The 7th Citadel
335 questions players ask about The 7th Citadel. Pick one for the answer. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-11-06.
Turn sequence and involved characters
- Can a character who is involved in an action but isn't the active player use cards or help?
- Who applies an action's consequences: only the active player or every involved character?
- When an action is mandatory, who has to take part and who becomes the active player?
- Is turn order fixed, or can one player take several actions in a row?
- Do the Preparation phase steps have to be done in the listed order?
- When can I flip newly placed World Map cards during the Preparation phase, and can I do it more than once?
- Can I spend Hope Reborn on Destiny to build something and use that building's Preparation bonus in the same Preparation?
- Can I repeat the same action again and again to keep getting its reward?
Action types and mandatory actions
- How do I tell a compound action from a simple action?
- Can a single-row action be completed a few stars at a time?
- Can I stop a compound action partway and resume it later?
- Can I take another action in the middle of a mandatory compound action?
- In a compound action, do I choose which row to resolve next, or does the die decide?
- Do I gear up again on each attempt of a compound action?
- Are successes saved between attempts of a compound test?
- Must I resolve a mandatory action right away when its card is revealed or entered?
- When a mandatory action sits on the destination card, must each arriving character take it?
Gear up, drawing and counting successes
- Can I draw more cards than the cost shown on an action?
- Can I choose to fail an action on purpose without drawing its minimum cards?
- What does the Chain icon limit: cards drawn, or cards counted?
- Does a chain restriction carry over to an alternative cost with no chain icon?
- On a chain action can I reorder the drawn cards to choose which ones count?
- What if a chained action needs more successes than the cards I can count?
- How do half-stars combine into a full-star success?
- Can I ignore successes on my drawn cards?
- Do the stars or icons on the left side of a Skill card in my hand count?
Consequences and taking cards
- How does Evasive X work with the cards I draw?
- When are Temporary events discarded, and do Skill cards used for an effect get discarded?
- If there's no adjacent Terrain, do I still take the Move action, and what happens?
- Can I swap items between a dialogue- or event-triggered action and the next action?
- Who is the active player when a Temporary event triggers a mandatory action?
- How many cards does "several" mean in dialogue 37?
- May I read the rest of a card or dialogue passage before choosing an option?
- If a mandatory encounter gives items, can they be shared between involved characters?
- Can an involved character keep a Skill card drawn during an action?
Card types, events and special cards
- Does the black question mark count as a class icon, and who decides which one?
- How do I tell a scenario-specific card from the generic one among cards with the same number?
- When can I use a brown modifier on a Permanent event?
- Can I move onto a Permanent event card or rotate it?
- Does a Permanent event stay in play after it is revealed, and does its effect repeat?
- Must I resolve a Permanent event right away, and where can it be placed?
- If a Permanent event is attached to several Terrain cards, can its action be taken once from each?
- Can I use a Hope Reborn card on card 140 only at the Citadel?
- Is Capped Arante (card 050) discarded or blocked after use?
Skill cards and hand size
- Can Sneak Attack ignore Ambush when no weapon can be selected?
- When can I play a Skill card, and do its effects apply at any step?
- What's the benefit of blocking a Skill card?
- Can the Reflex! card shuffle itself back into the Action Deck?
- After Reflex! shuffles a card back, do I draw a replacement?
- Do stars on a Reflex card count against a chain limit, and does its effect still apply?
- When a Reflex card triggers on reveal, can I decide before the other cards in the same reveal are shown?
- Do stars and icons on a Skill card in my hand count toward a test?
- Can I recover the Crown's 451 cards, and is the Crown discarded or banished when done?
Purse cards and maximum carried weight
- Can characters trade items at the Citadel or between chapters?
- Do Alembic pieces stay in my purse between scenarios, and must I collect all three in one session?
- Which Purse cards are returned when a new scenario starts?
- Does each word like SECONDARY count as its own keyword?
- Can I discard a Purse card, like Taja or a weakness, at any time?
- If an event makes me discard a Fragile card, can I choose one with a Lock icon?
- Does a blocked Cumbersome item still count as Cumbersome?
- Can I unblock Purse cards during the chapter reset?
