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These pages contain rules, maps, articles and general web pages for over 170 Diplomacy variants.

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[ Numbers and Letters A - C | Letters D - H | Letters I - P | Letters R - Z ]

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1492 (Edwin Godfrey)
This 4-player variant takes place on a map of the known world in 1492, when much of the globe was actually unknown to the Europeans. To supplement this initial map, the GM creates his own version of the rest of the world which connects on all sides with the known world, but need not have any resemblance to the real world as we know it. By making the majority, of the playing board unknown, the players have to 'discover' it gradually as did the early explorers. Somewhat modified rules apply.

1600 (Tommy Larsson)
This 9-player variant takes place on a map that is similar to the standard map but slightly expanded to include a bit more of Northern Africa and Western Asia. Standard rules apply.

1700 II (Martin Dean)
This eight-player variant takes place in 1700 on a map similar to the standard map but extending a bit farther East into Asia. There are a number of modifications to the standard rules, including the fact that each turn represents a full year, meaning that most units may give two orders per turn, or may make a single double-strength order.
  • Rules (at the variantbank.org variant archive)
  • Maps: [ gif ]

1720 (Nick Danfort)
This map covers the same area as the standard map but takes place 200 years earlier and has corresponding geographic divisions. Standard Diplomacy rules apply, except for a rule concerning movement across the Strait of Gibraltar.

1812 Overture (W. Alex Ronke)
This six-player variant is set in the 1810's and ties together the intercontinental conflicts at the end of the Napoleonic era. Each player controls two powers, which are split between North America and Europe. The game ends when a player conquers 18 SCs (total), with at least 12 of those SCs located in the same continent. Two players can simultaneously achieve these goals as well for a double-win.

1885 III (Fred C. Davis, Jr.)
A nine-player variant which takes place on a modified version of the standard map. Modified rules apply, including the Army/Fleet rules, special rules for certain provinces, and a few others.
  • Rules (at the variantbank.org variant archive)
  • Maps: [ gif ]

1897 (Mark Nelson, Josh Smith and Rick Westerman)
Standard map and standard Diplomacy rules, except that the game starts at the end of Fall, 1897, when each power selects an initial home supply center. Only those centers that have been captured by Winter 1899 become home supply centers.

1898 (Randy Davis)
Standard map and standard Diplomacy rules, except that the game starts in the Winter of 1898 with each power having only one unit. Other home supply centers must be captured before they can be used for builds.

1900 (B. M. Powell)
This 7-player variant takes place on a map that covers an area similar to that of the standard map, but which extends a bit farther South to include more of Northern Africa and a bit of the Middle East. Standard rules apply, with a few relatively minor changes to rules, starting positions and geography.

1913 (Jeff Kase)
This 15-player variant uses the standard Diplomacy rules and map, with a few small modifications. The one substantial difference between this variant and the standard game is the addition of eight Minor Power players in addition to the usual seven Great Powers. These powers start with one SC each, and can dramatically affect the outcome of the game.

1939 (Joao Pedro Neto)
This 11-player variant uses a map that is similar in coverage to the standard map, but has modified provinces and includes a greater portion of Northern Africa and Western Asia. Modified rules apply, which affect the number of seasons, types of powers, types of units and types of moves. Optional modules also extend the game to include spies, u-boats and alliances.

1958 (original version of standard Diplomacy) (Allan Calhamer)
Allan Calhamer's original 1958 rules for Diplomacy. Both the rules and map differ from the modern-day version of standard Diplomacy.

7-Island Diplomacy (Paul Bennett)
Standard Diplomacy rules and standard map except that seven islands are now neutral supply centers to change the dynamics of the the initial game.

Aberration (Rod Walker and Nick Fitzpatrick)
A nine-player variant which covers a similar part of Europe as the standard map, but has great powers that might have existed if history had gone a little bit differently. Standard Diplomacy rules with a few slight modifications.

Abstraction II (Fred C. Davis, Jr.)
Modified map that covers a similar part of Europe but which has more land and water locations and additional supply centers. Uses standard Diplomacy rules plus special Army/Fleet rules.

Africa '82 (Brian Lorber)
This 7 player variant takes place on a map of Africa. Standard rules apply with a couple of very minor additions, which include the Suez Canal and the fact that some neutral supply centers can be used as build provinces by certain powers.
  • Rules (at the variantbank.org variant archive)
  • Maps: [ gif ]

African (Phil Reynolds)
This six-player variant uses the standard Diplomacy rules but takes place on a map of Africa.

African (David "Thundar" Lawler)
A second African Diplomacy variant, in which rather than beginning with set powers, 10 players create their own powers by placing 4 pieces each, in round-robin fashion, on the map before movements begin. Up to four home centers may be declared during the course of the game, and they need not be in contiguous provinces. Fleets are allowed to navigate rivers and can even be built to sail in several lakes on the map.

