text:
King of Tokyo: Number of points/hearts
On the monster cards, there are dials for both hearts and stars. The start dial goes up to 20 because that's the point at which a player would win.
Does a player need to hit 20 stars exactly to win? Or can they have more?
How high does the heart dial go?

You do not have to hit 20 points exactly, you just need at least 20. While the rulebook doesn't state this explicitly, this is how pretty much every game works unless it specifically states otherwise. Getting 21 points DOES mean that you've gotten 20 points; just like how I literally do have $20 even if I also have more money than that.
The heart dial goes to 12 because certain card effects can increase your health above 10.


text:
What can the Fire Prevention Specialist do in Flash Point: Fire Rescue?
The Fire Prevention Specialist comes exclusively with the Kickstarter version of the Honor and Duty expansion for Flash Point: Fire Rescue. No additional rules for his character came with the expansion. On his card, his actions are:
Prevent: 1 AP
Move Smoke
Prevent: 2 AP
Movie POI
So, from what I understand, he CAN spray out fire, rescue, and chop like most of the other specialists, but what are the exact conditions of the two "prevent" actions?

The rules for this Kickstarter-exclusive role were provided via this update.

This is a tribute to the unsung heroes– the men and women in the administrative branch of the fire service. They evaluate fires, propose regulations and see to it that they are observed. They work with files and records instead of hoses and axes, and their work saves many lives.
The Fire Prevention Specialist - 4AP
This specialist has done his work years ago; he talked to the builders and home owners and convinced them to adopt a fire security plan. On his advice smoke detectors and smoke exhausts have been installed, and emergency exits have been planned and marked clearly. Now these measures prove their worth: People are warned and can move out via marked escape routes, and smoke clears itself from the building.
Prevent/De-Smoke: Move a smoke token anywhere on the board for 1 AP per space. Movement must be on the shortest route towards nearest exterior door, playerʼs choice if alternative routes exist; Smoke passes closed interior doors at no extra cost. Smoke vanishes when outside the building. Moved smoke ignites immediately if adjacent to fire; if it moves on top of other smoke, it becomes fire.
Prevent/Escape: Move a POI token (only if "?" side up) anywhere on the board for 2 AP per space. Movement must be on the shortest route towards nearest exterior door, playerʼs choice if alternative routes exist. POIs can open doors on their way for 2 AP; they will not use breached walls, ladders etc. (they use the escape route "as marked"). POIs moved outside of the building (=coordinate area) are revealed. POIs will not move into fire.
Note: If playing with multi-floor game boards, "shortest route to exterior door" may be via a stair way.
Note: In the subway station, exits are all spaces with an ambulance symbol.
Note: De-Smoke and Escape are always determined by the nearest exterior doors – not opened windows, nor destroyed walls

The flavour text of the Fire Prevention Specialist suggest they are not found at the scene of a fire (in an active role).
I would certainly encourage players to restrict themselves to the two actions described above, but there's no rules to suggest they should be limited to those two actions.
If you wish to participate in the field, you could say that the fire department is short-handed, so their FPS also serves as a regular fireman.

"They work with files and records instead of hoses and axes, and their work saves many lives." - Does this mean he CAN'T spray and chop?

Could you please post a link to where BGG agrees? Always good to cite your sources ;-)

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
What are the rules for saving people on the merchant ship map in Flash Point: Fire Rescue?
The Merchant Ship map of the Dangerous Waters expansion for Flash Point:  Fire Rescue has a rescue position in each of the four corners. All of them are confusing to me. The bottom two look like they take up two spaces each because there's no definitive line separating the areas into halves, but the symbol is only in the very corner. The top two look like they also take up two spaces in a similar manner that can only be accessed from the 2nd and 7th columns. The written rules are very vague. Do the stairs to the corners have a function, or are they just for asthetics? Do I have to carry a person up the stairs to the rescue symbol?

The idea is that the stairs effectively split the top spaces into two - see the designer's comment at https://boardgamegeek.com/article/14049646#14049646 . On that basis I would regard the top spaces as accessible only via the stairs.
At the bottom I'd regard e.g. (6,0) as the rescue space and (5,0) as where you go on your way out of it. On the other hand explosions (or Chop actions) can connect the bottom spaces to the cabins (e.g. linking (6,0) to (6,1)).

I don't see in that link a real specification of whether the rescue areas are separated into two spaces or not, just that the stairs represent the direction to exit and enter. The confusion comes because the ambulance in the base game takes two spaces, as well as the hospital beds on the Submarine (other side of ship board).

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


text:
Seafarers of Catan fog scenario question
Scenario: I am placing my ships out into the unknown and at the end of my "road" I decide to build a settlement. When the new hex is flipped it is a water tile and now a settlement cannot be built. Must I replace it with a boat and play the appropriate cards instead?

I think you should flip a tile first.

You should reveal the hex tile when you first build a ship that reaches it; you don't wait until you are building a settlement.
From the rules:

When a ship (or a road) is connected to an unexplored
  area, a new tile will be discovered! If you place a ship or road
  that connects to the intersection of an unexplored hex, you
  must immediately draw the top tile from the pile and place it
  face up in the empty space.

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


text:
When buying and playing a Villa in Dominion do you in a sense get 3 buys for that turn?
So I buy a Villa in my buy phase (buy #1), then I go back to my action phase. I play Villa and follow it with 2 actions, then proceed to my second buy phase with +1 treasure +1 buy (buy #2) from the Villa. As I go into this second buy phase do I get another free buy as I just started a new buy phase (buy #3)?

You don't get a new free Buy, sorry. Nice thinking though.
The base game rules do say that when you enter a Buy phase you get one default Buy, but the card-specific notes for the Villa in the Empires rules (page 11) clarify (or revise?) that you only get one default Buy in the entire turn, not one each buy phase:

If you buy Villa, that uses up your default Buy for the turn, however playing Villa will give you +1 Buy and so let you buy another card in your second Buy phase.

Another way to think about it might be that the game gives you +1 Buy as you start your turn, but not each Buy phase as the base rules might imply.
Once you re-enter the Buy phase you will have 1 Buy left from Villa itself, in addition to whatever other action cards you've played this turn, but not 1 free Buy from the game. From what you described you only have 2 Buys this turn.

That’s what I thought. My wife argued that she got a new buy each buy phase and therefore got 3 buys. She got pissed off when I stated that I really don’t think she was right. Thanks for clarifying!

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


text:
Pocketing last c/m along with striker
What happens if I pocket my last c/m along with striker?
Opponent's n C/m are still on board.

Will I win with minimum n points?
Will it be a double-due?
Will I lose the game?

Neither you won nor lose the game, keep the Queen on board and pocket along with your C/m


text:
Is K-K-K-K-A-A-A-A-4-7 a valid hand in Dou Dizhu (aka "Fighting The Landlord")?
QUESTION
In dou dizhu, is K-K-K-K-A-A-A-A-4-7 assumed to be a standard hand type?
BACKGROUND
I understand the '飞机带小翼' (i.e. "airplane with small wings", or consecutive triplets with added cards, for example: K-K-K-A-A-A-4-7 ) hand type to be a valid hand by way of the Pagat rules and by Wikipedia.
Wikipedia also refers to a hand type called '航天飞机带小翼', or "space shuttle with small wings", which consists of consecutive quads with added cards (e.g. K-K-K-K-A-A-A-A-4-7).  I'm not sure where to find an official, standardized set of rules for dou dizhu because I don't speak Chinese, so I'm trying to figure out if the quads thing is a regional variant.

I can create either of those tags. Should I go ahead and create dou-dizhu, or would landlord be more approprite to an English audience? (Considering we do still call mahjong as such)

@doppelgreener Awesome - either works, thanks.  dou-dizhu might be more appropriate.

Tag created! Would you like to create a brief tag wiki summary for it?

As far as I know, no, quads cannot be sequenced, let alone "with wings".
That said, Dou Dizhu, like many other games of Chinese origin, is a game with many local variantions and house rules. (Most variations comes in how the landlord is determined.)
While I will not be surprized if some people play with quad squences, it would rarely make a difference because

it is already unusual that a player has an "airplane" or a bomb, having two consecutive quads are much rarer. (By my calculations, ~.1% for the landlord and ~.02% for the peasants)
like the quad sets ("quad with two" and "quad with two pairs"), it is seldom advantageous to play it and give up the bomb

At least in my area, "space shuttle" (穿梭機) refers to a sequence of three triplets.


text:
What happen if I gain the control of aura that enchants an opponent's creature? Would the aura stay attached?
Imagine I'm playing vs Boggles Auras. Her Boggle has a Rancor and a Daybreak Coronet.
I cast Archmage's Charm on the Rancor.
Does the Rancor stay enchanting the Boggle?

While one can conclude from context that you're choosing the "Gain control of target nonland permanent with converted mana cost 1 or less." mode, I think that should be made explicit.

Yes, most of the times it doesn't matter who controls the aura and who controls the creature. There are a handful of exceptions, e.g. Cartouche of Knowledge which can only enchant a creature you control; if you'd steal one of them it would stop enchanting a legal target and be put into its owner's graveyard.

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.)

Note that stealing an Aura isn't really useful if the Aura grants a bonus/ability to the creature (which is most of the time); it might be useful if the Aura has an ability itself.

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

Also, any references to "you" refer to the owner of the aura. So gaining control of an aura that says "You control enchanted creature" would mean that you control the enchanted creature.

@Acccumulation Unless I'm mistaken, it refers to the controller of the aura, who might not currently be the owner.

@eyeballfrog You're right, if they're different, it's the controller.


text:
Are players who are turned into monsters by the traitor affected negatively by the house?
This question is predominately about Betrayal at the House on the Hill Haunt #27. Spoilers below:

The other night I was playing Haunt 27, and I was too close to the blob at one point and was turned into a blob person (a specific monster determined by the haunt who gets its own speed stat and some limitations, but otherwise operates under the player's discretion).