- Must I select a Blessing at Gear up for every test?
Life points, unconsciousness and Recovery
- Do I get my life points back at the start of each scenario?
- How much life does a Recovery cost?
- Can I recover only a few cards at a time, and what about an odd number?
- Can I Recover in the middle of an action, a compound action or a mandatory action?
- Can I Recover with no cards so an effect tied to Recovery still triggers?
- If I'm Injured, does the penalty apply to each life point I refresh or to the whole Recovery?
- What happens when every character is unconscious?
- Is death permanent, or can I return to a save point?
- If a Temporary event says to discard cards and banish the card and I go unconscious, is the card banished or returned?
Exploring the Collapsing Lands
- Can I walk away from a challenge on an Exploration card?
- Can I act on an Exploration card beside my Terrain when no arrow runs from my Terrain to it?
- Can I move to an adjacent Terrain card when no gold arrow points to it?
- Do I need to stand on a Terrain card to take a card whose hidden number I spotted?
- What do I do when there's no room on the table for another card?
- Do I have to shuffle Exploration cards before starting and when cards are returned?
- How does card 065 (A subterranean world) work with Exploration cards and the board?
- After the side quest on green card 337, can I loop back and return the Past to trigger the golden 337 again?
- If an Exploration card is already in a space, is a new one placed there?
Threat Booklets, scenarios and the Citadel
- Must I take card 077 to end a scenario, or can I just return to the Citadel card 075?
- Do I clear the Board and the Past between scenarios?
- Must I replay a scenario I failed to finish?
- What carries over when I start a new Threat?
- Do blocked cards and life points carry over between scenarios?
- Do I keep my items and Skill cards after a scenario ends?
- Is the introductory scenario a separate Threat?
- Do I have to play the Threats in a particular order?
- Can I add an expansion without fighting the Threats it includes?
- In The First Garden's Preparation phase, do I return the blocked Hope Reborn cards?
Citadel leaflet, Destiny and Hope Reborn
- Can I keep winning the Tradamus dialogue to collect the stellarscope reward repeatedly?
- Where do I find Tradamus in Kel for his side quest?
- Where is the innkeeper for Britha's Shield of Innocence quest in Kel?
- Why does a map section give +1 Knowledge only the first time it's read?
- On a Destiny page spot that returns cards, do I return exactly 2 cards?
- When can I use the Think action on Hope Reborn cards to improve my Destiny?
- Do blocked Hope Reborn cards come back after a scenario, and where do they go?
- After the intro scenario, can I place World Map cards or walk around before starting a scenario?
- Can I reread a quest's dialogue after claiming its reward?
Saving, resuming and changing players
- How often can I save during a scenario, and when?
- What happens to my hand and the board when I save mid-scenario?
- Can I leave the game set up and resume the next day without a formal save?
- Does saving cost me progress in The 7th Citadel?
- Where do the cards in the Past go at the end of the Introduction scenario?
- What do I do with quest cards with book icons between chapters?
- Can I run two campaigns in parallel with one copy of the game?
- Can players or characters join or leave partway through an adventure?
- What happens to a leaving character's Advanced and Reflex Skill cards?
Setup, storage and expansions
- Can I add all expansion cards to the core box from my first game, including Edge of Peril?
- Do expansion cards need separate piles, or can I mix them into the main game?
- Can I add expansion content to a threat that has already started?
- Should I add The Final Throne cards at the start, or can I mix them in before the core game?
- Can I use Knowledge in Power in Season 2 without Bookworm?
- May I look in the card holders to see whether a card is still available before acting?
- Do I shuffle the card piles at setup or when adding expansions?
- How do I order Adventure cards with banners when sorting them back?
- Do I replay "A new beginning" before every new Threat?
Terms, icons and keywords
- What does "available" mean for a card?
- What are the black and white question-mark symbols?
- Does Tough reduce the stars on each revealed card or the successes I counted?
- On "You Are In Shape", does "return this" return the Weakness condition?
- Can I read the asterisked lore in the Dialogue Book at any time?
- Does a blocked card still count as one I have?
- Where do Skill cards go when a Destiny symbol says to return them?
- Are Reflex cards available for an upgrade at the start of the game?