Overview

Blackbeard is a 1–5 player game simulating the Golden Age of Piracy in the 17th–18th centuries. Players control multiple historical pirates, maneuvering them across a map of the Atlantic and Indian oceans divided into sea areas and ports. Pirates seek merchant ships to loot, attack ports for booty, gain notoriety, and convert plunder into net worth. The game is driven by an event card deck that determines available actions and introduces random events. Anti-pirate players can deploy warships and King’s Commissioners to hinder the active pirate. Victory is determined by accumulating the most Victory Points from pirate notoriety and net worth, ideally retiring pirates after successful careers.

Components

• 1 game board (34”x22”) showing the North Atlantic, West Africa, and East Africa/India regions with sea areas, ports, and transit boxes
• 110 cards in 2 decks: 23 Pirate Cards and 87 Event Cards
• 2 sheets of counters (pirates, governors, merchants, warships, King’s Commissioners, hostages, markers)
• 10 Pirate Displays (large cards for tracking each pirate’s ship, ratings, cargo, and status)
• 2 Charts and Tables play aid cards
• 3 six-sided dice (2 black, 1 white)
• Port Grids for tracking Safe Havens and Hostage information
• Victory Point track on the map

Setup

1. Lay out the map. Give each player Pirate Displays based on player count (5 players: 2 each; 4 players: 2 each; 3 players: 3 each; 2 players: 4 each).
2. Each player rolls a die; highest becomes Player A. Player order goes clockwise.
3. Separate cards into Pirate and Event decks. Remove “Must Play Immediately” events; deal 4 Event Cards to each player, then shuffle those removed cards back in.
4. Place 8 Pro-Pirate Governors randomly by rolling D66 for port locations.
5. Deal Pirate Cards to each player (5 players: 2 each; 4 players: 2 each; 3 players: 3 each; 2 players: 4 each). Alternatively, use the optional draft selection.
6. In player order, each player deploys at least one pirate to any sea area, assigning a Sloop or Schooner as starting ship (Crew Loyalty starts at 7).
7. Randomly place 8 Merchant Ship counters face-down in port merchant boxes using D66 rolls.
8. Place Victory Point markers at 0. Place King’s Commissioners, Hostages, Anti-Pirate Governors, and Warships in separate pools.
9. Choose Standard Game (ends after 3rd General Pardon) or Long Game (play through Event Deck twice).

Turn Structure

The game uses successive Player-Turns (no game-turn). Each Player-Turn has 4 phases:

A. Card Draw Phase

• The Pirate Player draws Event Cards one at a time until holding 4. “Must Play Immediately” cards are resolved instantly and do not count toward the hand limit.

B. Merchant Ship Phase

• If fewer than 5 Merchant Ships are on the map, the Pirate Player places new ones (up to 6 total) by drawing from the Merchant Pool and rolling D66 for placement.

C. Card Play Phase

• Play as many cards as desired, but only ONE card may be played for Actions. For each card, choose one option:
  1. Play for Event (“Event OR Actions” cards): Resolve the event immediately.
  2. Play for Actions (“Event OR Actions” cards): Conduct the number of actions shown on the card. Only one card per turn may be played this way.
  3. Play for Event AND Action (“Event AND Action” cards): Resolve the event, then conduct one action.

D. Change Pirate Players

• The next player in order becomes the Pirate Player.

Actions

Pirate Actions (one per Action point)

• Move (7.0): Move a pirate one sea area, into/out of a port, or into/out of a transit box.
• Find Merchant Ship (8.1): Roll 1d6 + Pirate Ability; result of 7+ finds the merchant.
• Loot Merchant Ship (8.2–8.3): Seize cargo (roll on Cargo Table + Cargo Rating), draw a Hostage counter, optionally convert the merchant ship, and declare D&R.
• In-Port Activities (9.4): Ransom hostages, convert booty to net worth, refit ship (repair damage), purchase Safe Haven status, or enter D&R.
• Booty Grab (9.6): Steal booty from another pirate who is in D&R in the same port.
• Attack Port (9.5): Roll 1d6 + Combat + Ability + Info Points vs. 1d6 + Port Defense. Success yields booty (Port Value dice × 100 Doubloons) and notoriety.
• Sack Port (9.55): After a successful attack, attempt to destroy the port (1d6 + Cruelty > Defense).
• Form Pirate Alliance (11.0): Combine two of your pirates temporarily.
• D&R Recovery (16.0): Remove Debauchery & Revelry status.
• Retire Voluntarily (18.4): Retire a pirate for VP if conditions are met.
• Draw/Deploy New Pirate (5.1): Draw a new Pirate Card or deploy a pirate in hand.

