The goal of this campaign is to develop a fleet and engage in missions
to secure gold by transporting cargo to and from the Old World or simply
seizing it by raiding villages or securing valuable cargo from
shipwrecks. The first player to accumulate 10,000 Gold Bars is declared
the winner of the campaign.
List of Campaign Definitions:
* Admiral:
Each player has an Admiral who is the top of the food chain in the
respective fleet. Call your Admiral whatever you want--a Captain,
Scallywag, Emperor, or Lord of the High Seas. For the sake of this
campaign, each player has an Admiral which is the representative, in
game, of the player--a player's avatar, so to speak, in the campaign.
An Admiral lives a charmed life, always managing to be washed ashore
after shipwrecks, always finding the bullet hitting his chest to be
stopped by a flask, always managing to escape the shackles in the
darkest dungeon of his captors. Throughout the campaign the Admiral
survives. One thing the Admiral may not do so well with as surviving is
managing his funds to keep a fleet afloat and operational. When an
Admiral accumulates 10,000 Gold Bars to his personal treasure he then
may declare himself Lord Victor of the Uncharted Seas and retire to a
private island.
* Gold Bars: These are the measures of wealth,
victory objectives, ship building and operations expenses. 1 Gold Bar
is the equivalent of a point of a ship's cost. Gold Bars are collected
by delivering cargo (or capturing and selling cargo), ransoming
important prisoners, finding and liberating shipwrecks or lost temples
of their treasures, or selling prized ships in a neutral Pirate's Haven
port (calling it Redport for now).
* Pirate's Haven REDPORT:
The main, neutral port around which the campaign revolves. Redport is
an international port, not as large or civilized as the capital cities
in the Old World, but it's the last stop in a civilized port on your
voyage into the Uncharted Seas and the first stop before heading back to
the Old World. Redport is a ramshackle city built around an atoll
which is the remnant of an ancient volcano crater. Almost no food is
grown here, but because of the protected, deepwater port and a
concentration of trade and willing labor, not to mention the only
collection of skilled shipwrights in this part of the world, Redport
thrives by the commerce which flows through this port. The population
is at least five thousand score of souls, and of all nationalities and
races. The city is divided into quarters, each controlled by a
different faction. A half-dozen shipbuilders line the docks, and each
day several ships, merchant and warship alike, are christened and crewed
by many willing and able hands. In Redport an Admiral may buy and sell
anything, for the right price.
* Borrowing: Defeat can be a
grim reality for an Admiral. Debt usually follows. At any time an
Admiral may borrow Gold Bars from one of several large banking houses
and less scrupulous lenders in Redport. But these loans come at a
price, and if not repaid in a timely manner an Admiral may find his
fleet hunted by Imperial warships or simply find himself watching his
fleet slowly fall apart for lack of funds for repairs and replacements.
There is no limit to the amount an Admiral may borrow during a campaign
to fund repairs, new ships, and replacements. But if an Admiral
accumulates 5,000 Gold Bars in his personal treasure while still owing
any amount of debt, then each opposing player receives 500 Gold Bars
each Campaign Turn in credit toward repairing and building ships or
paying for crew and operations expenses.
* Action: Each ship in a
fleet may perform 3 Actions per Fortnight. An Action is an abstract
measure of time that a ship is generally engaged. Missions will each
have an Action cost. Returning to a port for repairs costs 1 Action.
Docking in Redport for repairs or to sell or buy merchandise costs 1
Action. Moving from port to a Mission location costs 1 Action. Playing
a game against an opponent for any Mission objective does not cost an
Action to complete, but each ship in a fleet which is deployed for that
game and Mission must have spent 1 Action to effectively arrive at the
location for the battle. (As long as a ship has 1 Action remaining
after surviving a battle it may spend that Action to return to port for
repairs; if the ship has used all 3 Actions during the current Fortnight
then it must wait until the start of the next turn to spend 1 Action to
return to port for repairs.) An Admiral may divide the fleet and have
different squadrons perform different Actions, but each ship may only
perform 3 Actions in any given Fortnight.
* Campaign
Turn/Fortnight: Each Campaign Turn covers 2 Weeks of time. Each ship
in a fleet may perform in 3 Actions during that 2-week turn.
