text:
Grisly Spectacle has two parts if the first part fails does the second still happen
Grisly Spectacle states:

Destroy target nonartifact creature. Its controller puts a number of cards equal to that creature's power from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard.

If a creature is indestructible the first part will have no effect, but will the second part still happen?

I'm voting to reopen this. My initial nomination of it as a duplicate was incorrect, I think. In this case there's no fizzling that will occur — Grisly Spectacle just won't destroy the creature but it will still be a valid target.

@doppelgreener The proposed duplicate handles both the situation of when the target becomes invalid, and when the target doesn't become invalid. Why would this not be a duplicate of that?

The proposed duplicate is broader, but that should be fine. When someone asks "does summoning sickness prevent the use of activated abilities?" we close it as a duplicate of the question that covers all of the rules surrounding summoning sickness.

@GendoIkari The answer to that question exclusively deals with when targets become illegal, because the cards being asked about exclusively would be impacted by targets becoming illegal. The duplicate banner here says “this question already has an answer here”, but it doesn't. The dupe target acknowledges there's various kinds of ways spells can fail to execute properly, but the question isn't a generic canonical question like our summoning sickness one is. (And if we wanted one, we should probably start fresh rather than adopt that one.)

@doppelgreener It doesn't though; it specifically talks about the case of the target having an ability that prevents the spell from doing what it tries to do; without the target becoming an invalid target. I agree that it's not a canonical question like the summoning sickness one.

And although the specific example given in that other question dealt with a target becoming invalid; the question itself was asking for an explanation of both situations; when would a spell fizzle vs when would it try to do as much as possible.

@GendoIkari Well, I don't think it covers this question, nor that this question is a duplicate, nor that this question has answers there. So I'm leaving my vote to reopen.

(@GendoIkari Btw, I think my response there came across a bit more argumentative-sounding than I meant. I apologise.)

@doppelgreener No problem. You haven't convinced me to reopen it myself; but I'll just let it be and see if the necessary votes come in.

Would Can I target an indestructible creature with a 'destroy target creature' spell? be a better duplication target?

Yes, you can target an indestructible creature with Grisly Spectacle. If you do, the spell will try and fail to destroy the creature, and the spell will mill the creature's controller.
Be aware that you need a creature you can legally target with Grisly Spectacle in order to cast the spell, and the creature needs to still be around and legal to target in order for the mill to happen. You can't for example, Grisly Spectacle your opponents Carnage Tyrant, and if they were to use Blossoming Defense on a creature you would get neither the kill nor the mill.


text:
Can you cast a card with Madness multiple times when it is discarded?
If a card has madness and I have discarded it to exile, can I cast it multiple times or only once?

You are more likely to get good answers if you put a little more effort into formatting and clarity. The subject itself should be an actual question; while the rest of the post describes the detail about the question.

Once.
Let's start with the definition of Madness.

702.34a Madness is a keyword that represents two abilities. The first is a static ability that functions while the card with madness is in a player’s hand. The second is a triggered ability that functions when the first ability is applied. “Madness [cost]” means “If a player would discard this card, that player discards it, but exiles it instead of putting it into his or her graveyard” and “When this card is exiled this way, its owner may cast it by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost. If that player doesn’t, he or she puts this card into his or her graveyard.”

When you "discard the card to exile", its second ability triggers. When its second ability resolves, it allows you to cast the card. The ability only triggers once, so you may only cast the card once.
To be able to cast an exiled card multiple times, you'd need something like Isochron Scepter. There are two differences:

The ability Isochron Scepter provides to allow you to cast the spell is repeatable.
Isochron Scepter has the player cast a copy of the card rather than the card itself. Keep in mind that the first step of casting a spell is to move it to the stack.[CR 601.2a] Casting a copy of the card allows the card to stay exiled.

source: Stack Exchange

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text:
The spell temper (old card) effect in combat damage resolution
Temper prevents the next 'X' damage and puts 'X' +1/+1 counters on a creature.  Do those counters increase the damage done by this creature in the combat resolution step?
Also how does it interact with an 'Nomads en-Kor' style damage redirection or a Boros Reckoner?

Okay there's two questions here so lets take them one at a time. First though being combat damage only matters for the timing of the damage in the first question, Temper works the same way regardless of how the damage is dealt.
1) Temper will NOT change the damage done by that creature in the same damage step, damage is already assigned in full, and would have been dealt at the same time it was to take the damage being prevented. Making a creature more powerful after damage is assigned doesn't change that. If however the damage prevented was from a first strike source, and your creature does not have first strike, or has double strike, the second damage step will have those counters and will do that extra damage. This is seen more recently with the effect of Drana, Liberator of Malakir every time she hits all attacking creatures get a +1/+1 counter, and she has first strike.
2) If Temper was placed on Boros Reckoner, his effect will not be triggered, he was dealt no damage so his effect does nothing. The en-Kor redirection effects could go either way, assuming one player controls both the effects that player chooses which one applies first and which tries to apply second. The one that would apply second fails to happen, because damage is no longer going to be dealt to that creature. This is covered in the Comprehensive rules:

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

If Temper is cast on the creature that damage is being redirected to, both effects will apply, the damage will be redirected and then prevented.
It's worth noting that Temper still prevents X damage during that turn, unlike some other sources it does not care from where or when the damage is dealt, beyond that it is all in that one turn. So if you redirect all damage from a group of en-Kor creatures being hit by something like pyroclasm it will prevent all of up to X of that damage, and if anything is left be able to prevent still more later in the turn.

You might want to clarify why Temper can prevent more than 1 point of damage if cast on the creature that en-Kor redirected to.

@Taemyr Fair enough, I added in that number of sources doesn't matter, though that part should be obvious. More important was to fix that they have an option on the en-Kor/replacement effects.

I haven't played MtG in ages, so on reading en-Kor thought that you could only prevent one damage.  Then read your answer and rethought, because I would have no problem with Temper preventing damage from multiple completely different sources - then I tried to find the rules that applies, but struggle a bit with that because prevention effects is a continous effect; so how long does a continous effect from an instant last?  All in all I think I am beyond the scope of the question though.

@Taemyr you can activate the ability as many times as you can afford, and since the en-Kor effect has a cost of 0, that's infinite. It just redirect the first point with the first one, then the next point is the first one again and it gets redirected also.

@Taemyr as for how long it lasts, the oracle text for Temper says "
Prevent the next X damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn. For each 1 damage prevented this way, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature." IT lasts to the end of the turn.

Yes, the oracle text is way clearer. - IIUC, without the oracle text the effect would remain until the spell had prevented the full X amount, even across subsequent turns.  (By 611.2a)

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text:
Equipment cards and the timing of their activated ability

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

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

The following is the definition of the equip keyword ability:

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

(Emphasis mine)
The restriction only applies to the equip ability itself; it doesn't say or imply anything about other abilities on the permanent with equip.
It doesn't even apply to other abilities that attach equipment. For example, Healer's Headdress's second ability ("{W}{W}: Attach Healer’s Headdress to target creature you control.") can be activated anytime you have priority. This is why the second ability is more expensive than the equip ability it also has.
As for the meaning of the "any time you could cast a sorcery" restriction, it's explained by the following rule:

307.5. If a spell, ability, or effect states that a player can do something only “any time they could cast a sorcery,” it means only that the player must have priority, it must be during the main phase of their turn, and the stack must be empty. The player doesn’t need to have a sorcery they could cast. Effects that would preclude that player from casting a spell or casting a sorcery don’t affect the player’s capability to perform that action (unless the action is actually casting a spell or casting a sorcery).

(Emphasis mine)

Rule 702.6a applies specifically to the equip ability itself - that is the activated ability that allows you to attach the equipment to a creature. All other activated abilities the equipment might have can be used at any time like normal, unless they say otherwise.
Incidentally, it's pretty rare for equipment to have activated abilities other than its equip ability. More commonly, the equipment will grant an ability to the creature it's equipped to. Either way, what I said above holds true.
Also, because your wording was a little ambiguous, I want to be clear that "Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery" means "only during your main phase, while nothing is on the stack waiting to be resolved".  It does not mean that you have to cast a sorcery spell in order to equip a creature.

The rule reference for the last paragraph is 307.5

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text:
Supernatual Stamina + Commander
I've been wondering a seemingly stupid question, can Supernatural Stamina work more than once on a commander card? Instant grants ability to creature, commander is the same creature while changing zones. Could it be a loophole or am I missing something?

You can not use Supernatural Stamina to return your Commander to the battlefield multiple times.
Whenever a creature leaves the battlefield and returns it is treated as different object. This is covered in the gatherer rulings for Supernatural Stamina:

Supernatural Stamina’s effect works only once. If the targeted creature dies and is then returned to the battlefield, it’s considered to be a new creature. If that new creature dies, it won’t come back a second time.

Additionally, while your Commander is still considered your Commander while changing zones it is still treated as a new object every time it changes zones as covered in the comprehensive rules:

903.3.: Each deck has a legendary creature card designated as its commander. This designation is not a characteristic of the object represented by the card; rather, it is an attribute of the card itself. The card retains this designation even when it changes zones.

and:

400.7.: An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. There are nine exceptions to this rule:*

*(None of the exceptions apply)

Note: It's not just the triggered ability the "returned Commander" won't have; it won't have the +2/+0 for the same reason.

