Triforce

Triforce
Jeremiah Wittevrongel
In Triforce, players combat for control over a portion of a triangular playing field.
:Players	Players:	3 - 6
:Time	Length:	Long
:Complexity	Complexity:	Medium
Trios per color:		5
Number of colors:		1 per player + 3
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:		1 per player + 3
Five-color sets:
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
d20, d12s, pawns
Setup time:		5 minutes
Playing time:		30 minutes - 45 minutes
Strategy depth:		Low-Medium
Random chance:		Dice
Game mechanics:
Theme:		Zelda
BGG Link:
Status: Initial design (v1.0), Year released: 2005

Triforce is a territory-based combat strategy game. The goal is to either neutralize all of your opponents by pinning them, or control a significant number of territories.

Status

Under development

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This game is currently under development, in the Initial Design stage. Feedback is strongly encouraged! Feel free to give comments on game design or structure on the talk page.

What you need

• 6–9 Icehouse stashes. Black, White, Clear, and one additional stash per player.
• One clear twenty-sided die, one black 12-sided die, and one 12-sided die for each player, of the same color as that player's stash (the dice from Killer Bunnies work well).
• One pawn or other small marker for each player, again of the same color as that player's stash (the pawns from Killer Bunnies work well).
• 3–6 players

Setup

Take the 15 white pyramids, and arrange them in an equilateral triangle, 5 pyramids on a side, as shown.

Figure 1: Initial Setup for Triforce

These 15 pyramids are the 15 territories that form the board.

Stack up the black and clear pyramids by size, and place these 6 stacks to the side of the board, within reach of all players. Put the black and clear dice near these stacks.

Each player takes a stash of colored pyramids, the corresponding die, and the corresponding pawn.

Each player places his or her pawn next to one of the pyramids at a vertex (corner) of the board. If there are more than 3 players, then some players will place their pawns next to pyramids at the middle of an edge.

Play

The player who has played the most games in the Zelda Universe goes first, and play proceeds clockwise.

On each turn, players take three actions. For each of the three actions, the player can choose between one of the two options below:

1. Place a new piece of his or her color on the stack next to his or her pawn.
2. Move a piece of his or her color from the top of one stack to the top of another stack. A piece may move any distance, so long as each stack along the route taken would be a legal destination for the piece (see below).

There are a few restrictions to where pieces can be placed or moved.

1. A piece being placed or moved directly on top of a white pyramid must be of the same size as the white pyramid.
2. A piece being placed or moved on top of a non-white pyramid must be a different size than that pyramid.

If a player has no legal moves, he or she is pinned, and must pass. If at some future point, the player again has a legal move, the player is no longer pinned and resumes play as normal.

A player may not pass unless there are no legal moves available. Even if there are only undesirable moves available, the player must still make a move. A player may 'waste' action points, however the board must be in a different state at the end of the turn than it was at the beginning. In effect, the player must spend at least one action point, and cannot simply move a piece back and forth.

Combat

At the end of each turn, combat may occur. If, at the end of the three action points for a turn, a stack contains a total of four or more non-white pyramids, in at least two colors, then combat occurs. If multiple combat situations exist, the player whose turn it is can choose the order in which they are resolved. If, after combat, there are still four or more non-white pyramids in the contested stack, another combat is resolved.

Combat resolution is pretty straightforward. Each player with one or more pyramids in the stack roll their die. Lowest roll has to remove their bottom-most pyramid from the stack. In case of a tie for lowest roll, the bottom-most pyramid of all colors who tied is removed. The order of the rest of the stack is unaltered. The removed pyramid goes back to its owner's stash, and can be re-used later.

Combat may result in pyramids that no longer meet the restrictions mentioned for placing and moving pyramids. This is OK - the restrictions only apply to moving or placing new pyramids, not to the end result of combat.

Swords and Shields

The clear pieces are shields and the black pieces are swords. During combat, a player with at least two pieces in the stack may optionally exchange one of his or her pieces for a sword or shield of the same size (if available), with the following restrictions:

1. Only the player with the upper-most piece in the stack (the player whose turn it is) may exchange for a sword in a given combat. If there is already a sword in the stack, the player cannot exchange for another sword.
2. Only the player with the piece at the bottom of the stack may exchange for a shield. If there is already a shield in the stack, the player cannot exchange for another shield.
3. If a player has both the top-most and bottom-most pieces in a stack, he may only exchange for a sword if there is no shield in the stack, and he may not exchange for both a sword and a shield on the same turn. In other words, it isn't possible for a player to have both a sword and a shield in the same combat.

Pieces exchanged are returned to the player's stash.

A player with a sword in the combat rolls the black (twelve-sided) die in addition to the die of his or her color. Their roll is the total of the two dice, and the player with the sword wins all ties. At the end of the combat, the sword stays in the stack, unless it lost the battle. If a sword loses a battle, it is removed from the stack, but the player who was using it does not have to remove a piece.

A player with a shield in the combat rolls the clear (twenty-sided) die instead of the die of his or her color. The shield loses all ties. At the end of the combat, the shield remains in the stack, unless it lost the battle. If a shield loses a battle, it is removed from the stack, but the player who was using it does not have to remove a piece.

In future combats in a stack with a sword, the sword is used by whatever player is currently on top of the stack. This may be a different player than the player who originally exchanged for it.

In future combats in a stack with the shield, the shield protects whoever is currently lowest in that stack. This will always be the same player who originally exchanged for it.

Sowrds and Shields may never be moved - the only way to get rid of them is if they lose in a combat. They also effectively prevent any pieces below them in a stack from being moved.

Winning the Game

To win the game, you must accomplish one of the following 2 goals:

1. Have your piece at the bottom of a total of (11 - #players) stacks at the beginning of your turn. For a three player game, this is 8 stacks. For a six-player game, this is only 5 stacks.
2. Be the only player in the game who isn't pinned