Shiver Me Timbers
Shiver Me Timbers Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Golden Rules
- If the text on cards or markers contradicts this rule book, the text on cards or markers takes precedence.
- Actions, cards and effects which would reduce a player's strength, speed or hull to less than one, reduce it to one instead.
- If there are several equally valid choices for any decision (the fastest ship, the shortest route), the player who initiated the decision resolves the stalemate.
- When a player attacks a merchant or a fortress, the player to their right takes the role of the other captain.
- When a player gets to choose a card from the treasure or the mission deck, they shuffle the deck after taking their card.
- Gold is available in unlimited quantities. If you run out of coins, take notes or use any available tokens. All other tokens, assets, goods, etc. are limited per game pieces.
Red boxes are for examples: You will find numerous red boxes in this rulebook. They always contain gameplay examples and will hopefully help you to better understand the rules and interactions presented in the chapter you are reading.
Blue boxes are for rules: You will also find several of these blue boxes in the rulebook. They contain in-depth rules explanations, optional rules or even additional modules which you might want to include in your game after a couple of plays.
Introduction
What awaits you...
In Shiver me Timbers, your goal is to become the most notorious pirate of your time – or at least more notorious than your fellow players. The game will lead you to the islands of Port Royal, St. David, São Tomé, La Juanita, The Bay, and Isla Oscura where you will fight, trade, loot, and hunt for hidden treasures. In short: Do everything in your power to prove your worth.
Shiver me Timbers is a sandbox-style game where each play-through is different. At the start of the game, each player will secretly choose two life goals which they will aim to achieve. Afterwards, you will set up the modular map – and strive to create a world which supports your strategy and helps you to achieve your secret goals.
At the beginning, you will set sail in a tiny sloop, trading hard and fighting even harder to make a decent living. After a few successful battles, you will be able to afford a more powerful ship. Then, you can set you eyes on loftier goals, like raiding fortresses and facing dangerous monsters. What are you waiting for?
Show your enemies what you're made of. May your rapier be sharp and your powder dry!
How to win the game
Players are racing to collect as many Victory Points (VP) as possible. The main way to acquire them is to fulfill the secret life goals chosen at the start of the game. In addition, many in-game achievements are rewarded with VP, too – including defeating enemy ships, raiding fortresses or completing missions for the governor.
On the game components, Victory Points are always represented by wax seals. When all but one of the available life goals have been fulfilled by at least one player, the endgame is triggered. Players finish the round, tally their Victory Points, and crown a winner.
Box Content
- Double-sided scoring board (with duel zone)
- Duel miniature
- 10 Life goals
- 6 Islands
- 2 Monsters
- 4 Long sea routes
- 6 Short sea routes
- 6 Standees
- 4 Sets of player components (Blue, Green, Red, Yellow), each containing:
- Player tableau
- Treasure track
- Ship (2-part hull, 3 sails, 6 cannons, 6 inserts, 7 discs)
- 6 Talent markers
- 6 Origin markers
- 1 Ship marker
- 5 Progress markers
- 10 Life goal markers
- Bag (your chest)
- 6 Damage markers
- 39 Mission cards
- 36 Treasure cards
- 27 Crew cards
- 27 Ritual cards
- 20 Wind and event cards
- 30 Duel cards
- 24 Monster hunt cards
- 6 Title cards
- 7 Wish cards
- Gold: 25 Full Coins (1000 G), 27 Half Coins (500 G), 53 Bits (100 G)
- 4 Dice
- Map counters: 28 Merchants, 6 Fortresses, 11 Family members, 6 Pest markers, 6 Monster markers, 4 Soulmate markers
Life Goals
Shiver Me Timbers offers you multiple paths to victory, and lets you experiment with diverse strategies (and combinations of strategies) to score the maximum number of points. In game, these strategies revolve around ten life goals.
There are ten vastly different life goals, each of which requires a different strategic approach. Depending on the number of players, you will deal out a different mix of 3-6 life goals at the start of each game.
Then, each player will secretly select two of these as their secret agenda for the game, by hiding the corresponding markers in your bag (The Chest).
Example: if you decide to go for the goal "Brigand", you will place the marker with the "5" in your bag.
Note that while some strategies are more complimentary than others, there is no easy best pair to select and the mix you are choosing from will be different each game – so it pays to experiment with different combinations.
If you manage to complete your two secret goals, they will account for a significant portion of your Victory Points at the end of the game – so it pays to keep them in mind, from the set-up of the map to the selection of your starting equipment and your special talent.
But keep an eye on any life goals you didn't select, too: while they are not as profitable as your chosen ones, completing them will yield points, too.
Keep an eye open for new opportunities. And sometimes, e.g. if you find several other players competing with you for the same life goal, it might even make sense to abandon your original agenda, and to focus on other, less popular goals.
On the scoring board, there are six numbered frames for life goals. Next to each frame, there are two victory point spots: a 10-point spot for the first player who completes the goal, and a 5-point spot for everyone following. The red meeples indicate which frames are used at which player count. At the bottom, there's the duel zone for boarding attacks and fortress raids.
Scoring life goals
Whenever you meet the requirements on one of the life goals, mark it with one of your tokens – even if it's not one of your chosen secret goals. Use your unused origin markers for this.
If you are the first player to achieve this goal, place your token on the spot marked with "10".
Don't let anyone know if those are among your chosen secret goals yet! You will only reveal this during the endgame scoring.
If one or more players already claimed the goal, place your token on the spot marked with "5".
You can achieve any number of life goals.