Ambition & Empire (B. M. Powell and Jeff Kase)
Ambition & Empire is a Diplomacy variant for ten players that is set in Europe at the conclusion of the Seven Years War (1756-63). The title pays tribute to the empire-building, war-and-conquest philosophy held by the great leaders of the day.

Anarchy
Standard Diplomacy rules, and can be used with any map. The main difference is that preference lists for initial game setup are done on a center-by-center basis rather than power-by-power.

Ancient Mediterranean (Don Hessong)
The Ancient Mediterranean is a five player map variant based loosely on the powerful civilizations of that period and area; Rome, Carthage, Greece, Egypt and Persia.

Anonymous (Postal community term for games where player identities are unknown)
Postal community term for any game in which player identities are unknown. Equivalent to the term gunboat as used by the PBEM community.

Arab Diplomacy (Roland Isaksson)
This eight-player variant takes place in the 1990's on a new map that includes the Middle East and surrounding regions. Standard Diplomacy rules apply, plus several rules regarding special provinces and a few optional rules such as a "paradrop" and chemical warfare.

Ard-Rí (Stuart John Bernard)
Diplomacy set in fourth century Ireland. Five kingdoms on the island must deal with each other and with Viking raiders. Fleets from the kingdoms of the Emerald Isle can also conduct raids on off-board areas to earn free builds for their power.

Arms Merchant (Chris Fawcett)
Inspired by the Fiascomacy and Vote variants, in this variant players do not control individual powers, but rather apply influence across all of the powers on the board, which allows them to affect the movement of those powers' units. Players win the game by accruing a "controlling" interest in the pieces on the board.

Army/Fleet Rules (Fred C. Davis, Jr.)
Not a variant in and of itself, army/fleet rules are a set of rules that were initially developed for the Abstraction variant but have since been made use of in numerous other variants and are therefore listed separately for reference. With army/fleet rules, armies are not convoyed but instead move across bodies of water by forming army/fleets.
  • Rules (at the variantbank.org variant archive)
  • Maps: N/A

Arpiesse (Simon Szykman)
In this variant, each unit is one of three "colors" (red, purple, or silver), and each color has complete superiority over one other color, defeating even better supported units of the inferior color.

Asia (David Lawler, Peter Baer, and Will Wible) and Asia Redux (Pitt Crandlemire)
A pair of seven-player variants with slightly different maps that use standard Diplomacy rules, but take place on maps of Asia.

Backseat Driver (Simon Szykman)
A variant that can be played with any map. A no-partial press (broadcast-only) game in which powers can read press but are forbidden from sending any press. Each power has one or more advisors that serve to suggest moves and negotiate with other advisors on the behalf of the powers they represent.

Balkan (Martin Behal)
A seven-player variant which takes place in the Balkan region of Europe. The variant has no neutral supply centers. Standard rules apply, with three minor modifications.

Balkan Battle (Roland Isaksson)
This variant is designed to be a fast-playing variant for two or three players. The variant is played on a modified portion of the standard map. Every move is one year, so there are builds after each move.
  • Rules (at the variantbank.org variant archive)
  • Maps: [ gif ]

Balkan Wars IV (Fred C. Davis, Jr.)
This seven-player power takes place starting in 1911, prior to the outbreak of the Great War, on a new map encompassing the Baklan states and the Ottoman Empire. Standard rules apply, with a number of modifications including a river and secret builds (unit types and locations for builds are revealed revealed with and not before the Spring orders).
  • Rules (at the variantbank.org variant archive)
  • Maps: [ gif ]

Baltic (David Caldwell)
A four-player variant that takes place in the region surrounding the baltic sea. Standard Diplomacy rules apply, with a couple of additional rules relating to canals and geography.

Barbaria (Russell Tulp)
This eight player-variant takes place in the time of the barbarians (early 6th century) on a new map that covers roughly the same area as the standard map. The variant uses modified rules including army/fleet rules, and includes double and triple armies and fleets in addition to the standard (single) units.
  • Rules (at the variantbank.org variant archive)
  • Maps: [ gif ]

Battle of the Five Armies
This 7-player variant takes place in on a map set in Tolkein's Middle Earth. Unlike most Middle Earth variants, this one is a map-only variant which uses standard rules.

Black Hole Diplomacy
In this variant, after each movement phase, one province turns into a black hole and disappears. All provices that were adjacent to that one are now adjacent to one another.

