 October 30, 2015 - 4:21am | Name inspired by chess. Game idea is hazy but sort I was thinking something inspired by Othello with game play inspired by Pente if you know those board games. Board is traditionally wood with wood coins for playing pieces. Board design might be round, view of a tree when seen from above, which is how a gliding yazirian might have viewed it. It should be a simple gaming mechanic but strategic in nature and since its the yazirian Game of Warriors there should be the "killing" and removing from play of piece. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 30, 2015 - 4:25am | Earliest examples had clan symbols on playing pieces and the game may have evolved from a planning tool used by the clan and waarior chiefs to plot the attack on a rival clan. It quickly evolved into simply colored playing pieces. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 30, 2015 - 4:39am | I've thought about this and I don't think we need wholly new game mechanics for this. But simply design an "alien" game board with "alien" color schemes, and "alien" initial piece placement. And borrow real world game rules like checkers and Othello. There would have been Variants depending on clan affiliation and region thus the Clan War variant would be played with the rules to checkers. The Empire variant would be played with the rules to Othello. And the Zamira variant would be played with the rules to tic tac toe. Everyone pretty much knows how to play checkers and tic tac toe so you won't have a slow down of the action to run a Game of Warriors between a PC and an NPC. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 30, 2015 - 5:20am | Plot hook: a small but ancient clan posessed a game of Warriors artifact dating back millennia and it disappeared during the Star Exodus. Some have claimed that it must have been left behind on Yazira. The clan believes it was stollen but no evidence has ever turned up. A vrusk thief and member of the Zenk (vrusk mafia) stole some items from a Fo1 delegate to the council of worlds at Port Loren. This lead to an artifact being fenced and sold on the open market- a game piece that could just be from that missing game board. The game pieces for this board had the clan's symbol on one side and clan anglann symbol (Fo1) on the other side. A holopic of the artifact that got published during the recent auction of the item only shows one side of the game piece depicting clan anglann's symbol. If the other side could be inspected then it could be determined if this is from the stolen game board. Strangely Fo1 has made no public comment on this artifact which was bought at auction by a mega corp exec and now resides in his private collection. A PC can be a yazirian from the clan or the clan chief had a prior contact with the PCs and doesn't want any of the clan's Warriors going off half cocked and primed for battle rage thus he's hiring the PCs to investigate and recover the board and game pieces since its part of the clan's heritage. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 30, 2015 - 9:25am | In checkers and tic tac boards are grid with playing pieces placed in side square. In pente, which is less well known, board is grid with playing pieces placed at intersections of lines. For GoW I'll go with the pente mechanic. Checkers rules basically: jumping an adjacent enemy piece takes it out bracketing two adjacent enemy pieces between two of your piece means one killed and one captured (remose both pieces). If you bracket two enemy pieces and he has one of yours already captured then you can opt to free your piece by removing both pieces and replace your captured piece to one of the vacated spots. You cannot capture and free a captured piece at the same time its either or. Captured pieces are worth "points" word is from an ancient dialect and meant honor but has evolved to mean points or advantage. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 October 30, 2015 - 8:46pm | 3-D chess/Space Chess boards (chess/checker variants of stacked boards... Space Chess & the version of it I have is 3 levels, but in researching it the levels can be many more with some unusual pieces too)... A multi level board would allow for movement up and down the tree... I am familiar with Pente but not Othello. Sounds like a good game idea. Here is a 4 level board for 3 players but Pente could be totally addapted to multi level play http://www.dimensionalized.com/wp/3D/3d-games/3d-checkers-2-boards/3-d-checkers-the-next-generation/ Strato Chess (I gave this to hubby last xmas along with certain kind of chess pieces seen used by Spock in in TOS) http://www.unclesgames.com/product_info.php/products_id/9545 Space Checkers (also picked this up for him, for the Trek Game collection and to maybe make a Star Trek 3D Chess set down the road) http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Space_Checkers "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
 October 31, 2015 - 10:27pm | Just take Pente and take it 3D and it becomes very Yazirian. The complexity increases as well. Maybe drop the goal of 5 in a row and focus strictly on capturing pieces. I am puzzling on how to rationalize the Pente style capture though given that the capture is ment to represent two gliders surrounding another. I'd have to break out my Pente set and play a session of single captures to see if the game is challenging enough. Maybe the 3D rule could be that once you place a piece on a board edge then you can place your next piece on the next level up. This way captures of lower pieces could happen by just placing a piece above the opponents piece. Also the upper layers could be in a tree shape and the entire board symbolically representing a forest. This caters to the predominant forest dwelling Yazirians. Cliff dwellers would have a variation of the game that is a tilted pyramid shape (push all the upper layers to one side). This represents the power of controlling the cliff and the safety for lower layers of being far from the cliff edge. I'm smelling an FE article here with rules and game board construction. I'm traveling for the next three weeks and may have to play variations of this game to test ideas out. -iggy |
