeron Damphair
If able, choose a different house card from your hand.

Please note that step 2 can't be completed without step 1. Similarly step 3 can't be executed without steps 1 and 2.

This would mean that your friend is wrong as you have to discard 2 power tokens to even make it to step 3.

You must play a new house card if you have one in your hand and you've discarded your 2 power tokens and Aeron Damphair. The only time you shouldn't play a new house card is if there isn't one in your hand.

The 2 power tokens that need to be discarded also seem non-negotiable to me. If they don't have 2 power tokens to discard, they can't activate this card (unless another card says otherwise, but that's a little off topic).


What are the rules of the game Senet? I tried searching the game, but all I got were complicated instructions. So in basic rules, how do you play senet and what do the different symbols mean?

The original rules have been lost. There are two competing interpretations about how the game might have been played. These rules are usually used when the game is reprinted these days. One version is R.C. Bell , the other is Kendall. Both rules sets can be viewed here.

Both rule sets believe that this game was a precursor to backgammon. The game was originally played with 4 sticks that were marked on one side. You would move a single pawn 1-5 squares (one for each mark, or 5 for no marks) along the backwards S-path. Two pawns could not occupy the same space. Your own pawns block your movement, and landing on an opponents pawn either swapped (Kendall) or removed (Bell) the piece(s).

The Bell rules:

Is played with 10 pawns, five for each player.
Players add pawns to the board at the specially marked squares based on their roll, or
Move a pawn already on the board.
Special squares are "safe" from attack.
Landing on an opponents piece removes it from the board, your own pawns block your movement.
Landing on the last, upper-left square scores that player 5 points and sets the ending alternating pattern.
The first player go get all their pieces into the alternating end squares gets 10 points, and one more point for each additional turn their opponent takes.
Pieces in end squares cannot be attacked.

The Kendall rules:

Is played with 10 pawns, five for each player.
Pawns start already on the board in an alternating pattern.
Landing on an opponents square swaps positions, your own pawns block your movement.
The next square marked with the Ankh is where pawns go that fail to make their rolls to get off the board.
The special squares at the end require specific rolls to exit, or send you back to the Ankh.
Winner is the first to get all their pawns off the board.

From (left) - House of Beauty (or Good), House of Humiliation (or Water), House of Three Judges (or Two Truths), House of Two Judges (or Ra-Atum), House of Heru (or Horus).


How does Decommission (and Revolt) work with multiple permanents leaving the battlefield? A new Aether Revolt card, "Decommission", states: "If a permanent you controlled left the battlefield this turn, you gain 3 life".

I suspect that would mean if you sacrificed 3 artifact tokens, then played decommission later on you would gain 9 life.

My confusion is that I would expect to see "for each permanent that left the battlefield this turn" to give the total of 9 life.  As it is written, I am thinking just 3, but is "each" implied?  Pretty basic question I guess.  Thanks in advance.

You gain exactly 3 life no matter how many of your permanents left the battlefield this turn (as long as it's at least one).

Your confusion as you describe it comes down to: "I expect this wording means {thing}. But if it really meant {thing} I'd expect it to use this other wording instead." Confusion like that is often a warning flag you've misread the card, and ought to check it again. MTG cards mean exactly what they say — if it meant "for each permanent" it'd say so.

The Aether Revolt Release Notes state the following under the heading New Ability Word: Revolt:

  Revolt abilities check only whether a permanent you controlled left the battlefield this turn or not. They don’t apply multiple times if more than one permanent you controlled left the battlefield. They don’t check whether the permanent that left the battlefield is still in the zone it moved to.


Does a runner lose a click when encountering Enigma with no clicks left? The Corp has Seidr Laboratories: Destiny Defined ID: „The first time each turn the Runner loses or spends click during a run, you may add 1 card from Archives to the top of R&D“.

A runner performs a run spending her last click and encounters Enigma. Then the first Enigma's subroutine triggers: „The Runner loses click, if able“.

Does the corp add one card from archives to the top of R&D?

Enigma says: "The runner loses [Click], if able".  The "if able" is the key phrase.  Without a click left, the runner cannot lose one, so the corp phase doesn't trigger.


Do Collectible Card Games without shuffling exist? All Collectible Card Games (like Magic the Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh!) I know require the players to shuffle their decks before the game begins. Also, the deck's card order is unbeknown to the players.

