1. Feedback on these rules - alterations, expansions, deletions, etc.
2. Other variants using the Entdecker components.

Please DO NOT post these rules to another web or ftp site yet - I want to get feedback on them first, and hone them to the best they can be. There is a players' aid sheet at the end to make playing easier - make a copy for each player.

----------------Begin variant entdecker rules-----------

Ghost Ship

A game for two, three or four players using the components from Entdecker; Copyright 1996 by Steffan O'Sullivan. May be copied for personal use; may not be published without written permission of the author.

Entdecker is a trademark of Gold Sieber Spiele, Germany, for its game of exploration.

Those of you who own Entdecker may wish to try this "variant." Variant is perhaps not the right word, since these rules have very little in common with the original Entdecker rules. They simply use the very attractive components from that game! No additional components are required.

Setup

1. Separate from the tile mix six of the tiles numbered "6" on the backs (all four edges have land), and four tiles numbered "1" on the back (all four edges have water). Also remove all twenty tiles with Question Marks on the back.
2. Mix the rest of the tiles face down. Randomly sort them into four roughly-equal stacks and shuffle the stacks always face down. Cut each stack. Place these four stacks face down by the side of the board.
3. Turn the round cardboard chits face down, and mix them. Leave them face down by the side of the board - stacked or in a jumble, it doesn't matter. Also place the eight forts (though they are not called forts in this version) and the ship counter ("ghost ship") by the round chits.
4. Since there are no illustrations with these rules, we will use a graph system to denote spaces on the board. Looking at the board from one of the long edges, there are ten columns (up and down) and seven rows across. The rows are (mentally) labeled A through G, and the Columns numbered 1 through 10. The upper left square would then be A-1, the upper right square A-10, the lower right square G-10, and the lower left square G-1.
5. Place the four tiles with #1 on the back that you separated in step (1), above, on the corner spaces: A-1, A-10, G-1 and G-10. (One per space - all spaces only receive one tile in this game.)
6. Take the six tiles with #6 on the back that you separated in step (1), above, and place them on spaces B-3, B-8, D-5, D-6, F-3 and F-8.
7. Spin to see who goes first. Each person chooses a different color and takes one scout and a round scoring-marker of that color. The round scoring-marker represents the player's boat, and it will be called that from now on. The scout represents the player moving by land. When referring to either piece, the term "pawn" will be used. Each player places his boat in one of the four corner all- sea spaces, one boat per space. If there are only two players, they should be kitty-corner to each other. If there are three players, the player who goes first should have the corner in between the other two players. These are the respective starting spaces for the Touring phase. Hold the scouts off the board in front of each player. Give each player a gold-tracking card and marker.

Outline of the Game

During the Archipelago Creation phase, players take turns placing the tiles with Question Marks one at a time, then the remaining tiles ten at a time on the board until all spaces are filled in. The "treasure" (round chits) and "gold" (forts) are then distributed where applicable.

During the Touring phase, each player moves his boat from his start space by use of the spinner. He will journey from island to island, picking up treasure and gold on the way.

The winner of the game is the one who collects the most points, as represented by the treasure and gold.

The Archipelago Creation Phase

Starting with the first player, a player turns over one symbol tile and places it on the board face up (Question Mark down). Then the next player turns over one tile, and places it on the board face up, and so on, until all twenty symbol tiles are placed on the board.

You may not place a symbol tile in the eight adjacent spaces around a symbol tile already on the board. Eventually, this will no longer be possible. Once it's no longer possible, you may then place symbol tiles diagonally adjacent to other symbol tiles, but not orthogonally adjacent. You should be able to get all twenty on the board without violating this rule.

All symbol tiles must be placed in accordance with rules 1 and 2 under Rules of Tile Placement, below. In addition, there should be ten symbol tiles on each half of the board once they are all placed. The dividing line for "half of the board" is where the board folds between two columns. The player who moves last may adjust the minimum number of symbol tiles needed until there are ten on each half of the board. No symbol tile may be placed directly adjacent to another, however.

Once the twenty symbol tiles are placed, it's time to fill in the rest of the board. Starting with the first player, each player takes the top ten tiles from any one of the four face-down stacks. He then places these tiles anywhere on the board, using the rules of placement below. He may look through all ten before placing any, if desired.

The other players then take their turns, also drawing ten tiles from any one stack they wish, and placing them on the board. Play continues in this manner until the board is filled in completely.

