texts: When does a player's turn end in the Now That's What I Call Music board game?

texts:
Note, this question is about the board game not the similarly-themed card game or DVD-based games.

The rules state that when your turn begins, you roll the dice and take various actions depending on what you roll and what you then land on - for example, answer a question from a card, or act out a song title charades-style. All of the rules describing the actions say that if you fail (get the question wrong, no-one guesses your charade, etc.) then your turn ends. There are also some other cases where the rules explicitly state that your turn ends, for example if you roll the dice and land on a space with no symbol on it.

To me this implies that if you succeed (answer the question correctly, someone guesses your charade, etc.) then you should roll again and have another go still in your same turn. This would be the same ethos as eg Trivial Pursuit. However, nowhere in the rules does it explicitly say this and it seems like a pretty big omission if I am correct.

Is there a definitive answer to this? Do other players have house rules about it?

Edit: pics of the rules attached.


texts:
On "The Legend of Drizzt" Page 4 of the rule book under "To Start Playing:" it says:

  Unless the adventure says otherwise, place the Start tile in the center of the table and place two Healing Surge tokens beside it. These are the group's surges for this adventure.

And it also says:

  Check the "Starting Awards" section of the adventure's setup section to see how many Healing Surge tokens the Heroes start with, as well as any starting Treasure cards.

So does this mean that 2 Healing Surges is the default and any in the Starting Awards section overwrites this or are the Starting Award Healing Surges in addition to the default?


texts: When exactly do I get to check the next card when casting a spell from the top of my library with Experimental Frenzy?

texts: For example: After seeing Banefire and choosing to cast it, would the new top of my library be available for viewing before I choose an X value? If not, when is the soonest I can check the next card?


texts: Can I use Mentor of the Meek on small guys with buffed stats?

texts: If I have Vanquisher's Banner and The Immortal Sun on the battlefield, and a 1/1 creature enters the battlefield under my control, assuming the creature matches the creature type I declared with Vanquisher's Banner, would I be able to pay 2 mana and use Mentor of the Meek to draw an additional card?


texts: Does "tournament experience" show "too many players" in a game of monopoly?

texts:
The rules say that the game is for 2 to 8 players. But there are only eight monopolies on the board, meaning that in a game of eight players, there would only be an average of one monopoly for each player. Meaning that some players probably would have no monopolies. And it might be hard for any player to get a monopoly (except, possibly, by trading). Then you would have a great divide between the propertied, and non-propertied players.
But six players is mandated in some versions of Tournament Monopoly. Are there any tournaments that feature more than six players? Do other tournaments have five, four or three players more frequently than "six"
In the interest of keeping answers relatively objective, the best answers would address tournament experiences and results, or cite a book or study using an expert author's experiences (either first hand tournament or computer simulated).


texts: Help identify a ~1984-1986, D&D-ish, chit/card + dice, battle game

texts:
One summer back in the mid-1980s, a friend and I played a simple, fantasy, tabletop, war game. I barely remember it, but I am hoping someone else knows it. I am not positive, but I believe it came out of a magazine of the time, like, what? Dragon or White Dwarf magazine. It seemed cut-out. We each arrayed an "army" of cut-out cards, each representing some kind of high fantasy figure, having a cartoon-ish image on it and numbers corresponding to attack and defense bonuses or something like such. The only one that I vaguely recall was either an Elf or a Ranger, which I only recall because it was labelled as having range, meaning it attacked first in the order of operations.

One of us would declare something like "My Elf attacks your Orc!" and we would roll dice, adding each card's various bonuses and whatnot, to determine the victor of that battle. Again, the ranged characters stand out in my memory because I remember that, having the power to strike first, if they inflicted sufficient damage to kill the opponent, then no return damage was dealt to them.

This all stands out to me now, because many, many, many years later I discovered Magic: the Gathering late in life, and when I first played I thought, "Wait a dang minute, I have played this before."

I hope someone else out there remembers that game. I asked my childhood friend, but he has no memory of it whatsoever.


texts: Did the first version of Ticket to Ride released in Europe have a USA map or a Europe map?

texts:
In the United States, the game called simply Ticket to Ride has a map of the United States. Was this the case when it was originally released in Europe?

I’m curious to know if it was branded differently in that region, like if Europe got Ticket to Ride USA and what Americans call Ticket to Ride: Europe was the original game released in Europe.


texts: Narset, Parter of Veils interaction with Aria of Flame

texts: If I have Narset, Parter of Veils on the battlefield on one loyalty counter and my opponent has an Aria of Flame on the battlefield, what happens if the opponent plays Faithless Looting? I know the opponent can destroy the Narset but can they draw cards with the Faithless Looting I understand it depends on if the trigger from Aria goes on the stack first or second. My guess is that they can draw cards as the trigger from Aria goes on the stack second and thus would resolve first, destroying Narset, then Faithless L resolves, allowing them to draw cards. Is this correct? Thanks in advance.


texts: How does Flute of the Outer Gods work in Arkham Horror and when should I use/buy it?

texts:
First of all, what's the sequence of events in using this item?

If I would go insane/unconscious before using the flute, does that mean it would be useless to use the flute as I would be unable to actually make the combat check?
What is the difficulty of the combat check?
By area, does the the card mean all monsters currently in the exact same street area or location as you, or all monsters in the same street area and 2-3 corresponding locations?

according to the AH wiki:

  You must pass a Horror Check before using the Flute. If there are more than one monster in your area, you only need to pass one Horror Check.

What is the difficulty of the horror check? Is it as if you were making a normal horror check before engaging in combat?

Second, how can I know when to buy/use the Flute? It's extremely expensive in terms of both cash and sanity/stamina. It seems as if most of the time you'd be better off saving the money for an actual weapon that you can use more than once, and with the massive sanity/stamina cost it seems like it would only be worth using on the absolute strongest of monsters, like the Hounds of Tindalos or God of the Bloody Tongue.

Am I underestimating the power of this item? How do you tell if it's a good idea to buy it if it comes up in your 3 unique items? How can I tell if a situation warrants the tremendous cost of its use, especially since the investigator will be so weakened afterwards they will likely have to rush to both the hospital AND the insane asylum before being able to continue fighting without fear of loosing half their items, which would've been the penalty of failure against the monster you were fighting anyway?


texts:
Richard Pavlicek made a great bridge site.

Here

http://www.rpbridge.net/7f55.htm

The mystery is this:

  Is there a bridge hand where North/South can make a grandslam in any
  suit, but not even make 5NT?

he asks for solving a mystery and how close he came to a solution. He claims he first saw it in a newspaper.

I am also very interested in this task.

Does anyone know a solution or, better yet the deal Richard Pavlicek might have seen in the newspaper??


texts: In Robo Rally, can any number of robots be pushed?

texts:
The rules imply to me that one robot can push a line of robots away. Does anyone know of clarifications or have another reading of it? What I mean is the situation where A robot on cell 1A pushes toward a robot on cell 1B and there are more robots occupying 1C, 1D, etc.

  Pushing Other Robots:
  When robots collide, one will push the other. Robots can be pushed anywhere on the board (or off the side!), even into a pit or onto a conveyor belt. A robot can’t be pushed through a wall, though, so the movement of a pushing robot will simply stop if the pushed robot runs into a wall.


texts: Why is Homelands considered among the worst Magic expansions?

texts: In various forums and articles, it is frequently mentioned that Homelands is one of the worst, if not the worst, Magic the Gathering expansions. Even on the main Wizards website, you will occasionally see this mentioned. Is there any canonical consensus as to what was wrong with the expansion?


texts: If I draw my Critical Miss card, can I apply its effect so as to mitigate it?

texts:
I don't have the rules in front of me so I may be using different terminology to that used in the rules.

Suppose I am playing as the Scoundrel and have taken the perk that allows me to add "(draw another card and) +1" battle cards to my deck. Now suppose I make an "Attack 3" on a monster. I draw one of my "(draw another card and) +1" cards. I duly draw another card, and it is my Critical Miss card.

Am I allowed to apply the effect of the Critical Miss card first, then apply the +1 after that? In other words, in what order do I do things?

first multiply by 0 (for the Critical Miss), giving 0, then add 1, giving 1?
first add 1 (giving 4), then multiply by 0, giving 0?
my choice of the above?

Or is there no ordering to be done and it's a blank "if the Critical Miss card is drawn and it applies to the attack, then the attack deals no damage to the opponent, no matter what other cards were drawn"?


texts: Is it practical for the visually-impaired to play in casinos?

texts:
When I play games (causally) that involve face-up cards across a table (hold 'em, blackjack, etc), I usually have to either ask that the cards be placed closer to the center (toward me), particualrly at larger tables, in order to see them.  I can imagine that this would be an imposition, and perhaps even barred, in a casino setting.  And I imagine that even if I could ask that cards be announced when dealt (I don't know if that's possible), that I wouldn't be able to take notes to record them so I'd have to memorize the table every hand.

Are those impressions correct?  If so, what affordances are available to visually-impaired players?  Or is this just one of those cases of "sorry, don't try to do that"?

(I ask this question out of curiosity, not out of an impending desire to jump into casinos, for which I'm not good enough.)


texts:
When playing with a cylon leader, a benign "humans win" objective generally unbalances the game. Also, the limited number of objectives makes it fairly easy to guess which the leader has.

As a result, my group has started inventing our own objectives. Each objective card has two options, one "humans win" and one "cylons win". Generally, the "humans win" objective is slightly harder. However, both force the leader to keep the game close. Finally, each objective appears on two different cards, to better hide the info.

Sample objectives include "humans win and at least 3 people have been sent to the brig / executed" or "cylons win and resources total 19+".

Any suggestions for other objectives?


texts: Is an old edition of Cinder Wall able to attack?

texts:
The most recent iteration of Cinder Wall has the creature type "Wall" and has Defender. However, the Weatherlight print of this card stood by the old rules where Wall creatures couldn't attack, so it doesn't have the Defender keyword.

