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sleyvas Posted - 26 Dec 2012 : 14:33:26
I'm just wondering about what are many of the names of games that have been introduced into the realms and how much detail people have one them. I'll name off some that I know of and hopefully people know of others.

Sava - an extremely complicated "chess-type" game developed by the drow, but with a lot of "side options" available to the players. Source, several books on drow.

Chess (more commonly known as Lanceboard in the realms) - as far as we know, the same game as in Earth. Source, mentioned a couple times, but the main one I know of was the Red Knight entry in Powers & Pantheons 2nd edition.

Go - as far as we know, the same game as in Earth. It came from Kara-Tur to Faerun. Source, mentioned a couple times, but the main one I know of was the Red Knight entry in Powers & Pantheons 2nd edition.

Wheel-of-Spells - A card game with some randomness. Source, Cormyr: A Novel.

Chase-the-dragon - a game of leisure. Source, Cormyr: A Novel.

Xorvintaal - a game played by Dragons to accumulate points using real world accomplishments to achieve their standing. Source, Whispers of Venom by Richard Lee Beyers.
29   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
Gelcur Posted - 07 Aug 2021 : 06:22:08
Yeah plus I thought it would be interesting way to bring the city to life. Street scenes are easy enough. As are random rumor but it would be good to have sort of larger important events based off the games Mission Cards: a noble house is being chosen to go on a Diplomatic Mission to Suzail, a friendly church needs help to Protect Converts to Eilistraee, a shady gnome needs you to Impersonate a Tax Collector.

Feel free to take it and make it your own. Would love to hear someone try this out. I doubt I'll ever get the chance.
PattPlays Posted - 07 Aug 2021 : 02:33:24
quote:
Originally posted by Gelcur

Ed's rules for Lanceboard, about halfway down in a sidebar.

It is an excellent game takes all of 5-10 minutes to play. No where near the time investment as chess or heaven forbid dragon chess. It does require a smaller board, I normally just draw one on a battle grid. The complicated part is you need like 3 chess sets to get 4 knights and one champion knight for each side. The champions should preferably be from a set with larger pieces. Facing is used to denote hit points and often the horse headed knight is the only figure that can support this.

My gaming group fell in love with Lords of Waterdeep, amazing game. And from day one I have wanted to use it to model the city and it's goings on. Maybe set up an intial board with the most active lords, then play each one myself trying for most VP. Have them use the players as pawns. Just keep the board setup in my office. Eventually one of the lord's get removed and players have to take over that position on the board. If only we all had the time.



Now that sure sounds like a unique experience, getting to treat your own PCs as just units in someone else's plan, and then to control that plan.
Gelcur Posted - 05 Aug 2021 : 16:35:25
Ed's rules for Lanceboard, about halfway down in a sidebar.

It is an excellent game takes all of 5-10 minutes to play. No where near the time investment as chess or heaven forbid dragon chess. It does require a smaller board, I normally just draw one on a battle grid. The complicated part is you need like 3 chess sets to get 4 knights and one champion knight for each side. The champions should preferably be from a set with larger pieces. Facing is used to denote hit points and often the horse headed knight is the only figure that can support this.

My gaming group fell in love with Lords of Waterdeep, amazing game. And from day one I have wanted to use it to model the city and it's goings on. Maybe set up an intial board with the most active lords, then play each one myself trying for most VP. Have them use the players as pawns. Just keep the board setup in my office. Eventually one of the lord's get removed and players have to take over that position on the board. If only we all had the time.
PattPlays Posted - 05 Aug 2021 : 07:14:20
quote:
Originally posted by Gelcur

We can add "Lords of Waterdeep" to the list of games played IN the Realms and our world. Chapter 24 of Death Masks has Mirt bursting into a room of five men and women at a circular table with a map of Waterdeep in the center. One of the men plays a Mandatory Quest amid the interruption.

Seems safe to say it's Lords of Waterdeep even if it isn't named.



*breaks out the board game when the party meets some nobles*
"Anyone want to play a board game in character? Win and you get this noble's favor."
That sounds a lot more funny than making some intelligence checks to win a set of Dragonchess games. Er.. Lanceboard.
Gelcur Posted - 05 Aug 2021 : 05:24:26
We can add "Lords of Waterdeep" to the list of games played IN the Realms and our world. Chapter 24 of Death Masks has Mirt bursting into a room of five men and women at a circular table with a map of Waterdeep in the center. One of the men plays a Mandatory Quest amid the interruption.

Seems safe to say it's Lords of Waterdeep even if it isn't named.
SaMoCon Posted - 28 Jul 2021 : 10:06:17
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Games_(in-universe)
I like the entries for Dueling Globes, Singdown, and Khaless for their fantasy twist on RW games of Simon Says, Rap Battle, and Trust Fall.
Lord Karsus Posted - 28 Jul 2021 : 02:06:36
-Goliath have goatball.
Zeromaru X Posted - 28 Jul 2021 : 00:37:38
There is also the wah-ree, a chess-like game created by giants. According to legend, after a thousand years war between giants and the dragons, Annam All-Father made a truce with "the god of dragons"* by agreeing with the dragon god to settle the war with a game of wah-ree. So skilled were the two opponents, that game ended in a stalemate.