Life goals as an endgame trigger
The life goals also serve as the primary endgame trigger. As soon as any player claims the second-to-last life goal (e.g. the 4th life goal in a four-player-game), this triggers the endgame. The other trigger is when the wind-and-event-deck runs out of cards, but we will come to that. Finish the round and tally up Victory Points.
The Map
After life goals have been selected, you will set up a modular board (The map) with islands and routes, either using a predefined layout, or strategically, with everyone trying to engineer a board that supports their hidden goals. Then, add merchants and fortresses – and you're good to go.
The Shiver Me Timbers map always consists of 6 islands (each with a unique fortress) and, depending on player count, 7-9 sea routes with one or two merchants.
Each island comes with a tile and a dedicated standee which will be placed next to it, and describes the actions available there. Each island tile lists its name, the goods it lets you buy, the goods it lets you sell, and its other actions.
Islands
The game takes place in the heart of the Caribbean Sea, on an archipelago with six islands:
- Port Royal is the seat of the governor. Here, you can acquire missions, sell goods and treasures, enquire about hidden treasures, or upgrade your ship.
- São Tomé, La Juanita, and St. David are trade posts. Each produces one resource which can be bought there. Alternatively, you can sell other goods or treasures, enquire about treasures, or upgrade your ship.
- The Bay is a true pirates' nest. If you're looking for fearless crew members, you've come to the right place. You can also enquire about treasures or upgrade your ship here.
- Isla Oscura is a secluded island, where a powerful shaman will teach you arcane rituals. They also know about hidden treasures and can upgrade your ship.
Sea routes
During set-up, you connect the islands with sea routes.
Short sea routes: There are 6 identical short sea routes with 3 travel spaces. The center spot is larger and has an anchor symbol – this is where you will place the merchants.
Long sea routes: There are 4 unique long sea routes. Each of them consists of 7 spaces, including two anchor spots and one large special spot in the center:
- When you end one of your actions on the Ancient Shipyard spot, roll the white bonus dice.
- When you end one of your actions on the Mangroves spot, roll the green bonus dice.
- When you end one of your actions on the Floating Market spot, take 100 Gold.
- Whenever a player attacks a ship on one of the seven Fogbank spaces, they get +1 strength for the attack.
Fortresses
After set-up, you will shuffle the fortresses and place one face-down on each island. When an island is attacked, reveal the marker and follow the instructions (strength and combat rules are printed on the marker).
Merchants
After set-up is finished, you will add a merchant on each of the anchor spots on the sea routes. At the start of the game, you will fill those spots with harmless small ships (small merchants). Once those have been defeated, they will be replaced by bigger and more dangerous opponents (large merchants).
Merchants come from four nations (from left to right): The English, the Spanish, the French, and the Dutch. But don't worry about nationality too much. It will only matter when certain mission or treasure cards reference it – for example, when the governor sends you out to defeat an English ship.
Whenever you end your movement on a merchant, you can peek at the marker. If the face-down side is yellow, you have met an honorable trader. If it is red, you have discovered a nefarious pirate hunter. Each merchant marker also lists its speed, strength, hull, and reward.
Honorable traders: If you encounter an honorable trader, you can decide if you want to return the marker face-down and continue your travels, attack them with your cannons (p. 24), or board them (p. 25).
Nefarious Pirate hunters: If you peek at a red marker while on the same spot (and not, e.g., by using the "Tramp" talent or a "Masterful Spy" card), you have run into a pirate hunter. They will attack you at once (p. 24). This attack does not count as an action.
If you defeat them, you will rescue a lost relative (p. 27) or find a treasure. If you lose, the pirate hunter marker remains face-up on this spot. Players can not sail past him unless they spend two additional movement points.
The Player Area
While most of the in-game action will take place on the modular board, each player also manages their own player area – with a large tableau to track progress, skills and riches, a track for treasure hunts, and a chest in which you'll hide your most valuable plunder.
Your player area contains the following components:
A. Your Player tableau — The Player tableau represents your ship – anything you place there will be travelling with you.
- The bow part is reserved for family members.
- The center is where you store treasures you acquired or title cards you earned.
- The rear is where you transport your gold.
- The two marked spaces at the bottom are reserved for your origin and talent markers.
- If you want to keep your hands free, you can place your cards to the left or right of the tableau.
B. Your Treasure track — Your treasure track is used exclusively to search for hidden treasures (p. 20).
C. Your Chest — The cloth bag represents your pirate chest. You can use it to hide gold or treasures, and to store completed missions and defeated merchants in it. Anything you hide there will be safe from opponents, but you won't be able to access it until scoring.
D. Your life goal markers — You get 10 life goal markers at the start of the game. Two are used to track your secret life goals: hide the markers with the corresponding numbers in your chest. The remaining 8 markers will be used to mark any life goals you achieved in epic game mode (p. 31).
E. Your Progress markers — Use the 5 wooden markers to track progress during treasure hunts, monster hunts and title quests.
F. Your Ship marker — When you are defeated by another player, hand him your ship marker so that he can track Victory Points. Once you have given away the marker, players who defeat you will not receive Victory Points (but can still take resources, treasure, or gold from you, p. 25).
Your origin markers
The six origin markers let you choose where you start the game and which equipment you'll start with.
If you select La Juanita, São Tomé or St. David, you'll start with two units of the resource produced there.
If you select The Bay, you'll start with 1 Daring Cabin Boy and 1 Veteran Sellsword card. On Isla Oscura, you'll start with 1 Hummingbird Totem and 1 Power of Ik card.
If you select Port Royal, look at the top two cards from the mission or the treasure deck, select one and return the other to the bottom of the deck. Do this twice. Note that you can't take two official missions!
You will select one origin marker during set-up, and place it on your tableau. You will use the remaining ones to mark life goals you achieved during the game.