For the game I'm currently designing I thought about letting the players arrange their decks beforehand (so they know exactly which card they draw when, assuming a perfect memory or a virtual match). However, to find out if this is a good idea, I'm looking for at least one CCG that incorporates this mechanic to study it's rules. Do you know any?

Not sure how applicable it is, since it never had an actual physical card-based implementation (and ergo isn't strictly on-topic for this site), but Alteil was an online game based on CCG deck-building mechanics. While the original Japanese game still appears to be in active development, this answer is based on the English localization of it that has been defunct since 2017.

Decks are built of thirty cards, limited only by a maximum of three copies of any given card.  One card can be played each round, and this card is freely chosen from all available cards so there is no shuffling or randomization involved; the player has full access to his own deck.

(Again, this doesn't strictly meet your requirements of "letting the players arrange their decks beforehand" as there's no actual drawing involved — the player's "hand" is effectively his entire deck throughout the game — but it arguably does meet "so they know exactly which card they draw when" so I'll keep going...)

All the randomization that's not in the card selection is found in the actual card abilities themselves.  For example, whereas targetting is common in a typical CCG (at least the ones I've played), it's actually an exception in Alteil.  Most attacks — even the default attack action — only hit random units within range, but the player has no control over which units beyond ensuring the intended targets are "within range".  Targetted attacks do exist, but usually with a trade-off (e.g. higher cost or lower damage).  As such, gameplay itself is much more akin to a tactics game than most CCGs, with a higher emphasis on field layout and timing.

Detailed rules can still be found in the Wayback archive of Alteil's Rule Book; the fundamentals of game phases and stack resolution and card-text-trumps-everything are clearly in-line with existing deck-building games, even if the whole game is probably too complex to (enjoyably) play as a physical CCG.


Can I show my resource cards to other players in Settlers of Catan? I was playing a game of Settlers of Catan the other day and one of my fellow players rolled a seven. One of the other players was trying to convince the person who rolled seven to put the robber on me, because he thought I had a resource that I didn't. So I showed everyone my hand to prove I didn't have it. Then, the player who rolled seven placed the robber on a different player and a huge argument broke out.

I've lost my rule book, so I'm asking: is showing your resource cards like this cheating?

You cannot show other players your cards.
From the FAQ:

Resource Cards - Do I always have to keep my Resource Cards face down?
Yes.


What's the best way to determine which cards will be banned or not reprinted? I enjoy playing Standard and would like to compete on a more competitive level but I am apprehensive of paying, as an extreme example, $25/card for 4 Mutavaults or Sphinx's Revelations, only to have them either not be reprinted in the next block or banned altogether. I was told that WotC has become a lot more judicious in the last several years so that they rarely need to ban a card anymore due to brokenness/overpower. This does not completely alleviate my concern so I would like to know if there is any kind of resource that is known to fairly accurately predict which cards will stay around in the next block and which cards won't?

You have very little to worry about for standard in terms of banning cards. Standard is a very carefully designed format with a card pool small enough for wizards to have a very good grasp of the format in their internal testing phases. Every time they have banned a card they have learned from it, and the bans in standard are very few and far between.

The 2 specific cards you mentioned will not be banned in standard. This is because there is not another opportunity to ban them before they leave the format, which brings me to the more important part of my answer

Rotation

Players worried about the cost of cards in standard should worry far more about Rotation than banning, because rotation is a much more likely thing for standard staples (heavily played, format defining cards) than banning. Both Mutavault and Sphinx's Revelation are in sets which leave the format in the Autumn/Fall of this year (2014) and as such, particularly given how big an impact they have had on the format, are very likely to rotate, and not be reprinted back into standard.

Wizards tend to avoid having high power cards which people play with/against a lot over a rotation period reprinted. There have been times where they have regretted reprinting staples, such as the Titans cycle of magic 2011/magic 2012 (the poster boy of which was Primeval Titan).

The vast majority of the time, when it comes to rotation, you should assume that every card of value is rotating. This is because that is almost always the case. Each set or block has a specific theme with a different mix of mechanics, and while some cards (mostly in the core sets) are reprinted, most of the time there is no guarantee that a card from Return to Ravnica block or Magic 2014 will be around this time next year. The cards that DO get reprinted, tend to be very low value, as they have usually been reprinted many times before. Take Doom Blade as an example for this. Even cards like that take a few seasons off, as Doom Blade did in Magic 2013.

