text:
Can I cast a spell multiple times in one round across different investigators if I trade it?
Can I cast a spell and then have it traded to another investigator to cast that round?
This would work great with Blessing of Isis to ensure blessings all around.
Some spells say "once a round you may etc" so my thinking is that these cannot be cast more than once, but the wording literally could still mean each investigator can cast it once per round right?
After all, it would seem like they are meant to keep an investigator from preventing healing or stamina loss from all attacks all the time, which is sensible.
Passing it to another to cast once themselves sounds like a reasonable ruling.
Is there an official ruling?

Seems reasonable.  I know of nothing official and despite the love of "whatever favors you the least is what it is" notation, in this case I'd agree if it doesn't say you can't perform those series of actions, you can.  If you prefer this to be an answer, I can do that.

Although these matters may seem related, they are in fact governed by separate rules and should be asked in two separate questions.

As for Spells that require an action:
No, you can't use these again after trading.

Like all actions, each component action can only be performed
  once per round. Multiple investigators cannot perform the same
  action on a component during a single round, except for local
  actions. For example, if an investigator uses a component action
  on an Asset and then trades it to another investigator, the new
  owner cannot use the component action that round.

Source: Reference Guide, "Component Action" (page 3)
As for Spells that can be triggered "Once per round":
No, they can't be used again after trading.
The "once per round" limitation is tied to the possession not to an investigator possessing it.
When then possession is traded, the limitation moves with it and doesn't reset.

Great find, I knew I had read that somewhere but couldn't find it!

What about two investigators having the same card each using their own copy? It seems that this is allowed. If yes, what about a single character using two different copies in the same turn? Is the character then allowed to perform the same action twice in one turn. (This last scenario of course requires some mechanism to get an extra action such as Charlie's ability so that the two copies can be switched since he can't hold both at the same time.)

@Kvothe If a single character manages to somehow switch their used-this-round copy for a not-used-this-round-yet copy of the same card, they will be able to perform an identical action for a second time. A similar situation is when different components feature an identical action (example: Enchanted Bow and Monster Hunter). In both cases you would perform two identical actions which is different from performing the same action twice.

A component can only be used once per turn.

Although an investigator cannot perform a component action from a
  single component more than once each round, he can perform component
  actions of different components

It's not a specific 'investigator' but 'any' investigator that cannot use the component more than once.
So the "use" of a card kind of "sticks" to the card and cannot be used by another investigator.


text:
Can Jenny Barnes' enable someone to use acquire assets a second time?
Can Jenny Barnes' use her ability to allow herself or another investigator to use acquire assets if the target investigator has already performed it? Typically you cannot perform the same action twice in one round, but would this special ability that induces an acquire assets action count as performing acquire assets twice? If so, one would think the same holds for disallowing a player to move spaces after they have moved before, counting it as a "travel".

No. This is similar to Charlie Kane's special action. The investigator must not already have performed the same action during the current round.
From the official errata:

Can an investigator’s “additional” action be used to perform an
  action he has already performed in that round?
No. An investigator may perform an action only once
  each round, even if he is able to perform an additional action,
  such as from the Ruby of R’lyeh Artifact or Charlie Kane’s
  action ability.

There is no reason to suppose that Jenny's ability overrules this limitation.
For reference, here is the actual text of Jenny's special:

Action: You or another investigator on a City space may perform an Acquire Assets action and gain +2 Influence during that action.

However, if Jenny uses her special action to allow another investigator to perform an acquire asset action (and gaining the +2 bonus to influence), she can, herself, still perform the acquire asset action normally (no +2 influence bonus).

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Proper Sleeve size for Android Netrunner
I am trying to find the right sleeve size to get for Android Netrunner.
Fantasy Flight was nice enough to put a color coded sleeve and number of packs needed for that box on the back of both the core set and the expansions.
However it shows Blue sleeves for the Core set and Sliver for the expansions. I am trying to figure out which sleeves are the proper fit.
If you can provide a link to where I can buy them that would be great as well.

For future questions like this, there is a Geeklist on boardgamegeek dedicated to cataloguing which card sleeves are appropriate for which games. Here's Netrunner's entry: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/164572/item/2925400#item2925400

Android Netrunner cards are the same size as Magic: the Gathering cards, so you can use any sleeves that are Magic sized for them. This includes Fantasy Flight, Ultra-Pro, KMC, and Dragon Shield. The color or design on the sleeves doesn't matter as long as the deck has all of the same color/design (the Corporation and Runner decks can have different colors/designs if you choose, but that isn't required).

However it shows Blue sleeves for the Core set and Sliver for the expansions.

This may be a misprint in the physical version. However, online information consistently states that you only need Standard Card Game Sleeves (Gray)
For reference:

Core Game - 6 Gray packs needed
Data and Destiny Deluxe Expansion - 4 Gray packs needed
What Lies Ahead Data Pack - 2 Gray packs needed

There are lot of card sleeves in market, but the best one is KMC card sleeves and according it provides great longevity and ultimate protection.

OP is asking which size of the cards is right, not which producer is better. Unless KMC sleeves come in only one size, this does not answer the question.

Why not Dragon Shield clear? You will be able to see the color and design on the back of the cards. This seems good for the flip cards as well.

OP is asking which size of the cards is right, not which producer is better. Unless Dragon Shield sleeves come in only one size, this does not answer the question.

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


text:
Spells and Items during combat
It is quite clear that an investigator can only use one item that gives the highest bonus in combat,  even if they have multiple items (i.e. Multiple weapons)
However,  what about spells such as Wither? We must first test Lore to see if we get a bonus and then flip the card and fulfil additional effects based on our results.  Its possible that you don't get the bonus due to failing the test.
Does this count as the component that you used for combat and you cannot use any other items, even if you failed? Or is it special since the spell doesn't give a plain combat bonus like regular items?

Are you sure you don't mean "Wither" and not "Shrivelling"?

I might be mistaken.. It was a spell that gave +3 on combat checks when successfully cast

That's Wither. I have edited this in.

From the reference guide, page 11:

He may use one effect that provides a bonus (for example “Gain +3 Will”). If multiple effects provide a bonus, he uses only the highest bonus.

This wording implies that when multiple effects are available he uses the highest bonus, not that he strictly uses the effect with the highest bonus potential. It implies to me that all the effects are in play and overlapping.  Narratively it supports the idea that multiple items operate concurrently, an idea also supported by the fact that items that grant rerolls can accumulate. This is how we have been playing.
Note that choosing to use Wither comes with its own cost when it fails, so there is already a penalty when it is attempted and failed.

So to clarify, if I used shrivelling and succeed with 2+ I get the +5 bonus, but if I failed, I can just fall back to my weapon that gives +3?

Yes, and if you had a +4 and succeeded with only 1, you could opt to use the +4 weapon.

Additionally, as far as I'm aware it's not optional; you can't willingly take a lower bonus if you have multiple available, in order to intentionally fail a test.

This becomes clear when you're aware that gaining a bonus isn't the same as applying a bonus.
Wither may have you gain a +3 bonus if you succeeded on the Lore test.
At the same time Hired Muscle may have you gain a +1 bonus, no strings attached.
All in all, you may gain any number of bonuses to a given test.
Then, you apply exactly one of these bonuses – the highest one.
If you failed to cast Wither, this just makes you not gain this particular bonus.
If you have gained some other bonuses, you'll apply one of those.


text:
Pandemic - reduced rule-set for beginners
I have recently started playing pandemic, and was overwhelmed by the amount of rules.
Is there a reduced set of rules, easier to learn and remember but still fun, that can be used by beginners until they get used to the game?
EDIT: My goal is not to make the game easier to win - it is to make the game easier to learn how to play. Instead of learning all rules at once, the team can learn the rules one by one. For example, suppose there are 10 rules (just an arbitrary number). Then instead of remembering all these rules at once, we can start with 5 rules, then add a new rule each play, until we remember and play by all rules.

What about the rules made it overwhelming? You might try some simpler games to get used to gaming in general before working up to some more complicated ones.

Agreed with Joe that it's probably easier to start with a simpler game that is fun than to simplify this one while keeping it fun, but if you want to try then here are some suggestions: completely remove event cards and role cards from the game, and then since both of those edits make the game harder as well as simpler, remove one extra epidemic card to make things easier. You could also remove the "Build a Research Station" action from the game, and then give yourself one or two extra free research stations at the beginning of the game to compensate. (I haven't actually tried any of this)

Also experiment with different ways of learning the rules if you aren't already - reading rulebook, watching rules video, watching playthrough.

Also note that there's a game called "Forbidden Island" which is basically just Pandemic but simpler - if you have reason to believe that Pandemic is your style, then maybe check this one out.

@BenjaminCosman this sounds very interesting, I will try this. Thanks!

also check out BoardGameGeek.com - there are generally tons of variants and house rules posted on the game specific message boards, especially the more well known / popular games

I don't believe simplified rules exist. For the reference here are the full rules.
This is how we approached it:
First, follow the steps on page 2-3 to setup. Then look at the inset at the bottom right corner of page 3 which says:

Each player turn is divided into 3 parts:

Do 4 actions.
Draw 2 Player cards.
Infect cities.

After a player is done infecting cities, the player on
their left goes next.
Your hand can have City and Event cards in it. City cards are used in some actions and Event cards can be played at any time.

So what we find useful, is to follow these 3 parts in sequence. To perform part 2, follow page 6 "Draw Cards". For part 3 follow page 6 "Infections".
Part 1, actions is a bit trickier, because a player needs to be familiar with the actions available to them to make choices. All the actions are described on page 4, with an example on page 5.
In my opinion, good understanding of page 4 by all players, is the most important thing that makes the game following more smoothly, because this is where most variations are. For parts 2 and 3 you can simply follow the script in the rule book - there is not much choice there, and after enough times you'll memorise it and have no problems with it.
By studying page 4 on the other hand, you can understand what options are available to you and make those choices that matter.

