Theoprastus - FAQ |
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Theophrastus™ Do you have the talent and knowledge to become an apprentice of the great Theophrastus? (Learn More...) |
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| Players: 2-5, Ages: 9+ Playing Time: 30-45 minutes |
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| Q: How can I tell if Theophrastus’ experiment is complete, when some of the cards are face down? | |||
| A: Theophrastus will finish his experiment (and begin the "special scoring round") as soon as he has the correct number of ingredients in all three of his Research Sets.
Let us consider an example. The formula for the "Perfum of Undeniable Freshness" calls for these three Research Sets: Metals: Any 2 Elements: Air, Water, and Any 1 Essentails: Salt and Any 3, NOT Vitriol So, the formula will be complete when there are 6 cards played into the formula: 2 metals, 1 element, and 3 essentials. It does not matter if these cards end the experiment face up or face down. They just have to be there. In fact, quite often all of the cards in the experiment will be face down. You do not have to play the "restricted ingredients" because he has already played them himself. That's why they are pictured on the formula parchment. Now the cards MAY match the restricted ingredients (the Any 1 Elemental could be water or air without restriction). That does not matter. They can also be completely different from the restricted ingredients. Once the number of cards in all the Research Sets match the "Any" number on the parchment, the research is finished and the “special scoring round" can begin. |
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| Q: I’m confused about the Philosopher’s Stone cards. How exactly do they work? | |||
| A: Most of the Philosopher’s Stone cards simply do what they say, and are then discarded for the remainder of the experiment (such as the laboratory spy).
The "alter" cards, however, are a little bit more complex. There are a total of 6 different "alter" cards. 3 of them are "Special Ingredients" (Lodestone, Ether, and Aqua Fortis) and the others are Philosopher's Stones. All of them are related to a specific kind of reagent (metals, elements, or essentials) and can only be played on a reagent of the correct type. Also, they can only be played on a reagent card that is face up. The procedure for the two types of cards are a little bit different. I'll start with the special ingredient cards: When you use a special ingredient card to "alter" another reagent, you must REPLACE the old reagent with the special ingredient card. So, for example, if you want to use a Lodestone to alter a lead card, you must place the Lodestone card in the same formula as the lead card. Then, you take the Lead card and add it to your hand. When you use a Philosopher's Stone card to alter a reagent, you must play it with another ingredient card of the same color. This other card is used to REPLACE the old reagent. Then, the old reagent goes in your hand and the Philosopher's Stone card is discarded for the remainder of the experiment. For example, let's say you are still after that lead card. Instead of the Lodestone card, you could use a red Philosopher's Stone card and any red card from your hand (let's say you have a Silver card). The Silver card replaces the lead, and the lead goes back into your hand. |
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| Q: I’m looking at the Unguent card in the example. It says that Water is required for the Elements set, and Earth is forbidden. Can I (acting as Theophrastus) play a card in this section? Does it have to be Water? Can I place something else on Theophrastus’ experiment in this section? | |||
| A: Looking at the Cleansing Unguent example, we see that the "Elements" section has only 1 ingredient: Water. Since it does not say "+3" or "any 2" or something similar, that means that Theophrastus has already finished that section of the experiment. In other words, there is an imaginary "water" card already in play in Theophrastus' formula, face up, where all players can see it. This imaginary card cannot be altered, discredited, moved, replaced, or affected by any card of any type. It is only water.
Since the Elements section is already complete (it has room for 1 reagent, and there is 1 reagent in that section: water) then no one can play a card there. It does not matter whether it is water or not, it can't be played on that part of Theophrastus' formula. In YOUR formula, you can have 1 element card. It can be any type. If it is water or Ether, it will score full points. If it is earth (the forbidden reagent) then it will score zero points. If it is anything else (fire or air) it will score 1 point. |
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