Sailblazer
Sailblazer Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of Game
The goal of the game is to have acquired the most prestige points by the end of the game.
Components
- 4 player boards
- 4 reference sheets
- 20 sailor markers
- 12 rum markers
- 24 fish markers
- 4 ship markers
- 40 upgrade markers (10 per color)
- 42 coins
- 45 prestige tokens
- 9 loot tokens
- 1 captain die
- 3 cannon dice
- 48 good tokens (6 each of Saffron, Bananas, Coconuts, Pottery, Fabric, Tea, Coffee, Ginseng)
- 43 ocean tiles (including the Saffron Island tile)
- 29 pirate cards (including the Pirate King card)
- 3 final achievement cards
- 2 Treasure Map cards
- 32 log cards
- 20 story cards
- 40 reward cards
Game Setup
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Place the Saffron Island tile in the middle of the playing area.
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The game goes through 3 stages, played in the following order: stage 1, stage 2, and final stage. Organize the log cards, pirate cards, reward cards, and ocean tiles into decks according to the stage number shown on the back of each. ※ Ocean tiles labeled "3/4" are not used in a 2-player game and put back into the box.
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Lay out all 3 final achievement cards in a visible spot outside of the gameplay area. Also lay a Treasure Map card next to the "Treasure Island" final achievement card and the Pirate King card next to the "Pirate Island" final achievement card. ※ In a 4-player game lay out 2 Treasure Maps.
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Organize coins, rum markers, prestige tokens, good tokens, loot tokens, fish markers, sailor markers and dice, then place them in an easily reachable location around the playing area.
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The player who was most recently on a boat is the first player. If not, choose one player randomly to start.
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Players prepare their boards.
ⓐ Take 1 player board, 1 ship marker and upgrade markers of the same color. Place your ship on Saffron Island and your upgrade markers next to your board. All players also randomly receive 1 prologue card from the story card deck.
ⓑ Place 1 upgrade marker at the start of the experience (EXP) meter.
ⓒ Place 2 coins on your board.
ⓓ Place 2 rum markers on your board.
ⓔ Place 1 saffron token on your board.
ⓕ Place fish markers as follows (regardless of player count):
- 1st player: 2
- 2nd player: 2
- 3rd player: 3
- 4th player: 4
Stage Setup
At the beginning of each stage, only set up the components of the current stage and set aside other stages' components.
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Shuffle the current stage's ocean tile deck and place it reachable by all. How to shuffle ocean tiles
- For stage 1 and stage 2: Remove the 3 end stage tiles (respectively indicated by a I→II or II→F symbol) from the deck and set them aside. After shuffling the remaining ocean tiles, blindly remove the top two ocean tiles from the deck and combine them with the end stage tiles. Then shuffle these 5 tiles and place them on the very bottom of the deck.
- For final stage: Shuffle all 8 tiles normally.
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Place the current stage's pirate cards and log cards next to the ocean tile deck.
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Place the reward card deck by the edge of the gameplay area, draw the top 5 cards, and lay them face-up in a row beside the deck.
Resolving Pirate Cards
Pirate cards are resolved as follows:
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Roll the captain die. You may also roll up to 3 additional cannon dice if your ship has been upgraded with cannons (1 die per cannon installed).
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Compare combat strengths.
- A pirate's combat strength is indicated on the front of the pirate card.
- A player's combat strength is calculated by adding the results of the captain die and the cannon dice (if applicable), plus any additional combat strength from assigned sailors. Rum can also be discarded to temporarily increase your combat strength (1 rum = +1 strength) for the current combat.
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To achieve victory, your combat strength must be equal to or greater than the pirate. Immediately follow the "Victory" or "Defeat" instructions on the pirate card in accordance to the outcome of the combat.
※ Pirate cards' prestige points are collected at the end of the game. ※ Gained loot is placed in your ship's storeroom. ※ The pirate card deck also contains intermittent trouble cards. If drawn, resolve them by following the instructions on the card.
After resolving a pirate card, flip it face-down and store it next to your board. Then proceed to the Action Phase, except if instructions feature a Card and Action icons. In this case, discard the card and skip the Action Phase.
Resolving Pirate Cards example: Your current combat strength is 1 (captain die roll) + 1 (sailor assignment). Then, as you have a cannon active, you can roll an additional cannon die. The result is 1. You discard your rum for +1 strength. So your strength is 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 4. You win.
Gameplay
Starting with the first player, turns move clockwise around the table. Players carry out their turns in the following sequence: Movement Phase, then Action Phase.
I - Movement Phase
Players can choose to explore, sail, or stay.
A) Explore: A player can reveal and place a new ocean tile on the gameplay area then move their ship there. In order to explore, there must be at least one free tile space available North, South, East, or West adjacent to their current location. To explore, a player must follow the steps below:
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Declare which direction you intend to explore.
