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Funded! This project successfully raised its funding goal on September 6, 2011.

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Scury Dogs: Pirates and Privateers is a board game from dern and obsidian, with gorgeous art and fun gameplay.

Scurvy Dogs: Pirates and Privateers is a board game for pirate lovers by pirate lovers.
Play as one of eight classic pirates of the Caribbean, including Blackbeard, Mary Read and Sir Francis Drake.
Steal from the Spanish!
Fight the Kraken!
Bury treasure!
Stab your friends!
Be in the game!

The money raised will go directly into two groups - printing and art. We have quotes and estimates needed to make a full print run of a high-quality game, including art for over 50 unique cards, a map, tokens and dice.

The more we go over our fund-raising target, the more unique cards we can add to the project. We'd also like to add a two-sided map for increased challenge, as well as more specific and detailed tokens.

Anne Bonny by Obsidian Abnormal

Scurvy Dogs Gameplay

Every player starts off with a Pirate and a Ship. The Pirate has two numbers: Land and Sea. The Ship has two numbers: Speed and Space.


Pirate's Land vs. Sea numbers
These numbers work the exact same way. Whenever you take on a Booty Challenge, the Spanish Armada, Special Challenges or other Pirates, you roll two dice and add them to either the Land or the Sea number.
Each Booty Challenge has a Land and Sea number as well, though they are much higher than a Pirate’s number. The rewards vary on the difficulty of the challenge, and almost every challenge will be noticeably stronger at Sea or at Land.
Special Challenges will be either At Sea only (The Kraken) or At Land only (The Fortress).
Attacking other pirates use either the Land or the Sea number, depending on where you attack said pirates.
Note: the best that you’ll be able to get any Land or Sea number up to is a 7.

Ship’s Speed vs. Space numbers
The smaller ships get you there faster, but you’ll be limited in how much cargo and crew you can carry on board. However, you’ll also be able to out-run more heavily armed ships.

The Early Gameplay
Initially, competing in Booty Challenges will be very difficult. On the map, there’s three shipwrecks conspicuously close to the starting area. Players can “salvage” the wrecks with really simple challenges, and get up to one crew card and one equipment card fairly cheaply. This should equip the ships with enough firepower to then take on the Booty Challenges.

The Main Gameplay
As ship’s crew and equipment improve, completing Booty Challenges will be their main source of treasure. Challenges will either be simple dice-checks the moment they’re encountered, or secret challenges that involve goals that other players can interrupt.
The main goal of the game is to gather up gold. Even though pirates traded in all sorts of treasure, the worth was always assigned as a value in gold first.
Treasure is gained by completing Booty card challenges, stealing from other pirates, slaying the kraken, or sacking The Fortress.
Treasure is lost by spending money on crew members and the shipyard, losing certain Booty Challenges, and buying Letters of Marque from the Governor.
The secondary goal is to not die, which is where Letters of Marque come into play.
Being a pirate was illegal, even for the British “sailors” in Port Royal. But in a simple stroke of politics, there was a loophole - being a privateer. The key difference between the two were Letters of Marque. And getting them was quite simple. All you had to do was attack only the Spanish, and then give lots and lots of money to the British Government.
Some pirates, like Sir Francis Drake, were very good at doing this (note that “Sir” title, he bought it fair and square). Other pirates were not so good at playing by these rules, and they got their necks stretched.
At the end of the game, you count two things: your gold and your Letters of Marque. You have to have enough Letters to not die, and you have to have the most gold to win. How many letters are enough is affected by how many players are playing the game. But if you have the fewest, you’re automatically dead.

Booty Challenges
Here’s some examples of Booty Challenges you’ll face:

Treasure Fleet
Land: 16
Sea: 15
Booty: 30 gold

Keep it safe!
(secret)
Land: 14
Sea: 15
Booty: 24 gold

Before rolling for this challenge, find a deserted island at least 5 squares away from Port Royal to bury it.


Mutiny
Land: 10
Sea: 11
Cancel with Rum
If successful, discard one crewman.
If you roll over 17, discard all Letters of Marque
If you lose, discard all crew

Note how each one plays out. First, you’ve got a straight-forward, brute-force card Treasure Fleet. You roll, you try to hit a relatively tough roll (at best, you’ll be needing to roll an 8 on 2d6), and as such it’s one of the bigger financial rewards in the game. Keep it safe! is a secret challenge, meaning you need to hide your goal while sailing around.
And then there’s Mutiny, which is something of an anti-Booty card. Mutiny is special because it encourages you to either prepare for it ahead of time (spending gold on rum) or suffer consequences. And notice that those consequences get worse the more successful you are. If you lose all your Letters of Marque in the last round, what was at one point a safe lead can turn into a very, very dangerous time for a pirate.

