Winning the Game
Win the game by defeating your arch enemy on the high seas.
2 Player Game (Head to Head)
Choose 2 characters who are one another's arch enemies, for a quick death-match.
2 Player Race
Choose 2 characters with different arch enemies and see who can accomplish their mission first.
2 Player Combo
Each human player chooses 2 pirates to work as a team. (Do not choose 2 that are enemies of one another). One will be engaged in a head to head battle with another human player, the other will be involved in a race to defeat a non-player ship. Accomplish both goals to win!
3 Player Race
The game has enough capacity for 3 players to each play against a non-human arch enemy.
4 Player Teams
Same as 2 player combo with teams of two. 2 extroverts play head to head 2 introverts race. A great alternative to couples counseling.
5 Players
The newest player can face against a non-player ship.
6 Players
Every Pirate for Themself!
There are 6 Characters:
1: Bonnie:
Based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Bellona Principia Teologica McGowan was born the son of a Jesuit Abbot in Saint Augustine, Florida.... That didn't work out.
Turning to a life of crime, Bonnie discovered that her gender became an asset rather than a liability, often squaring off against ill-prepared captains who underestimated her leadership abilities and assumed she was the cook. Bonnie is ever defiant of authority and intends to make a name for herself by besting the Commodore in battle.
All ships attacking Bonnie attack at one cannon fewer than usual at a range of 2 and two cannons fewer at a range of 1.
2: Jolly Roger:
Based on Barbados near the small island of Martinique, Jolly Roger has had just about enough of your shit.
But more than that, he's had enough of the antics of one Mr. Percy Fromage, who thinks he's better than everyone. Roger has hand written a sternly worded letter about humility onto each of several hundred cannonballs, and intends to deliver them to Percival at the next opportunity.
Roger has 2 extra cannons that attack from the bow of his ship into the cone of 3 hexes in front of him.
3: Greybeard:
Originally from Dutch Curacao, Greybeard never makes port anymore, but hovers around that general area nonetheless. Greybeard has been pirating since before you were born. Come to think of it, that's way too long, he should have been dead about a hundred years ago... Greybeard doesn't care. But he does care about all the damn racket coming from across the sea by those kids in Flynn's frigate. They really ought to quiet down over there.... How can he hear them hundreds of miles away? Not. Greybeard's. Problem.
Greybeard can take a total of 8 hits before he is sunk.
4: The Commodore:
Based in the Spanish Port City of Cartegena, Colombia to the southeast the Commodore is the law. Granted however, with limited resources and time, not all laws can be enforced. Some pillaging cannot be prevented. A bit of murder will happen on the high seas, some theft, torture, some racketeering...it must be factored into the cost of business. Boys will be boys, so some blockade running, all things considered, is a foregone conclusion. One thing that the Commodore will not abide however, is una mujera en command of a naval vessel! I mean what is the world coming to?
The Commodore will hunt down and kill Bonnie McGowan if it's the last thing he does. And if she survives it he will force her to marry someone she doesn't love because sometimes right is right and there are no exceptions!
The Commodore's cannons hit at 5 or 6 but he cannot turn more than 60 degrees in a movement.
5: Percy:
Based in Port Royal, Jamaica, Percy is a paragon of cleanliness and moral virtue among a sea of Spanish and British barbarians. As a Privateer, the french crown has given him free reign over the domain (which properly belongs to France of course) and Percy is permitted to keep anything he can take from other ships, so long it does not find its way back to Europe to fund wars against the French. Percy is particularly interested in the hoard of gold he's heard is being stored in The Galleon of the Jolly Roger.
He has the capacity to take one cannon to sell from each ship he defeats, in addition to any plunder.
6: Flynn:
Based in the anarchist port of Tortuga north of Haiti, Flynn is the libertarian king of swashbuckling. Originally a traveling troubadour, Flynn found that he would be permitted to sing all day whilst swinging on ropes and drinking provided that he identified himself as a pirate, and the behavior is part of his "mystique." Flynn operates on the high seas without a care for several years, until his first encounter with Greybeard who creeps him right the hell out.
Flynn has made it his mission to find and defeat Greybeard on the high seas. When asked why, he offered a song titled "Dead People Should Be Dead."
Flynn can travel 3 hexes normally, 6 with the wind.
There are 6 directions:
Wind:
-The wind may be blowing to the northwest (1) the west (2) the Southwest (3) The Southeast (4) the East (5) or the Northeast (6).
-At the end of your turn, Roll 1d6 to determine if the wind changes. If you roll a 6 the winds have changed, roll again to determine it's direction.
-Each wind direction also corresponds to a port. San Juan (1) Martinique (2) Brazil (3) Caracas (4) Port Royal (5) and Tortuga (6).
-A storm is portended in the port corresponding to the direction in which the wind blows. If the wind changes direction to it's opposite (1 to 4, 2 to 5 etc) a storm has begun.
-The sailor nearest the stormy port is caught in the storm and must roll 1d6 to determine where the storm will send them. They lose a turn and begin the next turn at the port corresponding to their roll.
+If 2 or more ships are equally far they are each sent, and arrive adjacent to one another in the same arrangement in which they left (leftmost ship on the left).
Movement:
-You may move double your standard movement rate when large (traveling in the same direction the wind is pointing).
-All ships (except the Commodore's Flagship) can turn 60 degrees from its heading both before and after moving. Thus a movement consists of three steps.