At one point another player pulled the event card that required all players in certain rooms/near windows to roll a sanity check (I BELIEVE it was a sanity check, at least) to not be tempted by the howling wind and immediately move to the patio. I was one of the players that would be affected, and we were unsure as to whether or not my blob-person status would exempt me from having to roll.

Because the traitor book said my speed was now 2, does that mean I disregard my character card and ONLY have a speed stat and therefore don't have a sanity stat and wouldn't be able to roll in the first place? But as a follow-up, does becoming a blob-person (or any other player-turned-monster) now align you on the traitor's side so that the house doesn't affect you negatively in the first place? (Such as being able to avoid taking damage for falling through the collapsed room, etc.) We were split on this but I feel like the intention of the game is that you're now working for the traitor's side and the house will help you accomplish your goal without hindering your progress.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Short answer: Either interpretation is valid.
I remember playing this same scenario, but don't remember that question coming up at all. I reread through both the hero and traitor books for this scenario, and this seems to be a gap between the literal as-written rules and the general intent/theme of the game.
As written, a blob-person still would count as a hero and a regular character, and would be affected by the house and other things that affect all players. They would still have their normal stats except for their speed which is changed. This is based on the fact that the rules specify what is different about blob people, and those changes do not include giving them traitor or monster status:

A Blobperson can't attack, be attacked, draw cards, use the Mystic Elevator, or discover rooms.

That being said, given that the rules are known to be full of holes, it's reasonable to believe that the blob people are intended to be treated as monsters, except that they are controlled by each player, instead of by the traitor. This is based on the fact that their stat is listed in the rules the same way all monsters' stats are, and the fact that their goal is to help the traitor win, exactly like the goal of the traitor and other monsters.


text:
What sets are legal in Momir Basic?
What sets does MTGO randomly chooses cards from for the Momir Basic format?
I'm pretty sure things like Unglued and Unhinged are out, but what about Commander?
Also how are banned cards dealt with? An example would Stoneforge Mystic, this card is banned in Modern, but is legal in Legacy. Could I have this be a two drop?

As far as actual legality goes, the only cards legal to have in your deck are Momir Vig, Simic Visionary, as well as Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest.
This is hinted at on the Wizards page, as well as stated clearly in this article:

(...) your deck contains 61 cards. One is the Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Avatar and the other 60 cards are basic lands. (...)

For cards to be randomly chosen, this article describes it as follows (original links omitted):

(...) the random creature you get is picked from the entire Online Classic card pool. This even includes premium cards from sets that have not been released online, such as Preacher from The Dark, or Serra Avatar from Urza's Saga.

Naturally, this only applies to games on MTGO - if you play Momir Basic any other way (for example using a random generator like MTG Familiar to determine the random creatures), no particular limits apply, and your group of players should decide which cards or editions to exclude, and whether to allow cards that are banned in certain formats.

I don't see how your first claim follows from the Wizards source you link. The link just says you need exactly 60 normal basic lands and one Momir Vig. How are you getting your claim that every single other card is banned?

Further Googling seems to indicate that you can't have anything but those 60 lands and a Momir Vig. The wording on the Wizards page sounds like you could have more, though. Is there some sort of implicit deck size limit here that I wasn't aware of?

@user2357112: While it's not spelled out explicitly, your deck may only contain those 61 cards, therefore all other cards are not legal. I wouldn't go as far and say that they're banned, since they don't appear on any official ban list, but the result is the very same. I've edited the answer to include this along with another source.

@user2357112 The way that the various format pages work on WotC's site is they list all the cards that are legal (usually by listing the sets), then listing all the banned cards. So the fact it only lists Momir Vig and basic lands means those are the only things legal in the format

Momir Basic does not have a ban list of any kind. However, your card pool is limited to creatures that has been put on Magic Online - and since un-sets have never been printed online, those cards can't show up. Most (if not all - I'm genuinely not sure) of the Commander products have been printed online, so those cards are available.
To view a full list of creatures, in MTGO, go to your collection, uncheck "My Cards", and filter for creatures only. That'll give you the complete list of cards (and you can filter that further if you'd like to, say, look at all the possible 13 drops).


text:
Mirrorweave on Double Faced Cards
I understand a good number of rules, but there is still one that I can't find the answer to:
Let's say I have a Civilized Scholar and Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha in play.
I activate Mirrorweave or Cytoshape and target the Civilized Scholar. Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha become a copy of Civilized Scholar.
I understand the example in rule 711.5.

Rule 711.5
Only permanents represented by double-faced cards can transform. (See rule 701.26, “Transform.”) If a spell or ability instructs a player to transform any permanent that isn’t represented by a double-faced card, nothing happens.
Example: A player casts Cytoshape, causing a Kruin Outlaw (the front face of a double-faced card) to become a copy of Elite Vanguard (a 2/1 Human Soldier creature) until end of turn. The player then casts Moonmist, which reads, in part, “Transform all Humans.” Because the copy of Elite Vanguard is a double-faced card, it will transform. The resulting permanent will have its back face up, but it will still be a copy of Elite Vanguard that turn.

This means that Ulrich will be a copy of the Scholar even after he flips. And another rule does allow me to use Ulrich as Civilized Scholar to discard a creature and flip him. But does Ulrich get his transform triggers? Or are these triggers missed because Ulrich's name is still Civilized Scholar?
I'm trying to break the game here. =P
I want to tap Ulrich as Scholar, discard a creature, untap, flip, trigger fight, tap, discard a creature, untap, flip, trigger buff, and repeat. This should result in Ulrich eating every creature in play, growing bigger and bigger, to prepare for a lethal swing. All in one turn.

Ulrich will be a copy of Civilized Scholar, so you can use Civilized Scholar's ability to transform it, repeatedly if you have some way to untap it. But the triggered abilities will not trigger.
First, in the rules section about Copying objects, rule 706.2 says

When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original object’s characteristics [...]. The “copiable values” are the values derived from the text printed on the object (that text being name, mana cost, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, power, toughness, and/or loyalty), as modified by other copy effects, by its face-down status, and by “as . . . enters the battlefield” and “as . . . is turned face up” abilities that set power and toughness (and may also set additional characteristics).

So, once the Mirrorweave targeting Civilized Scholar resolves, Ulrich becomes a copy of Civilize Scholar, which means that it has the name, mana cost, rules text, etc. of Civilized Scholar. Importantly, it no longer has Ulrich's values for those characteristics, and in particular it no longer has Ulrich's abilities.
Then, once you activate and resolve the ability, the card will physically transform and untap, but it will still be a copy of Civilized Scholar. This means that it still doesn't have Ulrich's abilities, so those abilities won't trigger.

Civilized Scholar himself untaps as per discarding a creature. Thanks though!

It won't work because of the layer system and the fact that transforming a creature doesn't make it a new object.
The layer system (which is way more complicated than I want to try and explain here, google it if interested) lays out how you determine what abilities a card has, power, toughness etc.  It applies when anything changes a card's characteristics.  The first layer to be applied is the copy layer, which states that all copy effects are applied (like from Cytoshape).  Cytoshape makes a creature become a copy of target creature until the end of turn.  It doesn't matter if that creature transforms, Cytoshape's effect overwrites whatever is printed on the card (regardless of which face is up) with the copied card's characteristics.  Hence the rules you quoted in your question.  Even if the card transforms (and changes which side is up) the face-up side is irrelevant (this turn) because the creature will still be the copied creature.
This might be easier to see by spelling out what's going on.

You have Civilized Scholar and Ulrich out (with Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha face up)
You cast and resolve Cytoshape, making Ulrich a copy of Civilized Scholar
Every time the game looks at Ulrich, it applies the copy effect to it, so it looks exactly like Civilized Scholar
You activate Ulrich (Civilized Scholar)'s ability and transform him.  His physical card flips to show Ulrich of the Krallenhorde.
Normally, you would put Ulrich's transform triggers on the stack, but he doesn't have those abilities.  The copy effect from Cytoshape still applies, so he still looks exactly like Civilized Scholar, who has no such triggers.
No matter how many times you transform Ulrich (Civilized Scholar) he will always, as far as the game cares, be a Civilized Scholar.

Ulrich will always be the Scholar, and will not get Ulrich's transform trigger. Copying the Scholar onto a transformable creature will "only" allow you to cycle any number of creature cards.
The reason for that is that the copy effect is applied after the characteristics printed on the actual card:

Interaction of Continuous Effects

613.1. The values of an object’s characteristics are determined by starting with the actual object. For a card, that means the values of the characteristics printed on that card. For a token or a copy of a spell or card, that means the values of the characteristics defined by the effect that created it. Then all applicable continuous effects are applied in a series of layers in the following order:
613.1a Layer 1: Copy effects are applied. See rule 706, “Copying Objects.”

That means that the game will never see Ulrich once you've copied the Scholar over it, neither its original nor its transformed side. It's Scholars all the way down.


text:
What is the average number of turns in a game of Monopoly?
I can't find any research or public information on this topic.
Edit: It was requested that I clarify the specifics of my request (e.g. the number of players and rule specifics). Rather than pigeon-hole people into a specific category (e.g. 3 players and tournament rules) I prefer to leave it open-ended, so that any and all relevant information will be provided.
Edit edit: For the sake of simplicity, let's say that we are playing with 4 players and tournament rules.

You should provide some more information about the number of players you are playing with, the skill level and if you are using the correct rules or playing with different house rules. Those will help provide the information needed to answer this question.

