OverviewA game of exploration and infamy!

Help solve your everyday list of a pirate’s common problems!

2-4 Players

Ages 8+

The premise of the game is to explore the area quickly (i.e. reveal all the tiles and create the map), move around, accumulating treasure as quickly as possible and building up your Infamy through a series of objectives. When your infamy reaches 100, you may purchase a retirement estate and win the game!

Future expansion could include Aztec Jungle version (where the sea exploration becomes jungle exploration) or Space etc. Same basic mechanics different visuals.

Design Ideas

Needs a box, inserts and rule book!

Stylish, but cartoon like artwork. Think Everrain/Sea of Thieves (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/grimlordgames/the-everrain / https://www.seaofthieves.com/), with its pieces and placement, but more fun and less dark.

I’ve tried to make all the rules, categories, choices etc in groups of 3 for consistency and reducing complexity!!!

None of this has been tried or play tested haha

Other Interesting games that might inspire ideas:

http://www.dicetowernews.com/set-sail-with-precious-cargo/56518 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPz0rSmWcPM

Note: Apparently Pirate games are one of the hardest genres to pull off successfully…!

Just need to remember this might not make a real game but is more of a process and graphics project! Maybe something smaller would be more suitable!!

Contents1 x Box (and storage inserts)

1 x Rule Book

1 x Board

4 x Player Boards (with 4 x privacy screens)

4 x Pirate Captain Figures

4 x Infamy Counters

12 x Ship Flag Pieces

36 x Ship Pieces (3 x 12 of each type)

130 x Ship Upgrade Cubes

?? x Area Tiles

90 x Treasure Map Cards (plus bag to hold them?)

5 x Search Dice

5 x Treasure Dice

5 x Combat Dice

1 x Compass Dice

200 x Booty Item Pieces (80 x Treasure, 60 x Goods, 60 x Slaves)

64 x Item Cards

32 x Objective Cards

? x Advantage Cards

? x Event Cards

20 x Storm and Monster Pieces

SetupThe board is laid out.

All Area tiles are places randomly, facedown on the map board, covering all spaces on the board.

Each player chooses a colour and takes the following items:

1 x Player Board

1 x Ship Board (Sloop)

1 x Pirate Captain Figure (of chosen colour)

1 x Infamy Counter (of chosen colour) placed at 0 on the Infamy Tracker

1 x Ship (Sloop) Figure with corresponding coloured flag in.

1 x Map piece (randomly selected).

1 x Personal Objective Card (randomly selected).

MechanicsThe game is turn based with a random starting player selected. Each player takes a turn in order. A round is complete when all players have taken their turn.

Before play begins, draw three event cards and ‘execute’ them.

The first stage of a players turn is to move all their ships (1 to 3) - pirates don’t like to stay in one place and must be on the move. See Movement for more details.

Next, a player can have one action (unless bonus cards permit more) for each of their ships. See Actions for more details.

Once all the actions are complete, the next person takes their turn.

When the round ends, draw an Event card from the deck. See Events for more details.

Next, action all non-player pieces on the board.

Finally, check victory conditions. See Objective for more details.

Design Ideas

Maybe the sequence of turn/round events could be displayed on the Player’s Board or main Board?

BoardThe board is comprised of an empty grid of squares 15 x 15:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

6 6

7 7

8 8

9 910 10

11 11

12 12

13 13

14 14

15 15

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O

Each square represents an area of exploration, many miles wide and is used to place one of the Area Tiles and move ships around the board.

Each square can be uniquely refenced using the surround grid refs. The central tile (H8) is fixed and represents the starting point for all players.

The board will also have an ‘Infamy Tracker’ around the edge, for each player to keep track of their Infamy Objective.

Design Ideas

Foldable board with a raised border so that the area tiles fit in the blank area. The central tile also raised and depicted as a pirate run, lawless island!

Grid around the edge on all sides and an infamy tracker from 1 to 100 long the bottom or top of board.