Source: Giantcraft.

*It's implied this god may be Garyx, as he is the one who started the war. But I see him as a rather chaotic force to have accepted such a deal. Perhaps the dragon god was Bahamut?
sleyvas Posted - 27 Jul 2021 : 22:01:06
From Ed's short story "Umbrous Unpleasantness at Undreth's Unicorn" available at DM's Guild

Quist - a card game that involves "defending the fortress" with an "array of quist cards" laid out in front of you. Played by Mirt the Moneylender as a cover for him passing coins to informants.
sleyvas Posted - 02 Jan 2013 : 18:19:43
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

As I recall, in The Wyvern's Spur, Giogi plays a game called Elemental Empires, or something similar. It's a card game, and some aspects of it are discussed -- not enough to determine all of the rules, but enough to have a good starting point.



Hmmm, actually this game sounds like the game I was "dreaming up" when I read the entry in Wyvern's Spur.
Erik Scott de Bie Posted - 02 Jan 2013 : 16:12:47
The game coroniir ("crowns") is discussed in my novel Shadowbane: Eye of Justice (chapter 8), which is claimed to be the elven origin game of what humans call castles or lanceboard: "like all great things in Faerun, the elves had invented it first, then humans brutalized it." The character claims he played it as a youth long, long ago in Siluvanede, where it was called siadiir. It utilizes such pieces as the armathor (knight), srinshee (priestess or sorceress, equivalent of the queen), savalir (reaver or murderer), the jester, and the coronal (bladesinger, equivalent of the king).

Cheers
sleyvas Posted - 02 Jan 2013 : 16:09:06
Hmmm, on the above entry for the 3 picture cards for each element.... wizard and priest make sense for the elements, but I guess bard doesn't. Maybe druid? Maybe an elemental? Maybe a genie? Ooooo, actually, I like that... maybe wizard, elemental and genie?
sleyvas Posted - 02 Jan 2013 : 15:55:02
I'm also thinking "wheel of spells" might be something akin to magic:the gathering. Its described along with chase the dragon as "dice-and-card games" in Cormyr a novel, so we can't say if it uses dice... but wheel kind of pictures in my head cards. I see wheel of spells as using the standard talison deck though compared to the Kholiast game described above. That has 12 cards of the 4 "planar suits" ... so I'm hearing cards 1 - 9 plus 3 "picture" cards for said suit (maybe wizard, bard, and priest?). The 1-9 can spell spell levels and the picture cards might correspond to summonable creatures. Then there's the 22 major arcana cards, which maybe you apply the number cards to them to make an attack or defense effect (i.e. a 9 card with the "castle" major arcana could be a very powerful defense versus ground forces, but it won't block a 7 card put with a star which is sky based). Maybe you can cast spells through your wizard, bard, or priest by placing a numbered card on them for that round (but bards can't use numbers higher than 6, but maybe they can do something else). It'd be interesting too if some of those arcana cards are generic caster types (i.e. enchanter, necromancer, healer, abjurer, elementalist, illusionist, summoner, crusader, shaman, psion/invisible artist). I'm assuming here that the complete arcana card listing in a talison deck has never been detailed???
sleyvas Posted - 02 Jan 2013 : 15:15:31
quote:
Originally posted by Barastir

Not sure if it can be called a strategy game, but the elves have a complex game of cards, as stated in the 2e game source "Elves of Evermeet".

"One popular elven game called kholiast involves
a deck of more than 1,000 cards, a variable-sized
hand based upon a throw of dice, and a point-counting
system that would drive even the most dedicated Candlekeep
scholar completely mad."




thank you. This is the kind of odd stuff I was looking for (not just a name, but something describing how its played... granted I know a lot of the stuff doesn't have any description, but that makes this one a "growing popular game" now in my book for some Red Knights).
Ayrik Posted - 02 Jan 2013 : 10:08:02
Hmphf. I'm quite capable of being completely mad without counting points in some elfy card game.
Barastir Posted - 02 Jan 2013 : 10:03:24
Not sure if it can be called a strategy game, but the elves have a complex game of cards, as stated in the 2e game source "Elves of Evermeet".

"One popular elven game called kholiast involves
a deck of more than 1,000 cards, a variable-sized
hand based upon a throw of dice, and a point-counting
system that would drive even the most dedicated Candlekeep
scholar completely mad."
Alystra Illianniis Posted - 30 Dec 2012 : 19:43:27
Not canon, or even Fr, but I have one in my HB world called Eight-Legs. It's a variation of blackjack or 21, where players attempt to make the highest possible multiple of 8 with a hand of five(or seven, in some variations) cards. They can discard one or more cards from their hand to draw new cards ONCE during the round. The player at the end of that round with the highest multiple of 8 wins the round.
Ayrik Posted - 30 Dec 2012 : 19:04:09
The history of Chess in the Realms would be very interesting. Assuming it wasn't stolen from our world, of course.
Xnella Moonblade-Thann Posted - 28 Dec 2012 : 18:40:46
I know on the wizards site, if you can navigate to the 3e/3.5e archive, they had a section that was about dice games that could be played in the D&D world. While maybe not Realms-specific, they could be played in many areas of the Realms.
Wooly Rupert Posted - 28 Dec 2012 : 05:31:46
As I recall, in The Wyvern's Spur, Giogi plays a game called Elemental Empires, or something similar. It's a card game, and some aspects of it are discussed -- not enough to determine all of the rules, but enough to have a good starting point.
The Sage Posted - 28 Dec 2012 : 01:24:20
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

