Diceland: Deep White Sea Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• About the Dice
• The Playing Surface
• Elements of the Die Face
• Core Definitions
• Before the Game
• How to Win
• The Steps of the Turn
• Throwing Rules
• Maneuvering
• Shooting
  • Hit, Block, and Damage
  • Sight Lines
  • Range
  • Colors and Immunity
• Special Effects
  • Command
  • Repair
  • Confuse
  • Poison
  • Call Ally
  • Jump
  • Optional Effects
  • Continuous Effects

Game Overview

Diceland is a unique 2-player combat game that uses paper dice as the characters. The game requires equal parts strategy, luck, and skill. "Deep White Sea" is the first edition of Diceland, and contains five armies of dice battling in a frozen world.

In Diceland, players take turns throwing their dice into play and maneuvering the dice they have in play. Players score points by shooting each other's dice, and the first player to score 50 points wins the game.

An average game lasts about 20 minutes. This rulebook contains just the basic rules for Diceland. Advanced rules for Diceland, including multiplayer rules, crew construction rules, terrain rules, and more, can be found at www.diceland.com.

About the Dice

The "dice" in Diceland are octahedrons, 8-sided dice. Each die comes as two halves on a 5 x 7 card, and assembles easily without tape or glue.

To build each die, punch it out of the card and pre-fold all the scores. Then, starting with Tab A, snap all the tabs into the corresponding slots in alphabetical order. Tabs E and F will close at the same time.

These dice were engineered to be as random as possible. The top and bottom halves are mirror images, meaning that the balance point is exactly in the middle. Tampering with your dice to make them roll certain sides more often is strictly against the rules.

A Box for your Dice: To keep costs low, Diceland is packaged in the smallest possible container. To protect your dice for travel, use a rigid cardboard box or hard plastic case.

The Playing Surface

The playing surface you use will dramatically affect the quality of the game. Your table should be large and free of obstacles. The best surface is a cloth, vinyl, or felt table, such as a card table or pool table.

Slick surfaces are not good for Diceland. They will allow the dice to slide instead of rolling, which makes both hitting and maneuvering the dice much harder. If you have a slick table, you should put down a tablecloth before you begin.

Elements of the Die Face

Here is a short overview of the elements of the die face. More details on all these symbols are given later. (Diagram labels: Sight Arrows, Side Number, Point Value, Class, Team, Shield, Effect Line, Flavor Line, Movement Dots, Damage Dot. "Side 1 only" items: Point Value, Class, Team.)

• Sight Arrow. This arrow tells you which way the die can see. Sight arrows can have different colors, shapes, and sizes, all of which define how the die sees other dice. The arrow will contain a number if the die has an attack value, or a "C" if the die's effect is continuous. Other types of effect have blank arrows.
• Side Number. Side numbers always run 1 through 8, with side 1 being the weakest side and 8 the strongest. When a die takes damage, it moves to the next lower side number.
• Shield. This icon shows the die's defense value. If the shield has any color but white, the die is immune to effects of that color.
• Effect Line. This text describes any special or optional effects on this die face. These special effects are defined in the rulebook. Not every die face has an effect line.
• Flavor Line. This text box will have either the character's name, or the name of the character's basic attack (such as "fireball"). Information in the flavor line is non-essential.
• Movement Dot. The green dots show the directions in which the character can be maneuvered.
• Damage Dot. The red dot shows how the character will move when it takes damage.
• Point Value. (Side 1 only) This is the number of points the die is worth when "killed." In general, powerful dice are worth more points.
• Class and Team. (Side 1 only) Class is a quick reminder of the general abilities of the die. Team shows the die's affiliation, which is also shown by the die's border color. There are five team colors in Deep White Sea: White, Green, Orange, Blue, and Burgundy.

Core Definitions

In Play, On Reserve, and In Hand: There are three places a die can be in this game: in play, in your hand, or in reserve.