@JoeW I appreciate you trying to help, but I actually intentionally left it broad. I had difficulty finding any information about this topic, so I'd rather cast the net wide rather than ask for a specific case

That doesn't help with providing an answer to your question though. As your question stands it can get many different answers which is the very definition of to broad on this site.

@Danny David Leybzon :
"I had difficulty finding any information about this topic..."
I have provided very specific information in my answer below;
this answer also addresses your problem of estimating the number of game-turns for any number of players.

Playing online against 3 computer opponents, one of my games would typically last 30-45 turns. I used the standard rules (i.e., no money on Free Parking, limited number of houses and hotels). Because it was me against computers, the games would take ~15 minutes to play.
Playing against human opponents would certainly extend the actual playing time, and may likely increase the number of turns for a game as well. House rules which inject money into the players' hands (e.g., money on Free Parking) will increase the number of turns, and thus playing time, too.

Do you have any sources for your information?

@JoeW as indicated in my answer, this is personal experience

I am not sure personal experience helps in this case as there are many variables that will impact how fast an electronic game will go.

Lacking anything more science-y I think this is a useful data point.

According to a Ted-Ed article entitled
Here's how to win at Monopoly, according to math experts

... the average game of Monopoly takes about 30 turns per
  competitor...

Reference
https://blog.ed.ted.com/2017/12/01/heres-how-to-win-at-monopoly-according-to-math-experts/
So the answer to your question is 120 turns (4 players times 30 turns/player)
By the way,

the shortest possible game of Monopoly requires only four turns, nine
  rolls of the dice...
One player moves around the board very quickly, to buy Boardwalk and
  Park Place, and places houses on them," Myers explained. "And the
  other one ends up drawing a Chance card that sends them to Boardwalk,
  and they don't have enough money to pay the rent with three houses,
  and the game is over.

Reference «How To Win Monopoly In 21 Seconds»
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/06/how_to_win_monopoly_in_21_seco.html


text:
in monopoly do you collect 200 if you get sent to the nearest trainstation or fleet street but the card doesn't state collect or do not collect on it
When you land on a chance or community chest card and it states you have to travel to a certain street/railway or Utility but do you collect 200 for passing GO as the card doesn't state if you should or shouldn't like some other cards do.

Found the actual card:

Which card(s) in particular? You mention it doesn't state if you should or shouldn't collect $200 like some other cards do, so which cards don't mention it? As far as I remember, the only card which states that you don't collect $200 if passing go is the "Go to Jail". All of the other cards (to the best of my memory) mention to collect $200 if passing GO

i believe the card is one that states you should travel to the nearest railway station, if the station is unowned you can buy it, if owned then  you have to pay twice the amount you owe the owner.

@bLAZYY - Please do some research and edit it into the question. Currently this sounds like "I remember such and such and it doesn't make sense". If you can provide actual quotes from / pictures of the cards which demonstrates your point, then this would become a valid question.

@AndyT the game is currently with my brother for Christmas so wont be able to get a picture of the specific card until the 25th so i edited the Question with an example of what the card looks like but utility is used instead of railway the concept is still the same.

@bLAZYY - Doesn't need to be your actual set, your example picture is acceptable proof that such a card exists. This card doesn't exist in any set I've ever played with, hence my previous expectation that you were misremembering.

The next location always means in travel direction, and your figure will move along the board as if you rolled a number equal to the distance. If you pass GO on the way, you will indeed collect 200 dollars, as stated in the official rules:

Each time a player's token lands on or passes over GO, whether by throwing the dice or drawing a card, the Banker pays that player a $200 salary.

This is true for all cards, except for the card that states "Go directly to Jail", meaning you don't traverse the board as normal. You can think of your figure being teleported there - so you don't get 200 dollars either.

When you are sent to Jail you cannot collect your $200 salary in that move since, regardless of where your token is on the board, you must move directly into Jail. (...)

Often the card says, say, "Advance to Mayfair", so clearly if you start between Mayfair and Go, you collect 200: if not, not.

@TimLymington Its impossible to Pass Go when traveling to Mayfair from anywhere on the board as Mayfair is the last position on the board.

My confusion is why some cards state "if you pass go collect 200" and others simply don't, its not like they have no room to write it.

Game play in Monopoly is in a clockwise direction.  "Advance" means to move one's token in Monopoly's normal direction of movement (clockwise).
If, while following "Chance" or "Community Chest" instructions to "advance" to the target location, one passes "GO" one would collect $200.
Note: "Advance to the nearest ______".  Would not have one go counter-clockwise (fall back, retreat, reverse) even if by doing so one would arrive at the nearest _______.   "Advance" is the operative word; not "nearest".


text:
Can any card named exactly "Pikachu" evolve into "Raichu"?
There are many different pokemon cards named exactly "Pikachu". (I am not asking about Alolan versions, etc.) If I have a Raichu card that says "evolves from Pikachu", can I evolve it from any of those different versions?
For example, the original base set and Jungle set both had cards named "Pikachu" with no special modifiers. Are these interchangeable?
Ex:

No. My question specifically says I am not asking about alolan vs non-alolan. I am asking if for example, the cards named exactly "Pikachu" for example in the original base set and Jungle set are interchangeable for evolution.

This one is close, but asking about the 4-copy rule, not evolution. https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/47058/pokemon-cards-with-the-same-name-and-different-features

You are asking about whether the second-stage can come from any first-stage pokemon that has the specified name. The answer to the proposed duplicate is also exactly the answer to this question; the fact that the proposed duplicate was specifically concerned with whether "Alolan" changed the name can be considered an example.


text:
Probability of drawing perfect starting hand
I have a Magic the Gathering deck where an ideal starting hand can potentially let me win on turn 3. What is the probability of drawing an ideal hand? How is this computed, and what is a general algorithm that can be used to compute ideal hand probabilities for an arbitrary deck and ideal hand?
This is really a probability question, no knowledge of Magic required. All you need to know is the deck is 60 cards with some duplicates, and the starting hand size is 7 cards.
The deck:

10 Forest
6 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elves of Deep Shadow
4 Rites of Spring
4 Cultivate
4 Blood Speaker
4 Howling Wolf
4 Skyshroud Sentinel
4 Wall of Blossoms
2 Infernal Spawn of Evil
2 Infernal Spawn of Infernal Spawn of Evil
4 Infernius Spawnington III, Esq. (for reference, this is a silver-bordered card so not legal in any competitive format)

The hand:

1 Forest
1 Llanowar Elves -OR- Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Rites of Spring
1 Infernius Spawnington III, Esq.
3 (anything)

If you are a Magic player, this is how the ideal game goes:

Turn 1: Play a Forest and Llanowar Elves.
Turn 2: Play Rites of Spring, discard 4 cards that are not Infernius Spawnington, search for four lands including a Swamp, play the Swamp, play Infernius, say "I'm here!" to do 3 damage, attack for 9 damage.
Turn 3: Attack again.

Bonus points
Although my original question was just asking about the probability of drawing the ideal starting hand, as @Phillip Kendall pointed out, there are some additional details that could increase the probability of accomplishing the desired effect of a 3rd turn win.
Relevant details:

Because the first player does not draw on their first turn, if you go second, you effectively have a starting hand of 8 cards. (My first thought to account for this, is to run the same computation with a starting hand of 7 cards or 8 cards, and average the result.)
The Forest and Elf must be in your starting hand (or drawn on your first turn), but the Rites or Infernius could be drawn on your second turn. (I am not sure where to start to account for this.)
If you are going second, and your starting hand is not ideal, you can mulligan in hopes of getting an ideal hand, and still have enough cards to discard 4 with Rites of Spring, and achieve the 3rd turn win. (I am not sure how to account for this.)

The relevant probability distribution is the multivariate hypergeometric distribution, which governs random choices without replacement from a mix of items of different types. In this case, you have five relevant types of things:

10 things of type A (Forests)
8 things of type B (mana Elves)
4 things of type C (Rite of Spring)
4 things of type D (Infernius, Esq.)
60-10-8-4-4 = 34 things of type E (anything else)

You need to calculate the probability of getting at least one of each of types A-D in 7 draws.
What the distribution can tell you is the probability of drawing exactly certain numbers, e.g. exactly one Forest, one elf, one Rite, one Infernius, and three cards that are none of those. That would be
C(10, 1) C(8, 1) C(4, 1) C(4, 1) C(34, 3) / C(60, 7) = 17408 / 877743

where
C(N, k) = N!/k!(N-k)!

You then have to add this up for all possible numbers of the various types of cards you could draw:

1 Forest, 1 elf, 1 Rite, 1 Infernius, 3 other
2 Forest, 1 elf, 1 Rite, 1 Infernius, 2 other
3 Forest, 1 elf, 1 Rite, 1 Infernius, 1 other
4 Forest, 1 elf, 1 Rite, 1 Infernius, 0 other
1 Forest, 2 elf, 1 Rite, 1 Infernius, 2 other
...

I wrote a bit of code to go through the possible configurations - it finds 35 of them - and add up the probability for each. The total is 42304/877743, or 0.04819634.

I definitely may have missed something, so for anyone who knows Python and wants to check my work, here's the code snippet:
import itertools as it
from fractions import Fraction
from math import factorial

def C(N, k):
    return Fraction(factorial(N), factorial(k) * factorial(N-k))

# Forest, Elves, Rites, Inferniuses, Other
def P(f, e, r, i, o):
    return C(10, f) * C(8, e) * C(4, r) * C(4, i) * C(34, o) / C(60, 7)

result = sum(P(*t, o=7-sum(t)) for t in it.product(range(1, 5), repeat=4) if sum(t) <= 7)

print(result)
print(float(result))

Mathematically, this is correct for "what is the chance of drawing those 7 cards" but it's not the right answer to "what is the chance this deck kills on Turn 3" because it would be possible to draw Spawnington (or other crucial cards) on Turn 2.

