Nerdiest way of playing chess ever!

[i6uuaq]

I'd like to find a copy of those rules....

[valadil]

Not quite the same as the comic, but try Knightmare Chess. It's like normal chess, but each player has a hand of cards that affect the game in weird and interesting ways.

[Dragero]

Ha! I would love to find rules for that!

[Killer Angel]

Thanks for posting it!

(And really? a cloack of poison protection? what a lucky knight..)

[Dienekes]

I'd totally play that.

[Dvil]

I feel obliged to mention Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Chess.

[Dogmantra]

I feel obliged to mention Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Chess.

And I feel obliged to mention chessboxing

[Quincunx]

Looks like a simple d6 system to me. Punt the question over to the d20 forum, they'll have the names of 'em within an hour.

[Icewalker]

Mousemate!

[PallElendro]

I wonder if the King has a Leadership ability.

[The Dark Fiddler]

I once considered putting my D&D players as pieces on a chess board. The only difference between a normal D&D battle was that only one person could act per side a turn, obviously.

It would have taken hours, likely, since normal 4 on 4 battles take as long for us.

I think the nerdiest way has to be Live Action Chess though.

[Swordgleam]

The best kind of chess is chess kombat, "a perfect blend of chess and mortal kombat." I didn't believe it when I first read the tagline, but it really is.

[Nameless Ghost]

This reminds me of the article in Dragon magazine (#358) that detailed monsters based upon chess pieces and a corresponding giant chessboard magic item.

[Moff Chumley]

This thread recieves the Tengu Chumley stamp of approval.

[Bouregard]

That sounds really great... Send all your pawns to be slaughtered, then ressurect them as undead with your necromancer king *g*

[Gamerlord]

I myself prefer munchkin-clix of cataan...

[Forever Curious]

Mousemate!

......yes!

[Eldan]

Chess golems?

[PhoeKun]

And I feel obliged to mention chessboxing

<3 chessboxing. That's something I'd love to try someday...

I'd also like to mention chesskers, the delightful combination of chess and checkers. The version I developed even uses a d6! =D

[Mordokai]

I'd also like to mention chesskers, the delightful combination of chess and checkers. The version I developed even uses a d6! =D

Color me intersted! I would like to hear more about that.

[PhoeKun]

Color me intersted! I would like to hear more about that.

Going from memory...

Spoiler

Show

Set up your checkers like you would for a normal game, and then place chess pieces in the appropriate spots that are left (so the first line goes checker, pawn, checker, pawn, etc). This will leave you with half as many pawns as a normal game of chess, as well as one rook, one bishop, one knight, and a king. Players do not begin with a queen.

The goal of the game is checkmate. Checkers move as checkers, and chess pieces move according to their normal rules. A checker may jump more than one piece, but cannot jump its own pieces to achieve this. If a checker reaches the opposite side of the board, it becomes a king checker.

King checkers are very powerful. They can move one space in any direction, like a king, and have the power to multi-jump and to jump their own pieces. However, when jumping pieces, the king checker must remain on the axis it started its movement on (so if it was moving horizontally/vertically, it can't make a diagonal move during the action).

If a pawn makes it to the opposite side of the board, roll a d6. The result determines what the pawn will become:

1 - Nothing. You may give up your next turn to roll again.
2 - Knight
3 - Bishop
4 - Rook
5 - Queen
6 - King Checker

A couple of months of playtesting went into this before the rules were finalized. It works really well. ^_^

[Mordokai]

Would be most interesting to try this someday

Now just to find a folks to try this. Which, sadly, is easier said than done. But thanks for sharing anyway.

[Astrella]

Oh, that reminds me of a four player variant my friends and I came up with some years ago.

4 sets of chess pieces needed.
Every player takes a corner of a regular chess board. Objective is to destroy all the opposing pieces.
Set up is queen right in the corner, two rooks next to the queen, knight between towers and a line of pawns around. So you get something like this:

qrp
rkp
ppp

(example is for the upper left corner.)

All pieces more their basic ways, except pawns can move like rooks, but only one square. They can only strike pieces horizontal though.

Whenever you strike a piece, you gain one point. Two points if it's a queen. These points you can use to buy new pieces: 1 point for a pawn, 2 points for a knight, 3 points for a rook and 4 points for a queen.

