All Hands on Deck! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Game Components
• Game Setup
• The Pirate Auction
• Winning the Game
• Rules Ain't for Pirates!
• Playing a Longer Game
• Action Card List
• Quick Reference

Object of the Game

Be the first Captain to find and hire enough needed replacements to have a seaworthy crew and put back out to sea. To do this, you must build a crew of seven consecutive pirates from the same derelict crew or build one set of three consecutive pirates from each of the three derelict crews.

Game Components

The game is composed of 108 total cards. There are two different types of cards, Pirate Crew cards and Action cards.

Pirate Crew Cards — These cards represent the remnants of three derelict crews (suits) that have returned to port in ships that were too damaged to return to sea. There is the crew of the Stormsail, the crew of the Sea Sabre, and the crew of the Black Viper. Within each crew, there are ten pirate ranks (numbered 1 through 10) that represent the different jobs the sailors specialize in on a seafaring crew. The numeric value of their Rank represents the value of that rank in gold doubloons to make them a part of the ship's company. There are three of each pirate crew card represented in the deck. For example, there are three 'First Mate' cards from the crew of the 'Stormsail' in the deck.

Card key: 1. Pirate rank · 2. Crew flag (suit) · 3. A fine pirate specimen · 4. Crew speciality · 5. Crew name

Action Cards — These are special cards that allow your Captain to influence the auction process. These cards are aimed at creating an advantage or causing problems for the other Captains. All Action Cards are played as bid cards. The quantity of these cards in the deck is shown in the list at the end of the rules along with a description of how they affect gameplay.

Card key: 1. Action symbol · 2. Action name · 3. What the action looks like (so you know it later) · 4. Action effect (goes into effect when revealed in the auction) · 5. Flavor text (best spoken with a pirate accent)

Game Setup

The Pirate Standoff — The first dealer is determined by a display of true pirate worth. Each player around the table gives his fiercest, pirate 'ARRRRRR!' to clearly show that HE should be the first Captain to deal the cards. The Captain with the saltiest display of pirate guts, by player consensus, is given command of the deal for the first hand.

The Setup — The entire deck is shuffled and placed in the center of the galley table (move the plates and mugs of grog first). The Captain in command of the deal delivers five cards to each Captain playing to begin the game. The dealing Captain then turns the top card on the deck over. This is the first card that will be up for auction.

The Pirate Auction

The basic game round can be broken down into the following steps:

1. Deal a Card — The dealer deals everyone a new card from the deck starting with the Captain to his left. This step is skipped in the first round as everyone is initially dealt 5 cards.

2. Reveal the Auction Card — The dealer flips over the top card on the deck which is the next card that will be up for auction.

3. Bid or Pass — Starting with the Captain to the dealer's left, every Captain in turn decides if they want to bid or pass on the card that is up for auction. If the Captain wants to bid on the auction or play an action card, he places one or more bid cards from his hand face down on the table. When bidding with pirate crew cards, the value of all of the crew cards that have been bid are added together. All action cards are also played face down as part of the bid. Action cards have no bid value. If a Captain passes, he waits for the next round. If no one bids, the auction card is discarded.

'Brothers Before the Mast' Rule: Any pirate crew cards of the same suit as the card up for auction have their value doubled when figuring their value in the auction. Action cards have no suit and therefore do not alter the bid values.

4. Reveal the Bid — After each Captain has placed a bid or passed, all bid cards on the table are turned over. Once the bid cards are revealed, no one may be called a Pirate Cheat (see explanation later in the rules) through the remainder of the round.

5. Resolve All Action Cards — Beginning from the dealer's left again, resolve any Action Cards that were revealed in the bids. These are resolved in player order from the dealer's left, however every player can determine the order in which the Action Cards they played are resolved.

6. Determine the Auction Winner — The Captain who has the highest value in his bid after all Action Cards are resolved and any modifications to the bids are made wins the card that was up for auction and adds it to his hand. If only Action Cards were bid and if none of the cards are a 'Rum' card, the card being auctioned is discarded. Once the auction is determined, all bid cards are then discarded and the command of the deal moves to the Captain at the dealer's left.

Tie Bids: If two or more players end up with a tie for the highest bid value, they must go through another round of bidding where each Captain involved in the tie must bid another one or more cards face down or forfeit his bid. If everyone forfeits from the bid, the auction card goes to the discard pile.

7. Discard — Once the auction winner has been determined, all Captains have the option to discard any number of cards from their hand as desired into the discard pile. Up until the end of this phase of the round, no one may call out another Captain as a Pirate Cheat until they have picked up the card that is dealt them at the beginning of the next round. The new dealer may go ahead and deal for the next round while one or more Captains finish this phase, but play cannot continue until they all finish and pick up their dealt card.

Winning the Game

The round is repeated until one Captain forms a winning hand of seven consecutive pirate crew cards from one 'suit' or three consecutive pirate crew cards in each of the three 'suits.' At that point, you have replenished enough of your crew to finish repairs and make for open sea, so you should raise a shout of 'ALL HANDS ON DECK!' to muster your crew on board your ship and win the game!

