A Tale of Pirates Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Ellen and the Action Spaces
• The Board and the Sectors for the Cards
• The Envelopes
• The Hourglasses
• The Die, the Corks, the Ammunition and the Damage Tokens
• The Illustration Labels
• Sail (Vela)
• Helm (Timone)
• Lookout (Vedetta)
• Repairs (Riparazioni)
• Ammunition (Munizioni)
• Cannons (Cannoni)
• The Corks (I Tappi)
• The Hourglasses (Le Clessidre)
  • To Recap
  • Special Rule for 2-Player Games
• The Cards (Le Carte)
• The App (La App)
• Credits (Crediti)

Components

• 1 Ship (See how to assemble it in the Introductory Guide)
• 6 Sectors (Board)
• 4 Hourglasses
• 3 Corks
• 1 Die
• 14 Damage Tokens
• 10 Envelopes (1 for each chapter)
• 5 Life Points
• 4 Ammunition
• 1 Introductory Guide
• 1 Rulebook
• 1 App

The App is necessary to play. You can download it free of charge from your device's store.

Ellen and the Action Spaces

It is not easy to steer a vessel in the perilous seas of the South, especially for inexperienced pirates like you... luckily you have known Ellen, your ship, for a long time.

Ellen is made up of various parts: a hull (2 stacked elements), a pivot at the stern and a bow, a mast, a lookout (2 stacked elements), the sail.

The ship is divided into 7 areas, marked out graphically by the ropes. Of these, 6 correspond to the sea sector they face, while one has no access to the sea.

Each area is dedicated to a specific action, designated by a circular symbol. Every hole in the ship represents an action space, where you can place your Hourglasses to perform that action. Some areas have one action space, others have two.

During the setup of each chapter, you will know how many Life Points you have available at the start of the first round (max 5). You will not receive any more!

The Board and the Sectors for the Cards

The board represents the sea that your ship plows through to carry out its adventures. It is divided into 6 sectors, each one designated with a direction. In every chapter of the story, you will have to face the elements that you will meet during your navigation. These encounters are represented by the Cards that you will find inside the envelopes. Each Card has different characteristics and rules. Don't worry, these are explained inside the App. The Cards are placed around the board; each sector has room to hold up to 3 Cards.

The Envelopes

A Tale of Pirates is divided into 10 chapters to be played in succession. In fact, you can play a new chapter only if you have successfully completed the previous one. You will find the components for each chapter in sealed envelopes.

OPEN AN ENVELOPE ONLY WHEN YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE CORRESPONDING CHAPTER FOR THE FIRST TIME! The further you go in the game, the more things you will discover!

DO NOT PUBLISH INFORMATION CONCERNING THE CHAPTERS ON THE INTERNET! WE WANT EVERY PLAYER TO BE ABLE TO ENJOY THE PLEASURE OF DISCOVERING THE INCREDIBLE SURPRISES THAT THIS GAME HAS IN STORE.

The Hourglasses

Every member of the crew is represented by an Hourglass. You will use your Hourglass to choose the actions you want to perform. The game is in real time! Every time you place an Hourglass, you have to wait for its time before being able to perform the action (the Hourglasses last 30 seconds). The rules for using the Hourglasses are simple, but you must always follow them to the letter.

The Die, the Corks, the Ammunition and the Damage Tokens

There are many dangers in the seas of the South, and you will have to fight many times in order to survive.

Every time a shot is fired, by Ellen or by the enemies, you will have to roll the Die and see the result of the shot.

The Ammunition is used to shoot at your enemies, but first you have to load it!

The Damage Tokens indicate the damage that you inflict on the enemies: you will have to place them on the Cards.

The Corks indicate the damage that you suffer on board: you will have to place them in the action spaces on the ship. You will not be able to place Hourglasses in damaged action spaces! Luckily you will always have the possibility of repairing them!

