From: njs@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (nicholas.j.sauer)
Subject: Re: a few questions...
Organization: AT&T
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 18:43:42 GMT

In article <FASCIANO.92Aug30213611@nil.IRO.UMontreal.CA>, fasciano@nil.IRO.UMontreal.CA (Massimo Fasciano) writes:
>
>i have a few questions about Mayfair CE:
>
>1) In the description of a valid deal, the rulebook says: "The deal
>need not be equitable. The players cannot trade nothing for nothing,
>and no player can gain more than one base as part of a deal." Am i to
>assume that trading something for nothing is valid (ex: i give you all
>my challenge cards and you give me nothing).

Yes, at least according to the Eon, a deal can be one sided like this.

>2) The description of the Wrack says: "On each torture, you may select
>one of his tokens to send to the warp or ...". Does this mean any
>token (on bases or in the cone)? 

Yes.

>If all of the main offensive player's
>tokens are removed from the cone, what happens? Does he automatically
>lose the challenge? Does the wrack lose the challenge but not his
>base? 

The Wrack only loses if his opponent never agrees to the deal and the Wrack
has finished torturing him (once for each token the Wrack had in the 
challenge).  If the Wrack's opponent agrees to the deal before the Wrack
finishes torturing him, then the deal is concluded and the challenge over.

>In general, what happens if the offensive player has no more
>tokens in the cone?

He plays a challenge card normally.  If it is an Attack card his total is
the value of the Attack card since he has no tokens to add to it.  If it is
a Compromise he gets no consolation if he loses because he lost no tokens.  It's
roughly the same as attacking the defensive player on a planet in his system
where he has no tokens.  If you ever get in this situation yourself, it is
a great time to pitch a low Attack card as you have no tokens to lose to the 
warp (although if you are the offensive player and it is your first challenge 
you won't get a second).
 
>3) A cosmic zap nullifies the explosion of one of the Terrorist's
>bombs. Does that mean that the bomb stays there (with its location
>revealed) without exploding, or that it explodes without affecting
>anybody?

The bomb is gone and it doesn't affect anybody (your second guess).

>4) Zombie is immune to Void, right?

Yes, this was an error on the Void power text.  The Void only Voids tokens 
which actually enter the warp.  Since the Zombie's tokens never enter the
warp he is immune to the Void.  This was in the clarification article I 
wrote for issue two of Encounter Magazine.

>5) When two players can use their respective powers at the same time
>and the knowledge obtained from announcing your decision last is
>important, what do you do? The timing rules mention "contradictory
>effects" but i think this does not apply here. For example, Mirror vs
>Sorcerer. If Sorcerer plays an 08, he might want to switch the cards,
>unless Mirror reverses the digits, which would turn the 08 into an 80.
>In this case, the effects are not contradictory, it's the knowledge of
>the other's decision that gives you the edge.  In our group, the
>players have to write down their decision, and the results are
>revealed simultaneously.

The Sorcerer vs. Mirror is a perfect example of when to use the Timing
Conflict rules to resolve a situation.  The offensive player uses his
power first (or opts not to), then the defensive player uses it (or opts
not to).

>6) Do the timing rules apply when a player plagues you. Suppose i want
>to play a card (my last edict), but before i find it in my hand,
>another player plagues me. If the timing order is in my favor, can i
>play the edict before his plague (and not lose it), even though he
>dropped it (the plague) first on the table? If so, can i play my last
>edict AND my last flare before the effect of the plague, or are the
>timing rules limited to one "effect" (card or power use). I interpret
>this situation as "contradictory effects". What do you all think?

This is a little easier.  I would argue that if you announced the use of
an Edict, and another player then Plagues you, your Edict goes first then 
the Plague takes effect.  If the other player plays the Plague and you then 
say that you wanted to play an Edict, you lose.  His Plague takes effect first
and you can't play the Edict.  The only time the timing rules would take 
effect is if you both announced that you wanted to play Edicts at the same 
time.  I don't think this last option is too likely.  I have played probably
about 300+ games of CE by now and I have never seen it happen.
 
>7) I assume that if the offensive player has no more attack cards
>during the challenge, the challenge ends immediately. 

Yup, offensive player and any allies in the cone return to bases and
play passes to the next player.

>But what if he
>has none a the beginning, draws seven new ones, and still has none.
>His challenge ends, right? (he doesn't get to discard and draw a new
>hand again) 

Mike Arms and I just talked about this last night.  Our answer is that he
gets to immediately pitch the new cards and draw seven more until he gets
a hand with at least one challenge card in it.  He basically is still at 
the same phase of his turn (the beginning) when he gets the new hand so he
would still get to pitch it if he got no challenge cards.  Besides, it would
be really unfair to make the offensive player lose a turn, especially in our
group where your lucky if you get a second turn sometimes (and with another
group I know you are lucky if you are the fifth or sixth player and get 
your first!).

>What about the defender? What happens if he runs out
>during the challenge (plague)? What happens if at the beginning of the
>challenge (as soon it is known that he is the defender), he draws his
>new hand and still has no challenge cards? Does the attacker win
>immediately? Does the defender discard his hand and draw a new one
>(until he gets one with challenge cards).

Your last answer is correct.  He can immediately play any of the cards out 
of the challenge-less hand if he is able but, then he must discard it and 
draw a new hand.

Hope these help!

Nick Sauer





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