Answer

The Woodfolk HQ has a Medium bow, with a length of 16. He was just left off the list of characters.

22. Sense Danger and Color Magic chit

Can "Sense Danger" Be Activated by a Color Magic Chit? "Sense Danger" is a permanent spell that gives a character an extra alert spell in purple. I assume that the spell must be active when moves are recorded at Birdsong and also when the phase is taken during Daylight.

As a permanent spell, it falls inert at midnight and can be activated in any following day by color present in the clearing at Daybreak from the tile, from an artifact, or from the day of the month. Bit what about color from a character's enchanted chits?

Color chits can be played to activate a permanent spell during Daylight at the beginning of any phase of the character's or any other character's turn or during combat (Rule 42.9/2b). But this is after Birdsong when moves are recorded. There seems to be no way that "Sense Danger" can be activated at Birdsong through the use of a color magic counter, and therefore "Sense Danger" can't be used with color magic chits. Is this right?

Answer

Bad assumption. See rule 43.3 for specifics. You may fairly ask, what's that rule doing there, of all places? Didn't know where else to put it, with the rules structured as they are.

23. Duplicated Curses

The Remedy spell says it removes one spell or Curse in the spellcasters clearing, and adds, "Duplicates of the spell or Curse are not affected." This implies, I believe, that if a character has received the same Curse twice (two instances of DISGUST, for example), "Remedy" must be cast twice to remove the Curse and its duplicate.

I was not accustomed to even recording duplicate Curses, since the according to Rule 15.2 "[If a character] gets a Curse that he already has, he suffers no additional effects--repetitions of the same Curse have no effect." Additionally, the Curse table says, "Duplicates of the same Curse have no additional effect. If a character gets a Curse that duplicates a Curse he already has, the additional Curse is ignored."

But although the effects of the duplicate Curse are ignored, these passages don't say that the duplicate Curse doesn't exist. This doesn't usually come up because Curses are usually removed by spending a night at the Chapel that removes all Curses, not just one. The "Exorcise" spell also removes all Curses in effect. But "Remedy" seems to be more limited and requires that duplicate Curses be kept track of and removed one at a time.

Is this right, or is there some other meaning to the reference to "duplicate" Curses in Remedy?

Answer

You might be right about the implication, but the fact is that the rule is WRONG in referring to "duplicates of Curses". I don't know how this happened--I never caught it in the second edition rulebook--but my reference edition of the first edition rulebook clearly indicates that one remedy removes one curse completely, not matter how many times the target has been hit with that curse. My original longhand of the Spell description say "Duplicates of the spell are not affected", with no reference to Curses. My guess is that someone at Avalon Hill decided to be helpful and added the reference to Curses, and I never caught it.
Actually, I am pretty sure this came up in a General question box, while I was still answering the questions (i.e. first edition).

The rules lawyer in me wants to say something like "OK, then, the duplicate Curse exists, but the rules make clear that it has no effect on play--so treat it as a ghost Curse, without effect". Those rule lawyer instincts getcha into trouble every time. When Remedy removes a specific curse, it also removes all duplicates of that curse, whether they exist or not.

I have no idea of what the reference to duplicates curses in Remedy means, because it doesn't belong there! I didn't put it there! It's wrong!

Answer

Well, the fact is...there are permanent control spells. In the Expansion kits. I just wanted to be ready, in case the expansion kits ever actually happened.

Answer

AHA! This is simply a mistake that crept into the second edition rulebook. The card is right--it should be Black Magic, as specified in the First Edition rulebook.
As for the verisimilitude argument (why Black?), it is terror that drags the Goblins to the bargaining table. "Deal with Goblins" doesn't bedazzle the Goblins, it intimidates them.

26. Free flying denizens

When a character, hired leader, or controlled monster flies away from combat, he has to record a Fly phase as his first activity on the next turn, which he uses to land. If the spell is cast on an uncontrolled monster or unhired leader, when does the denizen land (since he does not get a turn)?

I would say that end of combat is not a good idea, since the denizen might land in a clearing where combat has not yet been resolved this turn; that would be undesirable, since the same cannot happen when the spell is cast on a character, hired leader, or controlled monster.

This suggests that a better time would be either Daylight (i.e. before the first character moves), or Sunset (i.e. after the last character moves). Another possibility would be immediately before or after the spellcaster's next turn.

