There's 2 decks. The first one is the same deck used in the short game. The second deck, I'm calling the Sea deck. It contains: 4 - Reputation and Riches trackers 15 - Captains from history 20 - Open Sea cards 7 - Islands 4 - Corner Islands (One for each nation) 4 - Storms
Pull out the 4 Corner islands, Captains, and trackers. Give a tracker to each player. Deal each player a random captain, and a small ship from the regular deck. Shuffle the remaining captains back into the Sea deck and lay out a 5x5 grid face down. At each corner, instead of a face down card, you'll put a Corner island. This is where players of each nationality start.
The captains are more than just a face for your character. I've included a snippet of their actual history, and a FLAW. This flaw must factor into how you play. So if it says you can't dock in a Spanish Port, you can't dock in a Spanish port!
Each turn, you can move your ship 1 card. I'll need to come up with tokens for each of the 15 captains. If you move into an unknown area, you flip it over. If it's not an island or open sea, you'll need to keep drawing and adding sea cards to this area until an island or open sea appears. Anything else you found is there too, a storm, an enemy captain, or some combination. Storms can even combine to become more powerful storms, and have nastier effects.
Draw a card from the regular deck to find out what town or port is on an island. It will likely be so for the rest of the game.
Draw a card from the regular deck to find out what ship an enemy captain is sailing.
Open water and Island cards have wind compasses on them. Storms and enemy captains will move from space to space according to the wind. Players can move in any direction except against a wind.
The goal of the game is to reach the greatest reputation. As you gain reputation you move your captain card to uncover a star on your tracker. Similarly, as you gain riches, you move your ship card to uncover doubloons. Doubloons may be spent in any port for goodies and can be flaunted to increase your reputation.
Here's some sample cards I've drawn up. This 2nd deck is 54 cards, just like the regular deck, but does not map to the different suits or values. The long game only works with these custom cards.
New cards have been ordered. I fixed the wind indicators to just a single arrow (from a weather vane). Maybe they'll be here by the next game night!
Oh, and I realised a solution to the need for tokens. If we use paper clips to track reputation and riches, like in Forbidden Desert, we can then just move the captain card around the play area.
Here's the full set of rules (Short Game, Short Game using Poker Deck, and Long Game). I played a couple games by importing the cards to Card Warden for the iPad. I think it's turning into a very interesting game!
Copy and paste error in the Long Game combat section. Ignore the rule "If for any reason you run out of crew cards....". Obviously that will happen if you are taken hostage. If you have any influence (reputation or money) you will still be in the game.
The cards have arrived! I played a few rounds of a sample game and have decided some kind of tokens would be better for moving the pirates around. I've found a template for printable images that I can glue to poker chips, and have inserted the faces of each of the 15 pirate captains. One side will include the word "DOCKED", which you can flip to indicate sailing or docked.
Diddly and I (and for a short while Danmick) played a long version of the game last night and I quite enjoyed it. We discussed some possible improvements mid-game and even gave some in game time to test a few of them, but as my second time playing, this game much more engaging and fun - without feeling like I need to constantly keep track of deep and involved strategies (some people might like planning and plotting those outer for hours on end, but that's too taxing on my mind during my downtime .
Of the two major changes Diddles took in to consideration, one was allowing for possible faster movements using the winds, essentially having a trade route. While my initial suggestion was only allowing 2 moves, after further thought, I wanted to suggest that on a give turn the player can use their move to go one space and IF they moved in the direction the wind was pointing in the square they started in, they could continue moving indefinitely following the winds/currents until they wished to stop or came in to contact with a square that had no wind/current. I definitely I feel creating some rule that had the potential to change winds would be important so the person who began the game with a lucky trade route may have that luck torn from them at any point...
The second change we discussed was allowing players to be able to take 2 actions in a port (for instance, enter the port = first action, add crew = second action... or add crew = first action! get mission = second action, etc). Diddles and I even were allowing 2 similar actions (for instance add crew x2 = both actions), which mDe recrewing a big ship much easier and less time consuming. After considering more I thought maybe another "bonus" could be "add an extra action in port", basically your bonus means you are more time efficient in ports and can beat things done more effectively Ina shorter period of time. Something for Diddles to consider in any case.
