Gem Guardian (Sword and Sorcery Themed Board Game)

1. In the game of GEM GUARDIAN there are two sides North and South. North always attacks; South always defends. At the beginning of the game, players choose sides.
2. THE GOAL - The Goal of the north is to deliver The Secret Gem to the fortress of the south. The moment that this is done, the North wins. The Goal of the south is to stop this from happening by destroying the gem guardian.
3. The GEM GUARDIAN – All of the North’s playing pieces are hollow inside and can be unscrewed at the bottom so that a Secret Gem piece can be hidden inside one of them. The piece that the player hides the gem inside is the GEM GUARDIAN. Only the Northern player knows which piece he has hidden the gem inside. The moment that the GEM GUARDIAN is placed upon one of the South’s Fortress squares the North has won.
4. PIECES – BOTH players have four warriors; one with a sword and dagger; one with an axe; one with a spear and one with a bow as well as one Wizard and a Wizard’s apprentice
5. TRAVELLING DICE - Players each have a white dice called a travelling dice. This is the dice which they roll for movement across the boardand to engage in both Non-Magical and Magical Combat.
6. COMBAT – a) SWORD/AXE/SPEAR FIGHT - Pieces must be on squares immediately next to each other to engage in a sword/axe or spear fight. b) FIRING BOW or THROWING AXE/SPEAR/DAGGER/SPELL ATTACK – A piece must be within a distance of three squares and on a square that is facing an opponent piece, either vertically, horizontally or diagonally to hit them with a bow and arrow, axe, spear, dagger or spell c) A player rolls his travelling dice once for each of his pieces engaged in combat. The highest dice roll indicates the winner of a fight. d) DAMAGE-The loser then rolls the travelling dice to see the severity of his loss 1 to 2 = Escaped with merely a scratch; 3 to 4 = wounded (requires healing spell) and 5 to 6= dead (requires resurrection spell).
7. SPELL CASTING RULES –a)Between the two players is a cauldron and inside the cauldron are the two black spell casting dice. They roll the spell casting dice by shaking the cauldron.b) players also have a spell book and, inside the spell book, are all the spells that they can work and the beasts that they can summon by rolling the dice.

   c) Spell Casting Dice Rolls:

    

   1 and 1 = Control Spell, rolling two 1’s allows you to seize control of an opponent’s piece.

   1 and 2= Freezing Spell, rolling 1 and 2 allows you to freeze an opponent’s piece so that it cannot move. A freezing spell will also allow a player to freeze water so that pieces can move over it.

   1 and 3= Speed Spell, rolling 1 and 3 allows you to double the rolls of your travelling dice and move faster. A speed spell will allow players to run over the surface of water.

   1 and 4= Transportation spell, rolling 1 and 4 allows you to transport an opponent’s piece or one of your pieces instantly to another square.

   1 and 5= Flying/Leaping spell, rolling 1 and 4 allows you to leap over obstacles or attack from above.

   1 and 6 = Transformation spell, rolling 1 and 6 allows you to temporarily swap a playing piece for one of the animal transformation pieces.

   2 and 2 = Invisibility Spell, rolling two 2’s allows a player to temporarily remove their piece from the board and move it “invisibly”, meaning that they can move a hypothetical piece around the board and do not have to declare to their opponent in which direction it is moving. (however the distance which it moves is still governed by their travelling dice). An invisibility spell lasts for a maximum of 4 turns.

   2 and 3= Summoning Red Dragon – rolling 2 and 3 allows a player to place the fire breathing red dragon piece on the board to attack their opponent. (it has the power to kill and fly)

   2 and 4 = Summoning  Blue dragon – rolling 2 and 4 allows a player to place the ice breathing blue dragon  piece on the board to attack their opponent (it has the power to freeze pieces and kill them but cannot fly).

   2 and 5 = Summoning Genie – rolling 2 and 5 allows a player to take hold of the genie lamp piece and be granted 3 game wishes, for example being able to walk across water.

   2 and 6= Summoning Gorgon – rolling 2 and 6 allows a player to summon the gorgon who has freezing power and can cover surrounding squares on the board with toxic blood after she has been killed

   3 and 3= Summoning Giant – rolling two 3’s allows a player to place the giant piece on the board. The Giants enormous stride allows it to move 3 squares at a time.

   3 and 4 = Spell of healing – rolling 3 and 4 allows a player to heal a piece that has been poisoned or frozen.

   3 and 5 = Spell deflection – rolling 3 and 5 allows a player to make an opponent’s spell backfire and effect their own pieces.

   3 and 6 = Spell shield – Rolling 3 and 6 allows protection from both magical and non –magical attacks.

   4 and 4 = Fireball – Rolling two 4’s allows a player to hit an opponent’s pieces from a distance of 4 squares or bomb them from above with a flying piece.

   4 and 5 = Strength Spell – Rolling 4 and 5 gives a piece superhuman strength that would allow it to fight a giant/dragon or some other large piece.

   4 and 6 = Time Reversal Spell – Rolling 4 and 6 means that a player may move a piece back to an earlier position; get a chance roll again or a chance to ‘take back’ a bad move they have made and make a different move instead.

   5 and 5 = Magic Minefield – Rolling two 5’s allows a player to declare that certain squares ( a maximum of seven) are mined and that an opponent’s piece will die if placed on them. A player can leap/fly over a magic minefield or use a spell shield to cross it or clear it with a summoned monster.

   5 and 6= Spell of multiplication – Rolling a 5 and 6 allows a piece to be in two places on the board at the same time or become an army of one.

   6 and 6 = Spell of resurrection – Rolling two six’s allows a player to bring a piece back to life.

   d) When spells should be cast – because rolling the number you want when you want it is very difficult, a player is advised to cast spells in advance and reserve them, by writing them down, to use when needed later in the game. All dice rolls should be openly declared and observed by both players.

   6. THE BOARD = The GEM GUARDIAN board is a map of ‘The Mysterious Realm’, the land in which GEM GUARDIAN is set. Over the map is a grid of squares and pieces can be moved in any direction although going over the edge of the board is equivalent to going over the edge of a flat planet, not even a resurrection spell could bring a player back.

   7. REGIONS OF THE MYSTERIOUS REALM –

              a) Fortress of the North –  The starting point of the Northern pieces. They cannot be attacked while within their fortress.

           b) Swamps of Sadness – Players moving pieces through the swamps of sadness must halve every dice roll above 1 unless using a speed spell. On the other side of the Swamps is a magical portal to the Forest of Fear.

c) Mountains of Misery – Squares near to the edge of the mountain are precarious and players pieces can fall off. 

d) Forest of Fear-  Within the Forest of Fear is a well of healing. In the forest of fear is also a magical portal to the Swamps of despair.

e) Desert of Doom– Players will have to collect water from a watering hole when crossing the desert.

f) Lake of the Lost – Players swimming through the lake must halve every dice roll above 1.

g) Canyons of Chaos- Within the canyons of chaos is a cave of healing.

h) Fortress of the South – Home of the Northern pieces and Norths objective.

8. Pieces may be moved  in any direction and players may also split up pieces and take more than one route.