If I use a Weatherlight edition of this card, can it attack, or does the fact that its errata gave it Defender mean that older prints would also have it even if they do not say so?


texts: If a Planeswalker transforms into a creature during the main phase, but it is suddenly killed, is it still able to attack?

texts:
A player summons Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker. After entering the battlefield, keeping priority, the player activates the first loyalty ability, to immediately transform Sarkhan into a creature.

At this point the priority passes to the opponent, who responds to Sarkhan's activated ability by casting a Lightning Bolt on the Planeswalker, and then, keeping priority, he also cast a Clockspinning choosing one of Sarkhan's loyalty counters as his target , and announcing he wants to remove one of them, since Sarkhan is not yet a creature and therefore can lose its loyalty counters.

The priority is still to the opponent, who, having noticed how the number of Sarkhan's loyalty counters has,in the meantime,increased by one unit (since his controller paid the cost of his loyalty ability, or +1), he realizes that Sarkhan should still survive by still having (in theory):
 4 + 1 - 3 - 1 = 1 loyalty counter still on it.

So, keeping priority, the opponent pays 3 colorless mana to use the Clockspinning's buyback ability, and taking it back in his hand.

(However, as I was pointed out by expert players - see comments below the question, for more details -  the just defined passage is not entirely correct: unlike as just explained, it is necessary to pay the Clockspinning mana cost and its buyback cost at the same time, so that it is possible to take this card back into your hand immediately after its resolution. In any case, as regards the explanation of the situation from which the question asked emerges, nothing changes.)

Then, keeping priority, he cast Clockspinning again, targeting Sarkhan's loyalty counter once again.

At this point,the question starts -

the two players say they don't want to cast more spells, and the stack resolves: 2 clockspinnings, lightning bolt, Sarkahn's first loyalty ability, thus bringing the number of Sarkhan's loyalty counters to 0.
In the end, of course, Sarkhan's ability must also be resolved, which therefore still allows them to transform into a creature, which can also attack immediately, because he has Haste among his abilities.
At this point, since Sarkhan is now a creature, the active player goes to the attack phase and says he wants to attack with the just obtained legendary 4/4 red Dragon with haste.

Since the number of Sarkhan's loyalty counters is now 0, and since the active player has just completed the main phase (there is a phase shift in between main and combat phases), I'd like to know if Sarkhan:
1) has still time to join to the attack phase, because the transformation has resolved; or,
2) ends up in his owner's graveyard before the attack begins,because Sarkhan's loyalty counters are equal to 0,and therefore the Dragon simply does not exist anymore,and unable to participate to the combat phase.


texts: Can stations be used to traverse empty routes in Ticket to Ride Europe?

texts:
Ticket to Ride Europe introduces train stations to connect cities through routes that belong to other players. It recently became a point of debate whether stations can be used to connect cities over empty routes. Upon reviewing the rules I found them to be somewhat ambiguous.

The rules state that a station allows its owner "to use one ... of the routes belonging to another player."

  Building a train station

  A Train Station allows its owner to use one, and only one, of the routes belonging to another player, into (or out of) that city to help him connect the cities on his Destination Tickets.

Further along the rules state that stations can be built on a city even if it currently has no claimed routes into it.

  Stations may be built on any unoccupied city, even if it currently has no claimed routes into it.

To me belonging to another player means the route must be occupied by another player. Yet stations can be built on cities that have no routes built into them.

I think the entire point of stations is to give players an opportunity to complete routes that have been taken by other players; otherwise, there should be nothing to prevent the player from building into their destinations. Allowing players to build stations on cities with no routes built into them opens the possibility to easily complete routes by placing a station without having to pay the cost of the route. This could prove decisive at the end of the game.


texts: Finishing a turn on a previously discovered room, draw icon card?

texts: Do you draw an icon card for a previously discovered room if you end your turn there? Or are icon cards only taken when the room is discovered? I could not find it clarified in the rule book


texts: What happens if a player has 5 cards and forgets to exchange them in Risk?

texts: We had a situation where a player had 5 cards but forgot to turn them in at the beginning of the turn.  Other player noticed after first player had already attacked and conquered at least one territory.  Is there an official rule for this?  If not, is there a good house rule?


texts:
In Dominion I play a combo: Any card which gives me an additional 2 actions, then Bridge folloewed by Saboteur.

Bridge makes any card in my hand cheaper (i.e. cost $1 less) and cards in other players' hands, which is directly stated in the card's description. What about cards in other players' decks?

After playing Saboteur players should  normally reveal cards from their decks until they find one which costs $3 or more. Does Bridge affect the prices of these cards too? (i.e. Do other players need to find a card worth originally $4 in this case?)


texts: Can Dive Down protect a creature against Pacifism?

texts: If my opponent casts Pacifism on my creature and in response I cast Dive Down, what happens?


texts: Can a 0/0 creature with +1/+1 counters on it (like a Hydra) be regenerated?

texts: Since I fairly new to the Regeneration deal I have a question about regenerating Hydra creatures with +1/+1 counters on them. My friend seems to think that if he Doom Blades, Supreme Verdicts, or any destroy creatures/target creature on my side of the field, that I can't use the regeneraton effect from Golgari Charm on my Primordial Hydra or Savageborn Hydra. He thinks that they become 0/0's and the counters thus go away so regenerating a Hydra with no +1/+1 counters on it since I cant recast it means my Hydras are dead. Is this correct?


texts: What should we do if we realise the Queen should have been on the board?

texts: We forgot to return the Queen to the board after my opponent failed to cover it, and continued to play. What's the correct way to rectify this?


texts: What happens when you remove a token creature from the game, and then return it under it's owner's control?

texts:
Player A plays Roar of the Wurm
Player B plays Astral Slide
Player B recycles a card and returns the Wurm token

What happens then?


texts: Will casting an aura on a creature with heroic trigger the heroic ability?

texts:
I'll admit we've had a lot of trouble with the Battlewise Hoplite the last few games and what affects it and what doesn't. If he has a Battlewise Hoplite
in play and I play a Crippling Blight does his Battlewise Hoplite get a +1/+1 counter?


texts: Spells are not exiled by Jace, Telepath Unbound's second ability in MTG Duels

texts:
I used Jace, Telepath Unbound's second ability, which is casting a spell from the graveyard. It says the spell will be exiled.

However, it didn't. For example, Adverse Conditions was in the graveyard when I activated the Jace's second ability. And Adverse Conditions was cast, but didn't get exiled and instead went into the graveyard again.

Why so?


texts: Can sea units have more then the given amount in Axis and Allies 1941?

texts:
So I'm currently in a game where my opponent has 5 battle ships using the circle grey markers, and I have 4 battle ships.

Is this legal? or is only each faction allowed 2 battleships? what about other sea units?


texts:
Is it possible play the base version of Pandemic with one person?

One thing I've consider is you could just play for four players with open hands.


texts: How does mana cost reduction interact with colored mana in a cost?

texts:
My friends and I are relatively new to magic, and we're confused as to how mana cost reduction works — i.e. the effects which say something costs X less mana.

Can mana cost reduction reduce the colored portion of a mana cost, or can it only reduce the uncolored portion? If so, how does it interact with the mana cost?

I think some examples will make this clearer:

Can Nemesis of Mortals potentially be free to cast, or does it always cost at least 2 green mana?
Suppose I have Animar, Soul of Elements with two counters, meaning creature spells cost {2} less to cast. If I cast Lazav, Dimir Mastermind:

Does Lazav now cost less than UUBB to cast?
Can I choose to pay only UU to cast him, and let the discount take away the BB portion of the cost?
Can I choose to pay UB?

If I have Animar out with two counters, and I choose to cast Nemesis of Mortals instead, can I discount the forest mana and pay only the remaining 4 of any color?


texts: I noticed gobans are not square, but rectangular. Why is that, and what is the correct orientation of the board when playing?


texts:
My opponent is at 7 life and has a Grizzly Bears (2/2) and a Gavony Ironwright (Fateful hour — As long as you have 5 or less life, other creatures you control get +1/+4.).

I attack with 2 2/2s and my opponent blocks with his Grizzly Bears. This attack will knock my opponent down to 5 life. Does my opponent's Grizzly Bears die or does Fateful Hour kick in before hand and save it? (making it a 3/6 with 2 damage marked on it)


texts: If I cast Tormented Thoughts on my 3/1 creature and to counter my opponent uses Disperse to return it to my hand, is my Tormented Thoughts wasted?


texts: In chess, why is 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 rarely visited?

texts: This opening begins by copying the Ruy Lopez/Morphy Defense for the first three moves, but White branches off with 4 Bxc6.  I've read that 4 ... dxc6 5 Nxe5 Qd4 is effective for Black to recover his pawn - but what if White does not play 5 Nxe5, say 5 O-O instead? In short, why has this opening been largely ignored?  Is there a disadvantage to White after 4 Bxc6?


texts:
The relevant moves are as follows.

England:
Denmark -> Kiel
Sweden Support Denmark Hold
North Sea Support Denmark Hold

Germany:
Berlin -> Kiel
Skagerrack -> Denmark
Blatic Sea Support Skagerrack -> Denmark
Helgoland Bight Support Skagerrack -> Denmark

Does the support fail for Denmark because Denmark attempted to move to Kiel, even though it bounces.


texts: How does doubling of life work when you are at negative life?

texts: If I'm at -3 life and not dead from let's say a Platinum Angel. If I play a Beacon of Immortality, do I go to 6 life? Is it as simple as the primary school maths indicates or is there some other consideration?


texts: In Gloomhaven - do monsters spawn in the beginning of scenarios that have open doors/passageways to other tiles?

texts:
I see the rules about how you spawn monsters in a new room when you "reveal" it by unlocking the door.  However, in some maps there are already open passageways between map tiles.  Does that mean the monsters on these tiles are all already "revealed" and spawn immediately from the beginning of the scenario?  Or do I still have to have a character walk on or look into the tile to activate and spawn the monsters?

I assumed the that they were revealed but noticed that in one of the scenarios I would run out of creature tiles for a specific type if they were all revealed at once in the large open multi-tile cave with no doors.


texts:
I'm looking for an authoritative answer here. Where does the Spoils card end up after being played twice by Counterfeit?

