diff --git a/init.lua b/init.lua
index 044995f..6453832 100644
--- a/init.lua
+++ b/init.lua
@@ -88,6 +88,13 @@ function M.build_rig(rig_table)
         local look_at_speed = nil
         if b.look_at_speed ~= nil then look_at_speed = math.rad(b.look_at_speed) end
 
+        -- A.4: Parse sprite_rot (deg in JSON → radians stored). Render-time offset
+        -- applied as `world.rot + sprite_rot` to compensate for sprite assets
+        -- whose natural orientation at rot=0 is not the bone's "forward" (-Y).
+        -- Substrate convention (puppet.c:295, 2101).
+        local sprite_rot = 0
+        if b.sprite_rot ~= nil then sprite_rot = math.rad(b.sprite_rot) end
+
         bones_by_id[b.id] = {
             id = b.id,
             parent = nil,  -- resolved below
@@ -100,6 +107,7 @@ function M.build_rig(rig_table)
             rest_rot_min = rest_rot_min,
             rest_rot_max = rest_rot_max,
             look_at_speed = look_at_speed,
+            sprite_rot = sprite_rot,
             color = b.color or { 200, 200, 200 },
             texture = b.texture,             -- optional atlas-id (string) or nil
             z_order = b.z_order or 0,        -- render-sort key; default 0
@@ -987,7 +995,7 @@ function M.render(handle)
             local ay = b.anchor and b.anchor[2] or 0
             engine.render.draw_sprite_transform(
                 b.texture_handle,
-                ws.x, ws.y, ws.rot,
+                ws.x, ws.y, ws.rot + (b.sprite_rot or 0),
                 sx, sy, ax, ay,
                 0xFFFFFFFF
             )
diff --git a/manifest.lib b/manifest.lib
index 8f796ed..debb54a 100644
--- a/manifest.lib
+++ b/manifest.lib
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "id": "lib-core.puppet",
-    "version": "0.3.2",
+    "version": "0.3.3",
     "api_min": "0.1",
     "deps": []
 }