Pirates with Ben – About Pirates CSG › Pirates CSG Forums › Pirates CSG › Questions About Game Rules & The Pirate Code
Tagged: Rules, The Pirate Code
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February 11, 2024 at 6:47 PM #17824BenKeymaster
If a ship has multiple gold bonus abilities, such as +2 and +1, should they be recorded separately as different coins at the home island or can they be combined into a new 3 coin? (when playing with the option of bringing in new coins from outside the game for gold bonuses, and that gold bonuses can be stolen/used/parleyed/etc.)
-If a docked ship loads Plague by any means it immediately becomes undocked.
Does that end the explore action? Since UT’s are applied before regular treasure is loaded, I played that since the ship became undocked, it couldn’t load standard treasure. Or can the ship finish the explore action despite not being docked at the island?
Can a Sea Dragon swoop attack a fort? Because of the following line from the Code and forts having flags rather than masts, I said no.
A swoop attack is not a normal shoot action and only eliminates masts; it does not use cannons or cause “hits”.
In a 1v1 game, a ship is sunk with a silver 2 aboard. Does each player receive a silver 1? (instead of gold 1’s) If they can’t (due to not having any on hand), must they mark/tally each gold 1 with something that denotes that it’s actually silver?
February 12, 2024 at 9:34 AM #17825WoelfModeratorIf a ship has multiple gold bonus abilities, such as +2 and +1, should they be recorded separately as different coins at the home island or can they be combined into a new 3 coin? (when playing with the option of bringing in new coins from outside the game for gold bonuses, and that gold bonuses can be stolen/used/parleyed/etc.)
If you’re using the option to replace them with other coins, whether to combine them is up to the players. I personally would combine them, because they’re being generated at the same time.
-If a docked ship loads Plague by any means it immediately becomes undocked.
Does that end the explore action? Since UT’s are applied before regular treasure is loaded, I played that since the ship became undocked, it couldn’t load standard treasure. Or can the ship finish the explore action despite not being docked at the island?
You played it correctly that it could not load non-unique treasures, because it was no longer docked.
Undocking does not automatically end the action, so if there are any other things the ship can still do as part of that same Explore action (assuming they aren’t also prevented by Plague in some way), it can still do them.
Can a Sea Dragon swoop attack a fort? Because of the following line from the Code and forts having flags rather than masts, I said no.
A swoop attack is not a normal shoot action and only eliminates masts; it does not use cannons or cause “hits”.
The Sea Dragon could target a fort with a swoop attack, but will do no damage because that only eliminates masts (which the fort ignores unless something specifies otherwise).
In a 1v1 game, a ship is sunk with a silver 2 aboard. Does each player receive a silver 1? (instead of gold 1’s) If they can’t (due to not having any on hand), must they mark/tally each gold 1 with something that denotes that it’s actually silver?
That’s going to be largely up to what’s available, or player consensus.
You can split it with two silver 1s if you have them, but otherwise change should be made using standard gold coins instead.
Neither player is getting the +1 silver bonus at that time, so it would only potentially matter later in the game if they were removed from a home island somehow (HI-Raider, Parley, etc.) and then returned.
February 12, 2024 at 12:47 PM #17827BenKeymasterYou can split it with two silver 1s if you have them, but otherwise change should be made using standard gold coins instead.
Just thought of a strange follow-up. What if the players disagree on how it should be split? Ex: One player wants silver because they have a silver explorer and might try to build a fort with the silver and then bring it back home for the bonus (using other gold on the wild island to keep the fort). The other player is nearly out of the game and sees no way to capture the other player’s silver explorer, yet they fear being home island raided for it. Would it be one of those situations where the players roll to let fate decide?
I could also see it getting a bit weird if a player has a silver 1 on hand, but doesn’t want to use it for the split for similar reasons as above. Or, there is only 1 silver 1 available, rather than the 2 needed for the split to be “equal”.
If a mastless ship has Oarsman cancelled to make her derelict and she makes a successful scuttle attempt, does she sink on that player’s next turn even if the Oarsman is “reactivated” due to the cancellation wearing off? The Code implies as much, just want to be sure. (not so much cancelling the scuttle attempt, but if “uncancelling” the Oarsman reverts the attempt since the ship is no longer derelict again)
February 15, 2024 at 3:54 PM #17839WoelfModeratorYou can split it with two silver 1s if you have them, but otherwise change should be made using standard gold coins instead.
Just thought of a strange follow-up. What if the players disagree on how it should be split? Ex: One player wants silver because they have a silver explorer and might try to build a fort with the silver and then bring it back home for the bonus (using other gold on the wild island to keep the fort). The other player is nearly out of the game and sees no way to capture the other player’s silver explorer, yet they fear being home island raided for it. Would it be one of those situations where the players roll to let fate decide?
I could also see it getting a bit weird if a player has a silver 1 on hand, but doesn’t want to use it for the split for similar reasons as above. Or, there is only 1 silver 1 available, rather than the 2 needed for the split to be “equal”
Gold should always be the default if players can’t agree. The Silver option really only works if both players want it.
If a mastless ship has Oarsman cancelled to make her derelict and she makes a successful scuttle attempt, does she sink on that player’s next turn even if the Oarsman is “reactivated” due to the cancellation wearing off? The Code implies as much, just want to be sure. (not so much cancelling the scuttle attempt, but if “uncancelling” the Oarsman reverts the attempt since the ship is no longer derelict again)
Once the attempt/roll succeeds you can’t stop it on your own, even if the ship gets repaired or un-derelicted before your next turn.