Standard is a format that Wizards try to fundamentally change once a year, and they do that by removing a lot of cards and replacing them with totally new ones which do very different things (or the same things in different ways). If you are interested in playing standard at any sort of competitive level, then you will need to make yourself quite aware of what cards are rotating when, and either:

Accept that those cards will be worth much less than you paid for them when they rotate
Try to mitigate your losses by selling/trading them before rotation.

Eternal formats

One thing to note which does have some impact on the above, is that while most staples will rotate out of standard, they will not become worthless. Older formats like Modern or Legacy often have a significant impact on the cost of cards.  Mutavault is an example of a reprint of a staple in older formats, which is part of why it's price was so high so early, it has a proven track record. Similarly, some cards will not lose much (if any) value on rotation. Deathrite Shaman is a perfect example for this, Deathrite has a significant presence in Modern (or did, until he was banned) and Legacy decks - where his abilities are much more easily leveraged - but sees very little play in standard. The majority of his price is based on these formats, and as such will change little on rotation. Similarly, many of the strongest cards in Standard will go on to see play in Modern and Legacy, and as such lose much less value on rotation, or rebound from the dip very quickly.

Overall, bans are much less frequent, particularly in standard, than rotations. Additionally, the wide reaching nature of rotations makes them much more important to consider than bans when looking at the investment you are willing to make.


Multiple Lathliss, Dragon Queen - multiple Dragon tokens? If I have 2 of the same creature in play and I activate the ability by playing another card, does it trigger twice since I have 2 of them or does it only activate once?

Example:
I have 2 Lathliss, Dragon Queen and 1 Mirror Gallery (so I can have both out) in play.
I play Archwing Dragon triggering the ability to create a 5/5 Dragon with Flying.

Would this create two 5/5 Dragons with Flying or just one?

You'll get two Dragon tokens.

Lathliss, Dragon Queen's ability is a triggered ability; each card's ability goes on the stack separately and will resolve separately. It doesn't really matter that they're identical cards; they're different permanents.


Can a Monster carry more than one Sample at a time? The Take Sample keeper action does not seem to have a restriction around having more than one sample, other than it would require multiple turns.

  Action: One per turn, choose a monster in an investigator's space.
   Place 1 sample token on the monster and then move it 1 space.

Following on from the above, if the monster does have more than one sample token on it at the start of your turn can you turn them all in at the same time for 5 threat each?

  If the Monster is in an altar's space at the start of your turn, place the token on the altar and again 5 threat.

This seemed clear but a little strong for the keeper in our initial game of Mansions when playing the Fall of House Lynch 1B.

Yes,

You are playing this correctly on both counts.  A monster can carry more than one sample, see the rules on page 12

  When a monster with sample tokens is killed, all its
  sample tokens are discarded.

The trade in for 5 threat is automatic and should be used for all samples carried by a monster on the altar's space.


Does an activated ability that creates a permanent get affected by Damping Engine? Damping Engine is in play. If a person has more permanents in play than the player with the lowest amount, but does not have the most permanents themselves, pays to activate an ability which creates a creature token, would this be prevented by the effect of Damping Engine?

Damping Engine deals only with the ability to cast things, not the creation of things.

So firstly, Damping Engine does not stop you from using any abilities that produce permanents (e.g. Krenko, Mob Boss) even if you have the most permanents.

Secondly, the ability only applies while you have the most and it only applies to playing lands and casting artifacts, creatures, or enchantments. Spells that make tokens (e.g. Entreat the Angels) are completely unaffected by the ability. If you're tied with another player for most permanents, you'll still be able to cast a creature/artifact/enchantment because you do not have more than everyone else.

Finally, and this is an odd one. The ability to sac creatures to end the effect is only usable by the player with the most permanents and can only be used once per turn.

From the gatherer:

  A player can only sacrifice a permanent to end this effect if they have more permanents than any other player, and they haven't already sacrificed a permanent to end the effect this turn. The ability to sacrifice a creature is granted by the same effect that is being ended.