Defend

Errata / Updates

Effect Rules

• Branch & Claw - 3rd printing
  Errata for B&C rulebook, p. 15: -- A bullet-point was missed; it should read, "◦ Defend Powers apply each time the Invaders do Damage in a land.
 ◦ Each time the land itself is Damaged is separate ... "
  Tags: Rulebook, Defend

Frequently Asked Questions

Event Cards

• When an Event deals damage to Dahan, is the damage reduced by Defend powers?
  Generally no, since it is the Event and not the Invaders that's dealing damage.

  However, Events can harm Dahan in ways that Defend can prevent:

  • If an Event causes a Ravage or increases Ravage Damage, then the ravaging Invaders are the ones dealing the Damage, and Defend works like normal.
  • If an Event explicitly makes Invaders deal Damage to Dahan (e.g., "Raiding and Retaliation" making each Town and City deal 1 Damage to Dahan) rather than generically dealing Damage in a land with Invaders, then Defend reduces that Damage unless the Event explicitly says it doesn't.
    (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Damage, Dahan, Disease, Defend, 10 more...

Fear and Fear Cards

• Does Dahan on their Guard *(In each land, 1 Defense per Dahan)* provide Defense based on the number of Dahan at the time the Fear card was revealed or when the Ravage happens?
  For island-wide effects like Dahan on their Guard, you check the number of Dahan there when the Invaders do damage (usually in the Ravage).

  This applies to all Event / Fear cards that affect all lands with (some contents) - you treat it as a game-wide rule for the turn, so you don't have to keep track of where pieces used to be across the entire board. Powers which affect all lands of a particular type work the same way, for the same reason.

  Powers which affect only one land check land contents at the moment of use, again to minimize required memory: it's easier to remember "this specific land has Defend 3" than "this land has Defend equal to the number of Dahan in it at the time".

  Unusual cases:

  • The Coordinated Strikes Event checks "are there 3 or more Dahan?" immediately to see where Damage happens, then again later on (when it's relevant) for the Defend.
  • The Trees and Stones Speak of War Major Power provides per-Dahan Defense that moves with the Dahan if you hit the threshold (because the threshold explicitly says so).
    (Discussion elsewhere) (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Defend, Dahan on their Guard, Belief Takes Root, Canny Defense, 11 more...

General Play

• 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...

Invader Actions

• Does Defend guard both the land and Dahan? Eg, if the Invaders attack for 3 Damage in a land with Defend 2, does the Defend 2 block damage to both the land and the Dahan?
  Yes. The Defend 2 will reduce the 3 damage to 1, which is then applied to both the land and the Dahan. (And is not enough to add Blight / destroy a Dahan.)

  A few Powers treat damage to Dahan and to the land differently: Concealing Shadows will only protect the Dahan, for instance.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Defend, Ravage
• If Invaders Ravage twice in the same round, how does Defend work? If each Ravage deals 1 damage to the land, do you add a Blight?
  Resolve the second Ravage just looking the current pieces on the board and ongoing effects; you don't need to remember if or how many times the Invaders previously Ravaged there that turn.

  In particular:

  • Defend applies each time the Invaders deal Damage in a land – it isn't "used up" in the first Ravage.
  • Each time the land itself is damaged is separate – it does not accumulate Damage during a turn the way Invaders and Dahan do. Only add a Blight when a single instance of Damage is enough to cause Blight.
  • Similarly, Blight can be added to a land multiple times in a turn. Check each time the land takes Damage.
    Tags: Ravage, Blight, Defend

Power Cards

• On the threshold effect of "The Trees and Stones Speak of War", do the Pushed Dahan each bring "Defend 2" with them, or "Defend 2 per Dahan"?
  Defend 2.

  If you have 5 Dahan in the target land, then Push 2 of them to two different adjacent lands, you'll end up with a Defend 6, a Defend 2, and a Defend 2, no matter how many/few Dahan are in the Pushed-to lands. (If you'd Pushed both Dahan to the same land, you'd end up with a Defend 6 and a Defend 4.)

  If the Defend is boosted in some way in target land, that bonus Defend stays in target land and can't be moved with the Dahan. If this Power is boosted to move more than 2 Dahan, Defend 2 moves with each of those additional moved Dahan. (Later moving the Dahan with another Power doesn't move the Defend with them.)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Defend, Push, Dahan, The Trees and Stones Speak of War, 1 more...
• 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...
• Do Defend effects stack normally with Weave Together the Fabric of Place?
  Yes, if you join a land with Defend 3 and another land with Defend 4, the combined land has Defend 7.

