Chapter 6: The Main Board and Its Spaces.​
This chapter teaches more about the Main Board and how it functions. This chapter includes more terminology and describes each of the special spaces on the Main Board. Understanding the mechanics of this topic could help inform your movement and strategy decisions, making it crucial for success within this game. Some of the special spaces are based on regular Ludo and its variants, with possibly a twist added, and some are unique to the game. Some general board mechanics are essentially unique to this version of Ludo.
6.1 Additional Main Board Terminology:
  • Corner: Where a space takes a 90° turn to continue the path.
  • Path divide: Where the center spaces break the path. All path divides are corners, but not all corners are path divides.
  • Homefield: A piece is in their home field whenever they are on a space that is adjacent to their yard.
  • Yard space: four spaces within each player’s yard that eliminated pieces, as well as pieces at the start of the game, go. They are marked with small white circles.
  • Star space: This space is marked with a five-pointed star on a few of the pathway spaces. Each star space is a different color, portraying each party’s main star space.
  • Directional Markings: Placed on the top space of every player’s home area. They have different markings, including “N”, “E”, “S”, and “W”.
  • “T” space: A space marked with the letter T where teleportation could begin.
  • “D” space: A space marked with the letter D where teleportation could end.
  • Spell Card Space: A space marked with a black four-pointed star.
  • Structural Spaces: A part of each player’s yard that is marked with the letter S. 
  • Trap Space: The space behind your starting space, which is marked with the letter X.
  • Prison of War Spaces: A part of each player’s yard, and are marked with the letter P.
  • Basketball Hoop Spaces: Marked with the letter “B.”
  • Fishing Spaces: These are pathway spaces that touch the edge of the board, excluding trap spaces. The spaces are marked with numbers, and the fishing action can be performed on these spaces.
  • Tank Spaces: This refers to a type of space within each player’s yard area. There are three sub-types, with one of each within the yard. They are:
    • Shield Tank Space, which is marked by a cross symbol.
    • Attack Tank Space, which is marked by a lightning bolt symbol.
    • Anti-tank Tank Space, which is marked by a circle with a diagonal line.
    • Artillery Space, which is marked with the letter “A.”
6.2 Homefield Advantage:    

Being at your home field gives you advantages due to your party’s better experience with the area. A party member benefits from this whenever they are on a space adjacent to their yard. A party member immediately loses their homefield advantage once they are no longer in a space that is adjacent to their yard. The following is applied when a piece has home-field advantage:
  • Attacking around a great divide does not give disadvantage, and you get to add your intelligence modifier to the roll.
  • Your party has advantage in getting your pieces through tackles.
  • Pieces moving backward from becoming frightened only move half of the spaces rolled, rounded up.
  • Your pieces have advantage on contest rolls for skirmishes.
6.3 Cover Rules:    

Path divides can serve as cover and are helpful for both offensive and defensive purposes. These upcoming rules take effect when the attacker is on the space behind a path divide and the defender is on the space after it. The attacker can still use melee weapons in this case and will not be penalized for using ranged weapons.

​Suppose the defending player took the dodge action during their last turn. In that case, that piece gets an additional +4 bonus while also adding their adaptability modifier, all on top of the bonus they already get from dodging. An attacking player adds their adaptability modifier, but gets no bonuses or penalties unless specified otherwise in the game’s rules.
6.4 Home Area and Its Spaces:    

When moving on the pathway and getting to the space before their own trap space, have the piece make a right into your own home space. Follow all of the rules with movement rolls. Pieces may not move into the home area of another player. Pieces in the home area cannot be affected by weapon attacks, spells, punches, pivotal moments, and other players in general, unless said otherwise.
6.5 Star Spaces:    

The star space is a space within each quadrant of the board that gives the pieces on it better defensive capabilities. This space is marked with a five-pointed star on a few of the pathway spaces. Ambushes are not guaranteed on this space, and there is a chance that pieces can survive reaching 0 HP. However, unlike regular Ludo, the protection that this space provides is not guaranteed, requiring check rolls to work.
    