Your talent markers
The six talents define special abilities which help you customize your character.
You will select one talent marker during set-up, and place it on your tableau.
The Pirate Ships
Your ship is defined by three attributes:
Its Speed defines how far you can travel per action, grants advantages in combat and helps you maneuver during monster encounters. Your speed is tracked by adding (or removing) sails. You have three sails (with speed values of 1, 2 and 4) and combine them to any value between 1 and 7.
Its Strength defines how strong your crew is. You will need it when boarding ships and raiding fortresses, but also when searching for treasure. Your strength is tracked by adding (or removing) cannons. Your first cannon is mounted at the bow of your ship, to remind you that your attributes can never drop below 1.
Its Hull defines how many units of goods your ship can carry and helps survive combat and monster encounters. It is tracked by inserting (or removing) cargo units. The discs track which resource you have on board (hull-colored=empty, light brown=cocoa, white=sugar, yellow=rum, p. 18). As with cannons, 1 unit is integrated in the model.
During the game, you will upgrade your ship, usually with the action "Upgrade" (p. 17). Each attribute can be improved to a maximum of 7.
Attacks, die rolls and cards can cause you to lose upgrades. But any effect that would reduce an attribute to less than 1 reduces it to 1 instead.
Also, some cards or markers might increase your speed or strength temporarily, e.g. until end of turn, sometimes even up to 8 or more. Note that these are not upgrades, and therefore are not tracked on your miniature.
Example: the Speed is 3, shown by the skulls on the sails (1+2). The Strength is represented by cannons – currently at least 4. The Hull is 1, as shown by cargo inserts, and full of sugar (white disc).
Game Set-up
Set up the Scoring Board
Shuffle the life goals and randomly place three (for 2 players), four (for 3 players) or five (for 4 players) face-up on the scoring board. The remaining life goals will not be used in this game.
Set up the Player Area
Each player receives the components described on page 5 and places them in their player area.
Each player decides which two life goals they will be striving for, and places the markers with the corresponding numbers in their chest.
Set up the Map
The player who travelled by ship most recently is the starting player.
Build the map. You can use the predefined set-up in the Quick Start Guide, or build a custom map following the rules on this page.
Place the standees next to the islands.
Shuffle the fortresses. Place a fortress face-down on each island.
Shuffle the small merchant ships and place one face-down on each anchor spot on the sea routes.
Shuffle the large merchant ships and place the stack face-down next to the scoring board. Place any remaining small ships on top of this stack.
Shuffle the wind and event deck and give it to the starting player. That will make it easier to keep track of when the round ends. The top card indicates the wind for the first round.
Place the gold pieces nearby.
Shuffle the treasure and mission decks. Place them nearby, and leave space for discard piles.
Place the crew and ritual decks nearby. Don't shuffle them – the cards are chosen.
Place all other decks and markers nearby where you can easily reach them.
You're almost done!
Each player secretly selects an origin and a talent and places the markers face-down on their player tableau.
Reveal your origin and talent markers. Equip your ship with 3 cannons (Strength: 3), the two small sails (Speed: 3) and 3 cargo units with 3 resource discs (Hull: 3) set to empty (hull-colored) and place it on your island of origin.
Each player takes the starting equipment indicated on their origin marker as well as 300 Gold.
Build a custom map
After you played a game or two with the predefined sea map from the Quick Start Guide, consider switching to building your custom map.
You will quickly find that this kind of set-up adds a whole new strategic layer to the game, offering you the opportunity to engineer a map which optimally fits the life goals you have chosen. This is how it works:
Building a map for 2 players
- Draw two islands and one long sea route at random. Place them on the table and connect them.
- Then, the starting player selects a second sea route – either a short one or a long one – and a third island and connects them to the board.
- Player 2 adds a third sea route and a fourth island of their choice.
- Player 1 adds the fourth sea route and the fifth island.
- Then, it's player 2's turn again. He adds a fifth sea route and the final island.
- Finally, player 1 and then player 2 each add one more sea route. You're good to go!
Building a map for 3 players
- The starting player chooses one island and one sea route and places them connected on the table.
- Player 2 (clockwise) adds another island and another sea route in whichever order he chooses.
- Player 3 adds the third island and the third route.
- Then, it's player 1's turn again, adding the fourth island and the fourth sea route.
- Player 2 adds the fifth island and a sea route.
- Player 3 adds the last island and a sea route.
- Finally, players 1, 2 and 3 each add another sea route (in this order).
Building a map for 4 players
- Draw two islands and one long sea route at random. Place them on the table connected.
- Then, the starting player selects one sea route and one island and connects them to the board.
- Player 2 adds another sea route and another island.
- Player 3 lays the fourth sea route and the fifth island.
- Player 4 uses a sea route to connect the final island.
- Then, Player 4 adds their second sea route.
- Players 3, 2 and 1 add another sea route (in this order).
The 5 Rules of Map Building
- Placing routes and islands is mandatory.
- Sea routes always have to be connected to an island or to a special spot (e.g. Mangroves).
- They may never cross other sea routes.
- You can place routes leading to nothing.
- You are allowed to rotate 1 sea route (and any connected island) one arrow to the left or to the right before placing your own.
Gameplay Overview
Rounds & Turns
Shiver me Timbers is played over a series of rounds.
Beginning with the starting player and going clockwise, each of you will take 3 of the following actions during your turn. You can select the same action multiple times:
- Travel
- Upgrade
- Trade
- Hire crew or learn rituals
- Go on a treasure hunt
- Acquire missions
- Attack ships or raid fortresses
- Fight monsters
In addition to these 3 regular actions, players can also take any number of free actions described below.
