Destroy

Frequently Asked Questions

Adversaries

• For Durable Invaders from Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 4, what exactly counts as a ‘Destroy all’ effect?
  Only “Destroy everything” or “Destroy all (piece) (in a land or lands)”, like “Destroy all Explorer/Town.” Effects limiting the destruction by something the piece has or did (e.g., “is damaged”, “was just moved”, “has Strife”) are not considered “destroy all” and are converted to Damage like all other destroy effects.

  This is most relevant for Ocean's Hungry Grasp, which has “After Invaders/Dahan are moved into the Ocean, Destroy them”; since this limits what gets destroy to “pieces that moved”, it's not a “destroy all”.
  Tags: Durable, Destroy, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), Ocean In Play (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), 4 more...
• Against France Level 6, can Fear cards destroy Explorers?
  Yes.

  The Persistent Explorers effect only says it prevents Explorers from being "removed", so Fear cards that "destroy" Explorers work as usual.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Remove, Destroy, Kingdom of France

Definitions

• When does destroying a Town or City cause Fear?
  Always, regardless of how it's destroyed: directly via a Power that says to destroy one, from damage done by a Power, from damage done by Dahan counterattacking, due to a Spirit's special rules, from a Fear or Event card, etc. [p. 18]

  Fear from destruction is independent of any explicit Fear the Power does - e.g., Lightning's Shatter Homesteads reads "1 Fear. Destroy 1 Town." It will usually generate 2 Fear: 1 explicitly, and 1 for destroying a Town.

  Note that when you remove or replace a Town or City, it does NOT cause any automatic Fear. Removing Invaders happens most frequently via Fear Cards, and usually represents the Invaders fleeing, which doesn't make them any more afraid. Replacing an Invader represents some sort of transformation or change; if it's a scary change, the effect will explicitly specify how much Fear to do.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Destroy, Fear, Dahan, Ravage, 10 more...

Effect Rules

• Unlike for other Incarna, there is no way to bring back the Incarna of the Lair and Warrior Aspects. What happens if those Incarna get Destroyed/Removed/Replaced?
  They usually remain in the Incarna supply for the rest of the game, since there's normally no way to bring them back[†]. Letting this happen is generally not a good idea. Fortunately, it is effectively impossible to Destroy, Remove, or Replace an Incarna without deliberately trying to do so, since the owner can choose to count the Incarna as no piece other than itself, and very few effects Destroy, Remove, or Replace pieces in general.

  [†] As of the release of Nature Incarnate, the only way to restore these Incarna is via the optional high-tracking rules for Fragments of Yesteryear.
  Tags: Remove, Destroy, Replace, Incarna, 3 more...
• Do "destroy N fewer Dahan" effects protect Dahan against all forms of destruction (including by damage)?
  Yes.
  Tags: Destroy, Share Secrets of Survival (Shifting Memory of Ages), Birds Cry Warning, Offer Passage Between Worlds (Finder of Paths Unseen), 0 more...
• The Violence Aspect and An Ominous Dawn / Waving Resolve both check for Power Cards with specific instructions. Are there any Power Cards that use the specific words but don’t count?
  Yes, the ones that use those words as part of a different instruction – or as part of no instruction at all! The Violence Aspect checks for Powers that actively do Damage or Destroy things, while An Ominous Dawn and Wavering Resolve check for Powers that add Fear, not just reference Fear as a concept.

  The Violence Aspect has no special interactions with Powers that:

  • Change how or how much Damage is done by something else, like Concealing Shadows and Flame's Fury;
  • Save pieces from destruction, like Birds Cry Warning and Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By;
  • Check when pieces are destroyed, like Portents of Disaster;
  • Interact with damaged/destroyed pieces, like Gift of Abundance and Vanish Softly Away, Forgotten by All; or
  • Only include "Damage" or "Destroy" in their reminder text, like Dread Apparitions and Stubborn Solidity

  (Some Power Cards, like Instruments of Their Own Ruin, fit into one or more of the above categories but also Damage or Destroy pieces, so the Violence Aspect can use its extra plays on them.)

  As of the release of Nature Incarnate, there are no Power Cards with the Fear symbol that don’t generate Fear, so An Ominous Dawn and Wavering Resolve have no sneaky exceptions. Also see this FAQ about Gift of Wind-Sped Steps, which has similar conditions, but for Gather and Push.
  Tags: Checking for instructions, Damage, Destroy, Fear, 3 more...
• Is it possible to Remove, Replace, or Destroy an Incarna that is counting only at itself?
  Yes, with either Fragments of Yesteryear or thresholded Cast Down Into the Briny Deep. If you don’t have an easy way to get your Incarna back, using either of those Powers near your Incarna is not recommended.
  Tags: Destroy, Remove, Replace, Incarna, 2 more...
• Does "you can't destroy the same Invader twice in one action" also apply to Presence destruction?
  Yes — a single action can't destroy the same Presence more than once.

  This can happen with Flowing and Silent Forms Dart by in concert with anything that adds Blight one after another in multiple lands, like cascades or Volcano's Explosive Eruption.
  Tags: Destroy, Saved From Destruction, Blight, Presence, 4 more...

Power Cards

• If you have a choice between destroying a normal Beasts token and a Beasts token marked by Unearth a Beast of Wrathful Stone, can you pick the marked Beasts? If so, what happens?
  Yes, you can pick the marked Beasts, and it's generally advantageous to do so: if it would be destroyed, removed, or replaced, skip those effects.

