Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power

Frequently Asked Questions

Aspects

• When the Mentor Aspect is the target of Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power, what happens?
  Shifting Memory of Ages draws two Major Powers, gains them both, and forgets nothing. If they meet the threshold requirements, they can play one of the new Power Cards – since the identity of "the Major Power" is ambiguous, Shifting Memory of Ages chooses which one is being referred to.

  It doesn't matter who played the Power, just that Shifting Memory of Ages with the Mentor Aspect is the target.
  Tags: Gaining Power Cards, Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power, Mentor Aspect (Shifting Memory of Ages), Gift of the Primordial Deeps (Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island), 0 more...

Elements and Elemental Thresholds

• If you gain presence during the turn (after Growth) and uncover the "any" or another element, can you then use it for other powers?
  Yes, you can start using elements as soon as you gain them. (p. 14) Similarly, if you are able to play a card mid-turn, you get the effects of its Elements immediately.

  (And if some effect were to cover an Element by returning Presence to your track, or destroy a Power card in play, you'd immediately lose access to the elements.)
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: "Any" element, Elements, Adding Presence, Indomitable Claim, 13 more...
• Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power can let you use a Major with all elemental thresholds. Does this let you use the threshold on Draw Towards a Consuming Void?
  No, because the threshold checks something that isn't an element (how many other Power Cards you have in play).
  Tags: Non-elemental thresholds, Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power, Draw Towards a Consuming Void

General Play

• If an effect says that you may X to Y (e.g., paying Energy to gain a Power Card, Destroying Presence to skip an Event on a board), are you allowed to get the second half for free if you can't do the first half?
  No, the second half is gated behind paying the cost in the first half. Similarly, "you may Y by X" requires paying the cost in the second half to get the effect in the first half.

  While this tends to be pretty obvious when the cost is paying Energy, it's less clear if the cost is performing some other effect, like discarding a card or removing Presence.

  While you must be able to pay the cost in order to get the bonus, ongoing effects can alter the final result of the cost being paid. For example, you can successfully pay the cost of "Destroy 2 Presence" even if "Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By" will end up saving that Presence from destruction if you do so. On the other hand, you can't attempt to pay the cost with Presence under "Absolute Stasis," since that Presence only exists for Victory/Defeat – it doesn't exist as far as the Event is concerned.
  Tags: Action Modifiers, Absolute Stasis (Fractured Days Split the Sky), Turmoil's Touch (Wandering Voice Keens Delirium), Water Nourishes Life's Growth (Downpour Drenches the World), 11 more...
• 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 affects how many cards you can play as part of the "Play and Pay For Power Cards" action in the Spirit Phase. Cards played any other way (usually in the Fast Phase when instructed to do so by a Power) 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), 14 more...

Power Cards

• When you get the threshold on Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power, can you choose **not** to use the elemental threshold on the Power you gain?
  No.

  You must follow the instructions as written as best you can if you choose to activate the Unlock the Gates threshold.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power
• When using *Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power*, can target Spirit voluntarily choose to Forget when gaining a Major Power?
  Yes, target Spirit is merely given the option not to Forget, not a requirement to take advantage of that benefit. That being said, Forgetting anyway is almost never beneficial.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Forgetting, Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power
• Using Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power - if you play the gained Major Power by committing to Forget at end of turn, can you do other things with it? (Like Forget it for a Choice Event / another Major.)
  Yes. Treat it as a triggered action: "At end of turn, Forget the gained Power Card."
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Forgetting, Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power

Scenarios

• 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), 4 more...
• In Destiny Unfolds, if you only have Major Powers in your Destiny, can you gain Minor Powers normally from the deck? (Or vice versa)
  Generally no. Rather than choosing a deck to gain from, you choose a single Power in your Destiny to gain. If your Destiny only has Major Powers, you must gain a Major Power.

  However, if the source of the Power Card forces you to gain a Minor Power (e.g., "Gift of Power") and you have none in your Destiny, gain one normally from the Minor Power Deck (and similarly for an effect that specifically gains Major Powers).
  Tags: Gaining Power Cards, Call on Midnight's Dreams (Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares), Boon of Ancient Memories (Shifting Memory of Ages), Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power, 12 more...

Spirits and Innate Powers

• When Dances Up Earthquakes plays a Major Power via Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power, what happens if you make that Power Card impending?
  If you choose to Forget the Power at end of turn, then nothing useful happens: you make the card impending, then Forget it when the turn ends without ever using it.

  If you choose to pay with Energy, Begin a Dance of Decades lets you pay any amount of Energy – even more than the amount you'd normally have to pay. This may be advantageous if you want reduce the time it will spend impending. The impending card will then come into play on a future turn, like impending cards normally do. It won't automatically gain all elemental thresholds on that future turn, and it won't have an energy discount, since those effects of Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power expire when Time Passes this turn.
  Tags: Forgetting, Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power, Rhythmic Power Builds to a Cataclysmic Crescendo (Dances Up Earthquakes), Begin a Dance of Decades (Dances Up Earthquakes), 1 more...