Sigilian Poker
Sigilian Poker is a cardgame which, as the name implies, originated in Sigil. I got the idea from the description of the cardgame Flow, which is mentioned in Chapter 3 of "Tale of the Wayfarer" on the Spelljammer: Beyond the Moons site. It's probably too complicated to really be playable, but it could be useful to add a bit of flavor. If you're crazy enough to create a deck and try it out, drop me a line at [email]wyvern76@hotmail.com[/email] and let me know how it goes.
The Deck
Sigilian Poker is played with a special deck of 211 (!) cards. There are five suits: Good, Evil, Law, Chaos and Neutrality. The number of cards in each suit is different. Each card has a numerical value. The individual cards are listed below.
The Outer Planes: There are four copies of each of the Outer Planes cards, one for each of the non-neutral suits, except for the Outlands which only has one copy in the suit of Neutrality. The Outlands is worth 5 points and all the other Outer Planes are worth 1 point apiece.
The Inner Planes: There's one card for each of the Inner Planes, and they're all Neutral and worth 4 points.
The Planeborn: Each of the different types of each of the major planeborn races is represented by a single card. They're arranged roughly in ascending order of power. Point values are as follows:
Aasimon: Agathinon 2, Light 4, Movanic 6, Monadic 8, Astral 10, Planetar 12, Solar 14
Archons: Lantern 2, Hound 4, Warden 6, Sword 8, Trumpet 10, Throne 12, Tome 14
Baatezu: Lemure 0, Nupperibo 1, Spinagon 2, Abishai 3, Barbazu 4, Kocachron 4, Erinyes 5, Osyluth 6, Hamatula 7, Cornugon 8, Amnizu 9, Gelugon 10, Pit Fiend 11
Eladrin: Coure 2, Noviere 4, Bralani 6, Shiere 8, Firre 10, Ghaele 12, Tulani 14
Guardinals: Cervidal 2, Equinal 4, Avoral 6, Lupinal 8, Ursinal 10, Leonal 12
Modrons: Monodrone 1, Duodrone 2, Tridrone 3, Quadrone 4, Pentadrone 5, Decaton 6, Nonaton 7, Octon 8, Septon 9, Hexton 10, Quinton 11, Quarton 12, Tertian 13, Secundus 14, Primus 15
Rilmani: Plumach 2, Abiorach 4, Ferrumach 6, Cuprilach 8, Argenach 10, Aurumach 12
Slaadi: Red 2, Blue 4, Green 6, Gray 8, Death 10
Tanar'ri: Manes 0, Dretch 1, Rutterkin 2, Armanite 3, Succubus 4, Yochlol 4, Bar-Lgura 4, Nabassu 5, Chasme 6, Babau 7, Wastrilith 8, Goristro 9, Vrock 10, Hezrou 11, Glabrezu 12, Nalfeshnee 13, Marilith 14, Molydeus 15, Balor 16
Yugoloths: Mezzoloth 1, Canoloth 2, Dergholoth 3, Hydroloth 4, Piscoloth 5, Yagnoloth 6, Marraenoloth 7, Nycaloth 8, Arcanaloth 8, Ultroloth 10
Some of the Planeborn cards belong to two suits: Baatezu belong to Law and Evil, Archons to Law and Good, Tanar'ri to Chaos and Evil, and Eladrin to Chaos and Good. Slaadi belong to Chaos, Modrons to Law, Guardinals and Aasimon to Good, Yugoloths to Evil, and Rilmani to Neutrality.
The Planewalkers: The Planewalker cards represent the "normal" (i.e. not planeborn or plane-touched) races most commonly found on the planes, except for humans. These are the Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling, Bariaur, Githzerai and Githyanki. All are Neutral and worth 5 points.
The Plane-Touched: The Plane-touched cards are the Tiefling, Aasimar, and the four types of Genasi. All are Neutral and worth 5 points.
The Factions: Each of the fifteen factions is represented by a card; all are Neutral and worth 5 points.
