Rum & Pirates
Rum & Pirates Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
The players take on the roles of pirates. They move the captain along the alleys of the pirates nest, looking for treasure maps and treasure chests. Or they meet the city guard and deal with them if they can. Naturally, they will visit the few pubs to gather and drink some rum together. They will also have opportunities to acquire the special wares needed by pirates like wooden legs and eye patches. At the end of the day, they head back to the ship and wrangle for the few sleeping places available there. All these activities earn the players tiles, which are worth honor points - most positive, but some are negative. These honor points are tallied at game end.
The player who ends the game with the most honor points is the winner!
Contents
- 76 pirates (15 in each of 5 colors and 1 captain, the Red Corsair)
- 5 flags (one per pirate color)
- 1 ship
- 9 game board sections
- 181 tiles (13 markers (dark blue), 1 starting player (red flag), 12 rum barrels, 15 sleeping places, 18 guards, 18 rendezvous, 20 pirate supplies, 24 treasure chests, 30 pubs, and 30 treasure maps)
- 1 tile holder (with cover)
- 15 gold coins
- 1 die
Before the game, carefully remove the tiles from their frames. Next, place the 13 dark blue markers in the tile holder (as shown in the figure below). Then, place the remaining tiles (except the starting player tile) and the gold coins in the tile holder, sorted as shown below. The tiles can be stored in the tile holder during and between games. However, players should shuffle each set of tiles before each new game.
The tile holder's sorted rows: coins, pubs, rendezvous, large guards, small guards, bunks, hammocks, bedrolls, treasure chests, treasure chests with scorpion, rum barrels, pirate supplies, treasure maps.
Preparation
Form the 9 game board segments into a 3 x 3 game board in the middle of the table. They may be placed in any configuration within the 3 x 3 square so that each game is a bit different from the previous. Once placed, the game board becomes the map of a small city (or pirate's nest) with 36 intersections, connected by alleys that are each made up of 1 or more segments.
Place the tile holder with the coins and tiles on the table near one corner of the board. Draw the following 10 tiles from the tile holder and place them face-up on the table between the tile holder and the board as shown below:
- 4 pubs
- 2 treasure chests (1 with and 1 without scorpion)
- 4 treasure maps
Place the ship near another corner of the board. Draw 3 sleeping places (1 each of bunk, hammock, and bedroll), placing them face-up between the ship and board.
Note: in a game with 2 or 3 players, do not use the bedrolls; in this case, just place 1 each of the other two sleeping places.
Each player takes:
- 2 gold coins from the tile holder
- 10 pirates and 1 flag in the color chosen by the player
Each places his flag and 10 pirates on the table before him (his play area). During the game, he will place tiles won under his flag.
Place the remaining 5 pirates of each player as a common supply near another corner of the board (pirate unemployment office).
When playing with less than 5 players, place the unused flags and pirates back in the box.
Place the captain (the Red Corsair) on the headquarters intersection (the intersection with the red flag on the game board).
The players choose a starting player. He takes the starting player tile and places it on his flag. He will start the first round.
Playing the Game
The game runs for 5 rounds, regardless of the number of players. (The sleeping place tiles serve as a round counter as there are just enough for 5 rounds.) Each round consists of an action phase (in the pirate's nest) and a wrangling phase (on the ship), in that order. After the 5th round, the game ends. The winner is the player with the most honor points in the tiles he has collected.
The action phase
In the action phase, the players move the captain through the pirate's nest by placing their pirates in alleys near the captain. This phase ends when no player can or wishes to place more pirates.
Beginning with the starting player and continuing clockwise around the table, each player must, on his turn, do one of the following three things:
- move the captain
- rest
- go on board
1) Move the captain
The player moves the captain from the intersection where he stands to a neighboring intersection over the connecting alley. As he moves the captain, he places 1 pirate from his play area on each segment of the alley traveled. Next, the player executes the action shown on the intersection the captain now stands (after moving). These actions are described at the end of these rules. The captain may only travel on empty alleys (with no pirates - the player's or any of his opponents'). The pirate may not stop on an alley segment, but must move through the alley to a new intersection.
Specifically: the captain moves to a neighboring intersection, never stopping on an alley segment; pirates are placed on the alley segments between the two intersections, but never on an intersection.
