Libertalia (2012) FAQ
61 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
The Character Cards
- Can a Brute knock himself out, even when he is the highest-ranked character on the ship?
- When the Parrot is replaced by a new character, does that character's Day ability still take effect?
- Where does the Parrot go after you use its Day ability: back to your hand, to your den, or to the graveyard?
- When the Preacher discards booty, does it come from your own booty or from the day's booty on the ship?
- When a card gives you an extra booty token, is it taken from the day's available tokens or from the bag?
- If the Cook takes a Spanish Officer, does it still take its extra booty tile before being discarded?
- Can the Merchant sell Sabres or Spanish Officers like other booty tiles?
- Does the Merchant discard booty from your own den, or the day's tiles on the ship?
- Is the Merchant's exchange mandatory, even when it loses doubloons?
- If you hold two different sets of identical tiles, which set does the Merchant discard?
- Can the Gunner discard a character from his own den?
- If you cannot pay the Gunner's 3 doubloons, do you still discard a character from a den?
- Which character does the Mutineer discard, and can it be ranked higher than the Mutineer?
- If the Mutineer is alone in his den, does he discard himself or gain doubloons?
- Does Topman's bonus apply when two or more players tie for the fewest characters in their dens?
- Does the Carpenter take half your doubloons in your den or half your score on the track?
- What does the Captain cost at the end of a campaign if he is still in your den?
- Can the Waitress turn in two treasure maps in one night?
- Where does a new card go on the ship when a Parrot is discarded and replaced?
- When a Spanish Spy is played, do you draw booty tokens before or after returning discarded officers to the bag?
- How does the Witch Doctor count dead characters for points?
- Can other players look through your discard pile?
- When a card tells you to discard a character, such as the Spanish Governor or Granny Wata, where does it go?
- When several Beggars are played on the same day, who pays them and in what order?
- Does a character that a Brute discards still take booty?
Special Actions
- What does taking a Sabre do, and is the token kept afterwards?
- Must a Sabre kill a character in a neighbour's den if one is there?
- Can a Sabre kill a character that has not yet entered its owner's den?
- Can a Sabre kill a neighbour's Granny Wata played the same day?
- Is a Dusk action resolved before or after its character's owner takes booty?
- Do Night actions happen every night a character is in your den, or only the night it enters?
- Is the Preacher's booty effect a day action or a dusk action?
- Does a Spanish Officer drawn from the bag, or claimed during the day, remove one of your characters?
- Do Day actions of characters in your den trigger again when the next day begins?
Setup
Game Overview
- Does each player play exactly one character card per day?
- Are booty tiles on the ship face up, and in your den face down?
- Does 'from the ship' or 'from the den' mean a character card on the ship or in your own den?
- If a character is removed from the ship during the day, does it still take booty at Dusk?
- When does a character go into its owner's den during Dusk?
- Is taking a booty token mandatory when each player chooses one at Dusk?
- Are Sabres, cursed relics and Spanish Officers counted as booty tiles?
- Is a campaign the same thing as a week?
Preparation for the Next Campaign
- Do the booty spaces on the ship get refilled at the start of each campaign?
- At the end of a campaign, which cards leave the game: those in the graveyard, those in your den, or both?
- Where do discarded booty tokens go, and what happens to leftover booty at the end of a campaign?
- How many cards do you keep for the next campaign, and do the Parrot or Surgeon change that?
- Do doubloons carry over between campaigns, or do you reset to 10 each time?
End of the Game
- If you collect four or six treasure maps, how many sets of three do you score?
- When do cursed relics cost you points, and are they subtracted before or after doubloons are counted?
- Can a player's score go below zero at the end of a campaign?
- Do the 10 starting doubloons count toward your score at the end of a campaign?
- Do you collect doubloons as soon as you take a booty tile?
- Who wins if two players tie for the most points at the end of the game?
A Few Clarifications
- If several characters have Night actions, which resolves first?
- If a higher-ranked Night action discards a character before a lower-ranked one acts, does the lower one still take effect?
- Can other players see the booty tiles a Spanish Spy draws from the bag?
- Are doubloon losses rounded up or down, for example when the Carpenter takes half?