Pirate Dice: Voyage on the Rolling Seas
Pirate Dice: Voyage on the Rolling Seas Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 20 Command Dice in 4 player colors
- 4 Ship Dice in 4 player colors
- 6 double-sided Boards (including Starting Shoals and Treasure Cove)
- 4 Player Shields (with Quick References on one side)
- 4 Player Mats
- 16 Tokens (2 Treasure Tokens, 8 Skull Tokens and 6 Doubloon Tokens)
- 1 Treasure Die
- Rules
Doubloon Tokens can be used in future variants/expansions.
Setup
Each Player Starts With
- 1 Ship Die - Indicates a player's current position, orientation, and hit points remaining.
- 5 Command Dice - Rolled and placed on the Player Mat to schedule movement orders.
- 1 Player Mat - Where Command Dice are placed to schedule a ship's movements.
- 1 Player Shield - Prevents peeking and is lowered to indicate when a player's ship is under repair.
In the Center of the Table
Place 3 Map Tiles arranged in an "L" shape to create the playing area - two known tiles (Starting Shoals and Treasure Cove) and place one randomly chosen tile from the remaining maps between them.
Place a Treasure Token on top of the "X" in Treasure Cove.
Starting Position
Players "roll off" with their Ship Dice to establish the starting player. In descending order, players choose lettered locations on Starting Shoals to place their ships—facing in the direction of their choosing. Each player's die is placed with the "6" showing on top, indicating no damage... yet.
Play
Navigating your Ship
Each player's Ship Die indicates their position on the map, facing orientation, and current hit points remaining. The five Command Dice are used to schedule sailing orders to move the Ship Die during each turn. The Command Dice symbols indicate directional movements for the ships (e.g. forward, backwards, turns, drifting). See Quick References for more details.
Phase 1: Roll and Place
All players roll their Command Dice in secret to see what commands they can place onto their Player Mats. The Player Mat is divided into four columns called "Bells". Each Bell may only hold one die, placed onto one of three locations: Ship's Wheel, Anchor, or Locked. After placing one or more dice, players may then re-roll their remaining dice and continue placing until four dice are placed. Once a die has been placed, it may not be changed.
- If a die is placed on a Ship's Wheel, then the command on that die will be executed.
- If a die is placed on an Anchor, then the command on that die will be ignored and the ship will do nothing for one Bell.
- Dice are not placed in Locked spaces, but may be moved there when the ship takes damage. More about locked dice later.
You have 5 Command Dice and only 4 Bells - after finishing placement, one die will remain.
Example: Sam rolls and gets all left turns. He'd really rather not turn left, so he chooses one of his dice and places it on an Anchor in Bell 2 (so as to be ignored), and re-rolls his remaining dice. He now sees commands that he is happier with and fills the Ship's Wheel slots for Bells 1 and 3 from this roll. Nothing else interests him, so he re-rolls his remaining two dice, chooses one and places his last command on the Ship's Wheel location in Bell 4.
Players must wait until all players finish Phase 1 before proceeding together to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Move Ships
After everyone has placed 4 dice on their player mats, it is time to reveal orders and carry them out. Starting with the first Bell, each player announces the number on the top-left corner of their command die. The commands with the higher numbers execute before the lower-numbers. For command details, see the Quick Reference.
All players will simultaneously evaluate and then execute their commands (from high number to low) for each Bell before moving to the next Bell. Complete this same process for Bells 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Obstacles and Pushing
Ships may not move through islands, reefs, other ships or off edges of the map. When a ship collides with a map obstacle (island, reef, or map edge), the ship stops. When a ship collides with another ship, the other ship is pushed along until the first ship's movement is completed, or until the pushed ship collides with an obstacle that prevents either ship from moving further.
Map Effects: Whirlpools and Winds
After everyone has followed their commands for a Bell, then the Map Effects take place. Every ship on a Whirlpool square is turned 90 degrees in the direction of the whirling arrows. Next, every ship on a Wind location is moved one square in the direction of the Wind - even pushing other ships.
