Explore

Frequently Asked Questions

Adversaries

• When Scotland Explores into Coastal Lands, what happens if there's an Isolated Coastal land? Do the other 2 Coastal lands on that board both have to add 1 Town, or can one get an Explorer?
  Both non-Isolated Coastal lands get 1 Town. (And the Isolated land isn't explored.)

  This happens whenever one of the Explores is prevented for whatever reason.
  Tags: Explore, Isolate, Wilds, Skipping Actions, 1 more...
• Does Sweden's Escalation effect happen if no Explorer was added?
  No, the Invaders have to successfully Explore in order to trigger the effect.

  It doesn't matter whether the Explore failed because of a lack of sources of exploration or from some other effect (eg, the Fear card Avoid the Dahan).
  (Discussion elsewhere) (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Stage II escalation, Explore, Wilds, Isolate, 2 more...
• Against the Habsburg Mining Expedition at Level 6, can the Explore Actions from Mining Tunnels (Escalation) get extra Explorers from The Empire Ascendant (Level 6)?
  No, Mining Tunnels doesn't happen during the Explore Step, so The Empire Ascendant can't modify it.
  Tags: Explore, Habsburg Mining Expedition
• When Fortune-Seekers modifies the Salt Deposits card against the Habsburg Mining Expedition, which lands match the Explore Card?
  The ones without Towns/Cities.

  “Non-Mining lands” is a printed land type on the Salt Deposits card, even if it’s not a standard one, so it gets replaced by the condition from Fortune-Seekers.
  Tags: Matches, Explore, Fortune-Seekers, Habsburg Mining Expedition, 0 more...
• The Kingdom of France's "Frontier Explorers" adds +1 Explorer when Exploring into a land without a Town/City. What happens with the Promising Farmland Event? <i>("When Exploring, on each board, add 1 Town instead of 1 Explorer.")</i>
  You add +1 Explorer as normal for France, regardless of whether a given land got a Town instead of an Explorer.

  You check for Towns/Cities to see whether Frontier Explorers triggers before the Explore adds new pieces.
  Tags: Explore, Kingdom of France, Promising Farmland (Event)

Event Cards

• Playing with an Archipelago, Distant Exploration comes up (Invaders Explore at +1 distance). There's an empty islet with an Isolated Ocean. Can Invaders Explore its Coastal lands from facing islet's Coastal lands?
  Only if you want to permit it. The "range 2" that Coastal lands are away from each other does need to measure through both board's Oceans, even though "2" isn't the additive number of steps to do so.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Archipelago, Explore, Range, Isolate, 1 more...

Invader Actions

• If a region is adjacent to or contains more than one source of Invaders, do you add more than one Explorer?
  No, you only add one Explorer if there is a source of Invaders, regardless of how many Cities, Towns, or Oceans are around or in it. (See p. 10 and Explore Examples C and D on p. 11)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Explore
• When an Explore Card adds new sources of Invaders (e.g., adding a Towns via Kingdom of Scotland Level 1 or the Event "Promising Farmland") are the Invaders able to immediately Explore from that new source?
  No. When resolving an Explore Card, first you note which lands have nearby sources, then you resolve all Explore Actions in those lands — in an order of your choice, if relevant.

  Nevertheless, if there is a second Explore Card (e.g., due to the Explorers are Reluctant Fear Card), the new sources will matter for that Explore Card.

  This applies similarly to Build Cards and Ravage Cards, though adding new Invaders can increase the Damage of a Ravage that would already happen.
  Tags: Explore, Ordering, Kingdom of Scotland, Promising Farmland (Event), 1 more...
• When doing an Invader action (Explore, Build, or Ravage), can you choose which lands they act in first?
  Yes. The card tells you which lands to act in, but then the players can choose which of those lands happen first. At Invader Stage III, you can do lands of the two shown terrains in any order; you don't need to fully resolve one terrain before resolving the other terrain.

  The order Explore Actions rarely matters, even if those Explores add a new source of Invaders. Similarly, the order of Build Actions rarely matters, even against Kingdom of England Level 1+.