In fact, can Spoils be trashed at all? My understanding is that yes it can when it isn't played, e.g. in order to increase the value of Forager.


texts: In Phase 10, can Wild Cards be discarded?

texts:
Can you discard a wild card in order to NOT have them as points in your hand?

For instance, I was about to go out and someone else discarded their wild so that they wouldn't have those extra 25 points.


texts: when playing Smallworld, we were wondering how to handle some cumulative effects. It says in the rules that all effects are cumulative unless otherwise stated. Still, we had mounted Tritons and we were wondering if they get really a +2 bonus on all hills and farmland next to the lake or coast (+1 because triton get that for any region next to water, and +1 for being mounted on hills and farmland)?


texts: Can colonists be relocated during the Mayor phase?

texts:
I've been reading the rules, and while everything is very well explained, I can't seem to determine if the colonist is fixed to the building once placed. Say I put a colonist working on the small market, and it's now the mayor phase, and I got one new colonist from the ship.

I place him on a plantation (sugar, e.g.), but I also feel like the next player will pick the craftsmen card. Can I move the colonist from the hospice to the sugar mill (provided I, of course have room)?

Secondly, at the end of the mayor phase, the mayor should place the number of colonists on the ship equal to the number of free "work spaces", to a minimum of the number of players. Now, how exactly do you determine if the mayor "forgets" this. I mean, if you're a player who hopes he will forget it do you just wait out until the next role is drawn and then point out that the new colonists have been forgotten?


texts: Do I need to sacrifice again if I copy Goblin Grenade?

texts: Let's say that I cast Goblin Grenade, sacrificing a goblin to pay it's additional cost.  Then, before it resolves I cast Increasing Vengeance, which allows me to copy the Goblin Grenade.  Since I've already paid the additional cost of Goblin Grenade, do I have to pay it again?


texts: Gaining control of a creature while an Aura targeting it is on the stack

texts:
It's my opponent turn.  I have Prophet of Kruphix on the battlefield, which means I can play creatures as though they had flash.

My opponent plays Boonweaver Giant and chooses Spectra Ward, which goes on the stack as triggered ability (?)

I play Hypnotic Siren with bestow to gain control of Boonweaver Giant in response to the triggered ability.  (I can do this during my opponent's turn because I control Prophet of Kruphix.)

Does that mean that the stack looks like this?

        TOP
    Hypnotic Siren   \
                     |
  / Spectra Ward     | 1
2 |                  |
  \ Boonweaver Giant /

        BOTTOM

Will I gain control of Boonweaver Giant, and then it gets the Spectra Ward Aura under my control?

Can someone tell me whether there is a mistake in this play?

The rulings on Hypnotic Siren say:

  Gaining control of a creature doesn’t cause you to gain control of any Auras or Equipment attached to it.

which does not apply to this situation because Boonweaver Giant does not have any Auras attached to it when I gain control of it with Hypnotic Siren.


texts:
So, there seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to creating your standard team:

Go big or go home. Get all the biggest, most powerful guys you can to fit into your allotted points
Swarm them with small, efficient guys averaging about 50 points each.

What are the pros and cons of these methods? Is there anything to keep in mind for either scenario? Is one method significantly better than the other (in theory or practice)?


texts: What form of chess was played in seventh-century Arabia?

texts:
In Islam, there are a number of reports (of variable grades of authenticity) that the prophet Muhammad either forbade or explicitly disliked the playing of chess.  As is known, he was centered in what is now known as Saudi Arabia during the seventh century; while he may have known about chess as it was played in India, or China, that doesn't necessarily reflect how chess was played in Arabia during his rule.  The colored areas in the following map (courtesy Wikipedia), especially those in brown, represent the regions he was most likely familiar with:

Islamic scholars have, as is their wont, attempted to derive rulings from (or in spite of) these reports as to whether playing chess itself halal or haram, and this is an issue on which there is no scholarly consensus.  Even assuming that the reports themselves are deemed authentic, it is difficult to come up with a ruling as it is less clear why such a discouragement was originally made; this is especially important when attempting to derive rulings of analogous situations.  Three major interpretations that I have seen posited are as follows:

Due to the fact that (some of) the pieces are carved in the shapes of living creatures, it is merely an extension of the ruling regarding graven images.
It is a form of entertainment (i.e. distraction) with no discernible benefit, so it is merely discouraged (but not outright forbidden) as a waste of time.
It an extension of the prohibition on gambling, as people would wager on the outcome of such games.

My own personal theory — and I am hardly an Islamic scholar — is based on the fact that similar reports are made discouraging and/or forbidding games of dice (especially backgammon): Such games where the outcome is based on chance would fall under (or at least encroach on) the prohibition against divination by arrows (i.e. a practice similar to "drawing the short straw" for decision-making).

Of course, modern chess has no element of random chance; it is a perfect-knowledge game in which the outcome can be based entirely on skill, in which case my own interpretation doesn't really make much sense.  However, as the intellectual benefits of modern chess have received significant study (which would fly against the second scholarly opinion listed above), and even though gambling on games does exist, it is hardly the predominant goal of playing nowadays (which would fly against the third), it seems clear that what is now known as chess is not necessarily the same as what was known as chess back then.

I do, however, know that modern chess did not arrive from whole cloth; like many games, it evolved over centuries to become the game we see today.  I know I have personally played (what is claimed to be) a dice-based precursor to chess that called itself Chatranga (although a bit of Wikipedia research suggests it was actually Chaturaji).  As such, it is feasible that whatever variant of chess was popular in the Arab world during the seventh (and possibly early eighth) century could involve randomization in some form.

As such, the question lies thus: What flavour of chess was predominant in the early Islamic world during the time of Muhammad himself (570-630CE), as represented by the above map?


texts: Smash up: First mate with ongoing actions attached to it. Do the actions follow him?

texts:
I'd like to hear peoples opinion on this.

The text on the cards mentioned below:

First Mate: "Special: After this base i scored, you may move this minion to another base instead of the discard pile".

Heirloom: Play on a minion. Ongoing: This card gives this minion +1 power for each Heirloom on it. This card cannot be destroyed.(the "this cards cannot be destroyed" is irrelivant to my question).

Situation:

First mate with an ongoing action (fx. heirloom) played on it(first mate).
The base scores
the first mate gets to move to another base after the base i scored

question: does the action played on him follow him or does it get discarded?

I'd think that it would follow him.


texts: What is the official name of this game? In India, it is called kaali teeri (3 of Spades)

texts:
This game can be played by 4 or 6 people.
with 6 people you take out all 2.
10 points are associated with each of the face cards(A,K,Q,J and 10) , and 3 of Spades has 30 points associated with it making it a trump card. And 5 has 5 points. Everything else has no value.

Players wage their scores depending on how good their cards are (maximum is 250), and player with the highest wager ask for a partner with a specific card and creates trump suit(pick a color of cards which has higher value to take hands). Partner then assists the player reach the target points, either openly or secretly.

I want to know the official name of this game. Is there any game named
'Three of Spades'?


texts: multiple lines in spell abilities - why new paragraph sometimes

texts:
I have a question regarding the structure of rules text in regards to abilities and effects.

Incinerate reads:

  Incinerate deals 3 damage to target creature or player. A creature dealt damage this way can't be regenerated this turn.

All of that text is on a single line.

Remand reads:

  Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, put it into its owner's hand instead of into that player's graveyard.

  Draw a card.

Here, much like Incinerate, we seem to have a Spell Ability that generates a one-shot effect as well as a continuous effect - both on a single line.

Remand differs, however, in that it seems to also generate a 2nd one-shot effect.

This question is perhaps pedantic, but I'm trying to reconcile the following.

Abilities generate one or more effects,

  609.1. An effect is something that happens in the game as a result of a spell or ability. When a spell, activated ability, or triggered ability resolves, it may create one or more one-shot or continuous effects.

...but sometimes these effects are listed in separate paragraphs, as if they were themselves abilities (like alternate costs etc.), and sometimes these effects are listed in one paragraph and are seemingly sharing a subject, or "linked" in some way.

I can find traces in the rules of linked abilities, but the sentences that begin each of the above cards' rules text seem more like linked-effects of a single ability (the spell ability), and I can't find anything mentioning that.

What does the extra paragraph/line break signify?  Why is it there sometimes and not there others?

According to the following, which calls out what paragraph breaks mean, Remand's 2nd paragraph could be interpreted (obviously incorrectly) as an "ability".

  112.2c An object may have multiple abilities. If the object is represented by a card, then aside from certain defined abilities that may be strung together on a single line (see rule 702, "Keyword Abilities"), each paragraph break in a card's text marks a separate ability.

Does Remand generate 2 effects or 3 upon resolving the spell ability?


texts: How to prevent being overrun in the early game?

texts:
My girlfiend has a U/G standard deck (Scars/M12/Innistrad), and she's having issues with being overrun in the early game so that she can take off late game with her deck (once it takes off it's nearly impossible to kill off).  She has some mana ramp, including Llanowar Elves and Rampant Growth.

What are some strategies to tie up the early game to get her set up for late game?


texts: How can a casino offer 99%+ RTP plus 1% cash back?

texts: So I am checking out a legal, regulated casino and they have video poker with over 99% RTP (return to player) games. And then I also noticed they have a deal where by loading funds using a credit card you get 1% cash back on it.  If you loaded the funds using their credit card method and say for example played a video poker game with 99.54% RTP wouldn't that make for a total 100.54% RTP and you could actually make money playing video poker ? Am I missing something ?


texts: Can Trait Doctoring be used to change words like "nonblack"?

texts:
Trait Doctoring reads:

  Change the text of target permanent by replacing all instances of one
  color word with another or one basic land type with another until end
  of turn.

 Doom Blade, for instance, reads:

  Destroy target nonblack creature.

