League of Pirates Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Overview
• Set Up
• Game Play
  • Dice Challenge
• Actions
  • Press Gang
  • Recruit
  • Resupply
  • Turning
  • Walk the Plank
  • Raiding
  • Enlistment
  • Rescue
  • Set Sail
• Winning
• Pirate Coin Roster
  • League of Nobles (Blue)
  • League of Rogues (Red)
  • League of Independents (Yellow)
• Notes on This Transcription

Components

• 2 Velvet Homeport Bags
• 2 Ship Cards
• 2 Sets of Pirate Coins (21 Skulls & 21 Crosses)
• 10 Standard Dice
• 2 Skill Dice
• Rule Book

Overview

Each member of your crew is represented by a single Pirate Coin and is worth a certain number of points, which is listed as Cunning on the face side of the coin. A coin's Cunning is increased by 2 points if that coin is the same color (league) as your Captain coin. Your Ship Card has a sliding scale that records your points during the game. At the end of the game the player with the most points of Cunning on his/her crew, plus the remaining points on his/her Ship Card, is the winner.

Set Up

Each player receives a Ship Card, five Standard Dice, one Skill Die, and a Homeport Bag with a complete set of Pirate Coins. Each player empties the contents of his/her Homeport Bag and sets the point counter on his/her Ship Card to 19.

Each coin set includes three Leagues of Pirates – Red for Rogues, Blue for Nobles, and Yellow for Independents. Organize your coins into piles by their color. Secretly choose the pirate league (color) you wish to play; then you and your opponent reveal your chosen Captain at the same time. Place the Captain coin of your chosen league face up in the Captain slot of your Ship Card. Place the remaining coins of your chosen league (color) into your Homeport Bag. Place the other two leagues of coins into your opponent's Homeport Bag.

You are now ready to start the game!

Game Play

To fill your ship with crew you either assemble new crewmembers from your Homeport or capture crewmembers from your opponent's ship. At the start of each turn, players roll off in a Dice Challenge to determine who will get to act on that turn.

Dice Challenge

(Follow instructions as you read aloud)

A Dice Challenge is a head-to-head competition to determine who will act during a turn of play. Only one person takes an action each turn. Each player begins with five dice and will roll all five dice at the same time. You have three rolls to roll a 1 – 2 – 3 in order. You must roll the 1 – 2 – 3 in order. You can choose to keep or pick up as many dice as you like per throw. For example: On your first roll you throw a 1 – 4 – 5 – 2 – 6. You would set aside the 1 and the 2, and pick up the other three dice and roll again in hopes of getting a 3.

(Diagram 1 illustrates this example; not reproduced.)

If you roll a 1 – 2 – 3 within your three rolls, add the remaining two dice together to determine your score. For example: If, after three rolls you have a 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 4 your score would be 8 (4 + 4 = 8).

(Diagram 2 illustrates this example; not reproduced.)

If you get a 1 – 2 – 3 on your first or second roll, your opponent is allowed to complete his/her three rolls in hopes of beating your score. You can also continue to roll after you get a 1 – 2 – 3, up to three total rolls, to attempt a higher score from your remaining two dice. The player with the highest score in a Dice Challenge wins the right to take an action on that turn.

If both players roll a 1 – 2 – 3 and tie on their score, the player with the most points on his/her Ship Card will win the Dice Challenge and take an action. If no one rolls a 1 – 2 – 3 during a Dice Challenge, begin another Dice Challenge round until one player wins.

Actions

Each action you take after winning a Dice Challenge costs points. Each player begins with 19 points on his/her Ship Card. Use the sliding scale marker to keep track of points during the game. Once a single action has been completed, continue game play by rolling another Dice Challenge.

