Iron_Chef
First Post
Just bought and enjoyed the light strategy beer-n-pretzels Pirate's Cove game from Days of Wonder. http://piratescovegame.com
Pirate's Cove is the most beautiful, high quality game I've ever bought (as it should be for $49.95, LOL). 3-5 players take on the roles of rival pirates plundering five islands, fighting each other and legendary (NPC) pirates like Blackbeard and Captain Hook. It plays out in 12 turns (representing 1 year game time) and the pirate with the most Fame points wins. You gain fame by winning battles, looting islands, telling tall tales, and burying gold and treasure chests on Treasure Island. Each player gets their own fully customizable pirate ship. Upgrade your Sails (speed), Crew, Cannon (Attack) and Hull (how much treasure you can carry).
Anyway, to my point: I loved Pirates! Gold on my Sega Genesis years ago, and found that while I enjoyed Pirate's Cove, it was missing the two most fun elements of Pirates! Gold: Dueling rival captains with swords and courting beautiful ladies. These options would make the game more suitable (and entertaining) for older gamers.
I have figured out a way to incorporate the dating/marriage aspect into Pirate's Cove quickly and easily for anyone interested. I have playtested the rules below twice, and they added a lot of fun and mystery to the game without any noticeably unbalancing effects.
PIRATE'S COVE COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE RULES
Set-up: Take 5 uniformly colored plastic chips (such as for poker or those that come with Axis & Allies) and number them 1-5 on one side. If you don't have chips, you can use another non-see-through material.
The numbers each represent a different eligible young lady, ranked in order of beauty. These chips are placed number-side down, mixed-up, and then placed number-side down, one per outer island (#1-5).
Note: If you have some suitable female miniatures (28-30mm) from an RPG, you can use these to represent the ladies once they are revealed (but keep the chips with them so no one gets confused as to which is which).
Rules: Whenever a player plunders an island, he must turn over the chip to see which young lady he meets. The chip stays on the island if the player cannot (or chooses not too) marry the lady, unless it is the Sea Hag (see chip #1, below, for details). Once a lady is married, the player removes her chip from the island and places it on the top right corner of his pirate ship mat.
Because of the heightened Fame requirements necessary to play out courtships before the game ends, all players may cash in their Fame (Tall Tale cards in Pirtatenbucht) cards from the Tavern deck as soon as they draw them. These represent boasts made to impress the ladies, as well as your fellow pirates.
To marry a lady, a player must meet certain requirements (representing his courtship period and wedding expenses):
THE LADIES
#1 Brunhilda The Sea Hag: The Sea Hag is an obese, nagging shrew who makes Medusa look like Cindy Crawford. She gets her claws into the first player drunk and unlucky enough to meet her and forces him into an unhappy marriage. She costs no Gold and requires no Fame to wed. She acts as a millstone around her husband's neck, causing him to lose -5 Fame at the end of the game if he cannot be rid of her. The only way to escape her is to defeat an unwed player in battle. Doing so allows you to abandon her to your rival and sail off happily into the sunset. The unlucky victim of this trick can get rid of her in the same way. If all other players are wed, then you are stuck with her!
Post-Game Wrap-up: Your hideous beast of a wife drives you to a miserably long life of drink and despair. You become the laughing stock of the Brotherhood of the Coast. No matter how much Fame or Gold you acquired, your wife never ceased her nagging. You voluntarily turn yourself in and plead guilty to piracy. You are hanged for your crimes, but die with a smile on your face, knowing you are finally free of that evil witch. -5 FAME.
#2 Sally The Serving Wench: This homely lass with stars in her eyes is desperate to get married quickly so as to escape her lowly lot in life. She wants to marry a pirate with at least some success under his belt. She requires her husband to have 10 Fame before agreeing to wed but the cost to wed is no Gold.
Post-Game Wrap-up: You always regret not holding out for a better wife, and take some ribbing from your fellow pirates for having taken such a homely bride. You are overjoyed when Sally leaves you for a more successful pirate, but find you can't get another girl any prettier no matter how hard you try. This sad fact makes you become bitter and jealous, and you end up at the bottom of the sea after a reckless raid to steal the beautiful wife of a rival pirate. +0 FAME.
