These are answers collected from the old board. Please do NOT post new questions here as they will merely clutter up the information compiled here. Direct any new questions to a new thread.

My answers are in bold, below.

-Kevin Wilson
Fantasy Flight Games


1. A CotDP-encounter at Ye Olde Magick Shoppe grants the "Private Investigator" Benefit and Bars the investigator from Uptown. But the "Private Investigator" card is discarded "if you are Barred from any location". What happens? Furthermore, what if an already Cursed investigator gains the "Anointed" benefit (which is discarded "if you are Cursed")?

A1. You keep the Private Investigator benefit and take the barred from Uptown card. The next time you are barred from a neighborhood, you lose the Private Investigator benefit. As for anointed, you only lose it the NEXT time you're cursed.

2. Can weapons be used against the Dark Pharoah ("Use Lore in combat instead of Fight") monster token as normal? I see no clear rule why they couldn't be, but it feels a little silly to use Lore with a Tommy Gun.

A2. Yes, because you are still making a Combat check. You are merely using Lore to make it instead of Fight. Presumably you're coming up with clever ways to use the items.

3. What happens to the Archaeologist Monterey Jack if he's playing against Cthulhu with the Dark Pharaoh as the Herald? Does he go insane due to his two Unique Items and start the game at the Asylum (with half of his equipment lost) or what?

A3. Off to the asylum, yes. Sometimes it's tough being Monterey Jack.

4. Does the "All Quiet in Arkham!" Mythos card affect investigators in Other Worlds?

A4. Not sure on this one. My instinct says no, but I'll have to get back to you when I have access to my cards.

Elder Signs (12/12/06)
Those items are used when you are closing or sealing a gate, and you can only do that during the Arkham Encounter phase. The phase label on the items is just imprecise, that's all.

Magical/Physical Immunity (12/12/06)
Basically, if it isn't a Combat check bonus, then Magical/Physical Immunity can't do anything about it.

Hounds of Tindalos (12/11/06)
Hounds of Tindalos should move between Arkham and Dunwich, yes. If there's no one in Dunwich and a Hound there moves, it should jump to the investigator in a location nearest the Train Station. (And as with Flying monsters, if that makes it exceed the monster limit, it instead goes to the Outskirts).

Duration of Combat Check Bonuses (12/09/06)
If you fail a spell check to cast a spell such a Shrivelling or Wither, those hands are tied up for 1 combat round. The next round (assuming there is one) you can change up your weapons/spells.

Red Sign lasts only as long as you devote a hand to it.

Markings of Isis I'll need to look at. I suspect that one's a typo.

How long do Combat bonuses last? (12/09/06)
Type 1: (Standard Weapons) "+X to Combat checks"
Examples: .38 Revolver, Shotgun, Axe.
These bonuses last as long as you devote the required hands to them. You can use them for multiple rounds of combat, and in multiple battles each turn.

Type 2: (One Shot) "+X to Combat checks (discard after use)"
Examples: Dynamite, Molotov Cocktail.
The wording on this type is somewhat archaic, but the idea is that you only use it for 1 combat check, and then you discard it.

Type 3: (Burst) "Exhaust before making a Combat check to gain +X to that check."
Examples: Flamethrower, Carbine Rifle.
This type is used for only a single combat check, and it is then exhausted and cannot be used again until refreshed.

Type 4: (Spells) "Cast and exhaust to gain +X to Combat checks until the end of this combat."
Examples: Wither, Shrivelling.
A spell that gives a combat bonus like this will last until the end of the combat (i.e. for multiple combat rounds until the combat is over) once you cast it. HOWEVER, you must still devote the proper number of hands to keeping the spell going, or it will end. In any case, the spell is exhausted after casting, so it can only be used to fight one monster each turn. Also note that in a battle vs. the Ancient One, you will need to recast the spell each attack, since it gets refreshed and ends between attacks.

There we go. Just under the wire. Did I miss any, guys?

.45 Revolver (12/08/06)
in an arkham encounter card at the police station, it reads:

"If you succeed at a Luck (-1) check, then Deupty Dingby absentmindedly leaves you holding his gun. You may search the Common Item deck for a .45 Revolver card and take it."

