Presence

Errata / Updates

Spirits and Innate Powers

• Promo 2, Feather & Flame - 2022 and earlier
  "Everything still works like you thought" Erratum for Finder of Paths Unseen -- All of Finder's Powers which move Presence can move Presence from any Spirit(s), not just Finder's Presence.

  Nature Incarnate clarifies that when a Spirit does stuff with Presence, it refers to that Spirit’s Presence unless otherwise specified.

  This is sort of a change from the previous default (the previous default wasn't consistent – e.g., Growth choices never bothered to specify that you were Adding your own Presence), but it only impacts two older items: Draw Towards a Consuming Void (which gets an updated version in Nature Incarnate) and Finder of Paths Unseen (which can definitely move Presence from any Spirit, but reprinting the Spirit Panel and 4 Uniques in NI would be somewhat prohibitive, so it's getting this erratum).
  Tags: Presence, Move, Finder of Paths Unseen, Lay Paths They Cannot Help But Walk (Finder of Paths Unseen), 4 more...

Frequently Asked Questions

Aspects

• 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, Destroyed Presence, 1 more...

Effect Rules

• If a "Spirits may prevent this on any/all boards" effect wouldn't do anything on a particular board it's affecting, can Spirits sacrifice Presence there anyway?
  Yes. The sacrifice is to prevent the rest of the Event Action from resolving on that board, not to prevent the actual results of that Event there.

  Choosing to sacrifice Presence this way isn't generally advantageous, but can be used to set up for a Power that uses destroyed Presence, like "Blazing Renewal." Some Spirits also get benefits when their Presence is destroyed or would be destroyed, like Volcano Looming High dealing Damage via its "Collapse in a Blast of Lava and Steam" special rule, making that sacrifice situationally useful even with no future plans for that Presence. And in particularly rare cases, Spirits can even use this to disable a normally-beneficial effect granted by their Presence.

  If the Event only applies to specific boards, you can't sacrifice Presence on other boards. For example, "The Center Crumbles" ("On Each Board with Invaders: Add 1 Blight to an Inland Land") doesn't even attempt to do anything on boards without Invaders, so Presence can't be destroyed to prevent the nonexistent Event Action there. On the other hand, Spirits can sacrifice Presence to prevent that Event on a board with Invaders but with no Inland lands (e.g., because "Weave Together the Fabric of Place" has merged all lands on that board into Coastal lands), since the Event still happens on that board despite it being unable to add Blight.
  Tags: On Each Board, Presence, Destroyed Presence, The Center Crumbles, 32 more...
• Does "you can't destroy the same Invader twice in one action" also apply to Presence destruction?
  Yes — a single action can't destroy the same Presence more than once.

  This can happen with "Flowing and Silent Forms Dart" by in concert with anything that adds Blight one after another in multiple lands, like cascades or Volcano's "Explosive Eruption".
  Tags: Destroy, Saved From Destruction, Blight, Presence, 8 more...

Event Cards

• When an Event says, "On each board: Either destroy 2 presence <i>(total)</i> OR ...", what does "total" mean?
  That you only need to destroy 2 Presence on that board, not 2 per Spirit.

  So in a 4-player game, if you choose the "destroy Presence" option for every board, you'll destroy 8 Presence. If a given board doesn't have 2 Presence on it to destroy, you must choose the other option if possible.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Events, Total, On Each Board, Presence, 5 more...

General Play

• If a Spirit's Presence counts as Beasts (say, due to "Settle Into Hunting-Grounds"), and a "destroy Beasts" effect destroys their Presence, is it still considered destroyed Presence? More generally, if Piece A also counts as Piece B, and a "destroy/remove Piece B" effect destroys/removes it, does it go to the supply for A or B?
  It's considered destroyed Presence. When a piece is removed from the board, it goes to the supply (or other destination) for that physical type of piece.
  Tags: Presence, Pieces, Counts As, Beasts, 15 more...
• Is there a stacking limit to how many Presence can be in a land? Can a large stack count as more than one Sacred Site?
  No, you can have as many Presence disks as you want in a land, but it can only count as one Sacred Site.

  More generally, there is no stacking limit for any piece in the game unless an Adversary or Scenario adds one. (However, there is usually no benefit to having more than 2 Presence in a land, unless you expect to lose some of it shortly.)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Presence, Sacred Sites, Stacking Limit, Earth's Vitality (Vital Strength of the Earth), 1 more...

Power Cards

• Does the Presence added via the threshold of Dream of the Untouched Land come from Presence Tracks?
  Yes.

  As usual, Spirits may reposition Presence already on the island.
  Tags: Presence, Dream of the Untouched Land
• If you target yourself with Growth Through Sacrifice and remove your only Presence on the island, is that land still considered "your land"? (So you could re-add a Presence to avoid losing?)
  No - "your land" / "your lands" are checked when you reach that instruction in the text. When it comes time to add a Presence to one of your lands, you have no lands and cannot do so.

