Dead Reckoning Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
  • Player Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Load / Unload / Rearrange / Jettison Coins & Cargo
• 1 — Main Phase
  • The Ship Board and Hull Spaces
  • Play a Card from Your Hand
  • Set Sails
  • Move Your Ship
  • Buy Advancements / Resolve Encounters
  • Use an Ability of a Played Card
• 2 — Cleanup Phase
  • 1. Refill Advancements/Encounters
  • 2. Choose to be in Pirate or Mercantile Mode
  • 3. Lose Any Unspent Sails
  • 4. Sleeve Advancements
  • 5. Discard & Draw
• Leveling
• Card Abilities
  • Description of Abilities
• Buildings
• Island Control
• Battles
  • Player vs. Non-Player Battle
  • Player Ship vs. Player Ship Battle
  • Battle Ship Details
  • Player Ship vs. Building Battle
  • Sunken Ships
• Achievements
• Game End & Scoring
  • Game End
  • Scoring
• Sailor Card Reference
  • Captain
  • Crew
  • First Mate
  • Bosun
  • Gunner
  • Deck Hand
  • Buccaneer
  • Purser
• Navigating Dead Reckoning
• Credits

Overview

In Dead Reckoning you command a privateer vessel. Explore unknown islands, gain influence and establish outposts, hunt for treasure, or terrorize the seas. Each choice moves you towards a series of achievements, and once a player has completed four of these, the game end is triggered. The player who finishes with the most treasure (coins) wins.

Components

• 1 Harbor board
• 16 Ocean boards (12 with islands, 4 with open sea)
• 4 Advancement decks (Advancements and Encounters of levels 1, 2, 3, and 4, each with its own tuck box)
• Coins
• Cargo tokens (1-value Cargo tokens and 3-value Cargo tokens)
• Basic / Advanced Ship Upgrade tiles
• Damage markers
• 20 Buildings (8 Forts, 8 Garrisons, and 4 Outposts)
• 20 Black cubes
• 1 Battle ship and 1 Battle board
• Card sleeves (only 48 sleeves are needed to play; the game includes extras in case any get damaged during play)
• 4 Reference cards
• Bonus Achievement tokens
• 1 Rulebook
• 1 Solo Play Rulebook

Player Components

Each player should have:

• 1 Dock tile
• 1 Ship miniature
• 1 Ship board
• 1 Pirate mode flag token
• 1 Treasure chest
• 30 cubes in your player color
• 6 Achievement markers
• 12 Card sleeves
• 12 Sailor Illustration cards
• 12 Sailor Ability cards

These 3 items combine to make a deck of 12 Sailor "cards", with each "card" being a sleeve containing an Illustration card and a matching Ability card. Each player should have 1 Captain, 1 Bosun, 1 Purser, 1 First Mate, 1 Buccaneer, 2 Gunners, 2 Deck Hands, and 3 Crew. The Illustration cards have a colored seal so you can easily identify a set.

Setup

The sections below correspond to the setup image and examples.

A — Harbor board: Place the Harbor board on the table.

B — Ocean boards: Set up the Ocean boards by following these steps:

• Take all the Ocean boards depicting islands and turn them face down. Randomly select a number of them depending upon the number of players, and leave the rest in the box: use 10 island boards in a 4-player game, 9 in a 3-player game, and 8 in a 2-player game.
• Next, take the 2 open sea Ocean boards (those not depicting an island) which don't have a player count icon on them, and add them to the selected island boards.
• Finally, if you are playing a 2-player game also add both of the other open sea boards. If you are playing a 3-player game just add the one other open sea board. You should have 2 total open sea Ocean boards in a 4-player game, 3 in a 3-player game, and 4 in a 2-player game. You should now have a total of 12 Ocean boards.
• Shuffle them (keeping them face down) and place them in a 3 x 4 grid as shown in the image.
• Flip the 3 Ocean boards touching the Harbor board face up.

C — Advancement Decks:

1. Separate the Advancements / Encounters into 4 decks based on the "Row" icon in the top right (note that some are double-sided and this icon is only visible on the front).
2. Shuffle these decks separately then place them in their respective boxes face up and with the top of the Advancements going into the bottom of the box. During the game when drawing from the boxes, be careful not to turn over the Advancements when you draw them as some are double-sided with secret information on the back. The side with the cost / row number should be facing up.
3. Place each box next to the corresponding row of islands. The #1 box should go next to the row of islands closest to the Harbor, the #2 box goes next to the second row, etc.
4. Finally, for each of the Ocean boards adjacent to the Harbor board, take 1 card out of the row 1 box and place it face up on the open card space.

D — Other Components: Create a general supply containing separate piles of Cargo, Coins, Black cubes, Damage markers, and Buildings. The Cargo and Coins should be easily reachable for all players, so make two piles on each side of the table if needed. We recommend using the tops and bottoms of the included storage boxes as token trays. Place the Basic / Advanced Ship Upgrade tiles nearby in stacks of identical tiles. Set up the Battle ship and Battle board nearby.

E — Each player gets:

• 1 Treasure chest in their color to keep their Coins secret from other players.
• 15 Coins in their Treasure chest.
• 30 cubes in their color.
• 1 Ship board with one of their cubes on the 0 space of the Sail track.
• 1 Dock tile.
• 6 Achievement markers.
• 1 Ship miniature that each player places onto the harbor board. Where you place it on the harbor board does not matter as the harbor board is all one space for the purposes of movement.
• 1 Pirate mode flag token.
• 1 Reference card.
• A Sailor deck of their 12 Sailor cards, shuffled and placed face down in front of them.