To account for the 2nd turn draw, couldn't you just swap the 7 for an 8? Also, if you go 2nd, then there is a 9th draw too.

@JamesFaix No, because you must have a Forest and an Llanowar Elves in hand on Turn 1. With regards to play/draw, you should probably clarify your question as to the exact problem you're trying to solve - do you actually care about "the perfect 7 card draw", "the chance that your can do 20 damage by the end of your turn 3" or something else?

Where is the number 4 coming from in range(1, 5) and repeat=4? Is that because there are 4 classes of items we care about?

Something like that, yeah. Specifically, it's because there are 4 classes of items that the sample (your opening hand) can contain 1, 2, 3, or 4 copies of in order to be "ideal". I took advantage of a little coincidence there, the fact that no ideal hand can contain more than 4 copies of a single card; without taking that into account, the call would have to be it.product(range(1, 11), range(1,9), range(1,5), range(1,5)).

I've written an online program that will work out the probability by simulation. (Only it doesn't deal with mulligans.)
Your ideal game happens with a probability of around 8.7%. (6.8% as starting, 10.6% as drawing)
Simply change the header to modify input. For your example:
const config = `
DECK
10 forest
8 elf
4 rite
4 infernius
34 other

TURN 1
1 forest
1 elf

TURN 2
1 rite
1 infernius

TRIALS: 1000000
`;

DECK is a list of [qty] [card name].
TURN [N] is a list of cards needed by turn N.
TRIALS: [N] sets how many trials to do.
Then press 'Execute' to run the simulations.

Very cool! I hadn't even thought of an empirical approach. I would prefer a theoretical explanation though.

Thank you! Calculating the actual probability is definitely more useful, but is often a lot more difficult to do when you have lots of variables.

Here is a generalized version of @David Z's approach, in F#:
open System.Collections.Generic

// --- Utility functions ---

let memoize f =
    let cache = Dictionary<_,_>()
    fun c ->
        let exist, value = cache.TryGetValue (c)
        match exist with
        | true -> value
        | _ ->
            let value = f c
            cache.Add (c, value)
            value

let rec factorial n =
    if n < 0 then failwith ""
    match n with
    | 0 | 1 -> bigint 1
    | _ -> (bigint n) * factorial(n-1)
let factorialFast = memoize factorial

let rec product lists =
    match lists with
    | h::[] ->
        List.fold (fun acc elem -> [elem]::acc) [] h
    | h::t ->
        List.fold (fun cacc celem ->
            (List.fold (fun acc elem -> (elem::celem)::acc) [] h) @ cacc
            ) [] (product t)
    | _ -> []

// --- Hypergeometric distribution ---

// C(n, k) in David Z's answer
let possibleSamples (population, sample) =
    /* I added this special 0 case, because if you have some weird
       degenerate deck where every card is part of the ideal hand,
       you can end up with 0 as input, and it breaks computations down stream. */
    if population = 0 || sample = 0 then 1.0
    else
        let a = factorialFast population |> float
        let b = factorialFast sample * factorialFast (population-sample) |> float
        a / b
let possibleSamplesFast = memoize possibleSamples

// P(f,e,r,i,o) in David Z's answer, except o is computed from [f,e,r,i]
let probabilityOfHandItemCounts (itemFreqs: int list) (deckSize: int) (handSize: int) (handItemCounts: int list) =
    let itemPossibleSamples =
        handItemCounts
        |> List.zip itemFreqs
        |> List.map possibleSamplesFast

    let otherPossibleSamples = possibleSamplesFast(
        deckSize - List.sum itemFreqs,
        handSize - List.sum handItemCounts)

    let possibleHands = possibleSamplesFast(deckSize, handSize)

    (otherPossibleSamples :: itemPossibleSamples)
    |> List.fold (fun a b -> a * b) 1.0
    |> fun x -> x / possibleHands

// for..in expression in David Z's answer
let handsWithRequiredItems (itemFreqs: int list) (handSize: int) =
    itemFreqs
    |> Seq.map (fun f -> [1..f])
    |> Seq.toList
    |> product
    |> List.filter (fun xs -> List.sum xs <= handSize)

// Final summing operation
let probabilityOfHandWithRequiredItems (itemFreqs: int list) (deckSize: int) (handSize: int) =
    handsWithRequiredItems itemFreqs handSize
    |> List.map (probabilityOfHandItemCounts itemFreqs deckSize handSize)
    |> List.sum

let result = probabilityOfHandWithRequiredItems [10; 8; 4; 4] 60 7
printfn "Probability of ideal Infernius starting hand: %f" result
// Prints 0.048196, same as David Z's result

To test the generalization, here is another case: An old-school degenerate Channel/Fireball deck. One copy of each card is required for a first turn win.

10 Channel
10 Fireball
10 Black Lotus
10 Mountain

let result2 = probabilityOfHandWithRequiredItems [10; 10; 10; 10] 40 7
printfn "Probability of ideal Channel/Fireball starting hand: %f" result2
// Prints 0.689246, which feels about right intuitively


text:
If you allow your opponent to draw cards can they have more than 7 cards in their hand until their next clean up stage
I'm thinking specifically about Lost Legacy. If I get them to exile 4 cards ie. Saheeli Rai, and allow them to draw 4 on my turn does that mean they can draw on their turn and do not have to discard until the end of their next turn?

Fyi, they only draw for cards exiled from their hand.  So, cards in hand doesn't change.

Yes, they still get to draw and do not have to discard down to 7 until their cleanup step.

402.2. Each player has a maximum hand size, which is normally seven cards. A player may have any number of cards in his or her hand, but as part of his or her cleanup step, the player must discard excess cards down to the maximum hand size.


text:
Can your opponent counter the exert ability of Champion of Rhonas?
Can your opponent counter the exert ability of Champion of Rhonas, either as a spell or an activated ability? Does it count as a spell being cast?

Why the rollback? It is conventional in MtG to use the possessive 's form even for cards whose names end in S. For recent examples, see the text of Crush of Tentacles or Cultivator of Blades or Drove of Elves.

@doppelgreener MTG templating doesn't have to affect our use of language unless we're trying to interpret templated language or use it to convey meaning. The style choice regarding the possessive was made by the asker, in clear and correct English. I think it's reasonable to change it but also reasonable for the asker to revert that particular change as they see fit.

As a caveat to that comment, I believe it's reasonable here because it's still valid English, and doesn't affect the meaning or clarity of the question at all. If people are using important game terms incorrectly, clarifying that (as edits, in comments or in answers) can help to understand the issue better. But for this case, it just doesn't matter either way. For example, should we edit all questions that say "Player A has a bear. Can they block with it?" to "Can he or she block with it?" just because that's how they template in MTG?

Ok, I'm alright with that, and didn't consider that as I made the edit. I just felt it was a weird thing to roll back. I'm fine with it staying s-less.

Sometimes I wonder what went wrong with my evolutionary history for me to spend this much effort thinking about and discussing a non-issue that I'm not invested in. Then I look at the rest of the internet and I feel fine!

"Champion of Rhonas" is singular, so it should be "Champion of Rhonas's". Anyway, Changed the question to make this moot.

@ikegami Moot is a good way to go, but the singular rule isn't agreed on (like pretty much everything that comes down to style) when it comes to proper nouns. Moot is good. Good moot.

The most recent edit introduced a typo: "extert". I can't suggest the one-character correction edit.

@TonyUK Noting that edit summary, the "one" third-person gender-neutral pronoun is far less formal than it seems you think it is. I don't know how you've heard it used or what you read into it, but it's definitely much less formal than "should be reserved for the Queen", and while it is formal language, it gets used in all kinds of contexts.

As a native northern British English speaker and a previous English language teacher to speakers of other languages, I would say that whilst it may be in use, it has a lot of additional cultural, class related meaning attached to it that I would not like to be associated with.

@TonyUK Ok, fair enough, it's your question. I'm a Australian and London-residing native English speaker and it has none of those particular connotations for me.

Champion of Rhonas's ability is a replacement effect followed by a triggered ability. You will be able to counter it during the Declare Attackers step by effects which counter triggered abilities. In the current Standard format, there is one card that does this: Disallow. (If the Exert effect has targets, you could also optionally make all of its targets illegal: this makes the rules counter the ability, and doing so is colloquially known as fizzling.) Currently this is true of all creatures with an Exert effect.
It is not an activated ability, and abilities are never spells and never count as a spell being cast. You will not be able to counter it with an effect which requires an activated ability or a spell as a target.
Activated abilities follow a specific format, which is (quoting the rules themselves):

[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]

That : following a cost (including {0}, as in Kazuul's Toll Collector) in an ability's text is the way to tell it's an activated ability. If there is no cost & colon, it's not an activated ability.
The Champion's exert ability comes in two parts as mentioned earlier: it starts as a replacement effect (because of the "as"), which modifies how declaring attackers works by giving the controller the opportunity to exert it. It is followed by a triggered ability that occurs if it is exerted. This triggered ability carries the "when you do..." portion of the effect, and it goes on the stack during the Declare Attackers step after attackers are declared.
All current creatures with an Exert effect work this way. Battlefield Scavenger and Trueheart Twins are slight exceptions in that their triggered ability is a separate ability, but it will still trigger in the same way.

The official rules for Exert are already released within the Amonkhet Release Notes, although weirdly, that section doesn't go into detail about what types of abilities and effects that keyword entails. Your interpretation, however, is backed up by the explanations below the rules paragraph.