  Similarly, if one land was Isolated before the join, then the joint land will be isolated afterwards, or if Dahan got a Health bonus in one land, they would now get it in the joint land.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Isolate, Defend, Health, Weave Together the Fabric of Place, 0 more...
• If you use Encompassing Ward ("Defend 2 in every land where Target Spirit has Presence"), then the target Spirit moves some of their Presence, does the Defend move/change?
  Changed answer: Yes. The Power modifies the target Spirit so it provides Defend 2 in any lands where it happens to have Presence at that moment.

  This is for consistency with other effects that alter an entire class of things, mostly on Fear Cards and Event Cards. Powers that affect a single land, or a land and its neighbors (e.g., Bloodwrack Plague; Prey On the Builders) – check state at the moment they resolve.

  This is entirely for ease of play. For a single-land effect, it's much easier to check prerequisites at the moment of resolution and not have to remember, e.g., "oh, I need to leave a Beasts in this land to cancel the Build". For widespread effects, it's much easier to remember a general rule like "Invaders skip actions in lands with 2 or more Dahan" than it is to note and remember every single land with 2 or more Dahan at that moment, and keep that memory until the Ravage happens.
  Tags: Defend, Changed rulings, Encompassing Ward, Bargains of Power and Protection, 2 more...
• Do damage boosts affect the damage from the threshold effect of "Instruments of their Own Ruin"? Do Strife and Defend?
  Damage boosts (e.g., from Sweden level 3) usually do affect it, as they are still Ravaging. Strife and Defend do not, as the Invaders are damaging other Invaders.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Strife, Damage, Defend, Instruments of their Own Ruin, 0 more...

Range and Targeting

• If a Spirit's Power adds an ongoing effect in a land (e.g., Defend), does that effect go away if the Spirit can no longer meet the Range & Target requirements, or any conditional requirements in the Power?
  No, Range and Target requirements are only checked at the start of using a Power, and conditional requirements are checked when you reach that line in the effect text. Once the Power has added the ongoing effect in a specific land, that effect remains until Time Passes.

  Powers that alter an entire class of things, such as all of a Spirit's Presence, instead update their affected lands throughout the turn.
  Tags: Range, Targeting, Defend, Timing, 0 more...

Spirits and Innate Powers

• Does hitting both the first and second thresholds of Downpour's 'Rain and Mud Suppress Conflict' reduce Dahan counterattack damage to 0 in Downpour's lands?
  No. The total counterattack damage is reduced, not the damage per Dahan. (You can intuitively think of it as Defend that also protects the Invaders from the Dahan.)
  Tags: Ravage, Defend, Rain and Mud Suppress Conflict (Downpour Drenches the World)
• For the Fire/Sun level of Why Don't You and Them fight, do the Dahan and Invader damage each other simultaneously? Does Defend help? Does Strife help?
  Yes, yes, and yes. As usual, if Strife is used, remove 1 Strife.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Strife, Defend, Dahan, Invaders, 2 more...
• Can Eyes use its Dahan Trust the Watchers special rule to Gather Dahan when targeting a Spirit with Encompassing Ward?
  No. Even if all of target Spirit's Presence is in one land, the Power doesn't add Defend to the land, but rather grants the Spirit a new effect.
  Tags: Defend, Encompassing Ward, Dahan Trust the Watchers (Eyes Watch From the Trees), Eyes Watch From the Trees, 5 more...
• If Eyes Watch From the Trees uses the threshold of *The Trees and Stones Speak of War*, do they get to Gather a Dahan afterwards? If so, when?
  Yes, they may Gather 1 Dahan into the target land after the Power is 100% finished (including the threshold, even if the threshold Pushes out all of the Dahan).

  It works because The Trees and Stones Speak of War only adds Defend to a single land. (The threshold effect may then move some of that Defend around.)

  Note that Eyes' bonus Gather will not move any Defend with the Dahan. That's a special feature of The Trees and Stones Speak of War.
  Tags: Defend, Move, Dahan, The Trees and Stones Speak of War, 2 more...
• If Downpour Drenches the World has the elements for the first two thresholds of Rain and Mud Suppress Conflict, does it get Defend 2 per Presence?
  Yes. Effects of innate powers are cumulative unless otherwise specified.
  Tags: Defend, Rain and Mud Suppress Conflict (Downpour Drenches the World)