Playthings of the Past
In this Death Match, carefully summon and march your pieces across the board to your opponent's home row.
| Designer(s): Zero | Match Type: DM (for 2 players) |
| Featured in: Zero's Guardians | |
Deathmatch 9: Playthings of the Past
In this game you must summon and march pieces across the board to reach the final row of the board to score points.
Each player starts the game with a deck of 20 cards made up of 13 different pieces.
These will be played on an 8x8 board.
Each player’s closest row is known as their “Home Row”.
Each player’s second closest row is known as their “Line of Defence”.
Players alternate taking turns, with the DMO deciding who goes first and second.
The player who goes second will start with a bonus “blank” card in their hand called “Rally”.
This Rally card can be discarded during the second players first turn to help summon a piece.
Once played, this card is permanently removed from the game.
At the start of the game, players draw 5 cards from their deck.
Players are given the chance to shuffle and redraw any number of these cards.
We first play through a setup cycle. During the setup cycle players are unable to move their pieces, only summon them.
Once a player runs out of cards, their deck is reshuffled.
The setup cycle ends once the first players deck is shuffled.
Note this will mean the player who goes second will be able to move their pieces first.
At the end of your turn you will discard your hand and draw 5 new cards. This will allow you to plan during your opponent's turn.
Each player’s hand is public throughout the DeathMatch.
Each card has 5 pieces of information:
• The Name of the Card
• The Movement Pattern
• The Card Quantity (Quantity in Deck and Point Limiter)
• The Card Cost (Cost to Summon and Move Piece)
• The Card Worth (Points earnt when reaching opponents side of the board)
Turn Actions:
In order to summon a piece, you must discard a card with the name of the piece you wish to summon.
Afterwards you must discard additional cards equal to the piece’s Card Cost.
Cards must be summoned onto unoccupied spaces in your “Home Row” or “Line of Defence”.
You cannot summon a piece if it causes you to own more of that type of piece than its “Card Quantity”.
In order to move a card, you must either discard cards equal to the piece’s Card Cost, or a Card with a matching name.
You cannot move a piece more than once per turn.
You cannot move a piece that you summoned on the same turn.
You cannot move a piece onto a square that is currently occupied by a friendly piece.
(This means you cannot move a piece out of the way for another piece to take its place in the same turn.)
At the end of your turn, you will discard any cards the remain in your hand.
Players have 90 seconds to take their turn. Players have 3 periods of 90 seconds of reserve time.
If you have no reserve time remaining, your turn timer will extend by another 90 seconds and your opponent will be given 1 point.
Scoring Points:
You score points by getting your pieces to the opponent’s side of the board.
Once a piece reaches the opponents “Home Row”, you score points equal to the piece’s “Card Worth”.
Afterwards the piece is removed from the board.
You may alternatively choose to remove the piece once it reaches the “Line of Defence” to earn 1 point less.
This will only happen if you state as such during your turn, by default the piece will remain on the moved to square.
Each piece has a limit to how many points it can score.
Once the number of times a type of piece has scored equals the “The Card Quantity”, the “Card Worth” is reduced by 1 for all of your cards with the same name.
Win Condition:
At the start of the DeathMatch, each player will choose either 2, or 3 points.
This may be discussed publicly first but will be chosen privately and revealed afterwards.
Afterwards we will sum the number both players submitted. This will determine the victory points required to win.
The first player to reach this total victory points wins the DeathMatch.
If neither player has reached this after 150 turns (75 moves by each player), whoever has the most points wins.
If this is a tie, whoever had the more points most recently will be declared the winner.
When playing out the DeathMatch, submissions must be in a single message and posted in #dm9-game-room.
Please wait for the board to be posted before submitting. The turn timer will start from the board being posted.
If part of the submission is invalid, I will allow you to you to resubmit at the cost of 1 reserve period. Otherwise the invalid part of the submission will be ignored.
Pieces Types
The following key can be used to understand piece movement patterns:
There must be a chain of connected orthogonal squares that are unoccupied for a move to be valid.
(The Wizard & King can not move Diagonally if both adjacent squares are occupied.)
In the case where a movement square is not connected orthogonally (Bishop, Goliath for far corners) the restriction changes to diagonal connections needing to be empty.
(Dark turquoise should say "occupied" not "unoccupied")
Pawn
The lowest rank Chess piece, a reliable defender that struggles to maneuver around obstacles.
Can move up to 2 spaces forward if the spaces are unoccupied. Can capture pieces moving diagonally.
Knight
The only Chess piece with the ability to jump. Can get behind enemy lines but can only capture when moving backwards.
Bishop
This piece controls the Diagonals of the board and is able to move up to 2 spaces in each Diagonal Direction. Like the Knight, it may only capture moving backwards.
Rook
This piece controls the Horizontal with captures and the Vertical with range moving up to 2 spaces in each direction.
