text:
Can equipment be activated twice?
Could I use the ability of this weapon multiple times to consume different infusions on the same attack?

No,  That symbol is spend 'any' element once.
page 24 of rules here states

This multi-colored circle represents any single uses of the six element

This means you can not spend multiple elements to boost the attack.
Note the card does not have the 'refresh item symbol' or 'consumed' symbol  see page 8 of rules.

if a card depicts neither of these symbols there are no restrictions on the number of times if can be used during a scenario other that was it written in the text of the card

As the card has the symbol to use just one element that is all you can use.
Its also worth looking at this BBG thread on the difference between 'single attack' and 'attack action'.  The item above can only be used on single attacks.  Not on those with an Area Of Effect of targeting more than one enemy in other ways.


text:
Scenario #98 Question
Spoiler tags to prevent accidental disclosure.

 Can my Craighart move the fountain?

 It might make the scenario a bit easier to move the fountain closer to the ships, but unlike the 2 tile wall obstacles, it is not listed as special by the scenario rules.

My copy of Forgotten Circles is still in shrink so hopefully this answer is valid based on my understanding of rules and what I would check.

 On the map of scenario what colour is the border around the fountain?  If it green then it is an obstacle and any Cragheart abilities that affect them will after the fountain.
 [Rules page 14] explain that anything with a green border is an obstacle.  If that scenario which I've not seen doesn't say the fountain is special then I'd assume it can be thrown or destroyed as per abilities.  Even if that makes little thematic sense! 1

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


text:
Do you add a new noble if one is taken?
If you read the rules of splendor, you only get a fixed number of nobles (number of players + 1). But in this video they add a new noble every time one is taken. Did I misinterpreted the rules or do they use "other" rules in the video?

No you do not; they are playing incorrectly in that video.
From the rules:

Shuffle the noble tiles and reveal as many of them as there are players plus one (example: 5 tiles for a 4 player game).
The remaining tiles are removed from the game; they will not be used during the game.

Thanks I already thought that but their video made me wonder.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
When you King's Court a King's Court, when must you pick the three target cards?
Bear with me here.  In Dominion: Prosperity you can play King's Court and choose another King's Court as the target:

The rules are clear on the basics of what happens here: you pick three cards and play each one three times.  My question is when, precisely, the picking happens.
If all three of those cards must be picked before executing any of them, it's a whole lot different from if you choose the cards one at a time.
Up-front
You must choose all three cards before playing card #1 three times.
One-at-a-time
You choose card #1 and play it three times, then choose and play card #2, etc.
We played it one-at-a-time since that seemed like it made a little more sense (and was more fun too).  If the first card you choose draws any cards at all, you have a high probability of picking up another action card to be the second target.
Anybody know for sure which method is correct?

When I get home, I'll check the rules insert. The designers go through interactions on a card by card basis in some detail, so there's a good chance the answer will be there.

It's not really precise about exactly when you choose the cards; I did check it :)

Short answer: You do the "one at a time" option as you described.
Long answer:
This case is precisely identical to the more common question of using Throne Room on a Throne Room, as the two cards are worded identically except for the number and a "you may".
The official Dominion rules PDF says:

You completely resolve playing the Action the first time before playing it
  the second time. If you Throne Room a Throne Room, you play an Action,
  doing it twice, and then play another Action and do it twice; you do not
  resolve an Action four times.

In your case, this means "completely resolve playing King's Court the first time before [starting to] play it the second or third time". This means that yes, if your first Courted action was a Smithy, you're going to have lots of choices for the second and third King's Court.

Of course, this means we've been playing it wrong where I work.  Then again, for the longest time, we were under the impression you couldn't Throne Room a Throne Room at all, despite it saying you could in the rules!

Yeah, this was basically what we were figuring when we played it the way we did.  Thanks.

Nice clear explanation of the rules. This is an issue I've seen people stumble on. The golden rule "Do as much as you can, in the stated order" applies nicely here.

"one at a time" is correct.
There's really nothing confusing about this or any card if you just read it simply and literally without adding any made up external ideas.

You may choose an Action card in your hand. Play it three times

So I play a King's Court.
It says I may choose an action card, so I do. The card I choose is King's Court.
I play it three times.

First iteration of King's Court:
It says I may choose an action card, so I do. The card I choose is Smithy.
I play it three times. Drawing three cards, then another three, then another three
Now I have 11 cards in my hand, one of the cards I drew was a Bishop, another is a Caravan.

Second iteration of King's Court:
It says I may choose an action card, so I do. The card I choose is Bishop.
I play it three times. Trashing a card, then another, then another, accumulating $3 and some victory points.

Third iteration of King's Court:
With horror I realize that I don't have any action cards because I bishopped my Caravan during the petit mal seizure bought on by the excitement of my initial play. Oh well. My action phase ends.

Joe is incorrect about his application of supposed "rule against impossibilities". There is no such concept in Dominion, and I can think of about a dozen other ways this idea could be misapplied. In the case of King's Court, the word "may" renders such a hypothetical (and incorrect) rule irrelevant, so let's say we are talking about Throne Room instead, which requires that you play an action.
In Dominion is perfectly legal to play an action (or even choose something) that is impossible. Any impossible instructions are simply skipped. Thus the supposed "rule against impossibilities" is refuted directly by the rule book:
Rules:

The player may still play an Action card even if he is not
able to do everything the Action card tells him to do; but the
player must do as much as he can.
You may pick any choice offered, even if you cannot do what it tells
you to, but once you make a choice, you must complete as much of it as
you can.

Other similar confusions based on supposed "rule against impossibilities":
Opponent plays Torturer when there are no curses left. "Rule against impossibilities" suggests you must discard 2 cards. Correct answer: You may choose to accept the curse, then smile and say "oops, guess there aren't any".
Opponent plays Torturer when you don't have any cards. "Rule against impossibilities" suggests you must take a curse. Correct answer: You may choose to discard, then smile and say "oops, guess I don't have any" (actually you probably wouldn't be smiling in this case).
Throne Room with no action seems like it would be disallowed by "rule against impossibility", but it is not. You just play it and nothing happens. There are various reason you might want to do this, such as cheaper Peddler.
Bottom line: The rules in Dominion are very well designed (I've yet to see any ambiguities or contradictions in any of the sets). Everything is perfectly clear as long as you read the rules and the cards carefully and literally. Do not add foreign ideas from law school or other sources. In the real world we need lawyers because the law is packed full of ambiguous and contradictory laws. Dominion does not require lawyers, thanks to the brilliant designers!
As an exercise, I recommend reading the rules with the following in mind: the notes in the right hand margin are redundant (in a good way) clarifications which you should be able to deduce from the main text (as long as you don't let your mind get muddled by external ideas). Similarly, the "Kingdom Card Description" section is also redundant. Make sure every statement in that section is obvious to you from the card text and main rules.

While I can't remember the latest example, we've definitely learned that the rules are not unambiguous.  They're pretty good, but there are some head scratchers and sometimes you just have to make a decision.

In almost every game, when the rules do not specify otherwise, it is safe to assume that the designers meant for effects to be handled in a stack-like fashion. M:tG codified this in their 6E rules.
That is, the effect of the first King's Court is to pick another card and play it three times. Each of those three plays is a unique event, as if two more copies of the card appeared in your hand to go with two extra actions. You will fully execute each of those three events before the next, each of them involving picking a card and playing it.

While I believe you are right, just because one game uses a stack doesn't mean that another game does.

Sure, but I find this to be a useful convention to assume, if the rules aren't written otherwise.

I am going to have to go with the up-front option. I must disagree with the logic used in previous postings. In the study of law there is a rule called the rule against impossibilities. The game rules are clear that you must have 3 action cards and that each action card is resolved individually. However, you create the possibility of an impossibility where you are able to play a king's court/throne room with the anticipation of drawing the necessary action cards. For example, say I have in my starting hand just 3 actions, 2 king's courts and some additional action card. Even where the action card allows me to draw several cards there is the very real possibility that you will not draw any additional action cards. I do not believe that the game creators would have intended someone to play a hand in hopes that the hand will be a valid hand only to find that it wasn't. This creates problems of either knowing what cards you are going to be drawing or shuffling cards into a different order, and by consequence potentially negating the effects of other players' cards (i.e. the bureaucrat).
A second option would be a hybrid where you have all 3 necessary action cards but you are able to supplement/replace those action cards with drawn action cards. This option is obviously riddled with problems. Such as, does a player have to reveal that they have the necessary action cards.
Anyway I full expect people to disagree. If you do find a flaw in my logic please let me know so that I can adapt my game play accordingly.

I see two problems with your argument.  First, the King's Court explicitly says "You may choose...", wherein the may allows that choosing (and thus having) an action card is optional, not mandatory.  Secondly, there is an overarching rule in Dominion which explicitly states that a player "may play an Action card even if he is not able to do everything the Action card tells him to do"

The problem with your "logic" is that you aren't playing by the rules! The rules do not say anything along the lines of "...must have three action cards". And as for that impossibility jargon, there must be something wrong with Dominion, because sometimes I draw a KC/TR with no other actions in my hand. IMPOSSIBRUUUUUUUU!

If you really want to deduce things, rather than just look at the rules, this, and basically all other Dominion rules questions, can be resolved easily. Repeat after me: do exactly what it says on the card, in the order it says to do it. Play a King's Court, pick a King's Court as the action to play three times. Play it once - now you have to pick an action to triple. Okay, now play it again - pick a second action to triple. And then a third time. Do exactly what it says, in the order it says. It doesn't say "if you're thinking about playing me, pick an action card in your hand ahead of time."

Yup, completely wrong. Instead of making up concepts like "rule against impossibilities", just follow the actual rules as written. If you do that, there are no ambiguities or problems to deal with.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
If Possession is played while executing another Possession, who takes the next turn?
In Dominion: Alchemy, you can play Possession to "possess" the player to your left and effectively take over his next turn.  What happens if he has a Possession in his hand, and you play it during that possessed turn?
Example
(Turn order is Alex, then Bob, then Carl)
Alex plays Possession.
He controls Bob's next turn, and plays a Possession from Bob's hand.
This means someone will possess Carl on the next turn - but is it Bob, or Alex?

