chess/piecepack combo

["Mike Petty" <mpetty30@...>]

I haven't posted here in awhile, but I keep an eye on the list and I
particularly enjoy the design contests.  I wanted to jump in and run 
an idea I had past the group to see if there was any interest in it.

This started as a very general idea written in my notes about a game I
called Epic Chess.  The idea was that new pieces and board 
arrangements would be introduced to the standard game of chess.  
Storylines would provide a background, so there would be a strong 
theme.  The basic moves of chess would remain entact so the average 
person would feel familiar with the strategies.

A couple weeks ago I was looking at the piecepack and I realized it 
would provide a great starting point to explore this idea.  I wrote 
up a scenario and played it until it was at least close to being 
balanced.  I also wrote up the general rules to the Epic Chess 
system.  I'm not a great chess player and  adventure games on a grand 
scale are a stretch for me.  (The background to the first scenario is 
pretty weak.)  Still, I've had a lot of fun with the game so far and 
it seems to have some promise for players and for those interested in 
developing scenarios to explore the system and theme.  I uploaded the 
general rules and the scenario to an Epic Chess folder in Rulesets in 
Progress.  I'd be glad to hear any opinions on the concept.

I should mention the 1" squares on the piecepack tiles are a little 
too small for any chess set I own.  To test the concept, I just 
printed some chess icons in the four colors of the piecepack, cut 
them out and glued them to 1" wooden disks.  These work fine, though 
disks that were a little smaller would be better.  If I pursue this 
further I will paint some small plastic chess sets, but as of right 
now I haven't found any that are the right size.

-Mike