The winner of the Dice Challenge can perform only one of the following actions:

Press Gang

Pay 1 point to blindly pull one coin from your Homeport Bag. You have the choice of placing it on your Ship Card or returning it to the Homeport Bag. Coins must go in their proper slots; a Quartermaster must go in the quartermaster slot, a Surgeon in the surgeon slot, etc. Mates can go in any of the three mate slots. You can replace any pirate on your Ship Card, including a Traitor, when you draw or enlist a coin of the same type. Return any replaced coin to the corresponding player's Homeport Bag.

Recruit

Pay 3 points to pull three coins from your Homeport Bag and choose one to keep, following the same placement rules as Press Gang. Return the other two coins to your Homeport Bag. You can also choose to return all three coins.

Resupply

Increase the points on your Ship Card by 2.

Turning

Pay 2 points to choose a coin on your opponent's Ship Card to turn over. This signifies that the coin is a Traitor. That coin is now worth two points less than its face value and gains no bonus from being the same color as its Captain. Captains cannot be turned. A replaced Traitor is not returned to your Home Port and must instead walk the plank.

Walk the Plank

A pirate coin that is a Traitor is not returned to a Homeport Bag if it is exchanged. Instead you must pay 1 point to have it walk the plank, which removes it from the game entirely. This does not count as an action, and is only done when a Traitor is replaced.

Raiding

If you have an empty Brig slot on your Ship Card, pay 2 points to raid an opposing Ship Card for a coin. During raids you will pit the skills of one of your pirates, represented by the number values listed on the back of his/her coin, against the skills of your opponent's defending pirate.

Raids are conducted as follows:

1. The raiding player chooses a coin from the opponent's ship and a non-traitor coin from his/her own ship.

2. Each player rolls one Skill Die and one Standard Die. Players will add the point total from their coins that correspond with both Skill Dice and add it to their Standard Dice roll to determine their score. Traitors subtract two from all of their skills while they are defending. If the same skill is rolled for both Skill Dice, players will count that skill value only once.

   For Example: Martial Skill and Virtue were rolled on the two Skill Dice. The raiding player's coin lists Martial Skill as 4 points and Virtue as 2 points, and he/she has rolled a 6 with the Standard Die. The raiding player's score is 12 (4 + 2 + 6 = 12). The defender has 1 point for Martial Skill, 4 points for Virtue and has rolled a 3 with the Standard Die. The defender's score is 8 (1 + 4 + 3 = 8).

3. If the raiding player has the highest total, he/she places the defending player's coin in one of the empty Brig slots on his/her Ship Card. If the raiding player loses the raid, there is no penalty except for the initial cost to conduct the raid. The raiding player wins all ties. A player cannot choose an opponent's Captain to raid against.

4. Before dice are rolled in a raid, a defending player can pay 2 points to choose a different coin to fight with. If the defending player loses the raid, the raiding player receives the coin that was originally chosen, not the coin that was defending.

Enlistment

Because pirates are a fickle lot, you can pay 1 point to enlist a coin from your Brig and place it onto your ship. The coin must go in its corresponding slot.

Rescue

If one of your coins is captured and it remains in your opponent's Brig, you can pay 2 points to raid against it, placing it immediately back onto your Ship Card in its original position if you win the raid. If your former coin is enlisted onto your opponent's Ship Card, it is no longer considered loyal and must be placed in your Brig if it is captured back. You must choose a coin on your Ship Card that is not in the Brig to defend a prisoner against a raid. This action does not cost the defending player any points.

Set Sail

Pay 2 points to attempt to Set Sail. Note: You must have a complete crew (1 Captain, 1 Quartermaster, 1 Sailing Master, 1 Surgeon, and 3 Mates) to Set Sail. Roll off in a Dice Challenge against your opponent. If you win the Dice Challenge, you have Set Sail and the game is over. If you do not win the Dice Challenge, game play continues until a player successfully sets sail.

Winning

At the end of the game, each player totals the remaining points on his/her Ship Card together with the Cunning of his/her crew. Note: Add 2 points for each crewmember that is the same color (league) as that player's Captain. The player with the most total points wins the game! In the event of a tied score, the player that Set Sail wins.