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Pay exploration cost: discard as many fish as indicated on the back of the ocean tile. For example 1 fish in stage 1, etc. Exploration cost can be reduced by sailor assignment on your board; however, it can never be below 0.
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Draw the top ocean tile from the deck and lay it in the previously declared open tile space.
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Gain 1 EXP (see Experience (EXP) meter upgrades) and move your ship onto the tile.
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If the newly explored tile features the following symbols, proceed as explained below.
- Prestige symbol: Immediately receive as much prestige as featured on the tile.
- Pirate symbol: Immediately draw a pirate card and resolve it (see Resolving Pirate Cards).
※ Be prepared! Pirate cards' combat strength gets stronger every new stage.
Stage Stage 1 Stage 2 Final stage Pirate strength 2-3 4-6 7-8; 10 (Pirate King)
B) Sail: This movement is recommended if your ship is not strong enough to face potential pirate attacks during your current turn. A player can choose to move their ship in any direction to any adjacent ocean tile that has already been laid. The distance a player can sail to is determined by their ship's speed. Your default speed allows you to sail 1 tile away from your current location.
You can increase your speed to move over multiple tiles by either assigning sailors to your board or discarding fish. Each sailor assignment/discarded fish allows you to sail 1 additional tile. You can discard up to 6 fish. Unlike sailor assignment, a speed increase due to discarded fish is only effective during the player's current turn.
For example, you can reach the B tile by increasing your speed as follows:
- ⓐ Default speed 1
- ⓑ +1 speed by sailor assignment
- ⓒ +2 speed by discarding 2 fish
※ Opponent ships lying anywhere along a player's intended sail route will have no effect on the player's movement. The same applies to icons and pirate ships.
C) Stay: Choose to stay on your current ocean tile and move on to the Action Phase.
II - Action Phase
After the Movement Phase, a player can take ONE action. Each symbol featured on an ocean tile represents the actions available on that tile. The actions are as follows:
A) Draw a log card: Draw a log card and resolve it (see Resolving Log Cards). Log cards are mostly fortunate events and therefore very useful to fulfill reward cards or gain EXP.
※ Players can draw a log card only after they explore, not after they sail or stay.
B) Sell and buy
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Sell: Goods can be sold on any ocean tile that has a good symbol on it, except on an island where they are being produced. The selling price of a good is equal to the distance (continuous adjoining tiles) between the tile you're selling your good on and that good's nearest production tile. However, the selling price of any individual good may never exceed its maximum selling price.
※ In the rare case you gain goods due to a card but there isn't any tile revealed yet producing such goods (and therefore cannot calculate the distance), you can sell it at its maximum selling price.
※ When selling goods immediately after exploring a new tile, you can sell them at their maximum selling price regardless of distance. This action is available for this turn only. If a player stays on a tile that they revealed a turn before, they must sell according to distance.
For example you buy bananas on tile A:
- You cannot sell it on tile B as it produces the same good.
- You can either sail to tile D or E and sell it respectively for 2 or 3 coins.
- You can explore a new tile, and if it produces another good then you can sell your bananas for its maximum price.
Goods price table (printed as a grid of goods icons; the price columns are read left to right, and the icon-to-column assignment is shown only in the graphic):
Goods Max. selling price Buying price Goods icons, column 1 3 1 Goods icons, column 2 4
C) Resupply ship at a port: If there is a port on the tile, you can resupply your ship there. Any number of the following resupplies can be taken in any order:
- Reassign existing sailors on your player board at no cost.
- Buy as many fish, rum, and sailors as you want/can with coins and place them in any available spaces on your board. (Each fish or rum costs 1 coin; each sailor costs 3 coins.)
- Exchange your loot for prestige tokens. (1 loot = 1 prestige token.)
D) Work at a port. Earn 1 coin (up to 1 only).
E) Go fishing: Receive as much fish as featured on the tile. If a sailor is assigned to upgrade your fishing level, you may receive 3 additional fish each time you go fishing.
※ You cannot store more than 6 fish. If you receive more, discard the surplus.
Resolving Log Cards
After drawing a log card, resolve it by following the instructions written on the card. Once a log card is completely resolved, flip it face-down and store it next to your board. The 5 types of log cards are as follows:
- Event cards: While exploring, a fortunate event occurred. Immediately receive its rewards.
- New item cards: While exploring, a useful item appeared. Leave this card face-up next to the player board and use the item at any time on your turn (single use). Using an item does not count as an action.
- Request cards: While exploring, a person in need appeared. Leave this card face-up next to your player board until the destination ocean tile is reached (passing by does not count). When the card's conditions are fulfilled, receive its rewards.
- Disaster cards: While exploring, unforeseen disaster occurred. Get the rewards from one of the two conditions you satisfy.
