It’s the Krynnish game of chess that has been played as early as the Third Dragon War. Let’s learn how to play Khas or Battlefield. Whitestone Council YouTube Members get a copy of the VTT game art I designed. Buy More Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/204205/More-Leaves-from-the-Inn-of-the-Last-Home-2e?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
It’s similar to Chess, but played on a hexagonal board.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to learn how to play Khas, or Battlefield, the Krynnish game of Chess. I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. I am referencing More Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
Though the history of Khas predates the Third Dragon War, the common rules I am sharing today are the same that were played in that war. The Knights of Solamnia believed that the game was an echo of a battle being fought elsewhere on Krynn. Their legends relay that the great battles of history had been won or lost due to a game of Khas being played elsewhere. For Dragonlance fans there are two notable moments where Khas has been played in the lore. The first was in the Age of Might where Lord Yarus Donner, High Clerist, Knight of the Sword in the Knights of Solamnia died playing a game of Khas against Kurnos, a great tyrant and prisoner of Yarus’ in The Khas Room on the uppermost level of the High Clerist’s Tower. Both were killed in the Cataclysm, but players could invoke their spirits in DL8 Dragons of War. In fact it was Yarus’ famed commander Lord Virkus, Knight of the Rose who was known as the thirty-third piece or shield, which will be explained later. The Second was in the Age of Mortals with Lord Ausric Krell, the death knight, who famously played Khas opposite Rhys Mason at Storm’s Keep, while Arikan Ariakas’ soul was transformed into a Khas piece. The game of Khas has been referenced since Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition, but was never fully detailed until the sourcebook More Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home was released in June of two thousand by Wizards of the Coast.
Before I explain the rules of Khas, I think it’s important to understand the game board. Again, this is played on a hexagonal game board which features three colors to represent the three pillars of Krynn. White is the color of good, red is the color of balance, and black is the color of evil. With no color being adjacent to itself. Much like the campaign setting itself, Khas is designed to have the armies of evil face off against the armies of good. The Good army begins play on the side with the white hexagon space, and the Evil army begins play on the side with the black hexagon space. There is a red hexagonal space in the center. And while the text references a hexagonal board with five spaces to a side, the artwork showcases six to a side, so I will be using my own custom designed board and pieces in this video that is inspired by that art.
While the game pieces are intended to be analogous to the standard thirty-two chess pieces, including one King, one Queen, two bishops, two knights, two rooks and eight pawns to an army, Khas features a thirty-third piece called the Block or Shield. The shield piece is only used in the Yarus variant of play. There are a couple variations of the pieces in play that should be called out. First, there is the facing of each piece which is germain to the strategy of the game, so each piece has an arrow showcasing its front face. The second is that some of the pieces have armor which protects a side from attack. We will detail this out when explaining each piece’s movement. Because facing is important to the game, you can only change a pieces facing direction at the end of that piece’s move, or you can take an entire turn to change the face of a single piece. There are many different names for each piece depending on the era of play, however for simplicity, I will refer to them as their chess names, except to provide the traditional name for reference.
The goal of Khas is to either capture the opponent’s King or eliminate all of their other pieces, which immediately ends the game in a win. No piece can move through other pieces’ spaces, however the Knight can fly over all pieces as it represents a dragon, the lords of the land. Once any piece ends its move in an opposing pieces’ space, the opposing piece is captured and removed from the board. Some pieces can only be captured from their flank. The shield in the center is meant to be an immediate obstacle of protection for the queen to prevent an immediate exchange at the start of play. The Good army always takes the first move. And play precedes with each opposing army taking one turn at a time.
The King or Relic, can move one space in any direction. It is armored in the front and back, protecting it from capture in those directions. It can only be captured from one of its four flanking sides. The King may take a hiding move if it or an adjacent Rook have not moved during the game. Hiding exchanges the King’s place with the Rook. The Queen or Guardians of the Gods, can move in any direction for any number of unoccupied spaces. It is also armored in the front and back, protecting it from capture. It can only be captured from one of its four flanks. When captured, it must be placed back on the board in any open space of the opponent’s choice. There is a modern variation where the queen remains captured off the board.
The Rook or Fortress can move forward or backward any number of spaces, or one space to any of its flanking spaces. The Knight or Wyrm can move two spaces, flying over all obstacles, then one space diagonally. Alternatively it can move one space in any direction, then two diagonally. Bishops or Champions can only move diagonally in any number of unoccupied spaces. Pawns or Armies, can move two spaces forward in its first move, and only one space forward in any successive move. It can only capture other pieces in one forward diagonal space. But again, every piece’s movement is based on its forward face, so if you turn the facing direction, the piece’s next move is based on that new direction.
There are a number of variants to this game, and the rules presented are from the Third Dragon War. In Lord Yarus’ version of the game, if a pawn reaches the opposite side of the board, the good army can sacrifice its pawn to activate the Block or Shield at the center of the board. The shield can then move up to two spaces in any direction, however it cannot capture any piece in the game and as it is armored on every side, it cannot be captured by any piece. Once the shield is in play, other pawns may be sacrificed to bring back captured court pieces on a one to one basis.
Again, there are other variations of play that I will not outline here, so I would encourage you to read the article in More Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home, if you are interested in playing Khas, or learning more about them.
Outro
But that is all I have to say about Khas. Do you enjoy the game of Chess? Is Khas a welcome variation on the game? And finally, do you want to see a playthrough of Khas? Leave a comment below.
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Blessed Paladine, clear my path, that I may walk it without fear.
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