Main rules

Introduction

The game takes place in a universe in the distant future. Man has learned to cure all diseases, this means that no one ever dies. There is no reason to fight. Religion, race, and gender no longer exist. Every person can change their skin colour and gender every day if they wish. It is as easy as colouring your hair today. Even if you are killed, you will immediately be reincarnated as death no longer exists, life becomes boring.

The people of the future call themselves Dreamers, but there is nothing left for them to dream about. Everything has already been invented long ago and humanity has ceased to advance. To amuse themselves, they decided to create new races designed to fight each other. The kind of cruel entertainment for people of the future - Dreamers.

A kingdom was given to each of the newly created races, where they can live and prosper. There remains one unclaimed area of land in the middle of the kingdoms -Terra Sancta. This land is completely uninhabitable and covered in water. However, everyone wants to claim this land. They do not truly understand why they want to possess it. When the Dreamers created the new creatures, they encoded their DNA with instructions that make claiming this land the very reason for their existence.

In the game, each player plays for one of the races, the goal is to defeat all the other players on the battlefield. The game follows rules that are very similar to those of classic chess but are simpler and a complicated playing strategy is not required. Unlike in chess the figure under attack is not always immediately killed, but may only receive damage. The exception is when the die rolled matches the exact health value of the character it will die. Each race has its own unique feature, which adds variability when choosing which faction to play.

Playing the game

Deciding who starts the game

The game can be played by either 2 or 4 players. At the start of the game, each player rolls a d16. The player who rolls the highest number starts the game. If several players roll the same high number, then he or she must continue taking turns rolling the die until one player has rolled the highest number. The player who rolls the highest number then starts the game; the game continues clockwise.

During his or her turn, each player has two actions:

1. Move any of his or her figures and/or attack enemy figures.
2. Take the special action of his or her faction (NOTE: not all factions have a special action during their turn).

Figure movement

Each piece in the game has a chess counterpart and moves just like its corresponding chess piece. Each faction has its own set of rules, where the number of moves for each piece is written, but there are simple rules for remembering which piece corresponds to which piece in chess.

1. Pawn

   This is usually the smallest figure in the faction. There are 8 pawns, with a maximum health of 8. As in classic chess, figures can move one square to the side and attack only one square diagonally. Unlike in chess, figures can move in any direction (including backwards). These pieces are not exchanged for others (as in chess) if the figure reaches the edge of the playing field.

2. Rook

   This figure can have a tower in it, look like a tower, or simply have 6 elements (6 branches of a tree, 6 branches of a tower, etc.). As in classical chess, this piece can move and attack on any number of squares to the side, forward and backwards until it reaches the edge of the field or another piece. Unlike chess, in this game the rook does not have the ability to perform castling.

3. Knight

   This figure either has 4 legs or has a figure riding on top of another. As in chess, this piece can move and attack with the letter L, with the ability to jump over other pieces, including the figures from its own faction. See the special rules below for this type of figure.

4. Bishop

   Each faction has two such figures. Their appearance is not special, but by the method of exclusion it is possible to understand which pieces correspond to bishops in chess. They can walk and attack any distance diagonally until they reach the edge of the field or another piece.

5. Champion (Queen)

   This figure is always one per faction and does not have a crown. As in chess, it can move and attack in all 4 directions as well as diagonally until it reaches the edge of the field or another figure.

6. The king

   This is the only figure in the faction with a crown. It can move and attack on one cell in any direction.

Each faction has a separate guide with its own rules, explaining how each figure can move. In addition, each of the factions possess special abilities and starting positions. Please read each faction's rule guide before the start of play.

Attack

When a player is going to attack an opponent's figure with his or her piece, they must announce his or her intention out loud. In the case of a horse attack, he or she must also indicate in which direction his or her piece will attack. The player then rolls the die and the value rolled on the die represents the level of damage that is inflicted to the figure that has been attacked. The value that was rolled on the die is subtracted from the current health indicator of the enemy figure. This method of attack can cause a figure to be wounded, but not completely killed.

If an enemy piece is killed, the current player's piece takes its place. If the piece is only wounded, his or her piece is placed on any other free space on the path indicated by the player. Sometimes, depending on the placement of the pieces, the piece may remain in the same place it was before the attack.

There are 2 types of figures in the game - small and large. The small pieces are those that correspond to the pawns (each faction has 8 of them). All other figures are large. Small figures have a maximum attack of 8 and the player must roll a d8, large figures have a maximum attack of 16 in which case the player rolls a d16.

Knight attack

The piece corresponding to the knight in chess has some variability in its attack. A knight can move into the same cell in two different ways. The player must decide in which direction his or her piece will move to attack before rolling the d16. If the enemy piece has not been killed, the knight moves back along the chosen path one space at a time until it stops on any free space.

Consider the simple example of a horse of darkness figure attacking an enemy piece. A knight can attack in one of two ways: On the path chosen by the player, where there is a figure that the horse jumps over, if the enemy is only wounded and not killed, the figure is moved back to the first empty field on the path that was taken to attack the figure.

Preparing the game

The faction rule sheet explains where the figures must be placed at the beginning of the game. In general, they are always arranged in a square. The picture shows an example of how the figures of the Children of Darkness faction are placed.

If there are 4 players in the game, the pieces are placed on all four sides of the playing game board. If there are only 2 players in the game, the figures are placed opposite each other.

The first 2 rows of 4 cells are occupied by the smaller pieces corresponding to the pawns. The next row begins and ends with knights. Two bishops are placed in the middle. The last row begins and ends with a rook.

Then the situation depends on the chosen place. The king is always placed where the crown is drawn on the board. The champion is placed in the last remaining empty cell.

Special abilities

After the player makes a move and/or attacks with one of his or her figures, depending on the faction he or she chooses. The player then uses his or her faction's special ability. Some factions have permanent abilities that affect the mechanics of the player's actions, but most factions have additional actions.

For example, the special ability of the bots is that they can attack without approaching the enemy figures (ranged attack). This is an example of a permanent ability.

Thunderbirds have another ability. After taking their turn, the player rolls a d16 and, depending on the roll, inflicts damage to the chosen enemy figure with lightning. See the faction rules to calculate the amount of damage that the figure receives.

Please read carefully the rules of each of the factions that are currently playing, and understand special abilities that are listed.

The king of any faction cannot be subject to a faction's special ability under any circumstance. For example, bots cannot shoot (attack from a distance) at the king. Thunderbirds cannot strike the king with lightning, etc. The only way to kill the king is with another figure in a melee attack.

The goal of the game

Each player must do everything possible to kill the enemy kings. When the king of a faction is killed, all pieces of that faction are automatically removed from the board and the player who owned the faction loses. In this way, to avoid losing, the player must protect his or her kings with other pieces. The last player with a king left on the board wins. The game ends immediately and a winner is declared.

When only the kings remain

This is a very rare event, but is still possible. If there are multiple factions left in the game and all pieces of all factions have been killed except the kings, an additional special rule applies.

Each king is poisoned and loses 1-2 HP each turn. At the start of their turn, the player rolls a d8 or d16 die and reduces the life of his king, depending on what number has been rolled on the die. If the resulting value is odd, then the king loses 1 HP, if it is even, then the health of the king is reduced by 2. If after the dice roll the king is still alive, the player continues his or her turn.

Have fun playing!