  The order does sometimes matter for Ravages, due to Blight cascades, flipping the Blight Card, or uncommon effects that change the amount of Invaders in a land that is already Ravaging, but the order won't change which lands Ravage even against Kingdom of Sweden Level 5+ or Tsardom of Russia Level 3+.

  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Explore, Build, Ravage, Ordering, 0 more...
• What does the "Coastal" invader card do? Is it worse than the other Stage II cards?
  It means that you Explore (and later Build and Ravage) in all Coastal lands on each board, 3 lands per board on the standard size.

  If you are playing against an Adversary, the flag effect on the other Stage II cards is meant to make them approximately equal. Without an Adversary, this card is worse than the other Stage II cards.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Explore, Flag Effect, Stage II escalation, Coastal Lands invader card, 0 more...
• I'm confused - when do restrictions like "there must be Invaders" for Build and "there must be a source of Explorers" for Explore apply?
  Those apply when resolving Invader Cards - specifically, when making a list of what lands match the Invader Card (JE rulebook p. 27)

  If an Event tells you to perform a single Build action - eg, "On Each Board: Build in a land with Dahan" - you don't check whether that land has Invaders.

  But if it tells you to resolve an entire Build Step / Build Card for a particular terrain, it works just like it would if you had a physical card - you're making a list of which lands match, so the normal Build/Explore restrictions apply. The Events "Fortification" and "New Cash Crops Take Hold" work this way (and do not usually build in empty lands), though it's not how they're phrased. (See the Errata in the JE rulebook p. 27)
  Tags: Build, Explore, Ravage, Events, 2 more...
• During Explore, do you still add an Explorer if there is already an Explorer, Town, or City in that land?
  Yes, if there is a source of invaders, you add one Explorer, whether or not there is anything there already.

  A Town or City in the land itself does count as a source of Invaders. (See Explore Example A on p. 11.)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Explore, Explorer
• When an Invader card shows two terrain types, do they Explore (or Build, or Ravage) in every region of both terrains?
  Yes, they will act in every terrain of the shown type, subject to the usual restrictions that the region be accessible for Explore or that invaders be present for Build or Ravage.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Explore, Terrain

Power Cards

• If A Year of Perfect Stillness or Paralyzing Fright is used on a land, can that land still be a source for Exploration?
  Yes. (If it has a Town or City, of course.)

  The cards say to "Skip all actions in target land". The Explore Action is performed only in lands of the type shown on the Invader Card. The process of resolving an Explore Action checks to see what's in adjacent lands - but the Explore Action isn't happening there, so can't be skipped there.
  Tags: Explore, Paralyzing Fright, A Year of Perfect Stillness (Vital Strength of the Earth)

Scenarios

• In the Surges of Colonization scenario, are the Explore Cards on surge turns resolved simultaneously or sequentially?
  Sequentially, just like for other effects that resolve more than one Explore Card in a single turn.

  Explorers added in the first card will be sources of Explorers for the second card. Also, if a land matches multiple cards, it can get Explored multiple times.
  Tags: Explore, Invader deck, Surges of Colonization
• What does "When exploring" mean? (e.g., the Blitz scenario) Can I add the extra Explorer anywhere I want?
  On each board, in one of the lands the Invaders successfully Explored, add an extra Explorer.

  If the Invaders are entirely prevented from Exploring on a board, then they don't add any extra Explorer. If there are multiple Explore Cards during a single turn, the effect happens for each of them. The event "Promising Farmland" from Branch & Claw works the same way.

  For Blitz, this does affect the initial Explore during Setup.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Explore, Blitz, Promising Farmland (Event)

Setup

• Is the initial Explore considered part of Setup *(for, e.g., France Level 1)*?
  Yes, the initial Explore is the very last part of setup (unless otherwise modified).

  France Level 6 (Persistent Explorers) applies, as does anything else that keys off of resolving "an Explore Card".

  (It is not 'the Explore Step', which is a structural part of the Invader Phase.)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Explore, Kingdom of France