November 1, 2015 - 9:52am | One way to experiment cheaply is hit the dollar store for cheap chess/checker sets and the glass Pente style beads, ruler and markers, and scissors. You can lay them out on a table declaring how they stack, cut them up, add lines and so on. I will fiddle with this too as I have the 3 layered chess set & a dollar store near by and two Pente games at the house. I like the idea of different layouts based on cliff and tree cultures, the single board versions might come from clans that lack flaps from the polar or desert regions or be named after them? I think 5 in row if that is retained should be called a "The 5 Talons" this would tie into the Fo1's 5 Talons. The "2 Wings" or "the 2 Brothers by different Mothers" (the 2 flanking stones) could represent warriors that glide using a large net or using 2 zamiras to capture/kill other warriors or prey animals... perhaps a legend is involved: 2 famous warrior/hunters developed this form of fighting & hunting and captured 2 other famous and dangerous animals or warriors. Maybe it could tie into the myth of the First Clan in SFman 18 as the 2 hunters would hunt 2 lask together (2 stones are called "the lask"), so that would represent how not only the hunting packs became larger clans, but how too different looking groups of Yazarians (races) became one people, thus all Yazarians are one & by working together they achieve more... though the game predates the Fo1, the Fo1 would have capitalized on such a traditional game and focussed on using it as a teaching tool, and reworked traditional stories to their interpretations and preferred versions of the myths. Three stones in a row could be called "the 3 Brothers"representing Inti, Igni & Infi who represent the strength and honor of family unity and thus despite their weaknesses and differences can never be overcome as long as they are together. The single stone that can not be captured would be "Okor" the murderer who can not be killed, but stands alone. The four stones I don't know... The Star Trek chess we all saw on TOS show is a combination of the space checker game boards and really has exactly the same number of squares as 1 standard chess board. It does create a tree like structure. Pente is based on these Asian Games: Gomoku, Omok, Go Bang, 5 in a Row, Caro, Wu Zi Qi, Gomokunarabe, K'i pan, Goban, Renju, Ninuki-renju or Wu. The differences between the games seem to be board size and what is allowed or not allowed and all are variants of Gomoku. (Go means 5, same as Pente) In these games the Black traditionally moves first and has a huge advantage. Standard play means exactly 5 in a row are required for a win, not six or more that don't count (overlines). Free-Style: 5 or more stones in a row win. The Standard play would probably be the tradition preferred disciplined warrior clan, while Free-Style might be preferred by the non-warrior clans. Played on a 19 x 19 board. Caro uses the variant that the 5 stones must not be flanked/blocked on either end by the opponent. This creates a bigger challenge and gives white a better chance to defend. Omok uses a smaller board 15x15, but is same as standard play, and does not include a 4 & 4 rule. Renju uses 15 x 15 board, has 3 & 3, 4 & $ and overlines applied to Black only and with opening rules some of which follow the swap pattern. Ninuki-renju or Wu is the variant which adds capture and is basically what we call Pente. Irensei 19 x 19 board, requires 7 stones to win. A line of 7 that covers any point on the outer 2 lines of the board is not a win. Black can not make a line of 8 or more. Optional Rules: 3 & 3 bans a move that simultaneously forms two open rows of 3 stones (rows not blocked by an opponent's stone at either end). 4 & 4 bans a move that simultaneously forms two rows of four stones (open or not) After a 3 & 3 play has been made the opposing player may place 2 stones as their next turn. these stones must block an opponent's row of three. Rule of Swap "one person slices, the other chooses" One player places on the board x stones of the first-moving color and a lesser number y stones of the second-moving color ("slicing" in the pie metaphor); the other player is entitled to choose between a) playing from the starting position, in which case the selecting player is also entitled to choose which color to play, and b) placing z (usually [(x - y) + 1]) more stones on the board at locations of that player's choice ("reslicing" in the pie metaphor, with limitations created by the board's existing setup akin to limitations arising from the existing slices in the pie), in which case the former player is entitled to choose which color side to play. Links to more info: Pente: White moves first. Played on a 19 x 19 board. Pente can be played by 4 people with them playing in pairs. Capturing 5 pairs of stones or 5 in a row win. Tournament Rule first player's move is restricted, must be at least three intersections away from the center of the board, evens out white's advantage a bit. Chess & Checker Boards use an 8 x 8 squares which equals 9 x 9 lines... so something to consider if Chess/Checker/Draughts type boards are used as this might mean smaller number of stones in a row are needed to win or capture only is the only way to win. But if we did 5 in a row I would think on a 3D system with at least 5 layers or a mixed level thing we see like in TOS Trek Chess maybe different sized boards tiered? You can expand the 8 x 8 to a 17 x 17 by adding lines with a marker (of a color that will show on the light & dark squares). I looked up Othello or Reversi that use the 8 x 8 I see which means a standard chess/checker board would work... so instead of capture like in Pente the goal would be to turn your opponents disks