Other cards: All of the remaining cards are Neutral and are as follows: the Lady of Pain (20 points), the Cage (15 points), the Astral (10 points), the Ethereal (10 points), the Dabus (5 points), and the Clueless (0 points).
Playing the Game
The basic rules of Sigilian Poker are very simple. Before the game starts, players must decide on the starting pot and the value of the chips. (Usually the "chips" are really coins, and their value is simply the denomination of the coin. Most people use coppers, although very rich players have been known to use gold pieces!) If the game is being run by a gambling establishment, the house dealer makes this decision. Otherwise, each player draws a card from the deck, and whoever draws highest is the dealer and gets to decide. If the starting pot is set at ten chips, that means each player must contribute ten chips to the pot before beginning play.
Each player is dealt a hand of 17 cards (since there are 211 cards in the deck, this means a maximum of twelve people can play, although with more than ten the draw-pile becomes too small to allow a good game). The remaining cards form the draw-pile. Each player, on his turn, may discard as many cards as he wishes from his hand (face-down next to the draw-pile) and draw an equal number from the draw-pile. However, he must add a number of chips to the pot equal to the number of cards drawn. Players may also draw from the discard pile if they wish; if they do so then they discard to the top of the draw-pile. If the original draw-pile ever runs out, the discard pile is shuffled and put in its place.
Play continues until any player decides (on his turn) to call an end to the game. At this time, all players lay down their hands, and the total value of each hand is added up. Whoever scores highest wins the entire pot. An alternative conclusion is to keep playing until all the players pass, then lay down hands. In this version, if all the players pass but one, the last player is allowed one last opportunity to discard and draw before the game ends. This prevents a player from continuing to draw and discard ad nauseum until he gets a perfect hand (this is called filibustering). It can become problematic if two or more players are filibustering, however; in this case, the game is usually ended by a unanimous vote of the other players.
Combinations
There are certain combinations of cards which are worth more points than the sum of their individual cards. Getting the best combos possible is the entire point of the game. The combos are described below, roughly in ascending order of value. (If a combo is played, the values of the individual cards in the combo do not count towards the player's score.) No card can be counted as part of two different combos in the same hand.
Planar Flush (50 points): A planar flush is a series of five adjacent Outer Planes whose suit matches their alignment. There are four possible flushes: the Flush of Law (Mt. Celestia, Arcadia, Mechanus, Acheron, Baator), the Flush of Chaos (the Abyss, Pandemonium, Limbo, Ysgard, Arborea), the Flush of Good (Arborea, the Beastlands, Elysium, Bytopia, Mt. Celestia) and the Flush of Evil (Baator, Gehenna, the Grey Waste, Carceri, the Abyss).
Ring of Four (50 points): A ring of four is any set of four Inner Planes cards which mark equidistant points in a ring going all the way around the inner planes. This is best illustrated by example. The major elemental planes (Earth, Air, Fire and Water) can be a ring of four, but so can the paraelemental planes, or the positive or negative quasielemental planes. Stranger combinations are possible such as Ooze, Positive Energy, Smoke and Negative Energy, or even Salt, Steam, Radiance and Ash. Dust, Negative Energy, Air and Mineral would not be allowed because they're not equidistant from each other.
The Ring of Four may also be any four equidistant Outer Planes whose suits match their alignments (as described for Planar Flushes). An example of an outer-planar Ring of Four would be Acheron (Law), Carceri (Evil), Ysgard (Chaos) and Bytopia (Good). Mt. Celestia, Baator, Arborea and the Abyss each have two permissible alignments, but if they're played in combination, all four alignments must be present. (Thus there are two possible permutations of this particular combo.)
Planewalkers (75 points): The seven Planewalker cards together are worth 75 points.
Great Ring (100 points): A hand consisting of each of the seventeen Outer Planes is called a Great Ring.
Sigilian Gambit (100 points): The Sigilian Gambit consists of the Lady of Pain, the Cage and the Dabus. It has the highest value-per-card of any combo in the game.