Assuming I have  Quicken or something to time it correctly, can I use Trait Doctoring to change "nonblack" to "nonred"?


texts: Do any card games use the tarot trumps (Judgement, The Chariot) in any interesting ways?

texts:
I've been doing some reading on the history of the Tarot deck, and I love the complexity of the suits (wands, pentacles) and the trumps (The World, Wheel of Fortune), but every game that uses this deck seems to be a basic trick taking game! (e.g. French tarot, tarock and tarocchi)

Surely a deck with so much fantasy potential (I'm coming from a Magic the Gathering background) would have some amazing games that use the actual meaning of the trumps in the game, not just their numbers. Has anyone heard of a game like this?


texts: Does "advance the active mystery" apply to an AO's final mystery?

texts:
The two most recent expansions for Eldritch Horror have introduced the "advance the active mystery" effect that makes it possible to make progress on the mysteries via other channels. How this works with the normal mysteries, drawn from the Ancient One's mystery deck, is clear enough.

But does this also apply to an AO's final mystery, on the AO card's backside.

During last night's game we had successfully completed all the necessary 'normal' mysteries and were dealing with Syzygy's final mystery when an encounter card instructed us to "advance the active mystery".

The two possible interpretations were:

Advance the final mystery as it is the one we are actively trying to solve
The final mystery is a special case and can not be viewed as an active mystery, that title referring only to the "normal" mysteries.

Ultimately, we resolved this by applying the rule "when not sure about a rule, interpret it in the manner least beneficial to the investigators". I.e. we went with #2.

Given that Syzygy always requires you to resolve the final mystery, this is very likely to come up again. It would thus by very nice to know if there is an official ruling on this.


texts: Can you combine the Orbital Teleporter's ability with other Alien Tech cards?

texts:
Consider the following:

I have an Orbital Teleporter and a Stasis Beam
I roll 5,5,6
I have 3 ore

I place the 6 at the Solar Array to claim 3 energy, then use the Orbital Teleporter to move the 6 to the Colony Constructor. I use the Stasis Beam to reduce it from a 6 to a 5, then place the other two fives and pay three ore to use the Colony Constructor to place a colony.

Is this legal, or am I not allowed to alter a ship I'm moving with the Orbital Teleporter?


texts: Information gain from discarded tiles in Mahjong

texts:
What information do you gain when another player discards a tile apart from seeing which tile it is? In particular from the position from which the tile is discarded. I neglect the timing side-channel in this context.

You can sort your tiles, but no good player will do that, since it increases the information your opponents gain while giving you no advantage.

As I understand the rules at http://mahjong-europe.org you can't regularly shuffle the tiles. In particular not between taking and discarding a tile.

From this I conclude you can find out in which turn the discarded tile was drawn(all initial tiles count as a single turn), but nothing more.

Is that correct, or did I miss a way to gain additional information, or hide information about when the discarded tile was drawn?


texts: Why do some people use fetchlands in mono-colored decks?

texts:
This is a list of a competitive deck that uses fetchlands in a mono-colored deck: Goblin 8 Whackers.

I don't see the reason someone might build something like this, aside from a slight bluffing that you might be using another color aside from your main one.

Is there an advantage to losing one life and fetching a mountain? Maybe to shuffle your deck?


texts:
Bit of Background
I am currently trying to organize a comprehensive rule book for a board game I have been designing for some time now that is about to go into a testing phase. This being my first board game I've run into a wall.
The Problem
I don't know how best to structure the rule book. For instance, I'll be trying to explain how a piece moves in relation to the kind of tile it is on. Because in my game different pieces do different things depending on how they are positioned, this is quite complex. What ends up happening is I don't know whether to put the information under the type of piece, or under the type of tile, or under the specific situation in which the rules apply.
I feel if put the information in one place or the other it will leave the players confused, and if I put it in multiple places the book could get kind of lengthy, and scare potential players away.
The Potatoes
What do you guys do when you make your comprehensive instruction booklets to avoid this problem?


texts: What is a good way to store multiple expansions of Dominion?

texts:
At the moment I just have the base set of Dominion and Dominion-Intrigue, each of which are a full set so currently I'm storing each per the in-the-box organizers in their original boxes.

But when we buy another expansion (and more after that) I'm starting to wonder how we can best store all of these expansions. I've seen (but don't recall exactly where) various solutions for storing Dominion cards.

For us I think the following features would be needed:

easy and rapid setup (so no need to resort piles beyond counting out the numbers of some cards per the number of players - which in our case is usually two)
easy to clean up when the game is over and/or set up another game with a different set of cards
consistency in how the cards are organized - I've noticed that the default organization structure changed between the Base set's layout and Intrigue (the base set alpha sorted while Intrigue sorted the cards into more categories before alpha sorting)
Ideally space efficient so we can more easily travel with our games


texts: Correct use of Bonus cards in Terra Mystica

texts:
Does a player take a Bonus card as soon as they have passed their turn?

Page 7 of the rule book states "Three out of the nine Bonus cards award Victory points when you have completed all the actions you wish to take in the current Action phase (called passing)"

Does a player keep hold of every bonus card until they have completed their turn and passed? Does this mean that a player who passes may not have access to some Bonus cards because other players with turns remaining may still be holding them?


texts: Does my opponent need to prove his creature has morph?

texts:
I'm playing against an opponent who, for whatever reason, doesn't want to give away more information than they have to. (Perhaps they're trying to limit what is known about their strategy, their decklist, or their tells)

My opponent is one damage off lethal, but any creature will get him there. (Let's say I know he has a Might of the Masses in hand.) He plays a morph creature face down, swings (and casts his might of the Masses) and wins. Can I demand he prove the card had morph? Doing so gives me information in our next round that I shouldn't have, but it also proves that he didn't put just any card face down for {3}

Is the only solution to get a judge involved? What if he already started scooping his cards back into his deck? Should I have asked a judge to verify that the facedown creature had morph before it resolved? If so, it seems unreasonable to call over a judge every time a morph creature is played. In this instance it's clear the creature was crucial in the moment, but in other cases the creature could have been on the field for several turns, and it didn't look so conspicuous when it was played.


texts: In 2-3 player Citadels, can your second character build a 9th district?

texts:
In Citadels, if a player builds his 8th building we finish the round with the remaining roles and the game ends.

In 2-3 players rules, I may build the 8th district with my first character. When comes the second character's turn, can I build an additional district?


texts: Will a creature cast with Dash still return to your hand if it dies in combat?

texts:
While going through Fate Reforged, I became a little bit confused by the new mechanic Dash.
For example, if you take a look at Goblin Heelcutter, the ability states as such:

Whenever Goblin Heelcutter attacks, target creature can't block this turn.
Dash {2}{R} (You may cast this spell for its dash cost. If you do, it gains haste, and it's returned from the battlefield to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.)

My question is, since the creature is a 3/2, if it was assigned a blocker and dealt more than 2 damage, would it still return to the owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step?


texts: In Puerto Rico, how do you tell whether it is better to trade or to ship a good?

texts:
How do you choose between "trading" a good (locally) and shipping it (abroad) when the two actions have rather different reward structures?

How do the relevant roles you might play (craftsman, captain, trader) affect these choices?

Of course, if you have a warehouse, that gives you a wider choice of whether to trade or ship, and whether to do so this turn or in the future. More to the point, how do you decide, "I need to buy a warehouse THIS turn, for 1-2 turns down the road?"


texts: Is a player locked in to a poorly worded trade offer?

texts:
Is the following allowed?
Player A: holds up two woods and says "I will take any one resource for two woods"
Player B: Gives him a wood for his two woods.
Player A: tries to say he meant any resource besides wood since this trade is not allowed.


texts:
In the card game Munchkin, what happens when you die? I know you go back to level 1, and you lose all the cards in your hand and your items, but do you lose your class and race too?

And how does it work with the rest of the players taking your cards?


texts:
I've come across the incredible Arkham Horror Statistics spreadsheet that fans have contributed to. I have played a few expansions and I understand most of what is on there, but I'm confused with the "Dual-Color OW Battle" under the "Special Events" header of the Miscellaneous tab. What is this? I know that OW stands for Other World, but I'm not sure what it means otherwise.

I haven't found anything about it on the Arkham Horror wiki or a general Google search. The only thing I can think of that would be two colors is Gloria's ability letting you draw two cards in an Other World, which might or might not be different colors. But that doesn't really make any sense in the context of a battle.

So what exactly is a "Dual-Color OW Battle"?


texts: In MTG, was there ever a five-color deck that worked well?

texts:
The first pre-con I ever bought was the five-color one from I believe planeshift. I liked that deck when I was learning the game, but it didn't hold up when I actually started going to tournaments, and learned more about the game (such as the fact that you had a maximum hand size). The first deck I made myself was a massive five-color deck made up of probably around 100 cards (everyone else had their decks in card sleeves, which made me think that they too were running far more than the minimum 60).

I didn't get to play during invasion block, when there were cards in type II that encouraged five-color decks. I always thought that there may have been one during tempest block due to sliver queen, but I don't know that for a fact. I did have a friend who played a five-color deck, but all I know of that he had in it was Cromat and worship. I have no idea if he had ever run the thing in tournaments though.

Has there ever been a five-color deck that could be played outside of casuals? Obviously, I don't expect such a thing to be the top deck, I'm just asking if there ever was one that didn't suck because of it running too many colors?


texts: Can infinite scry 1 be shortcut by searching through your deck?

texts:
One of my standard decks is a 4-Color Rites deck.  It has a few combos where infinite "dies" triggers are used.  One of them involves having a Catacomb Sifter in play with a Brood Monitor and an Eldrazi Displacer.

The combo involves sacrificing the 3 scions created by the Brood Monitor, which creates 3 "scry 1" triggers from the Catacomb Sifter and adds 3 colorless mana to your pool.  The mana just created then is used to activate the Eldrazi Displacer's ability to flicker the Brood Monitor.  The Brood Monitor then enters the battlefield and it's triggered ability causes it to create 3 new Eldrazi Scions.  This can be repeated infinitely, creating an infinite number of scry 1 triggers.

At regular REL events like FNM, I describe this to my opponents and ask if I can just cut to the card I'm looking for as long as I keep my deck in order.  At competitive REL events would this be an appropriate shortcut to propose?