You can only buy a new piece after you've made your turn and the piece has to be placed on one of your nine starting squares.

[PhoeKun]

Would be most interesting to try this someday

Now just to find a folks to try this. Which, sadly, is easier said than done. But thanks for sharing anyway.

One of the more interesting scenarios I've seen come up is a player winding up with two bishops on the same color. Which sounds useless, but the things you can do with that setup is surprisingly robust.

Also, there's... I can't remember the name of it, but there's another amazing chess variant.

It's played 2-on-2, with you and your partner playing opposite colors on two different chessboards. Whenever you take one of your opponent's pieces, you hand it to your partner to place on his board. It is... frenetic.

[Astrella]

Hah, that reminds me, we had a lot of silly variants. Like turning the board around every so many turns, or having multiple boards and pieces being able to teleport between them.

[KuReshtin]

I feel obliged to mention Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Chess.

I would so want to play that. I'd lose horribly, but just having tried it would be awesome.

Looks like a simple d6 system to me. Punt the question over to the d20 forum, they'll have the names of 'em within an hour.

It does look as if they've got both a D6 and a D20 to roll, though. So the D20 for initiative and powers, and D6 for damage, maybe?

Also, there's... I can't remember the name of it, but there's another amazing chess variant.

It's played 2-on-2, with you and your partner playing opposite colors on two different chessboards. Whenever you take one of your opponent's pieces, you hand it to your partner to place on his board. It is... frenetic.

We used to play this years and years ago. It's very frantic as you know that if your partner is getting beat, your opponent will keep getting reinforcements, and you need to help your partner by trying to capture pieces to reinforce his board.
Again. that is pure awesome.

[golentan]

I'd like to tag Monster Chess, as a variant that really teaches you a lot about the game.

White has a full side, and is the normal player.

Black has 4 pawns and a king, and is the monster.

The monster may move twice each turn. As long as he does not end in check, the king may pass through threatened spaces.

Some of the above posts are awesome.

[Dogmantra]

It's played 2-on-2, with you and your partner playing opposite colors on two different chessboards. Whenever you take one of your opponent's pieces, you hand it to your partner to place on his board. It is... frenetic.

This combined with bullet chess is scary.

That is to say, 60 for all your moves in the entire game.

[afroakuma]

Well, let's extrapolate a bit:

Below rules are slapdash and arbitrary.

Spoiler

Show

Setup
• Each piece's hp is set to the maximum of its hit die.

• Each player chooses the spells that will be available to his or her bishops.

• Each player rolls once on their home row treasure table and gives that treasure to his or her Queen.

Turn Structure
• At the beginning of your turn, roll 1d10 and add that many gp to your total. You may spend gp only at the start of your turn. You may purchase MP for your bishops, recruit pawns, level your pieces or buy a home row treasure.

• You may then sell any treasures you possess for their listed sale price.

• On your turn, any piece you control can attack an enemy piece that it threatens, take a move action or use a special ability (Including magic items). After you have done any of these actions, the opposing player's turn begins.

Combat

• To attack, roll initiative against the opposing piece's initiative. If you win, your piece rolls damage. Should the damage be sufficient to kill the opposing piece, your piece moves to occupy its position. Otherwise, it remains in place.

• If you are the defender and win initiative, you may move your threatened piece to an unoccupied square that is not threatened by the attacking piece, provided such a move is legal and is no more than one turn's movement for your piece.

Leveling Units

• When leveling a unit, roll its hit die and add the result to its hp.

• A leveled unit normally increases its damage concurrent with its level.

• When you level a Bishop, you gain an additional empty rank with which you may add a new spell to your Bishops' spell list. You do not have to fill this rank immediately, but it may only be filled at the start of one of your turns. Your Bishops' MP maximum remains fixed.

Exploring

• On a non-combat move, you may roll a d20 at the end of your movement to search for treasures. On a roll of 20 (or 19-20 for a... let's say for a Rook) you discover a treasure and may roll on the treasure tables for that row. Treasure values increase the farther you are from your own home row.

• When moving backwards relative to your own home row, you may step into a trap. Unless your move brings you into one of your first two rows, you must roll a d20 at the end of your move. On a roll of 1, you spring a trap and must consult the trap table for that column. If also searching for treasure, the two rolls are merged (a roll of 20 finds treasure, a roll of 1 springs a trap).