Pandemic is indeed a complex game. There is a built-in dial to tune the difficulty though, and that is how many Epidemic cards you add to the Player deck at the start of the game. Rather than trying to change the rules (and likely disrupt the balance), make the game easier - during your first game (or two or three), start with 2 Epidemic cards (or even 1). That should allow you to get a grasp of the rules while still providing a little bit of a challenge. For Pandemic specifically, making the game easier actually makes it a little less complex as you are less likely to encounter some game mechanics.
Fewer Epidemics means you're less likely to cause outbreaks and chain reactions, so don't read about those unless necessary - or just don't even use that mechanic.
Make sure to use the action reference cards, and take things slowly. This is a cooperative game, so keep your cards face-up and make sure to read each card aloud. There is no time limit and there is no rush. The first few games I played took 2 or 3 hours IIRC - not the 45 minutes stated on the box. And as mentioned in the comments, read the rulebook together as a group, watch videos on playthroughs and/or the rules. The rules are available online, so share them (and video links) to your group before game night so players can read through them ahead of time.
I've also found that 3 players is a good group size (2 players makes it hard to contain all the diseases, and 4 means too few turns per player).
All that said, one simple house rule to make things a bit easier is to allow each player to choose their role explicitly, rather than dealing them out randomly. For beginners, I'd suggest one player be the Medic or Quarantine Specialist and one player be the Researcher or Scientist. The first makes the diseases and outbreaks easier to manage and the second makes collecting the cards necessary for a cure a bit easier.

My problem is not the difficulty of winning the game (I don't mind losing the first few games), the problem is remembering all the different rules. In other words, I do not want to make the game easier to win - I want to make it simpler to play. It is true that we can read the book aloud during play, but having a simpler set of rules can provide a better balance between reading and playing: instead of learning all the rules at once, one can learn a new rule each time.

@ErelSegal-Halevi in this case, making the game easier also makes it a little simpler. Fewer Epidemic cards means you'll probably encounter fewer game mechanics during the game, meaning you don't need to worry about those rules. I'll edit my answer to explain more

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


text:
Set A Watch: Is Goblin Chief a Goblin?
The location I was in was the Goblin Cave, which states:

Increase the health of all goblins by 3

Now, Goblin is a creature type that's noted on the bottom of the creature cards. I revealed a Summon in the Line, and the Unhallowed that came into play here was the Goblin Chief. The type box of the Goblin Chief states Unhallowed, not Goblin.
Should I assume it is also a Goblin for the Location's ability and increase its health?

I asked the creator, Mike Gnade, on Twitter. His response was:

Goblin chief? No he’s an unhallowed.

Goblin Cave therefor does not boost Goblin Chief.

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


text:
In Trajan, can a player get a bonus tile with zero votes on the senate track?
In Trajan, if nobody advances on the Senate, do the top two discs get the bonus tiles?

Yes
From the Rulebook, page 9:

Ties are broken in favor of the player with the higher
  position on the senate track, in case of the same position
  in favor of that player whose disc is higher up in the
  stack.

So, if all discs are still at the starting point, the order of discs on the stack matters for determining Consul and Vice-Consul.


text:
When can I peek at facedown tiles?
In Apotheca tiles are placed facedown with an arrow indicating which player placed them.
While the rules say you can peek at cards, it doesn't say when it is valid for you to do so, only that you seemingly can't peek at cards while laying down new ones.
When can a player peek at times they have placed? Only during their turn? Before/after any action, but not during?

I don't have enough rep to create a tag for apotheca, so I'm hoping someone with the rep can remove house rules from this and add that one instead.


text:
When would I play a Quickling?
I have just started playing MTG and am really liking it. In the six games I have played, with a couple of people, the Quickling card keeps coming up.
We just don't understand under what circumstances this card would be a good thing. Why would I ever want to cast a card and then just sacrifice it straightaway? Or why would I want to spend mana to just swap out a card?
I'm sure there is a really good strategic use for this card I just can't work it out.

Quickling can and should be used on your own creatures for the same reason you would use Peel from Reality: to return a creature with a useful enter-the-battlefield ability such as (at least in M15) Frost Lynx, Reclamation Sage or Hornet Queen, more usefully, because it has Flash, you can use it to save a creature that opponent is trying to hit with any removal.
So not only do you get to reuse a useful creature or save it form being destroyed or otherwise rendered useless (i.e. with Encrust or Crippling Blight), but you also get a 2/2 flier out of the deal, which you can cast any time during your opponent's turn and attack with the next turn.

So if an opponent is killing one of my creatures and I swap it out with a quickling then does whatever was happening to my first creature transfer to the quickling?

@mattl No. Different objects are, well, different objects. If you're blocking with a creature, or attacking with a creature, or if something is targeting a creature, that decision is already made. You're not really directly swapping a creature with Quickling, you're just playing Quickling and returning the other creature.

Also, as for why it's in general useful, it may well be better to you (at that moment or long-term) than the thing you're returning to your hand. For example, your opponent might be attacking with a huge flying creature that you really need to block; returning a 1/1 without flying is a small price to pay for getting the Quickling and being able to block the flier. Or maybe you can afford to replay whatever you return to your hand anyway, so you just pay a bit of extra mana and get the Quickling without really losing anything.

You can also use it after blockers are declared to return the blocking creature to your hand and still prevent the damage to yourself. Bouncing or flickering (with cards like Momentary Blink) is one of the more powerful things you can do in Magic due to this rule. See the first ruling on Momentary Blink for more ideas.

Try it casually on,

Recruiter of the guard for more search!
Baleful Strix to draw more cards!
Shardless agent to cascade into more quicklings to cascade into more cards!

Or for modern flavor...

Goryo's vengeance > Grislebrand (draw/ attack/ draw) then Quickling him back so you can "Through the breach" or "Unburial rites" on your next turn!


text:
Sylvan primordial destroying detention sphere that previously exiled primeval bounty,
I put a Sylvan Primordial into play and target a Detention Sphere  that previously exiled my Primeval bounty. As part of Sylvan Primordial's triggered ability, I get to search for a forest card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Do I gain 3 life as part of Primeval Bounty's triggered ability or is it not returned to the battlefield yet?

It has not returned yet. Primordial destroys the Sphere and searches for the land all in one trigger, and only after that the Primeval Bounty returns.

@tsuma please post that as an answer.

Interestingly, this scenario plays out differently if Detention Sphere is replaced with Banishing Light.

Let's look at the stack:

We play Sylvan Primordial.
Sylvan Primordial resolves, and is removed from the stack.
Sylvan Primordial's 'Enters the battlefield' ability is placed on the stack. You choose Detention Sphere as the target.
Sylvan Primordial's triggered ability resolves. Detention Sphere is destroyed, and you may search your library for 1 Forest and put it into play tapped.
Because the Detention Sphere was destroyed, its 'Leaves the battlefield' ability is now placed on the stack.
Detention Sphere's triggered ability resolves. 'Return previously exiled Primeval Bounty to play' - The forest is already in play, so it doesn't trigger Primeval Bounty's ability.

Because you might assume that there's a timing difference between the destroying of permanents and the counting of those permanents for the forest-retrieval effect, it's logical to think that the consequences of said destruction will have already resolved. This is not the case however, as is shown by Sylvan Primordial's specific Ruling on the Gatherer:

If Sylvan Primordial’s enters-the-battlefield ability resolves but one of the target noncreature permanents isn’t destroyed (perhaps because it has indestructible or it regenerated), it won’t count toward the number of Forest cards you can put onto the battlefield.

Its ETB trigger resolves in one motion, and the additional ruling compensates for the difference in targets chosen vs targets saved by opponents.

One nitpick, the choice of Detention Sphere as the target of Sylvan Primordial's destruction should be in the second bullet, since targets are chosen when the ability goes on the stack.

I edited that comment into the answer. I have another nitpick: What is referred to as "Oracle errata" is not errata at all. It is just a rules clarification. The card would function exactly the same even without that ruling. Oracle errata is when the printed card text is different than the Oracle card text. I drew some crude circles to demonstrate.

@Rainbolt why edit in all the other changes and not that one?

@steenbergh I would have eliminated the last two paragraphs, as well as the rules quote, which is a bigger change than I'm comfortable making to someone else's answer. Those paragraphs imply that, without the ruling, it would be logical to assume that the card behaves differently. Maybe the word you were looking for was "instinctive" or "intuitive", as in "You might instinctively assume that [...], but a ruling on the Gatherer [...]". So yea, my nitpick is small, but the edit would have been large.

@Rainbolt You're right, and I do respect your thoughtfulness. I thought that would have been clear by the wording already, but I've reworded it to bring home your point. I do believe stepping into and disarming that assumption is important; I've seen these 'natural language' interpretations lead to discrepancies with the rules before...


text:
Do Door of Destinies and Myr Turbine interact?
If I have a Door of Destiniesin play and choose creature type Myr, do the abilities of Myr Turbine interact with the Door?
Do either of Myr Turbines effects cause Door of Destinies to trigger? Or, Myr Battlesphere. Do the 4 myr tokens it generates count?
Seems like the second would but im not sure about tokens...

If you choose Myr as the creature type for Door of Destinies, all Myr, whether cast from your hand or searched for or tokens, get +1/+1 for each charge counter on the Door.
However, the Door only gets counters when you cast a spell of the type Myr. What you are doing with the Myr Turbine is activating an ability. The first ability puts a token in play, the second a creature card from your library, but in both cases it's activating an ability, not casting a spell.
Casting the Myr Battlesphere (and I mean casting it from your hand, not putting it in play using the Turbine) would activate the Door of Destinies, but only for the Battlephere itself, not for the subsequent tokens because they don't get cast but result from a triggered ability.

And the tokens/chosen creatures dont themselves count as being cast? Just brought onto the field by the effect, correct?