Nit: Technically, one of the exceptions of 400.7 does apply here, at least in the first zone change. 400.7h allows the ability to find the object in the graveyard.

Additionally I would like to know if this then applies the 2 manna penalty to cast him again? The commander didn't technically hit the command zone again does that mean his cost will be unchanged?

@ThunderToes The rules say that "Doing so costs that player an additional {2} for each previous time he or she cast that commander from the command zone that game." So since you haven't cast it from the command zone an additional time, the cost doesn't go up. Note that it doesn't count how many times the commander has been in the command zone, but how many times it's been cast from there. Thus, theoretically, if you can find some way to get it into play from the command zone without actually casting it, the cost doesn't go up.

@Arthur relevant to that would be Derevi or Command Beacon.

@ikegami RE:Nit, that is true, but I didn't want to complicate things.

Supernatural Stanima will only protect a creature once; there is nothing different or special about a Commander here.
If you want to use Supernatural Stamina on your commander, then when it is killed; you must choose not to send it to the command zone instead of to the graveyard. If you choose to send it to the command zone, then it will never die, so Supernatural Stanima would do nothing. If you choose not to send it to the command zone, then it will return like any other creature would; but no longer be protected.
From the glossary in the rules:

Dies

A creature “dies” if it is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.

So a commander that goes to your command zone won't have died.

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text:
How much life can I gain attacking someone who can't fall under 1 hp with lifelink creatures?
Context :
My friend played Worship, it states:

If you control a creature, damage that would reduce your life total to less than 1 reduces it to 1 instead.

Question :
If I attack him with a 4/4 creature with lifelink while he already has 1HP will I still gain 4 HPs?

The damage is still dealt fully, even though Worship makes it so your life total can't go under 1. This means you gain the full 4 life from the lifelink creature.
Source: Gatherer rulings

10/4/2004 It reduces your life total to 1, not the damage to 1.
  10/4/2004 Worship does not prevent damage. It causes some damage to be
  unable to lower your life total. So any damage rendered useless by
  Worship was still dealt and is counted by effects that track the
  amount of damage done to a player. In addition, Worship does not
  prevent loss of life, so loss of life bypasses Worship.

Thx a lot for this usefull answer !

And reason for this is that attackers must assign damage equal to their power, and they deal the amount of damage they assigned. Effects such as Worship's modify or reduce the damage taken, but not the damage dealt.


text:
How damages from an attack applies to a player?
Context :
We're playing a mtg multiplayer game with 3 people (2 friends and I).
Let's say player 1 has no creature on the board and no way to defend himself and 1 Life left, player 2 has some big creatures on the board and plenty of Life, and player 3 has three 3/3 creatures on the board, each with lifelink and vigilance, but player 3 doesn't have much life left (he could die next time player 2 attacks him with full power).
In order to survive the next turn, player 3 has to gain life with the 3 of his creatures AND keep them alive for defense purpose) so he decides to attack player 1 with everything.
Question :
How do you apply the damage from player 3's attack to player 1 ?
We're lacking information and can't tell if player 1 will die from the blow of the first creature to damage him (thus healing only 3 life to player 3), or if all three creatures hit him at the same time, letting player 3 heal 9 Life this turn.

All combat damage happens at the same time, barring abilities such as first strike. That means player 3 gains 9 life from the attack (and player 1 ends up at -8 life before losing).
From the CR:

510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it’s dealt.

An interesting question arising from this would be, "what if some of the creatures had first strike and some didn't?"  Would the player take all of the damage (first strike and regular), or just the first strike damage, before they die?

@Doctor Jones, If there are First Strike and non-First Strike attackers, there are two Combat Damage Steps. In each step, all damage is dealt simultaneously

Can players die in between damage steps?  Or do they have to wait until all damage steps are resolved?

@DoctorJones, a player can die during the first strike damage step (so after first strike damage is dealt, but before normal damage). This happens as a state-based action, so no player has a chance to respond before the player has lost the game (CR 104.3b and 704). In this case, you would of course only gain life from the first strike creatures.


text:
How often can I activate planeswalker abilities with Teferi's emblem?
This question relies on Teferi's emblem which says

You may activate loyalty abilities of planeswalkers you control on any player's turn any time you could cast an instant.

Since I can activate 1 planeswalker ability per planeswalker per turn could I activate Jace's +1 draw a card ability on each player's turn as long as I have the emblem on board?

Since I can activite 1 planeswalker ability per planeswalker per turn could I activate Jace's +1 draw a card ability every player's turn as long as I have the emblem on board ?

Yes, you can.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage's emblem overrides rule 606.3, specifically the emphasized part:

606.3. A player may activate a loyalty ability of a permanent he or she controls any time he or she has priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of his or her turn, but only if no player has previously activated a loyalty ability of that permanent that turn.

Which means you can activate any loyalty ability of any permanent (usually a planeswalker) you control at any time you could cast an instant, as long as you have not activated a loyalty ability of that permanent that turn.

Yes you would be able to Activate Jace, Ingenious Mind-Mage's Ability once on each of your and your opponents turns.
This is covered on Teferi, Temporal Archmage's Gatherer page in the rulings:

If you control Teferi’s emblem, the rule that says you can activate a loyalty ability only if none of that permanent’s loyalty abilities have been activated that turn still applies. In other words, you could activate a planeswalker’s loyalty ability once on your turn and once on each of your opponents’ turns.


text:
When a creature turns into a frog, does damage stay on it?
I dealt 1 damage to a creature that my opponent controls. Then I want to cast Polymorphist's Jest and turn it into a 1/1 frog. Does damage stay on it or does all damage reset?

"Transform" has a specific meaning in Magic (for double-faced cards) so I edited to avoid using that word. I'm not sure if there's a short specific term for "loses all abilities and has its type and base power/toughness set", so I just said "turns into a frog", but if anyone knows a better way to put it, go for it.

@Cascabel, The short specific term would be "When a creature's characteristics change". But that would not be an appropriate edit.

@ikegami That's a term for the category of changes, yes, but then it'd include just type, or just power/toughness, or just abilities, which doesn't really describe what the OP wanted to ask about. So, no, not quite a short, specific term for this thing, and therefore not an appropriate edit, as you say.

@Cascabel, I said it would not be appropriate edit because it presumes knowledge of the answer: There's nothing special about that combination of characteristic changes.

@ikegami I'm pretty sure that's just agreeing with me: from the question's point of view, this might be a meaningful combination of characteristic changes (it's "everything" in some sense) and so summarizing it just as "characteristic changes" does not accurately represent the question.

Damage stays on the creature.
This rule outlines all the situations in which damage would be removed from a creature, without a card explicitly saying so:

119.6. Damage marked on a creature remains until the cleanup step, even if that permanent stops being a creature. If the total damage marked on a creature is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed as a state-based action (see rule 704). All damage marked on a permanent is removed when it regenerates (see rule 701.13, "Regenerate") and during the cleanup step (see rule 514.2).

(emphasis added) Note that this rule says nothing about the creature turning into a different creature or changing its power/toughness or other characteristics. Since there is no rule that specifies that damage should be removed when those things happen, the damage stays.

Damage and effects affecting the creature do not go away, its status (e.g. whether it's tapped or not, etc) remains unchanged, auras and equipment stay attached, and counters remain on it.

Polymorphist's Jest doesn't replace the creature; it merely changes some of its characteristics. More specifically, Polymorphist's Jest creates a continuous effect that sets the creature's abilities (like Basilisk Collar), type (like Metallic Mimic), and power and toughness (like Aquamoeba). There's nothing special about the combination of these.
Since it's still the same creature, it still has all of its marked damage[1], and any effects that were affecting it continue to do so.[2][3] It also means that any Auras and Equipment that were attached to it remain attached to it. And any counter that was on the creature remain on it.
Crib Swap, on the other hand, replaces the creature with a new one. Nothing is transferred from the old creature to the new one. Not damage, not status, not effects, not Auras, not Equipment, not counters, etc.

Damage is only removed from a permanent when it regenerates and during the cleanup step.

119.6. Damage marked on a creature remains until the cleanup step, even if that permanent stops being a creature. If the total damage marked on a creature is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed as a state-based action (see rule 704). All damage marked on a permanent is removed when it regenerates (see rule 701.13, "Regenerate") and during the cleanup step (see rule 514.2).

As always, abilities can also do so. Totem Armor might be the only ability that does so at this time.
Unless they were created by a static ability that was removed.
Keep in mind that power/toughness-modifying effects are applied after power/toughness-setting effects. So if the creature was affected by Giant Growth, you'd have a 4/4 Frog. This means you could potentially save a creature with marked damage by casting something like Giant Growth in response to Polymorphist's Jest.


text:
If both players have Boros Battleshaper, can I cancel out my opponent's ability with mine?
Boros Battleshaper's ability reads

At the beginning of each combat, up to one target creature attacks or blocks this combat if able and up to one target creature can't attack or block this combat.

My opponent and I each have a Boros Battleshaper, and my opponent is attacking. If she targets one of my other creatures to prevent it from blocking, can I use my Battleshaper’s ability to ‘force’ the effected creature to block?

"attacks or blocks this combat if able" Making a creature unable to attack or block means the Battleshaper can't force it to do either, as the Battleshaper's own ability says. It doesn't let creatures who previously couldn't attack or block do those things. It simply says that when the turn comes for a player to choose which creatures to attack or block with, some of that choice is made for him.