When being ambushed while on a star space, the player whose piece is being ambushed gets to roll a saving throw with a goal that is 4 + the attacking player’s speed modifier. The player making the roll adds their dexterity modifier to the roll. If it succeeds, the piece being ambushed gets to remain on the star space unharmed, with the attacking piece getting pushed forward to the next legal space and becoming unconscious. If it fails, the piece being ambushed becomes unconscious like usual. For skirmishes, the piece on the star space has advantage.
    
Also, when falling to 0 HP on the star space, roll a contest roll against the source of the damage, with the source of the damage being the offender, and do not roll a die. Instead, their “roll” is the total amount of damage that the piece took. The defender may add their constitution modifier to the roll. If the defender wins, the piece that was damaged remains alive at 1 HP. If the offender wins, the damaged piece becomes unconscious, as usual.
    
Finally, each star space is a different color, corresponding to each party’s color. Parties may form blocks on star spaces of their own color, but are unable to do so on star spaces of another party’s color.
6.6 Teleportation Spaces:    

Two types of spaces on the board denote teleportation spaces, with four of each type. With these spaces, the power of teleportation is sometimes available to every player. This mechanic allows you to increase a piece’s movement on a turn without using an action, bonus action, or reaction, but with a risk.

When a piece lands on a space with a “T” on it, you can choose to have the piece teleport to the next “D” space. When you do this, move over any obstacles and players, like with a sneak action. If that D space has an enemy piece on it, that piece is ambushed, following all of the rules that come with ambushing. However, as said previously, there is a risk in choosing to teleport. That piece must make a saving throw with a goal of 4, adding your luck modifier to the roll. If the roll succeeds, nothing else happens to the party member. If the roll fails, the piece becomes unconscious upon entering the D space. Finally, if the traveling piece cannot legally remain on the D space, it is pushed forward following the same rules as the general pushing rules.
6.7 Spell Card Spaces:    

Spell card spaces are marked with a black four-pointed star. When one of your pieces lands on or goes past one of these spaces, draw a spell card from the top of the deck. You may only have up to your maximum hand size, which is 4 + your intelligence modifier. If you are at your maximum hand size, you may only draw if you choose to shed spells. When you shed spells, you choose 2 cards already in your hand, which can be spells, meta-magic, or one of each. Afterward, draw the 1 you were supposed to.
6.8 Directional Markings:    

Directional Markings are placed on the top space of every player’s home area. These do not directly affect the entities on the board, but remind players which direction north, east, south, and west are. The information provided is essential for mechanics such as wind.
    
The side on which the yellow player’s home area spaces are located is north. Thus, it is marked with an N. Any piece or creature that faces this direction is said to face north. This logic continues with the other directions:
6.9 Structural Spaces:    

Structural Spaces are a part of each player’s yard and are marked with the letter S. Note that the top space of the red player’s home area is not a structural space, but rather a directional marking. All types of structures could be built on any structural space unless said otherwise. They are each seen as adjacent to the pathway spaces that they are touching. No piece or creature can enter structural spaces, even if it matches the color of the piece. Parties can build structures on them, but only on the spaces that the building player has in their yard.
    
The pathway space that is directly next to a structure is considered adjacent to that structure. Treat it somewhat like two adjacent pathway spaces. This ruling helps determine the distance between one of them and a piece or other structure.
6.10 Prison of War spaces:    

Prison of War Spaces are a part of each player’s yard and are marked with the letter P. There are three different ones, each with a different color. These represent each of your opponents, in which you may only have a maximum of one piece of a particular color in your prison of war at a time. You must place captured pieces on their corresponding prison of war space within your yard.

When a piece is sent to another player’s prison of war, they are sent to one of the prison of war spaces of the other player. A piece in one of these spaces cannot be moved unless it successfully escapes and is not able to take actions, bonus actions, reactions, or contribute to building structures.
    
