Variant Chess

Chess is a multiversal constant. Everywhere there is an intelligent life form capable of crafting a chequered board of two alternating colours and a set of playing pieces, a variant of chess will sooner or later arise. Scholars might mark this phenomenon a case of convergent evolution, but it could as well be a mathematical inevitability, or a silly joke of some obscure godling.

 

This is one of the many variants of chess displayed in the Black and White Hall of the Magpie Museum in Tam Ruat.
 

  
This variant of chess is played on a board of 12x12 black and white squares:

C	P	X	k	c	Q	K	c	k	X	P	C
W	b	w	b	w	b	w	b	w	b	w	W
_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_	_
W	w	b	w	b	w	b	w	b	w	b	W
C	P	X	k	c	Q	K	c	k	X	P	C

Pieces

Pieces that "jump" can move over other pieces rather than being blocked by them. In normal chess, the only jumping piece is a knight, but there are several more in Tam Ruat variant.

Barbarian (b)
Barbarian moves one square diagonally forward to the right or left, but captures by advancing one square; like an inverted pawn. Similarly to a pawn, a barbarian cannot move backwards, can move two squares on its first move, can capture en passant, and can be promoted if it reaches the opposite side of the board.

Chariot (C)
Chariot is the same as a rook in normal chess.

Cleric (c)
Cleric is the same as a bishop in normal chess.

Ghost (g)
Ghost does not start on the board, but instead can be summoned whenever a warlock (see below) captures a piece. The ghost then appears on the square of the captured piece. Each player has two ghost pieces, but if a ghost is captured, it can be re-summoned again.

Ghost moves similarly to a grasshopper, so it can jump any distance orthogonally or diagonally, but only over another piece, landing in the square immediately after that piece. It may jump over pieces of either colour, but only captures if the square beyond the jumped-over piece is occupied by a piece of the opposing colour. Ghost cannot move if there is no piece to jump over.

King (K)
King is the same as in normal chess. Additionally, a king who reaches the opposite side of the board is promoted to an emperor, who moves similarly to a queen except it still cannot check.

Knight (k)
Knight is the same as in normal chess.

Paladin (P)
Paladin moves as a combination of wazir and alfil. Thus, it either moves one square orthogonally, or jumps two squares diagonally.

Queen (Q)
Queen is the same as in normal chess.

Warrior (w)
Warrior is the same as a pawn in normal chess.

Warlock (W)
Similarly to a king, warlock can move one square in any direction. However, unlike all other pieces, it captures by jumping over an adjacent enemy piece in any direction. If the player has a spare ghost piece, it is summoned on the square of the captured piece. A warlock cannot land on an occupied square, even if it's occupied by an enemy piece.

Wizard (X)
Wizard can use the moves of ferz, camel and dabbaba. It can jump either one square diagonally, or two squares orthogonally, or in an elongated knight's move - one, then three squares (aka "1-3 leaper" move). It is, however, colour-locked.
 

Knight by Stephen-0akley

 

Rules

All rules of normal chess apply, excepting the few changes below.

Castling does not exist, as the bigger board would make it harder to execute yet very powerful for moving the king to safety.

Promotion of barbarians and warriors can only be done into pieces that their player has lost - ie. when promoting, you select one of your captured pieces to resurrect in place of the barbarian or warrior, not any piece you would like. This prevents the player from getting several queens, but thanks to the number of new pieces with unique move sets also brings some nice tactical decisions.

The player that bares the opponent's king wins without the need for a checkmate. Given the existence of the emperor piece, too many games could end with tedious chasing after the highly mobile emperor.

Giantslayer

Giantslayer is a board game popular in Haloglan and Hardakan. Its origins, according to a legend, lie in the ancient war between frost giants and the first settlers who came to the lands around Deron (the capital of Haloglan). Many epic ballads are sung about the heroic fights of halogai warriors against the mighty giants, and Giantslayer players can be found in nearly every tavern.
 

From here.

  

The Rules

The game is for two players, each of whom controls one colour of stones. White stones represent the halogai - numerous and swift, but unable to bring down a giant without help from their peers; black stones the giants - horrifically powerful in attack, but scant and slow. The game is played on a hexagonal board, white stones starting on the outer edge, while black stones start surrounding the middle hex. The middle hex cannot be passed by any stone.

