4D Chess (Four - Dee Chess)

A unique form of Chess primarily played in Arcadia and parts of Elos, characterized by its convoluted rules and intense battles. While originally made popular as a dangerous blood sport, the modern edition of 4D Chess are more-or-less free of violence.   The game consists of thirty two pieces, a board, and two lumps of spare wet clay, one dark-colored and one light-colored. Half of the pieces are colored black (or a similar dark color), and the other half are white (or a similar light color). The board is characterized by a 8 by 8 by 8 grid of alternating black-or-white squares, covering the surface of a cube. Pieces are originally placed on the top face of the cube, lining opposite sides, with a row of pawns in front and varying pieces in the back.   There are 6 distinct types of pieces, each with their own moveset.

• Pawns are the simplest piece, only capable of moving forward one square on a turn. Additionally, on a player's turn they can decide to "switch the polarity", rotating all pawns' movement by 90 degrees. The polarities of pawns can only be switched once every 5 rounds. Pawns can only attack pieces on a diagonal square in front of them. If a Pawn makes it to the edge the opponent started at, that Pawn can be promoted to a Queen. If the player elects not to, and instead sends the pawn in a full revolution around the board, that pawn can be promoted to a Gigaqueen (called an Empress in Therran games). As a turn, a player can coalesce a continuous line of five or more Pawns that have not moved into a single Pawn Mech, a powerful piece that can take a number of hits equal to the number of pawns that make it up, jump forward or diagonally three spaces and stomp any pawns it lands on (called rocket boosting) (this has a five-turn cooldown), move in any straight line like a Queen, or perform a Blast Attack, defeating the first pawn in both diagonals in front of the pawn.
• Knights are capable of moving in L-shaped motions, as well as jumping over pieces. Their irregular motion and unique jumping ability make them rather formidable foes on the battlefield. A player can take their turn to form a Unicorn's Horn out of their lump of clay, making the Knight permanently unable to attack, but instead forming a protective 3x3 square bubble that prevents several other effects from befalling nearby pieces.
• Rooks are able to move in a straight line forwards, backwards, left or right, provided that there are no pieces in its way. Rooks can also travel around the sides of the board, but cannot travel across multiple edges in a single turn. Provided that one Rook and the King have not moved any spaces in the game, and that there are no pieces between the Rook and King, the Rook and King can Castle, which allows the King to move two squares towards that Rook, and the Rook to jump over the King and land on the adjacent square across from the King.
• Bishops are able to move in a straight line on a diagonal. A Bishop can travel around the side of the board, stopping on the first tile on the new side, then can take an additional movement. The Bishop can only gain one extra movement in this way per turn.
• The Queen can move in any straight line, in either of the four cardinal directions or along a diagonal. The Queen can travel over the edge of the board, but cannot travel across multiple edges in a single turn. The Gigaqueen can do anything a Queen can, but better. A Gigaqueen has never been seen in an official match.
• The King can move one square in any direction. If the King is defeated, the game ends and the owner of the King loses. A King can be Inverted on a turn, granting it mind-control powers but rendering it immobile.

Players are capable of moving their pieces into certain other dimensions, such as the Shadow Realm and Multiverse. In the Shadow Realm, the Shadow Board can be rotated on a player's turn, and pieces begin to melt from the wonky physics, liquidating over the course of two turns. Once a piece has liquidated, it will condense on the Atmosphere Layer, where it can rain down on the mortal plane. Any piece that spends two full turns within the rain will become Drenched, then become a Frankenpiece. Frankenpieces take on characteristics of the piece that liquidated.   In the Arcadian League, there are four Grandmasters:

• Nicholas, the Deceiver
• Maddox, the Untrustworthy
• Amphibole, the Trickster
• Eli