After each player has taken their turn, the round ends.
When the round ends:
- Place new merchants on any empty (no merchant) and unoccupied (no player) anchor spots.
- Turn any active (red) pest markers to their inactive side to indicate the plague is over and the island is now immune for the rest of the game.
- Reveal a new wind card (and a new event, if you are playing with the optional event module, p. 16).
Then, start the next round. Note that the starting player stays the same throughout the game.
Free actions
In addition to the regular actions, the active player can take any number of free actions during their turn. Those must be taken before or after (but not during) a regular action:
- Discard resources: Simply rotate your resource discs to hull-colored, e.g. if you need to free space for different resources.
- Hide treasure or coins in your chest: Announce which treasure or how much gold you are hiding and put them in the chest. They will be safe from any attacks, but you won't have access to them, until the endgame scoring.
- Discard mission or treasure cards: Return the card to the discard pile, e.g. to free a card slot.
- Discard crew and ritual cards: Return the card to its deck to free the slot for different cards.
- Claim missions and life goals: If you have completed a mission or a life goal, claim the rewards or place the life goal marker on the life goal.
- Discard resources on treasure hunts: Discarding resources to advance your progress marker during treasure hunts is a free action.
The End of the Game
The endgame is triggered:
- when the second-to-last life goal is completed, or:
- when the last wind and event card is revealed.
In either case, players finish the round and go to endgame scoring (p. 29).
Travel
A restless soul like you won't find happiness in the safety and boredom of your home. Luckily, you have your trusted sloop and a weathered crew waiting in the harbor – ready to carry you wherever fame and fortune are waiting.
- The Travel action allows you to move your ship over the map. Add up your speed and the current wind to see how many movement points you have (i.e. how many spaces you can move per action).
- You can take the Travel action several times during your turn to cover longer distances.
- You can end your journey at any time, as soon as you reach your destination, e.g. an island or a merchant ship you wish to attack. In this case, the action ends and any left-over movement is lost.
- Island and special spaces where you don't want to stop count as simple sea spaces.
- You can pass any player ships, merchants, and even monster tiles without stopping. Passing a revealed pirate hunter costs two additional movement points.
- If you end your Travel action on an anchor spot with a merchant, you may peek at its marker. This is NOT an action.
- If the merchant turns out to be a pirate hunter, he will attack you at once (p. 24). This is NOT an action.
- If you end your Travel action on a special spot (Floating Market, Mangroves, Ancient Shipyard) collect the reward (100 Gold or a green/white die roll).
Example: You want to go from St. David to The Bay. Your speed is 5, the wind is 2. You could travel up to 7 spaces with your first action (red) – but you decide to stop after 4 spaces, to collect 100 Gold at the Floating Market. Then, you take a second travel action (green) and reach The Bay after 4 spaces. The unused movement points are lost.
Optional module: Events
If you want more unpredictability in your game, use the event deck on the back of the wind cards. Instead of discarding the wind card at the end of each round, turn it face-up and place it next to the wind deck.
Each revealed event lasts for 1 round and offers new decisions and options for the turn.
Example: Round 1: No event. Round 2: Turn the top event card face-up. Round 3: Replace the event with a new one.
Upgrade
Your beloved Nelly might very well be the fastest frigate on this side of the Atlantic – but if you should ever decide to face the Kraken, your ship will need to be far more resilient. As long as you keep your coffers filled, upgrading will be easy.
You can upgrade your speed, strength, and hull on any island, each attribute to a maximum of 7.
Each upgrade will cost 1 action and a fixed fee:
| New Value | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost/Gold | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 |
If you want to upgrade several attributes or to increase any attribute by more than 1, you have to spend several actions.
Track upgrades on your miniature by adding sails, cannons, and cargo units.
Once bought, upgrades cannot be resold.
Example 1 – Speed: To upgrade your speed from 3 to 4, replace the two small sails (1 skull + 2 skulls) with the large 4 skull sail and pay 400 Gold.
Example 2 – Strength: To upgrade your strength from 3 to 4 (don't forget to count the cannon at the bow!), add a 4th cannon and pay 400 Gold.
Example 3 – Hull: To upgrade your hull from 4 to 5, add a cargo insert and a disc and pay 500 Gold. Rotate the new disc to hull-colored to indicate it's empty.
Trade
Pirates don't like haggling for pennies – but turning your plunder into coin is part of the trade and often the best way to afford the pretty galleon you've been eyeing for quite some time now...
On four of the islands, you can spend Trade actions to buy or sell Cocoa, Rum, and Sugar:
| Island | Cocoa | Rum | Sugar |
|---|---|---|---|
| São Tomé | Buy, 100 G | Sell, 400 G | Sell, 200 G |
| St. David | Sell, 200 G | Buy, 100 G | Sell, 400 G |
| La Juanita | Sell, 400 G | Sell, 200 G | Buy, 100 G |
| Port Royal | Sell, 300 G | Sell, 300 G | Sell, 300 G |
How to buy resources
- Take a Buy action on St. David, São Tomé, or La Juanita to buy the resource produced there.
- This will cost 100 Gold per unit.
- You can buy as many units as you wish with 1 action.
- For each unit, rotate 1 resource disc to the right color: white (Sugar), yellow (Rum), or brown (Cocoa).
- If you want to buy more units than you have space for, you can discard cargo as a free action (p. 15).
How to sell resources and treasures
- Take the Sell action on St. David, São Tomé, La Juanita, or Port Royal to sell resources for the local prices.
- You can also use a trade action on any island to sell treasures for the amount indicated on the card.
- You can sell as many units of resources and any number of treasures with the same selling action.
