"If I told you outright that wouldn't be fun; don't just ignore the hints."
Trina laughs, and pulls out a deck of cards.
"Fine. I tell you what - let's play a round. If you win, I'll tell you what you want to know. And if I win, you tell me something I want to know."
07.01a: The Seventh Winter (First Seating)
Re: 07.01a: The Seventh Winter (First Seating)
Benabik scowls slightly before catching himself and smiling. "And here I thought pondering the imponderables about our host was just small talk. I suppose if you want to make it into something more significant I won't argue. Although it wouldn't be fair to exclude Lady Sybaris..." He turns towards her, apparently waiting for any objection.
Re: 07.01a: The Seventh Winter (First Seating)
"One round is just luck, and I prefer not to gamble. ...Shall we say four rounds, whoever has the most points at the end wins a single question? And I know the perfect game for this, too; it's called Snakes and Favors, and the rules are..."
Alys explains the game; it's a fairly standard trick-taking game - bid on number of tricks you can win, highest card played wins the trick, variable trump suit, yadda, yadda, with a twist: you play cards two at a time; one face up, and one face down. The face up cards determine who wins the trick, but the face down cards get added in when scoring it - and certain cards or combinations of cards result in a "poisoned" trick that reduces your score. Of course, there are also ways to counteract poisoned tricks (starting with not winning them in the first place), and counter the counters, and so on and so forth; it's fairly clearly designed for cut-throat play in the same lines as the board game Diplomacy, where victory goes to the person best able to negotiate shifting alliances, find the right time to backstab his or her (former) allies, and lie about what cards they played face-down. The dealer gets a slight advantage, but - at least for those with strong warfare - it's equally clear that that's intended to merely set the stage for the game; it's a small imbalance to kick-start the diplomacy-like aspects of the game by providing someone the other players need to ally against, and is easily overcome by even a little bit of teamwork.
"And, as both of us have set some of the terms, it seems only fair to give Benabik the advantage of dealing first."
Alys explains the game; it's a fairly standard trick-taking game - bid on number of tricks you can win, highest card played wins the trick, variable trump suit, yadda, yadda, with a twist: you play cards two at a time; one face up, and one face down. The face up cards determine who wins the trick, but the face down cards get added in when scoring it - and certain cards or combinations of cards result in a "poisoned" trick that reduces your score. Of course, there are also ways to counteract poisoned tricks (starting with not winning them in the first place), and counter the counters, and so on and so forth; it's fairly clearly designed for cut-throat play in the same lines as the board game Diplomacy, where victory goes to the person best able to negotiate shifting alliances, find the right time to backstab his or her (former) allies, and lie about what cards they played face-down. The dealer gets a slight advantage, but - at least for those with strong warfare - it's equally clear that that's intended to merely set the stage for the game; it's a small imbalance to kick-start the diplomacy-like aspects of the game by providing someone the other players need to ally against, and is easily overcome by even a little bit of teamwork.
"And, as both of us have set some of the terms, it seems only fair to give Benabik the advantage of dealing first."
Last edited by Wyvern on Wed Sep 12, 2012 12:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: 07.01a: The Seventh Winter (First Seating)
Trina hands the cards to Benabik. "Advantage to you then. Sounds like a fun game to experience. Shall we?"
Re: 07.01a: The Seventh Winter (First Seating)
Benabik shrugs and takes the deck, shuffling it nimbly but without the flair or grace that comes with practice. "Sounds interesting, I suppose. Should at the very least pass the time pleasantly." He turns to Trina and adds, "It's my deal and Alys' game, so I'll let you cut the deck." He then deals by sliding the cards across the table, each player's hand forming a rough pile in front of them.
As the game begins, he does try to keep up some small talk. "Any news around the realm? I've heard precious little these last few months other than word about this party."
OOC Note: I suggest that we each post our strategy for the round, then let Josh arbitrate the results. Further, we should post in hand order due to the structure of the game. (i.e. for the first round Benabik has the advantage of generally seeing what others are doing before playing himself.) Sneaky tricks can be messaged to the GM.
As the game begins, he does try to keep up some small talk. "Any news around the realm? I've heard precious little these last few months other than word about this party."
OOC Note: I suggest that we each post our strategy for the round, then let Josh arbitrate the results. Further, we should post in hand order due to the structure of the game. (i.e. for the first round Benabik has the advantage of generally seeing what others are doing before playing himself.) Sneaky tricks can be messaged to the GM.
Re: 07.01a: The Seventh Winter (First Seating)
Alys shrugs as she looks at her hand. "I got here only a couple days ago, which makes it a little hard to tell what is or isn't 'new'. And I'm sure you've already researched the obvious matters - who's been invited, walked the pattern, etcetera, so I won't bore you with those details."
"What might be interesting, though, is the question of who hasn't been invited."
Alys gestures off to where Darnell and a robed figure are talking to some guards. "Take, for example, Osmund over there. He's apparently been snooping around for most of a year. Pretty good at hiding his tracks; I know he's got a bit of an interest in clockwork, and his name, and not really anything more than that. That he got in here at all demonstrates a decent level of skill, too; as guards go, the ones we've got are no slouches."
OOC: Alys plays the first hand very defensively, taking few tricks, and only when she's confident they won't end up poisoned. For the rest of her play, she's making at least some effort to tilt the game in Benabik's favor, preferring to send poisoned cards to Trina.
"What might be interesting, though, is the question of who hasn't been invited."
Alys gestures off to where Darnell and a robed figure are talking to some guards. "Take, for example, Osmund over there. He's apparently been snooping around for most of a year. Pretty good at hiding his tracks; I know he's got a bit of an interest in clockwork, and his name, and not really anything more than that. That he got in here at all demonstrates a decent level of skill, too; as guards go, the ones we've got are no slouches."
OOC: Alys plays the first hand very defensively, taking few tricks, and only when she's confident they won't end up poisoned. For the rest of her play, she's making at least some effort to tilt the game in Benabik's favor, preferring to send poisoned cards to Trina.
Re: 07.01a: The Seventh Winter (First Seating)
"Other than what Dworkin is cooking up there is precious little news. The various courts are filling out I believe. Thought Oberon may know more about that. The boy seems to know all the goings on."
OOC: Trina's strategy will be to underbid forcing Benabik to overbid while attempting to put up an adequate poker face to Alys and throw some tricks."
OOC: Trina's strategy will be to underbid forcing Benabik to overbid while attempting to put up an adequate poker face to Alys and throw some tricks."
Re: 07.01a: The Seventh Winter (First Seating)
(OOC: As I want to let the card game play out... this will experience the first of our temporal drama. The card game will finish before dinner, even though the threads will likely run simultaneously...)