[Latok]

If Emergent Lifeform is that last dilemma at a mission will TNG Borg complete their objective or is the ship at a different mission before/when the scouting attempt ends?

[Spectre9]

If you still have Borg there you can probe?

Do you need Borg still at the mission to probe?

[sevencrdspud]

If Emergent Lifeform is that last dilemma at a mission will TNG Borg complete their objective or is the ship at a different mission before/when the scouting attempt ends?

Scouting would be complete.

If the dilemma moved you (because you could move/had range) you would just need to go back to complete the objective.

[princedetenebres]

Scouting would be complete.

If the dilemma moved you (because you could move/had range) you would just need to go back to complete the objective.

I appreciate the answer, but I'm not sure that this gets at the precise difficulty.

The question is one of timing, because have the ability to complete an objective once scouting is complete if they have a staffed cube there right?

So how does that work timing-wise? Scouting is complete when no dilemmas remain because of Relentless. But the Consume objective requires that the staffed cube be present.

So, does the dilemma text have an opportunity to take effect, or is it just immediately game over upon revealing it?

Seems to me that it can't be the latter explanation, as otherwise the last dilemma at such a mission is irrelevant. Yet, the attempt must end to move the ship, right?

So, does Consume/Relentless 'interrupt' (effectively) the resolution of a dilemma?

I guess my initial read would be to split the difference and suggest that scouting would be complete but that there would be no cube staffed present to trigger the objective's requirements (as in this instance it had full range and would be moved -- as it would happen into the welcoming arms of enemy ships). But I fear that that might not be the case for some silly reason that eludes me presently.

[Takket]

Scouting would be complete.

If the dilemma moved you (because you could move/had range) you would just need to go back to complete the objective.

I appreciate the answer, but I'm not sure that this gets at the precise difficulty.

The question is one of timing, because have the ability to complete an objective once scouting is complete if they have a staffed cube there right?

So how does that work timing-wise? Scouting is complete when no dilemmas remain because of Relentless. But the Consume objective requires that the staffed cube be present.

So, does the dilemma text have an opportunity to take effect, or is it just immediately game over upon revealing it?

Seems to me that it can't be the latter explanation, as otherwise the last dilemma at such a mission is irrelevant. Yet, the attempt must end to move the ship, right?

So, does Consume/Relentless 'interrupt' (effectively) the resolution of a dilemma?

I guess my initial read would be to split the difference and suggest that scouting would be complete but that there would be no cube staffed present to trigger the objective's requirements (as in this instance it had full range and would be moved -- as it would happen into the welcoming arms of enemy ships). But I fear that that might not be the case for some silly reason that eludes me presently.

your answer is step 5 in dilemma resolution - summary

"5. If the dilemma has a cure, first it takes effect. Then, if the skills still remain in the crew or Away Team to cure it, discard the dilemma (place in your bonus point area if it has a point box) before proceeding with the mission attempt. Any temporary effects such as disabling are cancelled when you discard the dilemma."

A dilemma with a cure has its effect before you check for a cure. So opponent moves your ship, then you are still resolving the dilemma by checking for the cure. only after you check for the cure have you finished resolving the dilemma, and at that point your scouting would be complete. if opponent was foolish enough to leave you with any RANGE you could move back to the mission location and complete the objective. or you could play a Transwarp Conduit to give yourself more range...

[BCSWowbagger]

If I may weigh in unofficially:

So, does the dilemma text have an opportunity to take effect, or is it just immediately game over upon revealing it?

Seems to me that it can't be the latter explanation, as otherwise the last dilemma at such a mission is irrelevant. Yet, the attempt must end to move the ship, right?

I think the latter explanation is stronger than you think. Recall what Relentless says:

Scouting of missions targeted by your Consume objectives is completed at the end of the scouting attempt if no dilemmas remain under mission to be encountered.

When the last dilemma is revealed -- say, Scientific Method -- it is removed from under the mission, so there are no dilemmas remaining beneath the mission. But you can't score the mission yet, because the scouting attempt is not over until the encounter with Scientific Method is over.

If you fail Scientific Method, then you reseed Scientific Method and the scouting attempt ends. Relentless can't be checked until that point. But, by that point, Relentless can't trigger, because there's a dilemma beneath the mission!

Likewise, if the last dilemma is V'Ger, and you fail it, first you blow up, then the dilemma is discarded, then the scouting attempt ends. Relentless can't be checked until you're dead, by which time you no longer meet the conditions to make scouting complete.

So, for most dilemmas, they remain relevant in the face of Relentless, even when they are the final seed.

Problems arise (for the opponent of the Relentless player, anyway) if the final dilemma both (a) ends the scouting attempt and (b) enters play. If the last dilemma is a Scow, the Relentless player doesn't care at all: it goes into play so there's no dilemmas remaining and ends the attempt so Relentless immediately triggers scouting complete. Once the scouting attempt ends, Relentless's conditions are immediately checked.