Answer

Free flying denizens should land as the very first thing during Sunrise, after the attention chits are mixed together but before any are picked (i.e. as the first thing in step 4 in the Daily Sequence of Play on page 43). Oddly enough, I can recall this coming up only once, during a tournament.

The idea is to have free denizens land at roughly the same time as flying characters, i.e. during Daylight.

Daylight, right. At the start of the day so they can affect play that day--I find it hard to visualize them floating around in the air all day, out of action.

27. Repositioning denizens

This is not a question, but an error which I have not seen mentioned in any FAQ, Q&A, or errata. All three tables for repositioning denizens are wrong. This error is very minor, since I doubt anyone actually uses the tables when figuring out where to place denizens, but it has always bothered me.

In all three tables, the entries for 5 (shift down and right) and 6 (shift up and left) are switched. Just compare with the textual description in Rule 22.5/2.

Answer

Hah! You're right. I even have the correction noted in my correction copy of the second edition rulebook. I had completely forgotten this error existed! I presume I told someone about it...?

28. Pack Horses

Here is something that has always puzzled me: advanced rule 2 (Pack Horses) seems no do nothing but re-state at great length what is already in rule 3.6/4. I am guessing that this redundancy may have been introduced in the transition to the second edition rules?

Answer

Good question. Good answer, too--"transition to the second edition rules" is exactly right, and I won't burden either of us with the details. Unless you ask for them.

29 Demon' spell attack

When a Demon's Power of the Pit attack is nullified by a spell (either Exorcise or Protection from Magic), is he still deemed to have hit (i.e. does he turn red side up)? I would assume so, but just checking...

Answer

NO! The spell's got to hit for him to turn red side up.

30 Spells order

When placing spells in boxes that hold multiple spells (Spell Books and Sites) what is the order that they are placed, is it as written, so the first spells listed are on the bottom, or the other way around?

For example, are the Good Book spells from TOP of the pile to BOTTOM of
the pile:
Type VII Spell
Type VII Spell
Type I Spell
Type I Spell

So, for example, if the White Knight wants to Learn the Type I spells, he would have to cycle through the two Type VII spells first?

Answer

Yes, the idea was to put them in the box in the order listed, with first listed first in the box, i.e. on the bottom. It was indeed intended to put the lowest-numbered Spells on the bottom, to encourage characters to read the whole book. It was also intended to give the Magician a bit of an advantage, since he can read and use the high-numbered spells.

Of course, the players are free to make a house rule to shuffle the cards, if they prefer. Some players have always seemed to prefer this, and I have played the game that way myself. I suppose they envision themselves opening the book to a random page and reading what is there. I, on the other hand, feel that magic books would have a strong sense of protocol and would resist being read out of order. And then there's the point that the characters would have to start at the beginning in order to learn the simpler spells before they could learn the more powerful spells at the back of the book. Sort of like a testbook.

31. Regenerating Bewitched Denizens

If a monster/native is bewitched by a spell (Transform, for example) and regenerates to the Setup Card, does it remain bewitched?

So if a Dragon has been Transformed to a bird and the Dragon returns to the Setup Card on Day 14 because Dragons are prowling, is it still under the influence of the spell when it returns to the board?

I don't see anywhere in the rules that the spell is broken when the monster returns to the Setup Card, and I wouldn't expect a prowling garrison native who returns to his dwelling to lose the spell. So I assume that the denizen stays bewitched even on the Setup Card, the Magic chit is still committed to the spell, and the spell-casting character can't use the spell again.

Answer

No. Regenerating releases all spells. When a denizen goes back onto the Appearance Chart, all Spells on it are broken. This is hinted at in note 2 of the WISHES table, and it supposed to be somewhere else in the rules, but I can't find it--maybe it got excised without me noticing?

32. Battling Hired Underlings/Random Assignment to Natives (1)

If a character and his unhired underlings are in a clearing with monsters/unhired natives and the character runs away, do the underlings continue to fight to the death? When does combat stop?

Rule 32.7 says: "Underlings cannot start a fight by themselves, but once combat begins they fight just like hired leaders."

When combat begins, it's pretty clear that monsters and unhired natives are assigned to attack the underlings even if the character is not in the clearing:

Rule 34.3/2 (Random Assignment) says: "a. ... A character must roll only if he is unhidden and in the clearing, or if he has an unhidden native in the clearing... b. The character who rolls highest must assign the attacker to himself, if he is unhidden and in the clearing; otherwise he must assign it to one of his unhidden hired natives."

