BoardGamesBot

SPIRIT ISLAND
JAGGED
EARTH
AN EXPANSION BY R. ERIC REUSS
THE COOPERATIVE
SETTLER-DESTRUCTION
STRATEGY GAME
1-6
90-180
MIN
14+

---

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Components .................................................................................................................................................................. 4
New Game Items ....................................................................................................................................................... 6
Island Boards ................................................................................................................................................... 6
Setup Changes ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Branch & Claw Tokens .............................................................................................................................. 7
Badlands Tokens ........................................................................................................................................... 8
Element Markers .......................................................................................................................................... 8
Aspect Cards .................................................................................................................................................... 9
“Still Healthy” Blight Cards ................................................................................................................... 9
Ongoing Effect Reminder Cards ....................................................................................................... 9
New Rules .................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Isolate ................................................................................................................................................................. 10
Actions ............................................................................................................................................................... 10
Multiple or Missing Invader Cards ................................................................................................. 11
Spirits .................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Events .................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Choice Events ................................................................................................................................................ 13
New Concepts ............................................................................................................................................................ 14
“Does not Participate in Ravage” .................................................................................................... 14
Origin Land .................................................................................................................................................... 14
Treating One Piece as Another ......................................................................................................... 14
Health and Damage ................................................................................................................................. 15
Saved from Destruction ......................................................................................................................... 15
Play Options ............................................................................................................................................................... 16
Island Layouts .............................................................................................................................................. 16
Archipelagos (Multiple Smaller Islands) .................................................................................... 17
Including an Extra Island Board (Larger Islands) .............................................................. 18
Combining Two Adversaries ............................................................................................................... 19
Playing without Events ......................................................................................................................... 20
Playing with Fewer (or No) Tokens ................................................................................................ 21
Post-Play Option: Renaming Your Spirits ................................................................................ 21
Adversaries ................................................................................................................................................................. 22
The Tsardom of Russia: Peter I Romanov .............................................................................. 22
The Habsburg Monarchy: Emperor Joseph I ...................................................................... 22
Reference ..................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Appendix: Actions in Detail .............................................................................................................. 24
Appendix: Clarifications and FAQs ............................................................................................ 28
Credits ................................................................................................................................................................ 33
Glossary ............................................................................................................................................................ 34
The Invaders strip the land bare, voraciously
consuming all they find in service of their cities, their
herds, their distant empire. As life’s web is torn asunder,
even the more destructive among us must succumb.
But three things may yet allow us to survive.
The first is our will: our resolution, our defiance,
our unyielding intent. We have the weight of ages
behind us, and each others’ voices to give us hope
and inspiration. What we dream firmly enough may
become real.
The second is the land: we make it deadly, transform
it to an unlivable misery. We cloak it with fear, hide it
from mortal eyes, entrap it in time like a bug in amber.
We call forth its beasts and swarms, its poisons and
perils.
The third is the Dahan: even now, they fight a
thousand small struggles against the Invaders.
They speak of our anger, rally to the defense of their
kin, and hold out in ways we can barely perceive.
Some may still trade with the Invaders, but we no
longer fear a Third Reckoning: the Spirit-speakers
assure us of that, at least, and in return we will aid
and protect the Dahan as we can.
Let us not falter.

---

3
USING THIS EXPANSION
This rulebook contains new rules for Jagged Earth plus rules for the previous expansion, Branch & Claw. Rules taken from the Branch & Claw rulebook
are presented in grey-shaded boxes with the Branch & Claw triskelion icon: . If you are already familiar with the Branch & Claw rules, you can skip
these sections! If you have not played with Branch & Claw, you can either skip these sections and omit the materials requiring Branch & Claw rules
(see below), or read everything and attempt to digest two expansions worth of rules at once.
We strongly recommend playing the base game of Spirit Island at least a few times before adding most expansion items, particularly those using rules
from Branch & Claw. To aid in this, materials in this expansion are marked with one of three icons, indicating how many new rules are required to take
advantage of them:
Items with a plain mountain rely on no rules outside of the base game. They may reference Events, but those references can be
ignored if playing without Events. They may use physical components from this box, like Element Markers, but will give you any
necessary rules to do so. You can use these items without reading this rulebook further, though in a few cases you may need to
reference ‘Actions’ on p. 10 or ‘Clarifications and FAQs’ on p. 28. Plain mountain items include:
• Adversary: The Habsburg Monarchy
• Blight Cards: All Things Weaken, Power Corrodes the Spirit, Untended Land Crumbles
• Scenarios: Elemental Invocation, The Great River
• Spirits: Fractured Days Split the Sky, Shifting Memory of Ages, Shroud of Silent Mist, Starlight Seeks its Form
Items with a smoking volcano rely on a rule, concept, or clarification introduced in this expansion, but nothing from Branch & Claw.
Read the relevant parts of “New Game Items”, “New Rules” and “New Concepts” before including them. These items include:
• Aspects: Reach, Wind, Sunshine, Resilience
• Blight Cards: Invaders Find the Land to Their Liking, Strong Earth Shatters Slowly
• Island Boards: E, F
• Scenario: Despicable Theft
• Spirit: Stone’s Unyielding Defiance
Items with an active volcano rely on rules or concepts from Branch & Claw (and possibly this expansion). You have everything you
need to play with these materials – the rules for Branch & Claw are included in this rulebook, and the necessary tokens are included
in the box! These items include:
• Adversary: The Tsardom of Russia
• Aspects: Madness, Pandemonium
• Blight Cards: Unnatural Proliferation, Thriving Communities (best played with Events; see p. 20)
• All Event Cards
• All Power Cards (*). Many new Power Cards use /// tokens. Others do not, but the Power Cards are designed to be
included as a set – if you pick-and-choose, it may throw off the elemental balance of the power decks, making some Spirits play
better than others.
• All remaining Spirits
(*) The Major Power Card, Sea Monsters, from Branch & Claw has been updated to resolve balance issues with Many Minds Move as One. If you
own Branch & Claw, replace its copy of the Power Card with the one included here. If you do not own Branch & Claw, this Power should be omitted.
PLAY OPTIONS
This rulebook also includes a section on Play Options (see p. 16), which are alternate ways to set up the game that require no new components.
(For instance, playing without the Event Deck, or combining two Adversaries.) There are also many challenges to be found in new island layouts,
like separating the boards to create an archipelago of disconnected lands, or adding extra boards to give you more land to protect. These challenges
are there if you want them, but are entirely optional!

---

2 MODULAR ISLAND BOARDS 10 SPIRIT PANELS
18 DAHAN
10 CITIES
16 TOWNS
25 EXPLORERS
24 BLIGHT
24 ENERGY MARKERS
(18 1-ENERGY MARKERS)
(6 3-ENERGY MARKERS)
16 FEAR MARKERS
35 BEASTS TOKENS
22 WILDS TOKENS
30 DISEASE TOKENS
22 STRIFE TOKENS
25 BADLANDS TOKENS
26 SPIRIT PRESENCE
(13 OF EACH IN 2 COLORS)
6 SINGLE-TURN EFFECT
MARKERS (DEFEND)
(3 OF EACH IN 2 COLORS)
4
6 PLAYER AID CARDS
18 SINGLE-TURN EFFECT
MARKERS (ISOLATE)
(3 OF EACH IN 6 COLORS)
4 ADVERSARY REMINDER TILES
28 SCENARIO MARKERS
(11 NUMBERED MARKERS)
(17 BLANK MARKERS)
64 ELEMENT MARKERS
(8 OF EACH)AFTER BUILD
LVL 1 RAVAGE LVL 1, 3, & 6
RAVAGE
ADDITIONAL LOSS,
LVL 6
BUILD
LVL 2
COMPONENTSCOMPONENTS

---

6 FEAR CARDS 7 BLIGHT CARDS
24 MAJOR POWER CARDS33 MINOR POWER CARDS41 UNIQUE POWER CARDS30 EVENT CARDS
2 ADVERSARY PANELS 3 SCENARIO PANELS
6 ASPECT CARDS
5
8 REMINDER CARDS
INCLUDING SEA MONSTERS
REPLACEMENT (SEE P. 3)

---

6
STARTING BEASTS
AND DISEASE TOKENS
ISLAND BOARD E
ISLAND BOARD F
STARTING PRESENCE ONSTARTING PRESENCE ON
THEMATIC BOARDSTHEMATIC BOARDS
Sometimes, a Spirit’s Setup instructions won’t work
for all 6 Thematic Boards – not just ambiguity (which
you decide), but, e.g., “place your in a land with
” on a board with no , or “place your in
Terrain A next to Terrain B” where there’s no such
pairing. You can either (a) not start that Spirit on that
board, or (b) follow the instructions as best you can –
if it tells you to place , do so, choosing freely when
no land(s) match the criteria given. Feel free to use
what you think would be most thematic as a guide.
NEW GAME ITEMSNEW GAME ITEMS
ISLAND BOARDS
This expansion includes two additional Island Boards, to add variety and allow games with up to
6 players. Underneath the board letter on the new boards is a smaller crossed-out letter: board E
shows “no B” and board F shows “no D” . You may wish to avoid using that pairing of boards in
games with 4 or fewer Island Boards: it will concentrate some terrains as good (those starting without
//) and others as bad, which can skew Difficulty depending on Invader Cards drawn. If you
consider island variety more important than the potential for swinginess, ignore this advisory and use
whatever boards you like! (See p. 16 for the standard layouts for 5 and 6 players.)
SETUP CHANGES
• Get out the Beasts , Wilds , Disease , Strife , and Badlands tokens and create a
supply near the island.
• Shuffle the Event Deck and put it beside the Invader Board. Playing with a Blight Card is now
required rather than optional. (The Event Deck depends on using one.)
• During Setup, put one and one on each Island Board. The goes in the
lowest-numbered land with no printed Setup icons; the goes in land #2 (with the ).
Thematic Boards: Instead of placing a single and on each board, place tokens as indicated by
the Setup icons in each land.
BADLANDS ON THEMATIC BOARDS BADLANDS ON THEMATIC BOARDS
The Thematic Boards from the base game did not have
Badlands Setup icons. If playing on the Thematic Boards
with tokens, add 1 to each of the following lands:
• NW board, land 7
• W board, land 9
• E board, land 6