• Dice in your army that are off the table and ready to be thrown are in your hand. This is where all your dice start.
• All dice on the table are in play.
• A die that has just been "killed" is in reserve. This means the die is out of play, but it's not yet back in its owner's hand. Dice only stay on reserve for one turn, then they return to your hand.

Enemies and Allies: All dice in the game are either Enemies or Allies. All your dice are Allies, and all your opponent's dice are Enemies. This is true whether they are in play, on reserve, or in your hand. Every effect in this game is defined as working on either Enemies or Allies, which is why this definition is important.

Crew: Your "Crew," or "Army," is all the dice on your side. Under the basic rules, you will use all the dice from a single color to form your Crew. In the advanced rules, you can customize it.

Before the Game

Choosing an Army: If you play by the advanced rules at www.diceland.com you can construct your crew from whatever dice you want, according to certain restrictions. But when playing the basic game, you will simply choose one color of dice (one Team) and take all five of those dice.

Who Goes First: Determine randomly who goes first. If you play more games with the same armies, alternate who goes first.

The First Turn: Instead of taking a normal turn, the player who goes first will place one of his dice in any orientation in the exact center of the table. Going first is an advantage in one respect, since you get to choose your die and facing. The downside is that you can never score points on the first turn.

How to Win

The object of the game is to score 50 points. You score points by "killing" enemy dice, which means knocking them temporarily out of play in combat.

The first player to score 50 points wins the game.

The Steps of the Turn

Here is the basic structure of the turn. Definitions for these terms are given later. Steps 1 and 2 are always quick, and are basically bookkeeping steps; Step 3 is the main part of your turn. As mentioned before, the player who goes first places one die in the middle of the table. Thereafter, all turns proceed as follows:

Step 1: Check Continuous Effects. First, check all the Continuous Effects in play, such as Holds and Power Ups.

Step 2: Check Poison Counters. Your Poison Counters have their effect in order, starting at your edge of the table.

Step 3: Take one Action. This is the main part of the turn, and it might actually have several steps depending on what you do. You are allowed to take just one action for starters, but that might result in more actions depending on what it is. In Step 3 you may do one of the following:

• A: Throw. Throw a new die into play. That die can shoot when it lands.
• B: Move. Maneuver one of your dice in play. (A die does not shoot as a result of moving.)
• C: Shoot. Shoot with one of your dice already in play. "Shoot" is the general term for activating the die's ability, whether it's a combat effect or not.

In Step 3 you could also pass. Although you would rarely do this, there are some times when it's unavoidable. For instance, if all of your dice are in reserve (because they were all killed on the last turn), you would have to pass.

Taking More Complex Turns: Because some effects, like Command and Call, can result in more dice taking action, you might take several actions in the same turn. In some cases, you might even fire the same die more than once. But all of this activity must develop from a single action.

Throwing Rules

Because this game has physical elements, there are rules for throwing dice, and penalties for breaking these rules.

When you throw a die, you must release it behind your edge of the table (Player 1 throws from behind his line, Player 2 from behind hers), and at least a foot above or a foot behind the edge. You must release the die outside the tinted area shown in the side-view diagram (one foot above the table surface and one foot back from the edge). Note that if the table is round, your "edge" of the table is the same as if the table were square.

Fouls: If you release the die anywhere inside the tinted area, it is a foul. Your opponent has the option to either allow the throw, to prohibit the die from shooting, or to make you take the die out of play. A die removed because of this type of foul goes into reserve, and can't be re-thrown on the same turn. (This only matters on the rare turn when you'd be able to throw the same die again.)

Dice off the table: After you throw, any die that is not resting flat with all three corners on the table is considered "off the table" and must be removed from play. Dice that are leaning against other dice, leaning against an obstacle, or have a corner hanging off the edge of the table are all off the table. Dice knocked off in this manner do not go into reserve.

If the die you throw goes off the table, there is no penalty except that the die does not shoot. However, if you knock any other dice off the table, your opponent scores the point values of those dice regardless of who owns them.

