Meta Changelog

Per-chapter revision log. Dated by when the revision shipped, not by when the meta changed.

v0.1 — 2026-04-19 — MVP

Initial publication.

Authored:

introduction.md
how-to-use.md
foundations/core-loop.md
foundations/terminology.md
fundamentals/tempo.md
fundamentals/major-vs-minor.md
fundamentals/presence-economy.md
fundamentals/fear-track.md
fundamentals/dahan.md
spirits/index.md
spirits/low/shadows-flicker-like-flame.md (canonical Rei-format example)
social/index.md
social/teaching-methods.md
social/alpha-player-problem.md
appendices/glossary.md
appendices/sources.md
appendices/claude-skills-guide.md
appendices/changelog-of-meta.md (this file)

Infrastructure:

mdbook 0.4.52 + mdbook-admonish preprocessor
Gruvbox theme vendored
Data seeds: spirits.json, adversaries.json, scenarios.json, empty playlog.csv
3 MVP Claude skills: si-daily-challenge, si-post-game, si-at-the-table
3 skeleton skills: si-combo-drill, si-matchup-drill, si-aspect-explorer
scripts/install-skills.sh for skill symlink management
scripts/make-stubs.sh for chapter stub generation

Pending (future milestones):

M2: remaining base + B&C adversaries (England/Sweden/Brandenburg-Prussia full), remaining base-spirit priority chapters, B&C scenarios, si-matchup-drill logic.
M3: Jagged Earth priority spirits (Fractured Days, Many Minds, Shroud, Vengeance, Stone, Shifting Memory), combos Part, si-combo-drill logic.
M4: Nature Incarnate spirits, full aspects coverage, statistics Part, si-aspect-explorer logic.
M5+: remaining 20+ spirits filled out, card reference appendix curated, progressive-disclosure index complete.

v0.2.2 — 2026-04-19 — Accuracy audit completed (all 13 spirits corrected)

All 13 authored spirit chapters surgically corrected against Wiki-verified mechanics data (saved to data/references/spirit-mechanics.md):

Shadows, Green, Bringer, Earth (severe) — innate + unique + special-rule rewrites.
Keeper, Serpent, Finder, Downpour (severe) — all Unique card names were wrong; rewrites substantial.
Thunderspeaker, Ocean, Lightning, River, Fangs (moderate-to-severe) — missing innates/special rules added; wrong Unique names replaced.

Every chapter now:

References data/references/spirit-mechanics.md as its authoritative source.
Carries [VERIFY] markers on fields the Wiki scrape didn’t fully surface (card costs/speeds/elements, exact effect wording, aspect confirmation).
Includes an Expansion Sensitivity section (template addition).
Has per-level strategy-cliff callouts where rules change strategy fundamentally (e.g., England L5 +1 HP buildings).

Verification punch-list saved to data/references/verification-punchlist.md — Brett can work through with physical copy + expansions to resolve [VERIFY] items.

Process going forward: feedback_never_hallucinate_mechanics.md rule in effect; no new spirit chapters written without Wiki-verified data first.

v0.2.1 — 2026-04-19 — Accuracy audit initiated (M2 chapters under revision)

Critical correctness issue identified: Shadows chapter (and likely others) contain mechanical hallucinations — innates/cards/mechanics mis-attributed. Examples from Shadows:

“Dark and Tangled Wood” labeled as innate (it’s a Horizons card).
“Favors Called Due” labeled as innate (it’s a Unique card).
Framed around “strife” (not a base-Shadows mechanic).

Remediation in progress:

Research agent fetching authoritative spirit mechanics from Spirit Island Wiki for all 13 authored spirit chapters.
Each chapter audited against Wiki data; inaccurate sections rewritten.
Going forward: feedback_never_hallucinate_mechanics.md rule — no mechanics written from memory; Wiki-verify before authoring.

New structural rules (from Brett, 2026-04-19):

feedback_expansion_split_strategy.md — main guide assumes all expansions; per-spirit/per-adversary-level chapters flag expansion-sensitive advice and specific adversary-level strategy cliffs (e.g., “River plays well vs England until ENG5 when buildings get +1 HP”).
Mermaid diagrams for expansion-dependency and strategy-cliff decisions.

Re-issues of v0.2.x will follow as chapters are corrected. v0.2.0’s “24 chapters authored” count is accurate, but the content of those chapters needs correctness review before use.

v0.2.0 — 2026-04-19 — M2 complete

Full authoring of 24 chapters; Brett priority-1 + teach-anchor + B&C/promo priority spirits + base adversaries + base scenarios + cleanup + aspects.