Faction War (150 points): All fifteen Faction cards together are worth 150 points.
Great Ring Flush (200 points): A hand consisting of each of the 17 Outer Planes in which the suits of the cards match the actual alignments of the planes is called a Great Ring Flush. Baator, Mt. Celestia, Arborea and the Abyss are allowed to match either of the two alignments they represent. All other planes must be of the appropriate suit as listed for Planar Flushes.
Hierarchies (variable): A hierarchy is a complete set of any of the Planeborn cards. The value of this combo is double the face values of all the individual cards. Thus, the values of individual hierarchies are as follows:
The Slaadi Hierarchy is worth 60 points.
The Guardinal and Rilmani Hierarchies are worth 84 points each.
The Yugoloth Hierarchy is worth 110 points.
The Aasimon and Eladrin Hierarchies are worth 112 points each.
The Archon Hierarchy, or Celestial Host, is worth 112 points.
The Baatezu Hierarchy, or Hierarchy of Hell, is worth 140 points.
The Modron Hierarchy, or Modron March, is worth 240 points.
The value of the Tanar'ri Hierarchy, or Abyssal Horde, varies (as is appropriate for such a chaotic crew), depending on the exact combination of cards making it up (since there are more than 17 Tanar'ri cards, it's impossible to include all of them in a hand). The highest possible value for the Abyssal Horde is 286 points. This combo is one of the highest-ranking hands in the game and is extremely hard to get; thus it's called the Royal Abyssal Horde.
Blood War (variable): A hand consisting entirely of Baatezu and Tanar'ri is called a Blood War combo, and adds 50 points to the sum of the individual cards. However, a player may not score points for both the Blood War and the Hierarchy of Hell in the same hand. The highest possible Blood War combo is worth 222 points.
Motley: Unless a player manages to form a Great Ring, Abyssal Horde, or Blood War, he'll probably have at least one or two cards in his final hand which don't fit into any of the combos listed above. These cards are collectively called "Motley" and are counted at face value and added to the total value of the combos.
Trumps
"Trump" has a different meaning in Sigilian Poker than in most cardgames. If certain cards are played in the same hand as certain other cards or combos, they're worth 5 points or double their face value, whichever is greater. This doesn't apply if they are themselves part of a different combo; in other words, only motley cards may be trump. Also, no card can be counted as trump twice in the same hand.
The Outlands is trump when played with either the Sigilian Gambit or the Rilmani Hierarchy.
The Astral card is trump in any hand containing the Githyanki, and Limbo is trump in any hand containing the Githzerai.
The Astral card is trump when played with an outer-planar Ring of Four, and the Ethereal is trump when played with an inner-planar Ring of Four.
Any Outer Planes card is trump when played in combination with the appropriate Hierarchy (no card may be trump with the Aasimon or Yugoloth Hierarchy).
Mechanus is trump in any hand containing Primus.
The Aasimar is trump when played with the Aasimon Hierarchy.
The Tiefling is trump when played with the Planewalkers.
Genasi are trump when played in the same hand as their native elemental plane.
The Githzerai and Githyanki, or Children of Gith, trump each other (in other words, they're worth a total of 20 points in combination) except when they're part of the Planewalkers combo.
The Cage is trump when played with the Planewalkers or Faction War combos or the Lady of Pain.
The Lady of Pain is trump when played with the Faction War.
Examples of high-scoring hands
Faction War (150) + Lady of Pain (2x20) + The Cage (2x15) = 220 points
Guardinal Hierarchy (84) + Rilmani Hierarchy (84) + Slaad Hierarchy (60) = 228 points
Hierarchy of Hell (140) + Sigilian Gambit (100) + Outlands (2x5) = 250 points
Yugoloth Hierarchy (110) + Sigilian Gambit (100) + Ring of Four (50) = 260 points
Modron March (240) + Children of Gith (20) = 260 points
Modron March (240) + Mechanus (5) + Lady of Pain (20) = 265 points
Sigilian Gambit (100) + 3 Rings of Four (3x50) + Astral (2x10) + Ethereal (2x10) = 290 points
Sigilian Gambit (100) + Eladrin Hierarchy (112) + Celestial Host (112) = 324 points
If you find any other killer hands, let me know.