Yes, correct. Tokens don't count because they are the result of something else resolving and are NOT cast by themselves.

In fact, tokens (like all permanents) can never be cast. Only spells can be cast.


text:
Equip Phases / Puresteel Paladin
I am unsure whether the "equip ability" can be played as often as I want during one round when using Puresteel Paladin, or by simply paying the equip costs.
Example: A creature is equipped with Whispersilk Cloak and I want it to have other equipments on it. Due to shroud that would at first not be possible.
Can I therefore within the pre-combat phase attach the Cloak onto another creature using the Paladin's ability, then attach the other equipments onto the first creature, and then re-attach the Cloak to that first creature?
Or could it be that I can only equip (or attach equipments) one time during a turn or within a specific phase?

You can shuffle around euqipment all you want with the Puresteel Paladin, as long as you have at least three artifacts in play.
The only restriction there is to activating the Equip ability, is that you can do it only any time you can play a sorcery (ie on your turn, in a main phase, when the stack is empty).
The rules on Equipment (specifically, the Equip ability) state nothing about how often you can activate it:

702.6. Equip
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.”
702.6b For more information about Equipment, see rule 301, “Artifacts.”
702.6c If a permanent has multiple instances of equip, any of its equip abilities may be activated.


text:
What happens if Combat Celebrant is killed during combat?
What happens if Combat Celebrant attacks and is killed by blockers? Would the second combat phase still happen?

Is it really a duplicate? The triggered ability on Combat Celebrant will in any case resolve before it is killed.

Then the fact that it dies is even less relevant...

@MichałPolitowski I agree. The other question is about if an ability resolves if the source is removed. This question is about an ability that has already resolved, and if that ability has lasting effects afterwards.

Yes, the second combat phase will still happen.
Abilities are completely separate from the source of the ability.

112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time won’t affect the ability.

In this case, Combat Celebrant has a triggered ability that causes the additional combat step. Once that ability triggers (upon exerting it), that ability is completely separate from the Celebrant itself.


text:
Does an enchantment curse go to grave if the cursed player loses?
In a multiplayer game, I enchanted someone else with Fraying Sanity. They milled out. Does Fraying Sanity go to the graveyard when that player loses, or does it still stay attached?

The Fraying Sanity is put into your graveyard when the player enchanted with it loses and leaves the game. From the Comprehensive rules:

303.4c If an Aura is enchanting an illegal object or player as defined by its enchant ability and other applicable effects, the object it was attached to no longer exists, or the player it was attached to has left the game, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)


text:
Can a Colorless commander use cards with the {C} symbol on them?
Hope of Ghirapur has no assigned color, but I want to use it as a general. Can I use cards that are colorless that require Wastes in the deck, for example Deceiver of Form?

Note that you don't need Wastes to fulfill the colorless requirement of mana costs - any card that generates colorless mana (such as [mtg:Sol Ring]) will do that.

Quoting from the Commander rules:

Cards in a deck may not have any colours in their color identity which are not shared with the commander of the deck. (The identity of each card in the deck must be a subset of the Commander's)

Colorless isn't a color, and since Deceiver of Form doesn't have any additional color symbols in its rules text, you are allowed to play it.
Examples of cards you're not allowed to play in a deck with a colorless color identity Commander:

Culling Drone (black color identity because of its mana cost, regardless of Devoid)
Boros Signet (red and white color identity because of mana symbols in the rules text)
Elbrus, the Binding Blade (black color identity because of its color indicator on the back face)

You also won't be able to use any lands with a basic land type, such as a Swamp, due to this rule:

Lands whose type includes swamp, island, plains, forest and/or mountain (basic lands, shocklands, dual lands, Shadowmoor special-basics, etc) also have the corresponding color identity. (...)

Dryad Arbor also has mana symbols in its rules text, via the standard Forest ability of "{T}: Add {G} to your mana pool."

The standard basic land abilities are not part of the rules text. They are abilities granted by the rules to cards with specific types. It does not directly affect color identity, and there is an extra rule in commander to restrict what decks you can play which basic lands in (903.5d). However, because of this, there are actually two different reasons you can't play Dryad Arbor in a colorless deck. A better example might be Transguild Courier.

@murgatroid99: The reason I chose not to use that card is because the color indicator isn't shown on the printed card, as it's only granted by errata. I tried to avoid possible confusion with mentions of other color words in rules text, such as Pyromancer's Gauntlet, which may be included in any deck. Also, now that I edited the post, I find that Dryad Arbor works as a nice double-example, seeing as I originally hadn't thought to mention basic lands, which of course can't be played in a colorless deck.

In that case, another good example might be Elbrus, the Binding Blade, which has a color indicator on the back side, so the double-faced card rule and the color indicator rule both apply. Also, it's not really accurate to say that there is a "green mana symbol granted by the Forest land type". There is simply a special rule stating that you cannot play lands with basic land types except in decks with the corresponding color identity.

Oh, yeah. I did some checking on it -- Forest doesn't have any rules text (beyond a "G"?), and Dryad Arbor only has a {G} symbol mentioned in its reminder text which means that at least doesn't affect color identity. Apparently it's an "intrinsic ability". Thanks @murgatroid99 for pointing that out.

What's with the "G" in Forest's oracle wording?

It represents the large mana symbol. For example, Mountain has an R. Strictly speaking Dryad Arbor should also have that given its FTV printing, but it's not in the oracle text.

@eyeballfrog That's interesting; I always thought that the symbol on newer basic lands was just part of the artwork; never considered it text. Seems strange to consider it rules text, because it doesn't mean anything at all. The ability {G} is meaningless and weird.

According to Gatherer, it's not even "{G}". It's just the letter "G".

@GendoIkari that's because you are correct, it isn't rules text, basic land cards have no text at all, it's more like the watermarks that have been on the text boxes of some cards. Except for Wastes because of the (IMHO terrible) way they bodged it into the game.


text:
Does tapping Swiftfoot Boots remove Hexproof from the creature it's equipped to?
So if my buddy has Emrakul, the Promised End, and it's equipped with Swiftfoot Boots, and I use Pacification Array to "tap target artifact..." can I tap the boots, thus eliminating the hexproof for that turn?

Why do you think tapping the Boots would remove Hexproof?

It's basically game over if he gets that equipped and I don't have a destroy target artifact. I was thinking that maybe tapping it would disable its abilities.

Tapping an artifact, or any other permanent, does not change its abilities, or whether those abilities have an effect, unless the ability says so. Tapped vs untapped is simply part of the status of a permanent [CR 110.6].
Historically, artifact abilities did in fact "turn off" when that artifact was tapped. Many of those cards have since been reworded to explicitly only work when the permanent is untapped. Examples include Winter Orb, Static Orb and Howling Mine.

In addition, tapping an Equipment does not prevent its Equip-ability from being played, unless tapping it is an explicit part of the costs for that ability (though I am unaware of any Equipment having to tap to equip).


text:
Are cloned cards considered as "tokens"?
My question relates to 706. Copying Objects, more specifically 706.1 which states:

706.1.: Some objects become or turn another object into a “copy” of a spell, permanent, or card. Some effects create a token that’s a copy of another object.

Does this mean that a "copy" is not a "token"?
The scenario was that I had an Anointed Procession which states:

If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates twice that many of those tokens instead.

Then I cast Clone which states:

You may have Clone enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield.

So my question is simply, would I only get one copy of that creature? Or 2 because it is a "token"?

Cards are never tokens, and tokens are never cards. (Keep in mind that even if you represent a token with something a lay person would call a card, it's still not a considered a card by the game.)

Even if you copy a card and Wizards never prints tokens for them (like Pack Rat, for example) it's still a token..

Look at the period in 706.1. That period separates the idea of an object becoming a copy and a token being created as a copy.

Clone has no interaction here with Anointed Procession. Clone does not make tokens, and it is not a token.
Tokens are defined in rule 110.5:

Some effects put tokens onto the battlefield. A token is a marker used to represent any permanent that isn’t represented by a card.

In your situation, Clone is a card, not a token.
In addition, the full text of the rule you mentioned, rule 706.1 is

Some objects become or turn another object into a “copy” of a spell, permanent, or card. Some effects create a token that’s a copy of another object. [...]

This is describing two different kinds of effects. Clone is the first kind of effect: it becomes a copy of a permanent. Some other effects will explicitly say that the create tokens, or they will create tokens with some specific keyword abilities or actions like Populate or Fabricate.

Pack Rat's activated ability is an example of the other kind of effect (one that does create a token and would be affected by Anointed Procession).

To add to the other answers, copying a permanent does not copy whether or not the target is a token or a card.  Clone, as a card, will always be a card even if it is copying a token.  An effect that produces token copies will always produce tokens even if they are copying cards.

You will only get 1 copy of that creature, and that copy will still be represented by the Clone card that you have.
Copies and Tokens have nothing to do with each other.
A token is a non-card object that is a permanent on the battlefield. It acts like a card most ways, but has a few differences, mostly dealing with what happens when they change zones.

108.2b Tokens aren’t considered cards—even a card-sized game supplement that represents a token isn’t considered a card for rules purposes.
110.5. Some effects put tokens onto the battlefield. A token is a marker used to represent any permanent that isn’t represented by a card.

Copying an object deals with what attributes the object has. Clone is a card that happens to be able to change its attributes to match those of another creature.

You misinterpret 706.1 (emphasis mine):

706.1.: Some objects become or turn another object into a “copy” of a spell, permanent, or card. Some effects create a token that’s a copy
  of another object.

The wording insists on how a copy is done: by transforming an existing object, or by creating a new object.
Now two examples of this difference:

A Clone becomes the copy of another creature: that's a
transformation of an existing object, nothing is created.
A Cackling Counterpart creates a new object (a creature in this case). You use a token to represent that new object.

