LATE BREAKING UPDATES!

All $40+ Backers will now receive a complete set of the planned promo cards. There's also a new reward level at $50, which additionally includes four more Kickstarter ONLY cards. (Higher levels will also now receive all four of these cards).

Here are some of the planned promotional captains:

Captain Keeshan
Immune to being hit directly by cannon fire.

Captain Sharkey
When Rum sends opponent's crew overboard, one is eaten by a shark and returns below decks.

Captain Sea Swindler
May discard one card to switch the direction of a an Ocean Current card.

Captain Jack
Draw 3 cards instead of two when using Rum to draw cards.

Captain Strongarms
Rolls 3 dice instead of two in a fight

Captain Sid
If any hits are scored by his side in a battle he is participating in, score one additional hit.

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Ethereal pirates swarm back and forth over each other's ships as the seas toss in the midnight storm. The decks of each vessel shift in and out of reality as the fighting begins. One captain and crew will emerge triumphant, and the loser will be damned to stalk the bowels of Davy Jones' locker.

How will it end for you?

The Game
Ghost Pirates is a tactical action game for two players, that takes 30-45 minutes to play and is suitable for ages 13+. It's a great light-weight game that suits gamers from all walks including kids and parents, and couples.

prototype shown here, not final artwork

Gameplay is designed to emulate tactical melee battles with a unique dice mechanic that is easy to learn and quick to play, especially for beginning gamers. It bears certain similarities to wargames like Axis and Allies, but on a much smaller, more fast-paced scale. The components are 72 cards which build the play layout and form the draw deck, 34 crew tokens, and a small handful of pirate themed six-sided dice.

The Money
Funds raised from this kickstarter campaign will go towards the following destinations:

• Manufacturing costs. $7500 pays for most of the costs involved in a 500 unit print run. I'm expecting to shell out some money out of pocket, but I can start taking advantage of volume discounts at this number.
• Paying the artist and designer fair rates for their work (an estimated $1200)
• Backer Rewards, the bulk of which will be unique to Kickstarter backers, and then a small amount will be go towards promotional goods that latecomers might still get a shot at.

The Crew
This is a wholly self-published game, that utilizes the work of young independent artists and designers. One of the goals of this game, and this publishing project is to help young artists and designers grow their skills and portfolios with real projects so they can fully participate and engage in their chosen capacity.

The game development is by me, Tim Rodriguez <http://www.epistech.com>, who started crafting games just about three years ago. Many ideas, false-starts, and playtests later, Ghost Pirates was conceived and has been in development for about a year and a half.

The gorgeous artwork is by Eileen McLain <http://eileenmclain.carbonmade.com/>, who will be a Pratt Graduate at the end of this year. She has generously also contributed the reward of a personal portrait for the lucky backer who picks the "Davy Jones" level.

Graphic Design is by David Berg <http://www.shrikedesign.com/>, who is a long-time friend and RPG designer who is currently doing freelance graphic design work and continuing to write his old-school dungeoncrawling game "Delve."

Music in the video is "Darker Song" by Meghan Cary, from her new album "Building This House." Used with permission.
http://www.meghancary.com