Being grabbed by an opposing player is the only thing that prevents it at that point.
February 15, 2024 at 10:40 PM #17840BenKeymasterWhat if both players only bring Isles of Fire MI’s? (no islands can be HI’s) Would you have to just ignore the ability text for all of them?
Isle of Fire: This island can be used only as a wild island. At the beginning of his or her turn, the active player rolls a d6. On a result of 6, randomly eliminate one treasure coin from this island.
February 16, 2024 at 10:48 PM #17858WoelfModeratorWhat if both players only bring Isles of Fire MI’s? (no islands can be HI’s) Would you have to just ignore the ability text for all of them?
Isle of Fire: This island can be used only as a wild island. At the beginning of his or her turn, the active player rolls a d6. On a result of 6, randomly eliminate one treasure coin from this island.
The best option is to ignore the effect for the ones chosen as home islands, or swap the ones chosen as home islands with non-fire islands.
You could also require each player to provide at least one non-fire island, although that could force some extremely unbalanced home island locations.
February 18, 2024 at 12:04 PM #17867BenKeymasterDoes Jonah’s ability apply to a hit that sinks a ship? Or does the ship sink without needing to roll one last time for the ability?
When this ship is hit, roll a d6. On a result of 5 or 6, move the crew on this ship with the highest point cost to a wild island chosen by the player to your left.
Is Ghostly Encounter still worth gold if the ship has the ability of “This ship’s crew cannot be eliminated”? (I assume you just wouldn’t bother rolling, but wanted to make sure the UT still functions)
Once after revealing, roll a d6 for each crew on the ship. On a result of 1, that crew is eliminated. Ghostly Encounter is worth gold equal to the crew remaining on the ship after all dice are rolled.
Can you bring in a 0 point crew with the +5 selection of a 0LR+5 crew? If so, can you go through part of the Setup phase (I think only when going second and an opponent chooses their +5 selections before you do) with an illegal situation on a ship that is then resolved by a crew like Jonah coming in via the +5? Or must the point cap restriction element be fully resolved by the initial X points of your fleet? (very niche use case, and only good for a very brief deke of which crew are on a ship while your opponent might be considering your fleet while making their own +5 selections, with them going first)
February 18, 2024 at 1:09 PM #17868WoelfModeratorDoes Jonah’s ability apply to a hit that sinks a ship? Or does the ship sink without needing to roll one last time for the ability?
When this ship is hit, roll a d6. On a result of 5 or 6, move the crew on this ship with the highest point cost to a wild island chosen by the player to your left.
Technically it will trigger, but because it’s happening simultaneously with the sinking and neither specifies priority, the current player can choose to roll for the crew ejection before the ship sinks or to just let it sink first (which will prevent the roll).
Is Ghostly Encounter still worth gold if the ship has the ability of “This ship’s crew cannot be eliminated”? (I assume you just wouldn’t bother rolling, but wanted to make sure the UT still functions)
Once after revealing, roll a d6 for each crew on the ship. On a result of 1, that crew is eliminated. Ghostly Encounter is worth gold equal to the crew remaining on the ship after all dice are rolled.
You can still make the roll if you really want to (or it’s relevant somehow to an outside effect), but crew that cannot be eliminated will automatically succeed/survive.
Can you bring in a 0 point crew with the +5 selection of a 0LR+5 crew? If so, can you go through part of the Setup phase (I think only when going second and an opponent chooses their +5 selections before you do) with an illegal situation on a ship that is then resolved by a crew like Jonah coming in via the +5? Or must the point cap restriction element be fully resolved by the initial X points of your fleet? (very niche use case, and only good for a very brief deke of which crew are on a ship while your opponent might be considering your fleet while making their own +5 selections, with them going first)
You can bring in non-Limit 0-cost crew with the +5 bonus (or even with recruiters during the game).
Because of the timing of when the +5 bonus points are applied, the ship setups will have to be legal before you can use it to add someone like Jonah, although at the beginning of a game it’s much less of an issue because you can simply start with some of the excess crew on your home island.
February 18, 2024 at 4:26 PM #17870BenKeymasterTechnically it will trigger, but because it’s happening simultaneously with the sinking and neither specifies priority, the current player can choose to roll for the crew ejection before the ship sinks or to just let it sink first (which will prevent the roll).
The current player should be the one shooting, so this is an exception to the loser chooses default rule? (not sure that it matters who rolls for Jonah’s ability)
-When a crew with this keyword is placed on a ship, that ship immediately gains the Mercenary keyword; if this occurs during setup the ship must immediately be relocated to a position S away from your home island.
If a ship relocated via this method must be on top of a terrain piece due to space constraints*, is there any interaction with the terrain when the ship is given a move action? (especially if it’s a ship that is entirely contained within an iceberg after the iceberg moves farther “underneath” the ship) Or is it probably ignored entirely under the “make space if necessary” clause similar to other situations where the only space a game piece could occupy would create an illegal situation?
*Ex: A huge build total game where 20+ ships surrounded the home island and all had the Mercenary or Ex-Patriot keyword, so terrain nearby was an obstacle to placing them not in contact with terrain.