---

7
RAVAGE TIMING RAVAGE TIMING
(This a change from existing rules.)
1. Add together the Damage from each individual
Invader. Modifiers to individual Invader Damage
– like – happen here. Remove one from each
Invader that has one.
2. If Invaders are dealing 1 or more Damage, increase
it by any per-land modifiers.
3. Lower Damage with Defend.
4. Simultaneously,
a. Deal this Damage to the land.
b. Deal this Damage to . If 1 or more Damage
is done to , they take +1 Damage per .
5. Surviving deal Damage to Invaders. (Modifiers
happen in the same order as above.) If 1 or more
Damage is done to Invaders, they take +1 Damage
per .
BRANCH & CLAW TOKENS
This expansion uses tokens to represent perils and hazards which hinder the Invaders. Beasts, Wilds,
and Disease tokens are added to lands; Strife is added to specific Invaders. There is no limit to how
many tokens can be in a land, or to how many Strife tokens can be on an Invader.
BEASTS
Beasts tokens represent any sort of wild animals that are numerous, dangerous, or aggressive
enough to be a problem for the Invaders. (The Dahan know how to avoid them or drive them off
well enough to prevent substantial casualties.) They are unpredictable allies, and are much more
likely to pick off Explorers than to attack Towns or Cities.
Beasts tokens do not have an intrinsic effect. Many Powers which add have a second effect
which only works on lands with , and many of the Event Cards have Token Events for .
WILDS
Wilds tokens represent lands that are perilous to explore – plants which look edible but are actually
toxic, difficulty finding fresh water, especially dangerous paths, etc. However, once a given danger
is discovered and noted (there are always a few survivors), it is easily avoided by future Explorers.
When Invaders would Explore into a land with , instead Remove one from that land.
DISEASE
Disease tokens represent maladies and poor health. They reduce population: sometimes sharply,
but more often by keeping growth in check. Disease is dangerous to the Dahan – not as devastating
as was the case historically (thanks to their relationships with Spirits of healing and vigor), but some
of the Token Events dealing with Disease can harm the Dahan.
When Invaders would Build in a land with , instead Remove one from that land.
STRIFE
Strife tokens represent internal turmoil and discord within the Invader ranks. In such turbulent
and angry situations, fields go untended, farms remain small, and aggression against the Dahan
becomes disorganized and ineffectual.
Unlike the other four token types, Strife is added to a specific Invader rather than the land as a
whole. When you add a Strife in a particular land, you choose which Invader it’s added to and
place the Strife token beneath that Invader piece. (If there are no Invaders, you cannot add Strife.)
Whenever Invaders Damage the Dahan and/or the land, each attacking Invader with any number
of deals exactly 0 Damage and Removes one . Using the is required; you cannot save
it for later, even if the Invader is already doing 0 Damage due to, e.g., Defend. If the Invader is
Damaging multiple things simultaneously (as during Ravage), the affects all of them. If Invaders
Damage other Invaders, has no effect and is not Removed.
Reminder: Even if Damage is reduced to 0 (by Defend and/or Strife), the Dahan still fight back!
However, Dahan remain complacent if something cancels or skips the Ravage Action entirely.
If an Invader with Strife moves, the Strife moves with it. If it is Removed or Destroyed, return the
Strife token to the supply. If it is Replaced with another Invader, the Strife stays; but if it is Replaced
with something else – such as a Beasts token or Dahan – the Strife goes away.

---

8
For this example, Ravage takes place in the Wetlands, where Badlands
are present.
• In Land #1, the Explorer does 1 Damage to the land, so no Blight
is added. It does 1 Damage to the Dahan, +1 extra from the Badlands
token, so the Dahan is Destroyed before it can retaliate.
• Land #6 is protected with Defend 4. The Damage from the 2 Towns
is entirely prevented by the defense, so no Blight is added. Because
no Damage is done to the Dahan, the boost from the Badlands does
not apply. Then the Dahan retaliate, doing 2 Damage, +2 extra
from the Badlands, Destroying both Towns.
Pyroclastic Bombardment is an example of a Power where Badlands can
be triggered multiple times, with restrictions, since the original Damage
targets a specific Invader type.
1. 1 Damage to each Town/City, plus 1 Damage per Badlands that is
applied to Towns/Cities.
2. 1 Damage to each Dahan, plus 1 Damage per Badlands that is
applied to Dahan.
3. 1 Damage to any Invader.
4. 1 Damage to Dahan.
NEW GAME ITEMSNEW GAME ITEMS
If the Damage of a particular Invader with Strife is boosted, then Strife applies afterwards and
cancels it. If the total Damage is boosted (e.g., by the Event Increasing Aggression) then it applies
after Strife, if the Invaders deal at least 1 Damage (before Defend); otherwise, there’s no Damage to
increase.
So if every single Invader in a land is dealing 0 damage – most commonly due to , but Powers like
Mesmerized Tranquility might also manage it – they don’t do more Damage due to Events like Civic
Engagement.
BADLANDS TOKENS
Badlands are lands very difficult for humans to live in. They may be
barren and support little life, lush and verdant but also quite deadly,
cursed in some way, etc. This doesn’t affect Spirits at all, but makes
Invaders and Dahan more vulnerable – in game terms, they take
more Damage. Like Beasts, Wilds, and Disease tokens, Badlands
tokens are added to a land.
The first time each Action (see p. 10) Damages Invaders in a land, increase that Damage by 1 per
. The first time each Action Damages Dahan in a land, increase that Damage by 1 per .
DETAILS:
• Restrictions on what types of pieces can be Damaged (e.g., “1 Damage to /”) affect the
bonus Damage, too.
• If Damage is reduced to 0 – e.g., by Defend Powers protecting Dahan – then aren’t relevant.
• If a Power’s Damage is capped at some maximum, bonus Damage from does not count
against that maximum.
• Actions Damaging “each Invader” or “each Dahan” in a land do not get the bonus Damage
for each piece, just 1 total per ! You can decide how to distribute it.
• Actions dealing Damage in multiple lands add bonus Damage in each land according to how
many are there.
• only boost Damage; they don’t change Destroy effects.
• are active as soon as they’re added to the board, so a Power which adds 1 then deals
Damage will get its Damage boosted by the .
tokens stay on the board unless explicitly Removed – grim reminders of the conflict’s cost, so far as
the Dahan are concerned.
ELEMENT MARKERS
These markers are primarily a player convenience, for tracking Elements from non-usual sources.
However, two Spirits and one Scenario do make use of them in other ways. Each one provides its own
rules for how to use the Element Markers. They are not limited by available components.

---

9
ASPECT CARDS
Aspect Cards provide new ways to play familiar
Spirits, portraying some facet of that Spirit’s
nature more strongly or in a different fashion.
This expansion includes Aspects for the four
low-complexity Spirits from the base game.
The back of an Aspect Card shows which Spirit
it’s for and the front shows how to use it, providing
a new Special Rule or Innate Power. To keep
the Spirit balanced, an Aspect may replace an
existing Special Rule or Innate Power or require
other changes during Setup; these changes are
indicated at the top of the card.
The use of Aspects is entirely optional; decide whether to use one and which to use when choosing
Spirits. Use at most one Aspect per Spirit. Aspects may change a Spirit’s play style or complexity;
if playing a Spirit for the first time, either don’t use an Aspect, or use one that decreases complexity.
“STILL HEALTHY” BLIGHT CARDS
Two of the new Blight Cards say “Still Healthy” on the opposite side and have a small Blight pool.
When this Blight pool runs out, you do not lose – instead, following the instructions there, you draw
a new Blight Card and go straight to its reverse side (which may be “Blighted” or “Still Healthy”).
ONGOING EFFECT REMINDER CARDS
A handful of Adversaries, Events, Major
Powers, and Play Options have enduring
effects which last for the rest of the game.
Small Reminder Cards are included for these,
to put by the board. Red-background cards
are for Play Options or Adversaries chosen
during Setup; yellow-background cards are
for global effects that arise during the game.
(If your playgroup greatly dislikes ongoing
effects, you can omit the referenced cards
from the Event and Major Power Decks with
minimal balance impact.)
Reminder Cards which go in the deck (as for Habsburg Level 5+ and playing without Events) are
not considered Invader Cards – they are a convenience for players to track things happening at a
particular point in time. Effects which alter the Invader Deck ignore Reminder Cards and do not
move them around. A Reminder Card’s depth in the Invader Deck will be changed when Invader
Cards are added to or removed from the top of the deck, but otherwise remains constant.
SETUP CHANGE FOR BLIGHT CARDSSETUP CHANGE FOR BLIGHT CARDS
Because you might need more than one Blight Card,
simply put the entire shuffled stack of Blight Cards
atop the Blight space, and use the top one. Should
you need another, just use the next one in the stack.
BLIGHT IS UNLIMITEDBLIGHT IS UNLIMITED
The number of is not limited by the number of
components. In the unlikely event that you run out,
either use Energy Markers to indicate additional
(like indicating extra Invaders) or use convenient pieces
from another game.
SELECTING BLIGHT CARDSSELECTING BLIGHT CARDS
Blight Cards are meant to provide some uncertainty
– both about how much will be available after
it flips, and in what the ‘twist’ will be. Beyond that,
the exact set of cards to pick from isn’t tremendously
important, so if there are a couple of Blight Cards
your group finds too extreme, too sedate, or just
un-fun, feel free to simply not include them.

---

10
ISOLATE
Some new Powers tell you to Isolate a land, representing the Invaders being mired, trapped, or
otherwise incapable of traveling. This has two effects:
1. Invaders do not Explore Isolated lands and Isolated lands are not a source of Explorers.
2. As far as Invader pieces are concerned, an Isolated land isn’t adjacent to anything... unless
you want it to be.
DETAILS:
• Isolate does not affect Blight cascades – Blight is not an Invader piece, so is not impacted.
(Thematically, things which prevent humans from traveling don’t affect ecosystem damage
spreading.)
• Isolate does not change whether a land is Coastal. (‘Coastal’ is a land type defined by the
land’s adjacency to the Ocean. Invader-specific adjacency changes don’t affect that.)
• Like all effects not marked by a change to the board, Isolate only lasts for the current turn.
• You can let Invaders in an Isolated land use some or all adjacencies for a given Action,
if you like.
ACTIONS
The base game defines some terminology imprecisely. Jagged Earth introduces new wording that will
be used going forward.
Badlands tokens, Level 2 of The Tsardom of Russia, and other rules specify things that should happen
“once per Action”, “the first time during an Action”, or “after (some Action that does a particular thing)”.
An Action is just a group of game effects that go together – e.g, the following are common Actions:
• One use of a Power;
• A Ravage, Build, or Explore in a single land;
• Everything one Fear Card does (*);
• Everything a Main Event does (*);
• Everything a Token Event does (*);
• Everything a Dahan Event does (*);
• Everything a flipped Blight Card does (*).
(*) = With one exception: “Each board”, “Each land”, “Each player”, or “Each Spirit” instructions cause
one Action per qualifying board, land, player, or Spirit.
This replaces the somewhat imprecise “effect” terminology of the base game. It is not intended to
change how anything from the base game or Branch & Claw works, though it has a minor impact on
Vengeance of the Dead (see sidebar on p. 25). For more exhaustive details, see Appendix: Actions in
Detail starting on p. 24.
INVADER ACTIONS
What were previously just called “Invader Actions” have several different parts. Using Ravage as an
example, there’s the Ravage Step of the Invader Phase, in which you resolve zero or more Ravage
Cards on the Invader Board, each of which causes Ravage Actions in some number of lands.
Note: The Invaders may do things on the board as a result of Event Cards, Fear Cards, Adversary
rules, etc., but unless these cause an Explore, Build, or Ravage, these are not Invader Actions.
Therefore, they are not prevented by things like A Year of Perfect Stillness or Paralyzing Fright.
Again, see Appendix: Actions In Detail for more exhaustive information and unusual cases.
ISOLATE SIDE OF REMINDER TOKENS
For this example, Explore takes place in the Mountains and Wetlands.
Land #1 has been Isolated.
• Land #1 does not Explore, because it has been Isolated.
• Land #2 does Explore, because it is adjacent to the Ocean.
• Lands #6 and #7 do not Explore, because they are not adjacent to
a source of Explorers.
THE UTILITY OF ISOLATETHE UTILITY OF ISOLATE
Unlike skipping a Build or Ravage, Isolate isn’t a very
strong effect, since you don’t know where the Invaders
are going to Explore. Occasionally you can obtain
guaranteed results: e.g., if a whole bunch of lands are
only Explorable due to a a single land with /,
or if an Adversary rule predictably moves Invaders
(The Habsburg Monarchy) or depends on adjacency
(The Kingdom of England). More often, it will be
speculative – but Powers with Isolate often do other
things as well.
ISOLATING OCEANSISOLATING OCEANS
If Oceans are in play, Isolating an Ocean doesn’t
affect whether lands are Coastal, but does prevent it
from being a source of .
NEW RULESNEW RULES

