Back in the day I was an avid Pirates CSG player, enough so that I was creating custom ships for the game. Nowadays, my attention is occupied by a different game, but I still return to those halcyon days of my youth from time to time.
I actually created an entire custom rule set, the Economy Edition, which I posted to the long lost Miniature Trading website. My fellow Pirates colleague a7xfanben, who runs his own excellent website, Pirates with Ben, thankfully managed to preserve my ruleset and a lot of other content from the Miniature Trading forums.
I am now brining those rules here to the Space Dinosaur Minis, with some minor edits and formatting fixes for clarity. It also helps to have it here so that if I ever need to update rules again or there are questions from users, they can get help straight from the creator.
Of course, massive thanks to Ben for saving my rules, go check out his website and give him some love.
Pirates CSG: Economy Edition v1.1
By Cannonfury aka the Space Dinosaur
Errata:
-This game mode is designed for players with large fleets. You can play at smaller scales but the rules will not be played to their full potential.
-All ships must be unique, no duplicates; once a ship is sunk or otherwise removed from gameplay, it is no longer available for use for the remainder of that game, unless an ability allows for return to play.
-All named crew must be unique, but there can be multiple copies of generic crew; once a named crew is eliminated or otherwise removed from gameplay, it is no longer available for use for the remainder of that game, unless an ability allows for return to play. Generic crew may be used as many times as you can afford.
-Unique treasure may be used, but note that due to the nature of some rule changes, they may no longer function as intended.
-Resources are represented through tokens; players may choose whatever kind of tokens they wish as long as all players agree. A ship cannot carry more than 4 of a resource type at a time, although it can carry differing types of resources to its maximum cargo capacity.
-At the end of each turn, players are required to pay one gold for every ship in play that is not docked at their home island. At the beginning of the game, this gold comes from the initial build points. The construction of a fleet must take this cost into consideration.
-Game time is measured in rounds. A round begins with the start of the first player’s turn and ends at the finish of the last player’s turn.
Explore Actions: An explore action at a wild island takes a turn, as usual. When a wild island is explored for the first time, the player that performed the action rolls a d6—match the result to the number of the corresponding resource. That island now produces that resource for all players, and you may load up to 4 tokens of that resource onto this ship up to its cargo limit; each token fills one cargo space. Abilities that remove exploration markers may reset the resource of an island.
Repair Actions: Repair actions occur normally, with the exception that a ship carrying both lumber and textiles may repair a mast at a wild island, per the shipwright rules; these resources are used in the process.
Combat Actions: Combat actions occur normally, although boarding actions have received updates and new actions, blockading and razing, have been created.
Resources are the main source of gold production in the game, but must first be converted for a variable price at the home island into treasure coins, which can then be used to purchase ships, crew, equipment, etc.
Resources count as cargo, and abilities that affect treasure coins also affect resources i.e. each of these coins is worth +1 gold…turns to each of these resources is worth +1 of whichever resource is in question.
The value of a resource is determined by a die roll. At the beginning of the first player’s turn, a d6 and a d20 are rolled. The d6 roll determines the values of all resources (refer to the chart below) while the d20 roll determines the number of rounds this value will hold.
Lumber: (1) Fundamental for ship and settlement building, lumber is the basic building block of any naval civilization.
Textiles: (2) Needed for sails and clothing, textiles are a key part of the trading industry.
Metals: (3) Stronger than wood, metals allow for the construction of sturdier ships and deadlier weapons—as well as providing the means for paying for them.
Fish: (4) A food source from the sea, fish are bountiful and whales provide a large source of oil.
Spices: (5) Useful for preserving and improving the taste of foods, spices were highly sought after
Luxuries: (6) The rare items crews find on their journeys through the world’s seas—from the beautiful to the wild to the truly cryptic.
Example: A player explores an island and rolls a d6 and gets a 1. That island now produces lumber.
Islands: An island upgrade is bought at the home island; a token representing that upgrade can be loaded onto any ship, and fills one cargo space. That ship must return to the previously explored island and may unload the token as a free action. On the next turn, the island is upgraded. If a ship is sunk on transit, the token is lost and another must be purchased.
-Encampment: Automatically created after an explore action. Abilities that remove explore actions can eliminate encampments. Encampments simply mark that this island has been explored by the player; enemy encampments may exist on the same island.
-Fort: An encampment may be upgraded to a fort per the normal fort rules. A fort generates no resources. Crew may be hired at this island. Resources can be unloaded at a fort, but they cannot be converted.
