Sons of Mithra: Fantasy Chess

Sons of Mithra is a fantasy Chess variant designed and playtested over several years. It uses a 10x10 board and each side has 13 types of pieces.

The basic description is as follows:

Sons of Mithra uses the same basic rules as Western Chess (capture the King), but adds or modifies several pieces.

Piece Descriptions:

Back-rank pieces: Leader - moves like the King in regular Chess. Once per game, it can force an enemy piece to make a move instead.

Wyrm - moves like a Queen in Chess. The Wyrm can reincarnate, however - whenever it is captured, a new one hatches from a hatchling (pawn) the next turn.

Berzerker - moves like a Rook except that it can only move to capture. The Berzerker can move twice in one turn, capturing both times. It may capture friendly as well as opposing pieces.

Teleporter - Can teleport to any empty space. It can also swap places with any friendly back-rank piece (i.e., not Hatchlings, Exploders or Guardians). Can only capture one space orthagonally.

Ranger - Can attack from a distance. This piece can attack diagonally from up to 4 squares away. It will capture the target piece and stay on the square it was in. If it needs to move, it can move diagonally up to 3 spaces, but cannot capture while moving. It can either capture or move, not both.

Flier - Can fly over other pieces. It moves horizontally and vertically and can change direction any number of times (it cannot change directions back the way it came). However, since it must take off and land, it MUST fly exactly three spaces.

Assassin - The Assassin is a sneaky piece. It can move diagonally up to three spaces and change directions any number of times (it cannot change directions back the way it came). It is excellent for getting around obstacles and is a very good mid-board piece since it covers a good area (especially when combined with the Flier).

Marauder - This piece is like a Reflecting Bishop. It can move diagonally any number of squares and reflects off the side of the board. It can also move (without capturing ) one space horizontally or vertically to put itself on a different diagonal.

Possessor - Can move 2 spaces in any direction, diagonally and/or orthagonally. Instead of capturing a piece, it possesses an enemy piece and the possessor is removed. It can also dispossess a possessed piece.

Spectre - Moves like a Rook, but it can move through its own pieces (except the Leader and Guardian). A very good defensive piece.

The following pieces are the front row pieces. They may not be possessed or teleport-swapped.

Hatchlings - like Pawns in Chess, except they can move up to three spaces on their first move, not just two. Hatchlings are numbered from one to eight. The lowest-numbered Hatchling still on the board automatically hatches into a Wyrm when that side's Wyrm is captured.

Guardian - The Guardian is the Leader's protector piece. It moves just like a Queen but cannot capture or be captured. Also, no piece can fly over it, through it, etc.

Exploder - The Exploder is the Wyrm's protector piece. It moves on space in any direction (like the Leader) or it can explode. When it does so, it captures every adjacent piece (except Guardians) - including pieces on its own side! If it captures normally or it is captured, but the Exploder and the other piece are removed from the board.