Another question: if the infinite triggers were scry 2 or more, then could you stack your deck as well? Are you allowed to just grab your deck and cut/stack it as a shortcut or is that not an appropriate shortcut for all RELs?


texts: Small World, what does "permanently discard" mean?

texts:
In Small World, after conquering region for loosing player rules state:

  Permanently discard one Race token back into the Storage tray

Now I'm not totally sure what does that mean. For most races there really is no difference, but for skeletons and sorcerers I see two interpretations that lead to two different results:

  Move tokens back to the box/tray from where you took them, this means that skeletons and sorcerers can use them again, that is their maximum token count is not affected

OR:

  Move tokens back to the box, and not to the tray where you took them from. Meaning that maximum possible count for skeletons and sorcerers would be decreased this way.

While I understand that tray is place where you take tokens from, the word "permanently" is a bit confusing. I have been playing by second interpretation so far, and it seems kinda fairer. Though I'm not sure if this is the intended way to play game. Though difference would most likely be minor, only two races are affected, and the number of tokens is quite large and hard to deplete. Still theres a difference! So anyone knows what how this should be handled officially?


texts: How does the stack work for the item "Device"?

texts:
Relevant card text:

  You may discard this card to add 3 dice to your attack roll, but you may only use that attack to steal something.

How would this work in terms of the stack - for declaring attack and attack intention?

Is it legitimate to roll dice with the intention of making a regular attack, to see that the pip total is lower than desired, and to then discard Device to add those 3 dice and attempt to steal an item instead?

Thanks for reading!


texts: How do I manage double-faced cards in Innistrad (MTG) tournament play?

texts:
I read about the new mechanic in Innistrad, the upcoming MTG edition, called double-faced cards. These cards have two faces, and no standard Magic back. They have actual creatures on both sides. In the linked article they describe two options for handling those cards:

  To put a double-faced card into your deck, you have two options: You
  can put your entire deck in opaque card sleeves, as many players
  already do, or you can use the checklist card provided in many
  Innistrad packs. If you're using checklist cards to represent any of
  the double-faced cards in your deck, you must use checklist cards to
  represent all of them.

I am not happy with either of these options. As a card collector I want my cards nice and clean and I will definitely not remove them from their sleeve during actual play, which is required for the first option. Those cards would take damage really fast. So this option does not work for me.

The alternative is using those checklist cards, but as far as I understand it, this requires me to keep the real cards on a separate pile. Every time I play a checklist card, I will search this pile and put the right card into play. Shouldn't be a problem if you are playing for fun at home or with people who know your deck well. But in a tournament situation, this will leak important information to my opponent. How many double-faced cards am I playing? How many of those are left? It is also very likely that my oppponent my get a glimpse at some of them while I search for a card in the pile, because double-faced cards are hard to hide.

I am considering additional cards to act as decoys. Lets say I only have 4 checklist cards in my deck but I bring 20 different double-faced cards for the exchange-pile. Would this be allowed in a tournament? Or are there better ways to handle that?


texts: Clarification on how the emblem gained by Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor works

texts:
I have two questions regarding the exact rulings of the emblem gained by Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor.
Question 1 The emblem gained by Tibalt mentions the card (Tibalt) by name. Looking at rule 201.4a stated below, am I correct in assuming that the emblem only grants you the ability to cast cards exiled with the specific Tibalt which created the emblem? Meaning that if, for example, Tibalt got bounced and was then replayed, and the new Tibalt's ETB got countered (resulting in no emblem being created), then any cards exiled with this new Tibalt would not be playable from exile (even though you still have the old emblem)?

201.4a If an ability’s effect grants another ability to an object, and that second ability refers to that first ability’s source by name, the name refers only to the specific object which is that first ability’s source. The second ability does not refer to any other object with the same name as the first ability’s source. However, if the second ability also moved the first ability’s source to a different public zone, the name refers to the object the source became in its new zone. This is also true if the second ability is copied onto a new object.

Question 2 What is the ruling for if some ability changed the name of Tibalt, for example if Tibalt was made into a copy of another permanent? Looking at rule 706.11, I assume that the emblem would track whatever permanent Tibalt became? And if this permanent has some ability which allows it to exile cards, am I correct in assuming that these cards would be playable from exile?

706.11 If an effect refers to a permanent by name, the effect still tracks that permanent even if it changes names or becomes a copy of something else.

Thanks for your time.


texts: Can you support through ships in Game of Thrones?

texts:
In Game of Thones, one can send attacking troops to a distant region in one order with a chain of ships.  Does this also apply to support orders?

That is, can I support a combat with land troops in an otherwise non-adjacent region if I can connect the two regions with ships?


texts:
This board game has been circling around the office and nobody knows what it is.

This is what we know:

4x4
8 pieces
The pieces change colour depending on in what direction and on what tile you place them
If you place the piece in the same direction but on another tile it changes colour
All pieces seem to show the same colour when placed on the same tile in the same direction
There are 4 colours: Red, green, yellow and purple
Made by All in 1 products Ltd. in China 2005

What is this game?


texts: In King of Tokyo, which turns does Monster Batteries' effect happen on?

texts:
Monster Batteries states the following:

  When you purchase this put as many [Energy] as you want on it from your reserve. Match this from the bank. At the start of each turn take 2[Energy] off and add them to your reserve. When there are no [Energy] left discard this card.

Does this mean at the start of only your own turns or at the start of every player's turn?


texts: If a Planeswalker in Magic the Gathering wasn't Legendary when it was printed (before Dominaria in 2018, e.g. Liliana, Death's Majesty), would you be allowed to have two of that same Planeswalker card in gameplay?


texts: Does the legend rule affect 2 creatures with the same general name?

texts: Suppose I have Squee, Goblin Nabob on the battlefield. Does the legend rule apply if I then play Squee, The Immortal?


texts:
The Assistant is a Basic Card, but it explicitly counts as a Creature Die at the same time. The Portal card belongs to the Basic Cards as well, but its faces are akin to those of spells: there are no faces that show creatures, rather it has one face that provides Quiddity and the portal immediate effect on the other five faces similar to  e.g. the Growth spell cards.
When the Strong Devotee of the Holy Query with burst scores, it permits you to capture one Spell Die that costs up to four Quiddity. Discriminating Incantation allows you to capture a Spell Die from the Wilds for free when you cast it. Does the Portal count as a Spell Die in this vein?


texts: Does the Cosumi Go site sometimes get the score wrong?

texts:
Cosumi claims that I won this game by 37 points:

— [9×9, Level 0] Black(You) Wins by 37 Points - Go Browser Game COSUMI
But it looks even to me.
Am I missing something, or does the site sometimes get the score completely wrong?
EDIT:
Strange.  The next morning, the same URL shows the upper-right corner as captured:

That might account for the score but, as far as I can tell, White still owns that territory.
Something strange is going on here.  (Does Cosumi have a bug-reporting mechanism?)


texts: Where can I find the dimensions and weight of a game?

texts:
I eant to order some games from the USA (I live outside the US).
Is there an online store or some other site that specifies the dimensions and weight of a board game or the entire order and not just the shipping fee before checkout?

Thank You.


texts: Am I analyzing the following hand properly?

texts:
Vulnerable vs. not, N-S are in a 4S contract (South 1NT, North 4H, South 4S, all other bids passed). North's bid was a "transfer."

QJ9832
JT4
A64
5

AKT7
A96
T72
AJ9

Frank Stewart reasonably points out that when West lead the K of clubs (presumably from KQT), South erred in taking A on the first trick. He then ruffed a club on the second trick, which I consider the real mistake.

My theory is that South can still save himself by returning the J of clubs to West's Queen on the second trick (pitching a diamond), win West's diamond return in dummy, go to his hand with a trump, and lead the 9 of clubs to West's T, pitching another diamond. When South regains the lead, he can ruff a diamond (high) in dummy, draw the last trump in hand, and ruff out the last diamond in dummy. In the remaining worst case scenario, South then finesses the Jack of hears "around" East and "into" West. (If East covers with an honor, South captures it with the ace and has reduced his heart losers to one). If West wins, he then has to lead a club for a ruff-sluff or away from a heart honor.

My understanding is as follows:

  1)  The operative strategy is "elimination."
  2)  South needs to keep East off lead to prevent him from leading a heart before the elimination is completed.
  3) The way to achieve 2) is to lose club tricks to West, rather than diamond tricks to East.
  4) The way to achieve 3) is to dump dummy's diamond losers on South's club losers, so that South's diamond losers can be ruffed rather than conceded (loser on loser play).
  5) Switch the club 5 and 9 between dummy and closed hand, and South needs to lose the first trick by playing the 5, because otherwise, there is no guarantee that East won't win the lowest club.

Questions:

Am I correct in saying the first trick "mistake" was still correctable on the second trick in this instance?
Have I analyzed the hand correctly from a strategic point of view?


texts: Can you "steal" if the last piece lands in the hole it came from?

texts:
In the version of Mancala that i play, if the last stone of the move lands in an empty hole, the pieces in the opposite hole are "stolen" (removed and placed in the "thief's" home hole).

Must the hole have been empty at the beginning of the move, or can it have been vacated by the very move i just made?


texts: Suppose you have Imprisoned in the Moon a creature (turning it into a land) and then cast Sage's Reverie. Would you draw a card for Imprisoned in the Moon? My assumption is no, since the enchanted creature is a land, not a creature, but I figured I should ask just in case I misinterpreted the rules.


texts: Enchantment and other continuous effects priority

texts:
I have read a lot of questions about the priority in the stack and the triggered abilities.  However, I would like to validate my understanding of the continuous effects priority rule.

  613.6. Within a layer or sublayer, determining which order effects are applied in is usually done using a timestamp system. An effect with an earlier timestamp is applied before an effect with a later timestamp.

Here's a scenario:

Player A has a plain.
Player B cast a Phantasmal Terrain on it and change it to a swamp.
At this point, the plain will end up as a swamp
Player A use a Gaea Liege ability to turn it into a forest.
At this point, the plain will end up as a forest
Player B also cast a Phantasmal Terrain on it and change it to a island.
At this point, the plain will end up as an island
Once again, player A use his Gaea Liege ability to turn it into a forest.
At this point, the plain will end up as a forest

Is my logic ok?


texts: What are the names for Magic's different deck colour splashes?

texts:
Occasionally, a deck becomes famous which is a colour combination + a 'splash' of another colour.
One good example is 'Moist Jund', which is Jund (Black, Red and Green) plus a small amount of blue (which gives the Moist part of the name).
What are the names of the other splashes? That is, splashing for White, Black, Green and Red.


texts: If I control The Scarab God and I activate his second ability and target Consuming Aberration is the token copy a 4/4 or is it still equal to the number of cards in my opponents' graveyard?


texts: Can invocation of nehek heal a lone character?

texts:
Can the invocation of nehek spell, vampire counts, heal a lone character?

