Ordering

Frequently Asked Questions

Adversaries
  • What does "in board/land order" mean for Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 1?
    It specifies exactly what order lands Gather Towns in: any relevant lands on Board A resolves first (starting with the lowest-numbered land matching a Build card and going up), then Board B, etc. On the thematic boards, go in "reading order" of left to right, top to bottom: NW, NE, W, E, SW, and finally SE.
    You go by order of lands to Gather in to. As usual, they can come from any adjacent land, including on another board.
    The primary motivation for this rule is speed of play – if it's not in a deterministic order, it usually doesn't matter much, but occasionally it really does, and searching for those cases and choosing the precise ordering of lands can slow the whole process down.
    If you want to handle all boards simultaneously for further speed, you can, so long as you avoid Gathering Towns that an earlier land might Gather.
    (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Ordering, Thematic map, Matches, Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony), 0 more...
  • With Habsburg Monarchy (Livestock Colony) Level 5 (Wave of Immigration), do you do the effect before or after the Explore on that turn?
    After completely resolving the Explore Card above it, but before resolving the Adversary's "After the Explore Step" Escalation. If you're resolving another Explore Card that turn, e.g., because you're playing the Surges of Colonization scenario, resolve the effects of the Reminder Card before revealing the next Explore Card. Similarly, the effects of the Reminder Card happen before anything triggered by Advancing the Invader Cards, like the extra Build Step caused by the "Fortification" Event.
    Formally, Reminder Cards resolve once you're done resolving the Invader Card above them. (Or, in unusual cases like this FAQ, if they end up atop the Invader Deck.)
    This ruling originally implied that the "Seek Prime Territory" Escalation happens first. Because the timing of the Escalation was made more explicit in later printings, this ruling has been updated accordingly.
    (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Invader deck, Ordering, Reminder Cards, Combining Adversaries, 6 more...
Effect Rules
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")
Invader Actions
Spirit Phase
Spirits and Innate Powers