Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages)

Frequently Asked Questions

Aspects

• Can the Intensify Aspect create multiple marked Beasts with one use of Unearth a Beast of Wrathful Stone?
  No. While it can spend an Animal marker to add an additional Beasts token, the second token won't get marked.
  Tags: Action Modifiers, Element markers, Unearth a Beast of Wrathful Stone, Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), 0 more...
• When does the Intensify Aspect spend Element Markers? Does it have to have Element Markers handy when it plays a Power during Spirit Phase?
  When it's actually performing the instruction it wants to boost. In the case of Powers, this generally means when using the Power in either Fast Phase or Slow Phase. However, if a Power creates Triggered Actions, the markers are spent when the Triggered Action actually happens, which might be at a later time.

  As an example, consider Infestation of Venomous Spiders. In the Fast Phase, Intensify can spend an Animal marker to add +1 Beasts and a Water marker to gather up to +1 Beasts. If it hits the threshold, it can also spend Fire each time the Damage triggers (usually in the Ravage Step, Build Step, or Explore Step) to increase that instance of Damage by 1.
  Tags: Timing, Element markers, Triggered Actions, Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), 0 more...
• Can the Intensify Aspect spend Moon to increase the amount of [thing not on the island] removed by an Action?
  No, Intensify can only affect the number of pieces removed from the island by the Remove keyword. It has no effect on actions that remove pieces from other locations (e.g., removing Presence from Presence tracks with Bargains or Transformative Sacrifice ).
  Tags: Remove, Bargain, Transformative Sacrifice, Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), 2 more...
• Can the Intensify Aspect spend an Air marker to get an extra use of a Power?
  No, the Air marker lets Intensify use a Slow Power in the Fast Phase instead of the Slow Phase.
  Tags: Element markers, Action Modifiers, Speed (Fast/Slow), Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), 0 more...
• Does the Bonus space on the Intensify Aspect grant extra Element Markers?
  No, that space works like any other Elements on a Presence Track: Shifting Memory of Ages adds those Elements to its total for the purpose of hitting Elemental thresholds and paying for Choice Events.

  However, the Moon element that the Intensify Aspect has reliable access to at least one Element Marker each turn via Observe the Ever-Changing World.
  Tags: Bonus Spaces, Elements, Element markers, Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), 1 more...
• Can the Intensify Aspect still prepare Element markers without the Insights Into the World's Nature special rule?
  Yes. Prepare is defined in the game rules as of Nature Incarnate, so Shifting Memory of Ages no longer needs to define what "Prepare" means. (Prepare works the same as described in Insights Into the World's Nature, so it can be helpful to leave the first paragraph uncovered for easy reference.)
  Tags: Prepare, Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), Insights Into the World's Nature (Shifting Memory of Ages)
• If an Action bases its effects around Invaders with a specific amount of Health (e.g., 3 Health worth of Invaders), what does it mean for that Action to affect +1 piece (e.g., for the Intensify Aspect)?
  Also affect any one piece that meets the original requirement. In the 3 Health worth of Invaders case, this means any one Invader with 3 Health or less.

  Health bonuses and penalties change which pieces can be affected, but Damage does not.
  Tags: Health, Action Modifiers, Dream of the Untouched Land, Radiant and Hallowed Grove (Towering Roots of the Jungle), 1 more...
• Can the Intensify Aspect add multiple token types with Hazards Spread Across the Island?
  No. Hazards Spread Across the Island can only add more of the chosen token you are adding, even if other tokens could have been chosen instead.

  Similarly, if a Power allows adding multiple token types in combinations you choose (e.g., Utter a Curse of Dread and Bone), Intensify can only add extras of token types that are already being added. And if you could add tokens in multiple places (e.g., Spill Bitterness into the Earth), you can only add extra tokens where you already added tokens of that type.
  Tags: Spirit tokens, Action Modifiers, Hazards Spread Across the Island, Utter a Curse of Dread and Bone, 5 more...
• When Dark Fire gains a Moon/Fire for only a single action (e.g., when playing Elemental Invocation), can it treat that Element as the other?
  Yes. That is an Element available to you, even if it's only available for a limited purpose.

