Treachery

Terror.

Mythos

Peril. Hidden.

Revelation - Secretly add Gift of Madness (Pity) to your hand.

You cannot attack Possessed enemies.

: Randomly choose 1 enemy from among the set-aside Monster enemies and place it beneath the act deck without looking at it. Discard Gift of Madness (Pity) from your hand.

Jason Ward
The Unspeakable Oath #186. The Unspeakable Oath #32.
Gift of Madness

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • NB: ArkhamDB now incorporates errata from the Arkham Horror FAQ in its card text, so the ArkhamDB text and the card image above differ, as the ArkhamDB text has been edited to contain this erratum (updated August 2022): Erratum: The Lunatic trait in this card's effects should read Possessed wherever it appears, instead. - FAQ, v.2.0, August 2022

  • Treachery cards do not have a header for their subtitle. If the title of a treachery card contains 1 or more words in parentheses, that is considered to be its subtitle. Other cards with the same title and a different subtitle are still considered to be copies of one another. e.g. Restless Journey (Fallacy) and Restless Journey (Hardship) are both copies of Restless Journey. - FAQ, v.2.0, Card Ability Interpretation 2.21, see Treachery Subtitles.

Last updated

Reviews

Q: When no more set-aside Monster enemies left, can I trigger action ability on this card to discard?

RR "Target" says :

The term "choose" indicates that one or more targets must be chosen in order for an ability to resolve. The player resolving the ability must choose a game element (usually a card) that meets the targeting requirements of the ability.

If an ability requires the choosing of a target, and there is no valid target (or not enough valid targets), the ability cannot be initiated.

csfeelx · 1
However, discarding Gift of Madness from your hand can change the game state. So you can trigger the ability to discard this card, even if there are no set-aside enemies left. — toastsushi · 68
But, by the "Target" rules, ability cannot initiated when have no valid target. And ability means not partial sentence but entire sentences. So, isn't it right that I can't trigger action ability while first sentence has no valid target? — csfeelx · 1
The colon appears before "Randomly choose 1 enemy...." this means that it's not part of the cost to trigger this ability, only the spent action is a requirement. So you can trigger this ability by spending an action, then you fufill as much of the effect as possible. When there's no monsters left, you can still discard the card. You payed for the cost to trigger it and fufilled as much of the effect as you possibly could. — MaleficMarby · 31
Thanx. I understand that "ability requires..." belongs to "cost". If so, in a similar case, is there any problem using "You handle this one" just to get 1 resource when I'm playing Solo? (have no valid target, but the game state changes by get 1 resources.) — csfeelx · 1
Sometimes, we overlook "choose" but "choose" defines the target of the ability and it works as another requirement in AHLCG. As long as it states "choose 1 enemy ...", you need an valid target (=set aside enemy) to trigger this ability. One possiblility is that "randomly choose" is different from "choose" but... — elkeinkrad · 468
For example, I'm sure you agree that you can play Eavesdrop only if there is an unengaged enemy in your location. Here, undefined X is 0, which means that you test intellect (0) if no rule prevent you play Eavesdrop with no unengaged enemy. Similarly, you can play Followed only if there is an enemy in your location. — elkeinkrad · 468
@elkeinkrad. So you're saying we can not trigger this card's action capability when no more set-aside monster remain? — csfeelx · 1
@elkeinkrad You're right. I just checked the Lonnie Ritter's FAQ. According to that, an ability with "choose" must needs a valid target. So we can not trigger this card's action ability trigger when no more set-aside monster left. — csfeelx · 1
Lonnie's FAQ does not apply. The second part of the ability is the requirement of the target, therefore you cannot trigger it if no item has damage on it. On Gift of Madness, the second half is done regardless if there was a target or not. Otherwise, a part of the game will be unplayable and you will be driven insane. — toastsushi · 68
@toastsushi. I know. I find that part strange, and that's why I asked this question. However, according to the choose rule about Target mentioned in the Lonnie's FAQ, this card's action ability "cannot be triggered" when no more set-aside monster left. Is there any rules to judge differently? — csfeelx · 1
Lonnie's FAQ particularly emphasized about "choose" rule. And "Ability" means not a one sentence, but the whole sentence. I also think it's unreasonable, but, by the book, isn't it right that we can not? Maybe the designer made a mistake, or want to drive someone insane. — csfeelx · 1
I beat this with Nephthys, luckily. — MrGoldbee · 1391