Seafarers of Catan Rules

To build a ship, you must expend one unit of Wool (for the sails) and one unit of Lumber (for the hull). Like roads, ships may only be placed at the boundary of two hexes. The difference is that at least one of the two hexes must be a water hex. Once built, a ship may be placed on any valid hex boundary that is either:

Adjacent to a settlement or city of the player, or
Adjacent to any ship of that player, with any amount of branching allowed.

Ships represent sea lanes. Ships may not be connected directly to roads and vice versa. You may only connect a road to a sea lane through a settlement or city. In other words, a settlement or city must exist at the intersection between the sea land and the road in order for them to be considered connected.

Once ships are placed, it is possible for them to be moved. If a shipping lane connects two settlements, it is considered "Closed" and the ships that comprise it may not be moved. Any other shipping lane is considered "Open" and the end ship may be moved to any location where a ship may be legally built. Only one ship may be moved per turn, and a ship may not be moved in the same turn it is built.

In all other respects, shipping lanes act as roads. If a shipping lane reaches a new land mass, settlements may be built there, subject to distance requirements.

Shipping lanes and roads may be combined for the "Longest Trade Route" bonus, but they must be connected, i.e. a settlement or city must exist at each intersection of a shipping lane and a road.

Some scenarios offer special victory points for certain activities, or for being the first to do something. These will be indicated on the map (if applicable). Specifics are found in the scenarios in question.

If a player plays the "Road Construction" development card, instead of taking two road segments, the player may take one road segment and one ship, or two ships.

Gold fields are a new type of terrain. As usual, when the number for the field is rolled, a player is entitled to resources. For each settlement, a player is entitled to one resource, and for each city, the player is entitled to two. There are no gold resource cards in the game, instead, the player may select any combination of the normal five resources to add up to the total number to which he is entitled.

During the inital settlement placement, if a player starts on the coast, he may place a ship adjacent to his settlement, rather than a road.

The Pirate functions in a similar way to the Robber, but instead functions at sea. When a 7 is rolled or a Soldier card is played, the player may choose to move the Pirate instead of the Robber. The Pirate may be moved to any sea hex. The moving player may steal one resource from any one player who has a ship adjacent to that sea hex. In addition, ships adjacent to the Pirate may not be moved, nor may new ships be built on or moved to such a hex side.

In a 5 or 6 player game, in order to prevent too many cards from building up in your hand before your turn arrives, if the current player spends resources to build something, then all players will have the option of also spending some resources. This special build turn takes place immediately after the current player finishes his builds, and before the next player makes his roll.