  This also applies in the rare case that Dark Fire is gifted Elemental Teachings and spends a prepared Element marker to have a Element for a single action. But it doesn't let Dark Fire use Moon markers as Fire markers or vice versa (either to spend with Elemental Teachings or if Shifting Memory is using the Intensify Aspect).
  Tags: Elements, Element markers, Elemental Invocation, Dark Fire Aspect (Shadows Flicker Like Flames), 2 more...
• If an action affects multiple lands, can the Intensify Aspect spend prepared Element markers to affect multiple lands?
  Yes, but it must spend separately for each land, and is still limited to one marker of each type for the whole action. It's thus uncommon to usefully increase the effect in multiple lands, but, e.g., Bloodwrack Plague could be boosted with an Animal marker to add an additional Disease in target land, an Earth marker to increase the Defend in one adjacent land, and (with threshold) a Fire marker to increase the Damage in a different adjacent land.
  Tags: Action Modifiers, Bloodwrack Plague, Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages)
• When the Intensify Aspect spends a Moon Marker when replacing a piece of type A with a piece of type B (e.g., replacing 1 Explorer with 1 Dahan with Call of the Dahan Ways), how many piece of type B will there be?
  One per piece of type A that was replaced. So in this case, if there were two Explorers present, there would then be two Dahan.
  Tags: Replace, Upgrade, Downgrade, Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), 7 more...
• Can the Intensify Aspect spend any Element markers on Push, Gather, Bring, Upgrade, or Downgrade instructions?
  Yes. Push, Gather, and Bring are all special forms of Move, so they can be boosted with Water markers. Upgrade and Downgrade are special forms of Replace (or Remove, in the case of downgrading Explorers), so they can be boosted with Moon markers.
  Tags: Element markers, Upgrade, Downgrade, Push, 3 more...
• What can the Intensify Aspect spend its Element markers on, aside from its Powers?
  Any other Spirit action that Shifting Memory of Ages is doing. However, almost all of the Spirit actions that the Intensify Aspect can usefully boost are either the use of one of their powers or a triggered action created by their powers (e.g., increasing the Damage from Vengeance of the Dead).

  They generally can't spend Element Markers to boost the Powers of other Spirits, even if those Powers involving Shifting Memory of Ages making choices, since using a Power is the action of the Spirit targeting the Power, not the Spirit being targeted.

  To cover some of the more unusual cases:

  • Intensify can spend Element markers on actions granted to it by other Spirits to use at a later point in the turn, like adding a Disease with Scream Disease Into the Wind or doing Damage with Gift of the Sparking Sky.
  • Intensify can spend a Fire marker on a Ritual of Destroying Flame.
  • Intensify can't spend Element markers on benefits that aren't actions, like the ongoing defense from Bargains of Power and Protection.

  Tags: Action Modifiers, Element markers, Triggered Actions, Scream Disease Into the Wind, 4 more...
• Do the modifiers from Intensify carry over into Repeats?
  No, since they apply to actions (e.g., one use of a Power) rather than to Powers directly. However, since each Repeat is a new action, the marker limit resets for the Repeat.
  Tags: Repeat, Action Modifiers, Element markers, Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), 0 more...
• When the Intensify Aspect uses a Plant marker to increase the amount of destroyed Presence added with an action, can it only add one extra instead of two extra?
  Only if there's exactly one extra destroyed Presence to add. If there are two extra destroyed Presence, both must be added, even if you'd rather leave one of them destroyed.
  Tags: Presence, Element markers, Action Modifiers, Intensify Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), 0 more...
• Can the Intensify Aspect strengthen a Bargain by spending Moon to Remove more Presence from the island? How about from a Presence track?
  No and no. The efficacy of a Bargain is based on the number of times it has been made, not the number of Presence it has removed, and Intensify can't increase the number of Presence removed from a Presence track.

