Long Live the Captain Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Resource Cards
  • Other Components
• 3 - 5 Players Setup
• Game Flow
• 1 - Reveal the Event Card
• 2 - The First player distributes the resources
• 3 - Reveal the Pirate Cards
• 4 - Trade - Dirty deals between players
• 5 - Prepare Bribes
• 6 - Pirates collect their bribes
• Resources
• How a Pirate Chooses Which Captain to Support
• 7 - End of the round
• End Game Scoring
• Event Card Details

Components

Resource Cards

• 8x Mythical Treasure Map
• 9x Poison
• 25x Silk
• 23x Gold
• 30x Gunpowder
• 35x Salty Fish

Other Components

• 36x Pirate Cards
• 20x Event Cards
• 25 Bribe Cards (5 per color)
• 25 Rotten Apple Cards (5 per color)
• 1x First Player Card

3 - 5 Players Setup

• Give each player their chosen color's 5 Bribe Cards (numbered 1-5) and 5 Rotten Apple Resource Cards. (The Rotten Apple Resource Cards will be used to mislead opponents.)
• All players take 1 of each resource from the resource deck: Mythical Treasure Map, Poison, Gold, Silk, Gunpowder and Salty Fish.
• Form a deck with the remaining Resource Cards and give a good shuffle.
• Shuffle all Pirate Cards thoroughly and place them in the center of the play area.
• Shuffle all Event Cards thoroughly and place them next to the Pirate Cards.
• The player who most recently boarded a ship will be the first player and takes the first player card.

Game Flow

1. Reveal the Event Card
2. First player distributes the resources
3. Reveal the Pirate Cards
4. Trade - Dirty deals between players
5. Prepare Bribes
6. Pirates collect their bribes
7. End of the round

1 - Reveal the Event Card

At the beginning of each round, an Event Card is revealed and placed next to the Event Card deck. Its effects can influence different phases of that round. When the round ends, the Event Card's effect also ends, and the card is removed from play. You can find detailed explanations for cards on the Event Cards Details section by number in their bottom-right corner.

2 - The First player distributes the resources

The first player draws 5 cards from the resource deck and, with or without showing anyone, chooses which player to give all of them to (The player can also choose themself). Once resources are given, they cannot be changed. This continues until all players have received 5 resources for that round.

If resources run out at any point, the discard pile is shuffled and a new resource deck is formed.

3 - Reveal the Pirate Cards

Draw Pirate Cards from the top of the Pirate Cards deck:

• For a 3-4 player game: draw 4 Pirate Cards.
• For a 5 player game: draw 5 Pirate Cards.

Place these cards face-up next to the Pirate Card deck. The first card next to the deck is Pirate 1, and they continue in numerical order (2, 3, 4...) as you move away from the deck. You'll use these numbers to indicate which pirate you want to bribe.

4 - Trade - Dirty deals between players

After viewing the Pirate Cards but before preparing their bribes, players can trade anything with each other except for the Pirate Cards already joined the crew. (Your resources, bribe cards, etc.) Yes, even their own souls! Deals are only valid for that current round.

5 - Prepare Bribes

Players may secretly prepare two bribe piles to gain the support of the selected pirates. These piles are placed face down in the center, unseen by anyone.

• Piles must include one Bribe Card pointing to the pirate (1-5) they wish to bribe.
• Piles may include any amount of the resource the pirate desires for their support (details can be found in the "Pirates collect their bribes" section).
• Players can secretly add as many Rotten Apple Cards as they wish to their piles to mislead their opponents.
• Players are not required to disclose how many cards they have placed in their bribe piles.
• Players can offer a resource that a pirate does not want. But, it will have no effect on the pirate's choice. Some Event Cards may alter this rule. (Special conditions regarding Mythical Treasure Map and Poison are explained in the next section.)

Once everyone is ready, you'll move to the next step. (Players are not required to offer any bribes if they choose not to.)

6 - Pirates collect their bribes

All players reveal their bribes simultaneously. From this moment on, no resources can be added to or removed from the bribes.