Area TilesAn area tile represents an area of explored land. These are placed face down to cover the entire map area, as each player enters an unexplored area on the board with one of their ships, the area tile is turned over. Multiple ships can be present on the same tile at the same time, entering Combat is optional.

A total of 224 Area Tiles exist.

Area tiles come in various shapes, mainly single squares, but there are some larger shapes which represent, larger islands (that have been ‘heard off’)

The following types of tile shapes are available:

Land Tiles (Treasure Maps should exist for at least half of the islands)

The following types of tiles exist:

Water Tiles

Open Sea Ship Wreck Rocks\Reef\Shallows

In addition, the land tiles have the following extra features:

Trading Post Town City

Design Ideas

Each tile is made of card board and is one sided and fit the grid spaces on the board.

All tile faces must be surrounded by water and represent a large area (50 x 50 miles per grid square). Some may contain small islands, some larger land masses, any graphics should be relatively small scale wise.

MovementEach player starts his turn off with movement.

For each Ship under the players control (1-3) the player MUST move their ship at least 1 space (more maybe possible depending on the ship). When entering a space on the board which does not contain an Area Tile, one is drawn randomly and placed on the board. The player can choose to stop movement at any time. The player cannot move into the same Area Tile twice in one turn.

The number of Tiles a ship can move is determined by the table below:

Ship Type

If a player is in the same location as a ‘Storm’, then they cannot choose the direction in which they travel and must roll the Compass Dice to work out which direction to move (maximum on 1 space only).

Design Ideas

The Compass Die is a six-sided dice with the following sides: North, South, East, West, No Move, No Move

ActionsActions are taken following the player’s movement. A player has one Action per ship. The player does not need to take an action.

All actions apply to the Area Tile in which the ship is present.

The following 4 main actions are available:

MaraudThe action involves searching or plundering for treasure. This can only be performed on a land or shipwreck area tile.

SmuggleThe action involves burying or retrieving treasure. This can only be performed on a land or shipwreck area tile.

EngageThe action involves combat with an opponent(s). This can only be performed if the Area Tile contains another player’s ship or another ‘game piece’ which can be attacked.

DockThe action involves docking in a Town, City or Trading Post. This can only be performed if the Area Tile contains a Town, City or Trading Post.

Events?

Design Ideas

These are one-sided cards with all necessary information printed on them, together with a nice picture depicting the event. All event cards should be in the same style, with a matching ‘Event Card’ back graphic.

Booty ItemsBooty items represent the currency within the game and can be used to buy ships and equipment and is also used to amass wealth to influence Objectives.

There are three types of booty items in the game:

Treasure Goods Slaves (maybe something less offensive here?!)

The two types of booty items are treated the same when calculating Objectives but may be affected differently during game play. Both types can be transported or buried (not slaves!?).

Each has one of the following values, in gold, on the bottom of the playing piece:

0 (empty chest or ruined goods) 10 25 50 100 250

Design Ideas

Three types of pieces, all 2D card counters, square, the same size, that can fit in the ships hold section on the player board and can also be stacked on the Player’s Map board. One side depicts the type of booty and the other side shows the value – values should be hidden from other players, i.e. facedown.

ShipsShips are used to explore the world. A Player can control up to 3 ships at any one time and begin the game with a single ship.

There are three types of ship:

Sloop Brigatine Frigate

Each ship has 3 fixed characteristics:

CostThe value required to buy the ship.

HoldThis determines the amount of Booty Items you can carry on board.

SpeedThis is the speed and manoeuvrability of the ship when in combat, used to determine if escape is possible!

Each ship has 3 upgradeable and damageable characteristics:

SailsThis value directly affects speed of the ship.

HullThis value determines whether the ship is afloat! A value of zero means a sunk ship!

CannonsThis value determines the ship’s attack capability.

