Bargain of Coursing Paths

Frequently Asked Questions

Adversaries

• If the Kingdom of Sweden Explores into a land with Escalation, can a triggered action like Call to Guard get rid of that Explorer before the Escalation checks if a Dahan will be replaced?
  Yes, but you can choose the opposite order if you want to lose the Dahan.

  This only works because Sweden's Swayed by the Invaders Escalation checks how many Invaders and Dahan are present when that triggered action finally resolves, not when the land is Explored. (The Escalation technically happens in every explored land; it just doesn't do anything if the Invader & Dahan condition isn't met.)
  Tags: Triggered Actions, Kingdom of Sweden, Call to Guard, Bargain of Coursing Paths, 2 more...

Aspects

• Can the Intensify Aspect spend Moon to increase the amount of [thing not on the island] removed by an Action?
  No, Intensify can only affect the number of pieces removed from the island by the Remove keyword. It has no effect on actions that remove pieces from other locations (e.g., removing Presence from Presence tracks with Bargains or Transformative Sacrifice ).
  Tags: Remove, Bargain, Transformative Sacrifice, Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), 2 more...
• Can the Intensify Aspect strengthen a Bargain by spending Moon to Remove more Presence from the island? How about from a Presence track?
  No and no. The efficacy of a Bargain is based on the number of times it has been made, not the number of Presence it has removed, and Intensify can't increase the number of Presence removed from a Presence track.

  However, Intensify can strengthen Transformative Sacrifice by removing a 4th Presence from the island (in a land where the Power was already removing Presence) to take and play an additional card, since that power explicitly scales with the number of removed Presence.
  Tags: Bargain, Bargains of Power and Protection, Bargain of Coursing Paths, Transformative Sacrifice, 1 more...

Definitions

• Can you "move" pieces from a land to that same land (e.g., with Wrap in Wings of Sunlight)? If so, is it considered a move?
  Yes and yes, assuming the instructions don't restrict where you're allowed to move, the way that Push and Gather do. (Wrap in Wings of Sunlight doesn't.)

  Thematically, pieces moved to the land they're already in are moving around within that land.
  Tags: Move, Wrap in Wings of Sunlight, Bargain of Coursing Paths, Paths Tied by Nature (Finder of Paths Unseen), 1 more...

Effect Rules

• If an Incarna is removed from the game or put back into the box (e.g., by Transform to a Murderous Darkness), can it be added back into the game?
  No, it's no longer in the game. Permanently losing an Incarna this way generally isn't advisable.
  Tags: Bargain, Incarna, Bargains of Power and Protection, Transform to a Murderous Darkness, 1 more...
• What counts as "adding" a piece (e.g., adding an Invader for Confounding Mists)?
  A new piece getting placed on the board.
  

  In the Confounding Mists case, this most commonly occurs due to a Build or Explore action, but can also happen due to Events, Adversary effects, or Scenarios.

  Pieces that are pushed, gathered, brought, or otherwise moved then count as "moved," but not "added." Replacing one piece with another (or multiple others) counts as neither adding nor moving the new pieces; while the pieces representing that entity have changed, the entity itself is not a new arrival.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Replace, Push, Gather, Move, 11 more...

Event Cards

• In the Visions Out of Time Event, what happens if multiple Omens end up in one land? How about if an Omen is temporarily out of the game due to being under Absolute Stasis?
  On the turn after Visions out of Time is drawn, in each land that's in the game and has Omens, gain 2 Fear, Ravage once, and Remove 1 Omen after the Ravage Step. Any leftover Omens (whether due to multiple Omens stacking up in one land or the Omens not being in a land at the relevant time) can be removed from the board to reduce clutter, since it's unlikely they will do anything relevant for the rest of the game.

  As a more thematic option, you can treat Omens as if they had the ability on the Event Card: "Starting next turn, after the Ravage Step: 2 Fear; Invaders Ravage; Remove this Omen." In that case, stacked Omens can cause multiple Ravages in one land, and Omens under Absolute Stasis will cause problems after Ravage Steps of future turns.
  Tags: Visions Out of Time, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Weave Together the Fabric of Place, Bargain of Coursing Paths, 0 more...

General Play

• Can Strife move independently of the Invader piece it is attached to?
  No, the Strife only moves with that Invader and stays attached the entire way.

  For instance, Strife can not be divided separately from the Invader it's attached to when Weave Together the Fabric of Place expires, nor can it be moved independently by Bargain of Coursing Paths.
  Tags: Strife, Weave Together the Fabric of Place, Terror Stalks the Land (Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine), Bargain of Coursing Paths, 1 more...
• Can Strife be added to a land without Invaders?
  No, Strife can only be added directly to an Invader. If no Invaders are present, any instruction to add Strife is skipped.
  Tags: Strife, Bargain of Coursing Paths, A Real Flair for Discord (Grinning Trickster Stirs Up Trouble), Grinning Trickster Stirs Up Trouble, 0 more...

Power Cards

• If you use Bargain of Coursing Paths twice, can you move pieces back and forth between the marked lands an unlimited number of times?
  No, the first bargain can't trigger itself, even indirectly. In almost all cases, the pieces can move once from the first bargain and once from the second bargain, but won't move a third time.