Creating your starting Sailor Deck: Your Sailor deck consists of the following: 1 Captain, 1 Purser, 1 First Mate, 1 Bosun, 1 Buccaneer, 2 Gunners, 2 Deck Hands, 3 Crew. For each Sailor, flip the Ability card so that the level 1 is showing at the bottom and then place the Illustration card on top of it. Put both inside a sleeve. The term "Sailor card" refers to the Illustration card, Ability card and any Advancements within a single sleeve.

Dock tiles and the Harbor: Your Dock tile represents your warehouse in the Harbor. Usually when you gain Cargo, it is placed on your Dock tile. Coins are never placed on your Dock tile, but can be used from your Treasure chest as though they are. You can either keep your Dock tile on the Harbor board overlaying one of the depicted towns, or place your Dock tile in front of you if that is more convenient.

Bonus Achievement tokens: Each player gets 2 random Bonus Achievement tokens, and chooses and keeps 1. These tokens are optional, but recommended for your first game.

F — Determine Start Player, Starting Cargo, and Draw Hands: All players then draw the top 4 cards of their Sailor deck into their hand. Then, randomly determine a first player. That player gains 1 Cargo. The next player in clockwise order gains 2 Cargo, the 3rd player, if any, gains 3 Cargo, and the 4th player, if any, gains 2 Cargo and may level up one of their Sailor cards in their opening hand before their first turn (see Leveling). Place any gained Cargo on your Dock tile.

Gameplay

Players take turns, one after another. Your turn consists of two phases, carried out in the following order:

1. Main phase: This is where all the action of your turn happens. You perform a number of different actions, including moving your Ship, loading and unloading cargo, playing cards and using their abilities, and buying Advancements or resolving Encounters.
2. Cleanup phase: After you have done all of your actions, it's time to sleeve your new Advancements, draw new cards and reset the board ready for the next player's turn. Optionally, you can also raise your pirate flag.

When your turn is over, you will level-up a card in your hand, while your opponents are taking their turns.

Load / Unload / Rearrange / Jettison Coins & Cargo

Loading:

• Any time your Ship is on the Harbor board it is considered "in Harbor", and you may move Cargo from your Dock tile onto available hull spaces on your Ship.
• If your Ship is at an island that you control, you may move the Cargo and Coins on that island onto available hull spaces on your Ship. You cannot load from an island you do not control.

Unloading:

• If your Ship is in Harbor, you may move Cargo from your Ship onto your Dock tile. Coins are never placed on your Dock tile, but can be used from your Treasure chest as though they are. You may also move Coins from your Ship into your Treasure chest.
• If your Ship is at an island, you may move Cargo and Coins from your Ship onto the island. You may unload onto an island even if you do not control that island.

If there is an opponent's Ship in Pirate mode at an island you control, you may not load or unload from the island without battling and defeating the opponent's Ship (see Battles and Pirate mode).

Rearranging: You can rearrange Cargo / Coins however you want on your Ship at any time, even during another player's turn, including immediately in response to being attacked. However, once the battle has begun, you can no longer do this until the battle is over.

Jettisoning: You can also jettison Cargo or Coins into the sea; remove them from your Ship and return them to the general supply. You may even do this when it is not your turn, including as a response immediately when you are attacked. However, once the battle has begun, you can no longer do this until the battle is over.

1 — Main Phase

During your Main phase, you may perform as many of the actions listed as you want. Actions can be taken in any order with the exception of moving your Ship, which requires you to set Sails first. Unless otherwise noted, you may do these actions as many times as you want.

• Load / unload / rearrange Coins & Cargo.
• Play a card from your hand.
• Set Sails (once per turn).
• Move your Ship.
• Buy the Advancement card or resolve the Encounter card in your Ship's current space (up to twice per turn).
• Use an ability of a played card (each ability on a card can only be used once per turn).

For example, you could play a card, unload Cargo, set Sails, load Cargo, move, play another card, use an ability, buy an Advancement, load Coins, move again, play another card, resolve an Encounter, etc.

The Ship Board and Hull Spaces

Your Ship board has four hull spaces: The first space has a Sail and a hold with a capacity of 4 Cargo/Coins. The next two are blank, and the last space has a Sail and a hold with a capacity of 3 Cargo/Coins. Any Cargo/Coins that you load must be placed into a hold, and the total number of Cargo and Coins combined in each hold cannot exceed the capacity of that hold.

The benefits of a hull space (e.g. Sail or Cannon) are only gained if that section of hull has an empty hold (contains no Cargo or Coins). At the start of the game, this means that your Ship can carry a maximum of 7 Cargo/Coins (4 in the first hold and 3 in the last hold). If any Cargo or Coins are loaded into either of the hull spaces with holds, you will lose the benefit of the Sail for that hull space until the hold is emptied.

Play a Card from Your Hand

When you play a card, place it from your hand face up on the table in front of you. You may use the abilities on the played card now, later in the turn, or not at all (see Card Abilities).

Set Sails

You can only do this once per turn and must do so before moving. Count up the number of Sail icons you have on your Ship and on cards you have played. Place the cube on the Sails track of your Ship board on the appropriate space. The maximum you can set your Sails to is 8. Remember, at the moment you set your sails, if a hold on your Ship has at least 1 Cargo or Coin on it, you do not get the Sail icon.

Note: When you are setting Sail from the Harbor board or from an island you control, you may count Sails on holds with Cargo/Coins. Effectively, since loading and unloading can be done multiple times on your turn, you are essentially unloading everything, setting your Sails, then reloading everything. This does not work at islands you do not control, since you cannot load from such islands.

