Dice Power Transfer Backgammon

This is a brand new board game that I just developed. It has been in my head for several days now. A friend asked me to invent a backgammon variant. So, here it is!!

Well, it turns out I didn’t know very much about Backgammon. So, I found a site that explained a lot of things to me about it (https://bkgm.com/). I perused this site quite a bit to gain some backgammon knowledge. Now, I am ready to write the rules of Dice Power Transfer Backgammon. This is going to be a very nice game that brings Backgammon out of the Middle Ages to the Modern Era, so hold on to your hats!!

A Standard Backgammon Board with White and Black Storage Areas for the Dice. At the start of the game, White has 15 standard d6 white dice with black pips in the white rectangular area on the board. Black has 15 standard d6 black dice with white pips in the black rectangular area on the board. Each player can have a dice cup for shaking and rolling the dice each turn. Each player also gets an H-L button and a E-O button. There are two red dice to be used when the players don’t have enough dice to roll from their boneyards. I am borrowing the term boneyard from dominoes. White goes first and throws one of his dice. The only option for White is to move this die that number of spaces on the board. Yes, the dice are both the pieces and the randomness generators in this game. After that both players throw two dice of their color when it is their turn. But, more things can happen now. So, let’s go through what all is going on and can go on. So, Black tosses two of his dice from his boneyard on his first turn. Let’s say he throws an eight as a 3 and a 5. Now, Black has his first Power Transfer Opportunity. Black can transfer power from one of the dice to the other. And, any number of pips may be transferred. Black may transfer one pip from the three to the five. Now, Black’s throw is a 6 and a 2. There are two major rules for power transfer in this game. 1) Only a tossed die may transfer power, either receiving pips or sending pips. No die on the board may initiate the transfer of any pips. 2) Power transfers are one way only for a tossed die. If that die sends a pip somewhere, it may send pips only to the same die or other dice until it runs out of pips to send or until the player chooses for that die to stop sending pips. In that instance, that tossed die must now enter the board using its remaining pips as the measure for how far to move. If a tossed die receives a pip from somewhere (which can be the other tossed die), that die may only now receive pips and may do so only until it becomes a six or the player decides it is not to receive anymore pips. At such time, it shall itself enter the board the number of spaces indicated by its current face (or it can send its pips to another die on the board to travel that many spaces). The power transfer must be complete since the 6 cannot receive anymore pips. Now, Black must move one die onto the board the number of spaces corresponding to the number of pips. Now that Black has a die on the board and one die still showing as the “throw,” two things can happen. Say Black put the 2 on the board. The six, then, is still to be used. Black can now either move the six out onto the board six points, or Black can send the move to the 2 enabling it to travel from the 22nd point to the 16th point. Thus, depending on how Black transferred the power, he could have either a 2 on the 16th point or a 6 on the 16th point. So, use this little scenario to help you maximize your turns because skill definitely plays a role. Power transferring with pips may be done with individual pips. But, the whole value of a move must be sent to a single die. In other words, suppose you have remaining a tossed three. You can’t move three different dice one point each. No, you have to move a single die three sites. A tossed die may instead just send itself out onto the board that number of sites. The die retains its face value when doing this. “Hitting” and “The Bar” No, this isn’t hitting on girls in the bar. Rather, this is about hitting your opponent’s dice with your own and placing them on the bar. All the names and parts of the board are same as in regular backgammon. You can view the site www.bkgm.com to see the names of the parts of the board. However, hitting in DPT Backgammon is extended now. The face value of the die you move along the points is its power. When you stack dice on a point, you are increasing the power you have at that point. The more power you have at a point, the harder it becomes for your opponent to “hit” it. You can move a single die along the points for a max power level of 6. If you have a 6, and you land it on an opposing stack with a 4, 1, and 1, you have equaled the power level of that stack. As long as you have at least the power level of what you are hitting, your hit is successful. Suppose you have a 6 on point 24 and a 5 on point 22 (your Home Board). Let’s say your opponent has a stack with a 3, 4, and 5 on it on your 19th point (your opponent’s 6 point). Now, let’s say you throw a 9 as a 5 and a 4. You can do a power transfer of a pip from your thrown 4 to the 5 on point 22. Now, your throw shows as a 5 and 3. You can now start moving your 6 on point 24 counting two points to be on point 22. Next, you can pick up the other six on point 22 and move both in tandem for the remaining three points landing on point 19 where the opposing 3, 4, and 5 are. Since both the hitting party and the stack are at a power level of 12, the hit is successful, and all three of the opposing dice go to the bar retaining their face values of 3, 4, and 5. Your opponent now has to free his dice at the bar before doing anything else to further his cause. Note that power transfers to dice on the bar are ok. You can even transfer pips from dice on the bar to the tossed dice if that makes it possible for them to reenter the fray. Throwing a natural double allows the roll to be doubled, just as in regular Backgammon. However, there’s a qualifier for this game. If you throw a double, each die counts as two dice, but the rules for Power Transfer apply to each die. One of the dice might be receiving pips, so it won’t be able to send pips even when it starts on its second set of pips. Thus, be careful not to violate this rule because it would be quite easy to do. The H-L and E-O Buttons Hitting is one way to cause delay to your opponent, for sure. This is another way. The H-L button stands for High and Low. High is defined as 4, 5, or 6 on a die. Low is defined as 1, 2, or 3 on a die. The E-O button stands for even and odd. When it is your turn, you may place a button at the base of a point containing opposing dice. This is called issuing a charge or just charging. When you hit your opponent, those dice on the bar must be sent back into the game before any other things can be done. This is not the case with a charge. A charge can be handled as the player sees fit. But, until the charge is answered fully, the player may not add dice or move dice out of the stack containing a charge. When the charge is answered, the button may be placed in your own boneyard, which signifies that the player may not reuse it to issue you another charge with it. Each player gets 3 H-L buttons and 3 E-O buttons at the start of the game to use whenever they feel like it (but on their turn). Some players may want to save them all until the opponent begins to bear off to impede the bearing off as much as possible. All six buttons may be placed in a single turn if desired. The Doubling Cube The doubling cube is used for betting purposes only. It may be used in DPT Backgammon just as it is in any other Backgammon game. But, in official match play or rated games, it will not be used. The official game set on The Game Crafter website will not have a doubling cube in it. Some Finer Points Suppose a player wants to use the toss to advance a single die. Further, suppose that the path goes over a charged point that hasn’t been resolved yet. What if you switch the order? Does the die’s path go over a charged point still? If so, you have to find a path that doesn’t land on any charged points even temporarily because you would have violated the charge if you did. Maybe you can power transfer a pip to avoid the path of the die landing on a charge. Well, that sums up the game. I will definitely post more articles in the future with example positions once I get an official game set from the game crafter site. When done, the shop page will be at Dice Power Transfer Backgammon