Wyvern
I have seen a more simple game like this:
And niow for the obligatory Cant:
Addle-coved hardhead berks!
And I shall also probably re-make this game into something a bit more streamlined. More news as this story develops.
"Hey, me and a few bashers messed with this brain-box rattling game and I find it to my liking! Sure it needs to be trimmed up a bit, but anything that gets me more coin is fine in my book.
Albiet this one Prime calling herself Lidda did try to pull her cross-trade on the game. The pip squeek didn't quite pull her peel off as she wanted, and it was just us two with all the jink until some berk got privy to the dark of it. Never seen a Vrock scream quite like that when I had to run it through."
-Fringe Fartale, Tiefling Planewalker, and occasional card player-
Yeah, I've got the card pool thinned to about 75 cards. Now to update the rules...
Originally posted by CaoSlayer
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/9974/tarot.htm
I have seen a more simple game like this:
Dead link. site closed due to inactivety.
Originally posted by Eco-Mono
I shall now bump this for scrutiny.
And I shall also probably re-make this game into something a bit more streamlined. More news as this story develops.
Wow. I certainly never expected to see this thread again! Nice to know someone's interested in my creation, and I'd be most curious to see what you come up with.
Wyvern
SIGILIAN POKER
Poker is probably the most well-known gambling game on the Prime. And as gambling is a virtually universal idea, poker has spread to the planar scene as well. However, they do it a little differently.
The Deck
Sigilian Poker uses a unique deck of 75 cards, divided into the four suits of Evil, Good, Chaos and Law. Cards can have one suit, two, or none, and a card may not have opposing suits (eg Good and Evil). The cards mainly represent prominent races, places and faces on the Outer Planes.
Rank Cards are denoted by a number from 1 to 5. They represent planeborn (exemplar) races in line with a particular alignment. Since there is a set for each possible combination of suits, there are a total of 45 of these cards.
King Cards represent important representatives of an alignment and are denoted with a K. Only one King card exists for each suit combination, so there are only 9 Kings.
Plane Cards represent the 17 planes of the Great Wheel, plus Sigil. Unlike Rank and King cards, however, they are not evenly divided among the possible suits. There are 12 with one suit, 4 with two suits, and 2 with no suit, for a total of 18. (This works because planes such as Ysgard and Pandemonium are suited to their primary alignment, ie both would be simply Chaotic.)
Special Cards are unusual in that they don't fall into the other categories. There are two Clueless cards and one Lady card here, all suitless.
Here are some examples, badly photochopped up by yours truly:
Lawful Good 1 (a Lantern Archon), the plane of Mechanus, and the Lady.
Rules of Play
Sigilian Poker plays much like its Prime counterpart. Players are dealt hands of nine cards, have a round of betting, trade in as many as they like for new cards from the deck, bet again, and then reveal their cards to see who won. However, the modified deck means that scoring rules are also new.
There are four kinds of combination one might have: Matches, Straights, Hierarchies, Cages, and Great Rings.
Matches are equivalent to Of-A-Kinds in prime Poker (Three 2s, four Kings, two Planes...) However, you can concievably go up to nine-of-a-kind!
Straights work like they do in poker as well. For non-suited straights the order is 1-2-3-4-5-King.
Hierarchies (also known as Straight Flushes) occur when one has a Straight in which either all cards share at least one suit, or none of the cards have a suit. A player may form these using the order 1-2-3-4-5-King or 1-2-3-4-5-Plane-King.
