Who Starts Where?

Games Spirit Island
#1

I know that the Island Boards used in a given game are determined randomly and the Spirits are chosen. But how does one determine which Spirit starts on which Board? The Rulebook merely says "Each player starts on a different island board . . . " (Page 6, Player Setup), without specifying if it is determined randomly or chosen by the players.

I’ve been playing the latter way, for two reasons. Firstly, it adds more strategic depth. Secondly, I recall that in the Jagged Earth Kickstarter Update for Volcano Looming High @Eric_R mentioned something about Volcano’s player’s teammates letting Volcano’s player pick his or her board first, because of Volcano’s Presence restriction. So, that implies to me that the players do choose their Boards.

So I thought I’d see what other folks do. Perhaps I missed something in the rulebook or there’s an FAQ about this. If that’s so, I’d appreciate someone letting me know.

#2

That’s correct. Once the board is set up, each player selects a different board to be their starting board and then follows the set up instructions on the back of their spirit panel. If you’re playing Sharp Fangs you can place a oresence on a different board, but this is explicitly called out.

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#3

Thanks for the confirmation, @pwatson1974!

Yeah, that Sharp Fangs Behind the Leaves thing is quite an irregularity. There’s no other Spirit in the game that can start on two Boards. (Unless I’m forgetting one.)