A group of press-ganged travelers seizes a ship and becomes embroiled in the troubles and machinations of the Shackles—a beautiful island chain dominated by pirate warlords. As these new freebooters make names for themselves, rival scalawags, enemy navies, legendary sea monsters, and the infamous Hurricane King himself seek to see them walk the plank. Who will survive when there's glory and plunder at stake?
Embark on a campaign of pillaging, piracy, and politics with the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skull & Shackles Base Set. This complete cooperative strategy game sets 1 to 4 heroes against the monsters, surprises, flamboyant privateers, and treacherous terrain of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game's popular Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. Choose your character's class; build a deck of retainers, gear, and magical marvels; and explore perilous locations as you play through multiple scenarios in an exhilarating nautical fantasy adventure. Characters grow more powerful after each game, adding new equipment and eldritch magic to their decks while learning expert skills, all of which will prepare them to surmount greater obstacles in a complete Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Adventure Path.
The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skull & Shackles Base Set includes:
More than 500 cards, featuring 7 character classes, a wide array of gear and magical accoutrements, and dozens of allies, monsters, and villains from the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path.
The Wormwood Mutiny Adventure Deck, the beginning of the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path.
A complete set of 5 polyhedral dice.
BONUS! A pack of 10 Deck Protector card sleeves from Ultra Pro!
This version of the Pathfinder RPG is made especially for those who may be tempted to play Pathfinder (or Dungeons and Dragons) but were intimidated by the massive library of massive books that contain massive quantities of massive rules,... And this is a pretty massive solution.
The ACG rulebook is more like a pamphlet (not massive), and the game mechanism is fun and very robust while being very economical (and therefore not massive). What is massive is the amount of cards included in the core pack! Literally hundreds of items, spells, monsters, etc... that fill out the universe of this card-based RPG.
All you have to do is lay out the cards properly, and the story unfolds. And, everyone at the table can just play. To get started, just pick one of the Iconic characters, select the scenario, set out the cards called for in that scenario, and you are rolling dice in minutes.
BTW: Be sure to read everything on the cards, including all of the color and descriptive text, because it really informs the game play, and gives you a feeling for the story, and sometimes makes a critical difference in game play.
OTHER ITEMS TO CONSIDER:
One set of dice is included (d4,d6,d8,d10x2,d12), but every player at the table needs a full set of dice. Typically we play with individual dice sets, and use the game set to supplement those!
The Character Add-On decks are great, and if you are playing with more than four characters in the game, you actually need those extra cards. The class decks are also a good to have, and ultimately, if you like this game you will start to buy the story expansions 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (expansion set 1 is included in the core set).
The Pathfinder Pawns are awesome, and younger players (such as my kids) really perceive the characters' locations better when using pawns instead of the Token Cards. However, the S&S Pawn Set DOES NOT include the Iconics or the bosses from the scenarios included in the Core S&S ACG. To collect all of the current Iconics, you need to buy the Inner Sea Pawn set, and the NPC Codex Pawn box. You may want to consider buying the PDFs from Paizo, and making the Pawns you need yourself. It's important to note that combat resolves rather quickly in the ACG, so by the time you mill through your pawn index to find the right Sea Hag, the combat is liable to be over with.
People who play the RPG may miss the level of richness available in the full game, and will definitely miss the ability to roll - or even convert - their own characters, but this should not be viewed as a replacement for the RPG! This is something that easily allows players to experience a story path, and it will ultimately broaden the community; it's an RPG for people who aren't ready to commit the time to a full RPG ...yet.
ing Side Report- Board Game Review of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game-Skull and S
Product-Pathfinder Adventure Card Game-Skull and Shackles
Producer-Paizo
Price- $60 here
Set-up/Play/Clean-up- ~25 min per player per scenario (1-6 players with expansion, 10 scenarios in the base game)
TL; DR- A fun addition to the Card Game. 89%
Basics-Ahoy matey! This game is the sequel to the hit Pathfinder Adventure Card Game-Rise of the Runelords. Players take the role of one character and progress between scenarios to move along the Skull and Shackles adventure path. You have a character that has the six standard Pathfinder stats as a die. Each turn you can move between different locations, and draw the top card of that deck as an encounter. That card is either something you can equip like a spell or a weapon (a "boon") or something that will attack you like a monster or an obstacle (a "bane"). You can then play cards from your hand to give you extra dice or bonuses to your roll, select an ability based on the card encountered and roll the die related to that ability score. If you beat the number on the card, you can add it to your hand if it's a boon, while banes are defeated. If you don't beat the number on the card, you discard any good cards you encountered or take damage if you fought a monster. When you take damage you discard cards from your hand. If you can't play cards from your hand to keep exploring, you draw up to your hand size. If you can't, then your character dies. If you encounter something called henchmen while exploring, you encounter it as above, but if you defeat it, you can close the location the henchmen was at. If you encounter and beat a villain or man bad guy for the scenario and the other locations are closed, you win! While much hasn't changed, what has changed is pretty different.
Mechanics-This game is and isn't much different from the original. Let's look at each section individually.
Basic Play- The basics play described above hasn't changed. The rules go a little more in depth and make that section MUCH clearer, so that is very appreciated. However, it feels like there are definitely winner and loser abilities and skills. Maybe further in the game, some of the skills will matter. But right now, it feels like some of the characters just don't matter.
Ships-The largest new mechanic is the addition of ships. The ships provide a constant bonus or ability for your group and the bonus to move as a group. Also, the ships provide an awesome way to deal with not getting enough gear. When you beat another ship or get to store plunder, you roll on a random chart, and place one of five different types of cards under the ship. If you win, you get these cards in addition to any other bonuses for the scenario.
Display and Other Small Changes-Display is a new mechanic where you don't just reveal a card from your hand, you set it in front of you. The card now provides an effect and will then tell you when you can pick it up or if you have to discard it. Some cards allow you to constantly use a displayed card. This is just part of a handful of new terms for the game. These new cards do an excellent job of updating the rules. It provides new options for card design and helps the players. I like how the rules have moved along.
Summary- The game plays like the basic adventure card game. It's a great game, but some of the characters don't feel like they matter. Maybe that will change, maybe not. That will depend on what comes out later in this scenario. Ships are amazing and help prevent characters just not getting enough cards. The new terms and mechanics like display provide some new design and play space, and the new characters are fun. It's not perfect, but it is a blast to play. 4.75/5
Theme-You're a pirate and you sail the high seas! You get to move through the Skull and Shackles adventure path with was an amazing adventure series. I like what I've seen so far as it hits the high points reasonably well. However, if you haven't played the adventure path, you will feel lost. You do feel like an island hopping pirate, but the story does lack a bit since the story is still told by half card length paragraphs. I really wish Paizo would publish a quick summary of each adventure part and an epilogue so the players would know a bit more about what is going on. 4/5
Instructions- Here there are some problems, but they don't break the game. You just might end up cheating by accident. The rules are a giant tome! There's a lot going on here, but what it really needs is a one page summary to help character jump in the action. The rules are a bit of a text book that tends to bury some important rule points under lots of other text. The rules by themselves are ok. They get the points across, but some concepts like who controls ships, number of cards per check, and even the blessing deck can get lost in the text. Rules on the cards need some work too. The first scenario of the main campaign is already errata'ed by the designers. That's a major problem! That's the scenario that should have gotten the absolute most number of plays and should be the most rock solid. A bit more writing in some areas and much less in others would really help make the concepts and story much clearer. 4/5
Execution-For $60 you get a ton of cards, rules, and a nice box. The cards are well done with great art, and they're of decent enough quality to withstand lots of shuffling. The design has slightly changed, but again, it's all for the best. As always with Paizo, the art is well done. All and all, this is well done. 5/5
Summary- The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is a great co-op game. My wife and I love to play this game. The Skull and Shackles is a great addition to the franchise. I loved playing through the Skull and Shackles adventure path, and this give almost the same experience. The major problems in this game could be fixed with some clever writing. Some of the rules and story need clarification, while some excess writing needs to be trimmed. The characters are fun, but some just don't seem as interesting or useful. However, all told, I'm enjoying what's this new base set, and I can't wait to see what's next. 89%
You're starting with low-level challenges here, so just like RPG Adventure Paths, we expect you to "roll up a new character." And frankly, we're giving you a lot of reasons to want to, with new classes, new powers, and new cards.
