Playing Power Cards

Frequently Asked Questions

Blighted Island cards

• If the Blight card is <i>Aid from Lesser Spirits</i> and Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares is playing, is the Minor Power it gets subject to To Dream a Thousand Deaths?
  Yes. It says "as if played", so it obeys the Special Rules of the Spirit using it.

  Thematically, the minor spirits are working through Bringer of Dreams & Nightmares - it's why the Power targets through Bringer's Presence and why Bringer gains the Elements from it. (An alternate version which could target anywhere but provided no Elements might be interesting.)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Playing Power Cards, To Dream a Thousand Deaths (Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares), Aid from Lesser Spirits

General Play

• When an effect lets you play a card, does that count against your allowed number of card plays?
  No. The number of card plays on your Presence track only effects how many cards you can play during the Spirit Phase. Cards played after that are in addition to those limits.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Playing Power Cards, Spur on with Words of Fire, Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power, Gift of the Primordial Deeps (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), 10 more...

Scenarios

• In the scenario *Ward the Shores*, if you play a card face-down to create a Warding Pattern, does it count as a Power Card?
  Yes.

  For instance, you can boost its range with Reaching Grasp, Repeat it with Powerstorm, or Discard it for the Event Outpaced. Note that it is 0-cost and requires Energy each time you Repeat it.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Playing Power Cards, Ward the Shores
• When does Blitz reduce the cost of a Fast Power and when does Blitz refund Energy for a Power being Fast?
  When you play Power Cards by paying their costs {1}, total up the Energy cost of all of the Powers you’re playing and reduce it by 1 per Fast Power to determine how much you need to pay. If that number is negative, gain that much Energy as a refund.

  When using a Fast Innate Power that has the potential to do something for the first time each turn, gain 1 Energy as a refund.

  When you make a Slow Power Fast (via Swiftness of Lightning or similar) gain a 1 Energy rebate.

  If a Fast Power Card (or a Power Card made Fast) costs 1 or more Energy, also reduce its printed cost by 1 (e.g., for Repeating it with Gift of Strength or checking when it's played by Rhythmic Power Builds to a Cataclysmic Crescendo).

  {1} = This usually as part of the “Play and Pay For Power Cards” action in Spirit Phase, but sometimes a Power like Call on Midnight’s Dream tells you to do so.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Energy, Playing Power Cards, Blitz, Gift of Strength (Vital Strength of the Earth), 11 more...
• When playing Ward the Shores, if you play a Power Card not during the Spirit Phase, can you play it face-down to add a warding pattern?
  Yes, subject to the "once per turn" limit.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Playing Power Cards, Ward the Shores, Spur on with Words of Fire, Gift of the Primordial Deeps (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), 2 more...
• With the "Blitz" scenario, can you use the Energy gained from playing an already-Fast 0-cost Power Card to help pay for another Power Card?
  Yes. The intent is that already-Fast 0-cost cards effectively cost "negative 1 energy".
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Energy, Playing Power Cards, Blitz

Spirit Phase

• Can you use Energy you gain during the Fast Power Phase <i>(e.g., from Boon of Vigor)</i> to pay for cards you play that turn?
  No, you cannot. You need to pay for all Powers when you play them, during the 'Play and pay for Power Cards' part of the Spirit Phase at the beginning of the turn. The Spirit Phase needs to be entirely completed before you start the Fast Power Phase, when you would gain the energy from cards like Boon of Vigor.

  Typically the Energy you gain from powers like this will only be useful on the following turn, unless something makes you use Energy in the middle of the turn.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Energy, Playing Power Cards, Boon of Vigor (River Surges in Sunlight)

Spirits and Innate Powers

• Can Dances Up Earthquakes use one of its "+1 Play for impending only" spaces to make a 0-Energy Power Card impending and then play it immediately?
  No, that card will be put into play on the following turn.

  Impending cards are put into play by Rhythmic Power Builds to a Cataclysmic Crescendo immediately after gaining Energy each Spirit Phase, before Power Cards are played from hand. By the time the 0-Energy card is made impending, the chance for impending cards to come into play has already passed.
  Tags: Playing Power Cards, Rhythmic Power Builds to a Cataclysmic Crescendo (Dances Up Earthquakes), Begin a Dance of Decades (Dances Up Earthquakes), Dances Up Earthquakes, 0 more...
• When something lets Dances Up Earthquakes play a Power Card during the Fast, Invader, or Slow Phases, can they make that Power Card impending?
  Yes, and they may pay any amount of Energy when you do so, like when making a card impending during the Spirit Phase. They don't need to pay the full Energy required by that effect (usually the cost of the card).
  Tags: Playing Power Cards, Begin a Dance of Decades (Dances Up Earthquakes), Dances Up Earthquakes