Hearth Vigil

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...

Definitions

• When counting how many Invaders are in a land, are you counting pieces? Or do Towns count as 2 and Cities as 3?
  You're counting pieces.

  "Invader" in the Glossary is defined as "A City, Town, or Explorer", so a land with three Towns and a City has four Invaders in it.

  (A few effects instead key off of "N Health worth of Invaders", and in those cases Towns and Cities generally count for 2 and 3, respectively.)

  Similarly if checking if Dahan "outnumber" Invaders, you are counting physical pieces.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Invaders, Health, Town, City, 11 more...

Effect Rules

• If an Invader or Dahan is in a land where it has a Health bonus, takes Damage equal to its normal Health, and then gets moved into a land where it has no Health bonus, where is it actually destroyed? (E.g., for *Vengeance of the Dead*)
  The Invader/Dahan is destroyed in the destination land.

  There's no “in between” state where it loses its Health bonus for being out of the first land, but hasn’t yet arrived in the second land; it’s either in the first land and has a Health bonus or in the second land and doesn’t have a Health bonus.

  Moving a damaged piece into a land where it has a Health penalty works similarly.
  Tags: Health, Damage, Triggered Actions, Durable, 16 more...
• What counts as "adding" a piece (e.g., adding an Invader for Confounding Mists)?
  A new piece getting placed on the board.
  

  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 pieces representing that entity have changed, the entity itself is not a new arrival.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Replace, Push, Gather, Move, 11 more...
• If two effects change when Dahan in a land do Damage (e.g., Words of Warning and Warn of Impending Conflict), which one takes precedence?
  Your choice. So in this example, the best outcome is usually applying Words of Warning first to make all Dahan do Damage at the same time as Invaders, and then using Warn of Impending Conflict to make some of those Dahan strike first. (If you applied them in the other order, then all Dahan would do Damage at the same time as Invaders, since Words of Warning would overwrite Warn of Impending Conflict.)

  Overwriting a timing change doesn't overwrite any other part of the effect. The Event Engage on Their Own Terms will still reduce Dahan Damage even if something else changes when Dahan do Damage.
  Tags: Timing, Ravage, Action Modifiers, Engage on Their Own Terms, 5 more...
• When instructed to "Repeat this Power", do you have to obey the range/target land restrictions?
  Only if it doesn't tell you where to Repeat it. If a Repeat specifies where to use it, you obey those instructions instead of the usual Range and Target restrictions (p. 19) even if the land would normally be untargetable. In the rare case that the origin land matters when instructed to Repeat a Power in a specific land, it's the same origin land as the original power use.

  For example, The Land Thrashes in Furious Pain could be Repeated on an adjacent land without Blight.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Repeat, Targeting, Range, The Land Thrashes in Furious Pain, 19 more...

Elements and Elemental Thresholds

• Can the different thresholds of an innate power be used separately?
  No, the thresholds are all part of a single power. All effects must be used on the same target land (or same target Spirit), and you use the effects of every threshold you meet{1}, in the order they're printed{2}.

  For example, Lightning's Swift Strike's innate power of Thundering Destruction used with 5 Fire, 4 Air, and 1 Water can destroy two buildings in the same land, but it cannot destroy two buildings in different lands. Even the final threshold on Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island's Serpent Rouses in Anger targets a single land, although it affects all lands on the board in addition to the one that it targets.

  One sort-of-exception: innate powers that say "Repeat this Power," like A Spread of Rampant Green's innate Creepers Tear into Mortar. When a power is Repeated, you use the power from the beginning, which means you can target a new land.

  {1} = You are allowed to pretend you have fewer Elements than you really do — e.g., to activate only the lower level of an innate — but that decision is made for the entire Power, not each threshold individually. Once you've chosen, you must activate every threshold those elements qualify for. Particularly, for Shadows Flicker Like Flames' innate power Darkness Swallows the Unwary, there is no set of elements which can activate the second threshold without also activating the first threshold. If you destroy 2 Explorers to earn fear, you must first gather an explorer (if able).