@Markem -- I've migrated your answer to a comment, as it doesn't answer the question asked.  I also apologize as your answer was cut off due to the size restrictions of comments.  If you want, you can reformat your answer as a separate question, as it seemed interesting; just make sure you phrase it as a question.

"Extra turn" in this context just means a turn that's not part of the standard rotation.  "Extra" doesn't need to imply ordering or timing, just that it's additional.  That said, the exact phrasing on Possession comes from a lot of playtesting trying to land the least confusing, most-consistent-with-other-cards way to phrase it. For example, many cards refer to "you" which would be confusing if Alex was taking the extra turn, but using Bob's hand as you suggest.  Having it be Bob's turn, but giving Alex the decision-making power, simplifies interactions with all the other cards.

POSSESSION-CEPTION

If Bob plays Possession, even if he is currently being possessed by Alex, Bob will control Carl's next turn.
This basically means if you are possessing someone, you should not have them play Possession.  Especially in a 2 player game.
(Note that sometimess you can't avoid playing a Possession - for example if you play a Golem, you might end up being required to play Possession as well.)

During a Possession turn, it is still Bob's turn - only three things are different than a normal turn:

Alex makes all decisions for Bob
Alex gains all cards Bob would normally gain
Any cards trashed are discarded instead

Any card text that says "you" still refers to Bob, regardless of the fact that Alex is making the decisions.
So playing a Possession will cause Bob to possess Carl next turn.

If you make someone play Possession
  during a turn in which you Possessed
  them, that will make that player
  Possess the player to his left, rather
  than you getting to Possess anyone
  further.

Dominion: Alchemy Official Rules,  Kingdom Card Descriptions booklet, page 3.
(In other words, this one is literally in the rulebook)
And before you ask, this affects Outpost the same way; the deck owner plays the Outpost hand, I just didn't quote that part.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


text:
Why does BSG's "Assign Vice President" card not affect succession?
In the Battlestar Galactica game, the quorum card "Assign Vice President" can be given to a player, and causes that player to be the only viable target for the "Administration" location that picks a new President.
Clearly, from the card, this is the only effect the card has, and it does not affect who becomes President if the current President is revealed to be a Cylon (or executed). It seems cooler thematically, however, for the Vice President to take the next spot in the succession.
Does anyone know why this wouldn't work? Is there something I'm missing where game balance would be affected by this rules tweak? It just kind of bugged me that the VP wouldn't take the Presidency.
(I realize this is slightly subjective in that we don't know Fantasy Flight's reasoning here, but I'm hoping some folks will have some insights I'm missing)

The only mechanical effect I can see to this tweak is that a Cylon president could control who gets the presidency after they reveal, say if they know who the other unrevealed Cylon is.
If you need thematic justification for the original rule, I seem to remember an episode of the show where Zarek (when he was VP) told Roslin that he didn't want to be president.

Even that effect sounds like it could be kind of cool, and probably rare enough to not be game-breaking.  Interesting thematic example too.

The Vice President title wasn't well thought out, IMO. The way it officially works is that the title is permanent, even if that person becomes President. So, someone could be President and Vice President at the same time. It's not a big deal, it just seems a little silly.
I don't think it would unbalance the game if you adopted a house-rule that the Vice President title also makes the holder the next in line of succession for the Presidency. It would probably make sense for them to then assign the title to someone else.

I played a game where I was President, Vice President, and Admiral. It happens and it actually quite a riot. I can't recall if I was human or cylon. Having President and VP doesn't do much. Just means that normal succession is required to change the president title.


text:
What's a good counter for Immortal Iron Dwarves?
In Small World: Underground, in our first game, one player managed to pick up the Immortal Iron Dwarves.  I understand that the race/power combinations are not supposed to be balanced, but even once the other 3 of us realized how awesome Immortal Iron Dwarves were, we just could not figure out a damn thing we could do about it.
He was able to spread out and leave only 1 token in every region, but our taking those regions didn't hurt him at all since he got the tokens back (Immortal).
Then, with his hammers, he could take any region he wanted no matter what the defense.  He was able to just do whatever he wanted.
We realized that Vampire could actually take tokens away from Immortal, but Vampire wasn't immediately available.  Is there anything we're missing about how to counter Immortal Iron Dwarves?

Not quite a dupe, but the answers in http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/65 can apply to this situation just as well.

The specifics of what makes that combo overpowered are quite different, though. The same exact tactics won't really work here.

I think it's important to realise that it's not just your group: a lot of people have been grumbling about the Immortal Iron Dwarves combination.  I've seen plenty of suggestions that it should just straight up be banned.  You're not "missing something" about how to deal with it - it's just very, very good, definitely to the point of being too good.
Having said that, if like me you prefer to play games as printed, even if that means occasional sessions where the odds are seriously unbalanced... presumably a player will have to pay top dollar to grab the combo if it turns up, since everyone knows how good it is.  All the other players will (or should) team up to impede the Immortal Iron Dwarves' progress.  Keeping them out of Mines so that the Silver Hammers don't rapidly accumulate seems like a top priority, and I think "he could take any region he wanted no matter what the defence" is a little bit of exaggeration: stacking piles of defenders up on the Dwarves' borders is going to slow them down, at least before they've been able to secure their full complement of Silver Hammers.
Yes, it's tough when a player has a combo that's just streets ahead of everybody else's, and  what should have been a fun, balanced 4-player game turns into a three-against-one.  But this is a known hazard of playing Small World, and the options are really limited to either banning known broken combos as a house rule; or accepting that every so often an annoyingly unbalanced game scenario will arise.  But even so, think of the glory if the other three of you manage to destroy the Iron Dwarf tyrant against overwhelming odds!  It'll be the best story since some puny hobbits managed to make it to Mount Doom and take down Sauron!

Interesting! Yeah, just knowing this combo now will hopefully help some as we'll definitely act faster against that player next time.

Also this answer should get +1 just for the excellent use of "streets ahead."

I was able to defeat an immortal dwarves combo in a 3-playergame with one new player ( so no help from him).
The key was killing his race in decline so that he had 'only' 11 points a turn. Hide on the other side of the map and try to accumulate more than 11 points a turn. Do not fight them!!!
It's a good combo, but it only gives them map pressure. Just go for the points and play your game while trying to avoid them.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
Where can the Ladder card be placed in Saboteur 2?
Most path cards in Saboteur can only be placed if they connect to the entry ladder  The Saboteur 2 rules say that a ladder path card is connected to the main entry ladder. Does this mean you can essentially place a ladder path card anywhere (presumably anywhere that connects to some other path) even if that path does not connect to the entry ladder?  (This would occur if some mean saboteur had played a rockfall on a key path card in the middle of stuff.)
The only thing I could find in the rules was that a ladder card cannot be placed next to the 3 final cards. What does that mean, exactly? Can I arbitrarily not place a ladder path card as the last card in a path to one of the end cards? Or are the rules just trying to say you can't use the ladder to teleport straight to the end when the groundwork (hah) has not yet been laid?

This was answered by the Designer, Frederic Moyersoen on BoardGameGeek:

Any card you place in the gallery must match with an existing corridor. There is no exception for placing a card with a ladder.

And here:

As the ladder is always connected to the start card, you can place this card when the connection is interrupted.

Taken together, the ladder card must be placed so that it connects to a path.  That path need not lead back to the original ladder card.


text:
In The Resistance, how does In the Spotlight work?
The card says "You can choose another player to submit their Mission card face up."
If 4 people are on the mission, and 1 player has this card played on them, do the other 3 players get to see what card he played before choosing the cards they will submit?

The player using In the Spotlight must announce their intent to use it immediately after a successful Mission Team Vote, and they must select the target player before any team member selects their Mission card. After the target has been chosen, each team member selects a Mission card and puts it on the table in front of them. The player who is the target of In the Spotlight then reveals their card to everyone. The leader then collects the other Mission cards as normal.
The other team members must select their Mission card before seeing the revealed card.
It's important to select the target of In the Spotlight before any team members have selected their Mission card, because it could affect the choice they make. For example, if a Spy selects a Fail card before In the Spotlight is played, they would have to pick up their card to change it. That would certainly be very revealing. The intent of In the Spotlight is that the target player knows they will have to reveal their card before making their choice.

If any team members have already selected their Mission card before In the Spotlight is announced, another option would be to require everyone to pick up their mission card, whether they want to change it or not. That way, someone that does want to change their card can do so without giving themselves away.

The interesting aspect of this is that, unless the spies are able to win on the current mission, this will effectively force a spy to play a Success card if a spy is targeted by it. Although I suppose a well-coordinated spy team could throw one spy under the bus if it builds trust for another spy.

The way I read the rules, In The Spotlight is played on a player after all players have played mission cards, before they are collected an shuffled.  After it is played, no player may change their card.

Sorry, I'm getting confused with the "Keeping an Eye on You" card.


text:
When can abilities be used in Elder Sign?
Some Elder Sign abilities seem really powerful in big groups.  One of them allows you to re-roll 2 dice every turn, and several others do things like switching a die from Terror to Scroll, or similar.
When can these abilities be used?  Are they only for the current player, or can they be used on other players' turns?

You aren't the only one confused. Several threads on BGG indicate that many people have had the exact same question.
The Elder Sign FAQ has made some clarification on this matter (page 2), at least regarding Mandy Thompson (she has the "re-roll 2 dice every turn" ability):

Mandy Thompson’s ability should read: Once per day, after any player has rolled, Mandy may reroll 2 dice before determining if the active player was able to defeat a task.

Carolyn Fern and Vincent Lee have received similar errata that modifies their "once per turn" into "once per day." Character abilities are further clarified (page 4), by how the ability is worded.