#3 Plain Jane: Jane comes from a good but minor family with some small degree of influence. Jane has high standards considering her average looks, but makes up for her lack of outer beauty with inner beauty. She requires her husband to have 20 Fame before agreeing to wed and the cost to wed her is 5 Gold.
Post-Game Wrap-up: Your average wife proves to have a smart head on her shoulders. With her sound advice, you invest your loot wisely, and retire to a comfortable life with your own small estate. +3 FAME.
#4 Bloody Mary The Pirate Queen: Mary is a famous, fearless pirate in her own right. She refuses to marry a man who can't defeat her in combat. She requires her husband to have 30 Fame (simulating defeating her in a duel among your other successes) before agreeing to wed and the cost to wed her is 8 Gold.
Post-Game Wrap-Up: Together, you and your wife become the terror of the High Seas, living out one wild, bloody adventure after another for several years. When your pregnant wife is captured by the Royal Navy, you risk everything to save her, but fail. You are both hanged together after your son is born. Your son becomes an even more famous pirate and helps keep your legend alive. You become one of the most romantic, yet tragic, figures in the history of piracy. +5 FAME.
#5 Lady Elizabeth: The most prized and sophisticated beauty in all the Seven Seas, Elizabeth is the youngest daughter of powerful Royal Governor. She requires her husband to have 40 Fame before agreeing to wed and the cost to wed is 10 Gold.
Post-Game Wrap-Up: Your wife uses her connections to have your name cleared of all criminal charges. You are made a Royal Governor and inherit a sizable fortune from her father's estate. You live out the rest of your days in wealth and style, surrounded by happiness (despite having to fend off occasional raids by jealous pirates). +10 FAME.
TENTATIVE IDEAS FOR DUELING: I'm also looking into creating Dueling Rules for Pirate's Cove, perhaps by cannibalizing the Runebound heroes and rules. Players could duel over the ladies, or at Tavern Island (where everyone is considered to be on land at the Tavern). Or, maybe you could choose to duel other players instead of ship-to-ship battle. The advantage of dueling would be more FAME awarded for victory and perhaps wagering Gold on the outcome.
Pirate's Cove is the most beautiful, high quality game I've ever bought (as it should be for $49.95, LOL). 3-5 players take on the roles of rival pirates plundering five islands, fighting each other and legendary (NPC) pirates like Blackbeard and Captain Hook. It plays out in 12 turns (representing 1 year game time) and the pirate with the most Fame points wins. You gain fame by winning battles, looting islands, telling tall tales, and burying gold and treasure chests on Treasure Island. Each player gets their own fully customizable pirate ship. Upgrade your Sails (speed), Crew, Cannon (Attack) and Hull (how much treasure you can carry).
Anyway, to my point: I loved Pirates! Gold on my Sega Genesis years ago, and found that while I enjoyed Pirate's Cove, it was missing the two most fun elements of Pirates! Gold: Dueling rival captains with swords and courting beautiful ladies. These options would make the game more suitable (and entertaining) for older gamers.
I have figured out a way to incorporate the dating/marriage aspect into Pirate's Cove quickly and easily for anyone interested. I have playtested the rules below twice, and they added a lot of fun and mystery to the game without any noticeably unbalancing effects.
PIRATE'S COVE COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE RULES
Set-up: Take 5 uniformly colored plastic chips (such as for poker or those that come with Axis & Allies) and number them 1-5 on one side. If you don't have chips, you can use another non-see-through material.
The numbers each represent a different eligible young lady, ranked in order of beauty. These chips are placed number-side down, mixed-up, and then placed number-side down, one per outer island (#1-5).
Note: If you have some suitable female miniatures (28-30mm) from an RPG, you can use these to represent the ladies once they are revealed (but keep the chips with them so no one gets confused as to which is which).
Rules: Whenever a player plunders an island, he must turn over the chip to see which young lady he meets. The chip stays on the island if the player cannot (or chooses not too) marry the lady, unless it is the Sea Hag (see chip #1, below, for details). Once a lady is married, the player removes her chip from the island and places it on the top right corner of his pirate ship mat.