  However, Intensify can strengthen Transformative Sacrifice by removing a 4th Presence from the island (in a land where the Power was already removing Presence) to take and play an additional card, since that power explicitly scales with the number of removed Presence.
  Tags: Bargain, Bargains of Power and Protection, Bargain of Coursing Paths, Transformative Sacrifice, 1 more...

Effect Rules

• If a Power has a cap on the amount of Damage it can do, can Damage bonuses allow it to exceed that cap?
  Yes. The cap is on the "natural" amount of Damage the Power can do before any bonuses are applied.

  Similarly, if there is a cap on any other effect (e.g., tokens added by Utter a Curse of Dread and Bone), apply any bonuses after checking the cap.
  Tags: Badlands, Blood Draws Predators, Swallowed by the Wilderness (Lure of the Deep Wilderness), Utter a Curse of Dread and Bone, 9 more...
• Are “Destroy” Powers “Damage dealing” Powers when used against Durable Invaders (e.g., for Flame's Fury)?
  Yes.

  For example, Asphyxiating Smoke deals 2 Damage to 1 Durable Town, so that can be increased to 3 Damage to 1 Durable Town by Flame’s Fury.
  Tags: Durable, Badlands, Damage, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), 7 more...
• Do Damage bonuses apply to actions that conditionally do Damage even if those conditions aren't met?
  No, it's impossible to boost an effect that isn't happening, whether because a player chose a different option (e.g., choosing to add a Badlands with Sear Anger Into the Wild Lands), the action is happening in a land that doesn't meet the conditions for the effect (e.g., Sear Anger Into the Wild Lands in a land without Wilds), or the relevant threshold isn't hit.

  Similarly, it's impossible to increase the Defend of an action that isn't already Defending, move more pieces with an action that isn't moving anything, etc.

  This is in contrast to checking the instructions of a Power to see if it has the potential to do something, like Gift of Wind-Spread Steps checking for Push/Gather instructions or the Violence Aspect checking for Damage/Destroy instructions.
  Tags: Badlands, Territorial Aggression (Devouring Teeth Lurk Underfoot), Might Aspect (Vital Strength of the Earth), Heart of the Wildfire, 4 more...

General Play

• When a Power cares about how many Invaders that Power destroyed (eg: Mists of Oblivion, or Shadows' innate Power), do Damage boosts (Badlands, Flame's Fury) count?
  Yes. Damage boosts increase the amount of damage done, but the damage is still being done by the original source.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Badlands, Damage, Mists of Oblivion, Darkness Swallows the Unwary (Shadows Flicker Like Flame), 9 more...
• 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...

Power Cards

• How does "+1 Damage with Damage-dealing Powers" (e.g., Flame's Fury) work? What exactly does it increase?
  For every power that does Damage, it increases one part of that Damage by 1.

  For instance, if a power does "1 damage to each Invader", Flame's Fury would let you do 2 damage to one of those Invaders. If a power does "1 Damage to each Town/City", Flame's Fury would let you do 2 damage to one of the Towns or Cities. If a power does "1 Damage to 1 Town/City", then Flame's Fury would let you do 2 Damage to 1 Town/City. If a power does "1 damage" and then (with another condition) another "1 damage", then you deal a total of 3 damage. If a power does damage in multiple different lands, you only get the bonus in one of the lands. If a power ends up doing no damage at all for some reason, then you do not get a damage bonus.

  You only get the bonus once per use of a damage-dealing power. If you use a Power multiple times by Repeating it, or if a Power sets up a triggered action that is triggered more than once, the bonus applies each time.
  (Discussion elsewhere) (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Damage, Badlands, Triggered Actions, Heart of the Wildfire, 7 more...
• When an Aspect starts the game with a Minor Power in its hand, does that Minor Power count as a Unique Power (e.g., for Tell the Old Stories)?
  No, it's still a Minor Power.

