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| The object of the game is to collect the eight doubloons. |
Overview
During the Sea Action Phase, the player taking on this role has two important actions. At the beginning of the phase, this player will roll the blue Wind Dice to determine the direction the wind is coming from for the entire phase. These are 6-sided dice with the following faces on them: N, NE, SE, S, SW, and NW. These faces correspond to the direction the wind is blowing based on the compass rose shown on the seafaring map with the hexagonal grid.
The Captain is also responsible for moving the actual ship. He can take suggestions from the rest of the crew, but in the end, the ship movement is left in his hands. Movement starts with a base of five spaces, but is penalized or given bonuses based on the direction of the wind.
For example, suppose the Wind Dice were rolled and the wind is blowing towards the NE. If the ship moves in the same direction as the wind, it gets a +2 bonus for movement (base of 5 + bonus of 2 = 7 spaces for movement). If the ship moves in any direction with only one matching letter on the Wind Dice, the ship gets a +1 bonus for movement, so the ship could move 6 spaces if moving NW, N, or SE. If the ship were moving S, it would only move its base speed of 5 spaces because S does not match either letter on the die face. If this ship was moving the exact opposite of the wind towards the SW, the ship takes a -1 penalty for movement and can only move 4 spaces. I'll discuss the actual ship movement at a later time.
To initiate the Boarding Action Phase, The Captain must move the ship into a space directly next to the opposing ship and commands the pirates to attack. Once this happens, the players clear the game mat and flip it over to the other side for the Boarding Action Phase.
During the Boarding Action Phase, The Captain has the ability to give up one of his Combat Dice to another player for the duration of the phase. He can only do this once per Boarding Action Phase and can leave himself defenseless if done at the earlier stages of the game. Once the Boarding Action Phase is completed, the die is returned to The Captain's Combat Dice pool.
The Midshipman Starting Stats: 6 HP, 1 Flag Dice, 2 Combat Dice
During the Sea Action Phase, the player taking on this role acts as a spotter when approaching another ship. Once the players' ship is within 10 spaces of another vessel, The Midshipman will roll the black Flag Dice to determine which flag the other ship is flying. These dice are 6-sided with 3 different flags: Spain, England, and a Jolly Roger. These faces correspond to the vessel's allegiance and how they will react if the players choose to attack.
If attacking another Pirate ship, they will not run away and will fight back. If attacking a Spanish ship, they will try to move away with a speed of 4 (adding in the penalties and/or bonuses from the direction the wind is blowing). If attacking an English ship, they will fight back and call in reinforcements. The next closest ship will also head towards the battle, targeting you to aid the English ship.
During the Boarding Phase, The Midshipman fights alongside everyone else, but starts with an additional Combat Die.
The Gunner Starting Stats: 7 HP, 1 Cannon Die, 1 Combat Die
During the Sea Action Phase, the player taking on this role can fire at the other vessels to slow them down, or destroy them. Once the players' ship is within 10 spaces of another vessel, The Gunner can roll the green Cannon Dice to attack the opposing ship. These dice are 6-sided with three different targets: the sails, the hull, and the water. If the water is rolled on the dice, then the shot missed. If the sails are hit, the enemy ship takes a -1 penalty to their movement speed. If the hull is hit 3 times, this ship sinks and no Boarding Action Phase takes place.
During the Boarding Action Phase, The Gunner can substitute a Combat Dice roll of "slash" for a "shot", but only once per Boarding Action Phase. (The phases and Combat Dice will be discussed in greater detail later.)
The Surgeon Starting Stats: 9 HP, 1 Repair Die, 1 Combat Die
During the Sea Action Phase, the player taking on this role can repair the ship as it is taking damage from other vessels. Once the ship has taken damage and the player decides to repair it, The Surgeon rolls the purple Repair Dice to fix the ship. These dice are 6-sided with three different tools: a hand, a hammer, and a saw. If the hand is rolled on the dice, the ship is not repaired but the dice goes back into the pool. If the hammer is rolled, the ship regains 1 HP. If the saw is rolled, the ship regains 2 HP. The Surgeon can only use each die once per Sea Action Phase but any damage dealt to the ship carries over to the subsequent Sea Action Phases. If the players' ship is destroyed, the game is over and everyone loses.
During the Boarding Action Phase, The Surgeon can take a Combat Die from another player, add it to The Surgeon's Combat Dice pool, and the other player gains an additional 5 HP. This can only happen once per Boarding Action Phase and the exchanged die is returned to the healed player once the phase is completed. The players cannot gain more HP than their current maximum and The Surgeon cannot heal himself.
