>This may be grossly off the mark:
>
>Bermuda Triangle / Thing / At the beginning of their turn, each player must
>discard one card and destroy one of their things. If a player cannot do
>this, the Bermuda triangle is destroyed.
>
>Nostradamus / Action / Name a card. Draw a card from another player's hand.
>If it is the card you named, take it.
>
>Hi, btw!
>
>Ole
>

Heyas. Bermuda T's intersting. The only thing I have with the second is the
name... "Nostradamus" as a name sounds more like a thing to me, for some
reason. Maybe "Prophecy of Nostradamus" or something? Also seems a bit low
powered... Maybe, and this is just a suggestion:

Prophecy of Nostradamus / Thing / Name a card when Prophecy of Nostradamus
comes into play. No player may play that card. Any player may destroy
Prophecy of Nostradamus by revealing the named card to all players if they
have it in their hand. If any player does this, you may draw up to two
cards.

In hindsight, I realize that's almost nothing like what you said. Ah well.
Never mind. Call it "Ambigious Prophecy" instead, and keep both cards.

And, on the other subject, I don't think Houdini's that inappropriate. I
mean, I had Placebo Effect and Cold Reading in my card list... A theme can
include that which opposes it, IMHO. Just like a "Vampires" them could
include sunlight and garlic cards. The only thing that I find odd is that
it's a person, whereas all the other Things are more like Newage concepts
and paraphenalia.

In that vien:

Debunk / Action / Look at all player's hands. You may choose any card from
any player's hand, and force them to discard it, or destroy any thing in
play.
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This may be grossly off the mark:

Bermuda Triangle / Thing / At the beginning of their turn, each player must
discard one card and destroy one of their things. If a player cannot do this,
the Bermuda triangle is destroyed.

Nostradamus / Action / Name a card. Draw a card from another player's hand. If
it is the card you named, take it.

Hi, btw!

Ole


--
Ole Andersen
Brøndbyøster, Denmark
palnatoke@...

Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.
                                  -J. M. Barrie

--- In dvorak-list@egroups.com, "Kevan " <kevan@s...> wrote:
>> Houdini / Thing / You must have at least one thing in play
>> already to play Houdini. When Houdini comes into play, destroy one
>> thing of  yours. Action: Destroy a thing belonging to an opponent.
>>
>> (note: Harry Houdini was known not only as an excape artist, but
>> for revealing frauds who claimed to be able to communicate with
>> the dead through seances.)

>
> News to me, and all credit to the man. It's frustrating that
> television often regards psychics and spoon-benders with inane awe,
> never thinking to invite along a stage magician to make
> observations from the sidelines. Tsk.
>
> I'm not sure how much this fits the style of the game, though, with
> all the other Thing cards being spiritually-comforting mystical
> pap. (Although Houdini *has* been dead for eighty years, I suppose.)
>
> How about...
>
> Militant Scepticism / Action / Discard your hand. Destroy all
> Things.
>
> ...or something?

I kinda liked the Houdini reference, as well as the mechanics of the
card, but I can see your point about not fitting the style. What does
every one else think?

> Well, that's closer to what I'd imagined than Tyrethali's
suggestion, to be
> honest.  I want the element of anticipation - to know someone's
aiming to
> win soon - but I like the more personal aspect.  So how about:
>
> Scientology / Thing / Destroy a Thing each Turn for five Turns to
win the
> game.  Action: Destroy a Thing to draw a card.

That's a bit powerful, isn't it? I'd be spluttering a bit if it
merely said "Action: Destroy a Thing to draw a card.", which seems
particularly strong (particularly with the Biorhythmic Harmonizer).

Or do you mean "destroy a Thing you control"? (Selling your
possessions to give money to the cause?)

K.

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"Resist or move on; be mad, be rash,
smoke and explode, sell all your clothes."