It should be the .38 Revolver. Nobody trusts Deputy Dingby enough to give him a .45 Automatic

The low-down on spells (12/07/06)
Attempting to cast a spell uses up that/those hand(s) for this combat check, period. If you fail your check, tough noogies.

Once a spell has been cast that gives you a combat bonus until the end of combat, you must continue using those hands to continue getting the benefits from it. If you switch to a shotgun (or whatever) the spell ends.

Why are spells good? On average, they give higher bonuses per hand than pretty much anything else, and they are Magical attacks. If you have the Sword of Glory, you're probably content with that, but 2 Shrivellings is about the biggest combat bonus you're going to see.

If a monster leaves Dunwich and goes to Arkham (12/06/06)
If a monster leaves Dunwich and goes to Arkham, it is no longer a Dunwich monster. Should the newly arrived monster exceed the monster limit, off it goes to the Outskirts.

Duke's sanity bonus (10/07/05)
My favorite investigator is Ashcan Pete, the Drifter. His ability is fun, and I think pretty thematic. It was also the hardest to come up with, along with the Scientist (my other favorite) Plus, he starts with Duke, man's best friend, so he effectively has a 6 Sanity (even if he has to get it refilled before taking advantage of it). During playtests, I didn't have art for him, so I used a photo of Charlie Chaplin.

Joining the winning team (12/01/06)
> First, was it intentional that Sister Mary could never complete that mission (since shes immune to LiTaS)
Yes. It was intentional.

> Second, concerning the case of Yog-Sothoth, who devours in LiTaS, would there be any way to accomplish that mission.
No. There is no way, currently.

Lost Carcosa (12/01/06)
Lost Carcosa is yellow and blue, I believe.

Terror level (11/30/06)
Nope. The terror level never goes down. That's one of my unspoken design rules for Arkham Horror. Well, unspoken until now, anyhow.

Stay here next turn (09/12/06)
Mechanically, stay here next turn is identical to delayed. I believe what happened is that I came up with the "delayed" terminology late in development and then the "stay here next turn" texts slipped past me. So, the soldier is immune to "stay here next turn" as well as "delayed". In the future, I'll be more careful to use "delayed".

Reduced to 0 Sanity by the Horror check (08/16/06)
If you are reduced to 0 Sanity by the Horror check, then you are immediately sent to the asylum (or LiTaS if in another world) and don't make the combat check. Think of it as the monsters ignoring you once you're a gibbering lump in the corner

Wilson Richards' Focus (07/11/06)
Hmm. Slipped by me. Wilson can adjust his skill sliders however he wants - that's what his infinite focus is for. In those other cases, his Focus is considered to be 4 (highest in the game, since that's his "thing"). This will make the FAQ/Errata at some point. Sorry I overlooked that one, folks!

Outskirts limit (10/09/05)
Sorry, sorry. I mis-spoke earlier. It should be when the outskirts limit is EXCEEDED that it pops. Otherwise, at 8 players (with the 0 outskirts limit) the rule breaks.

Monsters that appear as a result of an encounter (09/15/05)
Monsters that appear as a result of an encounter can still be defeated normally (collected as a trophy, turned into a unique item, whatever), they just go back to the cup immediately if they defeat the investigator or the investigator escapes the battle. There was a bit of a typo in the rulebook there.

The professor and the gangster special abilities (09/15/05)
The professor's ability only works on losses, not costs, the two are distinct mechanically. Same for the gangster with stamina costs and losses.

Gates & closed markers (09/08/05)
Actually, gate trumps closed marker. Put the gate over the top of the closed marker (because remember, the gate replaces the location). If the gate is closed, then the effects of the closed location come back into play (i.e. monsters and investigators there are tossed into the street).

Environment cards and Ithaqua (09/07/05)
Do the basic upkeep portions of the card (Gate, clues, monsters move) and only ignore the special ability of a Weather card, discarding it without replacing any existing Environment card.

"Carried away" by a nightgaunt while in an Other World (08/26/05)
If you are 'carried away' by a nightgaunt while in an Other World, you are immediately returned to Arkham and given an explored token. The nearest gate is, after all, the gate back to Arkham.

