Chesslocke Challenge!

[topher4167]

I have come up with a new Nuzlocke variation: a Chesslocke! Here are the rules!

RULES:

GENERAL NUZLOCKE RULES:

1. When a pokemon faints, it counts as dead and must be released or put in a PC Box forever.

2. You can only catch the first pokemon you find on each route/dungeon/city/etc.

3. All pokemon must be nicknamed so as to create stronger emotional bonds between pokemon and trainer. (But there is a specialized rule that sort of changes this)

SPECIALIZED CHESSLOCKE RULES:

4. The first pokemon caught must be called King. The second one must be Queen. Then Knight, Bishop, Rook, and Pawn. Then the cycle repeats with all the other pokemon you catch. And you must have six boxes, labeled King, Queen, Knight, Bushop, Rook, and Pawn.

5. When, say, King dies, you must replace King with another King from the King box. So you replace each dead pokemon with one from its respective box. This makes it so you don't have as many options for your team, so it makes it a little harder. If, say, Knight dies, and your Knight box is empty, catch another pokemon as soon as you can (legally) and it will be Knight.

VARIATIONS:

6. Pawns should be able to choose between two moves at the first turn and then stick to one of them (when the pawn is on the 2nd/7th row it can make two steps instead of one)

7. Knights alternate one move in 1-4 and one in 2-3 (knights moves alternating black and white squares)
8. Bishops can only do 1-4 or 2-3, maybe the first bishop you catch can only 1-4, the second 2-3 etc. (bishops can't change the colour of their square), but you can go further and force an alternating sequence of moves, like 1-4-1-4- or 4-1-4-1-
9. Rooks can start with any move (e.g. 2) and then can only use the ones in the same row/column (e.g. 1-2-4)

10. Of course in this case you can't change the order of the four moves.

11. If your King (which would be your starter) dies, the challenge is failed.

It would be great if you guys want go try this! If you think it's fun, tell your Smogon friends, tell your irl friends! Spread the word!

I will be starting a Chesslocke challenge on Pokemon HeartGold soon and will be updating here with my party and such.

If you have any questions, or need anything specified, just ask! I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have!

Thanks to inanimate blob, DHR-107 and Manitary for the variation rules!

 

[inanimate blob]

I'd go as far to say you can't let King die, as it'd be your starter.

 

[topher4167]

I'd go as far to say you can't let King die, as it'd be your starter.

Yeah, and you could do that if you want, but I suck at Nuzlockes and couldn't do that without failing haha. I mean this is harder than a normal Nuzlocke, but not by much, it just makes it more fun in my opinion.

 

[TM13IceBeam]

I'd go as far to say you can't let King die, as it'd be your starter.

if we're keeping to the spirit of chess, i wholeheartedly support this LOL

also i'd say that you should be able to promote pawns if a knight/bishop/rook/queen dies (just rename your pawn). might make it easier, but yeah :X

 

[DHR-107]

if we're keeping to the spirit of chess, i wholeheartedly support this LOL

also i'd say that you should be able to promote pawns if a knight/bishop/rook/queen dies (just rename your pawn). might make it easier, but yeah :X

If you wanted to go the whole hog, Kings should be able to use every move, Queens can use all 4 too, but Bishops/Rooks can only use two, Pawns only 1 and Knights 3. This is because Bishops and rooks can only move in two directions, pawns in one (unless attacking, which is kind of redundant in Pokemon) and Knights are better, but awkward so they can only use 3. Just another way of increasing the challenge really ;)

 

[Manitary]

(for a more simple explanation, label the moves like this:
1 2
3 4
)

Maybe:
- pawns should be able to choose between two moves at the first turn and then stick to one of them (when the pawn is on the 2nd/7th row it can make two steps instead of one)
- knights alternate one move in 1-4 and one in 2-3 (knights moves alternating black and white squares)
- bishops can only do 1-4 or 2-3, maybe the first bishop you catch can only 1-4, the second 2-3 etc. (bishops can't change the colour of their square), but you can go further and force an alternating sequence of moves, like 1-4-1-4- or 4-1-4-1-
- rooks can start with any move (e.g. 2) and then can only use the ones in the same row/column (e.g. 1-2-4)

Of course in this case you can't change the order of the four moves.

 

[topher4167]

Okay, I like all your suggestions. I'm going to add them to the OP as "Variations". So, if you want to use the variations you guys have mentioned, you can, but the standard Chesslocke will remain the same.

 

[Stellar]

I think most of the suggestions so far are pretty brilliant. It would be nice to see everyone work together to develop this further rather than just sticking suggestions under "variations." I know tons of people who are always looking for new ways to challenge themselves in-game.

 

[Gokuzbu]

This sounds great actually. It'd be cool if Marriland played it lol

 

[LL7]

Further, instead of letting the "pieces die" and leave the challenge completely - have the special rule that when a Pokemon nicknamed "Pawn" defeats 6 pokemon in a row, you have the option to "revive" a Pokemon that was previously killed through fainting.
Not unsimilar from in chess when the Pawn reaches the 8th square after moving across 6 squares and can be changed into a Queen for example.

 

[Mekkah]

I don't like this. Why am I posting this when I could be elsewhere doing happier things? Because I vented about it on IRC, and I think it's fair to OP to not just talk behind their back but actually provide some constructive criticism why this, and similar ideas, kind of annoy me.

1. Any challenge that ends with -locke already tells me this did not take a whole lot of thought

The Nuzlocke challenge, when first conceived, was original and appealing. Nothing like it was really done before (or if there was, it had never had any kind of attention). This is nothing but a Nuzlocke challenge with a couple of arbitrary restrictions added to it. Of course, @topher4167, you never presented it as anything else, so harm done here. But to anyone who claims to have invented a new kind of challenge for the game but just does something like this: no, you're not clever.

2. The chess restriction feels forced, arbitrary, and unfun

Without playing, I can already tell you that this challenge is not going to make the game all that much harder, if at all, and it will not make it feel more like chess. The patterns are extremely exploitable in an easygame like Pokemon. Let's take the pawn's movement, and actually apply it to reality. I take a Water Pokemon with Surf and Waterfall, and now it is only able to use these two super powerful STAB moves. Moreover, the challenge says nothing about switching in and out, so I can make sure it only faces things that aren't resistant to Water. The game doesn't look so hard anymore now, does it?

Ideas like this only catch on when there's something really appealing about it. But here, I just do not see it. Why would this be enjoyable?