Abilities
Can investigator abilities be used on other players’ turns? - Most investigator abilities have a trigger that determines when they can be used. So, for instance, Bob Jenkins’ Shrewd Dealer ability (When Bob gains 1 or more Common Items, he gets 1 extra Common Item) can trigger during any investigator’s turn, if Bob somehow gains a Common Item. ...
What does “Once per roll” mean? - These abilities may be used only on that investigator’s turn, once per roll of the dice. Note that re-rolling the dice via Clue tokens or other effects does not give another use of the ability. ...
What does “Once per day” mean? - Several investigators have been errata’ed so that their abilities function “once per day.” This means that once the investigator has used his ability, he cannot use it again until after midnight has occurred. Once per day abilities can be used during other investigators’ turns. Exactly when is detailed in the ability itself


text:
What happens if nobody wins?
If you create a path to the gold with a blue door in the way, and there are no blue dwarves, no boss, and no profiteer, what happens?

The game designer, Frederic Moyersoen, discusses the answer to that question on BGG (emphasis mine).
If there is a path with a blue door, the blue gold-diggers win (and not the green). If there are no blue gold-diggers, no profiteur and no boss, nobody wins.


text:
What's new in A Game of Thrones 2nd Edition?
I recently acquired the 2nd Edition of A Game of Thrones: The Board Game. I've played the older edition for years.
I'm having people over to play the new version later today, many of whom are familiar with the old version, but I haven't exhaustively read the new rules yet. I noticed in the quick reference sheet that there are minor (but important!) rules differences, such as how the Star Raid order works.
What rules changes have there been since the first edition and its expansions?

Well, according to this post at BGG, the rules changes are

Unit counts - each house has 5 knights and 2 siege engines, instead
of 4 knights and 3 siege engines.
Setup changed to include various neutral forces tokens.
Wildling Attack cards added.
Garrison token of 2 for each house's starting position.
Play to 7 castles regardless of player count.
Wildling threat of 12 triggers an attack.
Messenger raven allows you to look at the top card in the Wildling Attack deck (OR replace an order).
Raiding a Consolidate Power order makes the target lose a power token (in addition to the raiding house gaining a token).
When playing your 7th house card, you get the other 6 cards back, but not that last one played.
Special raid order can remove a defense order, but NOT 2 orders.
Special consolidate power order can muster units OR gain power tokens as usual.
4 player game is played without Tyrell (instead of without Greyjoy).
Tides of battle cards.

Played the game a number of times and never knew you could use the raven to look at the wildling deck...

Can the Consolidate Power order be placed on a land territory without a Power Icon to get 1 Power Token? Or must it be placed on a territory with a crown?

@JohnPeyton yes, either on a land territory or in a port. But you only collect power tokens for the latter if your port is not blockaded (no enemy ships in the connected sea area).

I know, this answer comes late, but for the sake of completeness, I will add it anyway.
Sveinns answer mentions the biggest and most important changes, but there were three nitpicks he missed.

If Tyrell kills a single attacking or defending Footman, it does not immediately end combat in favour of Tyrell. Combat strength is still calculated and the one with higher combat strength wins.
If House Card abilities are supposed to be resolved at the same time, in second edition the order on the Iron Throne track decides, not the order on the Fiefdom track.
A tie in Victory Track position after ten rounds is broken by the number of controlled Strongholds first, then Supply Track, then available Power Tokens, then Iron Throne Track position. (1st edition didn't care about the number of Strongholds)


text:
What do we do if we need to place a large minion and all minion entry spaces are occupied?
In Mice and Mystics, we entered a tile and had an encounter which dropped several rats and a spider (which is large).  On the very first turn, the minions ended up defending against an attack and rolling another cheese, triggering a surge, which was a centipede (which is also large).
Large minions are supposed to be the only things that fit on their spaces, but unfortunately every minion entry space was already occupied (either by our mice, rats, or the spider).
What should we do with this newly spawned centipede when he can't fit anywhere?
(What we ended up doing was having him eat a rat and take the rat's spot, but we were looking for something a little more official.)

I agree, it isn't completely clear from the rule book what to do. Page 14 covers, Placing Minions on the Board, and notes to add new Minions to (not full) minion entry spaces. Luckily, the designer, Jerry Hawthorne, responded to that question on BGG:

Q: We had a situation where a surge called for a centipede, but every spawn space was taken by either a small monster or a mouse. We just didn't spawn the centipede because it couldn't "fit" in any space; was that correct?
A: That is correct.


text:
When are Mice and Mystics encounter cards flipped & discarded?
In Mice and Mystics, I understand that encounter cards are intended to be flipped when the mice enter a tile for the first time and that tile does not have a special encounter.  I also understand that the encounter card is supposed to be discarded when there's a surge and that tile does not have a special surge.
Are there any other times when encounter cards are flipped or discarded?  For example, what if we have not actually had a surge and we go to a new tile, which has a special encounter?  Should the previous encounter card be discarded?  Similarly, what if we have a surge on a tile that has a special surge, but we already have an encounter card present?

What if we have not actually had a surge and we go to a new tile, which has a special encounter, should the previous encounter card be discarded?
Yes, the previous encounter card is discarded. From the rule book

Encounters - Each time a mouse explores an area that has not already been explored during that chapter, the mice will have an encounter. Unless otherwise stated in the chapter being played, draw a card from the encounter deck. Each encounter card has multiple potential encounters based on how far the chapter has progressed. Use the encounter that matches the page space that the hourglass marker currently occupies on the story control board. Place the new minions using the placement rules below, then determine an initiative order. Once the minions are placed, place the encounter card face-up on top of the encounter deck. If there is still an encounter card face up from a previous encounter, discard the old card. This new face-up encounter card will now determine the next non-chapter-specific surge effect.

What if we have a surge on a tile that has a special surge, but we already have an encounter card present?
You perform the special encounter, but you don't discard the encounter card.

Room tile rules: some room tiles that are being used in a chapter will have specific rules that apply to that room. Each room tile that has special instructions [...] or special surges that instruct players on what minion(s) to place when a surge happens in that room (special surges take place instead of a surge listed on an encounter card). (page 5, Story Book)
[Step 3] If there are no chapter-specific surge instructions, follow the surge effect on the face-up encounter card that is on the encounter deck and then discard that card. (page 15, Surges)


text:
How do we use Maginos's staff if it's a blunt melee weapon?
If Mice and Mystic's Maginos is equipped with Maginos' Staff, it is normally a ranged weapon with +1 to ranged attacks.  Paired with Maginos's battle value of 1, it seems for normal ranged attacks we should roll 2 dice.
However, Maginos' Staff states:

When attacking a figure that is on the same space as this mouse, this staff is considered a blunt melee weapon.

What does that mean for attacks made by Maginos against enemies in the same space?  Does he roll 2 dice?  Or does he only roll 1 die, because the staff only grants +1 ranged but not +1 melee?

You roll 2 dice and must use a melee attack to attack a minion in the same space with the staff.
The section you quoted is the cards Ability. (page 4 pdf, page 2 rule book)

4) Ability: any special rules that apply to the card are described here.

That special rule requires that you may only use it to perform melee attacks on minions in your same space, but normally the rules do not prevent this.
Item bonuses add to the number of dice you roll when performing a specific type of attack. Ranged attacks count bow symbols as hits, melee attacks count sword symbols as hits. Nothing in the rules prevents you from using a ranged attack on a minion in the same space as your mouse.

Melee Attack - [...] Then roll a number of action dice equal to that mouse’s battle value. Remember to add any bonuses that the mouse’s items or equipped weapons might give it.
Ranged attack - If a mouse is armed with a ranged weapon or spell, it can perform a ranged attack. Ranged attacks are performed in the same way as melee attacks, except each bow symbol counts as a hit instead of the sword or sword/
  shield symbol. Also, when selecting a target for the attack, a player can select any minion on the same room tile as the attacking mouse as long as that mouse can ‘see’ the target. However, if there are minions in the same or adjacent space as the mouse, one of those nearby minions must be selected as the target of the attack. (page 13 pdf, page 11 rule book)

The FAQ and the designer further clarified that Maginos gets the +1 from the staff regardless of whether he is performing a melee or ranged attack.

1.1.5: When attacking a minion in the same space using Maginos' staff, do you still get the bonus listed on the card for a ranged attack?
A: Yes, just imagine that the bow changes into a sword any time Maginos shares a space with minions.
Q: about maginos' staff. It has a +1 on top of a range symbol in the top corner. Does the staff still give a bonus to melee combat, or only to ranged because that's what the +1 is over?
A: It adds to his battle any time he uses it to do a battle action. The +1 just signifies that it is a bonus to his battle, the bow shows that it hits on bows and can be used at a distance. The weapon special ability breaks this rule a bit and allows him to hit on swords/sword shields when attacking an enemy in the same space. Usually, when you use a ranged weapon, it only hits on bows even if you use it on an enemy in the same or adjacent space.

Why 1 dice? As far as I can see, the +1 of the staff still counts.

According to the OP, the card says, "Maginos' Staff, it is normally a ranged weapon with +1 to ranged attacks." I don't have the card in front to verify, but presumably the bonus applies specifically to ranged attacks.

And here I wonder: where does it state that the bonus of a weapon counts only for the ranged attack?

@Arne, corrected with designer and FAQ reference.

The rule book says that you add as many dice as the bonus of your chosen weapon to your base attack. It does not specify to discern between a ranged bonus or melee bonus in this case.
Maginos' Staff has this feature in favor of the player: with a melee attack, you have a chance of 3/6 of rolling a successful attack, instead of 2/6 in a ranged attack.
Also this means that you cannot cast a ranged spell on an enemy on your own space. Instead you beat it with the staff.
Edit: Source for the +1 in Melee: MM FAQ (http://www.plaidhatgames.com/images/games/mice-and-mystics/mmfaq.pdf)

I see no prohibition in the rules from attacking your own space with a ranged attack.

