During game play you can encounter barriers that if defeated alloy you to add cards to your hand. Are these cards added to the character deck or into your hand size with the remaining being discarded?
When something tells you to add cards to your hand, you add cards to your hand. They go into your hand, they add to your whole hand, and nothing but your hand, so help you Paizo.
You don't have to reset your hand until the end of your turn, so whatever is in your hand during your turn is there for you to use/lose. You don't have to worry about discarding unless something makes you discard or you end your turn, getting to reset your hand, and then you have to discard down to your hand size.
Can you explain the text of the card or in the rules that made you feel that adding to your hand possibly meant adding to your deck instead of your hand?
The action of adding cards does not affect your character's stats in any way. When you add cards to your hand, etc, it does not increase the numbers on the character card. You still have to deal with the hand limit at the end of your turn as normal, and the deck's card limits at the end of the scenario as normal.
Can you explain the text of the card or in the rules that made you feel that adding to your hand possibly meant adding to your deck instead of your hand?
I cannot speak for the OP, but I've noticed that some people use "hand" to refer to a player's deck of cards as opposed to just the small selection in their hand. I've no idea how this got started but it does get in the way of communication at times.
You can have more cards in your hand during a turn than your Hand Size specifies on your character card. So if you obtain cards from a barrier such as a chest, acquire cards you encounter, etc., they go into your hand. Only at the end of your turn do you need to make sure your hand size is reset by either discarding or drawing cards.
Now, let's say you get 4 random items from a chest. You put them in your hand and end your turn with 8 cards, but your hand size is 5. You discard any 3 cards to get back to your hand size. So some of those new cards from the chest may wind up in your discard.
When the scenario ends, you collect all the cards in your discard, hand and deck and put them back together. Now you must "rebuild" your character deck, making sure you have the designated number of each type of cards. Any extra cards you do not want in your deck go to the center of the table and are up for grabs to the other players who are also rebuilding their decks. Anyone can rebuild their deck using any cards they've got in their deck and any cards up for grabs in the middle of the table. But you cannot have more of any type of cards than what your character's card list says.
Whatever cards are not used when everyone is done rebuilding their decks goes back in the box. The only time you can add more cards to your deck is when you complete a scenario or adventure that gives a Card Feat as a reward.
I have seen and played in groups where people misunderstood this hand size rule as well, but as Pixel said, you are only required to check the number of cards in your hand at the end of your turn when you reset your hand. This is actually great when you think whether or not it is useful to use blessings or allies to explore, because if you are going to have to discard them anyways, might as well get an exploration out of them.
Also, there is a location which allows you to not reset your hand at the end of your turn. I am forgetting which one it is right now.
Also, there is a location which allows you to not reset your hand at the end of your turn. I am forgetting which one it is right now.
Shimmerglens. And with the new rule changes, it just means you don't have to be at your hand size, you still have to apply "end of the turn effects".
Also, there is a location which allows you to not reset your hand at the end of your turn. I am forgetting which one it is right now.Shimmerglens. And with the new rule changes, it just means you don't have to be at your hand size, you still have to apply "end of the turn effects".
I guess I did not see the rule change. I think that I have still been playing it correctly. We have done everything that affects our end of turn, but have not had the hand size restriction, because you do not need to reset your hand, which means you do not need to check for it being oversized. Have we been playing this correctly?
You are playing it correct. The rule change I referred to was that "End of the turn" effects happen during "Reset your hand". Shimmerglens just means you can have more or less cards than your hand size when you end your turn there.