Isolate

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...

Effect Rules

• Does Isolate apply if you're checking adjacency between an Invader piece and something else? (Another sort of piece, or a land type.)
  Yes.

  So, e.g., the Cultural Assimilation event tells you to replace a Dahan that's adjacent to a City. If either the land with the City or the land with the Dahan were Isolated, the players could nullify the adjacency. If every possible City - lone Dahan pair were separated this way, the players could thwart the Event on that board.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Isolate, Cultural Assimilation
• Can Isolate apply to Dahan?
  Not unless you're checking adjacency between Dahan and an Invader piece.

  Thematically, the Dahan both know the island and how to get around on it much better (so many things which will block or stall Invaders aren't as big an obstacle), and have good relations with enough Spirits that they can get some help in circumventing even supernatural effects.
  Tags: Isolate
• Can Invaders be Added to an Isolated land with no Invaders?
  Generally, yes. Isolate only prevents Invaders from being Added due to Explore Actions (mandatory) and due to effects that check what Invaders are adjacent to (optional).
  Tags: Isolate

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...

General Play

• What's the timing of ongoing effects expiring?
  All "this turn" effects wear off at the same time. For now, assume all normal Time Passes activity (discard, lose elements, clear damage, ongoing effects expire) is simultaneous. Cards like "Gift of Constancy" (which modify discarding Powers) or "Unquenchable Flames" work because they explicitly specify a timing.

  Rules for non-standard things that happen during Time Passes (like Shroud of Silent Mist's "Slow and Silent Death") can be done before or after effects wearing off unless otherwise specified.

  If it ever becomes clear that there really ought to be some sort of internal ordering to Time Passes, we'll call out that ordering in whatever expansion / FAQ it becomes relevant.
  Tags: Time Passes, Timing, Defend, Action Modifiers, 38 more...

Power Cards

• Does Threatening Flames grant bonus Fear if it can't move Invaders due to Isolate?
  Yes.

  This doesn't follow from a strict reading of the card, but is both the intended interaction and thematically appropriate.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Isolate, Threatening Flames (Heart of the Wildfire), Heart of the Wildfire
• Do Defend effects stack normally with Weave Together the Fabric of Place?
  Yes, if you join a land with Defend 3 and another land with Defend 4, the combined land has Defend 7.

  Similarly, if one land was Isolated before the join, then the joint land will be isolated afterwards, or if Dahan got a Health bonus in one land, they would now get it in the joint land.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Isolate, Defend, Health, Weave Together the Fabric of Place, 0 more...

Scenarios

• How does Isolate interact with the Military Response rule in the Dahan Insurrection Scenario?
  Oddly. The simplest way to play it is "Military Response ignores Isolate". If you want a more thematic but more complex game, use "The new Invader must be added to a non-Isolated land. Ignore Isolate effects when determining which lands are closest."
  Tags: Isolate, Dahan Insurrection
• With the Despicable Theft Scenario, can you use Isolate to stop or detour Thieves?
  Yes.

  If you use Isolate to make the shortest path to a board’s Ocean longer than usual without completely blocking a Thief in, it will attempt that longer journey, even if that puts it onto another board. (In that case, on future turns it’ll head towards that board’s Ocean.)
  Tags: Isolate, Despicable Theft

Spirits and Innate Powers

• 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...
• Does Isolate stop Wandering Voice's Incarna from being adjacent to Dahan, thereby allowing the Dahan to participate in Ravage?
  No. Neither the Incarna nor the Dahan are Invaders, so Isolate has no effect on whether or not they are adjacent.
  Tags: Isolate, Wandering Voice Keens Delirium, Spread Tumult and Delusion (Wandering Voice Keens Delirium), A Clarion Voice Given Form (Wandering Voice Keens Delirium), 0 more...