Spirit chapters added (12):

Base priority-1:

spirits/low/thunderspeaker.md (Dahan-Rush canonical; 3 latentoctopus openings)
spirits/low/ocean-hungry-grasp.md (Coastal drowning + territorial partner needs)
spirits/low/a-spread-of-rampant-green.md (Major-shopping + Terrain Control)
spirits/low/bringer-of-dreams-and-nightmares.md (Fear-only win path)

Base teach-anchors:

spirits/low/lightning-swift-strike.md (Direct Damage, Fast-Energy)
spirits/low/river-surges-in-sunlight.md (Terrain Control; Bounty-loop)
spirits/low/vital-strength-of-the-earth.md (Defend & Outlast canonical)

B&C + promo priority:

spirits/moderate/sharp-fangs-behind-the-leaves.md (4 latentoctopus openings)
spirits/moderate/keeper-of-the-forbidden-wilds.md (Major Power Shopping)
spirits/moderate/serpent-slumbering-beneath-the-island.md (Late-Game Juggernaut)
spirits/moderate/finder-of-paths-unseen.md (Mobility + Terrain Control)
spirits/moderate/downpour-drenches-the-world.md (Energy Denial via complementarity)

Adversary chapters added (3):

adversaries/index.md (landing page + comparison matrix)
adversaries/brandenburg-prussia.md (late-explosion adversary)
adversaries/sweden.md (fear-suppression adversary)

Scenario chapters added (5):

scenarios/index.md (landing page + scenario-adversary compatibility)
scenarios/blitz.md (time compression)
scenarios/guard-the-isles-heart.md (inland objective)
scenarios/rituals-of-terror.md (fear race)
scenarios/dahan-insurrection.md (dahan scoring)

Cleanup (4):

foundations/reading-a-card.md (card anatomy + reading order)
reader-self-assessment.md (progressive-disclosure self-routing)
appendices/if-youve-only-played.md (gap-based reading paths)
spirits/aspects.md (31 aspects + when-to-suggest-in-a-group per Brett)

Table audit + backfill (5 fundamentals chapters):

Expanded per-spirit tables to all 39 spirits in major-vs-minor, energy-curves, dahan, blight-track, terrain.

Pronoun fix: all spirits now use they/them per game canon.

Memory added: feedback_all_spirits_in_tables.md, feedback_spirit_pronouns.md.

Remaining stubs: 25 (down from 37).

All remaining stub chapters in Part II (Fundamentals) and Part VII (Playing with Others) fully authored.

Fundamentals added (5):

fundamentals/terrain.md — four terrains + coastal/inland + terrain-gated powers + spirits by preferred terrain.
fundamentals/adjacency-and-range.md — adjacency rules, Range-N, edge cases (Shroud Mists, Finder vision), common misreads.
fundamentals/energy-curves.md — per-spirit target income/spend tables, four curve archetypes, deviation cost.
fundamentals/card-draft-theory.md — 4-offer evaluation, spirit-fit axes, multiplayer pooling, forget math.
fundamentals/blight-track.md — cascade mechanics, pool management, blight-positive spirits, mitigation toolkit.

Social added (7):

social/two-player.md — sweet-spot coordination, pairing patterns, territory splits, disagreement handling.
social/three-and-four-player.md — role assignments, 4-heroes problem, table-talk scaling.
social/mixed-skill-tables.md — asymmetric spirit assignment (the reverse-intuition move), handicapping.
social/convention-and-meetup-norms.md — venue-specific etiquette, honest time estimates, rules clarification protocols.
social/playing-with-strangers.md — three archetypes (Rules-Focused, Vibes, Competitive), signal-reading, norm-setting.
social/post-game-debrief.md — three-sentence debrief format, never-do list, debrief by audience.
social/teaching-anti-patterns.md — 27 explicit don’ts with failure-mode rationale.

Both parts now fully authored. Part II and Part VII are complete.

v0.1.2 — 2026-04-19 — Part VI fleshed out

Full authoring of all 7 Combos & Archetypes chapters:

combos/archetype-index.md — landing page + archetype-to-spirit mapping + adversary fit + multiplayer coverage guidance.
combos/energy-denial.md — deny invader actions via isolation/push/card-disruption; primary: Downpour, Trickster, Shroud.
combos/dahan-rush.md — scale dahan into triple-duty (offense/defense/fear); primary: Thunderspeaker, Hearth-Vigil, Ferocious Warrior.
combos/fear-rush.md — race to Terror 3 via innate + card fear; primary: Shadows, Bringer, Many Minds, Shroud.
combos/terrain-control.md — move invaders to kill-zones or isolate lands; primary: Green, Lure, River, Finder.
combos/defend-and-outlast.md — absorb early pressure for late Major engine; primary: Earth, Keeper, Stone.
combos/major-power-shopping.md — aggressive Major drafting, Forget-heavy; primary: Earth, Keeper, Stone, Covets.

Each chapter follows the archetype-chapter spine defined in the index: Identity, Core Mechanics, Spirits That Embody It (primary + secondary), Execution Pattern (worked example), Strong/Weak Adversary Matchups, Multiplayer Synergies, Common Mistakes, Source Notes.

v0.1.1 — 2026-04-19 — Opener format upgraded

Revised templates/SPIRIT_TEMPLATE.md Opening Strategy section to require full 3–4 turn rehearsal blocks per variant (growth, cards played, presence, elements, E/CP state, milestone, pivot advice).
Updated spirits/low/shadows-flicker-like-flame.md Opening A + B to the new format; added experimental Opening C stub.
Captured format convention in memory/feedback_opener_format.md for future authoring.

Process notes

Each chapter update re-stamps its Last revised: YYYY-MM-DD footer.
This changelog gets an entry for any substantive content change (not typo fixes).
Chapters revised after playtest feedback note the trigger — e.g., “v0.3 — 2026-05-03 — Shadows chapter revised after Brett logged 8 games and tempo-row was consistently off for L5.”

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