The spell says unit.


texts: Can I use multiple items and spells in one action?

texts:
I was wondering if I could use multiple items and spells in one action. The rules say

  Although an investigator cannot perform a component action
  from a single component more than once each round, he can
  perform component actions of different components.

So I guess the question is: "what is an component?"

I have a few combinations I would like to clarify:

Start action phase:

Feed the Mind (ritual spell)
Blessing of Isis (ritual spell)
Dynamite (item - weapon)
Holy water (item magical)
Travel

End action phase

Start action phase:

Blessing of Isis (ritual spell - I gain an Blessing)
Holy water (I gain another condition)
then flip my first received Blessing and resolve it(since I can not have two conditions) and put the last received Blessing in the back of the deck
Travel

End action phase

Another question I was wondering about was "preventing". Bandages and Whiskey state you can prevent an investigator from losing health or sanity. It's not an action so I must (?) use this during the encounter phase but do I have to use it before the other investigator (or myself) starts the fight? (that seems weird). Or can I use it when an investigator on my spot loses a strength/will test even if it's not my encounter?

Same goes with the Flesh Ward spell, can I cast it during someone else's encounter phase to prevent them form taking damage? Example:

John is on the same space as me
John has 3 health and 4 sanity left and is on a space with a Goat Spawn and a Skeleton
In the previous encounter John did one damage to the Goat Spawn (leaving it with one toughness) and none to the Skeleton
This encounter John encounters the Goat Spawn first and rolls 1 success reducing the toughness of the Goat Spawn to 0.
Does John still take one damage because his damage was lower than that of the Goat Spawn allthought John did kill it
If John takes damage can I then use my Bandage/Whiskey/Flesh Ward spell on him negating the effects of losing health and sanity?
John then rolls 4 success during the fight with the Skeleton and kills it.
After the combat encounters John does a clue encounter in which he loses 1 health. Does the Bandage/Flesh Ward still work?

Or is it more like this

John is on the same space as me
John has 3 health and 4 sanity left and is on a space with a Goat Spawn and a Skeleton
In the previous encounter John did one damage to the Goat Spawn (leaving it with one toughness) and none to the Skeleton
I discard my Bandages and Whiskey so if John takes 2 damage or loses 2 sanity he actually won't. But I discard my cards none the less.
To make sure John won't die I also cast my Flesh Ward on him with a success of three.
This encounter John encounters the Goat Spawn first and rolls 1 success reducing the toughness of the Goat Spawn to 0.
Does John still take one damage because his damage was lower than that of the Goat Spawn allthought John did kill it. Obviously my Bandages and Flesh Ward spell prevent him from actually taking the damage.
John then rolls 4 success during the fight with the Skeleton and kills it.
After the combat encounters John does a clue encounter in which he loses 1 health. Does the Bandage/Flesh Ward still work?

This game has so many variables to combine that it's hard to keep track of what is possible and what isn't.


texts: Who wins if player who said 'cabo' has lowest points but another player also has the same?

texts:
Game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabo_%28game%29

More reference link: https://www.wired.com/2011/01/pass-the-time-with-cabo-where-strategy-meets-quirky-fun/

We were playing this using playing cards, but logic remains same.

One action in the game play is,

Call “Cabo”, which states - If a player thinks that they have the lowest scoring hand, they can call “Cabo” to end the round. There is a penalty for performing this action if you do not actually have the lowest hand.

Now, we had a situation where 3 players (A, B, C) were in the game, and Player A called 'cabo'. Now at the end of the round, hands were as below

A: Ace (one)

B: Ace (one)

C: Queen (Twelve)

Now, C is clearly higher whereas A and B are tied. Now, does this qualify as lowest hand for player A who called the 'cabo' as he is technically having the lowest which happens to be tied with another player? Who wins that round? Does player A, gets the advantage of calling cabo?


texts: Conventional treatment of a particular negative double

texts:
In the system I am playing with my partner, our 1 clubs opening frequently contains a(ny) balanced hand with 12-13 points. Because of this we have recently introduced the modern 'expert treatment' with a modified negative double by responder after a 1 hearts overcall. In particular, after 1C-(1Ha)-? we use

X - 4 or more spades
1S - 3 or fewer spades, requests partner bid 1NT with 12-13 balanced

The idea behind this (as far as I can tell) is that with a balanced hand with 10-11 points and at most 3 spades it is risky to jump to 2NT opposite 12-13, since the heart suit is a likely source of tricks for the opponents. However, we have encounted some problems bidding hands with 6+ spades with this approach. Does anybody have a reference explaining this modified double in more detail, along with subsequent bids?


texts: When was the Lord Licorice character added to Candy Land?

texts:
I recently played a brand new copy of Candy Land with my son and noticed a character named Lord Licorice, who I don't remember from playing the game when I was a child.

The Candy Land Wikipedia article mentions several changes that were made to the game--including character changes--as it was updated through the years, but there's no mention of Lord Licorice.

Am I just completely mis-remembering a canonical character, or was he added some time after the early 1980s?


texts: What happens if I gain control of my opponent's Rekindling Phoenix until end of turn, and it dies?

texts: If I gain control of Rekindling Phoenix and it dies, I know it goes to it's owners graveyard, which is my opponents graveyard, but does the token get created under my control which means my opponent won't get the phoenix back at his next upkeep?


texts: In Gizmos, does blind picking from the energy dispenser count as a "Pick" action?

texts: In the board game Gizmos, some cards have triggers that are activated when you pick a particular color. Do these triggers only get activated when the player picks from the Energy Row? Or are they triggered if the player picks blindly from the dispenser as well?


texts: How many scry ones equal infinite scry 1 shortcut?

texts:
Can infinite scry 1 be shortcut by searching through your deck?

It appears that with a scry 1 ability and some infinite repeat mechanism, one can cut to the card one desires, keeping the deck in order as a shortcut. But let's say I can't repeat it infinitely for some reason (maybe it has a cost). If my library has 40 cards in it, do I need to be able to scry 1 40 times to shortcut this? How many minimum do I need to do this every time, and do my odds of getting the card I want on top of the deck increase faster as I am able to trigger more scry one repeats?

I don't know much about MTG, so please pardon my vernacular.


texts: If I were to use The Mimeoplasm to exile an enemy's commander that's in their graveyard (let's say The Scarab God), and the Scarab God's owner chooses to return it to the Command Zone instead of letting it be exiled, does The Mimeoplasm still enter as a copy of The Scarab God? While the Mimeoplasm's ability to exile The Scarab God was activated, does The Scarab God not actually being exiled negate that ability?


texts: Gustcloak's ability vs. creatures with Vigilance

texts:
Gustcloak Savior has

  Whenever a creature you control becomes blocked, you may untap that creature and remove it from combat.

What about creatures with Vigilance? Attacking does not cause them to tap so they cannot be untapped. Can they still be removed from combat, after they become blocked?


texts: Where can settlements be built near undiscovered hexes?

texts: The note in the rules for explorers and pirates states that "settlements may not be built on intersections adjacent to undiscovered hexes."  I am new to this expansion, does this mean that no undiscovered hex can be within two 'road lengths' of a settlement like the distance rule for settlements in base Catan?


texts: I noticed after the last lead someone reneged but it actually helped me so I just let it go

texts: I had made it spades I played the jack of clubs opponent put on the ace of clubs and I had low clubs but more and higher spades. If the gentleman had played properly he probably would have euchred me. So instead of trying to get 2 points when really played right they would of got the 2. But because he reneged and wasnt played right i might have got a point or i may have gotten euchred. We very seldom count a 2 points for reneg its either corrected. For a lone its counted as 4 points otherwise you could just reneg so person couldnt get their lone hand. He had the right bower when he reneged so i thought anyway i wasnt getting 2. Did I do the right thing to let it go?


texts:
The effects on the Anti-Matter race card seem somewhat unclear; the net effect seems to be that each side in an encounter wants to play a low attack card in order to win. This means that more ships still increases your chance to win (since they subtract rather than add to the attack card). However, the Warrior card says to 'add' to their final total depending on how many accrued tokens they have.

Does this mean that the Warrior race becomes more and more ineffective against the Anti-Matter over time, until it effectively cannot win?


texts: Has any mathematical analysis of The Resistance been done?

texts: I played The Resistance for the first time a couple weeks ago and am interested in writing a simulation program to test strategies. I know that mathematical analysis has been done on Mafia proper, but does anyone know of work that has been done to analyze The Resistance?


texts: Betrayal at the house on the hill arsenal room and puzzlebox

texts:
If you open the puzzle box while standing in the arsenal room how many cards do you then draw?
The Arsenal Room text says:

When you draw an item card in this room, draw 2 cards and choose 1 to keep. Discard the other.

The Puzzle box says:

Once during your turn, you can attempt a knowledge roll to open the box:
6+: You open the box. Draw 2 item cards and discard the Puzzle Box.
0-5: You just can't get it open.

The arguments that was presented during my game was as follows:

"The text on the room tile applies only to the item you have to draw when you discover the room"

"When you open to puzzle box you get 3 cards and gets to keep 2 of them"

"When you open the puzzle box you get 4 cards and gets to keep 2 of them"


texts: Commerce in Seven Wonders: possible to buy the same resource more than once in the same turn?

texts:
Situation: one of my neighbors has a single resource card; I want to build something that needs two of that resource; my neighbor's card is the only way I have access to that resource (i.e., I have none, and my other neighbor has none). Can I pay my neighbor for 2 of that resource (i.e., double the price) even though s/he has only one card? Or am I simply unable to build the structure which requires 2 of that resource?