Does the L+L range for a swoop attack ignore all other game pieces and islands/terrain that might be in the way for line of fire?
Can a Sea Dragon land on an iceberg? Getting really intrigued by this section of the Code:
-In certain rare situations it is possible for a ship to occupy the exact same position as an iceberg. When this occurs, the ship loses one mast as normal. If the ship moves first it must move entirely off of the iceberg if possible; if the iceberg moves first, the ship remains in place and does not move with the iceberg. In either case, the ship will not take additional damage from that iceberg until they leave contact completely and then move back into contact.
If you get the Mysterious Island effect “Move an opposing ship using her base move”, can you target an enemy flotilla in order to essentially avoid using the effect? Or must you choose a ship that can actually move?
What happens if a Sea Dragon is moved via Mysterious Island on top of an enemy fort? To me, what takes precedence gets pretty crazy. Since it’s not considered docked as you can’t dock at an island an enemy fort is on, I thought the fort would be able to shoot in on itself to hit the dragon. However, there’s also all this:
If a sea dragon lands in the center of an island, that island will block line of fire to and from the sea dragon except where parts of it (particularly the wingtips) extend outside of the island.
Lines of fire drawn to and from the fort are not blocked by ships, the island, or any part of the fort itself, but they are blocked by fog banks and icebergs.
-This list applies only when two or more abilities conflict. When an ability and a rule conflict the ability always takes precedence regardless of the terms used, unless specifically stated otherwise.
This is a clarification on the Sea Dragon keyword vs. the fort shooting rules, so the dragon can’t be shot at unless the fort’s cannons can hit any parts of the dragon that might be extending past the edge(s) of the island? (this might take the cake for the most confusing rules question I’ve thought about in some months)
When using an L-mover, do you have to move the full L, or can you move the ship a partial amount like with a move segment? (“move an enemy ship L in any direction”)
Where in the rules does it say that icebergs block lines of fire? I didn’t see it in the Code, or scanned copies of the FN or OE rules. (I’m thinking about trying to protect a ship by somehow getting it to overlap an iceberg, then having an ally keep it entirely contained in the ice with “mover” stuff and using Nemo’s Plans with Runes of Thor/Loki to move the iceberg in a specific direction)
If a fog bank placed by a smokepot specialist is the exact same size and shape as an existing piece of terrain already in play and the smokebank is placed in exactly the same spot, when a ship comes into contact with this “layered terrain”, I assume they choose which terrain to apply to the ship? (ability doesn’t forbid placing the smokebank in contact with other terrain. Edit: I now see the Code ruling about not placing it in contact with other game pieces, but game piece could be construed as something playable (point/gold cost) rather than an island/terrain, as I don’t see a formal definition of game piece in the Code)
If a whirlpool is completely surrounded/covered by icebergs, does a ship exiting from that whirlpool have to lose a mast upon exit? (with no way to place the ship touching the whirlpool while also not touching any of the icebergs)
I know this is silly, but nothing in the whirlpool rules forbids a player from jumping from one whirlpool to another, back and forth as a stall tactic.
When any part of your ship or sea creature touches a whirlpool, you may choose to place it so that it touches any other whirlpool on the play area. If you do, roll a d6 after it is moved. On a result of 4-6, eliminate either one mast or segment, one treasure, or one crew from the game piece.
Using a whirlpool to jump to another whirlpool ends the ship’s entire move action. It cannot shoot (via a Captain), ram, board, or use any other effects that require a move action, until it is given another move action after exiting the second whirlpool.
It may not have been given a move action….
A smokebank is created. Calypso then creates a whirlpool touching the smokebank. A ship is moved into the smokebank. On the beginning of a player’s next turn, the smokebank disappears, forcing the ship out.
-When the smoke (fog bank) is to be removed, if there are any ships “lost” inside the player whose turn it is should roll for each of their exit locations, place them accordingly, and then remove the fog bank.
The ship ends up touching the whirlpool created by Calypso. Which player decides if the ship goes through to a different whirlpool – the player whose turn it is, or the player who controls the ship being placed by the player whose turn it is?
February 20, 2024 at 1:59 PM #17883WoelfModeratorThe current player should be the one shooting, so this is an exception to the loser chooses default rule? (not sure that it matters who rolls for Jonah’s ability)
Timing issues defer to the current player, so that person gets to pick if the roll is made or not. If the roll is made, a crew has to be ejected, and there’s a choice between equal-priced highest crew, the owner still gets to choose which specific one goes to an island and which other(s) go down with the ship.
If a ship relocated via this method must be on top of a terrain piece due to space constraints*, is there any interaction with the terrain when the ship is given a move action? (especially if it’s a ship that is entirely contained within an iceberg after the iceberg moves farther “underneath” the ship) Or is it probably ignored entirely under the “make space if necessary” clause similar to other situations where the only space a game piece could occupy would create an illegal situation?
*Ex: A huge build total game where 20+ ships surrounded the home island and all had the Mercenary or Ex-Patriot keyword, so terrain nearby was an obstacle to placing them not in contact with terrain.
If your build total is so high that physical space becomes an issue during setup, it will mostly come down to using your best discretion.
In general, though, if there’s no possible place to put a ship without overlapping terrain, you can place it there and simply ignore the effects of that terrain until the ship leaves it completely and then returns.
Does the L+L range for a swoop attack ignore all other game pieces and islands/terrain that might be in the way for line of fire?