• When moving defensively out of combat, you must check for traps. Use the above procedure. Defensive movement does not permit a search for treasure.

Unit Notes

Pawns (HD: d4; Attack: 1d4+Level; LevelUp: 10 gp) cannot gain the benefits of Treasures they carry, but can pass them to adjacent units at the start of your turn. If you have an unoccupied space on your home row, you may hire a new pawn for 10 gp.

• There is no limit to the number of passes you can make in a turn, but items that give a benefit to the holder at the start of your turn will only trigger once regardless of how many pieces they are passed to.

Knights (HD: d10; Attack: 1d8+Level; LevelUp: 25 gp) get a +1 bonus to Initiative rolls and can counterattack in combat. If your Knight is on defense and wins Initiative, you may elect to attack and receive a counterattack instead of moving defensively.

Bishops (HD: d6; Attack: 1d6+Level; LevelUp: 30 gp) can cast spells. At the beginning of the game, assign your bishops up to three levels of spells (spells that are Ranked can be allotted 1-3 levels at your choice). Each bishop has three Magic Points to use to cast their spells. MP can be replenished on your two home rows for 10 gp each.

Spoiler

Show

• Resurrection (3 levels, 3 MP) Return one of your slain pieces to the tile it occupied (if unoccupied and the piece died within the past turn) or to an unoccupied spot on your home row. Resurrection has unlimited range.

• Death (3 levels, 3 MP) Kill a single adjacent piece of your choice. Any piece other than a Pawn is entitled to a saving throw (you and the opponent each roll a d20; if you win the roll, the opposing piece dies).

• Banish (2 levels, 2 MP) Push a single enemy piece backwards along the same column as the Bishop. Spell has unlimited range but ends when the target collides with another piece.

• Polymorph (2 levels, 2 MP) Turn a single adjacent enemy piece into an enemy Pawn. Kings and Queens are immune to Polymorph.

• Bless (1 level, 1 MP) Gives a single allied unit +1 to damage, Initiative and saving rolls. Lasts until the end of the turn any such roll is made. Removed by Curse.

• Hex (1 level, 1 MP) Gives a single enemy unit -1 to damage, Initiative and saving rolls. Lasts until the end of the turn any such roll is made. Removed by Decurse.

• Heal (Ranked, 1 MP) Heals 1 hp per rank to a single allied piece. Range is equal to ranks.

• Zap (Ranked, 1 MP) Deals 1 damage per rank to a threatened enemy piece.

• Curse (Ranked, 1 MP) Stops the affected unit from moving. Unit can spend a turn to reduce its Curse by 1 rank, or curse can be lowered by allied Decurse spell.

• Decurse (Ranked, 1 MP) Reduces an active Curse by number of ranks, or removes a Hex.

Rooks (HD: d12; Attack: 2d4+Level; LevelUp: 40 gp) can remain in place after killing an enemy piece if they so choose, find treasures on a 19 or 20, and can be looted for one treasure by any piece that kills them.

Queens (HD: d12+2; Attack: 1d8+(Level*2); LevelUp: 100 gp) get a +2 bonus to damage and saving throws. Each side may have only one active Queen.

Kings (HD: 10 hp per level; Attack: 1d10; LevelUp: 250 gp)get a +4 bonus to saving throws and cannot deal damage to enemy Kings. Adjacent units get a +1 bonus to attack, Initiative and saving throws.

Special Rules
• If a pawn reaches the enemy home row (the eighth row on the board, counting up from your home row) you may promote it instantly. To do so, pay the price of leveling any other unit type (25 gp for a Knight, and so on.) Your Pawn becomes a level 1 piece of that type. You may only promote a Pawn into a Queen if you currently have no Queens. Pawns may not be promoted into Kings.

• The game ends when a King is killed by opposing pieces. Kings cannot move into areas threatened by an enemy piece, but can attack enemies that threaten them.

• Should the King die to a Trap, the game is drawn.

[Flickerdart]

You still need HP values. How about:
Pawn: 4 HP
Bishop: 6 HP
Knight: 10 HP
Rook: 12 HP
Queen: 16 HP
King: 20 HP