My problem with chess encounters is that they're usually very restrictive to the players. Forcing them into chess movement mechanics might not be something every player would enjoy. Here's my take in case anyone was looking for an alternative: Concept: An extremely large chess board is the battlefield. Looking at the state of things, it seems white has already lost. Much (but not all) of the rubble seems to be made from the white marble statues, and the white king is nowhere to be seen. The terrain constantly shifts as the players and the antagonist utilize the monolithic figures (as well as their own combat prowess) to win the day. -The chess board is built for pieces the size of large creatures (16x16, with each square being 2x2). This allows the players movement to function the same as it always does. -The antagonist wears an obsidian crown, and sits atop a tall throne which acts as the Black King. -The other black pieces are large statues controlled by the antagonist's crown. They will animate via lair actions and attempt to attack the players by moving into a space they occupy. -The board state looks to be a game which was in progress, rather than the traditional starting position. This allows you to create a more interesting encounter area. Use white pieces as blocking terrain, and rubble from already destroyed pieces as cover/difficult terrain. -The goal is to defeat the antagonist. Players can try to use the remaining white pieces to fight back, or rely on their own combat skills to defeat their opponent. Now the mechanics: White Pieces -On each white statue there is an enchanted gemstone. Each gemstone can be activated once per round as a standard action by an adjacent player (or a player riding the statue if they're adventurous). The statue moves according to it's represented chess piece, and may capture while doing so. White statues cannot move through spaces occupied by players (except the knight of course). -If the player removes a gemstone from a white statue, that statue immediately crumbles and becomes cover/difficult terrain. The gemstone continues to function, however it now moves the player instead of the statue. Moving in this way does not allow a player to capture a piece. -One of the existing rubble piles represents the defeated White King, and contains the Ivory Crown. Once per round the Ivory Crown allows the player possessing it to move any white statue as a standard action. Black Pieces -When a black piece moves into a player's space, it should either make an attack which deals half damage on a miss, or deal damage of which the players can save for half. You can vary the damage and accuracy based on the piece. -After attacking a player with a black statue, place the player in the nearest unoccupied space. -The players can combat the black statues with their usual attacks. A single player targeting a single statue should be able to destroy it in two rounds on average. This means the chess mechanics are encouraged, but not required. That should cover the basics, now on to some fine tuning suggestions: -The antagonist should still function as an enemy during the encounter. Attacking from their throne in addition to utilizing the pieces to attack the characters. They should also have some form of protection while occupying the king/throne. My initial thought is immunity from ranged attacks unless the King is in check. Resisting all ranged damage is probably the more reasonable option. -It should be noted that it is the crown which controls the pieces, not the King itself. If the King is taken too quickly, let the antagonist run around the board, maybe hop onto another piece. If the encounter is dragging, then have the crown break when the King is defeated. -Try not to activate the same black statue more than once per round, it feels unfair to the players when a single black piece can threaten and attack before they even get a chance to move out of the way. -When a piece is captured, feel free to drop some rubble in adjacent spaces. -Test run the encounter. See if you need to add more black pieces, or take away white pieces. Adding in mooks on the ground is an option if things are too easy. The antagonist specializing in forced movement or restraining people is always an option as well. -Players might try to climb on a black statue for safety, or look for an enchanted gemstone on a black statue which they can remove. Personally I say that sounds awesome, come up with some skill check ideas. Maybe as a lair action the statue can try to throw them off. Maybe an arcana check could allow them to rip out the gemstone and destroy the statue. If they do rip out the gemstone, maybe as a lair action the antagonist can forcibly move the player now. They sky is the limit, have fun with it. I think that's everything. This went way too long
I've had a few questions on handling movement, so this is how I did it - Bishops and Rooks could use full movement, Pawns and Knights move exactly as the chess piece. The King/Queen hybrid was limited to one square at a time, in any direction. But it also gets five melee attacks per round, so that seemed to work out fairly well.
I really like this! I'd use the Chesski Race from r/UnearthedArcana. I don'xdr remember who posted it, but I have the picture downloaded and so that is the only thing I would change. Great work though! I think I will be using this encounter in a side quest against a mini boss I have in mind
@@DungeonsandRoses I don't have a link but I searched Cheeski in google and looked at images and it is the 2.0 version. You can also look for r/UnearthedArcana Chesski v2.0 or look through u/a2a3a2a3 's posts and you should hopefully find it there
![[Live] : ONE 169 วันนี้!! "อนาโตลี vs อูมาร์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IK3YZVWuFJg/mqdefault.jpg)
![5D Diplomacy With Multiverse Time Travel [outdated, see comments]](/img/n.gif)
My problem with chess encounters is that they're usually very restrictive to the players. Forcing them into chess movement mechanics might not be something every player would enjoy.