> Houdini / Thing / You must have at least one thing in play already
to
> play Houdini. When Houdini comes into play, destroy one thing of
> yours. Action: Destroy a thing belonging to an opponent.
>
> (note: Harry Houdini was known not only as an excape artist, but
for
> revealing frauds who claimed to be able to communicate with the
dead
> through seances.)

News to me, and all credit to the man. It's frustrating that
television often regards psychics and spoon-benders with inane awe,
never thinking to invite along a stage magician to make observations
from the sidelines. Tsk.

I'm not sure how much this fits the style of the game, though, with
all the other Thing cards being spiritually-comforting mystical pap.
(Although Houdini *has* been dead for eighty years, I suppose.)

How about...

Militant Scepticism / Action / Discard your hand. Destroy all Things.

...or something?

K.

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"You see; ennui."

At 09:56 PM 20/10/2000 +0000, you wrote:
> >> Does this mean if you destroy a Thing each turn for 5 turns you
> >> win, but you must use another card to destory the other things, or
> >> that you can use this card to destroy other cards for 5 turns? I
> >> like the first interpretation, but I think this card should be a
> >> Thing instead.
> >
> > Maybe what we should do is reword it so it's clearer... Say, like
> > the following:
> >
> > Scientology / Action / If, during each of your last five turns, you
> > destroyed a thing, you win.
>
>That is pretty close to what I meant, but I was thinking moere along
>the lines of making it a Thing, reading something like:
>
>Scientology / Thing / Any player who destroys one Thing per turn for
>five consecutive turns wins.

Well, that's closer to what I'd imagined than Tyrethali's suggestion, to be
honest.  I want the element of anticipation - to know someone's aiming to
win soon - but I like the more personal aspect.  So how about:

Scientology / Thing / Destroy a Thing each Turn for five Turns to win the
game.  Action: Destroy a Thing to draw a card.

Have fun,

Paul




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--- In dvorak-list@egroups.com, "Tyrethali Ansrath" <tyreth@h...>
wrote:
>>--- In dvorak-list@egroups.com, Paul Wayper <paulway@e...> wrote:
>>
>>> Scientology / Action / Destroy a Thing each Turn for five
>>> consecutive Turns to win the game.
>>
>> Does this mean if you destroy a Thing each turn for 5 turns you
>> win, but you must use another card to destory the other things, or
>> that you can use this card to destroy other cards for 5 turns? I
>> like the first interpretation, but I think this card should be a
>> Thing instead.
>>
>> Just a thought.
>>
>
> Maybe what we should do is reword it so it's clearer... Say, like
> the following:
>
> Scientology / Action / If, during each of your last five turns, you
> destroyed a thing, you win.

That is pretty close to what I meant, but I was thinking moere along
the lines of making it a Thing, reading something like:

Scientology / Thing / Any player who destroys one Thing per turn for
five consecutive turns wins.

>--- In dvorak-list@egroups.com, Paul Wayper <paulway@e...> wrote:
>
> > Scientology / Action / Destroy a Thing each Turn for five
> > consecutive Turns to win the game.
>
>Does this mean if you destroy a Thing each turn for 5 turns you win,
>but you must use another card to destory the other things, or that
>you can use this card to destroy other cards for 5 turns? I like the
>first interpretation, but I think this card should be a Thing instead.
>
>Just a thought.
>

Maybe what we should do is reword it so it's clearer... Say, like the
following:

Scientology / Action / If, during each of your last five turns, you
destroyed a thing, you win.
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Here's a list of all the cards submitted so far, barring any I may
have missed:


Aromatherapy / Thing / When Aromatherapy comes into play, all players
may draw a card. If Aromatherapy is destroyed, all players must
discard a card.

Inner Peace / Action / At the begining of your next turn, if any
player has more things than all other players, that player wins.

Biorhythmic Harmonizer / Thing / You may play two actions per turn.
Action: Discard two cards, and destroy Biorhythmic Harmonizer. Any
player may use this ability.

Crystals / Thing / Two players must object to a newly created card in
order for it to not be added to the game.

