Sjörövarön Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Content
• Introduction
• Set Up
• Game Rules
  • Movement over Land
  • Jumping and Crossing a River
  • Shooting
  • How to Find the Treasure
  • How to Recover the Treasure
  • The Raft
  • The Mortar
  • Who Wins?
  • Extra Rule
• Painting the Miniatures

Content

1 game board

6 pirate miniatures

1 map in nine pieces

1 regular die

1 shooting die

1 mortar (cannon)

1 raft

1 treasure chest + ring

Introduction

Pirate Island is one of the game classics in Sweden, originally published in 1955.

The game takes place in three phases: the battle, the hunt for the treasure and the escape.

During the battle phase the players are trying to get their hands on all eight pieces of the treasure map (the ninth is hidden away) by stealing them from the other players. The hunt for the treasure starts as soon as someone has all eight pieces: try to get to the treasure site and dig it up. When the treasure is dug up you must try to escape, either by rowing boat or the raft.

The player who safely manages to get away with the treasure has won – but before that a long and exciting fight awaits.

Set Up

1. Place the game board in the center of the table.
2. Place the raft on the spot marked with a raft, close to the waterfall.
3. Place the mortar on the double marked hex in the tower.
4. Attach the ring to the treasure chest so that a pirate may carry it.
5. Everyone rolls the dice. The player with the highest result is the starting player and gets to pick a pirate character and place it on a starting hex (= one of the double marked hexes next to a rowing boat). Thereafter all other players do the same in a clockwise manner.
6. The starting player shuffles the nine pieces of the map without looking at them and hides one of the pieces under the game board. Important: no player gets to see what piece was hidden! Thereafter the remaining eight map pieces are dealt out to the players (it is ok if a player gets more pieces than another player). A player only gets to look at his own pieces, not anyone else's.

Game Rules

Each turn a player gets to either:

• Move their pirate over land, or
• Attempt a jump or cross a river, or
• Move his pirate over the water hexes, or
• Dig or drag for the treasure.

Besides one of the above actions (however not if the player is floating along the water spaces) the player has the right to one throw of the shooting die, before or after the regular die throw – but once you have rolled the regular die you have to move according to its result!

Movement over Land

You roll once with the die. You have to move your pirate exactly the number of hexes as the die shows. Important rule: during one and the same turn, a hex may only be moved into once. It is not allowed to occupy the same hex or pass through the same hex as an unharmed opponent. However, a hex with a wounded pirate may be passed through and also occupied by another pirate.

Note that the above rules may force you to zig-zag or that you cannot reach your goal or even must move in an unwanted direction! If you are locked in and absolutely cannot use your full movement, you lose your movement and must remain still.

Jumping and Crossing a River

To attempt a jump or cross a river you must in your previous turn have ended on a striped hex next to a jump- or river crossing location. Before you throw the regular die you must say "Jump" (Hopp) or "Cross" (Vad), whichever is in question.

The die will only show if the jump/crossing was successful or not. To succeed with a jump the die must show a 3 or higher. To succeed with a crossing the die must show a 2 or higher.

If the jump/crossing succeeds, you place your pirate on the closest opposite striped land hex. Note that the river double cross locations need two successful rolls to be completely crossed.

Failed jump over a cliff: you end up at the bottom of the ravine, but may during your next turn move as usual.

Failed jump over the waterfall: you end up at the space where the waterfall splashes down in the river. During your next move you must move along the water as many spaces as the die shows, but may then try to save yourself to dry land.

Failed crossing or jumping over the river: You end up in the water space between the striped hexes and must during your next turn move along the river as many spaces as the die shows (following the arrows).

If you (while floating in the river) end your turn on a water space adjacent to a land hex (striped or not) you may during your next turn choose to either move up on land or continue floating along the river. If you end up in a water space at a double crossing which is only adjacent the striped middle hex, during your next turn you may enter this location. During your next turn you roll the die to see if you can cross to the other side. If you fall into the Sulfur Lake (Svavelsjön) and float down the waterfall you continue moving any remaining steps along the river below.

If you (while floating along the river) do not end up in a water space adjacent a land hex, you must during your next turn roll the die and continue moving along the river.