Lastly, because I couldn't fall asleep and had the time to think about it before finally drifting off last night, I thought about the possibility of adding random sea encounters into the mix. I know, I know, there are already plenty of things to keep track of, and I won't be offended if this goes nowhere, but I thought I'd offer it up for consideration anyhow. Random things such as scurvy, coral reefs or shoals, broken mast could all be random occurrences that crop up from time to time. My idea would be to add a "random event" icon to some of the wave cards (thinking maybe in the form of a skull and crossbones icon somewhere on every forth wave card?). In the rule book there could be a list of 10 random encounters and when that card surfaces as the end of a turn occurs, anyone at sea has a random encounter and must role a die to determine what theirs will be. I think the list could have half good encounters and half bad encounters (examples of good encounters could include "come across ship wrecked crew - add (or upgrade) 1 crew card" or "capture small merchant ship - gain one gold/random load of tradable merchandise"). If you wanted to be really involved, you could have 30 or 40 different encounters and make each captain have a list on the back side of their card. While many encounters would overlap, each captain would have their own unique list of 10 random encounters. I would suggest including a couple spot so the list that say "no random encounter happens to you this round" (or you could simply say no encounter can be duplicated per captain... but I prefer just having some blank myself). I would be happy helping you create these encounters... One possibility I wanted to suggest was "encounter the kraken (or sea monster, or sea yeti? ... in this encounter you have a 50-50 chance of having your boat sunk or gaining 2 reputation once you get to your next port and brag about surviving an encounter...
This idea could go on and on but it's already getting too long... In any case... the idea of is that a simple change to some wave cards is all it takes, along with a section in the rule book noting "additional advanced rule play" because this is completely and totally removable by simply ignoring the icon on this cards and not using these rules. Food fore thought... Let me know if you wanted to discuss together some time though and I'd be happy to chat (maybe at lunch sometime soon).
Keep on working on this, as I noted above, I really like the game!
Yes, the first two changes are already in the next rule set. Referring to the multi-actions while docked, and faster moves with the wind. I'd like to try letting you move as far as the wind will carry you (across explored locations) in a single move.
This random encounter idea reminds me very much of Star Trek Fleet Captains, where you roll the die to see if something happens as you enter a space. I'm not sure about it yet, but if there are any "events" you want to submit prior to adopting the idea, just add 'em to this thread.
One thing you've been very keen on is the concept of switching winds. I've been reluctant because I don't like the idea of players controlling the winds, but an occasional randomization of wind direction could work. My current thinking is that when you finish the sea deck (and have to reshuffle), any explored locations adjacent to a storm switch wind direction.
Right - I forgot about the fleeing rule, but I think it is good to have something in the rules to make it harder to attach and flee another ship constantly.
You should include a note in the wind movement about what happens if you go through a tile with another ship.. can you simply fly past them? I'm included to say if there is another ship in the square you can't go through it (evading takes more time and effort and if you weigh more you'd never evade anyhow, right)? Plus it adds a potential brake to an established trade route if a PC or NPC ship happens along the route.
I think having something in the game to change the winds is a good idea - the rule you suggested sounds like a good way to do this. Is it the 8 surrounding tiles or just the 2 up/down & 2 left/right?
As for the random events, I think adding something like could help "turn the tides" in the game, which means if you started out badly you might still be able to catch up! Or it could escalate an early lead into a quick victory! Plus open seas always create unexpected events (more often bad than good, but that wouldn't be entirely fun). The nice thing is that fits in the game easily but can be ignored just as easily if it feels like too much.
My "event" ideas currently include: Bad Events - Scurvy (lose your highest crew card) - Shoals (spend up to 3 turns getting yourself unstuck - draw a card each time and if you happen to draw your nationality, you manage to get free next turn) - Coral Reef (your hull was breached and you lost all your cargo - transport quests must be turned in for failure to deliver) - Broken Mast (ignore wind/trade routes until you visit a port for repairs) Good Events - Shipwrecked Island (find an island with shipwrecked pirates - gain (or upgrade) 1 crew card) - Merchant Ship (gain 2 cargo cards & expend 1 crew to sail ship to port for 1 gold) - Political Prisoner (capture a Viscount or Dutchess (draw a card for nationality) - return to nearest port of same nationality & gain 2 gold) - Secret Mission (you meet someone at sea who offers you an additional mission Good or Bad Events - Sea Creature (name 2 nationalities & draw a card.. if you chose correctly get 2 reputation for fighting the kraken until it flees (collected at the next port), but if you chose incorrectly lose your ship to the kraken) - optionally the "bad" result could be "lose 2 reputation" for fleeing the kraken and looking craven in front of your men
I'm sure I can think of more, but those were the ones I initially thought might be good to include.
Over lunch today, I mentioned to Shabadu I wanted a super-quick version of the game.. something that is just played with the sunset deck, and doesn't involve a lot of rules but is still interesting, novel, and fun. Going for something around 10 minutes of play time, with little or no setup.
I started with the concept of players vs pirates, instead of a directly competitive game. We talked about some ideas and here's what it is shaping up to be:
Goal: Each player controls a port. Be the first to ship one of each type of cargo to or from your port. Other players get one more turn after this happens. If during the next turn someone else accomplishes the goal, the one with the most tonnage of goods shipped wins.