Thematically, nightgaunts were sometimes servants of Nodens, and didn't always hinder the investigators, sometimes they helped.

Shops (07/24/05)
Well, one thing that may make a difference is how you treat the Curiositie Shoppe. The wording there is intended to mean that if you go shopping there, you _must_ buy 1 of the 3 items you draw (if you can afford any of them). You can't just sit on the CS and scum it for elder signs all game. That's boring and not in the spirit of the game.

Discarding an item/ally/whatever to pay a cost (07/22/05)
If you discard an item/ally/whatever to pay a cost of some kind (like the Stars are Right) then you don't get any other benefits for discarding it. You can't have your cake and have it give its life to stop Cthulhu too.

Defeating the Ancient One (07/09/05)
Basically, to defeat the Ancient One, the players must do a total # of successes equal to (# of players) x (# of doom tokens on Ancient One). So, if 4 players are facing Yig (doom track of 10), they need 40 successes to win. For every 4 successes they do, they remove 1 doom token to track their progress.

Flying monsters (06/26/05)
Flying monsters behave the same whether they're in a location or in a street area. If they can reach an investigator who is in a street area, they will, otherwise, they fly to the sky.

Ithaqua's "Start of Battle" power (07/09/05)
Ithaqua's "Start of Battle" power says "Investigators must roll a die for every item they have, discarding the item on a failure."

The dice are definitely mapped to specific items, and the use of the word 'the' there was very deliberate.

Alternatives: Sister Mary (08/24/06)
I've been thinking about Sister Mary (the Nun) lately, in response to the general dissatisfaction with her abilities. What if she could pay 1 clue token to re-roll her Blessing upkeep roll? That way she could still lose it (out of clues, cursed, etc.) but she has a much greater chance of holding onto the blessing for a significant portion of the game. Personally, I've always liked her, but after many, many games, I guess I have to say that she could use a boost.

On character design (04/09/05)
Yeah, that's pretty close to how we did it. Sta/San always add up to 10, and the skills and focus total generally adds up to be a constant, with maybe a bit of tweaking here and there because of the character's ability. Equipment winds up such that every investigator gets $25 worth of stuff according to values I assigned, counting fixed equipment as its actual value, and random equipment as the average value of cards in that deck. One character starts in each stable location (i.e. places where gates and monsters don't appear) and one appears in an unstable location, but she's got an ability to help her out there....

Things were then tweaked slightly via playtest. By the end, the playtesters were having a really hard time finding characters they didn't want to play, although everyone had a couple of favorites that fit their play style.

1. If one goes insane or unconscious or is devoured as a result of casting a spell or using an item, is it generally the case that the effect of the spell or item still occurs (in the same way an Elder Sign's effect takes place even if one of the above happens as a result of using it)?

Yes. It will often not matter, however, as in the case where you're getting a combat bonus or something.

2. Can Enchant Weapon, Shrivelling, Wither, Dread Curse of Azathoth, and Red Sign of Shudde M'ell be cast at any time after an investigator engages a monster, so as to, for example, use the Red Sign to cancel Nightmarish before the Horror Check, or allow one to see if a "weapon" type spell succeeds before making the decision to fight or flee?

Yes. Yes you can.

3. Does Red Sign of Shudde M'ell allow one to ignore "abilities" other than the boldfaced ones - for example, the special damage on a Nightgaunt or Elder Thing, or the instructions on the Masks that have them? If so, and the investigator chooses to negate a special damage ability and the monster does not do Stamina damage (e.g. Nightgaunt), what happens if the investigator cannot roll enough dice to defeat the monster, but the monster is unable to damage the investigator?

No. Only bolded special abilities.

4. If an investigator fails a combat check against a Nightgaunt while in Arkham and no gates are open, what happens? What about while in an Other World and no gates are open? (Note that this can occur if all gates have been closed but the investigators do not collectively have enough gate trophies to win.)

The combat immediately ends with no effect.

5. Can an investigator trade in trophies to become the Deputy if another investigator is already the Deputy (the existing Deputy would stop being Deputy)? If so, do they acquire the Patrol Wagon and/or Deputy's Revolver if they are still in the other investigator's possession?