into your clan by bounding them in and thus flipping their color to yours, till your clan dominates the board/tree. There could be a Chinese Checkers/Halma (actually a German Game, invented in 1892 called Stern-Halma, Halma uses a square board 16 x 16) version in that capture is not the goal but moving pieces from one zone to an opposite zone, so a race such as to move the clans up the tree, Yazarian King of the Hill? Or to capture each others branch first? Could include in some variants very few stones that are moved by rolling dice that number but certain areas of the board or branches of the tree that send player's back to start square or intersection. Variants could include where the pieces must start from, what levels, what side, how pieces are moved between levels depending on type of game... if hoping like in Chinese Checkers is done or even moving like in Chess in some versions or only certain squares or intersections could allow movement up or down the tree. Just random mussing on these sort of games... I will fiddle faddle with this too. Fun ideas Jedion & Iggy. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
November 1, 2015 - 1:34pm | I fiddled with the idea of Yazarian 3-D Checkers so here is what I got worked out: Use three standard chess or checker boards or Stratos Chess board, Space Chess or 3-D Chess boards each player has 9 colored game pieces. Pieces are set on opposite diagonal corners, they move like in Chinese checkers hoping each other, each player must work their pieces by jumping their own and their opponents pieces to the opposite corner (opponents start location/triangle). They may move their game pieces forwards, backwards and at angles as long as they are jumping another piece. (If 4 players play I suggest 7 pieces each player, to add space between squares). Top Of The Tree: All players start on the bottom level. When a player reaches the opponents opposite starting triangle they move a piece up as long as it is landing in the corresponding empty space above in that 9 square area (or 7 if 4 players). The players must then work to the opposite diagonal corner on that level to be able to move up again, repeat the process to get to the top level. The winner is the player that gets all his pieces up to the top board first. Roots: The game starts at the top level and works to the bottom following same rules for movement as Top of the Tree. Roots and Branches: 1/2 Opposing players start on Root (lowest level) 1/2 start on the top of the tree the goal is to get the top corner if you start on the bottom first or the bottom corner if you started on the top corner. How ever achieves the appropriate corner first wins. I fiddled with Pente style using the 9 x 9 intersecting and imagined 17 x 17 boards I think you need at least 4 layers to allow for capture to occur vertically and 5 if 5 in a row is to be a win condition. I did find as my Startos board squares are small making it not very practical for me to use the 17 x 17, another option that worked was a stone could be on any intersection of the 8 x 8 traditional chess board (including the edges) & in the middle of the square so that creates an alternating 9,8 pattern. I am wondering if I could stack 2 Stratos Games to create a 6 layers. I did note it is hard to play Pente just capturing pieces with 3 levels. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
November 1, 2015 - 7:05pm | I had already thought about tieing a yazirian legend to the game. However I would just pull Alex Stone out and have him write a new one. I am am a bit of an Alex mood and it takes a bit of a biblical / scriptural mood with it for me to write another legend. A new legend also gives me a chance to expand Yaizrian culture more. That is what I was thinking with the previous two legends. I like to build the culture and not rest too much on one thing. My mind is leaning heavily toward expressing some Yazirian cliff culture. -iggy |
November 1, 2015 - 7:16pm | Sounds awesome... if you got the vibe going and expanding on some cliff culture tie in would be cool. I have been thinking how different the cultures of old Yaziria might be based on their environments. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
November 2, 2015 - 2:47pm | Couple of thoughts: I'd like to see something simple enough to bing to the table and have a PC and NPC engage in. Not to complicated lest it be a delay of game to the table top RPG. So I think simple rule mechanic that everyone would recognize (checkers) or learn quick (pente). I'm Leary of a 3d board adding extra complication but I'm open to combining on that. Primitive yazirians would probably have represented trees and cliff in 2D carving a flat game board. Legends and fluff are good.I'd actually like to make a physical board for kicks and giggles but also have a printable one in FE. Perhaps pente where its simply 4 in a row or 4 sets of captures- this will prevent the game going long. Just need a unique style of board. What if the 3d version is a more modern adaption for more involved and challenging play? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 2, 2015 - 8:13pm | 3d version could be modern version not a problem. Are you thinking a different shaped board? Star, Triangle, rectangle, circle versus square? Or maybe areas that do something? Could checkers & pente be combined somehow? "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
November 3, 2015 - 3:57pm | Well, you guys have run with this which is cool. I was thinking something simple like a round board (tree seen from above) as it would be easily made out of wood. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 3, 2015 - 7:42pm | No that is good and logical... the round tree board. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
November 3, 2015 - 8:14pm | Yes, there should be a play at the table short version of the game. I like the round tree board as well. There could be a variety of these games from ancient Yazira. -iggy |