Be also aware that a token, even if represented by a card on the battlefield, is a token and never a card. To make that clear, the wording of cards like Forbidden Ritual was changed. Playing with a token you make with pen and paper or a token card is always equivalent.


text:
Repeatedly targeting one creature with the same "target creature gains..." effect
Main question
Is it legal to target the same creature with the same effect that would give it an ability over and over again?
Context
In my case, I run Broken Fall in my Omnath enchanter commander deck, and with some Enchantress's Presence effects on the field I like to return it to my hand by regenerating Omnath, then re-casting it to draw one or more cards over and over again. Is this a legal strategy?

The effect specifically tells you what you can target. Broken Fall's ability targets a creature. Any creature.

You may continue casting Broken Fall to trigger Enchantress's Presence for as long as you have the mana to do so.
To break it down, in magic there are few cases where the game cares about what has happened previously (and when the game does care it is usually covered by the rules text on the card). So for your interaction the game sees it like this:

You cast Broken Fall paying its costs ({2}{G}) as per (601.2).
Enchantress triggers allowing you to draw a card.
Broken Fall resolves. You may now activate its ability.
You activate Broken Fall's ability, choosing a target and paying its costs (returning it to your hand). It should be noted that you can choose any creature for this not just your own, so no worries if you want to combo and have no creatures.
Broken Fall's ability resolves (or dosen't, if your opponent response is to either kill the target or stifle it) and the stack is now empty. You may now start again from the top.

Some things to note that your opponent might have had some trouble with:

Once a card enters a private zone (hand, library etc.) the game no longer tracks it. So from the games perspective it has no way of telling that Broken Fall is the same card once it enters your hand. So the game can't tell the difference between casting the same Broken Fall 4 times, or casting and returning to your hand four different copies of Broken Fall.

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...

A creature can have multiple regeneration effects applied to it. The regeneration replacement effects just queue up on the creature and are used up one at a time as needed and if not used disappear at the end of the turn. (Regneration 701.13, Replacement Effects 614.6-8)

Cheers, thanks for the clarification. I chose this as the answer because you mentioned actual rulings as well, which is always handy. @Kevin's answer was just as good though, I'd pick both if I could.

@CDClarke No problem, glad to help. Check-mark is nice, but if its rep you want its only +15. Kevin has a good answer so both will get votes as time goes on.

It's legal.
A creature can have multiple regeneration shields. A regeneration shield isn't an ability, but even if it was, a creature is allowed to have multiple instances of the same ability. For example, Maelstrom Wanderer has two instances of Cascade, and Sublime Archangel can give Exalted to creatures that already have it.
Even if a creature could only have one regeneration shield, it would still be legal to target a creature multiple times with Broken Fall; it just wouldn't do anything useful. The card would need to be worded something like "regenerate target creature that hasn't been targeted by a permanent named Broken Fall this turn" if they wanted to prevent this.
There's no rule that says you can't cast the same card multiple times, if it somehow keeps making its way back to your hand.
There's no rule that says you can't target a creature with an ability if you've already targeted that creature with an ability from that same source. (but even if there was, Broken Fall becomes a new object every time it changes zones, so it wouldn't count as the same source anyway)
There's no rule that says Enchantress' Presence can only trigger once.
So you're good!


text:
If damage is redirected infinitely, does the game end in a draw?
I have a creature enchanted with Pariah:

All damage that would be dealt to you is dealt to enchanted creature
  instead.

I then play Blood of the Martyr:

Until end of turn, if damage would be dealt to any creature, you may
  have that damage dealt to you instead.

The rules appear to say that this does not result in a draw, because according to Blood of the Martyr I "may" redirect the damage to me.

104.4b If the game somehow enters a “loop” of mandatory actions, repeating a sequence of events with no way to stop, the game is a draw. Loops that contain an optional action don’t result in a draw.

Then, am I forced to give the damage to the creature? Do I have a choice to draw the game by choosing to give the damage to myself forever?

These are replacement effects, and you can't apply any single replacement effect to any single event more than once. So, once you apply both effects, you stop, the damage is dealt, and the game continues.
These are the relevant rules about Replacement Effects:

614.1. Some continuous effects are replacement effects. Like prevention effects (see rule 615), replacement effects apply continuously as events happen—they aren’t locked in ahead of time. Such effects watch for a particular event that would happen and completely or partially replace that event with a different event. They act like “shields” around whatever they’re affecting.

614.1a Effects that use the word “instead” are replacement effects. Most replacement effects use the word “instead” to indicate what events will be replaced with other events.

[...]

614.5. A replacement effect doesn’t invoke itself repeatedly; it gets only one opportunity to affect an event or any modified events that may replace it.

For example, say an effect would deal damage to you. Then you would resolve the effect as follows:

First, only Pariah's effect applies. It's not optional, so we apply it, and the damage would now be dealt to the creature instead of to you.

Now Blood of the Martyr's effect applies. This one is optional, so you can choose to have the damage dealt to you instead of the creature.

Now, no matter what choice you made, all applicable replacement effects have now been applied. The effect resolved, and the damage is dealt either to you or to the creature, depending on the choice you made.

While your example is not a loop, as @murgatroid99 described, the answer to your question for actual loops is still No. Any time there is a loop that involves optional actions (...you may have that damage...), the active player must choose a finite number of iterations in which to perform the loop, then perform an action that would not continue it (were your example a viable loop, this would involve choosing .

716.3. Sometimes a loop can be fragmented, meaning that each player involved in the loop performs an
  independent action that results in the same game state being reached multiple times. If that happens,
  the active player (or, if the active player is not involved in the loop, the first player in turn order
  who is involved) must then make a different game choice so the loop does not continue.

Note also 104.4b:

104.4b ... Loops that contain an optional action don’t result in a draw.


text:
Activating abilites of enchantments
As an example, assume I have a Grizzly Bear in play with two enchantments on it: Dragon Breath and Dizzying Gaze. Both of these enchantments grant my Grizzly Bear an ability that I can activate by paying {R}.
If I pay {R}, do I activate both abilities at once?

Can you give a specific scenario, with specific cards? It sounds like you may have misunderstood how casing auras on your creatures works, but it's hard to be entirely sure based on what you've written.

@steenbergh Your edit is definitely one of the possibilities, but the original question referred to casting costs of the enchantments, so it's also possible that the OP thought that you had to repay the casting cost of an aura to get its effects.

@Jefromi That's why I refer to the text of the original question in my answer.

@steenbergh My point was not so much about your answer but about whether the edited question actually asks what the OP wants. But if anything, referring to the original text in an answer is a bit of a red flag: it suggests that there's something important enough to address that's been removed from the question, and others who don't look at the revision history of every question they answer would miss that.

If I vote to re-open, will I then be allowed to vote to close as duplicate?

No, evidently :(

Short answer: You only activate 1 by paying 1 red mana
Long answer: let's first clear up your vocabulary a little. From your original question, it's unclear if you want to play both enchantments from your hand onto the Grizzly Bear for {R}, or if you want to use the abilities listed on the enchantments. Do you realise enchantments are what we call 'permanents'? Once played, they remain in play until they are destroyed, returned to your hand or, in the case of creature enchantments, the creature they are bound to disappears. You only pay the casting cost when you put an enchantment in play.
Once the enchantments are in play, they grant additional abilities to the creature they are enchanting. In order to use such an ability, you

declare you want to use an ability (for instance, the 'deals 1 damage to target creature with flying' ability on Dizzying Gaze)
Pay the cost, choose a target
Resolve the ability (and perhaps others that were placed on the stack as a reaction to this).

As you can see, all of the above is for one of the extra abilities that your creature has, now that it is enchanted. Same goes for the other ability. When you pay {R}, it is always for one activated ability.


text:
Do enchantments of Crew carry over to Vehicles?
If I crew a vehicle with a creature that has an enchantment that does something such as "Whenever enchanted creature attacks, its controller loses 2 life" would that transfer to the vehicle it crews? Also, would enchantments such as a +1/+1 counter move to the vehicle?

Related: http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/32965/crewing-vehicles-with-dead-crews

Fun fact: Insolence would trigger in this case. Insolence is an enchantment that reads "whenever enchanted creature becomes tapped, it deals 2 damage to its controller.", so tapping a creature that has an Insolence attached to pay for Crew cost triggers Insolence.

@steenbergh Also Night Market Lookout, which was designed to work either on its own or when crewing vehicles.

@Samthere Merfolks are also naturally skilled in driving vehicles.
http://magiccards.info/query?q=o%3Awhenever+o%3Abecomes+o%3Atapped+t%3A%22creature%22+%28e%3Amt%2Fen+or+e%3Alw%2Fen%29&v=scan&s=issue

No to both. Crewing a creature doesn't cause he vehicle to be related to the creatures that crew it in any way unless the creatures have an ability that triggers when they crew a vehicle. Crew means nothing more than what the ability says; that you tap creatures  to make the vehicle into an artifact creature until end of turn.
From the gatherer rulings on Smuggler's Copter:

Creatures that crew a Vehicle aren’t attached to it or related in any other way. Effects that affect the Vehicle, such as by destroying it or giving it a +1/+1 counter, don’t affect the creatures that crewed it and vice versa.

Also note that "enchantments such as a +1/+1 counter" makes no sense. A counter is a completely different thing from an enchantment. If you meant an aura enchantment that gives the creature +1/+1, this is unrelated to a +1/+1 counter.

As a further point, it helps to remember that crewing a vehicle doesn't link the creature and the vehicle in any way (unless later effects get added that reference creatures that crewed a vehicle creature this turn). Abilities can trigger between a crewing creature and a vehicle (e.g. Gearshift Ace), but there's no ongoing link between them. Creatures don't really drive vehicles, but rather turn them on and program them where to go!


text:
Does Heroic trigger on a static effect?
War-wing Siren has the Heroic ability:

Whenever you cast a spell that targets War-Wing Siren, put a +1/+1 counter on War-Wing Siren.

Captain Of the Watch states:

"Other Soldier creatures you control get +1/+1 and have vigilance."