Starting with Pirate Card #1 and moving in order, the resources offered to that specific pirate as a bribe are counted. Based on the quantity and value of these resources, the pirate will then choose which captain (player) to support. This process continues for every single pirate card #1, #2, #3, and so on.

The player who wins a pirate's support places that pirate in front of themself, visible to all players. This pirate is now that player's crew member for end-game scoring.

Resources

There are 6 types of resources in the game, and their importance is as follows:

Mythical Treasure Map > Poison > Silk > Gold > Gunpowder > Salty Fish

Mythical Treasure Map is the most valuable resource and can substitute for any other resource (except for Poison's lethal effect).

How a Pirate Chooses Which Captain to Support

If a player gives Poison to a pirate who does not want it:

• The pirate is immediately removed from the game, ignoring all other bribes.

If one player gives all the resources a pirate desires and no other player does:

• The given resources go to the resource discard pile.
• The player who won the support takes the pirate card and places it in front of them.

If multiple players fully provide the resources a pirate desires:

1. First, compare the total number of desired resources each player offered. The player who offered the most wins.
2. If there's a tie in the total number of desired resources offered, then you look at which player offered more of the most valuable resource among the desired types. (For example, if you offered more Gold and another player offered more Salty Fish, your Gold would win you the tie, as it's a more valuable resource.)
3. If the tie persists, check which player has the lowest total point on the collected pirate cards.

The player who wins the first tie-breaker among the conditions listed above immediately gains the pirate's support, and that pirate joins their crew. (Meaning, if a player wins the first tie-breaker, you don't proceed to check the second or third conditions.) If the tie remains unbroken, the pirate supports no one and the pirate card goes to the discard pile.

In all cases, the resource cards (except for Rotten Apple) offered as bribes by both winning and losing players are sent to the resource discard pile. Rotten Apple cards go to the owner.

7 - End of the round

If the end-game condition is triggered, the scoring phase begins. Otherwise, proceed as follows:

• The First Player Card passes to the next player clockwise.
• Any pirates who were not offered bribes go to the discard pile.
• The Event Card is sent to the discard pile.
• Traded deals expire.

The next round begins by revealing a new Event Card.

End Game Scoring

If every player has played as the first player 3 times in a 3-player game, 2 times in a 4-player game or 1 time in a 5-player game, the end game scoring phase begins.

When the final round ends, each player adds up the points shown in the top-left corner of their collected pirate cards. The one with the highest total claims victory and becomes the crew's new captain!

• If there's a tie for the most points between two or more players, the player who possesses the highest-point individual pirate card wins.
• If the tie still persists, the player with the most total resources wins.
• If the tie still persists, the player who has the most of the highest-value resource (starting from Mythical Treasure Maps down to Salty Fish) wins.
• If the tie remains unbroken, the victory is shared among the tied players. The crew has two captains (for now)!

Event Card Details

• 01-08 - Pirates who want the resource shown on the event card now require +1 or -1 more of that specific resource. (If a pirate does not want that resource to begin with, this card has no effect.)
• 09 - Each player draws 2 random resource cards from the resource pile of the player to their right. (excluding Rotten Apple Cards)
• 10 - For each pirate, draw one resource from the resource deck and place it on the pirate card. That resource becomes an additional bribe required to win that pirate's support this round.
• 11 - After all bribes are revealed, shuffle the revealed pirate cards and place them in a new random order. Resources offered as bribes by losing players are returned to their hands.
• 12 - This round, all players receive only 2 resources instead of 5.
• 13 - All Salty Fish resources count as Mythical Treasure Maps this round. (They can also be used as wild cards.)
• 14 - If a pirate receives a bribe from only one player, that player does not discard the offered resources and instead takes them back.
• 15 - Each player may bribe only one pirate this round.
• 16 - Gunpowder can be used as Poison this round. (Pirates who do not accept Poison can now be eliminated by giving them at least one Gunpowder.)
• 17 - Only 2 pirate cards are revealed this round.
• 18 - All resources are treated as Mythical Treasure Maps. (Poison has no effect if the pirate doesn't accept it.)