Move Your Ship

You may move your Ship a number of boards by moving the cube on your Sail track to the left one space for each board you want to move to. You may not move the cube off the end of the track and once your cube reaches the leftmost space, you cannot move any farther this turn.

You may only move orthogonally (no diagonal movement). The Harbor board is adjacent to all 3 Ocean boards in row 1.

If you stop on an unexplored board (one that is face-down), you must explore it. To do so, flip the board over, draw the top Advancement from the box associated with that row and place it face up on the large space of the Ocean board. This ends this particular move action but you may take subsequent move actions later this turn. However, you may not explore more than 1 Ocean board in the same turn, and thus, any further move actions you make cannot result in you stopping on another unexplored board.

• Other players' Ships do not block or prevent movement.
• You may sail through unexplored boards without exploring them, but if you stop on an unexplored ocean board, you must explore it.
• You must stop on an Ocean board if you wish to do anything there. This includes buying an Advancement, attacking a Ship, or interacting with the island in any way.

Pirate Mode & Movement: If you stop on an Ocean board containing an opponent's Ship that is in Pirate mode, a battle is automatically started. However, you can move through an Ocean board where there is an opponent's Ship in Pirate mode without provoking a battle. If you stop on an Ocean board with multiple opposing Ships that are in Pirate mode, you must fight each of them one after another until you have fought all of them or your Ship is sunk; you choose the order in which you fight the Ships.

Note: Being in Pirate mode on your own turn has no effect. Your ship being in pirate mode only matters on opponents' turns. If you want to attack opponents during your own turn, you must use an Attack Flag icon.

Buy Advancements / Resolve Encounters

If there is an Advancement or Encounter at your Ship's location, you may buy that Advancement / resolve that Encounter. Card effects may refer to these as just "Advances". Advancements can be bought and are then sleeved into your Sailor cards, improving that card. Encounters have hidden information on the back. In the base game, the only Encounters are Merchant ships which, if acquired, are also Advancements.

Important: You may only buy/resolve a maximum of 2 Advancement/Encounters each turn.

Advancements: To buy an Advancement, your Ship must be at the same location as the Advancement, and you must spend Cargo from your Ship equal to the cost indicated. If you do not have enough Cargo on your Ship, you cannot buy the Advancement. Once you have paid for the Advancement, place it face up nearby; you will sleeve it during your Cleanup phase. Thematically, Advancements represent your Ship's crew gaining special skills and experience. An Advancement card shows: (1) an Ability, (2) an indicator of which slot the Advancement will occupy (top/middle/bottom), (3) the cost to buy the Advancement, and (4) an indicator of which row it is from.

Encounters: In the base game, the only Encounters are Merchant ships which are resolved in one of two ways: Trade or Attack.

• Trade: You can buy the Encounter as an Advancement using the normal rules for buying an Advancement. If you do this, take the Encounter as you would normally and do not look at the back of it. When you sleeve the Encounter, sleeve it between the Illustration card and the Ability card so that the top part of the Merchant ship card is hidden but the advancement part is showing.
• Attack: You do not need an Attack Flag to attack a Merchant Ship. Simply turn the Encounter over and resolve the effect. Usually, this will result in a battle. If there is a battle, follow the instructions on the Merchant ship for Win or Lose, depending on the outcome. If you lose the battle, the Merchant ship should be buried (placed beneath the advancement box of its row).

Buried Advancement/Encounter cards: Occasionally an Advancement or an Encounter will be buried. For example, when you battle a Merchant ship and lose, the Merchant ship is buried. Place any buried cards underneath that row's deck box as it will not be used again this game.

Use an Ability of a Played Card

Cards that you have played from your hand may have one or more abilities. Using an ability is an action that you can perform during your Main phase, which could be immediately after the card is played, or later in your turn. Using an ability is optional. Each ability can be used only once per turn. "Battle" abilities can only be used during battles and can also only be used once per turn, even if you fight multiple battles. If you have a lot of abilities, to help remember which abilities you have used you can mark each with a cube as you use it.

2 — Cleanup Phase

Perform the following steps in order:

1. Refill Advancements/Encounters
2. Choose to be in Pirate or Mercantile Mode
3. Lose any unspent Sails
4. Sleeve Advancements
5. Discard & Draw

1. Refill Advancements/Encounters

For each empty Advancement/Encounter space on the Ocean boards, draw a card from the box corresponding to that row and place it face up on the space. Cards in the boxes should all be face up, and when taking new cards out, make sure to draw them out such that you don't reveal the back of the card.

2. Choose to be in Pirate or Mercantile Mode

Mercantile mode is the default. Ships not in Pirate mode are in Mercantile mode. In this phase, if your Ship is not in Harbor you may choose to put your Ship into Pirate mode. You do this by adding your Pirate Flag token to the space between the front and middle sails of your Ship miniature. Ships in Harbor must be in Mercantile mode, so if you end your turn in Harbor, remove your Pirate Flag token.

Pirate Mode: Being in Pirate mode is a good way to protect islands from your opponents. It is also a good way to possibly get into battles. The downside is that, if an opponent ends their move in your space, you must battle them, even if you are not prepared for it. If, during another player's turn, any opponent's Ship stops on the Ocean board where your Ship is, and you are in Pirate mode, you automatically and immediately start a battle against that Ship. Opponents can still move through the board where your Ship is without provoking a battle as long as they don't stop there.