Initial setup: 24 white stones and 6 black stones.

  

The game represents an ambush set by halogai, the giants surrounded and outnumbered, yet still extremely dangerous. White player starts, then players alternate turns. Every turn, the player moves one of their stones. Making a move is required; it is not legal to skip a move, even when having to move is detrimental.

The game can end in two ways. Either when all black stones are captured (the giants were all killed), or when all black stones currently in play are on one of the edge hexes of the board (some of the giants escaped). The white player gets a point for each captured black stone, while the black player gets a points for each "escaped" black stone. The game is normally played in several rounds, the player switching sides after each round and keeping a running tally of points.

Examples of basic moves for the two colours.
These could be the first three turns taken by the players.

 

Each player moves and captures in a different way.

White stones can move any number of vacant hexes in a row, in any direction. They capture by flanking a black stone - at the start of the white player's turn, if any black stone has two or more white stones adjacent to it, the black stone is automatically captured before the white player proceeds with her turn.

Note that if the white player flanks a black stone, the black player can still manage to move her stone away from the endangered position on her turn. Only if she cannot do that and the stone is still flanked at the start of the white player's turn will the stone be captured.

Black stones can move only a single hex in any direction onto a vacant hex. They capture by trampling a white stone - the black player can "jump" her stone over any adjacent white stone onto a vacant hex, capturing the white stone. If capturing a white stone brings the black stone to a position where it could capture another white stone, it may do so and continue capturing until there are no more valid trampling moves to do. Only then will the black player's turn end.

Note that the black player is not required to trample when the opportunity arises and she can stop trampling even when more trampling moves would be possible.

Examples of capturing: Two white stones are flanking
a black stone and will automatically capture it,
then the white player will move. The black stone can move
to trample a white stone, but there are no additional
trampling targets, so his turn will end there. However,
because the trampling would end with the black stone
adjacent to three white stones, the black stone would be
immediately captured at the start of the white player's turn.

Thus the basic goal for the white player is to outflank the black player without allowing her to move her stones into trampling positions, or allowing her to get all the black stones on the edge of the board.

Note that the game only ends when all the remaining black stones are on the edge of the board at the same time, so it's not a problem if only one or so gets there. It's actually rather easy to flank them when their moves are limited by the edge of the board.

The black player must prevent being adjacent to multiple white stones and find a way to capture multiple white stones in one trampling, to level the playing field where the white player has massively superior numbers. She should then take advantage of any opening on the edge of the board and try to get all her stones safely to these openings, escaping.

An example of a game that ended with the black stones
escaping; both players gained three points. The uppermost
black stone is in a position where it would be captured, but as
its move resulted in all black stones being on the edge of
the board, the game ended immediately, before it could
be captured.

Discussion

This game was inspired by idle thoughts about how most classic board games have the players on equal footing, with the same amount of stones/pieces, the same rules and strategies, and the same goal. However, could there be a game where the sides are very much unequal, without loosing game balance?

This is my attempt at such a game. Each side has a different goal and must use very different strategies to achieve it. And because each side even moves and captures differently, they feel very unlike the other in play.

From the get-go, the white player seems to have a massive advantage. They have four times the number of stones than the black player, they can move any number of hexes and they get to start. However, flanking the black stones can be rather tricky, as hexes allow for very easy chained tramplings if you're not careful. When playing with my friends, some variation on a fork proved quite successful in preventing the black player from escaping unscathed.

Mainly, the white player cannot worry about loosing a few stones, they start with so many partly because they cannot beat the black player without sacrifices and baiting some rash trampling. They should also remember that they can move over the whole board, so using the white stones nearest to the place where you're trying to flank a black stone is often suboptimal.

While it may seem that the black player must loose very quickly, their form of capturing makes them very powerful. Jumping over enemy stones on a hex board is very flexible and allows one to get out of many situations where you'd be otherwise flanked, plus if the white player places their stones carelessly, you can continue jumping and massacre their army.