  It won't count as destroyed, removed, or replaced for effects that scale off the number of Beasts that leave the board, like A Dreadful Tide of Scurrying Flesh or Pent-Up Calamity.
  Tags: Destroy, Remove, Replace, Unearth a Beast of Wrathful Stone, 12 more...
• When a Power generates Fear directly and also destroys a Town or City, do you get Fear both times?
  Yes. For instance, on Lightning Swift Strike's power card Shatter Homesteads, you get 1 Fear directly, then (if you successfully destroyed a Town), get an extra Fear from that. Similarly if you trigger the more powerful effect of Rituals of Destruction (Vital Strength of the Earth).
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Fear, Destroy, Shatter Homesteads (Lightning's Swift Strike), Rituals of Destruction (Vital Strength of the Earth), 0 more...

Scenarios

• If playing Ocean's Hungry Grasp in the Despicable Theft Scenario, can you Drown Thieves if 2 Dahan are pushed into the Ocean in the same action? What if a Town is also Pushed in?
  Yes. The Thief would return to its supply as usual, though, and Ocean's Hungry Grasp wouldn't get Energy for it.

  It doesn't matter if Towns/Cities are pushed into the Ocean as well, because you can check the "no Towns/Cities" condition before or after the action.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Destroy, Despicable Theft, Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp)

Spirits and Innate Powers

• Can Fear/Event actions destroy Invaders in The Endless Dark?
  Yes. While Event and Fear Card actions generate Fear rather than removing Invaders, those actions are free to destroy, damage, replace, or otherwise harm the Invaders in any way that doesn't use the keyword "Remove" (other than downgrading Explorers, since that's defined as removing them).

  Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine has no such restrictions with its own Powers, and is free to Remove Invaders or Downgrade Explorers like normal.
  Tags: Remove, Replace, Damage, Destroy, 3 more...
• When Relentless Gaze of the Sun uses Consider a Harmonious Nature to destroy Presence instead of adding Blight, which Presence can it pick?
  It can destroy any of its own Presence anywhere on the island, which includes Presence in The Endless Dark.

  Gaze can't destroy Presence that's not on the island, including:

  • On its Presence Tracks
  • Removed from the game, e.g., by a Bargain
  • Under the effects of Absolute Stasis
  • On Serpent's Deep Slumber Track
    Tags: Destroy, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Deep Slumber (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), Consider a Harmonious Nature (Relentless Gaze of the Sun), 2 more...
• What happens if the Durable Towns of Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 4 are moved into the Ocean? Do they Drown? Does Ocean's Hungry Grasp gain Energy?
  Maybe. Drowning is a special form of Destroy, so it works just like a restricted Destroy effect ("2 Damage to those Towns only" per Town moved into the Ocean). It only grants Energy for Invaders successfully destroyed by that Destroy instruction.

  E.g., After you move a Town into an Ocean, the Town takes 2 Damage. If that’s enough to Destroy it (because the Ocean has Blight or the Town was already Damaged), then it Drowns normally. Otherwise, it follows the usual rules for Invaders/Dahan that fail to drown in the Ocean: you Push it to a non-Ocean land. If the land it goes to has Blight, it will immediately be Destroyed, but Ocean’s Hungry Grasp will not gain Energy.

  If 4 undamaged Towns are pushed into the Ocean with a single Action, that results in “8 Damage to those Towns only”, which you could distribute as you wished. If you used it to immediately Destroy 2 of the Towns, those Towns would be successfully Drowned and grant Energy.
  Tags: Destroy, Durable, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), Ocean In Play (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), 2 more...
• When does Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine check if a piece is alone for the purpose of abducting it?
  Just before resolving the sentence with the Damage/Destroy instruction.

  The "+" before Damage in Power thresholds (e.g., on Accelerated Rot) is non-functional; that's a separate Damage instruction from the one in the main Power effect.
  Tags: Damage, Destroy, Timing, Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine, 1 more...
• As Volcano, when destroying your own Presence for Explosive Eruption, can that Presence be saved (by, e.g., Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By)?
  Yes, but not usefully. It doesn't count towards the eruption thresholds (because they check the # of Presence actually destroyed) or for Collapse In a Blast of Lava and Steam (because "destroy" gets replaced with "push" before the rule "when your Presence is destroyed, deal damage" kicks in).

  Prior to the ruling that cancellation/replacement always happens before changes/additions, you could decide on the ordering, and apply Collapse In a Blast of Lava and Steam's damage before Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By's substitution. but this is no longer true.
  Tags: Saved From Destruction, Action Modifiers, Presence, Destroy, 4 more...
• When Volcano uses Explosive Eruption vs Russia 2+, can it Push 1 Explorer from the origin land (when it does damage by destroying Presence) then destroy that Explorer using the thresholds of the innate which deal damage to nearby lands? Does it Push the Explorer again?
  No, and no. Powers can't destroy Invaders that were saved from destruction earlier in that same action, so the runaway Explorer is safe. And all the damage is part of a single action, so you only Push them (and generate Fear) once.

  The damage from destroying your Presence is part of the same action because the Special Rule says "When you destroy your Presence..." - it modifies how other actions work while they're happening.
  Tags: Destroy, Saved From Destruction, Action Modifiers, Explosive Eruption (Volcano Looming High), 2 more...