More than one pirate may occupy the same water space at the same time. If a pirate is extremely unlucky and floats out to sea that pirate is out of the game.

Shooting

In addition to the roll of the movement die, but not if you are in the water, you have the right to one roll of the shooting die, either before or after the roll of the movement die. A requirement is that you have a straight, uninterrupted line of hexes in between you and the target.

An uninterrupted line of hexes includes both land and water hexes (note that not all hexes have lines on all sides, but this has no relevance). You may shoot over the river, over small coves and over cliff jump locations. You may not shoot over drawn obstacles (rocks etc.) and not shoot past a wounded player.

Before you roll the shooting die you must say "Shooting at… (name)". You must always name your target. If you forget to do this, you automatically fail the shooting attempt.

You roll once with the shooting die: blank side means miss; ring side means hit. A pirate who is hit is wounded. The pirate is placed lying down on the hex he was shot at and must miss 3 turns. To keep count the pirate is rotated 90 degrees each turn – see figure below.

If a pirate is hit in a water hex, the player must roll the die for movement along the river and at the same time keep count of missed turns by rotating his pirate. This pirate will not be able to try to get up on dry land until he has "recovered" after 3 rounds.

A pirate who is wounded may not be targeted until he recovers.

If a pirate lies wounded on the beach close to the river or along the sea shore, anyone ending up in the same hex may push that pirate one step into the closest water space (but only if there is an adjacent water space). Just like described above the wounded pirate (lying down and turning 90 degrees per turn) must float along the arrows the turns he has left as wounded (however always at least one turn).

It is not allowed to end up in the same land hex as a wounded pirate who has missed his last three turns and will be allowed to stand up and move during his next turn.

How to Find the Treasure

A pirate is considered to be carrying all pieces of the treasure map he currently owns. If a pirate lies wounded, all map pieces may be stolen by anyone ending up or passing through the hex where he lies. (This is not necessarily the one who has wounded the pirate!).

A wounded pirate floating along the river loses all his pieces of the map to a pirate who ends up in or passes through a land hex adjacent to the water space where the wounded pirate lies.

As soon as someone has all 8 pieces of the treasure map in his hand, he or she will look at them to see what piece is missing – of course this is where the treasure is hidden! (Note that each of the 9 hiding spots are marked with name and three stones). Thereafter the pirate having all 8 pieces immediately gets to roll the movement die 5 times. During these moves, no other pirate gets to do anything. The owner of the map gets to shoot during his 5 moves, and no one may return fire.

All who have owned all 8 pieces of the map of course know where the treasure is hidden and have the right to go and try to dig it up. The 5 extra moves are only granted to the first pirate to collect all 8 pieces.

How to Recover the Treasure

To dig up the treasure you must end up with your pirate on the exact hex where the treasure chest is hidden. On your next turn you must say "I dig" and roll with the die (if you forget to say it, you must instead move). To dig up the treasure you must roll a 4 or higher. If you succeed you get the chest and hang it around the neck or arm of your pirate. On your next turn you make an ordinary move. If the digging fails, you may remain on the hex and may try again next turn.

You lose the chest if you get wounded, or if you fail with a jump or crossing. If you are wounded anyone ending up or passing through your hex may pick up the chest.

If you fail with a jump over or crossing the river, the treasure chest will end up in the water space in between the striped hexes (you float along the river as usual, at least during your next turn). If you fail to jump over the waterfall, the chest will end up in the space where the fall splashes down into the river.

The pirate who first reaches a land hex neighboring a water space where the chest lies, may try to drag for the chest. It proceeds just like when digging, with the difference that you must say "I drag" before rolling the die; also in this instance a 4 or higher is necessary to recover the chest.

If you fail jumping over a mountain cliff, both you and the chest will end up at the bottom of the ravine. During your next turn, you may try to gather the treasure again, by as above saying "I dig" and rolling the die.

The Raft

To be allowed to use the raft, the pirate must carry the treasure and also end up on the hex with the raft. During his next turn, the raft ride may be initiated.

