Aslan Card deck

[jasper]

Aslan cards
The Aslan card deck consist of forty cards broken into five suits and eight cards. The suits in order of precedence are Pack, Warrior, Duel, Hunt, and Woman or Mother. The cards in order from highest to lowest is Kill, Pounce, Bite, Teeth, Full Claws, Claws, Hand, and Dew Claw.
The normal hand dealt is four cards. Be aware that the suits have a precedence which shifts lowers cards up in rank when suit is of higher precedence. It best to consider the Aslan deck as having two digits. The first digit is precedence with the pack being worth five and woman worth one point. The cards starting at the bottom with the dew claw which matches the cold sleep card and the kill matching the eight card. Straights are more important than normal and flushes being worthless, in fact a flush is called meat or prey. The highest hand is Strong Pack with is Kill, Pounce, Bite, and Teeth of the Pack suit being the highest. An example of play would be you are holding a pair of Full Claws Woman and Duel. Your opponent lays down a pair of Hand Warrior and Hunt. Your opponent will win due to precedence. Think of this way fourteen for woman full claws, and thirty four for duel full claws for a total of forty eight points. The other hand is worth sixty four points due Duel Hand being forty two points and Hunt Hand being worth twenty two.

 

[Horatius]

Ok, so where can I get a deck of these cards, and who's going to teach me how to play?

Secondly: Know any good Zho card games?

 

[mike wightman]

How about "don't think about the card you're holding"

 

[jasper]

Just an idea I had one night. You have to find an Aslan on Earth which will be willing to sell you a deck

 

[Horatius]

DOes the Aslan deck come in a C.S. Lewis commerative set? (that was uncalled for)

Would Zho have card games? Or any games of chance for that matter? Or games of strategy like wargames? Or would zhodani games be more games of skill? If there are precognatives in the group, games of chance become pointless. If there are telepaths in the group, games of skill or strategy become pointless. WHat kind of games would zhodani play?

I'm sure Ithklur like to play games like 'Rock' or 'Punch' (these are fairly simplistic games where Ithlkur punch each other to see who can make the other one say 'ow' first. Rock involves hitting each other in the hand with a rock, much like mumblypeg; just not as accurate.)

Solomani, Vilani and Syleans would all have their games of chance.

But what do Zho do? Play poker with everyone wearing psi helmets? sit around a psionic static generator when they play games?

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Any Zho who tried to cheat would have a visit from the Tavrchedl.

 

[Chuck Anumia]

IMTU the Zho play word games. One person starts with a sentance. The next person adds a sentance. The players try to tell a diffrent story every time but are limmited to how many words they can have in a sentance (5, 10 or 20).
The other players vote after each added sentance (score 1 to 5) and keep score until they reach 100. The first player to reach 100 wins.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Aren't Zhodani avid roleplayers?

 

[Jame]

Originally posted by Baron Saarthuran von Gushiddan:
Aren't Zhodani avid roleplayers?

Yes, we are!

 

[kaladorn]

Originally posted by Baron Saarthuran von Gushiddan:
Aren't Zhodani avid roleplayers?

Yes, I hear the favorite trick of SORAG agents is to impersonate whimsical Vilani nobility... wot?!

 

[aramis]

I can see the Zhodani doing games of chance.

1) Precog is not THAT common.
2) outside of TNE, using psi is not "free"; psi points are expensive fuel, even using T4 psionics, it would be a rare use, perhaps only for the key roll or so, or for a one move view... and would be a criminal act. (it implies a lack of trustworthiness, and is a minor, but under zhodani law, correction-required act.

 

[kaladorn]

I wonder too if Precog could be fuzzed by another Precog. And I thought Zho culture was essentially scrupulously honest so even if you were gaming with a Precog, he would be honour bound not to cheat.

 

[Horatius]

Scrupulously honest. I don't think so.

Any species derieved from humaniti has the potential to be decietful. IMO, humans are genetically pre-programmed with the capacity to lie. Even children will lie. Zhos, with all their social structure would still have the potential for deciet. Zhos that have been in contact with us 'lesser, dishonest humans' would have learned how to lie and cheat. Solomani at their core lie and show deceit on an unconscious level.

It is in the very core of our nature to use whatever means are at our disposal to achieve success. Whether that success is in a trade negotiation, in a war or in a card game makes no difference. The will to win works hand-in-hand with the ability to decieve. Its a leftover from our hunter-gatherer days. Social controls can only go so far in overriding evolution/ genetics.

But then, this sounds like the beginning of a different discussion.

