Actions
An Action is a concept that, while technically introduced in the base game, was formalized in Jagged Earth. Actions are not intended to change how anything in the base game or Branch & Claw works.[1]
Rules
Action
All Actions belong to a category, such as Spirit Actions or Invader Actions. Those categories, along with effects in that category, are listed below.
Spirit Actions
- Using one Growth icon[2][3]
- Gaining the Energy specified on your Presence Track
- Playing all your Power Cards for the turn
- Using a special Presence Track icon (except for static Elements or bonuses, which are always available)
- Using a Power. (If the Power is Repeated by any means, each Repeat is a separate Action.)
- A Special Rule which specifies "After X, do Y"
- Spirit Rituals (Rituals of Terror, Rituals of the Destroying Flame)[4]
Invader Actions
- One Ravage, Build, or Explore in one land
Blight Card Actions
- The effects of a Blight Card[5]
Fear Actions
- Everything one Fear Card does[5]
Event Actions
Adversary Actions
- An Adversary's Escalation effects[5] (except England, as it explicitly invokes a Build)
- Instructions on an Adversary to perform some effect. (Does not include those which just change how Invader Actions work.)
Scenario Actions
- Actions written on a Scenario panel.[5] (Does not include Spirit Rituals, which are Spirit Actions.)
Not everything is an Action; some game effects are just ongoing rules (e.g., " have +1 Health").
Action Types
Basic Action
Initial/Base Action
Nested Action
Triggered Action
Action Trees
Action Tree
Action Modifiers
Some things modify Actions, changing how they work. Modifiers usually uses the phrase "When X, then Y" or "When X, instead do Y". Unlike triggers, modifications are applied immediately.
- 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."
- If you have multiple modifiers with no clear order, you get to pick which happens first.
The following are the different kinds of Action modifiers in Spirit Island, in priority order of when they are applied to Actions.
1) Quantity Modifier
2) Cancellation/Replacement Modifier
3) Alter/Additional Modifier
In addition to the prioritized modifiers above, certain classifications of modifiers exist solely for further clarification on what kind of modifier that modifier is.
Internal Modifier

Notes
- ↑ Vengeance of the Dead was affected out of necessity; it can no longer trigger itself.
- ↑ For Ocean's Hungry Grasp, its Growth Icons that mention "EACH Ocean" is one Action per
Gathered into or Pushed from those Oceans.
- ↑ For Fractured Days Split the Sky, the final Growth icon in its second Growth Option (x2: Gain 1 Time or +2 Card Plays) is two Actions, and the final Growth icon in its third Growth Option (x3: Gain 1 Time or Gain 2 Energy) is three Actions.
- ↑ Reference: https://querki.net/u/darker/spirit-island-faq/#!.7w4gec2
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 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. This does not apply for "each piece", instead it is one Action per land with that piece. If an "each" has a condition, first determine which things are eligible, then resolve them in an order of your choice.
- ↑ Some do not use the word "after" : https://querki.net/u/darker/spirit-island-faq/#!what-items-are-triggered-actions
- ↑ This is relevant when the Power Card "Scream Disease Into the Wind", or any other Power that cares about a Power targeting a land, is used; Powers that only consist of Internal Modifiers cannot target lands.