Finally, in the question of when combat ends, Rule 34.9 is pretty explicit: "Combat ends in the clearing when no characters or hired natives are left in the clearing. When a character or hired native remains, rounds of combat are repeated until nothing is killed, damaged, wounded, or fatigued for two consecutive rounds."

So it sounds as if a character is in the clearing and causes combat to start, even if he runs his hired underlings have to fight until they kill or are killed, or until 2 rounds of combat go by with nothing killed.

However, the turn summary in 26.1 says, under Resolving Combat in a Clearing: "3. The individuals in the clearing do rounds of combat until there are no characters or *hired leaders* in the clearing, or until there are two consecutive rounds in which nothing is killed, no action chits are inactivated and no tremendous monsters are red-side-up."

I think the "hired leaders" in 26.1 is in error. Any comment?

Answer

The above is correct and you're right. There's a story about the "hired leaders" in 26.1, but who cares.

33. Battling Hired Underlings/Random Assignment to Natives (2)

If a character is not in the clearing or is hidden, and he rolls for random assignment, he can assign the monster/unhired native to any of his hired natives in the clearing.

So could he assign all the monsters/unhired natives to only one of his hirelings by random assignment and leave the others without an attacker? Even though each native could only lure *one* monster or hired native?

Rule 34.3/2b seems to say so: "The character who rolls highest must assign the attacker to himself, if he is unhidden and in the clearing; otherwise, he must assign it to one of his unhidden hired natives. There is no limit to the attackers that can be assigned to a hired native randomly."

Answer

Okay, what these rules are supposed to mean is that:
1. The character must roll for each unassigned denizen who wants to attack him.
2. When he "wins" an attacking denizen, he can assign it to any of his forces in the clearing, including himself. However:
a. If he is in the clearing, he can assign no more than one attacking denizen to each of his hired natives. The character himself gets all the remaining attackers.
b. If he is NOT in the clearing, he must assign the attacking denizens to his hired natives, one per hireling. If there are more attackers than hirelings, he still must assign the remaining attackers to his hirelings, until all of the attackers are assigned. Necessarily, then, in this case some hireling(s) will get more than one attacker.
Which raises the question, is he free to assign them as he chooses, assigning one attacker to each hireling and then massing all of the remaining attackers against one unfortunate hireling? Yes, he can do this. When the character is not in the clearing himself, he must assign each attacker to a different hireling until he runs out of attackers or hirelings. Once each of his hirelings has an attacker, the character is allowed to assign additional attackers to his hirelings as he chooses.

Jim Stahler once raised this issue, and made a good case that the attackers should be spread among the hirelings as much as possible. This does seem more fair, and I accept it as a house rule, but I prefer the character get the unfair advantage of deploying his attackers to his advantage--one of the perks of being a character, I guess.

34. Dragon Essence in Valley and Woods Tiles

Does the Dragon Essence treasure only attracts Dragons in Cave tiles or Mountain tiles (including Deep Woods)? Dragon Essence doesn't attract Dragons in valley or woods tiles, does it?

I have always assumed this was the case. The Setup Card has SMOKE(M) and SMOKE(C) on it, so I figured that Dragon Essence in an M tile attracted the SMOKE(M) dragons and in a C tile it attracts the SMOKE(C) dragons. The reason I ask is because if you look at the treasure definitions for Dragon
Essence under 3. DAYLIGHT Cards, it says: "In a tile with a cave clearing it counts like a SMOKE C chit; otherwise it counts like SMOKE M chit."

If I read this literally, it sounds like Dragon Essence would attract Dragons to valley and woods tiles! The definition on the card ("Treat like Smoke Chit") is much more what I had always played: in a "C" tile it attracts SMOKE C dragons, in an "M" tile it attracts the SMOKE M monsters, and in a V or W tile it doesn't attract anything.

Answer

Sigh. Dragon Essence is supposed to work the way you think it does--it is supposed to attract Dragons only to Caves and Mountains, not Woods and Valleys. In the rule you quoted about "other clearings", the general phrasing was just to include the Deep Woods, not all the other tiles. I assumed that the reader would realize that Dragons appear only in the Caves and Mountains, which of course you did. In fact, that's they way it has to be. Dragons cannot be summoned to a clearing that contains unhired natives--the rules are just not there to cover what to do.
So the rule should be "In any treasure tile without a cave, it summons Dragons like a SMOKE M chit".

