Th' one true Articles o' Lopti, sworn salt-deep
- 2–5 bilge-rats
- 52 pasteboards
- Nary a Joker, blast 'em
Lopti in sixty ship-bell ticks
- 1
Divvy nine, ye swab
Three pasteboards deadlights-down, three grinnin' atop 'em, three clutched in yer claw. Swap one claw-card fer one grinner, should yer black heart fancy.
- 2
Broadside higher
Heave one rank, one-or-more strong. Climb above—or answer th' same rank wi' more guns than th' last broadside.
- 3
Plunder but once
After yer turn's first lawful heave, snatch one from th' draw-hold only while it lives and yer claw bears fewer than three.
- 4
Swallow th' midden
Can't heave—or won't, ye sly eel? Haul th' whole play-midden into yer claw. Yer watch dies there.
- 5
Scupper aught; fire agin.
Every clear gives its causin' corsair one bonus heave—unless that very heave emptied 'em out o' Lopti.
- 6
Bleed yer hold dry
Shed claw, then grinnin' cards, then blind bilge-cards. First salt out forges a fresh Article.
4 → 4 4 → 4All four o' one rank send th' midden below.
Th' hexed pasteboards
Two an' seven cling aboard. Three an' ten walk th' bloody plank.
2Tide-turner
Heave it atop aught save a live 3 haul-curse. Th' next broadside may bear any rank under heaven.
Th' 2 clings in th' midden. Atop another 2, fire more 2s than th' last volley—or finish all four, ye barnacled accountant.3Black-spot relay
Heave it atop aught. If a midden exists, th' next dog must swallow it whole or heave at least one 3 t' shove th' curse downwind.
Every 3 walks th' plank at once and never joins a haul. Lay chained 3s in sight beside th' midden till a non-3 lands, th' midden be hauled, or it be scuppered. All four chained 3s scupper what lies beneath. A 3 cast upon bare boards curses no soul.7Shoal-water doom
Heave it atop aught save a live 3 haul-curse. Th' very next broadside must rank 7 or lower, lest Neptune chew yer bones.
No 10 sails atop a 7. Each fresh volley o' 7s renews shoal-water fer th' following dog. Complete all four 7s and th' midden sinks.10Davy Jones' broadside
Heave it atop aught save a 7 or live 3 haul-curse. Th' whole midden sinks that instant.
Th' 10 sinks wi' its victims. Th' scupperin' pirate fires one bonus broadside onto bare boards.How th' accursèd passage truly runs
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Rig th' cursed table
Fetch one honest 52-card deck, Jokers marooned. Suits mean less than a lubber's oath. Aces ride high; hexed cards overrule common rank.
- Give each bilge-rat three cards deadlights-down. Any peeker be a foresworn squid.
- Perch three grinnin' cards above 'em, one atop each blind card.
- Shove three cards in every claw. Th' remainder sleeps face-down as th' draw-hold.
- Each dog may make one optional trade: one claw-card fer one grinnin' card.
- Th' dealer's burden wheels clockwise. Dealer fires first in a fresh session; previous victor fires first thereafter.
Standin' yer bloody watch
Broadsides wheel clockwise. Bare boards take one-or-more cards o' any one rank. Else fire one lawful volley—or, silent as a snake, choose t' swallow th' nonempty midden. Any haul kills yer watch stone-dead.
After yer watch's first lawful volley, plunder exactly one card only if th' draw-hold yet breathes and yer claw bears fewer than three. A many-card volley still buys but one; three-or-more already in claw buys naught.
A scupper earns a bonus volley, never a fresh watch. Bonus volleys plunder naught. Scupper upon scupper may earn volley upon volley, arrr and arrr agin.
Sendin' th' midden t' Davy Jones
Any clear casts th' midden out o' th' round, drowns every waitin' 3-curse and 7-shoal, then hands its causin' corsair one immediate bonus broadside.
Scupper by lawful 10, all four o' one rank, a chain o' all four 3s, all four 7s completed, or a lawful winner-decree that names a clear.
Sunken pasteboards stay beneath th' round unless winner-law fishes 'em back. No winner-law may stay a clear nor steal th' clearer’s bonus fire.