Example of a Winning Hand — A winning hand can be formed by holding seven pirate crew cards of the same crew (Stormsail, Sea Sabre, or Black Viper) where the pirate ranks are consecutive, or by holding three consecutive pirate crew cards from each of the three crews.

• Winning hand: Stormsail 2 through 8.
• Not a winning hand: 4 does not match rest of crew.
• Not a winning hand: Seven not all consecutive.
• Winning hand: Three consecutive in all three 'suits.'

NOTE: As soon as a Captain is holding a winning hand, he should announce it immediately with an 'ALL HANDS ON DECK!' and end the hand. Any action cards that may be currently in play but that have not already been processed are sent immediately to the discard pile without completing their effect.

Rules Ain't for Pirates!

There is a maximum hand size of twelve cards. Like any good pirate, however, you do not always have to follow rules and can choose to hold more than twelve cards during the game. Beware, though, as your fellow Captains can call you out as a Pirate Cheat! While playing, you do not have to fan out your hand, but your cards must stay above the table at all times.

If a Captain suspects someone of breaking this rule, he may call that Captain out on the size of his hand. This can be done any time after the accused Captain has picked up the card dealt to him at the beginning of the round up until the bid cards are revealed. The Captain whose hand is in question must count his cards openly.

If the Captain has 13 or more cards, the calling Captain gets to pull cards randomly from his hand until only 12 cards remain and may then keep one of these cards but must discard the remaining ones.

If, however, the Captain that is called out has less than 13 cards in his hand, he gets to pull 2 cards at random from his accuser's hand and keep one of these to restore his pirate honor. The other card is discarded. The accused Captain is granted immunity and cannot be called a pirate cheat again for the rest of this round as the additional card could take him over the 12 card limit again. Once he picks up the card dealt him on the next round, this immunity is lost.

Playing a Longer Game

All Hands on Deck! can be played until a player builds a winning hand and the game is completed. However, the game can also be played in its longer form using scoring rules from one hand to the next.

Scoring — If a longer game is desired, play may extend beyond one complete hand by scoring each hand and keeping track of the results. After a Captain declares a winning hand, everyone tallies up the points in their hand. Points are awarded for the highest run of three pirate crew cards you are holding in each crew 'suit' and the highest run of seven pirate crew cards in each crew 'suit.' Each run is worth the sum of the values of the crew cards within the run. Any Pirate Monkeys used to make a valid run are worth zero points. For example, a hand containing a Stormsail Surgeon, a Stormsail Navigator, and a Pirate Monkey would only score 13 points for the constructed three card run.

Example Hand: This hand would receive a total of 33 points. It would receive 12 points for the run in the Stormsail suit (3+4+5) and 21 points for the run in the Black Viper suit (6+7+8). Note the hand only receives points for the three highest consecutive cards in the Stormsail suit here. The winning hand receives 20 bonus points for winning the round.

The first Captain to reach 250 points, or the Captain with the most points at the end of 5 hands is the winner! If two or more Captains reach 250 points on the same hand or are tied after 5 hands, the Captain with the highest total points at the end of the last hand is the winner.

Action Card List

The number in parentheses after each card name is the number of copies of that card in the deck.

• Cutpurse (2) — "Mind yer gold in this den of thieves, the pirate lust for treasure be all around us here." When resolved, this allows a Captain to remove any one bid card from play before resolution of the auction and put it into the discard pile.

• Fall off the Dock (2) — "Ye never know what misfortune may befall yer mates as they be crossin' the gangplank." When resolved, the card that is up for auction is sent to the discard pile. All bid cards and any action cards not already resolved are also sent immediately to the discard pile.

• Hidden Plunder (1) — "Fantastic treasure be hidden in the briny sand, if only ye know where to dig." Play this card as a bid card to go through the discard pile and select one card to remove and place in your hand.

• Mermaid (2) — "The beast has been said to stir madness in a sailor's heart, up until she sinks her teeth into it." The Captain who plays this card draws one card randomly from the hand of every other Captain. He selects one of these cards to add to his own hand and places the rest in the discard pile.

• Pieces of Eight (2) — "In the dim light, the glint of a dropped coin on the tavern floor beckons you to grab it up." When revealed as a bid card, select one of the bid cards on the table. Once the auction is resolved, take the selected bid card into your hand rather than sending it to the discard pile.

• Pirate Monkey (2) — "Look lively, Mr. Tails! The Cap'n says ye be the Third Mate now. Stand to and hoist the sail." This card is used as a wild card when building your crew and can be substituted for any other pirate crew card. When determining the score of a valid run of pirate crew cards, this card has a value of zero.

Quick Reference

Winning Hands

• 7 consecutive pirates from one crew.
• 3 consecutive pirates from all three crews.

The Game Round

1. Deal a Card
2. Reveal the Auction Card
3. Bid or Pass
4. Reveal the Bid
5. Resolve All Action Cards
6. Determine the Auction Winner
7. Discard