For example: I want to build an Aqueduct, but only have a Stone Pit. My left neighbor has a Mine. My right neighbor has no stone. Can I pay my left neighbor 4 coins and get the 2 stones that I need? Or am I unable to build?

This is not clear to me from reading the official rules. All the rules state is, "It is possible, during the same turn, to buy one or more resources from both neighboring cities." It does not clarify if the neighboring player must have 2 available stones in order for me to purchase two, or if one is sufficient.


texts:
In Star Wars X-Wing if a ship has an ionising token can it shoot?

For example:

TIE Fighter skill 5
Y-wing skill 8
TIE Fighter moves
Y-wing moves
Y-wing shoots and scores damage with ion cannon

The TIE hasn't fired yet but it's been ionised. Is it still allowed to return fire?


texts: Do Crawlers get an extra activation, when all figures are in play and attack on Skinner has a 1?

texts:
In Zombicide Season 3: Rue Morgue, you have Skinner zombies that turn to Crawlers, if the attack that would have killed them had a 1 in any of the dice.

However, if the Crawler can't be added, since all the figures are already in play, do the Crawlers get an extra activation as per the usual spawning rules? Or is this an exception, like splitting?


texts: Axis and Allies 1941: Transport Rules for on loading and offloading units

texts:
No House Rules

So My main question is: Can an infantry and a tank (Cargo Option 01) board a transport, then have the transport be moved to a territory which is empty. But hostile, and drop those units there in the same turn?

I ask this because for the longest time. I had the thought that when you move an infantry unit on a transport, it counts as ONE move. So that being said, the infantry unit is stuck on that transport till the next turn.

But a recent video I saw on youtube explaining the rules for transports, mostly not mentioned in the rulebook. Explains that you can indeed move an infantry unit and a tank and/or 2 infantry units on a transport and then on the same turn drop them off somewhere valid to the transport movement of 2 sectors. Which would count as one move for the cargo units. So the tank has one more move left, but infantry is stuck at that territory.

So ->Onload units -> move transport -> offload units -> thats one move for all the units.

Is this the case? Or is this not true?

I hope this is explained well! Thank you in advance!


texts: Is there an extension that converts regular Pandemic to Pandemic Legacy: Season 1?

texts:
I own Pandemic. I want to buy Pandemic Legacy: Season 1. It's quite expensive though and it seems that the game board looks the same.

Is there an extension to the Pandemic game that reproduces Pandemic Legacy: Season 1? Or do I really have to buy the new version entirely?


texts: Do Manifested or Morphed creatures count as tokens?

texts: Does a manifested creature or even a morph creature count as a token? I was told yes, but I was also told that a card can never be considered a token! So I'm asking you guys!


texts: Problem with lifelines in "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" board game

texts:
I have found an issue with playing the board game Who wants to be a millionaire 2nd edition, and the rules do not cater for the problematic scenario.

The rules can be downloaded from www.fgbradleys.com/game_rules.asp#w
(Click the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" link to download PDF.)

The problem

The problem is with the "Ask the Audience" lifeline.

In the TV show, the audience are not playing the game and do not need to answer the question themselves. So they simply vote on which ever answer they think is correct.

In the board game, the "audience votes" are the answers which players are going to choose for themselves. They pass their answer via a card (either A, B, C, or D) to the host who adds a card with the correct answer, and then passes them all to the player using the "Ask the audience" lifeline.

The problem comes when a player uses their "Ask the audience" but one (or more) of the other players do not yet have an answer, and possibly/likely were going to use a lifeline themselves.

This means the other player(s) don't have a legitimate answer to choose, and so cannot pass an "Ask the audience" card based on an answer they are choosing.

Solution we're using

As there's nothing in the rules to resolve this, we decided that any players needing to provide an "Ask the audience" card but do not yet have an answer, randomly selects a card to pass to the host.

This isn't always terrible, as the host always provides a card with the correct answer, and another player might have an answer.

But if no other players have an answer this lifeline becomes quite hit-and-miss.
The lifeline cards the player receive from other players without an actual answer of their own are now just randomly chosen, 1 out of 4 chance, and not based on knowledge of the other players in any way.

And the point is supposed to be getting what other players are answering themselves as they might know the answer (arguably it's more than "chance/random").

It also changes the potential outcome. As a card which a player passes at random might not end up being the answer that player chooses for themselves.
So if the card they passed is chosen by the receiving player (using the lifeline) and the answer is wrong, but the player who passed the card ends up with a different answer themselves which is correct, they go through to the next question.

Whereas if they pass the answer they were choosing themselves, if that answer is chosen by the receiving player and wrong they both go out, if it's correct they both stay in.

Which is how it's designed - to avoid passing a card which you know is the wrong answer, as on the TV show which the board game is based on, the audience have no reason to give any answer other than the one they believe to be correct.

I know there are other parameters at play there, but essentially I'm saying it causes a few issues and alters potential outcome.

Can anyone think of a better solution to manage this scenario?


texts: When can an object have an owner and no controller?

texts:
Rule 616.1 has an interesting line about an object having no controller but having an owner.  Under what conditions is this possible?

  616.1. If two or more replacement and/or prevention effects are attempting to modify the way an event affects an object or player, the affected object’s controller (or its owner if it has no controller) or the affected player chooses one to apply, following the steps listed below. If two or more players have to make these choices at the same time, choices are made in APNAP order (see rule 101.4).


texts: In 2-3 player Citadels, can your second character buy a destroyed building using Graveyard?

texts:
In Citadels you have a card that permits you to buy buildings (Graveyard) destroyed by the Warlord. But the Warlord cannot buy the destroyed building. In the 2-3 players variant you select 2 characters.

Can your alter ego buy the destroyed card then?


texts: Adjacent Territories during setup: What is considered adjacent?

texts:
The rules in our Power Grid edition (USA/Germany, purchased 2016) state:

  Of course, the areas chosen must be adjacent.

Are setups with a string of territories where each territory touches only 1 or 2 other territories legal?

Even if it's legal, is it desirable for creating a fun/interesting game?


texts: What happens with two Pledges of Loyalty attached to the same creature?

texts:
This is a similar question, but a slightly different situation, so no duplicate: What happens if I have two Pledges of Loyalty attached to a creature?

Now to my scenario:

Let's say I have two Grizzly Bears with one Pledge of Loyalty attached to each of them. Now my opponent casts e.g. Back to Nature, killing both of my Pledges. I would like to keep my Bears protected, so I cast Second Sunrise during the end step. Note that no other cards were put into any graveyard this turn, so it would revive only the two Pledges. While it is on the stack, my opponent decides to bounce one of my Grizzly Bears with a blue instant of your choice.

Now, the Sunrise resolves, I have to put my Pledges back and since the remaining Grizzlies are the only creature, both have to enchant it as per rule 303.4f. Now, I would think that they would enter the battlefield simultaneously, so no Pledge will be there "first" and prevent the other from attaching.

Is that correct so far?
What will happen afterwards? Will both Pledges be put into my graveyard again? Will one of them, or even both, survive?


texts: Can I target a tapped creature for “tap target creature, target creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s untap step.”

texts:
I have two cards that I’ve had disputes with.
1: Shipbreaker Kraken
2: Archipelagore
The Kraken says “When Shipbreaker Kraken becomes monstrous, tap up to four target creatures. Those creatures don’t untap during their controllers’ untap steps for as long you control Shipbreaker Kraken.” Can I still target an opponents creature if that creature is already tapped? I’m going off the way it’s worded, I know I can’t do anything impossible (like tap an already tapped creature), but can I still TARGET the creature and the effect happens?
Same question with Archipelagore. It says “Whenever this creature mutates, tap up to X target creatures, where X is the number of times this creature has mutated. Those creatures don’t untap during their controllers next untap step.”
Can I still TARGET a tapped creature that is already tapped?
Scenario: I mutate Archipelagore so it’s effect happens. My opponent has a creature that is tapped (they attacked last turn). Can I target that creature with Archipelagore’s effect so it doesn’t untap during my opponents next untap step?
I’m going off of specific wording and the order of the effect.
And if you have any up to date rules that would help as well. Thanks!


texts:
If I have Sanguine Bond on the battlefield, and I play Reverse the Sands, will the redistribution of life trigger Sanguine Bond if I choose to distribute less life to my opponent than he originally had?

ex. I have 10 life left, my opponent has 14 life left. I play RtS and distribute life totals so I end up with 23 life and my opponent with 1 life, would that be considered a "loss of life/life gain" situation?


texts: Why you can't summon face-up monsters in defense position?

texts:
I know it is the rule you can only summon in attack position or set (face-down defense position), but I'm curious about why it is a rule that you have to place all the defense position's monsters face-down.

Is there some overpowered strategy if I'm allowed to put face-up defense position's monsters or something like that?


texts: Can I flicker Aurelia to get more than two attack phases?

texts:
Whenever Aurelia, the Warleader attacks for the first time each turn, untap all creatures you control. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.

If I attack with Aurelia once, then flicker her (e.g. with Acrobatic Maneuver), will her second attack also count as "attacks for the first time each turn," thereby allowing me a third?


texts: How do the Monopoly odds change when the board is played in reverse?

texts:
One semi-popular house rule is to play Monopoly as usual, but move the pieces counter-clockwise instead of the usual clockwise - that is, hit the higher-end properties first and move down toward the lower-end ones. Another related house rule is to play in the normal fashion, but when someone lands on Free Parking, either that player or all players reverse direction. (Yes, that means different players could be moving in different directions. I didn't make up the rule.)

In the above versions, how does this affect the winning strategies? As discussed there, the properties landed on most often are the oranges and reds. Does reversing the board play for some or all of the game affect those odds to enough of a degree to make a difference in which monopoly rakes in the most revenue?


texts: What is optimal robber placement in Settlers?

texts:
Every time I think I've mastered Settlers, I discover yet another novel tactic or strategy. This time it's Robber placement.

I've usually selected robber placement based on a combination of factors, including who is winning, which hex reduces the most dots worth of production (x2 for cities) that isn't mine, several variations on which resources are scarce, whether a 2:1 port for an abundant resource is occupied, and trying to take a card I need from a player I think likely to have it. Which of these factors to emphasize for any given robber placement is a fairly complicated decision that depends on what stage of the game you're in, how much the leader is winning by, and what you're needing next.

