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Forgotten Waters Game Rules


Components

  • 7 12-Sided Dice
  • 1 Location Book
  • 1 Map Board
  • 1 Boatswain Board
  • 1 First Mate Board
  • 1 Cooper Board
  • 1 Gunner Board
  • 1 Quartermaster Board
  • 1 Lookout Board
  • 1 Pad of Ship Scribe Sheets
  • 1 Pad of Player Sheets
  • 209 Cards
  • 132 Tokens
  • 11 Markers
  • 7 Pirate Standees
  • 1 Ship Standee
  • 8 Standee Stands



Object of the Game

In Forgotten Waters, players are the senior crew of a pirate ship embarking on a shared adventure.

Together they will all serve under the same colorful pirate captain, and work together to successfully complete that captain's adventure.

But each player will also seek their own glory by filling in stars on their personal player sheet. Once players reach the end of the adventure, their fate will be determined by how many stars they filled in.


Setup



1 Launch the Forgotten Waters app (fwcrossroads.com) and select a scenario. For your first game, select Beyond the Ocean's Edge. You should complete the Beyond the Ocean's Edge scenario successfully before moving on to any other scenarios.

Note: If Beyond the Ocean's Edge is completed, any scenario can be chosen.

2 If playing with 4 or fewer players, put the Hungry Pirates special rules card into play. If playing with 3 players, also put the Masked Pirate special rules card into play.

3 Place the location book in the center of the table within reach of everyone. Leave room for it to be opened and laid flat. The app will guide you when to turn to a page in the location book.

4 Place the map board in the middle of the play area next to the location book and place the ship standee and special location tokens on the map board as indicated in the scenario setup.

Note: The scenario setup can be found by clicking the 'View Setup' button in the Forgotten Waters App.

5 Shuffle the treasure cards and form a face down treasure deck.

6 Place the navigation tokens face down in a pile.

7 Place all the re-roll tokens, misfortune tokens, lock tokens, constellation tokens and story cards in separate piles.

8 Each player selects a pirate standee and collects its matching color 12-sided die, treasure chest card and infamy marker.

Note: If playing with 3 players, no player may choose the masked pirate (orange) as their pirate standee.

9 Give each player a pencil and a player sheet, making sure each sheet has a different title. Each player invents a name for their pirate and writes it on their player sheet.

10 Each player fills out the story blanks section on their player sheet.

11 Assign each of the following roles/responsibilities to the players. Each player must have at least 1 role. If playing with fewer than 7 players, some players will need to take on multiple roles.

12 Ship Scribe: Writes and references info on the ship's log.

Collect a ship scribe sheet. Ask your fellow players to help you name the ship and write that name and the name of your scenario on the ship's log.

13 Quartermaster: Keeps track of infamy and times the Planning Phase.

Collect the Quartermaster board and each player's infamy marker. Place the infamy markers on the infamy track in random order.

14 First Mate: Keeps track of the crew and their discontent .

Collect the First Mate board and place the crew and discontent markers on the values indicated in the scenario setup.

15 Boatswain: Keeps track of the ship's hull .

X Collect the Boatswain board and place the hull marker on the value indicated in the scenario setup.

16 Cooper: Keeps track of the ship's supplies .

Collect the Cooper board and place the supplies marker on the value indicated in the scenario setup.

17 Gunner: Keeps track of the ship's cannons.

@xx.jpgCollect the Gunner board and place cannon tokens on it as indicated in the scenario setup.

18 Lookout: Keeps track of threat and the current objective.

Collect the Lookout board and create a supply of threat tokens nearby it. Find the objective card indicated in the scenario setup and place it on the objective card slot.

19 Follow any other setup instructions in the scenario setup.

20 All other components may be left in the game box for now. After completing setup, click the continue button at the bottom of the scenario instructions page of the app.



Game Play

Forgotten Waters is played over a series of rounds. Each round takes place on a page of the location book. Each round consists of 3 phases that must be completed in order:


1. Planning Phase

During this phase players will have a limited amount of time to choose, but not yet resolve, their actions for the round.

At the start of the planning phase, the Quartermaster immediately starts the timer by clicking the 'Start Round Timer' button on the app.

Then, in order from highest to lowest infamy , each player must choose an action by placing their pirate standee on an available action. If the timer runs out before the last player has placed their standee, raise discontent by 1 and then continue selecting actions until all players are finished.