- Rotate your cargo disc to hull-colored (empty), place any treasure you sold on the discard pile, and take the Gold.
Example: You're on St. David with 2 units of Cocoa and 1 unit of Sugar in your hold. You use your first action to sell all 3 units. You rotate all discs to hull-colored and take 800 G. As your second action, you buy 3 Rum (for 300 G) and rotate all discs to yellow.
Crew & Rituals
Are you looking for some seasoned sellswords to put an upstart merchant back in his place? Or are you longing to study ancient rituals, looking to harness limitless powers of ancient deities? What are you waiting for? Set sails to The Bay or to Isla Oscura and get the help you need...
How to collect crew and ritual cards
You can hire additional crew members on The Bay. Take the action Hire crew to choose one card from the crew deck and put it into your hand (or place it face-down next to your player tableau, if you prefer).
On Isla Oscura, there's a helpful shaman willing to teach you their rituals. Take the action Learn ritual to choose one card from the ritual deck and put it into your hand (or place it face-down next to your player tableau).
Taking the cards is free. But to play them, you will have to pay the amount of Gold indicated on the crew cards, or to discard the resources indicated on the ritual.
You can spend several actions to collect several cards.
At any time, you can have a maximum of 3 crew and 3 ritual cards. If you want to collect a 4th card, you have to play a card first, or discard it as a free action (s. p. 15).
...and how to play them
You can play crew and ritual cards whenever any player announces or ends an action – no matter whose turn it is.
Playing cards does not count as an action.
The active player may play any number of cards first. Alternatively, they can pass. Then, the next player (clockwise) may play their cards.
After the last player has passed, the active player once again has the opportunity to play cards. This continues until no player wants to play a card anymore.
At the end of the active player's turn, all played cards are returned to the corresponding decks.
Crew and ritual cards each show a title, a cost, and an effect.
Example: You want to establish a new trade route between La Juanita and St. David. You travel to The Bay (Action 1). You take the card "Reckless Smuggler" (Action 2). You decide to also take a "Veteran Sellsword" (Action 3). She'll definitely come in handy later. You play the Smuggler (no action) and pay 300 Gold. You add a new trade route to the board. You return the Smuggler to the crew deck. You end your turn.
Treasure
Glittering gold, powerful weapons, and enough jewels to break a queen's heart: On the islands, countless long-lost artifacts are waiting to be discovered. If you keep your eyes and ears open in the taverns, rumors will point you to hidden treasures. And then? Spades out, and start digging!
Scouting in the taverns
Scouting is possible on any island: Spend an action to look at the top 3 cards of the treasure deck. Place one card in your hand and return the other two to the bottom of the treasure deck.
Note that you can have a maximum of 3 treasure cards total (i.e. in your hand and on the treasure track). If you have 3 cards, you can still scout, but have to discard 1 card afterwards.
If a treasure card is discarded, or a treasure is sold, place them on a discard pile next to the treasure deck. If you run out of treasures, shuffle the discard into a new deck.
Hunting for treasures
To follow your scouts' hints and get the treasure, travel to the island indicated on the treasure card.
Once there, place the card face-up on your treasure track. Place one of your progress markers on the first (red) space of the track and another on the final space indicated on the card. This is not an action.
There are two ways to advance on the track:
- Spend 1 action to move your progress marker as many spaces (footprints) as your current strength is, or:
- Discard 1 unit of the resource shown on the card as a free action and advance as many spaces as indicated.
If your progress marker lands on a green or white (or green-white) die, your crew has found something valuable. Roll the die (or dice) and gain any reward shown.
If your progress marker lands on a red die, your crew is in danger. Roll the red die and take any damage rolled.
As soon as you reach the second marker on the track, the treasure has been raised.
You can only have one card on your treasure track at any time. If you want to go for a different treasure, you must first discard the active card and return the markers.
If you leave the island during the treasure hunt, simply leave the card and the markers on the track. You can pick up the search whenever you return to the island.
After the search
As soon as you raise a treasure, return the markers and place the card on your player tableau.
- If the card shows a one-time bonus (marked with the shovel icon), get the bonus right away. Note that you only get the bonus if you raise the treasure, not if you steal it or receive it as a reward.
- If the card shows a lasting bonus (marked with the windrose), you will profit from this bonus as long as the treasure is on your ship.
- Most treasure cards contain a price tag. This is the amount you will receive if you decide to sell the treasure with a trade action (p. 18).
Watch out, though: As long as a treasure is on your ship, it can be stolen by other players. Of course, you can hide the treasure in your chest to protect it (p. 15) – but then, you won't be able to use or sell it anymore.
Treasure rewards: Some missions or cards will grant treasures as a reward. In this case, look at the top 2 treasure cards, choose one, and place the treasure on your ship. Return the other to the bottom of the treasure deck.
How to hunt for Treasure (example)
- Your crew scouts in the pubs and taverns (1st action).
- You look at the top 3 cards of the treasure deck and keep Drake's Rapier, as you are on St. David already.
- You place the card next to your tableau and return the other two to the bottom of the deck.
- You reveal the treasure card and place it on your treasure track.
- Place two of your progress markers on the track: One on the starting space, and one on the 22nd space, as indicated on the card.
- You don't have to spend any action to do this.
Now, the treasure hunt begins:
- As your current strength is 5, you use your second action to move the marker five spaces forward.
- You land on a green die – your crew has stumbled upon resources. You roll the die, and receive 1 Cocoa.
- You push on, and move to the tenth space (3rd action).
- When it's your turn again, you discard your 1 Cocoa as a free action to move three spaces. This leads you to the powerful bonus space with two dice.