---

11
MULTIPLE OR MISSING INVADER CARDS
Some Fear and Event Cards may change the usual orderly progression of Invader Cards along the
Invader Board, causing there to be multiple – or zero – cards on a single space.
If there are no cards on a space, then that step of the Invader Phase won’t do anything because
there aren’t any cards to resolve.
If there is more than one card on a space, during that step of the Invader Phase you resolve each
card separately. If order is important (e.g., with multiple Builds against England Level 2), the card
which got there first – the one on the bottom – goes first. If there is more than one card for Explore,
reveal and fully resolve one Explore Card (including any ) before revealing the next.
When advancing Invader Cards, all the cards on a space move together (see below). So if you have
two Build Cards this turn, you’ll have two Ravage Cards next turn.
SPIRITS
MULTIPLE GROWTH CHOICES
Spirits with “Growth (Pick #)” may choose the indicated number of Growth options, in any order.
However, they cannot choose the same option twice in a single turn , and one Growth option must
be completed before starting the next.
GROWTH THAT COSTS ENERGY
Some Spirits have a Growth option that costs Energy to pick. If the Spirit does not have the required
amount of Energy, they can’t choose that option. If the Spirit has multiple Growth choices, they can
use Energy gained from the first choice to help pay for a later one. (Note: “Growth option” refers to
the entire group of icons, not just the leftmost.)
SKIP ONE INVADER ACTION SKIP ONE INVADER ACTION
Several Power Cards say you may “skip one
Invader Action” in the target land. You don’t
need to choose what Action you’re skipping
ahead of time – you can choose at the moment
it would happen.

---

12
GROWTH: BOARD CHANGES
Some Aspects and new Spirits can change the board during the Spirit Phase in ways other than
adding or moving Presence. This may fool other players into thinking you’ve started the Fast Powers
Phase – to avoid this confusion, say something like “Growth” or “Presence Action” while making
changes of this nature.
(Reminder: The Actions (icons) within a Growth option may be Resolved in the order of your choice.)
POWERS: DISCOUNTS
The Energy cost of a Power can never go below 0 unless it’s explicitly specified that a rebate is
possible.
POWERS: ADDITIONAL COSTS
Some Powers have a “cost to use” listed at the top of their
effects. To use the Power’s effects, you must pay that cost.
If you Repeat such a Power, you either pay the cost again,
or the Repeat does nothing.
Some Powers have thresholds with an Energy cost listed
alongside the Elements. You only need to pay the cost if you
want to use that particular threshold; you may decline to pay
and skip that specific threshold.
If you Repeat such a Power, you either pay the cost again, or
skip that threshold effect during the Repeat.
PRESENCE TRACK BONUSES
Some Spirits have bonuses on their Presence Tracks other than Elements and “Reclaim One”.
Elements and static bonuses (like “+1 Range on everything”) are constantly in effect, and cannot be
turned off.
Spaces which say “+2 Energy” or “+1 Card Play” modify your normal Energy income or Card Plays
available.
Everything else (Reclaim One, Move Presence, Push Dahan, Pay 2 Energy to Gain a Power Card,
etc.) is an optional Action you may take once per turn during the Spirit Phase.
EVENTS
In the core game, the Invaders are perfectly predictable, save for what lands they will next be
interested in. But in truth, all living things – the Invaders, the Dahan, and Beasts of the wild –
sometimes act in unanticipated ways. To represent this, each Invader Phase, after any Blighted
Island effect and before Resolving any Earned Fear Cards, draw and resolve one Event Card.
On the first turn of the game, draw an Event Card, but do not resolve it; just place it in the discard
pile.
The Unique Power The Past Returns Again requires both extra
Energy and extra Time to use the effect. (Time is a special
mechanic of Fractured Days Split the Sky.) Each time the Power
is used (including when Repeated), the cost must be paid. You can
always play the card for Elements and not pay the extra cost or
use the effect.
CHANGES TO EVENTSCHANGES TO EVENTS
There are two changes to Events as they appeared in
Branch & Claw:
1. On the first turn of the game, do not resolve the
text on the Event Card you draw; just place it in
the discard pile. (Some main Events have proven
unduly swingy on turn 1. You still draw a card to
keep timing correct for French Plantation Colony
and as a reminder that this is something you’ll
be doing each Invader Phase.) On average, this
will make the game very slightly easier.
2. If you own Branch & Claw, remove the
Event A Strange Madness Among the Beasts.
It’s exceptionally swingy when playing with The
Tsardom of Russia (Adversary) or Many Minds
Move as One (Spirit). (If you want to leave it in
when not playing with either, that’s fine.)
EVENT GATHER AND PUSHESEVENT GATHER AND PUSHES
When an Event says, “On each board: Gather ...” or
“On each board: Push ...”, “on each board” refers to the
land Gathered into or Pushed from.
NEW RULESNEW RULES
To use the second level of this Innate
from Volcano Looming High,
the player must pay 2 Energy.

---

13
1
2
3
4
5
4
5
4
5
Most cards show two possible primary Events, both detrimental (see examples). Which you perform
will depend on either:
1. The Health of the Island (Healthy or Blighted, as shown on the Blight Card);
2. The Terror Level (I, II, or III); or
3. The Stage of Invasion (I, II, or III). The current stage is shown by the top card of the Invader
Deck.
Exception: If playing against Brandenburg-Prussia Level 2+, treat the early Stage III Card as
if it were Stage II.
Most Event Cards also have two potentially helpful Events:
4. Token Event: Beasts, Disease, or Strife have some effect on the island.
5. Dahan Event: Dahan take action or tend to their community.
Just like with other effects, when Resolving Events, unless otherwise specified:
• Perform as much of the card’s instructions as you can, moving from top to bottom and
skipping anything inapplicable or impossible.
• Effects which don’t change pieces on the board last only until the end of the current turn.
• Pieces only affect their own land unless explicitly specified. I.e., if a token or Dahan causes
Fear, Damage, or Destruction, it does so in the land that it’s in.
Players make any necessary decisions. When an Event says, “On Each Board: (do this OR that)”,
you may select differently on each board. You are permitted to read the entire Event Card before
making any decisions, but you don’t have to if your playgroup would rather think about one thing
at a time.
Like other effects, when Events deal Damage, unless otherwise specified, the Damage is done only
to Invaders. Some Events modify Invader Damage, or do Damage to the Dahan (see Health and
Damage, p. 15).
CHOICE EVENTS
As seen to the right, some cards contain Choice Events. These describe a situation and give the
Spirits multiple courses of action to take with differing consequences. Usually, the choice is a
joint decision, and players must reach consensus over which path to take. If no consensus can be
reached, the first listed option is always the default.
Often, a choice has a cost: usually some amount of Energy per player in the game. The cost is paid
jointly however the Spirits like; it does not need to be evenly divided. It could be paid entirely by one
player.
If a cost says it is “Aided by a particular Element” it means that Spirits:
• Count +1 Energy towards the cost for each of that Element they have in play (from Power
Cards, Presence Tracks, or other effects).
• May discard one or more Power Cards (from hand to discard) with that Element to count +2
Energy towards the cost per discarded card.
• May Forget one or more Power Cards (from hand, play, or discard) with that Element to
count +4 Energy towards the cost per Forgotten card.
A Power Card may only be used for one of these bonuses. If you discard a Power Card, you cannot
also Forget it. Also, a Power Card Forgotten from play no longer provides any Elements. The “Aided
by” Energy is only for the purposes of paying the cost – you cannot get real Energy out of it!

---

14
Mountains about to Ravage Step 1 Step 2
NEW CONCEPTSNEW CONCEPTS
“DOES NOT PARTICIPATE IN RAVAGE”
An Invader or Dahan that “does not particpate in Ravage” is ignored during the Ravage Step and
Ravage Actions in that land: it doesn’t affect whether a land Ravages, it doesn’t deal or take Damage
during the Ravage, effects checking what’s in the land during the Ravage Step don’t count it, etc.
ORIGIN LAND
When using a Power, the origin land is the land with your Presence from which you’re targeting the
Power or measuring Range. (It might not have your Presence in unusual cases, like if Entwined Power
is being used.) When you use a Power at Range 0, the origin and target are the same land.
TREATING ONE PIECE AS ANOTHER
A few effects say something like, “ also count as ”. So long as this effect is active, each Beasts
token in the affected area is also treated as a Badlands.
Note that “1 per /” on a land with 1 Beasts would still only do 1 Fear – it means “1 per piece
that is or ”, and a piece that’s both of those things is still only 1 piece.
If the effect is optional, you may decide both per Action and per piece – so if you had “your may
also count as ”, you could treat 2 of your Presence as Beasts for a Power Card, then none of them as
Beasts for a later Event. With Fear and Event Cards, you get to see the card’s text before making the
decisions.
For this example, Ravage takes place in the Mountains. With the Temporary Truce event,
one Dahan and one Town do not participate.
(Step 1) The Explorer does 1 Damage to the other Dahan, wounding it, and 1 Damage to the land.
(Step 2) The Dahan then retaliates and Destroys the Explorer. (The Damage cannot be dealt to
the Town, since it is not participating in the Ravage.)