You're starting with low-level challenges here, so just like RPG Adventure Paths, we expect you to "roll up a new character." And frankly, we're giving you a lot of reasons to want to, with new classes, new powers, and new cards.
Then why does the Adventure Path have a reward for completing it? If that is the end of the character's life/use why even give a reward?
You're starting with low-level challenges here, so just like RPG Adventure Paths, we expect you to "roll up a new character." And frankly, we're giving you a lot of reasons to want to, with new classes, new powers, and new cards.
Then why does the Adventure Path have a reward for completing it? If that is the end of the character's life/use why even give a reward?
Just because there is no material currently planned for high-level characters after finishing the 6th chapter of an AP doesn't mean there never will be. Kind of a future proofing measure. Also, you or other fans can always dream up custom scenarios for such characters.
What classes and characters will we be seeing in this set? Rise of the Runelords had the core book classes/iconics and I'm wondering if any of the others will see some love in this one.
EDIT:
Nevermind, it's right there in the product description.
That being said, will it be possible to play characters from the previous game in this one? I don't mean fully leveled characters, but classes that don't appear in this set but did appear in RotRL.
They have said yes, but you might run into some complications in that some characters might be built around card types that will be more or less prevalent in S&S than they were in RotRL. For instance, with guns being a part of S&S, I'd expect a number of the ranged weaponry cards to be guns rather than bows or crossbows - but if firearms proficiency is separate from weapons proficiency, Harsk might find himself locked out of many good ranged weapon options. (Note: I have no idea if anything I just said will actually be true; this is a purely hypothetical example.) There might be other, similar problems for other characters.
The converse, though, is what has me pondering. Since I am head over heels in love with Lirianne and a big fan of gunslingers, I want to be able to play Lirianne in RotRL - not to mention whatever comes out in Feb 2015 - but I'm worried about how feasible she will be without guns in the weapon decks. How hard or easy will it be to bring those elements into other AP decks?
The converse, though, is what has me pondering. Since I am head over heels in love with Lirianne and a big fan of gunslingers, I want to be able to play Lirianne in RotRL - not to mention whatever comes out in Feb 2015 - but I'm worried about how feasible she will be without guns in the weapon decks. How hard or easy will it be to bring those elements into other AP decks?
If you tried to play Lirianne without guns, she would likely have quite a few wasted abilities. But, I wouldn't see any problems with taking all of the firearms from the Skull & Shackles set and the chapter packs and mixing them into the weapons of the corresponding RotRL cards. It might be a bit of work to manage where the cards are and such, but I think she would mostly work fine as long as she has enough guns available. She might have a few powers that work with some of the other mechanics unique to S&S, though.
The converse, though, is what has me pondering. Since I am head over heels in love with Lirianne and a big fan of gunslingers, I want to be able to play Lirianne in RotRL - not to mention whatever comes out in Feb 2015 - but I'm worried about how feasible she will be without guns in the weapon decks. How hard or easy will it be to bring those elements into other AP decks?
All I've got is hopes and speculation to share...
My greatest hope is that these games are almost completely compatible with each other. I know that the backs of the cards from the current set do not have their AP identified on them, and I hope that doesn't change... but even if it does, I expect that when appropriately sleeved, you will only be able to tell the difference between—for example—a RotR Blessing of the Gods and a S&S Blessing of the Gods because it will likely have different card art including a different AP banner at the top.
Because of that, I speculate that you could draw Lirianne into RotR, including the guns she will inevitably have access to. So another thing I'm hoping for is that Mike Selinker's team at Lone Shark Games works to balance the new characters for play in RotR. And I know that's a tough balancing act, too, because that means they have to be balanced for both PACG Adventure Paths, and what tips the scales slightly more toward balanced for one AP could easily put the other one completely out of balance.
The first PFACG set, Rise of the Runelords, started as a base set with a short intro of three scenarios, then six Adventure Decks, each representing one chapter of the AP.
The description here implies that this box will include the first chapter of the AP, instead of a short intro.
Is it the general intent that future iterations of the game will have a base set with 1 chapter, then each of the other 5 chapters will be a single Adventure Deck?
So, instead of Base Set plus Character Add-On plus 6 Adventure Decks, we will see Base Set/Chapter One plus Character Add-On plus 5 Adventure Decks to complete the six chapter AP?
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
The Rise of the Runelords base set also included the first adventure deck, just as this one will. The listing says "Nearly 500 cards", and since the The Wormwood Mutiny adventure deck probably will account for 110 cards only, I think it's safe to assume there will be introductory scenarios.
This is probably a given, but I figure I'll ask here (may have even missed it, I do that from time to time); Can we use characters from the previous game. For example, if I really like Lem, and he's not present in the S&S set, can I sue the Lem from ROTRL instead. Furthermore, if I don't like the Valeros from S&S would I be able to use the Valeros from ROTRL instead.
This is probably a given, but I figure I'll ask here (may have even missed it, I do that from time to time); Can we use characters from the previous game. For example, if I really like Lem, and he's not present in the S&S set, can I sue the Lem from ROTRL instead. Furthermore, if I don't like the Valeros from S&S would I be able to use the Valeros from ROTRL instead.
Well, a new version of Lem is in S&S, but I get your point. Yes, you can use previous characters in the new set. For some characters you might want to add some RotRL boons into the S&S pool to make them fully effective (similar to adding guns to RotRL to play it with Lirianne). The only example I can think of off hand is moving over Amulet of Mighty Fists-type cards if you want to use Sajan in S&S, but there might be others you'd want to consider.
The rules will be based largely on the updated rulebook we released yesterday, with some additions and a few tweaks here and there, but probably no sweeping changes.
This should be obvious but I rather ask for clarity. This base set does not combine in any way with RotRL? And is in now way required to buy RotRL to use this set?
This should be obvious but I rather ask for clarity. This base set does not combine in any way with RotRL? And is in now way required to buy RotRL to use this set?
The Skull & Shackles set is completely independent of the RotRL set, yes.
Will this be part of the adventure card subscription? or will the subscription end when Rise of the Ruelords does? I am subscribed currently for the cards, but wouldn't want to pay the, no doubt,huge shipping on this over to me in New Zealand.
Will this be part of the adventure card subscription? or will the subscription end when Rise of the Ruelords does? I am subscribed currently for the cards, but wouldn't want to pay the, no doubt,huge shipping on this over to me in New Zealand.
Yeah me too, it'll have to be stop sub, buy on Amazon, re-up sub after. Hopefully we can start with the add-on set.
This should be obvious but I rather ask for clarity. This base set does not combine in any way with RotRL? And is in now way required to buy RotRL to use this set?
The Skull & Shackles set is completely independent of the RotRL set, yes.
Thanx, is there a card list I can view somewhere? Just card titles will do, not looking to print them or anything lol. Would be nice to see the card names on a list while I wait for my order lol.
Will this be part of the adventure card subscription? or will the subscription end when Rise of the Ruelords does? I am subscribed currently for the cards, but wouldn't want to pay the, no doubt,huge shipping on this over to me in New Zealand.
Yeah me too, it'll have to be stop sub, buy on Amazon, re-up sub after. Hopefully we can start with the add-on set.
Me too. The box size is extremelly cost proibitive to me.
This should be obvious but I rather ask for clarity. This base set does not combine in any way with RotRL? And is in now way required to buy RotRL to use this set?
The Skull & Shackles set is completely independent of the RotRL set, yes.
Thanx, is there a card list I can view somewhere? Just card titles will do, not looking to print them or anything lol. Would be nice to see the card names on a list while I wait for my order lol.
There is no card list at this time. Not only is the set still in development, but... we like for people to be surprised when they open the box. We'll sneak some peeks in Paizo blogs in the coming months, though!
Will ordering the Skulls and Shackles game and the Character Add on deck come with any promo cards and/or other exclusives by purchasing directly from Paizo?
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game *subscribers* get free promo cards with their shipments. (We also insert promo cards into some paizo.com orders, but there are no guarantees on that...)
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game *subscribers* get free promo cards with their shipments. (We also insert promo cards into some paizo.com orders, but there are no guarantees on that...)
I have accepted the fact that I will never have Promo cards (cept maybe eBaying them). I be Canadian EH! Point is that shipping costs to me are insane. The base set $59.99 + $41 shipping? Even with the subscription rate that is just not going to happen. [SARCASM] I will just have to support my local Hobby shop [/SARCASM] since they sell it at $59.99 CAD.