- You roll both dice. The green one comes up empty, but the white one grants you an additional action.
- The extra action takes you 5 steps deeper into the jungle. You reach spot 18 – danger; you have to roll the red die. But fate smiles on you, and it comes up empty.
- You take your first regular action for the turn, and reach space 23. The rapier is yours!
Missions
The governor has many nasty tasks he wants taken care of and is always looking for desperate souls willing to get their hands dirty. He pays well and could become a powerful ally – even if behaving like the royals' new pet will probably lose you some respect in the pirate brotherhood.
How to acquire missions
Take the action Acquire Mission available on Port Royal. Look at the top three cards of the mission deck. Place one of them in your hand (or next to your tableau) and return the other two to the bottom of the mission deck.
There are two kinds of Missions:
- Official missions are marked with an open eye. If you chose one of these, reveal it and place it face-up next to your player tableau. You have to complete the task (or discard it as a free action, p. 15) before acquiring a new mission.
- Secret tasks are marked with a closed eye. If you accept one of these, keep it hidden until you meet the conditions listed on it.
At any time, you can have a maximum of 3 (revealed or hidden) missions. If you already have 3 missions, you can still take the Acquire Mission action, but have to discard 1 card afterwards.
...and how to complete them
If a mission requires you to deliver resources or cards to specific locations, you have to transport them to the named island and discard them there.
If a mission demands you use crew or ritual cards to a certain effect, you have to get these cards on The Bay or Isla Oscura and play them with your own gold/resources.
During your turn, you can reveal any completed missions as a free action (p. 15) and collect the reward. Place the completed mission in your chest then.
The mission deck also contains 6 special Title quests. They are explained in detail on page 28.
Missions as a negative tie-breaker
The brotherhood won't appreciate you collaborating with the governor. If two players are tied for Victory Points at the end of the game, the player who completed fewer missions will be declared the winner.
Example: You're in dire straits on Port Royal, willing to do anything for a few coins. You take the action "Acquire a Mission" and look at the top three cards of the mission deck. You select the mission "Tidings: St. David". You return the other two missions to the bottom of the mission deck. You reveal the mission. You take two travel actions which allows you to comfortably reach St. David. You take 500 G and a crew card and place the mission in your chest to track Victory Points.
Monsters
From your earliest childhood days, you remember the rumors about furious sea serpents and insatiable krakens – and the reverence shown to the captains who faced them and lived. Do you have what it takes to follow in their footsteps?
How to summon monsters
In Shiver me Timbers, you can hunt down two dangerous monsters: the Sea Serpent and the Kraken.
- To face the Sea Serpent, hire a First Mate on The Bay. He will lure the Sea Serpent into nearby waters.
- To face the Kraken, learn the ritual which summons it on Isla Oscura.
When you summon a monster, place its tile on the special spot on a long sea route (e.g. Mangroves). Often, you will choose the space you are currently occupying.
You may not choose a spot which is already occupied by a monster tile. As long as the monster is alive, the ability of the special spot cannot be used.
Ships on the spot remain there and can travel on or fight the monster during their next turn.
Each monster tile shows: (1) the monster name, (2) the hunt track, (3) the first space, and (4) the final space.
How to fight monsters
To fight the monster, travel to the monster tile. When you reach it, place a progress marker on the first space of the hunt track. This does not count as an action.
To advance on the track, spend an action to draw and resolve the top card of the monster hunt deck.
Most cards offer you a choice, e.g. to sacrifice resources or upgrades, or to roll the red die to advance a certain number of spaces. Some offer bonuses (Brief respite), while others represent dangers (Too heavy) which you have to face during the monster hunt. Some cards let you discard resources to speed up the hunt. Others require you to pass tests before you can continue. Some cards will let you choose bonuses. Others allow you to stack the deck in your favor.
As soon as you reach the 15th and final space on the track, the monster is defeated. Remove the tile from the board and return your progress marker.
The monster can be summoned again later.
If you leave the monster tile during the hunt, leave your progress markers on the track. You can continue the hunt when you return – if the monster is still there.
Your rewards
As a reward, select one of the available monster markers and take the reward indicated on it.
Place the marker in your chest to track Victory Points.
Combat
When the smell of burning powder lies in the air and the captains cross their rapiers high up in the rigging, legends are born. You will have plenty of opportunity to prove your worth.
There are three kinds of Combat actions:
- Gunfights to weaken ships out at sea
- Boarding attacks to plunder other players' ships or merchant ships out at sea
- Fortress raids on islands
Gunfights
As an action, you can declare a gunfight...
- if you share a sea space with another player or merchant; and
- if your ship has the higher speed value.
Gunfights against merchants are always successful. Place a damage marker on the merchant. If any player declares a boarding attack against this ship, the merchant loses 1 strength for every damage marker.
Gunfights against other players force your opponent to roll the red damage die. If it shows strength, speed, or hull, they remove one of the corresponding upgrades. If they roll an empty side, they avoided the shot.
Boarding attacks
The only way to defeat and to plunder a ship is to declare a Boarding attack on a player or merchant on your sea space. Note that you cannot board ships on islands.
1. The Prelude
Place the pirate miniature in the center of the duel zone on the scoring board ("the plank"). To win, you have to push the other captain off the plank with your attacks.
If you are boarding another player, you will face them in a direct duel.
If you're boarding a merchant, reveal their marker for all players to see. The player to your right will take on the role of the defending captain.
Compare the strength of the two ships. The captain with the higher strength pushes the miniature as many spaces forward as the difference is.
If the difference is higher than 3, the weaker captain is pushed off the plank right away. Go to point 3: "The Aftermath".
