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Matthew Steedman edited this page Feb 23, 2016 · 53 revisions

Overview of pieces and how they differ form traditional chess pieces

Each piece has the ability to move according to the rules of traditional chess, either by jumping to squares or sliding across them. Pieces may also be captured similarly to traditional chess by having the capturing piece move to the same square as the piece to be captured, with the exception of gun pieces, which capture from afar, and bomb pieces which also capture adjacent squares.

The following pieces are provided with movement notation, point value, and abilities.

Piece Cards


Piece Movement Type Value Misc
  • Bloodlust
1(1/1), 1(1/0) 5 a movement increments with each capture.
  • Absorber
n(1/1) 5 Absorbs the movement of whatever piece it captures.
  • Timekeeper
1(1/1) Rolls back clock after ply.
  • Giant
1(1/0) Occupies four squares.
  • Bomber
2(1/0)o, 2(1/1)o 5 Detonates a one square radius when captured, remove all pieces in the radius, friendly or otherwise.
  • Magnet
1(1/1) When a piece is moved to a specific square, their closest neighbours at the same rank and column (not diagonal) are repelled if they have the same charge (hence the same colour), and attracted if they have an opposite charge (hence have different colours). A king isn't repelled or attracted, doesn't repel or attract and has a blocking effect on the magnetic field lines
  • Cannon
1(1/0)o, 5(1/0)cf ranged 12
  • Ranger
3(1/1)o, 4(1/1)c ranged 6
  • Archer
2(1/1)o, 2(1/0)o 2(1/0)c ranged
  • Wall
0(0/0) invincible 5 Cannot be captured.
  • Teleporter
1(1/0), 1(1/1) May move to any open square, or swap places with any friendly piece, or enemy adjacent piece.
  • Spider
n(1/1) Any pieces within a one square radius of the spider are immobilized and cannot move or otherwise commit any action.
  • Bouncer
n(1/1) May bounce off the edges at 90 degree angles.
  • Killer
n(1/1)c, n(1/0)c 3
  • Zebra
1(2/3)
  • Nightrider
n(1/2) 9 Leaps like a knight any number of times in the same direction.
  • Warlord
2(1/1), 2(1/0) royal 8
  • Princess
2(1/1), 2(1/0)
  • Archbishop
1(1/2), 1(1/1)
  • Empress
1(1/2), n(1/0)
  • Berolina
o>1(1/1), oi>2(1/1), c>1(1/0) Inverse pawn.
  • Yawn
>1(1/1), <(1/0) 1 Moves forward diagonally one square, moves backwards one square.
  • Sergeant
oi>2(1/0), >1(1/0), >1(1/1) 1.5 Combines a Pawn an Berolina.
  • Wazir
1(1/0) A minister.
  • Dabbaba
1(2/0) A medieval siege engine.
  • Ferz
1(1/1) 1.5 A counsellor / Advisor.
  • Camel
1(1/3)
  • Alfil
1(2/2) An Elephant knight.
  • Amazon
n(1/1), n(1/0), 1(1/2) 12 Moves like a Queen and Knight.
  • Tripper
1(3/3)
  • Paladin
2(1/2)
  • Zombie
o>1(1/0), oi>2(1/0), c>1(1/1) ranged 2 Turns enemy pieces it captures into friendly Zombie pieces.
  • Shapeshifter
1(1/0)>, 1(1/1)> Transforms into whatever piece it captures
  • Squire
1(1/0) May move to squares already occupied by friendly piece.
  • Royal Knight
1(1/2), 1(1/1), 1(1/0)
  • Enlightened Bishop
n(1/1) Can move across the edges of the board like in asteroids.
  • Fortified Knight
1(1/2) May "defend" for one ply, preventing its capture.
  • Shadow Mage
??? hidden Creates a "fog of war" effect that hides surrounding pieces.
  • Shadow Knight
1(1/2) hidden 8 Is invisible to the opposing player unless one or more of their pieces can legally capture it.
  • Mine
0(0/0) Is invisible to opponent, when captured, detonates and destroys the capturing piece.
  • Decoy King
1(1/1), 1(1/0) Player wins when their Decoy King is captured.
  • Decoy King
0(0/0) Generates 0.1 per turn that can be used to add new pieces.
  • Archer Pawn
ranged
  • Merchant Pawn
ranged Battlecry: Draw a card.
  • Thief
`` When capturing, the player gains gold equal to the point value of the captured piece minus 1.
  • Caravan
`` Pieces can be drafted adjacent to the caravan.
  • Guilded
n(1/1), n(1/0) 3 Pay one gold per square moved.
  • Troll Princess
n(1/1), n(1/0) 2 When drafted, turn any adjacent piece into a frog.

Action Card


Card Type Value Misc
  • Demotion
5 Turns any piece into a pawn.
  • Foreign Aid
2 Gain 4 gold.
  • Foreign Aid 2
3 Gain 6 gold.
  • March
Move all pawns forward one square unless they are being blocked.
  • Mount
3 Choose a piece on the board to add 1(1/2) movement to.
  • Annoint
2 Transform any friendly piece into a king.
  • Spacetime rift
2 Swap a friendly piece with any non-royal enemy piece.
  • Refund
3 Trash a card from your hand and gain its equivalent in gold.
  • Steal
3 Steal two gold from your opponent.
  • Deflation
5 Reduce all the points in your hand by one.
  • Stallion
3 All friendly knights gain +1 step.
  • Perception
1 Draw 3 cards.
  • Aristocrat
1 Gain Gold equal to the amount of cards in hand (excluding this one).
  • Comeback
1 Gain gold and draw cards equal to the amount of pieces your opponent has more than you.
  • Religious Tax
1 Gain one gold for every Pious piece on the board.
  • Coffer Upgrade
1 Raise the max gold by 5.
  • Curch and State
1 Add 1(1/0) to all friendly Pious units on the board.

Spartan Chess

Piece Movement Type Value Misc
Lieutenant 1(1/1), 1(2/2) 3.5
Captain 1(1/0), 1(2/0) 3
Warlord 1(1/2), 1(1/1) 8 Similar to an Archbishop.
General n(1/0), 1(1/1) 7 Moves like a bishop / king compound.
Hoplite o>1(1/1), oi>1(2/2), c>1(1/0) 1 Similar to Sergeant.

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