So could you take the skull and shackes characters and use them directly company with Rise of the Runelords?
Yes... but certain cards from one set may not be as effective in the other; for example, the gunslinger Lirianne will not be as useful in an Adventure Path that doesn’t have firearms (unless, of course, you also bring some firearms into the game).
Helaman wrote:
Also any guesses on the next set after Skull and Shackles?
Any word on the dice that will be shipped with the new AP? I personally didn't like the dice that came in the RotR AP. They just seemed a little bland, and didn't offer any flavor.
I know that I can get themed dice from Q-Factory, but I was wondering about the 'stock' AP set. Thanks!
The S&S dice will be very similar to the RotR dice in terms of materials and texture. However, I believe that we're going to have new molds in place, where all dice use the same font, and the d10 has a "10" on it instead of a "0".
Okay, I guess I was not expecting a big difference between the two. I think it is interesting that you have a different mold for the ten-sided die, though. I didn't know that the 0 instead of 10 was big enough a deal to make that change. I guess I come from a background of tabletop and trading card games, though.
Has there been any thought to changing the dice that come with the APs, though?
Clearly, we need to provide a playable game to people who don't have "weird gaming dice", but since many of the potential customers already have huge collections of dice, providing special dice is not a wise investment—the added cost would force us to either increase the retail price or reduce our profit margin, while not making the game notably better to most purchasers. The Base Set is already very expensive to manufacture, so we use standard low-cost materials for making the dice—the same dice we use in our Beginner Box, and the same dice used by many other manufacturers.
When we were printing in China, our only reasonable option was a standard dice mold, which has a 0 on the 10-sider and uses 3 different fonts among the 5 dice. (Speaking for myself alone, the last bit bugs me more than the first bit.)
We're printing Skull & Shackles entirely in the US, and in a volume sufficient to justify making our own die mold, so we're going to fix those issues. We intend to use our new mold for a good long while, so the cost of making it is negligible. Yes, we *could* do something fancy with the mold, but making them easy to read is a more important goal, especially for the benefit of people unaccustomed to "weird gaming dice".
Thanks for getting back on this with such detail. I see what you are saying, though. When you get the mold, you really need to consider the ROI, and legibility should be at the top of the list on improvements. The 3 different fonts issue is pretty big for me as well, which is one of the reasons that I do not use the RotR dice very often.
So I finally gave in and got the Rise of the Runelords card set and I've been having a lot of fun with it. One thing I've found I like to do is use the iconic pawns from the NPC Codex Box to mark their locations. I've even gone so far as to use the Bestiary and RotRL pawns for monster, henchman, and villain encounters. ^_^
If I end up getting this S&S card set I'd like to do the same. Which should be fine for the banes but there's some iconic character pawns missing! :/ Is there any chance of there being an "Advanced NPC Codex" and pawn set? I'd really like to have markers for the APG and ACG classes. :)
Speaking of dice, have you considered using a different color for each die? If it's not cost-prohibitive, that might make it easier for people to differentiate between the different "weird gaming dice" if they're not already used to them.
For myself, I'm already used to weird dice, but I ended up buying them in different colors anyway. Why? Because I hate having to roll the same die multiple times for one check, so I bought a lot of additional dice. Having each type be a different color makes it marginally faster to pick the correct dice out of the pile.
Yeah, it would cost significantly more. All the dice are in one steel mold, so they're made at the same time using the same plastic and then handled as a single unit.
Yeah, it would cost significantly more. All the dice are in one steel mold, so they're made at the same time using the same plastic and then handled as a single unit.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I love the fact that Paizo actually talks about their business with customers, and not just their products. I learn a lot. But it must be time-consuming on your part.
Thanks for getting back on this with such detail. I see what you are saying, though. When you get the mold, you really need to consider the ROI, and legibility should be at the top of the list on improvements.
I'd prefer lower cost and no dice. They are in all the stores and I already have tons of dice that are fine. Then everyone can pick out their own set with their own preferences.
I'd prefer lower cost and no dice. They are in all the stores and I already have tons of dice that are fine. Then everyone can pick out their own set with their own preferences.
Dice may be available in gaming stores, but this game goes out to places that do not carry such accessories. We want people to be able to pick this game up and start gaming right away, not to have to spend an additional $5+ for dice. I may have enough dice to fill a gumball machine the size of my head, but there is always someone who has never played a card game, and has never seen these funny dice. Why make it harder for them to start playing by asking them to buy just one more thing?
Will this be part of the adventure card subscription? or will the subscription end when Rise of the Ruelords does? I am subscribed currently for the cards, but wouldn't want to pay the, no doubt,huge shipping on this over to me in New Zealand.
Yeah me too, it'll have to be stop sub, buy on Amazon, re-up sub after. Hopefully we can start with the add-on set.
My understanding is that the adventure decks are included in the subscription, not the boxed base set. You'll notice that the upcoming products listed with the subscription go from RotRL 6 to S&S 2; there is no mention of the base set.
Shouldn't be any need to cancel the sub temporarily. Just keep it rolling and order the S&S base set from wherever you can get it cheapest (or with the lowest shipping).
The subscription listing is currently incorrect. The Base Set is indeed part of the subscription, as is the Character Add-On Deck; both ship in August.
I'm confused about whether or not I can add Class 0 ship promo cards to the box before I begin the first chapter of the Adventure Path.
You can add a ship promo card as soon as you have another ship of the same class checked off on your fleet card.
Resolution: On page 4 of the rulebook, replace the last paragraph above Organizing Your Cards with the following:
We have also published a number of promotional cards; these are marked with the letter P in the upper-right corner. If you have a character promo card, you can use it right away. If you have a ship promo card, as soon as you have checked off any ships of the same class on your fleet card, you may treat the promo card as if it has been checked off as well (see Place Your Party’s Ship on page 7). You shouldn’t add other promo cards to the game until you begin the first chapter of the Adventure Path.
If I don't draw my favored card type in my starting hand, but I don't go through my entire deck before I get a valid starting hand, do I get to shuffle in the cards I set aside while I was trying to get a valid hand?
Of course! That would be a silly thing to penalize you for.
Resolution: On page 7 of the rulebook, replace the last sentence of Draw Starting Hands with the following:
If you discard so many cards that you can’t draw up to your full hand size, draw all the remaining cards, then shuffle your discard pile into your deck, and draw the rest of your hand. Once you have a full hand that includes your favored card type, shuffle any discarded cards back into your character deck.
If I choose not to move (or give a card, or explore, or close a location), do I still have a move (or give a card, or explore, or close a location) step in my turn? If something bad would happen during my move step, can I avoid it by not moving?
All steps exist, even if you don't do anything in them. Sorry—you don't get to avoid it that easily.
Resolution: On page 8 of the S&S rulebook, under Your Turn, delete the sentence that begins "The only required steps..."
If I have a power that doesn't say when it can be used, when, under what circumstances, and how many times can it be used?
Whenever you could otherwise use a power, when it makes sense, and as many times as is allowed. If you use it in between steps, you can use it any number of times. But if you use it during a check or step, only once.
Resolution: On page 8 of the S&S rulebook, under Your Turn, add the following to the end of the first paragraph: "You can play cards and use powers without limit in between these steps, as long as they don't say they can only be played at certain times."
Can I choose to move to the location I'm currently at?
No. Some effect may randomly move you to the location you're already at, but when you choose to move, you must always choose a different location.
Resolution: On page 8 of the rulebook, under Move, replace the parenthetical sentence "If you do not move, your character is not considered to have entered or left a location" with the following:
When you choose to move, you must always select a new location, although it is possible for some effects to move you to the same location you came from. If you do not change locations, your character is not considered to have entered or left a location.
Resolution: On page 8 of the rulebook, under Explore, change "You may never explore on another player's turn" to "You may never explore outside of your explore step".
When a card tells me to explore again, can I play cards or use powers before I explore? And does it make a difference if the card says to "immediately" explore again?
Nope—either way, the next thing you do is explore, and you can't do anything before that.
Resolution: On page 9 of the rulebook, following the paragraph that begins "However, during a single exploration, no matter how many different effects allow you to explore again...", add the following: "If a card grants you an additional exploration, after you finish what you are doing, you must immediately use that exploration or forfeit it." (We will also be removing the word "immediately" from such cards in the future.)