King
The King sent you out on this mission to save his Daughter and obtain a possible cure for the illness that plagues her.
Did he know more about this Journey you've had to endure than he let on?
This Piece can be summoned at the cost of 3, but can be moved freely in each subsequent turn.
Banner
Seemingly assigned somewhat randomly before your great task even truly begin.
Did the title you were assigned influence your actions or were you destined to play this role in the events that have and will unfold.
This piece slowly marches forward able to capture anything in its way. Slow steady but inevitable progress.
Captain
She watched as you hurriedly gathered supplies, you wonder if there was sadness behind her words as if she's seen this all play out before
This piece cannot advance forward on its own, instead it must capture enemy pieces that enter its range.
Goliath
A large brute living so close to the Kingdom, it inspired fear into those it encountered making them hesitate to leave the city they call home.
This piece has a large range of movement capable of both offence and defence.
Bandit
A fast and deadly group. After your encounter with them you begin to worry the kingdom may not be safe with all of you away with threats so close to its boarders.
This piece can dash a large distance forward, enabling it to quickly reach your opponents Home Row.
Wizard
With powerful magic at his disposal and alone in his tower, it is only a matter of time before madness changes him.
What cruel experiments or destruction would that person rain down on all who draw near.
This piece has large horizontal control to block movement. In the centre of the board it can be difficult to approach.
Jester
A mischievous creature with such strange illusion trickery, was this the seed of more infighting between your supposed allies?
This piece can swap location with an enemy piece in range, careful how it can advance both of your positions.
Ravine
Whether it was the Volcano Erupting or the ground shaking, you get the feeling the breach is spreading outward inviting more to disappear deep below.
This piece is free to summon, but can only move by capturing an enemy.
Guardian
The protectors of the Kingdom, so far from home. Will there be anything left to protect once this is all over?
This piece is expensive to move, but with its flexibility and range in both attacking and defending it would be foolish to not summon it at least once.
Final Match 1: Playthings of the Past
In this game you must summon and march pieces across the board to reach the final row of the board to score points.
Each player starts the game with a deck of 20 cards made up of 13 different pieces.
These will be played on an 8x8 board.
Each player’s closest row is known as their “Home Row”.
Each player’s second closest row is known as their “Line of Defence”.
Players alternate taking turns, with the player with the Starter item deciding who goes first and second.
The player who goes second will start with a bonus “blank” card in their hand called “Rally”.
This Rally card can be discarded during the second players first turn to help summon a piece.
Once played, this card is permanently removed from the game.
At the start of the game, players draw 5 cards from their deck.
Players are given the chance to shuffle and redraw any number of these cards.
We first play through a setup cycle. During the setup cycle players are unable to move their pieces, only summon them.
Once a player runs out of cards, their deck is reshuffled.
The setup cycle ends once the first players deck is shuffled.
Note this will mean the player who goes second will be able to move their pieces first.
At the end of your turn you will discard your hand and draw 5 new cards. This will allow you to plan during your opponent's turn.
Each player’s hand is public throughout the Match.
Each card has 5 pieces of information:
• The Name of the Card
• The Movement Pattern
• The Card Quantity (Quantity in Deck and Point Limiter)
• The Card Cost (Cost to Summon and Move Piece)
• The Card Worth (Points earnt when reaching opponents side of the board)
Turn Actions:
In order to summon a piece, you must discard a card with the name of the piece you wish to summon.
Afterwards you must discard additional cards equal to the piece’s Card Cost.
Cards must be summoned onto unoccupied spaces in your “Home Row” or “Line of Defence”.
You cannot summon a piece if it causes you to own more of that type of piece than its “Card Quantity”.
In order to move a card, you must either discard cards equal to the piece’s Card Cost, or a Card with a matching name.
You cannot move a piece more than once per turn.
You cannot move a piece that you summoned on the same turn.
You cannot move a piece onto a square that is currently occupied by a friendly piece.
(This means you cannot move a piece out of the way for another piece to take its place in the same turn.)
At the end of your turn, you will discard any cards the remain in your hand.
Players have 90 seconds to take their turn. Players have 5 periods of 90 seconds of reserve time.
If you have no reserve time remaining, your turn timer will extend by another 90 seconds and your opponent will be given 1 point.
Scoring Points:
You score points by getting your pieces to the opponent’s side of the board.
Once a piece reaches the opponents “Home Row”, you score points equal to the piece’s “Card Worth”.
Afterwards the piece is removed from the board.
You may alternatively choose to remove the piece once it reaches the “Line of Defence” to earn 1 point less.
This will only happen if you state as such during your turn, by default the piece will remain on the moved to square.
Each piece has a limit to how many points it can score.
Once the number of times a type of piece has scored equals the “The Card Quantity”, the “Card Worth” is reduced by 1 for all of your cards with the same name.
Win Condition:
The player with the Starter item will decide if we play 4,5,6 or 7 points.