According to those rules, Exert is simply a keyword action that means "choose to have this creature not untap during its controller's next untap step". It does not inherently involve any abilities, it is simply an action you can take. All of the existing abilities that use it only allow you to exert while declaring attackers, and additionally have a regular triggered ability that triggers when you do that.


text:
Can a Bristling Hydra activate Hexproof when an instant is cast?
I summoned the Bristling Hydra and it was killed instantly before I declared I was making it Hexproof. Could I have prevented it's death if I had said it was Hexproof before the other player cast his spell?
The additional reason for asking this is due to the energy production of the card and the energy requirement for playing the ability.
When bristling hydra resolves it provides 3 energy and the ability requires 3 energy therefore this question has some additional implications about how the spell could potentially resolve i.e. does the energy resolve in time for the player to use the ability or do you need an additional source of energy

This seems like a question dealing with priority. I'm fairly confident I've seen this question before, but my base searching hasn't turned up any results. Maybe something like this? http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/18021/when-is-my-earliest-opportunity-to-destroy-a-creature-i-couldnt-counter

This looks like a duplicate at first glance, but I think part of the confusion in this question is not addressed by the other question. The author appears to think that the energy from Hydra's triggered ability is available the moment Hydra enters the battlefield. That's not right, and isn't covered by the proposed duplicates.

When you say it was killed instantly, what was done to destroy it?

Bristling Hydra is a bit tricky, because it has a triggered ability for when it enters the battlefield, that gives you energy. Making it hexproof also costs energy. If you had no energy before summoning it, your opponent could kill it in response to the "Enters the battlefield" trigger, and you wouldn't have the energy to activate its ability and make it hexproof in response.
However, if you had gotten energy from a different source earlier, you could activate its ability to make it hexproof in response.
(Also, if your opponent waited for the ETB trigger to resolve and give you energy, THEN cast a spell to kill it, you'd be able to pay energy to make it hexproof in response, although it seems unlikely that they would do that, seeing as it's a pretty bad play).

It should be noted that it's only a special case compared to the possible-duplicate-suggestions above, not in general, as it follows the normal rules for timing and priority as well as triggered abilities.

@TheThirdMan Yup! That's why I decided to answer even though it looked a lot like a dupe

Wait no I read your comment again and you weren't saying what I think you were saying. I can edit to remove "special case"?

You read it right the first time - I was supporting you in posting this answer, as in my opinion, it's not a duplicate at least for the questions linked. The current phrasing works better though, I'd say, as with every other activated ability, you can activate it as long as you can pay the costs, with the only reason making this actually tricky being that energy is a lot harder to come by than mana or life.


text:
What is the standard rule for running 12-1?
In Phase 10, in specific phases, you have to complete "run"s of cards, like this:

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

But recently I've come across the discussion whether this is a valid run?

11, 12, 1, 2..

According to the rulebook, you have to agree on this before the game (elsewise, you can play runs like this).
But according to Wikipedia:

Runs can go from one to twelve.

In my understanding, this does not include from twelve to one!
What is the common agreement for this?

Here is my opinion.
1) I have never seen it played where 11, 12, 1, 2 was allowed.
The official printed rules say...

RUNS: A run is made of four or more cards numbered in order. EXAMPLE: Part of Phase 2 requires a run of four, which could be “3,” “4,” “5,” “6.” The cards may be in any combination of colors.

2) The official iPad version of the game does NOT allow 11, 12, 1, 2. (I tried to make sure)
3) I found an updated version of the rules on line...

Run: A run (similar to a straight) is made of four or more cards numbered in order. The cards do not have to be the same color. A run may not go in order of 11, 12, 1, 2; this is an illegal play. Runs must stop at 12 and only start at 1.

So, I would say that 11,12,1,2 is NOT allowed.

Could you please link to the rules you found online?

http://ogres.wikia.com/wiki/Phase_10

You're welcome. Are the rules you linked to the "official printed rules" or the "updated version of the rules on line"? You could edit your post to have a hyperlink for the one you mean.

I'd say its rare when rules list what cannot be done outside of FAQ (sometimes even then, "F" after all=)).  I have seen other games where rules specifically say they allow "wrapping" like questioned.  I feel like a list of games is tangential but this fact in general worth mentioning.  +1 to this answer.


text:
Can you buy a property after being sent by a chance card?
Imagine I roll the dice and land on a chance card space. The chance card sends me forward to a property space. Can I buy it?
I haven't been able to find a clear straight answer to this question online nor in the rulebook.

Yes. From the official rules, "whenever you land on an unowned property you may buy that property from the Bank at its printed price."

It's worth noting that if a chance card sends you to a property someone else owns you will owe them rent.

If you end up on a property as the result of a Chance card, the result is the same as if you had landed on it through the roll of the dice. "If it is unowned, you may buy it from the bank," is what the card will often say.
If it is owned, you must pay rent (unless it is mortgaged). Sometimes the chance card will specify a "double" or higher than usual rent (e.g. ten times the dice instead of four times for a single owned utility).


text:
How to respond to publishers when they ask for rules?
I have a game in development, and I obviously think that it's good. It's fairly easy to play, but it's complex to balance. I have worked long and hard so far to make it almost ready for playtesting.
I have been promoting the game in adequate circles in hopes of getting publisher attention. And so I got, from a major one. All they asked is to send over the rules...
I'm not sure if I should. I don't want a game that is similar to mine popping in the future - I rather not lose this opportunity.
I have no experience, as this would be my first game I attempt to publish. What do you think? How should I approach my answer? I don't want to be disrespectful.
I thought along the lines of expressing how complex the mechanics are in the development background, show some screenshots, thank for the interest, explain how a game would look like to players (trying to think with the reader's mind), and ask for feedback.

Looks like you need legal advise.

What kind of reaction did you expect from the company? Without getting presented the game and the rules, how should they fall for your game? I also thing that legal advice would be good, but I am not sure of what your expectations on the company are.

@Lot: I have, of course, presented them with pitch material. Sorry for omitting that. However it also didn't contain rules due to the reason above.

Send the rules.

Fear of having your idea copied/stolen is a uniquely amateur mentality. Daniel Solis (designer) and Gil Hova (publisher who references other publishers) cover the topic well in their articles about this very topic. Additionally, there is this entry on BGG. They all conclude that you should not worry about someone stealing your idea.
The company asked for the rules. Do you suspect they won't act in good faith? If so, the rules issue is moot. Otherwise, please know that this is standard practice. Earlier this week, I made appointments with about 20 designers for Gencon - and declined several others - after looking at a combination of rules and sell sheets. Let the professionals see your game for what it is!

doppleganger - my composition teacher insisted that I use the active voice, whence the rollback

Ok, but naming sources is useful, and summarising external links is required. We want your post to remain a useful answer even after a link 404s. If you don't want my revision, could you write an appropriate summary?

While it's good to talk to Lawyers, keep in mind that lawyers always worry about worst case scenarios.  Additionally, the more fear and doubt they sow, the more work they get.  Most people, and most companies are honest, and deal well with partners/clients etc.  Ask around a bit about this publisher, and if you find they are on the up and up, just send away.

@doppelgreener Summarizing external links is not required - you're probably confusing this with Link-Only-Answers, where some answer is required, and if all you have is a link then you should summarize that link. If the answer stands excellent on its own and links to further reading, there's no mandate to summarize.

Using registered post,  send a copy of the rules plus your game design notes, etc everything you can think of to yourself.  It will arrive dated and sealed. Keep it in a safe place.  That's your evidence of prior design

@beerhunter - the "poor man's copyright" is covered in the BGG link, and rejected.

Search for a case where this happened. A lot of game designers have this fear and it seems totally unsupported. Publishers would kill themselves if they did it, because nobody would give their rules to a  a company that stole rules once.
The board game scene is comparatively tiny and things like those will spread like wildfire.

That makes sense. In retrospect it's obvious, actually. As a beginner these clarifications were necessary. Thank you.

I think Chaz 2.0's advice is quite sound, and this is only to supplement:

Make sure that you're creation of the game is well documented

I go so far as to suggest formally copywriting the rules (costs about $30 and can be done electronically at Copyright.gov.)
I mention that not because it gives you any actual protection--copyright does not protect game mechanics, and the submission would only cover the "literary content" of the rule description or the "artistic content" of any images, but it could be used as leverage for a settlement if a company does decide to rip your idea without compensating you.  (i.e. you don't mention the company expressing interest, so we can't judge if they are a reputable firm.)
If you feel you have novel game mechanics (i.e. the game is more than just a recombination of existing mechanics) you may want to explore a provisional patent.  These can be filed inexpensively, and give you a year of protection, even when you disclose.  However, if you have publicly disclosed more than 1 year prior, the intellectual property is in the public domain, and no longer patent eligible. (This is for the US--patent rules differ by region.)
Also be advised that a large company may already have similar games in the pipeline, or in a file cabinet, so there is the possibility you could be turned down and still see a similar game in future which was not based on your game.

Pursue crowdfunding as an alternative

It's always good to have a backup plan in case the publishers pass!  Crowdfunding has been quite successful for indie board and card games.

Thanks for the useful insights! I will sure live by at least sone of them, and I'm sure that others will find it helpful as well. (I do live outside of the US.)

@mozzribo If you do have wholly novel mechanics, definitely look into provisional patents.  I mentioned the US b/c I'm less well versed in international patent law, and it differs by region.  (You might consult with a patent attorney in your region, which is usually at no charge.)

I don't think it's novel enough, though I sure will talk to someone, just in case.

At this risk of sounding callous, I would say that if you think your mechanism is novel, then you haven't played enough games.

