text:
What if the queen is pocketed along with all remaining carrommen?
Whilst playing carrom, if only one piece is remaining of each player, e.g. one white and one black and a queen, and I pot a queen, what happens in the following scenario:
While covering the queen with my piece, mistakenly I cover both the remaining pieces, and now there are no pieces on board.
In such a case, who wins the game?

This is question 10: What happens if I pocket both players' last C/m and the Queen? of What happens in these end-game situations?

You win and are awarded 3 points (or 1 point if the score is 22+)
This can be verified on the International Carrom Federation rule book, as long as you made a proper stroke.

a) While covering the Queen a player pockets the last C/m of his own together with the last C/m of his opponent by a proper stroke, he shall be awarded 3 points. If the score is 22 or more he shall win by 1 point.
b) While covering the Queen, if a player pockets the last C/m of his own together with the last C/m of his opponent by an improper stroke the opponent shall win by three points. If the score is 22 or more he shall win by one point. if demanded, an additional point for the improper stroke shall be awarded to the opponent.

This is of course assuming that you didn't pocket the Striker as well. In that case you lose.

a) If a player pockets the Queen, his last C/m, the last C/m of his opponent by a proper stroke together with the Striker, the player shall lose the Board by 3 points. If the score of the opponent is 22 or more, he shall lose by one point. One additional point for the pocketed striker shall be awarded, if demanded by the opponent.
b) ...improper stroke...


text:
Does removing an anomaly that reduces an action point give back the lost point for that turn?
An anomaly yellow alert card reduced the players' available action points by 1. Once someone removes the anomaly, do they automatically get another action point, i.e. the formerly reduced point, to use that turn?

Yes, once the anomaly is removed the normal action limit is restored giving the player back the action they did not have.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
If I have so few armies I can't attack any more, do I lose the game?
When starting Risk you are spread out and a few bad turns of the dice can leave you so thin you have nothing to attack with. There is nothing in the rules about this. Am I to assume you have lost at that point?

Most certainly not!
You will still receive armies and be able to attack in a future turn, as the rules make clear (see page 6: Getting and Placing New Armies - Territories) that every player with at least one territory receives at least three armies each turn for territories, even if owning fewer than 9 territories.
In order to not be a target of other players while you are weak, it is best to hold as few cards as possible, ideally zero, until you are strong enough to have a chance at defending your self, so don't attack at all.

It's all a matter of diplomacy. In the situation you described, you are "down but not out."
(The exception would be a two player game, which you lost, because your one opponent has "everything else.")
If there are multiple players, they would all do well not to attack you (for the time being), and concentrate on each other. If you receive the minimum of three armies per turn, you might not want to attack either, until you've had a chance to build back up.
What you need is a situation where there there is no player that is stronger than the sum of all the other players including you. In a three way game, that might be hard, because one player might get far enough ahead of the other player that you can't make up the difference. But the more players there are, the better chance you have to survive (or at least go down fighting), using diplomacy to maintain the balance of power, to the best of your ability.

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


text:
Technically highest 7 Wonders score
I was wondering what is the technically highest score one can achieve in Seven Wonders (with Cities and Leaders) in a 3+ player game, considering all players are working with the performer.
Has anyone heard of an algorithm that calculates that, or some information about it? I've tried get out my head around it but there are SO MANY parameters that I'm almost tempted to brute-force this solution.
Any ideas or information?

This would be extremely complicated to calculate, and it would take too long to brute force.

Science might be the way to go - it has a slow start, but the last few science buildings would each give very large bonuses.

Well yeah but you need the res to build it and it just seems really hard to play all possible science cards each age while being allowed to actually play them. I think this has to be done in a 7+ game for some manoeuverability in the decks

Or a 3 player game so that cards cycle faster. Science is probably the way to go, with science-based leaders (probably extra symbols), and with Mannekin Pis to the right of the Great Wall so you can double build the spy wonder stage. Babylon (A) to the right for the bonus science symbol. Neighbours build resources and enough science to steal while feeding gold into the main player.

If you start with the leader that plays science for one less resource, you can play just about all of them for free and skip almost all resources.

Has anyone tried anything yet?

@Zil Finished demonstrating my science plan for 250 points, using Manneken Pis and The Great Wall from the Wonder Pack.

I'm back with 329 in a 7-player leaders, cities, wonderpack, promo leader game. No science used!
Wonders used are Great Wall (B) Left, Byzantium (B) West, Manneken Pis (B) You, Roma (B) East and Babylon (B) Right.
A summary of the points are:
Military - 18 - from 1 Shield provided by Manneken Pis in Age I
Coins - 77 - finish with 231 coins from neighbours purchasing from you (3 of each basic resource) and generating through Diocletian and straight money cards
Wonder - 7 - from first stage on Manneken Pis
Civilian - 5 - from Age II Aqueduct
Science - 0
Guilds - 107 - 18 from Architects, 12 from Craftsmen and 77 from Gamers
Leaders - 77 - all from Midas
Cities - 38 - 23 printed vps, 6 from 6 military tokens and 9 from 9 Cities cards.
The full log of what is played each turn and how the money flows is in the picture below. I needed to included the Left and Right players to ensure there was enough money to flow eventually to you. Hopefully there are no mistakes, however happy to get corrections and/or improvements.
Enjoy! Brett.

I believe I can get to 231 using the restrictions of the OP, being a 3 player game and only the Leaders and Cities expansions.
Wonders used are Byzantium (A) West, Babylon (B) You, and Roma (B) East.
A summary of the points are:
Military - 16 - from an Age II Stables
Coins - 27 - finish with 82 coins from neighbours purchasing from you, Gambling House&Den and coins from chaining through Vitruvius Leader
Wonder - 3 - from first stage on Babylon (B)
Civilian - 6 - from Age III Senate
Science - 110 - 5 sets, 11 greens + Spy Ring to copy the 12th, Multis from Babylon Stage 3 and Scientists Guild and 1 more symbol using Courtesans Guild to copy West's Leader
Guilds - 27 - all from Gamers Guild (coins)
Leaders - 42 - 15 from Aristotle for 5 sets and 27 from Midas (coins).
The full log of what is played each turn and how the money flows is in the picture below. Hopefully there are no mistakes, however happy to get corrections and/or improvements.
Enjoy! Brett.

My restrictions are 3+, not 3 ! That justs means 3 and above :p

Bit 231 is crazy, I haven't verified it but... Well played!

I have a score of 250 points, using Leaders, Cities and 2 wonders from the Wonder Pack. I score 229 from science, 18 from war and 3 from coins.
The strategy focuses on science, and grabs an easy 18 bonus points with a first age war card. See the image at the bottom of this answer for an example game.

Goals
The main player has the following goals:

Buy all 3 science leaders.
Build every science card:

3 in the first age.
4 in the second age.
5 in the third age.

Build 3 science symbols from the wonder.
Build the Scientists Guild.
Build the spy city card each age.
Win all wars.

The science, guild and spy cards, along with the 3 wonder stages, take up 19 of MP's 21 plays. This leaves 2 plays. Because MP has no starting resource, one of these plays should be a resource so that the neighbours can buy from MP. A clay pit (ore/brick) will be used in 6 of MP's core plays, saving the most money while providing variety to allow neighbours to purchase. The remaining free play is a first age war card to win all the wars.

Setup
My example uses duplicate Palace and Observatory, so requires 7 players.

The main player (MP) is Mannekin Pis (A).
To the right is Babylon (A).
To the left is The Great Wall (A)
To the far right is anyone.
To the far left is Roma (B).

Leaders
This uses the 3 science leaders:

Pythagoras (gear).
Ptolemy (tablet).
Euclid (compass).

Wonder Stages
MP's wonder must be completed by the end of the second age as there are no spare plays in the third. Thanks to the choice of neighbours, you can end up with 3 science symbols from the MP. When MP copies from the Great Wall, MP chooses which stage to build.

First stage: choose free science from China A.
Second stage: free science from Babylon.
Third stage: choose free science from China A again.

Neighbours' Responsibilities
Between them, MP's neighbours must do the following:

Build the resources MP needs.
Feed MP enough money to keep buying resources and leaders.
Build 3 different green science cards with the same symbol.
If war cards have been built, build diplomacy every round to allow MP to win wars.

Scoring Science
Assuming that your neighbours have built the appropriate duplicate green cards, spy symbols become free choice.

1 of each symbol from the 3 leaders.
4 of each symbol from the green cards.
3 free choice from MP wonder (2 from China, 1 from Babylon).
1 free choice from the Scientists Guild.
3 free choice from city spy cards.

Using all 7 free choice symbols as a single symbol (cogs for this example), we have 12 of one symbol and 5 of each of the two others.

    |Gear |Comp |Tabl | Set |
Num |  12 |   5 |   5 |   5 |
Sco | 144 +  25 +  25 +  35 = 229

Example Game

Click here for the full-size image.

China builds military to feed MP coins in the first age, and then builds diplomacy every round. Thus Roma builds no war.
Roma builds as many brown cards as possible to maximise China's Vineyard.
Babylon builds no war.
Ephesos (far right) builds as many grey cards as possible to maximise Babylon's Bazaar.
China and Babylon, between them, build 3 different green science gear cards for MP's spies.
MP ends up with 9 coins.

