Tianyu Beta rules
New crew: Tianyu
The year of the dragon is upon us and so is a new crew. They have landed on Leonera to try to restore the balance which the Shadows have disturbed. The official release will be at SPIEL 2024, but here is an overview of the rules in advance.
Many had hoped that the mysterious stranger who had been so determined to reach a remote temple on an island full of monsters last year had disappeared for good after that temple collapsed. She had handed out gold with full hands to hire crews, but her undiluted arrogance towards everyone and everything had been extremely hard to bear. She has not disappered for good, it turns out. Rather, she successfully returned to her home country. And now she is back and has brought her compatriots with her.
New hiring rules:
The way a crew performs on the battlefield is heavily influnenced in the hiring stage. If the hiring rules require a lot of deckhands, the crew is more likely to go for numerical superiority and mob tactics. If fewer deckhands are required, the crew is usually more select with every character being precious. We wanted to loosen this up a little with the new crew and thus decided to make the whole thing a little more flexible.
With the Tianyu, the chosen leader determines how many deckhands you have to take with you; the remaining doubloons can then be spent however you want.
For example: Greenblade, the leader from the starter box, must hire at least two deckhand characters. Once they are hired, the remaining doubloons can be spent on specialists or deckhands, there are no further restrictions.
New rule: Balance
Tianyu culture is based on the doctrine of different powers which must always be kept in balance. The Shadows’ escape from their dungeon has majorly upset this precarious balance, unleashing forces which must be pushed back at all costs. The fight for the balance of power is the ultimate goal of the Tianyu.
We always want to give a new crew a special overall rule to give it its own character and a unique feel. This time, we have taken inspiration from a principle which is important in many Far Eastern cultures among others. The balance of power is a fundamental philosophical concept. This is represented in the game by a special card with 5 circles; the characters have special rules which are themselves marked with a light or a dark circle. The crew’s balance starts in the middle, i.e. in equilibrium.
By using different characteristics or actions, this balance shifts over the course of the game – if you do dark deeds, you slide over to the dark side, as is well known. If the balance is in the light, the character can only use their dark special rules; if it is in the dark, they can only use the light ones. Everything has to lead to perfect balance, after all. The balance shifts with each corresponding special rule which a character uses.
Characters
Those compatriots of the mysterious stranger who have now suddenly appeared? Ha! Exotically dressed people with strange weapons, whose main goal seems to be the restoration of a nebulous balance and who weigh up all their actions in terms of how they influence that balance. But they have lots of gold, they also drink rum and they don’t suddenly grow tentacles from weird places on their bodies. They just don’t seem to want to understand that they have to join the queue at the end when it comes to dominating the island.
The open beta test has now begun. Anyone who would like to take part and give us feedback on the new crew is welcome to do so.
Download the necessary files from the download section and submit your feedback in the Freebooter Miniatures Discord or directly to florian@freebooterminiatures.de.
Link to the beta rules:
