> From: "Elliott C. Evans" <eeyore@xxxxxxxx> > > Today I realized that if you take a Treehouse set and decorate all > 15 pieces with the same motif (for instance, gold racing stripes) > then even though the set is still multicolored, it can function as > a monochrome stash for many games. > > This also works the other way around, of course. Taking a stash > and painting the 15 pieces with 5 different motifs (for instance: > red stars, blue stripes, green swirls, yellow dots, and white > triangles) enables an old monochrome stash to function as a > Treehouse set for many games. A couple of points to consider, though: * Stacking - Whatever you do to mark pieces should be visible in a tree stack (i.e. the bases are somehow marked) and, ideally, even in a nest stack (i.e. the markings don't perfectly overlap; only effective with transparent pyramids, obviously). * Opaques - A TH set will never fully replicate an IH mono stash because of the presence of an opaque stack. This issue, in fact, is what makes it tough to play Volcano easily/properly with a 5-set plus Caps; one really needs a 10-set to do Volcano "right." Additional ideas: * Holes - Much like your skeleton pyramids, I think a unique pattern of holes would do a great job of both "monochromizing" a TH set but also obviate the above issues with stacking and opaques (and stacking opaques!). The easiest would be a pattern of circular (i.e. drilled) holes, but someone handy with a Dremel could do any number of shapes (i.e. squares, triangles, smiley faces). * Ziggurats - Cut off the points of your TH set in a particular way that leaves a hole no smaller than the base of a small pyramid (duh--that would mean your small couldn't be cut at all!). They will still stack and nest like normal, and they will be distinguishable at a glance when compared to an un-Zigguratted TH set. Obviously, this kills their utility in games with precision pointing or where the piece height is critical (e.g. as a measurement). Cool idea! You're pretty smart, you know that? David