I'll put forward an approach that if nothing else will set a beginning bar. I'll start with some justification as to how I think you could get the cards you need, and then we'll add up the points at the end.
Let's assume that the gods are smiling upon you (or that your neighbors are idiots) first and foremost. They play the perfect cards, including ones that give you lots of money.
Let's also assume for sake of argument you are sitting next to Rome(B) so you pay less for leaders (and maybe China so you get more money). Let's also assume you got Babylon(B) so you get to keep your second card as well as a wild scientific. This will allow you eight cards each round.
You probably don't need 8 in the first round as it would cost too much.
Now, assume you get one of the three of the leaders that give you a scientific card (Euclid, Ptolemy, or Pythagorus), Ramses (free guilds), and Archimedes (the one that makes each scientific cost one less).
So, you start out with 3 coins (having paid one less for Archimedes).
Grab a Tavern
Then the Pigeon Loft (A spy mask),
Bury once (5 coins remaining).
If your neighbors played the right cards, you could pick up an additional three coins.
(China First wonder section, and Gambling Den, back up to 8).
Play a military (preferably the Guard Tower so you don't have to pay),
Pick up the three scientific cards (Apothecary, Workshop, and Scriptorium).
(7 cards, first age done).
Win both military battles, and proceed to round two.
Play Ramses or your scientific leader (4 coins gone, down to 4).
Ladder the three scientific cards (Dispensary, Laboratory, and Library),
Buy the School (down to 2 coins),
Have a neighbor play the Gambling House (back to 4 coins),
Get the Vineyard and make boatloads of money
(nice neighbors, you could make 10-14, so lets assume 18 coins now.)
Get the Architect Cabinent
(wanted to get the Spy Ring for the mask, but I think it's just too expensive, this should cost 3, and now your wonders are free)
Bury once (still at 9 coins),
Now you get the 8th card, which you should probably bury for the free scientific.
2nd Age Finished.
Win both military battles again (thank you neighbors).
Play your last leader (down to 5 coins).
Ladder all 5 scientific cards (Lodge, Observatory, University, Academy, and Study).
Pick up the Scientist's Guild (free scientific),
Play Courtesan's Guild (use a neighbors scientific leader),
At some point have your neighbors have purchased enough brick from you that you can afford the Torture Chamber for the final mask.
Third Age over.
Win the final two military battles.
Let's figure out points.
So, all scientific cards (4 full sets), 2 masks, 2 wild scientific, and 2 scientific leaders (assume these fell just right so that you end up with 2 more sets).
So, 18 from military victories, and 6 full sets.
This gives you 150 from scientific with the 18 from military gives a total of 168 points.


text:
How do trait cards work in Evolution?

During Phase 3 when playing trait cards, the rules state a player may discard one or more trait cards.  Can a player just remove traits or must he replace traits?  Example: Player one has three trait cards on one species, one of them being 'carnivore'. Can that player choose to discard the carnivore card and become a vegetarian? Or must he replace carnivore with another trait?  Or can you even replace or remove the carnivore trait?
Can you have a long neck carnivore? Or does carnivore negate the long neck?
When changing a trait card, must you reveal what card you will be replacing immediately or do you reveal your traits and then determine what you will be replacing?

Can a player just remove traits or must he replace traits.
Yes, they can. While the original rules didn't allow this, the most recent rules allows one to remove any number of traits from any number of creatures in the Play a Trait step.

Play a Trait
A player may place a Trait Card facedown above one of his species.  A species may not have any duplicate Trait Cards and may not have more than 3 Trait Cards. A player may discard one or more Trait Cards from any of his species at this time.

Can you have a longneck carnivore?
Yes, but the Long Neck has no effect.

Carnivores may never take Plant Food, even with other traits such as Long Neck, Cooperation, or Foraging.

Do you inform what card you will be replacing immediately or do you reveal your traits and then determine what you will be replacing?
Before the next player starts playing cards.
The original version of the rules made it crystal clear that the discard must happen before you play the Trait Card facedown. The updated rules are a little laxer. Discarding Trait Cards is done as part of playing Trait Cards, and you must be done this before the next player starts doing the same.

Starting with the First Player, a player may play as many Trait Cards as he wants, or save them for the next round. There are three things a player can do (in any order) with each Trait Card when it is his turn.

Your Play a trait quote explains better than the Version 2 Rules on the PDF download of rules from the makers web site.  Thanks.

Revised my answer with respect to the updated rules. This changes the answer to the first question.


text:
In warhammer 40k can I combines these armies?
I have an Ezekiel, Grand Master of Librarians, which is a dark angels HQ and I have a grey knight army. Can I use Ezekiel as my HQ?

And if not what librarian can i use in the army? doesn't have to be a HQ.

Are you asking if you can combine two units in a single army, or are you asking if you can use one of them as your HQ?

I have a full 1.5k point grey knight army but no HQ so can i use that dark angels librarian as my HQ?

Short answer: in the 7th edition of WH40k, you can create an X point Unbound army from any units you have, so yes. (Note that Unbound armies have some limitations when it comes to holding objectives, etc., so look it up in the rulebook.)

Longer answer: based on your comment to your question and depending on what rules your game group has on army building, you probably want to create a Battle Forged army, which you cannot create with the 1500 points of non-HQ Grey Knights and a Dark Angels HQ.
Grey Knights and Dark Angels can be taken as allies, but as per the rules for taking allies, you need to take the allies in an Allied Detachment and your main force in a Combined Arms Detachment.
For a Combined Arms Detachment you need, and can have:

1-2 HQ
2-6 Troops
0-3 Elites
0-3 Fast Attack
0-3 Heavy Support
0-1 Fortifications
0-1 Lord of War

So you need at least one Grey Knights HQ for your main detachment. For an Allied Detachment you need, and can have:

1 HQ
1-2 Troops
0-1 Elites
0-1 Fast Attack
0-1 Heavy Support

So to wield Ezekiel with your Grey Knights in an appropriate detachment you would need to take at least one Dark Angels Troop with him.

If you're just playing with your friends, you can probably agree with them that you would both play with 1500p, and you would just not have a HQ. But for more organised games, you need to get a Grey Knights HQ, but you would only need a single model to make your army follow the rules. After all, every army needs a leader!

You couldn't take him inside a GK formation, but you could have him join a GK squad (say, Paladins with a Librarian) since he is an Independent Character.


text:
When does the Gypsies racial ability come into play?
Do you collect the coins at the end of the Gypsy player's turn, or at the end of the game round?

The Gypsies ability states:

"Place 1 bonus Victory coin (taken from the Victory stash) in each Region you abandon. You cannot conquer these Regions again this turn, but you receive the coins they hold as a bonus at turns end".

At the start of your turn, you place coins in each Region your Gypsies occupy. At the end of the Gypsies turn, collect all coins in those Regions that you don't occupy and return the remaining coins if any to the Victory stash.
The rules state a turn ends after troop redeployment and Victory coin scoring.

Picks a Race and Special Power combo

Conquers some Regions

Scores some Victory coins

Gypsies essentially allows you to score a Region for one additional turn after abandoning it, because Gypsies are always on the move.

Abandoning a Region
"Only those Race tokens that were taken back in hand may be used to conquer new Regions. If a player wishes to free up some more Race tokens, he may opt to entirely empty up some - or all - Regions, leaving no Tokens there; but in this case, these now abandoned Regions will no longer be considered his, nor bring him any Victory coins."--Small World rule book pg. 6

@Darvanen you didn't finish reading the answer. He was rephrasing it in a different but equivalent way because the official description can be confusing.

While it is worded a bit strangely, it happens at the end of the gypsy player's turn, just like all other scoring.


text:
How much time do I get to read a card before I counter it?
My friend told me I only get 5 seconds to say if I'm going to counter a card in Magic the Gathering, even if I tell him to wait. Is that true?

Your friend is wrong, you get as much time as you want.

In addition to what Kevin said, note that there's nothing in MTG ever that comes down to speed, timing, reaction quickness, etc. Despite the way it may play out in practice, it's a fully turn-based game where only one player at a time is ever allowed to do anything.

Gendolkari doesn't like my Chaos Orb deck :(

Sideboard in some Triton Tactics. Wish him good luck making decisions in 5 seconds the first time he has to read that card.

@Affe, I almost listed "dexterity" along with the others, but then realized I didn't want to get into the whole Chaos Orb discussion, lol.

@deworde Naw there's much more complicated effects, Ice Cauldron, Eye of the Storm, Knowledge Pool, Illusionary Mask. Or dance of the dead which I think is literally the wordiest card.

@Andrew Sure, but at the time of writing Triton Tictacs was in Standard, and while it's not the wordiest, it's pretty confusing for a Common card.

Your friend made that up. There is nothing in the comprehensive rules about how long a player may retain priority. Once you've got it, you keep it as long as you like until you play a spell/ability or pass.
If you're in an official tournament setting, your opponent can call a judge if he thinks you're intentionally playing slowly. If you're playing at your friend's kitchen table, then anything goes. Of course, the host can always decide to kick you out of his house, so try to play at a reasonable speed.

And consider telling your friend that trying to make up rules like this (in essence, cheating) might make it harder for him to find people to play games with.

In the PC game, you only get about 2 seconds to counter a spell, so he might have confused that for an official rule.  However, even in the PC game, you can pause the timer if you need time to read the card.

@Jefromi, I would give the benefit of the doubt and assume that the friend had learned the rules wrong himself.

@GendoIkari It's always possible, hence "consider". I think the OP probably knows which one it is. A lot of people do unfortunately try things like this even though they know better, trying to make up or bend a rule that one time they really want something to go their way.

@BlueRaja When I play MTGO, I can spend as much time as I want to decide to counter something or not. If I want to spend all 30 minutes of my time deciding to counter his opening mystic druid (even if I have no land out yet or anything) I can do that!

i would assume he was referring to duels, which does give you limited time by default, but you can to my memory request more time with a button press (which varies by format)

@BlueRaja-DannyPflughoeft, In Duels of the Planeswalkers, while you only get a few seconds to respond, you can press a button to stop that clock entirely; X on the Xbox, for example. (Although there's also a much longer timer in online games -- 1 or 2 minutes -- designed to prevent people from getting locked up by opponents with bad connections.) In MTGO, you retain priority until you hit OK (or F2, IIRC), although you only gain priority if there's a stop or you can respond and haven't forfeited priority for the turn. (MTGO also has chess clocks, though, so don't take too long!)

@Kevin, Are there time limits for tournament games? Like in chess?

