CUTTHROAT CAVERNS: FAQ
Even though the game is cutthroat, a discussion of the finer points of the rules shouldn't be. Hope these answers put an end to the brawling...

Cutthroat Caverns FAQ: Updated 9/12/08

You'll notice that the FAQ page is much emptier these days. The reason for that is the second edition printing and the updated and expanded rule book. The Core Rules 2.0 are available for download here. Check there first for answers to your questions. Then scan the list below for anything else that comes up.

Q: Okay, so what's different about the second edition?
A: With Cutthroat Caverns selling out its first printing so quickly, the reprint has allowed us an opportunity to make a great game even better - or at least a lot clearer.

What you will see in the updated rules and cards are not any serious changes to the rules, but rather more concise and clear language and more inclusive rules to the game as we have always seen it - even if our first printing never always succeeded in communicating it perfectly.

The updates have easily addressed the lion's share of the previous FAQ page and that can only be a good thing. The most dramatic thing you will see is the creation of an Attack sub-type, Tactical Maneuvers, which should clear up many of grey areas surrounding card interactions.

For example, SLIP BEHIND is an Attack card, but not 'an attack' per se - it is a maneuver that will enhance a future attack. That is how it has always been - but the '0' damage on the card was confusing. Now everything is spelled out with a category of rules covering these cards. The whole thing is covered in detail in the new rules sheet. Check it out.

Q: UGH! That looks like a major change. So does that force me to have to buy a new game?
A: Nope. Not at all. As I mentioned, the game works exactly the same way and you can play with all the original cards. It's just that the interactions are much clearer now that we've spelled things out more in the rules and on the cards.

Q: Hold on - I see a new card in the mix. What's up with that?
A: Okay, that IS a change. We replaced a generic 'ATTACK 5' with a new Action Card, "UNINTENTIONAL STRIKE".

UNINTENTIONAL STRIKE reads, "Play in response to another Player's Feint or Rider-type attack. Discard it and replace that attack with this card. Treat this card as a standard 5 point attack".

Because the new rules specifically state that Tactical Manuevers don't do damage and can't be made to do so (and because many people in the past so desperately wanted to Rally someone's Focus Strength or Feint) we created a card that would allow players to continue this type of play.

Q: Anything else?
A: A few of the more confusing Encounters took some massaging of the words on the cards - but nothing that changes how they play. We'll post a few that had gotten a bunch of questions in the past to help clear any questions up.

Q: Doubling damage more than once?
If more than one card would double the value of an attack, does the value get quadrupled, tripled or just doubled? Just doubled makes sense from a standpoint of only being able to rotate the card up to a x2 value.

There is a distinction between 'Double Damage' and '2X' damage. I understand the confusion but they are separate game terms which we spelled out in the 2.0 rules sheet and in clarifying text on the updated cards to try and be clearer. I'll post this on our FAQ though since the rules do not appear as a single 'group' of rules on the sheet.

From the 2.0 rules:
"“Double” or “Doubling” damage means rotating your
Attack Card to the next highest value. If there is no other
higher value, it cannot be “doubled” further.
(Note: The 2X modifier on ‘Slip Behind’ is an exception
and does not rotate the card it modifies, see “Riders”.)"

Then later, in Riders....

"Note: a single Attack Card may have multiple
additive Riders, but only one multiplicative Rider.
Example: After playing ‘Double Strike’, a player
who plays two ‘Focus Strengths’ can add both to
next Round’s attack card – but two ‘Slip Behinds’
would only allow one 2x modifier."

So, how do we handle 'Potion of Strength' as an example? Potion of Strength doubles damage by rotating the attack card to the next highest number (stated as such on the updated card). If that attack had a 'Slip Behind' rider on it, it would then give a 2X modifier to the total attack value. '2x' the 'double damaged' attack.

However, it would be illegal for Potion of Strength to 'Double' a character's special attack because, the card does not have a higher value to rotate to. And, as quoted from the rules, two Slip Behinds only deliver a single 2x modifier.

Q: Ties
We are confused about when ties occur. The FAQ for Ogre's Challenge indicates the tied players play another round. Should this apply to other ties? For example, with the monster HATE, players play a card face down, and the highest card goes first. Do tied players play another card? If so, do those cards get added to Hate's life as well? If two players tie, should the loser of the tie breaker go second?

As a guiding principle, special rules for particular Encounters should not be generalized - particularly when it comes to Non-Combat encounters that dramatically change how the hand is played. In the case of Ogre's Challenge, 'another Round' works well for the mechanic of the card.

Ties, in general, are broken by being the closest to Initiative One in an Initiative draw. For HATE, I'd have the two players draw the #1 and #2 cards before allowing the balance to be drawn by others.

Q: "Non-Combat Encounter" "Matching Cards" - please define.

'Non-Combat' Encounters are just that - dungeon encounters that do not require combat to solve. Because they are 'Non Combat', the rules governing their play do not follow the general rules regarding how attack cards are used - but instead carry different rules specified on the Encounter itself. NOTE:These encounters are not eligible for bonus prestige in a Bonus Round.

As for 'Matching Cards', this means the 'name of the card', ie - any words or numbers in the colored icon of the card. The character portraits are not considered.

ENCOUNTERS FAQ:
Minotaur:
Q: Players A, B, C, D, and E are fighting the Minotaur. The initiative for the first round is A=1st, B=2nd, C=3rd, D=4th and E=5th. Players C, D, and E lose the Rock, Paper, Scissors match and are lost in the labyrinth for that round. In the following round, the initiative is dealt as C=1st, D=2nd, B=3rd, A=4th and E=5th.

Now, according to the rules, monsters attack at the end of a round, except when it is an initiative-based attack, in which case you wait until the initiative is dealt for the next round to determine who gets hit. However, does this hit still technically count for the first round? If it did, then C and D, who are first and second initiative and thus the Minotaur's targets, would not be hurt because they are still lost in the labyrinth until the end of this round. However, if initiative-based monsters attack in the new round, then the Minotaur would hurt players C and D for 15 life points each.

A: Because of the 'lost in the maze' effect, Minotaur breaks the format for Random creature attacks. Minotaur will attack Player #1 of the current round's Initiative draw and in a larger game, he will also attack the player next closest in Initiative who is also "in the room" (which if no one else is there, Player #1 will get hit twice!)

Psypod:
If two (or three for that matter) of the same card(s) come up for its three, and you play one, do you take 15 PER CARD matched (i.e. Psy-Pod has 2 Attack 30 cards. Player one flips up an Attack 30 card. Does he take 15 or 30 points of damage?

From the card: "Any attacks played with names matching those three are rendered unsuccessful, discarded and cause the player to be damaged for 15 points."

I would rule this to be a double hit for 30 points. ('names matching those three' indicates an attack card is checked against all three.)

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