Hitting Other Dice: As long as you don't knock them off the table, it's perfectly legal to hit other dice with the die you throw. Dice that you disturb in this manner do not fire as a result of being moved, although Continuous Effects will be switched on and off. (See Continuous Effects, below.)

Hitting other dice with your throw is an important skill in this game. You will use it to weaken enemy positions as well as strengthen your own.

Shooting After the Throw: After you throw a die, that die can shoot immediately. You may choose to shoot or not to shoot, depending on what you roll. If the die has a Continuous Effect, it always becomes active immediately.

Note: Even a die that knocked others off can still shoot!

Maneuvering

Along with throwing, another possible action is to Maneuver, or "move," one of your dice in play. Choose any die with a green dot in the corner, and press down on that green dot. The die will roll in that direction and reveal a new face. Use the green dots to maneuver.

If a die is next to an obstacle, such as another die or the edge of the table, it can't move in that direction. Even if the die would only brush the obstacle, the move is illegal.

Shooting

When you "shoot" with a die, you are using the die's ability. This ability might be an attack, a Repair, a Jump, a Command, or any number of other special effects, but they are collectively called "shots." (Note: Continuous Effects are not shots because they are always active.) For simplicity, we will start by describing the rules for basic attacks. Later, under "Special Effects," you can read about other kinds of shots.

Hit, Block, and Damage

When one die shoots another, you compare the Hit value of the shooter (the number in the arrow) with the Block value of the target (the number in the shield).

If the Hit is equal to or greater than the Block, then the target is "killed" and taken out of play. When you kill an Enemy die, add that die's Point Value to your score.

"Killing" isn't permanent. A killed die spends one turn in reserve. After that, it returns to its owner's hand.

If the Hit is less than the Block, the target takes damage. To damage a die, find the red dot and push down. This will roll the die one step, to the next lower side number. Damage is just like maneuvering, except that it uses the red dots.

Continuing to damage a die will eventually wear it down to its Side 1. On Side 1 there are no damage dots, and there is no block value. On this side, any damage will kill it.

Note: Even if the Hit is significantly less than the Block (like a Hit of 1 on a Block of 20) the target always takes damage. The only exception to this is Immunity, which prevents all damage.

Shooting Pinned Dice: If a die is unable to take damage, because it is blocked by an obstacle or by the edge of the table, then any damage will kill it, just as if it were on its Side 1.

Sight Lines

Most dice can only see half of the world. To determine what a die can "see," start with the Sight Arrow. The edge opposite that arrow is called the "baseline" of the die. This line extends forever in both directions. The die can "see" everything that is even partially above that baseline. For example, in the figure, Gavin can see Dice 1 and 2, but not Die 3.

If a die has sight arrows in all three corners, it is called an "omnidirectional" die. This type of die can see the entire table.

Range

The shape of the sight arrow dictates the Range of the shot. There are three types of arrows: Short Range, Long Range, and All Range.

Short-Range Arrows: This is the smallest arrow, a simple triangle with a concave base. This type of shot can only hit the closest visible target.

Note: Enemies are the only legal targets for Basic Attacks, so if there is an Ally in your field of view, you ignore it when determining the closest legal target of an Attack.

Note that "range" has nothing to do with absolute distance, just relative distance. In other words, the closest die is always a legal target, even if it's a hundred feet away. The next closest die isn't.

To measure the distance between two dice, always measure between the closest points on the top faces. In the diagram, Die 1 is closer to Gavin than Die 2, so his short-range shot will hit Die 1. Die 3 might be even closer than Die 1, but it's not in sight and therefore it's not a legal target.

Long-Range Arrows: This arrow is slightly larger than the Short Range arrow, and has a two-piece "pinched" tail. A Long-Range Shot can hit any single target it can see, not just the closest one. In the diagram, if Gavin had a Long-Range shot, he could choose to hit either Die 1 or Die 2.