No. If you tried, then the creature would have both “blocks this combat if able” and “can’t block this combat”. The latter would win. First off, the first one says “if able”, and it isn’t able. A tapped creature wouldn’t be able to block for the same reason.
Second, even if it didn’t say “if able”, it wouldn’t matter because “can’t” always wins.

The Magic Golden Rules

101.2. When a rule or effect allows or directs something to happen, and another effect states that it can’t happen, the “can’t” effect takes precedence.


text:
Using Huatli, Radiant Champion ability on another Huatli, Radiant Champion
Say I already have a Huatli, Radiant Champion out. If I cast a second Huatli, Radiant Champion can I use the original Huatli's plus 1 ability to target the new Huatli?
Or does the original, or whichever one I choose, die immediately?

Possible duplicate of How does having multiple permanents with the same name affect those permanents' abilities?

Also worth noting that you can't ever target anything with the +1 ability... it doesn't target.

@GendoIkari That is not a duplicate of that question because in this case the card in question is a legendary planeswalker. Because of that it is not possible for a player to have two of them in play at as indicated in Adrew's answer.

@JoeW It's possible that I am misinterpreting the user's confusion; but it seems to me that the legend rule isn't even relevant considering his misinterpretation of what it means when a card uses its own name in its text.

@GendoIkari The legendary rule is extremely important to this answer because the act of playing a second legendary card with the same name would cause you to destroy one of the cards before you could use the ability on either card. While it is helpful to include rule 201.4 for cases where you can have duplicate cards in play I don't think it is responsible at all to only mention that rule in cases where there can't be a duplicate card in play in front of a player (not counting the edge cases where that rule can be broken)

Retracted my close vote. It's tricky to me because the user seems to be asking about the timing of something regarding the legendary rule, but the thing they're asking about isn't even a valid question due to another misunderstanding of how card names work.

No you may not use one Huatli, Radiant Champion to put loyalty counters on a different Huatli, Radiant Champion.
As a refresher, the loyalty ability you referrer to in your question reads:

+1: Put a loyalty counter on Huatli, Radiant Champion for each creature you control.

There are several reasons that you can not place the loyalty counters onto the new Huatli. The main reason is that whenever a card uses its card name in the rules text box, it is only referring to that particular card and not other cards that might share a name with it. This is covered in the comprehensive rules here:

201.4.: Text that refers to the object it’s on by name means just that particular object and not any other objects with that name, regardless of any name changes caused by game effects.

Now beyond this rule there is one other that makes it so that you can not do this, State Based Actions and more specifically something called the legend rule.

704.5j: If a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is called the “legend rule.”

State Based Actions (SBA) are special in magic in that they are checked automatically each time a player receives priority, they do not belong to any player, and they do not use the stack. This means that when SBAs are checked no player has a chance to respond to them, not even with instants or abilities.
So what that means for your example is that after you cast your second Huatli, Radiant Champion, you must immediately choose one of them and send the other to your graveyard. This will be done before you get the chance to use one of Huatli's loyalty abilities.
So even in the hypothetical situation Huatli had the ability:

+1 Put a loyalty counter on target Planeswalker for each creature you control.

You still would be unable to activate the ability before the other Huatli is put into your graveyard (and therefore not a valid target).

@ Samantha if you like I could go over the timing restrictions as well using the card Ajani Steadfast to explain why it isn't possible to add loyalty counters to a planeswalker that will be sacrificed due to the legendary rule? or does this answer your question sufficiently?

You might want to mention that one of them has to be put into the graveyard as a state-based action due to the legendary rule, which occurs instantly as soon as it enters the battlefield and before loyalty abilities can be activated (or before anything else at all can be done).

@doppelgreener Agreed, I covered that part in my answer, though I agree 201.4 prevents it all the time where 704.5j has two exceptions, only one that can apply to Huatli.

You mention there's lots of reasons, and it's good to mention that the name only refers to oneself -- but the asker appears to have missed the fact they can't functionally ever have two, or do anything to save one of them. (Short of having Mirror Gallery out.) S'why that's probably also worth mentioning explicitly.

@doppelgreener I wanted to keep things simple and focus down on the main reason why it wouldn't work since technically you could have a mirror gallery down and it still wouldn't work. Since OP hasn't responded and comments have asked for it I will add mention to the Legendary Rule as well.

No, both copies will never be on the battlefield while you have priority
You cannot use Huatli, Radiant Champion before the legend rule takes effect. The legend rule is evaluated as a state-based action, this causes all but one copy of Huatli to leave the battlefield after the second copy resolves, but before the active player has priority to activate any abilities or spells. Even if the legend rule used the stack, Planeswalker abilities are sorcery speed, so the legend rule would need to resolve before sorcery speed abilities can be put on the stack.

704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 116, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. If any state-based actions are performed as a result of a check, the check is repeated; otherwise all triggered abilities that are waiting to be put on the stack are put on the stack, then the check is repeated. Once no more state-based actions have been performed as the result of a check and no triggered abilities are waiting to be put on the stack, the appropriate player gets priority. [...]
704.5j If a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is called the “legend rule.”

With the exception of using Mirror Gallery, and allowing both copies, there is no way for them to exist on your board at the same time. If you have Mirror Gallery, then the rule covering cards that refer to themselves prevents it.

201.4.: Text that refers to the object it’s on by name means just that particular object and not any other objects with that name, regardless of any name changes caused by game effects.

If it had allowed you to target it would likely have been worded as:

+1: Put a loyalty counter on target planeswalker for each creature you control.

This ability would have been incredibly broken, and likely been at least the - ability if not the ultimate, since it would allow you to power up any walker likely to set their ultimate off, and you would still be able to use that walker's ultimate. Even if it had specified target Huatli planeswalker, the ability would have been more powerful than a +1 should be, allowing you to set off Huatli, Warrior Poet for huge numbers, preventing all blocks then swinging in for massive attacks that either can't be blocked, or only blocked by what you want them to use to block, with the creatures that gave you the counters, and to do this every turn as long as you can keep both walkers alive.

You seem to be misunderstanding what Huatli, Radiant Champion's first ability does. As explained in this question, when a card uses its own name in the text of an ability, that just means "this card"; you can't use that ability on a different card with the same name.
That being said, say you were asking about an ability that did work the way you think, such as Ajani Steadfast's -2 ability:

Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control and a loyalty counter on each other planeswalker you control.

In this case, the answer is still no, you cannot play a second Ajani and then activate the first Ajani's -2 ability to get an extra loyalty counter on the new Ajani (or activate the new one to get an extra loyalty counter on the old one).
This is because the "Legendary Rule" happens as a state-based action, which will take effect before you have priority.

704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 116, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. If any state-based actions are performed as a result of a check, the check is repeated; otherwise all triggered abilities that are waiting to be put on the stack are put on the stack, then the check is repeated. Once no more state-based actions have been performed as the result of a check and no triggered abilities are waiting to be put on the stack, the appropriate player gets priority. [...]
704.5j If a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is called the “legend rule.”

Due to these rules, you cannot activate any abilities (or cast any spells) while both Ajani's are on the battlefield. You would need a card such as Mirror Gallery to do something like that. Of course Mirror Gallery will not help in the case of Huatli because his ability doesn't work that way.


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Is a card considered the same card if it is from a different set?
With the brand new Rivals of Ixalan set coming out soon, I was looking at the card library and I saw they had the Legion Conquistador in again. It is exactly the same as the Legion Conquistador from Ixalan, and I want to know if it is considered the same card if it has the same name and effects as another card, but is from a different set? So could I have 8 Legion Conquistadors, 4 from Ixalan and 4 from Rivals of Ixalan? Or are they the same card?

The name is the only thing that matters, see the other question.

Have we ever had a card with two different printings in the same standard format? Maybe something like Naturalize or Shatter has had multiple printings but this could be unique.

Yes they are the same card. Cards are determined by their English name, not by any other statistic of the card, including text, art, and set information. For all cards, other then some of the cards in the new unstable set like Very Cryptic Command, cards with the same English name will have the same effect based on oracle text, though printed text may vary, as newer copies will have the oracle text at the time of printing. There have been cards which are functional reprints, where the effect is the same but the card name is different, like Dragon Fodder and Krenko's Command, these cards are different cards, as they have different English names, even though everything else about them is identical.
From the comprehensive rules:

100.2a In constructed play (a way of playing in which each player creates his or her own deck ahead of time), each deck must contain at least sixty cards. A constructed deck may contain any number of basic land cards and no more than four of any card with a particular English name other than basic land cards.

This of course only applies to constructed play, not limited play. If you were playing in the prerelease this past weekend and got one Legion Conquistador in both Ixalan packs and in all 4 Rivals of Ixalan packs for a total of six, you are free to play all six copies. (unlikely to happen but possible)

Please do not edit to replace the link with mtg: format, mtg:format links for cards like very cryptic do not find all results as intended.

Yes, they are considered the same card. Only their English name matters.

100.2a In constructed play (a way of playing in which each player creates his or her own deck ahead of time), each deck must contain at least sixty cards. A constructed deck may contain any number of basic land cards and no more than four of any card with a particular English name other than basic land cards.


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What is this "dice, cubes, hexes and ships" game?
I've seen it in a "Game mechanics" presentation. What is the name of this game showcased in the photo below?