Here's a list [which doesn't have the Aurora's ones] that I've posted before:-

Card games: Archers, Chase the Dragon*, High Dragon, Old Wizard, Smashcastle, Strikedragon/Battles, Swords, Swords and Shields, talis card games

Dice games: thabort, Traitors’ Heads, Wheel-of-Spells*

Board games: chess and variants (lanceboard), chethlachance, fiveknights, lancers and lions, shirestone

Other games: jacks, shove-skittles, tag, Toss the Dagger

* might be mixed up as to which is card, which dice




Thanks sage. By any chance do you know any of the sources or (and I really doubt this) anything about the board and card games? I'm betting there's no real lore, but was hoping.

I'll have to check my notebooks.

Going from memory, though, a lot of these references came from novels, which often didn't elaborate too much on the details of the games. They were just kind of brief mentions about Realms-specific games of chance.

But, as I said, I'll recheck my notebooks for any further details.
sleyvas Posted - 27 Dec 2012 : 18:11:36
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

Here's a list [which doesn't have the Aurora's ones] that I've posted before:-

Card games: Archers, Chase the Dragon*, High Dragon, Old Wizard, Smashcastle, Strikedragon/Battles, Swords, Swords and Shields, talis card games

Dice games: thabort, Traitors’ Heads, Wheel-of-Spells*

Board games: chess and variants (lanceboard), chethlachance, fiveknights, lancers and lions, shirestone

Other games: jacks, shove-skittles, tag, Toss the Dagger

* might be mixed up as to which is card, which dice




Thanks sage. By any chance do you know any of the sources or (and I really doubt this) anything about the board and card games? I'm betting there's no real lore, but was hoping.
Zireael Posted - 27 Dec 2012 : 15:53:51
There's a website which has fully playable rules for sava. I wish a flash game was made based on this.
The Sage Posted - 27 Dec 2012 : 01:02:39
Oh, and Ed's 04 replies gave us two more with instructions on how to play them.
The Sage Posted - 27 Dec 2012 : 01:01:09
Here's a list [which doesn't have the Aurora's ones] that I've posted before:-

Card games: Archers, Chase the Dragon*, High Dragon, Old Wizard, Smashcastle, Strikedragon/Battles, Swords, Swords and Shields, talis card games

Dice games: thabort, Traitors’ Heads, Wheel-of-Spells*

Board games: chess and variants (lanceboard), chethlachance, fiveknights, lancers and lions, shirestone

Other games: jacks, shove-skittles, tag, Toss the Dagger

* might be mixed up as to which is card, which dice
Diffan Posted - 27 Dec 2012 : 00:39:38
Three Dragon Ante, both as an actual game (to be played separately) or within the context of the setting/RPG. Though I know it's not "FR specific" it is a game that's used in D&D-lore.

sleyvas Posted - 26 Dec 2012 : 20:04:54
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

The Old Grey Box had a couple in there, and so did Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog.



Ah, then just to get a complete list in the thread of the ones from Aurora's that might be considered strategy games. BTW, if anyone is wondering why I'm interested, I'm thinking through things that might be games followers of the Red Knight might appreciate.

Draughts (known on earth as checkers)

Card games using Talis deck from Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog listed below. If anyone has any more information on these, I'd be interested.

whist
poker
talison
elemental empires
old wizard

NOTE: a talis deck consists of four 12-card "planar" suits (stones, waves, winds, and flames) and the traditional 22-card major arcana (Sun, Moon, Star, Comet, Throne, Key, Night, etc...). This means that the Talis deck is a 70 card deck and not a 52 card deck as found in our world. Also, this means that there aren't the Earth-based royal cards (i.e. jack, queen, king) of each suit. Therefore, it could be safe to assume that the rules for poker in the realms and rules for poker on earth are vastly different.

Thauranil Posted - 26 Dec 2012 : 17:29:11
Indeed. Chaos is the only true answer.
Wooly Rupert Posted - 26 Dec 2012 : 16:39:33
The Old Grey Box had a couple in there, and so did Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog.

I like the concept of sava, except I think players should get to roll the dice more often. Forfeiting your turn for a 1 in 36 chance at a better chance doesn't seem like it's adding an element of chaos, it seems like it's giving one last hurrah to someone who is otherwise guaranteed to lose.

I'd never roll those dice unless I was going to lose on the next turn, no matter what I did. If you want to add chaos to the game, roll the dice more often and with varying results. That's chaos.

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