Hm, interesting. I imagined that your spells would be cast using the staff. If not, then you're right. If they are, I think the rule in Mag Roader's question counts: "When attacking a figure that is on the same space as this mouse, this staff is considered a blunt melee weapon."

You can attack someone in the same space using a ranged attack, but this particular staff is not a ranged weapon if there's an enemy in your space.


text:
How is my mouse's ability attack resolved?
We are a bit confused by how ability attacks work in Mice and Mystics, and in particular how they interact with equipped items.
Our Maginos has the ability Mystic Bolt, which states (emphasis mine):

You may use this ability instead of performing a normal battle action. Choose a minion ... [who] is attacked by this mouse with a ranged attack. The battle value of that attack is equal to this mouse's lore.

Our Maginos is also equipped with an Enchanted Bow, which grants +1 to ranged attacks and has the text (emphasis mine):

The first time this mouse attacks with this bow on a turn, if any [Bow w/ Star Symbol] were rolled in that attack, this mouse may attack 1 additional time with this bow.

Now, Maginos has a lore of 3, so if he uses the Mystic Bolt ability clearly the battle value will be 3.  The question is: how do we perform this attack?
Do we:

Roll 3 dice, hoping to roll [Bow Symbol]s?
Roll 4 dice instead of 3 due to the +1 from the Enchanted Bow?
Ignore dice completely and just count it as an attack that hits for 3?
Do something else?

Furthermore, if we do roll dice, does the special text from the Enchanted Bow (about sometimes making a second attack) come into play, and if so, how does the extra attack work?

Tell your Maginos to stop hogging the awesome bow and give it to Lily where it belongs. =)

For the Mystic Bolt you roll three dice an perform a ranged attack, i.e. you want to roll bow and arrow symbols.
The bonus from the Enchanted Bow only applies, if you attack using the enchanted bow, and not Maginos' Staff, e.g. by casting said Mystic Bolt.


text:
What can the dummy player do in Bridge?
We're learning to play Bridge from Gramma, who played the game a lot ~40 years ago but doesn't really remember the rules (or, at least, the reasons behind some rules and conventions).
One of the things she's adamant about is that the dummy sits the hand out completely, not to touch the cards at all once they're face up on the table.  The rest of us newbies think this is kind of silly - while we know the dummy shouldn't be offering advice, we figure he could could at least handle the cards and play what the leader tells him to play, and (when there's no choice to be made, like when there's only 1 possible card to play), just do the mechanical stuff that requires no decision making.
What are the limitations placed on the dummy player?  Are there etiquette rules about what he can and cannot do?

From Laws of Contract Bridge 2014:

Law 42 – Dummy’s Rights   Dummy is entitled to give information as to fact or Law but may not initiate the discussion, and provided he
has not forfeited his rights (see Law 43), he may also
(a) ask declarer (but not a defender), when he has failed to follow suit,
whether he has a card of the suit led.
(b) try to prevent any
irregularity **by declarer.
(c) draw attention to any irregularity, but only after play is concluded.
** Note: He may, for example, warn declarer against leading from the wrong hand.
Law 43 – Dummy’s Limitations
Dummy may not participate in the play (except to play the cards of dummy’s hand as directed by
declarer) or make any comment on the bidding, play or score of the
current deal. If he does so, Law 16 may apply. During play, dummy may
not call attention to an irregularity once it has occurred.
Dummy forfeits the rights provided in (a), (b) and (c) of Law 42 if he
exchanges hands with declarer, leaves his seat to watch declarer play
or, on his own initiative, looks at the face of a card in either
defender’s hand. If, thereafter,
(a) he is the first to draw
attention to a defender’s irregularity, declarer may not enforce any
penalty for the offense.
(b) he warns declarer not to lead from the
wrong hand, (penalty) either defender may choose the hand from which
declarer shall lead.
(c) he is the first to ask declarer if a play
from declarer’s hand constitutes a revoke, declarer must substitute a
correct card if his play was a revoke, and (penalty) unless Law 64(d)
applies, one trick is transferred to the defending side.

Contrary to the belief of many, rules are intended to keep friendly games friendly, by providing a common understanding of the game. The above are the rules for non-Tournament bridge in regards to Dummy's rights and limitations.
It sounds like Gramma is a wise old woman, who has encountered cheats in her life and wishes that her grandchildren and other relatives are never accused of such or believed to be sharp at cards. Follow her advice, and give her more credit for wisdom possibly beyond even her years.

The etiquette for rubber bridge is not that for duplicate bridge, and it has remained pretty much the same for many years. It does specify that dummy should not touch the cards; when you table your hand, you should put them far enough down so that declarer can reach them without difficulty.  Other non-obvious points are that the cards should not be shuffled by dealer or his partner, and that, unless otherwise agreed, you should always cut for partners.
Of course, you don't need to worry about these points while you're learninmg, and particularly not within the family. But you should be aware that the etiquette exists; you are expected to abide by it when playing with strangers (such as at a club), and particularly when you are playing for money.

If you are playing for money, buy a  copy of the Laws; learn them well; and abide by them strictly. Money bridge is if anything even more serious than Tournament Bridge, and will attract players more than capable of holding their own in large tournaments. I've seen games up to $0.10 or even $0.20 per point, which is upwards of $40 or $80 for Game bid an made, never mind Slam, and with no nonsense about bending the rules was allowed when I kibitzed those games.

Source - The 2007 Laws of Duplicate Bridge (pdf)

LAW 42: DUMMY’S RIGHTS
A. Absolute Rights

Dummy is entitled to give information, in the Director’s presence, as to fact or law.
He may keep count of tricks won and lost.
He plays the cards of the dummy as declarer’s agent as directed (see Law 45F if dummy suggests a play).

B. Qualified Rights
Dummy may exercise other rights subject to the limitations stated in
  Law 43:

Dummy may ask declarer (but not a defender) when he has failed to follow suit to a trick whether he has a card of the suit led.
He may try to prevent any irregularity by declarer.
He may draw attention to any irregularity, but only after play of the hand is concluded.

LAW 43: DUMMY’S LIMITATIONS
Except as Law 42 allows:
A. Limitations on Dummy

(a) Unless attention has been drawn to an irregularity by another player, dummy should not initiate a call for the Director during play.

(b) Dummy may not call attention to an irregularity during play.
(c) Dummy must not participate in the play, nor may he communicate
  anything about the play to declarer.

(a) Dummy may not exchange hands with declarer.

(b) Dummy may not leave his seat to watch declarer’s play of the hand.
(c) Dummy may not, on his own initiative, look at the face of a card
  in either defender’s hand.

This is the answer for serious players, but note that 'The Laws of Duplicate Bridge' do not apply to anyone playing Rubber Bridge, let alone somebody just learning the game.

The dummy can

give information about what has happened when the director is called
keep track of the tricks won or lost
play his cards according to what declarer says
when declarer doesn't follow a suit, he can ask him whether he has no cards in that suit.

The dummy cannot

call director
communicate with the declarer
see opponent's or declarer's cards

Arguably in casual games, actually learning and having fun is a lot more important than strict rules and etiquette. In this instance it sounds like there is a player who wants to stick to the rules, but in general, I think there's some room to bend them here.

well, these are rules for tournaments. if you play rubber bridge, sure you can bend them (for example dummy can see declarers cards at the end of the auction)

Yup, and the question you're answering isn't about tournaments, I don't think.

No, the question isn't about tournaments. But in order to bend the official rules, you must know them first.

This is not quite true even for duplicate bridge.  Dummy can not point out an irregularity during play (9A4). This includes pointing out the irregularity by calling the director.  However, dummy can (9B1b), and should (9B1a), call the director if attention is drawn to an irregularity by someone else if none of the other players do so, and in particular, if an argument arises from either the irregularity or how to deal with it.

Rubber bridge, again dummy can not draw attention to an irregularity during play, and there's rules on what happens if she does anyway (Law 43).  Of note to the original question, the exception, even in rubber, to "dummy may not participate in the play" is "except to play the cards of dummy's hand as directed by declarer" (my emphasis).

The role of the dummy is to be "dumb" (Silent). That's why s/he is called the "dummy."
Basically, the dummy is not supposed to speak or act unless "spoken to." So dummy's powers are strictly limited, but include the following:

Must lay down hand after the right hand opponent leads (but not before).
May not further touch those cards except as directed by declarer. (Ideally, the dummy will have placed the cards in such a way that the declarer can reach them.) This includes one card, "no brainer" situations.
May call attention to a declarer error in progress (leading from the wrong hand, not following suit).
May not initiate a conversation about anything else, including opponents' errors, but may respond to questions asked by a tournament director (TD). (Dummy may not initiate the calling of the TD.)
May not leave his seat or walk around the room except in extreme emergency (fire alarm, and maybe bathroom breaks).
May not peek at declarer's or opponents' cards (until played).

Paraphrasing the actual rules results in a much less precise definition, and can at best only result in the type of acrimony that well written rules are carefully designed to prevent. Quoting your own poor paraphrasing in the attempt to seem like you are actually quoting well written rules is simply abhorrent.


text:
Do Age II or earlier events happen at the end of the game?
The front page of the "Through the Ages - A New Story of Civilization" Code of Laws says, at the end of the game:

All Age III events in the current and next events deck are evaluated in any order.

Having not yet played a full game, I haven't had it happen, but it certainly seems possible that there might be Age II (or earlier?) events in the current (or next) event decks at the end of the game. Are those evaluated too? It seems strange that you would skip over those, but is that the intent?

Official Through The Ages: A New Story of Civilization handbook says that at the end of the game:

Final Scoring
  At the end of the game, take all Age III events
  remaining in the current and future events decks and
  evaluate them one by one. Order is not important.
Note: Events from older ages have no effect on final
  scoring.