-Settlement: An encampment may be upgraded to a settlement by paying 10 gold. Abilities that remove explore actions do not eliminate towns. Having a town on an island gives control of that island to a player; other players may no longer take resources from that island. Towns can be razed by enemy ships, they have no natural defenses and after three hits are considered destroyed. A town may also be captured through a boarding action. Once destroyed, the island becomes unexplored in regards to all players, and its resource value may be reset.
-Colony: A settlement may be upgraded to a colony by paying 10 gold. Players have a choice between either a trading or a military port; an island can only accommodate one.
1) Trading Port: Allows a player to trade any two resources for one other resource, of any type. An opposing player’s ship may also dock at your trading port to trade commodities, but they must pay one resource to the owner in addition to the two resources being traded. Ships with the parley keyword do not have to pay this fee. A trading port can be blockaded by any ship.
2) Military Port: Allows a player to repair ships docked at this island as if it were a home island. Crew and ships may be purchased at a military port using gold from your home island. A military port cannot hold gold like an ordinary fort. A military port cannot be blockaded, and acts as a four flag fort with 3S cannons.
-Clipper: This ship gets +S to her base move when she carries treasure.
-Gunboat: This ship’s printed cannon ranges are doubled. When this ship is given a shoot action you may roll two dice for each mast. You may choose different targets for each cannon on a mast, and you may roll them individually. If you wish to roll both dice at once, you must designate which die applies to which target before rolling. This ship cannot move faster than its printed base-move.
-Steamship: If this ship becomes derelict, she may still move S. She gets +S to her base move if she has all of her masts.
-Explorer: Explorer crew has been updated. If a ship performs an explore action with an explorer on board, that ship may reroll for the initial resource value. Hoists also benefit from this ability.
-Boarding: after a successful boarding action, the winning ship may, in addition to taking gold or killing crew, take up to three resources, of any type, up to their maximum cargo space. A settlement can be considered to have 2 masts in a boarding roll, and is captured by the winning ship. If a ship loses a boarding roll against a settlement, the attacking ship must remove a mast and move +S away.
-Blockading: A trading port can be blockaded by a ship. If a ship docks at a trading port and declares hostilities, that port is considered to be blockaded; all trading ceases and the player loses all bonuses, including the production of commodities. The blockading player gains the resource bonuses, and can choose to take resources up to their cargo limit or remove them from the game.
-Razing: A colony can be razed after a successful boarding action, it is considered to be a 4 mast ship. If the boarding ship wins, the colony is removed from the game, and the boarding ship receives all the resources available, up to that ship’s cargo limit. If the colony wins, the opposing player takes that ship, but all crew on board are removed from the game.
-Raiding: A ship with the home-island raiding ability can dock at an enemy home island and take as many resources as she can carry, in addition to any gold. If able, she must leave on her next turn.
-Privateering: Once a trading port has been established, minor nations (Barbary Corsair, Jade Rebellion, Mercenaries, or Viking) may be hired by the major nations as privateers. The ship or crew is bought for gold worth its build cost at the trading port. The ship comes into play immediately at that island; it is considered a member of your nation for all purposes except that once it docks at the home island, a military port, or a trading port, it is removed from play, along with any crew of the same nationality aboard. It may be hired again once it has been removed from play for the same cost.
-All named crew must be unique, but there can be multiple copies of generic crew; once a named crew is eliminated or otherwise removed from gameplay, it is no longer available for use for the remainder of that game, unless an ability allows for return to play. Generic crew may be used as many times as you can afford.
-Unique treasure may be used, but note that due to the nature of some rule changes, they may no longer function as intended.
-Resources are represented through tokens; players may choose whatever kind of tokens they wish as long as all players agree. A ship cannot carry more than 4 of a resource type at a time, although it can carry differing types of resources to its maximum cargo capacity.
-At the end of each turn, players are required to pay one gold for every ship in play that is not docked at their home island. At the beginning of the game, this gold comes from the initial build points. The construction of a fleet must take this cost into consideration.
-Game time is measured in rounds. A round begins with the start of the first player’s turn and ends at the finish of the last player’s turn.
Starting Conditions:
Players begin with 40 gold to design a fleet, either mixed or pure nationality. A pure nation fleet may contain other minor nations, per mercenary rules.
For each player, place 3 to 6 wild islands on the table, with home islands placed at opposite ends of the playing area, or in the case of a multiplayer game, at equidistant locations from one another on the boundaries of the map. Wild islands are empty at the beginning of the game, but if players wish, small amounts of gold may be placed on a few island pieces. Terrain may also be placed, and contrary to normal rules, are recommended to be placed in chains of at least 3. You may place as many terrain pieces as you desire.