With Siren in play under my control, I cast Captain Of Watch. The Captain has an effect on Siren: +1/+1 and vigilance.  Does this count as casting a spell that targets Siren?  Should Siren get a +1/+1 counter?
I see "Target" to mean the recipient of some spell or effect.

No, the Siren does not receive a +1/+1 counter. Although your understanding of the word 'Target' makes sense in english, it has a rather specific meaning in Magic.
A creature is only targeted by spells or abilities that actually have the word 'target' on it. For instance, Giant Growth. From the Comprehensive rules:

114.1a An instant or sorcery spell is targeted if its spell ability identifies something it will affect by using the phrase “target [something],”

The Siren needs to be identified as that 'target [something]' in order for Heroic to trigger. On instants and sorceries, this is spelled out; casting an Aura (ie Unholy Strength) on War-Wing Siren also triggers the Heroic ability, as they have an implicit target:

114.1b Aura spells are always targeted.

Casting an equipment would not trigger the ability, as they enter play unattached and not targeting anything.  Their equip-ability is not the same as 'casting a spell', so it doesn't trigger Heroic. The same goes for other activated abilities with a target (Spikeshot Goblin does not trigger Heroic, also see this question).
To look a little closer at what spells do and do not target the War-Wing Siren:

Twiddle would trigger the Heroic ability.
Turnabout wouldn't, because the card doesn't target a creature, it targets a player.
Call to Glory would not trigger the Siren's Heroic ability, as it doesn't target anything.

(Thanks to @diego for suggesting these cards)

I'm not sure why you chose to quote 114.1a over 114.1, but I'd suggest to use that one instead for being more general and therefore better applicable to an unspecific question, as well as better describing the concept of choosing a target. Choosing an Instant-and-Sorcery-specific rule could lead to the misinterpretation that only those effects would trigger Heroic abilities, while creatures' abilities and other effects are perfectly capable of doing the same.


text:
Does Diffusion Sliver protect from boardwipe spells and sacrifice spells?
If I have a Diffusion Sliver out, are my Slivers protected from Wrath of God? What about Chainer's Edict?

Although the question is different, this answer applies here, too.

http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/4638/does-wrath-of-god-really-destroy-creatures-with-shroud http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/14218/do-permanents-controlled-by-a-player-with-hexproof-also-have-hexproof

No, they are not protected
Diffusion Sliver's ability is only triggered when a Sliver becomes a 'target'. A creature is only targeted by spells or abilities that actually have the word 'target' on it. For instance, Giant Growth. From the Comprehensive rules:

114.1a An instant or sorcery spell is targeted if its spell ability identifies something it will affect by using the phrase “target [something],”

(Note that rule 114 in its entirety describes 'targeting', this is just a specific excerpt for instants and sorceries.)
The Sliver needs to be identified as that 'target [something]' in order for this specific ability to trigger. On instants and sorceries, this is spelled out; casting an Aura (ie Unholy Strength) on a Sliver also triggers the ability added to it by Diffusion Sliver, as they have an implicit target:

114.1b Aura spells are always targeted.

Casting an equipment would not trigger the ability, as they enter play unattached and not targeting anything.  Their equip-ability however would count as becoming a target.
To look a little closer at what spells do and do not target the Slivers:

Twiddle would target the Sliver and trigger this ability.
Turnabout wouldn't, because the card doesn't target a creature, it targets a player.
Call to Glory would not target the Sliver, as it doesn't target anything.

No, the key word here is "target". Your slivers get an ability that triggers whenevery a spell or ability gets cast/activated that contains the word "target", e.g. Doom Blade. Any spells/abilities which do not "target" your slivers are uneffected by diffusion sliver, as here in your example edicts don't target your creatures but you and wrath doesn't target at all.


text:
How to tell from which expansion a card is?
I ordered a few sets of Descent after I watched a friend play and after opening a few boxes I mixed up the cards. Now is there a way to unmix them? I don't remember which cards went to which expansion... I'm not sure if it matters that they are mixed up, but it seems like it does.

I've not handled Descent cards myself, but in my experience most games with card-based expansions — Fantasy Flight games in particular — tend to have small icons on their cards which indicate which expansion they come from; I usually find this in the lower right corner of the card itself (no icon typically means it comes from the base set).
From my quick skim of the instructions, that does appear to be the case here (see, for example, page 3 of the Lair of the Wyrm expansion rulebook, as well as page 3 of the Trollfens rulebook).

That just may have helped thank you. I'll check all rulebooks for symbols n go from there again ty

While some FFG games like Arkham Horror function best with just one or two expansions and can become unwieldy with  more, Descent just gets better and better with each expansion added, just like @CyberClaw mentioned. And as @goldPseudo mentioned, there are typically small icons on the card to indicate the set each card belongs to.
For more information on those icons and a quick reference to which set they belong to, the Descent Wiki - Expansions page can be extremely useful, as each expansion's detail page lists not only the detailed contents of the expansion, but also the set icon for that expansion.

Well I wanted to start this off as a single play so to better understand the game. But there are many different cards and I'm confused now lol but I do see icons on some of the cards.

I can totally understand wanting to start simple, and on that note I'd second @CyberClaw's recommendation of the App: the Rise Of All Goblins mini-campaign is an excellent introduction for the players to understand their side of the game-play, and then you can learn the Overlord part after that, if you'd like.

Thanks alot everyone, 2 weeks off from work soon. Plan on digging deep into the depths of this game

No, it doesn't matter if cards are mixed up. The game is designed to be mixed and matches at will. You can play any subclass in any expansion. You can buy any item at the shop from any expansion as well.
Only overlord cards are played "face down". Everything else is displayed on sight, and marked exactly when to use. For example, act 2 shop items are marked with a "II". If more expansions are mixed in, that just means you'll have more loot to choose from in Act II. There are some scenarios (tutorial for example) that will tell you exactly what to bring to the table. Having more cards, just means more options for all the players.
Cards are marked with their expansion symbol, if for some reason you want to check them individually or remove them from the game.

A side comment, I'd check the app if you haven't yet. It basically plays the Overlord (which almost no one likes to play), and you and your friend just play the heroes. The app is called descent road to legend, and it's available on Steam, iOS and Android for free. It uses every expansion you have (you select them in an option), although only in side quests, and minions. They just launched The Delve, a campaign that'll mix and match content from all your expansions, but it's payed for (5$). I'd try the general campaign first, and then if you enjoyed it, go for the Delve (which is much more re-playable).


text:
Can I cast instants in response to my opponent declaring blockers?
When my opponent declares blockers, I want to be able to kill a blocking creature (with something like Hero's Downfall) while still doing combat damage to my opponent.
Is this possible?

Does the creature have trample?

@Drunk We can probably best answer by saying what happens when it does or doesn't.

To answer the question in your title, yes, each player receives priority and can cast instants after blockers are declared. However, to answer the (unwritten) question in the body of your text, the attacking creature will still be considered blocked, even if the defender is killed or otherwise removed from combat. A blocked creature will deal no damage to the defending player unless it has trample (or some other card-specific ability).
It sounds like you want to kill an opponent's creature before blockers are declared. Your last chance to do this is when you receive priority after attackers are declared. If you kill potential blockers at this point, they won't be around to be declared blockers, meaning the damage will get through to the opponent.

The last time you can cast an instant to prevent a creature from blocking is in the Assign Attackers step, after attackers have been declared. If you have moved to the Declare Blockers step, it's too late, since the very first thing that happens is the defender declares blockers.  Nobody has priority until after that happens.

Worth mentioning that although the blocker can be destroyed, the creature it was blocking still counts as blocked. (we've got a question on that somewhere)

You can't respond to blockers being declared the way you could respond to a player casting an Instant, as declaring blockers is a turn-based action that doesn't use the stack.
This means that once the game moves toward the Declare Blockers Step, your opponent will get to declare blockers, all attacking creatures that were assigned a blocker become blocked, and then players get priority. Even if you destroy a creature using Hero's Downfall at this point, the creature it was blocking is still blocked and generally won't deal combat damage.

This answer was downvoted why? It answers the question the way it's been asked more complete than the other answers (which is why I posted it in the first place), even though that's not likely what the person wanted to know...


text:
How does Terrarion work?
I am a bit confused of the artifact card Terrarion. Does this card allow me to gain 2 mana of any color forever when I tap 2 mana, tap Terrarion, and sacrifice it? Or do I only gain that mana for that turn?

Do you understand the difference between mana and lands?

This question isn't really about Terrarion, but rather the mana system. Abilities (such as tapping lands) add mana to your mana pool, where it floats around until you use it, or until the step/phase ends. Lands aren't mana - they just have the ability to tap to produce mana (generally once a turn). Mana never lasts forever unless something says otherwise - it drains if you don't use it quickly.

What Terrarion basically does, is repaint the color of mana. If you have two blue mana, but need a red and a green one, you can activate Terrarion's ability.
Let's look at that ability: The cost to activate it are on the left side of the :, and he effects on the right. The costs are: pay 2 mana, tap Terrarion and sacrifice it.

The mana may be of any color, or even colorless
Why bother tapping it if we're going to sacrifice it anyway? Terrarion comes into play tapped, and once it's tapped you can't tap it again. So, in the first turn you can't activate this ability.
Sactifice it. This one's obvious. Note that Terrarion has a leaves the battlefield triggered ability, so you get to draw a card.

As for the effect: You can choose to add 2 mana of any color (though not colorless - Terrarion requires us to choose from the Colors of Magic: Red, Green, White, Black or Blue). They can be two different colors, or 2 mana of the same color, as per Gatherer:

You can get either two mana of the same color or one mana each of different colors.

But didn't we just pay two mana. Yes, we've paid 2 mana of color XY, and gained 2 mana of color WZ. You have effectively repainted 2 mana to better suit your purposes.

The mana generated by Tarririon can not be colorless. Rule 105.4

@DrunkCynic thx, added specifically.