No.

6. Can the Deputy's Revolver or Patrol Wagon be given to another investigator who is not the Deputy?

Yes.

7. Can items be traded at any time other than the movement phase? If so, and they can be traded in Upkeep, do all investigator items refresh simultaneously rather than as each investigator performs Upkeep, so as to prevent items used in Upkeep, such as the Healing Stone, from being used multiple times per turn?

No.

8. The base game has three Arkham encounters where one is directed to make a Combat check (not a Fight check) with a certain modifier: against bank robbers in the Bank, against a vampire in the Graveyard, and against a corpse in the Hospital. Were these meant to be Fight checks (i.e. they are misprinted)? If not, can one use weapons or spells to aid in the Combat check? If so, can the Cross be used with any of them to give its bonus, and what target number should be used for Bind Monster?

These are combat checks. You can use weapons or spells to boost your roll, but as the monsters aren't identified as Undead, you can't use the cross (I'll think about if I want to errata that or not. Feel free to house rule it for now). Their toughness is 1, since the difficulty of the check is 1.

9. Does an unsuccessful attempt to cast a spell still exhaust it?

Yes.

10. If one has multiple copies of a spell, can one immediately attempt to cast again using a second copy if the first attempt fails? For example, if one has two copies of Mists of Releh, which has no Sanity cost and requires no hands, and one fails to cast it (to automatically pass an Evade check) with one copy, can one try again with the second copy?

Yes.

11. The rules say that an investigator must fight or evade if they end their movement in an area with monsters. They also say an investigator may pick up clues in an area where they end their movement. In an area with both clues and monsters, may they pick up the clues before fighting the monsters, or must they defeat or evade all monsters before getting the clues?

Monsters first, then clues.

12. An Abyss encounter says "the caverns split" and has one make a Luck roll, and if one gets 0-1 successes one must "Move to the Black Cave". If there is a Gate atop the Black Cave (not necessarily to the Abyss), would one get an explored marker and be allowed to close it next turn? Or does one not get an explored marker since the card does not say "return to Arkham"?

No. You got spat out of an unexpected exit and were not returned to Arkham.

Answers above in bold, just in case you missed them.

-Kevin Wilson
Fantasy Flight Games

Okay, let's try this one more time. Perhaps we'll finally get the final word on these:

a) Does the "All Quiet in Arkham!" Mythos card affect investigators in Other Worlds?

b) Does "Ill Wind Grips Arkham" affect the First Player if s/he is in an Other World?

-Indio
____________________________________________________________________

Okay, back from Gencon and had a chance to look these over. Both of these will affect investigators in Other Worlds.

-Kevin Wilson
Fantasy Flight Games

I've put Kevin's answers in bold.

Arkham Horror:

1. "Ashcan" Pete has printed Sanity of 4 and the Ally Duke as a fixed possession. Is his starting Sanity 4 or 5? His maximum is 5 with Duke, but does he get the extra point at the start of the game?

Pete's max at the start of the game is 5, but he starts with 4 Sanity. Duke only increases the max, he does not give you an extra point of Sanity.

I invoke the rarely-exercised power of decision reversal. You DO get the extra Sanity when starting the game with Duke, and the FAQ will reflect that when updated.

My apologies for the confusion.

-Kevin Wilson
Fantasy Flight Games


2. "Temperance Fever Sweeps City" Mythos Card reads: "Any investigator with Whiskey must pass a Sneak(-1) check or get arrested..." Does this (and other similar cards) affect investigators in Other Worlds?

In this case no. If you list the others I'll tell you specifically, but generally environments shouldn't affect other worlds.

3. "Warding Statue" Unique Item reads: "...can also be used to cancel an Ancient One's entire attack for 1 turn." What happens with those AOs who have a decreasing modifier for the Skill check, does the cancelled attack count when counting the turns in the final battle? For example, if the Investigators are fighting against Hastur and one of them uses the Warding Statue on the first turn, what is the Luck check modifier on Hastur's attack on the second turn, +1 or +0?

The modifier decreases even if the attack was canceled.