  This logic doesn't apply to Moving or Repositioning your only Presence, however - in those cases, there's never a point in time when the Presence is off the island, so you still can measure Range or have a valid "your land".
  Tags: Adding Presence, Repositioning Presence, Move, Presence, 2 more...
• If I have one Presence in a land, and I play Entwined Power on another Spirit who has one Presence there, do we have a Sacred Site?
  You may target Powers as if you had a Sacred Site there, and they may target Powers as if they had a Sacred Site there. But for all other purposes, no, because Entwined Power only lets you use each others' Presence for targeting Powers - not for anything else, including resolving Powers.

  For instance, Gift of Living Energy (a Minor Power) wouldn't count it towards "If you have at least 2 Sacred Sites...", nor would Fear of the Unseen (a Fear Card) treat it as a Sacred Site for scaring away Invaders.

  Note that if you Entwine with River Surges in Sunlight, their River's Domain Special Rule only applies to them (read it as "counts as your Sacred Site"). So for targeting, they would treat any Wetland where either of you have Presence as a Sacred Site, but you would still need 2+ Presence as usual.
  Tags: Sacred Sites, Presence, Entwined Power, River's Domain (River Surges in Sunlight), 6 more...

Presence and Sacred Sites

• Can Presence tokens destroyed by Blight be added to the island?
  Only if an effect explicitly says to add "destroyed Presence".

  Very few effects currently let you add destroyed Presence, like the "Steady Regeneration" special rule for A Spread of Rampant Green or the major power "Blazing Renewal."
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Presence, Growth, Destroyed Presence
• Can cascading Blight kill Presence twice?
  Yes, it can. Each time you add one or more Blight to a given land - including cascades - destroy 1 Presence from every Spirit there. (p. 15)

  So if you had a hideously bad cascade that added Blight to 4 different lands, in each of those 4 lands you'd destroy a Presence from each Spirit.

  In the very odd case that you decided to double-back a Blight cascade to hit the same land a second time, you'd again destroy 1 Presence from every Spirit there then continue cascading. This is nearly always a terrible idea.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Blight, Presence
• When Blight is moved into a land, does it destroy Presence or cause cascades?
  No, Blight only destroys Presence when it is added to the board, not when it is moved from one land to another. Likewise, moving Blight does not cause cascades. [B&C p. 15, JE p. 28]
  (Discussion elsewhere) (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Presence, Blight, Absorb Corruption, Flow Like Water, Reach Like Air, 8 more...
• What happens to Presence when it gets removed or replaced?
  If it is replaced during play, it goes to the destroyed Presence pile in the supply unless the particular effect says to put it elsewhere. From there, it can be restored by any effect that returns destroyed Presence to the island.

  Anything replaced during setup is out of the game.

  As of the release of Nature Incarnate, only four Presence-removing/replacing effects send the Presence somewhere special: "Transform to a Murderous Darkness," "Call Forth Predators" (Sharp Fangs Behind the Leaves special rule), and both Bargains remove replaced Presence from the game. (Though Bargains put the Presence on reminder cards, this is just to help players track how many times they made the Bargain; Bargains scale with the number of times they are made, not the number of Presence on the reminder card.)
  Tags: Replace, Presence, Remove, Bargain, 13 more...
• Can you place Presence into lands with Blight?
  Yes. Blight destroys Presence only when it's added.

  If a Spirit is so sensitive to Blight that it has trouble adding Presence to lands having any, its Growth choices will explicitly reflect that. (eg: Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds, Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island.)

  To draw a parallel: if you're in a house when it catches fire, you can die. But if you move into the half-charred ruin a year later, you don't suddenly burn to death.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Presence, Blight, Growth
• If all my Presence from my Spirit Panel is placed on the board, how do I add more?
  Whenever adding Presence, instead of taking from your Presence Tracks you can use Presence (of yours) already on the island instead. [sidebar, p. 14]. You can take it out of any land, including the land you're measuring Range from.

  While this option is most often relevant if your Presence tracks are empty, it's not a requirement for doing so.

  You cannot place destroyed Presence unless an effect explicitly says so.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Presence, Growth, Destroyed Presence

Range and Targeting

• Do Range buffs apply to Powers that affect "a land with your Presence" or "one of your lands"?
  No. "A land with your Presence" specifies a requirement for the land you're affecting (similar to, eg, "a land with Dahan" or "a land with Blight"), not a numeric Range. While it is usually the same in practice as "a land at Range 0", when using effects that modify Range the distinction matters.

  For powers like Punish Those Who Trespass or Firestorm that have a base effect with normal range and a further effect referring to "lands where you have presence", the range on the base effect can be extended, but the further part cannot.

  For instance, if you reach all the thresholds of Punish Those Who Trespass and have extended range, you can use the base effect to deal damage in a distant land and use the further part to deal damage where you have presence (without extension).
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Range, Presence, Targeting, Reaching Grasp, 10 more...

Spirit Phase

• When you reposition Presence on the board rather than adding new Presence, where can you measure the range from?
  You can measure the range from any Presence, including the one you are about to reposition.

