Booty
Booty Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
The goal of Booty is to get the most Victory Points (VPs) by collecting treasure, raiding ports, manipulating the goods market, and exploiting one of your two legacy tiles. In order to achieve this you need to be wily, make the most of the spoils, and get the cut of the loot that suits your needs the best.
Every round booty cards are revealed. These cards are the spoils the crew must divide. One player becomes the quartermaster (QM). The QM determines how the cards from the spoils are divided. You have the chance to take what the QM offers or pass. You also have the opportunity to become the QM yourself. This gives you more control over who gets what. Plus, as the QM, you get to know each round's hidden card.
Not all booty is created equal. A new pile of spoils is laid out each round, and as the game progresses different card combinations will either help or hinder your chance of success. Be aware that sometimes being ranked on top in turn order can be just as helpful as getting the right card. When all the cards are in players' score piles, the game ends.
Contents
- 6 Player Rank tiles (Octagons)
- 90 Might flags (15 per color)
- 5 Island tiles
- 4 Commodity tiles
- 1 Commodities Market board
- 6 Rank coins
- 1 Rank board
- 1 Quartermaster tile
- 12 Legacy tiles
- 108 Booty Cards (see pages 5-7)
Setup
Create a large circle with the island tiles (A), the rank board (B), and the Commodities Market board (C). Place the appropriate commodity tiles in each of the squares of row 2 on the Commodities Market board (C).
Have each player take all the Might flags (D) of one color and 2 face-down legacy tiles (E). Take each player rank tile and randomly place them one at a time in the This Round column of the rank board, starting with the "1" space (the highest rank) and moving down (F).
NOTE: If you are playing Booty with new or inexperienced players, at setup, you may want to have the less experienced players ranked higher toward the top than the experienced players.
Keep a number of rank coins (G) equal to the number of players. If you are playing with 3 players, place the rank coins 1 through 3 near the face-up booty cards. With 4 players, use rank coins 1 through 4, and so on.
If you are playing with exactly 5 players, remove 2 Doubloons cards and 1 Incan Silver card from the deck and set them aside. They won't be used this game.
Again with 5 players, remove 1 Trade Route card (it's one of the green cards) from the deck. Shuffle the remaining cards, and then replace the Trade Route card on the bottom of the deck. Set the deck (H) near the boards.
Multiply the number of players in the game by three, and flip that many cards off the top of the deck, the first face-down (I) and the rest face-up. These cards form the spoils (J) for the round. It's helpful to sort the face-up cards by color.
Gameplay
You play Booty over a series of rounds. The number of rounds varies based on the number of players in the game. However, you do not need to keep track of the rounds. The game ends automatically when there are no more booty cards left to divide. The goal of the game is to have the most VPs at the end of the final round.
Turn Sequence
Begin the Round (Create the Spoils)
- Choose a Quartermaster (QM)
- Create a Share
- Claim a Share
End the Round
Begin the Round
You've already set up the first round. Each round of the game you and your fellow players must divide the spoils (booty cards) amongst yourselves. You must begin by dealing out the spoils. To form the spoils, multiply the number of players in the game by 3, and flip that many cards off the top of the deck, the first face-down and the rest face-up.
You will receive exactly one share of each round's spoils. But first, your crew needs to select a QM to divide the spoils into shares.
1. Choose a Quartermaster
The QM is the player who is currently tasked with assigning some of the cards in the spoils to a share and then offering this share to the other players. Being the QM is not inherently good or bad. (Generally, it is less desirable to be QM near the beginning of the game and highly desirable near the end.) The QM role is offered to active players in rank order (#1 highest to #6 lowest). You are an active player if you have not yet received a share of the spoils this round.
If you are the top-ranked active player and have not claimed a share of current spoils (i.e. active player) you get the first opportunity to be QM. If you reject the role, then the next-top-ranked active player is given the opportunity and so on. Each active player in rank order gets the opportunity to accept the role of QM. If the offer reaches the bottom-ranked active player, that player must become the QM.
If you are the new QM take the QM tile. Take your Player Rank tile off of the rank chart and place it on top of the QM token. You can look at the face-down booty card.
Example: Green is offered the chance to be the QM. She passes. Purple passes next. Gray and yellow are no longer active this round (see Claim a Share), and are out of the round. Blue decides to be the QM and takes the QM tile, puts her Player Rank tile on it and looks at the face-down spoils card.
2. Create a Share
The QM must now create 1 share. It must have exactly 1 Rank coin, but may contain any number of booty cards from the spoils.