@TheChaz2.0 You raise a very valid point in that fundamental, novel mechanics almost never occur.  But when they do, the creator should take steps to protect them.  (i.e. ideally you want to be in the position of Richard Garfield, creator of the modern collectible card game genre, and not the creators of Threes aka 2048;)  Alternatively, if the game cannot be effectively monetized, such as Conway's Sprouts, a paper and pencil game, there is not real reason to seek intellectual property protection.


text:
Balanced, 9-player setups for Bang!
I am interested in the possible 9-player setups for Bang! that do not upset the balance of the game too much. I do not want any of the players to feel hopeless right at the start of the game when they get their role card.
I found one promising setup on boardgamegeek:

1 Sheriff, 3 Deputies, 4 Outlaws, 1 Renegade (that's how the original game worked)

Are there any more setups that proved to be working or Bang! gets pretty unbalanced at 9 players?
I could imagine something with 2 Renegades, 4 Outlaws, 1 Sheriff, 2 Deputies but I am not sure about it.

Arguably, the Renegade will feel hopeless even at officially supported player counts.

@TheChaz2.0 Well yes, then I do not want that hopelessness to increase significantly compared to the original one. Would be then 2 Renegades better and that would reduce the Deputies by 1?

@JoeW I am willing to accept it as an aswer. What you have highlighted seems a very good point against "many players" games.

The problem with larger games in Bang! is that they tend to be unbalanced by the way the game is played. In a 7 or 8 player (in 6 also really) it is very easy for players to be killed before they get a turn. Depending on what character you get and the cards everyone has it is possible that there is nothing that can be done to prevent yourself from being eliminated before your turn. And this is something that would only be magnified in a 9 player game.
From the very fact that it is very possible for people to be eliminated from the game before they had a chance to play I would call it unbalanced.
That is not even mentioning the fact that in the standard rules for 8 players that there are two renegades who are working against each other. As a quick example if an 8 player game comes down to the sheriff, and both renegades one of which accidentally kills the sheriff the game ends with the outlaws winning even though they had all been eliminated.

Back in college, my buddies and I would play some massive tables, with like 8+ people.  It took us a while, but we found a few things that worked.
What I'd recommend is:

1 Sheriff, 1 Deputy, 3 Renegades, 4 Outlaws.
New mechanic we made up: "Fog of War".  Fog of War is a distance bonus applied to all characters that decreases by 1 at the start of the next round.  Its value at the start of the game is simply (# of Players)-5, with a maximum of 3.

(1) The increased Renegade count is to counteract the fact that Renegades get harder and harder to play as the player count increases.  However, up until the last moments of the game, the Renegades all share a similar goal.  And, unlike the Deputies, Renegades have the benefit of wanting to kill other targets who might not be you at the end (like the Deputy).  As a result, having more Renegades is easier on the Renegade "goal" than having more Deputies.
(2) With 9 players, you'll have 3 rounds of a lull where few shots will be fired and players will be able to get a sense of threats and neighbors.   This mostly puts benefit in the Sheriff's favor, to counteract the fact that 44% of the table want him dead from the start, and the rest don't know who to shoot.  This also helps mitigate the loss in power against The Law from the reduced number of Deputies from houserule #1.


text:
Should every Fatty still come with two Walkers?
In Zombicide, whenever a Fatty is spawned, it comes with two Walkers as an "escort".
However, I couldn't pinpoint this rule in the Zombicide Black Plague manual. Is that still the case?
For further clarification, my question arose from a passage from the translated manual that came in my box. In the official english rulebook, on the end of page 24, there is the following excerpt:

The Fatty joins one group of Walkers, and a second Fatty is added to the other group.

In the pr-BR translated version, published by Galápago Jogos, however, the same paragraph is phrased in the following form:

O Balofo se junta a um dos grupos de Lerdos, e um segundo
  Balofo é adicionado ao outro grupo (esse novo Balofo não vem com
  Lerdos extras).

Which roughly translates to (emphasis mine):

The Fatty joins one group of Walkers, and a second Fatty is added to the other group (this new Fatty does not come with extra Walkers).

Which implies on regular spawns it does come accompanied. But this is certainly a silly translation error, that always happens with pr-BR things. I should've checked the original manual first.

While explicitly pointed out in the Zombicide rulebook and extra attention called to the additional Walkers, there is no such note in the Black Plague rulebook.
Since no rule requires it, and these are distinct games with separate rulesets, you do not add the two Walkers escort.

I know that this is a super old question but the correct answer doesn't seem to be given. The rule in which you are referring to is for splitting groups, not spawning fatties. Fatties have no rule requiring them to have extra walkers with them.

The rule for fatties coming with walkers is in the original (modern setting) zombicide, Nij's answer was correct in saying that while that is a rule from the original game, this is a separate game, which has a lot of the same rules, but not this one.


text:
Why isn't resistance a case of halving any damage taken?
In the Pokémon TCG, there is something called Resistance and Weakness. Like this:

For example, for some games, you have multipliers like 1x for 'Neutral Attacks' that aren't affected by Resistance or Weakness, 2x - or something like that - for 'Effective Attacks'and 0.5x for 'Ineffective attacks'.
But why in the TCG does Weakness cause 2x damage, and Resistance cause -20 damage?
There is an argument to this:
For a new change:

Low Damage attacks (those <20) will cause no damage, or even help them to heal (if it is possible).
If the damage is an odd number multiplied by 10 (like 10, 30, 150...), it would cause it to do damage like 5, 25, 75, 165 and damage like that. But this can be resolved by introducing a '5' Damage Counter, and that can be counted as 1/2 a damage counter.

Against a new change:

It has already been like this for a while.

Obviously, there are more arguments, but these few will provide enough justification, I believe.
So why was -20  introduced, not ÷2?
I am looking for:

Why they didn't do it like the mainline Pokemon games?

To be clear, you are asking for an explanation for why the game was designed this way? Unlike other SE sites such as Arqade, that's on topic, but I think you'll have a more difficult time finding an answer.

@Thunderforge , what do you mean?

I wanted clarification on what you were asking, that you're looking for what the designers of the game intended. I don't recall that the designers of Pokémon have had as many design diaries as other games, so I'm not sure that there are any sources that will answer your question.

@Thunderforge , talk in chat, and review my edit please =)

@Thunderforge : http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/49/board-and-card-games

My uninformed, best guess:
The Pokémon card game was designed to be simple and playable by young children. Subtracting 20 is a simple operation, as is multiplication by small numbers, but division is more complicated, can lead to mistakes, and requires instructions on how to round "half" values (or 5s, in this case) up or down.


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Playing Pokemon TCG with more than two players
I want to play Pokemon with my brother and sister. The only problem is that there will be three people playing,  which means it would be hard to alter rules so that they do not give other players an unfair advantage.  What additional rules do I have to incorporate in order to play this way?
Note that I would like it to discourage teaming, and it is FFA. Also, as mentioned below, I would not like two headed giant as there is only three decks between us.

I'm interested in this, because one of my daughters plays, and I'd like to get the other one involved without them playing against each other (too much possibility for bickering and mayhem).

Same with my other sister :/ @pjmorse

Good question. I'm a fan of games with 3+ players and PTCG. I feel I might start experimenting with free for all play style, would be cool to find some play tested rules.

The closest that I have found that meets your criteria and also only uses three decks (thus excluding "Two-Headed Giant") is a 3-player variant from BoardGameGeek, which was an improvement to a suggestion another gamer had made.

The three players are arranged in a circle.
A player can attack the player to their right for full damage.
A player can attack the player to their left for half damage, rounded up to the nearest 10.
Special effects (e.g. not being able to use item cards due to Dragonite's "Deafen" attack) can only be applied to the player to the right. (It seems that you are allowed to deal damage to the left player and have an effect apply to the right player).
The game is otherwise played as normal, and the first player to get all their prizes wins.

The advantage of this variant is that while teaming up is still possible, it's sub-optimal since one player will be doing less damage if they gang up, so it's only likely to happen at critical moments.

I can't comment yet, but I wanted to give the translation for "Troll à deux têtes" which is two-headed-giant.
Here is the explanation for MTG : http://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/formats/two-headed-giant you can easily adapt it to any TCG as explained by LamaDelRay.
To add another idea you can usually give rules to free for all battles in multiplayers. When we play a 3 or more players we tend to "only attack left" and gain some reward for defeating a player. It's a bit more tricky but could be adapted to a round about fight.
If you play Pokemon TCG why not have 2 active pokemons (like in the video game) one fighting the player on the left, the second battling on the right. You will have a lot of interesting strategic choices to play like this and if you draw 2 cards each turn you should have enough ressources to play on 2 fronts.
Also double the rewards to have a longer game.

For every TCG I advise two sort of plays in order to be played well with three players, 'Troll à deux têtes' (dunno how it's called in other countries, I guess it's two-headed troll) and one player playing two decks.
Troll à deux têtes, is a player with double the life (for magic) or double the rewards (for Pokemon TCG IIRC it's how it's played, right?), the team should get 12 rewards for the team to win while the lone player will need 8 of them. Also you should allow the lone player to get two pokemons in play while the team can have one pokemon each (like in the video game in fact.)
Playing two decks is actually harder than it sounds, and I do not find it very reasonable. When they released the first Ruby and Saphir extensions, they released rules for 2v2, you can try to find them and play a team "alone".
Good luck!

Very poor answer unfortunately... This does not answer my question.

Try this set of rules with one player playing two decks. Should be close to what you wish. Or I didn't understood you at all. http://orig05.deviantart.net/b2b6/f/2014/132/2/7/pokemon_tcg_double_battle_rules_by_jmillart-d7i3arh.pdf

I require playing with, for example, three+ players...

Well, I explained how to play with three. With four there is already rules for it. For five, you can split with three and two etc etc... Doesn't that help?

