Observe the Ever Changing World (Shifting Memory of Ages)

Frequently Asked Questions

Aspects
Fear and Fear Cards
General Play
  • Do powers have to be resolved in order, or can you choose to do the effects in the order that's most convenient for you?
    Powers must be resolved in order from top to bottom. If a Power has thresholds, resolve all thresholds you hit, in the order they are listed (skipping over the ones you don't hit).
    There are a small number of exceptions:
    If a Power changes its own Speed, Range, or Targeting, those changes (and corresponding thresholds / costs) are checked when relevant during targeting, not during normal Power resolution. Examples:
    • "You may pay 1 Energy to make this Power Fast." ("Dry Wood Explodes in Smoldering Splinters")
    • "Increase this Power's Range to Range 1." ("Sap the Strength of Multitudes")
    • "This Power can target lands with Blight." ("Inspire the Release of Stolen Lands") – but note that the rest of this threshold effect still resolves at the end, like normal.
    (By the time you're resolving the rest of the Power text, it'd be too late for these modifiers to do anything!)
    If a threshold modifies how an earlier part of the Power resolves, that modifier applies at the sensible time. Examples:
    • "Do not destroy any Dahan." ("The Jungle Hungers")
    • "Damage from this Power may be dealt into adjacent lands." ("Vengeance of the Dead")
    Technically, every use of "Instead..." in an innate power works this way; it's pretty simple for human minds to understand the intent, but the formal specification is messier. Note that a "+" in a threshold effect (like "+2 Damage" in "Walls of Rock and Thorn") is not a modifier, but rather a new Damage instruction – this is occasionally relevant for timing purposes.
    If a Power specifies that something happens later, do it at that time (remembering that these ongoing effects expire when Time Passes unless specified otherwise). Examples:
    • "Once this turn, target Spirit may ..." ("Powerstorm")
    • "After the next time Invaders are destroying in target land: ..." ("Blood Draws Predators")
    • "At end of turn, ..." ("Gift of Constancy")
    "Repeat this Power" as a threshold also falls into this category, since it's short for "After resolving this Power and all Actions triggered by it, Repeat it."
    If a Power explicitly specifies to resolve part of a threshold earlier in power resolution, follow that order. Examples:
    • "+3 Fear, before the Terror Level check." ("Twisted Flowers Murmur Ultimatums")
    • "Before Pushing, Explorers and Towns/Cities do Damage to each other." ("Dissolve the Bonds of Kinship")
    • "First, Gather up to 3 Dahan." ("Wrap in Winds of Sunlight")
  • If you "move" a piece to where it was (Range 0), does it still trigger effects like Wildfire's Blazing Presence?
    Yes, the piece has still formally moved. It never leaves the land, however, so would not trigger, e.g., Shifting Memory's "Observe the Ever-Changing World," because the pieces in the land have not changed.
    Thematically, the piece has moved within the land.
    Note that if you use "add Presence" to instead reposition Presence already on the island (usually because you have run out – sidebar p.14 core rules), that is still considered an "add" rather than a "move".
    The Glossary entry for "move" was written before considering these cases.
    (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Repositioning Presence, Move, Blazing Presence (Heart of the Wildfire), Wrap in Wings of Sunlight, 7 more...
Scenarios
  • When are Scenario Markers / Element Markers considered pieces?
    Nearly anytime they're placed on the board. The only exception is if they're purely a visual reminder, like in The Great River, or if used to mark Inner Lands for Guard The Isle's Heart. (JE p. 35, "Piece")
    This might be revisited if future content results in weird situations, as some of the cases are kind of borderline (eg: Rituals of the Destroying Flame), but for now the simplicity of "always" wins out.
    Element Markers placed on the board for Elemental Invocation are not considered "pieces" - the first printings of Jagged Earth considered them as pieces that were basically non-interactable (since they're not in any land); it's cleaner to just not count them as pieces at all.
    Tags: Element markers, Pieces, Changed rulings, Despicable Theft, 9 more...
Spirits and Innate Powers