Abyss FAQ
167 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Contents and Setup
Game Overview
- Can you overpay for a Lord by playing more Allies than its cost needs?
- When overpaying for a Lord, must you use your lowest-value Allies?
- Must a Lord's race requirement be matched exactly, and can a card of another race fill it?
- When a Lord shows only its mandatory race, can cards of other races pay for it?
- Do you need one Ally of each of the five Races to recruit an Ambassador?
- Can the Traitor, Corruptor or Schemer recruit an Ambassador without the five Race Allies?
- Can you keep some Allies in hand and pay the rest of a Lord's cost with Pearls?
- When you recruit a Lord with several Allies, which one do you affiliate?
- Do affiliated Allies stay attached to the Lord they helped recruit?
- Do you keep an affiliate Ally when you already have one of the same Race and value?
- Can the Master of Magic's affiliate power apply to his own recruitment?
- Can a Lord's immediate (arrow) power be used on the turn you recruit it?
- Can a semi-permanent Lord power be used on the turn you recruit the Lord or get its third Key?
- Are Lord powers mandatory, or can you decline them?
- Can the jellyfish Lord's discard-a-Council-stack power be used after exploring or after taking a Council stack?
- Does the Alchemist's Request Support power make you take both stacks?
- Are discarded Lords shuffled back into the Lord deck?
- Do you lose a Lord's Key when the Lord is discarded or killed by the Assassin?
- When does the Threat token go back to the first space?
- What happens when a monster is revealed with the Threat token on its top or first space?
- Does the Threat token rise again when a second monster is ignored in the same turn?
- Do you have to fight a monster revealed on the last Exploration space?
- Do monsters you choose not to fight stay on the Exploration Track?
- Where do you place a Monster token you receive as a reward?
- Does a Lord hit by the Assassin still count at the end of the game?
- Does a protection Lord such as the Shaman undo an earlier Assassin hit?
- Who chooses which Lords the Assassin turns sideways?
- Does a Lord acquired through the Traitor or the Schemer trigger its one-time power?
- Can the Traitor or the Schemer discard itself to take a different Lord?
- When the Corruptor buys a second Lord, is the Court refilled before or after you pay and choose?
- Does the Recruiter's cost increase apply to the Corruptor's 5-Pearl purchase, and does that Lord get an affiliate?
- Can the Corruptor's power take an eighth Lord, or go past seven Lords?
- Do Ambassador Lords have keys, and do they count as keyed Lords for scoring?
- When you recruit an Ambassador, do you gain one Location, or can its keys take a second?
- Are Ambassadors free, and do they slide under their Location like other Lords?
- Does freeing an Ambassador with the Liberator give you another Location?
- Do Ambassador Location powers draw from the face-down stack or from the face-up Locations?
- When a Location is swapped out for one from the stack, where does it go?
- When you draw Locations from the stack, must you declare how many before drawing?
- What happens to face-up Locations when one is taken?
- Can you take a Location with three Keys from monster fights and no Lords?
- Once you hold three Keys, must you take a Location right away?
- Which Lords go under a Location when you take it?
- Do Lords covered by a Location lose their powers?
- If a Lord you recruit gives your third Key, can you use its power before taking the Location?
- Does Throne Room score once when two Lords tie for the highest value?
- How does The Chamber of Allies score the lowest Allies?
- How many Influence Points does a Sanctuary score?
- Do you need a Smuggler Lord to take a Sanctuary Location?
- Does City of Mirrors copy another player's Location's effect or its result?
- Does the Executioner's power apply to affiliated Allies?
- Can the Opportunist discard a Lord that has a Sentinel token on it?
- If an Assassin kills your Sentinel Lord, can you still use the Sentinel's reservation marker?
- What does the Anglerfish promo card do?
- Is there a hand limit for Allies in the base game?
- With a free Commander in play, can you buy an Ally from an opponent when you already hold six?
