The Search for More Money (Map Game)

SCRAW PRESENTS
THE SEARCH FOR MORE MONEY

a game thing

so yall like pirates?

Introduction

You may be wondering, "scraw, what the fresh hell is this shit?" Simply put, it is a game about pirates. You get to create and run your own pirate crew and operate in a fictionalized approximation of the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean.

We will not be using a real map. Instead, I have created a "map" of a different sort, which can be seen below. We will not be using real distances, numbers, or anything like that. If you try to tell me some nonsense about "scraw this isn't accurate" you will not be playing the game.

This is a highly experimental game. I've never done anything like this before and I don't think you have either. As such, the mechanics may be highly broken. If we learn this along the way, it will be a valuable lesson learned. Maybe someone will win instantly. I don't know. We are all here to learn.

Map

This is the map. Unlike a regular map game, it is not a representation of actual geography, but a chart which will assist in the operation of game mechanics. In truth, this is more of a math game than a map game. Each individual player is not represented on the map. Blue ports are French, red are British, and yellow are Spanish.

Every player will begin the game in one of the three central locations: Nassau (Bahamas), Havana (Cuba), or Port Royal (Jamaica). From there you may depart and travel anywhere as long as you follow the lines.

The numbers along the line are distance from one port to another. The arrows show the direction of the wind. If you travel in the direction of the wind, you will travel at 1x speed. If you travel against the wind, you will travel at .75x speed. We shall refer to the distances as "nautical miles" for simplicity's sake.

The black lines are pirate lanes/free travel. The blue line is the French naval lane and the red line is the English naval lane. If you travel on these two royal lanes you will have to fight the respective navies to complete your journey. A dashed line means no direct travel.

You cannot skip a port. This means no going from Tortuga to Veracruz without stopping at an intermediate port.

Premise

The great pirate captain Robert "Bingo Bob" Russell has died of syphilis. Somewhere in the Caribbean, he has buried a great treasure of 100,000 doubloons. His fleet is divided between his mistress, Missy Elliott, and his bastard Jack Horne. Your goal is to locate the GOLD and then escape with it.

You will find the gold by travelling from port to port looking for it, and for information that can lead you to it. The gold is buried at one of the nine locations on the map. Information will be relayed to players through a combination of mod events and messages from you. You have to beat the other pirates to the gold and avoid the imperial navies on the way.

If you don't want to find the gold and just want to have fun doing pirates things, that's okay too, but the game will end when someone finds the gold and escapes with it off the map. All vectors going off the map are distance 10 and wind in your favor. You can only escape via an edge port, not the three central ports. If no one finds the gold in 25 turns, Elliott or Horne will get the gold and the game is over.

Rules

The rules are simple.

1. As mentioned before, do not inform me about numerical inaccuracies.
2. The rules mentioned in the map section.
3. Maybe I'll think of more rules.

Game mechanics

How to create your pirates

Every player is to create a fictional pirate captain and the ships under their command.

Ships

You may pick from the following ships:

• S: Schooners, 1st in strength, 2nd in speed, 2nd in size
• S: Sloops, 2nd in strength, 1st in speed, 1st in size
• C: Caravels, 3rd in strength, 3rd in speed, 4th in size
• C: Carracks, 4th in strength, 4th in speed, 3rd in size

You can have any 2 S-ships, and 3 C-ships. You can have 4 C-ships if you have 1 S-ship. Designate one S-ship as your captain's flagship.

Consider the different reasons to have each type of ship. If you want to focus on beating the competition to the target, you may want fast ships. If you want to capture and carry large amounts of booty, you may want a large ship. If you want to blow everyone else out of the water, you may want the strong ships.

Further details are forthcoming.

Men and money

• Everyone will begin with 500 men and 10,000 doubloons. If you want more doubloons or more men, you will have to exchange the requisite amount. The exchange rate is 1,000 doubloons to 50 men.
• You can use doubloons for things like buying rum and prostitutes or bribing the Royal Navy. Use your imagination.

Chance

You can assign a total of 10 points to the factors of SURPRISE and LUCK. A high surprise factor will allow you do things like sneak up on your opponent in the night, magically have more cannonballs, or something like that. You'll know when you need it. A high luck factor will allow you win battles against stronger opponents or evade pursuing navies. You can only use 1 point per turn, until you have nothing left of either factor. (So you can use either factor once per turn.) The factors will reset after turn 10 to the same levels you began with.

Battles

Battles will be decided based on your choice of ships, men and money, and chance. I will create a spreadsheet which will allow for the quick calculation of battles. The mathematical values of ships will be established shortly, as mentioned above.

Battles will occur whenever players meet each other on a lane. The spot along the lane will be mathematically calculated by the speeds and distances already established. If you wish to avoid battle, you can use your luck factor for that turn. You may be located by an imperial navy or Bingo Bob's successor. You cannot avoid these actors; you must do battle with them. There will be no battles until turn 3 in order to allow everyone to depart from the starting point.

If you lose a battle by a little (specific amount TBD), you may escape and continue on your journey with depleted resources. If you lose by a middling amount (TBD), the winner has the choice to capture your forces or destroy them. If you are captured, you may continue playing the game as prisoners and attempt to liberate yourself later. If you are destroyed, you are eliminated from the game. Your captain will be killed either way and you will have to elevate a new character to the position of captain. If you lose by a high amount (TBD), you are eliminated from the game. All eliminations are final.

Signups

Four players may start any of the three central ports to begin the game. If more players wish to join, they will have to wait until other players leave the port. The game is capped at 15 players. Eliminated players will not be replaced.

SIGNUPS ARE NOT OPEN YET. DO NOT SIGN UP IN A PORT.

Interested

If you are interested, sign your name here and only here.

Independent actors (not playable)

• English Royal Navy
• Spanish Armada
• French Royal Navy
• Missy Elliott
• Jack Horne