Saint Paul Irregulars

[Tom]

I would like to revive one of my ideas for moderating wicked pip swings in Piquet for consideration in an upcoming game. Here goes...

There were probably a few additional ideas that were thought through at the time, but here's the short, simple version. Roll d12 for pip dice, with the winning side reducing the die type each subsequent roll until the loser wins. When that happens, of course, the loser is now the winner and has their die type reduced to d10 while the new loser pops back up to d12.

Switching to d12 would also suggest we not divide pips for multi-deck play. With a maximum of 11 to win, we would just give the full amount to each general plus the full amount to the c-in-c.

A picture (or diagram) is worth a thousand words:

Turn Player A Player B Outcome
1 d12 d12 Player A wins pips
2 d10 d12 Player A wins again
3 d8 d12 Player B wins pips
4 d12 d10 Player B wins again
5 d12 d8 Player B wins again
6 d12 d6 Player B wins again *
7 d12 d4 Player A wins
8 d10 d12 and so on...
* dice taken away from Kevin

The idea here is to progressively reduce the chances of a player winning too many times in a row. The loser would also win a few more pips on average when they did manage to win since their opposing dice would be smaller than the d12 they were rolling. So if the loser wins in a d12 vs d6 roll because they've been unlucky twice before, they're guaranteed 7+ pips.

Interestingly, this could cause a dynamic where losing pip rolls a few times in a row would actually be sought after because it would build a jackpot for the loser/eventual winner. If you traded being winner back and forth every time you could be just winning by 1 or 2 per turn. But losing a couple would net you 7+. Hmmmm, interesting.

Anyway, it's not that uncommon to beat a d12 with a d10, so I think we would still see multiple roll runs. But even if you did manage to beat the odds and win a few rolls in a row, the reduced die size you'd be winning with would serve to limit the size of the run.

d10 vs d12 rolling 1 would win you 9 pips
d8 vs d12 rolling 1 would win you 7 pips
d6 vs d12 rolling 1 would win you 5 pips
d4 vs d12 rolling 1 would win you 3 pips

In that very improbable situation you would win a maximum of 24 pips, but odds are it would be more in the neighborhood of 12...nothing compared to the occasional win of 15+ in a single roll of normal Piquet.

At any rate, I'm guessing you'll see each side get a streak of winning 1 to 2 rolls before it turns over. You could still see an accumulation of total pips swing a bit if one side was unlucky enough to typically win by less over a long period...but we can't apologize for everything.

Discuss!

[Alfredo]

Actually, this, with the idea of some card management, may make the game worth playing.

Granted, it is likely that you'll see the "dress rehersal" and the "scratch their asses" cards played when the win is big, but my goal is to have fun, not to have a story to tell. If that is a big concern, limit the card hand to two cards or so. My sense is that a small card hand may still make for the occasional "Oh shit" moment. That would, of course, have to be playtested (and I am not volunteering), but my gut tells me it would work better.

Alfredo

[LKD]

Tom,

I was thinking about this also the other day. Took a different approach. Leave pips however we currently do it, but the loosing side gets a fraction of pips that the winner got in "reaction" to his move.

So...

Side A wins 10 pips.
Side A plays his 10 Pips....
Then Side B gets 1/3 of Side A's pips..rounded down...so he gets 3 pips to "react" with.

The idea being you get a small amount of pips to react...recharge opportunity dices, etc....

Fraction would be the part you would need to figure out. So say 1/3..1/4...1/5... rounded up..down...etc.



Just another idea.....

lance

[KAM]

Lets use Tommy's method on Saturday Night the 15th.