Ley Line Compass / Thing / Action: Look at the top card on the
library.

Magnets / Thing / Action: Draw a card, then discard a card at random.

Yoga / Thing / Action: Draw a card. Any player may use this ability.

Placebo Effect / Action / Destroy a thing.

Cold Reading / Action / Look at the top X cards in the draw pile,
where X is the number of players, and put them back down on top of
the draw pile in any order.

Past Life Regression / Thing / Action: The next time you would draw a
card, put the top card on the discard pile into your hand instead.

Credit Card / Thing / Each player may play an additional thing each
turn. If Credit Card is destroyed, each player must destroy all but
one of their things.

Voodoo / Action / Destroy a Thing in play you posess (sp?) to destroy
a Thing another player controls.

Ley Lines / Thing / Each turn, you and another random Player draw an
extra card.

Scientology / Action / Destroy a Thing each Turn for five consecutive
Turns to win the game.

Kirlian Photograph / Thing / Add 1 to any variable 'X' mentioned in
another card.

Dowsing Rod / Thing / If you play "Dowsing for Water", do not miss a
turn.

Dowsing for Water / Action / Miss a turn. At the end of the Missed
turn search the library for a card of your choice and add it to your
hand, then shuffle the Library.

Feng Shui / Action / Give control of each Thing in play to a random
Player.

Precognition / Action / A chosen Opponent names a card. At the end of
their next turn, if they haven't played that card during the turn
they must discard their hand.

Breatharianism / Thing / Players may not draw cards. Action: Destroy
Breatharianism, unless an Opponent objects.

Zen Meditation / Action / If your hand is empty after you play Zen
Meditation, every Opponent must discard their hand.

Horoscopes / Action / Draw and reveal a card for every Player in the
game. Give each card to a separate Player.

Egely Wheel / Thing / Whenever an Opponent puts a Thing into play,
you may draw a card.

Hypnotic Suggestion / Action / Name a card. All Players reveal their
hands. Any Opponent who has the named card in their hand must play it
immediately.

Tuned Crystal / Thing / You may not be the target of Actions. If
Tuned Crystal is affected by an Action, discard a card at random.

Rebirth / Action / A chosen Player discards their hand and draws five
cards.

Dolphin Music / Thing / Players may not play Actions which directly
affect other Players or other Players' Things (except Dolphin Music
itself).

Automatic Writing / Action / Draw four cards and show them to all
Players. If any are Actions, play them immediately, making any
targetting decisions at random. Discard the rest.

False Memory Syndrome / Action / Shuffle the discard pile into the
draw pile. Put the top five cards from the draw pile into the discard
pile.

Astral Projection / Action / Gain control of all Things belonging to
a chosen Player, until the end of the turn. Feng Shui For Dummies /
Action / Control of each thing in
play is given to a random player.

Feng Shui / Action / Each player must give control of one Thing they
own (if they own any) to the player to their right, beginning with
the player to the right of the current player, and ending with the
current player. The current player decides which Thing is passed each
time.

Bad Luck Chain Letter / Action / Each player must give control of one
Thing they own (if they own any) to the player to their right,
beginning with the player to the right of the current player, and
ending with the current player. The passing player decides which
Thing is passed each time.

Good Luck Chain Letter / Action / Each player must give control of
one Thing they own (if they own any) to the player to their right,
beginning with the player to the right of the current player, and
ending with the current player. The receiving player decides which
Thing is passed each time.

Karma Chameleon / Thing / When Karma Chameleon comes into play,
choose an Opponent. Whenever that Opponent draws a card other than at
the start of their turn, you may draw a card. Whenever that Opponent
discards a card, they may force you to discard a card.

Houdini / Thing / You must have at least one thing in play already to
play Houdini. When Houdini comes into play, destroy one thing of
yours. Action: Destroy a thing belonging to an opponent.

Microwaved CD Talisman / Thing / If no two players have the same
number of cards in their hands at the begining of your turn, the
player with the second least number of cards in their hand wins.