There are times when I'm directed to reset my hand outside of the "Reset Your Hand" step, and I'm not sure exactly which parts of that step I am supposed to do. Also, it seems weird that powers that happen at the end of your turn actually happen during the Reset Your Hand step, which is before the End Your Turn step.
Let's fix both of those things. Note that while there's a lot of text in this resolution, the main thing that's changing is merely organizational—the same things happen in the same order as they do now.
Resolution: Reset Your Hand will no longer be a step in the turn sequence, so its text should be removed from page 9 of the rulebook. Instead, it should be a general rules section, much like Taking Damage or Examining and Searching. (We'll insert it after Examining and Searching on page 14.) It should read:
Reset Your Hand: Do the following whenever you are instructed to reset your hand. While you reset your hand, you may only play cards or use powers that say they may be used when you reset your hand. First, you may discard any number of cards. Then, if you have more cards in your hand than your hand size specifies, you must discard until the number of cards in your hand matches your hand size. Finally, if you have fewer cards than your hand size, you must draw cards until the number of cards in your hand matches your hand size.
On page 9 of the rulebook, The End Your Turn step should now read:
End Your Turn: First, apply any effects that happen at the end of the turn. While you do this, unless a power directed you to end your turn, you may play cards and use powers. Then, reset your hand (see Reset Your Hand). When you’re done, the turn passes to the player on your left.
On the back cover of the rulebook, under Turn Overview, replace the Reset Your Hand and End Your Turn entries with the following:
End Your Turn—apply end-of-turn effects, then reset your hand by first discarding any number
of cards then discarding down to or drawing up to your hand size.
(Note that because resetting your hand is now included in ending your turn, future printings of cards that said "reset your hand and end your turn" will just say "end your turn.")
Does activating a power on a displayed card count as playing it?
Yes, it does.
Resolution: On page 9 of the rulebook, under Playing Cards, after the sentence that begins "Playing a card means using a power on that card..." add the sentence "Activating a power on a displayed card also counts as playing it."
If I have a power that says it happens when I discard a card (or roll on the plunder table, or something else I might do a lot), can I really only do it once per check or step?
If a power begins with "when [something happens]", you can do it every time that thing happens, even if it happens multiple times during a check or step.
Resolution: On page 9 of the Skull & Shackles rulebook, under Playing Cards, change "A specific card’s power may only be used once per check or step" to "If a power says it may be used when something happens, you may use it every time that happens. Otherwise, a specific card’s power may only be used once per check or step."
If I reveal a card for a power, and then something messes with my hand, is the revealed card in my hand? What if I display it? If I discard a card that could be recharged, but something messes with my discard pile before I can make the check to recharge it, is the card really in the discard pile?
Revealing and displaying happen instantly. Every other action waits until you know what action it really is.
Resolution: On page 10 of the rulebook, after the bulleted list of possible actions, add the following: "When you reveal a card, it does not leave your hand. When you display a card, it leaves your hand immediately. When you play a card by performing any other action, set it aside while you process its effects. For example, a spell might tell you to discard it, then allow you to succeed at a check to recharge it instead; set it aside until you resolve the check that determines whether or not you recharge it. While set aside, a card does not count as being in your hand, your discard pile, your deck, or anywhere else."
If a card says something like "Recharge this card to recharge a card from your discard pile," in what order do I put the recharged cards on the bottom of my deck?
Do the first action first. The card from your hand will go to the bottom of your deck first, and the card from your discard pile will end up below it.
Resolution: On page 10 of the Skull & Shackles rulebook, after the bulleted list of actions (and after the added text from the FAQ entry above), add:
Always perform the first action required by a power before performing any other action. For example, if a card says "Recharge this card to recharge a card from your discard pile," recharge the card you're playing before recharging the card from your discard pile.
Something made a card go back in the box or into a deck even though there were still things on the card that hadn't been done. Do I still do those things?
Yes.
Resolution: On page 10 of the Skull & Shackles rulebook, after the bulleted list of actions (and after the added text from the two FAQ entries above), add the following text: "Cards often have instructions that you need to follow after you play the card; follow these instructions even if the card is no longer in your hand (even if the card is out of your sight, such as in the box or in a deck)."
If a card I'm encountering tells me to end my turn, is that card defeated or undefeated?
It's neither defeated nor undefeated, and it gets shuffled back into the location deck it came from (or if it was summoned, it gets banished).
Resolution: On page 11 of the rulebook, at the end of the Resolve the Encounter section, add "If you are forced to end your turn during an encounter, shuffle the encountered card back into the deck, or if it was summoned, banish it; it is neither defeated nor undefeated, and the encounter is over."
If a barrier tells me that I have to encounter it "as my first exploration" on a turn, but I have a power says that I can do something "instead of my first exploration," if I use my power, does that mean I can then explore and not face the barrier?
Sorry—no. The first time you actually explore, you have to deal with that barrier.
Resolution: On page 11 of the rulebook, in the Rules: Faceup Cards sidebar, replace "If such a card tells you that you must encounter it on your first exploration on a turn, then after that exploration, ignore it for the purpose of additional explorations that turn; however, it still counts as the top card of the deck for any other purpose" with "If such a card tells you that you must encounter it on your first exploration on a turn, then you must encounter it the first time you explore that turn. After that exploration, ignore it for the purpose of additional explorations that turn; however, it still counts as the top card of the deck for any other purpose".
If there are multiple faceup cards on top of a single location deck, are you supposed to encounter them all in a single exploration?
Oh, geez, no. One per exploration.
Resolution: On page 11 of the rulebook, in the Faceup Cards sidebar, change the last sentence to the following: "If multiple cards are left faceup on the same deck, you may place them in any order and encounter them in that order, one per exploration.
If a card requires sequential checks, and more than one character is attempting them, who does "you" on that card refer to: the person attempting the check, or the person encountering the card?
The person attempting the check.
Resolution: On page 12 of the rulebook, near the top of the page, at the end of the paragraph that begins "Only the character who encounters the card...", add the following sentence:
"While you are attempting a check against such a card that you did not encounter, powers that would apply to the character who encountered it apply to you instead."
When a power adds a skill to a check, does it change the type of check? For example, if I power up an Alchemist's Fire to add my Craft skill to a combat check, does that make it a Craft check?
No. When a power says you may use a skill for a check (like most weapons and attack spells), it adds the skills you're using as traits to the check, but when you're just adding another skill to a check, those skills are not added as traits.
Resolution:
On page 12 of the rulebook, under "Determine Which Skill You're Using," replace the first two paragraphs with the three that follow. (This might seem like a big change, but mostly, we've taken the opportunity to rewrite and reorganize this section for clarity and to add some more examples. The most significant additions are the last two sentences, and even these are just to clarify that a thing doesn't happen; since nothing ever suggested it did happen, none of this actually changes gameplay at all.)
Determine Which Skill You’re Using. Cards that require a check specify the skill or skills you can use to attempt the check. Each check to defeat or acquire a card lists one or more skills; you may choose any of the listed skills for your check. For example, if a check lists Dexterity, Disable, Strength, and Melee, you may use any one of those skills to attempt your check. Even if your character doesn’t have any of the skills listed for a check, you can still attempt the check, but your die is a d4.
Some cards allow you to use a particular skill for a specific type of check, or to use one skill instead of another. (These cards generally say things like "For your combat check, use your Strength or Melee skill," or "Use your Strength skill instead of your Diplomacy skill.") You may play only 1 such card or use only 1 such power to determine which skill you're using. A few cards that can be used on checks don’t use any of your skills; they instead specify the exact dice you need to roll or the result of your die roll.
The skill you're using for the check, and any skill referenced by that skill, are added as traits to the check. For example, if your character has the skill Melee: Strength +2, and you are using your Melee skill, both the Strength and the Melee traits are added to the check. When you're playing a card to determine the skill you're using, that card’s traits are also added to the check; for example, revealing the weapon Dragon Pistol for your combat check adds the Firearm, Ranged, Piercing, and Elite traits to the check. (This isn’t the same as giving you a skill; for example, playing the spell Fireblade adds the Divine trait to your check, but it does not give you the Divine skill.) If a power adds an additional skill to a check, that skill is not added as a trait to the check. For example, a card that adds your Craft skill to your combat check does not add the Craft trait to your check.
When a card requires me to determine the highest difficulty of a card, what modifiers affect that difficulty?
Anything that doesn't occur before, while, or after you act. For example, most cards with the Veteran trait will increase in difficulty with the adventure deck number, but if the difficulty of a check would be increased only if you fail a check before you act, that doesn't apply here.