So everything is said clearly, events from older ages have no effect, no matter if they could be useful or not in the final summary.
These rules hasn't changed from the previous Through The Ages: A Story of Civilization where the official rulebook was saying:

At the end of the game, reveal all remaining Age III Event cards from the Current and Future Events decks and score bonus Culture Points according to these cards.

To sum up, if you want any of your previous ages events present in current deck to be evaluated and the game is closing to an end, you have to hurry up with playing new events and hoping that the one you are waiting for will be revealed before the game ends.

I've not got rules to hand but in the original game this was the case.  All the age III events were "impact of....." and gave bonus points.  Any events from age II or I if still in the event deck would be things that only mattered during the game and not needed to be evaluated at the end.
edit -  I'll try and explain this a bit better with a dash of theme!  Yes you are correct, it is possible that age II events mights still be in either event deck, but they do not need evaluating.  They are just things that thematically never happened.  A Colony that maintained independence, a crime wave that never happened, no economic progress, wonders never ravaged.
Many of these age II cards will not affect scoring.  Only a few will effect scoring directly and some might do if impact of Colonies has been played for example.  once the game is over most the effects, Such as gaining food or resources, won't be a factor.
The end of the game bonus points represent the 'Impact of...' things on the world.  Not what is seeded to happen in the future as in game terms that future never got around to happening.


text:
Can I spend all my life points to draw cards?
The rules of Friday state

If at any point you must discard a life point but do not have any
  remaining, you lose the game.

What if I have 1 life point left, and voluntarily discard it to draw a card?
Can I do that?
The game hasn't required me to discard a non-existent life point yet (and I may gain more life before it does).
As I read this, I could go several turns at 0 life, without losing, as long as the game does not require me to spend a life point that I don't have.

Friday? The current text of the rules does not include the passage you quoted. It seems they realized the behaviour was unusual enough to warrant clarification, and updated the rules to do so.

If you need to pay a life token during the game and do not have any left you immediately lose the game. Having zero life points is OK, but if you need one more life token you lose the game!


text:
Can Non-Robot Minions be Reclaimed via Microbot Reclaimer?
When a Microbot Alpha has been played, it gives an ongoing action of

[...] All of your minions are considered Microbots.

Does this include minions in your discard pile?
The question came up in a game where a subsequent Microbot Reclaimer was played, which states:

[...] Shuffle any number of Microbots from your discard pile into your deck.

Does this combination allow for reclaiming minions "considered" as Microbots, even when they are in the discard pile as well as from another faction?

It's probably worth noting that when a Microbot Alpha is in play, it "gains +1 power for each of your other Microbots."
I wouldn't consider counting discarded Microbots here, so I'm leaning that other minions in the discard wouldn't be considered Microbots any longer.

As included in the Pretty Pretty Smash Up rules, page 10:

"A minion" or "minions" means any minions in play unless stated otherwise.

This means that minions in your discard pile are not affected by an action that states "minions".
So no, minions in your discard pile are not classed as Microbots due to the Alpha as they are not in play.

Good catch! I've come across this situation a number of times and I don't think I've ever been pointed to the rules for it, but knowing that's there makes it clear.


text:
Does Microbot Archive Apply to all Bases?
The Microbot Archive minion states:

Ongoing: After one of your Microbots (including this one) is destroyed, draw a card.

I assume, since it doesn't specify, that this applies to all Microbots on all bases, not just the current base it has been played on. Can someone please verify?

Yes. There's no rules reference for this one since it's just about the card, but as you correctly identified, it doesn't reference a particular base.


text:
When does a Leprechaun's Ongoing ability activate?
Consider the following scenario:
Leprechaun (Tricksters Minion):

Ongoing: After another player plays a minion here with less power than this minion's power, destroy it (resolve its ability first).

Commission (Bear Cavalry Action):

Play an extra minion. Then move another player's minion from the extra minion's base to another base.

The Play

A Leprechaun has a power of 5 and has been previously played on a base.
An opponent later plays Commission as their action, playing their extra minion on the same base as the Leprechaun.

Assumed Order
Several actions happen here, what order should those actions happen? My assumption is that they happen in this order:

Play extra minion
Resolve the ability of the extra minion
Move the Leprechaun to another base
Destroy the minion if it is less power than the Leprechaun.

Is this correct? If not, what should it be? I wasn't able to find in the rules that addresses all these types of actions.
Why does this matter?
If the Leprechaun should destroy the minion before it's moved, it may have a different level of power before it's moved. For example, if the Leprechaun is moved to a base with the Sleep Spores action played on it, it has -1 power. This could affect whether or not the extra minion is lower power than it.

The correct order is:

Commission is played. This triggers two abilities in order. (Step 2 and 4)
An extra minion is placed on the base. This triggers the ongoing ability of the Leprechaun. (Step 3)
The new minion has less power so it will be destroyed. But it's ability is resolved first. If any. At the end of this step, the minion is gone.
The next ability ability of Commission is now executed. And Leprechaun is moved to another base.

The rules of Smash-up are vague and conflicting (even the rules admit this). So you need common sense to resolve this. But in this case it is clear that both actions of Commission are executed in order (Play an extra minion. Then move another player's minion from the extra minion's base to another base.)

I agree with this. However, if the minion was, for example, a Bear Cavalry, and chased the Leprechaun away, I think that the Leprechaun wouldn't trigger. This is because the Leprechaun triggers after a minion is played here, but after the minion is played it's no longer here.

Yup the rules are intentionally vague. Gives sometimes interesting discussions during game play ;-)


text:
Forcing the combat in Warhammer: Invasion
I've been playing several games of Warhammer: Invasion Core Set with my friend and a couple of times we've encountered a situation where he had pretty good attack force set up in his battlefield and I has good one as well. But I already had one district burning and he had bunch of damage tokens on two of his districts.
So what I wanted to do in this situation is to attack his forces so his chances for gathering enough strength to finish me off would be smaller. I've attacked his battlefield and what he usually did is he didn't set any defenders and allowed the whole damage to be dealt to his district (even if it meant burning it down). Then in his turn he launch his full force agains one of my other districts and burn it down thus winning the game.
I was wondering are there any cards or rules in this game or it's expansions that would force him to fight me instead of letting all the damage to be dealt to his capital? This would allow for more tactical approach in my opinion because right now his best tactics is to ignore all my attacks and hope to get stronger force to destroy a district in one round then me.

You are not defending you quest and kingdom zones enough.  There is no reason for him to attack your battlefield if your defenses are weak in the other two zones.  It's better for him to attack those and win than fight your battlefield.


text:
Orks Mob Rule in Warhammer 40k
I'm starting to play Warhammer 40k with Orks and I need a clarification to one of the rules for Orks.
Orks have Mob Rule so they can exchange their Leadership value with a number of models in unit. And if there are more then 11 models in unit with that rule this unit is given Fearless special rule (which make perfect sense because with 12 models you have 12 Ld value so you can't fail the test).
But the Fearless special rule isn't that great IMO because if changes leadership tests to wounds which in case of Ork Boyz means immediate casualties. This is written somewhere in manual where morale tests are explained but it's not mentioned in Special Abilities section of the manual. Can someone clarify if my understanding is correct or wrong, because this special ability sounds quite unfair.

I'm afraid you do understand the ruling correctly (there is no GW statement on this that I'm aware of since there's no conflict in the two rules). The important thing to remember is that the substitution is optional - if you're likely to take massive damage from fearless, take a chance on the dice and use their adjusted leadership (adjusted for modifiers from the combat). I think that you will find that your decision on taking casualties vs risking a failed leadership check will greatly depend on the unit and what you're trying to do with it (a unit of 30 gretchin designed to hold up an assault squad is going to happily take the casualties while your boyz are likely to take their chances with a roll - though even these examples are dependent on what you're trying to do and the current situation on the table).


text:
Necron Monolith movement speed
Necron codex says that Monolith is a skimmer that can move up to 6". Then it can fire it's weapons.
Does that mean that instead of firing I can move it to another 6" like with any other vehicle or am I allowed to only move it 6" a turn?

The Monolith is a verrrrrrrrrry slow skimmer -- it can only move 6" per turn, but it can also ignore terrain features while moving.
I don't have the Codex handy, but I'm fairly certain the Monolith says it can only ever move 6" per turn.

This is correct. The ponderous rule takes precedence over the skimmer rule.


text:
Damage redirection in Warhammer Invasion
Some cards like Warrior Priest from Empire deck has a damage redirection rule. How exactly does this rule work?
For example: if my opponent assigns 1 damage to my Warrior Priest can I simply move the damage token to any unit surviving the battle and ignore the damage on the Priest or is it an extra damage that Priest will deal but will die anyway because he was assigned enough damage to kill him?

The order should proceed like this:

All damage is assigned (leave the damage tokens near the unit to be damaged)  Note: a target may be over assigned damage at the player's discretion but this is not required except in the case of damage cancellation even when you know the unit will survive due to other protective effects
Certain effects trigger and are resolved including redirecting damage.  In this case, the Priests are able to redirect one damage point, preferably to a unit with toughness
Damage is moved onto the card, destroying any cards that still have damage equal to its hit points.

Source - FAQ and Rules on Fantasy Flight's website

Can the damage be redirected to opponent's unit?

Yes, you can redirect to your opponent's units (as evidenced by the card saying "any battlefield" instead of "your battlefield").


text:
Replacing weapons in Ork mob
Ork codex says that Ork Boyz has the following option:

For every ten Orks in the mob, one Ork may exchange his slugga or shoota for:

big shoota (+5 points per model)
rokkit launcha (+10 points per model)

Lets say I have a 30-Ork mob. Does that mean that I can have 3 big shootas AND 3 rokkit launchas in it or I can only have 3 of either big shoota or rokkit launcha?