On the other hand, the goal of escaping the board is quite hard unless you build your strategy around it, cleaning a space on the edge of the board from the white stones that block it, then getting all your stones on the edge quickly before the white player (who can move much further than you can) can react.

I haven't yet managed to escape with all six black stones, but I did escape with four stones several times.

You should also always play at least two rounds of this game, as it is at least in part about the necessity of very different strategies for each colour of stones, and the players should prove they can use either stones effectively.

Finally, here is a (admittedly not very good) hex board for Giantslayer that we used, if you would be interested. The second board is for Tides of War.

Tides of War

Tides of War is a board game originally coming from the Utabi region, or specifically the countries of K'lach and Jarjuna. In its current design, it's only about a hundred years old, though with roots much older than that. Tides of War is actually the name it is known under outside of Utabi. In K'lach, it is called Valley of Varya, while the jarjuna call it Varian Massacre. You can probably guess who won the battle this game emulates.

Varya is a border river between K'lach and Jarjuna, running through a shallow valley northwards to the Inner Sea. The valley is overlooked by two small trade towns who both claimed the right of exclusive use of the river trade route. Considering the difficulty of using the alternate overland trade route through the dunes of the great red desert, plus the political instability of the given time and place, an armed conflict was inevitable. The battle was quick, bloody and completely in vain.

While historians argue about the actual aggressor and reasons for the ensuing war, the truth is that disagreement between two tiny border towns was as good an excuse as any, the battle was insignificant in the long run, and all of this is remembered mostly because of the board game the incident inspired.

Red desert of Utabi

The Rules

The game is played on a six by six square board, with two players seated diagonally opposite. Each player controls one colour of stones. White stones represent the jarjunian military, while black stones represent the mercenary army of emperor H'ruth of K'lach. White moves first, then players alternate moves. Making a move is required; it is not legal to skip a move, even when having to move is detrimental.

Initial setup: 14 stones on both sides.
Also note the two towns in corners and
the river (vacant squares in diagonal).

The corner square closest to each player is special. It is called the town and the game ends when an enemy stone manages to enter the town, thus conquering it. The other way to end the game is to capture all enemy stones, also called a massacre.

The player cannot move her own stones into her town, only enemy stones can enter it. Thus it is imperative to prevent enemy stones from breaking through or bypassing allied stones.

Example of moves: Blue is a basic move.
Red is a way in which white can capture two
black stones and win the game in one turn.

All stones can move one square horizontally, vertically, or diagonally onto a vacant square. Capturing is done by jumping over an adjacent enemy stone onto a vacant square. If capturing an enemy stone brings the allied stone to a position where it could capture another enemy stone, it may do so and continue capturing until there are no more valid jumps to do.

Black conquered the white town.

FAQ 

Why the smaller board and not a normal chess board?
Because chess board is bigger. If you filled it with playing stones in the same vein as above, each player would have 27 stones instead of 14. That would make the game slower, longer and (IMHO) less fun.

Hey, I cannot move without giving the other player a chance to jump me! That's stupid!
No, that's the point. There are way too many stones on a small board and you are expected to sacrifice some of your stones to achieve victory. You have more than enough stones to win the game. Don't be shy to loose some. Do you need some more space to manoeuvre? Sacrifice a stone! This is a game about a massacre, after all.

Goading your opponent to jump some of your stones can actually be quite useful. Be clever and make him jump where you want him to be. Just be careful not to let him jump more of your stones than you'd like.

My stones were arranged in such a way that the other player jumped six of them in one turn and won! What to do?
That's OK, this game is supposed to be quick and easy to loose if you overlook something. Play two out of three, or first to get five victories.

Do I have to capture when I have the opportunity?
No, and neither you have to continue capturing multiple times if there is the opportunity. Deciding when, if and how many stones to capture is part of the strategy for this game.

And how should I use this in a RPG?
The players can win or loose some gp in a tavern. Maybe a grumpy old man will only answer your questions if you beat him in a game. Some nobles like to discuss important matters over a game and a glass of wine, because simply speaking is too uncivilised. Or you can just play it for fun.

Any other questions? Ask and ye shall receive answers!