 

[jatay3]

It is in the very core of our nature to use whatever means are at our disposal to achieve success. Whether that success is in a trade negotiation, in a war or in a card game makes no difference. The will to win works hand-in-hand with the ability to decieve. Its a leftover from our hunter-gatherer days. Social controls can only go so far in overriding evolution/ genetics.
--------------------------------------------
Putting orgins aside(as that will provoke an argument as long as the history of humaniti to date) , this point confuses cunning with dishonesty.
Bluffing in poker or feinting in basketball is not lying because it is part of the preconditions to the game which everyone accepts.
A Zho wouldn't be as likly to cheat-that is take advantage of the trust that is an accepted part of normal life to gain an oppurtunity to decive. A Zho wouldn't mind such things as "ruse of war"-after all they do use such things as ECM's don't they?
Likewise they don't mind such things in games, or do they? They probably don't actually delight in deceit. They probably don't play Diplomacy for instance. Or do they? Despite the delight we Dippies take in their reputation for treachery Diplomacy can actually be played without treaty-breaking "stabbing" as we call it, by any given player(though it is a fair probability that someone will stab someone).
They probably would like trading games(like Patrician III). They would like GO for it's subtleties. Monopoly would be "beneath" them. I don't know about their psionics-is precognition cancelled by the knowledge that one player is precognitive, or would the attempt to avoid it bring it about, like a Greek Tragedy?
Aslan would like Rugby and American Football. They would also like boxing and be glad to revive quarterstaff. They would probably like chess, especially among female aslan, though presumably not all males are musclebound idiots. I don't think they would like card games though.
Vargr would like-what else?-Pirates. They would love poker though they would probably kill each other off before the end of the game. Indeed Vargr probably gamble more than humans. And they would probably like Monopoly.
Vilani would like Bridge(it just seems Vilani). They would also like the statistics involved in baseball.
K'kree would like Pac-man: they would think of it as the Herd turning the tables on the evil carnivores when they ate the power pill.

 

[jatay3]

K'kree would also, most definitely like polo-they wouldn't even need horses.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

K'Kree Feild Hockey?

 

[Tobias]

Originally posted by Horatius:
Any species derieved from humaniti has the potential to be decietful.

For one, I think the sample material does not allow this conclusion...

IMO, humans are genetically pre-programmed with the capacity to lie.

Very unlikely. Lying means intentionally communicating false information. Since communicating any information (=speech) is learned behaviour, not genetic disposition, it is scarcely feasible to assume that certain nuances of this behaviour are genetically wired into human beings.

Even children will lie.

Just as children will speak in the language they hear every day. They will do neither without cultural immersion.

It is in the very core of our nature to use whatever means are at our disposal to achieve success. Whether that success is in a trade negotiation, in a war or in a card game makes no difference. The will to win works hand-in-hand with the ability to decieve. Its a leftover from our hunter-gatherer days. Social controls can only go so far in overriding evolution/ genetics.

It is not correct to assume that the Zhodani are descended from "us", by the way. We merely share common (fairly distant) ancestors.

Regarding the actual topic:
I think Zhodani games would generally be less competitive and more cooperative than our games. Games in which players try to earn merits in achieving a common goal, for example.

Regards,

Tobias

 

[jatay3]

I think Zhodani games would generally be less competitive and more cooperative than our games. Games in which players try to earn merits in achieving a common goal, for example.
-----------------
Mountain climbing? Sailing? Ballet? Figure skating?

 

[kaladorn]

What makes you think that they would be more cooperative? Do they not determine their place in their society by way of psionic olympiads? Does that not determine where they fit in the social structure and the entire framework of their lives? Something tells me this breeds an exceptional level of competition. If your entire life depends on the outcome of one major event, you are going to develop a mindset that allows you to focus on *winning* and *excelling* in relation to others.

I think the idea that psionics are particularly more cooperative (other than as a result of societal tampering and the Tavchredl) runs contrary to the way they seem to organize their society. To me, I think the Zhodani are very competitive, they just don't tend to have as many 'tells' or outward manifestations as the rest of us.

I can see them engaged in games that involve a high level of mental competition like Duplicate Bridge, Mah Jong, or Chess.

 

[Tobias]

Originally posted by kaladorn:
What makes you think that they would be more cooperative? Do they not determine their place in their society by way of psionic olympiads?

Not really. Only for a fairly small portion of society (intendants) is that the case. The masses are raised to be content with their lot, and the leading caste is raised to be confident in their benevolent leadership.

If your entire life depends on the outcome of one major event, you are going to develop a mindset that allows you to focus on *winning* and *excelling* in relation to others.

As I said, this is a minor event in the context of Zhodani society. Even most Intendants are promoted due to other means.

To me, I think the Zhodani are very competitive, they just don't tend to have as many 'tells' or outward manifestations as the rest of us.

Except for the psionic games, which you misinterpreted, there is little evidence for that.
Ambition is an important part of Zhodani psychology, no doubt. But it is likely diverted into conductive channels. Many Zhodani will surely take pride in great achievements, but they will not derive joy from defeating others. Chess and many other games do not have objective measurements of achievement, but are solely based on defeating somebody else. To derive pleasure from this requires a certain amount of "schadenfreude" and I do not see that in Zhodani society.

Regards,

Tobias