Talisman / Thing / Destroy this card to prevent the destruction of
one other thing.

Clairvoyance / Action / Look at an opponents hand.

Ok, I have a few new ideas:

Talisman / Thing / Destroy this card to prevent the destruction of
one other thing.

Clairvoyance / Action / Look at an opponents hand.

--- In dvorak-list@egroups.com, Paul Wayper <paulway@e...> wrote:

> Scientology / Action / Destroy a Thing each Turn for five
> consecutive Turns to win the game.

Does this mean if you destroy a Thing each turn for 5 turns you win,
but you must use another card to destory the other things, or that
you can use this card to destroy other cards for 5 turns? I like the
first interpretation, but I think this card should be a Thing instead.

Just a thought.

Just came up with an odd card, for the event of Inner Peace is being horded
too much and the Scientology/Houdini combo not available.

Microwaved CD Talisman / Thing / If no two players have the same number of
cards in their hands at the begining of your turn, the player with the
second least number of cards in their hand wins.
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> The Feng Shui suggestion seems a bit odd - Feng Shui isn't
> generally *random*.

Mm, no, but if the random card arrangement is taken as being the
Ineffably Correct Alignment for the game as it stands at that moment,
it doesn't seem that unreasonable.

> Feng Shui / Action / Each player must give control of one
> Thing they own (if they own any) to the player to their right,
> beginning with the player to the right of the current player,
> and ending with the current player.
> The current player decides which Thing is passed each time.

Hm, preferable in that it's less of an Inner Peace scupperer, and
that it's a pleasingly organised mechanic. I rather liked the
simplicity and outside-influence aspect of the original, though.
Anyone else got a thought or preference?

> Bad Luck Chain Letter / Action / Each player must [...]
> Good Luck Chain Letter / Action / Each player must [...]

Excellent, although maybe overkill to have all of these in the deck.
Not sure. An email-themed Dvorak game might be quite splendid,
though, tangenting from that. Players striving to dispose of all
Email Things from their control and their hand, or something. Hmm.

New card, while I'm here:-

Karma Chameleon / Thing / When Karma Chameleon comes into play,
choose an Opponent. Whenever that Opponent draws a card other than at
the start of their turn, you may draw a card. Whenever that Opponent
discards a card, they may force you to discard a card.

K.

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"And tasteless tie-dyed tablecloths that double up as evening-wear."

--- In dvorak-list@egroups.com, "Tyrethali Ansrath" <tyreth@h...>
wrote:
> You know, what this list needs is something like a deck-building
> game. How about each person submits a several cards for a deck
based
> around, oh, let's say... New Age Psuedosciences, Alternative
> Medicines, etc. After everyone submitted several cards, we can
prune
> the list down to a workable and elegant deck.

The idea of submitting cards is appealing, but the subject matter
doesn't really interest me. Oh well, here it goes:


Houdini / Thing / You must have at least one thing in play already to
play Houdini. When Houdini comes into play, destroy one thing of
yours. Action: Destroy a thing belonging to an opponent.

(note: Harry Houdini was known not only as an excape artist, but for
revealing frauds who claimed to be able to communicate with the dead
through seances.)

> > > Crystals / Thing / Two players must object to a newly created
card
> >in order
> > > for it to not be added to the game.
> >
> >Interesting, but, er, probably a bit redundant if we're making most
> >of the cards on the mailing list?
>
> Well, with this in play, new cards would probably be added more.
Especially
> if there were only three players.

Hm, annoying in a two-player game, though.

> If nothing else, it counts as a thing for Inner Peace.

True. Maybe we need more mediocre and actively *bad* Things. Tuned
Crystal without the protection ability, perhaps. Whether to suffer
the drawback for the push towards victory (or away from defeat).