---

15
Sands about to Ravage Step 1 Step 2
GAME-WIDE HEALTHGAME-WIDE HEALTH
Some Fear Cards say “For the rest of this turn,
Invaders have -1 Health per “. This is a general
rule that applies across the game for that turn.
Whenever an Invader gains or loses , they
acquire/lose the -1 Health penalty along with it.
Similarly, if Habsburg Level 4 is granting a
in a land without +2 Health, if it is Pushed
into a land with it will lose its Health bonus.
BACKWARDS INTERACTIONSBACKWARDS INTERACTIONS
Some previously printed game items have
interactions with new materials that were not
anticipated. Here are some advisories and
recommendations for the more drastic cases:
EVENT: A STRANGE MADNESS AMONG
THE BEASTS (BRANCH & CLAW)
This Event is on the swingy side already, and
becomes exceptionally so when playing with
Many Minds Move as One or against The
Tsardom of Russia. Recommendation: Remove
this Event Card from the Event Deck.
MAJOR POWER: SEA MONSTERS
(BRANCH & CLAW)
The old version can be brokenly good with Many
Minds Move as One. Replace with updated version.
SCENARIO: GUARD THE ISLE’S HEART (BASE
GAME)
Advisory: This Scenario is exceptionally difficult
against The Habsburg Monarchy due to their
constant migration.
SCENARIO: RITUALS OF TERROR
(BASE GAME)
Advisory: This Scenario is much easier with Stone’s
Unyielding Defiance due to its ability to keep Dahan
from leaving the land where the Ritual was performed.
HEALTH AND DAMAGE
DAMAGING THE DAHAN
When Spirit Powers Damage the Dahan, you may choose how that Damage is allocated, just like
when you Damage Invaders. When Events or Invaders Damage the Dahan, you must Destroy
Dahan as efficiently as possible. You cannot choose to hurt an undamaged Dahan to spare a
wounded one.
HEALTH CHANGES
Some effects increase or decrease the Health of Invaders or Dahan. These effects never reduce a
piece’s Health below 1. If an Invader or Dahan has already taken Damage equal to or greater than
their new Health, it is immediately Destroyed.
DAMAGE CHANGES
If there are Damage modifiers to both individual Invaders (e.g., “Each does +1 Damage”) and
to Invaders as a whole (e.g., Defend), apply the individual modifiers first, then the land-wide
modifiers. See Ravage Timing on p. 7.
SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION
A few effects can prevent Dahan or Invaders from being Destroyed.
• If a Dahan or Invader takes enough Damage to Destroy it but that Destruction is prevented,
clear all Damage it has at that moment.
• Saved Dahan and Invaders can’t be Destroyed a second time or be dealt additional Damage
by the Action they were just saved from, even if that effect has leftover Damage, additional
instances of Damage, or Destroy instructions.
For this example, Ravage takes place in the Sands. Shifting Memory of Ages has used Share Secrets of Survival on this land (choosing
the first option).
(Step 1) The Invaders deal 6 Damage, adding a Blight. The Dahan is saved from Destruction.
(Step 2) The Dahan retaliates, Destroying one Town.

---

16
ISLAND LAYOUTS
The “standard” board layouts for 5-player and 6-player (with the balanced side of the boards) are:
However, you’re welcome to put the island together any way you like. It may vary the Difficulty
slightly, or (more likely) affect how the game is difficult – here are the notable considerations:
• When a lower Coastal land (land #3) is not adjacent to another board, Blight cascades in that
corner can get bad very quickly due to limited adjacencies.
• Some layouts may make it easier to set up a “safe zone” where the Invaders don’t Explore:
when a board’s tip (land #8) has no adjacencies, or when there’s a group of lands all far from
the Ocean.
• Compact or connected layouts are useful for both the Spirits (combining forces) and for the
Invaders (spreading). Strung-out layouts behave the opposite way. They also make it a bit easier
to focus on one part of the island, which may be useful with less experienced players, especially
in larger games.
Some named alternate layouts are on this page and the next. Feel free to make up your own!
Note: If playing the “Guard the Isle’s Heart” Scenario, jointly decide on 1 “inner land” per player and
mark them with Scenario Markers. Lean towards 1 per board and towards clustering them together.
Reminders: If two lands touch at a corner, they are adjacent. Oceans are not adjacent to lands on
other boards.
ALTERNATE LAYOUTS
PLAY OPTIONSPLAY OPTIONS
“CRAB” (5-PLAYER STANDARD)“TWO CENTERS” (6-PLAYER STANDARD)
“FRAGMENT”
“OPPOSITE
SHORES”
“COASTLINE”
“SUNRISE”
“LEAF” “SNAKE”

---

17
ARCHIPELAGOS (MULTIPLE SMALLER ISLANDS)
Instead of laying the Island Boards out as a single island, you can create two or more smaller islets.
Each islet may be as small as a single board. Orient each islet so at least one of its Oceans roughly
faces an Ocean on another islet, and so all islets are Ocean-connected together.
Coastal lands on boards with facing Oceans are considered to be Range 2 away from each other.
(The Oceans proper are not lands or in play – unless something else makes them so, such as
Ocean’s Hungry Grasp. Even then, facing Oceans are still Range 2 from each other.)
Spirit-targeting Powers work normally when targeting a Spirit that shares an islet with you
(you both have Presence on it). Targeting a Spirit with whom you don’t share an islet costs
1 Energy per Ocean jump you have to make, paid when the Power is used. E.g., a Spirit on
board F must spend 2 Energy to target a Spirit on board A.
This may make the game a bit harder (+1 Difficulty at most), depending on configuration.
However, it will make Scenarios that require gathering many Dahan (e.g., Rituals of Terror)
extremely difficult, and Adversaries that focus their forces (e.g., The Kingdom of Scotland)
become more dangerous.
Archipelagos are very good at dividing up what board elements a given player most needs to pay
attention to, and can make larger games much easier for players to scan and think about.
ALTERNATE LAYOUTS
6P EXAMPLE LAYOUT
WITH 4 ISLETS
“SNAIL”
“PENINSULA”
“V”
“STAR”
“FLOWER”“CALDERA”
BOARD A
BOARD BBOARD C
BOARD D
BOARD EBOARD F
FACING
OCEANS
FACING
OCEANS

---

18
INCLUDING AN EXTRA ISLAND BOARD
(LARGER ISLANDS)
If you want to play with a larger island – a different sort of Difficulty boost from Adversaries or
Scenarios – you can give yourself an extra board to defend, with no Spirit starting on it. One
additional board adds approximately +2-4 Difficulty, with the following main factors:
• The higher Difficulty the game already is, the more Difficulty another board will add. As a very
rough rule of thumb, consider it +2 at Difficulty 0, +3 at Difficulty 3, and +4 at Difficulty 6.
• Spirits with very spatially-local areas of strength (e.g., Volcano Looming High) will have a harder
time handling the additional territory.
• At low player counts, Spirits good at controlling the Explore-Build cycle (e.g., River Surges
in Sunlight) may have an easier time, as they can keep the Invaders from ever getting a
significant foothold on the new board.
There is also some variance from other factors, including Invader Card order on smaller islands.
GAME-WIDE RULES AND CHANGES:
• Base the size of your Blight pool on the number of Island Boards rather than the number of
players, both during Setup and when flipping a Blight Card.
• Add +1 Fear Marker per player to the Fear pool.
• “Each Board” effects happen once per board. “Each player” effects happen once per player.
SETUP FOR THE EXTRA BOARD:
• Set up Dahan, Blight, and Spirit tokens (,,etc.) on the extra board normally.
• Do not place any Invaders or Blight indicated by Adversary Setup instructions on the extra
board.
• For other (non-Adversary) Invaders, place as follows:
If using the Thematic Boards, you may need to adapt the above instructions slightly – e.g., if playing
with 3 players and the extra board doesn’t have a Coastal City, keep a Coastal Town instead.
Additionally, the removal of Setup Invaders will have a greater effect, so the Difficulty boost from
the extra board will be slightly lower.
LARGER FRENCH PLANTATION COLONYLARGER FRENCH PLANTATION COLONY
Base the size of the pool off of the number of
boards, not the number of players.
Example Setup for the extra board in a 1-player game.
Example Setup for the extra board in a 3-player game with initial
Explore in the Sands.
PLAY OPTIONSPLAY OPTIONS
PLAYERS
INVADERS PLACED ON EXTRA
BOARD DURING SETUP
1 None (not even initial Explore)
2 Initial Explore only
3 Coastal City + initial Explore
4 Inland Town + initial Explore
5 As normal

---

19
COMBINING TWO ADVERSARIES
Through conquest or marriage, one Adversary nation joins with another, shifting their society and
how they approch colonization.
You can combine two Adversaries for a hybrid challenge, incorporating aspects of both. This can be
fun for play variety, and is useful for experienced players wanting to only use the lower Levels of a
new Adversary – you can combine it with a rules-light challenge like Brandenburg-Prussia to make
up for the lower Difficulty.
Decide on two Adversaries, and a Level for each. Use all game changes from both of them, with
the following exceptions:
• Making the Fear Deck: For each Terror Level, use 3 Fear Cards (the base) plus the extra cards
added or subtracted by each Adversary. (So if combining Adversaries with a 3-4-3 Fear Deck
and a 4-4-4 Fear Deck, you’d end up with a 4-5-4 Fear Deck.)
• Escalation Effects: Choose one Adversary to be leading; its Escalation Effect applies
normally. The other Adversary is supporting and applies its Escalation Effect on all Stage
III Invader Cards. (If the Escalation is specific to a terrain – as with France and Sweden
– choose one of the terrains randomly.)
• Making the Invader Deck: If both Adversaries modify the Invader Deck, first follow all of the
instructions on the supporting Adversary, in order, and then follow all of the instructions on the
leading Adversary, in order.
• Follow instructions as much as you can, but if you encounter an impossible instruction,
skip it.
• If it is ever ambiguous which card you are supposed to remove, remove the top-most
applicable card in the deck.
• If it is ever ambiguous which card you are supposed to move, move the bottom-most
applicable card in the deck.
• Treat Brandenburg-Prussia’s Level 2 effect as “Move the bottom-most Stage III card just
below the bottom-most Stage I card.”
The combined Difficulty of two Adversaries is roughly equal to the higher of the two Difficulties plus
50-75% of the lower. There are occasional exceptions, and we certainly haven’t tested every single
combination of Levels, but this is generally about correct.
COMBINING THE KINGDOM COMBINING THE KINGDOM
OF SCOTLAND OF SCOTLAND
If the other Adversary’s Setup instructions
would add to a Coastal land other than
land #2, instead add the to an adjacent
Inland land.

COMBINING THE FRENCH COMBINING THE FRENCH
PLANTATION COLONY PLANTATION COLONY
If playing vs. France Level 2 or higher,
increase the pool of available by 1 per
player for each level of the other Adversary
being played.

