Participating in challenges during refreshment

[J. Strange]

Hi. Recently bought the game, love the sound of it, will be running it soon. I have a question about challenges, though.

Is there a limit to a hero's participation in challenges? The rules are quite clear that heroes may spend an interlude in refreshment to the exclusion of healing or sacrificing and that a hero can only call for two challenges. It follows that if you spend your interlude healing or sacrificing, you can't participate in challenges.

But let's say four heroes choose to spend their interlude in refreshment. Each can call two challenges, a total of eight during the interlude. Can a hero compete in all eight, or just two?

[Darren Hill]

The rules are quite clear that heroes may spend an interlude in refreshment to the exclusion of healing or sacrificing and that a hero can only call for two challenges. It follows that if you spend your interlude healing or sacrificing, you can't participate in challenges.

Achilles spends his Interlude healing.
Odysseus spends his turn sacrificing.
Hercules calls for a callenge of Music and of Might. Both Achilles and Odysseus can take part in those challenges.

But let's say four heroes choose to spend their interlude in refreshment. Each can call two challenges, a total of eight during the interlude. Can a hero compete in all eight, or just two?

All eight.
Note that the person who calls for a Challenge gets a greater benefit from the challenge than those who join him, so this all works out okay. In the above example, Achilles and Odysseus above won't gain more from the challenges than Hercules does.

[theranko]

I'm happy to see this topic on the forum: my group's Agon game came to a screeching halt last week over this very issue. The antagonist shared J. Strange's opinion, while most of the players went with Darren Hill's reading. We were unable to find a satisfactory way to proceed with the game.

John, would you mind giving an opinion one way or the other? Which interpretation is correct, and is there a place in the book where this rule is more clearly stated?

[John Harper]

I somehow missed this thread. Sorry about that.

Darren's reading is correct.