The ghost idea is an interesting addition but throws up issues of its own. I had been thinking about a game based in Oxford - staging 4-player Deep 6 on a holographic board suspended above Oxford's historical centre, Carfax (from the french 'carreforre' - crossroads).
Oxford was a walled city, with 4 gates situated along the points of the compass. The gates have long since vanished but are still remembered in location names. Carfax was supposed by some to be the centre of Britain and in mythology was where two fierce dragons - one red and one white - fought to the death. Oxford also sired Cambridge University - when the townsfolk killed some of the university students in Oxford, many academics left and started up a new university in the fens. There is still a town v gown element existing in Oxford to this day. I thought of taking that animosity, that slight tribal element and redirecting it and turning it competitive. Instead of town v gown, take four sectors of Oxford, the north, south, east and west. Each sector has heats and from each bring their best player to compete in a 4-way play of Deep 6 right in the heart of Oxford. Just a localization idea.
Deep 6 - now
Diplomacy
I had worked out that Deep 6 plays better with more opponents. With 4 or more players, strategies of diplomacy could be brought in. Before their turn, a player could pass a message to another player with a proposal to join their pieces temporarily so that their armies could act as one unit. The other player can agree, reject or merely ignore the offer. The accord between the two players could be broken at any time, but the player wishing to do so had to inform their partner that they were about to break the accord just BEFORE the turn of the other player. An accord could only be made with one other player at a time.
I'm definitely at the 'Yes AND' stage with the Deep 6 concept, broadening the scope and adding things to the basic framwork. The diplomacy strategy has made Deep 6 a much more interesting game and served the basic game mechanic well. With a player unsure of whether two enemeies have united to form a larger force, the presence of two sets of enemy players, whilst not large enough to capture a player's piece, may be dangerous if combined. The diplomacy strategy can also be used in a cut-throat manner to trick and trap allies. How long will the alliance last? Is he/she manouvering to help take an enemy piece or are they setting up to trap one of my pieces and then break the alliance?
Character pieces
The player's pieces are differentiated. There are 5 different classes and the player starts with one of each and can choose the class of the 6th piece (allowing the player to customise their attack strategy). Each class has a different function.
The player can tell the different classes of his/her pieces apart by their appearance. However, his/hers opponents' pieces all look the same (ie the identity of enemy pieces are cloaked, even to members of an alliance).
The 5 classes are (rough nomenclature):
Priest
Soul Seeker
Electrician
Twin
Inquisitor
Ghost is really the 6th class, but only appears later in the game
Character energy
Most of the pieces need to have 'energy' in order to utilise their function. The pieces acquire 1 unit of energy every time they travel from the board edge to the innermost hexagon (coloured light blue), or vice versa. Each character can hold a maximum of 6 energy units. Energy on a character can be seen by all players, as a series of glowing rings around the character piece. Energy is used up by certain character pieces when they perform their function.
Priest
The priest 'saves' ghosts. If a player's ghost can move adjacent to an overworld hex occupied by the team priest, the ghost is converted back to a mobile overworld piece(of any class the player chooses) and reappears on the edge of the overworld board. The priest uses up one energy unit for every ghost converted.
If a priest lands on a hex that is occupied by a ghost in the underworld, any energy the ghost has is transferred to the priest. If the priest lands on an enemy ghost it's own team has created, the priest gets a bonus of a maxium fill of energy.
Soul Seeker
The Soul Seeker constantly sweeps for enemy underworld ghosts within their energy range (1 energy = energy field one hex deep). Each time a ghost is detected one unit of energy is used up. The detected enemy ghost is 'tagged' - observable only by the detecting player and for 6 turns or, if less, for as long as the ghost remains on the board.
Electrician
An Electrician can perform a long range attack by sending out an 'energy beam' to immobilize a piece for as many turns as the Electrician has energy rings to utilize. The energy beam is emitted along a line of hexes from the Electrician and finally disipates when it hits a board edge. Any piece (including its own) on the line is immobilized. If there is an enemy Electrician on the line, it collects up the energy for itself, up to a maximum of 6. Any remaining energy then affects the other pieces on the line. The enemy Electrician is not affected by the attacks of single Electricians and is free to move.
Two Electricians on the same team can work in tandem to target an enemy piece. Two Electricians, having a combined energy total of 6 or more units, can send out energy beams in the same turn towards the same target. That piece is then in stasis, exerting no effect or utilizing no energy, until one of the electricians move, is captured or the effect is countered in some way.
If the targetted piece is an enemy Electrician, it can absorb energy up to a maximum of 6. Any remaining energy immobilises it for the appropriate number of turns.
Inquisitor
The Inquisitor can reveal the identity of an enemy piece within its energy field for 6 turns,
(Or maybe just so long as the piece is within the field,
or for as many turns as the player utilises energy units) after which the piece remsumes its neutral appearance. The range of the Inquisitor's energy field increases as the amount of energy it holds increases, up to a maximum of 6 (hexes, energy rings). The uncovering effect also reveals the position (for 6 turns (?)) of the uncovered pieces to any ghosts allied to the Inquisitors team (but not the identity of the piece to the ghosts).
Twin
Twins can utilise energy to 'spawn' transient, adjacent mobile neighbours, up to a maximum of two for as many turns as the piece has energy rings. A Twin with 5 rings can spawn one transient neighbour for 5 turns, or two for two turns. a Twin allied with another character piece is a very effective way of making a surprise capture of an enemy.
Ghost
Ghosts inhabit the underworld. when a character piece is 'taken' by an enemy, it turns into a ghost. If it can find its way back to the team priest it will regain its corporeal body. If it cannot move during it's ghost turn or it's hex is occupied by a piece from the capturing team that created the ghost, the ghost is destroyed and piece disappears from the board.
The ghost cannot move into a hex already occupied by another piece in the overworld. A non-capturing player's piece can land above the ghost and remain there with no ill effect.
Neutral
How enemy pieces appear to players.
Energy and Character Transfer
Energy can be transferred from one character piece to any other team piece, at a cost of two energy units. The cost comes from both characters, unless one character has none.
Electricians can transfer any amount of charge they hold to any other team piece, at no cost.
Instead of moving a piece, a player may use their turn by swapping the positions of two character pieces, at a cost of 6 energy units, which comes from both characters.
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