There is no teaaming

Check the link provided up there

Obviously, one person; one deck... Please read question carefully

Then, I've provided a way to play with 3 person, the only major difference beeing the lone player having two cards in battle instead of one. You might have overlooked this part. If you want a battle royale, then no rules may help you to balance it.

recently, i have played a four way game with my friends cause, we all thought it was a dope idea, anyways, here is the set up(this version utilizes teams).
SET UP- two players sit at one side of a table. two sit at the opposite side. set up your decks as usual.
SPECIAL RULES- the person siting diagonal to you is your teammate. on everyone's first turn, nobody can attack, or play supporters. you and your teammate have to collective pick up ten prize cards.
PLAY-
have the person across from you call the flip. the two winners will call and flip, and the two losers will call and flip. the winner of the winners picks 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th. the loser of the winners gets to chose next, the winner of the losers chooses next, and the loser of the loser chooses last. then, you play as normal!

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.

"Then, you play as normal" leaves a lot of the game that is designed for one on one play needing house rules to play 2 on 2.

This would be the "two headed giant" option that Xetrov already has mentioned not wanting in their question because there is no fourth player


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Monopoly : Is buying properties second time round a house rule or official rule?
Just wondering that when playing a normal game of monopoly, can I buy a property when I haven't passed go yet. Anything will help. thanks!

What rule are you referring to with "buying properties second time round"?

@BenjaminCosman I think what the OP means to ask is that in some "rule modalities" you can't buy properties during the first round of the game.

From what I gather from your question the rule you are talking about is a house rule. In the basic rules it is intended for all properties to be sold the first time anyone lands on them. Either from the person that landed on it making the purchase or it being sold in auction.
In general the basic rules tend to make the game faster.

I would love it if someone could track down the origins of all these "house rules" to monopoly. The actual rules are pretty short and direct, yet I remember playing with all sorts of odd rules as a kid as well. Did we just not bother to read the directions? Not understand them? Invent rules for the fun (or lack thereof) it? Or were they passed down, parent to friend to sibling to cousin, through the ages, slowly corrupting Monopoly from a decent game into an almost intolerable one?


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What are the chances of each individual combination type?
Clarification:

A combination type is a roll of a set of poker dice which are similar to each other. You have, ranking high to low: 5 of a kind, 4 of a kind, Royal Straight, Straight, Full House, Three of a kind, Two Pairs and Single Pair

What are the chances if getting one of those combination types above? ( In percentage probability)
If you think this is more to do with math than Games, please migrate this to Math SE.

I'd expect that the question has already been asked at least twice on Math SE, and answered comprehensively through both simulation and combinatorial proof. Not going to go down the rabbithole for it though.

@Thunderforge edit... Problem has been resolved

Duplicate of Poker Dice Probability

@aslum Cross site duplicates are okay on the Stack Exchange network. There is a feature request to allow crossover questions where a single question can be shared among multiple sites.

The Poker Dice wiki has a table of probabilities:
Hand             Exact probability   Percentage  1 in…   Example
Five of a kind      6 / 7776         0.08%       1296    J J J J J
Four of a kind    150 / 7776         1.93%       51.8    10 10 10 10 A
Full house        300 / 7776         3.86%       25.9    K K K 9 9
Straight          240 / 7776         3.09%       32.4    A K Q J 10
Three of a kind  1200 / 7776         15.43%      6.5     9 9 9 K J
Two pair         1800 / 7776         23.15%      4.3     Q Q 9 9 A
One pair         3600 / 7776         46.30%      2.2     10 10 K Q 9
Bust              480 / 7776         6.17%       16.2    A K Q J 9

6^5 = 7776 rolls
There are 6 ways to make 5 of a kind = 6 / 7776


text:
How is Yu-Gi-Oh played with more than two players?
When I play Yu-Gi-Oh, I want to play with my brother and sister. The problem is that we don't know how to play with more than two people playing. Are there any additional rules I have to incorporate to be able to play this way?
For example, how do I determine whose monsters I can attack? Or do both my opponents count as a single one?
 Just saying, nobody should be on teams*.

everybody has the same lp, you can attack anyone, first round nobody can attack, you choose who to target, teaming should not be avoided seeing that when one player gets overpowered both the other players should be able to do something about it

Play with the rules the show gave for free-for-all duels
The closest we have to official rules for Yu-Gi-Oh! with more than three players is Episode 122 of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. It featured a four way free-for-all duel with the following rules (plus a rule involving the results of this duel determining seeds for the final four):

Each Duelist must play with no more than 40 cards in his Deck.
  Each Duelist can attack or target any of the other three, but may not attack until one full turn has been played.
The turn order is determined as follows: each player selects 1 monster from his Deck and removes it from play; the owner of the monster with the highest ATK goes first and the lowest ATK goes last. [All duelists had  different ATK, so it was not explained what happens in a tie]

Throughout the duel, there were temporary alliances that were made and broken. The duel ended when the first player got to 0 Life Points and everybody was ranked for tournament seeds. In other words, the highest remaining Life Points was ranked first, with others being ranked in relation. Yugi and Joey initially teamed up, then then turned against each other when they realized it was advantageous to do so in order to get favorable tournament seeds. Again, there were no ties, so it was unclear what would have happened in that case.

I would suggest adding the following rules:

Each player selects 1 monster from his Deck and removes it from play; the owner of the monster with the highest ATK goes first and the lowest ATK goes last. You cannot choose a monster with a ? on either ATK or DEF.
In the case of a tie with the highest ATK, all tied players use the following tie-breakers with the cards they chose until there is no tie, with the winner going first.

Highest DEF
Highest Level (monsters without a printed Level, such as Xyz monsters, count as 0)
Highest Xyz Rank (monsters without a rank, which would be any monster aside from Xyz monsters, count as 0)
Highest Link Number (monsters without a Link Number, which would be any monster aside from Link Monsters, count as 0)
Each player rolls a die with the highest winning the roll, repeat as needed for ties.

Example: Yugi chooses Kuriboh (300/200, Level 1). Bandit Keith chooses Machine King Prototype (1600/1500, Level 3). Odion chooses Dragon Zombie (1600/0, Level 3). Mako chooses Fire Kraken (1600/1500, Level 4). Yugi goes last since his monster had the lowest attack, but the three remaining duelists' monsters tie with 1600 ATK, so we need to go into tiebreakers, starting with comparing DEF. Mako and Bandit Keith both have DEF 1500 monsters, while Odion has a DEF 0 monster. Odion will go after the other two. Since there is still a tie, Level is compared. Mako's monster is a Level 4 monster, but Bandit Keith's is a Level 3, so Mako goes before Bandit Keith (since Odion is already out of the running, his monster's Level is not compared). Thus the order is Mako, Bandit Keith, Odion, Yugi.
If you don't want to have the strategic layer of selecting monsters, you could just have it where all players roll a die with the highest roll going first. The disadvantage to this is that players do not have the ability to strategically determine whether they want to go first, last, or in the middle.
Also, you can play to the last man standing if desired.

Wouldn't highest ATK, tiebreaker highest DEF, work better? I assume that the point of highest-first is so the player losing the most useful monster has the best opportunity to prepare defences and ready an assault. Then losing more DEF follows the same principle.

@Nij Good thought. I've added DEF as a tiebreaker, followed by a couple other criteria. Ultimately, you'll have to fall back to die rolls though in case two players choose the same monster.

The added rule sounds flawed. If it's an advantage to go first, why wouldn't I include the monster with the highest written attack in my deck (regardless of how it plays) just to burn it to go first?

@Samthere I think that in the show they can't change their decks for the rest of the tournament finals (aside from adding the cards they won through ante), so having a card with a high attack that doesn't play well with your deck means you'll have a junk card later on.

Whenever I play with my friends using 3 or more players, everyone counts as their own player (this means not counting anyone as teams). Sometimes people do form temporary alliances for whatever reasons (for example, they both see someone as a threat and decide to work together against them). Everyone starts the duel with 8000 life points as normal and you just decide who goes first and what order everyone's turns go in. This can be decided in a variety of ways Some people I know, everyone looks at the bottom card and see who's card comes first in the alphabet while other friends prefer using dice rolls if they have dice handy. The way my friends and i do it is that a player is not allowed to attack anyone who has not gotten a chance to have a turn yet (meaning the last person has the advantage that they can attack anyone they find a threat first).
Essentially it is difficult to attack while avoiding anyone teaming up against you. As soon as one of them gets attacked, your brother and sister might see you as a threat and will team up against you in a form of an alliance until you're eliminated or too weak to continue fighting. Some effects, like dealing damage to a opponent, you choose which opponent you want to deal damage to, your brother or your sister, and no, both your opponents do not count as one since they're not actually a team, just working together temporarily. They count as multiple opponents that you attack and have to deal with separately.

Do you think you could add a bit of detail in your answer? Also, please read the whole question, as I believe you have not read it.

essentially it is difficult to attack while avoiding any teaming. as soon as one of them gets attacked, your brother and sister might see you as a threat and will team up against you in a form of an alliance.

but yeah, some effects like dealing to a opponent, you choose which player to deal damage to, your brother or your sister. and no, both your opponents do not count as one. they count as multiple opponents that you attack and deal with separately.

