Do powers have to be resolved in order, or can you choose to do the effects in the order that's most convenient for you?

Do powers have to be resolved in order, or can you choose to do the effects in the order that's most convenient for you?

Powers must be resolved in order from top to bottom. If a Power has thresholds, resolve all thresholds you hit, in the order they are listed (skipping over the ones you don't hit).
There are a small number of exceptions:
If a Power changes its own Speed, Range, or Targeting, those changes (and corresponding thresholds / costs) are checked when relevant during targeting, not during normal Power resolution. Examples:
  • "You may pay 1 Energy to make this Power Fast." ("Dry Wood Explodes in Smoldering Splinters")
  • "Increase this Power's Range to Range 1." ("Sap the Strength of Multitudes")
  • "This Power can target lands with Blight." ("Inspire the Release of Stolen Lands") – but note that the rest of this threshold effect still resolves at the end, like normal.
(By the time you're resolving the rest of the Power text, it'd be too late for these modifiers to do anything!)
If a threshold modifies how an earlier part of the Power resolves, that modifier applies at the sensible time. Examples:
  • "Do not destroy any Dahan." ("The Jungle Hungers")
  • "Damage from this Power may be dealt into adjacent lands." ("Vengeance of the Dead")
Technically, every use of "Instead..." in an innate power works this way; it's pretty simple for human minds to understand the intent, but the formal specification is messier. Note that a "+" in a threshold effect (like "+2 Damage" in "Walls of Rock and Thorn") is not a modifier, but rather a new Damage instruction – this is occasionally relevant for timing purposes.
If a Power specifies that something happens later, do it at that time (remembering that these ongoing effects expire when Time Passes unless specified otherwise). Examples:
  • "Once this turn, target Spirit may ..." ("Powerstorm")
  • "After the next time Invaders are destroying in target land: ..." ("Blood Draws Predators")
  • "At end of turn, ..." ("Gift of Constancy")
"Repeat this Power" as a threshold also falls into this category, since it's short for "After resolving this Power and all Actions triggered by it, Repeat it."
If a Power explicitly specifies to resolve part of a threshold earlier in power resolution, follow that order. Examples:
  • "+3 Fear, before the Terror Level check." ("Twisted Flowers Murmur Ultimatums")
  • "Before Pushing, Explorers and Towns/Cities do Damage to each other." ("Dissolve the Bonds of Kinship")
  • "First, Gather up to 3 Dahan." ("Wrap in Winds of Sunlight")
Also related: A Power that is 100% internal modifiers doesn't do anything, so can't be targeted/used for things like "Scream Disease Into the Wind."
Category: General Play
Tags: Resolving Powers, Range Boosts, Speed (Fast/Slow), Targeting, Ordering, Sap the Strength of Multitudes, Gift of Constancy, Portents of Disaster, Growth Through Sacrifice, Heart of the Wildfire, Call to Guard, Flowing and Silent Forms Dark By (Shroud of Silent Mist), Shroud of Silent Mist, Gather the Scattered Light of Stars (Starlight Seeks its Form), Starlight Seeks Its Form, Inflame the Fires of Life, Confounding Mists, Blood Draws Predators, Dry Wood Explodes in Smoldering Splinters, Gift of Twinned Days, Scream Disease Into the Wind, Gift of Abundance (Downpour Drenches the World), Downpour Drenches the World, Gift of Wind-Sped Steps (Sun-Bright Whirlwind), Sun-Bright Whirlwind, Bargains of Power and Protection, Bargain of Coursing Paths, Powerstorm, The Jungle Hungers, Vengeance as a Burning Plague, Wrap in Wings of Sunlight, Voice of Command, Storm-Swath, Transformative Sacrifice, Dissolve the Bonds of Kinship, Infestation of Venomous Spiders, Inspire the Release of Stolen Lands, Twisted Flowers Murmur Ultimatums, Unearth a Beast of Wrathful Stone, Talons of Lightning, Manifest Incarnation, Fragments of Yesteryear, Sparking Aspect (Lightning's Swift Strike), Foreboding Aspect (Shadows Flicker Like Flame), Gift of Strength (Vital Strength of the Earth), Vital Strength of the Earth, Punish Those Who Trespass (Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds), Spreading Wilds (Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds), Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds, Firestorm (Heart of the Wildfire), Heart of the Wildfire, Locus Aspect (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), Forsake Society to Chase After Dreams (Lure of the Deep Wilderness), Lure of the Deep Wilderness, Never Heard From Again (Lure of the Deep Wilderness), Observe the Ever-Changing World (Shifting Memory of Ages), Shifting Memory of Ages, Let Them Break Themselves Against the Stone (Stone's Unyielding Defiance), Stone's Unyielding Defiance, Smash, Stomp, and Flatten (Ember-Eyed Behemoth), Ember-Eyed Behemoth, Keep Watch for New Incursions (Hearth-Vigil), Hearth-Vigil
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Created: Aug 24, 2020, 3:42:22 AM
Last modified: Aug 17, 2026, 6:34:40 PM