Tip: Players should NOT spend time reading exactly what the actions do before selecting them. Instead, they should use only the names and guide symbols of each action to help them determine which action to choose.

Types of Actions:

Unlimited Action: Any number of players may choose this action.


Limited Action: Once 1 player chooses this action it is no longer available to other players during that round.

Locked Action: Locked actions cannot be chosen. Actions are locked by placing a lock token over that action when directed by a game effect.

Required Actions: Required actions MUST be chosen by exactly 1 player. If 1 or more required actions are still available before the last player(s) have chosen an action for the round, those players must choose a required action.

Types of Guide Symbols:

White guide symbols mean a player might gain the represented skill AND may have to perform a check using that skill.

Black guide symbols mean a player might gain the represented skill/resource or reduce/increase the represented location dial.


2. Action Phase

During this phase players will resolve the actions they chose in the planning phase. Actions are resolved in number order.

First, all players who chose action 1 resolve that action one at a time in order from most infamy to least infamy.

After all players who chose action 1 have resolved the action, the players who chose action 2 resolve that action in infamy order and so on until all chosen actions have been resolved.

To resolve an action, follow the instructions listed under that action. After a player has resolved their action, they remove their standee from the page.


3. End of Round Phase

Read the entry listed under the current page's Round End section.


Turning to a New Page

When turning to a new page in the location book, first remove all tokens from the current page. If there is a location warning section read that section aloud, as it may help players decide which actions to choose and it gives clues about negative effects that may come at the end of the round.


Location Warning



After reading the location warning section, do NOT pause to review all of the action resolution text on the new page. Instead, go immediately into a new round by starting the planning phase (starting the timer and selecting actions in infamy order).

Note: If directed to "begin a new round on this page", immediately go into a new round without removing tokens. However, if directed to turn to a page you are already on, do remove the tokens.



Resolving Game Effects

Performing Skill Checks



When a player is directed to pe rfo rm a skill check, that player mu st follow these steps in order:

  1. Roll a 12-sided die.

  2. Add1for each filled-in box for that skill on your player sheet.

  3. Add the number under each icon matching that okill on your treasure and story cards.

  4. Consult the text associated with the skill check and resolve the option corresponding toyour total.

Misfortune Tokens

If you have 1 or more misfortune tokens, when rolling (not setting) your die for a skill check, also roll a second die and keep the lower die roll. Then, discard 1 misfortune token.

Re-roll Tokens

If you have 1 or more re-roll tokens, after rolling a die (or dice) for a skill check, you may discard a re-roll token to re-roll 1 die. You may do these multiple times cun a single skill check.

Note: Misfortune and re-roll only apply to skill checs and not any other die rolls.


Gaining Skills

When a player gains a skill, that player fills in the left-most unfilled box for that skill on their player sheet. If that box has a in it, that player also fills in a star on their constellation.



Note: Boxes with symbols printed on them cannot be filled in. A player does not gain a skill if all of that skill's available boxes are already filled in.


Highest/Lowest Skill

When determining who has the highest or lowest amount of a particular skill, count only boxes filled in on player sheets. Do not count skill gained from treasure or story cards.


Filling in Stars on Constellations

Each player has a constellation on their player sheet. The more stars , especially those containing a , a player is able to fill in on their constellation during a game, the better pirate they are.

Whenever a player is directed to fill a star on their constellation, the player must choose and fill in a star that is connected to the start star or connected to a previously filled-in star. If the star the player filled contains an , that player receives a constellation event token.

There are 2 main ways for players to fill in stars:

  • Gaining Skills: Each time a player fills in a skill box that contains a they also fill in a star on their constellation.
  • Burying Treasure: Some location actions allow a player to bury ( discard) treasure filling in a star for each treasure buried.

Resolving Constellation Events

When a player is directed to resolve their constellation events, that player must go to the Constellation Events section on their player sheet and discard all of their constellation event tokens.

For each token discarded, they check off their next unchecked constellation event and read it aloud, filling in any blanks as they read with the corresponding words from the story blanks section of their sheet.


Gaining/Losing/Checking Threat

When a game effect causes a player to gain or lose 1 or more threat , the Lookout adds or removes the corresponding number of threat tokens from the threat track.