Then, the player can choose to move the captain again or end his turn. To move the captain again, he must pay 1 gold coin (to the tile holder). The move follows the same rules described above. He may continue to move the captain as long as he can and is willing to pay 1 coin for each additional move. To end his turn, he says, "Avast!".
To reiterate: the player may move the captain to many new intersections (as long as he has pirates and gold for the move), but must pay 1 gold coin for each, except the first.
Dark alleys
Many alleys lead into darkness at the edges of the game board, and are named "dark alleys". The player may use a dark alley as follows: first, he pays 1 coin to use the dark alley. Then, he places pirates from his play area on the alley segments leading to the edge of the board. Next, he chooses an empty dark alley elsewhere on the board and places pirates from his play area on those alley segments. Finally, he moves the captain to the intersection next to his just-placed pirates and takes the action corresponding to that intersection.
Please note: the coin paid to use the dark alley is in addition to any payment for choosing to move the captain a second, third, etc. time.
Note: if the dark alley move is the only possible move for the player, he pays no additional coin, but he would still pay to move the captain a second, third, etc. time.
Alleys that lead off the board ("dark alleys"), may also be used, but cost an additional coin (unless it is the only possible move, then it has no additional cost).
Dead ends
From time to time, the captain comes to a dead end, where all the alleys leading from where he stands are filled with pirates. In this case, move the captain to the "coin" intersection on the next higher numbered game board tile. The "coin" spaces are numbered 1 to 9. If the captain is on number 9, move him to number 1. If this new intersection is also a dead end, move him again to the next higher numbered "coin" intersection, and so on.
From this new intersection, the captain begins his new move. The player does not take the "coin" action, as the intersection is only a new starting intersection for the captain.
2) Rest
Instead of moving the captain, the player can choose to rest on his turn by paying 1 coin, placing it in the tile holder. This is the player's entire turn. He takes no action, paying a coin to do so. The next player then takes his turn as normal.
A player chooses this option when he does not want to move the captain because he feels the movement options are unfavorable to him.
3) Go on board
If a player cannot or chooses not to either move the captain or rest, he must place all the pirates remaining in his play area (next to his flag) on board the pirate ship. To do this, he takes these pirates and places them to the left of the mast next to the top-most empty arrow on the mast. He places them in a row from right to left next to the mast as shown to the right.
In the example to the right, gold was the first to go on board with his 2 remaining pirates, then violet placed his 3 remaining pirates, next black placed his single remaining pirate, and silver placed his 2 remaining pirates. Blue used all his pirates for moving the captain and had none remaining to place on board.
After a player has placed his remaining pirates on board, he takes no more turns in this round. When a player has used all his pirates for moving the captain, he also takes no more turns in this round. With no remaining pirates, the player cannot place pirates on board and wrangle for sleeping places with the other players. When the last player has no more pirates (he used them to move the captain or placed his remaining pirates on board), the players wrangle for sleeping places.
The last player may move the captain as long as he has pirates without paying for extra captain moves as no other player is able to move the captain. The voluntary use of dark alleys still costs the player 1 coin.
Wrangling for Sleeping Places
Now comes the showdown on board. Who will get the best sleeping place and who will find no place to sleep at all?
In the wrangle for sleeping places, it is the players who are competing for the sleeping places, using the pirates they have moved on board. Thus, the player who wins the wrangle (has the last pirate there) takes the bunk tile. The player who finishes second (is the second to last to have pirates there) takes the hammock tile. The player who finishes third (is the third to last to have pirates there) takes the bedroll. First, arrange all the pirates standing next to the mast in columns starting at the mast and working to the left (see the complete example on the next page). Each column represents a separate wrangle. Each wrangle is waged from the top of the column to the bottom, with the winner moving to the other side of the mast and the losers returning to the players' supplies. The wrangles begin with the outer-most column and work inward. If there is a single pirate in a column, he wins the wrangle by default and moves to the other side of the mast - in the same row, where he is automatically "qualified" for the next match. If there are several pirates in a column, the players represented by those pirates must each roll a die to determine who wins and is moved to the other side of the mast - losers return to their players' supplies. The players roll in order from top to bottom. After the first player rolls, the second player rolls. If his roll is equal to or higher than the first player, the first player returns his pirate to his supply. If the second player's roll is lower, he returns his pirate to his supply. Then the third player rolls and so on until all players who have pirates in the column have rolled and there is just one pirate remaining in the column. This pirate has won this wrangle and is "qualified" for the next match. The player moves his pirate to the other side of the mast - in the same row.