Rules of Tile Placement

1. Each tile that is placed must match the tile(s) it is placed adjacent to: an edge with land on it must be match another edge with land; a dashed line must meet a dashed line. It is permissible, of course, to place a land edge or a dashed-line edge next to a vacant space - this merely limits the tile that will eventually go in that space.
2. The circles printed on the board around the squares must also be matched up. That is, only dashed lines may be placed touching the outer edges of the board.
3. If a player draws a tile he cannot legally play, he must discard it. In this case, a discard pile is started face up, and the player simply has fewer tiles to place on his turn. It's no big deal.
4. Eventually there will only be spaces left which must take a certain tile configuration. At that point, simply go through the remaining tiles until you find the correct tiles, and place them on the spaces. Should there not be enough of a given configuration, the player who moves last should remove a tile or two around the vacant space and replace them with tiles that will allow a completed map to be created. No symbol tiles may be moved or removed in this process, however.

Placement of Treasure, Gold and the Ghost Ship

1. Each chit is placed on the board with its value hidden from all players.
2. Cover each symbol with a chit, so that the symbol cannot be seen. There are twenty symbol tiles and twenty round chits. Once placed, a chit may not be lifted to see the symbol underneath until someone moves onto the space where the chit is located. At that point, reveal the symbol to all players, but keep the chit value secret.
3. Each tile that has a #6 on its back (all four edges are land) then receives a gold (fort). Color is irrelevant for gold - any player may take and score any gold.
4. The Ghost Ship is then placed by the player who moves last. It must be placed on one of the two spaces in the center of the board (D-5 or D-6).

The Touring Phase

Use your boat piece when moving by sea - keep the scout in front you off the board when sailing. Use the scout when moving by land - keep the boat on the board where it is beached when moving by land.

During movement, you will collect treasure and gold - hopefully. When you have picked up loot, place it in front of you, off the board. Treasure may be kept face down - you do not have to reveal how many chits you hold, nor of what value. The exception is if two or more players are in the same space. In that case, all must reveal to the others how many chits and of what value they have so far.

The Ghost Ship

Should the ghost ship ever share a space with a player's active pawn, the player loses one treasure at random. (The "active pawn" is the scout if it is on the board; otherwise the boat.) The player to the affected player's left selects one face-down chit after the owning player has a had a chance to mix them. Such a chit is put back in the box without being revealed to any player - the ghostly crew has reclaimed part of their treasure, and it is lost to the game.

Should the ghost ship enter a space with more than one player, each player involved must lose a chit.

The ghost ship has no effect on a player without any treasure. The ghost ship has no effect on treasure still on the board. The ghost ship has no effect on gold, whether on the board or in a player's possession. The ghost ship has no effect on a boat pawn if the player's scout pawn is on the board in a different space.

Rules of Movement

1. You have a number of movement points equal to the result spun at the beginning of your turn. If the spinner ever points exactly at a line between two numbers, the player who spun it may choose which number to use. You do not have to use all your movement points in a given turn - in fact, you may decide to stay still if you wish.
2. The direction of the spin is also used to move the ghost ship. This is the same spin - do not spin separately for the ghost ship. The ghost ship ignores the number spun. Instead, it moves only one space in the direction the spinner arrow is pointing to. The ghost ship may move diagonally, and may move across land. It is never affected by symbols. If there is some doubt about which direction the ghost ship should move, it moves diagonally on an odd number, and orthogonally on an even number. If the ghost ship would move off of the tiles onto a board edge space, the player whose turn it is places it back on either center space, his choice. The rest of these movement rules refer to player movement, not the ghost ship.
3. Boats at sea are always considered in the circle on a tile or board edge. If moving by sea, a boat can only move along dashed lines. [Exception: see (4).] Moving by sea costs one movement point, whether there is a symbol in the circle or not. If the circle is on a space with land on it, you are still at sea until you spend points to land.
4. You may move from one circle that is printed on the board (not on a spending three movement points. This is the only type of sea movement, except for a storm, in which you don't have to follow a dashed line.
5. Landing costs two movement points. This is in addition to the sailing cost of one movement point it took to arrive on the space. You may not land that turn if you do not have at least two movement points left when you arrive at a space. You do not have to land - you may sail by.
6. When you land, you land on the circle. If a circle is shared by two islands or peninsulas, you must announce which one you are landing on. In either case, you are "in the circle," though it's possible two players may be in the same circle yet be on different islands. (In this case, they don't show each other their chits - the same is true for a player at sea in a circle in which another player is on the land.) Place your scout on top of the boat to show you've landed. If you are landing in a space that has a symbol, you have not yet moved off of the symbol - you ignore any penalties in rule (15).
7. When moving by land, the boat remains where it was beached. You move the scout, instead. You do not move along dashed lines when moving the scout.
8. It costs two points to move the scout by land along the coast. You may not move diagonally - even an "all land" piece can have a tiny bit of coast which must be counted when moving along a coast. When entering a space, you must always place the scout on the edge which he entered, if there is more than one edge with a coast. You are always affected by a symbol in a space, no matter how you are moving away from it - see rule (15).
9. It costs three points to move the scout "overland" - that is, any march that does not follow the coast. You may not move diagonally when marching overland - you may only move to a space with a common edge as the one you are leaving. You may remain on the same tile, simply moving overland to a beach that is not contiguous with the beach you began the turn on. This still costs three movement points.
10. Unlike the boat, the scout does not have to enter the circle of any space he enters by land. However, if he wishes to avoid a circle, he must use overland movement to bypass it, and remains on the same tile - merely on the other side of the circle. He is not affected by any symbol in the circle if he does not enter the circle.
11. In order to pick up a chit, you must be on land, in the circle in the space. [Exception: chits on all-sea spaces are considered to be on rocks in the center of the space. You don't have to land on these to get the chit, but do have to spend one extra movement point.] It costs one extra movement point to pick up a chit, and it ends your turn regardless of how many movement points you have left. If you do not have one extra movement point on the turn you enter the circle with the chit, you may spend your entire next turn picking up the chit. Since all chits are on a symbol, you will be affected by the symbol when you leave the space - see movement rule (15).
12. To pick up gold, you must march overland (3 movement points) to reach the top of the hill. Simply marching to the coast at the base of hill is not enough to get the gold. In addition, it costs one MP to pick up gold, just as it does to pick up treasure, and such an action ends your turn.
13. You may put to sea if your scout can reach your boat and you have enough movement points left. It costs two movement points to put to sea. Simply remove the scout from the board to show you've put to sea. Note that you remain in the same space when putting to sea. That costs two points, and you may continue sailing up to your movement point limit that turn. Also note that you have not left any symbol you might be on simply by putting to sea in the same space - you are unaffected by rule (15) until you attempt to move out of the space.
14. A scout may attempt to swim across a "strait" without his boat. A strait only occurs on a tile with two opposite land edges and two opposite water edges (such as on a tile with #3 on its back). A strait may be between two different islands or two different peninsulas of the same island, depending on the configuration of the other tiles around it. You may not attempt to swim across any other water - use the boat to cross other water. To swim across the strait - from one land mass on the tile to the other land mass on the same tile - you must spin a four or five, and it takes your entire turn. On any other spin you turned back because of sharks.
15. It is usually harder to move OUT of a circle with a symbol than it is to move into it. This is true even if you are attempting to sail "through" the space, without stopping there. The difficulty of moving off such a space varies with the symbol, as discussed below.