> > > Ley Line Compass / Thing / Action: Look at the top card on the
> >library.
> >
> [snip]
> >This card could be reworded as "The next time someone draws a card,
> >you may look at it", I suppose.
>
> Except, of course, that makes it a bit pointless for the purposes
of
> checking the top before you decide whether to draw or not. I
suppose it
> could be used just for the RL version.

Hm, but without the Biorhythmic Harmonizer you wouldn't be able to
play the Compass's Action and do something else in the same turn.

> > > Cold Reading / Action / Look at the top X cards in the draw
pile,
> >where X is
> > > the number of players, and put them back down on top of the draw
> >pile in any
> > > order.
> >
> >Hm, not really possible, for the above reasons. Sorry.
>
> Well, ditto for the above, then.

Bizarrely, I belatedly realised that "Horoscopes" works out to be an
effective copy of this card, in a lot of ways, despite it starting
off as something quite different.

> > > Past Life Regression / Thing / Action: The next time you would
draw
> >a card,
> > > put the top card on the discard pile into your hand instead.
> >
> >Again, no tops, although I suppose we can just remember which was
> >discarded most recently. Or maybe "any card from the discard pile"
> >would be more useful?
>
> I'd prefer the remember thing, so people could thwart it by
destroying
> something not that useful. Of course, that would be "wasting" a
destroy.

I think having to give up a draw to get something back is probably a
high enough cost. Although I do enjoy a good thwart. Maybe something
to look at once we've tried playing with it.

> Just out of curiosity, does the engine have some method of choosing
a random
> target in play? A random legal target for specified critera [IE,
only
> things, only players, either one, etc]

Hm, it doesn't. But it'd be rather splendid if it did. Good idea,
that man. I'll add it when I've got a moment.

> Groovy Aura / Thing / Action: Gain control of Groovy Aura. Any
player may
> play this ability.

Superb.

K.

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"And have you met my spirit wife, sir?"

The Feng Shui suggestion seems a bit odd - Feng Shui isn't
generally *random*. I suggest these four cards in its place.
I'm sure there must be a simpler way of phrasing the last
three cards' effects, but it's not striking me.


Feng Shui For Dummies / Action / Control of each thing in
play is given to a random player.

Feng Shui / Action / Each player must give control of one
Thing they own (if they own any) to the player to their right,
beginning with the player to the right of the current player,
and ending with the current player.
The current player decides which Thing is passed each time.

Bad Luck Chain Letter / Action / Each player must give
control of one Thing they own (if they own any) to the player
to their right, beginning with the player to the right of
the current player, and ending with the current player.
The passing player decides which Thing is passed each time.

Good Luck Chain Letter / Action / Each player must give
control of one Thing they own (if they own any) to the player
to their right, beginning with the player to the right of
the current player, and ending with the current player.
The receiving player decides which Thing is passed each time.


--RavenBlack
Forward this to everyone you know, and all your friends will
hate you. Guaranteed.

> > Inner Peace / Action / At the begining of your next turn, if any
>player has
> > more things than all other players, that player wins.
>
>Hm, maybe a bit too dramatic and unpredictable; either you win by
>loads, or you think you're going to win by loads and get surprised.
>See how it plays, though.

Well, it being dramatic and unpredictable was half the reason I liked it.
The only problem I see with it is that if one person hordes it they just
won't play it. Except for the delightful Hypnotic suggestion card...

> > Crystals / Thing / Two players must object to a newly created card
>in order
> > for it to not be added to the game.
>
>Interesting, but, er, probably a bit redundant if we're making most
>of the cards on the mailing list?

Well, with this in play, new cards would probably be added more. Especially
if there were only three players. If nothing else, it counts as a thing for
Inner Peace.

> > Ley Line Compass / Thing / Action: Look at the top card on the
>library.
>
[snip]
>This card could be reworded as "The next time someone draws a card,
>you may look at it", I suppose.

Except, of course, that makes it a bit pointless for the purposes of
checking the top before you decide whether to draw or not. I suppose it
could be used just for the RL version.