Yes. Swoop attacks don’t require line-of-sight, only the range matters.
Can a Sea Dragon land on an iceberg? Getting really intrigued by this section of the Code:
-In certain rare situations it is possible for a ship to occupy the exact same position as an iceberg. When this occurs, the ship loses one mast as normal. If the ship moves first it must move entirely off of the iceberg if possible; if the iceberg moves first, the ship remains in place and does not move with the iceberg. In either case, the ship will not take additional damage from that iceberg until they leave contact completely and then move back into contact.
It could land so that it was touching one (which would trigger the normal iceberg effect), but can’t land so that it’s partly or entirely on top of the iceberg.
That entry in the PC is mainly referring to the use of the Lost UT where terrain can be placed under ships, but is kept slightly less specific so it also covers any other potential situations that could cause the same thing to happen.
If you get the Mysterious Island effect “Move an opposing ship using her base move”, can you target an enemy flotilla in order to essentially avoid using the effect? Or must you choose a ship that can actually move?
You must choose a ship that can move. You can’t choose an oar-less derelict, for the same reason.
What happens if a Sea Dragon is moved via Mysterious Island on top of an enemy fort? To me, what takes precedence gets pretty crazy. Since it’s not considered docked as you can’t dock at an island an enemy fort is on, I thought the fort would be able to shoot in on itself to hit the dragon.
Landing on or touching an island counts as docked, but because it can’t dock at an enemy fort, that means it can’t be moved so that it touches that island in any way. The same applies to Titans.
This is a clarification on the Sea Dragon keyword vs. the fort shooting rules, so the dragon can’t be shot at unless the fort’s cannons can hit any parts of the dragon that might be extending past the edge(s) of the island? (this might take the cake for the most confusing rules question I’ve thought about in some months)
It’s a non-issue because the Sea Dragon can’t land or be placed on an island if there’s a hostile fort there, but even if it could, forts ignore islands when shooting so the dragon wouldn’t be protected at all.
When using an L-mover, do you have to move the full L, or can you move the ship a partial amount like with a move segment? (“move an enemy ship L in any direction”)
Move the full distance if possible, unless something else gets in the way that stops it. You can choose to move it toward something even if there is completely clear space in another direction.
Where in the rules does it say that icebergs block lines of fire? I didn’t see it in the Code, or scanned copies of the FN or OE rules. (I’m thinking about trying to protect a ship by somehow getting it to overlap an iceberg, then having an ally keep it entirely contained in the ice with “mover” stuff and using Nemo’s Plans with Runes of Thor/Loki to move the iceberg in a specific direction)
I don’t remember where exactly it was mentioned, but I do know that rule/ruling was in place back before I took over as the RA. It might have been added via the older (pre-PC) version of the FAQ?
If a fog bank placed by a smokepot specialist is the exact same size and shape as an existing piece of terrain already in play and the smokebank is placed in exactly the same spot, when a ship comes into contact with this “layered terrain”, I assume they choose which terrain to apply to the ship? (ability doesn’t forbid placing the smokebank in contact with other terrain. Edit: I now see the Code ruling about not placing it in contact with other game pieces, but game piece could be construed as something playable (point/gold cost) rather than an island/terrain, as I don’t see a formal definition of game piece in the Code)
Islands and terrain count as game pieces, so layered placement isn’t legal unless an ability (like the UT Lost) specifically allows it.
If a whirlpool is completely surrounded/covered by icebergs, does a ship exiting from that whirlpool have to lose a mast upon exit? (with no way to place the ship touching the whirlpool while also not touching any of the icebergs)
Apply both the “place as close as possible” and the “touch one thing at a time” rules for that situation, which in this case could mean keeping it on top of the whirlpool. However, that would also mean it would have to completely clear the whirlpool before it could go back in to exit somewhere else, which may be a problem if none of the icebergs move away.
I know this is silly, but nothing in the whirlpool rules forbids a player from jumping from one whirlpool to another, back and forth as a stall tactic.
When any part of your ship or sea creature touches a whirlpool, you may choose to place it so that it touches any other whirlpool on the play area. If you do, roll a d6 after it is moved. On a result of 4-6, eliminate either one mast or segment, one treasure, or one crew from the game piece.
Using a whirlpool to jump to another whirlpool ends the ship’s entire move action. It cannot shoot (via a Captain), ram, board, or use any other effects that require a move action, until it is given another move action after exiting the second whirlpool.
It may not have been given a move action….
You could stall a little bit by using separate move actions to keep jumping between whirlpools, but the action ends as soon as you exit the first, so you can’t keep teleporting around indefinitely within a single action.
A smokebank is created. Calypso then creates a whirlpool touching the smokebank. A ship is moved into the smokebank. On the beginning of a player’s next turn, the smokebank disappears, forcing the ship out.
Similar to the iceberg situation above, the ship would get placed as close as possible. Being placed by one terrain cannot put a ship into contact with another. Some other sort of movement must occur in between.
The ship ends up touching the whirlpool created by Calypso. Which player decides if the ship goes through to a different whirlpool – the player whose turn it is, or the player who controls the ship being placed by the player whose turn it is?
The owner of a ship decides if the ship jumps to another whirlpool
March 1, 2024 at 4:03 PM #17903Captain VendariParticipantIf the players can’t agree on a compromise, let fate decide. Each player makes their choice, then they all roll dice or something to see who gets it.