All-Range Arrows: This is the largest arrow and has a long "foot." A shot with an All-Range arrow hits every visible target. When you shoot with an All-Range Arrow, you can't pick and choose from your legal targets. If you shoot, you will hit every target. If Gavin's shot were an All Arrow, he would hit Die 1 and Die 2. (See Timing "All Range" Shots, below.)

Remember, even an All-Range Attack still hits only Enemy dice, so you won't hit your teammates with an All-Range Attack.

Timing "All Range" Shots: When you hit multiple targets with the same shot, you start at the source of the shot and move away. If Gavin had an All-Range Shot in the diagram, he'd hit Die 1, then Die 2. This timing rule is important when the outcome of a shot could change based on the order the targets are hit.

Colors and Immunity

If a character has a colored shield, that means it's Immune to everything of that color. Attacks of that color do not damage it, and other effects of that color can not do anything to it either (even beneficial ones, like Command).

Note that "Immunity" doesn't make a die invisible. If Die 1 in the diagram was immune to green, Gavin's short-range shot would still be unable to hit Die 2.

Immunity is the only reason Attacks and Special Effects have colors. Here is a list of all the colors in Deep White Sea:

Color	Used for
Yellow	Physical attacks: Swords, Guns, Hold.
Red	Fireballs, Lasers, heat-based attacks.
Green	Poison
Ice Blue	Ice, Cold-based attacks, Freeze.
Dk. Blue	Commands
Purple	Magic: Shockwave, Power Up, etc.
Black	No color. Repair, Call, Jump.
White	(Shields Only) No immunity.

Examples:

• Micro is immune to purple, which means that Confuse and Shockwave don't affect him. Protection and Power Up also wouldn't affect him, if anyone else on his team had them.
• All the Robots are immune to Poison, which means they can't be hit by Poison shots and they can't get Poison Counters.
• Command effects are dark blue, and all Commanders are immune to dark blue effects while they are commanding. This makes sense in the real world, but it also prevents a feedback loop in which two Commanders could command each other, and everyone else, forever. (Don't confuse the dark blue color, Command, with the light blue color, Ice.)
• Fat Robot Steve is only immune to Poison.

Special Effects

Along with basic attacks, there are many special effects in Deep White Sea. They include Commands, Repairs, Protection spells, and much more. Here are the definitions you will need in this set:

Command

Command affects Allies. A Command tells all of your Allies to either move or shoot (you can move some and shoot others), so it can be very useful once you have several dice on the table.

The order in which your Commands are carried out is based on the distance from the Commander, just as with any other "All" effect. Start with the closest Ally to the Commander, and move away.

Note: The Command order is fixed when the Command is issued, so if a die changes position before it performs its Command, it still remembers the firing order. (See the example below.)

When a die is executing a Command, follow through all the effects of that action before moving on to the next Command. Normally this will be simple, but it can sometimes get complex. For example, if a die is commanded to Call Ally, the Called die comes into play and takes its shot before the next Command is followed.

Here's a particularly convoluted example: Liam Hart issues a Command with Gavin and Mull in play (see the diagram). Gavin is closest to Hart, and shoots first. He decides to Call Ally. He Calls Helen Crane, who lands between Hart and Gavin. Helen lands on a Command side, and Commands. Thanks to Helen's Command, Gavin will act again, then Mull, and then Mull will act a second time since he's still got a pending Command from Hart.

Note: If, by coming into play, Helen knocked Hart to a non-Command side, she'd be able to Command him as well. Changing Hart's facing will not nullify Hart's pending Command on Mull.

Most of your games will never get this complex, but it's important to know the timing rules when they do.

Repair

Repair affects Allies. When you Repair a die, you may roll it one step in any direction regardless of its movement dots. Repair also removes Poison Counters.

You will use Repair to maneuver your Allies into better positions, and to move them to more powerful sides.

If a die is Frozen or Held, a Repair cannot move it. If a die is pinned (up against an obstacle or the table edge), a Repair can't move it in the pinned direction.

Confuse

Confuse is similar to Repair, but it affects Enemies rather than Allies. Confuse lets you move an Enemy die one step in any direction regardless of its movement dots.