You are allowed 1 heavy weapon per 10 Orks, but you can choose which one it is - a Big Shoota (BS) or Rokkit Launcha (RL). They don't all have to be the same type. In other words, with 30 Orks, the maximum heavy weapons you are allowed to have are either:
3RL
1BS + 2RL
2BS + 1RL
3BS


text:
Are slang words allowed in Scrabble?
In Words with Friends, a Scrabble clone for the iPhone, slang words - such as the following - are permitted:

za, slang for "pizza,"
lez, slang for "lesbian,"
And so on...

Are slang words allowed in official Scrabble games / tournaments?

You can check for yourself at the Official Scrabble Dictionary.  According to that site:

za is a legal word
lez is not (Keep reading)

Words With Friends uses the Enhanced North American Benchmark Lexicon with a few additions per their website.  ENABLE is a public domain word list for use with word programs.
Thanks to @thesun's research it is obvious that the website is not the final word for Scrabble tournaments.  Apparently the Scrabble folks censor their website, and books of around 200 offensive words.
To get the complete list you have to join the National Scrabble Association and pay for it.  For most tournaments that will be the list used.  If the tournament is televised then perhaps those 200 offensive words will not be allowed.

Yeah, the latest official dictionary has added some game-breaking slang and alternate spellings, in my opinion.  Za, qi and xi have turned three of the most challenging letters into easy big points, especially if you can spell them in two directions.

@LittleBobbyTables: Given that these letters pretty much torpedo your chances of scoring the 50 point bonuses on which most Scrabble games are won or lost, there needs to be an efficient way of offloading them.  Anyone who opens up the possibility of tripling the Q, X or Z in both directions deserves everything they get if the opponent then makes that play!

Here's a page which clearly indicates that LEZ is an official word in both TWL98 and SOWPODS: http://phrontistery.info/scrabble3.html.  The page was updated in 2007.  Has LEZ been dropped from all Scrabble wordlists since then?  It would be a big surprise to me if it had.  (I think what's actually happening on the page you link to is that they've removed all rude words for the sake of the children.  But even so rude words are not actually illegal in Scrabble.  Where could you draw the line?)

As "Lez" is certainly valid in Scrabble I'm pretty sad this has become the accepted answer (in its current form).  See the first review here for confirmation that the "Official Scrabble Dictionary" is not actually complete, due to missing out swearwords that are perfectly valid, at least off air and amongst consenting adults: http://www.amazon.com/Official-SCRABBLE-Players-Dictionary/dp/0877792208

@thesun - thanks for the research.  I've updated my post to reflect that and a little that I did myself.  I hadn't realized that there was so much controversy over Scrabble word lists!

@Pat: Thanks for the edit.  I didn't mean to make trouble for you, I'm just a humble seeker after the truth!  Especially where Scrabble is involved :D

@thesun No problem, we're after the same goal.

Slang words are 100% allowed in Scrabble - well, as long as they've been around long enough to have found their way into the dictionary.
The idea that slang is in some way verboten in Scrabble is mysteriously widespread among casual players I've run across.  I defy them to find that prohibition in the actual rules!
"Za" is a fairly recent addition to the canon of official Scrabble words - I think it was popularized by the TV show Friends, or something?  But it's now kosher, and a very welcome way of being able to quickly play a Z, especially in parts of the word that don't believe me when I tell them that ZO is a type of Himalayan ox.  (Similarly, where would the game of Scrabble be without QI?  Nearly unplayable, that's where.)
"Lez" may or may not be allowed the wordlist Pat had checked, but I'm pretty damn sure that some Scrabble wordlists have it in.  (Mind you, I'm English, and the English official Scrabble wordlist is about twice the size of the American, so that could explain it.)
There was a televised world Scrabble championship of some kind which was notorious for one of the players playing "LEZ" in the final - and the judges quickly ruling it legal in spluttering embarrassment, due to the word's obvious potential to deprave and corrupt youngsters in the viewing audience.  I'm pretty sure the implication was that LEZ was indeed in the wordlist: the guy was one of the top players in the world, and these people know their valid words.  Afterwards he, quite rightly, said "I don't even think about what the words mean, I just play them if they're the best move".  Happily, I do believe he went on to win the game and the championship!
EDIT: Here's a sample news article about the "lez" incident: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3542570.stm

FYI, "Zo" is not in the official Scrabble dictionary, nor is it in Dictionary.com.

@Scott: It took me 3 seconds to Google "zo" and find it on, e.g., this page: http://www.mattelscrabble.com/en/adults/tips/tip1.html.  I have a feeling it's legit in SOWPODS/UK Scrabble, but not in American Scrabble.  Then again, UK Scrabble is full of kerrrazy 2-letter words like "gu" ("a type of fiddle from the Shetland Islands", if memory serves) so it's very possible that the US wordlist could be considered a more sensible way to play...

btw - 'qi' was only added in the fourth edition of the Scrabble Player's Dictionary. Prior to the 4th edition, you had to spell it "chi"

@warren: per Wikipedia - "The Dictionary Committee of the National Scrabble Association (of North America) in early 2006 added five two-letter words to the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary: fe, ki, oi, qi, and za. Oi and qi were already allowed in Official Scrabble Words International, and the remaining words have since been adopted into SOWPODS play, along with ja in SOWPODS."  It'd be fun to find out when qi first appeared in any Scrabble wordlist.  The reason why this question is so interesting is that different wordlists seem to play by different rules, and different paces of change!

@Scott Mitchell: This page http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Official_English_Scrabble_2-letter_words shows what's going on with "zo".  It is internationally legal, but not legal in the US, Canada, Israel, or Thailand.  I confuse people (including myself) a lot by having learned to play Scrabble in the UK!

I think we may need a dedicated Scrabble stackexchange to deal with all the permutations here!

@thesunneversets - not sure on the publish dates of the two editions of the Player's Dictionary off the top of my head (they're at home, and I'm at work)... but I have both :)

@thesunneversets: Good sleuthing, thanks for the info.

In addition to the comments made by other users, it should be noted that the ENABLE+ list used by Words with Friends and the North American Scrabble tournament lexicon, the Official Tournament and Club Word List, 2nd Edition (OTCWL2) are practically identical for the vast majority of words used casual, beginner, and intermediate tournament play.  The most notable omission from ENABLE+ is JIVY, which is allowed in North American Scrabble, and the most notable addition to ENABLE+ is ZEN, which is not allowed in North American Scrabble.
Also, you can easily obtain the full North American Lexicon by downloading the (free, open-source) program Zyzzyva, which has searchable versions with definitions of all of the various Scrabble dictionaries used worldwide.  Several iPhone apps, including Checkword and Zarf.  The tournament lexicon (as of July 2009) is no longer managed by Hasbro (the company that owns Scrabble), but rather by the North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA) Dictionary Committee, and thus it is freely available through the sources mentioned above.

Use the Scrabble Dictionary for further reference.  Slang words such as za and zn are recognized even if they don't seem to look like a word.  In this lens - http://www.squidoo.com/scrabble-solver-words-that-begins-with-z - you will find more awkward words yet they are recognized.

David's suggestion of Zyzzyva looks like it might be the most comprehensive resource, but here are some others that might also be useful.
The Internet Scrabble Club has several lists to download, including SOWPODS and TWL06.
Scrabblist.com lets you verify words in either the SOWPODS or TWL lists. It has the advantage of not requiring any downloads. It doesn't give definitions, but Ninjawords is a very convenient tool for finding definitions.


text:
In Texas Hold'em, who is awarded second and third place in this scenario?
Consider the scenario where there are three players remaining:

Player A has 1,000 chips
Player B has 200 chips
Player C has 50 chips and is the dealer

The hand starts and Player C goes all in. Player A calls and Player B goes all in. Player A calls Player B's all in. At this point everyone is all in and turns their cards over.
In the end, Player A's hand beats both Player B and Player C. Clearly, Player A has won first place. And if Player B's hand beat Player C's hand then clearly Player B would have won second place, and Player C third.
But what if Player C's hand beats Player B's hand - who gets second place and who gets third place in that scenario? I wager one of the following three outcomes is what should happen, but I'm not familiar with the rules to know what the "official" outcome should be:

Player C wins second place because his hand beat Player B's hand, even though Player B had more chips at the start of the hand.
Player B wins second place since she had more chips at the start of the hand than Player C.
Player A wins first place and gets to go off and roll around in the piles of money he has won. Player C gets 50 of Player B's chips, since he went all in with his 50 and won the hand and the two stay at the table and play heads up to determine second and third place.

Thanks

This could, in principle, go here, but I think it will be much better served at http://poker.stackexchange.com

I was unaware of that site, I think it would be better served there. How do I move it from here to there?

Only moderators can migrate questions, but you can simply re-ask the question over there and then delete this one.

If you have the ability, you should be able to flag a question as "needs moderator attention" and request it be migrated.

@JSBձոգչ The question has been answered, so it now needs a moderator to move it. I say leave it here, due to wondering how long the poker site will survive.

SE Sites are allowed to overlap.  Poker questions are on topic both here and at poker.SE  There is no reason to migrate.

Here, the important factor is that Player B and Player C both lost to, and were "busted" by Player A's hand. Not that Player C's hand beats Player B's.
If two players "bust out" on the same hand, then the prizes are awarded in DESCENDING chip order as of BEFORE the mutual bust. That is Player B comes in ahead of Player C.
If Player C had sat out with 50 chips, and only Player B was busted, Player C would continue. (And probably win second place unless he were able to stage a complete reversal.)

To be clear about why B and C's relative hands no longer matter, once A turns over his cards and has the best hand, he takes all of B and C's chips. Since they have no chips left their cards are irrelevant - they're eliminated. If A had been the short stack in this situation then A would only have won the main pot, and B and C would have a side pot to play for, containing the chips that couldn't be matched by A - in which case their hand values come into play.


text:
Good rules for combining the various expansions start tiles
The river expansions, the wheel of fortune and other expansions all add their own sets of start tiles and blocks of tiles to the game.
Are there good rules for combining these starting tiles?