Moving a ship unquestionably ends any attempts that ship is involved in, regardless of whether or not it's still involved in resolving a dilemma or whatnot.

So I think there's a much finer timing question here: if you move a ship while it is participating in a scouting attempt, does the scouting attempt end when the move is initiated or when the move is resolved?

Another way of asking the same question: if Mission Debriefing is in play, then I encounter Emergent Life-Form, then my opponent tries to move my ship using its RANGE, and then I play Fractal Encryption Code on my ship from hand (it's a direct response!), does mission continue, or are all my personnel stopped by Mission Debriefing?

So we don't really need to ask about dilemma resolution cure timing at all. It's purely a question of how moves work during attempts.

Or so it seems to me, anyway.

[Armus]

This was answered in the DRG with respect to mission attempts:

Emergent Life-form - Place dilemma on ship. Opponent may immediately move ship (if staffed) to another location, using whatever RANGE it has available (opponent may use all, part, or none of the RANGE, i.e., may leave the ship where it is). If ship is removed from mission location, mission attempt ends. Ship and crew are not "stopped."

If cure present (ship has a Holodeck and 2
ENGINEER + Astrophysics aboard), discard dilemma. Otherwise, dilemma remains on ship.
If ship not removed from mission location, and cure present (ship has a Holodeck and 2 ENGINEER + Astrophysics aboard), discard dilemma; mission continues.

If ship not removed from mission location, and cure not present, dilemma remains on ship; mission continues.

At start of each of your turns, opponent may move ship again (if staffed) up to its full available RANGE (Ship and crew are not "stopped;" you may use any remaining range later on your turn).

Discard dilemma when cure present (ship has a Holodeck and 2 ENGINEER + Astrophysics aboard), or when countdown expires at end of dilemma owner's 3rd turn.

I think it's a fair inference that if you get removed from a location, your scouting attempt also ends, but it would probably be good to have that clarified.

[Takket]

This was answered in the DRG with respect to mission attempts:

Emergent Life-form - Place dilemma on ship. Opponent may immediately move ship (if staffed) to another location, using whatever RANGE it has available (opponent may use all, part, or none of the RANGE, i.e., may leave the ship where it is). If ship is removed from mission location, mission attempt ends. Ship and crew are not "stopped."

If cure present (ship has a Holodeck and 2
ENGINEER + Astrophysics aboard), discard dilemma. Otherwise, dilemma remains on ship.
If ship not removed from mission location, and cure present (ship has a Holodeck and 2 ENGINEER + Astrophysics aboard), discard dilemma; mission continues.

If ship not removed from mission location, and cure not present, dilemma remains on ship; mission continues.

At start of each of your turns, opponent may move ship again (if staffed) up to its full available RANGE (Ship and crew are not "stopped;" you may use any remaining range later on your turn).

Discard dilemma when cure present (ship has a Holodeck and 2 ENGINEER + Astrophysics aboard), or when countdown expires at end of dilemma owner's 3rd turn.

I think it's a fair inference that if you get removed from a location, your scouting attempt also ends, but it would probably be good to have that clarified.

There is a generic statement in the glossary under dilemma resolution that says references to mission attempts also include scouting and commandeering attempts.

[BCSWowbagger]

I think it's a fair inference that if you get removed from a location, your scouting attempt also ends, but it would probably be good to have that clarified.

I think it's covered by the first bullet point in mission attempt: if nobody is left in a crew at the location to do the mission, the attempt ends. (Likewise, if the ship explodes, the attempt ends.)

That, in turn, leads me to think that the mission attempt ends when the move action is resolved. If the move fails, nothing ends the attempt, and mission continues.

So the answer to the original question would be:

If a Borg ship is scouting a space mission using Relentless and a Consume objective, and the final dilemma encountered beneath the mission is Emergent Life-Form, and opponent uses Emergent Life-Form to move the Borg ship away from the mission...

...the move action initiates and resolves (unless prevented by something like Fractal Encryption Code), then the scouting attempt ends, then Relentless's condition is checked. Since there is no longer a staffed Borg ship at the original mission, scouting is not complete until a staffed Borg ship gets there (assuming there's still no dilemmas beneath the mission; opponent could always burn All-Consuming Evil to add one more).

Not blue, therefore not official, but that's my opinion at the moment.

[AllenGould]

[BCSWowbagger]

A wise Rules Committee member agrees with my basic conclusion, but points out:

The essence is correct, though there is a slight error. Relentless does not require a ship to be at the location for scouting to complete, only that no dilemmas remain at the end of a scouting attempt. The Consume objectives are what care if the ship is there and would not be completed if the only staffed Borg Cube at the location was moved away by Emergent Life-Form.

He right.