The Illustration Labels

• The lookout
• The mast
• The sail
• The action spaces (the right-hand Cannons area)
• A sector (the North direction)
• The Cards
• An Hourglass placed in an action space
• The Life Points
• A damaged action space (that is, with a Cork inserted)
• A loaded ammunition (in the appropriate slot in front of the cannon)

This Rulebook provides an extended description of the elements of the game and an in-depth explanation of the rules. If you want to dive straight into the story, you can follow the Introductory Guide step by step and start playing!

Sail (Vela)

With this action you raise or lower the sail. Ellen can be moored at anchor or sail even very fast!

Move the Sail 1 space up or down.

ATTENTION! The position of the Sail indicates your speed. Speed influences your manoeuvring capacity (see below) and is important for interacting with many Cards. On the right-hand side of the mast the speed values are shown; on the left-hand side your corresponding manoeuvring capacity is shown.

Example: Pietro is performing the Sail action. The Sail is currently at speed 1. He can decide to lower it to speed 0 or to raise it to speed 2. He cannot raise it to speed 3.

Helm (Timone)

With this action you change the direction of your navigation, in order to point towards paradisiacal beaches or to show your cannons to the enemies...

Rotate the ship to the right or to the left.

At the end of the movement, turn face up all the Cards present in the sector you are pointing towards.

ATTENTION! Your manoeuvring capacity depends on your speed! (This is indicated by the symbols on the sides of the mast.)

Speed		Manoeuvre
0	The ship is moored.	0	You cannot rotate the ship.
1	The ship sails calmly.	2	You can rotate the ship by 1 or 2 sectors. If you rotate by 2 sectors, turn face up only the Cards of the sector in which you end the movement.
2	The ship sails willingly.	1	You can rotate the ship by 1 sector only.
3	Wind at your back!	0	You cannot rotate the ship.

Example: Ilaria is performing the Helm action. The Sail is currently at speed 1. She can:

• rotate the ship to the right by 1 sector and turn face up the Card in that sector.
• rotate the ship to the right by 2 sectors and point at the Passage 1 card in that sector, in order to discard it.
• rotate the ship to the left by 1 sector and turn face up the Cards in that sector.
• rotate the ship to the left by 2 sectors and turn face up the Card in that sector.

She decides to rotate the ship to the right by 1 sector, in order to get closer to the Passage 3 card and to show the left-hand Cannons towards the Brigantine card in the NE sector.

Lookout (Vedetta)

With this action you climb to the top of the mast to scan the horizon in search of relaxing beaches or to check whether that Spanish ship is still in your wake... it is very useful to see what is hiding around you, and then you know how it is... pirates are curious folk!

Turn face up one Card of your choice, anywhere around the board.

Example: Simone is performing the Lookout action. He can turn face up any face-down Card around the board. He decides to turn the Card in the NW sector because it is the one furthest from the bow of the ship.

Repairs (Riparazioni)

With this action you give vent to your secret passion: do-it-yourself! And besides, your skill with nails and boards will save your life more than once.

Remove a Cork from a damaged action space and put it back into the reserve.

ATTENTION! This action space can never be damaged! Having damaged things on board is really annoying. First of all because you cannot use damaged action spaces (we tried it, a Cork AND an Hourglass really do not fit in together). Furthermore, if you receive too much damage you start to lose Life Points (see page 6).

Example: Samantha is performing the Repairs action. Currently there is only 1 Cork on board, in an action space of the right-hand Cannons area. She removes the Cork and puts it back into the reserve.

Ammunition (Munizioni)

With this action you load the cannonballs that you will fire at your enemies. Did you think of putting flowers in your cannons?

Take up to 2 Ammunition from the reserve and load them onto 2 different cannons.

To load an Ammunition, insert it into the appropriate space in front of a Cannons action space.

You can load cannons on the same side or on different sides, it does not matter. It is not possible to load a cannon that is already loaded.

Example: Pietro is performing the Ammunition action. Currently there is already an Ammunition loaded on a right-hand cannon. He takes 2 Ammunition and loads them onto the left-hand cannons.

Cannons (Cannoni)

With this action you light the fuse on the cannon and... cross your fingers!