Setup: 1) Shuffle the sunset deck 2) Deal a port, face up, to each player (any number of players). a) The last nation to be dealt can not go to a player. Put any card of that allegiance in the middle as part of the Pirate blockade, and deal the next card to the player. The same goes for jokers. 3) Reveal the next card. This is a ship. Place it next to the weakest player with the same allegiance, or if none put it in the middle as part of the Pirate blockade. 4) Repeat step 3 until every player and the pirate blockade has at least one ship 5) Compare the maximum single ship size between players. Deal the difference in number of cards face down for the smaller players' hands.
Turns: 1) The player left of the dealer starts by drawing a card into their hand. 2) The player chooses one of the following actions:
Pass
Place a ship from their hand of the same allegiance as their port, to join their defensive fleet.
Move a ship from their port to another player's port, to add to that player's defensive fleet.
Assign a crew card from their hand to one of the ships in their fleet, and attack a ship in the blockade. Note: If there's only 1 pirate left in the blockade, the player can assign a second card from their hand as cargo before the combat so that if they win, the ship carrying their cargo will sail away to make the delivery. This second card is not counted in the combat, but will be lost if the pirate wins.
If there's no blockade, assign a crew card from their hand to one of the ships in their fleet. This vessel sails away carrying the assigned crew and cargo.
3) That player's turn is ended. Repeat the process for each player in a clockwise fashion until everyone has had a turn. 4) Draw a card for the Pirate Blockade. If no player's port matches this nationality, add the card to the blockade as another ship. Otherwise:
Assign this card as crew to the smallest pirate ship. It attacks the visibly weakest player (by fleet tonnage).
If there is no blockade, this card is a shipment from a friendly port. It goes to the visibly weakest player (by fleet tonnage).
5) Return to step 1 until someone wins.
Pirates Win: If any port is captured / destroyed, or the deck (and discard) runs out of cards.
Combat: 1) Combat is between two single ships only 2) If a pirate ship has no crew assigned, draw a card. This is their crew. 3) If not already chosen by their action, the player chooses a ship from their fleet and assigns a crew from their hand. Note, you can not pull a ship from your hand for combat. It must already be out. a) If the port is attacked and there are no ships defending, the port itself counts as a ship in this case. 4) Multiply the ship (or port) cannon size by the crew cannon size. Whomever is higher wins and gets to keep their ship. All other cards involved are discarded. This includes the winner's crew, as their cannons are "spent". a) In the case of a tie, it's mutual destruction. All cards involved in the combat are discarded.
Shipping Cargo: If you manage to get a ship with cargo through the blockade, discard the ship and add the cargo to your shipped cargo pile. If cargo comes to you (while the blockade is gone), add it to your shipped cargo pile. The game ends one turn after someone gets all three types of cargo in their pile.
I played a 6-player game with these rules, and it worked quite well. The winner wasn't even the first one to ship all three types of cargo.
Then I tried a 1-player game. Ouch! Assuming it was even winnable, there was no way it was happening in 10 minutes. What I discovered was that I was very slowly sorting the high cards from the low cards. Low cards accumulated into my hand, high cards into the pirate blockade.
In the 1-player game, the pirate blockade gets as many turns as you, which is hugely unfair (since their pool of ships comes from 3 nations, and yours from just 1). I think a 1-player game should designate only a single nationality for the pirate blockade, or to "earn their place" in the blockade, a pirate of differing allegiance must displace a smaller pirate ship. Otherwise they themselves get discarded.
There are 27 locations in the sea deck (not including storms, pirates, or corner islands). I've been thinking about the random effects, and think there's actually 3 opportunities for such a thing: 1) Exploration - If the revealed location has an Exploration effect, it happens once and only to the pirate(s) in that location. 2) Passage - If a location has a Passage effect, it happens to any pirate passing through (or stopping at) that location (including if it was just explored) 3) Event - If this card is turned over as part of the End-of-Round event, the effect described occurs across the entire map.
My thought is that each of the locations could have either a Exploration, Passage, or Event effect. No more than one though. And if the card is revealed in a manner not in accordance with the listed effect, there is no effect. For example, exploring a new location can not trigger it's Event effect if it has one. End-of-Round Events can't trigger a Passage effect. etc.
Sample Effects (borrowing heavily from Shabadu's list)
Exploration - Coral Reef - Lose your cargo
Exploration - Broken Mast - No bonus moves from wind
Exploration - Stranded Pirate - Take an unused Captain hostage
Exploration - Survivors - Pick up two crew cards
Exploration - Treasure Map - You find a treasure map!
Exploration - Evidence of El Dorado - +2 Riches and +1 Reputation
Exploration - Inspired Navigator - Your navigator can return you to your Home Port in a single move
Passage - Rough Waters - Lose a crew card
Passage - Shoals - Move at tacking speed
Passage - Sea Monster - Sacrifice a crew card or risk 1/4 chance of losing them all
Passage - Strong Wind - +1 Move this turn
Event - El Nino - Storms include adjacent locations for next round
Event - Native Uprising - Random nation has all ports replaced
Event - Prosperity - +1 Riches for every player
Event - Mutiny - Most infamous captain loses half his crew
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