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Old 12-27-2014, 02:36 PM   #11
mlangsdorf
 
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Default Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting

Is there any reason that your TL1 poker players couldn't use cards made from barkcloth, leather, or papyrus? Canonically, those are all TL1 media.

A slightly advanced TL1 society might also have access to parchment or vellum, which are TL2 media that could also be used for cards.
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Old 12-27-2014, 02:42 PM   #12
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Default Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting

Ivory plaques sound interesting. Each god in this setting has an associated number - maybe something about adding the numbers together?
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Old 12-27-2014, 02:55 PM   #13
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Default Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting

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Ivory plaques sound interesting. Each god in this setting has an associated number - maybe something about adding the numbers together?
Each god's card is their number. You now have Blackjack, but, with a different goal number.
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Old 12-27-2014, 02:55 PM   #14
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Default Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting

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Originally Posted by mlangsdorf View Post
Is there any reason that your TL1 poker players couldn't use cards made from barkcloth, leather, or papyrus? Canonically, those are all TL1 media.

A slightly advanced TL1 society might also have access to parchment or vellum, which are TL2 media that could also be used for cards.
Unless the medium is about as stiff as cardstock shuffling becomes difficult, and it is easier to use tiles that can be "stirred", like Mah-jong tiles.
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Old 12-27-2014, 03:24 PM   #15
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Default Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting

There also the fact that card games weren't, chronologically speaking, invented till 6th/7th century.

That stated, thin planks of wood might make a good substitute to normal cardstock.

Last edited by SteampengMK-1; 12-27-2014 at 03:51 PM.
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Old 12-27-2014, 03:36 PM   #16
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Default Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting

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there also the fact that card games weren't, chronologically speaking, invented till 6th/7th century.
Bah, humbug! This is Sword and Sorcery, not the History Channel. :)
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Old 12-27-2014, 04:46 PM   #17
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Default Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting

How well developed is mathematics at TL1? You might not be able to rank the various "hands" by decreasing likelihood of occurrence.
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Old 12-27-2014, 04:47 PM   #18
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Default Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting

The trouble with games like Mancala is that they aren't vying games, which is what makes poker, poker. You need two things for vying: a hidden hand and the ability to bet.

That isn't to say that you couldn't do a domino-based game, or even a dice-based one, but in the former case you'd have to draw the dominos and then hold them in your hand, while in the latter you'd be playing similarly to Liar's Dice, as you'd have to roll the dice then cover them.
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Old 12-27-2014, 04:49 PM   #19
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Default Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting

Really, the answer to the OP is "No, not realistically." And if realism isn't an issue, then why does it matter if it makes historical sense? Hell, introduce playing cards and poker as-is! Carve the cards onto thin slate tablets if you must.
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Old 12-27-2014, 04:53 PM   #20
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Default Re: Can you have something similar to poker in a TL 1 setting

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How well developed is mathematics at TL1? You might not be able to rank the various "hands" by decreasing likelihood of occurrence.
The mathematics to do that — probability theory and combinatorics — only goes back to the 16th Century. But Poker would still be playable if the order of the hands were different, provided perhaps that it were not too far out of whack, which experience would show. After all, the rank of the hands is determined by their probability in a five-card sample with no draw and no wild cards, and it doesn't matter that a discard and draw is much more likely to improve some failed scoring hands than others.
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