LEVEL EFFECT INVADER DECK
- Initial state 111-2222-33333
Russia 4 Put 1 Stage III Card after each Stage II Card111-2-3-2-3-2-3-2-33
Brandenburg-Prussia 2
Move the bottom-most Stage III Card just
below the bottom-most Stage I Card
111-3-2-3-2-3-2-3-2-3
Brandenburg-Prussia 3Remove an additional Stage I Card11-3-2-3-2-3-2-3-2-3
Brandenburg-Prussia 4Remove an additional Stage II Card11-33-2-3-2-3-2-3
EXAMPLE: MAKING THE INVADER DECK WITH BRANDENBURG-PRUSSIA LEVEL 4 (LEADING)
AND RUSSIA LEVEL 4 (SUPPORTING)

---

20
PLAYING WITHOUT EVENTS
Events serve several purposes: they make the island more thematically alive, provide an uncertainty
that helps keep advanced players from being 100% confident of a win many turns in advance,
and make it perilous to let the Blight Card flip too early. However, some players strongly prefer the
simplicity and near-perfect predictability of the base game. To play without Events, but keep Beasts
tokens relevant:
SETUP:
• Leave the Event Deck in the box.
• Add tokens to each board per the usual rules (see p. 6).
• Add 1 extra Fear Card to Terror Level II of the Fear Deck.
• Add the two “Command Beasts” Reminder Cards to the Invader Deck: one before the first
Stage II Card (including Brandenburg-Prussia’s early Stage III), the other before the first Stage
III Card.
• Don’t use a Blight Card where the Blighted Island side has 2 Blight per player or only immediate
effects. (You can either pull those cards out before shuffling, or redraw if you get one.
Without an Event Deck to provide occasional Blighted island Events, cards with beneficial
or non-ongoing effects become much lower-risk.) Still-Healthy Island Cards are fine, though
staying Healthy has less game impact.
GAMEPLAY:
• When reaching Invader Stage II and Invader Stage III, the Spirits earn the ability to command
all Beasts on the island once. (Take the Reminder Card from the Invader Deck once it appears
on top.)
• Commanding Beasts requires consensus from all Spirits during the phase.
For each , choose one of the following:
• 1 Damage.
• Push the .
• If Invaders are present, 1 .
Then flip the Reminder Card over to show that you’ve used it.
• You can use both Commands in the same Fast Power Phase if you have both available.
• Each land where 1 or more Beasts are Commanded is considered a separate Event Action.
PLAY OPTIONSPLAY OPTIONS

---

21
PLAYING WITH FEWER (OR NO) TOKENS
Some players may prefer not to learn the rules for all 5 token types at once, or may want to play
without them in a game with new players. If this is the case, and you don’t feel like going through
all the decks to yank a bunch of cards out:
• Decide at the start of the game which tokens to use. If a Spirit in the game is noted as making
use of particular types of tokens (on the back, next to Play Style), don’t omit those tokens.
• After Setup, whenever you would add a token of a type you’re not playing with, instead gain
1 Energy and generate 1 Fear. (If it’s not clear who would gain the Energy, players decide.)
• If you get a Fear Effect that hinges entirely on a token type you’re not using, you may
replace it with a random Fear Card from the box. If the effect is merely lesser without that
token, use it as written.
Note: This is intended as a reasonable one-off option to ease learning, not a well-balanced system
for long-term play. Many token-adding Power Cards will become worse, and many Token Events
will do nothing.
POST-PLAY OPTION: RENAMING YOUR SPIRITS
A Spirit’s Power Cards don’t simply define what a Spirit can do, they also define what a Spirit is.
E.g., if River Surges in Sunlight gains multiple Minor Powers with Fire – say, Purifying Flame, Gift
of Living Energy, and Rouse the Trees and Stones – plus the Major Power Blazing Renewal, it’s no
longer entirely a Spirit of water and sunlight: its nature has shifted to encompass the energy and
renewal of fire, along with some of fire’s Destruction. (This is why gaining a Major Power involves
Forgetting another Power – it’s a large shift in the Spirit’s being.)
Most Spirits undergo significant transformation over the course of a game, and it’s possible that
the Dahan might call them by different names in the aftermath of the conflict. You might enjoy
imagining their new name, looking at how their Power Cards have changed and recalling what
their Spirit did during the game. In the example above, one might come up with “River Shines
with Renewing Fire” or “Torrent of Life’s Flame”.

---

22
THE TSARDOM OF RUSSIA: PETER I ROMANOV
The Tsardom of Russia has long been an agriculturally and technologically backward state, but all
that has begun to change with the rule of Tsar Peter I. Desperate for an ice-free port in the north to
supplement the frequently frozen harbor of Arkhangelsk and hemmed in to the west by the powerful
Kingdoms of Sweden and Prussia, Peter I committed aggressively to the northern alliance begun by
his grandfather Michael I, sending poorly trained but massive armies to assist in the continental wars
against France and Spain. In exchange, Sweden ceded Russia a portion of the Murman Coast, and
Peter built a new northern capital and seaport at St. Petersburg at the ice-free Kola Bay on the Arctic
ocean. This gave Russia free access to the North Sea throughout the year, and led to a substantial
increase in Russian shipping and shipbuilding.
At the same time, Peter expanded Russia eastward. Cossack explorers had already reached the
Pacific coast by year of Peter’s birth in 1672, and Peter sent new, larger waves of settlers along the
Arctic coast to swell the populations of these eastern lands.
The Tsardom of Russia is the newest colonial power in Europe, having recently emerged as a fledgling
naval power. Given their control of a massive population as well as the vast lands of Siberia, Russia
has no need for additional population or land. Instead, the early Russian colonies have focused on the
rapid exploitation of natural resources that require minimal infrastructure to extract, notably furs and
ivory.
This Adversary is notably easier for Spirits that can prevent Explorers from entering the game (e.g.,
Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds), or for Spirits with good Explorer control and “each Invader” Damage
(e.g., River Surges in Sunlight).
This Adversary is notably harder for Spirits that have a hard time controlling Explorers.
THE HABSBURG MONARCHY: EMPEROR JOSEPH I
Emperor Joseph I inherited The Habsburg Monarchy upon the death of his father, Leopold I, shortly
after the conclusion of the War of the Spanish Succession, a short-lived attempt by Emperor Leopold
to put Joseph’s younger brother Charles on the Spanish throne. Secure in his alliance with Sweden
and Prussia, Emperor Joseph stepped back from territorial conflicts in western Europe and focused on
growing the wealth of the empire for his son and heir Leopold Joseph.
Joseph I chartered the Ostend Company in 1697 to bring trade from the East and West Indies through
his Belgian provinces, setting up overseas colonies and beginning a program of resettlement of
Hungarian peasantry.
Habsburg colonies are newer than those of any European power save Russia but have grown quickly
due to their focus on nomadic herding rather than farming and infrastructure. Habsburg control
of Belgium allows easy access to Atlantic trading routes but puts the Habsburg fleets in direct
competition with those of England, Scotland, and France.
This Adversary is notably easier for Spirits that tend to let lots of Blight get added (e.g., Vengeance as
a Burning Plague) or for Spirits that can Isolate lands (e.g., Downpour Drenches the World).
This Adversary is notably harder for Spirits that are hamstrung by Blight (e.g., Sharp Fangs Behind
the Leaves) or with Scenarios that involve keeping the Invaders from reaching a given place.
ADVERSARIESADVERSARIES
FIGHTING NEW ADVERSARIESFIGHTING NEW ADVERSARIES
If you’re accustomed to playing against mid-to-high
level Adversaries, the new Adversaries may feel harder
than you’d expect from their Difficulty. This is because
you’re very familiar with the tactics and strategies
for handling the existing Adversaries, but haven’t yet
learned how to best cope with the new ones. Starting
at a high Adversary level can also mean internalizing
many new rules at once. If this proves troublesome,
combine a lower level of the new Adversary with one
you’re familiar with – Brandenburg-Prussia is great for
this. (See ‘Combining Adversaries’, p. 19.)

---

EUROPE
-1700-
OCEAN
Lisbon
PORTUGAL
SPANISH MONARCHY
Madrid
BALEARIC IS. (SP)
SARDINIA (SP)
MEDITERRANEAN
NORTH AFRICA (OTT)
Meknes
IRELAND (ENG)
SCOTLAND
Edinburgh
ENGLAND
London
BAY
OF
BISCAY
Paris
KINGDOM
OF
FRANCE
The Hague
SP. NETHERLANDS
Liege
Nancy
Bern
SWISS CONFED.
REP. OF VENICE
Turin
Milan Venice
Parma Modena
Genoa
Tuscany
Florence
PAPAL STATES
Rome
NAPLES (SP)
SICILY (SP)
NORTH
SEA
DENMARK (SWE)
Stockholm
BALTIC SEA
BRANDENBURG-PRUSSIA
Berlin
Munich
Vienna
THE HABSBURG MONARCHY
ADRIATIC SEA
OTTOMAN
AEGEAN SEA
MOREA
CRETE (OTT)
SEA
KINGDOM
OF SWEDEN
Moscow
RUSSIA
BLACK SEA
Constantinople
EMPIRE
CYPRUS (OTT)
23

---

24
The base game has some imprecise terminology; Jagged Earth introduces new terms that will be used
going forward. They aren’t intended to change how anything in the base game or Branch & Claw
works, though Vengeance of the Dead is affected (see sidebar on the next page).
ACTIONS IN GENERAL
An Action is a group of game instructions performed as a unit – e.g., one use of a Power, or a single
land’s Ravage.
The type of Action is only important if a game effect explicitly says so (e.g., “Skip all Invader Actions”).
Action types are based off of the game component the instructions are printed on unless something
says otherwise: when a Fear or Event Card says “Each player (does something)” or “Each Spirit (does
something)”, it is still a Fear Action or Event Action, not a Spirit Action. Adversary rules may modify
how Invader Actions work, but otherwise when they do something it’s an Adversary Action, not an
Invader Action. (E.g., A Year of Perfect Stillness will not prevent Brandenburg-Prussia from adding
due to its Escalation effect, or The Habsburg Monarchy from moving with its Level 1 rule. It only
prevents Invader Actions: Ravage, Build, and Explore.)
APPENDIX: ACTIONS IN DETAILAPPENDIX: ACTIONS IN DETAIL
WHY DO ACTIONS MATTER?WHY DO ACTIONS MATTER?
• You check for Victory or Defeat only at the end of
an Action.
• Badlands tokens provide bonus Damage at most
once per Action.
• Level 2 of The Tsardom of Russia saves-and-Pushes
1 per Action.
• A number of Powers and Special Rules set up
triggers that happen after an Action fulfills certain
conditions. (E.g., “After Invaders Damage target
land, deal 2 Damage”, or “After Invaders/
are moved into target land, Destroy them.”)
In short, a number of things care about what game
effects are grouped together as a single thing.
((**) THE “EACH” EXCEPTION) THE “EACH” EXCEPTION
Whenever you’re told to do something for Each Board,
Each Player, Each Spirit, or Each Land, what you do
for each board, player, Spirit, or land is its own
separate Action. So if you’re playing against The
Tsardom of Russia and are told, “On each board,
Destroy 2 ”, Russia’s Level 2 effect will apply once
per board.
This does not apply for “each piece”. For instance,
“Each in target land deals 1 Damage” is a single
Action, and a Token Event “Each deals 1 Damage”
is one Action per land with in it.
If an “each” has a condition, first determine which
things are eligible, then resolve them in an order of
your choice. (E.g.,“Each Spirit with 3 or more
among their lands may Resolve a Power now”
checks up-front to see which Spirits qualify. If one
Spirit uses a Power to move , it won’t affect
which Spirits gain the benefit.)
ACTION
TYPE OF
ACTION
Using one Growth icon Spirit Action
Gaining the Energy specified on your Presence TrackSpirit Action
Playing all your Power Cards for the turn Spirit Action
Using a special Presence Track icon (except for static Elements or bonuses,
which are always available)
Spirit Action
Using a Power. (If the Power is Repeated by any means,
each Repeat is a separate Action.)
Spirit Action
A Special Rule which specifies “After X, do Y” Spirit Action
One Ravage, Build, or Explore in one land Invader Action
The effects of a Blight Card (*)
Blight Card
Action
Everything one Fear Card does (*) Fear Action
Everything a Main Event does (*) Event Action
Everything a Token Event does (*) Event Action
Everything a Dahan Event does (*) Event Action
An Adversary’s Escalation effects (*)
(except England, as it explicitly invokes a Build)
Adversary Action
Instructions on an Adversary to perform some effect.
(Does not include those which just change how Invader Actions work.)
Adversary Action