Character Advancement and Leveling
There are no official "levels" in Tortuga's Treasure, but each time a doubloon is collected, each player has 3 different options for improving their character:
Melee Combat
Melee Combat in Tortuga's Treasure is very easily resolved. I'll go into details of the Boarding Action Phase and it's game mat in the next post, but once a target is declared the player has a few different options available with the Combat Dice. The enemy will always roll the 1 red Combat Die. The player can choose to roll 1 or more orange Combat Dice at the same time. If more than 1 die is rolled, the player may choose which of the rolled actions to accept as their combat move. If a single die is rolled and other dice still exist in the pool, the player may continue to make additional attacks until the pool is drained.
The Combat Dice themselves have three different faces: a single sword representing a "slash", a black-powder pistol representing a "shot", and two swords crossed representing a "block". The combat is resolved very simply with a Rock/Paper/Scissors variant. A "slash" happens quick and deals 1 point of damage against an opponent or player slowly drawing their pistol to perform a "shot". The "shot" is powerful enough to blast through an opponent attempting to "block", dealing 2 points of damage. The "block" easily deflects a "slash". A "slash" versus a "slash" deals 1 point of damage to both combatants, while a "shot" versus a "shot" deals 2 points of damage to both combatants.
So, let's supposed a player has 3 Combat Dice in their pool and enters combat. The player decides to roll a single die, getting a "shot" against the opponent's "block", killing the opponent. With 2 remaining dice in the pool, the player can move on to another target. For the second target, the player decides to roll both dice, getting a "block" and a "shot" against the opponent's "slash". The player then chooses a single action out of the two to take place, and would choose the "block" to deflect the incoming "slash".
Closing Thoughts
I am having a lot of fun designing Tortuga's Treasure and can't wait to see it come to life! :-)
What are you thoughts so far on the 4 character classes and their unique roles in the game? Some seem a bit more active than others, but I think that will balance once the game gets moving. Each character participates equally in the combat during the Boarding Action Phase, which is where I think the real meat of the game will be. This will need some play testing and is a one area I'm really interested in getting some constructive feedback on.
I only touched on it briefly, but for less than 4 players, the roles get doubled up and you may have hybrid characters like a Captain/Surgeon, controlling the ship and repairing it on the same turn. There are a total of 10 possible character types if you include all combinations, allowing for many different styles of play and character responsibilities.
In the next post I'll cover...
Tortuga's Treasure is a pirate themed, role-playing board game for two to four players. Each player takes on the role of a specific pirate on the ship as the group battles the Spanish, the English, and other pirates in hopes of finding eight magical doubloons known as Tortuga's Treasure. Finding the treasure isn't as simple as it seems as the different factions will react differently when they see your Jolly Roger flying towards them across the waves.
Game Parts
Tortuga's Treasure comes with the following parts:
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Character Roles
Tortuga's Treasure has four distinct pirate roles available, each with their own unique contributions to the activities on the ship and in combat. I will go into more detail about the actual game play later, but for now, understand that there are two phases in the game: Sea Action Phase and Boarding Action Phase.
The Captain Starting Stats: 8 HP, 1 Wind Die, 1 Combat Die
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| Compass rose |
The Captain is also responsible for moving the actual ship. He can take suggestions from the rest of the crew, but in the end, the ship movement is left in his hands. Movement starts with a base of five spaces, but is penalized or given bonuses based on the direction of the wind.
For example, suppose the Wind Dice were rolled and the wind is blowing towards the NE. If the ship moves in the same direction as the wind, it gets a +2 bonus for movement (base of 5 + bonus of 2 = 7 spaces for movement). If the ship moves in any direction with only one matching letter on the Wind Dice, the ship gets a +1 bonus for movement, so the ship could move 6 spaces if moving NW, N, or SE. If the ship were moving S, it would only move its base speed of 5 spaces because S does not match either letter on the die face. If this ship was moving the exact opposite of the wind towards the SW, the ship takes a -1 penalty for movement and can only move 4 spaces. I'll discuss the actual ship movement at a later time.
To initiate the Boarding Action Phase, The Captain must move the ship into a space directly next to the opposing ship and commands the pirates to attack. Once this happens, the players clear the game mat and flip it over to the other side for the Boarding Action Phase.
During the Boarding Action Phase, The Captain has the ability to give up one of his Combat Dice to another player for the duration of the phase. He can only do this once per Boarding Action Phase and can leave himself defenseless if done at the earlier stages of the game. Once the Boarding Action Phase is completed, the die is returned to The Captain's Combat Dice pool.
The Midshipman Starting Stats: 6 HP, 1 Flag Dice, 2 Combat Dice
If attacking another Pirate ship, they will not run away and will fight back. If attacking a Spanish ship, they will try to move away with a speed of 4 (adding in the penalties and/or bonuses from the direction the wind is blowing). If attacking an English ship, they will fight back and call in reinforcements. The next closest ship will also head towards the battle, targeting you to aid the English ship.