4. Does the Professor's Strong Mind ability work against the likes of the Mythos card "The Man in Black", where one must roll a die for every point of Sanity and lose it on a failure? The same question applies to the Gangster's Strong Body ability and the Mythos card "Blood Magic".

Yes. In this case, the Sanity loss isn't described as a cost in any fashion. That is, you aren't paying the Sanity in order to mess around with the Man in Black. Instead, dealing with the Man in Black causes you to lose Sanity.

5. If an investigator was to gain a second Blessing / Curse / Retainer when he already has one, does he roll a die to keep or lose it next turn? In other words, has he just acquired a new card, or does he simply keep the old and roll normally in the next Upkeep Phase?

Treat the card as if it were newly acquired, so do not roll during the next upkeep to see if you lose it.

Curse of the Dark Pharaoh:

6. Fighting Cthulhu in R'lyeh as a result of a Dual-Color Other World encounter. Does the investigator suffer from the Dreams of Madness slumber effect to max Sanity and Stamina (assuming that Cthulhu is not the Ancient One of the game)?

No, Cthulhu is not stirring in his slumber. Only the Ancient One chosen for the game ever uses its 'stirring in slumber' ability.

7. If an investigator manages to defeat Cthulhu in the encounter above, are his max Sanity and Stamina permanently reduced by Cthulhu's attacks, or do they "heal" after the battle?

It is permanent. Harsh, but you knew the job was dangerous when you took it. Rl'yeh is by far the most dangerous other world.

8. An encounter in the Science Building has the investigator face a Mi-Go "from the monster cup". What if there are no Mi-Gos left in the monster cup, but all are on the board / returned to the box?

In that case, nothing happens.


9. An encounter in the Curiositie Shoppe allows the investigator to buy any non-Weapon Common Item at half price. Rounded up or down?

Generally, half price rounds up. Just because an item is $1 doesn't mean you'll get it for free.


10. An encounter in the Silver Twilight Lodge reads:

"The lights go out; you hear chanting and feel a knife at your throat. You may:

1) Flee. Lose 1 Stamina and move to the street
2) Allow them to cast their ritual upon you. Lose 2 Stamina, but take the Visions card and gain 1 Clue token
3) Attempt to take control of the ritual with a Lore (-1) check. If you pass, the Lodge offers you Silver Twilight Membership."

Shouldn't the third option have some sort of a penalty for a failed check? Otherwise there's no reason to take the first option ever.

That 3rd option should also read, "If you fail, lose 3 stamina and all your spells, then move to the street." I'll note that for the errata.

A continuation. Once again, I put Kevin's answers in bold.

11. An encounter in the Train Station reads:

"[...]Discard a Common or Unique Item if able, then make a Luck (+0) check. If you pass, draw a number of Unique or Exhibit Items equal to the number of successes rolled, and keep one. If you fail, follow the instructions as above but draw from the Common Item deck."

This doesn't make any sense: if you fail the check, you are supposed to draw from the Common Item deck - zero cards?!? How is this encounter meant to work?

Pretend that it reads like this: Discard a Common or Unique Item if able, then make a Luck (+0) check. If you pass, draw a number of Unique or Exhibit Items equal to the number of successes rolled, and keep one. If you fail, Discard a Common or Unique Item if able, then make a Luck (+0) check. If you pass, draw a number of Common Items equal to the number of successes rolled, and keep one. If you fail this second check, nothing happens.

12. A blue Other World encounter for "Other" reads:

"The stench of fecundity and blood surrounds you. A monster appears! If you do not evade it or defeat it on the first round of combat, it replicates, and you must evade or defeat a second one!"

A second what? Another random monster from the cup? Or a second monster of exactly the same kind?

If it "replicates", draw a second monster from the cup and face it after dealing with the first monster. It's not an actual identical duplicate.

13. A yellow Other World encounter for "Other" has God of the Bloody Tongue surprise the investigator. Does this happen even if Nyarlathotep is not the AO of the game (and GotBT is in the box, not in the monster cup)? Furthermore, what happens if Nyarlathotep is the AO and GotBT is already on board?