If you lose that battle, in addition to the normal results, your Ship is changed to Mercantile mode: remove your Pirate mode flag token. If you win the battle and you are at an island, you have successfully "blockaded" the island, meaning the active player may not place or remove Influence cubes on that island for the rest of their turn, nor may they load or unload Cargo/Coins from/to the island. Also, they may not attack any Buildings on the island. They may, however, still buy the Advancement or resolve the Encounter on that board, after the battle (regardless of winning or losing as long as their ship didn't sink).

Note: If your opponent starts their turn sharing the space with your Pirate-mode Ship, they are not forced to battle you and may move away peacefully. They may however choose to battle you even if they don't have an Attack Flag ability. Your "blockade" of the island still applies, so they may not interact with the island in any way unless and until they choose to battle you and win that battle.

3. Lose Any Unspent Sails

Set your Sail track on your Ship board to 0; you cannot keep unused Sails for the next turn.

4. Sleeve Advancements

If you have any set aside Advancements, you may now sleeve them following these rules:

• You can only sleeve onto a card you played this turn. You cannot sleeve onto a card in your hand.
• You cannot sleeve an Advancement such that it would cover or be covered by an Advancement already on the card (cards can have a maximum of 3 Advancements on them).
• It is allowed to sleeve multiple Advancements onto the same card at the same time.
• You cannot use the ability of an Advancement you sleeve on the same turn that you sleeved it.

Sleeving an Advancement is optional; you may choose to leave it set aside. However, at the end of this step, you can only have a maximum of 1 set-aside Advancement and must sleeve the rest. If you have multiple Advancements that you cannot sleeve, you may set aside all those that you cannot sleeve, but must sleeve any that you can.

Why not sleeve immediately? Sometimes you will buy an Advancement that you want to sleeve onto a specific card in your deck, but you did not play that card this turn. Being able to keep the Advancement set aside until you next play that card can be very useful.

5. Discard & Draw

Place all of the cards you played this turn into your discard pile. Any cards you did not play stay in your hand. Then, draw cards from your deck. When drawing cards, if you ever run out of cards in your deck and need to draw more, shuffle all the cards in your discard pile together to reform your deck.

Your normal hand limit is 6 and your draw amount is 4. Therefore, if you have 0, 1, or 2 cards left in your hand, you would draw 4 cards. However, if you have 3 or more cards left in your hand, you simply draw until you have 6 cards.

• Your hand limit can be increased by some game effects. Specifically, each island you control with the hand-limit icon increases your hand limit by 1. If your hand limit decreases on an opponent's turn (for example, you lose control of an island) you don't have to discard down to your new hand size.
• Your draw amount can be temporarily increased with the bonus draw effect. For each bonus draw icon you played this turn, you draw 1 additional card. However, the bonus draw ability does not increase your hand limit, only your draw amount. Thus, too much bonus draw in the same turn can be wasted.

Leveling

After your turn has finished, at any point before the start of your next turn, you may level up one Sailor card in your hand. Normally, you will do this while the other players are taking their turns. You can even do this in response to being attacked by an opponent before the combat is resolved. If you haven't leveled up a card before the start of your next turn, do it before taking your turn.

To level up a Sailor card, remove the Ability card from the sleeve, turn it around (or flip it when going from level 2 to level 3), and re-sleeve it so that the next level is now visible. The card stays in your hand, so you will have the option to use it on your next turn. The reference cards show all the different abilities of the cards at their different levels. The bottom right of each card also depicts a preview of the next level.

Suggested rule for shuffling: Your "cards" may have noticeably different thicknesses based on how many Advancements have been added. When shuffling, you may find it hard not to feel where your thickest and thinnest cards are. If you are worried about this, after shuffling your deck, ask the player to your right for a "cut number"; they pick any number from 1 to 6 and you take that many cards from the top of your deck and put them at the bottom. You could also use a six-sided die to randomize a cut number.

Card Abilities

If a card has more than one ability separated by a green vertical line, these abilities can be used independently of each other. If an ability has multiple effects separated by a red slash, you must choose which effect to resolve.

The depiction of a gray icon on a white card means "the number of that thing on this card". Note this icon does not itself count as one of the depicted icons.

Icon X Icon: You gain the thing on the left of the X for each instance on this card of the thing on the right of the X.

Description of Abilities

Gaining and Spending Coins & Cargo: When something tells you to gain or pay Coins or Cargo, it will indicate where those Coins/Cargo are "gained to" or "paid from". If an anchor symbol is shown, the Cargo/Coin is gained in Harbor and is placed on your Dock tile (Coins go straight to your Treasure chest). If a Ship symbol is shown, the Cargo/Coin is gained directly on your Ship; if you cannot fit it onto your Ship then you either have to jettison or unload it (or other Cargo/Coins) to make space.

Sail: This ability is not used as an action. Sail icons visible on cards you have played are counted when you set Sails.

Place Influence: This ability can only be used when your Ship is on an Ocean board with an island. Place a cube of your color onto an empty slot of the island. If there are no empty slots, choose a slot occupied by an opponent's cube, and replace that cube with your own (return the opponent's cube to them). If an ability, like the Buccaneer, gives you multiple Influence cube icons at once, you must use all the Influence cubes possible from that ability before doing anything else; you cannot use some now and store the others for later in the turn. After placing a cube, check to see if you take control of the island. If you do, place an additional cube in the Permanent cube area.