During the Boarding Phase, The Midshipman fights alongside everyone else, but starts with an additional Combat Die.
The Gunner Starting Stats: 7 HP, 1 Cannon Die, 1 Combat Die
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| "Do it, you dogs, or it's you we'll load into the cannons!" Mr. Gibbs, Pirates of the Caribbean |
During the Boarding Action Phase, The Gunner can substitute a Combat Dice roll of "slash" for a "shot", but only once per Boarding Action Phase. (The phases and Combat Dice will be discussed in greater detail later.)
The Surgeon Starting Stats: 9 HP, 1 Repair Die, 1 Combat Die
During the Sea Action Phase, the player taking on this role can repair the ship as it is taking damage from other vessels. Once the ship has taken damage and the player decides to repair it, The Surgeon rolls the purple Repair Dice to fix the ship. These dice are 6-sided with three different tools: a hand, a hammer, and a saw. If the hand is rolled on the dice, the ship is not repaired but the dice goes back into the pool. If the hammer is rolled, the ship regains 1 HP. If the saw is rolled, the ship regains 2 HP. The Surgeon can only use each die once per Sea Action Phase but any damage dealt to the ship carries over to the subsequent Sea Action Phases. If the players' ship is destroyed, the game is over and everyone loses.
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| This'll feel a million times better in the morning, trust me! |
During the Boarding Action Phase, The Surgeon can take a Combat Die from another player, add it to The Surgeon's Combat Dice pool, and the other player gains an additional 5 HP. This can only happen once per Boarding Action Phase and the exchanged die is returned to the healed player once the phase is completed. The players cannot gain more HP than their current maximum and The Surgeon cannot heal himself.
Character Advancement and Leveling
There are no official "levels" in Tortuga's Treasure, but each time a doubloon is collected, each player has 3 different options for improving their character:
- Add 1 HP to the character, increasing the maximum HP value. This is capped at 12 HP.
- Add 1 Combat Die to the player's Combat Dice pool. This is capped at 4 dice.
- Add 1 [Character Specific] Die to the player's [Character Specific] Dice pool. This is capped at 4 dice.
Melee Combat
Melee Combat in Tortuga's Treasure is very easily resolved. I'll go into details of the Boarding Action Phase and it's game mat in the next post, but once a target is declared the player has a few different options available with the Combat Dice. The enemy will always roll the 1 red Combat Die. The player can choose to roll 1 or more orange Combat Dice at the same time. If more than 1 die is rolled, the player may choose which of the rolled actions to accept as their combat move. If a single die is rolled and other dice still exist in the pool, the player may continue to make additional attacks until the pool is drained.
The Combat Dice themselves have three different faces: a single sword representing a "slash", a black-powder pistol representing a "shot", and two swords crossed representing a "block". The combat is resolved very simply with a Rock/Paper/Scissors variant. A "slash" happens quick and deals 1 point of damage against an opponent or player slowly drawing their pistol to perform a "shot". The "shot" is powerful enough to blast through an opponent attempting to "block", dealing 2 points of damage. The "block" easily deflects a "slash". A "slash" versus a "slash" deals 1 point of damage to both combatants, while a "shot" versus a "shot" deals 2 points of damage to both combatants.
So, let's supposed a player has 3 Combat Dice in their pool and enters combat. The player decides to roll a single die, getting a "shot" against the opponent's "block", killing the opponent. With 2 remaining dice in the pool, the player can move on to another target. For the second target, the player decides to roll both dice, getting a "block" and a "shot" against the opponent's "slash". The player then chooses a single action out of the two to take place, and would choose the "block" to deflect the incoming "slash".
Closing Thoughts
I am having a lot of fun designing Tortuga's Treasure and can't wait to see it come to life! :-)
What are you thoughts so far on the 4 character classes and their unique roles in the game? Some seem a bit more active than others, but I think that will balance once the game gets moving. Each character participates equally in the combat during the Boarding Action Phase, which is where I think the real meat of the game will be. This will need some play testing and is a one area I'm really interested in getting some constructive feedback on.
I only touched on it briefly, but for less than 4 players, the roles get doubled up and you may have hybrid characters like a Captain/Surgeon, controlling the ship and repairing it on the same turn. There are a total of 10 possible character types if you include all combinations, allowing for many different styles of play and character responsibilities.
In the next post I'll cover...
- Layout and design of the game mat (both sides, for both phases)
- Enemy movement and combat in both phases
- A closer look at combat in the Boarding Action Phase
- Purpose of the 8 ship cards and collecting the doubloons