Each player begins at their home islands, with no resources other than their starting fleet and any remaining points. Unique treasures may be placed on wild islands face down at the start of the game. Players take turns and move their ships, performing as per normal Pirates CSG rules.
For each player, place 3 to 6 wild islands on the table, with home islands placed at opposite ends of the playing area, or in the case of a multiplayer game, at equidistant locations from one another on the boundaries of the map. Wild islands are empty at the beginning of the game, but if players wish, small amounts of gold may be placed on a few island pieces. Terrain may also be placed, and contrary to normal rules, are recommended to be placed in chains of at least 3. You may place as many terrain pieces as you desire.
Each player begins at their home islands, with no resources other than their starting fleet and any remaining points. Unique treasures may be placed on wild islands face down at the start of the game. Players take turns and move their ships, performing as per normal Pirates CSG rules.
Victory Conditions:
A player wins when one of four conditions are met:
-Time limit: The player with the most gold coins (not resources) wins after a set amount of time has passed
-Fleet elimination: All enemy ships have been sunk, even if islands are still generating resources
-Trade monopoly: All resource generating islands belong to one player
Players may surrender if they feel that they no longer have a chance at fulfilling any of these victory conditions.
-Time limit: The player with the most gold coins (not resources) wins after a set amount of time has passed
-Fleet elimination: All enemy ships have been sunk, even if islands are still generating resources
-Trade monopoly: All resource generating islands belong to one player
Players may surrender if they feel that they no longer have a chance at fulfilling any of these victory conditions.
Action Modifications
Explore Actions: An explore action at a wild island takes a turn, as usual. When a wild island is explored for the first time, the player that performed the action rolls a d6—match the result to the number of the corresponding resource. That island now produces that resource for all players, and you may load up to 4 tokens of that resource onto this ship up to its cargo limit; each token fills one cargo space. Abilities that remove exploration markers may reset the resource of an island.
Repair Actions: Repair actions occur normally, with the exception that a ship carrying both lumber and textiles may repair a mast at a wild island, per the shipwright rules; these resources are used in the process.
Combat Actions: Combat actions occur normally, although boarding actions have received updates and new actions, blockading and razing, have been created.
Resources
Resources are the main source of gold production in the game, but must first be converted for a variable price at the home island into treasure coins, which can then be used to purchase ships, crew, equipment, etc.
Resources count as cargo, and abilities that affect treasure coins also affect resources i.e. each of these coins is worth +1 gold…turns to each of these resources is worth +1 of whichever resource is in question.
The value of a resource is determined by a die roll. At the beginning of the first player’s turn, a d6 and a d20 are rolled. The d6 roll determines the values of all resources (refer to the chart below) while the d20 roll determines the number of rounds this value will hold.
Lumber: (1) Fundamental for ship and settlement building, lumber is the basic building block of any naval civilization.
Textiles: (2) Needed for sails and clothing, textiles are a key part of the trading industry.
Metals: (3) Stronger than wood, metals allow for the construction of sturdier ships and deadlier weapons—as well as providing the means for paying for them.
Fish: (4) A food source from the sea, fish are bountiful and whales provide a large source of oil.
Spices: (5) Useful for preserving and improving the taste of foods, spices were highly sought after
Luxuries: (6) The rare items crews find on their journeys through the world’s seas—from the beautiful to the wild to the truly cryptic.
Die Roll......1......2.......3.......4.......5.......6
Lumber......1......6.......5.......4.......3.......2
Textiles......2......1.......6.......5.......4.......3
Metals........3......2.......1.......6.......5.......4
Fish...........4......3.......2.......1.......6.......5
Spices........5......4.......3.......2.......1.......6
Luxuries.....6......5.......4.......3.......2.......1
Example: A player explores an island and rolls a d6 and gets a 1. That island now produces lumber.
There are the two main die, a d6 and a d20, that control that market in the game. If the player rolls a 3 on the d6 and a 14 on the d20, you go to the chart value of 3 for die roll and read down. For the next 14 turns, lumber is worth 5 gold, textiles 6, metals 1, and so on.
After that set is done, the player now rolls a 6 on the d6 and a 4 on the d20. For the next 4 turns, lumber is now worth only 2 gold, which means if that player was depending on lumber the market value just plummeted.
The names of resources are purely for flavor purposes, so you could have any resource type you want so long as there are 6 of them and the roll chart remains the same.
