Dread Pirate: Buccaneer's Revenge Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Winning
• Set Up
• Playing the Game
  • Your Turn
    • Movement
    • Battles
  • The Dread Pirate
  • Mission Cards
    • Getting New Mission Cards
    • Starting a Mission
  • Completing a Mission
  • Action Cards
  • Lore & More

Components

• 1 Velvet Bag
• 2 Dice
• 1 Map
• 1 Mission Deck (50 Cards, black border)
• 1 Action Deck (50 Cards, gold border)
• 4 Pirate Ships
• 40 Gold
• 60 Gems
• 1 Dread Pirate Flag
• 1 Rule Book

Winning

Be the first pirate to collect 20 Gold, 12 Gems of a single color, or 4 Gems of each color, and you will win the game!

Set Up

1. Unfold the game board on a table.

2. Each player chooses a Pirate Ship and places it on a separate City (large anchor) in one of the four corners of the board. No two Pirates can start in the same corner. See illustration below.

   The four starting Cities shown on the board are Port Diablo, Lost City of Orichal, San Cristobal and La Antigua.

3. Deal 2 Mission Cards (the black bordered cards) to each Pirate. These cards are secret from the other Pirates. Each Pirate can have only 2 uncompleted Mission Cards at any time. Discarded Missions are placed face up next to the Mission Deck.

4. Deal 2 Action Cards (the gold bordered cards) to each Pirate. These cards are secret from the other Pirates. A Pirate can have as many action cards in their hands as they can get throughout the game. Discarded Actions are placed face up next to the Action Deck.

5. Decide on a "Treasure-Hoarder" to control giving out Gold and Gems during the game. The "Treasure-Hoarder" gives each Pirate 4 Gems matching the color of the band on their Ship, and 5 Gold.

6. Each Pirate rolls the dice. Whichever rolls highest goes first!

Playing the Game

Your Turn

Movement

At the start of your turn, before you do anything else, roll the dice. You can then move up to the full amount shown on the dice, including any amount less than the total of your dice (even zero). Each square on the board is one movement space. You can move horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Ships must stay on water, and can only move from one space to another if there is water between the two spaces (see illustration below). Two or more ships cannot occupy the same space.

Battles

At the end your movement, if you are next to another Pirate, you can fight them. You can only attack one Pirate each turn. You are the attacker, and the other Pirate is the defender. The attacker rolls two dice and adds any of his or her bonuses to them. The defender then rolls two dice and adds any of his or her bonuses to them. The players in the battle can now play Action cards one at a time, starting with the attacker. Once all cards are played, whichever player has the highest number wins the battle. The attacker wins ties.

The Spoils of Battle: If the attacker wins, he takes 2 treasure items from the defender. This can be any combination of Gems or Gold. If the defender wins, he takes 1 Gold or 1 Gem from the attacker. The winner of the battle chooses the color of gem if the other player has multiple colors. Whichever Pirate wins the battle can also choose to switch spaces on the map with the losing Pirate.

The Dread Pirate

The first Pirate to win a battle becomes the Dread Pirate, and gets the Dread Pirate Flag for their Ship. From that point on, in order to become the Dread Pirate, a Pirate must defeat the Dread Pirate in battle. The Dread Pirate receives +1 to all of their rolls.

Mission Cards

Mission cards represent the many different tasks and projects that Pirates can embark upon. From searching for lost treasure and discovering new lands, to pillaging the coast and defeating other corsairs, these cards give rewards for traveling throughout the sea and completing various deeds.

The example Mission cards in the rulebook are labelled as follows: The Goal (the red X on the map and the "Goal" line), Card Type (the "Mission" banner), The Start (the green anchor and "Start" line), Rewards (the red gem, brown gem and Action card icons with their numbers), and Mission Bonus (the text box at the bottom of a card, for example "Instead of moving, move to a space next to any pirate.").

The first example card shows Start: Kraken's Reach and Goal: Lost City of Orichal, with Rewards of 1 red gem, 1 brown gem and 1 Action card. The second example card shows Start: Kraken's Reach and Goal: Win 2 Battles, with Rewards of 0 red gems, 0 brown gems and 2 Action cards, and the Mission Bonus "Instead of moving, move to a space next to any pirate."

Getting New Mission Cards

At the end of your turn, if you are at one of the 4 Cities (large anchors), you can choose to either draw a new Mission card, or to discard one of your current Missions to draw another. You can only have 2 uncompleted Missions at a time.

Starting a Mission

In order to start a Mission, you must travel to the first location listed on it, which is shown on the Mission card with a green anchor. Once activated, turn the Mission card face up for all Pirates to see. If you have more movement than needed to reach the starting location, you can continue with your movement after placing your Mission card face up.

Completing a Mission

Each Mission card has an objective. If that objective is a second location, the Mission is completed when you reach the second location. If the objective is to complete a task, the Mission is completed once the task is finished. If the objective is to pay Gold or Gems, pay them to the bank any time during your turn. Once a Mission is complete, you are awarded from the bank, the amount of Gold, Gems of any color, and Action Cards listed on the Mission. If there is a bonus on the Mission (for example, +1 to all rolls), then that Mission card is kept with the Pirate off to the side in order to keep track of bonuses. These bonuses are only in effect if the Mission is completed. If there is no bonus, the Mission card is then discarded.

Action Cards

The only way to get Action cards, besides the 2 at the start of the game, is to complete Missions. Each Action card says when it can be played and what it does. Discard each action card after it has been used.

The rulebook's example Action cards are labelled Card Type (the "Action" banner), The Action (the play instruction at the top of the card) and The Lore (the "Lore & More" text at the bottom of the card). The two examples are "Hoist the Jolly Roger!" (Play when you are attacking or defending. Become the Dread Pirate.) and "Hard to Starboard!" (Play when you are defending. +4 to your defense roll.).

Lore & More

At the bottom of each Action Card is a Lore & More section. This information is not a part of game play. Lore & More is just a fun section made up from a mix of pirate facts and lore.

Note: the scan's final three pages (6 to 8) hold an illustrative 1691 captain's-log excerpt set in the Sea of Mists, followed by the publisher's copyright line and logo. They contain no rules and are not transcribed here.