Not only is your friend wrong - "time" actually is not relevant to any part of Magic The Gathering. (Except maybe in tournament play when each session of rounds is timed)
And regardless of rules, a friend should never rush a friend, especially if asked nicely to wait.

As per the other comments, what you are being told is wrong.
Time is only important during competitive events, where if you continously spend too much time reading cards, thinking about your play, deciding blockers or attackers (all within reason).
You can be warned for slow play on those circumstances but other than that there is really no 5 second rule.
What you need to be careful and it is covered in the rules (again, for competitive events) is communication. If your opponent casts a spell and you look at it and say "ok", it doesn't matter if you meant "ok, I'll let it resolve" or "ok, let me think about this", you only said "ok". Make sure you keep communication clear to ensure your opponent knows what you are doing and to avoid unnecessary judge calls.

There is no rule that state that you only have so much time to counter. Saying you only have limited time is kind of a mean move especially if the player being pushed for time is a new player who has no clue what the card does.

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


text:
Does "any" mean "all" or "one" for cards like Cheetah?
Cheetah's ability is to "gain any card with cost 4 or less from the line-up." While playing the game the group has been split on whether this means take one card or take all cards.
There are some cards that specify to take all cards and I think some others specify to take one.

I think it means take 1, http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/894212/cheetahs-ability

semantically I would guess this means 'all'. If they meant one card I think they would have said 'gain a card with cost 4 or less from the line-up'

This is a very active thread on the cryptozoic forum about rule clarifications. That is probably a better place to ask, since the R&D team seems to answer the questions there.

According to this BGG thread (which cites a play-tester), it means you can take any one card. At the end of the thread, game designer Matt Hyra (one of the co-designers for the game) corroborated this and added the following:

Just as an FYI for future card reading: If a card gains "all" of something, it would be written like:
Gain all cards with cost 4 or less from the Line-Up.

This is pretty common in card game terminology (citation needed I suppose?) where being able to take all cards would say "all" or similar.

Probably worth noting that one of the responses claims to be from an official play-tester, which adds some circumstantial weight to the ruling.

This was what I had originally posted as an answer until reread the counter argument in the same thread. Do you know why these counter arguments would be invalid? The counter argument examples were:
"The tazmanian devil destroys any object in his way"
or
"Homer Simpson will eat any junk food on his plate"

@ColinD I agree that it can mean "all" in some English sentences, although I think it's rare to see such a phrasing to mean all in any card-game wording that I've come across (hence my second sentence, which I admit is interpretative). The fact that "any card" is singular also suggests it means "one". (If it had said "any cards", you'd have been hard-pressed to argue it meant only one.)

@Johno I definitely agree with your answer and reasoning. However, I have not played this game, and by your post I assume you have not played either. The post you cited did not seem like it had any expert answers, which I guess is the gold standard here on stackexchange.

@ColinD Sure. I linked my source, which may or may not be conclusive enough for some people (if it hadn't had a comment from a supposed tester, I probably wouldn't have linked it). If another answer appears with a rulebook or FAQ quote, I highly expect it will (correctly) be voted above this answer as a more complete and conclusive answer. But if no such source exists, interpretation is all we have for now.


text:
If partner opens one heart, what do I need to respond with one spade?
If my partner opens one heart, and I respond one spade, am I showing four or five spades?

In Standard American bidding (and 2/1 game forcing for that matter), after partner's 1H opening, 1S promises at least 4 spades. After 1H-1S, partner's mostly likely calls are 1NT (5332 shape with no more than 14 HCP), 2 of a minor (5-4 or better in the bid suits, may have anything short of a game force in terms of values), 2H (6+ hearts, probably less than 17 high card points), 2NT (18-19 HCP, 5332 shape), or some number of spades.
After 1H-1S-1NT, your rebids:

2H: This is a tough one. Probably 5 spades, a doubleton heart honor, and shortness in one of the minors. You're taking the position that playing 2H in a 5-2 fit is better than playing 1NT (if you had 3 hearts and a weak hand, you shouldn't have bothered to show spades).
2S: The 2S rebid shows a weak hand, usually with 6+ spades (though it could be an exceptionally weak hand with shortness somewhere and only 5 spades, e.g. Qxxxx x Kxx xxxx, which rates to take 0-1 tricks at NT but a few tricks with spades as trumps).
2NT: Invitational values, likely exactly 4 spades and 2 hearts.
3NT: Game forcing values, likely exactly 4 spades and 2 hearts.
2m: You should have a discussion with your partners about this auction, but SAYC says this should be non-forcing and natural.
3H: 3-card heart support, invitational values.
pass: any weakish hand not covered above.

After 1H-1S-2m:

Pass: A weak hand with 3- or 4-card support for the minor and usually a singleton or void in hearts.
2H: A weak hand, virtually guaranteed to have a heart doubleton (again, with 3-card support, why not raise hearts in the first place?)
2S: Shows 6 spades or better (or, more rarely, a weak 5-5 in spades and the unbid minor with a singleton heart). With other shapes and a weak hand, correct to 2H with a doubleton heart or pass partner's minor.
2NT: Balanced, invitational.
3m: 4-card support for the minor, invitational values.
3S: 6+ spades, invitational values
The fourth suit at the cheapest level: forcing for one round, unable to make a natural bid at this point. Examples:

Interested in 3NT but unable to stop the unbid minor.
Interested in slam in one of partner's suits and thus unwilling to jump directly to game.
Interest in a spade slam but require more information from partner

After 1H-1S-2H:
 - 2S: This shows a weak hand with 6 spades or better and likely a heart void; why else correct from partner's 6-card suit to yours?

2NT: Natural, invitational.
3m: Natural and game forcing.
3H: Invitational with 3 hearts.

Obviously, this doesn't cover all the bases, but it lays out some of the most common situations.

Don't rebid 5-card suits unless as a positive statement of strength. You should know better @ruds, as your comments on Bridge are usually sensible.

Are you referring to 1H-1S-1NT-2S or 1H-1S-2m-2S? The first seems pretty sensible; without a doubleton spade, opener either has 6 hearts or a 4-card minor and so is not rebidding 1NT; therefore it is often reasonable to improve 1NT to 2S with a weak hand and 5 spades. As for a weak hand with 5=1=5=2 shape, 2D and 2NT are both stronger actions. Do you prefer a preference to 2S with that hand, or passing in a possible 4-2 fit? Anything you do could be wrong.

Don't rebid a five ward suit with weakness. Partner will take you for 6, and is required to pass you with a void unless she is strong. Would you rather play in a 4-2 or a 5-0? Remember that partner's 1H opening, even playing 4-card majors, will be 5 cards long more than 70% of the time.

Rebidding a 5-card suit with a weak hand is the undeniable sign of a novice, who has yet to grasp the true fundamentals of bidding. Get over it. Read the literature on any decent web site, like Richard Pavlicek's (http://www.rpbridge.net/bbtc.htm), if you don't believe me.

You are simply wrong about correcting the 1NT rebid back you your 5-card suit; partner certainly doesn't have a void. After 1h-1s-2m when you hold 5-5 in spades and the other minor and a stiff heart, any call you take could be right or wrong, but I take comfort in the fact that partner's most likely shape is 5422, and so at MPs I bid the major. At imps, you haven't been doubled yet, so probably pass is the best call.

PS, I'll note that http://www.rpbridge.net/2z09.htm recommends rebidding your suit with 5+ and 6-10 HCP after a 1NT rebid by responder. That page suggests passing 2m by omission (under an "all other weak hands preference" rubric), but none of his example hands address this frankly problematic hand type.

You need only four spades to respond one spade.
When your partner opens, you are expected to try to keep the bidding open if possible.
That's why you need only four of a major to respond, and as little six points (although you may have a lot more). The fact that you have four spades is valuable information. Your bid (in a new suit) is forcing, meaning that you will get a chance to bid again and show your other values.
A small percentage of the time, partner will be 5-4 in hearts and spades, and be able to raise  spades, and you'll have a 4-4 fit.
More often, there will be a try for a no trump contract. Partner may bid no trump if spades is the only suit where s/he is short. If partner is 5-4 in hearts and a minor, the minor will be bid, and if you have the other minor, you can bid no trump.
Occasionally, you'll find a 4-4 fit in a minor, and make a part score. Game is unlikely unless you and partner have at least 28-29 points between you.

One spade over one heart may indicate transfer to 1NT by opener as one spade may have weak hand with minimum 3 carder weak Spade. After 1NT rebid it is passed so that strong hand does not become dummy

If you are suggesting this as a convention, it is not really an answer since it needs to be agreed with partner beforehand. Or is there a system where this is normal?


text:
What is this tile-based game?
I bought a game at a thrift store because it was not used.
It consists of 104 ivory tiles. The tiles are numbered 1 to 13, with 2 sets in red and 2 in black; and then four more sets but these are numbered 1 to 11, with 2 sets in light blue and two with the numbers in yellow.  Below each number is an indented circle.  Also, there are two other tiles with a smiling moon face on it, one face is in red the other in black, these, too, have an indented circle on them.  Included in the case that it came in were four "racks".  It appears they are to hold the tiles.
I don't play games too much but I do like them.  Does anyone have any idea what this game is?

You cannot attach images to your posts until you have a bit more reputation - mainly for reasons of countering spam.

@JonathanHobbs No, I think new users can post images now: http://meta.stackexchange.com/a/195927/133299. Either way, two upvotes gets you past new user restrictions, so it should be doable. Joann, if you click edit, there'll be an insert image button in the toolbar above the text box.

It sounds like you have yourself a Rummikub set, but with the blue and yellow sets missing their 12s and 13s. The indented circles are there mainly for the benefit of distinguishing the 6 and the 9 from each other. The racks are used for resting your unplayed tiles on - played tiles are placed on the table between the players.

