ZODIAKAL | A Haeseni Boardgame

[Toffee 2843]

 

 

A GAME OF THE HAESENI ZODIAC

 

 

CREATED BY

 

ERIKA KORTREVICH

 

557 E.S. 

 

⌯──────────────────────◃⟐▹──────────────────────⌯

 

 

IN 489 E.S., THE COURT ASTRONOMER revealed the reformation of the Haeseni Zodiac, heralded by the Great Migration to our continent of Aevos.¹ While examining the night sky during her studies, Erika’s mind wandered, recalling her girlhood when she played Haeseni chess against her sister Primrose. The game infuriated her, and Erika stormed off when her sister sent one of her pieces back to her starting square when it was so very close to entering the home row.

 

She sought to make a new game, just as fiercely competitive as Haeseni chess but with more elements of strategy and choice rather than pure chance. Sequestering herself in the Royal Archives, Erika soon devised a game based on the celebrated constellations of the Haeseni Zodiac and their relationships with one another and the mortal plane: Zodiakal.

 

1] HRH Mischa Florentina, Court Astronomer, The Haeseni Zodiac.

 

⌯──────────────────────◃⟐▹──────────────────────⌯

 

I

 

A depiction of The Wind from the Reformed Haeseni Zodiac.

 

THERE ARE SEVEN CONSTELLATIONS of the Zodiac, each with their own stories, allies, and rivalries. In Zodiakal, each of the constellations are represented by a tile on the gameboard with accompanying boons and banes. The alliances and rivalries between the constellations also impact gameplay.

 

NIKUL, THE MOON | ally of none, rival of none 

MORRIGHEIN, THE QUEEN | ally of the Wanderer, rival of none 

YBIS, THE COMET | ally of the Hero, rival of the Sea

KOSTANA, THE WIND | ally of none, rival of the Hero

HARUHTROW, THE WANDERER | ally of the Queen, rival of none 

ODRIN, THE HERO | ally of the Comet, rival of the Wind

PISKTRO, THE SEA | ally of the Wanderer, rival of the Comet

 

INFLUENCE TOKENS

 

EACH OF THE CONSTELLATIONS have their own influence tokens which are collected by players throughout the game. These represent influence over the mortal plane and are derived from the stories of each constellation.

 

NIKUL'S MOONSTONE

MORRIGHEIN'S GOBLET

YBIS'S FALLEN STAR

KOSTANA'S TRUMPET

HARUHTROW'S FLUTE

ODRIN'S SWORD

PISKTRO'S PEARL

 

⌯◃⟐▹⌯

 

II

 

THE BOARD IS SEVEN BY SEVEN TILES with zodiac tiles placed at regular intervals around the edge of the board, denoted by different colours.

 

THE MOON | white

THE QUEEN | yellow

THE COMET | black

THE WIND | light blue

THE WANDERER | dark green

THE HERO | orange

THE SEA | dark blue

 

In the centre is the token box where influence tokens are stored and picked up from. Around the outside of the board are places for players to keep track of the influence tokens they have collected. 

 

If the game is played with two players, there are three of each influence token in the central box (twenty-one in total). If the game is played with three players, there are four of each influence token in the central box (twenty-eight in total). If there are four players, which is the maximum, there are five of each influence token in the central box (thirty-five in total).

 

The game is played with a single six-sided die. Each player is represented by a game piece: either white, black, red, or yellow.

 

Spoiler

 

⌯◃⟐▹⌯

 

III

 Haeseni ladies playing Zodiakal.

 

THE GOAL OF ZODIAKAL is to gain influence over mortals by possessing an influence token from each of the seven constellations. The winner is the first person to collect all seven influence tokens. The game can be played with two, three, or four players.

 

All players begin the game on THE MOON tile and roll the six-sided die. The number rolled determines how many places a player can move (always in a clockwise direction around the outside of the board). Pieces can circle around the board as many times as it takes to collect one of each influence token. Once someone has been chosen to roll first, the order of rolling is also in a clockwise direction.