Then, the pirates in the next column compete in a wrangle, using the same rules as described above. This continues until there are no more pirates on this side of the mast and the "qualifiers" are all on the other side.
The next match is run in the same way as the first, except the pirates are moving from the right side of the mast to the left side of the mast. The players continue wrangling and qualifying for subsequent matches until just three players have pirates left on the mast.
At this point, the wrangles continue, but the next player to lose his last pirate takes with him the tile with the bedroll (worth 1 or 2 points). The player places this tile under his flag. The wrangles continue and the next player to lose his last pirate takes with him the tile with the hammock (worth 3 to 5 points). The player places this tile under his flag. The player who wins (is the last with pirates on the mast) takes the tile with the bunk (worth 6 to 8 points). The player places this tile under his flag. At game end, these players will score these 1 to 8 points as honor points.
As the wrangle is over, the players place 3 new sleeping places under the ship: as before, 1 each of bunk, hammock, and bedroll.
Note: - During the wrangles, the special function of the rum barrels may be used (see also "The actions"). - When 3 or more players have pirates on board at the beginning of the wrangle, 3 different players will win sleeping place tiles. If only 2 players have pirates on board at the beginning of the wrangle, the winner of the wrangle takes both the bunk tile and the bedroll tile. The loser, in this case, takes the hammock tile. In the very unlikely situation where only one player has pirates on board at the beginning of the wrangle, that player wins by default, but only takes the bunk tile and the bedroll tile. The hammock tile is returned to the box.
In a game with only 2 or 3 players, the winner only takes the bunk tile, regardless of the number of pirates on board at the beginning of the wrangle.
The Next Round
After the wrangle, the round ends. The starting player gives the starting player tile to his left neighbor, who places it on his flag, becoming the starting player for the next round. Each player takes all his pirates from the game board and places them in his supply in his play area. The captain remains on the spot where he ended the round and he starts the new round from this location. The players do not take 2 coins.
New round:
- the left neighbor of the starting player becomes the new starting player
- the players take back all their pirates from the board
- the captain remains where he was
Game End
In this way, the players play 5 rounds. After the 5th round, the players count the honor points on the tiles they collected under their flags (see below). Coins and rum barrels have no value. The player with the most points is the winner!
Honor to whom honor is due!
If players tie for most points, the player among them with the fewest pirates in the unemployment office is the winner. If there is still a tie, the player among them with the most rum barrels wins. If there is still a tie, the player among them with the most coins wins. If there is still a tie, those players rejoice in their shared victory!
The Actions
Whenever a player moves the captain to an intersection, he takes the action represented by the intersection. Through the action, the player earns either coins, pirates, tiles, or rum barrels. The tiles are worth honor points at the end of the game.
Note: if the supply of coins is exhausted during the game, replace them with a suitable substitute. However, when pirates, tiles or rum barrels are exhausted, they are gone!
"Coin" intersection
The player takes one gold coin from the tile holder. Players keep the number of gold coins they have secret throughout the game.
Reward: +1 coin.
"Headquarters" intersection
The player may take all his pirates from any one alley on the board and return them to his supply. Instead of taking his pirates from one alley, he may take his pirates from any two dark alleys. The player need not remember what combinations of dark alleys he previously used.
He may even choose the alley that he just filled when moving the captain the the headquarters intersection. The vacated alley may, of course be used as it is now unoccupied.
"Gold" takes his pirates from 2 dark alleys.
Reward: return pirates - return all pirates from one alley or all pirates from two dark alleys.
"Pirate" intersection
The player takes one of his pirates from the unemployment office, placing it in his supply and can use this pirate for the rest of the game. If the player has no more pirates in the unemployment office, he gets nothing.
Reward: +1 pirate moved to his supply.
"Pirate supply" intersection
Where do pirates get their supplies such as wooden legs and eye patches? They get them from the pirate supply! (20 tiles: 4 each of 5 different wares, each worth 2 to 5 honor points)
The player takes the top-most tile from the pirate supply in the tile holder and looks at it - secretly. He now has two options: either he keeps the tile (worth 2 to 5 honor points), placing it under his flag, or he sells it, placing it face down at the bottom of the pirate supply stack in the tile holder and collects 2 coins from the tile holder for the ware, regardless of its value.
Note: a player may only sell the just-received ware tile. He may not sell a previously acquired ware tile.