The components of Rummikub

Numbered tiles coming in four colours: generally red, black, blue and yellow.
Each colour has two sets of tiles numbered from 1 to 13.
Two jokers. Normally these are black and red, and represented by a smiling face.
Four racks, since it's a game for up to four players.

All in all, you should have 106 tiles: 104 numbered, and two jokers.
That said, if you do have 104 tiles, you should only be missing two tiles, not eight! Have you counted correctly? Try laying them out and checking.

Thank you very much, Jonathan.  That is exactly the game I have!  I'll double check to see if I miss counted or found out why it was at the Thrift Store!... Yep all the pieces are there.  I'll google to learn how to play.  Thank you again!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

@Joann FYI, the game pretty much still works if you remove the tiles required to balance out the colors, so you can play a game with just 1-11 in every color.

This game is called as "OKEY".

Can you provide more detail, like an image and/or description of "OKEY", to show how it matches the one described in the question?

Okey is played with a Rummikub set (or vice versa).


text:
Can I combine different races as a single army?
Can I mix soldiers from totally different armies?  I mean, can I have some, say, Necrons in among my Chaos Space Marines?  I have a couple different armies, and I'd like to combine them.

It is perfectly legal to use Necrons with Chaos Space maines so long as you obey all the necessary allies rules.
In standard games of 40K your can field allies with your army using the Allies Matrix.  When you do this your select one army to be your primary detachment and the other one as the allied detachment.  Your primary detachment works as normal and you select your warlord from it as usual.  For the allied detachment you use a modified force organization chart:
[1] HQ
[0-1] Elites
[1-2] Troops
[0-1] Fast Attack
[0-1] Heavy Support

Allied detachments work with your army with varying amounts of efficiency.  You can see the full allies matrix below.
From the matrix you can see that Necrons and Chaos Marines are classified as Allies of Convienence. In this instance, it means that troop units from both detachments are scoring, but characters cannot join units from the other detachments.  Also, army abilities will treat the units from the other detachments as enemy models

This chart does not include death guard. Is there an updated version that you can replace this with

You have an army construction chart you have to agree on with your opponent. If you want to mix armies, you would have to play high points and agree on the scenario with your opponent - see the rules for allies in the 6ed rulebook. They would allow you to field 1 HQ, 0-1 Elites. 1-2 Troops, 0-1 Fast Attack, and 0-1 Heavy Support options from the Dark Angels codex with a  Space Wolves detachment, for example. Thats because Space Wolves and Dark Angels are considered "Allies of Convenience". I dont think Necrons get to be allies with Chaos too easily, bot i cant recall the exact table from the rulebook.

In addition to what K.L. said, you can ally just about any army. You just have to have permission from the other player, and a good scenario to explain why certain armies would be allied (say the Eldar and the Necrons who hate each other).
The easiest way to "ally" is to play an Apocalypse game. Those games are meant for large amounts of points and huge armies. Alliances mean a little less because you could be playing each army as an independent or together depending again on your mission.
(and personally I think Apocalypse is what 40K is all about. I've had more fun with those huge games than with small games where you agonize over what you can and cannot field within your point values.)

You can combine anything except the red ones as per the above graph, doesn't matter if it's flufy or makes sense. Nor do you need permission.
Your allied detachment MUST take 1 HQ and 1 Troops choice and CAN take another Troop, Fast, Elite and Heavy Support.

This doesn't add anything that's not already covered by CaulynDarr's answer.


text:
Can the Mermaids create towns with +1 shipping bonus?
Is it possible for the mermaids to create a new town with their special ability when they have the bonus +1 shipping card?

The shipping, whether regular shipping or the temporary shipping bonus, would not have an impact on the mermaid towns. Even with shipping, towns cannot be founded across river; it only counts direct adjacency. So yes, even if they have a shipping bonus, the mermaids could found a town by placing the town marker on the river space that connects 2 half-towns.


text:
Does a hit destroy a unit in Axis and Allies 1942?
We do not understand how to perform the battle sequence with an attacking force of one infantry, one tank, one airplane, one artillery against two tanks, one infantry.
The attacker rolled two (2)s for the attacking units at (3). Does this mean (2) units are moved to the casualty strip and does the defender choose which units to be destroyed? Defender rolls a 5 and a 3 resulting in one hit. Who chooses the unit to be destroyed?

The receiver of the hits chooses which units to lose. In this example, the defender suffered two losses and would probably choose to lose one infantry and one tank (although he could, in theory take two tanks as losses).
The attacker suffered one hit, and will probably elect to lose the infantry.
That's why there is a so-called "infantry push mechanic" in the game, that encourages both sides to build (and lose) mainly infantry. Heavier units are for attack (not defense), to give your infantry an advantage over their infantry.


text:
During battle can I play a one-shot card?
If combat has started and the other players start discussing what to do to me can I play a one-shot card while they are discussing?

Yes, go right ahead. For most one-shots, the only requirement for playing them is that there's combat happening. As soon as it is, you can play your one-shots. You don't need to wait your turn or anything like that - there's no turn to wait for! Snoozers losers, you've got loot and levels to find.
From the original rules:

Items – Using Them
Any one-shot Item can by played during any combat,
  whether you have it in your hand or on the table. (Some
  one-shot Items, such as the Wishing Ring, may also be used
  outside of combat.)

There are no other constraints, and no "you can only play it when the other players say it's OK or are done talking."
As for Curses in particular, remember:

Curse cards may be played on any player at any time. ANY time, do you hear me?

Also, don't forget you don't have to wait all that long for them to decide what to do, version 1.6 clearly states:

When you kill a monster, you must wait a reasonable time, defined as about 2.6 seconds, for anyone else to speak up. After that, you really have killed the monster [...] though they can still whine and argue.

So go ahead and kill it while they discuss, you'll either force them into making a mistake, or get the treasure ;)

Take note, the official Munchkin FAQ regards 2.6 as a joke--it is meant as a jab at those people who have a hard time with ambiguity.  Cited from the FAQ:
"Q. My friends start counting 2.6 seconds as soon as they turn over a monster and combat begins. That's not even enough time to read the card! Is this legal?: A.  The rule says you must get "a reasonable time" to respond when another player is winning a fight.  ...  The "2.6 seconds" part of the rule is a joke;"

Yes, I realised it's a joke, but it's a useful joke designed to keep the game moving none the less: If they are still discussing what to do 2 minutes after you killed the monster, that's not a reasonable time ;)

authors: محمد اقبالزاده


text:
If my partner sorted my cards for me, what would the official ruling be?
We were playing the very first board of the first round of an ordinary session at the local bridge club. I was delayed in getting my cards out of the board as I was learning to set up the computer system and BridgeMates. My partner is very elderly. She was eager to start playing so after she sorted her cards she took MY cards out of the board and sorted them for me, leaving them face down on the table. When I came back to the table I was amazed at what she had done and so were the oppenents. However the opponents said not to worry this time and to start the bidding but that she shouldn't ever do it again. It turned out that the one of the opponents had 23 points in her hand and probably wanted to bid rather than call the director.
I now know that we should have called the Director - but what would his ruling have been in this case?

Should have is not correct. There is never any obligation to call the director, if you are happy to continue play. EBU law 9A says "any player may (my emphasis) draw attention to an irregularity..." and later states explicitly "There is no obligation to draw attention to an irregularity committed by one's own side". If your opponents would prefer to play the board  rather than exact a penalty, that is their right.

Should have is absolutely correct in the circumstances: 9B1. If the opponents want to play the board they have two options: do not draw attention to the irregularity (as Tim quoted, 9A); if the offending side also does not, there's no issue. But here she did, and once attention has been drawn, no option but to call the TD.  However,  the opponents may request the director to waive the penalty (81C5 - note players may not do that themselves, nor can the director do it, without the request).  "I could call the director, but" is a scourge on the game (not bad this time though).

Very late answer, from the POV of a club director.
Everything Forget... says is correct.  But with a very elderly player, I would probably skip the PP.  It was a bad mistake, it's something they shouldn't do; but we want to keep the people with failing memories playing (after all, there is strong evidence bridge helps with slowing down that fail!)  So, if there is no way to play this hand, then yes, A+/A-; but a conversation will be more effective than a PP.
Also - that's only if this was done before the opponents were there.  If they were at the table, saw this starting to happen, and did nothing until you arrived, they are "partially at fault" at least - so A/A-.  Frankly, unless they, too, were "of that age", if there's going to be a PP awarded, it would be for that (but likely not, unless they were known to be "see if we can get a good score from the director for any mistake the opponents make" players).
However - unless there is a very strong reason those boards exactly must be played (multi-club championship comes to mind; less so multiple boardset games such as two sections or webs), there is a much better answer to "on the first board of the first round" - redeal the board.  That way everybody gets to play the board, including this table.
This is a club game, not the finals of the Blue Ribbon.  It's not the end of the world if board 17 isn't played this week!
But, I hear, we have hand records?  Then instead, take a board not in play, 30, say, and put the cards from that deal into this board(1).  Sure, the auction et al will be different with different vulnerabilities and dealers, but at least the players can see the hand records.  In the ACBL, use the MEMO command to put a warning on the results so that players know what happened.
If you do have two (or more) sets of boards in play(2), then treat this as a fouled board for the times it is played, and a normal board for the times the correct board was played.  Not the best, but exactly the same as the day that E-W showed each other their cards after the hand and put them in backwards on round 4.  Again, using ACBLScor, there's a FOUL command that will walk you through it (mark the "new cards" plays with an F, and the program will do the right scoring).

POV ACBL director.  ACBLScor is not happy playing a board higher than necessary.  With other scoring programs, or if scoring by hand, just put in board 30.  So you play "13 & 14, 15 & 16, 30 & 18, 19 & 20".  WTP?
But if you're using ACBLScor and Tim Hill's Web Movements, he ensures there are two extra sets in the movement explicitly so you can swap out the board in both boardsets for cases like this.  Now that would only work if the other boardset is sitting out this round, or the other table hasn't got to it yet, but with (odd, at least) webs, there's a decent chance it is.

