Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp)

Frequently Asked Questions

Aspects

• Does Damage from the Deeps Aspect drown Invaders?
  No, only drown Invaders if the instructions use the word "Drown," as in the second threshold.
  Tags: Damage, Deeps Aspect (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp)

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...

General Play

• What happens if a piece winds up in a place or state it's not allowed to be?
  Pieces representing humans (Dahan / Invaders) are cleaned up to the closest legal land — this is not considered a move, is not an action, and does not trigger anything, it is simply a correction of the game state. This happens only once you are not in the middle of an action, and there are no pending triggered actions (i.e., after each action tree), just before checking for victory/defeat. All other pieces remain where they are, but are considered out of play unless/until they're no longer in an illegal state.

  This sort of thing can happen if pieces survive the sinking of a board (like Dahan via Infinite Vitality with threshold or Explorers via the Tsardom of Russia's A Sense for Impending Disaster), if an Ocean stops being a land (by Ocean's Hungry Grasp losing its Presence there) while other Spirits' Presence is there, or if Invaders/Dahan are left in the Ocean after an action but manage not to Drown in some way.

  If the nearest legal land is unclear, use your best judgment, based on physical distance if necessary. If there is literally no legal land to put the pieces in, return them to the supply; this is still considered cleaning up (not an action, not a move/remove/destroy, does not trigger anything).
  Tags: Pieces, Illegally placed pieces, Victory and Defeat, Action tree, 6 more...

Power Cards

• What happens if you use Entwined Power to give another Spirit a card with Spirit-specific effects? (E.g., Absorb Essence, Swallow the Land-Dwellers)
  As usual, do as much as you legally can, skipping instructions you can't perform. However, Special Rules can define new types of effect (like "Drown") usable by anyone with a Power referencing it.

  More specifically:

  • Absorb Essence effectively becomes "Gain 3 Energy. Target Spirit gains Any Element and 1 Energy." (You cannot follow the instruction "Move 1 of target Spirit's Presence to your 'Deep Slumber' track", because you do not have a Deep Slumber track.)
  • Ocean's Special Rules define what "Drown" means: "Destroy Drowned pieces, placing Drowned Invaders here [on Ocean's playmat]." So if another Spirit Drowns an Invader, it is Destroyed (by that Spirit), then goes onto Ocean's playmat. Similarly, since Terror Stalks the Land defines what "Abduct" means, abducted pieces go to The Endless Dark whether or not Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine is the one using the Power.
  • Elemental Teachings lets other Spirits prepare Element Markers, but what what they can do with them depends on whether or not Shifting Memory of Ages is using an Aspect.
  • Powers that reference specific Incarna can still interact with that Incarna, but may be less effective.
  • While any Spirit could perform the effects of many of Fractured Days' Unique Powers, they can't pay the time cost to use them in the first place.
    Tags: Transferring Power Cards, Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), Entwined Power, Swallow the Land-Dwellers (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), 8 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...

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

• When Invaders have increased health, does Ocean's Hungry Grasp get a bonus when exchanging them for Energy?
  No. As the Special Rule says, ignore modifiers to Invader Health when trading Invaders for Energy.

  This applies to all modifiers, whether permanent (e.g., England Level 5) or temporary (e.g., the Event card Tight-Knit Communities).
  (Discussion elsewhere) (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Health, Kingdom of England, Tight-Knit Communities, Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), 2 more...
• When Ocean's Hungry Grasps drowns a Town or a City, is the Fear earned immediately?
  Yes.

  The Fear is earned immediately, not when the invader piece is eventually spent for Energy.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Ocean's Hungry Grasp, Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp)
• 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 Ocean's Hungry Grasp get to Drown invaders?
  Apart from specific power cards, Invaders are Drowned after they are moved into the ocean on a board where Ocean's Hungry Grasp has any Presence. They do not get drowned when moved in to any other land, and Ocean's Hungry Grasp does not need to have Presence that is actually in the ocean, just on the same board.

  They also do not get Drowned by any other means of Destroying the Invaders, even if it seems thematically appropriate. However an Invader is Drowned, they are Destroyed (causing Fear) and then placed on Ocean's mat for later conversion to Energy.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), Ocean's Hungry Grasp, Cast Down into the Briny Deep, Tsunami, 0 more...
• Does Drowning Dahan give energy to Ocean's Hungry Grasp?
  No. If Dahan are Drowned they are destroyed with no benefit.

  Thematically, the Energy gained is canceled out by the loss of propitiation from other Dahan.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Dahan, Ocean's Hungry Grasp, Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp)
• What happens if 1 or more Invaders/Dahan moved into the Ocean aren't successfully destroyed by the Ocean in Play special rule?
  Push them to non-Ocean lands (as part of the same action). If the Push also fails somehow (perhaps due to Isolate), the pieces will be left in an illegal state and cleaned up to the nearest land after all triggered actions complete – human pieces cannot remain in the Ocean between "action trees" (a primary action and all other actions following from it). Regardless, Ocean's Hungry Grasp does not get Energy for them.

  This isn't formally specified on Ocean's panel because it's virtually never relevant with just the core game, and spelling it out would both take up a lot of space and needlessly increase complexity / confusion-potential for players who only have the base game. However, it becomes very relevant when playing vs. The Habsburg Monarchy Lvl 4+ (Jagged Earth), which blunts "Destroy Town" effects; see this FAQ if you need details.

  The fact that the Push is part of the triggered action means that it can trigger further actions – e.g., Melt Earth Into Quicksand or Call to Guard in the land Pushed to – which cleaning up illegally placed pieces does not do.

  As a very specific edge-case, if the Ocean is also a normal land due to Weave Together the Fabric of Place, humans can hang out there without trouble (until end of turn when the effect expires).
  Tags: Illegally placed pieces, Triggered Actions, Push, Durable, 5 more...
• When Oceans are in play, can Invader or Dahan pieces remain in the Ocean if they avoid Drowning?
  No, Invaders and Dahan are not allowed to exist in the Ocean long-term. If one manages to get there without being Drowned, move them to the closest legal land after finishing resolution of whatever got them there.

  In the base game, the edge-case where this can happen is if Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares uses Vengeance of the Dead (with threshold) on the Ocean itself. A Town/City/Dahan is moved to the Ocean, triggering Ocean In Play which Drowns it. Drowning (destroying) it triggers Vengeance of the Dead. If Bringer deals VotD's "damage" in an adjacent land to "destroy" a Town or Explorer and Push it into the Ocean, Ocean In Play can't trigger again, because actions can't trigger themselves, even indirectly. So the Town/Explorer isn't Drowned.

  In theory it can also happen if you use Infinite Vitality (with threshold) on the Ocean then Push Dahan into the Ocean, though that's usually a pointless play.
  Tags: Triggered Actions, Pieces, Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares, 2 more...
• How much energy can Ocean's Hungry Grasp gain for Drowned invaders?
  For every X health worth of invaders, Ocean gains 1 energy, where X is the number of players. For instance, in a 4-player game, Ocean can trade 1 Town and 2 Explorers for 1 energy.

  You can make change as needed. For instance, in a 2-player game, Ocean can trade 1 City for 1 energy and 1 Explorer.
  Tags: Ocean's Hungry Grasp, Drowning (Ocean's Hungry Grasp)