Phase 3: Cannonfire
After the end of Bell 4, all ship cannons fire from both sides of every ship simultaneously - both port and starboard. Cannonballs travel in a straight line until they hit an island, a map edge, or a player's ship. If the cannonballs hit a ship, they do one point of damage to the ship.
Bonus Cannonfire
Some movements on Command Dice also have firing symbols. These provide both a command and Bonus Cannonfire. After the command moves the player's ship, that ship immediately fires a round of bonus cannonfire, damaging any ships in the line of fire.
Ramming
Damage also occurs when one ship rams into another at high speed (either a move 2 or move 3 command). When this happens, not only is the rammed ship pushed along the path of the other ship, but it also receives one point of damage at the conclusion of the movement.
Damage and Locked Dice
Damage is not good. Well, it's not good for you but feel free to dish it out to your opponents. When a ship receives damage, the Ship Die must be rotated to indicate how many hit points remain. With 5 hit points remaining, your ship can manage just fine…for now. But as soon as the ship is down to 4 hit points, the die in the fourth Bell becomes "locked", and moves up to the open "Locked space" on the Player Mat. Now the die may not be picked up and rolled at the end of the turn, and may not be moved (unless targeted by a Rum Barrel). Once you drop to 3 hit points, your third command also becomes locked. Likewise, more commands will lock as you drop to 2, and ALL of your commands will become locked when you drop to 1 remaining hit point.
Sinking
Once your ship drops below 1 hit point, you've sunk and you immediately remove your ship from the map. But no matter, you have ships in reserve! Before the start of the next turn, you may place your ship anywhere on the map tile that is closer to home from where you sank. If you sink on the home map, then place your ship on any unused starting location. Your ship comes back with only 5 hit points instead of the full 6.
Repair your ship by Lowering Sails for a Turn
If you have too much damage, and don't want your ship to continue in its wild course, you can lower sails at the end of Phase 3. Before you pick up or move any dice, simply announce that you are lowering sails to repair for a turn and then cover your player mat with your player shield. Your ship will not execute any commands or fire cannons during the next turn, though your ship will still be pushed, shot, and blown about by map effects. If you survive, then you will repair three hit points at the end of the turn.
Skullduggery
There are two very special commands on some of the Command Dice. The Rum Barrel and Anchor commands are Skullduggery commands, and are used to interfere with the movements of others. When you place them, you must orient the arrow at the top of the die so it points to the player you wish to target.
Anchor
The Anchor forces the targeted opponent's die in the corresponding Bell to be ignored as if it were placed on the anchor. So if your opponent thought he was turning left before charging forward… well, instead he just charges forward.
Rum Barrel
The Rum Barrel is a bit more wild, as it forces that opponent to re-roll the already placed die (even if it is locked) and accept the result, whether they like it or not. The results could be beneficial, or they could be hilarious.
Defending against Skullduggery
If you find yourself targeted by a number of nefarious Skullduggeries, then you will want to know how to defend your crew against Skullduggery. If you roll a Rum Barrel or Anchor Die, you may point its arrow towards yourself, rather than another player. This will protect you from all Skullduggery for that Bell, and all future Bells on this turn. It also has an added benefit—it will immediately repair your ship for one point of damage.
Getting the Treasure
The first person to end a Bell on the treasure square recovers the treasure and wins the game! If you are thirsty for more action, then consider playing the Advanced "Return the Treasure" Game, where the holder of the treasure must not only recover the treasure, but also return it to the home port on Starting Shoals.
Advanced "Return the Treasure" Game
The Advanced Game is for players wanting a longer game and a new challenge.
Note: game length will increase, especially with 4 players.
Winning the Advanced Game
Win by ending a Bell with the treasure in your possession and your ship on the home "X" square of the Starting Shoals tile; OR win by being the last player still afloat.