- Can you take a seventh Ally, discard it for Pearls, and still end the turn at six?
- Is the Ally discard pile face up or face down?
- What happens when the Ally deck runs out?
- In what order do players buy an Ally revealed during Exploration?
- Who receives the Pearls paid for Allies during Exploration, and does seat order change the price?
- Who gets the last Ally on the Exploration track, and who gets the bonus Pearl?
- When an opponent buys an Ally from your Exploration, is its space refilled?
- Can you Explore the Depths when only Monster cards remain in the Ally deck?
- During Explore, can you take a card revealed earlier, or must you take the first Ally when nobody can pay?
- Can you pay for an Ally with other Ally cards instead of Pearls?
- Can you pay Pearls to add a Lord to the Court when no Court Lord is worth taking?
- When do you receive the two Pearls from a Court space?
- Can other players see how many Pearls you hold?
- Can you count the cards in a Council stack before taking it?
- If an opponent has fewer than two Pearls when you buy The Seeker, what do they pay?
- When looting a Sanctuary in the Kraken expansion, what happens if the 6 Loot card makes you draw a Monster?
- When the Traitor or Schemer swaps in a new Lord, can you use the new Lord's power?
The End of Your Turn
- Can a Lord's power be used before the Location from your third Key is taken?
- If the Lord that gives your third Key has a lasting power, like the Commander, does the power still trigger?
- If you gain two Key tokens while holding two keyed Lords, must you tuck both Lords to take the Location?
- Can the Oracle discard a Council pile on the same turn you explored?
The End of the Game
- If the Invoker is your seventh Lord and ends the game, does its extra turn still happen?
- When the seventh Lord ends the game, does each other player still get one last turn even if turn counts are unequal?
- Do Pearls score points at the end of the game?
- Does an assassinated Lord still count toward the seven Lords that end the game?
- Can a player who gains a third Key during the final turns still take a Location?
- If players are still tied after the Pearl tiebreaker, is there a further tiebreaker?
- Can the game end because the Lord deck runs out, rather than by a seventh Lord?
- At game end, do Allies you affiliate from hand count for Location scoring?
- Is affiliating your lowest Ally of each Race at game end mandatory?
- If you buy the Summoner on the final round, do you still get its extra turn?
- Do Lords used to control a Location still count for scoring at game end?
- For The Closed Tower's end-game score, do Lords used to control Locations count?
- Does The Lost Tower count Lords with a printed key, or Lords with Key tokens placed on them?
- Do Locations with a bonus per Lord type still score their base points when you have no Lords of that type?
- Can you affiliate a second Ally of a Race you have already affiliated?
- Does a Location worth 5 points plus 3 per Crab ally give a flat 5 plus 3 for each affiliated Crab ally?
Lexicon
ClarificationsExpansion
- What does an assassinated Lord still contribute at game end?
- Does recruiting a second Outcast still force a reconquest of an opponent's Location, even if its key was used separately?
- Does The Dissenter affiliate any of the Allies used to recruit it?
- If a Lord needs only one Race, can the Diplomat let you use several Races to recruit it?
- If the Traitor is bought onto a two-Pearl space, do you still get the Pearls?
- If a power replaces a Lord from the Court, do you gain the Pearls from a two-Pearl space?
- When you swap one of your Lords for a Court Lord, does the new Lord's power trigger?
- Can the Schemer replace a Lord the Assassin has already hit?
- Who is the 'Trainer' named in the Clarifications section?
- Can you pay Pearls for more than a Lord's remaining cost?
- Can the Assassin target a Lord that is holding keys for a Location?
Abyss: KrakenExpansion
- If the Liberator frees an Ambassador, does the Ambassador's power trigger again, and do you get its Keys?
- Can a Lord freed by the Liberator use its own Key again?
- When you acquire a Sentinel Lord, must you place its reservation right away?
- Can a Sentinel be moved to a new spot without buying the item it protects?