Example: The QM has created a share including Incan Silver, Indigo, Rum and a Totem. She feels it is a large share, so she puts the worst ranking coin in with it.
Discussion between the QM and the other players while creating a share is fully permitted. However, no agreements are binding. When the QM is ready to offer a share, she should isolate this share's booty cards and the Rank coin from the rest of the spoils and then knock on the table.
3. Claim a Share
Once a share has been established, one active player must claim it. The process of claiming a share is much like choosing the QM, but with a very important difference: the QM is no longer considered ranked. The QM cannot claim a share. The QM can only receive a share if all of the other active players refuse to claim the offered share.
The process works like this: In rank order of active players, you may claim the share or refuse it (remember to skip the QM).
When you claim a share, there are a few things that you must do:
First, if your share includes the face-down card, you must look at it. If it is a Trade Route or Might card, you must immediately reveal it. Otherwise, keep it a secret by leaving it face-down until scoring at the end of the game.
Next, you must play all Trade Route cards or Might cards (Cutlass or Pistol) that are in your share (see Might in the scoring section, page 6).
Finally, take all of the cards in this share and place them in front of yourself (your score pile). The title of every card in a score pile must remain visible to all.
Note: we recommend that you keep your face-down cards hidden until the end of the game.
After you collect you share, move your player rank tile from the This Round column to the space on the Next Round column that matches the number on your newly acquired rank coin. You can claim no more shares of the spoils until the next round.
Example: Gray claims a share with a 2 rank coin. Gray moves her Player Rank tile to the 2nd space in Next Round column. She is an inactive player (cannot claim another share or become QM) for the rest of the round.
After a share has been assigned, there are three conditions to consider in order to continue:
- Multiple active players remain and the previous share was not accepted by the QM. In this case, the QM continues by creating and offering another share.
- Multiple active players remain and the previous share was accepted by the QM. In this case, a new QM must be selected from among the active players using the same rules as described on Pg 4 (Note: if another player has already accepted the face down spoil card, a new QM does NOT get to look at it). The QM must always be an active player. The new QM then creates and offers the next share.
- Only one active player remains. In this case, that player must take all of the remaining Booty cards from the spoils and the single remaining Rank Coin as his share. Proceed to "End the Round."
End the Round
If cards remain in the deck, prepare for the next round. Slide all the player rank tiles from the Next Turn column to their corresponding spots on the This Turn column. Return your rank coins to the spoils. Begin the next round.
If the deck is exhausted, the game is over.
Winning the Game
At the end of the final round, add up your VPs. Include the value of the cards in your scoring pile plus any VPs earned on the ports on the island tiles. If you have the most points in Might score 4 VPs (tied players get 2 VPs). In addition, choose & score 1 of your 2 Legacy tiles. If you have the most VPs, you win.
If you tie for most VPs, the tied player who claimed the top-rank Rank coin in the last round is the winner.
Scoring: Booty Cards
The cards are divided into six groups. Each group has a different color and scoring system.
Treasure (Yellow)
Total in deck: 10 Doubloons, 6 Incan Silver, & 3 Aztec Gold
Treasure cards are the simplest to score. Each Doubloons card is worth 1 VP, each Incan Silver is 2 VPs, and each Aztec Gold is 3 VPs.
Relics (Blue)
Total in deck: 3 Ivory, 3 Monkey, 3 Parrot, 3 Spices, 3 Totem, & 3 Vase
There are six different types of relics, each worth 3 VPs. However, since their value lies in their novelty, you score no VPs for any redundant relics you acquire. (A player who ended the game with one Ivory, two Monkeys, and three Parrots would score 9 VPs for his relics: 3 for the Ivory, 3 for the first Monkey, and 3 for the first Parrot.)
Way of Life (Purple)
Total in deck: 6 Bible & 6 Rum
You can seek solace in the book or the bottle, but not both. Bibles and Rum are worth 2 VPs apiece, but at the end of the game, you can only score one or the other. (Thus, it's often preferable to avoid acquiring Rum if you already have one or more Bibles and vice-versa.)
Commodities (Green)
Total in deck: 4 Cotton, 4 Indigo, 4 Sugar, 4 Tobacco, & 5 Trade Routes
The prices for New World crops are quite turbulent these days, due to those accursed pirates interfering with the supply. At the beginning of the game, all four crops are valued at 2 VPs per card, as specified on the Commodities chart. Trade Routes are worth 0 VPs.