Before the duel starts, players may still play crew or ritual cards. If strength values change, move the miniature accordingly.
2. The Duel
Shuffle the duel deck. Deal 4 cards to each player.
Expert Rule: Resilient Ships — A large galleon is easier to defend than a sloop. If you want to include this advantage in the game, use the following ruling: After the players have drawn their duel cards, compare the hull values. The captain of the bigger ship may discard up to # cards, where # is the difference in hull, and then draw that many cards.
The captain of the faster ship (in case of a tie: the attacker), chooses who will attack first.
The attacking player can:
- play a red special action face-up,
- play a red attack card face-up, or
- pass priority and retreat the miniature 1 space.
If they play one of the red special actions "Feint" or "Rigg", resolve the effect right away.
Alternatively, they can play one of the two-colored duel cards for their attack face-up. In this case, only the red side is relevant; ignore the blue side.
Their opponent can react to the attack and:
- take all wounds without blocking.
- play a matching blue guard card (e.g. a High Guard against a High Attack) to prevent all wounds. In this case, you will ignore the red side of the card.
- play the special action "Throw sand" or "Insult" to prevent all or some of the damage.
They will then retreat 1 space for each unblocked wound in the top left corner of the attack card.
Then, it's the former defender's turn to attack. The players will continue to switch roles in this manner until the duel ends.
If a player has no more attack cards, they have to pass and retreat 1 space.
The duel ends when:
- both players pass right after one another; or
- one captain is pushed off the plank.
Winner is whoever pushes the opponent off the plank or stands in the opponent's half at the end of the duel. If both players stand in the center, the duel is a tie.
3. The Aftermath
Attacks on merchants
- If a player defeats a merchant, they receive its marker (to track Victory Points) as well as the rewards indicated on it and continue with their turn.
- If a player loses against a merchant, they lose 1 upgrade of their choice and end their turn. The merchant remains face-up in its spot (with any damage markers).
- If the duel ends in a tie, the player ends their turn and the merchant remains in its spot.
Attacks on other players
The winner (no matter if they started the duel as the attacker or the defender) may choose their reward:
- If they want gold, they take half the gold (rounded down) their opponent has on their ship.
- If they want resources, they take half the cargo (rounded down) of their choice.
- If they want a treasure, they choose one of the treasures on the ship.
- If they were the first pirate to defeat this opponent, they also receive their ship marker.
- If the active player loses or the duel ends in a tie, the active player's turn ends.
Raids on Fortresses
1. The Prelude
- As an action, ships on islands can declare a raid on the fortress. They reveal the fortress marker and show it to all players.
- The marker describes how well protected the fortress is and which special rules will apply.
- Then, players can play crew and ritual cards as usual.
2. The Duel
- The raid is decided by a duel against the captain of the guard following the rules described above.
3. The Aftermath
- If the fortress is defeated, the attacker receives its marker as well as the 2,000 G indicated on it.
- If a player loses against a fortress, they lose 1 upgrade of their choice and end their turn.
- If the duel ends in a tie, the player ends their turn.
Combat Example
Declaration of Attack: Player A boards Player B's ship. Place the miniature in the center of the duel zone.
Compare Strength: Player A has strength 5. Player B has strength 4. A moves the miniature 1 space forward.
Crew and ritual cards: Player A plays a Veteran Sellsword and increases their strength by 1. Player B counters with a Scurvy Saboteur who destroys one of A's cannons (-1 strength). A adds another Sellsword (+1 strength). Everyone passes; A's strength is 6 now. A moves the miniature another space forward.
Deal the Cards: Each player receives 4 cards.
The duel: Player A (who has the faster ship) starts with a powerful High Attack. Player B uses "Throw sand" to block.
Player B retaliates with a sneaky Low Attack. Player A decides to take the hit. The miniature moves 1 space back.
Player A hits back with a Middle Attack. Player B has no Middle Guard. He retreats 2 spaces, close to the brink.
Player B launches a desperate High Attack, but Player A is ready, and blocks with a formidable High Guard.
A's last card is a weak 1 damage attack. But B, who is standing at the brink of the plank, can't block and concedes.
Lost Family
You grew up an orphan – but deep down you always knew that your lost relatives are alive and waiting to be rescued. What are you waiting for? Set off on the search!
Where to find your lost relatives
Shiver Me Timbers offers you the opportunity to reunite with up to eleven lost relatives.
Your father, your aunt, your grandfather, and your mother have been abducted by pirate hunters. To save them, you will have to attack and capture the right ships.
Your sister, brother, uncle, and grandmother have been thrown in prison by the governor. If you take care of some dirty missions, he might agree to set them free.
To find your son, daughter, and best friend, go scouting in the taverns on the islands – the patrons will know their whereabouts. Once you have the right cards, the search works like a treasure hunt. Bear in mind that family cards don't count towards the life goal "Tomb Raider".
The Family Reunion
As soon as you rescue one of your relatives, take their marker and place it on your player tableau. Note that there's no limit to the number of relatives you can rescue.
From now on, you will have access to the special ability on the marker. Don't worry: once rescued and on your ship, your family is safe and cannot be taken away.
And don't forget: at the end of the game, you will receive the Victory Points noted on each collected family marker.
Rise to Nobility
If you complete a particularly daunting, multi-part mission for the governor, he might reward you with a title and grant you a special bonus for the rest of the game.
There are six Title Quests total in the mission deck. Each title quest consists of three separate tasks.
You can complete the three tasks in any order you like. Mark completed tasks with a progress marker to track your successes.
Only tasks completed after you revealed the title quest count towards the mission (e.g. You have to defeat a monster after you revealed the mission to place a marker on the "The Governor's Buccaneer" quest).