I can understand this ruling for terrain, as the rules specifically state that players should agree on how many to use (0 is a perfectly valid amount). I have checked the Complete Rules, Pirate Code, and Comprehensive Tournament Rules, and none make such a statement regarding mysterious islands: only that each player is to provide three islands to be used in the game. Nowhere does it give the opponent a say whatsoever regarding whether the three islands a player chooses to provide can or can’t be a mysterious island. The only implied logic is that if a player doesn’t want to use mysterious islands, they simply choose not to supply them as their three islands.
Maybe for a casual game between friends, but for competition it seems like something a tournament organizer should put in the event description
March 1, 2024 at 11:44 PM #17904BenKeymasterCan a Navigator place a trade current within S of a friendly ship that is lost in a fog bank? If so, is it measured from any part of the fog bank?
My guess is that it can’t because it’s a fixed range, but it’s not technically being used against or by the lost ship. (instead, “for” it)
-If an ability, action, or other effect has a fixed range, requires line of sight, affects an area, or requires direct contact between ships, it cannot be used against (or by) a ship that is “lost” in a fog bank. If an ability does not have one or more of those requirements, it may be used against (or by) a ship in a fog bank.
March 2, 2024 at 6:14 AM #17905Captain VendariParticipantCan a Navigator place a trade current within S of a friendly ship that is lost in a fog bank? If so, is it measured from any part of the fog bank?
I think you’re correct that they can’t. The way I understand it, lost ships are treated as if they don’t have a definite location on the table; placing them inside the fogbank is merely a convenient way to mark which fogbank they are lost in.
March 2, 2024 at 7:55 AM #17906WoelfModeratorIf the players can’t agree on a compromise, let fate decide. Each player makes their choice, then they all roll dice or something to see who gets it.
I can understand this ruling for terrain, as the rules specifically state that players should agree on how many to use (0 is a perfectly valid amount). I have checked the Complete Rules, Pirate Code, and Comprehensive Tournament Rules, and none make such a statement regarding mysterious islands: only that each player is to provide three islands to be used in the game. Nowhere does it give the opponent a say whatsoever regarding whether the three islands a player chooses to provide can or can’t be a mysterious island. The only implied logic is that if a player doesn’t want to use mysterious islands, they simply choose not to supply them as their three islands.
Maybe for a casual game between friends, but for competition it seems like something a tournament organizer should put in the event description
That’s just the generic rule for anything that might cause a disagreement. If it’s an actual organized tournament, that’s something the organizer should either specify ahead of time, or give their ruling on when it comes up.
March 2, 2024 at 8:06 AM #17907WoelfModeratorCan a Navigator place a trade current within S of a friendly ship that is lost in a fog bank? If so, is it measured from any part of the fog bank?
I think you’re correct that they can’t. The way I understand it, lost ships are treated as if they don’t have a definite location on the table; placing them inside the fogbank is merely a convenient way to mark which fogbank they are lost in.
This is correct. “Lost” ships have no defined position, so you can’t use them as a basis for anything that’s range-based, even if the thing could completely envelop the fog bank.
The things that do still work while a ship is “lost” are those that can target globally, like the Duel or Mermaids events, Copiers, Mycron, or OE Davy Jones when he rolls a 5 or 6.
March 2, 2024 at 11:05 AM #17910Captain VendariParticipantThat’s just the generic rule for anything that might cause a disagreement. If it’s an actual organized tournament, that’s something the organizer should either specify ahead of time, or give their ruling on when it comes up.
Okay, so if I understand you correctly, I’m more or less correct concerning competitive play: if it’s not in the event description, the opponent can’t just say “I vote not to use mysterious islands in this game” and roll off? Otherwise it sets a precedent and could potentially lead to “I don’t want to play against forts/events in this game. Let’s roll off”.
March 2, 2024 at 10:27 PM #17911WoelfModeratorOkay, so if I understand you correctly, I’m more or less correct concerning competitive play: if it’s not in the event description, the opponent can’t just say “I vote not to use mysterious islands in this game” and roll off? Otherwise it sets a precedent and could potentially lead to “I don’t want to play against forts/events in this game. Let’s roll off”.
It’s not really a situation that should ever come up in competitive play. If something isn’t specifically excluded in the event details, players can’t force a roll-off just because there’s something they don’t want to use.
The main purpose of that was for rules disputes when there isn’t a clear answer, but at this point even that should be so rare as to be almost a non-issue, at least when using the official rules. It’s only mentioned in the PC when dealing with house rules and variants, where sometimes the changes that were made can break unexpected things elsewhere.
March 3, 2024 at 5:27 AM #17914BenKeymasterOtherwise it sets a precedent and could potentially lead to “I don’t want to play against forts/events in this game. Let’s roll off”.
The difference between those and MI’s is that forts/events never have their legality or usage in doubt from the standard rules – they’re always fair game. The rules make specific concessions on Mysterious Islands that create a sort of gray area, which makes me understand the dilemma a bit better. Ex:
You can also choose to play them as regular islands with no special effects.
Mysterious islands chosen as home islands might show game text when placed with the face up. Before starting your game, choose whether or not you want to use that island’s special effects.
March 3, 2024 at 10:42 AM #17916Captain VendariParticipantIf Lord Mycron is on HMS Titan and Titan rolls a 5 or 6 for an extra action, does she now have two actions Lord Mycron can give away?