It sounds like you are confused between lands and mana. Lands are cards that (usually) produce mana; they are "permanents" so they stick around on the battlefield turn after turn. Mana is always a temporary resource (usually obtained by tapping a land, but also available from other sources like Terrarion) which you either spend to cast spells and such, or don't spend in which case it vanishes at the end of the current phase of the turn. There is no such thing as "gaining mana forever".


text:
Help with the rules of checkmate

I am playing white and it is my turn. I am currently in check.
Can I capture the pawn in front of my king to escape the check, placing his king in checkmate? Or is it illegal and therefore I lose?

Actually it appears that you yourself are already checkmated in the picture. That is, you have lost the game because you cannot prevent your opponent from taking your king on their next turn. That you can take their king on your very next turn is irrelevant under the official rules, but you could make a house rule (once you have a firmer grasp on the official rules).

No, you may not ever move your king into a position in which it is threatened ("in check").  If you did, your opponent could just immediately capture your king, and you would lose.
Reference from the FIDE Laws of Chess:

3.9. ... No piece can be moved that will either expose the king of the same colour to check or leave that king in check.

I see thank you very much I am new to chess so sorry for the trouble ^_^

You can solve any such problem by pretending the rules of check and checkmate don't exist, and instead you just lose when your king is captured. In your case, if you take the pawn, black will take your king and you will lose.
The rule of check becomes unnecessary since all it says is you can't make a move that allows your opponent to win immediately, and you wouldn't want to anyway.
(Note: this way of thinking about it doesn't account for the rules about stalemates or castling through check.)

Taking the pawn places your king in check, under threat from the opponent king.
As white, you have no way of creating check on your opponent, let alone mate.
White loses.

I see thank you very much I am new to chess so sorry for the trouble ^_^


text:
Is "Sequencing Breakthrough" applied only to a single player
The Sequencing Breakthrough event indicates to place the card face up in front of "this player". The text, however, indicates the effect is applied on the "next cure".
All of the other long-term events (e.g. Commercial Travel Ban) are somehow tied to the player during whose turn the event was played. Is Sequencing Breakthrough similar - does it apply only to the player it was played by?
I've been playing it as a bonus on whichever cure is discovered next, regardless of who discovers it.

You have been playing correctly. The effect applies to the next 'Discover A Cure' action, regardless of which player performs it.
The card is placed in front of the player for two reasons:

it remains in effect (the obvious and helpful indicator so that players can easily check whether it applies)
it is kept out of the discard pile (to prevent other abilities and card effects from being used to create a "stack" of Sequencing Breakthroughs)


text:
Does the "Disease Zones Expand" emergency event only apply to cities with cubes of more than one color?
The Disease Zones Expand emergency event card states to

Add 1 cube of every non-matching color to each city with different colored cube(s).

Does this mean to add cubes to cities which have cubes of non-native colors (e.g. LA has a blue cube but no yellow cube, so it gets a second blue cube, and Mexico City has a blue and a yellow, so it only gets a second blue), or add cubes to cities which have cubes of 2 or more colors (e.g. LA has a blue cube but no yellow, so it gets no new cubes, whereas Mexico City has both a blue and a yellow, so it gets one extra of each)? Or is it something in between?

In this thread on BGG, game designer Tom Lehmann addresses this concern. User joekeck posted this as a reword:

"if any cities contain any cube(s) (other than purple) that do not match that city's color, then add an additional cube of that cube color"

and Tom responded:

In spirit, yes. The problems with this wording (which is similar to the wording I originally submitted to Z-Man) are: A) "that cube color" could conceivably be read as a cube of the city's color ("that" isn't unambiguous here) and B) it's too long for the card text area.

So in your example, both Los Angeles and Mexico city receive an additional blue cube, but no yellow cubes are added.

IMHO, you need to add a cube to the non-native cubes

so LA (which is yellow) but has a blue cube RECEIVES an extra blue cube
Mexico (which is yellow) and has both a blue and yellow cube RECEIVES an extra blue cube (not a yellow one, because that IS matching)

You were first, but @SocioMatt 's answer included clarification from the game designer, so I marked it as the answer instead.

Not a user of BGG, so... :) thanks for the feedback!


text:
Online maps for Cryptid
Are the games generated in playcryptid.com the same as those in the box, or does it generate new games?
If it's the latter, how many games are possible? The ones included in the game box feels like a small set and has a fairly limited replayability for the same group of 4 people.

I checked with the designers on Twitter and co-desinger Ruth Veevers responed
"Yes, there's a different, much larger set online - I don't remember how many off the top of my head but it's something like 10,000 map setups which each contain dozens of games."


text:
Thebes: extending your turn past the end of the last year
In the game Thebes, does my last turn have to end exactly on the last week of 1903, or can I extend it into 1904?
If it can be extended, is there a limit on how far into 1904 I may go?

According to the reference document at OrderOfGamers.com,

Once players are in 1903, when a player’s marker crosses space 52 he must end on space 1. He may use no more weeks. Once all players have reached
  the space, the game ends and scoring commences.

You must stop on week 1 of (what would be) the year 1904, and you may not use any weeks beyond that.


text:
King of Tokyo: Acid Attack
In King of Tokyo, what are the consequences of the acid attack card? Specifically, the following questions:

Who does the damage effect?
Does the damage count as an attack?
If damaged by acid attack while in Tokyo, can the monster leave Tokyo?

The answer depends on which edition of King of Tokyo you are playing.
In the first edition, the answer is given by the answer of user Ken Herbert.
In the second (2016) edition, the Acid Attack Power Card states:

Add [Claw symbol] to your Roll.

Hence, it acts in the same way as if you had an extra die and rolled a Claw with it. Hence, if you have this card and are outside of Tokyo, the monster in Tokyo can yield.

The damage will hit any valid target of a normal dice-based attack, so if you are in Tokyo (City or Bay) all players outside Tokyo are hit, but if you are outside Tokyo the player(s) in Tokyo are damaged. (Taken from the official-ish FAQ from BoardGameGeek)
The damage from Acid Attack does not count as an attack, and a monster in Tokyo cannot yield their place as a result of it. It is explicitly stated on page 4 of the rulebook:

[Life] lost dealt from a Power card effect is different than [dice Claw symbols]. A Monster can only Yield Tokyo when losing from [Life] from [dice Claw symbols].

Mostly just wanted to add this info to stack exchange. These answers are the general consensus as found on boardgamegeek.com and other stack exchange questions.
Who does the damage effect?
Damage effects players in the way a normal attack would. Essentially, if you are in Tokyo, you deal damage to all monsters outside of Tokyo. If you are outside Tokyo, you deal damage to all players in Tokyo.
Does the damage count as an attack?
Similar to other damage dealing cards, acid attack does not count as an attack. The damage is dealt in addition to attack damage.
If damaged by acid attack while in Tokyo, can a monster leave Tokyo?
Since damage dealt by acid attack does not count as attack damage, a monster cannot leave Tokyo if dealt damage only by acid attack. If the monster is attacked (in addition to damage from acid attack) they may leave Tokyo as they normally could.


text:
What is the probability that a player is dealt 3 kings in a single euchre hand?
In the game of euchre, the deck consists of the nine, ten, jack, queen, king and ace of each suit. Players are dealt a five card hand.
What is the probability that a player is dealt 3 kings in that hand of five cards?

This is a hypergeometric distribution problem.  Luckily, calculators exist that let you just plug in the numbers and get an answer.  I used this one with
Population size = 24 (the size of the deck)
Number of successes in population = 4 (the total number of kings)
Sample size = 5 (the number of cards in your hand)
Number of successes in sample = 3 (the number of kings you are interested in)
The results show that the chances of getting exactly 3 kings is 1.79%.  If you also include hands with 4 kings, it goes up to 1.84%.

You could also think of it like this, using combinations. Recall that a combination C(x, n) tells you the number of ways you could arrange n objects from a set of size x where order doesn't matter. So if you have 10 books, C(10, 3) tells you the number of ways you could select 3 of them.
There are 4 Kings in a Euchre deck, and 24 total cards. So there are C(4, 3) = 4 ways of choosing 3. Now since you need 2 other cards to finish out your hand, and you have already chosen from the 4 kings to leave 20 remaining cards, there are C(20, 2) = 190 ways to choose the remaining cards.
So there are 4 * 190 ways to form a hand of 3 Kings (and 2 other cards). There are C(24, 5) = 42504 total possible Euchre hands. So your probability is:
P = (4 * 190) / 42504 = 780 / 42504 = .01788 ~= 1.788% chance.

24-4=20. You count the fourth king twice. The probability is then 1.788% in agreement with the existing answer using a calculator.


text:
In what location do assets gain "advertisement" via Rebranding Team?
Rebranding Team says

All assets gain advertisement.

Does it matter where the asset is located? Say, do assets from HQ or Archives also gain "advertisement"?

From the FAQ:

Cards always have their subtypes, even while inactive.

Always means this applies in all zones, including R&D, HQ and Archives
For example: Rebranding Team can be used in conjunction with Ad Blitz to retrieve any Asset from archives.


text:
Can the New Angeles Sol prevent a current from being trashed if an agenda was stolen?
The corp's id is the New Angeles Sol: Your News and some current is on the table.
Say runner steals an agenda. What is the order of abilities triggered? The current is trashed and then corp's id can bring it back, or not?

New Angeles Sol: Your News allows you to play a current from HQ or Archives (paying its play cost), it does not prevent anything from happening.
After an agenda is scored or stolen, this ability triggers at which point you can play any current that is in Archives (or HQ). If a current was trashed as a part of scoring or stealing the agenda then the current will be in Archives and available to play.
This isn't quite the same as 'preventing' trashing, or making currents untrashable as they still need to be played and paid for.


text:
Does my counter to a spell have to be relevant?
If my opponent plays a creature, can I respond to that creature because technically it is a spell being cast?
If so, am I allowed to respond to the casting of a creature spell with a flame lash dealing damage to the player or must it concern the spell it is responding to?