  {2} = Effects which modify Speed, Range, or targeting obviously apply when you check Speed / Range / targeting.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Elements, Lightning's Swift Strike, A Spread of Rampant Green, Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island, 15 more...

General Play

• When you return presence to your tracks, can you cover one of the leftmost solid-circle spaces that start the game without presence?
  No, the leftmost spaces with solid circles cannot be covered by presence.

  Similarly, "Bonus" spaces, which start uncovered, can never be covered.
  Tags: Presence track, Bonus Spaces, Volcano Looming High, Fractured Days Split the Sky, 5 more...

Invader Actions

• If an effect changes when Dahan deal Damage in Ravage (e.g., Words of Warning), is that Damage in addition to or instead of the normal Damage after Invaders?
  Instead of. Each Dahan only deals Damage once.
  Tags: Ravage, Timing, Action Modifiers, Engage on Their Own Terms, 5 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 "Entwined Power" (you and target Spirit may use each others’ Presence to target Powers) also allow you to count the other Spirit's Presence for the text effects of Powers (e.g., getting 1 Fear and dealing 1 Damage with "Pull Beneath the Hungry Earth")? How about for determining which lands are "your lands" for the purpose of a Power?
  No. Those are effects of Powers; Entwined Power only helps targeting – i.e., meeting the requirements in the "Range" and "Target" boxes.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Targeting, Entwined Power, Locus Aspect (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), Gift of Living Energy, 48 more...

Setup

• When setting up a Spirit, what happens if the setup instructions are impossible (e.g., adding Presence to a land with Blight when that board has no Blight).
  Either don't start that Spirit on that board or follow the instructions as best as you can, choosing freely when no lands meet the criteria given. [Jagged Earth Rulebook p. 6]

  When choosing freely, use theme as your guide — if you're in this situation, you're likely playing on the thematic map, after all!
  Tags: Thematic map, Spirit setup, Vengeance as a Burning Plague, Starlight Seeks Its Form, 7 more...

Spirit Phase

• Do I have to do everything shown in a Growth option I pick?
  Yes. You must do everything shown if possible, though you can do it in any order.

  Usually, there's no downside: Reclaiming, gaining Energy/Power Cards, and adding Presence are almost strictly good. (You can always reposition a Presence already on the island when adding Presence [p. 14], so "running out" isn't a concern.) Spirits with "Move a Presence up to Range N" Growth effects can Move it 0. However, a few Spirits do include things you'll have to work around, including:

  • Ocean's Hungry Grasp often requires you to Push or Gather Presence;
  • Heart of the Wildfire often adds Blight along with Presence, so being required to add Presence can be dangerous;
  • Downpour Drenches the World and Ember-Eyed Behemoth both discard Power Cards as part of one of their Growth options;
  • Breath of Darkness Down Your Spine must let pieces escape the Endless Dark.
  • Several Spirits have Growth options that add Presence to particular land types, which could force Presence outside of that land type to be repositioned accordingly in the unlikely case where the Spirit has no Presence left on Presence tracks and no Presence on the island is already in that land type (else it could be repositioned into the land it's already in). Note that "a land with your Presence" can't cause this problem, since that allows any Presence to be repositioned into a land its already in.

  If you can't do something in a Growth option, do as much as you can and skip the rest – you're free to pick Growth options where you can't successfully complete all of the instructions. (E.g., if you Push Presence from each Ocean, and there's a board where none of your Presence is in the Ocean, you simply don't Push Presence on that board.)

  Nevertheless, you can't skip paying an explicit "cost" for a Growth option, which must be paid in full order to pick that option and perform the associated actions.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Growth, Repositioning Presence, Ocean's Hungry Grasp, Heart of the Wildfire, 15 more...

Spirits and Innate Powers

• If Hearth-Vigil repeats Keep Watch for New Incursions on the same land, do they have to apply the Damage from the two uses in response to the same added/moved Invaders?
  No. It can use both instances of Damage at the same time or at different times, depending on what's more helpful that turn.
  Tags: Triggered Actions, Keep Watch for New Incursions (Hearth-Vigil), Hearth-Vigil