March 3, 2024 at 11:48 AM #17917WoelfModeratorIf Lord Mycron is on HMS Titan and Titan rolls a 5 or 6 for an extra action, does she now have two actions Lord Mycron can give away?
Mycron’s effect occurs instead of giving the ship any actions for the turn, so you only get the one no matter how many others the ship (or its other crew) could potentially generate.
He’s mostly wasted on the Titan, unless you’ve got some other ship in your fleet that absolutely needs that additional action, but even then you’re still far better off putting him on some other, less-valuable ship.
March 3, 2024 at 11:51 AM #17918WoelfModeratorThe difference between those and MI’s is that forts/events never have their legality or usage in doubt from the standard rules – they’re always fair game. The rules make specific concessions on Mysterious Islands that create a sort of gray area, which makes me understand the dilemma a bit better
They’re not as clearly addressed in the rules as forts/events/etc., but are still prominent enough that any organized event needs to account for them one way or another. If there’s no mention of them, you have to assume they’re legal to use even if some players may not like them.
March 3, 2024 at 2:26 PM #17922BenKeymasterThey’re not as clearly addressed in the rules as forts/events/etc., but are still prominent enough that any organized event needs to account for them one way or another. If there’s no mention of them, you have to assume they’re legal to use even if some players may not like them.
Hm. I’ve been using the previous answer about the d6 rolloff method for Tournament #3 games so far, so I might just stick with that method for consistency the rest of the tournament (if MI’s come up again).
If the island treasure trading ability is used to receive a UT that can’t be loaded, does the UT still apply? (and stay on the island, for example with Altar of the Loa)
The trading ability takes place immediately before revealing UTs, so if you received the Altar or any other UT that can’t be loaded (Wolves, etc.), it applies normally as if it had been on your current island from the start.
Does that answer hold if the UT has already been revealed? Ex: I assumed you couldn’t trade for a face-up Altar of the Loa based on the below related entry for Wolves. When I wanted to make the trade, Altar was the only coin on the wild island being targeted, so it wouldn’t have been random.
-If a ship has the ability to trade treasure from one island to another, it cannot target treasure on an island where Wolves has been revealed because that ability requires the traded treasure to be loaded, which Wolves prevents. If Wolves has not been revealed, even if one or more players know it is there (due to other abilities), the island may be targeted for the swap normally.
From the entry on Island Treasure Trading:
-If the island chosen for the trade contains more than one treasure, the choice of token must be random. If one or more of the treasures have been previously revealed and/or they have distinctive backs, it may become necessary to use a draw bag, roll a die, or find some other suitable method to ensure that the choice is random.
I would contend that a d6 roll is almost a must to determine the random selection (such as 1-2: face up Altar, 3-4: face down coin #1, 5-6: face down coin #2). If it’s a draw bag, does the treasure that was face up get placed back face up? If so, it would require an outside entity to ensure that the face down treasures stay hidden. (or have a player that already explored that island look at them to find the coin that needs to be face up and flip it, but the treasure situation on the island could have changed, and could give them an advantage if they had forgotten what else was on the island but then were reminded of it)
If it’s a draw bag where the coins get essentially shuffled face down and there is no “referee” to oversee the correct treasure getting flipped face up again, is this a way to potentially force a face up treasure to go face down again? (and therefore making it a possible target of future trades again. Quite a specific situation, but adds to my point above about why a reshuffling/draw bag would be problematic in many cases)
Are all ships affected by the Foul Winds event moved in the exact same direction? I assume so, but it does say “any ship” instead of “all ships”.
Reveal this event at the beginning of one of your turns and place its token anywhere on the play area (except on an island or a ship). Any ship (except docked ships) within L of the token is moved L in one direction chosen by the player to the left of that ship’s controller. If a ship touches an island, eliminate one of her masts. Remove Foul Winds from the game.
Can you flip an abandoned crew face up just to make it crew so you can use the free transfer rule with it? Normally you can only flip a crew when using it’s abilities I think, but this seems like a good exception to that since you may want the abandoned crew to be treated as crew as soon as possible after loading them onto a ship.
I just want to confirm I have the “Explorer loophole” correct: Ship with 3 total cargo spaces docks at island. She has helmsman and explorer. She unloads the helmsman as part of the explore action and then loads two coins. Explore action ends. Then she uses the free transfer rule to swap out the explorer and get her helmsman back.
I think that’s the main gist of it? I’ve had to repeatedly dig into the Explore Action order of operations with some of the tournament games, and the last part really stands out because it doesn’t require loading treasure before unloading crew.
11) Load or unload facedown UTs, non-unique treasure, and any other cargo as desired and as cargo space allows.
Thanks!
March 4, 2024 at 5:26 PM #17930WoelfModeratorDoes that answer hold if the UT has already been revealed? Ex: I assumed you couldn’t trade for a face-up Altar of the Loa based on the below related entry for Wolves. When I wanted to make the trade, Altar was the only coin on the wild island being targeted, so it wouldn’t have been random.
Face up treasures on an island are included in the random draw, but if a face up treasure can’t be loaded (which the ship must do), then it gets ignored by the draw. If the only treasure(s) left on an island are face up UTs that can’t be loaded, you have to either choose a different island or simply not use the ability at all.
ADDED: If there’s only one face down treasure left on an island it’s technically not random either, but as long as it can still be loaded it can be chosen.