Note that the word "counter" has a specific meaning in MTG; a card like Spell Snare is a counter, a card like Flame Lash is NOT. Playing a Flame Lash after your opponent casts a spell would be called a "response", not a "counter".

If we want to get maximally pedantic (and what MTG player doesn't?), "counter" as a noun only has one formal meaning, referring to a marker placed on an object or player that modifies its characteristics. Spell Snare is a spell that can counter (verb), but it is not itself a counter. Informally, players might call it a counter or counterspell, but that's not something listed in the rulebook, so you won't see any rules like "only counterspells may be played while a creature spell is on the stack"

Flame lash is rarely a counterspell. Of course, if your opponent has 4 life, it's the ULTIMATE counterspell.

If my opponent plays a creature, can I respond to that creature because technically it is a spell being cast?

Yes, you can. At the moment your opponent casts it (which means they reveal the card, pay the associated costs, and maybe even verbally declare that they are casting it), it becomes a spell, specifically a creature spell. It does not become a creature permanent, a.k.a. a creature, until the spell resolves. Before that happens, you get a chance to do things in response.

If so, am I allowed to respond to the casting of a creature spell with a flame lash dealing damage to the player or must it concern the spell it is responding to?

Yes, you can cast Flame Lash targeting the player at this point. There is no rule that says the thing you cast must be related to the creature spell being cast; it can be anything you can play at that time, which generally means any instant or card with flash.

In detail, if we take the example of your opponent casting an Aether Herder with no other creatures in play, the process goes like this:

It is your opponent's main phase.

Stack:
(empty)
Battlefield:
(no creatures)

Your opponent reveals an Aether Herder card from their hand and moves it to the stack (i.e. on to the table), pays the cost {3}{G}, and (maybe) says "Cast Aether Herder" or something like that.

Stack:

Aether Herder (spell)

Battlefield:
(no creatures)

Your opponent may cast or activate something else: any instant, or any card with flash, or any ability whose activation is not restricted by the text "Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery" or the liky. Let's say they don't. (It would be very rare for them to do this.)

Stack:

Aether Herder (spell)

Battlefield:
(no creatures)

You may cast or activate something (instant, flash card, ability). Let's say you cast Flame Lash. You reveal the Flame Lash card from your hand and move it to the stack, choose what to target (your opponent), pay the cost {3}{R}, and (maybe) say "Flame Lash you". (Note: you cannot target the Aether Herder. Flame Lash cannot target spells. It can only target creatures - that is, creature permanents on the battlefield - and players, as it says on the card.)

Stack:

Flame Lash (spell)
Aether Herder (spell)

Battlefield:
(no creatures)

You may cast or activate something else. Let's say you don't. (Again, it would be very rare for you to do this.)

Stack:

Flame Lash (spell)
Aether Herder (spell)

Battlefield:
(no creatures)

Your opponent may cast or activate something. Let's say they don't.

Stack:

Flame Lash (spell)
Aether Herder (spell)

Battlefield:
(no creatures)

Since all players have passed priority consecutively, the top item on the stack resolves. This is the Flame Lash. It deals 4 damage to your opponent. (Then, if they are at 0 life or less, they lose.)

Stack:

Aether Herder (spell)

Battlefield:
(no creatures)

Your opponent, as the active player, may cast or activate something. Let's say they don't.

Stack:

Aether Herder (spell)

Battlefield:
(no creatures)

You may cast or activate something. Let's say you don't.

Stack:

Aether Herder (spell)

Battlefield:
(no creatures)

Since all players have passed priority consecutively, the top item on the stack resolves. This is the Aether Herder. It stops being a spell and becomes a permanent. Your opponent moves the card from the stack to the battlefield.

Stack:
(empty)
Battlefield:

Aether Herder (permanent)

Yes, you receive priority to respond to your opponent casting his creature. While the creature is on the stack, you can activate any abilities or cast any instant speed spell, before the creature resolves.
You also receive priority at the passing of each phase, which allows you to cast any instants or activate abilities.
Specifically, if you have a counter, it should be relevant to the target, otherwise you have no legal target. Consider Spell Snare (counter target spell with CMC = 2). If your opponent casts a spell with any CMC other than 2, it is not a legal target for Spell Snare, so you can't even put it on the stack (but you still get a chance to respond before the creature resolves).
For further reading, research active player, non-active player priority (APNAP).

You should specifically address Flame Lash. OP is trying to use that as a counter, and that's a Bad Thing.


text:
In Catan Jr, what happens when a resource is gone and players should receive more of it?
When playing Catan Junior, if all the resources from a stockpile get handed out but more are needed, what happens?
For example, if a player rolls to receive a wood resource but none are left, or multiple players should receive the same resource but there are not enough available for everybody.

There appears to be no mention of this in the rulebook. The original, vanilla Catan game rulebook states this:

If there are not enough of a given resource in the supply to fulfill everyone's production, then no one receives any of that resource during that turn.

So that's an option. Another option might be a house-rule along these lines: A player should receive Wood, but there's no more Wood in the stockpile. If that player gives a Wood from his own cache to the bank, he gets to choose another resource. This is basically a 2:1 trade, giving two Wood (one from their hand and one owed them by the bank) for one other resource. This keeps the player happy for he gets resources, and puts some of this resource back in the bank.

Probably not relevant, but worth noting that this is an updated rule, in older editions, it simply said that the resources were first-come, first-serve.

@Gendolkari An older edition of Catan Jr. or regular Catan?


text:
Help identify the game that this board with marbles and a drawn pattern is used to play
I found this home-made board amongst my father's possessions, it must use marbles but I have no idea how it is played. Can anyone throw any light on the subject?

It looks like it's a version of Awithlaknannai, or given the number of segments more accurately Fighting Serpents (which is a translation of the name "Kolowis Awithlaknannai" anyway). It's an abstract game with rules similar to Checkers but, as you've noticed, a slightly odd-shaped board.

Thank you very much,  I used Dr. Google and found the rules for fighting serpents,  which as you said is a version of checkers.  Cheers. :-)

Great! You can mark my answer as correct by clicking on the check mark under the votes, that will help other people who come along later.


text:
Betrayal at House on the Hill, Haunt 42: can Explorers be used if they are killed by an event? (spoiler)
For Haunt 42, Comes The Hero,

 the Traitor needs a 'sacrifice' to open a gate to Hell, consisting of an Explorer

If an Explorer is killed by an event, can they be used, or does the Traitor have to be responsible for the kill?

The Traitor's Tome says of the Traitor,

 You must sacrifice (kill) one of the  heroes using a weapon ...

which excludes a death due to an event.


text:
Rubber bridge: when must honours be declared in order to be scored?
If you have four or five honors (or four aces in no-trump), when does it have to be declared?
The last time I played, I declared my four honors for 100 points after the hand was over. The bridge referee said that was too late, reasoning that the honors had to be declared before the hand was finished.

From Law 76 in the American Contract Bridge League laws,

Honours may be claimed until the next hand has been dealt or the rubber has been completed and scored – whichever comes sooner.

Law 78 also states, with my emphasis on the specific relevant example,

When it is acknowledged by a majority of the players that a scoring error was made in recording an agreed-up-on result (e.g., failure to enter honors or incorrect computation of score), the error must be corrected if discovered before the net score of the rubber has been agreed to.

Until the next hand is dealt or the rubber complete and scored, honours may be claimed.
The end of a hand is not the same event as the dealing of the hand after it. The rubber cannot be complete until it is know that a side has 100 points below the line, and it is not scored until the sides have both worked out and accepted the net scores from hands played in that rubber.
The referee appears to have made an error if they disallowed scoring honours before the next hand or before the rubber's net score was agreed to. The referee was correct if you or your partner had assented to either dealing the next hand or the complete rubber's net score.

I have always declared honors when the first honor from my hand is played; if you declare before you are tipping off your hand position to the competitors when might cause you to lose the contract.

Welcome to the site! Thanks for your contribution, but I would guess that this answer is attracting downvotes because people think it's wrong: it conflicts with the pre-existing answer and that answer, unlike yours, cites specific rules that support its position. If you think your answer is actually right then you should similarly cite sources that support you and perhaps explain why those other cited rules do not apply, otherwise I'd suggest deleting this.


text:
Can Dolly Mirror cause a relic's ability to trigger twice in Slay the Spire?
In Slay the Spire: The Board Game, die relics are used when you roll a specific number. The description for Dolly's Mirror states

When you roll a 1, trigger a die relic ability. It's owner gains the effect.

What happens if I use Dolly's Mirror on a die relic that also goes off when you roll a 1 like Necronomicon or Tungsten Rod? Will that relic's ability get triggered twice in one turn?


text:
Does Aura of Silence's ability stack?
If I play two or more Aura of Silence or have them active at the same time, do my opponent's spells cost an additional 4, 6, or more mana?

Yes, your opponents' spells cost 2 more for each Aura of Silence you have on the battlefield.

While I haven't found a ruling for this situation specifically, your question can be broken down into two components: how multiple static abilities coexist, and how multiple cost-changing abilities interact.
The first question is pretty straightforward: all continous effects are applied independently of one another, even if two of them happen to do the same thing.  For instance, if you had two Glorious Anthem on the battlefield, all creatures you control would get +1/+1 from each enchantment, for a total of +2/+2.
The second question is covered by rule 601.2f (excerpt, emphasis mine):

The player determines the total cost of the spell.... The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost, plus all additional costs and cost increases, and minus all cost reductions.

So it is definitely possible for multiple abilities to increase the cost of spell.
Combining the two leads to the logical conclusion that any number of Auras on the battlefield will each increase the spell cost by 2 mana.

Grand Arbiter Augustin IV has a ruling that cost reductions are added together, and the same wording is used to apply cost increases and cost reductions.