Here's my take in case anyone was looking for an alternative:
Concept: An extremely large chess board is the battlefield. Looking at the state of things, it seems white has already lost. Much (but not all) of the rubble seems to be made from the white marble statues, and the white king is nowhere to be seen. The terrain constantly shifts as the players and the antagonist utilize the monolithic figures (as well as their own combat prowess) to win the day.
-The chess board is built for pieces the size of large creatures (16x16, with each square being 2x2). This allows the players movement to function the same as it always does.
-The antagonist wears an obsidian crown, and sits atop a tall throne which acts as the Black King.
-The other black pieces are large statues controlled by the antagonist's crown. They will animate via lair actions and attempt to attack the players by moving into a space they occupy.
-The board state looks to be a game which was in progress, rather than the traditional starting position. This allows you to create a more interesting encounter area. Use white pieces as blocking terrain, and rubble from already destroyed pieces as cover/difficult terrain.
-The goal is to defeat the antagonist. Players can try to use the remaining white pieces to fight back, or rely on their own combat skills to defeat their opponent.
Now the mechanics:
White Pieces
-On each white statue there is an enchanted gemstone. Each gemstone can be activated once per round as a standard action by an adjacent player (or a player riding the statue if they're adventurous). The statue moves according to it's represented chess piece, and may capture while doing so. White statues cannot move through spaces occupied by players (except the knight of course).
-If the player removes a gemstone from a white statue, that statue immediately crumbles and becomes cover/difficult terrain. The gemstone continues to function, however it now moves the player instead of the statue. Moving in this way does not allow a player to capture a piece.
-One of the existing rubble piles represents the defeated White King, and contains the Ivory Crown. Once per round the Ivory Crown allows the player possessing it to move any white statue as a standard action.
Black Pieces
-When a black piece moves into a player's space, it should either make an attack which deals half damage on a miss, or deal damage of which the players can save for half. You can vary the damage and accuracy based on the piece.
-After attacking a player with a black statue, place the player in the nearest unoccupied space.
-The players can combat the black statues with their usual attacks. A single player targeting a single statue should be able to destroy it in two rounds on average. This means the chess mechanics are encouraged, but not required.
That should cover the basics, now on to some fine tuning suggestions:
-The antagonist should still function as an enemy during the encounter. Attacking from their throne in addition to utilizing the pieces to attack the characters. They should also have some form of protection while occupying the king/throne. My initial thought is immunity from ranged attacks unless the King is in check. Resisting all ranged damage is probably the more reasonable option.
-It should be noted that it is the crown which controls the pieces, not the King itself. If the King is taken too quickly, let the antagonist run around the board, maybe hop onto another piece. If the encounter is dragging, then have the crown break when the King is defeated.
-Try not to activate the same black statue more than once per round, it feels unfair to the players when a single black piece can threaten and attack before they even get a chance to move out of the way.
-When a piece is captured, feel free to drop some rubble in adjacent spaces.
-Test run the encounter. See if you need to add more black pieces, or take away white pieces. Adding in mooks on the ground is an option if things are too easy. The antagonist specializing in forced movement or restraining people is always an option as well.
-Players might try to climb on a black statue for safety, or look for an enchanted gemstone on a black statue which they can remove. Personally I say that sounds awesome, come up with some skill check ideas. Maybe as a lair action the statue can try to throw them off. Maybe an arcana check could allow them to rip out the gemstone and destroy the statue. If they do rip out the gemstone, maybe as a lair action the antagonist can forcibly move the player now. They sky is the limit, have fun with it.
I think that's everything. This went way too long
I've had a few questions on handling movement, so this is how I did it - Bishops and Rooks could use full movement, Pawns and Knights move exactly as the chess piece. The King/Queen hybrid was limited to one square at a time, in any direction. But it also gets five melee attacks per round, so that seemed to work out fairly well.
I'm writing a Harry Potter campaign and I really wanted to include the giant chess game but had no clue how to approach it so thank you!
This is an amazingly designed encounter, well done! definitely going to have to try something similar in my group!
Please do! I'd love to hear how it goes.
this is so smart
Thanks! I'd love to know if you try it
@@DungeonsandRoses I've been trying to and totally planning on it, Pinterest straight up has actually living chess pieces but this is so much better
Maybe Candyland
I really like this! I'd use the Chesski Race from r/UnearthedArcana. I don'xdr remember who posted it, but I have the picture downloaded and so that is the only thing I would change. Great work though! I think I will be using this encounter in a side quest against a mini boss I have in mind
Thanks! I've googled for that but I can't find it, do you have a link you can share?
@@DungeonsandRoses I don't have a link but I searched Cheeski in google and looked at images and it is the 2.0 version. You can also look for r/UnearthedArcana Chesski v2.0 or look through u/a2a3a2a3 's posts and you should hopefully find it there