Blind
This variant may be played on any map. Standard Diplomacy rules apply, except that each player is only given limited information about the results of each phase. Such results are only the results of the player's own orders, those which occur within or adjacent to a power's home country, and those which occur in locations adjacent to the player's own units. There have been numerous interpretations of this theme. this variant is implemented The Pouch's DPjudge.

Blood & Iron (Tom Swider)
A five-player variant set in the Bismarck Era, and played on a new map. The game is designed to be a shorter-length game. Standard rules apply, with a few modifications.
  • Rules (at the variantbank.org variant archive)
  • Maps: [ gif ]

Boer Diplomacy (Martin Behal)

"Brazilian Variant" (GROW Produtos Para Recreacao, Ltda.)
A "bootleg" version of the game, published in Brazil without authorization or licensing from Avalon Hill. The map is similar to the standard map, with a few differences. There is a 35th SC in North Africa making a two-way draw impossible. Also, Edi, Cly, NAO and Nwg meet at a point, so that a fleet in Cly can't move to Nwg without first passing through NAO or Edi. Lastly, there is a small dotted line -- a water border -- that extends from Berlin across the water to Denmark, creating a small, unlabeled body of water up against Kiel, allowing fleets to move Hel directly to Bal without stopping in Kie or Den first. The rules for the game have Italy starting out with a Fleet in Rome instead of an army.

Bretwalda (Geoff Bache)
A nine-player variant that takes place on map that is limited to the British Isles. Standard Diplomacy rules apply, plus a few special rules, such as a third type of unit and "ports", which are the only SC in which a power is permitted to build fleets.

Britain (Danny Loeb and Bruce McIntyre [independently])
Standard map and standard Diplomacy rules, except that every English province is a supply center and England starts out with six armies and no fleets.

Capitalist Diplomacy (Kerry Slavin)
This variant is designed to be used in conjunction with the standard map. Each player starts the game with a single unit that starts in their power's "Capital" determined by a voting process. The power's home supply centers include the Capital plus any other supply centers owned by the end of the second year of the game. Supply centers generate currency, which is used to order one's own units or to bribe the units of other powers.

Chaos (Michel Ferion)
A 34-player variant which uses the standard map. Every player starts out with one home supply center. Standard Diplomacy rules apply except that a player can build in any owned supply center, not just the home center.

Chromatic (James Millington, Robert Schone and Lynsey Smith)
A five-player variant that uses the standard Diplomacy rules but with a new map which is symmetrical making this ideally a perfectly balanced variant. Identical to the Romans variant (which was based on Five Italies) but with renamed land and water locations.

Chronos (Wes Makin)
In this variant, each player has the power to call for a just-completed turn to be rolled back. All players who called for a rollback (and only those players) can change their order before the re-play of the rolled back phase. Each player may only call for one rollback in any six turn (three game-year) timespan.
  • Maps: Any

Classical (Andy Schwarz, Vincent Mous)
This is a five-player variant that takes place in the era of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. The game uses the standard Diplomacy Rules and a map of the region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

Collapse of the Confederacy (Will Nesbitt)
A variant based on a USA where the Union did not win the Civil War. The game is set in the southeastern states (the Confederacy) as the Confederate states fight for supremacy.

Colonia VII-B (Fred Hyatt)
This 9-player variant is played on a map of the entire world. Slightly modified standard rules apply, with modifications including the concept of colonies, and a handful of special supply centers which once captured, may be used by certain powers as home supply centers for the purpose of builds.

Colonial (P. Hawes)
The first simple Diplomacy variant that was actually sold commercially, this seven-player game takes place mostly in Asia, with just a little bit of Eastern Europe and Northern Africa thrown in. The rules are similar to the standard Diplomacy rules, but not identical, having some special rules such as a railroad in Russia and the Suez Canal in Egypt.

Colonial America (Nick Danfort)
A six-player variant that takes place in North America during the time of the American Colonies. Standard Diplomacy rules apply, except for a time lag between build orders and builds.

Colonization II (Mike Allaway)
This eight-player variant takes place in the year 3900 AD. Standard Diplomacy rules apply except for the initial setup which is randomized. The game uses the standard map, but with a few geographic changes caused by a nuclear war (some land spaces have become sea spaces and vice-versa).
  • Rules (at the Box Frenzy site)
  • Maps: None available

Crowded
An eleven-player variant that takes place on the standard map (with a new supply center in Ruhr), with the standard powers plus four new powers (Balkan, Lowland, Norway, Spain). The game is so-named because there are no neutral supply centers. Standard Diplomacy rules apply.

Crystal Ball (Manus Hand and John Woolley)
In this variant, moves for a given phase are submitted before the results of the previous phase are revealed. The rules cover a variety of situations that can arise in the course of playing with incomplete knowledge about the current board.
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