Reward: +1 ware tile (2 to 5 honor points or 2 coins).
"Rendezvous" intersection
"What would a captain be without a bride?" Without love and affection! This situation would be just too sad and unacceptable... (18 tiles: 2 each of all other symbols (except rendezvous, gold coin, and headquarters) with 4 or 6 honor points)
The player takes the top-most rendezvous tile from the tile holder, looks at it secretly, and places it face-down on top of his flag. The tile shows where the bride wants to meet the captain. The player must try, during the rest of the game, to move the captain to such an intersection. If he succeeds, he shows the tile to the other players to prove his success and places it under his flag (only now will he earn these points at game end).
A player may have several rendezvous tiles on his flag at once, but may only reveal one when he reaches an intersection, even if he has two of that intersection. He must visit such an intersection a second time to score the second tile.
Note: it does not help the player when other players move the captain to his needed rendezvous intersection. He must move the captain himself. He cannot claim it when the captain is on the intersection at the start of his turn. Also, it does not help him to rest on such an intersection. Of course, the action of the intersection reached is taken as it normally would be. For example, if the required intersection is a pirate intersection, the player takes a pirate from the unemployment office after he reveals the rendezvous tile.
Reward: +1 rendezvous tile (4 or 6 honor points).
Note: the players may look at their own tiles under their flags at any time.
"Treasure map" intersection
"The pirates try to find as many treasure maps as possible to lead them to the great treasures hidden throughout the sevens seas." (30 tiles: 10 each of 3 different colors, each worth 3 to 6 honor points)
When a player moves the captain to a treasure map intersection, he may take one of the 4 treasure map tiles face up on the table that matches the color of the intersection where the captain is standing. He places it under his flag. He then draws another treasure map from the tile holder, so there are again 4 treasure maps face-up on the table. If there are no treasure maps matching the color of the intersection he moved the captain to, the player gets nothing.
Reward: +1 treasure map tile (3 to 6 honor points).
"Pub" intersection
"What would a pirates nest be without a few pubs? And what would such places be without a good supply of merry pirates?" (30 tiles: 10 each of different pubs, each worth 2 to 5 honor points)
The player invites his fellow pirates to join him for a merry time at the pub. He takes all face up pub tiles (of the 4 showing) that match the pub where the captain is and places them face-up in his play area. The players then compete for these tiles. If none of the 4 tiles match the pub, nothing happens.
When there is at least one matching pub tile, the player must ask each other player, in clockwise order starting with his left neighbor, whether they want to join him for a drink in the pub. Those that accept, pay the inviting player one coin each. Those that decline pay nothing, but will get nothing. If no player accepts his offer, he takes all the matching pub tiles and places them under his flag.
If at least one fellow player accepted his offer, the players take turns rolling the die to collect the tiles. Beginning with the inviting player (the one who moved the captain) and going clockwise around the table to all who accepted the invitation, each rolls the die. If the roll is greater than the value on one of the pub tiles showing in the player's play area, the player takes that pub tile and places it under his flag. If his roll is equal to or less than all the numbers, he gets nothing. This continues, including going around the table more than once until all the available pub tiles in the player's play area are taken. Then, the player draws pub tiles from the tile holder to replace those taken, so there are again 4 face-up pub tiles on the table.
Note: - Players whose pirates are already on board may also accept the invitation. - Players may use any rum barrels they have for this (see below).
Reward: +all matching pub tiles (2 to 5 honor points).
"Treasure chest" intersection
"What is a pirate without treasure chests? But pirates must exercise caution, as some may have scorpions inside..." (12 tiles without scorpions (4 to 6 honor points) and 12 tiles with (-2 honor points))
First, the player takes the face-up treasure chest without the scorpion and places it under his flag. But who will be stung by the scorpion? To find out, all players take turns rolling the die, starting with the player who moved the captain to the treasure chest intersection and continuing clockwise around the table, adding the numbers rolled to each other, calling out the totals (e.g. 4 - 9 - 12 - 13 - ...). This continues (perhaps more than once around the table) until the total equals or exceeds the goal number (between 10 and 21) on the treasure chest (with scorpion) tile. The player who rolled the die that made the total equal or exceed the goal number is stung and must place the treasure chest with scorpion tile under his flag. Then, the player draws a treasure chest tile and a treasure chest with scorpion tile, placing them face up on the table to replace those just taken.