35. Hired Natives "Wished Elsewhere"

On the Wish Table, if you wish a hired native is elsewhere, he goes back to the setup card. Is he considered to be unhired for regeneration purposes?

Since hired natives don't regenerate, do you have to wait until his term of hire runs out before he's eligible to regenerate on the 7th, 14th, 21st, or 28th of the month. Or does he automatically become unhired when he gets wished back to the Setup Card?

Answer

When he hits the APPEARANCE CHART, he instantly becomes unhired.

36. Magic Sight (1)

When using Magic Sight and receiving a roll of 3, assuming one has discovered the Cairns or Pool, is it necessary to fatigue a chit to draw the treasure?

Answer

Yes, you must fatigue in both cases. The Pool treasure location displays the message "fatigue each draw"; there is nothing in the rules to indicate that what caused the draw makes any difference. Similarly, the Cairns display "fatigue each SEARCH", and both LOOT and MAGIC SIGHT spring from the SEARCH activity, so both get fatigued.

37. Magic Sight (2)

When using Magic Sight and receiving a roll of 3 or 2, assuming one has discovered the Vault or Crypt of the Knight, must a T chit be fatigued to draw a treasure or horse/weapon counter?

Our interpretation so far has been "no" to both questions. The fatiguing and use of T chits is only described under the Loot table section, which doesn't apply to a character using Magic Sight. No such restrictions are discussed in the Magic Sight section. Just as the character is immune to curses when learning spells using Magic Sight, we figure there could be similar differences when drawing treasures. However, this could be just another oversight in the rules, and some players have argued otherwise.

Answer

The short answer is yes, you must fatigue a T chit (or use the lost keys, of course) to draw treasures from the Vault or Crypt. The long answer is, not exactly. There are differences between the Vault and Crypt. See rule 9.3/3b.

1. The Vault. The T penalty (or lost keys) is used once per game, to open the Vault. Thereafter treasures are taken from it normally, by everyone. Magic Sight can be used to search it. No, you cannot use the keys to lock up the Vault again.

2. The Crypt: The T penalty (or lost keys) are needed each time you try to take a treasure from the site. You cannot use the Magic Sight table or the Loot table--you must use the "Crypt of the Knight" table on the Set Up card. You must use T strength or the lost keys each time you roll on this table.

This is actually an example of the dangers of trying to write rules that are both precise and concise. On the setup card, the penalties are described as "each SEARCH" or "each draw". The implication is that the search table you use does not matter, since it is not specified. If I had wanted the penalty to apply only to the LOOT table, I would have said so on the Set Up card or in the rules, or both.

I agree that rule 9.3 can be misleading, because it uses the word "loot" in two ways. When "loot" is printed in lowercase, it refers to taking (or trying to take) a treasure, regardless of the table being used. When "LOOT" is printed in
uppercase, it refers only to the LOOT table. Obviously, I spent too much time looking for a decent synonym for loot, when I should have just given up and explained what the uppercase meant. When you're trying to be concise everywhere, sometimes a baby goes out with the bathwater. Oops.

38. Spells and Hired Natives

Can you cast spells on hired natives or do they "rebel" when they are selected as a target for a spell? Below is a more complete description of the question (from a posting on www.magicrealm.net):

I've been going through various scenarios, and I've come up with this question for the group. Rule 32.7/6 says "When a character specifies one of his own hired natives as a target for himself or one of his hired natives, all members of the target's group that are currently under hire to that character instantly rebel".

What if you target them with a benevolent spell? How strictly do people play this? Do they allow the Druid to hire a Rogue swordsman and cast "Poison" on him? Or the Elf to cast "Elvin Grace" on his hired natives?

I was wondering if a character with Dissolve Spell and Transform could transform one of his hirelings. If so, the Sorcerer could hire a Rogue then turn him into a dragon.

I suppose a strict reading of the rules would make them rebel (I guess they don't like mucking about with magic).

I would like to see that as a strategy though. So is there any leeway here? If not, I guess you could cast "Peace" on your hirelings in order to "fire" them.

Answer

Spell targets hireling, hireling rebels. Longstanding official ruling that must be continued for the sake of uniformity.