Production: This ability allows you to produce at an island. You don't need to control or be on the ocean board with the island to produce there, but you will generally want to choose an island that you control (or plan to soon control), so that you can load that Cargo/Coin onto your Ship. When an island produces, place a number of Cargo and/or Coins as depicted in the bottom right of the board onto the island. Ocean boards depicting Open seas boost the production on adjacent islands. When an island produces, it produces 1 additional Cargo for each adjacent open sea space with an arrow pointing at it. Island production is also increased by 1 Cargo and 1 Coin if there is an Outpost on the island.

Draw bonus: This ability may not be used during your Main phase. Instead, during your Cleanup phase, for each of these abilities you played this turn, draw 1 extra card (but still not past your hand limit). It will give you extra cards next turn, but not this turn.

Constructing a Building: This ability allows you to construct 1 Building of your choice on an island you control for the cost indicated; you do not need to be on the Ocean board with the island to do this. If you control an island, you control all the Buildings on that island. Whenever control of an island changes from one player to another, remove all Buildings on the island.

Attack Flag: This ability allows you to choose an opponent's Ship on the same Ocean board as your Ship, or in Harbor with your Ship, and resolve a Ship battle against that player. Being in or out of pirate mode has nothing to do with using this icon to attack an opponent's ship.

Cannon: In battles, each Cannon you have gives you 1 Battle cube. Also, many abilities will reference Cannons and combo with them when sleeved on the same card.

Battle abilities: Any ability that starts with "BATTLE:" can only be used during a battle.

Wheels: This icon does nothing on its own, but many other abilities will reference it and combo with it when sleeved on the same card.

Upgrading your Ship: This ability allows you to Upgrade your Ship. There are two categories of Upgrade tiles: Basic and Advanced. When you use this ability, after paying any costs depicted, choose an available Ship Upgrade tile of the appropriate category and place it on a blank space of your Ship. If all the spaces are full (either with a token or starting effect), replace one of the current spaces with the new tile by placing it on top of another Upgrade or on one of the starting effects. Don't discard the replaced tiles; you will still score them at the end of the game and they are important for the Elite Vessel Achievement.

Repairing damage: This ability allows you to remove 1 Damage from your Ship. Often this comes at a cost (e.g. 2 Cargo from your Ship or Dock tile).

End of Game scoring Advancements: An ability with purple borders is only scored at the end of the game.

Running out of cubes: Anytime you need a cube but don't have any available, you may remove one of your non-permanent cubes from any island and use that as the cube you need.

Buildings

There are 3 types of Buildings. Each island may have at most 1 Building of each type. All Buildings are worth 1 Coin to the player who controls the island at the end of the game.

• Forts help you defend the island. If you control an island with a Fort, other players may not interact with that island (place or remove cubes, produce, load/unload Cargo/Coins) even with card abilities, unless the card ability explicitly says it overrides Forts. They may still buy the Advancement or resolve an Encounter on the space. A player whose Ship is in the space with an opponent's Fort may choose to attack the Fort in order to destroy it (an Attack Flag is not required).
• Outposts boost production. Whenever an island with an Outpost produces, it produces an additional 1 Cargo and 1 Coin. Outposts cannot be attacked.
• Garrisons have the same properties as Forts, but are weaker in battle. In addition, whenever another player's Ship enters a space with a Garrison you control, even if it just passes through, that Ship immediately takes 1 Damage.

Island Control

Each island has a number of slots for cubes (each slot can hold 1 cube), and an area for permanent cubes (no cube limit).

You are considered to control an island if you meet both of these conditions:

• You have more cubes on the island than any other player (including permanent cubes).
• You have more cubes than the number of empty slots on the island.

Note: You may only load Cargo and Coins from islands you control. Also, control of islands will get you additional Coins at the end of the game as indicated in the top right of the island's board.

Permanent Cubes: Whenever you take control of an island, place an additional cube on the island in the "Permanent cube area" on the right side of the board; do not place it on one of the slots. This cube contributes to determining who has control of the island, but it can never be removed. If you take and lose control of the same island multiple times, you will end up with multiple permanent cubes on that island.

Battles

There are three types of battle: Player Ship vs. Non-Player Ship, Player Ship vs. Player Ship, and Player Ship vs. Building battles.

Cannons and Battle abilities contribute to winning battles. It is possible to get into multiple battles on your turn but each Cannon and Battle ability may only be used once per turn. If you plan on fighting multiple battles, you will need to decide how many Cannons and Battle abilities to use in your first battle and how many to save for further battles. You may never battle the same Ship, Building, or Non-player more than once in a turn.

Player vs. Non-Player Battle

This type of battle happens when you attack an Encounter (e.g. a Merchant ship). Resolve it by carrying out the following 5 steps in order:

1. Take Battle cubes: The number of Battle cubes you have is based on the number of Cannon icons you have. You have 1 Cannon printed on your Ship board and you may play additional cards from your hand that depict 1 or more Cannon icons and/or have a Battle ability. For each Cannon icon you choose to use, take 1 cube from your supply. The back of the Encounter card will tell you how many Battle cubes it gets. Take that many black cubes.
2. Drop Battle cubes: Drop the Battle cubes (yours and your opponent's) all at once into the top of the Battle ship from the height of the masts in a "neutral manner", immediately resolving any exploding shots.
3. Resolve Battle abilities: You may use any Battle abilities that you have available in any order. Using Battle abilities is optional.
4. Resolve the Battle ship (see Battle Ship Details).
5. Determine the outcome: Apply the effect on the back of the Encounter depending on whether you won or lost. A Ship that has 5 or more Damage on it now sinks.

Running out of cubes: If you do not have enough Battle cubes left in your supply, you may choose to take fewer cubes, or you can remove non-permanent cubes from islands to make up some or all of what you are missing. However, you do not get to put those cubes back on the islands after the battle.