You have nicely spelled out additional valid concerns that I had not time to go into above.

If I was directing I would rule under Law 12-A-2 (Normal Play of the Board Impossible): Average-plus to your opponents, average-minus to you and you partner.
I would further rule under Law 90-B-5 (Improperly Touching Another Player's Cards) a further 10% penalty to both pairs. It is your Partner's duty to obey the Rules of the game, which she flagrantly violated. Likewise, your opponents being at the table, they should have prevented the irregularity from occurring, or called the Director themselves.
This would net your opponents a flat average (average-plus at 60% - 10% = 50%).
This would net you and your partner a 30% (average minus at 40% - 10% = 30%).
Update:
I would not have allowed play of this board to occur (at this table); this is necessary to reinforce the first ruling above in everyone's minds.
If the opponent's were very new to the game I might forgo the second penalty against them; you and your partner always gets both barrels of the penalty however.


text:
Does a gold field draw a resource and commodity, when combining Seafarers and C&K?
Played Seafarers/Cities and Knights recently with someone new and they insisted that a gold field would allow a city to draw a resource and a commodity.  I may have missed something, but I checked my rules and the FAQ and didn't find anything specific.
His reasoning was that in C&K a city can produce commodities, so naturally a gold field would allow you to get one as well.  Additionally, that the rules say a city can't choose to take two resources instead of a resource and a commodity (for a city that produces a commodity) so the ability to take two wood/ore/sheep would also be against the rules.
My reasoning was that the Seafarers rules specifically mention resources only and the rules for combining the two make no mention of any changes, so the Seafarers rules should apply.
While we settled this amicably (after all, we play to have fun), for future reference, who was right?

If I recall correctly the computer game I play allows me to draw two resources (e.g. two wood), but not one resource and one commodity.

@hennes, agreed. However, the rules don't seem to clarify this clearly and most people tend to frown on "well that's the way the computer/video game works" as a line of reasoning. I was hoping someone would know of a clear answer to this somewhere.

If I had a nice link to a FAQ on the producers website I would have posted that as an answer. :)

Your are correct. I believe that the official Cities and Kights rules are clear enough for this:

Commodities are produced only by cities, and only in forest, pasture, and mountains.

It might be different if Cities always produce commodities in C&K, but that's not that case. Cities on grain or brick don't produce commodities, and C&K rules specifically mention which lands produce commodities. Gold should be treated more like grain and brick; you get double resources.
Here is a link to an answer on the German FAQ: http://www.siedeln.de/faq/327_152_de.html
Roughly translated, it says no you cannot take commodities from the gold field; and it explains it by saying that every rule still counts unless it is specifically countered by a different rule; so the Seafarers rule about what you can get from a Gold Field still applies; because the C&K rules don't specify otherwise.

That seems to be very clear to me, especially considering that C&K was released after Seafarers (I also think the Seafarers reference to only resources is pretty clear as they have revised the game as well).  Still hoping someone finds documentation that specifically mentions gold fields since I could see it argued that this was referencing C&K only which doesn't address gold fields as it wasn't part of that expansion (as it could be argued Seafarers doesn't address commodities because they are not part of it).

This answer is right, and exactly what the (German) Catan FAQ says. They argue that a rule persists in following addons until its modification is mentioned in the rules. The rules say resource, and C&K does not extend this. It does extend e.g. the meaning of the road building card. @Gendolkari Do you mean clay and grain or has something changed in the newer editions?

@Tim, you should post this as it's own answer, as it is the correct reference to answer this question by backing up both my reasoning from my post and Gendolkan's reasoning.

If Tim doesn't mind, I can also just edit my answer to have a link to the German FAQ.


text:
Where online can I post my (free) rules and materials for games I've created?
I'm looking for websites that specialize in providing rules and digital resources for card/board games online. Recently I've been creating lots of simple games for my design classes and I would like to post my work online for others to play (or ignore if they so choose). To be clear I'm not looking for a place to sell games nor am I looking to create an online computer version of the game. I simply want to post the rules and materials online where someone who is interested in indie games can find them.

I'd say the first place that jumps to mind for me is boardgamegeek.com
This forum seems like an appropriate place to post your rules and materials:
http://boardgamegeek.com/forum/26/boardgamegeek/board-game-design
You might consider setting up a tumblr or some other website you control and link the materials and information in the forum.

Thanks. I'll give boardgamegeek a look and mark your answer as correct if it looks like an appropriate match. I've thought about using my own website or setting up a tumblr (as you suggested) but I feel that people would be less likely to stumble upon it unless I posted random spam links everywhere.

The Card and Board Game Designers Guild (on Facebook) is a great source of criticism and suggestions. I'm not sure how well the idea of "hosting finished files" works with the stated purpose of the Guild, but it's good to know about regardless!
If you end up going with a blog of some sorts, you might consider posting at /r/tabletopgamedesign.

At the pagat.com Invented Card Games page, John enables contributions. Some entries are whole web page descriptions of a game, while other entries are a link to a description elsewhere.


text:
How does Reputation Tile swapping work?
After combat has finished and you have drawn between 1 and 5 Reputation Tiles, can you exchange any Reputation Tiles you have on your Reputation Track for any that you draw from the bag? So if I have a space with a 1 Reputation tile and I draw a 4 from the bag can I swap the 1 for the 4? And what happens to the 1 - does it go back in the bag or into a discard pile?

From the rulebook, page 21, emphasis mine:

You may not draw more than five tiles. Choose one of the tiles and place it face down on your Reputation Track. Put the rest of the tiles back in the bag. If the track is full, you may return any of your Reputation Tiles (including the one you just drew or one from the track) in the bag. The tiles are drawn in the order the players entered the hex, so that the player who first entered the hex will draw all his tiles first.

So you can put the 1 back in the bag if your reputation track is full to free a space to place the 4.


text:
What does 'cheapest' mean in the Ancient Technology rule?
We really didn't understand this rule (page 7 of the manual): "3 x Ancient Technology: you may take the cheapest Technology Tile you don't already have...". How do you decide what is the cheapest?

The "cheapest Technology Tile" is counted according to the technology's base price; technology discounts are irrelevant.   Ergo, of all the available technology tiles, you pick the one (that you don't already have) that is left-most on the track.
If there's more than one "cheapest" technology available (i.e. multiple technologies in the left-most column), you can take your pick of them.


text:
Can Rebel Alliance Snowspeeder Launch Bay affect vehicles outside combat?
I was recently playing a "pure" Rebel Alliance deck. I happened to put my Snowspeeder Launch Bay (from the Battle of Hoth set) into play and also got one of my Snowspeeders (from either the Desolation of Hoth set or the Battle of Hoth set) into play. I put the Snowspeeder up to attack.
My opponent put up a Heavy Stormtrooper Squad to fight me. He had a TIE Attack Squadron back in his play area.
I won edge and thus inflicted one damage on his trooper and one damage on the target engaged objective, but lost my Snowspeeder to his trooper.
Afterwards I re-read the text of my hanger bay:

"Reaction: After you strike with a Speeder unit, deal 1
  damage to a target enemy Vehicle unit. If the target is a
  Walker unit, also place 1 focus token on it. (Limit once per phase.)"

I noticed the lack of the words target participating enemy unit. Since participating wasn't mentioned, this let me to believe that the target Vehicle can be targetted outside of combat as well. If this is true, I could damage my opponents TIE Attack Squadron as well, causing it one damage due to the reaction from the Snowspeeder Launch Bay.
Does this make sense? Is it legal? Or can this reaction only apply to units in combat?
Anyone play this card in any tournaments? Do you know the ruling on this?

So far all my searching of forums has yielded only one result. Apparently someone asked the same question on boardgamegeek and received the following answer:

"Yes, the vehicle doesn't need to be in the engagement for the Speeder Bay's ability to take effect."

Meaning, that yes, my speeder should have been able to damage the TIE Attack Squadron.
See post on boardgamegeek.

That is hardly an offical answer. Have you tried the FFG forums to see if a FFG representative will answer?


text:
Do coin tokens accumulate on squares?
When I gain a coin token through a gold mine on a mountain, through a famous person tile or through a "bank" tile, does that token remain on that square? If my opponent captures that square by beating me in a battle, do I lose the tokens I already gathered there?

Your question is a little bit confused. Coin tokens do not accumulate on map squares. Coin tokens are used only to track coins gained through technologies. Your economy dial tracks the total of coin tokens on your technologies, plus the current number of coins you control on the map. From p. 26 of the rulebook:

A player may acquire economic power in the form of coins – either coins printed on building markers and map tiles, or coin tokens placed on certain tech cards (such
  as Code of Laws) as a reward for accomplishing particular tasks.

Coins that are lost because of your opponents' interference are indeed lost until/unless you recapture them:

If an enemy figure blockades the square containing the coin, it is lost while the enemy figure remains there. Similarly, if a building granting a coin to a player is destroyed, the coin is lost.

By contrast, the coin tokens that you earn on your technology cards are yours forever:

Coin tokens advance the economy dial when gained and cannot be lost.


text:
Sorry! Fire Token Bumping Rule
In Sorry! if I have the fire token, and I advance to the next corner fire slot before drawing my card, do you bump somebody else back to start who is on the fire slot before drawing the card?  My thought is no, but I wanted to get another opinion.  My wife and I argued for about an hour on this.  We need a mediator...

that doesn't sound like the Sorry! I grew up with :)

Sorry! has changed a bit. We just bought it to play with our 5 year old. My thought would be to resolve any actions that accompany the fire slot first, then draw the card. If I remember right, the instructions aren't very forthcoming with the "steps" of your "turn"

I would say yes. The rules state that two pawns can never occupy the same space. Since it is your turn and you advance your pawn with the fire token to the corner, it would make sense to return the opposing player's pawn to start. The only time you wouldn't be able to do this would be if:

There is a pawn with the ice token on the fire corner

One of your pawns is on the fire corner.