Grinnin' cargo an' blind bilge-plunder
Once yer draw chance be spent, an empty claw must snatch all three grinnin' cards at once. A bonus broadside may empty ye thus while other dogs still plunder th' draw-hold.
Empty that claw, then on each chance blindly flip one buried card fer every eye aboard. Lawful? Resolve it. Foul? Lash it onto th' midden, swallow th' whole foul heap, and lose yer watch.
Beneath a live 3 haul-curse, only a blind 3 floats. Any other blind wretch joins th' midden ye must swallow.
Escapin' wi' th' black treasure
Ye seize victory th' instant yer final buried card lands lawfully. Its hex still bites: a last 3 shunts th' haul-curse; a last 7 shoals th' next dog's broadside.
If that last card scuppers all, ye be already over th' horizon and spend no bonus volley. Next active dog leads onto bare boards. Th' laggards may fight fer places, but only first-out wins and forges law.
Cap'n's common squall-settlers
- A 3 splashes onto bare boards—what devilry?
- Th' 3 walks th' plank, aye, but no midden exists t' swallow; no soul loses a watch. Next dog leads plain.
- May one lone pasteboard crown three twins?
- Aye, ye sharp-eyed eel. Finishin' all four o' a lawful rank be lawful matching and scuppers th' midden.
- May four lofty rogues storm a 7's shoal?
- Nay! Rank must first float. Atop 7, four 6s may sink all; four 8s founder afore firing.
- Do many 3s leapfrog many unfortunate dogs?
- Nay. One volley bearing one-or-more 3s shunts one haul-curse to th' next dog only. Every 3 still counts toward th' chain o' four.
- Who steers fog in an old Article?
- Its law-smith, if aboard. Absent? Crew majority. No reading wins? Take th' course that rocks base Lopti least.
First salt out forges one fresh Article.
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- Bellow it 'fore th' deal diesRoar th' whole Article before th' next nine-card deal finishes. Thereafter it haunts th' whole session.
- Lash aboard; never replaceWinner-law may add business afore or abaft a base event, but may never clap that event in irons.
- Keep th' rotten hulk afloatNo Article may bar victory or vote, spin forever, reach backward, or demand unsafe, unlawful, discriminatory, destructive, or non-consensual conduct—nay, not fer all Neptune's gold.
- Curse conditions, not named soulsGame roles, shiftin' conditions, and deck-game outcomes be fair prey. Names, fixed personal traits, or a disguised personal broadside be rank mutiny.
- Its maker cuts through fogTh' law-smith settles an edge fog, but may not rebuild th' Article whole once th' round weighs anchor.
Th' Crew's One Rule Vote
When dealin' starts, th' whole scurvy company gains one Rule Vote attempt fer that round. It may sink or mend winner-law, or bend base law fer this session alone. Every session salt votes, out or still fightin'. ‘Majority’ means aye from more than half o' all session souls.
- Th' victor's newborn Article spends nary a vote.
- A law-smith may sink their own Article whenever whim bites, vote-free. Any weighty mending needs th' Vote; sinkin' earns no replacement law.
- A failed or deadlocked Vote devours th' round's one attempt, teeth an' all.
- Before voices rise, name whether change bites now or next round. Never unfire a finished card deed; an unfinished winner-law deed may be cut loose.
- A sunken Article stays drowned that session unless a later Rule Vote hauls it gaspin' aboard.
- Th' Vote and Roshambo blood-ritual be untouchable sea-structure—even th' pirate king mayn't bend it.
Deadlock? Thirty bloodless Roshambo broadsides!
Th' change-caller duels th' Article's law-smith. Smith ashore? Its aye-crew names a champion. No defender crawls forth? Change sails through. Fer base-law change, proposer faces th' first dog t' formally bark nay.
Throw exactly 30 decisive rock-paper-scissors salvos; tied throws vanish like rum at dawn. At 15–15, next decisive salvo takes th' ship. Can't choose a champion? Run a single-elimination cutlass-bracket, one decisive throw each match.
Each voyage wakes on a blank, bloodless chart.
A session be whatever unbroken spell th' crew agrees. Old winner-laws crawl back only by setup majority; those approvals spend none o' round one's Rule Vote. If an absent law-smith's Article fogs, majority steers; without one, choose th' reading that disturbs base Lopti least.