15-A. Skull & Cross Bones: you may only leave this symbol with a spin of a five, and then you may only go one space. However, that one space may be of any appropriate type: by sea, marching along the coast, or marching overland. Any other result and you lose (the rest of) your turn. You may not pick up any chit on the turn you leave a Skull & Cross Bones symbol. This symbol represents whatever hazard you wish to call it. (The longer you stay there, the worse things you'll call it. . .) Note that if you begin a turn adjacent to a Skull & Cross Bones, and wish to simply sail through it, you could move onto the space with any spin, but only continue through it if you spun a five that turn. In such a case, you would have to stop in the space just beyond the Skull & Cross Bones, since you may never move more than one space when leaving a Skull & Cross Bones.

15-B. Storm: IF MOVING BY LAND, you must spin a four or five to leave this space, and may only move one space when you do so. You may not pick up any chit on the turn you leave a Storm symbol. If you spin less, you lose (the rest of) your turn. IF MOVING BY SEA, or PUTTING TO SEA, or ATTEMPTING TO LAND, stop when you enter a Storm space. On your next turn, spin the spinner, ignoring the number it points to. Instead, look at the direction of the spinner, and move your boat one space in that direction. This may be diagonally, and is the only diagonal movement allowed to players in the game. This ends your turn - you may not pick up a chit that turn, even if blown onto a space containing one. If there is a doubt about which space is referred to, spin again. If the space pointed to would move you across land, you've run aground: land in the appropriate space (put your scout on your boat).

15-C. Hostile Natives: if you spin a four or five, you lose (the rest of) your turn hiding from the natives. Yes, even if by sea - you're in a boat, not a ship, and they have boats, too. Best to pull into a secluded cove and wait it out. On a two or three you may move normally.

15-D. Ruins: if you spin a five, you lose (the rest of) your turn gazing in awe at the inspiring ruins. On any other result, you may move normally.

15-E. Friendly Natives: if you spin a two, you lose (the rest of) your turn being treated to a feast. Yes, even if in a boat - they bring it to you in their boats and you all have a water- picnic. You enjoy it immensely, but don't get to move. On any other result, you may move normally.

15-F. Treasure Chest: it costs two extra movement points to pick up a chit on a Treasure Chest, making a total of +3 MP to collect that chit, which must be used all in the same turn. This represents the time it takes to dig up the treasure. There is no additional penalty for leaving a Treasure Chest symbol.

Triples

Spinning triples "resets the counter:" if you spin a number for the fourth time in a row, that would only count as the first of a new triple.