Both of these scenarios would involve you not moving your pawn with the fire token to the corner. Otherwise, Sorry! is the name of the game.
The only reason I could see this having an effect would be if you have no other pawns on the board and the card you draw after sending the opposing pawn home is a 4.


text:
Multiple followers, and moving onto shrines in the Count expansion
After reading the rules for the Count of Carcassonne, I am still unclear on a couple of points.
First, in a game, can any quarter of Carcassonne have 2 or more followers from more than one color? by example: in the castle 2 black and one yellow, in the blacksmith 1 black, 1 yellow and 1 blue, etc...
Second, with the shrines and heretics expansion, can I move a follower from Cascassonne's cloister to the completed shrine? Does the rule work the same way as for monasteries?

1) Yes, you can certainly have multiple followers of different colours in each quarter. This is quite explicit in the rules:

...when a city, road, cloister or farm is scored, all players with followers in the appropriate quarter of Carcassonne... may move their followers from Carcassonne to the scoring feature before the majority is determined in the feature being scored, unless the Count is standing in that quarter of Carcassonne.

The ability for each player to store up multiple followers is an essential part of the strategy for the expansion.
2) Yes, shrines are treated as cloisters for the purposes of moving followers from Carcassonne. From the FAQ at Carcassonne Central:

Can I move followers from the city of Carcassonne (from the cathedral?) into a shrine during scoring?
Yes, shrines and cloisters are treated in the same way.


text:
Are there restrictions on pawn promotion if two pawns are on the same column?
I was playing white and I had one pawn at a7 and the other at a6. My opponent didn't let me promote the pawn to a Queen stating that when two pawns are in the same column then the pawn doesn't get promoted.
Is this correct? If so, then what happens to a pawn which reaches a8? Does that become useless?

I've never heard if that rule, and looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promotion_%28chess%29 it doesn't seem to be listed...

btw: if you had a pawn on a7 and a pawn on a6 they're on the same file (or column) not the same row

Your friend was wrong.  There is no rule preventing a pawn from being promoted outside the normal move restriction rules (e.g. you can't leave your king in check).

I am a chess arbiter and I can confirm that this rule does not exist whatsoever in the FIDE rules of chess. The only restriction to promotion is if it's an illegal move.

Some players will do anything to try to prevent them losing...
From the position above, white promotes and black may as well resign. White can make a 2nd queen and give one of them up if necessary to prevent black's attack with the d and e pawns.
You won't even need to do that though. If black moves Ke4 his pawn on d5 is pinned, if he plays d5-d4 you go Qf3+ and if he plays Ke6 you just go Qc6+. Anything else and you just capture on d5.

There is never any difference in restrictions when a pawn queens, regarding pawns in the same file behind it.
(Of course you can't overtake the pawn in front)
[my rating: 1920]

Difference between what? I'm not sure how this is responding to the question.

Sorry for not being clear. There is never any difference in restrictions when a pawn queens, regarding pawns in the same file behind it.


text:
Do two monsters spawn on gates when playing with five or more investigators?
Do two monsters spawn on gates when playing with five or more investigators, or is this just a house rule?

Yes, this is an official rule. From the rulebook, p.9/10:

3) A Monster Appears
The first player draws a monster marker from the cup at random and places it on the location. If this would bring the number of monsters over the monster limit, the first player places the monster in the Outskirts instead...
Exception: If there are five or more investigators playing, then draw and place two monsters instead of one.


text:
What is an extra move in Mancala, and can you have more than one?
When playing mancala, when you get a stone that lands in your mancala and get an extra move, is it just one move or do you start over like in the beginning and pick a group of stones on your side and go unil they run out?  Also, if you end up landing in your own mancala again, do you then get another free move, or is there just one free move before your opponent goes?

Note: Mancala is actually a family of games, not a game itself. Since you call the game 'Mancala', I'm going to assume you have a commercial Western version of Mancala, which means you're very likely actually playing Kalah.
A move in Mancala always means "take the group of stones from one of your pits, and sow them all again". So yes, it is just "like in the beginning".
For any move, if the last stone in the move falls on your store, you take another move. You can have many extra moves if you keep finishing your moves in your store.


text:
Can a Special Event be used to help another player during their turn?
Special Events cards can be used at any time, even if it is not your turn, and many of them begin with "The current player may", e.g. Borrowed Time, Re-Examine Research, Mobile Hospital, Special Orders, etc.
Can they be used to benefit another player, not the owner of the Special Events card, if I play the Special Event on someone else's turn?

I'm confused. In your first sentence you say they can be played on anyone's turn, then you go on to ask if you can do this, despite already having said so. I'm going to edit your question to ask what I think you're really asking: if you do so, does it benefit them and can you do that? Please check if you're satisfied with that edit.

Yes, you can play special events on other players' turns, and "current player" means the player whose turn it currently is. The rulebook says:

These cards may be played at any time (even on a fellow player's turn)...

That's why they say "current player" not "you", and explicitly say you can play them any time, not just on your turn. Being able to use them to benefit any player is really the point. They'd be pretty weak without that flexibility.


text:
Is there a limit to how many characters can be placed on a room space?
Is there a limit to how many characters (specially monsters) can be placed on room space? I just played a session where the keeper placed 4 cultists, a shogoth, and two more monsters on the same space (space, not room) as the investigators, and it seemed to me that there is no logic to doing that in such a small space.

I can understand that it looked odd but no, there is no limit on the number of monsters or investigators in a space.
Double checked the manual and it says nothing in either direction. So while the manual doesn't explicitly allow for unlimited number of monsters in a space it neither disallows it.


text:
Does Avacyn, Angel of Hope's ability continue to work even if tapped?
Avacyn, Angel of Hope has indestructible and gives the other creatures he controls indestructible as well. if it is tapped, are his other creatures still indestructible? Example, if he plays avacyn angel of hope and I play Claustrophobia on it, am I able to kill his other creatures, or do they still have the indestructible ability?

What would lead you to believe that tapping Avacyn would change anything?

That is an important question, because there may be some other basic rules that are being misunderstood.

Claustrophobia is the Blue flavour for removal, so I can see the hope that it would serve the same function as Doom Blade. Unfortunately, not so much.

All creatures will remain indestructible.
The only things that being tapped means is that a creature cannot attack, cannot block, and cannot tap to pay for activated abilities. Other than that, tapping has no effect.

Note that you can still pay for activated abilities that you don't need to tap for.

Tapping has no effect on static abilities such as Avacyn's. All creatures will remain indestructible.
The ability would only work as described if it read "While Avacyn, Angel of Hope is untapped, other permanents you control have indestructible." or something similar.


text:
Can an instant spell be used before an upkeep triggered ability resolves?
I am looking into a new card for my deck and I was curious if instants could be used before an ability triggered 'at the beginning of your upkeep' resolves.
Here is the potential situation:
I control a Cryptoplasm and have a Sudden Spoiling in hand. My opponent controls an Archetype of Endurance, which gives my opponent's creatures hexproof - but its controller doesn't have hexproof.
I want to use Sudden Spoiling to suppress the Archetype of Endurance's hexproof, and I want Cryptoplasm's upkeep ability to trigger and make it a copy of the Archetype of Endurance whilst it does not have hexproof.
Can instants be used before a 'beginning of your upkeep' ability resolves, and is this play legal?

Even if you could cast Sudden Spoiling before Cryptoplasm's ability triggers (which you can't do, as Jonathan explained), Cryptoplasm would just become a copy of a 0/2 creature with no abilities.

No, you can't do what you're trying to do, unfortunately!
Yes, however, in general you can cast instants before a "beginning of your upkeep" triggered ability resolves. You cannot, however, do it before that ability gets triggered and goes on the stack, which is what messes up your plan.
The upkeep step is the first step in your turn when you receive priority (and can thus cast an instant), and it involves two steps:

503.1. First, any abilities that trigger at the beginning of the upkeep step and any abilities that triggered during the turn's untap step go on the stack.
503.2. Second, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities.

What this means for the general case
The triggered abilities from 503.1 won't resolve before you have your chance to respond to them in 503.2, so in the general case, instants can be cast before "beginning of your upkeep" triggered abilities resolve.
What this means for your strategy
In your specific strategy, though, this isn't quite enough. You want Cryptoplasm to copy Archetype of Endurance. It can't do that, because things happen in this order:

503.1 happens. Cryptoplasm's triggered ability is placed on the stack. As part of this process, you choose your targets for that ability, which means choosing the creature Cryptoplasm will copy. At this point, Sudden Spoiling can't yet be cast, and Archetype of Endurance still has hexproof, so it cannot be legally chosen as a target.
503.2 happens. You receive priority and can cast instants. This is the earliest time you can cast Sudden Spoiling, but at this point it's too late to make Archetype of Endurance a legal target for your Cryptoplasm - a target's already been chosen.
Eventually, your Cryptoplasm's triggered ability resolves, and it becomes a copy of the creature you chose in step 1.

Clever thinking, but the order of events prevents this strategy from working.
Since you're playing black/blue, your options include using Lazav, Dimir Mastermind and destroying the Archetype, or using Willbender after Sudden Spoiling resolves so as to change the target you chose in step 1 to the Archetype.

While a slightly different situation than described, the question asker might like to know that a clone can become a copy of the Archetype, since it doesn't target the creature it becomes a copy of.


text:
Can the Wonder that pulls from the discard pile be used multiple times?
One of the Wonders earns the player, in its second stage, the right to go through the discard pile of previously played ages, choose one card and build it for free.  Is this a one time deal, to be done at the conclusion of the age during which the player completes the stage, or can the player now "dumpster dive" in the discard pile at the end of every subsequent age as well?