Because of the heightened Fame requirements necessary to play out courtships before the game ends, all players may cash in their Fame (Tall Tale cards in Pirtatenbucht) cards from the Tavern deck as soon as they draw them. These represent boasts made to impress the ladies, as well as your fellow pirates.
To marry a lady, a player must meet certain requirements (representing his courtship period and wedding expenses):
THE LADIES
#1 Brunhilda The Sea Hag: The Sea Hag is an obese, nagging shrew who makes Medusa look like Cindy Crawford. She gets her claws into the first player drunk and unlucky enough to meet her and forces him into an unhappy marriage. She costs no Gold and requires no Fame to wed. She acts as a millstone around her husband's neck, causing him to lose -5 Fame at the end of the game if he cannot be rid of her. The only way to escape her is to defeat an unwed player in battle. Doing so allows you to abandon her to your rival and sail off happily into the sunset. The unlucky victim of this trick can get rid of her in the same way. If all other players are wed, then you are stuck with her!
Post-Game Wrap-up: Your hideous beast of a wife drives you to a miserably long life of drink and despair. You become the laughing stock of the Brotherhood of the Coast. No matter how much Fame or Gold you acquired, your wife never ceased her nagging. You voluntarily turn yourself in and plead guilty to piracy. You are hanged for your crimes, but die with a smile on your face, knowing you are finally free of that evil witch. -5 FAME.
#2 Sally The Serving Wench: This homely lass with stars in her eyes is desperate to get married quickly so as to escape her lowly lot in life. She wants to marry a pirate with at least some success under his belt. She requires her husband to have 10 Fame before agreeing to wed but the cost to wed is no Gold.
Post-Game Wrap-up: You always regret not holding out for a better wife, and take some ribbing from your fellow pirates for having taken such a homely bride. You are overjoyed when Sally leaves you for a more successful pirate, but find you can't get another girl any prettier no matter how hard you try. This sad fact makes you become bitter and jealous, and you end up at the bottom of the sea after a reckless raid to steal the beautiful wife of a rival pirate. +0 FAME.
#3 Plain Jane: Jane comes from a good but minor family with some small degree of influence. Jane has high standards considering her average looks, but makes up for her lack of outer beauty with inner beauty. She requires her husband to have 20 Fame before agreeing to wed and the cost to wed her is 5 Gold.
Post-Game Wrap-up: Your average wife proves to have a smart head on her shoulders. With her sound advice, you invest your loot wisely, and retire to a comfortable life with your own small estate. +3 FAME.
#4 Bloody Mary The Pirate Queen: Mary is a famous, fearless pirate in her own right. She refuses to marry a man who can't defeat her in combat. She requires her husband to have 30 Fame (simulating defeating her in a duel among your other successes) before agreeing to wed and the cost to wed her is 8 Gold.
Post-Game Wrap-Up: Together, you and your wife become the terror of the High Seas, living out one wild, bloody adventure after another for several years. When your pregnant wife is captured by the Royal Navy, you risk everything to save her, but fail. You are both hanged together after your son is born. Your son becomes an even more famous pirate and helps keep your legend alive. You become one of the most romantic, yet tragic, figures in the history of piracy. +5 FAME.
#5 Lady Elizabeth: The most prized and sophisticated beauty in all the Seven Seas, Elizabeth is the youngest daughter of powerful Royal Governor. She requires her husband to have 40 Fame before agreeing to wed and the cost to wed is 10 Gold.
Post-Game Wrap-Up: Your wife uses her connections to have your name cleared of all criminal charges. You are made a Royal Governor and inherit a sizable fortune from her father's estate. You live out the rest of your days in wealth and style, surrounded by happiness (despite having to fend off occasional raids by jealous pirates). +10 FAME.
TENTATIVE IDEAS FOR DUELING: I'm also looking into creating Dueling Rules for Pirate's Cove, perhaps by cannibalizing the Runebound heroes and rules. Players could duel over the ladies, or at Tavern Island (where everyone is considered to be on land at the Tavern). Or, maybe you could choose to duel other players instead of ship-to-ship battle. The advantage of dueling would be more FAME awarded for victory and perhaps wagering Gold on the outcome.
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