The details depend on which expansions you're playing with, as some have starting pieces that are mutually exclusive or have slightly different rules depending on the combination. For example, the following cover all expansions through the catapult:
Collect tiles:
Collect the following special tiles, in addition to those for the base game and any other expansions being played:

Any combination of river expansion tiles (from "The River", "The River II", or the "Mini Expansion") that includes exactly one spring, exactly one lake/end tile and, optionally a single branch and a second lake/end tile.

The count piece and all 12 Carcassonne City tiles.

Prepare tiles:
Discard the starting tile; place the assembled City in the middle of the table, with the count in the castle district of the City; place the spring next to the City with the river leading away from the City, set one lake/end tile (with a volcano, if in use) and the branch tile aside, face up, and shuffle the remaining river expansion tiles and place them face down; shuffle all other tiles in use and place them in a concealed supply (in a bag, tower dispenser, or face down piles or stacks).
Drawing tiles:
Draw tiles, beginning with the branch tile, then face down river expansion tiles, then the face up lake/end tile, then from tiles in the supply.
For a step-by-step setup and turn structure tailored to whatever specific expansions you have in mind, see http://www.sciencegames.com/carcassonne/.

Aldaron is correct except you play the river spring and fork at the start.

@user6735: Where's the error?

The simplest solution would be to let the first player select a start tile at random from the pile. You can decide to ignore the other start tiles or let the players select them as alternative to a normal tile.

That works for expansions with basic tiles, but what about the 8x8(?) map that wheel of fortune starts with?

@Simon Withers, you can use a replacement tile, if you get that one you play the 8x8 tile.  Or you can roll a die and lookup the tile on a table.

After the research, I think I have the best way to combine de expansions, I share it with you.
Now my expansions are: base game, river, count king and rober (with river II), traders and builders, inns a cathedrals, bridges castles and bazaars, QG#11 & phantom. This is how I'm playing the beginning of the game.
The game starts with the river fork, the river that ends with the volcano is the last for that phase, mix the spring from QG#11, 10 from the river, 10 from the river II and the original starting tile in the bag.
After all the river pieces are played, the player that place the river that end with the volcano, plays carcassonne too, choosing the location where he wants for the city, the following player starts with the rest of the pieces.
Hope will be useful.

The branch is not played by a player it starts in play connected following the same line as the spring with the branch being too the left or right. Then players draw tiles from the river expansion. Furthermore, you use only two lake tiles and set one of those aside doesn't have to be the volcano though it is recommended if you are playing with it. The other lake ets shuffled with the river tiles. The river is allowed to encircle the city but it is discouraged because if the tiles don't come out in the right order there is the potential it can never be completed and you risk tiles being removed from the game.

This isn't very clear; which expansions are contributing what tiles in your explanation? Are you ignoring any of the rules for start tiles in various expansions?


text:
Are there any non-green, non-artifact mana ramp cards?
I have looked and can't seem to find any.
I have seen many green cards and some artifacts that do this, but nothing in Red, Blue, Black or White.
Are there any?
Note: By "Mana Ramp" I mean a card that generates mana, or one that lets you play more than one land per turn.  The end result, for example, would be on turn 4, playing a white only deck, I could tap more than 4 mana.  (Normally you only get one land per turn so a max of 4 mana on turn 4.)

Just a quick one, because I love it; http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=366452 Crypt Ghast has the ability: Whenever you tap a Swamp for mana, add 1 black mana to your mana pool (in addition to the mana the land produces). Effectively doubles your mana each turn in a monoblack deck :)

Not sure if it has been mentioned an any other comment, but for White and Blue it might be better to look to reducing the cost of spells rather than ramping, as there are a lot of cards that do that (as well as increasing the cost of your opponents spells).

There are, but they are purposefully few and far between.
Mana acceleration is considered to be in green's part of the "color pie," with the exception of the occasional black card, and a little bit of a fast-mana theme in red (formerly black). Blue and white occasionally get ways to cheat on mana a bit, but only when they're tied into some other element of those colors.
This answer has discussion tailored to Commander, which also applies pretty well to other casual and multiplayer decks.
In competitive terms, the most relevant cards are:

Dark Ritual is the classic mana acceleration card, in black. It's still an influential card in Legacy.
High Tide features in Legacy blue decks. The trick with this is to take one "big turn" where you develop tons of mana by playing cards that untap your lands, like Time Spiral and Candelabra of Tawnos.
In Modern, Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, Seething Song (this one's banned at the moment) — along with Manamorphose, which actually gives you extra mana if you have a cost-reducer or copy-card in play — are commonly played in storm decks.
In formats with fetchlands, Deathrite Shaman is a mana dork that doesn't actually require a green deck to work very effectively.

Note that there are a lot of colorless cards that are used to cast normal colored cards (like Ancient Tomb).
Also note that oftentimes it's more effective to "cheat" on costs (using reanimation or hand-to-play cards like Show and Tell) than to accelerate your mana.

While Manamorphose can be played with only red mana because of the hybrid symbol, it is still a green card. The same is true of Deathrite Shaman being green and black.

@Andrew Only Commander players care about color identity in that way.

true, without color restrictions people don't tend to care about hybrid off colors - but in those cases people tend to be good with rocks - The question didn't mention any formats, it could be for say a Breya EDH deck (which would actually like rocks) or be purely academic, looking for cards that are specifically not green, like the question said.

Mana ramp is definitely a very green thing; it's a natural effect for the color of life and growth (among other things). This is a great example of the color pie at work: there are just some things that not all the colors can do. But there are some cards outside green (and artifacts) that help produce mana.
In other colors, mana producing abilities are often more conditional - maybe it's a one-time effect, or maybe you have to pay something else to get it.
Here's a Gatherer search that'll find (hopefully) all the directly mana-producing options (along with some things that don't actually ramp, like ones that just turn one color into another). The same search restricted to Standard only finds six cards, only three of which are repeatable: Crypt Ghast, Deranged Assistant, and Liliana of the Dark Realms. (Liliana isn't exactly speedy ramp, of course.) You could restrict to permanents if you don't want one-offs.
It's hard to search directly, but there are also non-green nonartifact things which help put lands onto the battlefield. Here's a deliberately inclusive search; most of those are false positives, but there are a few cards in there that put lands onto the battlefield for you: Braids, Conjurer Adept, Dreamscape Artist, Firebrand Ranger, Knight of the White Orchid, and so on. Again, they're more conditional - and this time, none of them are in standard. (And some of them are from Planar Chaos, where the colors were a bit wonky.)

Unfortunately the first Gatherer search here is now broken as sometime in the past 8 years they re-templated cards so they no longer say "to your mana pool".

White has very little ramp of its own; the effects it does have relating to mana are generally dependent on you controlling fewer lands than your opponent, and most of those put land in your hand, rather than on the field (which is not ramp). Examples: Land Tax, Kor Cartographer, Knight of the White Orchid, Oath of Lieges.
Blue also has very little. Dreamscape Artist is a spellshaper that knows a color-shifted version of Harrow, there's the infamous High Tide, and most (all?) of the "free mana" cards from Urza block are blue, such as Palinchron. Don't forget twiddling effects that can hit lands, like Turnabout!
Black has enough ramp to spawn an archetype -- Big Mana Black! Between cards like Cabal Coffers, Nirkana Revenant, Crypt Ghast, Liliana of the Dark Realms (ultimate), Skirge Familiar, and rituals along the lines of Dark Ritual, a black deck can achieve absurd amounts of mana.
Devotion If your deck is a devotion deck Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is a powerful ramp card.
While older black cards included many rituals, modern rituals tend to be Red. See: Battle Hymn, Brightstone Ritual, Desperate Ritual, Infernal Plunge, Koth of the Hammer (first two abilities), Mana Geyser, Pyretic Ritual, Seething Song, etc.

Note that the black ramp tends to be more about getting you from a decent amount of mana to tons of mana. The permanent spells you listed cost 4 and up, and Cabal Coffers needs four swamps to come out in your favor. The things that can get you going earlier are one-offs, rituals and some sacrifice for mana type stuff.

@Jefromi, True. Of course, if one of the lands in play is Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, then Coffers counts itself, too =)

Don't forget Witch Engine :P

For White and Blue, you could put that they have a lot to reduce the cost of spells instead of generating more mana.

Terrain Generator is a land that not only can add colorless mana but if you have extra land at the end of your opponents turn it allows you to put a basic into play

Another way to get more than one lands into play in a single turn is to recur lands (especially fetchlands) from your graveyard. White in particular uses this strategy since it has some decent cards capable of bringing back permanents and lacks some other more direct ways to ramp.
Cards like Second Sunrise, Brought Back, and Faith's Reward can interact with fetchlands (e.g. Arid Mesa) that were sacrificed to put them back onto the battlefield for a second use. Or more direct permanent recursion like Sun Titan can also return lands to the battlefield and act as mana ramp.

There'd Braid of Fire, but that's only upkeep.
You can also take control of your opponents' lands such as with Annex, Agent of Treachery or Conquer. Chandra, Novice Pyromancer can give you RR for a loyalty counter. Combine it with Chandra's Regulator and Chandra, Acolyte of Flame and you can get RRR each turn.
There's also cards that take you extra turns, which is mana acceleration in some sense.

Blue has a minor theme styled as individuals creating mana to cast (in-world) spells. This tends to manifest in a way that interacts with the card's set's flavor.
Some examples:

Apprentice Wizard
Grand Architect
Deranged Assistant
Qarsi Deceiver
Cultivator Drone
Vodalian Arcanist
Karfell Harbinger

There's a few, but they aren't very common, and most aren't repeatable effects. I won't list what everyone has already said again, but there are a few I haven't seen mentioned that probably should be:

Simian Spirit Guide - exile from the hand for
Skirk Prospector - sacrifice goblins for

Why does nobody list Sisters of the Flame (1RR). Taps for a red mana. A 4th Edition & The Dark card.