Unfortunately, there was a controversy over this sort of thing at Avalon Hill, and I was (rightfully) obliged to answer such questions in accordance with the Second Edition written rules. In this case, since no exceptions to magic-induced treachery were specified, none could be allowed. From that time on, the official ruling was that any Spell aimed at a hireling triggers treachery. And of course I was not allowed to change the rule in the Second Edition. I would have included it as an optional rule, if I'd had the space in the rulebook.

To cut to the quick: the official ruling is that any Spell cast on a hireling causes rebellion. Now, you don't like this, and I don't like it (you can see from the list of Spells that I designed some Spells for friendly use with natives). Since you are now adding more optional rules, it is the perfect time to change it. That's why I proposed the optional rule allowing Day Spells, Combat Spells, and Peace with Nature to be cast without triggering rebellion (or battling, for that matter). Transform, Melt into Mist, Hurricane Winds, and Power of the Pit should not be used without rebellion. From the verisimilitude point of view, I think the natives would neither like it nor consider it what they were hired for. From a play-balance point of view, it gives too much power to the magic users. (Actually, when I was writing the first edition rulebook I would have allowed them, but when I had time to think it over, after the game came out, I realized it would have been a mistake).

39. Combat with Tranmorphized Characters

I wanted to make sure that I was correct about this:

Q: Can a character transformed (or absorbed) into a monster play different maneuvers (e.g. Fight in Thrust and Maneuver in Swing) or must the monster match attack and maneuver directions? I'd always played the latter, but upon looking at the rules (46.4/3b) I see I am probably mistaken. Can you verify?

A: Absolutely! Look at 46.4/3: "Instead of playing his own chits, a transmorphized character plays unused chits [note the plural] symbol side up a dummies, and *each* [emphasis added] chit has the value defined by the spell."
Also, 46.4/3b says, he uses the move values to maneuver and the attack values to attack. But they are in the direction as given by the dummy chits.
This makes a character transmorphized into a monster *much* tougher than a monster!

So, Richard, what say you? Can a character transformed as a monster play a Fight in Thrust and a Move in Dodge?

Answer

Yes, he can. You have it precisely correct.

However, I cannot resist commenting that there is a similar spell in the Expansion kits (aka the complete game) which does require the target to fight precisely like a monster. It is viewed as an unfortunate Spell to be hit with, but it does have some interestingly perverse tactical/diplomatic uses. It is of course a different Spell (hight "Become") with its own (more potent) table of transformations, and it is not clear whether it will make the final cut in the supergame.

However, in MR you are correct, there is no such spell. Monstrous players play chits to define the directions of their attacks and maneuvers.

40. Dragon Essence and Transfomed Characters

A player with a tranmorphizing spell cast on him loots the Dragon Essence. The rules say that when he loots an object a character has the choice of activating, deactivating, or abandoning/dropping the objects. On the other hand, items that a character is carrying when he is transmorphized transmorphize with him and can't be used or abandoned.

There is a question of timing here: a character gets to choose what he wants to do with item as soon as he loots it, but he is transmorphized immediately when the Dragon Essence is uncovered. Which happens first?

So there are three possibilities that I see:

1. Player loots Dragon Essence, gets transformed before he has a chance to abandon/drop it, plays entire game as Bird.

2. Player loots Dragon Essence, abandons item, gets transformed after the item is abandoned, can exit clearing leaving the Dragon Essence behind (or loot to see if he can pick it up).

3. Player loots Dragon Essence, gets transformed, gets to treat the Dragon Essence as an item that the transformed creature can carry (unless he is transformed into Mist that can't carry items). Can carry the Dragon Essence out of clearing and abandon it anytime he wants in the future.

Answer

The untransformed character must complete his LOOT before he can transform. Completing his LOOT includes defining what he does with the item. Therefore:

A. He draws the item, looks at it, and then decides what to do with it. He can keep it or drop it.
B. Then he transforms.

1. Only if he chooses to hang on to the Dragon Essence. This actually happened in an early MR tournament, when the question first arose. The player was intrigued and chose to be a bird, but he got bored quickly and suicided out. Of course, you don't have to suicide if you have a friend handy who can break spells.
I discussed the tactic thoroughly with one of my playtesters (maybe Jim Stahler), and our conclusion was that the tactic was intriguing, but probably not worthwhile. The best use is to become a bird, fly to explore remote areas and attract monsters, then fly back to rendezvous with your spellbreaker. This might actually be worthwhile, with some board/treasure configurations.

2. Perfectly legal.

3. Nope. Not allowed.