basically my group has played through all the scenarios in the book and I was wondering if anyone knows of a place to get more map layouts?? is there like a sequel book or anything? i didn't have much luck online.
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2 Answers
There are no official "sequels" but there is some stuff you can find online.
CatanMaps.com is the largest library that I've found. They have about 50 Catan maps or scenarios (mostly for Seafarers), and they add to it regularly. The collection includes info on setting up official scenarios that didn't make it into the current handbook (Greater Catan, Enchanted Land, Desert Raiders, etc) as well as fun adaptations like Middle Earth, Westeros, World Map, etc.
EDIT: The site seems to have closed but the maps are saved on their Facebook page.
MenzGaming.com is another site with about a dozen Seafarers scenarios. I have only tried the Race to Cities of Gold one, but they all look fun.
There were slightly different sets of scenarios across the versions of Sefarers, but there has not been a scenario expansion book that I know of.
The scenarios included in the 2009 edition have a variable setup options, allow them to be replayed to some degree. Also, scenario 9: New World has players collaboratively set up a map.
The solution we use is to build our own. Here's how:
Start by picking a map size (how many of the frame tiles to use). Lay out water tiles within the map frame to make a number of islands. Pick some of these to be the islands that players can start on. Then pick a number of desert tiles and gold tiles to use. Put the gold tiles aside as these should only go on the islands players cannot start on. You can either put the desert tiles yourself, or shuffle them in to make it wackier. Then, deal out tiles to the starting islands, shuffle in the gold tiles, and finish dealing tiles to the non-starting islands. Deal out the number tokens, rearranging so no two reds are adjacent, and add harbors as you see fit. If you end up with not enough wood or sheep production on the starting islands, you may want to redo the map, as this will make the start of the game rather slow.
One special point is awarded to each player when they build their first settlement on an island that isn't one of the starting islands.
The number of points to win should be somewhere between 12 and 14, and should correlate with the number of non-desert land tiles you have in play. Basic Catan has 17 non-desert land tiles, and is 10 points to win, but there isn't the 1 point bonus for expanding to another island. If you are using all 27 non-desert land tiles included in seafarers and the base game, that should be to 14 points. 12 and 13 points should be somewhere in between (at about 20 tiles and 23 tiles respectively). That said, it is okay if this is approximate; it affects all players equally. The seafarers FAQ recommends the following different approach: "You can calculate the number of victory points according to the following formula: Number of terrain hexes (not counting deserts) divided by 2."
You should have about even numbers of each resource tile. If the number of tiles you want to use doesn't come out evenly, having extra pastures (sheep) and forests (wood) are most important due to these being what is used to make boats. After that, fields (wheat) and hills (brick) are the next ones that should be used to have extra.
As far as which number tokens to use, this depends on what pace you want the game to have. I prefer using all of the 6's and 8's and only ever one of the 2's and 12's, but this is really up to you.
Also of interest, a compilation of scenarios from numerous editions of Catan.