Sinking
"Three Sinks, You're Out!"
Each time a player sinks, that player gains a Skull Token to signify the loss of a ship. After losing three ships, that player is out of the game.
Sinking with the Treasure
When a player sinks while holding the treasure, the treasure token is immediately placed on the map location where the ship sank.
Placing Reserve Ships
Prior to the first recovery of the treasure, players' replacement ships are placed in any open square on the map tile one CLOSER to the starting tile from where they sank. However, after the treasure has been recovered for the first time, sunken ships will be replaced one map tile FURTHER from the starting tile from where they sank.
Treasure
Picking up the Treasure
Players pick up the treasure when their ship ends a Bell on the same map location with the treasure. To signify this, the player takes the Treasure Token.
Claiming and Using the Treasure Die
At the end of the turn, the player with the Treasure Token takes the Treasure Die. The player now rolls and uses this die like any other Command Die during the next turn.
The priority of all commands on the Treasure Die is considered to be zero.
Special Faces on the Treasure Die
The treasure is a cursed treasure and doesn't necessarily want to be rescued. Where normal Command Dice have helpful movements, the Treasure Die generally has commands that are less-so.
2x Reverse - This command operates as a multi-move backwards. It can cause ramming effects, just like a multi-move forward.
Stay-Still-And-Fire - This command gives your ship a round of "bonus cannonfire", but does not move your ship.
Stealing the Treasure
In addition to stealing the treasure by sinking an opponent, players are able to steal the treasure by ramming into opponents at high speed. When a player rams an opponent holding the treasure, the player steals the Treasure Token instead of causing damage. If multiple rams occur on the same turn (or even during the same Bell), it is possible for the Treasure Token to be passed among players multiple times. Whoever has the Treasure Token at the end of the round gets to use the Treasure Die during the next round.
Note: If this forces a player to remove the Treasure Die from a locked location, then the locked Bell is empty until it is filled on the next turn and the die placed into it will immediately become locked.
Winning with the Treasure
To win with the treasure, you must end a Bell on the home "X" space of the Starting Shoals.
FAQ
Q1) What happens if I roll a Skullduggery in response to someone else's rum barrel? Who does it target? A1) Lucky you! You may target anyone that you like -- including yourself (which, don't forget, will protect you from future Skullduggeries this turn AND repair a point of damage).
Q2) If multiple people sink on the same turn, who gets to place first before the start of the next turn? A2) The player who sank first gets to place first. However, if multiple players sank at the same moment (for instance, in the end-of-turn cannonfire), then players have a roll-off with an unplaced command die in order to determine replacement order.
Q3) What are the doubloon tokens used for in the game? I don't see them mentioned in the rules. A3) They are included for use in variants and expansions to the game.
Q4) If a wind pushes me into another player, causing them to be pushed onto a wind or whirlpool themselves, do they move afterwards? A4) No. Map effects happen simultaneously, and if a player was not on a wind location when the wind began to move ships, then it will not be moved by wind.
Q5) What if wind is attempting to push two ships into the same location? Who goes first? A5) Have a roll-off with the unplaced command die to determine which player moves first.
Q6) If I use a rum barrel to defend with, does it block against an anchor -- even though it is a lower priority number? A6) Yes. This is a special case, and it does defend against an anchor.
Cannonball Regatta Variant
The map on the other side of Starting Shoals is named "Cannonball Regatta", and offers a new way to play Pirate Dice: Voyage on the Rolling Seas. In Cannonball Regatta, you will race your fellow pirates in a lap around the bay to be first to arrive back at the dockside tavern. Last one to arrive buys the drinks!
Winning
The first person to complete a full counter-clockwise lap of the local sea and end a Bell on the X of the starting tile wins the game!
Setup
Place the Cannonball Regatta map on the table with three other maps to create a 2x2 square. The game then continues according to the Basic Game rules.