Player Ship vs. Player Ship Battle

These battles happen when you use an Attack Flag ability on an Advancement, or when you end your movement on an Ocean board with an opponent's Ship in Pirate mode. Follow these 5 steps in order:

1. Take Battle cubes: First the active player (the player whose turn it is) determines how many Battle cubes they take as per the Player vs. Non-Player rules. Then, the inactive player may play any cards from their hand that have Cannons or Battle abilities, before determining their total Battle cubes. If either player is at an island they control, they add 1 additional Battle cube for each Building on that island. If the player that was attacked is in Harbor, they get 4 additional Battle cubes. Cards played by the inactive player stay in play until that player's next Cleanup phase; any abilities on them can therefore be used on that player's next turn just like if they had been played that turn.
2. Drop Battle cubes: Drop the Battle cubes (yours and your opponent's) all at once into the top of the Battle ship from the height of the masts in a "neutral manner", immediately resolving any exploding shots.
3. Resolve Battle abilities: Taking turns, starting with you (the active player), each player may use one Battle ability or pass. This goes back and forth until both players pass consecutively, at which point this step ends. Using Battle abilities is optional and each can be used at most once per turn.
4. Resolve the Battle ship (see Battle Ship Details).
5. Determine the outcome: The losing player places 1 Damage onto their Ship board. This is the only default consequence for losing. If the winning player does not have the Legendary achievement, they place one cube on that Achievement. This is the only default consequence of winning. If the losing Ship was in Pirate mode, it is changed to Mercantile mode. If the battle was caused by you moving onto a space with another player in Pirate mode and you lost, you are blockaded and cannot interact with the island where the battle took place. A Ship that has 5 or more Damage now sinks. It is possible for both ships to sink during the same battle. It is also possible for a player to both "win the battle" and have their Ship sink.

Battle Ship Details

The Battle board is divided into a number of zones.

• If any part of a cube is touching a zone, that cube is considered to be in that zone.
• If a cube is at an angle on both the zone and raised border, it is considered in that zone.
• Any time a cube is dropped and ends up fully balanced on a raised border, it is immediately re-dropped. Continue re-dropping as necessary until all cubes are in a zone.

Resolve the cubes in the following order:

1. Exploding shots: Each cube in this zone is removed and dropped again into the Battle ship along with 1 extra cube of the same color. If there are multiple cubes in this zone, drop all of them and the extra cubes at the same time. Repeat this process until there are no cubes in the Exploding Shot zone.
2. Battle abilities: If in a battle with a Non-Player, or if attacking a Building, simply use all battle abilities you want to in any order. In a player Ship versus player Ship battle, starting with the active player, players take turns resolving one of their Battle abilities or passing. This process ends once both players pass consecutively. If a Battle ability causes any cube to end up in the Exploding Shot zone, resolve them as per step 1 before moving on.
3. Plunder (skip this step in battles with Buildings): Each cube that is in one of these zones is removed and the owning player gains the indicated Cargo/Coin from the supply. These must either be placed into a hold with available capacity on their Ship, on the island where the battle is taking place, or discarded back to the supply. If you are battling a non-player, you still gain plunder, but the non-player does not.
4. Damage: Each cube that is in one of these zones is removed and the owning player causes 1 Damage to the opponent's Ship, placing a Damage marker on the opponent's Ship board. Dealing damage does not help you win the battle.
5. Determine the winner: Each cube in these zones contributes either 1 or 2 Battle strength as depicted. The side with the highest total Battle strength wins the battle. In the case of a tie, the active player (the player whose turn it is) wins.

Player Ship vs. Building Battle

If your Ship is in a space with an opponent's Fort or Garrison, you may choose to attack the Building(s) as an action, even without having an Attack Flag. Outposts cannot be attacked. You cannot attack a Building if there is an opponent's Ship in Pirate mode on the island; you must win the automatic battle against the opposing Ship, forcing them into Mercantile mode, before you can choose to attack the Fort and/or Garrison. Ships and Sailor cards cannot be used in the defense of buildings during battles. If an opponent's Ship is in the space and in Mercantile mode, it does not contribute to the battle.

Resolve an attack on a Building by following the normal 5 steps for a Player Ship vs. Player Ship battle, with these exceptions:

1. Take Battle cubes: The defender gets 5 Battle cubes if they have a Fort, 2 if they have a Garrison, and 7 if they have both. They may not use Cannons on cards or their Ship.
2. Drop Battle cubes: No changes.
3. Resolve Battle abilities: Only the attacker may use Battle abilities.
4. Resolve the Battle ship: Neither player gets any plunder. The attacking Ship takes Damage as normal.
5. Determine the outcome: Same as a Player Ship vs. Player Ship battle; if the ship loses, it takes 1 Damage. If the Ship wins, the Fort and/or Garrison are removed.

Sunken Ships

If your Ship has 5 or more Damage on it at the end of a battle, it sinks. If your Ship receives its 5th Damage in the middle of a battle (e.g. from a Battle ability), finish resolving the battle before the Ship sinks. If your Ship receives its 5th Damage not during a battle, the Ship sinks immediately.

When your Ship sinks, if you have 5 or more Coins on your Ship, immediately lose all of the Coins on your Ship (return them to the supply). If you have fewer than 5 Coins on your Ship, keep them there, and lose 5 Coins from your Treasure chest instead. Cargo on your Ship is not lost when you are sunk. Place your Ship at Harbor, remove all Damage, and move any Coins on it to your Treasure chest. Set your Ship to Mercantile mode with its Sails set to 0.

