[Takket]

Do any cards other than All-Consuming Evil allow you to suspend play to download a dilemma?

Anyway: When is it too late to do this? Example: Suppose my opponent is encountering Ferengi Infestation. I'm not sure if they have the cunning to pass it so I'm watching them count, as I don't want to waste my ACE download if they are going to be stopped anyway.

They finish counting and pass the dilemma. At this point can I suspend play to download an Armus dilemma, or is it too late because as soon as they prove they can overcome the dilemma, the encounter is over, and they are on to verifying the mission skills?

And likewise can I suspend play to download a dilemma while they are counting up mission skills, or is it too late to force them to encounter another dilemma at that point?

[Armus]

Disrupted Continuum, but it provides a specific timing window to trigger. I guess it also doesn't suspend play though.

[Dukat]

You can use the download just after they successfully passed Ferengi Infestation.

And likewise can I suspend play to download a dilemma while they are counting up mission skills, or is it too late to force them to encounter another dilemma at that point?

Good question.

Rulebook:

Once all seed cards under a mission have been encountered, and there are no dilemmas remaining beneath the mission, check your remaining personnel present. If they still have a personnel whose affiliation matches one of the mission's, still meet additional conditions for attempting the mission (from Homefront, for example), and meet the mission requirements, they solve the mission

Since it is suspend play, perhaps you can still do it. Not sure.


@Brian: It does not, indeed.
The timing is also very clear: 'dilemma just revealed'.

[BCSWowbagger]

Anyway: When is it too late to do this? Example: Suppose my opponent is encountering Ferengi Infestation. I'm not sure if they have the cunning to pass it so I'm watching them count, as I don't want to waste my ACE download if they are going to be stopped anyway.

They finish counting and pass the dilemma. At this point can I suspend play to download an Armus dilemma, or is it too late because as soon as they prove they can overcome the dilemma, the encounter is over, and they are on to verifying the mission skills?

Strictly speaking, this isn't how dilemma effects resolve. (It's how almost everyone plays them, but, for arcane timing reasons, it's not quite how they work.)

The short version is, you don't count up requirements at the resolution step. You count up requirements at the initiation step, during the initial encounter. Once you know whether you are going to pass or fail the dilemma (and have announced this), and then you go to responses. Your opponent may then respond, either with a card that directly responds, or by suspending play.

That's actually exactly why Disrupted Continuum is expressly confined to the "just-revealed" window: it was too powerful if you could wait to find out if your opponent was going to pass the dilemma before swapping.

But ACE suspends play, so it doesn't have that restriction. You can download any old time you want.

And likewise can I suspend play to download a dilemma while they are counting up mission skills, or is it too late to force them to encounter another dilemma at that point?

You can download the dilemma any old time you want, including when they're counting mission skills. The question is: if they've already advanced to counting mission skills, do they have to encounter that dilemma? (This is why I hate suspends-play timing; it does weird things the game never contemplated because the game never put a timing window there!.)

My ruling would be that you can activate the ACE download and opponent will have to encounter the dilemma if:

* You download it as soon as you find out whether opponent will pass the final effect on the previous dilemma (in its response step)

* You download it while the previous dilemma's final effect is having an effect (in its resolution step)

* You download it after all effects have finished, while the previous dilemma is discarding.

* You download it just after the previous dilemma discards, in the space after the dilemma but before your opponent tries to solve.

Once the actual solve has started, I think any dilemma you seed is ignored for the remainder of the attempt, because no rule instructs you to encounter a dilemma once you have validly started the solve portion. Of course, if opponent fails to solve, he'll have to deal with the dilemma on next attempt. But, otherwise, I think this a weird slightly dumb situation where it's legally possible to end up with a dilemma underneath a solved mission.

[Professor Scott]

Waiting until they start to solve will still work against using Relentless, because it will prevent scouting from being complete, and force another scouting attempt.

[geraldkw]

Waiting until they start to solve will still work against using Relentless, because it will prevent scouting from being complete, and force another scouting attempt.

Sounds good to me!