Cages are a special set that are formed from Sigil and specificly suited cards. Possible combinations are:
Law + Chaos + Good + Evil
Law + Chaos + Good + Evil + No suit
Law + Chaos + Good + Evil + No suit + Sigil
Lawful Good + Chaotic Evil + Chaotic Good + Lawful Evil
Lawful Good + Chaotic Evil + Chaotic Good + Lawful Evil + No suit
Lawful Good + Chaotic Evil + Chaotic Good + Lawful Evil + No suit + Sigil
Great Rings are the best hand in the game. They require one Plane of every possible suit combination, and so there are very few ways to get it.
Note that none of these combinations use Lady or Clueless. While the treatment of these cards varies from place to place, the usual consensus is that Lady is wild and Clueless is a dead card (can't even be a 2-card match if you have both of them).
To determine who has the best set of cards, follow these guidelines:
1.) Bigger sets are always better. In the case that a person has multiple sets, treat them as a single set of the lowest type among them, and a size 1 lower than the total of the cards involved. For instance, a 5-card straight and a 3-card match would be counted together as a 7-card match.
2.) If there is a tie for set size, then Cages beat Hierarchies beat Straights beat Matches. Great Ring wins against anything.
3.) If there is still a tie, determine winner by the highest card in the hands. (Clueless < 1 < 2 < 3 < 4 < 5 < P < K < Lady )
4.) If there is still a tie, the top players split the pot.
Variant: Limbo Hold'em
If you wish, you can play a Hold'em-esque version of Sigilian Poker as well. If that is the case, rounds proceed like so:
1.) Players ante or post blinds.
2.) Players are dealt 3 cards each.
3.) A round of betting occurs.
4.) Five cards are dealt to the center. These cards may be used as if in anyone's hand.
5.) A round of betting occurs.
6.) Two cards are dealt to the center.
7.) A round of betting occurs.
8.) Two cards are dealt to the center.
9.) A round of betting occurs.
10.) Players reveal their cards, scoring as though their hand consisted of those three, plus six chosen from the nine in the center.
Originally posted by Eco-Mono
Sooner or later I get around to all my projects. ;)
It's aliiiiive! :D Love the artwork!
You definitely streamlined the rules, to the point that it's not really even the same game. The original game was supposed to be insanely complicated, like the game that inspired it*. Your version, on the other hand, actually sounds playable. It also sounds more like real poker (granted, I've never actually played real poker :D). One thing I'd change is that I think Planes ought to be higher than Kings.
So who did you have in mind for the nine Kings?
Wyvern
* The game was Flow, a complicated card game that had originated somewhere out near Wryspace and which made use of a one-hundred and ten card deck.
...
Flow was a complex game which relied on many factors, including the sphere in which it was played, the number of players, the race of the player, and the local standard time. A player was dealt a hand of thirteen cards, five to seven of which he could play at any time (depending on the variables). He could sacrifice up to three cards, asking for more in hopes of improving his hand, or he could play what he was dealt.
Pierce took a long moment to look at his cards again before pulling four from his hand and flipping them onto the table. The Queen of the Arcane, the Ancient Mariner, the Dreamslayer, the Zodar. Only the Zodar and the Ancient Mariner were powerful cards, but in combination with the others it formed a Triumph, one of the most powerful hands in the game. It was very nearly unbeatable.
Jack smiled. Slowly he laid down his own cards. The Flowfiend, the 13 of Scro, the Comet Stallion, the Sun Dragon, and the 7 of Voids. Each one more powerful than the one before. But while each of them was extremely powerful in its own right, together they served only to neutralize each other.
Regdar: .........-_-......
Mialee:......^_^.......
Jozan:......-_-?......
Fringe:...................I'll bet 500 gold
Regdar: I'll see your 500, and I'll raise you a portal key to Elysium Nymph Bath House.
Mialee: I fold.
Jozan: I'll see your portal key my Cubic Gate
Fringe: Okay then, I'll see the portal key with your Lidda *puts up Houdini can't escape it even outfitted Lidda onto the table*
*all three guys put down their cards*
Jozan & Regdar: O_O
Fringe: ^_^
Regdar: A Great Ring.....
Jozan: All 17 planes and Sigil........
Mialee: there goes our bribe money...