Actions from a card may be split among your deployed pirates (unless the card uses a specific pirate’s Initiative Rating).

Anti-Pirate Actions (one per AP player per Player-Turn)

Each non-active player may perform ONE Anti-Pirate action:

• Deploy a King’s Commissioner: Roll 3d6; if less than active pirate’s Notoriety, place a KC in that sea area.
• Use On-Station Warship: Activate a warship already in the pirate’s sea area.
• Use Existing King’s Commissioner: Move/react with your KC.
• Play an AP Event Card: Play cards like Warship Sighting, Scurvy Outbreak, Mutiny Conspiracy, etc.

KC Reaction (unlimited, not counted as AP action): Any KC in the same or adjacent sea area may attempt to intercept a pirate performing certain actions.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

• Victory Points come from each pirate’s Notoriety Points and Net Worth.
• Notoriety is earned by: taking merchant cargo (= Cargo Rating NP), torturing hostages (= Hostage Value NP), attacking ports (= 2× Port Value NP), sacking ports (= additional 2× Port Value NP), defeating warships (= Warship Combat Rating NP).
• Net Worth is accumulated by converting booty at ports. Conversion rates depend on port status: Safe Haven (110%), Pro-Pirate (100%), Neutral (50%), Pirate Port (100% but triggers D&R).
• Retirement: Pirates can retire voluntarily at Pro-Pirate ports (with Letter of Marque) or Pirate Ports, earning bonus VP.
• The Standard Game ends when the General Pardon card is played for the 3rd time. The Long Game plays through the Event Deck twice.
• The player with the most total Victory Points wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Ship Types and Damage

• Sloop: Combat 5, Speed 5, 2 Holds. Schooner: Combat 6, Speed 3, 3 Holds. Brigantine: Combat 7, Speed 1, 4 Holds.
• Speed damage comes from storms/wear; Combat damage from battles. If either track reaches “Sunk,” the pirate and ship are lost.
• Ships with Speed below 0 require two Move Actions to move one area.

Crew Loyalty

• Starts at 7. Increases from successful looting, D&R, and port attacks. Decreases from scurvy, failed actions, and damage.
• Low loyalty can trigger mutiny when a Mutiny Conspiracy card is played.

Debauchery & Revelry (D&R)

• Triggered voluntarily or involuntarily. Pirates in D&R cannot act until a D&R Recovery Action is spent.
• D&R increases Crew Loyalty (+1 at most ports, +3 at Pirate Ports).

Cunning

• Each pirate has a Cunning rating representing times they can avoid bad events. Once used, Cunning points are gone.

Hostages

• Drawn blindly from a pool. Can be ransomed (at matching-nationality ports for Doubloons) or tortured for port Information Points (and Notoriety/Loyalty bonuses).

Safe Havens

• Purchased at Pro-Pirate ports by bribing the governor (roll 1d6 × 100 Doubloons from Net Worth). Provide better conversion rates and refit bonuses.

D66 Rolls

• Roll one black die (tens digit) and one white die (ones digit) for results 11–66, used for random port selection.

Player Reference

Ship Type	Combat	Speed	Holds
Sloop	5	5	2
Schooner	6	3	3
Brigantine	7	1	4

Pirate Action	Key Mechanic
Find Merchant	1d6 + Ability ≥ 7
Attack Port	1d6 + Combat + Ability + Info vs. 1d6 + Defense
Sack Port	1d6 + Cruelty > Defense
Warship Escape	1d6 + Ship Speed vs. 1d6 + Warship Speed
Warship Combat	1d6 + Ship Combat + Ability vs. 1d6 + Warship Combat

Port Status	Booty Conversion Rate
Safe Haven	110%
Pro-Pirate	100%
Neutral	50%
Pirate Port	100% (auto D&R)