Piratas! (2015 Edition) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Preparing the Deck
• Objective
• Setup
• The Player's Turn
  • Treasure Cards
  • Immediate Resolution Cards
  • Crew Cards
  • Vessel Cards
  • Duel Cards
• Winning the Game
• Additional Rules
• The Cards
  • Treasure Cards
  • Duel Cards
  • Crew Cards
  • Immediate Resolution Cards
  • Vessel Cards
  • The Parrot

Components

• 6 individual ships/playmats
• 110 Game cards

Preparing the Deck

Before the game starts, prepare the deck according to the number of players. Remove cards according to the table below.

Players	Remove the cards...
2	+3, +4, +5, 6
3	+4, +5, 6
4	+5, 6
5	6
6	Remove nothing

Objective

In Piratas!, the player's objective is to begin their turn with 5 or more treasures in their hand. If this happens, without taking any other action, the player must show their treasures to the other players. They are then declared the Legend of the 7 Seas.

Setup

Prepare the deck according to the table on page 3. Then give each player a playmat; these are the players' ships. Shuffle the deck and deal 5 cards to each player. Leave the remaining cards in the center of the table, face down, within reach of all players, forming a draw deck.

The player who has most recently been on a seagoing vessel starts the game.

The Player's Turn

On their turn, a player MUST take two actions. These two actions can be any combination of those described below:

DRAW A CARD: The player draws the top card of the deck into their hand. Note: If, at the end of their turn, a player has more than 7 cards in hand, they must discard cards of their choice until they have only 7 cards.

PLAY A CARD: The player plays a card from their hand, obeying the rules for doing so. See below:

Treasure Cards

Treasure cards cannot be played or discarded by players, but they are the cards that guarantee victory in the game. Starting one of their turns with 5 or more treasures, the player is declared the winner of the game.

Immediate Resolution Cards

Immediate resolution cards are played directly onto the discard pile. Their text is resolved the moment the card is played.

Crew Cards

Crew cards are played on the player's ship (playmat), in the spaces intended for them, marked with the crew symbol. These cards have effect while they are on one of the players' ships. The player may play them on their own ship or on any other player's ship, as long as the ship has room for it. Note: Each player has room for two crew cards on their ship.

Vessel Cards

Vessel cards, like crew cards, are played on the players' ships (playmats). Each vessel has a special effect that will help the player reach the objective of the game. Vessel cards have hit points. Every time a player loses a duel, their vessel loses ONE hit point. When the vessel has lost THREE hit points and the X symbol is visible on the ship (playmat), it must be discarded. All cards underneath it return to their owner's hand, after the whole duel has been resolved. Note: Each player may have only ONE vessel card on their ship (playmat). Note 2: Whenever they wish, a player may swap the vessel on their ship (playmat) for a new one from their hand, spending an action to do so.

Duel Cards

Using at least ONE cannon or parrot card, a player can start an attack against another player. The WINNER of a duel looks at the cards in the defeated opponent's hand and chooses one card there to put in their own hand.

A duel works as follows:

1. The current player (attacking player) designates an opponent as the target of their attack;
2. The attacking player places their cannon (or parrot) card face down in front of them on the table;
3. If they wish, the attacking player may, as their second action of the turn, add a second duel card to their attack, also face down. To do this they must not have taken any action before starting the duel and may not take any action after the duel;
4. The player chosen for the duel (defender) MAY place up to two duel cards, face down, in front of them on the table;
5. Both players turn their cannons face up and resolve the duel. The duel is won by whoever has the greatest sum of shots on the table (remember to add or subtract bonuses from Crews and Vessels, if any). In case of a tie, the defense wins;
6. The player defeated in the duel discards all their crew - except Ghost Pirate - and takes one damage on their vessel;
7. Both players discard cannons, parrots and helmsmen used in the combat;
8. The winner looks at the defeated player's hand, chooses any card among those they find there, and takes it for themselves;
9. If any vessel was destroyed, the cards that were under it return to their owner's hand.

Winning the Game

If, when starting one of their turns, a player has 5 or more treasures in their hand - before taking any action of the turn - they are declared the winner of the game. To do this, they simply show their treasures to the other players.

Additional Rules

Is the deck empty? Shuffle the cards in the discard pile and form a new central deck.

Bluffing in a duel? When starting a duel, a player CANNOT bluff and place face down a card that is not a cannon and/or parrot. Helmsmen do not start duels.

Do I have to defend myself? No. If, when attacked, you do not want to or cannot defend yourself, you simply declare that you do not defend and the attacking player is considered the winner of that duel.

Parrot in a duel? The Parrot can be used in duels. To do so, the player using the Parrot must have another cannon to be copied. In this case, the Parrot gives the same number of shots as the other card played with it. If a player has taken their first action of the turn and made a duel using only one cannon card, as their second action they may use a parrot to declare a new duel, against any player at the table. In this case, the Parrot is placed on the table face down, just like in a normal duel.

