Addesso's page

Took me a while to notice this, but while reviewing PDFs of other games to see if they may make good christmas gifts, I noticed that in the instructions to all the PACGs, there is no graphic, chart, or significant call out of the steps/phases of a players turn. The phases are all explained, but there is no concise preview or review of them anywhere in the instructions, except for the type-formatted list on the back cover reference sheet (which could use a bit of sprucing up too).

On first read of the instructions, it may be a bit confusing as there is no initial road map of where the rule or step you're learning fits into the big picture. And the steps are usually only mentioned once as a paragraph lead in. Some sections, this isn't so bad, like (S&S version) on Encountering A Villain: it's all on one page, so easy to see the bold headers and digest (tho it could still use a graphic or flowchart), but other sections span several pages (Attempting a Check, for instance).

Also with everything that's additionally mentioned in the FAQ (what constitutes between steps and between phases of an encounter), this could be extremely helpful to those new to the game. There are also many other areas where additional graphics could be extremely helpful or just pleasant to look at, like the Example of Play section or Assembling Dice (for example, it can be further emphasized that additional dice are always the skill die--there are several areas where a graphic call out could be extremely helpful to a critical rule).

Currently, this is my most favorite game, but it took a fair bit of effort to get the rules and phases straight through just reading. When I first thumb through instructions after opening a new game, that one simple review can lay down an initial structure for the game which then is built upon when I knuckle down to read the actual rules and minuatae. It would be a shame if those new to the game were turned away because of perceived rule complication or confusion, as the game is pretty simple once you get the hang of it (mostly!).

One of Bikendi's powers is: "During your turn, discard a card to examine the top card of your location deck. ..."

Because it does not say "may discard" (the wording on Alahazra's card, and practically every other power that costs a card), this power MUST be used every turn, correct? So basically he's a time bomb, and if you don't win before he runs out of cards, you don't get his boon reward?

And I'll be honest, I had to read this thrice to realize that when he does run out of cards, the possessed character doesn't die. =/

Been playing through S&S solo with a 4-group and everyone just got their role cards. Lirianne as Deadeye has a power I can't figure out the use for:

"[ ] when you move to a different location during your move step, you may examine the top card of that location deck ([ ] and shuffle it into the deck).

I'm not getting what use she would get out of the first part of the power as she would have to encounter the card she examined anyway. If it was a bane, she couldn't avoid it (unless she had someway to move a second time), and if she has the evade power there would be no need to examine the card anyhow. And if it was a boon that would be an easier check for someone else, she'd fail it anyway and the boon would be banished. And it seems it can only be used at one particular time, so if someone moved her out of her turn, she couldn't examine the deck she ended up at.

With the second part, it's great, although you'd be wasting a power trait till you could put another point in it. Am I totally missing something here?

EDIT: Big fail! Completely forgot that the first explore after moving is OPTIONAL. What a great first way to introduce yourself to the community. =p