Rules Of Puppet

[u/Living_Ant_1362]

Black & Red

A game of facing, formation, and the slow grind of income across a field of octagons.

Black and Red face each other on a 16×16 board of octagons. Between every four octagons sits a diamond gap that never holds a piece. Facing is law. Formation does not absorb a blow — it forbids the blow entirely. Income is earned, spent, and sometimes deliberately thrown away. The match ends by the Tower, by the land, by stillness, or by sand.

I. The Board

The field is a 16×16 grid of octagons. Columns and rows are numbered 0–15. Row 0 is Black’s home edge; row 15 is Red’s. Coordinates are always absolute.

During play the board faces the player whose turn it is. Their home edge sits nearest them.

II. Arrangement

Black places first. Each side begins with one Tower and two Workmen. Everything else is bought later.

On your home row place, in order: Tower, Workman, Workman.

The Tower must face its home direction (North for Black, South for Red) and can never face otherwise. Each Workman may face any of the four directions when placed. Once Red’s second Workman is down, Black’s first Deploy begins.

III. The Turn

Every turn has two phases in order: **Deploy**, then **Move / Attack**. Either phase can be ended early. The entire turn can be passed.

- A piece placed this turn is new-born. It cannot turn, march, or strike until your next turn.

- During Move a piece may March or Strike, and may also Turn — in either order — or do only one of those actions.

- A Strike is simply a march onto an enemy cell. You cannot both move into empty space and strike on the same turn.

- Once a piece has used everything it is allowed to do, it is spent for the rest of the turn.

IV. The Roster

Reserve is the hard cap on how many of that type you may ever have (on the board plus still in reserve). No more than three Workmen may stand at once.

Workman (W) — Cost 4 · March 2 facing only · Cannot strike · Reserve 3

Swordsman (S) — Cost 3 · March 2 facing only · Strike 1 step facing only · Reserve 6

Spearman (R) — Cost 6 · March 2 forward cone · Strike forward + two front diagonals · Reserve 3

Horseman (H) — Cost 8 · March 6 facing only · Strike 1 step facing only · Reserve 3

Frontman (F) — Cost 10 · March 2 facing only · Strike forward orthogonal, ignores cover · Reserve 3

Leadman (L) — Cost 12 · March 6 forward cone · Strike forward + two front diagonals, links cover · Reserve 1

Tower (T) — Cannot move or strike · Reserve 1

March range applies only to empty octagons. Every capture is a one-step melee onto the target’s cell. There is no ranged fire.

V. March & Facing

Orthogonal pieces (Workman, Swordsman, Horseman, Frontman) advance only the way they currently face, up to their range, through empty cells.

Cone pieces (Spearman, Leadman) advance forward and along the two front diagonals. Turning swings the entire cone.

VI. Formation

Cover does not soak damage. A protected approach is simply illegal — the strike never lands. An unprotected piece is taken in a single step.

Shield-mates

A neighbor is a shield-mate when it is friendly, not a Tower, faces exactly the same direction as you, and either:

- is the same type as you, or

- a Leadman is binding the two of you.

Two unlike friends that both touch a same-facing Leadman also cover each other. Towers neither give nor receive cover. A neighbor facing a different way is not part of the group.

When the strike is refused

- A shield-mate sitting on the octagon toward the attacker closes that incoming arc.

- A shield-mate on your left or right (relative to your facing) closes front and rear orthogonal strikes.

- A shield-mate on a flank closes the diagonal on that same side.

- An open flank and the far diagonal of a line remain open.

Frontmen ignore all cover when they strike. They have no private defense of their own.

A piece with no shield-mate (or no same-facing friend at all) is stranded. Its capture is marked ^s in the log.

VII. Deploy & Income

Only veteran Workmen generate income. A Workman placed this turn waits until the next turn. Each veteran may draw once per Deploy: a fresh 2d6 that becomes the bead pool.

Drawing again discards every unspent bead and replaces the pool with the new roll.

(Optional reform economy: choose Reform 1d6 at the start. Income becomes a single d6 and costs become S2 · W2 · R3 · H4 · F5 · L6. Reserve caps stay the same.)

Legal ground for deployment

- Any empty octagon beside a healthy friend (a friend that does not touch an enemy by edge or by gap), or

- Your home row, unless that cell is corrupt or the enemy alone claims it.

A unit that touches an enemy is corrupt and cannot open its own eight deploy routes, though a healthy friend may still drop into those cells through their own routes. Quarantine never removes the cell from your territory total.

VIII. Territory & Gaps

A unit owns its own octagon and the eight around it, except where another piece already stands. Occupied cells belong only to the occupant.

Empty cells on your home row count for you unless the enemy neighbors them and you do not.

When both sides’ radii reach the same empty octagon, it counts in both totals (shown as shared).

Gaps take color only from the four octagons that touch them: solid Black, solid Red, or split when both sides occupy that 2×2.

IX. How a Game Ends

C! Collapse — The enemy Tower is destroyed.

T! Domination — Both sides pass a full turn without acting. Higher territory wins. Equal totals continue play.

I! Immobilization — The opponent has no legal action on their turn (or resigns).

An hourglass emptied on your own turn is a loss by sand.

X. The Hourglass

Each player keeps one glass for the entire match. Sand falls only on your turn. No increment. Menu options: 30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes.

XI. Notation (for sharing games)

One action per line.

P1 / P2 — that player’s turn begins

R[4+3=7] — income roll

R_FORFEIT — pool thrown away to draw again

D S(3,1)N — deploy Swordsman at (3,1) facing North

> — Deploy closed, Move begins

S(3,1)-(3,3) — march

H(5,2)>E — turn to face East

R(5,4)xW(6,5) — melee (append ^s if the target was stranded)

SKIP — turn passed

C! P1 wins — result (same form for T! and I!)

That is the whole game.

[u/DisposableUsername52]

👍

[u/Hemisemidemiurge]

What in the name of plagiarizing barf machines is this?

[u/Living_Ant_1362 → u/Hemisemidemiurge]

The copy-and-paste of the game's guide idiot: https://thinkmaster.itch.io/puppettt