- Can a Sentinel reserve another Sentinel?
- Do you get Nebulis each time you use or re-place a Sentinel token?
- If another player assassinates your Sentinel Lord, do you keep the Sentinel token?
- Can another player discard or buy a Lord protected by a Sentinel token?
- Is the Executioner's power a one-shot effect or a continuing one?
- Can a Kraken ally replace any other Ally, including in a Monster fight, and what does using one cost?
- Can Kraken allies count as any Race when recruiting a Lord?
- When does the Kraken figure pass to another player, and who gets it on a tie?
- Where do the Nebulis come from when the Fence gives them to opponents?
- Does the Highwayman trigger when an opponent gains two or more Pearls from an ally purchase?
- Can you use more than one Nebulis in a single payment?
- Can you spend the Nebulis from a Kraken ally on the same Lord you are recruiting?
- When the Healer lets you take an Ally from the discard, can you take one you just paid with?
- Where do loot cards go after a bust while searching a Sanctuary?
- When City of Mirrors copies a Location, is the choice made at game end?
- If City of Mirrors copies a Sanctuary at game end, do you get its loot, key or Pearls?
- Does The Cleaner's end-game effect still apply if it was used to control a Location?
- Do you need a Smuggler to acquire a Sanctuary?
- Can Kraken allies be discarded to meet the hand limit set by the Commander or by Martial Law?
- What happens to Kraken allies still in your hand at game end?
- Do you gain a Nebulis when a Kraken ally is discarded?
- Where can you spend Nebulis?
- Can the Outlaw let you spend two Nebulis on a purchase while you still have white Pearls?
- Can you spend a Nebulis toward the Corruptor's five-Pearl recruit cost?
- How does the Hypnotist let you buy an Ally during another player's exploration?
- Can the Kraken's Lair location score below zero?
- Is the Abyss location capped at 12 points once the Smugglers guild is included?
- If your Kraken threat track is at its maximum and you reveal a Monster while looting a Sanctuary, must you fight it?
- If your threat track is at its maximum and you reveal a Monster while exploring, must you fight it?
- Do Nebulis count as Pearls for Lord powers and costs?
Abyss: LeviathanExpansion
- Can a Kraken ally be used to fight a Leviathan, and do you gain Nebulis for it?
- How many allies can you use in each round of a Leviathan fight?
- Can you keep attacking the same Leviathan after a failed attack in the same turn?
- If a monster is on the last exploration space, must you fight the Leviathan?
- When can you fight a Leviathan?
- When a Loot draw reveals a Monster card, what happens with the Leviathan?
- Can you keep keys from Monster tokens face down and reveal them on a later turn?
- Can you play Leviathan with five players?
- If a new ally's power has you roll both dice for a Leviathan fight, do you add them together?
- If the Rebel removes a Leviathan's last Health point, do you collect its reward?
- Does a Leviathan attack make you discard cards?
- Do Leviathan allies with special powers keep their power after you affiliate them?
- After defeating a Leviathan, do you keep the ally you used?
- When The Coward ignores a monster, which cards are discarded?
- Can you gain a second Location in one turn from Keys revealed on a Sanctuary?
- Does fighting a Leviathan end your whole turn?
- Is The Tamer used when playing with the Leviathan expansion?
- If a Leviathan attack makes you discard your Sentinel Lord, do you keep the Sentinel token?
- Can you hold more than 12 Allies during another player's turn?
Abyss: De ProfundisExpansion
- Where do Outcasts go in the Court, and is any slot reserved for them?
- How does the Outcast deck work at setup and when refilling the Court?
- How does Outcast location theft work?
- Do Outcasts need Key tokens to take a Location from another player?
- Do the two soldier Outcasts count as Lords for The Barracks at game end?
- In a tie at game end, do Outcasts count for the highest-value tiebreaker?
- Can the Assassin target an Outcast?