Found it. It's called Eclipse.

Good sleuthing work! Thanks for including a comparative image.

Confirmed (played it)


text:
Does the banker in Chemin de Fer have to memorize this table?
I read a description of Chemin de Fer which said that if the punter takes a third card, then the banker "must" react according to the following table:

It would seem to be non-trivial to memorize this table and obviously the other bettors could get angry at me if I did not make the expected play. Is it really required to memorize this table to play Chemin de Fer?

According to this casino description of the game's rules:

Bank Handling in Chemin de Fer

The player sitting on the right side of the croupier, who is based in middle of the table, is first to be the Banker. ... The players take turns in the role of the Banker.

...

A Choice

.... There is no need to worry about the rules of Chemin de Fer – they are watched carefully by the croupier.

The above makes no mention of aids at all, only that the croupier will ensure errors in procedure are corrected; so presumably one may possess and refer to memory aids in regards the rules as needed.
Further there is no requirement, either by the Rules or strategic considerations, for the Banker's dealt cards to remain hidden once the Player has announced to Stand or Draw. A Banker may thus freely turn them over after that Player decision is made, either for assistance on the Rules
or to demonstrate compliance with them.
That said however; redrawing the chart above as follows gives a much simpler rule for the Banker to follow:
Except for the combinations 9-3 and 4-5, the Banker must Draw when the Player's third card is:

equal or greater to twice his initial hand value less 6; and
less than or equal to 7.

This doesn't appear to actually reach the point of definitively answering the question, which is whether the banker must memorise the table. It appears to go in that direction but it leaves concluding the answer as an exercise for the reader. This answer should instead conclude with a firm answer itself.

@doppelgreener From what I see in the question there is no indication that the banker or anyone else can't refer to the rules or other reference data during play and can only depend on their memory.

@JoeW All I'm suggesting is the answer should give a clear confirmation in the affirmative or negative on whether anyone's expected to memorise the table. I can synthesize what I think the conclusion might be, but I'm not an expert capable of answering the question, so I don't necessarily have confidence my interpretation would be correct.

@doppelgreener I understand what you are saying now

@doppelgreener: The table is much easier to learn when reorganized as I have edited to show.

@ForgetIwaseverhere But is it necessary to memorise it? There's a yes or no here, or a probably or a probably not, and I'm not sure whether it is or isn't necessary from reading this answer.

@doppelgreener: Better now?

No, there are no requirements in the rules to memorize that chart and it does not appear to be expected at any point in time. You can refer back to the rules  or make a cheat sheet of your own design for this.
If you look online there are other formats of when you draw or don't draw that could make it easier to understand. A good example can be found with these rules.

Believe it or not this domain doesn't load for me at all. (It does appear to work—it's just me—but maybe my ISP blocks it because of that domain name and/or TLD (*.biz has always been a hotbed of scammy websites). Is there an alternative source available to reference? (I don't mean to hassle, just noticed it.)

@doppelgreener Added a screen shot from the page with the draw rules

The rules for playing as the banker listed are in fact the proper basic strategy for the game, under the condition that the banker only knows the drawn card (if any), and that the player did not have a natural.
It's not that you have to make those decisions as banker, but they are what you SHOULD do.  Deviating from them is likely to let the other people win more often.
The player also is expected to follow their own much simpler rules, UNLESS they called "banco", and are thus going heads up against the banker.  A player who calls banco may use their own judgement on whether to draw a third card. If no one calls "banco", then the player draws on 4 or less, stands on 6 or seven, and may optionally draw on 5. The reason for this is simple. with a 5, any draw is equally likely to increase or decrease your total. less than 5, there are more cards that increase then decrease, and vice versa with 6 or 7.
The banker table is more complicated, because it takes into account the likelyhood of the player having improved or worsened their hand by the draw they just got. Once you realize this, it's easier to understand the table.
In practice, players tend to follow the rules anyway, and other people will usually remind them of the correct play. Hence "The odds favor standing pat..." "If you play by the odds." from James Bond.


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Pokemon Japanese Pocket monster cards?

Does anyone know what kind of cards these are?

Looks like a particular style of trading card to me. It'll be hard to track down what it is specifically since I expect most searches to give results for the TCG, but good luck!

They are Topsun Pokemon cards from 1997. There was also a 1995 set of Topsun cards, which is more common. They came from Bandai vending machines in a gum and card pack.
There is a video of someone opening a pack on youtube
There are also a number of listings on eBay


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When does Devotion change & when does a god's type change?
A friend of mine said that he was playing a game of magic when he went to use Suspension Field on his opponent's Keranos, God of Storms.
Keranos had enough devotion to be a creature at the time Suspension Field was cast, but in response to Suspension Field his opponent destroyed one of his own creatures to reduce his devotion and reverted Keranos to just an enchantment again, claiming to make Suspension Field fizzle on the stack.
Does devotion change at instant speed?

It's worth noting that you cannot Silkwrap a Keranos regardless of devotion, as the CMC of Keranos is 5

Perhaps we should edit the question to reference Suspension Field instead. It's effectively the same as Silkwrap, except its condition is "toughness 3 or greater" instead of "CMC 3 or less".

Devotion is continuously kept up to date based on the current board state. It will be kept up to date between two spells on the stack resolving. (I wouldn't even call that "instant speed", which is more appropriate for describing things that go on the stack. You just keep it up to date continuously.)
The Devotion ability of gods —

As long as your devotion to {color/s} is less than {five/seven}, ~ isn't a creature.

— is a static ability that creates a continuous effect, and as the rules on continuous effects say:

611.3. A continuous effect may be generated by the static ability of an object.

611.3a A continuous effect generated by a static ability isn’t “locked in”; it applies at any given moment to whatever its text indicates.

The very moment a permanent that contributes to devotion enters or leaves your battlefield, your devotion is changed, and your gods on the battlefield1 may become creatures or cease to be creatures.
This means that if a spell or ability that says "target creature" is cast targeting only Keranos, and someone pulls this maneuver to de-creature-ify him, he will almost certainly not be a valid target at resolution time and the spell will fizzle. The same goes for other gods.

Your scenario itself is a little more complex. Suspension Field is not an instant or sorcery; it's an enchantment with an enters-the-battlefield ability. You don't choose targets while Suspension Field is on the stack — you just let it resolve. Then its ability triggers, and you choose targets for that. This maneuver would cause that ability to fizzle, then the Suspension Field would be left sitting uselessly on the battlefield.
For instants and sorceries though: an instant or sorcery like Burn from Within would lose its only valid target and fizzle. However Radiant Purge would still resolve fully and exile Keranos, because he still meets the targeting criteria (he's a multicolored enchantment).

1: Since this static ability is not a characteristic defining ability, it only functions on the battlefield. Gods who aren't on the battlefield are always legendary enchantment creatures.

Technically, Silk Wrap itself wouldn't be countered as it doesn't target. The ETB can't target Keranos until the enchantment itself hits the field. Doesn't change the overall result of no exiling though.

@MichaelSnook Thanks, going to reference Suspension Field instead. We updated the question to reference Suspension Field as well, instead of Silkwrap, which as you said doesn't even make for a valid scenario in the first place.

Is it Suspension Field that gets countered? Or the ability that is generated when it enters the battlefield... I think the same issue with Silkwrap happens here. By your last sentence, it would seem SF is sent to the graveyard, but I believe that it would end up just being a useless enchantment (well except for devotion, etc).

@corsiKa you are correct. Suspension field is not countered, it's ETB ability is countered and it will just sit on the battlefield doing nothing and when/if it leaves, it has nothing to return.

Thanks @corsiKa and Andrew for the fact correction, I forgot about that dynamic. :)

(and a ping for @Andrew)

If the opponent destroyed his own creature in response to Suspension Field instead of in response to the triggered ability, then you could just choose a different legal target for suspension field's ability.

@Gendolkari he could, I was wondering whether it'd be worth mentioning that. (Probably is now that you mention it super concisely like that, I was having trouble keeping it short.)


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Rolling One With Cowry Dice
I am playing Parcheesi with cowry shells as dice. I am on the last square and need a roll of one to return the pawn to home. However, with cowry dice, only rolls of 10+grace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6+grace, 25+grace are possible. An exact throw is required. What is the solution to the problem? Can the 10 throw also stand for 1 in cowry dice?

Hopefully you are playing Pachisi and not Parcheesi.  If yes, then this answer is accurate.
An ebook by Damian Walker here:
A Book of Historic Board Games
Page 25 - 1.2.7

A grace counts as if were a separate throw scoring 1, in addition to
  the value of the cowries.  Graces are used for entering and moving
  pieces.

As long as you have a grace at then end of your set of rolls you can bring this piece home.

So if one rolls 10 or 25, one gets not only an additional throw, but also a grace of 1?

According to the book, yes.  Cultural variants could be different, that's the difficulty with games as old as this.  Even in North America we have Parcheesi, Ludo, and Sorry that all evolved out of Pachisi.


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How should DJ Fenris be played?
I can't catch how DJ Fenris should be played in terms of the game rules? I just bring all 13 g-mod ids, put them somewhere on the table and choose one of them when the Fenris is installed? Or this ids should be part of the deck?

