For the relevant rules passage, if you want to read how it’s phrased, check the entry “Act Deck and Agenda Deck” on page 3. The first bullet point explains that advancing the agenda is a [jaggedy bolt icon] action, so in the flow chart you posted, it would occur in the green “PLAYER WINDOW” after the investigator had taken her third action.
Then, once you had advanced the agenda by spending the requisite clues, you’d be back at 2.2.1. Since the investigator has no actions left, you would advance to 2.2.2.
Wait, so are you answering No to my question? (I did read that rules passage but I’m slow at this stuff and it didn’t quite clear up this question I have.)
Sounds like you’re saying I need to play all three actions and only then can I pay two clues to advance the act deck.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to confuse the issue! You’d gotten the correct answer – yes, you can do what you did! – I just wanted to give you the specific rules passage as reference.
The rule is: “Free triggered abilities (i.e. [jaggedy bolt icon]) may be triggered at any player window.” That includes before actions, between actions, or after actions. You’re fine advancing the act, which is a “free triggered action” unless otherwise specified, after an investigator has done three actions.
Basically, the point of the “free triggered action” icon is to tell you that you can sandwich it pretty much anywhere, but you have to finish resolving an action first. You can’t partly do an action, do a “free triggered ability”, and then complete the action. That’s some of what the timing window flow chart is laying out.
After so many years of revisions, I can tell these rules are really well done. But they need to allow for so much complexity that the basics can become hard to grasp for me.
Do I need a weapon to fight? I did a combat ability check against those rats without a weapon. Killed them with my bare hands I guess. You just mean you needed a weapon against a tougher ghoul?
Nope, not at all! But they tend to help by adding to your combat stat or boosting damage. Otherwise, it can be a laborious process to chip away at monster hit points…one…hit point…at…a…time. But if your bare hands can get it done, go for it!
I went ahead and advanced the Act deck before my second action. But I should have investigated one more time before doing so. I ended up losing a clue that I left behind in the Study and now that room has been removed from the game. Learning the hard way is hard!
Edit: WAIT!
I messed up. I left four clues in the Study from when I was going to play two investigators. There should only have been two clues out.
Yeah, I was gonna say. I’m going by memory of playing that godforsaken quest too many times, but I don’t think you can leave clues behind, can you? You need the same number of clues to exit the study as pop up when you flip the study.
So I’ll be using a boring ol’ Guardian/Seeker combo. Rookie cop Tommy Muldoon will be the former, and astronomer Norman Withers will be the latter. I had a Tommy Muldoon deck built, but I have no idea what I was thinking: it’s almost all super expensive weapons and allies. Seems I had this idea that Tommy calls in allies, loads them up with damage and horror, and then cashes them in using his innate ability. Not sure what this is modeling, but it seems kinda sketchy.
Anyway, I get a strong couple of early turns getting into play a .45 automatic and badass monster hunter Grete Wagner. I mean, with a name like that, you know business is meant. She starts soaking up the abuse, beginning with a single point of horror.
Sorry, Grete. You deserved better than whatever “Rookie Mistake” implies. I’m thinking it’s related to muzzle discipline. Tommy, c’mon, you’re killing me here! I guess Norman is just going to have to carry you.
In the continuing adventures of rookie cop Tommy Muldoon – emphasis on “rookie” – he just drew a Ravenous Ghoul. No big deal, he’s got four salvos in his .45 automatic that inflict +1 damage, and three whole actions to take out the ghoul and proceed into the basement. It’s got three hit points, so he’ll only need to fire one round from the .45 for the first two points of damage, then he’ll punch it in the nose to finish it off. Two turns, no more Ravenous Ghoul. I’m testing Tommy’s 5 against the Ghoul’s 3.
BLAM! Tommy Muldoon draws the -3. Okay, it happens, he can afford a misfire. He’s still got two actions.
BLAM! Tommy Muldoon draws the -4 this time. Dude, come on!
Well, I guess I’ll fire again to do two points of damage and then Norman Withers can come to my rescue by discarding some cards to maybe punch away it’s final hit point? Well, let’s finish up Tommy’s turn by firing the penultimate round from our .45 so we can at least say it did some good.
BLAM! Tommy Muldoon draws the eldritch token.
Fortunately, this table is too heavy for me to flip.
OUCH. Well, on the bright side, Tommy Muldoon got all his bad luck out of the way nice and early. Things are bound to pick up!
So I’ve advanced the act deck and now I’m in the Hallway and there’s an Icy Ghoul in the Cellar. Does Roland know this? I’ve got 5 resources and a Dynamite card I could toss in there to do 3 out of 4 points of damage to it. Is that a legit play?
I mean, he could have heard something making dreadful noises in the Cellar. Plus he’s quite drunk so maybe he’s in a ‘throw-dynamite first, ask-questions-later’ kind of mood.
I don’t think that’s correct. What you might be thinking of is that if a monster is supposed to Spawn on a location that isn’t in play yet, you instead just discard the monster. If rrmorton had drawn the Icy Ghoul while he was still in Act 1, before the cellar was in play, he would have discarded it. But assuming he drew it once the cellar was in play in Act 2, even if it hadn’t been revealed yet, the Icy Ghoul sits down there and has no choice but to wait for the dynamite to bounce down the stairs, at which point it does a Wile E. Coyote take to the camera.
Dynamite is a wonderful thing. Just ask the Nobel prize.
