Board Game Designer

SHARDWAKE

One-Line Pitch

Captain a salvage airship through a dying sky, tearing relics from crumbling islands. Your rivals can't tell whether you want those islands saved or sent screaming into the void.

The Hook

Every relic you salvage cracks the island it came from. Taking treasure pushes the islands toward collapse, and your secret Guild Agenda decides whether a collapse helps or hurts you. When a Storm Front rolls in, everyone must chip in to hold the sky together. Someone at the table may be quietly hoping it fails.

Overview

Over 6 rounds, players place airships on floating islands and in the central Harbor to gather resources, salvage relics, and stake Claims on islands. Every salvage adds Cracks, and storms add more; an island with too many Cracks Falls. Each player secretly serves one of three Guilds: one profits from ruin, one from preservation, and one from commerce. The player with the most Renown (victory points) after final scoring and Agenda reveals wins.

Components

Board (modular)

• 1 Harbor Board: action spaces, Renown track (0–60), Turn Order track, Round track (1–6), Storm Forecast slot
• 8 Island Tiles (double-sided: island / Void):
  • 5 Outer Islands: 4 Crack slots, 2 docks
  • 3 Deep Islands: 3 Crack slots, 2 docks

Cards

• 32 Relic cards in 4 types (Sunglass, Tidebone, Clockheart, Starchart)
  • 20 Outer, marked I on the back: each type has 3 × value 1 and 2 × value 2
  • 12 Deep, marked II on the back: each type has 2 × value 3 and 1 × value 4
• 12 Storm cards
• 6 Guild Agenda cards: 2 each of Chasm Syndicate, Keel Covenant, and Gilded Ledger
• 15 Accusation cards: 3 per player color, one for each Guild
• 5 Player Aid cards

Wooden Tokens

• 15 Airships: 3 per color × 5 colors
• 75 Claim discs: 15 per color
• 5 Renown markers and 5 Turn Order cylinders (player colors)
• 1 Hired Skiff (grey airship)
• 1 Round marker
• 30 Aether (blue cubes)
• 30 Ballast (grey cubes)
• 20 Brass (yellow cubes)
• 24 Cracks (black cubes)
• 15 Fall tokens (red discs)
• 25 Handshake tokens (green discs)

Everything fits a standard 11" × 11" × 3" retail box.

Key Terms

• Renown: victory points, tracked on the Renown track.
• Claim: one of your discs on an island. Claims determine island majority at game end.
• Crack: damage on an island. When the last Crack slot fills, the island Falls.
• Fall token: taken by every player who had a Claim on an island when it Fell.
• Handshake: taken by both players when they complete a trade.
• Dock: an action space on an island. Each island has two: Salvage and Moor.

Setup

1. Place the Harbor Board in the center of the table.
2. Choose Island Tiles by player count, shuffle, and arrange them in a ring around the Harbor, island side up:
   • 3 players: 3 Outer + 2 Deep
   • 4 players: 4 Outer + 2 Deep
   • 5 players: 5 Outer + 3 Deep Return unused tiles to the box.
3. Shuffle the Outer and Deep Relic decks separately. Deal 3 face-down Relics onto each island's Cache (the Relic stack on that island), using Outer Relics for Outer Islands and Deep Relics for Deep Islands. Return leftover Relics to the box unseen.
4. Shuffle the Storm deck and place it face-down beside the Harbor.
5. Each player takes, in their color: 3 Airships, 15 Claims, 1 Renown marker (placed on 0), 1 Turn Order cylinder, 3 Accusation cards, and a Player Aid.
6. Each player takes a starting supply of 2 Aether, 2 Ballast, and 1 Brass.
7. Shuffle all 6 Guild Agenda cards and deal 1 face-down to each player. Look at yours secretly. Return the rest to the box unseen.
   • Duplicates are possible. Two players may share a Guild, and a Guild may be absent.
8. Randomly determine turn order and place the cylinders on the Turn Order track.
9. In reverse turn order, each player places 1 Claim on any Outer Island.
10. Place the Round marker on 1.

Turn Structure

Each round has four phases.

1. Order Phase (skip in Round 1)

1. Rearrange turn order by Renown, lowest first. Tied players keep their previous relative order.
2. Catch-up check: if the first player trails the Renown leader by 5 or more, they take the Hired Skiff this round. [PT]

2. Placement Phase

Players take turns in turn order. On your turn:

1. (Optional) Trade: propose one trade to any single player (see Trading).
2. Place: put one Airship, or the Hired Skiff, on an empty action space and resolve it immediately.

Keep going around until every ship is placed. If you have ships left and others don't, keep placing.

3. Storm Phase

• Rounds 1, 3, 5 (Forecast): reveal the top Storm card face-up in the Forecast slot. It will strike next round.
• Rounds 2, 4, 6 (Strike): the forecasted storm hits. See Storm Front below.

4. Cleanup

1. Return all Airships and the Hired Skiff to their owners.
2. Advance the Round marker.

Core Rules

Island Actions

Each dock holds one ship per round.

Salvage dock

• Cost: 1 Aether on an Outer Island, or 1 Aether + 1 Brass on a Deep Island.
• Effect:
  1. Take the top Relic from the Cache, place it face-up in front of you, and gain Renown equal to its printed value.
  2. Place 1 Claim here.
  3. Add 1 Crack to this island.
• If the Cache is empty, you can't Salvage here.

Moor dock

• Gain the resources printed on the island, then place 1 Claim here.