The End Game
I love games that have different ending conditions. This is something I wanted in Scurvy Dogs, too.
First, there needs to be an ending that everyone can see coming. In this case, it’s a gold limit. Once all the gold is gone, the game ends.
Second, there’s the “capture the flag” attack. On the map there’s two very clear final destinations, The Fortress and The Kraken. One is a Land-based challenge, and one is a Sea-based challenge. Beating either starts up an end phase for the game.

Third, there’s a secret ending. In the booty challenges, there’s four corners to a treasure map. If a pirate is able to collect all four pieces of the map then reach a secret location, they can surprise everyone by ending the game early.

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Funding period
Jul 20, 2011 - Sep 6, 2011

  • Pledge $1 or more

    14 backers

    We’ll thank you on the game’s website. You’ll have access to updates about the game, including card descriptions and art. And we’ll link you to a picture of a doubloon, so that you know what it looks like for future reference.

  • Pledge $20 or more

    10 backers

    Want to help but can't afford the full game? With this pledge, you'll get a print-and-play PDF of the game, including the rulebook, the cards and a map. We'll also make some digital backgrounds and include some special backer-only updates.

    Estimated delivery: Jan 2012
  • Pledge $50 or more

    86 backers

    The game, shipped to your door. International customers, please add $10 to this. We’ll also thank you in the rule book, and give you all the $1 benefits as well.

  • Pledge $75 or more

    79 backers

    The $50 package, plus four Limited Edition Booty Challenge cards. Each card will be done by a different artist, like Lar deSouza of Least I Could Do and Jamie Noguchi of Yellow Peril. We’ll also be adding in a signed print of some of the game art from Obsidian.

  • Pledge $100 or more

    16 backers Limited (34 of 50 left)

    The $75 package, plus a piece of the original art from Obsidian. The art will be dark pencils on paper.

  • Pledge $250 or more

    1 backer All gone!

    LIMITED REWARD 1 of 1 remaining The Yuko Ota Package. This package includes the game, the thank you, the updates, the LE cards, the print of game art, and one other thing - Yuko's original art from her LE card.

    Estimated delivery: Apr 2012
  • Pledge $250 or more

    30 backers All gone!

    The $75 package, plus your likeness will be used as one of the pirate crew. We’ll also send you the original art of you as a pirate.

  • Pledge $250 or more

    1 backer All gone!

    The Lar deSouza Package. This package includes the game, the thank you, the updates, the LE cards, the print of game art, and one other thing - Lar's original art from his LE card.

  • Pledge $250 or more

    1 backer All gone!

    The Jamie Noguchi Package. This package includes the game, the thank you, the updates, the LE cards, the print of game art, and one other thing - Jamie's original art from his LE card.

  • Pledge $250 or more

    1 backer All gone!

    The Obsidian Abnormal Package. This package includes the game, the thank you, the updates, the LE cards, the print of game art, and one other thing - O's original art from his LE card.

  • Pledge $275 or more

    0 backers

    Retailer wholesale pack - Eight copies of the game shipped to your door, especially if that door happens to be an awesome gaming store. We'll also throw in eight sets of the LE cards, as well as a promotional poster for the game.

  • Pledge $600 or more

    3 backers Limited (7 of 10 left)

    You know that shot of the pirates in the boat, with the big red Scurvy Dogs logo on it? That's not our final box art. It will be a group shot, but that group shot will be of you, the backers. The BOXTOP BACKERS will get the following benefits: A cameo as a pirate on the cover of the box, an LE print of that piece of art, a card with your pirate cameo that is part of the game, the original art of that game card and THREE copies of the game (one to play, one to display, and one to give your parents - let them know you're a PIRATE!). We'll also be throwing in the Print-and-Play PDF, the LE Cards and the other print of LE art!

    Estimated delivery: Apr 2012
  • Pledge $1,000 or more

    0 backers

    Retailer signing pack - 10 copies of the game, plus an in-store signing and demo. Retailers will be responsible for helping out any travel costs for locations further than 300 miles from Baltimore, MD.