The effects do stack. The closest definitive source I can find for this is rule 601.2f, which says "The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost (as determined in rule 601.2b), plus all additional costs and cost increases, and minus all cost reductions." and the fact that the card reads "two more" instead of some set amount, such as something like Trinisphere.


text:
Does Skids O'Toole and the Composed talent provide for unlimited rerolls?
Since Skids rerolls all 1s, and Composed lets you rerolls all dice if you don't roll any 1s, can he reroll endlessly until he succeeds as he needs?

Hi @Jamie if this or any answer has solved your question please consider accepting it by clicking the check-mark. This indicates to the wider community that you've found a solution and gives some reputation to both the answerer and yourself. There is no obligation to do this.

Let's look at the exact wording on the cards:
"Skids" O'Toole

Whenever you roll a 1 during a test, you may reroll that die.

Composed:

When resolving a test, if you do not roll any 1's, you may reroll all of your dice.

You can trigger Skids' ability whenever you roll a 1 during a test, that is apparent.
Composed on the other hand is triggered while you are resolving the test. If you have no 1's at this point, you can choose to reroll all dice.
From the Rules Reference:

If a Condition's effect does not list a limit, it may only be used once per instance of the triggered event.

As this is rolling dice during a single test, you can use Skids' ability to reroll any 1's again, but you are still in the resolving the same test, and you can not trigger composed again.
To summarise:

Skids' ability can be triggered during any roll during a test
Composed can be triggered once per test

Therefore you can not roll endlessly until you succeed, but it certainly is a good combination that would lead to greater chance of success.
There is also a discussion of this combination on BGG


text:
Identify old Lithuanian board game
In the Lithuanian historical museum is an old piece of wood with a scratched game board.
The game board consists of a square grid with five lines in each (horizontal and vertical) direction. There are also lines from each corner of the grid to the opposite corner, and lines between the midpoints of the outside of the grid.
Pieces are placed on the intersections of lines.
Does someone know the name of this game?

Do you have a picture?

And could you provide a description, or better yet a picture, of the pieces?

Does the museum have any information on what game it is?  It seems odd that they would have something on display with no information.

"diagonals connecting the midpoints of outer sides"? I can't even guess how that would look.

@npst imagine a 4x4 checkerboard.  Draw a line from the point on the far left between rows 2 and 3 to the the point on the bottom between columns 2 and 3.  Repeat for the other 3 diagonals.

@LeppyR64 I think my confusion was based in the belief that a rectangle had only two diagonals. But hey, now I know about colloquial uses for "diagonal"

@npst Where I am we say that bishops move along the diagonals in Chess.  Cheers!

From your description, it sounds like you're describing the game-board for Qirkat, which is a precursor to Checkers/Draughts:

There are many games which use this or a similar board (this Wikipedia link lists some of them), but neither Qirkat nor any of the variants I know have a uniquely Lithuanian origin.
As far as I understand, this type of game board was rather wide-spread throughout medieval Europe, although exactly what games were played on them isn't so clear from country to country. Without, for example, pieces or instructions, both of which are generally harder to find in the archeological record, it's mostly a matter of speculation.

Thanks a lot. That is exactly the board, and now that I have the name, I can search for it.


text:
How do traits work in Betrayal At House On The Hill?
Why are some character traits missing a number and some have repeated numbers?
For example, Father Rheinhardt has two 7s in the Sanity trait but no 6 at all.

Mechanically, "Gain 1 Sanity" means move up 1 position on your Sanity track; this may increase your actual Sanity statistic (how many dice you roll) by 0, 1, or 2 depending on your character and previous position. This allows for greater variety in the characters than would be possible if all the tracks increased 1 point per position. It gives the players varying incentives and can also be used to flesh out the thematic/roleplaying part of the game - for example, one character feels a nervous breakdown coming on (next Sanity decrease -2) and is hiding from the scary ghosts at all costs; another is about to make a para-scientific breakthrough (next Knowledge increase +2) and really wants to confirm a few last facts in the Library. It can also encourage more cooperative interaction between the players, since an item that offers e.g. +2 Sanity will increase players' actual dice rolled by different amounts so may be worth trading to whoever gets the most actual benefit from it.

I don't quite get your explanation, what im confused is the gap of the digits in a trait for example, jenny Leclerc speed has: 8 6 5 4 4 4 3 2 SKULL.
There is a gap after between 8 and 6 and number 7 is missing. In my conlusion, the position of the numbers dictates the amounts of points in your stats while the actual numbers means how many dice you can roll in your current amount of stats, am i right?

Your conclusion sounds correct, though nothing in the game will ever count how many 'points' you have in your stats - e.g. if something says "If you have 5 or more Sanity, do X" or "The player with the highest Sanity does X," it's referring to the printed number (which is also how many dice you would roll). The only time how many 'points' you have matters is when you're modifying it - e.g. "Lose 1 Sanity" means lose one 'point' of Sanity, so it would take Jenny from 8 to 6 or from high 4 to mid 4.

First, let's review the rules to make sure there are no misunderstandings.
The value of a given trait represents the number of dice rolled in roll for that trait.

When that happens, roll dice equal to the number your explorer currently has in that trait. For example, if your explorer must attempt a Sanity roll, and she currently has a Sanity of 4, roll 4 dice and add the dots together to get the result.
– Betrayal at House on the Hill Rulebook, 2nd Edition, page 13

If you are told to increase or decrease a trait, you do it by a number of steps on the corresponding slider. For instance, say that Father Reinhardt's current Sanity is 5 and the next value is 7. If you are told to increse your Sanity by one, then you increase it one step to the next value, which in this case is 7.

Zoe’s starting Sanity is 5. If an effect reduces her Sanity by 2, you would slide the clip 2 spaces toward the skull symbol, dropping her Sanity to 3.
[The accompanying image shows her Sanity spread is 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 3, Skull (with 5 being the starting value the clip is pointing to and 3 being the ending value)]
– Betrayal at House on the Hill Rulebook, 2nd Edition, page 5

You are never asked to calculate the numerical difference between two numbers. The fact that Father Reinhardt has a spread of 7, 7, 5 (with a numerical difference of 0 for the first pair and a numerical difference of 2 for the second pair) is irrelevant. All that matters is the number of steps on the slider.
You seemed to be especially confused as to why the trait sliders sometimes skip numbers, as with Father Reinhardt. I have not seen any designer commentary specifically about why the numbers are spread out and skip numbers, but I speculate it's for two reasons:

Thematically, skipping to a higher number represents a character getting a second wind or steeling their resolve, while skipping to a lower number represents a character having a mental breakdown or such.
Characters who are have stronger mental or physical fortitude have repeated numbers to represent being able to take a hit, or already being fairly well off. For instance, Ox Bellows has a lot of repeated high numbers for Strength, which means he will stay strong if he is injured, but doesn't have a lot of room for growth if he improves it because he's already naturally strong.

Unlike traditional games, Betrayal At House On The Hill does not use a strict increasing order on the stats for each character.
The current rating in each stat for a character is shown by the position of the marker in the card. The actual point value is used to determine the number of dice used when rolling.
Damage or boosts are performed by counting positions, not the actual numbers. A boost may be of one position but increase the stat by two points, or by two positions but only one point.
The positions of trait markers also act as a set of "health bars". If any trait is reduced to the skull, that character dies. The lower numbers on traits when the markers are at lower positions indicate weakened physical and mental capacity as the character is hurt by damage.

So basically the number's on the traits indicates the amount of dice rolled while the position of the numbers dictates the amount of points they currently have in a stats?

The number in the trait says how many dice, yes, and the position of the trait is an indicator of how much damage can be taken before a character dies (any trait reaching the skull level means dead).

Just to make sure, jenny Leclerc has three 4 in her sanity trait, the middle one is highlighted green which means its the starting value right? but the number is position fifth not including the skull which means her starting sanity points would be 5 and 4 dices can be rolled in a sanity roll or watsoever?

Yes, exactly. Start at position five, lose five positions on Sanity and die, roll four dice for a Sanity check/contest.


text:
In Poker, what happens with the next players if paying the big blind puts a player all-in?
In Texas hold'em poker, if a player doesn't have enough chips to pay the big blind, what happens if the next players want to call? Must they pay the entire big blind or not?
For example, a tournament starts and after some time, the SB/BB is 50/100 but the player who must pay the BB has only 60. Other players want to call only.

Player A (SB): mandatory bet 50 and is waiting.
Player B (BB): mandatory bet 60 chips and all-in.
Player C has more than 110 and wants to call, must they pay 100 or only 60?

Player B is considered all in and Player C must still match the full blind amount and there will just be two possible winning piles depending on who wins. If Player B wins they would win 60 chips per player that paid the big blind and the next high hand would win the rest.
pokerlistings.com

When a player's stack is less than the amount of the small blind, they are automatically considered all-in in the next hand they play, regardless of position.
If the player's stack is larger than the small blind but smaller than the big blind, they will be considered all-in in any position other than the small blind, assuming they fold for their option.
When all-in, the player can only win the amount of their stack, plus that same amount from all of the callers and blinds. If the person has less than the big blind, they can only win the portion of the blind equal to that of their stack.

Regardless of position is not what I am used to and is not what the WIKI link of my answer indicates.

WIKI poker betting

All-in before the deal
  If a player does not have sufficient money to
  cover the ante and blinds due, that player is automatically all-in for
  the coming hand. Any money the player holds must be applied to the
  ante first, and if the full ante is covered, the remaining money is
  applied towards the blind.

After the flop this should not come up.  If you have less than a blind behind you should should bet it pre flop.  Most rooms would enforce minimum call of 1 bb.

This does not appear to add anything new that was not already answered.

@JoeW It a more general source - WIKI.   I feel that it adds value.  I don't think what you site as ALL positions are all-in if less then 1 bb is universal.  After the flop is not in the question but that adds compared to your answer.