You can't have ID cards in your deck;
so any ID hosted on DJ Fenris is not part of your deck, it's similar to Rebirth in that regard.
You don't have to bring all eligible IDs, only ones you ever plan to use.
You also don't have to show which additional IDs you have to your opponent until you actually play Rebirth or DJ.
You are still limited by the IDs legal in the format you're playing,
so for Standard; Noise and other rotated runners as well as draft IDs are out.
Your faction will limit choices too.


text:
Does the legacy version do anything to devalue taking Australia early in the game?
In the base game if you conquer Australia early, you gain the advantage of 2 extra units a turn with only one territory required to defend it.
Does this change at any point in playing the Legacy game?

It's worth noting that Australia is not actually that dominant of a position in classic Risk.  While it is the easiest continent to hold, it has very poor expansion potential (as holding Asia is typically infeasible).  Compare this to South America, which only needs two territories to hold, but can expand into a position including Africa or North America very easily.  Also, while Europe and North America are harder to hold, their continent bonuses are sufficiently higher for this to be worth the risk.

I always seen Australia as the first battle ground especially in a 2-3 player game but I played mostly as a young child.  Finally have a group that might be interested in trying the legacy version and was wondering how it changed the advantages of different continent.

Yes, depending on how your group places their stickers.
Initially, the game makes the Australia problem worse, not better. This happens because a player wins when they have 4 Victory Points instead of when they remove all opposition. It is relatively easy to sit back and consolidate your forces in Australia, then attack to get 2-3 Victory Points in a single turn and win before your opponents can counter-attack.
As the game progresses, there are increasing opportunities to "ruin" Australia. Many of these actions can only be taken by the game winner, and many can only be taken once. If you want to de-power Australia in your game, you either need to win a significant number of games or persuade others in your group to help you.
Scars
Starting from the very first game, you can place Ammo Shortage scars in Southeast Asia and Indonesia to make Australia less defensible. More scars become available as the game progresses. Game winners also have the opportunity to remove positive scars from Australia.
Scars and other stickers also restrict starting positions. If you fill all of Australia with stickers, no player may start there.
Cards
In your first game, all territory cards are valued at 1 coin. However, the value of cards will increase with each game you play. Put high coin values on territories distant from Australia to disincentive this strategy.
Other ways
There are more (and more significant) ways to ruin Australia, but these are discovered during play.
Spoiler 1:

 Continent bonus modifiers: One of the options for a winning player is to modify a continent bonus by placing either a +1 or -1 sticker on it. Placing the -1 sticker on Australia and reducing its continent bonus to 1 is a huge disincentive.

Spoiler 2:

 Drafting: After several games, you start to "draft" for placement order, play order, side, and starting troops and coins. A player who picks "first placement" to get Australia is giving other advantageous options, such as "first to play" or "most starting troops". This is particularly dangerous at the beginning of the game. A player with a large army and earlier play order can potentially wipe you out before your first turn!

Spoiler 3:

 Sea Routes: You have two opportunities during the game to add sea routes. One is granted to the player who completes the "Explore the World" mission, and another to the player who opens the "Alien Landing" packet. These can be used to create "back doors" into Australia, making it more difficult to defend.

Spoiler 4:

 Nuke: The first time 3 missiles are used in a single battle, the contested territory becomes fallout. Fallout is very difficult to inhabit and almost single-handedly counteracts to continent bonus of Australia.

Without spoiling too much, yes. Some of the things that become available in the Legacy campaign help disrupt any strategy that becomes too dominant, although sometimes it may take co-operation on the part of the players who aren't playing that particular strategy.


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Timing of the activated abilities of creatures
I have a card with the following ability:

{T}: Target creature you control gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.

If a white card like Pacifism has been attached to the creature, am I able to tap the creature in order to give it protection from white and thus removing the white spell?

Is the creature Mother of Runes? Is "pacify" effect in question the card Pacifism?

Yes, you can do that. In fact, you don't need to do it in response. If at any time the creature with Pacifism on it gets protection from white, the Pacifism will no longer be legally attached to the creature, so the Pacifism will "fall off" and go to the graveyard.
The rules for protection include these:

702.16b A permanent or player with protection can’t be targeted by spells with the stated quality and can’t be targeted by abilities from a source with the stated quality.
702.16c A permanent or player with protection can’t be enchanted by Auras that have the stated quality. Such Auras attached to the permanent or player with protection will be put into their owners’ graveyards as a state-based action. (See rule 704, “State-Based Actions.”)

So, if your opponent casts Pacifism targeting a creature, and you activate the creature's ability, then Pacifism can't target the creature anymore, so it will be countered. If you activate the ability after the Pacifism is attached to the creature, the Pacifism will no longer be legally attached to the creature, so it will be put into its owner's graveyard.
The situation is slightly different if the "pacify" effect in question is a card like Arrest that says that the creature's "activated abilities can't be activated". In that case, once it is attached to the creature, the creature won't be able to activate the ability that grants protection, so in that case you would need to activate the ability in response to the aura spell.

Murgatroid's answer is spot on from a legality point of view. This began as a comment but quickly grew to that answer. The simple answer is that you can do it before or after the aura resolves to keep your creature aggressive, but there are consequences in both directions.
The most common consequence to tapping before it resolves means you can't use that tap ability for something else. It is a common tactic to use your second most effective spell first in an attempt to bait out your opponents countermeasures. Since Pacifism is only relevant during the combat phase, it makes little sense to respond during the first main phase.
You don't know what tricks your opponent might have later in the turn, so you could keep that in your pocket until you need it. For example, after your opponent has declared attackers, you get priority and use your protection to shrug it off and declare your previously-pacified blocker. But if your opponent has another trick up their sleeve, you might want to save that protection ability until you actually needed it. Using it early means you can't use it somewhere else.
Of course, delaying and allowing it to enter the battlefield does have other consequences, although they're usually tactical edge cases, not strategic guidelines. Some cards, like Sage's Reverie care about how many Auras you control. Others like Ajani's Chosen are about Enchantments entering the battlefield. If you allow the Pacify to resolve while your opponent controls a Ajani's Chosen, they will get a 2/2 Cat Token even if you immediately remove the aura post-resolution.
So in general, it is a good idea to allow it to resolve and shrug it off only when you need to, like right before you declare blockers, or on the end step if you haven't found a better use for the protection ability. There are cases, however, where it is tactical to shrug it off in response and never allow it to enter.

One thing to note about your mention of waiting to remove Pacifism before blockers, you won't be able to block with the pacified creature that combat either way. If you don't remove Pacifism your creature can't block. If you tap  the creature to give it protection from white and remove Pacifism, you are tapped and can't block.

@Malco If the creature with the ability is the creature with Pacifiy, sure. The OP said {T}: Target creature you control which presumably means they're Pacifying your Wurmcoil Engine, not your Mother of Runes.

ahh sorry, I thought you were talking about the creature with the tap ability, since in the OP's question he was asking about "...Pacifism has been attached to the creature, am I able to tap the creature in order to give it protection...."


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Where is the Queen placed when a C/M is already at center?
If a player pockets the Queen, but doesn't cover it, while there is a C/M in the center of the board, should the C/M be moved from the center to place the Queen or should the Queen be placed next to the C/M on the opposite side to the player?

According to the Laws of Carrom 94

If the Centre Circle is partially or completely covered by other C/M, the Queen shall be placed so as to occupy most of the uncovered portion or in any position adjacent to the Centre Circle in such a way so that it is not easy to pocket for the player having his turn. The placing of the Queen by the Umpire, in such a situation, shall be final.


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Initial meld with a canasta
In Modern/American canasta can I meld with a canasta that contains wild cards if I also have a natural to meld with it?
For example, I have five J’s and two 2’s, and three 9’s.
Counting card points it is not enough points to make the initial meld, but as a canasta it would count as 300 points for the canasta and 30 points for natural.
Can a player make the initial meld with this dirty canasta?

The value of the cards in the canasta counts as points in the meld; but the 300 bonus points for the canasta does not.
This means that in your example, you would be melding 120 points worth (50 for the Jacks, 40 for the 2s, and 30 for the 9s).
If instead your canasta were made of 4s instead of Jacks; then you would only be melding 95 points (25+40+30).
From the rules:

You can make the initial meld for your team by melding cards from your hand whose total value is at least the minimum count. The minimum count depends on your team's cumulative score at the start of that hand:
This initial meld from your hand must include either

a pure meld of at least three matching natural cards (with no wild cards), or
a wild card meld (at least three wild cards).

While these rules don't specifically cover the question of whether to count the 300 points for the canasta bonus; we can look in the rules for Classic Canasta:

The count of a meld is the total point value of the cards in it. To meet the minimum, a player may make two or more different melds. If a player takes the discard pile, the top card but no other may count toward the requirement. Bonuses for red threes and canastas do not count toward the minimum.

There is nothing in the American Canasta rules to imply that not counting the bonuses for canastas would be changed.

But I can make the initial meld with a SPLASH, a natural canasta and then I don’t have to count points, right?

@NancyR Correct, but a splash requires a natural canasta, not a dirty one, so that doesn't apply here.

I have updated the answer because previously it was only quoting Classic Canasta rules.


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Who controls negative enchantments?
If a player casts e.g. Waterknot on enemy creature, who is the controller of the Waterknot? And in case the enchantment on enemy creature has activated abilities, who can activate them? The enchantment owner, or creature controller?
I am asking because of River's Rebuke. What happens to enchantments on creatures the player controls when River's Rebuke is cast on them? Do they go to owner's graveyard or hand?