As with Repair, if a die is pinned, Frozen, or Held, a Confuse cannot move it. It's impossible to Confuse someone to death.

Poison

Poison Shots are green, and always contain "Poison" in the Effect name. A Poison shot damages its target like any other shot. If the target is not killed, it becomes Poisoned.

To track the Poison, put a Poison Counter on the table next to that die (use any small marker, like a coin). At the beginning of your turn, all of the Poison Counters you have created will do damage to the dice they affect.

When your Poison Counter kills something, you score points just like any other kill, and put the killed die on reserve.

Immunity to Poison: Robots are immune to Poison, as denoted by a green shield. They take no damage from Poison shots and cannot get Poison Counters.

Double Poison? A die can't be "double-poisoned." It's either Poisoned or not, so you do not add a second Poison Counter to a die that's already got one.

Healing the Poison: When a die is killed, it forgets its Poison Counter. It also loses the Poison Counter when it Jumps, or when it is Repaired.

Timing of Poison Counters: Poison Counters don't have an obvious source. Even though the Poison came from somewhere, the counters do not remember that. When you have multiple Poison Counters in play, you start with the ones closest to your edge of the table, and work your way across.

Call Ally

To Call Ally means to throw a new die from your hand into play. The die you throw can fire when it lands, just like any other throw. If the new die can Call Ally, you could use that shot to throw a third die, and so on.

You cannot Call a die that is on reserve.

Jump

To Jump means to pick the die up and throw it again. It can fire when it lands, just like any other throw. If the die lands on another Jump, it can Jump again.

You can continue Jumping until the die lands where you want, or until it lands on a non-Jump side.

Jumping also removes Poison Counters.

Optional Effects

When a line of text, either in the Flavor box or the Effect box, matches the color of the Sight Arrow, then those two elements represent a single effect. However, if the Effect box has a different color than the arrow, that Effect is an Optional Effect.

When you shoot with a die that has an Optional Effect, you may choose one option or the other, not both.

Backstab: Backstab is an optional Hit, always larger than the basic Hit. It uses the same sight arrow as the basic Hit. However, the Backstab is only effective against a target that can not see the shooter. In the example diagram, Jarik can Backstab Thruk because Thruk can't see Jarik.

Repair: Repair is defined above. When Repair is listed as an optional effect, it uses the same Sight Arrow as the main attack. Note that the legal target of the Sight Arrow will be different, since an Attack hits Enemies, but a Repair hits Allies.

Continuous Effects

Continuous Effects are marked with a "C" in the Sight Arrow. They are always active. The range on a Continuous Effect is dictated by the Sight Arrow, just like any other shot.

Continuous Effects become active the moment they enter play, and they stay active until they are removed from play, either by being killed or by rolling to a new face.

You re-check Continuous Effects at the start of every turn, and every time the source of the effect is disturbed. "Disturbed" means coming into play, being nudged by a thrown die, maneuvering, or taking damage. Unless the source is disturbed, you don't normally re-check a Continuous Effect in the middle of a turn. This means that if a die lands within range of an enemy's Freeze, it is not Frozen until the beginning of the next turn.

Hold: Hold targets Enemies. A Held die can't maneuver, and if it takes any damage it is killed. A Held die is able to shoot.

Freeze: Freeze is like a more powerful Hold. In addition to the Hold effects, the target is also unable to shoot. Note: Neither Freeze nor Hold will turn off Continuous Effects.

Protection: This affects Allies. Protection +X adds X to the Block Value of every Ally in sight. For example, a die with a basic block of 4 under a Protection: +3 would have a Block of 7.

Like all other effects in the game, a die does not see itself with its own Protection. Its own Block value is not affected. Protection can't add to a Block that isn't there, so it won't affect the defense value of a die on its side 1.

Power Up: Power Up is like Protection, but it adds to the value of your Allies' Attacks. Power Up can't create an Attack Value where there isn't one, so it won't give a non-combat die the power to attack.