Harbor Actions

Spaces marked 4+ or 5 open only at that player count.

Trading

• Once per turn, before placing, the active player may propose one trade to one player.
• Trades may include any mix of resources and Relics.
• Each side must give at least one item, and the two sides can't be identical. For example, you can't swap 1 Aether for 1 Aether.
• If the trade is accepted, both players take 1 Handshake token.
• If you receive a traded Relic, you keep the card but gain no Renown for it; Renown was already scored when it was salvaged.
• Promises are allowed but not binding.

Cracks and Falling

When an island's last Crack slot fills, it Falls immediately:

1. Every player with at least 1 Claim there takes 1 Fall token.
2. Return all Claims on that island to their owners.
3. Discard its remaining Relics unseen.
4. Ships already docked there stay until Cleanup. Then flip the tile to its Void side; it has no actions for the rest of the game.

Edge cases:

• Cracks that would exceed an island's slots are ignored.
• If you run out of Claims, you may move one of your Claims from any standing island instead.

Note: a Deep Island holds 3 Relics and has 3 Crack slots, so whoever salvages its last Relic makes it Fall.

The Storm Front

When a storm strikes (Rounds 2, 4, 6):

1. Secret bid: each player hides any number of Ballast in a closed fist, including zero.
2. Reveal all bids at once. Every bid Ballast is spent either way.
3. If the total meets the Threshold for your player count, the storm disperses:
   • The highest contributor gains +3 Renown. Tied highest contributors each gain +3.
   • Every other player who contributed at least 1 Ballast gains +1 Renown.
4. If the total falls short, apply the card's Fail effect.

Storm deck (2 copies of each):

Guild Agendas (Hidden Roles)

Every player collects Fall tokens, Handshakes, and Relics, but only your Guild scores its item. Holding those items reveals nothing about you.

Victory Condition

The game ends after the Storm Phase of Round 6. It also ends at the end of any round in which 2 or fewer islands remain standing.

Final scoring, added to Renown already earned:

1. Island majority: on each standing island, the player with the most Claims gains the 1st value, and the runner-up gains the 2nd value.
   • Players tied for 1st each gain the 2nd value, and no 2nd place is awarded.
   • You need at least 1 Claim to place.
2. Accusations: each player secretly places one Accusation card face-down in front of one opponent, naming the Guild they suspect. Reveal all Agendas.
   • A correct accusation earns the accuser +3 Renown.
   • If no opponent correctly named your Guild, you gain +2 Renown for keeping your secret.
3. Guild Agenda: score your Guild's bonus.
4. Leftovers: +1 Renown for every 3 resources you hold, in any mix.

The most Renown wins. Ties go to the player with more Relics, then more Ballast.

10-Minute Teach Order

1. Goal (1 min): most Renown after 6 rounds. Salvage cracks islands, and too many Cracks make an island Fall.
2. Your turn (3 min): optionally trade, then place one ship. Walk through Salvage, Moor, and the Harbor spaces on the Player Aid.
3. Storms (2 min): forecast in odd rounds, strike in even rounds, secret Ballast bid.
4. Secret Guilds (2 min): everyone collects everything, but only your Guild scores its item. Bluff.
5. Scoring and catch-up (2 min): majority, accusations, the Skiff, and turn order running lowest Renown first.

Strategy Tips

• Visible Renown is misleading. Majority, Agenda, and Accusation points are all hidden until the end. A visibly trailing player may be winning, and a leader may be bluffing.
• Storms are negotiations. Before bidding, work out who benefits from failure. Openly refusing to contribute tells the table you might be a Syndicate member. Overpaying may mark you as Covenant.
• Watch the last Relic. On a Deep Island, the player who salvages the final Relic makes it Fall, wiping out everyone's Claims there. Plan your Claims around who is likely to take that shot.

Variants

Easy — "Calm Skies" (first game or younger players)

• Remove the Charter Office and the Weather Station.
• Reveal all three Storm cards at setup so players can plan ahead.
• Skip Accusations. Agendas stay hidden until the end.

Expert — "Twin Charters"

• At setup, deal each player 2 Agenda cards. At the end of Round 3, secretly discard one; you score only the one you keep.
• Storm Thresholds are hidden. The Forecast card is placed face-down, and only its name is announced. Reveal the Threshold after the bids.
• Accusations must name both a player and their Guild. Correct accusations earn +4.

Designer's Note

Balance decision: Every Agenda scores a component that everyone collects: Fall tokens, Handshakes, and Relic sets. That keeps the bluffing natural. If only Wreckers took Fall tokens, the hidden role would be exposed within one round. Here, everyone takes a Fall token when an island they're on collapses, so the only tells are behavioral: how you bid in storms, whether you brace islands, and who you trade with.

Playtest watch list:

• Syndicate dominance. If three or more islands Fall in most games, Wreckers may run away with it. First adjustment: reduce Fall tokens to +2 each, or raise Deep Islands to 4 Crack slots.
• Hired Skiff strength. A fourth action is powerful. I would track whether the Skiff holder routinely jumps from last to first. The fallback is to let that player choose either first position or the Skiff, not both.
• Storm thresholds. The target is roughly a 60/40 success rate. If storms almost always pass, the betrayal tension disappears. If they almost always fail, the board collapses too fast for the Covenant to compete.
• Handshake farming. If two Ledger players collude, the cap of 6 may be too high. Watch for trades whose only purpose is to generate Handshakes.