The first player to reach this total victory points wins this Match.
If neither player has reached this after 150 turns (75 moves by each player), whoever has the most points wins.
If this is a tie, whoever had the more points most recently will be declared the winner.
When playing out the Match, submissions must be in a single message and posted in #fm1-game-room.
Please wait for the board to be posted before submitting. The turn timer will start from the board being posted.
If part of the submission is invalid, I will allow you to you to resubmit at the cost of 1 reserve period. Otherwise the invalid part of the submission will be ignored.
Pieces Types
The following key can be used to understand piece movement patterns:
Banner
Seemingly assigned somewhat randomly before your great task even truly begin.
Did the title you were assigned influence your actions or were you destined to play this role in the events that have and will unfold.
This piece slowly marches forward able to capture anything in its way. Slow steady but inevitable progress.
Captain
She watched as you hurriedly gathered supplies, you wonder if there was sadness behind her words as if she's seen this all play out before
This piece cannot advance forward on its own, instead it must capture enemy pieces that enter its range.
Goliath
A large brute living so close to the Kingdom, it inspired fear into those it encountered making them hesitate to leave the city they call home.
This piece has a large range of movement capable of both offence and defence.
Bandit
A fast and deadly group. After your encounter with them you begin to worry the kingdom may not be safe with all of you away with threats so close to its boarders.
This piece can dash a large distance forward, enabling it to quickly reach your opponents Home Row.
Wizard
With powerful magic at his disposal and alone in his tower, it is only a matter of time before madness changes him.
What cruel experiments or destruction would that person rain down on all who draw near.
This piece has large horizontal control to block movement. In the centre of the board it can be difficult to approach.
Note that in order to move right the immediate space to the right must be unoccupied (as there must be an orthogonal route)
Jester
A mischievous creature with such strange illusion trickery, was this the seed of more infighting between your supposed allies?
This piece can swap location with an enemy piece in range, careful how it can advance both of your positions.
Ravine
Whether it was the Volcano Erupting or the ground shaking, you get the feeling the breach is spreading outward inviting more to disappear deep below.
This piece is free to summon, but can only move by capturing an enemy.
Traveller
A long journey through unfamiliar lands, the traveller is far from home.
This piece is cheap to move and plentiful to summon, however it cannot capture if it is on your Home Row or Line of Defence.
WayGate
An ancient device that teleported you to the equally ancient ruins at the base of Mount Solone.
Moves Orthogonally, and can be captured by an opponent moving ontop of it.
However if you have 2 of them and move a friendly piece into it, it will appear out of its pair in the same direction.
If you move it ontop of a piece, that piece will teleport out of the same direction you approached.
If a move would cause a piece to land outside the board, the move is invalid.
Lava
When the volcano erupted lava flowed over the land, destroying everything it touched.
This piece occupies 2 squares. When 1 square is captured the other remains.
When only 1 square exists it cannot move, but instead you can spawn another in an adjacent unoccupied square.
To move when it is 2 squares long, you must destroy 1 square and place a new orthogonal to the one that remains.
When it scores, both pieces it occupies are removed.
SeeSaw
Deep in the dungeon surrounded by puzzle, the see saw test your ability to achieve perfect balance.
When players have the same amount of points, this piece has an increased range of movement.
Guardian
The protectors of the Kingdom, so far from home. Will there be anything left to protect once this is all over?
This piece is expensive to move, but with its flexibility and range in both attacking and defending it would be foolish to not summon it at least once.
Tree of Life
The source of all this conflict, with the promise to restore life.
This piece has a large range of movement. When an friendly piece is captured on a square orthogonal to the Tree of Life, that piece is resurrected replacing the Tree of Life.
Rally
===================================================================
Final Match Items
Trade:
You may activate this at the start of the game.
You may choose to swap out any 1 character card with another worth the same amount of points in your deck.
Rally your Community:
You may activate this at the start of any of your turns.
Immediately gain 1 Rally Card.
Until your score a point, after your deck is shuffled gain 1 Rally Card as long as you don't currently have one.
This card is kept in your hand and not shuffled back into your deck.
Starter + Play to ?:
You must activate this at the start of the game.
You can choose who goes first in the game.
You may choose your first hand of 5 cards.
You may choose how many points we play to, between 4 to 7 points.
Time Rewind (Global Item)
This can be used at the start of your turn.
Time will rewind to the beginning of your last turn.
Tags
Cards (The game involves cards of any kind.)
Chess-like (The game involves chess pieces in its design.)
Grid-based (The game involves play on a grid.)
Luck (The game involves an element of luck.)
Piece movement (The game involves pieces moving on a board.)
Piece placement (The game involves pieces being placed on a board.)
Piece removal (The game involves pieces being removed from the board.)
Points-based (The game involves players earning points.)
Strategy (The game tests the players' strategic & tactical abilities.)
Turn-based (The game involves players taking turns one after another.)