DarkSirenSally/Gateway

Dark Siren's Gateway Rules

Modified from Michael Sullivan's Gateway rules -- the Simple version, that is. I MAY (big fat MAYBE!) write a more complex version like he's done, later. Anyway, most of the credit for this should go to him!

Summary

Gateway (a popular board game in the Realm that most, if not all Dynasts are taught from a young age to develop complex thinking skills) is generally divided into three stages: Early Game, Middle Game and End Game. The game is similar to chess, but with multiple tiers of boards, and pieces resembling animals from the Realm and beyond.

Depending on the animal it represents, each piece has a different movement rate per turn, including how far it may jump to higher tiers, or how far it may move on a single board, as well as the direction of these movements. It isn't so important to know the *exact* way the pieces move (as this will be roleplayed in stages, not detailing *every single move*) but keep in mind that winged units can move up and down tiers faster, animals quicker on their feet can move farther along the horizontal, and so on.

I've described a bunch of detail for the tiers and pieces, below. This is purely for roleplaying purposes, particularly stuntage material if you want to squeeze in some extra dice! But if you just want the pure mechanics, skip straight over to the Gameplay section.

The Tiers

The number of tiers depends on the board, but usually there are at least three. The highest tier is the Sky, the second highest Mountains, the third Plains. Another variation involves five tiers: Sky, Mountains, Hills, Plains, Water. There are multiple boards on each tier, and they are generally arranged conically or pyrimidically, so that Sky has the fewest (usually one) boards.

At the beginning of the game each player chooses their starting board at the Plains level, which is thereafter known as their Territory. Each player begins by arranging their pieces at the far end of their Territory.

The Pieces

Two pieces are of utmost importance: the Dragon, which is the equivelant of a King in chess (can move all directions but only one square/tier per turn), and the Phoenix equivelant to the Queen (can move as far as possible in one direction in a turn, including up and down tiers). These two are unique in their movement rates; the other pieces are more limited in direction and distance.

All players begin the same array of pieces: one Dragon, one Phoenix and two each of the pieces described below (for a total of 20 pieces).

Ground units

• Great Cat - Very fast movement on all Ground types (Mountains, Hills, Plains). Slow movement in Water. Variant representations include panthers, lions, leopards, jaguars and cheetahs.
• War Dog - Fast movement on Plains, Hills, slower on Mountains, slow movement in Water. Variant representations include wolves, jackals and foxes.
• Horse - Fast movement on Plains, slower on Hills, Mountains. Very slow movement in Water. Horse may become a Unicorn if it can move all the way to the board furthest from its starting point without being captured. Unicorn is considered a Winged unit, with movement rate similar to that of a Phoenix.
• Mammoth - Slow movement all around, but has a charge attack that can barrel across a single board in a linear direction. All units in the path of the charge are captured (it is the only unit that may potentially capture more than one at once).

Water units

• Sea Serpent - Fast movement on Water, slower on ground. Variant representations include River Dragons, Giant Frogs and other amphibious creatures.
• Siaka - Many-toothed, shark-like aquatic creature with very fast movement on Water. Unfortunately, it cannot move on land.
• Squid - Slower Water movement, very slow on ground, but more easily surrounds enemies (tentacles!) Squid may become a Kraken if it can move all the way to the board furthest from its starting point without being captured. This is a *very* difficult thing to accomplish; most do not attempt it unless they are very skilled at the game, and even so, may be scoffed at for trying. The Kraken still keeps its slow movement rate, but may attack in any linear direction from a distance, even across tiers, without moving.

Winged units

• Gryphon - Winged unit with a slow climb but very fast dive. Moderately fast horizontal movement, even on Ground tiers.
• Raven - A more mobile unit in the air, climbs and dives with equal finesse, though not as fast as the Phoenix (by far). Slower on Ground than the Gryphon. This piece's name and shape also comes from the fact they are often used to pick off stragglers on the boards. Variant representations are hawks, falcons, and other hunting birds.

Keep in mind that only Winged units may access the Sky tier, and both Dragon and Phoenix also count as Winged.

Gameplay

Gateway can be played with two to five players. Michael Sullivan's version was written with two players in mind, which pushed me to write my own version inspired by his rules. For each roll given below, Gateway specialties to the relevant Abilities apply!

As mentioned previously, there are three main stages of Gateway:

• The Early Game is less about making captures and more about solidifying one's position on the boards, setting up to guard key pieces and developing an attack strategy. Several named strategies exist for this portion of the game, which those well-versed in Lore may know of. (You can be creative with these names -- make them up, even!) To represent this part of the game, each player rolls Intelligence + Lore. The number of successes each player achieves is carried over to the next stage of the game as bonus dice.
• The Middle Game is much less predictable than the Early Game, as players bluff and lure one another to make unwise moves, leading to an escalating number of captures. This is the stage where the players can be most creative. The default is Intelligence + Lore + bonus dice from previous stage, but one can technically stunt to produce ANY combination of Mental or Social Attribute + non-combat Ability + bonus dice from previous stage, with the ST's discretion. Once again, the number of successes each player achieves in this stage is carried over to the next stage as bonus dice.
• The End Game returns to a more predictable sort of play, as there are few pieces left on the board and thus less opportunity to confuse, distract or bluff. The final roll to decide the winner is Intelligence + Lore + bonus dice from previous stage. Whoever has the most successes wins. If there is a tie for first place, compare the Intelligence + Lore (+ specialty if applicable) scores of the two contenders; the one with the higher score wins. If they are equal, the game remains at a draw.

To win the game in roleplay terms, one must be the last player left on the boards with a Dragon still uncaptured. This may be achieved by capturing the other players' Dragons, sure, but one may also bide their time and let the others fight it out until you are forced to face the victor. On the contrary, one may also (in the first two stages of the game *only*) ally with other players temporarily. Mechanically, this means that all allied players may add the highest number of successes achieved among them to the next stage of play.

Losing before the end game only happens on a botch. This means that someone has managed to snatch away your Dragon early on, and you are out of the game! All of the losing player's remaining pieces are thereafter removed from the boards, and the game continues if there is more than one player left.

Variants

For now, I'm assuming that these alternate versions will be run with the same dice rules, but with different roleplaying flavor depending on the variant.

Hunting Cat is a shorter version of classic Gateway, played with fewer pieces. All players have a Dragon and a Phoenix as usual, but may choose only 6 pieces out of the other 18 (see above) to put into play. This makes for a more agressive game but also allows one to streamline their strategy, choosing specific pieces to suit their style of play. Of course, no player can choose more than two of the same type of piece when choosing their six.

Guardian Gate involves defending one's own Territory (starting position) from invasion. To win one must manage to claim all of the boards for their own -- this means by clearing each board of enemies, and ensuring that no others enter them. Losing your starting Territory to the enemy means you lose the game.