CHARGE!
Describe a game in your world that involves simulated combat - e.g. Chess, Risk, Tabletop RPGs, Gwent or similar.
The goal of Charge is relatively simple. one simply must get their 3 "movers" to the opponents side of the board before the opponent gets their "movers" to your side. However, like many such seemingly simple games, it is anything but.
Able to be played in taverns, around campfires, or even on village greens, Charge is much beloved across the world. No one knows quite who invented it, but the premise and basic rules are very easy to grasp.
First we will look at the game board. For the most basic version this is a 9x18 grid. That's it, that's all you need. Next the pieces, Any markers will do, stones, sticks, painted rocks, gem encrusted precious metals if you are gaudy. Six for each player, 3 "movers" and 3 "blockers." The blockers are usually played as 6 pieces, but are moved as a group of 3, a group of 2, and single blocker on its own. Last, you have the deck. This, again sticking with the basic version, is a deck of Charge cards, 45 is the standard, but as we will discuss later, Local variations exist the world over.
Moving on to the gameplay. Now as I said, the objective is quite simple. you try to get your 3 movers to the opposite side before your opponent does. What moves you can make are dictated by drawing a card. Each of the 45 main cards has between 1 and 4 actions on it (forward, backward, left, or right) as well as a number (1-3). The number determines how many moves you must make, and the actions determine in which directions you may move them. However, all your moves must be in the same direction. If you cannot legally complete any of the actions a card allows, you place the card on the bottom of the main deck, and pass your turn. After a player takes their action they place the card in the discard pile according to the direction they moved. A player may draw either from the face down main deck, or from one of the discard piles, but a face-up card cannot be placed back on the pile it came from,, and you cannot draw a face up card if you cannot legally complete it. Once the main deck is out of cards the discard piles are all reshuffled together and then play resumes. Blockers cannot move past the mid point on the board and may not occupy any spaces in the players starting zone after they have moved out of it. Blockers must stay on your half of the board. And no 2 pieces can occupy the same space. This is resolved as follows:
Local Variants As I said previously, there are almost as many local variants of Charge as there are locations. Variations come in many forms local boards, local decks, 3 and 4-player variants. In order to not turn this brief explanation into a comprehensive book i will only cover a few of my favorites here. Starting with the 3-player variant. This is unique in that the board is a Y-shape composed of triangles instead of squares. Instead of 3 movers you have 4 and must get 2 to the end of each of your opponents sections. The deck is also composed of triangular cards, since there are only 3 directions one can move. These, however, are marked with different colors also present on the individual space borders rather than directions. Up next there is the variant favored by pirates and thieves guilds the world over, although it is also played in Cloudtusk Port, where it originated some 700 years ago. Called Heist instead of Charge, you must not only make it to the other side of the board, but you must "claim" a treasure, and then your piece with the treasure must make it back to your side. The treasure is dropped in place and must be retrieved again. The 4 player Variant is played on a cross shaped board, 2 intersecting 9x27 lengths. In the melee version one of your three pieces must make it to the end zone of each opponent, in the team variant the goal is to get some combination your teams 6 movers into each opponents starting zone. There are of course other various versions, played by the dwarves, the elves, and the Fae, as well as many other races. Generals, spell casters, and politicians all claim that Charge offers some amount of insight into the mind of another. Of course, people say the same thing about beverage choice, sooooo...
First we will look at the game board. For the most basic version this is a 9x18 grid. That's it, that's all you need. Next the pieces, Any markers will do, stones, sticks, painted rocks, gem encrusted precious metals if you are gaudy. Six for each player, 3 "movers" and 3 "blockers." The blockers are usually played as 6 pieces, but are moved as a group of 3, a group of 2, and single blocker on its own. Last, you have the deck. This, again sticking with the basic version, is a deck of Charge cards, 45 is the standard, but as we will discuss later, Local variations exist the world over.
Moving on to the gameplay. Now as I said, the objective is quite simple. you try to get your 3 movers to the opposite side before your opponent does. What moves you can make are dictated by drawing a card. Each of the 45 main cards has between 1 and 4 actions on it (forward, backward, left, or right) as well as a number (1-3). The number determines how many moves you must make, and the actions determine in which directions you may move them. However, all your moves must be in the same direction. If you cannot legally complete any of the actions a card allows, you place the card on the bottom of the main deck, and pass your turn. After a player takes their action they place the card in the discard pile according to the direction they moved. A player may draw either from the face down main deck, or from one of the discard piles, but a face-up card cannot be placed back on the pile it came from,, and you cannot draw a face up card if you cannot legally complete it. Once the main deck is out of cards the discard piles are all reshuffled together and then play resumes. Blockers cannot move past the mid point on the board and may not occupy any spaces in the players starting zone after they have moved out of it. Blockers must stay on your half of the board. And no 2 pieces can occupy the same space. This is resolved as follows:
- Movers cannot move onto a blocker
- If 2 movers would occupy the same space, both "retreat" and are sent to their respective starting zones.
- A blocker may move onto an opponents mover, causing it to "retreat" and move backward 4 spaces.
Local Variants As I said previously, there are almost as many local variants of Charge as there are locations. Variations come in many forms local boards, local decks, 3 and 4-player variants. In order to not turn this brief explanation into a comprehensive book i will only cover a few of my favorites here. Starting with the 3-player variant. This is unique in that the board is a Y-shape composed of triangles instead of squares. Instead of 3 movers you have 4 and must get 2 to the end of each of your opponents sections. The deck is also composed of triangular cards, since there are only 3 directions one can move. These, however, are marked with different colors also present on the individual space borders rather than directions. Up next there is the variant favored by pirates and thieves guilds the world over, although it is also played in Cloudtusk Port, where it originated some 700 years ago. Called Heist instead of Charge, you must not only make it to the other side of the board, but you must "claim" a treasure, and then your piece with the treasure must make it back to your side. The treasure is dropped in place and must be retrieved again. The 4 player Variant is played on a cross shaped board, 2 intersecting 9x27 lengths. In the melee version one of your three pieces must make it to the end zone of each opponent, in the team variant the goal is to get some combination your teams 6 movers into each opponents starting zone. There are of course other various versions, played by the dwarves, the elves, and the Fae, as well as many other races. Generals, spell casters, and politicians all claim that Charge offers some amount of insight into the mind of another. Of course, people say the same thing about beverage choice, sooooo...
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