The player who played the enchantment controls it, no matter what it is attached to.

303.4e An Aura’s controller is separate from the enchanted object’s controller or the enchanted player; the two need not be the same. If an Aura enchants an object, changing control of the object doesn’t change control of the Aura, and vice versa. Only the Aura’s controller can activate its abilities. However, if the Aura grants an ability to the enchanted object (with “gains” or “has”), the enchanted object’s controller is the only one who can activate that ability.

Which means that rule 110.2a applies to it

110.2a If an effect instructs a player to put an object onto the battlefield, that object enters the battlefield under that player’s control unless the effect states otherwise.

So if you play a Waterknot on your opponent's creature and then play River's Rebuke, the Waterknot will go to your graveyard.
If you play a Waterknot on your opponent's creature and your opponent plays River's Rebuke, then the Waterknot will return to your hand.
If you play a Waterknot on your own creature, and your opponent plays River's Rebuke, then both the Waterknot and your creature will return to your hand.

River's Rebuke targets a player, so it wouldn't seem to matter who plays it, only which player is targeted by it. In a multiplayer game there would be a difference, even without anyone casting Rebuke on themselves.

I think the answerer was going for simplicity, but yes, for perfection all the "player plays RR" should be replaced with "the other player is targeted by RR".


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Solution Wheels, Escape Game Wheels
I was recently playing various exit/escape board games, and was wondering if there is a proper name for the "solution wheels"?
Also, are there any common strategies, techniques or applications to create these?
Examples-Pictures:
Escape the Room - Mystery at Stargazer’s Manor
Exit: The Game - The Secret Lab

The proper name for this sort of encoder/decoder ring is a Cipher disk, but they are also commonly called Caesar or Cipher Wheels.
Generally speaking they are relatively easy to create using either a ruler, compass and protractor, or a template.


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Are the two words "synonym 2"/"similar 2" and "opposites 2"/"antonyms 2" valid clues in Codenames? E.g. "opposites 2" for "quiet" and "shout"
Earlier, I've asked a question about whether poetry elements/sound devices like alliteration, assonance, consonance, and rhyme (Is it legal to use poetry elements/sound devices as hints like "alliteration 3", "assonance 3", and "rhyme 3" in Codenames?), and the consensus was that it was illegal because it didn't refer to the meaning of the words but just the way they were spelled. I'm curious about synonyms/antonyms because they refer to the meanings of words, but only the meaning of cards on the board compared to other cards on the board as opposed to the clue itself (I know that sounds complicated, but please read my examples below for an explanation.)
An example of "synonyms 2" would be for "ice" and "water" because it might be hard to come up with a clue that doesn't have water in it--closest I can think of is "cup 2", "moisture 2", "refrigerator 2" or "cold 2" but can hit unwanted cards.
An examples of "antonyms 2" would be "quiet" and "shout". I think "volume 2" could work perhaps there are other cards on the board that are related to volume that you don't want to hit, like "music".
The rules state:

Your clue must be about the meaning of the
words. You can't use your clue to talk about
the letters in a word or its position on the table.
Gland is not a valid clue for ENGLAND. You
can't tie BUG, BED, and BOW together with
a clue like b: 3 nor with a clue like three: 3.
However …

I am thinking it is valid because synonyms are antonyms are about the meaning of the words. However, I'm a bit sketchy about it because it's not the meaning of say "ice" that is related to the clue "synonyms 2", but it is that a card on the board "ice" that relates to another card on the board "water". It doesn't say you can't link cards on the board using other cards on the board, but I would imply that when it says "Your clue must be about the meaning of the words", it could suggest that the meaning of the word must be related to your clue, not the other card. "ice" is certainly not related to "synonym".

The clue is usually about the meaning of each word individually. You're asking if the clue can be about the collective meanings of the words. This is a grey area. By that, I mean it's a question of opinion unless someone can find someone kind of official precedent. While probably not the intended meaning of the rules, I'd allow it. It's far enough away from the spelling and position of the words and close enough to the meanings of the words to be in the spirit of the rules.

On the definitely ok side, we have "phases 2" for "water" (the liquid phase of water) and "ice" (the solid phase of water). That still applies to each word indivudally even though it only makes sense when used for the combination of two phases.

@ikegami I am curious about this; in chemistry and physics, those are states (ie liquid abs solid). Where does the term “phase” for those come from?

@GuybrushMcKenzie, The words are often used interchangeably, but Wikipedia gives them different-but-related definitions. "[Phase of matter] is sometimes used as a synonym for state of matter, but there can be several immiscible phases of the same state of matter." To confound the issue, changes are in states are called phase transitions?

From the rules:-

DON'T BE TOO STRICT

and

If the opposing spymaster allows it, the clue is valid.

and

Sometimes you have to make judgment calls about what is valid and what
is not. Different groups may prefer to play the game differently.

For any question about if a clue is a valid all the above applies.  Unless there is a rule which prohibits a clue its more than likely ok.
I've seen clues given for the meaning of groups of words.  A team had just "ICE" and "QUEEN" left to guess and gave the clue "NARNIA 2" to hint at those which for out group was OK.   As long as you don't say things like "this is for a group", or "this is a stretch" then its fine.

But aren't all clues like that? Someone could relate "ice" and "queen" from Narnia, Frozen, or The Office (US), among many others. The point is to pick a word that best connects multiple "agents."

Agreed, Narnia is not a good example here because it's still related to each of the words individually - you could give the clue "Narnia 1" for either of Ice or Queen and it would still 1) be clearly allowed within the rules and 2) even has a good chance of being a successful clue (depending on what else is on the board). What makes OP's question different is that "antonyms 1" would be complete nonsense aiming for either of Quiet or Shout by itself - the clue only makes any sense for the group.

A better example would be "fungus: 2" for "mush" and "room".

Yes. The clues "synonyms" is about the meaning(s) of the word(s) and not the spelling or sound of the word(s) or position(s) on the board or anything else other than the meaning(s) of the word(s).
Yes, it's a stretch, perhaps, but most clues are [citation needed].
The point is that it adheres to / doesn't violate any of the "firm rules" in the rulebook (and also doesn't violate any of the flexible rules, either, for that matter).

citation from rules for you "For example, don't say, "This may be a bit of a stretch..." You are playing Codenames. It's always a bit of a stretch."

@StartPlayer: Brilliant, thanks. I remember hearing that quote, but thought it was from the forums.


text:
What is this Old French Game board with 10x10 squares and dark and light circular pieces?
I have this old 10x10 wooden game board with dark (black) and light (brown) circular pieces for a long time and am trying to find out a little bit about it.
The entire board with storage is approximately 14 X 17 3/4 inches. There are 18 white and 20 black pieces about 1 1/4 in diameter. The slide covers are marked

it would help a lot if you provided more information about the pieces that came with the board. Also all we will be able to do is help identify it and will not be able to help with pricing or selling it.

@jimedean by 'the slide covers are marked' do you mean there is writing on them somewhere?

I added a picture of the marks

@jimedean; Answer updated, is there anything on the back of the board?

I added a picture, one side is 8x8, the other is 10x10

Still unsure as to the manufacturer + date, but here's a potentially older version of the same board: https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/folk-art/game-boards/early-19th-century-french-double-sided-marquetry-game-box-checker-pieces/id-f_14039982/

That appears to be a relatively nice double sided International draughts/Checkers board.
Without any further identifying information, it could have been produced anytime in the last 1-200 years, but based on its appearance, I'd estimate it was manufactured around the 1940s-1950s.
The markings indicate the board has a Breveté SGDG, which is a French patent, the Breveté SGDG system started in 1844 and ended in 1968, so that narrows the age down to a 120 year window.

I almost commented about "checkers", but the link describes the difference well that draughts is 10x10 and checkers is 8x8.

This is so interesting. In Russia we always played "checkers" on an 8x8 board but with draughts king rules. I always wondered where that came from

@Andrew T., Wikipedia uses checkers and draughts equivalently, calling this international draughts, international checkers and Polish draughts.


text:
Can you use jokers to change which noble visits at the end of turn?
A player cannot refuse a visit from a noble.
But can you choose to use jokers to change which noble visits if you don’t have the gem colors required at end of turn?

Nobles aren't bought, with jokers or anything else. You gain one if you have the right cards in play. (Since they're free, there's on reason to refuse one.)

You can have multiple nobles, but you can only gain one per turn.

No, you cannot.
From the rules:

At the end of their turn, a player automatically receives the visit from a noble if that player has the amount of bonuses (and only bonuses) required.

(emphasis mine)
A visit from a noble is determined only by the bonuses printed on the development cards.  Tokens, including the Joker token, cannot be used to get a visit from a noble.

Nobles visit base on mines, not gems. You need mines that produce gems that match what is listed on the noble card. What gems you have is irrelevant.

