Forgotten Waters is a self described "Crossroads Game
" published by Plaid Hat Games, set in a world of fantastical pirate adventure. Players act as crew of swashbuckling pirates sailing together under their Captain; all attempting to further their own personal stories while working towards a common goal.
Gameplay begins with players selecting a Scenario to run through — a framework for their collective adventure that dictates the starting point and goals of the game. The base game includes five Scenarios, all accessed through the associated app. Players also choose from 21 Character Sheets that will determine their personal journey. Roles aboard the ship are assigned (Quartermaster, Boatswain, First Mate, Cooper, Lookout, Gunner, and Scribe). The board is set up according to the chosen Scenario and players are unleashed on a world of pirate fantasy to explore their surroundings, battle sea monsters, collect treasure, and jockey for position as the top pirate.
Forgotten Waters was first released in 2020, with an expansion pack/ DLC called "Kraken's Eye" published in 2021. Plaid Hat Games' page for the game is here, with a digital copy of the rulebook available for perusal.
Tropes in Forgotten Waters:
- Action Initiative: Initiative order is determined by a player's "Infamy" and tracked on the "Quartermaster Board." Players gain or lose Infamy as they find treasure, perform tasks, and move the story forwards. The player with the highest Infamy gets first choice of what action to perform on a turn, while those lower in the turn order may get stuck performing a Required Action or selecting a task that doesn't compliment their Player Character's skills.
- Boats into Buildings:
- The art for "Shanty Town"/ "Devastated Town" shows buildings with roofs made of upturned ships (and chimneys made from repurposed cannons) alongside structures built of upright hulls.
- The "Pirate Paradise" location includes the "Wasted Walrus" tavern, whose roof is constructed out of an upturned ship.
- Coat Full of Contraband: The Orange Pirate's art depicts them dramatically holding open a cloak lined with cutlasses.
- Digital Tabletop Game Adaptation: Zig-Zagged — the game is meant to be played in conjunction with an app.
- Downloadable Content: The base game comes with five self-contained Scenarios. Developers released a sixth adventure, "Kraken's Eye", as optional DLC. It includes a self-contained Scenario and 100 new "events" that can be triggered in all games.
- Dressed to Plunder: The game art shows all player characters (and most piratical NPCs) are dressed in traditional pirate garb.
- Red is a pirate with tall boots, playing cards, dice, and a pistol.
- Orange wears a bandolier, a skull-shaped mask, and a cloak full of cutlasses.
- Yellow wears a bandana and hoists two crossed cutlasses over their shoulder.
- Green has a Seadog Peg Leg, a bandolier, stiped pants and double pistols.
- Blue is a pirate holding a jolly roger flag and wearing a bandana.
- Purple wears a bandana printed with a skull and crossbones, accessorized with thigh-high boots and stripy pants.
- Pink wears an eyepatch and boasts several tattoos.
- Captain Vance of "Beyond the Ocean's Edge" has a gold tooth, Seadog Peg Leg, bandolier of guns, and a feathered captain's hat.
- Captain Calhoun of "Dead or Alive" wears a wide-lapelled coat belted with a fluttering sash, eyepatch, and a feathered captain's hat.
- Captain Stroopwafel of "Nature's Splendor" wears an oversized admiral's coat and carries several replacements for her missing left hand on her belt, plus a feathered captain's hat.
- Captain Swift of "Spoils of the Damned" wears a billowing pirate shirt under a vest, thigh-high boots, and a feathered captain's hat over a bandana. There's also a tattoo over her heart.
- Captain Okoro of "Witch's Heart" wears a billowing admiral's jacket over a bandolier of blunderbuss ammunition and a feathered captain's hat.
- Cap’n Lory of "Kraken's Eye" wears a captain's hat emblazoned with skull and crossbones, plus a coat and vest worn open over a bare chest.
- Experience Points: When making a skill check, players add their Character's cumulative experience points for that particular skill. Every player starts with 0 experience points in each of the game's 6 skills (Exploration, Brawn, Hunting, Aim, Swagger, and Navigation), and can earn between 2 and 7 experience points per skill. Certain "Treasure" and "Story" cards can increase those numbers further.
- Luck Manipulation Mechanic: Some actions result in a player accruing "Misfortune" tokens, which cause the next skill roll by that player to be made with disadvantage (i.e. rolling the d12 twice and taking the lowest number). "Re-Roll" tokens can be used during any skill check to re-roll a dice and increase the chances of success. Players can accrue as many Re-Roll Tokens as they wish and can spend as many on a check as they like.
- Narrative Board Game: Each Scenario begins with players as the crew under a particular Captain, working to accomplish their Captain's goals. Players are often rewarded for taking initiative to explore their surroundings and choosing to spend time with their Captain. The companion app provides fully-voiced "Entries" when players end a round or accomplish certain goals, which push the story forwards and dictate how the next round will be played.
- Pirate: All players take the role of pirates sailing together under a pirate captain, having piratical adventures in a sea filled with other pirates.
- Point of No Return: Downplayed — Certain actions can become locked while playing through a Round, preventing players from exploring areas further or gaining the benefits of successful skill checks.
- Scoring Points: Gaining experience in different skills allows players to fill in stars on their Character Sheet's "Constellation," and at certain milestones this triggers a "Constellation Event." Constellation Events progress an individual character's story, often granting treasures or other boons. Filling out one's Constellation is essential to obtaining an individual "Good Ending" for a character.
- Seadog Peg Leg: The Green Pirate and Captain Vance both have peg legs.
- Shout-Out: Captain Swift's pose for the splash art of "Spoils of the Damned" references the cover art of the 7th Sea Pirate Nations supplement.
- Sliding Scale of Cooperation vs. Competition: Emergent Competition. Players have to work together to achieve success in any given Scenario, but are encouraged to jockey for better position on the Quartermaster Board and sock away useful treasures (which can be stolen from other players).
- Visual Initiative Queue: The player with the highest "Infamy" goes first when determining Action Initiative. Infamy is tracked publicly on the Quartermaster Board.