All this is standard stuff for those who have played more than a few games. But I just ran across an idea I hadn't heard before:

When not trying to stop someone close to winning, nearly always place the robber on the most valuable hex of the person on your right only. The reason for this is that this person won't be able to retaliate for at least 3 rolls of the dice (in a 4 player game), while the other players may be more favorably disposed to you for not getting them. And if this player (to your right) retaliates, it is immediately your turn next giving you a chance to possibly roll a 7 or play the robber (if you have it). So assuming robber retaliation is somewhat predictable, this seems to be a sound strategy.

I don't have a strong opinion yet on how well the person-to-the-right robber placement strategy works - as I don't know how predictable retaliation is in general or with the specific groups I play with. But I do now wonder:

For advanced Settlers players, what is optimal robber placement? Is it this player-to-the-right placement method (because retaliation is mostly predictable)? Is it the standard tactics I listed above? Or are there different and perhaps more subtle tactics for Robber placement I haven't even thought of?


texts: In chess, when is it appropriate to resign?

texts:
I know I should not resign after losing the exchange, or a piece, and probably not even if I lose a Rook.  But how about if I lose a Queen for a Knight?  Would it be expected of a player to keep fighting in such a scenario, or is he expected to give up then and there?

It would be helpful to know the unspoken rules regarding resignation, if they exist.


texts: Board game about setting fairy tales right

texts:
In my childhood (late '80s to early '90s) there was a board game around where you were part of sort of a book patrol. You had to set fairy tales right that went wrong.

The main story as far as I remember was about Long John Silver and the treasure he was after. The treasure island being the map you played on.
You gained "stars" whenever you did win out in a part of the game.
You fought the adversaries from different stories and also tried to overcome traps while you travelled the map.
You played as a group trying to achieve the same thing as sort of a party.

Edit:
I remember now that the stars you could use to increase your attributes. Also on some map fields there were traps where you had multiple choices (and or rolls?) which could lead to you becoming trapped, or succeeding in avoiding the trap.

One point I'm unsure about is... I always took it as a precurser (despite different setting) to The Dark Eye (thus maybe a Schmidt Spiele game). At least from what I remember of the box the box itself was similar to the later Dark Eye 1st edition boxes.


texts:
I recently learned how to play Netrunner and it seems to me that the corporation has a large advantage because ice doesn't break if bypassed. As a corp I can just keep piling on ice and the runner can't really get past my defenses. It will require large amounts of coin/runs to get through something they will eventually not be able to afford.

Is there a rule or part of the game that I am not playing correctly?


texts: How to make custom Cards Against Humanity Cards?

texts:
Cards Against Humanity has a free download for a PDF to print custom cards (e.g. PDF for printing custom white cards). However, it seems that these cards are not the same shape/size as the official cards which you get when you purchase the game. The reason for this, clearly, is that while the game is offered via a creative commons-type license, so you can print your own, they want to differentiate their own version.

However, I want to print custom cards which can be used alongside the 'official' version which I own. For this to work, they need to look exactly like the other cards - at least in shape, color, card stock, and finish. That way, when such cards are mixed into the deck and we are playing, it isn't possible to tell when someone has a 'custom' card or an 'official' one.

So my question is, how should I go about printing such customer cards?

If I want to print custom cards which fit in with the regular cards which you can purchase, what card stock should I use to print them with the appropriate weight, glossy surface, etc? I have experience printing a magazine and would be happy to go to either a Kinkos or small-scale printer.


texts: Can someone explain the Damage on the Stack rule change?

texts:
I played Magic: The Gathering when Unlimited first came out, and quit shortly after Antiquities were released. About a month ago I started playing again.

I was trying to find what the biggest changes are, and saw someone say the biggest difference was the elimination of Damage on the Stack. I've read the new rules and noticed a few differences, but am not sure what "Damage on the Stack" refers to as being different. Could someone explain what it was, and how it has been eliminated?


texts:
This might be quite basic. I am just a beginner and searched through the web and the rule book and couldn't find the answer.

For instance, Ajani's Pridemate lets you,

  Whenever you gain life, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Ajani's
  Pridemate. (For example, if an effect causes you to gain 3 life, you
  may put one +1/+1 counter on this creature.)

Then does that counter(s) last across turns and accumulate making Ajani's Pridemate much stronger creature as the game progresses until it dies? Say, you have a staff that lets you

  Whenever you cast a black spell or a Swamp enters the battlefield under your control,
  you gain 1 life.

Every turn you put down a Swamp you gain 1 life and hence Ajani's Pridemate gets another +1/+1 counter. It can even become like 2/2 + 1000*(+1/+1 counter) making it 1002/1002. Am I right?


texts:
For Rummycube, after the 30 point meld can you build vertically off a run?

To illustrate, is this possible?

6 7 8 9
    8
    8

In addition if you had a gold, blue and a red 1, can you add to the same gold 1 going vertically a blue  and red 1?


texts: Card game where you're dealt two role cards you keep hidden

texts:
I played a game a couple of months ago that was pretty minimalist. Everyone (6+ players) was dealt two cards that they kept hidden. Each had a role, I think some included Assassin, Baron or Duke(?), Courtesan(?). During each person's turn, you could do some basic action, an improved action permitted by your hidden role cards, or bluff another action. You lose when both your cards are revealed through people calling your bluff or they're killed.

The game had a short name that I can't for the life of me seem to figure out. Anyone have any ideas?


texts:
My dad (now 93 years old) used to play a two deck solitaire game with the cards laid out in 10 columns as shown in the picture.  In brief:

Two Decks
10 columns
1st column has one card, second column has two cards . . . tenth column has ten cards.
Cards alternate face up, face down
Remaining cards are used one at time and only the most recent card that is top of the pile can be used.

I am looking to identify this variant and see if I can find an online version for him.


texts: Temporary gain control effects, what happens if I give the permanent to another opponent before the effect ends?

texts:
Let's say that I temporarily gain control of an opponents permanent through some means, and then, before the temporary effect ends, I give it to another opponent (though let's say Harmless Offering). Will the permanent still return to the original opponent (presumably the owner), or will it stay under the control of the second opponent?
I can see this working differently in different scenarios, so let me give two examples:

Gaining control of a creature through Act of Treason which creates an effect that lasts until end of turn.
Gaining control of a creature through Control Magic, and then having Control Magic be destoryed after the creature has been given to the second opponent.


texts: When do you progress to the next stage in the Lord of the Ring LCG?

texts: After you finish a stage in the Lord of the Ring LCG–whether it be by successfully questing or by a card effect–do you finish the current round before progressing to the next stage, or do you immediately travel to the next stage of the quest?


texts: MTG What happens if the player can't fulfil Iridescent Drake ability

texts:
Iridescent Drake has the ability: "When Iridescent Drake enters the battlefield, put target Aura card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control attached to Iridescent Drake."

Can I play Iridescent Drake if there's no Aura in any graveyard?


texts: A bridge player opens with a pre-emptive bid of 3 or 4  of a suit and the opponent doubles.  Is this bid assumed to be for take out?


texts:
I just learned about the use of cowry shells as binary dice and find the idea enchanting. However, I'm concerned about the apparent "fairness" of the dice. Obviously, because there are multiple instances, they are not an equivalent to a single die with equal sides, (1d6 vs. 6*d2-1) as they'll have a curved probability distribution, rather than flat probability, and have an incredibly low chance of rolling 0. More than that though, it seems apparent that each shell would have subtle proportional variations depending on the lifestyle of the cowry it came from, and these would likely make each shell prefer one state or another, meaning each instance would be weighted. Also, cowry shells may just, in general, not be especially 50/50 in the first place the way coins are. (I'm OK with that, but the individual weighting bothers me) I can't seem to find any statistical examination of their balance or probability.

If I wanted to use cowry shells as dice in a home made game, what could I do to improve the apparent fairness of their application?


texts: Can 0 or negative power creatures deal direct damage?

texts: If I have a creature that has 0 or negative power and it has a Viridian Longbow attached to it, does it still deal 1 damage because of the effect the equipment gives it, or does it not because of the negative or 0 power?


texts: Are you allowed to play Blackjack on your own with one hand?

texts:
My dad said the house has the advantage in Blackjack because you can't play one hand against the dealer, you can only play on your own if you play two hands, and this gives them an edge.

I know their edge actually comes from playing last (as if you both bust, you don't push, the player loses), but would playing 1 or 2 hands against the house make a difference, or would their edge stay the same?


texts: Can you link up twice in one turn in Age of Steam?

texts:
During the Move Goods phase you have the option to either:

Move a good
Increase your Engine Links

Then each other player goes and you then get a second chance to move a good.  Can you choose the Increase Engine Link option for both goods?


texts: Equipment cards and the timing of their activated ability

texts:
702.6a: Equip is an activated ability of Equipment cards. “Equip [cost]” means “[Cost]: Attach this permanent to target creature you control. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”

This seems to imply that activation of an ability on Equipment is generally considered to only happen when you could cast a sorcery.  I have seen equipment cards state that.  I have seen them say any time and there are rulings that any cards activated ability can happen any time you could cast an instant unless noted otherwise.  So what actually applys.  Does 702.6a mean that it is only when you cast a sorcery.  Or is it only when the card itself stipulates it as a socery


texts: Hammer of Purphoros doesn't let me destroy my opponent's lands; why is that exactly?

texts:
The text on Hammer of Purphoros reads:

  Sacrifice a land: Put a 3/3 colorless Golem enchantment artifact creature token onto the battlefield.

I know that this doesn't allow me to destroy my opponent's lands but I would like to know why. What wording would allow me to do that? "Destroy target land"?


texts: Double Strike with Lifelink that destroys its blocker in the first strike phase

texts: Say I have a 5/5 creature with double strike and lifelink. I attack with the 5/5 and my opponent blocks with a 1/1. The creature is killed by the damage in the first strike phase and I gain 5 life. Do I gain an additional 5 life in the normal damage phase?