Regdar: at least we don't have to put up with her anymore.....
Lidda: mmffmfmfmfmffff!!!!!
Fringe: ...hmmm... I guess it would only be right if I let her go and give her back to y-
RJM: NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Fringe: but I really don't think my wife would wa-
RJM: *bookin it*
Lidda:......*slips out* well now, so where's my share?
Fringe: *hands over 300 gold and a map for all of the mansions at the Lady's Ward* there ya go, now you better go catch'em!
Lidda: ^_^ yep!
Originally posted by Wyvern76
One thing I'd change is that I think Planes ought to be higher than Kings.
Makes sense I think.
So who did you have in mind for the nine Kings?
Well Chaos's king would get an unidentifiable Slaad Lord (in expensive decks this is enchanted to switch between the known Slaad Lords from time to time). Law's king is Primus. I am poorly versed in Planescape lore, however, so I was hoping you folks could give suggestions for these ^_^.
Originally posted by Fringe Fartale
*Humorous game.*
I'm not sure which version you're playing under, unfortunately. After all my variant's hands are only nine cards big, and the other dude's Great Rings don't require Sigil.
LE is a no-brainer as a Lord of Nine (the troops of a specific lord tend to use their own, those with no affiliation use either Asmodeus or a card enchanted to switch between all 9).
NE, I'd say either a baernoloth or the General of Gehenna
CE, abyssal lord (same sort of thing as with the LE cards, those with no affiliation tend to use Grazz't)
-as if there is any doubt which one which is a better idea...
I'd say Graz'zt or Demogorgon.
Musings for other planar games:
Modron chess- An expensive game consisting of three (as in rule-of-) gears with radial spaces on them (like the different sections of a dart board). Each turn the gears rotate one tick so that the spaces that line up are different. The pieces are all shaped like modron types with differing movements like prime chess. The movement is complicated, though, by the everchanging (though systematic) board so that one turn you may be threatening a piece that you weren't the round before and won't the next round.
Cambion Roulette- A large board has different sections of it marked off (sometimes the board is drawn in chalk or charcoal) which two players sit on opposite sides of. On a player's turn he bets and rolls a pair of dice are thrown on the board. Depending on the section that the dice land in, the opponent doubles the roller's bet, gives him nothing (the roller breaks even), wins all the bet, or wins only half the bet. It's also possible for the bet to be put in a side pot and a rare roll/section combination gives the player the entire side pot.
Originally posted by Clueless Sod
This has got me thinking. Does Sigil have any gambling dens or gaming halls of note?
As I recall, Fortune's Wheel is as much gambling as anything else, thus the name.
NG-Talisid or one of the other ?Five Wanderers?
I don't know very much about the Rilmani, but isn't here someone named Center-of-All who would work as a N king?
Originally posted by Selquist the Outcast
I think LG king should be Zaphkiel.
NG-Talisid or one of the other ?Five Wanderers?
I don't know very much about the Rilmani, but isn't here someone named Center-of-All who would work as a N king?
Okay then:
LG - Zaphkiel
NG - Talisid (he's the leonal, right?)
LE - Asmodeus
CE - Grazz't or Demogorgon
TN - Center-of-All
LN - Primus
CN - One of the slaad lords
NE - Someone suggested the General of Gehenna, but I'd be more inclined towards the Oinoloth.
That just leaves CG. Any ideas? Who's the ruler of the eladrin?
Wyvern
Originally posted by Prophet of Chaos
Where'd you get those images of the deck?
Made 'em mesself, out of fanart and Photoshop filters. :D
Originally posted by Wyvern76
Okay then:
LG - Zaphkiel
NG - Talisid (he's the leonal, right?)
LE - Asmodeus
CE - Grazz't or Demogorgon
TN - Center-of-All
LN - Primus
CN - One of the slaad lords
NE - Someone suggested the General of Gehenna, but I'd be more inclined towards the Oinoloth.
W00T! Thanks for the input folks ('specially Wyvern who started all this).