Restarting Rules and New Master Keyword List
Here are the Restarting Rules and New Master Keyword List, initially developed for use with the new set (Pirates of the Golden Seas). The first draft was finished in July 2021, and underwent numerous revisions until the current version was finalized in August 2024. Woelf (the Rules Arbitrator) was consulted heavily throughout the process.
Changes to the rules:
-One rules document. (not split into Start Here and Complete Game)
-2 action limit is clearly defined under “Rules of the High Seas”
-The standard build total is 60 points instead of 40.
-The “any build total can be chosen” part is underlined for emphasis.
-“Events should not be used unless all players agree to allow them.”
-Round Earth is now the default boundary rule
-Flat Earth now includes: “Players cannot voluntarily move their ships over the edge.”
-Islands must be placed at least 2L from each other (rather than 3L)
-Terrain can be placed anywhere on the play area, and each piece can touch any other piece of terrain or islands.
-The last player chooses their home island first, followed by the second to last player, and so on until the first player is the last to choose their home island.
-Changes to links: “When two linked crew are assigned to the same ship, they share a single cargo space. In the same way, if one crew is assigned to a ship to which it is linked, that crew does not take up cargo space. If multiple links are present on a ship, all crew that link share the same single cargo space. Links are considered rules rather than abilities, so they are not subject to the No-Stacking Rule, and they cannot be cancelled or copied.”
-Movement bonuses can be applied at any time during a move action, rather than just at the end after base move segments are completed (original rule only appears in The Pirate Code, not in the Start Here or Complete Game rules).
-Boarding: Winner chooses whether to take a treasure or eliminate a crew; winner chooses which treasure to take; loser chooses which crew to eliminate.
-Made it clear that towing can occur when a ship is touching the bow of a derelict, not just at the end of a move action.
-Docking a towed ship at an island or fort when the towing ship docks is now optional.
-Ships with any number of masts can now ram and board (they don’t need to have at least one mast).
-A successful ram eliminates masts – removed the part saying “(remove from the game)”.
-Treasures are always looked at when exploring.
-Treasure from a sunken ship is not split between players in a 2 player game. It is always removed from the game regardless of the number of players.
-Added: “The number of flags on a fort must match the number of cannons it has when first built.”
-Players are not required to unload regular (non-UT) treasure when they dock at friendly forts.
-Forts can repair with a shipwright in them (including when they have no flags left).
-Removed the wording around Abandoned forts because it is unnecessary (first sentence moved to Shooting section, second sentence irrelevant with shipwright-repair option).
-Icebergs can continue moving after hitting islands
-Sargasso Sea reworded for clarity
-Whirlpools are bad on rolls of 1-3 and equipment can be lost to them.
-Sea creature rules moved to the back/bottom of rules. Text heavily modified and specific game mechanics will be addressed as part of sea creature type keywords, not in the sea creature rules.
-No “more than half the starting gold” endgame condition in 2 player games.
-Endgame condition changed to only one player can give future move actions (rather than half or more players cannot give future move actions)
-Added some Pirate Code text to maximize clarity of rules.
-Some wording changes for clarity/brevity/etc.
Changes to the Master Keyword List:
-Shipwright (made better).
-Sea Monsters may move and shoot using the same move action.
-Sea creature type keywords: Revamped in various ways. Now each keyword says what that creature type can do, without overly relying on the sea creature rules to define what they can and can’t do.
-If a sea monster or titan eliminates crew via boarding, it may repair one of its segments as a free action.
-Scorpions can board sea creatures with their blade attack.
-Changed “boarding action” to “boarding party”.