Tip: edit those in your answer, then Ii can upvote it! This is a easy way you can earn reputation. @Tyler Trinh

Another option is a 1v2 duel, if one of you wants to take on the other two at the same time.  The easiest way to do one of these would likely be to adapt the Official Tag Duel Rules.
Note that these rules are from 2013, and thus they don't take the 2014 rule changes (specifically, the "first player doesn't get a Draw Phase" and the "each player can have a Field Spell" changes) into account.  I'll note how you can change the rules to account for these.
An adapted version of those rules might be as follows:

Basic rules:

There are two teams; one team (Team 1) has one duelist, and the other (Team 2) has two duelists.  Team 2 has a "primary" and "secondary" member, called Duelists 2A and 2B, respectively.
Each duelist on Team 2 has their own field (5 Monster Zones, 5 S/T Card Zones, 1 Field Card Zone, 1 Deck Zone, 1 Extra Deck Zone, 1 Graveyard), and their own deck.  Combined, these make up team 2's side of the field.
The single player on Team 1 (optionally) has a "double-size" side of the field, with 10 Monster Zones and 10 S/T Card Zones instead of the usual 5.  In this case, duelist 1 follows standard 1v1 duel rules, apart from the increased field size.
Alternatively, they may choose to play with two decks, in which case the standard Official Tag Duel Rules (as detailed at the above link) can be used verbatim.  In this case, duelist 1's right deck & field count as 1A, and their left deck & field count as 1B.
Each team starts with 16,000 Life Points; duelists 2A and 2B share their LP between them.
Duelists 2A and 2B are allowed to use cards in their partner's Graveyard as if they were in their own Graveyard.  Examples given are:

Duelist 2A can use their "Call of the Haunted" to target a monster in Duelist 2B's Graveyard.
Duelist 2A has two different "Lightsworn"s in their graveyard, and duelist 2B has two different "Lightsworn"s in their graveyard; between the two of them, they have four different "Lightsworn"s.  Duelists 2A and 2B are both allowed to summon "Judgment Dragon".
Duelist 2A has a LIGHT monster in their graveyard, and duelist 2B has a DARK monster.  Either one of them is able to summon "Chaos Sorcerer" by banishing these monsters.
Duelist 2A has 2 DARK monsters in their graveyard, and duelist 2B has 2 DARK monsters in their graveyard.  Neither 2A nor 2B can summon "Dark Armed Dragon", as they have 4 DARK monsters between their two graveyards.

There can only be one Field Spell active at a time.
As mentioned above, this conflicts with the 2014 1v1 ruling that each player can control 1 Field Spell.  If you want to use the new ruling, you can choose that 1) each team is allowed to control 1 Field Spell (in this case, if 2A has a Field Spell active, and 2B activates one, 2A's would be destroyed), or 2) each player is allowed to control a Field Spell.  Since you're not playing an official duel, choose whichever of these options you prefer.
Each duelist has their own Extra Deck, and cannot summon monsters from their partner's Extra Deck.
Both members of a team are allowed to use monsters on either of that team's sides of the field.  Examples given are:

Duelist 2A has a Level 4 monster on the field.  2B can use this monster as an Xyz Material for "Number 39: Utopia".
Duelist 2A has a monster set on the field.  2B may tribute it to Tribute Summon "Jinzo".

Teammates can't activate speed 1 effects on their partner's field.  Examples given are:

Duelist 2A has a "Cannon Soldier" face-up on their field.  2B cannot activate its effect on their turn.
Duelist 2A has a "Dark Hole" set on their field.  2B cannot activate it on their turn.

Teammates can talk, compare hands, and share information (both between themselves and with their opponent).  They can't use their partner's cards without their consent, and have to come to an agreement first.  This communication must be verbal, must be loud enough for their opponent to hear, and must be in a language their opponent understands.  (I'm sure the "verbal" rule can be waived if necessary, such as if one of the teammates is deaf and/or mute.  No idea whether this applies to you or not, just pointing it out because the official rules don't.)
A team loses if they run out of Life Points, if they deck out (in team 2's case, if either 2A or 2B decks out), or if an opposing duelist achieves a special win condition (like "Final Countdown" or "Exodia the Forbidden One").
Note that special win conditions must be achieved by a duelist, not a team.  If 2A has Exodia's limbs in their hand, and 2B has Exodia's head in theirs, team 2 doesn't win the duel.
Card limits and banlists apply to each team as a whole, instead of to individual players.

If 2A has a "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" in their deck, 2B can't have another one.
If 2A has a "Dark Hole" in their deck, and 2B has a "Dark Hole" in their deck, then neither 2A nor 2B can add a second "Dark Hole" to their deck.
If 2A has a "Mystical Space Typhoon" in their deck, and 2B has two "Mystical Space Typhoon"s in theirs, then neither 2A nor 2B can add another MST to their deck.

Turns:

Teammates sit beside each other, and each team sits across from the other team.  2A sits to the right of 2B.  Duelist 1 can either sit across from 2B (which is where 1A would sit in a regular tag duel), or in the middle of their side.  (E.g., if team 1 is on the left side of the table, and team 2 on the right, duelist 1 can sit either on the middle of the left side, or across from 2B.)
Duelist 2A gets their turn before duelist 2B; after 2A's turn ends, three turns will pass before 2A gets another turn.  Since duelist 1 is alone, they get the turns 1A and 1B would normally have; after 1's turn ends, one turn will pass before 1 gets another turn.  (And thus duelist 1 gets two turns to every turn 2A or 2B gets.)
The first duelist who can attack is the one who goes fourth.  (In the example below, this would be duelist 1, on their second turn.)
Similar to the Field Spell issue, the official Tag Duel rules don't appear to have been updated to account for turn 1 no longer having a Draw Phase.  To account for this, the best decision is probably that the duelist who goes fourth is the first duelist allowed to conduct a Draw Phase, to match the rules on attacking.
After turn order is decided, turns proceed normally.  If team 2 goes first, for example, turn order is as follows:

Duelist 2A.
Duelist 1.
Duelist 2B.
Duelist 1.
Duelist 2A.
And so on...

If you don't want duelist 1 to have so many turns, then you could change the turn order as follows (assuming team 2 goes first):

Duelist 2A.
Duelist 2B.
Duelist 1.
Duelist 2A.

If you do this, duelist 1 should get an advantage (such as double LP, or drawing 2 cards per turn) to compensate for only getting half as many turns as team 2.

Attacking:

Duelists can only attack with monsters they control.  2A can't attack with monsters on 2B's field, and vice versa.
If a team controls at least one monster, they can't be attacked directly, even if one member of that team has no monsters.  If 2A controls a monster and 2B doesn't, duelist 1 can't attack 2B directly.

Effects:
[Note that examples in this section are difficult to modify, due to these rules normally depending on the position where each player is sitting.  For these rules, duelist 1 should probably be counted as sitting directly across from both 2A and 2B.  If duelist 1 is double-decking so you can follow the official rules, then remember that their right-side deck/field/hand is 1A, and their left-side deck/field/hand is 1B.]

If a card affects your opponent, and would have an effect on their hand, deck, extra deck, graveyard, or banished zone, then:

If activated by duelist 1, they choose whether it affects 2A or 2B.
If activated by either member of team 2, it affects duelist 1.

If a card affects your opponent's side of the field, then it affects their entire side of the field.

If activated by duelist 1, it affects duelists 2A and 2B.
If activated by duelist 2A or 2B, it affects duelist 1.

If a card affects all duelists/monsters/spells/traps/etc., then it affects all relevant targets (whether belonging to 1, 2A, or 2B).
If a card affects "both Duelists" or "each player", then:

If activated by duelist 1, it affects themself and either 2A or 2B (1's choice).
If activated by either 2A or 2B, it affects duelist 1 and the duelist that activated it.

If either 2A or 2B activates a card that refers to another card(s) "you control", or to "your" hand/deck/extra deck/etc., then it counts cards in both 2A's and 2B's control/hand/deck/extra deck/etc.  This is also true if 1 activates a card that refers to another card(s) "your opponent controls", or to "your opponent's" hand/deck/extra deck/etc.
Both 2A and 2B can allow their partner to use monsters they control for Tribute Summons, Ritual Summons, Extra Deck Summons, or other appropriate card effects.
The "owner" of a card is the duelist whose deck it started in.  2A isn't the owner of 2B's cards, nor is 2B the owner of 2A's cards.
If a card prevents your opponent from doing something, it prevents both of your opponents (if applicable).  If a card prevents you from doing something, it also prevents your partner from doing it.  Examples given are:

If duelist 1 controls a face-up "Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer", neither 2A nor 2B can banish cards from the graveyards.
If duelist 2B activates "Reckless Greed", then team 2 will skip its next 2 Draw Phases; 2A and 2B will each skip one Draw Phase.

Other:

During a duelist's turn, any other duelist can activate speed 2 or higher effects.  This follows the rules for activating an effect on their opponent's turn, even if it's actually their teammate's turn.  Example given is:

Duelist 2A attacks duelist 1's monster with a LIGHT monster.  Any player can activate "Honest".

When a duelist takes an action, all other duelists are allowed to respond; responses are allowed in turn order.  Example given is (assuming the 2A-1-2B-1 order mentioned above):

Duelist 2A activates a Spell Card.  Duelist 1 is allowed to chain a card.  After they chain or decline, 2B is allowed to chain a card, and then 1 gets another chance to chain.  If 1 declines their initial chance, and 2B chains a card, 1 is no longer allowed to chain a Counter Trap to counter the effect in Chain Link 1 (i.e., 2A's spell).

In case of SEGOC (multiple trigger or trigger-like effects activating or meeting their activation timing at the same time), then the order is:

Turn player.
Their partner (if applicable)
Opponent(s)'s effects (with opponents choosing the order, if applicable).

For example, all three players have "Mermail Abysslinde" on the field, and the turn player activates "Dark Hole".

If duelist 1 is the turn player, then 1's Linde is link 1, and duelists 2A & 2B decide which of their Lindes is link 2 and which is link 3.
If duelist 2A is the turn player, then 2A's Linde is link 1, 2B's Linde is link 2, and 1's Linde is link 3.
If duelist 2B is the turn player, then 2B's Linde is link 1, 2A's Linde is link 2, and 1's Linde is link 3.

Card effects that count turns count all appropriate turns.  Examples given are:

If duelist 1 activates "Swords of Revealing Light" when 2B will get the next turn, it will remain in effect until the end of 2B's second turn after activation.  (The three opponent turns counted are 2B's turn, 2A's turn, and 2B's second turn.)
"Final Countdown" counts all duelists' turns.