You just did ;-)


text:
Can a Thorncaster Sliver's ability have deathtouch?
If I have a Thorncaster that has deathtouch, does its "1 damage to target creature or player" have deathtouch?
At first I thought no.  Because the rules say "Combat Damage".
But then I was reading on wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Deathtouch and one of the "Rulings" says:

The rule that causes creatures dealt damage by a source with
  deathtouch to be destroyed applies to any damage, not just combat
  damage.

I am not sure if these "Rulings" that are listed on that site are official.  I can't imagine them making them up, but I want to know for sure before I pursue deathtouching silvers with multiple Thorncast abilities.
Because if this is true, then a few Slivers with Deathtouch and a Thorncaster out can clean out most blockers...
So, does anyone know where I can access the "Official" rulings for deathtouch?  (Something I could show a judge to prove that it is allowed.)

Thorncaster Sliver's ability works with deathtouch. (The ability doesn't have deathtouch; the Sliver has deathtouch.)
You can go have a look directly in the comprehensive rules if you like - though generally (and in that case), wiki.mtgsalvation.com has copied the relevant part of the comp rules into the articles. As it says:

702.2c A creature with toughness greater than 0 that's been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked is destroyed as a state-based action.

It doesn't say "combat damage" in that rule, just "damage" - so any sort of damage dealt by a creature with deathtouch to another creature causes that creature to be destroyed. This is all you should need to convince someone, especially a judge, who ought to be familiar with the rules in the first place. So yes, the combination of a pinging ability like Thorncaster's with deathtouch works how you want it to.
If you need a reminder, it's right there on the card in the reminder text, at least in core sets: "(Any amount of damage this deals to a creature is enough to destroy it.)" Reminder text isn't actually official rules, but they would certainly have written "combat damage" there if it's what they meant.
(You say "the rules say combat damage" - perhaps referring to 702.2b? But that's talking about the definition of lethal damage in the context of deathtouch, which matters when you're assigning damage to multiple blockers.)
The rulings on those wiki pages aren't official per se, but I would expect they're generally correct, and many are probably copied from rulings on cards on Gatherer. Sometimes you'll find the same set of rulings copied onto many cards with the same keyword/ability, but I don't think that ever got done with deathtouch.

The MTGS wiki is occasionally out of date (there are a lot of rules to keep track of), but it's rarely maliciously false.


text:
Are Magic The Gathering Proxy cards illegal to print?
I tried to print a bunch of Magic the Gathering Proxy cards through my local Costco.  (An MTG Cube)
They called me up and told me that those cards are copyrighted material and that it would be illegal to print them.
I have seen people use proxy cards so I just assumed that Wizards of the Coast allowed printing cards that are clearly not the real card (on photo paper and not the right size).
Is there an official ruling from Wizards of the Coast on this?  If it is allowed is there something I can show my local CostCo?

You can create proxies without the original artwork all you want.

If you wanted to print proxies with the artwork, it would require a release form (googling photograph release form will give you many examples). I would assume that WotC/Hasbro has either first printing rights (you would need the artist to release), or they purchased all rights to the artwork (you need WotC's permission). Obtaining either is doubtful.

@user1873 - I would assume that the text is also copyrighted....

"Shock deals 2 damage to target creature or player." I just violated WotC's copyright, arrest me now.

@user1873 You should probably post that answer as an answer.

@JonathanHobbs, I would if I wanted to take the trouble to provide expert references. As it stands now, my claim is just as valid as any other random person on the internet. I at one point was very interested in copyright law with respect to software, but I have forgotten the particulars (and sometimes the LoC's decisions make no sense, (I.e. It is illegal to jailbreak your phone as of 2012))

Everything that can get Copyrighted is automatically Copyrighted in the US. CostCo's policy makes no sense. They are in no position to judge whether a copy is legal or not, which has nothing to do with whether something is copyrighted or not (seeing as "everything" is). I print MTG cards all the time to evaluate a deck before I buy the real cards.

@ikegami, you might note that multiple commercial photo printers have adopted similar policies. My guess is a recent court case found that they were liable when making wedding photos for a customer (the photographer sued). Costco is just protecting their own ass.

@user1873, What's the policy? Won't copy anything that's copyrighted? Everything is copyrighted!

@ikegami, I don't know precisely, I don't work for Costco. My guess is that the policy is to not print anything that they think isn't owned by the original copyright owner. (I.e. if you bring a wedding photo CD and ask for prints, you need to "claim" that the photos are not professional, that you took them, and possibly give them a release form signed by you that you are releasing them from liability for printing ) In this situation, Costco correctly identified the copyright for the mtg cards as being held by someone other than the person bringing them in.

@user1873, But not owning the Copyright doesn't mean it's illegal for you to make a copy, nor is doing so without permission.

This question appears to be off-topic because it is about legal advice

@ikegami, I think you have that backwards, owning the copyright is precisely what makes it legal to make a copy and what allows you to give others permission to make copies as well.

@BrianS - Your comment made me worried that I had violated the "On Topic" rules.  But I checked them and as far as I can see there is nothing about legal advice there (either way) ( http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic )  If card game related legal advice is off-topic I would request that it be added to the "Off-Topic" help section.

I voted to reopen this question. The question is about legal advice, but it is also about Magic: the Gathering. That means it is on topic.

@Rainbolt It is about legal advice which is something we can't really answer on this site and the fact that it is about magic the gathering doesn't really matter.

Copyright law is not arcane nor something only lawyers can answer about. Copyright as it pertains to board and card game players is something we can answer about, as it's within our domain of knowledge. (This is also a site that attempts to serve game developers, and stuff like this is pertinent questions for them.) Good or bad answers can be voted on accordingly.

This question should definitely be reopened.

There is an existing Meta answer from a mod explaining why this question should be closed.

Seems that Wizards Of the Coast classifies it as full on illegal unless the card is made by a judge in a tournament when the original card is damaged.

Policy Regarding Proxies and Counterfeits
Proxies
Proxies are substitute cards created solely by judges in sanctioned tournaments pursuant to the official tournament rules. These substitutes are allowed when authorized game cards become unplayable during a sanctioned tournament because of damage or excessive wear. Proxies do not include any graphical reproduction of their intended substitutes.
Counterfeits
Counterfeits are copies or reproductions of actual Wizards trading cards, whether or not they are identified as non-genuine. The creation and distribution of counterfeits violate United States and international copyright laws and negatively affects the integrity of Wizards’ trading card games. Counterfeits are strictly prohibited, even for personal, non-commercial use.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/cardpolicy

I wouldn't take WotC's word on this, any more than i would take Nintendo's word regarding backup/archival copies of their games. "WARNING:Copying of any Nintendo game is illegal and is strictly prohibited by domestic and international copyright laws. "Back-up" or "archival" copies are not authorized and are not necessary to protect your software. Violators will be prosecuted." (They put that in game manuals)  Others disagree with Nintendo's assessment.

Sure but a "backup" of a copyrighted work you have purchased certainly has a more legitimate claim than an unauthorized reproduction of a copyrighted work you don't own a legitimate copy of.

@Affe, the point of my comment wasn't that you may be more/less entitled to make a Proxie card if you owns copy of it. My point is that WotC is not an official source for copyright law (or non-biased source), so using them to provide an expert answer is disingenuous.

The specific question actually asked was whether WoTC offers a license to reproduce the content that could be shown to a commercial printer, so in that sense it is the exact answer :)  Do agree with your broader point though of course.

Copyright owners always claim that making any copies of Copyrighted content is a violation of US Copyright Law, but that's not nearly true. In the US, a four-factor test is used to determine if a use is not a violation under the fair use doctrine. And that's not the only exception.

I am not a lawyer, but I found relevant information. Reproduction of copyrighted material is completely fine if it is considered Fair Use under the Fair Use Doctrine. Th doctrine provides a litmus test that you can apply to determine if your use would be considered fair. Below are the relevant clauses.

Rule 1
  ... personal use is favored for fair use, while commercial use is disfavored.

Unless you plan to distribute these cards or sell them to your friends, you pass this test.

Rule 2
  ... Use of imaginative works is more likely to require permission ...

You fail this test. The entire card is a creative work.

Rule 3
  ... Using only a small portion of a copyrighted material tips towards fair use, while using large portions indicates a need for permission

This doesn't really apply. The rule was intended for books, movies, music, etc.

Rule 4
  Where a work is available for purchase or license at a reasonable cost, copying all or a significant portion of the work (in lieu of purchasing or licensing a sufficient number of "authorized" copies) would likely be unfair.

You fail this rule, because the cards are available for purchase.
The rules are obviously vague, and different states apply them differently. Only Wizards can give you peace of mind. All of that being said, you are safe printing proxies because they are banned at tournaments, they are worthless anyway, everyone does it, and even though Wizards strictly prohibits it, they have never gone after anyone for it.
As for what you can tell CostCo, you don't have a case. If you tried to make one, you would fail rules 2 and 4. Go print at another location, or just write over your basic lands like everyone else.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

How much would it cost to have 12,000 x 4 copies of every magic card? Is that reasonable cost?

Rule 3 might actually have relevance too, in the sense that if you're printing enough to play with, you're probably printing a relatively large number of cards, as opposed to printing a single one as part of an article on game design, say.

Be careful giving anything that can easily be perceived as legal advice.

@bengoesboom For the life of me, I can only find policies on ASKING for legal advice on Stack. Thus, my Answer is entirely correct as of the time I posted it, but the Question should be flagged. Feel free to provide a link next time you quote the rules to someone.

@John, it would be quite odd to warn someone of the dangers of "giving legal" advice when they are telling someone not to do something illegal. You seem to be applying that proxies wouldn't qualify for fair use under Rule 3, so you shouldn't proxy. This would be akin to saying you shouldn't kill your wife, because it is murder. (Perhaps if you were giving financial advice as a tax professional and said you shouldn't kill your wife, but failed to note the marriage penalty increases your tax liability, therefore costing you thousands of dollars.)