Yes, even if Nyarlathotep isn't in the game. If the God is on the board already, have the investigator face it, then return it to its previous position on the board, even if it would somehow normally be claimed as a trophy in spite of its Endless trait.

14. Benefit cards. Three of them read "You may allow any other investigator..." whereas "Psychic" Benefit card reads "You may allow any one investigator..." implying that it is the only Benefit card that can actually affect their owner - is this intentional? Can the owner of the "Psychic" card allow himself to loan a Skill card to another investigator? And can he receive a loaned Skill card from another investigator?

Yes, yes, and yes.

15. "Visions" Benefit card reads: "Upkeep: You may allow any other investigator to discard a Spell in order to gain Clue tokens equal to 1 plus the Spell's Sanity cost." Who exactly gains the Clue tokens, the investigator with the "Visions" card or the one who discarded the Spell?

The investigator who discarded the spell.

16. "Premonition" Spell card reads: "Any Phase: Cast and exhaust to move one skill slider up to 2 stops." Can this Spell be cast "in the middle" of an encounter, after reading the encounter card but before making any rolls?

Yes, it can be considered to read "Any Phase: Before making a skill check, cast and exhaust to move one skill slider up to 2 stops."

Monsters and movement as a result of an encounter (01/02/07)
When moved to another location by an encounter, you don't have to fight/evade monsters in either location. At least, not immediately. Combat as a result of such movement only occurs during the movement phase. During the encounter phase, you only have to worry about monsters popping up to attack you as a result of an encounter.

This rule overides the following FAQ v1.2 entry:

If a location card tells an investigator that he may move to another location and have an encounter there, what happens if the location has a monster and/or gate on it?

First, the investigator must successfully evade or fight any monsters at the location. If successful, the investigator has a normal Arkham Encounters Phase at the new location, following either the Gate or No Gate instructions on pages 8-9 of the rulebook.

Note (06/03/08 ):
In the Kingsport expansion, this FAQ entry has been reworded and seems to confirm the previous FAQ v1.2 entry. At the moment it is not known which ruling is the correct one and we are awaiting an official answer from the game designers.


Note (06/24/08 ):
I have received an answer from Kevin, and i copy here his answer verbatim:


So his previous ruling, which limits combat with monsters on the board only during the movement phase was the good one. Too bad the Kingsport FAQ reintroduced the error, but at least we have an official ruling.

KevinW wrote:Hmm, looking at the files, now that I have a chance. It appears that the ruling was changed after FAQ 1.2 and the FAQ stuff that went into Kingsport was simply not updated in that instance. Stick with the combat only occurs during the movement phase ruling. My apologies for the confusion.

-Kevin Wilson
Fantasy Flight Games

thank you ColtsFan76 for putting all this up on the new forums ! sticky pls ?

Because this thread is too important to be left in the Abyss.

BUMP

Request to all forumites, if this thread leaves the front page, post in it to keep it on the front page.

dkw said:

Thread was delayed several times ;')

Avi_dreader said:

JR said he would stiocky it for us - I just have to send him the link.  I'll do it now before I forget.

Originally discussed in old forum, these are answers made by email to Cotsfan76 (app.fantasyflightgames.com/ffgforums/posts/list/5981.page)

 

question: 1) When the Outskirts fill up and the Terror Track increases by 1, all monsters in the outskirts return to the monster cup. So when the terror track goes from 9 to 10 in this manner, all monsters return to the cup as well. However, if the terror track increases to 10 by some other means, there is no way for the Outskirts to be emptied. What happens to these monsters: do they remain in the Outskirts until the end of the game? Or are they returned to the cup like normal?

question: 2) When one encounter card directs you to have an encounter at another location in Arkham, are you allowed to do the Special Ability at that location or must you draw a card and have a "real" encounter to fulfill the original card's direction?

-Kevin Wilson
Fantasy Flight Games

From app.fantasyflightgames.com/ffgforums/posts/list/8070.page

What about the three 2 doom mythos cards from CotDP? If they manage to open up a rift, where do you put the rift itself?

Yes, in the rare instance a rift is spawned by a card with no gate opening, keep drawing until you draw a card with a gate opening on it and place the rift there.

-Kevin Wilson
Fantasy Flight Games