You can use this ability one time only: exactly at the end of the turn in which this stage is built (not at the end of the Age!).
(And note that it’s not only for cards from the "previously played ages". The discard pile may also contain cards from the current Age and even the current turn.)
The relevant explanation is on page 8 of base game rules, "The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus":

Clarification: this special ability takes place at the end of the turn in which
  this stage is built.


text:
What happens when additional costs can't ultimately be paid, but the spell is on the stack?
I have a question that bothers me after reading a part of the big book of rules :).
It's about the rule 717, illegal actions.

717.1. If a player realizes that he or she can’t legally take an action after starting to do so, the entire action is reversed and any payments already made are canceled. No abilities trigger and no effects apply as a result of an undone action. If the action was casting a spell, the spell returns to the zone it came from. The player may also reverse any legal mana abilities activated while making the illegal play, unless mana from them or from any triggered mana abilities they triggered was spent on another mana ability that wasn’t reversed. Players may not reverse actions that moved cards to a library, moved cards from a library to any zone other than the stack, or caused a library to be shuffled.

For example, player A plays a Goblin Grenade.

As an additional cost to cast Goblin Grenade, sacrifice a Goblin.
Goblin Grenade deals 5 damage to target creature or player.

It goes on the stack. Player B gains priority and casts a Terror on the only goblin of Player A.

Destroy target nonartifact, nonblack creature. It can't be regenerated.
The terror goes on the stack. Then both players agree to resolve the stack. The terror kills the last goblin standing and then the Goblin Grenade can't be cast because of the additional cost which can't be paid. So in my opinion that leaves two possibilities:

The Goblin Grenade returns to the zone it was previously from (the hand of Player A)
The Goblin Grenade becomes illegal and gets countered, so it goes to the graveyard

Based on rule 717 I think it goes back to the hand but I'm not quite sure. :)

You sacrifice the goblin when you put the spell on the stack, not when it resolves.  There is no way for the opponent to terror the goblin to stop your spell.

Just to really hammer the point home in your mind, when you see "cost", like "as an additional cost" on Goblin Grenade, think mana. You pay the mana as part of casting the spell, and you can't cast it if you don't have it. Same goes for an additional cost like sacrificing a Goblin.

Possible duplicate of If an opponent unsummons my Goblin, does it spoil my Goblin Grenade?

When the opponents gets a chance to cast Terror, the Goblin has already been sacrificed as part of the cost to cast Goblin Grenade. It's not available to be targetted by Terror.

Additional costs are part of the total cost to cast a spell or activate an ability. To paraphrase 601.2e,

total cost = mana cost or alternative cost + cost increases and additional costs - cost reductions

The total cost to cast a spell is payed as part of casting the spell. To paraphrase 601.2's subsections, to cast a spell is to

(601.2a) Place the card on the stack.
(601.2b-d) Make some choices including targets.
(601.2e) Determine the total cost to cast the spell.
(601.2f) Activate mana abilities.
(601.2g) Pay the total cost to cast the spell.

All of this, including sacrificing a Goblin, happens when you cast Goblin Grenade. When the opponents gets a chance to cast Terror, the Goblin has already been sacrificed.
The illegal action in your scenario is the casting of Goblin Grenade for the wrong cost. In a casual setting, you should rewind the casting of Terror, finish paying the cost of Goblin Grenade (i.e. Sacrifice a Goblin), then proceed from there.
Things are different at Pro and Competitive Rule Enforcement Levels (REL). For starters, there would be two errors. You failed to pay the appropriate cost (Game Play Error — Game Rule Violation) , and your opponent allowed the game to proceed in a bad state (Game Play Error — Failure to Maintain Game State). The consequences are detailed in the Infraction Procedure Guide (IPG) rather than CR 717.1.

You mention casual play as well as Competitive and Professional REL. For a complete answer, I feel like you should include mention of what to do in Regular REL (which is between casual play and Competitive REL), particularly since Regular does not use the IPG like Comp/Pro.

When player A casts Goblin Grenade, as part of the casting cost, they sacrifice a Goblin. If they cannot sacrifice a Goblin at that time, casting the spell is an illegal action so it goes back into player A's hand by rule 717.
Then, when player B tries to cast Terror, if the Goblin that was sacrificed was the only creature on the field, then when they are trying to cast Terror there are no valid targets, so the spell cannot be cast. Either way, the cost for Goblin Grenade has already been paid, so Terror cannot change player A's ability to pay that cost.


text:
How long before I can move on to a different phase?
I was on one health and had two creatures in play. One of those was useless due to a card my opponent played to stop it doing anything. The other had an inspired ability that might have helped me catch back up. He had a buffed up creature and on 19 health (it was a 1v1v1 just us 2 left). Now I decided to play a card I had already said I was playing, but hadn't decided whether to bestow or not. I decided after a minute or so to play as creature so I had one to block. I then said shortly after probably 3-5 seconds "I will attack with my inspired creature".
Now as I understand it, when I move on to attacking phase he can't then play an instant to counter me casting my creature spell as that phase has passed (correct me if I am wrong). He then decided to do this but did admit that the phase had passed so technically he couldn't counter it but that I hadn't waited long enough for him to decide whether to counter my creature spell. So my creature spell was cancelled and I then attacked. He did allow me to take my attack back though.
How long do I have to wait before I can move phases, at which point the creature counterspell would have been impossible to play?

I'd recommend reading the rules based on how the stack and priority work. The question at hand is not actually about phases.

How long you wait doesn't matter[1].

I decided after a minute or so to play as creature so i had one to block. I then said shortly after probably 3-5 seconds i will attack with my inspired creature.

Let's assume you retained priority after casting your creature[2].
At this point, you're still in your main phase -- the stack isn't even empty -- but you can still say "I attack with my inspired creature" as you did.
What you are doing is proposing a shortcut consist of: Both remaining players passing priority until the Declare Attackers Step, then declaring your inspired creature as an attacker.
He can accept your shortcut in whole, or he can interrupt it at any point. In this case, he let you pass priority, then he cast a Counter spell. What he did is perfectly legitimate.

Now as i understand when i move on to attacking phase he can't then play an instant to counter me casting my creature spell as that phase has passed (correct me if i am wrong).

Once the creature spell resolved, it's too late to counter it. But nothing in what you said indicates this has happened. You can ask "Resolve?" to make this happen[3].

Exception: Playing unduly slow can result in penalties.
By the rules, you regain priority after casting a spell if you cast it when you had priority. However, in tournaments, this rule is modified. You are assumed to have passed priority after casting a spell unless you have explicitly retained it.
If you hadn't retained priority, you wouldn't be able to do anything, including proposing a shortcut. Your statement that you were attacking would have been completely meaningless.
If you are in a tournament and you didn't explicitly retain priority, he has priority and he must do something. Usually, saying "pass" or "ok". This moves the game forward, allowing the spell to resolve. Asking "resolve?" would remind him of this.
If you are outside of a tournament or if you explicitly retained priority, saying "Resolve?" proposes the following shortcut: All players pass priority until the spell resolves.

Point three, where they say "okay", is very important. A lot of experienced players will say "okay" to everything you do. I've noticed, over time, the more experienced the player, the more condescending the "okay" is, as though they graciously allow you to play. This has made it into a pet peeve of some people who feel like their game is being controlled by their opponent. (And in some respects, it is; they do have priority after all...)

Another point to make about point 3 is the shortcuts involved. It's much more likely that someone will counter or respond to your spell than it is you'll actually retain priority. That's why the onus on them is usually to say whether they will respond or not.

@corsiKa, Not at all. When the onus is on them, it's because they have priority. (The reason they have priority is because you are assumed to pass priority because it makes things go more quickly and smoothly because it's very rarely useful or advantageous to respond to your own spells. For that same reason "I active its ability X times" is a tournament shortcut for activating and letting resolve X times rather than stacking X instances.)

Magic is not a game about reflexes. All timing is decided by priority, which one player has at all times and is passed around the table in turn order many many times in a single turn.
In order to cast your spell:

You gain priority.
You place your spell on the stack, make decisions, pay costs, etc.
You may optionally hold priority and do something else, such as cast another spell or activate an ability (you must somehow declare that you are holding priority if you do this). Repeat steps 2-3 as desired.
You pass priority to the next player in the turn order. They may cast a spell or activate an ability. If they do, they pass priority back to you afterwards. If they don't, they pass priority to the next player in the turn order.
Once each player has passed priority without doing anything, the object on the top of the stack (spell or ability) resolves. If there isn't an object present on the stack, instead the turn moves to the next step or phase of the turn.

The process is slightly different if it's not your turn at step 1, but not much. Most of this whole priority-passing is glossed over in most of the turns of most games (particularly since the vast majority of the time, everybody is passing priority without doing anything; you can't move from your Upkeep to your Draw step without a round of priority passing, for example, nor from your End step to your Cleanup step).
As to the question of "how long" you need to wait to consider priority passed back to you, well... that's a matter of communication. If you have any reason to believe your opponent might respond to your spell, it's polite to explicitly ask whether they have a response before continuing with your turn. If you don't give your opponent an opportunity to respond, they're well within their rights to back you up to the point where they should have been given priority when you blaze forward.
In a casual game between friends, it's up to the group to decide whether you've already given sufficient opportunity, or whether you should roll back anyway and allow the counter. It's just a game, and it's unlikely anything is riding on the outcome. In a tournament setting, the answer to miscommunication is always -- always -- to call a judge. Mediating this kind of situation is exactly the sort of reason tournaments have judges in the first place.
When you call a judge, explain the situation. Give facts, and try to be as accurate and complete as you can. Your opponent(s) should do the same if there's a dispute. The judge will make a call, possibly fixing the board state (this depends on the tournament level and the exact error that occurred, and is defined in the JAR and IPG documents judges use) and/or handing out warnings/etc. at higher levels of play (again, depending on the exact error that occurred).
If you disagree with the judge's ruling for some reason, you may appeal to the tournament's head judge. If the tournament has no WotC registered judges, the tournament organizer is the head judge. The head judge's ruling is final, even if it directly contradicts the game rules (we hope it doesn't, though!)