1: Adjust bearing
2: Move one hex in the direction your ship faces
3: Adjust bearing again
+Repeat until you are either out of moves or you would like to stop.
-You may not adjust your bearing more than once without moving.
-It is permissible to travel 2 hexes with the wind and one in another direction. Alternately, you may move 1 with, 1 other, and 1 with again. If you travel 3 hexes with the wind and stop you forfeit your last move.
-Technically no ship may travel "by" (directly against the wind) however you may travel 2 hexes while turning, to end up in the same place as you would, effectively making your against the wind travel rate half or your normal rate.
+For instance: Suppose the wind is blowing west and your ship is pointing east. You may not travel east, but you may travel northeast, and then southeast to arrive 1 hex to the east of where you started.
You can take 6 hits:
Combat:
-You begin with 5 cannons on each side of your ship. 10 total (4,4,and 2 for Jolly Roger)
-At the beginning of your turn your crew has loaded all of your cannons. You may unload a volley at any time, at a ship in your attack zone even if it's not your turn provided you have not already fired those cannons since the start of your last turn.
-Roll 1d6 per cannon (5d6 for a full volley). Every 6 rolled represents a hit.
-It is possible, if flanked by 2 ships, to fire both volleys in a round.
Damage:
- Each time you are hit your morale decreases by 1.
+This can be counted with a d6 of a different color. Total morale left is the side facing up. (Yes I know, these are a lot of d6s, you can buy them at the dollar store in 8 packs).
-If you run out of morale, your crew betrays you and you walk the plank. (I love this)
-All of the cargo from any defeated ship is transferred to the victorious ship.
Non-Player Ships:
-All 6 ships will sail in every game, even when there are fewer than 6 human players.
-Unidentified Non-Player ships (NPS) are represented on the board by a question mark (?) token.
- All NPS float freely in the direction of the wind 1 hex each time it changes.
-When within 2 hexes of the token, roll 1d6 to determine it's identity.
-If the roll corresponds to an unidentified NPS the token takes on the identity of that ship.
-If the roll corresponds with a human player or an identified NPS its identity remains a secret and it fires a full volley at the ship attempting identification, (you will not damage an unidentified ship).
-Once identified the ship is oriented with cannons directly towards the identifying player's ship, and fires a full volley. It does not move strategically but will rotate up to 60 degrees in combat to attack any threatening ships.
-If an NPS is ever within range of 2 other ships it will fire on whichever ship's home port is farthest from it’s own. If equidistant, the human, if both human, the one who is winning, if indeterminable, roll 1d6.
-When an NPS is defeated, its captain joins your crew. If your arch enemy is defeated by someone other than you, you must proceed to take out the ship that defeated him in order to take your revenge.
-If your arch enemy is human and defeated by someone other than you, you should seek revenge on both the captain that defeated him, and the captain that eventually picks him up.
Buccaneers:
-If you are beaten in battle you are not out of the game. Your crew has mutinied or your ship has sunk, but you are resilient, and swim/float to the nearest port. You are now a Buccaneer (a land based pirate) and may pledge service to any non player controlled character other than your arch enemy.
-Starting on your next turn you take control of your new partner's ship. You also take on their abilities and responsibility for their goals (beating their arch enemy).
-Begin by sailing your new from its location to the port where you landed. If you have chosen to partner with an unidentified NPS you can choose any ? token to identify and sail.
-If no NPS remain, you can wait for a mutiny.
-It's unlikely that you will win the game considering the added burden this brings, but there is still plenty of time to take revenge!
There are 6 Ports:
Friendly and Unfriendly Ports
-Your home port, and the 2 ports on either side of your home port are friendly, and you can enter and leave them at your leisure.
-The three ports farthest from you are unfriendly, and will fire at your ship, and any ship they do not recognize, with one cannon per player turn (anyone's turn).
-Unfriendly ports have a range of 4 and attack from towers in every direction.
-This action can be ignored, or the tower can be fired upon. One hit will shut it down for the duration of your visit .
-You may buy or sell commodities.
Commodities:
-There are 6 commodities: Cocoa, Sugar, Fruit, Gold, Spices, and Cotton.
-Each commodity is represented by a token (e.g. cotton balls, sugar cubes, peppercorns, pennies, etc.)
-Each port has a local commodity, and an in-demand commodity:
+San Juan has Fruit and wants Cotton
+Barbados Has Gold and wants Cocoa
+Curacao has Spices and wants Sugar
+Cartegena has Cotton and wants Fruit
+Port Royal has Cocoa, and wants Gold
+Tortuga has Sugar and wants Spices
-Any port will accept any commodity in exchange for one of their local commodity, but will offer two of its local commodity in exchange for its in-demand commodity.
Standard Items:
At a friendly port, you can exchange one of any commodity for upgrades.
Extra Cannons:
-provides 2 more cannons placed anywhere on the ship
Repairs:
-recover 1 hit of morale reducing damage
Reinforcements:
-adds 1 to amount of damage you can withstand
Sails:
-adds 1 to your base speed
Rum: Cannot be purchased (Use Real Rum) Any problem can be solved at sea provided there is enough rum! Take a swig in real life to activate it's advantage - recover 1 hit of morale reducing damage anytime, including at sea. (I'm incredibly proud that you've turned this into a drinking game)]