---

25
However, anything that causes a Ravage, Build, or Explore (e.g., the Major Power Manifest
Incarnation, some Events, or England’s Escalation effect) causes a separate Invader Action to
happen. (So if Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares uses Manifest Incarnation, the resulting Ravage
does real damage.)
Not everything is an Action; some game effects are just ongoing rules (e.g., “ have +1 Health”).
Some things set up triggered Actions, Actions that happen when certain conditions are met. E.g.,
the Major Power Melt Earth Into Quicksand says “After Invaders/ are moved into target land,
Destroy them.” This triggered Action will happen after each other Action that moves Invaders/
into the land. Triggered Actions usually use the phrasing, “After X, do Y”, which means “After
each Action that does X at least once, do Y exactly once.” The triggered Action is associated with
whatever set it up – so if Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares sets up a triggered Action that deals
Damage, its Special Rule applies normally.
Triggers can fire more than once in a turn (unless they explicitly say otherwise), but to avoid infinite
loops, triggered Actions cannot trigger themselves – either directly or indirectly (via Actions they
trigger).
Non-triggered Actions (which is most of them) may be referred to as base Actions.
Some things modify Actions, changing how they work. Modifying usually uses the phrase “When X
then Y” or “When X then instead Y”. Unlike triggers, modifications happen right away – e.g., Many
Minds Move as One has a Special Rule: “When you Gather or Push , they may come from or
go to lands up to 2 distant.” This alters how Gather and Push work inside of other Actions, at the
moment the Gather or Push happens.
Things like “Skip all Invader Actions” are also a form of modification – a shorthand for “When
Invaders would act in target land, instead they don’t.”
Lastly: a few things can initiate base Actions in the middle of other Actions – e.g., Fractured Days
Split the Sky has an Innate Power with “Target Spirit may Resolve 1 Power now”. In cases like
this, you pause the current Action, Resolve the entire new Action-tree (base Action and anything
triggered by it, directly or indirectly), then return to the original Action.
This most commonly happens in two cases: when the Blight Card flips and has an immediate effect
(you follow its instructions before continuing with the Action that added the final Blight) or when
a Choice Event includes “Each Board” or “Each Spirit” instructions. (Most of the Choice Event is a
single Action, but the “Each” instructions cause a number of new base Actions.)
(An example where this might matter is the final choice of the Event Dahan Trade with the Invaders
when playing Shifting Memory of Ages. You could use your ‘Discard instead of forgetting’ once to
pay for the choice, and then once again when following the instruction ‘Each Spirit Forgets a Power
Card’, because the latter is a separate Action.)
ONE CHANGE: VENGEANCE ONE CHANGE: VENGEANCE
OF THE DEAD OF THE DEAD
Vengeance of the Dead can no longer trigger
itself, due to the rules about triggered Actions
to the left.
AFFECTING THE ISLAND AFFECTING THE ISLAND
DURING THE SPIRIT PHASE DURING THE SPIRIT PHASE
Players can perform their Spirit Phases in
parallel with each other. However, when an
Action during the Spirit Phase affects the
island (such as Grinning Trickster Stirs Up
Trouble Pushing a ), those Actions
shouldn’t interrupt each other partway
through. It’s also courteous to say “Growth
Action” or “Presence Track Action” so that
other players don’t think you’ve started the
phase!
REPEATS REPEATS
Each Repeat of a Power is a new base Action.
It may be used any time the Power it’s
Repeating could be used. Powers instructing
“Repeat this Power” mean “After Resolving
this Power and all Actions triggered by it,
Repeat it.”

---

26
INITIAL STATE
Ocean’s Hungry Grasp
has used Melt Earth into
Quicksand in land #2.
Adversary is Russia
Level 2.
STEP 1
Song of Sanctity in land
#1 pushes all Explorers to
land #2.
STEP 2
• Triggered Action:
Melt Earth into Quicksand
Destroys all of the Explorers.
• Action Modified:
A Sense for Impending Disaster
makes 1 Explorer survive;
generate 1 Fear and it is
Pushed into the Ocean.
STEP 3
• Triggered Action:
Ocean in Play Destroys
the remaining Explorer.
• Action Modified:
A Sense for Impending Disaster
makes the Explorer survive;
generate 1 Fear and it is
Pushed back into land #2.
• Melt Earth Into Quicksand was
already triggered in land #2,
so it does not trigger again.
APPENDIX: ACTIONS IN DETAILAPPENDIX: ACTIONS IN DETAIL
EXAMPLE: TRIGGERED AND MODIFIED ACTIONSEXAMPLE: TRIGGERED AND MODIFIED ACTIONS

---

27
INVADER ACTIONS
What were simply called “Invader Actions” in the core rules have several different parts. Using
Ravage as an example:
• Ravage Step: The part of the Invader Phase where you resolve all Ravage Cards (possibly
zero).
• Ravage Card: One Invader Card under “Ravage”. Resolving a Ravage Card causes one
Ravage Action in each land that matches the card and has at least one Invader. (You decide
order if it matters. Which lands will or won’t have Ravage Actions is established now, before
any of those Ravage Actions actually happen.)
• Ravage Action: A Ravage in a single land. (The whole thing, including Dahan fighting back.)
Similarly, a Build Card causes a Build Action in every land that matches the card and has at least
one Invader, and an Explore Card causes an Explore Action in every land that matches the card
and is adjacent to a source of Invaders.
If something other than an Invader Card – like an Event or Power – causes an Invader Action,
you don’t check the “if Invaders are present” or “if a source of Explorers is adjacent” restrictions.
NOTES ON EXISTING ITEMSNOTES ON EXISTING ITEMS
Ocean’s Hungry Grasp’s Special Rule is a triggered Action – after moving Invaders or
into the Ocean, Drown them.
Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares’ Special Rule is a modifier – when your Power would
Destroy Invaders, instead generate Fear (and perhaps Push them).
The Kingdom of England’s Level 1 rule works as it always has, but its text would now be
better worded as “Invader Build Cards match lands without Invaders if they are adjacent
to at least 2 /.” The fact that this ignores / added during the current Build
Card is automatic – you find all lands affected by the Build Card before Resolving any of
them.
The Event Fortification should now be read as “After advancing Invader Cards: perform a
Build Step for one terrain not shown under any Invader Action”. Similarly for New Cash
Crops Take Hold.
The Scenario Dahan Insurrection works as it always has, but its text is incorrect with the
new terminology. After each Action, first perform Constant Raiding (if relevant), then
Military Reprisal (if relevant); both are triggered Actions.
REVEALING INVADER CARDS REVEALING INVADER CARDS
Whenever you need to resolve an Invader
Card that happens to be face-down, you reveal
it; it’s not specifically part of the Explore Step.
Escalation Effects happen when you resolve
an Invader Card with a for the first time
(usually when it is revealed during the Explore
Step).
”NORMAL” INVADER ACTIONS ”NORMAL” INVADER ACTIONS
Some Branch & Claw materials refer to
“normal” Invader Actions. These are the
usual Invader Steps, cards, and Actions
during the Invader Phase. “Normal” doesn’t
apply to extra steps added by Adversaries
(England), Invader Actions caused by an
Event or Power, or if one normal Invader
Step is entirely replaced with a different
one by an Event.

---

28
CLARIFICATIONS
Blight
The bad effects of Blight happen each time Blight is added to a land, regardless of the quantity of Blight.
That is to say, if you add more than 1 Blight to a land at once, it only Destroys 1 Presence from each Spirit,
and only cascades (once) if there was already Blight in the land.
Events (and Fear) Work Differently than Powers
For Powers, you choose a target land, then Resolve the Power’s text effects, ignoring anything irrelevant or impossible.
For other game effects – like Event and Fear Actions – there’s usually no notion of “target land”. They only work that way if they say ‘Choose a land... do
(something) there.’ Otherwise, you are obliged to actually follow the instructions, which means you can’t choose a land that makes the instructions irrelevant or
impossible.
E.g., if an Event says “On each board, Push 2 from a land with to a land without ”, you can’t “choose a land” with Blight but no Dahan, or Dahan
but no Blight. You must Push 2 Dahan as specified, if possible. If you can’t, but it’s possible to do so partially (affecting fewer pieces than specified) – Pushing
1 Dahan from a land with Blight to a land without Blight – then do that instead.
However, ongoing effects can still replace or modify these Actions. E.g., if an Event causes a Build in a land affected by A Year of Perfect Stillness (“Invaders
skip all Actions in target land this turn”), the Build is skipped, like any Invader Action would be. If you voluntarily Destroy Presence to prevent Blight being
added to a board, that Presence could be saved by Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By (Shroud of Silent Mist) or Hold the Island Fast with a Bulwark of Will
(Stone’s Unyielding Defiance). If an Event Pushes Invaders, you can use Isolate to keep the Pushed Invaders from being able to go anywhere.
Illegally Placed Pieces
Invaders or Dahan left in illegal situations are moved to the closest legal land, if possible. In all other cases, pieces left in illegal situations remain physically
where they are, but are considered out of the game until they are no longer in an illegal situation. (E.g., Ocean’s Hungry Grasp loses its last Presence on a
board. If any other Spirits had Presence in that Ocean, that Presence is out of the game until Ocean’s Hungry Grasp gets back on that board.)
Invader Stage
With the exception of Brandenburg-Prussia’s early Stage III Card, the current Invader Stage (I / II / III) is always shown by the top card of the Invader Deck.
With some Adversaries, Spirits, or Events, it’s possible the Invader Stage may jump around a bit rather than progressing in an orderly fashion from I to II to III.
Presence: Returning, Removing, Replacing, Destroying
Most game components are either in their supply or on the board, but Presence can be on a Spirit Panel, on the board, next to the board (Destroyed),
or – occasionally – Removed from the game entirely.
Destroy/Remove/Replace: After Presence is Destroyed or Removed, it is put beside the Island Board, and considered “Destroyed Presence” from then on.
(The same is true if Presence is Replaced by something.) The only difference between the cases is thematic (Removal is generally voluntary) and interaction
with other effects: a few Powers can save Presence from Destruction but not Removal. Destroyed Presence can’t be used in any way unless an effect
explicitly says so.