I disagree with one sentence you wrote here: If the stack is empty, the turn moves to the next step of phase of the turn The phase is not over when the stack is empty, you have priority again. The phase/step is over when everyone has passed priority.

@Pow-Ian, that sentence is logically connected to the preceding one. When everyone passes priority, the top object resolves. If there isn't an object present to resolve, the turn moves forward. I'll try editing for clarity.

That is more clear, but not as clear as it could be. Also you have a of instead of or


text:
Abalone Migration
Abalone is a 2-player board game. Here's a brief explanation from Wikipedia:
The board consists of 61 circular spaces arranged in a hexagon, five on a side. Each player has 14 marbles that rest in the spaces and are initially arranged as shown below.

For each move, a player moves a line of one, two or three marbles one space. The move can be either in-line (serial in respect to the line of marbles) or broadside (parallel to the line of marbles), as illustrated below.

Challenge:
There is only one set of marbles on the board with initial state as in the above picture (it doesn't matter which color you choose). At least how many moves does it takes to migrate all your marbles to your opponent's initial space?

The answer is either 30 or 31.
murgatroid99's answer actually shows that at least 30 moves are required. That is, it actually takes a minimum of 88 marble moves to get from the starting position to the ending position, which means it takes at least 88/3 > 29 moves.
On the other hand, here is an explicit strategy that involves 31 moves. Start by pushing forward two adjacent "vertical threesomes" (like the one in the example move for white above and the threesome immediately to its right. Then you have 3 marbles in the first row, 6 in the second (thought of as two groups of three), 3 in the third, and 2 in the fourth. You can move the 2 in the fourth to the bottom row in 5 moves and then use 6 moves on each of the remaining horizontal groups of three into the final position.

That is true! I've asked this question in puzzling.SE and someone found a solution with 30 moves. http://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/3405/abalone-migration

If we move all of the marbles from the start position to the end position, the average marble ends up a distance at least 6 from its starting position. In the best case, each move results in 3 marbles each 1 hop closer to their final position. A single side has 14 marbles. Therefore, at least 28 moves are required to move all marbles on one side from their starting positions to their final positions.

I assume you simply did 6*14/3=28. This is assuming you can always move 3 balls at a time towards the goal. You may be able to, but can you prove it? Right now this isn't an answer, its just a guess.

It's not a guess, it's a lower bound. The question says "at least how many moves does it take?" and I showed that it takes at least 28 moves. It's not the best answer to the question, but it is an answer.


text:
Behavior of Linked Abilities if their Source Object Changes Zones
I have Karn Liberated with 20 loyalty counters.  I have exiled an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with Karn.  I activate Karn's -14 ability:

−14: Restart the game, leaving in exile all non-Aura permanent cards exiled with Karn Liberated. Then put those cards onto the battlefield under your control.

In response, my opponent casts Beast Within targeting Karn to destroy him.
When the game is restarted, do I have Emrakul?

400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence.

Since cards stop tracking other cards when they change zones, does Karn's ability use the cards that were tracked by Karn when the ability was activated or when the ability resolves?  If it is the later, then presumably the same thing happens when Karn's ability is activated when he has exactly 14 loyalty counters and is destroyed as a result of the activation.
What if Karn is targeted with Flicker instead?

This question seems to contain some redundancy to me. It seems pretty obvious to me that all of the situations where you activate Karn's ultimate, then he leaves the battlefield, and then the ability resolves should have the same outcome, however he leaves the battlefield.

@murgatroid99 In the case of Flicker, Karn has returned to the battlefield before the ability resolves.  While the result is the same, it's not obvious.

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

Another way of saying this is:

If an ability knows of an object, and that object is moved, the ability henceforth considers that object to have ceased to exist.

Now let's take a look at Act on Impulse. This Sorcery's ability is

Exile the top three cards of your library. Until end of turn, you may play cards exiled this way.

For Act on Impulse to let you cast the cards in exile, it must know about them (or else it would never work). According to CR 400.7, the cards exiled by Act on Impulse are brand new objects in exile unrelated to the objects that previously existed in the library. So how does Act on Impulse know of the cards in exile? It's not one of the exceptions of CR 400.7. Act on Impulse can see the cards in exile because it's the one that created those objects.
Something similar is happening here. For Karn Liberated's ultimate to be able to put the exiled cards on the battlefield, it must know about them (or else it would never work). So how does Karn's ultimate know of the cards in exile? Karn Liberated's ultimate can see the cards in exile because it's linked with the abilities that created those objects[CR 607.2a].

So, your question comes down to two simple questions:

Does Karn's ultimate on the stack continue to exist after Karn ceases to exist?
Yes[CR 112.7a]. This is explicitly spelled out in the rules.

Does Karn's ultimate see the objects exiled by Karn's other abilities?
Yes[CR 607.2a] (assuming they never left exile[CR 400.7]). If it didn't, it would never work.

Therefore, Karn's ultimate is able to bring back Emrakul even if Karn ceases to exist before the ability resolves.
As you can see, CR 400.7 doesn't even come into play in your scenarioes. CR 400.7 would come into play if Living Wish was used to remove Emrakul from exile. If someone did that, Karn's ultimate would not be able to return Emrakul to the battlefield because the object created in exile by the linked ability no longer exists.
I hope this clears up your confusion.

112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. [...]

607.2a If an object has an activated or triggered ability printed on it that instructs a player to exile one or more cards and an ability printed on it that refers either to “the exiled cards” or to cards “exiled with [this object],” these abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to cards in the exile zone that were put there as a result of an instruction to exile them in the first ability.

400.7 would also come into play if in response to Karn's ultimate, you blinked Karn and somehow used its first ability. Old-Karn's ultimate would not consider that card to have been exiled by a linked ability since the ability that exiled it belongs to another object (new-Karn).

[Karn] is destroyed as a result of the activation.

It doesn't matter if Karn is destroyed. Once activated, an ability exists independently of its source.
112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. [...]

Cards stop tracking other cards when they change zones.

Cards never track cards; only effects and abilities can "track" cards, and only under specific circumstances. This is one of those circumstances specifically allowed by the rules.
607.2a If an object has an activated ability printed on it that instructs a player to exile one or more cards and an ability printed on it that refers either to cards “exiled with [this object],” these abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to cards in the exile zone that were put there as a result of an instruction to exile them in the first ability.
If it couldn't do this, the ability would never work. There is no rule that says "If the source changes zones, linked abilities suddenly stop working."
So we've established that the ability doesn't disappear, and that it can act on the cards that were exiled by (now destroyed) Karn. As you can see, there's no mention of checking if Karn still exists. There's no rule causing the cards to forget they were exiled by Karn either. All that matters is that Emrakul was exiled by the source of the ability. Therefore, in all of the situations described, you get an Emrakul.

The zone change comment relates to 400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence.

The abilities being linked doesn't answer the question.  While linked abilities only track exiled cards from the other ability, you have by no means established that they continue to do so when [this object] ceases to exist.

@Zags: "112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. [...]"

@Zags, Not so. The rule says "cards exiled with [this object]" refers to the "cards in the exile zone that were put there as a result of an instruction to exile them in the first ability." You're saying we have to prove that doesn't suddenly become false. Why would a rule suddenly become false?

(Note that the abilities in question do no "track the exile cards". If the cards exiled by Kain were to leave exile, the abilities would not be able to find them, and they would not come back to the battlefield. None of the exceptions of 400.7 are relevant here.)

@Zags I did answer your question. A linked ability can find the cards exiled by its sibling because rule 607.2 says so. The rule describes an exception (such as if the cards had left exile), but you described no such exception.


text:
Do destination cards have to be completed in a particular direction?
When completing a destination card, does the train have to be started from the beginning city on the card or can it be started from the destination city and worked backwards?

This was previously answered here, though the question was different. I'd rather leave this one open since it's more searchable, and we can't close the other in favour of this one because the other is a superset of this question.

@those who rejected the tag: As mentioned in the lead answer, this question applies perfectly well to Ticket to Ride Europe as well.

All you need is an unbroken chain between the two cities. It doesn't matter which way you started it, how many cities are in between, or whether it is the most direct route.
From the rules:

Each Destination Ticket includes the name of two cities on the map and
  a Point Value. If a player successfully completes a series of routes
  that connect the two cities, they will add the amount of points
  indicated on the Destination Ticket to their point totals at the end
  of the game. If they do not successfully connect the two cities, they
  deduct the amount of points indicated.

The rules for Ticket to Ride: Europe are similar.

If, by the end of the game, a player has created a continuous path of his color plastic trains between the two cities named on a Destination Ticket he holds, he scores the additional points indicated by the Point Value on the Ticket. If he has failed to complete a continuous path between those cities, he deducts the Point Value on the Ticket from his total score.

As Mr Howanksy points out, it doesn't have to start at an end or connect to other track at all.

Note two important points:

You don't have to start from an end at all. You can start in the middle and work out, or start at both ends and work in. Or both at the same time.
When you lay a new track, it doesn't have to connect to an existing track.

Using these two points together in an effort to obfuscate your path from your opponents will become part of your overall strategy as you get better at the game. For example, suppose you need to make a track between A and E. You can go:

A-B, B-C, C-D, D-E

This makes a single connected line that generally progresses in the direction of your target. A good opponent can use this information to try and block you. Consider something like this instead:

B-C, D-E, A-B, C-D

This makes it much harder for your opponents to try and guess where you're going.

Be careful about leaving missing sections. After your 2nd move, is easy to guess that you'll need C-D. Another player could take it to block you.

In the case of "missing sections," it might be a good idea to put out a few somewhat "randomly." For instance, if you put out EG, or FG after DE, and before BC, you might confuse your opponent into "blocking" you in the wrong direction; if not, you extend your "natural" route past E.And if your opponents "catch on," they are less likely to block CD against BC and DE.