This action is carried out in 3 steps:

1. Discard the Ammunition from the cannon you are using and put it back into the reserve. If there is no Ammunition on that cannon, you cannot perform the action.
2. Choose the target. Choose a face-up Card in the sector that the Cannons area you are firing from faces. You can only fire at Cards in the sector you are pointing towards at the moment you perform the action.
3. Roll the Die! There are 3 possible results:

• 1 Damage! Take 1 Damage Token from the reserve and place it on the Life Point symbol of the target Card.
• 2 Damage! Take 2 Damage Tokens from the reserve and place them on the Life Point symbols of the target Card.
• Broken cannon! Remove your Hourglass from the action space and place 1 Cork in its place. That action space is now damaged.

Example: Ilaria is performing the Cannons action on the right-hand side. First of all she discards the Ammunition from the cannon she is using. Then she chooses the Corvette as the target (she could have chosen the Brigantine in the same sector, but not the Brigantine in the N sector). Finally she rolls the Die and gets the result of:

• 1 Damage. She takes 1 Damage Token from the reserve and places it on the first Life Point of the Corvette. You will have to hit the Corvette again in order to discard it!
• 2 Damage. She takes 2 Damage Tokens from the reserve and places them on the Life Points of the Corvette. Now you can discard the Corvette!
• Broken cannon. She replaces her own Hourglass with 1 Cork from the reserve. If there are no Corks in the reserve, you lose 1 Life Point (see below).

The Corks (I Tappi)

When you find a hole in the ship, you put a bottle cork in it to close it temporarily. Unfortunately the cork prevents you from using an action until you fix it completely. Sometimes you will begin a chapter with some Corks on board: Ellen is an old lady, it often happens that you find broken pieces around... More often the enemies will shoot at you!

The rules about the Corks are very simple, but you must always apply them to the letter.

1. When you receive damage, place 1 Cork in the area of the ship that faces the sector in which the card that attacked you is located (depending on how the ship is oriented, each area faces a different sector, see example).
2. If you cannot place 1 Cork in an area because there are no Corks available or because that area (of one or two action spaces) is completely damaged, you lose 1 Life Point for each Cork that you cannot place.

Ellen currently has a Cork in the Helm action space and a Cork in an action space of the left-hand Cannons area.

With the ship pointing towards North, if you receive damage from a card present in the N sector, place a Cork in the Ammunition action space. If you receive damage from NE, place it in an action space of your choice in the right-hand Cannons area. If you receive damage from SE, place it in an action space of your choice in the Sail area. If you receive damage from SW, place it in the Lookout action space. If you receive damage from NW, place it in the other left-hand Cannons action space.

If you receive damage from S, you lose 1 Life Point because you cannot place the Cork.

Every time you already have 3 Corks on board and you receive damage, you lose 1 Life Point for each damage received.

The Hourglasses (Le Clessidre)

The Hourglasses represent the members of the crew. Choose a coloured Hourglass; during the rounds of the game you will place it in the action spaces in order to perform the corresponding action.

Below are the rules for using the Hourglasses; you must always apply them to the letter!

1. Each player can touch only their own Hourglass.

   "Have you ever wondered why many pirates have a hook instead of a hand?"

2. To select an action, turn your Hourglass over into an action space, so that the sand is completely in the upper part. The sand starts to run down into the lower part.

3. Once placed, you cannot touch the Hourglass until the sand has completely run down into the lower part. You cannot move the Hourglass into another action space if you realise you have chosen the wrong action... too late!

   "A parrot does not necessarily have to repeat itself... I think you care about your fingers!"

4. After the sand has completely run down, you can perform the selected action and then remove the Hourglass. You can perform the action whenever you want, but always before removing the Hourglass (you can decide to wait for another player to perform their action before performing yours; sometimes it is better to lose a bit of time rather than perform a useless action).

   You can decide not to perform the action you selected, if you do not want to or if the necessary conditions for performing it are not present (for example, you do not have the Ammunition to fire or you do not have the right speed to rotate the ship).