However, you can affect the value of these commodities. If you obtain a Trade Route card, increase the value of one commodity by 1 VP on the Commodities Market board, and decrease the value of a different commodity by 1 VP. You must perform both of these actions, and the values of 2 items must change (you cannot "increase" a commodity that's already at 4 or "decrease" one that's already at 0.) At the end of the game, each Cotton, Indigo, Sugar, and Tobacco card is worth however many VPs are indicated on the Commodities chart.
Flags and Letters (White)
Total Flags in deck: 3 Dutch, 3 English, 3 French, 3 Portuguese, & 3 Spanish.
Letters of Marque: 1 Dutch, 1 English, 1 French, 1 Portuguese, & 1 Spanish.
(The card art of the Portuguese flag and letter reads "Portugese".)
The difference between "filthy pirate" and "national hero" is just one simple document: a Letter of Marque from a government authorizing the holder to attack the enemies of that government (i.e., everyone else) with impunity. They'll even pay you for the trouble. Of course, accepting a Letter of Marque means promising not to attack ships belonging to the noble who's signing your paychecks. If you do slip up, it'll take a substantial donation to the crown to keep you out of prison.
Each Nation flag is worth 1 VP. Letters of Marque are worth nothing by themselves, but are worth 1 VP for each non-matching nation flag in your possession and -4 VPs for each matching nation flag in your possession. The value of a Letter is calculated only at the end of the game. It doesn't matter which nation flags you acquired before and after obtaining a Letter.
Example: Each captured nation flag is worth 1 VP (5VPs). Because you also have Spanish Letter of Marque, each flag that isn't Spanish gives you 1 VP each (4VPs). But, you also lose 4 VPs for the matching Spanish Flag (-4VP). This totals to 5VPs.
Might (Red)
Total in deck: 12 Cutlass & 6 Pistol
There are five different islands your crew is planning to raid, each with a different number of empty port squares. Whenever you receive a cutlass in your share, you must immediately place 1 of your Might flags on an empty port square of any island.
Example: Green claims a face-down card. That card is a Cutlass. She must immediately place her Might flag on any open port square.
When you receive a pistol, you must do the same as with a cutlass, but you must place 2 Might flags instead. You do not have to place your Might flags at ports on the same island.
There are 25 ports in the game, but there will be only 24 Might flags over the course of the game. At the end of the game, one port will not have a Might flag on it. This means that all of the raids planned for this island will fail. Nobody scores any VPs for their might tokens on this island.
The islands where all of the ports are occupied by Might flags score the VPs for each Might flag on that island. You receive VPs equal to the numbers listed above each Might flag you have on that island.
Might flags placed early in the game may, potentially, be worth more VPs, but Might flags placed late in the game have a great impact on determining which raid will fail.
Example: Green scores 4VPs (2 + 2 + 0). Green placed the last flag in the 0 port to ensure that this island scores. Purple scores 1.
Scoring: Legacy Tiles
Each player starts the game with 2 Legacy Tiles. These give you an individual goal to work towards throughout the game. These tiles are kept a secret from other players, but you can look at them at any time. At the end of the game you may only choose one of your two tiles to score.
Yellow cards (Treasure)
- The Jeweler: 1 VP per Aztec Gold, 1 VP per every 2 Incan Silver.
- The Monk: 2 VPs for having no Aztec Gold, 2 VPs for having no Incan Silver, 2 VPs for having no Doubloons.
Blue cards (Relics)
- The Collector: 2 VPs per redundant Relic.
- The Traveler: 1/2/4/6 VPs for ending the game with 3/4/5/6 different types of Relics.
Green cards (Commodities)
- The Cooper: Score your Commodities worth less than 2 VPs as though they were worth 2 VPs.
- The Shopkeeper: 1 VP per 4 VPs earned from Commodities.
Purple cards (Way of Life)
- The Poet: You may score both Bibles and Rum, but not more than 6 Way of Life cards total.
- The Eccentric: +1 VP per Way of Life card you score, -1 VP per Way of Life card you don't score.
White cards (Flags/Letters)
- The Politician: 2 VPs per Letter of Marque for which you have no matching Flags.
- The Defector: You may ignore the negative penalty from 1 Letter of Marque before scoring.
Red cards (Might)
- The Veteran: Score the value of your unscored Might flags on the failed raid. (5 VPs)
- The War Hero: 2 VPs for every successful zero value port that your Might flag is on. (2 VPs)