Resolution: On page 12 of the rulebook, at the end of "Determine the difficulty," add the following sentence:
"When determining the lowest or highest difficulty to defeat or acquire a card, apply all powers from cards in play that affect the difficulty, but do not apply powers that happen before you act, while you act, or after you act."
Also, for all banes with the Lycanthrope trait in Skull & Shackles and Rise of the Runelords, plus the ship Blood Moon from Skull & Shackles Adventure Deck 4, remove the words "Before you act" or "Before the encounter" from the power that requires you to look at the top card of the blessings discard pile.
The complete list of affected cards:
Rise of the Runelords: monster Werewolf (B & C), henchman Pidget Tergelson (2)
The rules say that summoned cards are banished "unless I'm instructed otherwise," but it's not clear what counts as being instructed otherwise. For example, if my character has a power that lets him put a monster into his hand, does that apply to summoned monsters?
No. The only cards that are allowed to "instruct you otherwise" are the cards actually doing the summoning.
Resolution: On page 14 of the Skull & Shackles Rulebook, under Summoning and Adding Cards, change "After evading a summoned card or resolving the encounter with it, banish it unless you’re instructed otherwise" to "After evading a summoned card or resolving the encounter with it, never put it anywhere other than back in the box unless the card that caused you to summon it instructs you otherwise".
The rules say that summoned cards can never summon other cards, but The Secret of Mancatcher Cove summons and builds a location, and a card in that location is supposed to summon a card. Isn't that a problem?
Not if cards in summoned locations don't count as summoned cards...
Resolution: On page 15 of the rulebook, add the italicized text to the following sentence: "If you’re told to summon and build a location, retrieve the location card from the box and build the location as usual; the location and its deck remain in play for the rest of the scenario and are no longer considered summoned cards."
In a scenario with multiple villains, if more than one is in the same location, and all other locations are closed, that location doesn't get closed. So when you defeat one villain, he will always escape back to it, leaving multiple villains as the only cards in the deck for the rest of the game, rendering the scenario unwinnable. That's bad, right?
Yeah, that's not good. We've been careful to engineer scenarios to avoid that issue, but a change to the rulebook should address that problem for good.
Resolution: On page 16 of the rulebook, under If You Defeat the Villain, Close the Villain’s Location, change "... the location is not permanently closed, but it is temporarily closed, and the defeated villain cannot escape to it" to "...the location is not permanently closed, but if there are no other open locations for the villain to escape to, banish the villain".
In a scenario where my ship is anchored, if I'm at the same location as the ship, but it's not my turn, and the commander is not at my location, am I on the ship?
Yes. (The resolution below looks like a bigger deal than it is; the only actual change is that we're now covering that one case in the question. But since we can tighten things up while we're adding that, we will!)
Resolution: On page 17 of the rulebook, replace the text under Commanding and Moving Ships with the following:
Characters at the same location as the party's ship are on the ship. Characters at other locations are not on the ship.
If your ship is not anchored, whenever it is your turn, you are commanding the ship. If you move or are moved while commanding the ship, other characters on the ship may choose to move with you. Effects that restrict movement still apply—if something prevents you from moving, you can’t move; if something is preventing another character at your location from moving, that character cannot move with you. Any character who does not move with you is no longer on the ship.
If your ship is anchored, you are commanding the ship only when it is your turn and you are at the ship's location. You may not choose to move an anchored ship. If your character moves or is moved from the ship’s location, you are no longer on the ship or commanding it, and other characters may not choose to move with you.
My ship is wrecked, but I just got to seize a new ship. Is that ship wrecked?
No.
Resolution: On page 17 of the rulebook, at the end of Seizing Ships, add the following sentence: "If you seize another ship, that ship is not wrecked, even if your previous ship was wrecked."
If I have no cards in my deck, can I avoid dying by triggering a power that allows me to draw a card from an empty blessings deck so my party loses the scenario before I have to draw from my deck?
Nice try, but no. If you must draw a card from an empty blessings deck, you must end your turn before the scenario ends.
Resolution: On page 18 of the Skull & Shackles rulebook, change "If at any point, you need to advance the blessing deck but there are no cards remaining in it, the scenario ends immediately and your party of adventurers loses." to "If at any point you need to advance the blessing deck but there are no cards remaining in it, immediately end the current turn; the scenario then ends and your party of adventurers loses."
What's a ship feat? And when I gain a Class 2 ship feat, can I check off a Class 1 ship if I prefer?
Various scenarios and adventures reward your party with a ship feat, which allows you to check a box of a particular class of ship on the fleet card. And yes, you may choose a ship of a lower class if you like.
Resolution: On page 19 of the rulebook, change "Your party may be rewarded with a ship; check off an appropriate ship on the party’s fleet card" to "Your party may be rewarded with a ship feat; check off an appropriate ship of the indicated class or lower on the party’s fleet card."
Yes, as long as they're different types of loot. A loot card functions as the other type of boon that it is for purposes of whether you can play more than one of each type. So if you have two loot weapons, you can't play both on a check, but if you have a loot weapon and a loot item, you can play both on that check.
Resolution: On page 24 of the Skull & Shackles rulebook, under Loot, change "loot cards behave just like other boons of that type and count as cards of that type" to "loot cards behave just like other boons of that type and count as cards of that type rather than loot when played."
When a bane has a power that triggers when "you" do something, does "you" mean just the person encountering the bane, or anybody doing that thing?
It applies to anybody who does that thing.
Resolution: On page 25 of the rulebook, under Banes, add the following to the end of the Powers section: "If a bane says an effect happens if or when you do a particular thing, it applies to any character who does that thing. If it limits the things you can do, that limit applies to any character who wants to do those things; however, if the limitation is the result of an action such as playing a card or attempting a check, it applies only to the character who took that action."
In the Example of Play, some of the players forget to recharge the cards they play, one player leaves out a die when she rolls, and the word "banished" is used with a card that should be discarded.
Sigh. While it's true that players sometimes forget to recharge the cards they play, and occasionally leave out dice, that doesn't really make for a good example.
Resolution: In the Example of Play on pages 26 and 27, change the following. (This entry is lengthy, though the only mechanical changes are the bolded bits below.)
In Lily's first turn, replace the two paragraphs where Alahazra and Seltyiel encounter the Buccaneer with the following:
First, Seltyiel encounters his copy of the Buccaneer. He has a Force Missile and a Longsword in his hand, so he activates a character power that lets him use both cards. He uses the Force Missile for his combat check, which adds 2d4 to his Arcane skill of d8+3, and recharges the Longsword to add 1d6. Now Sam rolls 1d8+3 + 2d4 + 1d6, but manages a measly 7, which doesn’t beat the Buccaneer’s difficulty of 8. Sam must now discard 1 card (the difference between the 8 he needed and the 7 he rolled). He discards the ally Quartermaster, and the Buccaneer he summoned is banished. Now he must succeed at an Arcane 6 check or discard the Force Missile instead of recharging it; he beats that handily and puts the card under his deck.
Next, Alahazra encounters her copy of the Buccaneer. She plays the spell Fear to evade it. Normally, Fear would shuffle an evaded monster into an open location deck, but the summoned monster didn’t come from a location deck, so it’s banished instead. She recharges Fear.
In Amber's First Turn, make these adjustments:
Change "2d12+4 + 1d4" to "2d12+4 + 1d6 + 1d4.”
Change "She draws back up to her hand size and ends her turn" to "She recharges Inflict, draws back up to her hand size, and ends her turn".
Does Duelist Jirelle need to have the Swashbuckling trait on all of her checks to defeat a monster to explore again, or just one? And since it says "explore again," does that mean she has to be exploring to use this power?
Just one, and yes.
Resolution: On the Duelist side of Jirelle's role card, change "When you defeat a monster on your turn, and your check to defeat has the Swashbuckling trait..." to "When you defeat a monster on your exploration, if any of your checks to defeat had the Swashbuckling trait..."
If I use Jirelle the Pirate Queen's last power, who can move, and when?
If you check the first box, Jirelle can move at the end of her turn if she is at the ship's location (and if the ship isn't anchored, she can take anyone at her location with her). If you check the second box, anyone on the ship with Jirelle can move at the end of his turn (and if the ship isn't anchored, that person can take Jirelle and anyone else at his location with him).