I would contend that a d6 roll is almost a must to determine the random selection (such as 1-2: face up Altar, 3-4: face down coin #1, 5-6: face down coin #2). If it’s a draw bag, does the treasure that was face up get placed back face up? If so, it would require an outside entity to ensure that the face down treasures stay hidden. (or have a player that already explored that island look at them to find the coin that needs to be face up and flip it, but the treasure situation on the island could have changed, and could give them an advantage if they had forgotten what else was on the island but then were reminded of it)
If it’s a draw bag where the coins get essentially shuffled face down and there is no “referee” to oversee the correct treasure getting flipped face up again, is this a way to potentially force a face up treasure to go face down again? (and therefore making it a possible target of future trades again. Quite a specific situation, but adds to my point above about why a reshuffling/draw bag would be problematic in many cases)
A draw bag is just one example, but as you pointed out, it won’t work in all situations, so rolling a die will probably be easier and more reliable. Any treasures that were face up before the draw do remain (or get returned) face up after, and vice-versa.
Are all ships affected by the Foul Winds event moved in the exact same direction? I assume so, but it does say “any ship” instead of “all ships”.
The wording is weird, but it does apply to all ships in the affected area. Because it specifies “one direction”, they all must move in the same single direction.
Can you flip an abandoned crew face up just to make it crew so you can use the free transfer rule with it? Normally you can only flip a crew when using it’s abilities I think, but this seems like a good exception to that since you may want the abandoned crew to be treated as crew as soon as possible after loading them onto a ship.
No, you can only flip them by using their abilities.
I just want to confirm I have the “Explorer loophole” correct: Ship with 3 total cargo spaces docks at island. She has helmsman and explorer. She unloads the helmsman as part of the explore action and then loads two coins. Explore action ends. Then she uses the free transfer rule to swap out the explorer and get her helmsman back.
I think that’s the main gist of it? I’ve had to repeatedly dig into the Explore Action order of operations with some of the tournament games, and the last part really stands out because it doesn’t require loading treasure before unloading crew.
Yep, that’s essentially it. As long as you have at least one other crew besides the Explorer on the ship that you can unload during the free explore action, you can do the crew shuffle after finishing it.
March 4, 2024 at 6:43 PM #17931BenKeymasterCan you flip an abandoned crew face up just to make it crew so you can use the free transfer rule with it? Normally you can only flip a crew when using it’s abilities I think, but this seems like a good exception to that since you may want the abandoned crew to be treated as crew as soon as possible after loading them onto a ship.
No, you can only flip them by using their abilities.
I can’t find anything in the normal rules or The Pirate Code that forbids a player from turning a crew face up (whether abandoned crew, or regular crew). I find it a little strange that crew cannot be revealed, because in general you may actually want to reveal a crew to an opponent to prove you’re not bluffing about someone you have assigned to a ship. (ex: you can tell them verbally and even pick up the chip and show it to them, but apparently you cannot keep the chip face up on the deckplate)
You must reveal (turn face up) a crew when using its ability, and it must remain face up the remainder of the game.
It doesn’t say you can’t reveal them when not using their abilities.
The above discussion about Abandoned Crew has me now wondering, if a Native Canoe finds an abandoned crew, can the canoe use the abandoned crew, seeing the crew doesn’t have a point cost?
They could carry one face down because it’s treated like treasure that way, but it cannot be face up. Individual canoes don’t have defined points cost at all, so nothing with a value can be assigned, even if it’s worth 0.
If Rollando touched a native canoe that was carrying an abandoned crew and chose not to take it, would the abandoned crew be removed from the game because it cannot be face up on the canoe?
Once per turn, if this ship is touching another ship, reveal all face-down treasure aboard the other ship. This ship can take as much unique treasure from the other ship as she can carry.
-If a unique treasure is revealed by this ability it does not have to be used immediately, but it remains face up.
Since Rollando’s ability says “once per turn” (similar to things like the spyer abilities that can be used on any and every player’s turn), could he use his ability on an opponent’s turn? (ex: if a cancelled native canoe rammed his ship to board and steal a face down abandoned crew, then activate his ability to reveal the abandoned crew and force its removal from the game)
In the Official Tournament Rules, it talks about a standard round being 30 minutes. Do you know if that was 30 minutes per player in a game, or 30 minutes for the entire game?
It’s interesting that the victory condition doesn’t include gold in forts.
A league is a special type of tournament that extends game play throughout an entire month. At this time, the Pirates of the Cursed Seas PocketModel game League format rules are under review, and will be presented again later this year.
Do you happen to know if the League format rules ever came out, or if you have them? (would be from 2008)
March 6, 2024 at 7:50 PM #17935WoelfModeratorI can’t find anything in the normal rules or The Pirate Code that forbids a player from turning a crew face up (whether abandoned crew, or regular crew). I find it a little strange that crew cannot be revealed, because in general you may actually want to reveal a crew to an opponent to prove you’re not bluffing about someone you have assigned to a ship. (ex: you can tell them verbally and even pick up the chip and show it to them, but apparently you cannot keep the chip face up on the deckplate)
You must reveal (turn face up) a crew when using its ability, and it must remain face up the remainder of the game.
It doesn’t say you can’t reveal them when not using their abilities.
The rules do state to place them face down when first assigned, but there’s no mechanism or even mention of being able to flip them face up at will. It only provides that when using their abilities.