After all three tasks have been completed, you gain the corresponding title card as a reward.
Example: Reveal the Title Quest "King's Privateer" as soon as you acquire it. To complete it, you will have to defeat a small merchant ship, a large merchant ship, and a pirate in any order you choose. Once you complete the quest, collect the title card. It grants +1 strength and turns you into a pirate hunter.
Find a Soulmate
The Love of your Life is out there, longing for you. But finding them and winning their hearts over will not be easy. What are you waiting for?
If you want to propose to the Love of your Life, you will first need a ring.
There are six rings in the game: Four rings are hidden in the treasure deck. Also, your grandmother and your mother will bring their family jewelry with them if you should rescue them.
Once you find the ring, your soulmate will send you on a difficult quest to prove your worth: Reveal the top 3 cards from the wish deck. Your right hand neighbor chooses and discards one – usually the easiest one. Then, you secretly select one of the remaining two and shuffle the unused ones back in the wish deck.
As soon as you meet the specified conditions, reveal the wish and choose one of the remaining Soulmate markers.
Example: The Royal Signet is one of the 4 rings hidden in the treasure deck. As soon as you find it, you get to select a wish to prove your worth. You can then keep the ring on your ship or hide it in your chest. After you complete the task, take a soulmate marker as a reward and to track Victory Points.
Endgame Scoring
When the endgame has been triggered and the final round has been played, all that remains is to tally up the Victory Points and see who came out on top.
Final Scoring
Points for life goals
- You score the points for any life goals you achieved: 10 points if you were the first player to reach the goal, 5 points otherwise.
- You score 5 bonus points for every secret chosen goal you managed to achieve.
Points for in-game achievements
- You score all points on the wax seals you collected.
This includes:
- points on defeated ships, monsters & fortresses
- points on treasures and missions you completed
- points on rescued family members and soulmates
And finally, you score 1 point for every 1,000 Gold in your chest or on your ship.
The player who scores the most Victory Points wins.
Resolving Ties
- If two or more players are tied for top points, the player who completed the fewest missions for the governor wins.
- If the scores are still tied, the player with the most Gold wins.
- If scores are still tied, duel for the victory. If the players are tied for highest speed, the starting player is chosen randomly.
Icons
- Add / discard 1 upgrade of your choice
- Add / discard 1 strength upgrade
- Add / discard 1 hull upgrade
- Add / discard 1 speed upgrade
- Look at the top 2 treasure cards. Place one on your ship and return the other to the bottom of the treasure deck
- Discard a treasure from your ship
- Add / discard 1 resource of your choice
- Add / discard 1 Cocoa
- Add / discard 1 Rum
- Add / discard 1 Sugar
- Look at the crew / ritual deck. Choose 1 card and put it into your hand.
- Look at the top 3 treasure / mission cards. Place 1 in your hand. Return the others to the bottom of the deck
- Costs for playing crew / ritual cards
- Official missions / secret tasks
- Buy / sell resources or treasures
- Take both rewards / choose one
- Roll the green die. If you roll a resource, take 1 unit
- Roll the white die. The rewards are: 1 extra action / 200 Gold / 1 upgrade
- Roll the red die. If you roll an icon, lose 1 of these upgrades.
- Roll the blue die. This only happens during the monster hunt.
- Treasure location
- Final space of the treasure hunt (search difficulty)
- Lasting bonus. Remains valid as long as the treasure is on your ship
- One time bonus. Collect the reward when you raise the treasure
- Worth of a treasure when you sell it with a sell action
- A reward you can collect without spending an action
- Discard resource X (here: Cocoa) to advance X spaces (here: 3) on the treasure or monster track
- Victory Points
Epic Game Mode
Due to the nature of the life goals and the clear focus they add to the game, even a full game of Shiver Me Timbers will usually wrap up in around two hours. But what if you are looking for an even more epic, evening-long pirate experience to explore all life goals at once?
In that case, just turn the scoring board around, and you're good to go: On the back, you will find the alternative epic game mode with all life goals.
That said, we recommend that you play at least a couple of regular games before you switch to epic mode. Familiarize yourself with the actions, check out the life goals and learn the rules and cards. Once you get the hang of the game, try the epic variant.
The epic mode follows mostly the same rules as the regular game. Just make the following adjustments:
- Select 3 instead of 2 goals, to make sure all of you have something to strive for until the very end.
- Mark completed life goals with unused life goal markers (instead of origin markers) as you will likely need more than 5.
- In a regular game, player ships start with all attributes set to 3 (Strength 3, Speed 3, Hull 3). In epic mode, start with all attributes set to 2, but with 3 free upgrades, so you can specialize right from the start.
- In epic mode, the end game is only triggered when a player completes the second-to-last life goal. Ignore the alternative trigger, and simply reshuffle the wind deck if it should ever run out of cards.
And that's it. Enjoy your epic pirate experience!
Credits
Shiver Me Timbers is a game by Michal Vitkovsky, with artwork by Unique Litani Soparie. The miniatures were created by Andy Monks from Trick Monkey Studios. The English rulebook was adapted and handled by Tyler Omichinski. The insert was developed by Matt Healy. The digital adaptation was implemented by Vincent Myers. My deepest thanks go to the awesome Kickstarter community who made this possible, our friends at Panda Game Manufacturing, our awesome proofreaders (Murat, Dominik, Steven, Antje, Robert, Mario, William and many more), our countless playtesters, all over the world, the many reviewers who generated the necessary traction for this passion project, and, obviously, my amazing family who supported me and held my hand through this wild ride.
© 2020 Weltflucht Verlag