If another player was the cause of your Ship sinking (they inflicted the 5th Damage via a battle, a Garrison, or an ability on a card), that player gains the Coins you lost rather than them being put into the supply. That player places the Coins directly into their Treasure chest.

Achievements

There are 9 Achievements in the game, depicted along the top of the Harbor board. At any point on your turn, if you meet the requirements of an Achievement, place 1 of your Achievement markers on the space to indicate you have completed it. Multiple players may gain the same Achievement.

It is possible that you meet the conditions of several Achievements on another player's turns (denoted by *). However, you must wait to place your Achievement marker until your own turn starts, so long as you still meet the conditions at that time. Once placed, Achievement markers cannot be removed, even if the player no longer meets the conditions required.

The Achievements are as follows:

• Legendary*: Win 4 non-Building battles with your Ship. The first 4 times you win a non-Building battle with your Ship during the game, place one of your cubes on this Achievement. After the 4th time, return those cubes to your supply and place one of your Achievement markers here. ("Winning a non-Building battle with your Ship" means a battle against any Non-Player (e.g. Merchant ship) or against an opponent's Ship. Defending successfully with a Building or defeating a Building does not count.)
• Expert Sailors*: Have 3 cards of level 4. The first 2 times you get a card to level 4, place 1 of your cubes here. The 3rd time, return those cubes to your supply and place one of your Achievement markers here.
• Terror of the Sea*: Sink a Ship. The first time you sink another player's Ship during the game, place one of your Achievement markers here.
• Builder: Own 5 or more Buildings. If you ever have 5 Buildings at the same time on islands you control, immediately place an Achievement marker here. If, later in the game, you have fewer than 5 Buildings, you do not lose this Achievement.
• Capitalist*: Have 30 or more Coins in your Treasure chest. Even though Coins in your Treasure chest are secret, once you reach 30 or more you must announce that you have completed it and place your Achievement marker here.
• Settler: If you ever have a total of 6 or more permanent cubes across islands, place one of your Achievement markers here.
• Elite Vessel: Acquire 4 Ship Upgrades. As soon as you acquire your 4th Upgrade, place an Achievement marker here. Count all Upgrade tiles on your Ship, even ones covered over with other tiles.
• Explorer: Explore the required number of Ocean boards (2-player game: 5 spaces; 3-player game: 4 spaces; 4-player game: 3 spaces). Each time you explore an Ocean board, place one of your cubes here. Once you have explored the required number, return your cubes to your supply and place one of your Achievement markers here. If it is no longer possible to meet the requirements, return all the cubes here back to your supply.
• Master Merchant: Return 12 Cargo from your Ship and/or Dock tile back to the supply to place an Achievement marker here. You must return 12 at once. This is not the same as spending the Cargo; the 12 must be returned to the supply for no other benefit.

Optional Rule — Bonus Achievement tokens: If this is your first game and you'd like something to steer you, or if as an experienced player you want a change of pace, use the Bonus Achievement tokens. Deal 2 to each player at the start and have them choose 1, kept face down. At the end of the game each player reveals their token. Each completed Achievement that appears on the token is worth a bonus 2 Coins.

Game End & Scoring

Game End

At the end of your turn, if you have 4 or more Achievement markers placed on the Harbor board, the end of the game is triggered. Each other player gets one final turn, and then the game ends (the player who triggered the end does not get an additional turn). Each player should still draw new cards as normal at the end of their final turn, and can level up as normal, as those cards can be used in possible battles.

After a player has taken their final turn, their Influence cubes on islands now require two "place influence" actions by opponents to replace them instead of one. Also, if a player who has taken their final turn is involved in a battle, they get 2 additional Battle cubes.

After all players have taken their final turn, add up the Coins.

Scoring

• Achievements: Players gain the Coin value of Achievements they have completed.
• Coins in Treasure chests, on Ships and on Islands: Players score all the Coins in their Treasure chest, on their Ship and on islands they control.
• Buildings: Players gain 1 Coin for each Building on islands they control.
• Ship Upgrades: Players gain 1 Coin for each Basic Ship Upgrade and 2 Coins for each Advanced Ship Upgrade. Upgrades that have been covered over still count.
• End of Game Advancements: Players gain Coins based on any end of game effects they have on their Advancements. Examples: for every 3 Cargo you own (on your Dock tile, on your Ship, and on islands you control), gain 1 Coin; for every island where you have no cubes, gain 1 Coin; for each Wheel on this card, gain 2 Coins.
• Advancements: Players score 1 Coin for every 2 Advancements on their cards or set to the side.
• Islands: Players score for their Influence cubes on each island. The most cubes on an island gets the larger of the numbers shown in the top right of the ocean board. The 2nd most cubes gets the 2nd largest number. Likewise for 3rd most, though not all islands score for 3rd most. If two or more players are tied for a position, they all score the next value down. If there is a tie for 3rd place, no Coins are awarded to those tied players. When determining who has the most cubes, empty cube spaces on islands count as another player whose points are not tracked; it is possible for the empty cube spaces to win or tie for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.

The player with the most coins wins! In case of a tie, the tied players count up all the Cannons on their Ship and on all the cards in their deck and take that many of their cubes (and can use cubes from the islands if necessary). All at once, drop all those cubes in the tower. Resolve exploding shots but not Battle abilities. The most Battle strength wins the game. If still tied, repeat the battle. A tied battle like this may involve more than 2 players at the same time.