  The sequence of events for adding Presence during growth, you

  1. Choose a land to add Presence to. This must be measured from your Presence on the board at that moment.
  2. Add a Presence to that land.

  Normally this is picked up from your Presence track, but you can pick it up from anywhere on the island instead if you want. The sequence is similar when a Power lets you add Presence.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Growth, Repositioning Presence, Presence, Gift of Proliferation (A Spread of Rampant Green), 3 more...
• How does one move Presence during Growth?
  When a Growth choice says "Move Presence" (with a curved arrow), move one of your Presence up to the shown number of lands away from where it currently lies. When the Growth option says "Add Presence", but instead of adding from your Presence track you choose to add one already on the board (per the p. 14 sidebar), you can take it from anywhere. (This is still considered "adding a Presence", not "moving a Presence"; later reprints of the rulebook use the term repositioning.)

  Ocean's Hungry Grasp also has Growth choices with "Push Presence" and "Gather Presence"; these work just as Gather and Push usually do (to/from an adjacent land). They are mandatory.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Growth, Presence, Ocean's Hungry Grasp, Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island, 0 more...
• If you have a Growth option which lets place two Presence, can you chain them, placing the second one within range of the first one?
  Yes, you can do this. In general, after you choose a Growth option, you do everything under that option, in any order you wish. (p. 8)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Presence, Growth, Thunderspeaker, Lightning's Swift Strike, 1 more...

Spirits and Innate Powers

• When Fathomless Mud of the Swamp uses Spreading and Dreadful Mire, does the moved Presence have to be Mud’s Presence?
  Yes, when one of your Actions moves Presence, it means your Presence unless otherwise specified. (This is explicitly stated in later printings of Mud.)
  Tags: Presence, Spreading and Dreadful Mire (Fathomless Mud of the Swamp), Fathomless Mud of the Swamp
• As Volcano, when destroying your own Presence for "Explosive Eruption," can that Presence be saved (by, e.g., "Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By")?
  Yes, but not usefully. It doesn't count towards the eruption threshold requirements / effects (because they check the # of Presence actually destroyed) or for "Collapse In a Blast of Lava and Steam" (because "destroy" gets replaced with "push" before the rule "when your Presence is destroyed, deal damage" kicks in).

  Prior to the ruling that cancellation/replacement always happens before changes/additions, you could decide on the ordering, and apply damage from "Collapse In a Blast of Lava and Steam" before the "Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By" substitution. but this is no longer true.
  Tags: Saved From Destruction, Action Modifiers, Presence, Destroy, 4 more...
• Can Fathomless Mud of the Swamp target the origin land of Spreading and Dreadful Mire, or does that fail because moving Presence is required?
  Yes, you can target the origin land: “this is required” is a reminder that if it’s possible to Move a Presence, you must, not that you must choose a target where moving Presence is possible.

  (Also, while it's rarely relevant, you can technically Move a piece from a land to that same land, so long as the wording of the Power doesn't exclude doing so. Thematically, it’s moving within that land.)
  Tags: Targeting, Move, Presence, Spreading and Dreadful Mire (Fathomless Mud of the Swamp), 1 more...
• Heart of the Wildfire and Ocean's Hungry Grasp have special rules that refer to "you" adding or moving presence. If another spirit moves your presence (e.g. with Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By), do those rules apply?
  Yes. No ability to move other Spirits' presence existed until Jagged Earth, so the wording doesn't handle that contingency. Apologies!

  More recent printings of these Spirits have adjusted the wording to reflect the intent.
  Tags: Adding Presence, Presence, Blazing Presence (Heart of the Wildfire), Ocean In Play (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), 2 more...
• Can you get around the Serpent's presence limitation using Indomitable Claim? <i>(Add a Presence, even if target land is a type of land you can’t normally have Presence in)</i>
  No. The Serpent's limit isn't a restriction based on land type, so Indomitable Claim doesn't help.

  As of 2020, the only published Spirits for whom getting around land-type restrictions is relevant are Ocean's Hungry Grasp (base game, cannot normally have Presence in inland lands), Lure of the Deep Wilderness (Jagged Earth, cannot normally have Presence in coastal lands), and Volcano Looming High (Jagged Earth, can normally only have Presence in Mountains).
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Presence, Indomitable Claim, Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island, Ocean's Hungry Grasp, 2 more...
• If Ocean's Presence is moved/destroyed entirely off a board in the middle of an action, when does "treat the Ocean as Coastal Wetlands" expire?
  It stays in effect until the end of the action tree (you're not in the middle of an action, and have no triggered actions about to happen).
  Tags: Presence, Actions, Action tree, Ocean In Play (Ocean's Hungry Grasp), 1 more...

~ Expansions, Promos, and Publishing

• How many Presence tokens should I have?
  You should have 13 Presence tokens of each color.

  Some printings of the core game and Jagged Earth came with an extra token of each color. Use these as a spare. For the scenario Guard the Isle's Heart, the extra Presence at the start of the game comes from your Presence tracks, not this extra token.

  If you have too few tokens, contact the publisher for a replacement.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Presence, Guard the Isle's Heart