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Q: If someone manages to play Dreams and Omens twice in one turn (via Even Death May Die) what order should we play the distributed cards in?

A: Well, this is a pretty rare scenario, but, to refresh the memory, Dreams and Omens says:

Set your hand aside. Count the number of players in the game. Draw enough cards to give 1 card to each player. You decide who gets which, placing them each face down in front of their recipients. No one else may look at these cards. Each player (including you) must play this card before starting their next turn. This does not count as one of their plays for that turn.

Meanwhile, Even Death May Die, is a reworking of Let’s Do That Again. It says:

Search through the discard pile. Take any Action or investigator Keeper card you wish, and immediately play it. (anyone may look through the discard pile at any time, but the order of what’s in the pile should not be changed.)

So if Dreams and Omens gets played twice, each player would have TWO face down cards in front of them, which they’re required to play before starting their next turn. Does the order matter? Well, most of the time it won’t affect things, but occasionally it will be very important! Therefore, you should play them in the order received. This shouldn’t be difficult to remember: if the first card is placed face down, and the second is placed face down on top of that one, then you pick them up together as a pile, and play the first one facing you first.

Q: If a Surprise is one of the cards allocated for Dreams & Omens, does the player use it’s in-turn effect or out-of-turn effect when the time comes to play it?

…Dreams & Omens creates a situation where one card has been allocated to each player, placed in front of that person, to be played “before starting their next turn.” Does that mean it’s not the player’s turn, and they must use the out-of-turn effect?

A: Although it says “before starting their next turn” it is, for all intents and purposes, that player’s turn as soon as they start “doing stuff”. The point is that this card must be played before the regular draw and play phases, and even before any available optional Free Actions.

Here’s a nifty chart we made which details the order of various events in a Fluxx turn.

Furthermore, if you read the out-of-turn instructions on the Surprises, you’ll see that they are in reaction to a specific game event (a specific card play, or an UnGoal being fulfilled) and without that event occurring, there isn’t really any logical way to execute the out-of-turn effect.

See also: Many cards state that you can do something “on your turn”. When does one’s turn officially begin and end…

Q: Exactly when is a player’s face down card from Dreams And Omens played?

is the face down card automatically played at the start of the appropriate player’s next turn (before that player can draw, play, or use any “on your turn” abilities)?

Hence, if I play Dreams and Omens, the card I give myself is the last of the face down cards to be played. Is this right?

A: It’s just like you said: before doing anything on your turn, i.e. before Drawing, or taking any optional special action derived from a Rule or Keeper.

Yes, your card would be the last of those face-down cards played. Unless the game ends before it gets around to your turn. Mwah-hah-hah-hah….

Q: If the Necronomicon has been distributed by Dreams & Omens, can it be found with Grand Theft Biblio?

Similarly, can a face down Cosmic Instructions or The Stars are Right be found by Strange Aeons?

A: You would get to look in all of the places mentioned (people’s hands*, the draw pile, and the discard pile) for the pertinent item/s, and, if you did not find them, you’d just have to conclude that they were one of those face-down cards*. Since that is not called out as a location you can recover a card from, you are not allowed to look at or take one of those face-down cards. They’re sort of in their own separate world outside reality, aren’t they? Very Lovecraftian.

*If someone tried to get sneaky and lie about having one of those cards in their hand, figuring it would be concluded that the card sought was face down, remember that everyone will see those face down cards as they come into play, so if the card DOESN’T come up, then somebody was cheating… or you’re missing a card in your deck. Contact us, and we’ll replace it.

Q: Explain Dreams And Omens to me. Do those cards go into players hands?

or do they go face down on the table? If I’m not the one that played the card, and I get a card that way, do I get to know what it is? Does it count towards the Hand Limit? Is it affected by “in hand” effects (Revelations of Azathoth, Dream Thief, etc.)?

A: Let’s start by reading the (pertinent) text on Dreams And Omens: “You decide who gets which, placing them each face down in front of their recipients. No one else may look at these cards.

Do they go into players’ hands or face down on the table? See: “…placing them face down in front of their recipients. No one else may look at these cards.” They’d probably end up seeing the card if they put it into their hand, right? They’re not allowed to see the card, so it really can’t be put into their hand. Also, it would be hard to remember which is the card they need to play before their next turn begins. In short: each player’s card is placed face down in front of them, and it remains there until played. It never goes in their hands.

If you didn’t play the Action, do you get to know what you got? See: “No one else may look at these cards.” So, no, unless you are psychic and can know what card it is without looking, you do not know the identity of this card if you were not the person who played Dreams and Omens.

Does it count towards the Hand Limit? Is it affected by “in hand” effects? The card never enters players hands, so it does not affect Hand Limit, nor can it be affected by any of these cards.