Hey guys. I wanted to run by an idea for a different game scenario. I was thinking the other day of how to counter a specific opening and I made the comment to myself that Mage Wars is a lot like chess. Trying to think 3 moves ahead of your opponent. Then I thought, why not try an actual Mage Wars chess scenario.
Here is what I have so far for rules and setup:
This would be played on a chessboard set up and not with the original Mage Wars zones. Each mage starts with creatures on the board that pertain to a different chess piece.
Pawns = Only Level 1 creatures
Rooks = Level 1 - 3 creatures
Knights = Level 1 - 4 creatures
Bishops = Level 1 - 3 creatures
Queen = Any Level
King = Your Mage
-You can have the same creature for multiple chess pieces, but you can't have the same creature for different types of chess pieces i.e. You could have 2 Knights be Iron Golems but you couldnt have 1 knight and a queen be an Iron Golem. You can also have different type of creatures as the same chess piece like you could have 3 bitterwood foxes and some bobcats for pawns.
-Mage health would not be changed
-The starting channeling would be 3 for all mages
-Both mages start with 10 mana
-In terms of movements and turns, the game would play exactly like chess. Pawns can only move 1 up (or 2 if they are moving up for the first time), Rooks can only move up, down, left and right etc. The turns would also be like chess. One mage moves a piece; then the other moves
Here is where it gets interesting. Instead of just simply taking your opponents piece; they would still fight in the zone. In terms of movement traits and attacking, I've broken it up like this:
-Fast: Can move and quick attack; if they finish their move in a zone unoccupied by an enemy creature, they can move one more zone in the legal direction from where they land. (Can't attack after the extra move)
-No movement traits: Can move and quick attack
-Slow: Can move OR attack
-Elusive: Normally, if a creature lands is in a zone with the enemy, they cannot move foward. The only moving the can do, if its a legal move, is go backwards i.e. a pawn couldnt go anywhere since they can never legaly move backwards but a rook can still move back. For elusive creatures, they still have to stop when they reach an y enemy occupied zone, but their next turn, they can still move foward. If this is confusing, let me know and I can clear it up.
Flying: Same as elusive unless they are in a zone with another flying creature. When they attack, they lose their flying ability for the next turn. This allows ground units to attack it the next turn. This may need to be tweaked a bit. Not sure if that will work or if flying will still break it.
-Moving a pawn or your mage doesn't cost any mana
-Everything else to move cost 3 mana
-Attacking does not cost any mana
-Guarding is considered a full action (might change)
-When defenses are used, unless they have the infinity symbol, that creature has to be activated again at least once before they can use the defense again.
-Only 2 friendly creatures can be in the same zone at a time
-Mage quickcast marker still works
-Things that would normally be activated in upkeep would be counted upon activation of targeted creature i.e. if there is a burn on your pawn, you would roll for damage/removal when you choose to use that pawn again.
-Mage can also bring:
>5 enchantments
>5 Incantations
>5 Equipment
>3 Conjurations
>5 Attack spells
>No creature spells
Decided that there can be two ways to win. Either kill the opposing mage outright, or manage to get 2 of your creatures in the same zone as only the mage. That would be considered checkmate I suppose.
Things Im still trying to figure out:
-Whether or not to give bonuses for mages using their own school creatures and whether or not to gives some sort of penalty for have a creature in the opposing school. I feel it would give incentive for mages to use their own class of creatures. The Forcemaster is wrench in this plan
-Status effects like burn, rot etc. I was thinking maybe after 3 activations with the creature would remove whatever status was on them.
-There are certain spells that might be detrimental to the game like Forcefield. With that one, I figured instead of the tokens coming back, you only get 3 tokens and once those are gone, forcefield is destroyed. There are a few others I know that need special ruling. I just need to root them out.
-Can't decide one whether a mage should be allowed to heal themselves or not. I don't think they should but I will leave that up to public opinion.
Thats what I have so far. Its a work in progress and I know I dont have all the pieces together yet but I think it could be something fun. Any suggestions would be welcomed.
