This is the FAQ page for each individual base in The Obligatory Cthulhu Set.
Questions on Antarctic Base
Q: Can I still move a minion to Antarctic Base after I play a minion there on the same turn? Or conversely, if I move a minion there, can I still play a minion there too.
A: Yes to both. Antarctic Base only puts a restriction on playing a minion there. Moving a minion there doesn't affect that.
Rule: Specific words are not synonymous no matter how similar they seem.
Q: I have Infiltrate on this base. What happens if I choose to ignore this base's ability?
A: You (and only you, not all players) will be able to play more than one minion there per turn.
Rule: Definition of "ignore".
Questions on Asylum
Q: I obtained another player's minion through Trade. If I play it on Asylum, who can return a Madness card from their hand to the Madness deck?
A: The minion's owner, so not you if you don't own the minion.
Rule: Specific words are not synonymous no matter how similar they seem.
Q: If I play an Argonaut instead of an action on Asylum, may I still return a Madness card from my hand to the Madness deck?
A: Yes. Playing an Argonaut, whether as a minion or instead of an action, still counts as playing a minion. It IS a minion after all.
Q: I have Infiltrate on this base. What happens if I choose to ignore this base's ability?
A: There are three possible situations:
- If you play a minion there that you own, you don't return a Madness card to the Madness deck.
- If you play a minion there that you don't own, its owner returns a Madness card from their hand to the Madness deck since you can't prevent another player from following the base's instruction and you can't ignore having triggered the base's ability.
- If another player plays a minion there that you own, you don't return a Madness card to the Madness deck.
Rule: Definition of "ignore".
Questions on Innsmouth
Q: Does Innsmouth let me put cards I don't own on the bottom of my deck?
A: No. Innsmouth puts cards from an owner's discard pile onto the bottom of that same owner's deck. The antecedent "their" in "bottom of their deck" refers to the "any player" not "its owner". See also Trade.
Q: I obtained another player's minion through Trade. If I play it on Innsmouth, who places a card from a discard pile to a deck?
A: The minion's owner, so not you if you don't own the minion.
Rule: Specific words are not synonymous no matter how similar they seem.
Q: If I play an Argonaut instead of an action on Innsmouth, do I still place a card from a discard pile into a deck?
A: Yes. Playing an Argonaut, whether as a minion or instead of an action, still counts as playing a minion. It IS a minion after all.
Q: I have Infiltrate on this base. What happens if I choose to ignore this base's ability?
A: There are three possible situations:
- If the minion played there is one that you own whether or not you played the minion, you don't place any discarded card on the bottom of its owner's deck since the base's ability instructs the owner, i.e. you, to do something, which you can ignore.
- If the minion played there is one that you don't own whether or not you played the minion, and if its real owner chooses a card from anywhere but your discard pile, the owner places the card on the bottom of its owner's deck since you can't prevent another player from following the base's instruction and you can't ignore having triggered the base's ability.
- If the minion played there is one that you don't own whether or not you played the minion, and if its real owner chooses a card from your discard pile, it's not clear whether you can declare that your card can't be placed on the bottom of your deck, because you're not the player who's following the instructions and it's not clear if the base's ability is affecting your cards since they are out of play. To be determined. TBD[probably]
Rule: Definition of "ignore".
Questions on Miskatonic University
Q: I have Infiltrate on this base. What happens if I choose to ignore this base's ability?
A: If you aren't the winner, nothing and you can't prevent the winner from getting rid of their Madness cards either. If you are the winner, you won't be able to get rid of the Madness cards in your hand and discard pile.
Rule: Definition of "ignore".
Questions on Mountains of Madness
Q: I already have 10 cards in hand. I play a Tenacious Z there from my discard pile as a Special and therefore draw a Madness card. Do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: If I play a Librarian or a Psychologist on the Mountains of Madness, can I discard the Madness card gained from the base with the minion or is the minion's ability resolved first?
A: When you play a minion, you must resolve its ability immediately before resolving any abilities triggered from playing the minion. So the Psychologist's ability is resolved before you draw the Madness card from the Mountains of Madness. On the other hand, the Librarian's only ability is a talent. When you play a minion, you indeed resolve its abilities, but a talent is never resolved from playing a minion. So, when you play a Librarian, you resolve its ability (i.e. you do nothing). Then, you trigger card reactions, so Mountains of Madness make you draw a Madness card. If you want to, you can now activate the Librarian's talent and discard the Madness card.
Rule: When you play a card, an ability that starts with "Talent:" is never resolved immediately.
Q: I obtained another player's minion through Trade. If I play it on Mountains of Madness, who draws the Madness card?
A: The minion's owner, so not you if you don't own the minion.
Rule: Specific words are not synonymous no matter how similar they seem.
Q: If I play an Argonaut instead of an action on Mountains of Madness, do I still draw a Madness card?
A: Yes. Playing an Argonaut, whether as a minion or instead of an action, still counts as playing a minion. It IS a minion after all.
Q: I have Infiltrate on this base. What happens if I choose to ignore this base's ability?
A: There are three possible situations:
- If you play a minion there that you own, you don't draw a Madness card.
- If you play a minion there that you don't own, its owner draws a Madness card since you can't prevent another player from following the base's instruction and you can't ignore having triggered the base's ability.
- If another player plays a minion there that you own, you don't draw a Madness card because the base instructs you to do something, instruction which you can ignore.
Rule: Definition of "ignore".
Questions on Plateau of Leng
Q: If I play a minion on another base and then a second minion on Plateau of Leng, do I get to use its ability or does it have to be the very first minion of the turn that must be played there?
