🕸Fergus Duniho wrote on Fri, Feb 12, 2021 05:09 PM UTC:
While thinking of the idea of Chimera pieces, and particularly of Derek Nalls' Zig-Zag pieces, I came up with one that could appropriately be called a Dragon. Since that name has already been popular, other possibilities are Winged Serpent or Chinese Dragon, for the idea behind the piece is the long serpentine Dragon depicted in China, not the western type that loves to hoard treasure. Wyvern is another possible name. There are four static variations on this piece, and a rotatable version that could switch between any of these four. There are also eight static subvariations of this piece and a rotatable version that could switch between the eight. The basic idea is to have a linerider along a single orthogonal or diagonal axis, which can move to either side as a Knight. The available Knight moves would be those that do not end up adjacent to the piece's axis. For an orthogonal axis, these would be ones that can be reached with an orthogonal move perpendicular to the axis, followed by an outward diagonal move. For a diagonal axis, these would be ones that can be reached with a diagonal move perpendicular to the axis, followed by an outward orthogonal move. So, whatever the orientation of the piece, it would have up to four possible Knight moves. The axis along which a Rook or Bishop move is possible would represent the serpentine body of the Dragon, and the Knight moves would represent its wings. For simple record keeping, I could call the four static versions the Dash Dragon, the Pipe Dragon, the Slash Dragon, and the Backslash Dragon. These names are based on punctuation marks that correspond with the orientation of the piece, but they may not be poetic enough for an actual game. I'm thinking of two different versions of the rotatable version. In one version, it may rotate to any other orientation after moving, or in place of moving. In a slightly weaker version, it could rotate 45 degrees either way after moving, or rotate to any other orientation in place of moving. Rotation should not be allowed before moving, for that would make the piece equivalent to an Amazon. If we conceive of the Dragon as having a head at one end and a tail at the other, we could have eight static types with only one radial direction of movement. A rotatable version would be able to switch between orientations after moving, or in place of a move. Since allowing this piece to rotate before moving would make it an Amazon, this would not be permitted. Stronger variations, in which the piece has Nightrider moves instead of Knight moves are also possible.
While thinking of the idea of Chimera pieces, and particularly of Derek Nalls' Zig-Zag pieces, I came up with one that could appropriately be called a Dragon. Since that name has already been popular, other possibilities are Winged Serpent or Chinese Dragon, for the idea behind the piece is the long serpentine Dragon depicted in China, not the western type that loves to hoard treasure. Wyvern is another possible name. There are four static variations on this piece, and a rotatable version that could switch between any of these four. There are also eight static subvariations of this piece and a rotatable version that could switch between the eight. The basic idea is to have a linerider along a single orthogonal or diagonal axis, which can move to either side as a Knight. The available Knight moves would be those that do not end up adjacent to the piece's axis. For an orthogonal axis, these would be ones that can be reached with an orthogonal move perpendicular to the axis, followed by an outward diagonal move. For a diagonal axis, these would be ones that can be reached with a diagonal move perpendicular to the axis, followed by an outward orthogonal move. So, whatever the orientation of the piece, it would have up to four possible Knight moves. The axis along which a Rook or Bishop move is possible would represent the serpentine body of the Dragon, and the Knight moves would represent its wings. For simple record keeping, I could call the four static versions the Dash Dragon, the Pipe Dragon, the Slash Dragon, and the Backslash Dragon. These names are based on punctuation marks that correspond with the orientation of the piece, but they may not be poetic enough for an actual game. I'm thinking of two different versions of the rotatable version. In one version, it may rotate to any other orientation after moving, or in place of moving. In a slightly weaker version, it could rotate 45 degrees either way after moving, or rotate to any other orientation in place of moving. Rotation should not be allowed before moving, for that would make the piece equivalent to an Amazon. If we conceive of the Dragon as having a head at one end and a tail at the other, we could have eight static types with only one radial direction of movement. A rotatable version would be able to switch between orientations after moving, or in place of a move. Since allowing this piece to rotate before moving would make it an Amazon, this would not be permitted. Stronger variations, in which the piece has Nightrider moves instead of Knight moves are also possible.