Resolution: On the Pirate Queen side of Jirelle's role card, change "▢ If you are on a ship, you (▢ or another character on the ship) may move at the end of that character's turn" to "▢ If you are on a ship, you may move at the end of your turn (▢ or the character commanding your ship may move at the end of her turn)".
When Freebooter Lem uses his ally-recharging power against a card that has multiple checks, does it affect all the checks, or just one?
It affects all of them. (Also, ships are not banes, so there's a little language problem to fix at the end of that power.)
Resolution: On the Freebooter side of Lem's role card, in the fifth power, change "for each ally recharged, add 1d6 to your check to defeat the bane" to "for each ally recharged, add 1d6 to your checks to defeat it".
When another character encounters a villain, can Valeros the Tactician move before characters attempt to temporarily close their locations?
Yes.
Resolution: On the Tactician side of Valeros's role card, change "When another character encounters a villain, you may immediately move" to "When another character flips over a villain, you may immediately move".
In the Sunken Treasure scenario, after I examine a location deck, do I shuffle its cards back into the location they came from, or into the location I'm at?
They go back to the location deck they came from.
Resolution: On the scenario Sunken Treasure, change "into the location deck" to "into that location deck."
Does the Fog Bank get shuffled when characters at other locations examine cards in it?
Yes.
Resolution: On the location Fog Bank, change the At This Location power to "After a character at any location examines cards in this location deck, shuffle it."
Tempest Cay says "If your ship is dealt Structural damage, increase the damage by 1." Does it matter where the ship is, or how many characters are at Tempest Cay?
Neither of those things make any difference. As long as anybody is at Tempest Cay, regardless of where the ship is, Structural damage is increased by 1.
Resolution: On the location Tempest Cay, replace the At this Location text with "If this location is occupied, Structural damage to your ship at any location is increased by 1."
When you resolve an encounter with a summoned card, it's always supposed to go back in the box unless the card that summons it tells you otherwise. But the Wishing Well summons a haunt that's supposed to stick to you, but it doesn't technically tell you otherwise.
The haunt stays around.
Resolution: Change the location Wishing Well's At This Location power to "When you acquire a boon, summon and encounter the henchman Pirate Shade Haunt, which may not be evaded; display it next to your character card."
Can cards like Masterwork Tools defeat banes like Pirate Hunting or Enemy Ship, which have checks to defeat of "See Below"?
Actually, they should have no checks to defeat at all, so no.
Resolution: On the henchman Enemy Ship and the barrier Pirate Hunting, change the check to defeat from "See Below" to "None". (These cards also appear in the Character Add-On Deck.) This also applies to the henchman Ghol-Gan Obelisk from adventure deck 4 and the villain Incutilis from adventure deck 5.
A bunch of cards refer to Blessing of the Gods, but what if I’m using them with sets without that card?
Treat them as referring to any blessing that has the Basic trait.
Resolution: Change “Blessing of the Gods” to “a blessing that has the Basic trait” on the following cards: monster Blood Moon Pirate (B), loot item Svingli’s Eye (2), monster Werecrocodile (3), loot blessing Pirate’s Favor (3), ship Blood Moon (4—twice on the front, once on the back), villain Fargo Vitterande (4), ally Avimar Sorrinash (4), villain Captain Horrus Riptooth (6), henchman Wereshark Pirate (6), blessing Blessing of Zogmugot (P).
Should the Ambush die penalty apply to all checks against the encountered monster?
Yes.
Resolution: On the barrier Ambush, change "encounter it, subtracting 1 from each die rolled in your check" to "encounter it, subtracting 1 from each die rolled in your checks against it". (This card also appears in the Character Add-On Deck.)
When the ship or monster summoned by Pirate Hunting is evaded, what happens to the barrier?
Leave the barrier faceup on the location deck and put the summoned card next to it.
Resolution: On the barrier Pirate Hunting, change "If the summoned card is undefeated" to "If the summoned card is not defeated". (This card also appears in the Character Add-On Deck.)
Resolution: On the barrier Treasure Hunt, replace "Then banish this barrier" with "If any character succeeds at the check, the barrier is defeated; otherwise, it's undefeated". (This card also appears in the Character Add-On Deck.)
Resolution: On the weapon Dagger, change "When playing another weapon, you may discard this card to add 1d4 to the combat check" to "When playing another weapon, you may discard this card to add 1d4 to your combat check".
This change also affects many Daggers and Dagger-like cards in other sets. The complete list:
Rise of the Runelords: Dagger (B & C), Starknife (B), Dagger +1 (1), War Razor +1 (2), Venomous Dagger +2 (3), Giantbane Dagger +1 (4), Dancing Scimitar +2 (5)
Can I play Main-Gauche with another weapon or not? The first sentence tells me when I can't, not when I can.
You can, so long as you didn't play another weapon with the 2-Handed trait.
Resolution: On the weapon Main-Gauche, replace the text with the following:
For your combat check, reveal this card to use your Strength or Melee skill + 1d4.
Discard this card to reduce Combat damage dealt to you by 2. You may play this card on a check even if you played a weapon that does not have the 2-Handed trait.
If I play a weapon that has the Melee trait and then play Master-at-Arms to give the check the Finesse trait, can I still use a power to change the check's skill to Dexterity?
Yes.
Resolution: On the ally Master-at-Arms, change the power "When you play a weapon that has the Melee trait on this check, the check gains the Finesse trait" to "You may play this card when you play a weapon that has the Melee trait; if you do, the check also gains the Finesse trait". (This card also appears in the Character Add-On Deck.)
Can Damiel recharge Alchemical cards that he banishes even when he doesn't actually play those cards? And does he *have* to recharge them?
No and no.
Resolution: In the Powers section on Damiel's character card and both sides of his role card, change "When you would banish a card that has the Alchemical trait, recharge it instead" to "When you play a card that has the Alchemical trait and would banish it, you may recharge it instead".
Can Damiel recharge spells with the Arcane or Divine skill he gains?
Yes.
Resolution: In the Powers section on Damiel's character card and both sides of his role card, change "When you play a spell that does not have the Attack trait, you gain the skills Arcane and Divine equal to your Craft skill until the end of the step" to "You gain the skills Arcane and Divine equal to your Craft skill while you play or when you would banish a spell that does not have the Attack trait".
When Damiel the Chirurgeon increases his hand size and it's not his turn, does that last until the end of his turn, or just the end of that turn?
Just until the end of that turn.
Resolution: On the Chirurgeon side of Damiel's role card, change the last power to "When you reset your hand, you may discard any number of cards; your hand size is increased by that number until the end of the turn."
Lini's Aquamancer role has a power that apparently helps combat checks against ships, but ships never have combat checks. What's the deal there?
The power should help characters with any check against a ship, not just combat checks.
Resolution: On the Aquamancer side of Lini's role card, replace the second-to-last power with the following:
□ Add 2 (□ 4) to any combat check by a character at your location against a card that has the Aquatic trait (□ or any check by that character against a ship).
In the scenario Press Ganged!, should your hand size increase beyond your normal hand size?
No.
Resolution: On the scenario Press Ganged!, change the sentence "Each character’s hand size is equal to the number of cards in the bane pile" to "Each character's hand size cannot be greater than the number of cards in the bane pile."
The Man's Promise doesn't do anything different when wrecked. Should it?
It should stop other characters from moving on your turn for any reason.
Resolution: On the back of the ship Man's Promise, change "Other characters may not move with this ship from this location" to "Other characters may not move or be moved from your location".
It appears that I can't play Rage during a check because it doesn't directly affect the check. That is, it requires the person to do something—bury a card—to affect the check.
We want you to be able to play it during a check.
Resolution: On the spell Rage, change "Display this card and choose a character at your location" to "Display this card next to the deck of a character at your location; you may play this card during her check".
If I make a combat check using Sphere of Fire, can I play another spell? If I don't have the Arcane or Divine skill, can I discard Sphere of Fire for its additional damage and thus avoid having to banish the card?
No and no. Using the power of Sphere of Fire counts as a spell. And if you discard the spell, it triggers the last part of the power.
Resolution: On the spell Sphere of Fire, replace "At the end of your turn, if you do not have either the Arcane or Divine skill..." with "This counts as playing a spell. At the end of your turn, or when you would discard this card when playing it, if you do not have either the Arcane or Divine skill..."
Card Questions: Raiders of the Fever Sea (Skull & Shackles Adventure Deck 2)
When playing Give the Devil His Due, if an Enemy Ship summons a ship and I move the Devil's Pallor, can I seize it?