Triple Fives: on the third turn in a row you spin a five, your opponent to your right decides your move, if any. If it would normally be a five that wouldn't allow you to move (such as trying to leave a Ruins space) you ARE able to move on this turn, if - and where - your opponent desires!

Triple Fours: on the third turn in a row you spin a four, you have only one movement point, but you get to move yourself.

Triple Threes: on the third turn in a row you spin a three, you move normally and you may also move one treasure (not gold) on the board to any adjacent space, so long as it doesn't cross water. This may result in two treasures (or one treasure and one gold) in the same space. In this case, it takes two separate turns to pick up both.

Triple Twos: on the third turn in a row you spin a two, you may count the third spin as any number you wish. You move yourself. If you count it as a two, you may move the ghost ship one space (from its position after moving for your spin) in any direction you chose, and still move your two.

Saving Up Movement Points

Do not even spin the spinner - simply say you are saving up one MP. In this case, the ghost ship does not move.

Saving up MPs is cumulative: if you don't move or perform any other action on the next turn, you will then have two MPs saved up towards the following turn. Once you attempt to move or perform an action, you must use all saved up MPs on that turn - they are lost after that. These accumulated MPs can get you overland, or off of a Skull & Cross Bones, or can count toward finding a boat, etc.

When using accumulated MPs any result of greater than five is treated as a five. However, the natural number spun is used for triples tracking.

You may also save up "negative MPs" when you need a low number in order to move. You must state which you are saving up, positive or negative MPs, when you save the first one.

When using accumulated negative MPs, any spin of less than two counts as a two. However, the natural number spun is used for triples tracking.

Saving up an MP resets any triples count. Use the gold-tracking card to keep track of how many MPs you have saved. Rotate the card 180 degrees if you are saving negative MPs.

Searching for a Boat

A. If you are in a circle with Friendly Natives, there is no need to search - they give you one as a present. However, you still spend your entire turn - feasting with them out of gratitude. You may put to sea on your next turn.

B. If you are in a circle with Hostile Natives, you might be able to steal one. If you spin a four or five, you have stolen a boat and may put to sea on your next turn. If you spin a three, you haven't found one yet, but may try again. If you spin a two, however, you lose not only this turn but the next, dodging through the underbrush as they caught sight of you snooping around their boats.

C. If you are in a circle with a Ruins, you can find a boat on a spin of four or five. No luck on a two or three.

D. If you are in a circle without a symbol, you can find a boat on a spin of five. No luck on any other result.

E. You may steal another player's boat if it's unattended - simply swap the positions of the two boat pieces. This takes your entire turn, however, and if he returns before you can put to sea, he automatically takes control of his boat, even if he doesn't have enough movement points to put to sea.

F. There is no chance of finding a boat in any other space.

End of the Game

Each piece of gold a player collects is worth the sum total of all his "1" value chits. That is, if player A collects three "1" chits and player B only two "1" chits, then each gold is worth 3 points for player A but only 2 points for player B. If you have no chits of value "1", then each gold is worth exactly one point to you.

If there is a tie, the tied player who is furthest from the ghost ship wins. If there is still a tie, it's a real tie. Live with it.

If you gather more chits than the winner, but lost because he got all the high-point chits, you can console yourself with a moral victory - but he still won.

Player Aid Sheet

By land along the coast: 2 MP
Overland: 3 MP (you must move overland to pick up gold)
Putting to Sea: 2 MP to go from land to sea in the same space.

Swim across a "strait:" succeed if you spin a 4 or 5; end
your turn.

Chit or Gold: +1 MP to pick up chit or gold; your turn ends.
Treasure Chest: +2 MP to dig up Treasure (+ chit cost, above)

From space containing:
No symbol: no special cost.
Skull & Cross Bones symbol: Spin a 5, move one space.
Storm, moving by sea: Spin, move one space in direction pointed to;
diagonal movement okay.
Storm, moving by land: Spin a 4 or 5, move one space
Hostile Natives: Move normally on a 2 or 3
Ruins: Move normally on a 2, 3, or 4
Friendly Natives: Move normally on a 3,4, or 5
Treasure Chest: no special cost.

Triples
-------
Twos: third spin is any number you wish. If you choose a 2, move the
ghost ship.
Threes: move a treasure to an adjacent space, not over water. You
have 3 MP.
Fours: third spin counts as only 1 MP.
Fives: Opponent to your right moves you on third spin!

Searching for a Boat
--------------------
Takes your entire move, whether successful or not.
In space containing:
Friendly Natives: automatic, spend one turn feasting
Hostile Natives: success on a 4 or 5. No luck on a 3. Lose next
turn on a 2.
Ruins: success on a 4 or 5. No luck on a 2 or 3.
No symbol: success on a 5. No luck otherwise.
Other player's boat: automatic, spend one turn preparing it.