Pirate Captain – only one ship contains your pirate leader

Design Ideas

Three types of pieces, all 3D, 1 mast, 2 mast & 3 masts and maybe all getting slightly bigger. Each needs to stand up right on the board and have the ability to add a coloured flag inserted into it to identify player ownership.

Player BoardEach player has a single player board which contains:

Three areas to hold Ship boards, one for each of the player’s Ships. 1 player Map board, which is simply a grid with the same number of areas as the main

board. Area for cards? Anything Else?

Each time a player acquires a Ship, its corresponding board is placed on the player board, starting at ship position 1. Each of the different ship types has a different board which shows a pictorial representation of the ship, together with its various stats. In addition, the ship board has areas where the player can upgrade parts of the ship, namely: sails, hull and cannons. This is done by placing upgrade cubes on the appropriate part of the ship board. The Booty Items held by the ship must also be placed on this board. Your Pirate Captain can also be placed at the helm of one of your ships.

The Map board is used to store Booty Items which the player had buried during his exploration of the map. When an item is buried, the Booty Item piece is placed in the corresponding grid ref on the play’s map board.

Design Ideas

The player board is a single flat piece of card with indented areas for 3 ship boards and a privacy screen for the player’s Map Board:

Ship 1 Ship 2 Ship 2

Ship Upgrade Cubes

Ship Board Map Board

Privacy Screen

Pirate Captain Figure

Space for Ship’s cards, hold items etc.

Booty Hold Area

ObjectiveThere are three main goals in the game:

Increasing your Infamy Increasing your Wealth Achieving a personal Objective

Each of these objectives contribute to determining the winner of the game.

Infamy is a score from 1 to 100 and is tracked throughout the game, adjusted by the following events:

Name Description Winner LoserSink The player sinks an enemy ship +2 -1Capture The player captures an enemy ship +1 -2Map Successfully use a map to find Loot See card for detailsObjective Complete personal objective See card for detailsItem Possession of an Item Card(s) See card for detailsEvent Tackling an Event card See card for details

Wealth is your totalled score of all Booty Items (Treasure and Goods) either in your possession or buried.

Personal objectives can be gathered by visiting any Town or City and visiting the local Seer.

When a player reaches an Infamy score of 100 (or above), they are able to purchase a ‘Retirement Estate’ from any City, place it anywhere on the Board, move all their ships to that location and then they can declare victory at the end of the round. In the event of a draw, the player with the highest horde of treasure and goods wins.

Treasure MapsTreasure map pieces exist in the game for players to collect and piece together, to guarantee finding riches in explored areas.

There are 90 Treasure map card ‘pieces’ in the game. Complete maps can be made up of 1, 2 or 4 map pieces and players cannot ‘use’ the map until all pieces have been found:

When you have a complete map (and all the tiles match up to show a location), that location will need to be found on the board so that the map can be ‘used’ to locate the booty.

The more tiles that make up the treasure map the more bonus you get when determining loot.

The treasure map pieces are held like cards by the player.

The map card pieces do not necessarily align with Area Tiles, the shape of the island depicted is what is important.

Treasure map pieces can be found, bought, bargained for or stolen!

Design Ideas

These are cards which can have a typical old-style treasure map look, maybe with jigsaw like edges so they fit together. Each map, when complete, should be directly relatable to a single Area Tile.

Personal ObjectivesEach player can have any number of personal objectives, by visiting a Seer in a Town or City. There are 32 different personal objective cards.

These cards describe a personal objective which you must meet in order to achieve Infamy points. Each card outlines the conditions of meeting the objective and the number of infamy points gained. Infamy points are gained as soon as the objective is met, and the card is discarded.

At the end of the game, the Infamy point value of any personal objectives which are not met are taken off the players total Infamy score.

