zum Spiel
| für Spieler | Homepage-Start
Entdecker
Ghost Ship
(by Steffan O'Sullivan)
|
aktualisiert am 11.02.1998
I'm posting this in the hopes of getting two things:
-
Feedback on these rules - alterations, expansions, deletions, etc.
-
Other variants using the Entdecker components.
The game has beautiful and fascinating components, but the rules are a
little lackluster. So I'd like to see some other ways to use those components.
Here's my contribution: a game called "Ghost Ship." It has little resemblance
to the original Entdecker rules.
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
Version: October 5, 1996
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not be published without written permission of the author.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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.)
-
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.
-
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.
Setup is now complete - you are ready to play. The other components are
not used in this version.
Outline of the Game
The game is played in two phases: the Archipelago Creation phase and the
Touring phase.
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
Shuffle the tiles with Question Marks (called "symbol tiles") so no one
knows which are which. Deal them all out to the players, as evenly as possible.
Players should not look at their tiles yet. In a three-player game, the
player who moves first will have one less symbol tile.
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
Once all the tiles are on the board, the treasure, gold and ghost ship
are then placed according to the following rules.
-
Each chit is placed on the board with its value hidden from all players.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
On his turn, a player spins the spinner and moves his pawn according to
the rules of movement. During the Touring phase, you may move anywhere
on the board, not just on the tiles you placed.
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
The ghost ship represents The Dead Pirate Roberts and his crew who scattered
their loot all over the archipelago. The ship went down in a storm with
all hands after hiding their booty - but even in death their greed for
their loot binds them to the archipelago.
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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).
-
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.
-
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).
-
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.
-
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.
-
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).
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
If you ever spin the same number on three turns in a row, something unusual
happens. Use the gold-tracking card to keep track of your spins. Each turn,
place the marker by the number equal to your last spin. If you get the
same result as last turn, simply rotate the card 180 degrees - that represents
two turns in a row.
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
If you don't try to move or perform any other action (such as searching
for a boat) in a given turn, you may save up one movement point (MP) towards
the next turn. This is the only way an MP can be carried over from one
turn to the next.
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
If you've marched away from your boat and would like to be able to sail
from your new position instead of going back to your boat, you may search
for a new boat. This takes your entire turn, and your chance of success
varies depending on where you are. If you do get another boat, simply pick
up your boat piece and move it to the space with your scout. In this case,
your old boat was found by somebody else who put to sea with it.
-
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
The game ends when there is no more treasure or gold on the map. Players
do not have to move home. At this point, the game is scored. Simply add
up the numbers on the treasure (round chits) and the value of the gold
- the player with the highest total wins.
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
Movement:
--------
By Sea: 1 MP
By Sea from board-edge circle to adjacent board edge circle: 3 MP
Landing: 2 MP to go from sea to land in the same space.
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.
Anything else: no chance.
zum Seitenanfang |
zum
Spiel | für Spieler | Homepage-Start