Specifically, after temporarily closing locations due to encountering the villain, are these locations considered to lose any "At this location" power visible on their face side for the duration of the encounter?
The use of the word "Close" to me implies - as we have been physically doing to make it easier to keep track of - that you flip or treat the location card as flipped for the duration of encountering the villain, and therefore any text that doesn't exist on the closed side is negated, but I can't find a section of the rulebook that 100% confirms this. From the Wrath of the Righteous Rulebook (bolding mine):
"Temporarily closing a location only prevents the villain from escaping there during this encounter; it does not trigger any of the other effects of closing a location..."
It uses the word 'close', so beyond not triggering permanently closing (and emptying the location deck or triggering cards such as Banner of Valor) I would assume you still treat the location as closed, and so "At this Location" effects will be negated. But the rules also use the word "Only" - presumably just in reference to how it effects the villain, but it could be interpreted to read "Literally will not change anything at all mechanically except stopping where the villain runs to".
For context, the exact question I'm trying to work out is whether the servitor demon encounters, summoned by every character to be fought due the villain Heart of the Fane being encountered, are effected, for example, by location effects that alter the damage type dealt to you (such as Abyssal River), if you've temporarily closed that location.
No. You do not flip temp closed locations over, so any At This Location power on the face still applies.
Chief Technical Officer
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But the rules also use the word "Only" - presumably just in reference to how it effects the villain, but it could be interpreted to read "Literally will not change anything at all mechanically except stopping where the villain runs to".
It's the latter.
The easiest way to think about it is to call it something else (e.g. "blocking" the location). You "block" the location using the location's check to close, having done so the location is "blocked" meaning the villain can't escape there. No chance of interpreting the location as closed in any way then.
I'd even speculate that with the power of hindsight and time-travel they would rename it, but it's far too solidly established in the rules now to be worth changing.
Thanks for the confirmation, all!
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Chief Technical Officer
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The easiest way to think about it is to call it something else (e.g. "blocking" the location). You "block" the location using the location's check to close, having done so the location is "blocked" meaning the villain can't escape there. No chance of interpreting the location as closed in any way then.
I'd even speculate that with the power of hindsight and time-travel they would rename it, but it's far too solidly established in the rules now to be worth changing.