1 King of the Sea Own 3 Frigates +62 Explorer Reach the edge of Map +23 Cartographer Piece together and use a 2-piece map. +24 Master Cartographer Piece together and use a 4-piece map. +45 Plunderer Successfully Plunder 5+ areas +16 Saviour Release some slaves +27 Storm Hunter Enter the eye of the storm and survive +28 Sink Her Successfully sink another player ship +49 Boarding Party Successfully board another player ship +41011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132 Add Lots More!

Searching/Plundering & BuryingPlayers can search or bury Booty Items (Treasure and Goods) on any Land or Ship Wreck Area Tile.

Burying/RetrievingThe booty item(s) to be buried must be on board the ship(s) that are present in the chosen area tile. A player can bury any number of booty item(s) in one Action. Booty Items are removed from the player’s Ship Board and moved to the player’s Map Board at the corresponding grid reference.

A player may retrieve their Booty Items using one Action, providing they are present at the grid reference where the Booty Items are buried. No die roll is necessary, players move all or some of the Booty Items from the player’s Map Board to the corresponding ship(s) in that area.

Searching/PlunderingA player can search any Area Tile they are present in, providing they have not moved there in the same round. A Search uses one Action. A search/plunder is either successful or unsuccessful based on the roll(s) of the Search Die and consulting the following table:

Search Die Roll

Description Infamy Bonus

Reward Bonus

Blank Nothing, no treasure or places to plunder were found. 0 0Plunder! Inhabitants are pillaged (does not apply with Ship Wreck

tiles, treat this roll as blank)+1 0

Discover! Treasure has been found! 0 +1The number of search die to roll is 1 per ship plus any card modifiers. If a player has a complete Map to this area and searches – no die rolls are necessary, the search is successful (+2 Infamy).

The reward gained from a successful plunder/search is determined in the following table:

Treasure Die Roll

Description

Treasure Basic Treasure find – one random treasure pieceGoods Basic Goods find – on random Goods pieceSlaves Basic Slaves find – one random Slave pieceItem Card Select a random Item CardMap Piece Select a random Map CardHorde All players must hand over everything they have buried at that location of their

Map board. The number of search die to roll is 1 per successful search, plus the reward bonus, plus any card modifiers. If the player is calculating a reward after using a treasure map then they can roll 1 die for each piece of the map

Design Ideas

The Search Die is a six-sided dice with the following sides: Blank, Blank, Blank, Plunder, Plunder, Discover

The Treasure Die is a six-sided dice with the following sides: Treasure, Goods, Slaves, Item, Map, Horde

Towns, Cities and Trading Posts?

Trade?

Item CardsItem cards represent items that can be found to aid your actions through the game. Some cards apply to all actions, some apply to the ships they are assigned and some to your pirate leader only.

There are 64 items cards:

Name Description Applies Bonus1 Polly Parrott familiar befriends you

and never leaves your sidePirate Captain +2 Infamy

234

Design Ideas

These are one-sided cards with all necessary information printed on them, together with a nice picture of the item. All item cards should be in the same style, with a matching ‘Item Card’ back graphic.

Advantage Cards?

Design Ideas

These are one-sided cards with all necessary information printed on them, together with a nice picture depicting the advantage provided. All advantage cards should be in the same style, with a matching ‘Advantage Card’ back graphic.

Storms and MonstersEvent cards may evoke various ‘game controlled’ pieces on the board (i.e. storms, monster or other ships).

At the end of a round, roll one Compass Dice for each piece and move the piece in that direction for the specified number of movement places. If this results in the piece moving off the board then remove the piece from play.

If a piece enters an Area Tile of a player, then perform its encounter actions.

Players may interact with these event pieces as shown in the table below:

Name Description Encounter Movement1 Storm A rough storm is

churning up the sea1

2 Whirlpool3 Kraken4 Sirens5 Governor Ship6 Ghost Ship7

20

Design Ideas

These pieces would ideally be miniatures – but could also be card board counters or stand ups to represent the different pieces. Details of the pieces abilities are found in the rule book.

Combat?