No. The scenario wouldn't work if you did.
Resolution: On the scenario Give the Devil His Due, change "When you would encounter a ship, instead move the Devil’s Pallor to your location and encounter it" to "If a card would summon a ship, instead move the Devil’s Pallor to your location and encounter it".
When you encounter Krelloort, and there are other cards in the location deck, he goes to the bottom of the deck. Is he evaded? Defeated? Undefeated?
He's evaded.
Resolution: On the villain Krelloort, add the italicized text in the following sentence: "Before you act, if there are other cards in the location deck, Krelloort is evaded; put him on the bottom of the location deck, then summon and encounter the villain Sea Devil Prince."
When you defeat The Matron, you would banish all non-villain cards in the deck, so when would Krelloort's first power ever matter?
Don't banish the non-villain cards when you defeat The Matron—just replace The Matron with Krelloort.
Resolution: On the villain The Matron, change the last paragraph to "If defeated, when you would close the location, instead banish The Matron and shuffle the villain Krelloort into the location deck."
If I make a combat check using Aqueous Orb, can I play another spell? If I don't have the Arcane or Divine skill, can I discard Aqueous Orb for its additional damage and thus avoid having to banish the card?
No and no. Using the power of Aqueous Orb counts as a spell. And if you discard the spell, it triggers the last part of the power.
Resolution: On the spell Aqueous Orb, replace "At the end of your turn, if you do not have either the Arcane or Divine skill..." with "This counts as playing a spell. At the end of your turn, or when you would discard this card when playing it, if you do not have either the Arcane or Divine skill..."
Jolly Roger helps "your checks against ships." Does it mean "you, the party that owns the ship," or "you, the person who played the card"?
It means the person who played the card. If we'd told you to display it next to your character instead of next to the ship, you probably wouldn't have thought twice about that...
Resolution: On the item Jolly Roger, change the power to "Display this card next to your character. While displayed, add 1d6 to your checks to defeat ships."
Bizarre Love Triangle has issues. Are you supposed to close the villain's location when you defeat it, even if it's undefeated?
The villain shouldn't be undefeated. You are supposed to close the location, and if it escapes after you defeat it, any blessings you use should come from the box, not the blessings deck.
Resolution: On the scenario Bizarre Love Triangle, replace the During this Scenario text with the following:
If a villain cannot escape to an open location, shuffle the villain into a random location, opening it.
To win the scenario, defeat any villain while all three villains are in the same location deck.
There are not enough Enemy Ship henchmen in the Base Set to play The Free Captain's Regatta! What do I do?
There are 2 more Enemy Ships in the Character Add-On Deck that you can use to round out the scenario. If you don't have that deck, put 1 Enemy Ship next to the scenario and shuffle 3 Shipwreck henchmen and 5 Enemy Ships into the 8 location decks. When you encounter a Shipwreck, treat it as an Enemy Ship.
Widowmaker Isle tells me to summon an Enemy Ship, which in turn summons a random ship. But the rules say that summoned cards cannot cause other cards to be summoned. What do I do?
Let's cut out the middleman.
Resolution: On the location Widowmaker Island, change the When Closing power to "Summon and defeat a random ship; you may seize it."
If I don't have the Arcane or Divine skill, can I discard Freezing Sphere for its additional damage and thus avoid having to banish the card?
No. If you discard the spell, it triggers the last part of the power.
Resolution: On the spell Freezing Sphere, replace "At the end of your turn, if you do not have the Arcane skill..." with "At the end of your turn, or when you would discard this card when playing it, if you do not have the Arcane skill..."
When I use Slip to examine the top of my location deck, do I have to attempt the check? What if I want to put the card on the bottom of the deck?
Slip is your friend—if you want the card to go to the bottom, that's OK by him.
Resolution: On the ally Slip, change the power to "On your turn, discard this card to examine the top card of your location deck. You may succeed at an Intelligence or Knowledge 7 check to put it on top of the location deck; otherwise, put it on the bottom. Then explore your location."
Ring of the Iron Skull says "If you defeat a monster by 4 or more, reveal this card to examine the top card of your location deck." What if the bane has multiple checks?
If any character succeeds at any check to defeat the card by the required amount during the encounter, the person who encountered the card gets to examine 1 card, and to avoid the possibility that you might examine a card that makes you encounter it while you're already acting in an encounter, that examination should happen after the encounter.
Resolution: On the loot Ring of the Iron Skull, replace "If you defeat a monster by 4 or more, reveal this card to examine the top card of your location deck" with "If the result of any check to defeat a monster you encounter exceeds the difficulty by 4 or more, after the encounter, reveal this card to examine the top card of your location deck”.
Card Questions: Island of Empty Eyes (Skull & Shackles Adventure Deck 4)
If I win the scenario with Bikendi Otongu, I get to draw 1 card of each type of boon other than loot. Do I get to choose the cards? Do they come from the box? And can I do it all again when I replay the scenario?
No, yes, and no.
Resolution: On the role card Bikendi Otongu, change "If you win the scenario, draw 1 card of each boon type other than loot" to "If you win the scenario, draw 1 random card of each type of boon other than loot from the box. This counts as a scenario reward."
The Home Sweet Home scenario calls for the henchmen Gholdako and Ghol-Gon Obelisks. Deck 4 contains 6 Gholdakos, but only one Obelisk.
Due to a printer error, adventure deck 4 of Skull & Shackles, Island of Empty Eyes, included 6 copies of the henchman Gholdako and 1 copy of the henchman Ghol-Gan Obelisk; it should have had 6 Ghol-Gan Obelisks and 1 Gholdako. And due to our own error, it has 1 fewer Blink Spider than you’ll need when you have 6 players.
We have solved this problem by making a pack of cards that includes 5 Ghol-Gan Obelisks, 1 Blink Spider, and—in the interest of turning lemons into lemonade—The Land of the Blind, a brand-new scenario that makes use of those extra Gholdako cards. We provided that for free to customers who purchased Island of Empty Eyes from paizo.com, we sent copies through our distributors, and we inserted the pack into our remaining stock of the Island of Empty Eyes Adventure Deck.
If you need to play the scenario "Home Sweet Home" without access to that pack, we suggest proxying with Buccaneers (that is, setting the Ghol-Gan Obelisk to the side, adding Buccaneers to the location decks instead, and referring to the Obelisk whenever you find a Buccaneer).
Hall of Champions has you display a weapon next to it when closing, and when permanently closed, you add the displayed weapon to the location deck. But because of temp closing, there may be more than 1 weapon displayed. Do I pick 1, or do I add them all?
Add them all.
Resolution: On the location Hall of Champions, replace the first paragraph of When Permanently Closed to "On closing, add any weapons displayed at this location and 1d4+1 random weapons from the box to this location without looking at them."
When does the Teleportation Chamber teleport characters?
At the start of your turn.
Resolution: On the location Teleportation Chamber, in the At This Location power, change "Choose a random character" to "At the start of your turn, randomly choose a character".
If I'm at the Teleportation Chamber, and I fail to defeat the bane that I examined, what happens to it? Or what if I do defeat it, and it's a henchman—can I close the location it came from? Or what if it's the villain—do I...
Hold on there, friend! You're not encountering the card. You're just using its checks to defeat as the checks to close the Teleportation Chamber—nothing more.
Resolution: On the location Teleportation Chamber, change the "When Closing" power to "Examine the top card of a random other open location deck and, if it is a bane, succeed at its checks to defeat. If you did not examine a bane, this location closes automatically."
Is the Coral Golem affected by items that have the Attack trait?
No.
Resolution: On the monster Coral Golem, change "You may not play spells that have the Attack trait" to "The Coral Golem is immune to the Attack and Mental traits".
On Gargoyle Sniper, you have to succeed at a Perception check to avoid the negative effect. But a similar effect on a couple of cards in Adventure Deck 6 can be bypassed with a Wisdom or Perception check. Should this match those?
Yes.
Resolution: On the monster Gargoyle Sniper, change "succeed at a Perception 12 check" to "succeed at a Wisdom or Perception 12 check".
Conch of the Tritons says other cards can't be used on the check. What about character powers?
Nope.
Resolution: On the loot Conch of the Tritons, change "No other cards may be used on this check" to "Characters may not play other cards or use powers on this check".