Sailor Card Reference

The 12 sleeved cards in your deck are "Sailor cards". Each is considered a single card, comprised of the illustration card, the Ability card and any number of Advancements sleeved with them. All Sailor cards start with an Illustration card and an Ability card. Ability cards are double-sided card-stock with 4 abilities (2 on the front and 2 on the back), each with a level 1, 2, 3, or 4. In the middle of the card are 3 slots where Advancements can be put (top, middle, bottom). A Sailor card can have a maximum of 5 cards within its sleeve: an Illustration card, an Ability card, and up to 3 Advancements.

Captain

• 1: Gives you 1 Sail.
• 2: Gives you an Attack Flag and 1 Wheel.
• 3: Gives you an Attack Flag, 1 Wheel and a Battle ability that can only be used in Ship vs. Ship battles (vs. Player ships or Merchant ships): if you win the battle, gain 1 Coin on your Ship for each Wheel icon you have on this card.
• 4: Similar to the level 3 Captain except it also has a Cannon, and the Battle ability now grants 2 Coins on your Ship in addition to 1 Coin on your Ship for each Wheel icon you have on the Captain card.

Crew

• 1: Gain 1 Cargo on your Dock tile.
• 2: Gain 2 Cargo on your Dock tile. Also, if you are in Harbor, you may pay 2 Cargo (from Ship or Dock tile) to repair 1 Damage on your Ship.
• 3: Gain 3 Cargo on your Dock tile. Also, you may pay 2 Cargo (from Ship or Dock tile) to repair 1 Damage on your Ship, regardless of where your Ship is.
• 4: Gain 4 Cargo on your Dock tile and/or on your Ship board in any combination. Also, you may repair 1 Damage for free regardless of where your Ship is.

First Mate

• 1: Gain 1 Cargo on your Dock tile.
• 2: Build 1 Building for the costs (from Ship or Dock tile) shown. Your Ship does not need to be at the island to build there, but you do need to control the island.
• 3: Build up to 2 Buildings for the costs shown (from Ship or Dock tile). Your Ship does not need to be at the island, but you do need to control it.
• 4: Build up to 3 Buildings for the costs shown (from Ship or Dock tile). Your Ship does not need to be at the island, but you do need to control it.

Bosun

• 1: Gain 1 Cargo on your Dock tile.
• 2: Has 1 Wheel and gains you 1 Cargo on your Dock tile.
• 3: Has 1 Wheel and an ability that either gains you 1 Cargo on your Dock tile, or allows you to pay 3 Cargo (from Ship or Dock tile) for a Basic Ship Upgrade.
• 4: Has 1 Wheel and an ability that either gains 1 Cargo on your Dock tile, or allows you to pay 3 Cargo (from Ship or Dock tile) for a Basic Ship Upgrade, or pay 6 Cargo (from Ship or Dock tile) to gain an Advanced Ship Upgrade. (Ship upgrades may be used as long as they are on your ship, including the turn they are acquired.)

Gunner

• 1: Gain 1 Cargo on your Dock tile.
• 2: Gain 1 Cargo on your Dock tile. Has 1 Cannon.
• 3: Gain 2 Cargo on your Dock tile. Has 1 Cannon and a Battle ability that lets you drop 2 cubes into the Battle ship.
• 4: Gain 2 Cargo on your Dock tile. Has 1 Cannon and a Battle ability that lets you drop 2 cubes into the Battle ship, and another Battle ability that lets you remove one of your previously dropped cubes to deal 1 Damage to the enemy Ship and gain 2 Coins on your Ship.

Deck Hand

• 1: Place 1 Influence cube.
• 2: Place 1 Influence cube OR Gain 1 Sail.
• 3: Place 1 Influence cube OR Gain 2 Sails.
• 4: Place 1 Influence cube and gain 3 Sails.

Buccaneer

• 1: Place 1 Influence cube.
• 2: Place 2 Influence cubes.
• 3: Place 3 Influence cubes.
• 4: Place 4 Influence cubes.

(If an ability, like the Buccaneer, gives you multiple Influence cube icons at once, you must use all the Influence cubes from that ability before doing anything else; you cannot use some now and store the others for later in the turn.)

Purser

• 1: Produce on any 1 island.
• 2: Produce on up to 2 different islands.
• 3: Produce on up to 3 different islands.
• 4: Produce on up to 4 different islands. Also boosts those productions by 1 Cargo and 1 Coin on each island.

Navigating Dead Reckoning

Some tips for playing the different strategies:

• Pirate: Look for Advancements with Cannons and Battle abilities. Let no Merchant ship sail untouched. Focus on your Captain, Gunners and/or Bosun.
• Privateer: Look for a strong balanced mix of Advancements for battle and island control. Harry merchants or trade with them, control multiple islands and harvest from them where you can. Focus on at least 1 Crew, Buccaneer, and/or Deck Hand.
• Merchant: Trade with other Merchant ships, look for Advancements that give you additional island production. Control a small number of high-yield islands, secure them and enhance them with Buildings, harvesting from them regularly. Focus on your First Mate, Purser and/or Crew.
• Explorer: Early on target Advancements that give you Sails; look to buy from the farthest islands later, where the best Advancements lie. Sail far and sail early, explore new islands and target the 3rd or 4th Row with high sailing capacity. Focus on a Deck Hand, Buccaneer and/or Bosun.

Credits

Game Design: John D Clair. Art & Graphic Design: Ian O'Toole. © 2020 Alderac Entertainment Group. Dead Reckoning and all related marks are ™ or ® and © Alderac Entertainment Group, Inc.