After a winner is determined, separate your coins into sets (Skulls and Crosses) and place them in their respective Homeport Bags.

Pirate Coin Roster

The rule book lists each pirate by league, with the role and Coin Value printed on the coin. Each league appears twice in the roster, once for each of the two coin sets (21 Skulls & 21 Crosses). Coin Values are the Cunning points described in the Overview. The printed flavour text beside each pirate is not reproduced. The skill values printed on the back of each coin are not in the rule book and are not listed here.

League of Nobles (Blue)

Captains

• Captain Arthur Howell – Coin Value 10
• Captain Bulvar "The beserker" Kasteelgard – Coin Value 8

Surgeons

• Surgeon Edward Cruikshank "Pincher" – Coin Value 7
• Surgeon Angelina Herbert "Lady Stitch" – Coin Value 7

Quartermasters

• Quartermaster Prescott "Jolly" Rogers – Coin Value 9
• Quartermaster Harrison "Iron Hand" Bukari – Coin Value 10

Sailing Masters

• Sailing Master "Crazy" Louis Artois – Coin Value 8
• Sailing Master Robert "One Bit" Stillwater – Coin Value 9

Mates

• Master Gunner Jim "Dandy" Donne – Coin Value 5
• Powder Monkey Hawthorne Buccannon – Coin Value 4
• Steward Doe Eye – Coin Value 3
• Buffer Swimmer – Coin Value 5
• Boatswain George "Sea Breeze" Middleton – Coin Value 4
• Minstrel Whistler – Coin Value 4

League of Rogues (Red)

Captains

• Captain Count Antonio Felipe Vibora "The Terror of the Caribbean" – Coin Value 9
• Captain Reginald Tremble "Blackheart" – Coin Value 9

Surgeons

• Surgeon Zhen Fang – Coin Value 10
• Surgeon Pedru "The Butcher" Vladuescu – Coin Value 10

Quartermasters

• Quartermaster Edmund Bonesteller – Coin Value 8
• Quartermaster Veronica Sanchez "The Spanish Banshee" – Coin Value 8

Sailing Masters

• Sailing Master Seamus Magoon – Coin Value 7
• Sailing Master Ill Bruto – Coin Value 7

Mates

• Cook Gruel – Coin Value 5
• Gunner Tick – Coin Value 5
• Master Gunner El Picoteador "Pecker" – Coin Value 5
• Gunner Pokanoket "Eagle Eye" – Coin Value 3
• Carpenter Griper – Coin Value 4
• Cooper Flat Hand – Coin Value 5

League of Independents (Yellow)

Captains

• Captain Erika Cottrell "Captain Harridan" – Coin Value 8
• Captain Wang Wei "The Strangler" – Coin Value 11

Surgeons

• Surgeon Geertruyt Henke "Peepers" – Coin Value 7
• Surgeon Ukurugenzi – Coin Value 8

Quartermasters

• Quartermaster Bang Wu – Coin Value 8
• Quartermaster "Pitiless" Fergus Gilhanney – Coin Value 8

Sailing Masters

• Sailing Master O Macaco "The Monkey" – Coin Value 9
• Sailing Master Abdul-Rafi – Coin Value 8

Mates

• Waister Ren Trevaint – Coin Value 3
• Boatswain Boris Rokoff – Coin Value 4
• Carpenter Pickersgill – Coin Value 5
• Gunner Trevor Gallows – Coin Value 4
• Powder Monkey Freckle – Coin Value 4
• Cooper Pike – Coin Value 4

Notes on This Transcription

• The Diagram 1 and Diagram 2 dice illustrations are described in place and not reproduced.
• The flavour story that follows the rules ("Part One: League of Rogues") and the flavour text on each pirate coin are omitted, as flavour fiction rather than rules.
• The skill values on the back of each coin (for example Martial Skill and Virtue, used in Raiding) are not printed in the rule book text, so they are not listed here.