A specific rule may override this general one. (E.g., Bargains of Power and Protection explicitly says that the Presence is Removed from the game.)
Return: If you need to Return Presence to your Presence Tracks, it comes from the island. You may choose which track it goes to – but it must cover a legal
space (there can’t be any other open spaces that rely on that space being uncovered). If there is no legal place to put it, the Presence is instead Destroyed.
Sacred Sites
When an instruction affects a Sacred Site, it affects 2 Presence from that Spirit. For example, if you are instructed to Push a Spirit’s Sacred Site, Push 2
Presence from that Spirit. (The core game says a Sacred Site is a land where a Spirit has 2 or more Presence; but it would make no sense to push the land.)
APPENDIX: CLARIFICATIONS AND FAQSAPPENDIX: CLARIFICATIONS AND FAQS
MOVING BLIGHTMOVING BLIGHT
Some Power Cards move . Moving
does NOT Destroy or trigger cascades!

---

29
Targeting or Using a Power
Shroud of Silent Mist (a Spirit) and Scream Disease into the Wind (a Minor Power) both do things when you target or use a Power on a land.
If you entirely skip using the text effects of a Power (per p. 17 of the base rulebook), you do not target or use that Power.
If you meet no thresholds for an Innate Power, you do not target or use that Power.
• Exception: If the Innate Power affects the game in some way even without hitting thresholds (e.g., Volcano Looming High’s Explosive Eruption),
you may target and use it anyhow.
Tokens from Branch & Claw
If you own Branch & Claw, you may notice that you have enough /// tokens for a 6-player game, since some players may purchase this
expansion without owning Branch & Claw. (There aren’t always 150% of the quantity in Branch & Claw, which was printed with more // than
really necessary due to extra space on the punchboard.)
If you want, you can keep your Branch & Claw tokens in case of shortage in a huge game; if you instead choose to dispose of them, please consider
re-use (art project?) or recycling.
For similar reasons, this expansion contains enough Scenario Markers for a 6 player-game. They have a different shape than the Scenario Markers
in Branch & Claw, which permits combining two Scenarios that both require Scenario Markers, since with two distinct shapes you can tell which is
which. You should keep both types.
FAQS ON SPECIFIC GAME ITEMS
These can all also be found in the online FAQ at https://is.gd/sifaq/.
Adversary: The Habsburg Monarchy
Even if an Event changes the Ravage Step to a Build Step, “Migratory Herders” (gathering Towns into lands slated to Ravage the following turn) still
activates as normal.
When playing with Durable Invaders (Habsburg Level 4+) and Ocean’s Hungry Grasp:
Drowning is a special form of Destroy, and only grants Energy if the Destruction
succeeds. E.g., when you move a Town into an Ocean, the Town takes 2 Damage.
If that’s enough to Destroy it (because the Ocean has Blight or the Town was already
Damaged), then it Drowns normally. Otherwise, it washes ashore, Damaged, in an
adjacent land. (It can’t stay in the Ocean, so gets placed in the nearest legal land,
per p. 28). If the land it washes ashore in has Blight, it will immediately be Destroyed,
but Ocean’s Hungry Grasp will not gain Energy. If 4 undamaged Towns are pushed into
the Ocean with a single Action, that results in “8 Damage to Towns only”, which you could
distribute as you wished. If you used it to immediately Destroy 2 of the Towns, those Towns
would be successfully Drowned and grant Energy.
Adversary: The Tsardom of Russia (Level 2+)
If Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares uses a Power that would Destroy Explorers, it can choose in which order to apply its Special Rule To Dream a
Thousand Deaths (don’t Destroy Explorers) and The Tsardom of Russia’s A Sense For Impending Disaster (the first Explorer which would be Destroyed
is instead Pushed and generates 1 Fear). Usually, it will be more advantageous to take the Explorer Push + 1 Fear first. See also note about Ocean’s
Hungry Grasp under The Habsburg Monarchy.
DURABLE INVADERSDURABLE INVADERS
• Illegal Lands: If a piece ends in an illegal situation
due to not being Destroyed, move it to the nearest
legal land.
• Badlands: When Destroy effects become Damage,
provide bonus Damage normally.
• Marking Extra Damage: Use a Scenario Marker to
mark with 2 Damage and with 3 Damage.
with 1 Damage can simply be tipped over.

---

30
Event Card: Dissolution Threatens
“Destroy 2 ” refers to the Presence of the Spirit making the choice.
Event Card: Tell the Old Stories
This cannot restore Powers Forgotten prior to the start of play (e.g., Boon of Vigor with the Sunshine Aspect).
Major Power Card: Bargains of Power and Protection
Using this Power Card multiple times works in an additive way: if you’ve set aside a total of 6 Presence, Dahan within 1 of your Presence provide Defend 6,
and you gain 6 less Energy each turn.
The Energy penalty affects all sources – the first X Energy you would gain during a turn (by any means), you don’t. It does not drain Energy you already have.
Covering up numbers on your Energy Track with spare pieces can be an easy reminder.
Major Power Card: Draw Towards a Consuming Void
Draw Towards a Consuming Void itself may be one of the Powers you Forget for the threshold. The execution of the Power continues uninterrupted.
Major Power Card: Dream of the Untouched Land
“A random board” selects from all unused boards; ignore the “don’t use together” play recommendations.
Major Power Card: Forests of Living Obsidian
Whether the origin land is your Sacred Site is checked when performing that instruction – so, e.g., if Thunderspeaker just moved all their out along with
the , they no longer have a there.
Major Power Card: Settle Into Hunting-Grounds + Many Minds Move as One
If Many Minds Move as One uses this, “may count your as ” does not stack with its Special Rule “may count your as ” – a land with 2 of their
Presence can count as 2 Beasts (via the Major Power) or 1 (via the Special Rule), but not 3.
Major Power Card: Weave Together the Fabric of Place
While it is infrequently relevant, unlike most lands, the conjoined land is considered adjacent to itself.
For land types based on contents (“a land with ”) or geography (“a land adjacent to at least 2 Mountains”), check the contents or geography of the
conjoined land normally. Whether a land is Coastal bases off of its geography (is it adjacent to the printed Ocean area?), so joining a Coastal land with an
Inland land results in one big Coastal land.
For land types based on intrinsic (printed) information (terrain, land number, Setup symbols), the conjoined land has both types, even if this is normally
impossible – you could create a land that’s both Wetland and Jungle, for instance, or land #3 and land #1 at the same time.
If an Invader Card matches a conjoined land multiple times – e.g., if you merge a Wetland and Jungle, and the Wetland + Jungle Stage III Card comes up
– you still only perform Invader Actions there once. (You’re checking “does this land match?” and the answer is “yes”.)
Minor Power Card: Gift of Nature’s Connection
If this Power comes up as a randomizer during Event resolution, it has no Elements, just as it appears. (It does not give you a choice like Elemental Boon.)
Scenario: Dahan Insurrection (base game) + Isolate
In the base-game Dahan Insurrection Scenario, the Military Response rule interacts oddly with Isolate. The simplest ruling is “Military Response ignores Isolate”.
If you want a more thematic game, use “The new Invader must be added to a non-Isolated land. Ignore Isolate effects when determining which lands are
closest’”.
APPENDIX: CLARIFICATIONS AND FAQSAPPENDIX: CLARIFICATIONS AND FAQS

---

31
Scenario: Despicable Theft + Isolate
If you use Isolate to make the shortest path to a board’s Ocean longer than usual, the Thieves will attempt that longer journey, even if it puts them
onto another board. (In that case, on future turns they’ll head towards that board’s Ocean.)
Scenario: Second Wave + Still-Healthy Island Cards
Still-Healthy Island Cards aren’t addressed by the rules for Blight continuation for the Second Wave. Either don’t use them together, or follow these
instructions (which are a convoluted way to say “rewind cards, and what you learned doesn’t change”).
If you went past a Still-Healthy Island Card, after following the Blight instructions, put it – original Healthy side up – atop the stack of Blight Cards
(so you encounter it first, just like you did this game).
If you reached (but did not pass) a Still-Healthy Island Card, treat it as a Blighted Island Card for the Blight instructions – but in your next game,
if you get past it to a new Blight Card, you will need to add new Blight from the box rather than from the pool by the side of the card.
Scenario: The Great River + French Plantation Colony
In The Great River, Towns can escape off the edge of the map. These escaped Towns go back into the pool of available Towns for France, as if they
were Removed or Destroyed.
Spirit: Fractured Days Split the Sky
The “xN, do A or B” Growth options represent N separate choices: N times, choose either (option A) or (option B).
Yes, Pour Time Sideways is useless in a 1-board game. In solo play, Fractured Days is going to badly need at least one Major Power; it’s good fodder
for that.
When you Pour Time Sideways, it affects each individual Invader Action – so if they’re Ravaging in Sands, on the board you move Presence to,
each Sands with Invaders will Ravage twice. (Then similarly for both Build and Explore.) On the board you moved Presence from, each Sands with
Invaders will Ravage zero times. It’s phrased as “one more time” and “one fewer time” instead of “twice” and “zero times” purely so it works properly if
the Power is Repeated. If you use a Power like Infestation of Venomous Spiders that lets you skip a number of Invader Actions in a land where they
would Ravage twice, it has to skip each of the two individually.
The phrase ‘“Each board/Each land…” Actions’ refers to any Action (generally Event Actions, Fear Actions, or Adversary Actions like Escalation) which
does something on each board or in each land, even if there are qualifiers (e.g., “In each land with …”)
Spirit: Many Minds Move as One
If you treat one of your Sacred Sites as Beasts in order to move it, you must move both Presence to the same land.
Spirit: Shifting Memory of Ages
Damaging pieces doesn’t change which pieces are in a land unless it Destroys them. (They’re still there, just Damaged.)
You can only earn 1 Element Marker per Action, no matter how many changes that Action makes to the land. (Because the rule is phrased as
“After X do Y “, it triggers exactly once after each qualifying Action.)
Spirit: Shroud of Silent Mist
If you entirely skip using the text effects of a Power (per p. 17 of the base rulebook), you never target that Power, and thus can’t use it to move your
Presence. See also Targeting or Using A Power, p. 29.
You can move your Presence to satisfy origin requirements like “from a Sacred Site” or “from a particular land type” – that’s considered part of targeting.