When a piece is in a prison of war, at the special rules phase of the player’s turn, who owns the captured piece, a contest roll is made with the player who has that piece in their prison of war. The escapee is the offender and adds the total of 5 minus the number of pieces in the opponent's yard, not counting other prisoners of war, but counting catgirl girlfriends or catboy boyfriends. The defender adds nothing unless a rule says otherwise. If the escaping player wins, their piece is returned to one of their yard spaces. If not, the piece remains in the prison of war. Pieces in a prison of war may not be brought out or perform regular actions.
6.11 Trap Spaces:    

Behind your starting space is your trap space. It is marked with the letter X. When a piece lands on this trap space, it takes 1 normal damage and is at risk of being restrained. Roll a saving throw, with the goal being 4 + the owning player’s engineering modifier. You get to add your dexterity modifier to the roll. Nothing happens if your pieces take the sneak action on your turn and land on this space.
6.12 Fishing Spaces:    

When on a fishing space, you may choose to use an action to fish. When you do so, roll a contest roll against the number on the space, with you being the offender. Add your luck modifier to the roll. If the roll succeeds, refer to the fishing table to see what your party gains. Otherwise, nothing happens, and your action phase is over.
    
This contest roll could potentially crit, for both successes and failures. For critical successes, you have advantage for the roll on the fishing table. For critical failures, the piece performing the action falls into the water, which causes it to gain the wet status condition.
    
The roll could also result in a grazing hit. When this happens, you have disadvantage for the roll on the fishing table.
    
When your party gains a fish or weapon from performing the fishing action, the item goes into that player’s looted item slot. If there is an item already in that slot, it gets replaced by the newly gained thing. Finally, if you roll a 20 on the table, refer to the “fishing weapons” table and gain whichever one the roll determines. If it is a range weapon, it also gains as much ammunition for the weapon as it gains from a supply drop.
Finally, when the party consumes a fish, there is a slight chance that the fish they ate is poisonous. When consuming it, roll a d20. If it lands on a 1, then the party gains none of the effects from the fish and gains the poisoned condition for 2 turns. If it lands on anything other than 1, then the item’s effects go through as usual.
6.13 Basketball Hoop Spaces:    

On a planet from a neighboring galaxy, two aliens are social media influencers. They are trying to set a record for the longest basketball shot in the observable universe and make a video of it. Unfortunately, the hoops they are shooting for are on the game’s battlefield. The hoops are on the basketball hoop spaces on the board.
    
During the night phase, before the player with the god token rolls on the Calendar Board, that player rolls 2 d20s. If both of the dice land on 20, a special event happens in which the shot is made. Otherwise, nothing happens, and the night phase continues. 

In this special event, the player with the god token rolls a d4 and refers to the table below. The result listed in the table indicates which of the hoops the ball passes through. It lands on one of the Basketball Hoop Spaces, which are marked with the letter “B.” If a creature is on that basketball hoop space when this happens, that creature is immediately eliminated.
6.14 Tank Spaces:    

There are three unique spaces that tanks can occupy. These are the Shield Space, the Attack Space, and the Anti-tank Space. During your tank movement phase of your turn, they are moved from one of these in your yard to a different one or stay where it is. For more information, refer to the chapter on tanks.
    
Other types of pieces and entities may not occupy these spaces unless a rule says otherwise. Tanks may not enter tank spaces within other players’ yards.
6.15 What If Multiple Pieces Are on the Same Space:    

In Ludicrous Ludo, only two pieces of the same color or one piece of a different color could occupy the same space. If a piece was forced to move to, be moved to, or remain in a space in which this rule would be broken, it is instead pushed to the next space in the direction it was moving unless said otherwise. This process is continued until it is moved to a legal space. Also, pieces cannot be pushed past their starting space and are instead pushed in the opposite direction.
    
If a piece is pushed into a space with an enemy piece, then something known as a “skirmish” happens. A skirmish is considered a special type of ambush. In this case, both sides make a contest roll, adding their respective luck modifiers. If there is a block on that space, the player who has the block makes the roll with advantage. The winner of the contest roll remains in the space, while all of the losers become unconscious.