To reiterate on previous questions (1, 2), the general timing goes like so:
- Players decide which card to play.
- Players decide how to play that card (build, discard, wonder).
- Players decide how to pay building costs (who to buy from), and then announce/reveal their play.
- Players complete the action and resolve building effects.
In the Cities expansion, there are building effects that cause debt, forcing other players to pay money or take negative VP tokens.
Let's assume that an opponent will play a debt 2 building this turn, and I start the turn with no money. Also assume that I know this will happen (from passing them the card and them playing a black card strategy). What happens in the following situations?
- My neighbour pays me 2 coins to build the debt building. From the turn timing, it seems clear that I can pay the debt, since building costs are paid before their effects (I've included this for completeness).
- I build a yellow card that gives me enough coins to pay the debt. Since the money gain and the debt happen at the same time, can I pay with the income?
- I discard a card to get enough coins to pay the debt. Does money from discarding come in in step 4 (above), or earlier (step 2 or 3)? If it's earlier, it seems clear I should be able to pay, but if it's 4 (or after) then it's similar to the second case above.