The raft floats along the river following the arrows. The pirate onboard rolls the die as usual and moves the raft, but he cannot leave the raft voluntarily. The pirate onboard may shoot, but he may also be shot. If he gets shot, he falls off the raft and up in the water space behind the raft. As wounded, he must as usual float along the river for 3 turns, but now he must also (until another pirate jumps aboard the raft) first roll and move the raft with the chest and then roll the die and move himself. The pirate may not end up in the same space as the raft; in this case he ends his move in the space behind the raft. Similarly (if you roll for the raft when it has ended up behind the pirate) the raft is moved to the space in front of the pirate since the raft and pirate cannot end up in the same space.

From a water space it is not possible to jump aboard the raft, you must first get up on dry land. From a land hex you may try to jump aboard the raft, but then the raft must be in a neighboring water space. You must say "Jump" and roll the die; if you get a 3 or higher you end up on the raft, but if you roll a 1 or 2 you end up in the water space behind the raft.

The Mortar

To be able to use the mortar you must have ended your move on the double marked hex where the mortar is located (exact number of steps is required). When you have entered this hex you may skip any number of your turns until an opportunity to fire arrives (this is the only time in the game where you may skip your turn).

You may use the mortar to fire at the pirate with the treasure, either when he has reached one of the rowing boats or when he is about to float out into the sea on the raft.

If the pirate with the treasure has reached a rowing boat that was used as a starting spot (double marked hex), the remaining participants have one more turn to stop him, i.e. it is not until his next turn that it is considered that the pirate has gotten away with the treasure, granted he was not wounded. If you stand in the tower at the start of your turn, you fire the mortar by saying "Shooting at… (name)" and then roll the shooting die as usual. On a hit, the rowing boat is destroyed and cannot be used, and the pirate with the treasure is wounded by the shrapnel.

If the pirate with the treasure is about to float out to sea, you are only allowed to shoot at the raft using the mortar when the raft has ended up on one of the three double marked hexes (you have an attempt at each of those hexes if the raft is floating slowly). On a hit, the raft is destroyed and the treasure chest sinks to the bottom, and the wounded pirate floats out to sea and is out of the game.

On a hit the pirate at the mortar immediately gets to do a turn, as all pirates race to recover the treasure from the boat wreck (no digging roll is required) or drag if the chest has sunk to the bottom in the water space where the raft was sunk, and move it to another valid boat.

Who Wins?

The pirate who either moves the treasure chest to one of the rowing boats which were used as a starting spot in the game and avoided being hit by the mortar, or was able to move the treasure on the raft past the three double marked water hexes without being hit, has won the game.

If a shot from the mortar hits the raft in the third and last of the double marked hexes, the game ends without a winner, since that hex is not neighboring any land hex. Likewise, the game ends without a winner if the raft with the treasure chest floats out to sea without a pirate onboard.

Extra Rule

When 5 or 6 people are playing the game and the treasure has been dug up, all shots fired are killing, i.e. that pirate is out of the game. However, a participant being shot on the raft will (as a service from beyond) continue to roll for the raft as long as no other pirate has jumped aboard.

Painting the Miniatures

Do you want even more fun out of your game? In that case, paint your miniatures so that they look more "realistic".

Of course you may paint them the way you want, but the "real" colors according to the game's inventors are:

• Hannibal: Black upper body and gun, blue belt and holster, light gray pants, black boots.
• Moonsicle: Pale-yellow head and arms, black gun, black braces and boots.
• Tjo-Pang: Yellow hat and coat, pink head and hands, black guns, green pants and black shoes.
• Svullo: Pink upper body, black gun and belt, light green pants, black shoes.
• Hook: Black hat and gun, pink head and hand, blue coat and pants, red belt, black boots.
• Marquis: Black guns and black hair, pink hands and head, red pants and coat, black shoes.
• Raft: Brown.
• Mortar: Black cannon, brown wooden details.
• Treasure: Brown chest, black handle.

In addition, the base of the miniatures should be brown.

If you want to use Revell plastic colors, these are the numbers:

• Black: no 7
• Red: no 31
• Pink: no 35 (matt)
• Yellow: no 12
• Brown: no 80
• Light grey: no 70
• Blue: no 52
• Green: no 62
• Light green: no 60
• Pale yellow: no 11

Use a thin brush and a bit of patience, and you'll see that the miniatures will be nice and pretty and fun to play with!