Hey, you're counting my cards! Pirates are not honest, so they keep no loyalty to one another and therefore do not need to keep secrets. It is up to the players to convince one another about what their opponents have in their hands. However, it is not allowed to show cards from your hand to your opponents.

Can I start a duel using only the Pirate card? No. The Pirate, like all cards that give +/- shots, only has effect when the player has at least one shot coming from a cannon card. It is worth noting that the minimum number of shots is 0.

The Cards

Treasure Cards

Treasure - This card is worth 1 or 2 treasures. Begin a turn with 5 or more treasures in your hand to win the game.

• Treasure cards marked 4+ only enter the game with 4 or more players.
• Treasure cards marked 5+ only enter the game with 5 or more players.
• Treasure cards marked 6 only enter the game with 6 players.

Duel Cards

Cannon - This card is worth 1, 2 or 3 shots.

Helmsman - Flee from a duel. When an opponent declares an attack against you, instead of playing cannons to defend yourself, you may play Helmsman face down and, when the cards are revealed, the duel is annulled. No player is declared the winner, no crew is discarded and no card is stolen. The cards used in the duel are discarded.

Crew Cards

Pirate - Adds 1 shot to your shot base in any duel. If your shot base is ZERO, Pirate has no effect.

Ghost Pirate - Has no effect. When on a ship, it cannot be discarded in any way, whether by losing duels or through the "Man Overboard" card.

• Cards marked 3+ only enter the game with 3 or more players.
• Cards marked 4+ only enter the game with 4 or more players.

Cursed Pirate - Subtracts 1 shot from your shot base in any duel. If your shot base is ZERO, Ghost Pirate has no effect. [sic: printed as "Pirata Fantasma" in the Portuguese manual; presumably Cursed Pirate is meant.] If, in a duel, you use only 1 shot and have a Cursed Pirate on your ship but your opponent uses no cannon card to defend, you win the duel. Your opponent was unable to defend themself, even against a weak attack.

• Cards marked 3+ only enter the game with 3 or more players.
• Cards marked 4+ only enter the game with 4 or more players.

Immediate Resolution Cards

Plunder (Saque) - Choose an opponent. Then take a random card from their hand.

Man Overboard (Homem ao mar) - Drown (discard) a crew card from any ship in play.

Summon Crew (Convocar tripulação) - Place a Crew card from the discard pile on your ship. If you already have 2 crew cards on your ship and/or there is no crew card in the discard pile, this card cannot be played.

Rum - Draw 2 (two) cards from the central deck.

Spyglass (Luneta) - Choose an opponent. Look at their cards and then you MAY discard any card from there, except Treasure Cards.

Treasure Map (Mapa do Tesouro) - Look at the top 4 cards of the central deck. Choose one and put it in your hand; return the rest to the bottom of the deck in any order you wish.

Vessel Cards

Servant of Poseidon (Servo de Poseidon) - Before taking your two actions for the turn, you may, as an extra action, take a card of your choice from the discard pile.

• This card only enters the deck in games with 4 or more players.

Your Highness (Vossa Alteza) - Before taking your two actions for the turn, you may, as an extra action, take a random card from a player of your choice, as long as they have 5 or more cards in hand.

• This card only enters the deck in games with 4 or more players.

Cyclops Eye (Olho de Ciclope) - Before taking your two actions for the turn, as an extra action, you may look at the cards of an opponent of your choice.

Steel Hull (Casco de Aço) - Before taking your two actions for the turn, you may, as an extra action, place any card under this vessel. This card is protected from plunders and duels. There is no limit to the number of cards protected by Steel Hull, but you may place only ONE card per turn there. When Steel Hull is discarded, the cards it protected return to their owner's hand.

Flying Dutchman (Holandês Voador) - You win the game with 4 or more treasures. If the owner of this ship begins one of their turns with 4 or more treasures in their hand, they must show their hand to their opponents and are declared the winner of the game.

Merchant of Tortuga (Mercador de Tortuga) - Before taking your two actions for the turn, you may, as an extra action, draw a card from the central deck.

Wheel of Fortune (Roda da Fortuna) - Before taking your two actions for the turn, you may, as an extra action, look at the top two cards of the central deck and place them as you wish on the top and/or the bottom of the deck.

Sea Urchin (Ouriço do Mar) - Adds 3 shots to your shot base in any duel. If your shot base is ZERO, Sea Urchin has no effect.

Naval Guerrilla (Guerrilha Naval) - Adds 2 shots to each cannon card used by you in a duel.

The Parrot

The Parrot is a card that can be used in duels, copying a cannon card, or as a normal action, copying an immediate resolution card.

In duels, it can copy a cannon card played at the same moment as it, whether defending from an attack or attacking with two cards. It can also be used to start a duel on the player's turn, as long as, as their first action, the player made a duel using only one cannon card. In this case, the Parrot copies the card previously played by this player, but the second attack does NOT NEED to have the same target as the first.

When copying a Cannon, the Parrot is considered a cannon for all purposes of the game.

When played as an immediate resolution card, the Parrot can only copy a card played by the current player, in this same turn. Therefore, it can only be played as the player's second action of the turn.