You can only get one noble per turn, so if you satisfy the conditions for two nobles in the same turn, you get to choose which one visits you.
Example, you have 4 red, 4 blue, and 3 green. You buy another green card, and you satisfy the conditions for the noble that wants 4 red/4 green and the one that wants 4 blue/4green.
You can only take one, but you can choose which one.
If still available, you can get the second one in your next turn.


text:
Can a phase requiring two colored sets be completed with the same color?
In Phase 10 can a phase requiring collecting x of one color and y of one color be completed using x+y of the same color?
E.G.
Can Candy Castle / Mountain Vista Phase 7 (4 of one color + 6 of one color) or Phase 8 (5 of one color + 5 of one color) be completed with 10 of the same color?
or
Can Cocoa Canyon Phase 3 (4 cards of one color + 5 cards of one color) be completed with 9 card of the same color?

which version of phase 10 has a set of 5 of a color and set of 4 of a color? Some quick searching is not showing this combo

Canyon phase I think

Looks like it's phase 3 of the "Cocoa Canyon" version, according to Wikipedia.

I would assume it would follow that the  same rules as if you can use 1 number for both set in any of the phases.  If you would allow some one with 6 of one number to go down on the first phase (2 set of 3) in the regular game then I would allow this.

As an aside, the odds of this situation coming up in an actual game are so slim that it almost makes this a moot point.  Ignoring wilds and skips, the probability of getting dealt a hand you can make phase with on the first turn using two different colors for candy castle phase 7 is about $0.00076$ while making phase on the first turn with only one color is about $0.00000017$, more than a thousand times less likely.  In terms of actual play, the obviously superior strategy is to collect two colors unless you happened to have been dealt nine of a single color.

Since the wording of the phases as started say "of one color" for both colors instead of the second part of the phase saying "of another color" or "of one other color" the answer is yes, it is allowed.

Am wondering if something like phases could also be added to a varient of canasta

Phase 10 ideas in the game magic the gathering could be interesting too


text:
Can players activate Quick-Play spells or Traps as face-down monsters are flipped face-up in battle?

Player A's monster attacks player B's face down monster.
Both players decided not to chain the attack while monster is still face down
Monster is flipped face up, which is Kelbek
Player A activates Quick-Play spell Forbidden Chalice on player B's Kelbek so its effect is negated.

Question: Is player A allowed to activate Quick-Play spell after the monster is flipped face up?
Kelbek:

A monster that attacks this card returns to the hand. Damage
  calculation is applied normally.

Forbidden Chalice:

Target 1 face-up monster on the field; until the end of this turn,
  that target gains 400 ATK, but its effects are negated.

Yes, that is possible. There's a few things to note here though.
From the website of Konami, this is what happens before damage calculation (so during the damage step)

If the monster being attacked is face-down, flip it face-up. Then, cards or effects that modify ATK/DEF can activate. If the monster has
  a Trigger Effect that activates by being flipped face-up, it does not
  activate yet.

This means that after Kelbet has been flipped face up, 2 types of cards/effects can still be activated. Effects that alter the ATK/DEF of a monster or cards that negate the activation of a card.
So if Forbidden Lance only had the negation effect, you wouldn't be able to activate it. However, since it also changes the monsters ATK, you can activate it during the damage step, after the monster has bene flipped face-up.

It Depends On What the Card Does.
So, keep in mind that because the monster is being flipped face-up in battle, it means that we're in the damage step at the time of the flip. Because of this, there are some restrictions on what kinds of cards can be activated. A card/effect may only be activated during the damage step if:

It is a counter-trap card
Its activation is mandatory
It negates the activation of a card/effect (Note Activation, not Effect of)
It directly modifies the Attack/Defense of any monster(s)

Forbidden Chalice happens to hit one of the criteria here (modifies ATK/DEF), so it can be activated in the given scenario. If, on the other hand, one wanted to use Breakthrough Skill, one would not be able, since it does not meet any of the above criteria.


text:
Mahjong Betting Rules
Have been playing Mahjong for over 45 years and played today with a lady who filled in and we had a discussion regarding payout for betting.
For purposes of this question:
Playing with 4 players at the table and the 5th as the better.
Player A calls Mahjong with a self drawn tile.
The hand was a 25 cent hand which would then be doubled to 50 cents since it was a self drawn tile for Mahjong.
Since it was also bet on the bettor would also get 50 cents for the winning hand.
SO each player would pay both the winning player and the bettor each 50 cents. Total for each of the two players would be $1.50 each. Am I correct???
The lady who filled in was insistent about the following.
She said since the player who called Mahjong was also bet on by her then the total that each player needed to pay both the winning player and she, the bettor, was to be double the 50 cents to equal $1.00 total to each of the two players.
This would then make the player with the winning hand paid a total of $3.00 and the bettor also be paid $3.00.
So instead of each of the other 3 players paying out $1.50 to each for a total of $3.00, she insisted it was to be doubled since it was also bet on to a $1.00 payout for each the winning player and also the bettor for a total payout for the 2 players to $6.00.
She insisted that this was National Mahjong Rules.
As I stated have been playing a very long time and have never had any player state this.
Thanks much for your responses.

I have never heard about betting rules for Mahjong. In principle, I understand the notion of making a bet on the outcome of a game, but a situation where the players receive or pay to an outside better seems like a conflict of interest.

The official mahjong rules do not allow for "cross" bets by players on each other, or by outside parties on or against players.
Now this lady may have been playing by "house" rules in "her" games. But those rules do not apply to your table unless you all agree to them.

I used to play this type of man Jongg.  In TX, the only time the bet was doubled was if the winner was East wind.  Could have been a table rule.


text:
Does the spell "Scry Dungeon" give you the gold of the treasures?
In the game Lizard Wizard from Forbidden Games, the spell 'Scry Dungeon' said 'Look at the top 10 cards in the Dungeon deck, and keep all Treasure Cards'.
If you play 'Scry Dungeon' and take treasures that give you gold, do you also get the gold from those treasures?
Edit to clarify: I already think that you get the gold cards as they are treasure cards, so count at the end of the game for the "player with more treasures". But I don't know if you also get the gold coins associated with them as if they were found entering the dungeon.

Yes.
Gold and Items from the Dungeon Deck are both considered to be Treasure Cards. If you run across gold, you take the gold. Otherwise, you hold onto the item for endgame victory points.
From page 13 of the Rulebook regarding Entering The Dungeon:

If it is a Treasure Card (Gold or Item)...

There are 2 types of treasure: Gold or Items.

I already think that you get the gold card as it's a treasure card so you can count it in the end of the game for the "player with more treasures"

Gold cards do not count for endgame "player with the most treasures". The player with the most treasure only counts for Items. Gold is not considered an item and is only counted for 1 victory point per gold at the end of the game. For reference, in the scoring section on page 15 of the rulebook:

Gold Coins score VP equal to the value of the coins

The player with the most Treasure Items: 10 VP

I have added more information on the question. I think you answer is still valid, but if you are more explicit about the gold coin instead of the card, it would be great.

Nothing explicitly explains the Scry Dungeon spell card, but I believe it should clear things up between the Entering The Dungeon and Scoring sections. There are either Gold or Item Treasure Cards. No card encompasses Gold and an Item, so you either get the Gold to count as 1VP per Gold or add the Item to your collection for endgame scoring. Gold cards do not count as Treasure Items and thus do not count toward the endgame scoring of who has the most Treasure Item Cards.

Are the gold cards returned to the deck after the gold is collected?

@PhoneixS No, only monsters are ever shuffled back into the dungeon deck.


text:
Will Barty Crouch Jr.'s power block other villain rewards?
If a reward from defeating a villain states to remove tokens from the location, does Barty Crouch Jr. block the action?
The effect of Barty Crouch Jr. is Heroes cannot remove tokens from the Location., so does the action come from the defeated villain or come from a hero?

Can you provide some more details such as the text on the cards for what the powers are?

Please don't vote to close just because you personally don't have a copy of the game. The question is complete as posed.

@L.ScottJohnson The question should have enough details to not require a google search to understand the basics.

@JoeW, not every question needs to be able to be answered by someone with no knowledge of the topic.

@L.ScottJohnson That isn't the point, a question should have enough information to be understandable without having extensive knowledge about the subject. And based on the answer the correct name of the card isn't even in the question making it hard for someone to answer since the person answering is making an assumption about what card is being talked about.

@JoeW that the card name was possibly misspelled didn't come out until later, so is also not the point. And the question is understandable as-is, no knowledge of the game needed.

I would like to point out that 'Barty Croupton' is the French translation of Barty Crouch, and as such not a misspelling, merely a language-barrier/non-translation.

It sounds like you're referring to Barty Crouch Jr villain card.
Unfortunately, the rulebook doesn't go into the specific use-case when defeating other villains. Luckily, the designers have added some FAQ clarifications. In the Boardgamegeek thread: Barty vs Dementor, a similar question is asked and answered by the designer:

... if one has an ability preventing the Heroes from doing something, they do not gain the reward from defeating another Villain.  - Andrew Wolf (Designer)

If Barty Crouch Jr is in play and your team was to defeat a villain whose reward would allow you to remove a token from a location, Barty Crouch Jrs ability may not allow you to.
Villain effects will affect villain rewards.


text:
Does Proliferate work with Energy Counters?
Can a players Energy Counters be increased using Proliferate?
This seems like it would be the case, as Poison Counters seem to work in a similar way.

Yes, like poison and experience counters before them players get energy counters, and proliferate can add an additional counter of a type a player has.

When Thriving Rhino enters the battlefield, you get {E}{E} (two energy counters).

This means that 2 energy counters are placed on you when you play a Thriving Rhino.