Note: - All players take part, even those with pirates already on board. - Players may use any rum barrels they have for this (see below).
Reward: +1 treasure chest tile (4 to 6 honor points).
"Rum barrel" intersection
"And what is a pirate without rum? It is tasty, healthy, and helps in all situations."
The player takes two rum barrels from the supply and places them in his play area so all players see them. Players may use rum barrels to reroll a die roll (for wrangling, with treasure chests, and at pubs) up to twice. For each two rerolls, the player gives up 1 rum barrel to the tile holder. He must take the last roll (he cannot pick the highest or lowest). If he is not happy after two re-rolls and has another barrel, he can use it to try twice more. If a player takes his first re-roll, he cannot save the second for a re-roll later in the game - the barrel is used up. For example, if a player gets a second roll for a pub tile, he can reroll twice again. If a player takes his first re-roll, he cannot save the second for a later re-roll.
Reward: +2 rum barrels.
"Guard" intersection
"From time to time, pirates encounter the city guard as they travel throughout the pirates nest. Sometimes the pirates win, but sometimes not..." (9 small guard tiles (1 to 3 honor points) and 9 large guard tiles (4 to 6 honor points))
The player decides whether to encounter a large or small guard and draws the top-most tile from the corresponding stack. He places the tile face-up in his play area for all to see. The player then counts the number of pirates he has in his supply (in his play area) and compares that number to the number on the guard tile. If he has more pirates in his supply than the number on the tile, he takes the tile and places it under his flag. If the guard tile also shows a coin, the player takes a coin from the tile holder, as well.
If the player has the same number or fewer pirates in his play area than the number on the guard tile, he does not keep the tile, but places it face-down under the stack it came from.
Reward: turn over one city guard tile (1 to 6 honor points).
The Scoring of Tiles at Game End
Four tile types (pubs, treasure chests, city guards, and sleeping places) score exactly the number of honor points shown on the tiles (1 to 8 or -2 honor points). The other three tile types (pirate wares, rendezvous, and treasure maps) work the same, but with some restrictions.
Scoring example:
- pubs: = 21 honor points
- treasure chests: = 5 honor points
- city guards: = 15 honor points
- sleeping places: = 14 honor points
Pirate wares: if a player has more than one of the same ware type, he scores only for the highest valued tile of each ware type. = 8 honor points. The value 3 hook is worthless.
Rendezvous: unfulfilled rendezvous tiles (those not under the player's flag) are worthless. = 10 honor points. The rendezvous tile "pirate supply" does not score, as it was not fulfilled.
Treasure maps: to score, the player must have both halves of the treasure map (so you have all the information). That means two tiles of same color, but the value need not match. Only a pair of treasure map tiles of the same color score; they score the sum of the numbers on the two tiles. A single treasure map tile is worthless. = 17 honor points. The extra yellow value 3 treasure map tile and the rose value 5 treasure map tile are worthless.
The Game for 2 Players
In a game with two players, the rules are the same as above with the following exception: for the wrangle, a third, imaginary player, is added to the wrangle so the wrangle rules for 3 players are used (see "Wrangling for Sleeping Places"). At the beginning of the round, roll 1 die. The number shown is the number of pirates of the third imaginary player (use any unused color) you add to the mast. Place them in the top-most row on the left side of the mast.
During the wrangle, the imaginary player always rolls first (unless a player has pirates in columns not covered by the imaginary player). If the imaginary player wins a tile, it is returned to the box.
Credits
The author would like to thank the players at the Offenburger-Spiele-Freunde for their patience and many suggestions for this game, especially Frieder Benzing, Denis Leonhardt, Roland Lurk, and Andreas Zimmermann. We also thank Christoph Toussaint and Michael Schmitt for their many suggestions. And naturally, he thanks his wife Susanne and his son Jonathan, for their support and game suggestions.
In addition, the publishers thank the many play testers for their help, especially: Christine & Peter Dürdoth, Karin & Wolfgang Geistanger, Dieter Habelitz, Markus Huber, Sybille & Michael Jüthner, Miriam & Peter Linner, Heidi & Matthijs Razenberg, Dominik Wagner and the game clubs from Bödefeld, Göttingen and Grassau.
Rum & Pirates was designed by Stefan Feld and published by alea / Ravensburger Spieleverlag (2006), with the English-language edition distributed by Rio Grande Games.