  The type of a card never changes, no matter where it starts the game. If you're ever unsure which type a Power Card is, check the back of the card.
  Tags: Tell the Old Stories, Dark Fire Aspect (Shadows Flicker Like Flames), Violence Aspect (Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares), Warrior Aspect (Thunderspeaker), 4 more...
• How do Badlands / Flame's Fury work with Veil the Night's Hunt? How about Trickster's innate "Why Don't You and Them Fight"? Or (other Power that specifies unusual conditions on what can be damaged)?
  For Veil the Night's Hunt, deal 1 bonus Damage to an Invader that's already taking Damage. (You can't use it to deal damage to more Invaders than there are Dahan in the land.) For Let's You and Them Fight, damage boosts can only apply to the Dahan and Invader taking damage from each other.

  Badlands and Flame's Fury respect limits on "What could this Power have damaged?" This may include caps on the number of Invaders being Damaged, or specification of exactly which Invader(s) are to be damaged.

  (For a few more examples of the same basic principle, you can take a look at the Horizons FAQ on boosting damage.)
  Tags: Badlands, Veil the Night's Hunt, Slave Rebellion, Why Don't You and Them Fight (Grinning Trickster Stirs Up Trouble), 12 more...

Scenarios

• When the players collectively perform the Ritual of Terror, whose Action is it?
  Rituals that are not explicitly associated with one Spirit are Spirit Actions for the purpose of anything that cares what type of Action they are (e.g., Vengeance as a Burning Plague destroying its Presence as part of a Ritual of Terror), but are not an individual Spirit's Action for the purpose of their Special Rules. (No, not even in solo play, for the sake of consistency.)

  In Rituals of the Destroying Flame, it is an individual Spirit doing the Action, and so is that Spirit's Action and can benefit from special rules that apply to their actions.
  Tags: Solo games, Actions, Rituals of Terror, Vengeance as a Burning Plague, 3 more...

Spirit Phase

• When your Presence track gives you "Any" element, when do you have to choose what element that is? Can you change what it is during the turn?
  You can wait until the middle of your turn to choose what it is, but once you've set it for a turn, it can't change that turn [base rulebook p. 14, last item under Presence Tracks]

  This holds true even if you're restricted on which Elements you can choose (e.g., Wounded Waters Bleeding having a "Water / Animal" space instead of a full "Any"). [Nature Incarnate rulebook p. 9]

  This contrasts with the timing of choosing flexible Elements gained from different sources.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Elements, "Any" element, Timing, Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares, 10 more...

Spirits and Innate Powers

• 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 another Spirit gets hold of Elemental Teachings (from Shifting Memory of Ages), can they Prepare element markers?
  Yes. While Shifting Memory's panel defines what "Prepare" means, other Spirits can do so if they are able to use a Power that instructs them to. They can spend those element markers on Elemental Teachings or for whatever Shifting Memory's special rules say those markers are for (normally getting extra Elements for a single action via Insights Into the World's Nature).

  While a strict reading of the text of Insights Into the World's Nature would have the other Spirit store its prepared markers on Shifting Memory's panel, don't do that. It just wasn't worth convoluting the wording of that paragraph to cover the extreme edge-case. As of the release of Nature Incarnate, "Prepare" is a general game keyword, so the exact text of the first paragraph of Insights Into the World's Nature is just a reminder of how things normally work for Shifting Memory of Ages.

  If an Aspect replaces Insights Into the World's Nature, the function of Element markers also changes for other Spirits. For example, if Shifting Memory is using the Intensify Aspect, Element markers can be spent by other Spirits to increase the effects of one of their Spirit Actions, but can't be spent to gain Elements for a single action.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Elements, Transferring Power Cards, Element markers, Prepare, 5 more...