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If I move the robber in Catan to a hex where I also have an adjacent settlement or city on, can I choose to steal from myself instead of another player or if I am the only valid player?

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  • Not sure if this is a duplicate, but the same answer is given in one of the answers here: boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/9102/…
    – GendoIkari
    Apr 2, 2017 at 14:22
  • it is not a duplicate, this is about yourself as a target and the other one is about other players being invalid targets Apr 2, 2017 at 15:40
  • @ivar de bruin; the other one is about a general method of not stealing; one answer point out that choosing yourself is one option. I agree that it's probably not a duplicate; but the other question is certainly relevant (considering that the only reason to want to steal from yourself is as an method of avoiding stealing from others).
    – GendoIkari
    Apr 2, 2017 at 23:31

2 Answers 2

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No, you may not.

According to the official rules on the website:

(1) You must move the robber immediately to the number token of any other terrain hex or to the desert hex.

(2) Then you steal 1 (random) Resource Card from an opponent who has a settlement or city adjacent to the target terrain hex. The player who is robbed holds his Resource Card hand face down. You then take 1 at random. If the target hex is adjacent to 2 or more players’ settlements or cities, you choose which one you want to rob.

One could argue the second part "if ...adjacent to 2 players'", but I find that interpretation completely mis-aligns with the unambiguous previous rule that you do not and would not rob yourself.

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  • 2
    This should be marked as correct answer. Apr 3, 2017 at 15:48
  • Apparently my version of the rules is outdated Apr 3, 2017 at 16:00
  • I know hexparrot went to the trouble of linking the official pdf of the rules and copying them out, but no, it shouldn't be marked as the correct answer. There is no requirement at all that the robber be moved to a hex adjacent to an opponent. The robber may be moved to a hex completely apart from any player or to a hex only bordered by the player's village(s). Blocking your own villages' resources is terrible gameplay, "stealing from yourself" doesn't make any sense, and it isn't permitted if there is another player's village adjacent to the robber...
    – lly
    Apr 7, 2017 at 17:22
  • ...but, yes, you can effectively "steal from yourself" by moving the robber away or to a hex only bordered by your own villages as a matter of hospitality.
    – lly
    Apr 7, 2017 at 17:23
  • @lly I don't understand your argument. I never claimed you are required to place the robber on a hex adjacent to an opponent. It seems clear from the rules that you need only move the robber to another hex--and should you choose one without a player present--so be it. Just like if you were to move it to the desert hex. And to your second comment "you can effectively 'steal from yourself'" seems explicitly wrong in light of the rule: "you steal 1 Resource card from an opponent". I address this with my own interpretation below the official rule citation.
    – hexparrot
    Apr 7, 2017 at 17:29
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Yes, the rules state that:

After discarding occurs, you also steal 1 resource card at random from a player who has a settlement or city adjacent to this hex

You are also a player, so you can steal from yourself

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  • Note that although this is allowed, it is better to place the robber on the desert, rather than on yourself, since then the robber isn't preventing you from getting resources. Apr 3, 2017 at 14:04
  • There is the situation that you want to block the other players on the Hex, but not steal from them Apr 3, 2017 at 14:07
  • Oh, you're saying that you share tiles with other players. Yeah, I suppose that might be a reason to block yourself. Apr 3, 2017 at 14:08
  • If you have 2 brick and the other only one that can be a good play Apr 3, 2017 at 14:10

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