5. You can only perform the action selected by your Hourglass.

   "What would happen if everyone on board had hooks instead of hands?"

6. You can never perform an action in the same area twice in a row. This means that you can never place your Hourglass

   • in the same action space from which you have just removed it.
   • in the other action space of the same area (if that area has 2 action spaces).

ATTENTION! The Cannons on the left-hand side and on the right-hand side are two different areas, so you can perform a Cannons action on one side and immediately afterwards a Cannons action on the opposite side.

To Recap

When the round timer starts, place your Hourglasses in the action spaces, wait for your Hourglass to have finished and perform the selected action. Then select another action (in a different area of the ship) and so on until the timer runs out. Try to be quick in your decisions, precise in your execution and united in your collaboration: the more actions you manage to perform in a round, the greater the probability of coming out of it victorious... or at least alive!

Special Rule for 2-Player Games

In a 2-player game, each player uses 2 Hourglasses.

During the round each player can place both of their own Hourglasses, as if they were the Hourglasses of two different players. The same player will therefore perform actions selected by two different Hourglasses.

All the rules on the use of the Hourglasses listed above are applied, with the exception that each player can touch 2 Hourglasses without risking losing a hand... Furthermore, the same player can perform the same action twice in a row, but only if they select it with two different Hourglasses.

The Cards (Le Carte)

Every round of every chapter you will have to face a certain number of Cards. These are distributed around the board at the start of the round, following the indications of the App (the App tells you each time which and how many Cards to prepare). Each Card has different rules that indicate the way in which to interact with it. The rules for each Card are described in the App and are marked on the Card with different symbols.

These are the fundamental symbols that you will find:

• Heart (Life Point): You must cover this Life Point with a Damage Token in order to destroy the Card.
• Speed value: You must point at the sector in which this Card is located at the indicated speed in order to interact with the Card (the ways of interacting vary from card to card).
• Cannon: If a Card with this symbol is around the board at the end of the round, it shoots at you the indicated number of times.
• Circle: New action space. You can place an Hourglass in this action space in order to perform the Card's special action. The special effects of each Card are explained in the App, as usual. All the Cards that have action spaces are considered a single area, so they follow all the rules for placing the Hourglasses, especially the rule by which it is not possible to place the same Hourglass twice in a row in the same area.

ATTENTION! When the ship points at a sector, turn all the Cards in that sector face up. When you discard a Card, remove it from the board and put it back into the reserve.

The App (La App)

The App is an integral and fundamental component of the game. In the Introductory Guide you will find a detailed explanation of all its functions, presented exactly as you will encounter them in your first game, that is, in the first chapter. You will find the same functions in all the following chapters of the story. However, from the second chapter onwards you will encounter some important new features.

Events: During the timer of every round, the App will call out unexpected events! A sound effect will warn you, and the explanation of the event will appear on the screen. Immediately apply the effect described (for convenience, you can designate one player responsible for the events: this player will take care of resolving their effects each time)! Then, click on the Continue button to carry on playing normally.

ATTENTION! Some events cause damage in indicated areas of the ship. If you cannot place a Cork in that area because it is completely occupied, you lose 1 Life Point. This rule applies even if the action spaces are occupied by an Hourglass!

Tokens: In the envelopes you will often find new Tokens. As with the Cards, you will find a description and rules for each one simply by clicking on the image of the new component.

Special Setup: The chapters present ever-increasing difficulty as you get deeper into the story. Furthermore, ever new components will be introduced. Sometimes the App will show an additional screen during the setup of the round: as usual, follow the indications provided in order to apply all the rules correctly.

ATTENTION! Sometimes the App will provide indications that do not follow the basic course of the game. In these cases apply the indications of the App!

Credits (Crediti)

• Authors: Asger Harding Granerud, Daniel Skjold Pedersen, Daniele Tascini
• Development: Simone Luciani
• Illustrations and Graphics: Ruslan Audia
• App developed by: Studio Clangore
• Rules and Editing: Giuliano Acquati