---

32
Spirit: Stone’s Unyielding Defiance
In the last level of Hold The Island Fast With a Bulwark of Will, “When an Event or Blight Card directly Destroys ” means it uses the words “Destroy ” rather
than, e.g., adding Blight that then happens to Destroy Presence. This Innate’s effect can be used even if the Presence Destruction was paying a cost or otherwise
optional.
The second level of Let Them Break Themselves Against the Stone modifies the triggered Action created by the first level. So, for instance, in a land with 1 ,
only increase the retaliation Damage by 1 each time the Invaders deal Damage.
Blight is not component-limited.
Spirit: Starlight Seeks Its Form
Growth choices are made one at a time, so if you unlock a new Growth option by placing Presence, you can choose it immediately if you still have choices left.
If you return Presence to a Growth row for some reason, you can’t use that Growth option until the row is unlocked again, and your selection of which Growth to
cover remains. (You don’t get to revisit that decision.)
The Elements on Starlights’ Presence Tracks, once set, work exactly like Elements on other Spirits’ Presence Tracks. If Presence is returned onto an Element,
leave the Element Marker in place.
Each Major Power gained (by this or any Spirit) must be paid for by Forgetting one Power Card, and that card can’t be something you’re Forgetting to pay for
some other benefit (like many of your Unique Powers permit).
Spirit: Volcano Looming High
When you Destroy your own Presence for your Innate Explosive Eruption, it can be saved by effects like Flowing and Silent Forms Dart By (Shroud of Silent
Mist), but then it does not count towards the eruption thresholds. It does deal Damage by Collapse in a Blast of Lava and Steam.
Spirit Island is the property of Greater Than Games, LLC © 2016-2020
For more information about this and other great games,
go to www.GreaterThanGames.com. If you have any questions,
or require replacement pieces, please email contact@greaterthangames.com.
APPENDIX: CLARIFICATIONS AND FAQSAPPENDIX: CLARIFICATIONS AND FAQS

---

33
CREDITS
Game Designer: R. Eric Reuss
Developer: Ted Vessenes
Game Development Manager: Chris Burton
Editor-in-Chief: Christopher Badell
Creative Director: Jennifer Closson
Art Direction: Jennifer Closson, SaRae Henderson
Graphic Design: SaRae Henderson
Iconography: SaRae Henderson, Darrell Louder
Cover Art: Lucas Durham
3-D Model Design: Jorge Ramos
Editors: Brian Blankstein, Dylan Thurston
Alternate Historian: Paul Bender
...and special thanks to Anne Cross for her unwavering love and support. –Eric
PLAYTESTERS
Joe Baratta, Jason Batchelor, Joel Becker, Lisa Bjornseth, Brian Blankstein,
Martin Brochu, Jack Brooks, Josh Campbell, Consoles & Cardboard,
Trey Chambers, Danielle Church, Patrick Clapp, Justin du Coeur,
Cory DeRuiter, Jeff Dougan, Coleman Ellis, Steven Farey, Christopher Ferry,
May Ferry, Aaron Garrett, Leif Gaebler, Jake Garcia, Andrew Gong,
Carlo “SpeedyOlrac” Gonzalez, Daniel and Kirsten Grace, Bryan “broccoli” Graham,
Andrew Greanias, Kenneth Hardcastle, Jake Hastings, David Headman, Betsy Helms,
David Helms, Shelby Hemker, Josh Herreshoff, Corey Hindersinn, Justin Hofer,
Shane Q. Ivins, Paul Kalmar and Christina de Jesus, JJ (Shane’s Apprentice), Joebobjoe,
Sheen Kao, Emilia Katari, Kaitlyn Keil, Eric Kramp, Ben Kwok, John Laitinen, Benjamin Larsen,
Joshua T. Lawton, Greg Leibman, Charles Leiserson Jr., Jeremy Lennert, Audrey Lewis,
Hansel Lo, Russ Luzetski, Lydia, Max Maloney, Alison Mandible, Marco, Theresa Mecklenborg,
David Meierfrankenfeld, Brian Modreski, Emily Moran, Djarvi Moris, Hung Nguyen,
Dustin Oakes, Isaac Payne, Andrés Santiago Pérez-Bergquist, Dan Pierkowski,
PointMeAtTheDawn, Erin Price, Michael Pureka, Nick Reale, The_Reaver, Kyle Reeser,
Katie Regelson, Curtis J. Reubens, Danielle Lee Riccardi, Clint Rorick, Ruduen, Jesse Salomon,
Michael Schector, Ken Seier, Tracey Seier, Forrest Stewart, Paul Tebben, TheWyrmSuperior,
Dylan Thurston, Josh Trumbo, Carolyn VanEseltine, Rebecca Vessenes, Sam Vestey, Paul Watson,
Ameena the Wordweaver, Ben Wray, Garrett and Kristy Wright, Patricia Wright, Shiyue Xu,
Sameer Yalamanchi, David Yeung, Ian Zang
ARTISTS
Kat G. Birmelin, Shawn Daley, Lucas Durham, Emily Hancock, Jorge Ramos, Moro Rogers, Damon Westenhofer, Joshua Wright

---

34
Accelerate: Discard a card from the Invader Deck – the topmost card of the lowest Invader Stage still remaining therein. (If the deck is in order, this will simply
be the top card of the deck, but if an Adversary has changed its ordering it may be deeper down.)
Action: A group of instructions performed together – e.g., everything done immediately by a Power Card (including any thresholds hit) is a single Action.
[p. 10, 24]
Additional Cost: An extra cost to use a Power. Does not need to be paid until the Power is actually used. Each Repeat must pay the cost in order to work.
Aided By (Element): The Energy cost of a Choice Event is reduced by 1 for having this Element, 2 for Discarding a Power Card from hand which grants this
Element, or by 4 for Forgetting a Power Card (from hand, play, or discard) which grants this Element. [p. 13]
Among: In any or all of a set of lands. See Distribute, below, for an example.
Badlands (Token): Lands that are harder for humans to live in. Increases Damage to Invaders/Dahan by 1. (Once per Action.) [p. 8]
Base Action: A non-triggered Action, e.g., a Spirit using a Power Card. [p. 25]
Beasts (Token): Dangerous Beasts. Harms Invaders erratically. [p. 7]
Choice Event: An Event which offers the Spirits a choice of paths. The first choice is the default, if the Spirits cannot agree. [p. 13]
Dahan Event: The portion of an Event Card in which the Dahan act on their own. [p. 13]
Disease (Token): Illness and plague. Prevents the next Build Action in its land and is then Removed. [p. 7]
Distribute: Add the specified pieces in any arrangement to the lands specified. E.g.: “Distribute 3 among Coastal lands” could add 3 Towns to one Coastal
land, or 2 to one land and 1 to another, or all 3 to different Coastal lands.
Does not participate in Ravage: Specifies pieces to be ignored during the Ravage Step and Ravage Actions. [p. 14]
Durable (Invader): An Invader with extra Health equal to its base Health. “Destroy” effects instead deal Damage to pieces of that type equal to their base
Health, though “Destroy All” works normally. [p. 29]
Event: An unforeseen development, resolved before Earned Fear Cards each Invader Phase after the first turn. [p. 12]
Exactly (Range) away: A land is exactly some Range if it is that Range, and there is no shorter path to that land.
Invader Action: One Ravage, Build, or Explore in one land. Usually caused by cards on the Invader Board, but can also be caused by Adversary effects,
Events, Fear, Powers, etc. [p. 27]
Invader Stage: The Stage shown on the top card of the Invader Deck: I, II, or III. If playing against Bradenburg-Prussia Level 2+, treat the early Stage III
Card as if it were Stage II. [p. 28]
Isolate: Represents a land hard to travel to, from, or through. Prevents Invader Explore Actions, and prevents Invader pieces (//) from using
adjacencies unless you let them. [p. 10]
Normal Action: The normal Invader Actions taken each turn due to Invader Cards on one of the three Action spaces on the Invader Board. Does not include
extra Actions from Events, Adversaries, Powers, etc. [p. 27]
GLOSSARYGLOSSARY

---

35
Origin: The land from which a Range is measured when targeting. [p. 14]
Piece: Any physical game piece placed on the island except for players’ Single-Turn Effect Markers. At this time, the normal pieces are: , , ,
all Invaders (//), and all Spirit tokens (////). If a Scenario puts something else on the board (Scenario Markers, Element
Markers, etc) for a game effect (as opposed to, e.g., tracking extra Damage), those are then considered pieces.
Reclaim: Return all (or the specified number) of your Power Cards to your hand. Unless otherwise specified, they come from your discard.
Return Presence: Take from the island and return it to a legal spot on your tracks [p. 28].
Resolve: Perform the effects of an Action or other game item, process, or rule (e.g., “Resolve a Power”, “Resolve an Invader Card”). Repeating a Power
means Resolving it again. Same formal meaning as “use”.
Showing Invader Card: An Invader Card that is face-up in any of the Invader Action spaces on the Invader Board, but not the discard (so you know
the Invaders will act in that land type in the next Invader Phase).
Skip: When you would perform the specified Action, instead don’t.
Skip one Invader Action: You don’t need to choose which Action you’re going to skip in advance. Once during this turn, when an Invader Action
would happen in the affected land, you can skip it. [p. 11]
Stage: See Invader Stage.
Strife (Token): Internal discord. Placed under an individual Invader (in target land), unlike other tokens. When an Invader with Strife deals Damage
to Dahan and/or the land, that Damage is blocked, and the Strife is then Removed. [p. 7]
Target board: Shorthand for “the board containing target land”.
Token Event: The portion of an Event Card with an effect centering around Beasts, Disease, or Strife tokens. [p. 13]
Triggered Action: An Action that happens because certain conditions were met (e.g., “after one of your Powers Removes , Destroy 1 of your ”).
Use: Perform the effects of an Action or other game item, process, or rule. Repeating a Power means using it again. Same formal meaning as “Resolve”.
Wilds (Token): Dangerous wilderness. Prevents the next Explore Action in its land and is then Removed. [p. 7]

---

Items with a plain mountain rely on no rules outside
of the base game.
Items with a smoking volcano rely on a rule,
concept, or clarification introduced in this expansion,
but nothing from Branch & Claw.
Items with an active volcano rely on rules or concepts
from Branch & Claw (and possibly this expansion).
ICONOGRAPHY
BEASTS: Harms Invaders and generates Fear as
specified by Powers and Event Cards.
DISEASE: Prevents the next Build and is then
Removed.
WILDS: Prevents the next Explore and is then
Removed.
STRIFE: Blocks a specific Invader’s Damage the
next time they Damage Dahan and/or the land,
and is then Removed.
BADLANDS: Increases Damage to Invaders/
Dahan by 1. (Once per Action.)
During Setup, put one and one on each Island Board. The
goes in the lowest-numbered land with no printed Setup icons;
the goes in land #2 (with the City).
If playing on the Thematic Boards, instead add tokens according
to the pre-printed icons, and add to lands NW7, W9, and E6.
TOKENS
Spirit Phase
• Growth
• Gain Energy
• Play and pay for Power Cards
Fast Power Phase (Cards and Innate)
Invader Phase
• Blighted Island Effect
• Event (except first turn)
• Fear Effects
• Ravage (Including Strife)
• Build (Including Disease)
• Explore (Including Wilds)
• Advance Invader Cards
Slow Power Phase (Cards and Innate)
Time Passes
• Played Power Cards go to personal discards.
• Damage and Elements go away.
NEW TURN ORDER
(All play is simultaneous.)
For specific card clarifications and answers to
any other questions, visit the Living FAQ at
https://is.gd/sifaq/?

---