When directed to check threat (and only when directed) if the number of threat tokens on the threat track meets or exceeds the current objective card's threat limit, check off the next unchecked Threat Event box on the ship's log and read the entry.


Gaining/Losing Ship Stats

When a game effect causes players to gain or lose a ship stat, the appropriate player (First Mate, Boatswain or Cooper) must move the corresponding ship stat marker up or down its track accordingly.

A ship stat cannot go above its maximum value or below 0.


Moving the Ship

When a game effect instructs a player to move the ship, that player moves the ship to an adjacent space.

Each time the ship would move onto an empty space (a space without a navigation or special location token on it) draw a navigation token and place it face up on that space before moving onto it.

When moving the ship do NOT go to the entry listed on the new space until directed to.

If the ship moves onto a navigation token or special location token with a symbol on it, the ship cannot be moved any farther during that round.

The ship cannot be moved onto a rocky waters special location token.



Scouting

When a player is directed to scout one or more spaces, that player does the following in order:

  1. Draw a navigation token from the face down supply and place it face down on an empty space on the map board that is either adjacent to the ship's space or adjacent to a previously placed navigation token.

    Repeat this for however many spaces the player is directed to scout.

  2. Once all newly drawn navigation tokens are placed, flip them face up.


Cannons

When directed to upgrade a cannon, the Gunner may remove a cannon token from the Gunner board and replace it with a cannon from the supply whose level value is 1 higher.

If the replaced cannon was unloaded, then the new cannon is also unloaded, and vice versa.

The ship can have a maximum of 4 cannons, and cannons can be discarded at any time to make room for new ones.


Gaining/Losing Infamy

When a game effect causes a player to gain or lose 1 or more infamy , the Quartermaster must move that player's infamy marker higher or lower on the infamy track accordingly, shifting other players' markers to make room.

Infamy markers should never share spaces or have spaces between them.



Breaking Ties

If 2 or more players are ever tied for the purposes of evaluating a game effect, break the tie in infamy order, with the higher infamy player having the higher result.


Objective Cards

The purpose of the objective card is to remind players what their current goal is. At all times, exactly 1 objective card will be in play.

When the players are directed to discard the objective card they will also be given direction on which new objective card to replace it with.


Treasure Cards

When a player gains 1 or more treasure that player draws and puts into play 1 treasure card for each treasure gained. If the treasure deck runs out of cards, shuffle its discard pile to form a new deck. Treasure cards are played face up and have an effect that benefits the player that gained them. Treasure can also be gained by stealing from another player.

A player can never have more than 4 treasure cards in play at a time. If a player would ever put a 5th card into play, they must first discard an existing treasure or they may choose to discard the new treasure. Supplies +1 for each card discarded in this way.

A player does NOT fill in a box on their player sheet when gaining a treasure with skill icons on it. These bonuses are added to skill checks separately from the player's gained skills.

Some cards have an effect that activates when discarded. These effects only resolve when players discard specifically for it. When a player discards for any other reason (e.g. when burying treasure or discarding down to 4), do not resolve "discard" effects.

Players can only use discard effects during their turn (when resolving an action during the action phase) unless otherwise instructed on the card.


Story Cards

Story cards function similarly to treasure cards, but are not treasure cards and cannot be buried, discarded, stolen or used to pay a treasure cost.

There is no limit to the number of story cards a player can have. Story cards should be taken from the story deck, if possible, or else from the player that has it.


End of the Game

There are 4 ways the game can end:

  1. Drowned: If the ship's hull reaches 0, every player loses.

  2. Mutiny: If the discontent X. is ever equal to or higher than its crew , every player loses.

  3. Threat: If the last threat event is reached, every player loses.

  4. Scenario Goal Reached: If a scenario entry instructs that players have reached the scenario goal then all players that have completed at least 4 constellation events win the game.

    If a player has completed all 5 of their constellation events, they have achieved a superior victory.

    Starting with the player with the highest infamy , and proceeding clockwise, each player consults the Endings chart on their player sheet and reads their indicated ending.

Saving your Game

When players reach part 2 of a scenario, they will be given the option to save the game and return to it later.

When saving the game, players will be instructed to write 'Part 1 Complete' on the ship's log and will be instructed on how to record the current game state on the back of the ship's log.

When returning to a saved game, go to the appropriate scenario in the app, click the 'View Setup' button, and follow the instructions there to set up the game.


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