- Attack cards (Angry seagulls, Great white shark, The Kraken): While exploring, a foe appeared. Attack cards are resolved the same as pirate cards (see Resolving Pirate Cards). Whatever the outcome, attack cards are always stored next to your board. You do not take any additional action.
※ The number of log cards kept by a player can sometimes be a condition to fulfill reward cards or other log cards. All resolved cards stored face-down next to your board are considered to be "kept", as well as all face-up "New Item" cards or "Request" cards that you have.
Reward Cards
If at any time during your turn you satisfy the conditions of one of the 5 face-up reward cards, pick up the card and collect its reward. Then store it face-down next to your board.
A player may pick up to 2 reward cards on a single turn. Picked-up cards are to be replaced by new reward cards at the end of the player's turn.
If there are no more reward cards left in the current stage, players must wait until next stage to pick up new reward cards.
A reward card's conditions can be fulfilled during either phase of a player's turn. Refer to the icons below (featured on each reward card) to understand when a reward card's conditions are fulfilled:
- When exploring.
- When sailing.
- When selling goods or depending on goods in your storeroom.
- When resupplying or working at a port.
- When fishing.
- When resolving pirate cards or depending on the number of pirate cards you have.
- When resolving log cards or depending on the number of log cards you have.
- Depending on the number of reward cards you have.
- Depending on your EXP level or ship upgrades.
Experience (EXP) Meter Upgrades
When your EXP meter reaches 5, instantly receive a midway upgrade. You can choose from one of the following upgrades:
- Assign an additional sailor.
- Receive 3 additional coins.
- Receive 3 additional EXP.
When your EXP meter reaches 10, instantly receive a level-up upgrade. Place the upgrade token on "level 1", and a new upgrade token at the start of the EXP meter to record additional EXP. The next time an upgrade token reaches 10, place it on "level 2" and so on. During a level-up upgrade you can choose from one of the following upgrades:
- Receive a Treasure Map (only if available).
- Activate an additional cannon space.
- Activate an additional storeroom space.
Additional Info Regarding Cards
- Some cards require that you move your ship to a specific location to be resolved. Directions are North, South, East and West, and always calculated from Saffron Island. For example "go to S1E2" means going 1 tile South and 2 tiles East of Saffron Island as shown below.
- Cards' instructions (gaining rewards, discarding items etc) are always resolved in order, from top to bottom.
Next Stage
Upon exploring, if a player reveals an ocean tile featuring an end stage icon, the current stage will end once this player finishes their turn. Remove any remaining ocean tiles, log cards, pirate cards, or reward cards from gameplay area and replace them with the next stage's components.
Game End
Game end is initiated if one of the Treasure Island, Pirate Island, or Bonanza Island ocean tiles is revealed during the final stage. After the player who revealed it completes their turn and the remaining players each take one more turn, the game ends.
※ In the rare case that there are no more tiles to lay during a player's turn, this player cannot explore. They can only sail or stay.
Final Achievement Cards
Final achievement cards are objectives players can fulfill at the end of the game to score major benefits. The 3 final achievements are as follows:
1 – Find treasure on Treasure Island. If a player has a Treasure Map and lands on the Treasure Island tile, either by exploring or sailing, they receive 10 prestige points. Then this achievement is no longer available to other players.
※ It is possible that a player could explore, reveal Treasure Island, earn EXP and a level-up upgrade, receive a Treasure Map, and then accomplish this achievement.
2 – Defeat the Pirate King. If you reveal the Pirate Island tile while exploring, immediately combat the Pirate King card. The Pirate King is handled as a normal pirate card. If you are defeated, other players can sail to Pirate Island and attempt to combat the Pirate King on their subsequent turns. If a player is victorious, they keep the Pirate King card and no one else may combat it.
3 – Safely transport ginseng to Bonanza Island. If a player has ginseng in their storeroom and lands on the Bonanza Island tile, either by exploring or sailing, they receive prestige based on the amount of ginseng they are transporting (see below). Then this achievement is no longer available to other players.
| Ginseng | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prestige | 5 | 7 | 9 |
※ Players landing on one of the final achievement tiles (Treasure Island, Pirate Island, and Bonanza Island) cannot take any action other than trying to fulfill the final achievement.
Story Cards
Story cards do not really affect the outcome of the game and were solely designed to add fun, flavorful context to the gameplay. All players begin the game with one prologue card laying face-up next to their player board.
If a player arrives on the ocean tile described on their card at any time throughout the game, they receive one interlude card and one prestige point. At the end of the game, if a player fulfills one of the three conditions written on their interlude card, they receive the accompanying epilogue card.
Scoring
When the game ends the player with the most coins (void in case of tie) rolls the captain die and receives prestige points equal to the outcome of the die. Then, all players may begin calculating their final score, as follows:
Final score = prestige token points + pirate card prestige points (marked on pirate cards) + EXP level (your highest EXP level reached)
The player with the highest final score wins. In case of a tie, player with the highest EXP level wins.