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Page 10 of the rules say

If you discover a new room because of a tile's or card's effect, and that new room has a symbol on it, you draw the appropriate card for that new room.

Disclaimer: I haven't played the game at all and could probably read through all the tiles to answer this, but don't want to spoil the game.

My question is as follows. What does it mean to 'discover' a new room? Does the character have to enter the room, or do some tiles/cards have effects that will cause a room to appear without the character walking into it? If so, does this mean we do not draw for the symbol? If all added rooms always result in the character entering the room, then I guess this question is pretty useless.

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  • There are events that will cause players to reveal new rooms and immediately enter them. If I remember correctly, these rooms count as discovered, meaning that you could experience two or three events in a single turn by being repeatedly moved to new rooms with events. There are extremely few events that will reveal rooms without immediately moving the current player into them, and when they do occur, any symbols on the revealed card are ignored. (I'm answering in a comment because I don't have the rules with me to make sure I'm correct or write a thorough answer.)
    – Kevin
    Jul 17, 2015 at 16:30
  • the followup in the rules is "If a room is added to the board through some other means (such as a haunt's instructions), the first player who enters that room does not draw a card." Are you saying these few events that reveal rooms without moving the player in are from cards or tiles, and if so, should I gather that players later moving into these rooms (for the first time) should not trigger the symbol? The latter quote seems to imply that but then again does specifically say "some other means" (i.e. other than tile / card).
    – Joey
    Jul 17, 2015 at 16:33
  • And incidentally, feel free to go ahead and make your comment an answer to the question and I'll mark it as answered once we clear up this other point.
    – Joey
    Jul 17, 2015 at 16:34
  • I'm not sure off the top of my head. I'll grab the instructions after work tonight and write a more detailed answer for you this evening. =)
    – Kevin
    Jul 17, 2015 at 16:40
  • 3
    Note that there's errata related to this. There's at least 1 event that tells you specifically to ignore any symbols in the room you draw, but the errata tells you to follow the symbols anyway. If you can draw a room and ignore the symbol (before the Haunt), then the game might never end if you ignore an Omen symbol.
    – GendoIkari
    Jul 17, 2015 at 16:44

2 Answers 2

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Any time you enter a newly-drawn room, you must resolve the symbol in that room if it has one.

The only way a room can appear in the house without having you enter that room at the same time is during a Haunt's setup instructions. During these setup instructions, you will ignore any symbols in the rooms, because there is no player entering the room to resolve the symbol.

The events that can cause you to need to draw a new room tile will also tell you to move into that room, and when you do so, you must resolve the symbol. Note that if you ever ignored symbols in this way, you could end up with a game where the Haunt never begins (you ignore an Omen symbol, and then you only have 12 Omens instead of 13 to resolve. And it is possible, though very unlikely, that you will still pass the Haunt role with 12 Omens. But with 13 Omens, it is impossible to pass the role so the Haunt begins).

The closest the rules get to being clear about this is here:

A room may have a card symbol on it. The first time you discover a room with a card symbol, you must end your move in that room and draw the appropriate card.

It doesn't specifically define "discovering", but it seems that the only assumption where the game makes sense is that discovering is any form of drawing a new tile and entering that room.

Note that in the first edition, the event Revolving Wall specifically tells you to ignore any symbols in the new room, but this is a mistake due to the never-ending game problem and was fixed in the second edition. See the errata for the game:

Revolving Wall -- This states, "Icons in [the newly drawn] room do not affect you this turn." Does this mean the icons affect you (thus ending your movement) on the next turn?

Errata: Any icon in the new room does affect you when you enter. Otherwise it is possible (though unlikely) to have a game with no Haunt.

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  • I also noticed the latest (2nd) edition has corrected this problem with the event and no longer has the text mentioned above (rules are copyright 2010).
    – Joey
    Jul 17, 2015 at 17:01
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The glossary in the 2nd edition rulebook has this to say:

discover: When an explorer moves through a door that has no room connected to it, draw a new room tile from the stack and put it beside that door. The explorer then moves into the room and discovers it. See "Discover a New Room," page 6.

From the FAQ:

What happens if I discover a new room because of the Collapsed Room or the effects of an event card, such as The Lost One or the Walls? If the new room has an icon, do I draw another card?

Yes

What if the new room gets added to the board through some other means (such as the instructions for a scenario). Does the first player who enters it still draw?

No. You only draw for an icon in a room if your character physically entered it.

So, any time an explorer reveals a new room that they are physically entering by any means, they draw any cards indicated by icons on the room tile, but if a room is revealed without being entered, no one "discovered" it, and no card will ever be drawn for it, even when it is eventually entered later. (I'm not certain, but I suspect that it is largely scenario instructions that can cause this, so it renders moot the concern that revealing omen icons in this way could render the game hauntless due to high haunt rolls.)

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