  Cleverly overlapping multiple bargains in the same land(s) can squeeze out more than one move per bargain, but this is usually a waste of a bargain, rarely results in extra movement that matters, and grows in complexity far faster than it grows in utility. It is mentioned here only to acknowledge the possibility of constructing a situation where the above answer is technically incorrect, just not in a way that matters >99% of the time.
  Tags: Triggered Actions, Move, Bargain of Coursing Paths
• What happens if you gift Bargains of Power and Protection to another Spirit, who uses it? Now that the Reminder Card is in front of them, do you still get the benefit?
  The permanent effects of the Bargain persist and are associated with you even if you don't have the Power Card any more.

  It doesn't matter who the Reminder Card is in front of; it's just a reminder. If table configuration allows, it is probably most convenient to put the Reminder Card between the players who have used the Power Card so that they can all easily reference it.

  For example, if two Spirits each use Bargains of Power and Protection once, both of those Spirits grant Defend 1 to each Dahan within Range 1; it doesn't matter which one more recently used the Power. If a single Dahan is within Range 1 of both Spirits, that Dahan will provide Defend 2, since the two Defend 1 effects stack.

  Similarly if you Forget the Power, you continue to get the benefits and pay the costs, even if another Spirit eventually gains and uses it.
  Tags: Reminder Cards, Bargain, Bargains of Power and Protection, Bargain of Coursing Paths, 1 more...
• What happens if one Action adds or moves pieces into two lands that were marked by Bargain of Coursing Paths?
  They all move together to the same land, since that Action only triggers Bargain of Coursing Paths once.

  In the less common case that you move pieces into lands marked by different uses of Bargain of Coursing Paths, it'll trigger each of those bargains separately. Each bargain can then move pieces to a different destination land.
  Tags: Triggered Actions, Move, Bargain of Coursing Paths
• What sources of Energy gain do Bargains affect?
  All sources: Growth, Gain Energy, power effects, events, etc. It never actually takes away Energy you have banked, though.

  If you have trouble remembering to gain less Energy, covering up numbers on your Energy track can be an easy reminder.
  Tags: Energy, Bargain, Bargains of Power and Protection, Bargain of Coursing Paths, 0 more...
• Does the Energy Ocean’s Hungry Grasp gains from Drowning count as gaining Energy for the purpose of Bargains?
  Yes. Ocean doesn’t get to skip out of paying for its Bargains just because its main source of Energy isn’t one of the common sources.

  That being said, Ocean is not required to exchanged Drowned Invaders for Energy at a particular time, so it can save up Invaders on turns when it will not gain much Energy (avoiding fully paying for its Bargains on those turns) and then cash them out on a turn when it will gain a lot of Energy.
  Tags: Energy, Bargain, Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), Ocean's Hungry Grasp, 2 more...
• Can Bargain of Coursing Paths move pieces back into one of the marked lands?
  Yes. The pieces are still considered moved for the purpose of effects that check for that.

  This won't normally trigger Bargain of Coursing Paths again, since it can't trigger itself.
  Tags: Move, Triggered Actions, Bargain of Coursing Paths

Spirits and Innate Powers

• When exactly do you have to pay for Finder's rule Responsibilities to the Dead when you move something?
  When a Dahan or Invader is pushed in a way that:

  • Decreases the Health of that Dahan or Invader so it has now taken lethal Damage (one of many ways Finder's action can destroy the Dahan/Invaders with its own action);
  • Directly causes something else to destroy that Dahan or Invader (Finder directly triggering their destruction by moving them).

  The first case can happen by causing a Health penalty (e.g., Pushing into a Sacred Site of Rising Heat of Stone and Sand) or removing a Health bonus (e.g., Pushing Dahan out of a land with Infinite Vitality or Gathering a Durable Town into a land with Blight against Habsburg Monarchy Livestock Colony Level 4).

  The second case most commonly occurs when teaming up with Ocean's Hungry Grasp to Push Invaders into the Ocean, but can also occur with Powers like Melt Earth Into Quicksand and Call to Guard.

  If something prevents the destruction, then Finder does not need to pay. If one triggered action triggers another triggered action that causes destruction (like moving pieces into another Spirit's Bargain of Coursing Paths, which then moves those pieces to their destruction), this does not count as "directly triggering" the destruction.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Triggered Actions, Durable, Health, Responsibilities to the Dead (Finder of Paths Unseen), 8 more...
• When Dances Up Earthquakes gains Energy directly onto impending cards, is that Energy decreased by Bargains or increased by Back Against the Wall?
  No, those effects modify the Energy gained into a Spirit's individual Energy stockpile, not the amount gained onto impending cards.
  Tags: Bargain, Energy, Bargains of Power and Protection, Back Against the Wall, 4 more...
• Can Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine abduct pieces that can't move (e.g., because they're at the Lair Incarna)?
  No, abduct is a special form of movement and prevented by things that prevent movement.

  Similarly, escape is a special form of movement and is affected by things like Bargain of Coursing Paths.
  Tags: Move, Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine, Terror Stalks the Land (Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine), Lair Aspect (Lure of the Deep Wilderness), 3 more...