Call to Guard

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...

Effect Rules

• What counts as "adding" a piece (e.g., adding an Invader for "Confounding Mists")?
  A new piece getting placed on the island.

  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 components representing that entity have changed, the entity itself is not a new arrival.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Replace, Push, Gather, Move, 36 more...

General Play

• 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."
  Tags: Resolving Powers, Range Boosts, Speed (Fast/Slow), Targeting, 59 more...
• If you "move" a piece to where it was (Range 0), does it still trigger effects like Wildfire's Blazing Presence?
  Yes, the piece has still formally moved. It never leaves the land, however, so would not trigger, e.g., Shifting Memory's "Observe the Ever-Changing World," because the pieces in the land have not changed.

  Thematically, the piece has moved within the land.

  Note that if you use "add Presence" to instead reposition Presence already on the island (usually because you have run out – sidebar p.14 core rules), that is still considered an "add" rather than a "move".

  The Glossary entry for "move" was written before considering these cases.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Repositioning Presence, Move, Blazing Presence (Heart of the Wildfire), Wrap in Wings of Sunlight, 7 more...
• What's the timing of ongoing effects expiring?
  All "this turn" effects wear off at the same time. For now, assume all normal Time Passes activity (discard, lose elements, clear damage, ongoing effects expire) is simultaneous. Cards like "Gift of Constancy" (which modify discarding Powers) or "Unquenchable Flames" work because they explicitly specify a timing.

  Rules for non-standard things that happen during Time Passes (like Shroud of Silent Mist's "Slow and Silent Death") can be done before or after effects wearing off unless otherwise specified.

  If it ever becomes clear that there really ought to be some sort of internal ordering to Time Passes, we'll call out that ordering in whatever expansion / FAQ it becomes relevant.
  Tags: Time Passes, Timing, Defend, Action Modifiers, 38 more...

Power Cards

• If a Power has a conditional effect (e.g., Defend if a Sacred Site is present), does the effect persist when the condition changes?
  Yes, unless specified otherwise.

  You evaluate the condition when the Power is executed, not when the effect happens. For instance, "The Trees and Stones Speak of War" (without the threshold) gives Damage and Defense per Dahan present at the time you execute the power, not Dahan present during the Ravage Step.

  This only applies to Powers with a localized effect. “Everywhere” effects that modify an entire class of things operate differently.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Defend, Guardian Serpents, Prey on the Builders (Sharp Fangs behind the Leaves), The Trees and Stones Speak of War, 13 more...
• Does an "or" line on a power divide the entire card?
  No. The "or" line only applies to the clauses immediately above and below the line, without extra whitespace.

  For example, if you use Crops Wither and Fade, you always gain 2 fear and then you may choose whether you are replacing a City or a Town. On the other hand, on Tormenting Rotflies, you either choose everything above the "or" or everything below it.

  To be explicit, the following cards have clauses that are not part of the "or" choice (separated by whitespace): Crops Wither and Fade; Growth Through Sacrifice; Sacrosanct Wilderness; Gift of the Primordial Deeps; Gift of Flowing Power; Call to Guard; Vanish Softly Away, Forgotten by All; Thickets Erupt with Every Touch of Breeze
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Crops Wither and Fade (Shadows Flicker Like Flame), Growth Through Sacrifice, Sacrosanct Wilderness (Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds), Gift of the Primordial Deeps (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), 15 more...

Spirits and Innate Powers

• When exactly do you have to pay for Finder's rule Responsibilities to the Dead when you move something?
  There are two cases where Finder of Paths Unseen must pay:

  • When they move a piece in a way that decreases the Health of a damaged Invader/Dahan so it has now taken lethal Damage (one of many ways Finder's action can destroy the Dahan/Invaders with its own action);
  • When they move an Invader/Dahan in a way that directly triggers their destruction by another action (Finder directly triggering their destruction by moving them).

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

  The second case most commonly occurs in conjunction with Powers like "Melt Earth Into Quicksand" and "Call to Guard," and when teaming up with Ocean's Hungry Grasp to Push Invaders into the Ocean (but not when moving Heart of the Wildfire's Presence, since moving the Invaders/Dahan isn't what triggers "Blazing Presence").

  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 into another Spirit's "Melt Earth Into Quicksand"), 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...
• If Finder of Paths Unseen moves Invaders to their destruction, and that destruction is also due to Finder's triggered action, does "Responsibilities to the Dead" happen once or twice? (e.g., Finder uses "Melt Earth into Quicksand" on a land, then later Pushes some Invaders there.)
  Once.

  As written, it "should" happen twice (once for moving the Invaders to their doom, once for being the one who actually destroys them), but that's not the mechanical or thematic intent. The condition can be read as, "After Dahan/Invaders are destroyed by one of your actions or an action you directly triggered by moving those Dahan/Invaders..."
  Tags: Responsibilities to the Dead (Finder of Paths Unseen), Melt Earth Into Quicksand, Call to Guard