It’s been an established rule/ruling since almost the very beginning that you can’t flip them up any time you want, but I can add an extra clarifier into my notes to more explicitly state it somewhere.
Being able to flip crew at any time also creates issues with certain abilities, especially doctors.
If Rollando touched a native canoe that was carrying an abandoned crew and chose not to take it, would the abandoned crew be removed from the game because it cannot be face up on the canoe?
That would create one of those illegal situations that would have be resolved by ejecting the crew.
Since Rollando’s ability says “once per turn” (similar to things like the spyer abilities that can be used on any and every player’s turn), could he use his ability on an opponent’s turn? (ex: if a cancelled native canoe rammed his ship to board and steal a face down abandoned crew, then activate his ability to reveal the abandoned crew and force its removal from the game)
As long as ships are in contact, he can use his ability during another player’s turn.
In the Official Tournament Rules, it talks about a standard round being 30 minutes. Do you know if that was 30 minutes per player in a game, or 30 minutes for the entire game?
I assume it means total time. With standard 40-points builds and island/treasure setups, that should be enough to get through a 2-player game, as long as neither player is purposely delaying things or getting distracted too much. The actual time can run longer too, because of the equal number of turns allowance.
It’s interesting that the victory condition doesn’t include gold in forts.
I think that goes along with WK’s well-established habit of ignoring anything that wasn’t in the most recent set, especially after the Cursed Seas soft reboot. As far they were concerned, forts didn’t exist anymore.
Do you happen to know if the League format rules ever came out, or if you have them? (would be from 2008)
If they ever did come out, I didn’t save a copy. More than likely they were completely forgotten about and there wasn’t enough demand for that format for them to dig it back up. I’m pretty sure Mechwarrior and/or HeroClix did have league rules, so if you can find those, you might be able to adapt the overall format for Pirates.
March 7, 2024 at 12:19 PM #17936BenKeymasterCan gold from the Gold Capture ability be used to build a fort?
If this ship wins a boarding party, she may capture the crew with the highest point cost instead of eliminating it. This captured crew becomes cargo worth its point cost in gold when unloaded at your home island.
If a player uses the Altar of the Loa UT to force an opponent’s ship to explore an island and the Castaway UT is found, I assume that the Altar user chooses which crew is brought into the game based on this line from the Code? (because the Castaway ability only even happens because of the explore action itself)
The owner of the ship may choose to reveal and use abilities normally, however, if the ability applies specifically to the action you have given to the ship you determine how it is applied.
Castaway: “Place any one crew with point cost 3 or less on this ship, using standard cargo capacity rules. That crew assumes this ship’s nationality. Remove Castaway from the game.”
March 9, 2024 at 12:13 PM #17954Captain VendariParticipantWhen are game pieces brought in by 0LR+5 crew chosen, and are they chosen in turn order or at the same time?
March 9, 2024 at 5:07 PM #17958BenKeymasterWhen are game pieces brought in by 0LR+5 crew chosen, and are they chosen in turn order or at the same time?
Chosen when on the Placing Crew part of the rules, so after home islands have been chosen and before placing treasure. (theoretically before placing equipment as well, but it seems odd to place them separately from crew in the order of operations)
March 11, 2024 at 10:01 AM #17965Captain VendariParticipantChosen when on the Placing Crew part of the rules, so after home islands have been chosen and before placing treasure. (theoretically before placing equipment as well, but it seems odd to place them separately from crew in the order of operations)
I think Woelf should probably clarify a bit more on the subject. It seems like he’s saying the choices should be made at the same time unless there is an issue where timing is relevant.
March 11, 2024 at 1:56 PM #17970BenKeymasterI think Woelf should probably clarify a bit more on the subject. It seems like he’s saying the choices should be made at the same time unless there is an issue where timing is relevant.
It is an odd gray area. In a competitive environment or with experienced players, the timing will almost always be relevant. At a minimum, player 2 will always want to bring in their +5 selections after player 1 brings in theirs. Ex: If P1 has no events in their starting fleet but brings in one face down via the +5, P2 is more likely to potentially use their +5 to bring in Favor of the Gods or an event/events of their own to stay more competitive. Or if P1 brings in a Black Mark crew face up to turn a ship Cursed, P2 might bring in Soul Mark with their +5.
Considering that it’s usually going to be just crew being added and they generally aren’t getting revealed immediately, all players with a +5 can usually make their choices simultaneously without it really mattering too much. However, if it is an issue somehow, the choice and placement of the extras should follow the same player order established for initial fleet placement.
In a lot of casual games it won’t matter when +5 stuff is brought in, especially since in my experience a lot of people don’t really consider their +5 selections to be modular based on an enemy fleet – they just built a 65 point fleet in the first place for a 60 point game (with 5 points still separate of course). The rules are quite vague on it, so I suppose a play group could play it either way.
I prefer to have it be in turn order rather than at the same time, because the “simultaneous” option could easily get gamey if one player just happens to already have all their crew out and obvious and the other player intentionally delays getting their stuff out and secretly changes some selections based on what they observe.
If a player has both the Hoard ability and “eliminate all of the other ship’s crew” boarding Massacre ability on the same ship and wins a boarding party, can they steal all treasure and eliminate all the enemy crew? (this is distinct from the RtSS Headhunter, who gives an either/or choice)
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