121.1. A counter is a marker placed on an object or player that modifies its characteristics and/or interacts with a rule, ability, or effect. Counters are not objects and have no characteristics. Notably, a counter is not a token, and a token is not a counter. Counters with the same name or description are interchangeable.
701.25a To proliferate means to choose any number of permanents and/or players that have a counter, then give each exactly one additional counter of a kind that permanent or player already has.


text:
In Split, should one cross out 200
On the Split scorecard, the last box in each row is worth 200 points. The rules say that in scoring you should cross off the next available box, but don't go out of their way to point out that a 6th pair is very bad or a 40th negative is very good because either your positive score for pairs or negative score for penalties would drop to 0.
My interpretation has been that 200 is intended to be the maximum score or penalty and that additional marks are just ignored rather than cancelling everything, but I'm wondering if this is the intended or commonly used ruling.

Which game called Split are you talking about? Split (1966) by Western Publishing Company, Split (1999) by GDC-GameDevCo Ltd, or Split (Revised Edition, 2001) by Hasbro?

It's the Hasbro one. I didn't even realize there were others :)

Thanks for the clarification. The last two are apparently two versions of the same game, but the Revised Edition has a completely different goal, so I guess it's up to the individual of how true that is.


text:
Alpharius as a captain of a customised chapter
Can I use Alpharius as a captain in a space marine chapter without being alpha legion?
I am making as space sharks successor chapter; I like the sound of the Carcharodons but want to make my own chapter.

Exactly which game and which edition are you playing? There is no datasheet for Alpharius in 40k proper, so the answer is "no". If you're playing Horus Heresy (either edition), then the Space Sharks don't exist as whatever their heritage, they're certainly post-Second Founding.

Yes.
As long as you are clear to your opponent as to what datasheet and loadout your models are, and they are roughly the same size, and on the same base, it's fine to use "different" models.
The resin "Horus Heresy Character Series" Alpharius miniature is on a 40mm base, which slots into a 60mm base diorama. A space marine captain uses a 40mm base, so that is fine. He is wielding a big spear and has a holstered plasma pistol, which fits the "Master Crafted Power Weapon and Plasma Pistol" loadout option of a Space Marine Captain.

Thank you so much


text:
Ticket to Ride scoring
I have a destination card for LA-Las Vegas.
I claim that route early in the game, so I get the points.
At the end of the game, I still have the card.
Do I get the points again?

You do not reveal, or claim points for, the Destination Tickets you have until the end of the game. During the game, you score points for the routes you claim based on their length - 1 point for a 1-train route up to 15 points for a 6-train route. Then, at the end of the game, players reveal all of their Destination Tickets to gain points for completed ones and lose points for incomplete ones.


text:
Can the "Ghost" card of in BANG! The Valley of Shadows double the elimination reward
Can I get the 3 card reward twice by eliminating an player, then using a ghost card on them, and discarding the ghost card?

The rules for the ghost card read

A ghost is considered “in play” for all
purposes, but has no life points: At the end of
your turn, you must discard all your hand cards.
If Ghost is removed, the ghost exits play again.

Can you provide more details about the Ghost card?

Did you play this expansion before, it hard to explain. Normal rule is any player eliminate outlaw will get 3 card . The "Ghost" card will bring player who is eliminated back to the game untill this card is steal or discard. My situation is after i eliminate outlaw and get the reward then i use ghost card on him and discard it (meaning i revive him and eliminate him again), I can get the reward one more time ?

I don't know if I played it, however you are able to put the text that is on the card which could help others understand what you are asking about.

No, unlike the Ghost Town event, bringing a player back with the "Ghost" card and then removing the card will not give additional rewards.
This was cleared up by the official DV Games account on boardgamegeek, stating

short answer: No, you don't get to draw cards when removing a Ghost card from an already eliminated player.
Hope this helps.
Martino Chiacchiera
Junior Editor


text:
How does the Bone Orchard work in Bang! Wild West Show
In Bang! When the Bone Orchard is still active, can the player return to the game many times or just once?

Yes, you can return to the game multiple times while BONE ORCHARD is in play.

Like a lot of rules in Bang! this is covered in the original Italian rules but was left out of the English translation.
Luckily the publisher has this covered in their English FAQ under Q21.

Q21. If I come back in play with Bone Orchad and I am killed again,
if the Bone Orchard is still in play when it is my next turn, do I
come back in play again?
A. Yes, you may come back into play at the beginning of each of your
turn while the Bone Orchard is play


text:
Can a meeple be placed, and scored on the same turn?
Can I place the completing tile of a free road/city, put a meeple on it, and then score and take that meeple back?

Yes, this is a basic game play rule of Carcassone. A turn has the following steps:

Draw and place a terrain tile
Station a follower on the newly-placed tile (optional)
Score completed feature(s) (if relevant)

Since you place a meeple before scoring, you can place one down, count the points and take it back. You can only place one down though if no other meeple is already on the connected part.

That's exactly how I thought it works, but wanted to check twice. Thanks a lot.


text:
Does EDOPro support the duel coasters ruleset?
The Duel Coaster was introduced in Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL episode 51: "Roller Duel", and is a special type of duel that takes place on a roller coaster.
There are special spots on the track, with Spell and Trap Card markings. If a Duelist goes over one of these spots, they will activate the card's effect.
Trap Points have effects that inflict Effect Damage while Spell Points have effects that let you gain Life Points.
In addition the special spots the rules are changed to

Life Points don't reset every time there's a new Duel.
There are no turns. Duelists may Normal Summon monsters and activate Spell and Trap Cards whenever they wish.
Draw Phases are conducted only when a Duelist hits a Draw Point.
Monsters cannot be Set, they must be Normal Summoned in Defense Position.
You may only attack another Duelist if they are on the same lane as you and in front of you. Also, you can switch lanes in order to avoid attacks.
You begin with 4000 Life Points, which are not restored after each Duel.
Ramming your opponents is legal.
A player may use their allies' monsters for a Fusion or Xyz Summon.
Players may Set Spell and Trap Cards on the coaster in order to damage other players with their effects

Does EDOPro suport this Duel Mode?

I apologize if Edopro isn't used inly in the OCG/OCG world.

Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking.

I asked if you can play on EdoPro with the duel coasters feature.

@KMR Thank you very much for that revision; this clears up the question considerably!

The simple answer is no, EDOPro doesn't support Duel Coasters.
ProjectIgnis maintain a list of supported additional Duel Modes on their github repo, which is the best reference for what's supported, and doesn't include Duel Coasters.
That said it seems unlikely EDOPro will support Duel Coasters in future, as implementing the roller coaster mechanics would require an entirely different setup to regular duels.


text:
Charging rent and adding house after
When playing Monopoly Deal, if a player plays a rent card can they then add a house while the player who was charged the rent card organizing the payment for the rent card?
Or should the person have thought of it beforehand instead of adding it after and expecting the other person to pay?

While the player can add a house to a property set after playing a Rent card, the house will only be added after the  first action has completed, meaning the target player will not need to pay for the house.
The only card that can be played at any time is Just Say No, otherwise each action is taken as a whole before moving onto the next one.


text:
Companions lost on death in same room as other explorers
I understand the general ruling on companions lost on death. Essentially it says "whomever enters the room first gains custody of the companion". However, this doesn't quite make sense for the scenario I'm in right now: two heros and the traitor are in a room. One hero has the madman, and dies fighting the traitor. Now the madman, last hero and traitor are all in the same room. Who gets the madman? We eventually decided that you had to move out of the room and back into the room to take the madman, since that's what the rules seem to say, but that seems illogical.
Tl;dr if a companion is in the same room as two explorers, who gets the companion?

Possible duplicate of What happens to companions when a player dies?

This is not a duplicate of that question; please don't close it! That other question was simple - asker hadn't noticed a paragraph in the rules; answerer points it out. This question on the other hand follows up with what appears to be a true ambiguity in the rules.

The rules as written do seem to imply you have to leave the room and re-enter. However I agree with you that this is silly - the spirit of the rules as I read them is that the lost companion gloms on to the first available explorer. So to resolve the ambiguity I would house-rule the relevant section:

If another explorer enters the room or starts their turn in the room, he or she gains custody of that companion.

Or if you prefer more instantaneous glomming,

If one or more other explorers are already in the room, the next in turn order gains custody of that companion immediately. Otherwise, the next explorer to enter the room does.

Thank you, that's what I expected to hear. Otherwise, I'd have to waste two movement to leave the room containing the traitor, one more to re-enter the room, and another two to leave again. That seems absurd. I'll add the house rule next time I play. Thanks again!

I would say whoever picks up the token. So you would put the madman aside and then the next player able to "pick up" the madman would gain custody. They sort of hint towards that with the item pile

Any other items you have drop to the floor. Put an Item Pile token there and set aside their cards. Other explorers can go to the room to pick up your items (and take these cards)

The rule you're quoting is explicitly about everything other than companions. Though since there's no rule that actually addresses our case, I suppose applying this rule is one valid solution.

Yes I know that but that rule is also directly AFTER companions. My point was to suggest that I think they meants for the "pick up" action to also apply to companions but like many of the rules questions in Betrayal it suffered from poor writing.

Here is an option for you....
What if the companion will attach to the last person in the room.  If its multiple friendlies, you could agree on someone leaving the room, if enemies, well it looks like we have a fight on our hand!
However that may just seem to aide the aggressor in most scenarios.

But who does it attach to when there's both sides in one room?