A: You do get to use this base's ability because the trigger is "After the first time a player plays a minion here each turn", which happened: your second minion of the turn IS the first minion you played on that base on that turn.
Q: If I play a minion on Plateau of Leng, can I play an extra minion with the same name now or do I have to wait for my next turn to play it?
A: When an ability grants you an extra card to play, the extra card can only be played during the same phase that you obtained it. For example, if you obtain an extra minion during your Play Cards phase, you can only play it during that Play Cards phase, you cannot save it for the Score Bases phase or another turn.
Rule: During your Play Cards phase, you can play extra minions and actions at any time or not at all.
Q: I play a minion on Plateau of Leng, so I can play an extra minion with the same name there. If I play that extra minion there, can I play a third minion with the same name there as another extra minion because of the base's ability?
A: No. Plateau of Leng only triggers on the first time that you play a minion on that base. If you play a second minion there, it's not the first time this turn that you have played a minion on Plateau of Leng, so Plateau of Leng doesn't trigger.
Q: If I play an Argonaut instead of an action on Plateau of Leng, do I still get the extra minion play?
A: Yes. Playing an Argonaut, whether as a minion or instead of an action, still counts as playing a minion. It IS a minion after all.
Q: If I play a Tenacious Z from my discard pile on Plateau of Leng using Tenacious Z's ability, I can now play another Tenacious Z as the extra minion. Can that Tenacious Z also come from my discard pile? Tenacious Z is playable from the discard pile after all and Plateau of Leng doesn't say anything about the extra minion having to come from the hand.
A: No, the extra Tenacious Z has to come from your hand. Unless otherwise stated, when a card allows you to play a minion (or an action even), the minion must come your hand by default.
Q: I have Infiltrate on this base. What happens if I choose to ignore this base's ability?
A: You (and only you, not all players) won't get an extra minion play when you play a minion there.
Rule: Definition of "ignore".
Questions on R’lyeh
Q: Does "if they do" mean that the player get a VP as long as they attempt the destruction (whether or not it succeeds) or that the destruction must have succeeded?
A: It means that you must attempt the destruction using R'lyeh's ability (not any other cards) and that the destruction must have succeeded.
Q: It allows me to destroy "one of my minions". Can I destroy a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: I have General Ivan in play and another minion on R'lyeh. At the start of my turn, can I use R'lyeh's ability?
A: Sure, but here's what will happen. You resolve R'lyeh's ability so you start by destroying your minion there, but General Ivan prevents it, so it isn't destroyed. Next, you resolve the second part that says that if you did destroy your minion, you gain 1 VP. You didn't, so you don't gain 1 VP.
Rule: "Can't" trumps "can".
Q: When playing Sprout or Mild Mannered Citizen on the R'lyeh base, all these cards say to destroy a minion at the start of your turn. If I destroy Sprout or Mild Mannered Citizen, do I get the benefit from both cards?
A: No. Either you destroy the minion using its own ability and you only get its benefit, or you destroy it using R'lyeh's ability and you only get R'lyeh's benefit, not both. The reason is Sprout, Mild Mannered Citizen and R'lyeh are cards that trigger/resolve at the start of your turn. In such a situation, Sprout, being a mandatory ability while R'lyeh isn't, must be resolved first and so it's not around anymore for you to destroy it with R'lyeh. On the other hand, Mild Mannered Citizen and R'lyeh are two cards with optional abilities that trigger at the start of your turn. In such a situation, go clockwise around the table and each player (including you) will be allowed to either use one optional ability in play or one Special ability in hand triggered by the start of your turn, or pass. There are currently no such cards that players can play on another player's Start Turn phase, so only you should have the opportunity to use your start of turn cards. Therefore, either you destroy Mild Mannered Citizen with its own ability first and it's not around anymore for you to destroy it with R'lyeh, or you destroy it with R'lyeh's ability first and Mild Mannered Citizen's not around anymore for you to use its ability. That said, you can use your minion's ability to play a new minion and destroy that minion with R'lyeh's ability.
Q: Same with the minion Servitor of Cthulhu. If I use its talent, can I gain 1 VP?
A: No. To gain 1 VP from R'lyeh, you must, at the start of your turn, use R'lyeh's ability to successfully destroy your minion. If you use Servitor of Cthulhu's ability, the minion was destroy neither at the start of your turn, nor by using R'lyeh's ability.
Rule: "At the start of your turn" means "during the Start Turn (phase 1) of each of your turns".
Q: I have Infiltrate on this base. What happens if I choose to ignore this base's ability?
A: You (and only you, not all players) won't be able to use this base's ability on your turn.
Rule: Definition of "ignore".
Questions on Ritual Site
Q: What effect does Ritual Site's ability have on First Mate, Jumper, Igor, etc.?
A: Ritual Site won't activate Igor's ability, because it neither destroyed it, nor discarded it, and it won't activate Jumper's ability either because Jumper didn't go to the discard pile. In the case of First Mate, its ability does the same thing as the Ritual Site, so if First Mate is to be discarded, either Ritual Site shuffle it into its owner's deck instead, or First Mate's own ability (if its controller chose to activate it) will make it move instead. Both abilities happening at the same time (when the minion is to be discarded after a base scoring), so the current player decides which one takes precedence.
Rule: The current player decides the order of events that are supposed to happen simultaneously.
Q: I have Infiltrate on this base. What happens if I choose to ignore this base's ability?
A: After it scores, the minions there that you (and only you) control won't be shuffled into their owner's deck. On the other hand, the other minions will be shuffled, including minions you own that you don't control.
Rule: Definition of "ignore".