When you resolve an encounter with a summoned card, it's always supposed to go back in the box. In Best Served Cold, are you really supposed to put the cards you summon from the henchman pile back in the box after the encounter?
Nope—they go back into the pile.
Resolution: In the scenario Best Served Cold's During This Scenario section, change "When you encounter Barnabas Harrigan, each other character must summon and encounter a random henchman from the henchman pile" to "When you encounter Barnabas Harrigan, each other character must encounter a random henchman from the henchman pile. Return the henchman to the pile after the encounter."
Dagon's Jaws says "This location remains open until both stacks are closed." Does that mean I can't temporarily close either stack?
You can temp close.
Resolution: On the location Dagon's Jaws, replace "This location remains open until both stacks are closed" with "Do not flip this card until both stacks are closed".
Adelita Doloruso has a damage effect that happens "if the check to defeat included the Swashbuckling trait," but she takes two sequential checks to defeat. How's that work?
If either check included the trait, the damage is dealt to the character that encountered the card.
Resolution: On the villain Adelita Doloruso, change "if the
check to defeat included the Swashbuckling trait, you take the damage instead" to "if any check to defeat included the Swashbuckling trait, you are dealt the damage instead".
Incutilis is defeated or undefeated based on the result of an encounter with a summoned monster. What happens if I evade that summoned monster?
Incutilis really cares about whether or not you defeated it. If you evaded it, you didn't defeat it, so Incutilis is undefeated.
Resolution: On the villain Incutilis, replace "The Incutilis is defeated or undefeated based solely on the result of that encounter" with "The Incutilis is defeated only if you defeat the monster; otherwise, it is undefeated."
When you resolve an encounter with a summoned card, it's always supposed to go back in the box unless the card that summons it tells you otherwise. But Gilbrok the Tongue summons a henchman that seems like it’s supposed to stick around if undefeated, but Gilbrok doesn't actually tell you otherwise. What happens?
The summoned henchman gets displayed.
Resolution: On the henchman Gilbrok the Tongue, add the following to the end of the second power: “If the summoned henchman is undefeated, display it next to your character card.”
When the Voidstick Zombie increases the difficulty of Divine checks at your location, does that include the Divine check to defeat the Voidstick Zombie itself? And what happens if you change locations before the end of the turn?
The power should kick in only after your check to defeat the Zombie, and if you move, the effect stays with the location you were at.
Resolution: On the monster Voidstick Zombie, replace the power "For the rest of the turn, the difficulty of Divine checks at your location is increased by 3, and powers that have the Healing trait used by characters at your location recharge 1 fewer card" with "After your check to defeat, until the end of the turn, the difficulty of Divine checks by characters at your current location is increased by 3, and powers that have the Healing trait used by those characters recharge 1 fewer card".
Except for Keen Rapier +3, rapiers and other keen weapons all have penalties when used by characters who aren’t proficient with weapons. Should Keen Rapier +3 have that penalty?
Yes.
Resolution: On the weapon Keen Rapier +3, add the sentence “If you aren’t proficient with weapons, the difficulty of this check is increased by 4.”
Shrine to Besmara says "Your checks have the Pirate or Swashbuckling trait." If my check already has one, can I still choose the other? Can I choose both? How about neither?
Besmara just wants to help you. Pick the ones you like.
Resolution: On the location Shrine to Besmara, change the "At this location" text to "You may add the Pirate and/or Swashbuckling traits to your checks."
Does Admiral Druvalia Thrune's second power apply to the die roll alone, or the result (with modifiers)?
The result, including modifiers.
Resolution: On the villain Admiral Druvalia Thrune, change the second power to "After you roll, if your result exceeded the difficulty, you are dealt Force damage equal to the difference between the two."
Is the Cannon Golem affected by items that have the Attack trait?
No.
Resolution: On the henchman Cannon Golem, change "You may not play spells that have the Attack trait" to "The Cannon Golem is immune to the Attack and Mental traits".
When I encounter a Chelish Marine, am I supposed to summon another one for myself?
No—you only have to deal with the one you're already encountering.
Resolution: On the monster Chelish Marine, change "Each character at your location must summon and encounter the Chelish Marine; it is defeated or undefeated based solely on your check" to "Before you act, each other character at your location summons and encounters the Chelish Marine".
The Lusca has three combat checks, and says "if undefeated, the Lusca deals damage to each character at your location." Is the intent for that to apply to all failed checks?
Yes.
Resolution: On the monster Lusca, replace the second power with the following two powers:
While you act, damage dealt by the Lusca is dealt to each character at this location.
If undefeated, each character at your location must succeed at a Constitution or Fortitude 11 check or bury the top 1d4 cards of his deck.
Can the Adamantine Trident +3 ignore difficulty-increasing powers for any monster encountered by anyone? And do I ignore the whole power, or just the part that increases the difficulty?
This power is intended to be part of the power above it, affecting only the monsters you are currently attempting a combat check against. And you may only ignore the part of the power that increases the difficulty.
Resolution: On the weapon Adamantine Trident +3, change "If a monster has a power that increases the difficulty of any combat check, ignore that power" to "If a monster has an effect that increases the difficulty of this check, ignore that effect", and move that sentence to the end of the first power.
Doubleshot Pepperbox says that if I didn't bury it, but I did bury cards to add damage, I might be able to shuffle it into my deck. How do I bury cards to add damage without also burying the Doubleshot Pepperbox?
You can't, so that condition will never happen.
Resolution: On the weapon Doubleshot Pepperbox, delete the phrase "or on a 1–4 if you buried any cards to add damage".
Can I play Recast during my check? If I do, can I play the spell I recast?
Yes and yes.
Resolution: On the spell Recast, add this sentence to the first power: "You may do this during a check, and if you choose yourself, you may play the spell on this check."
Crossbow of Retribution offers a bonus if a bane has a power that deals damage before you act. But what happens if the bane has a power that deals damage before you act, but only if you fail a check?
You get the bonus whether or not you fail the check.
Resolution: On the loot Crossbow of Retribution, replace "If the bane has a power that deals damage before you act, add another 1d6" with "If the bane has a power that can deal damage before you act, add another 1d6".
If a character at Kleptomaniac Ranzak's location fails to acquire an boon with no checks to acquire, can Ranzak try to acquire it?
Yes.
Resolution: On the Kleptomaniac side of Ranzak's role card, change "If another character at your location fails a check to acquire a boon, you may attempt a check to acquire it" to "When another character at your location fails to acquire a boon, you may encounter it".
The Goblin Weidling is a Class 0 ship, so it can be part of my fleet during Plunder & Peril. But it requires you to summon and encounter the henchman Riptide Grindylow, which is in Adventure Deck 1. What should I do?
Go ahead and fetch the Riptide Grindylow from the Adventure Deck 1 box!
If I defeat the summoned Riptide Grindylow, does the difficulty of one check against the Owlbeartross go up by 4, or does it affect both checks? Please say just one.
It's both, I'm afraid.
Resolution: On the monster Owlbeartross, change "If that henchman is defeated, the difficulty of the check to defeat the Owlbeartross is increased by 4" to "If that henchman is defeated, the difficulty of checks to defeat the Owlbeartross is increased by 4".
Cards listed as "Retail Promo" will be made available to game stores during the indicated month.
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game subscribers will be shipped promo cards along with their subscription orders (The first 6 cards ship with the subscription shipment containing the Character Add-On Deck; the next card with the next subscription shipment, and so on). A copy of Blessing of Zogmugot will ship with each subscription shipment from October to February.
Due to a printer error, adventure deck 4 of Skull & Shackles, Island of Empty Eyes, included 6 copies of the henchman Gholdako and 1 copy of the henchman Ghol-Gan Obelisk; it should have had 6 Ghol-Gan Obelisks and 1 Gholdako. And due to our own error, it has 1 fewer Blink Spider than you’ll need when you have 6 players. We solved this problem by making a pack of cards that includes 5 Ghol-Gan Obelisks, 1 Blink Spider, and—in the interest of turning lemons into lemonade—The Land of the Blind, a brand-new promo scenario that makes use of those extra Gholdako cards. We provided that pack for free to customers who purchased Island of Empty Eyes from paizo.com, sent copies through our distributors, and inserted it into our remaining stock of the Island of Empty Eyes Adventure Deck. (The cards in this pack are not usable without the Island of Empty Eyes Adventure Deck, and only one pack is needed per adventure deck.)
Chief Technical Officer