 

Influence tokens are gained by landing on a zodiac tile (for example, landing on THE QUEEN means you can pick up Morrighein’s Goblet from the central token box). They can also be gained through the special abilities attached to different zodiac tiles. While a player can possess multiple influence tokens from the same constellation, all players may only have seven influence tokens at a time. If a player picks up an influence token when they already have seven, they will need to discard one into the central box. 

 

Because players may possess more than one kind of each influence token, it is possible to land on a zodiac tile and there are none of that specific influence token in the central box. If this happens, then the player unfortunately cannot collect that influence tile during that turn.

 

Multiple players can be on the same tile at the same time.

 

ZODIAC TILES

 

IF A PLAYER LANDS ON one of the seven zodiac tiles, they may choose to perform special actions or, if applicable, use any alliance or rivalry effects. Even though all players begin the game on THE MOON tile, they cannot use THE MOON’s special action or collect Nikul’s Moonstone until they actually land on it.

 

THE MOON | You may spend two influence tokens to block any special action while you are on this tile. This includes actions taken against a player other than yourself or actions taken for the benefit of a player.

THE QUEEN | Pick up an additional influence token from the central box, but you must also give another player an influence token of your choice from the central box.

THE COMET | Attempt to steal one influence token from any player by rolling the die (you must get a 6 to succeed).

THE WIND | Move to any zodiac tile on the board and perform that action (the player can pick up Kostana’s Trumpet for landing on THE WIND tile but cannot pick up the influence token of the zodiac tile they move to).

THE WANDERER | You may roll again. This does not apply if you choose to use the QUEEN-WANDERER ALLIANCE special effect and move to THE QUEEN tile.

THE HERO | Challenge another player to a duel where each of you roll the six-sided die. The highest number wins, with the winner taking one influence token from the loser. If there is a tie, roll again until there is a winner.

THE SEA | Exchange one influence token for another from the central box.

 

ALLIANCES AND RIVALRIES

 

SOME OF THE CONSTELLATIONS have allies and rivals which can be interacted with throughout gameplay to the players’ benefit and detriment. Note that an influence token can only be collected if the player lands on that zodiac tile by rolling; not by moving to that tile through special actions. 

 

You cannot use two special effects in the same turn; you must pick between the zodiac tile’s special effect or the special effect given through an alliance or rivalry. This does not apply to “passive” effects such as the restrictions in the COMET-HERO ALLIANCE and the WIND-HERO RIVALRY.

 

QUEEN-WANDERER ALLIANCE | Landing on THE QUEEN tile allows you to move to THE WANDERER tile instead and make use of its special action. The opposite is also true, meaning landing on THE WANDERER tile allows you to move to THE QUEEN.

COMET-HERO ALLIANCE | When attempting to steal another player’s influence token either through rolling the die (when on THE COMET) or duelling (when on THE HERO), you cannot duel or steal from a player if they are on the other zodiac tile in this alliance.

SEA-WANDERER ALLIANCE | If a player lands on THE SEA tile while already possessing Haruhtrow’s Flute, they can exchange one influence token for any two other influence tokens from the central box. It is possible to exchange an influence token for another of the exact same kind, functionally making this the ability to collect a free influence token.

COMET-SEA RIVALRY | If you land on THE COMET or THE SEA tile and there is another player on the opposite tile in the rivalry, you must sacrifice a token to the other player.

WIND-HERO RIVALRY | If a player is in possession of both Kostana’s Trumpet and Odrin’s Sword and lands on either THE WIND or THE HERO tile, their turn is over. They cannot use any special effects. This includes if a player has just picked up Kostana’s Trumpet or Odrin’s Sword from landing on that zodiac tile.

 

⌯◃⟐▹⌯

 

IV

 

FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF ZODIAKAL players, here is a directory of possible moves and strategies for each zodiac tile.