After that set is done, the player now rolls a 6 on the d6 and a 4 on the d20. For the next 4 turns, lumber is now worth only 2 gold, which means if that player was depending on lumber the market value just plummeted.
The names of resources are purely for flavor purposes, so you could have any resource type you want so long as there are 6 of them and the roll chart remains the same.
Technology Upgrades
Islands: An island upgrade is bought at the home island; a token representing that upgrade can be loaded onto any ship, and fills one cargo space. That ship must return to the previously explored island and may unload the token as a free action. On the next turn, the island is upgraded. If a ship is sunk on transit, the token is lost and another must be purchased.
-Encampment: Automatically created after an explore action. Abilities that remove explore actions can eliminate encampments. Encampments simply mark that this island has been explored by the player; enemy encampments may exist on the same island.
-Fort: An encampment may be upgraded to a fort per the normal fort rules. A fort generates no resources. Crew may be hired at this island. Resources can be unloaded at a fort, but they cannot be converted.
-Settlement: An encampment may be upgraded to a settlement by paying 10 gold. Abilities that remove explore actions do not eliminate towns. Having a town on an island gives control of that island to a player; other players may no longer take resources from that island. Towns can be razed by enemy ships, they have no natural defenses and after three hits are considered destroyed. A town may also be captured through a boarding action. Once destroyed, the island becomes unexplored in regards to all players, and its resource value may be reset.
-Colony: A settlement may be upgraded to a colony by paying 10 gold. Players have a choice between either a trading or a military port; an island can only accommodate one.
1) Trading Port: Allows a player to trade any two resources for one other resource, of any type. An opposing player’s ship may also dock at your trading port to trade commodities, but they must pay one resource to the owner in addition to the two resources being traded. Ships with the parley keyword do not have to pay this fee. A trading port can be blockaded by any ship.
2) Military Port: Allows a player to repair ships docked at this island as if it were a home island. Crew and ships may be purchased at a military port using gold from your home island. A military port cannot hold gold like an ordinary fort. A military port cannot be blockaded, and acts as a four flag fort with 3S cannons.
Ships/Equipment
-Clipper: This ship gets +S to her base move when she carries treasure.
-Gunboat: This ship’s printed cannon ranges are doubled. When this ship is given a shoot action you may roll two dice for each mast. You may choose different targets for each cannon on a mast, and you may roll them individually. If you wish to roll both dice at once, you must designate which die applies to which target before rolling. This ship cannot move faster than its printed base-move.
-Steamship: If this ship becomes derelict, she may still move S. She gets +S to her base move if she has all of her masts.
Crew
-Explorer: Explorer crew has been updated. If a ship performs an explore action with an explorer on board, that ship may reroll for the initial resource value. Hoists also benefit from this ability.
Updated/New Mechanics
-Boarding: after a successful boarding action, the winning ship may, in addition to taking gold or killing crew, take up to three resources, of any type, up to their maximum cargo space. A settlement can be considered to have 2 masts in a boarding roll, and is captured by the winning ship. If a ship loses a boarding roll against a settlement, the attacking ship must remove a mast and move +S away.
-Blockading: A trading port can be blockaded by a ship. If a ship docks at a trading port and declares hostilities, that port is considered to be blockaded; all trading ceases and the player loses all bonuses, including the production of commodities. The blockading player gains the resource bonuses, and can choose to take resources up to their cargo limit or remove them from the game.
-Razing: A colony can be razed after a successful boarding action, it is considered to be a 4 mast ship. If the boarding ship wins, the colony is removed from the game, and the boarding ship receives all the resources available, up to that ship’s cargo limit. If the colony wins, the opposing player takes that ship, but all crew on board are removed from the game.
-Raiding: A ship with the home-island raiding ability can dock at an enemy home island and take as many resources as she can carry, in addition to any gold. If able, she must leave on her next turn.
-Privateering: Once a trading port has been established, minor nations (Barbary Corsair, Jade Rebellion, Mercenaries, or Viking) may be hired by the major nations as privateers. The ship or crew is bought for gold worth its build cost at the trading port. The ship comes into play immediately at that island; it is considered a member of your nation for all purposes except that once it docks at the home island, a military port, or a trading port, it is removed from play, along with any crew of the same nationality aboard. It may be hired again once it has been removed from play for the same cost.
Great to see these on your site cannonfury! Thanks for the shoutout! Why is there a white background to the text?
ReplyDeleteBen
No problem! Must of been missed when I changed some of the blog settings. Should be fixed. Thanks for pointing it out!
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