 

LANDING ON THE QUEEN TILE (YELLOW)

 

⟡ Collect Morrighein’s Goblet from the central box.

⟡ Pick up an additional influence token from the central box, but you must also give another player an influence token of your choice from the central box.

OR

⟡ Move to THE WANDERER tile and roll again.

 

LANDING ON THE COMET TILE (BLACK)

 

⟡ Collect Ybis’s Fallen Star from the central box.

⟡ If there is a player on THE SEA tile, you must sacrifice an influence tile to that player. Your turn is then over.

OTHERWISE

⟡ Attempt to steal one influence token from any player by rolling the die (must roll a 6 to succeed).

⟡ You cannot attempt to steal an influence token from a player on THE HERO tile.

 

LANDING ON THE WIND TILE (LIGHT BLUE)

 

⟡ Collect Kostana’s Trumpet from the central box.

⟡ If you have both Kostana’s Trumpet and Odrin’s Sword, your turn is over.

⟡ If you do not have both Kostana’s Trumpet and Odrin’s Sword, you may move to any zodiac tile on the board and perform that action (you cannot collect influence tokens from the zodiac tiles you land on using this special action).

 

LANDING ON THE WANDERER TILE (GREEN)

 

⟡ Collect Haruhtrow’s Flute from the central box.

⟡ Roll again.

OR

⟡ Move to THE QUEEN tile and pick up an additional influence token from the central box, but you must also give another player an influence token of your choice from the central box.

 

LANDING ON THE HERO TILE (ORANGE)

 

⟡ Collect Odrin’s Sword from the central box.

⟡ If you have both Kostana’s Trumpet and Odrin’s Sword, your turn is over.

⟡ If you do not have both Kostana's Trumpet and Odrin's Sword, you may challenge another player to a duel where each of you roll the six-sided die. The highest number wins, with the winner taking one influence token from the loser. If there is a tie, roll again until there is a winner.

⟡ You cannot duel a player on THE COMET tile.

 

LANDING ON THE SEA TILE (DARK BLUE)

 

⟡ Collect Pisktro’s Pearl from the central box.

⟡ If there is a player on THE COMET tile, you must sacrifice an influence token to that player. Your turn is then over.

OTHERWISE

⟡ Exchange one influence token for another from the central box. If you have Haruhtrow’s Flute, you may exchange one influence token for two influence tokens from the central box. 

 

LANDING ON THE MOON TILE (WHITE)

 

⟡ Collect Nikul’s Moonstone from the central box.

⟡ You may spend two influence tokens to block any special action while you are on this tile. This includes actions taken against a player other than yourself or actions taken for the benefit of a player. This effect exists even if it is not currently your turn.

Spoiler

The first game of Zodiakal played by Moryana Amador, Andrei Kortrevich, Dima Kovachev, and Erika Kortrevich. Overseen by the Grand Lady Mahaut van Leuven.

⌯──────────────────────◃⟐▹──────────────────────⌯

 

 

Her Ladyship, ERIKA KORTREVICH, 

Ward of the Lady Palatine

 

 

[GMRO 6186]

Spoiler

very cool 

 

[sarahbarah 7105]

The author's mother gushed with pride, certainly intending to partake in her daughter's creation.

[MunaZaldrizoti 8037]

The Lady Palatine, seeing her young protege's efforts on full display, only felt more assured that fate had brought this girl to her attention for a reason. A beacon for this upcoming generation of Haeseni to follow.

[Frawlic 1602]

Dima Kovachev absolutely crushed the very first played game of Zodiakal.

[Frisket 4538]

Spoiler

Another board game? Time to add this to my characters storage. ENDLESS AFK BOARD GAMES WOOOOOO

 

[Melpomenne 2032]

Mischa Florentina Barbanov-Lesanova rolled with glee in her grave.

 

Spoiler

so cool!! :-3 makes me so happy.. ty!!!