> > Cold Reading / Action / Look at the top X cards in the draw pile,
>where X is
> > the number of players, and put them back down on top of the draw
>pile in any
> > order.
>
>Hm, not really possible, for the above reasons. Sorry.
>

Well, ditto for the above, then.

>
> > Past Life Regression / Thing / Action: The next time you would draw
>a card,
> > put the top card on the discard pile into your hand instead.
>
>Again, no tops, although I suppose we can just remember which was
>discarded most recently. Or maybe "any card from the discard pile"
>would be more useful?
>

I'd prefer the remember thing, so people could thwart it by destroying
something not that useful. Of course, that would be "wasting" a destroy.

>Precognition / Action / A chosen Opponent names a card. At the end of
>their next turn, if they haven't played that card during the turn
>they must discard their hand.

Heh heh. That's amusing. And interesting.

>Hypnotic Suggestion / Action / Name a card. All Players reveal their
>hands. Any Opponent who has the named card in their hand must play it
>immediately.

Helpful for getting that Inner Peace played. And just seeing what
everybody's hand is.

>Dolphin Music / Thing / Players may not play Actions which directly
>affect other Players or other Players' Things (except Dolphin Music
>itself).

Classic if nothing else than for the name. Dolphin music. Heh heh. Why do I
find that so amusing?

>Automatic Writing / Action / Draw four cards and show them to all
>Players. If any are Actions, play them immediately, making any
>targetting decisions at random. Discard the rest.

Just out of curiosity, does the engine have some method of choosing a random
target in play? A random legal target for specified critera [IE, only
things, only players, either one, etc]

Another idea that hit me...

Groovy Aura / Thing / Action: Gain control of Groovy Aura. Any player may
play this ability.
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> Astral Projection / Action / Gain control of all Things belonging
to
> a chosen Player, until the end of the turn.

Hm, that really needs a "You may play an extra Action this turn." at
the end, to be of any realistic use. Tsk.

Current card list compiled and uploaded to
http://uncertain.org/~kevan/cgi-bin/cardlist.cgi?newage, anyway, for
ease of reference.

K.

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"I'm the stranger in your bathroom,
and I haven't left for years."

> You know, what this list needs is something like a deck-building
game. How
> about each person submits a several cards for a deck based around,
oh, let's
> say... New Age Psuedosciences, Alternative Medicines, etc. After
everyone
> submitted several cards, we can prune the list down to a workable
and
> elegant deck.

Excellent idea. It was annoying me that Dvorak lacked the mailing-
list design discussion aspect of other Nomics, but I couldn't really
think of a decent way to run it; I was getting carried away with
formal submission and distribution and voting systems. Tsk. This is
all we need, really - everyone submits cards, everyone has the power
of veto.

An excellent choice of theme, too. And some excellent card ideas. To
comment on questionable aspects of their implementation and, er, my
implementation of the Dvorak Engine, though...

> Inner Peace / Action / At the begining of your next turn, if any
player has
> more things than all other players, that player wins.

Hm, maybe a bit too dramatic and unpredictable; either you win by
loads, or you think you're going to win by loads and get surprised.
See how it plays, though.

> Crystals / Thing / Two players must object to a newly created card
in order
> for it to not be added to the game.

Interesting, but, er, probably a bit redundant if we're making most
of the cards on the mailing list?

> Ley Line Compass / Thing / Action: Look at the top card on the
library.

Annoyingly, the way I've written the Dvorak Engine there's no "top
card"; when you draw, it just takes a card at random from those in
the "draw" array (which is sorted by card ID; there's no pile
sequence). Ditto the discard. I might get around to changing it at a
later date, when I sit down and tidy the whole thing up. It's grown
in a rather piecemeal fashion, thus far.

This card could be reworded as "The next time someone draws a card,
you may look at it", I suppose.

> Cold Reading / Action / Look at the top X cards in the draw pile,
where X is
> the number of players, and put them back down on top of the draw
pile in any
> order.

Hm, not really possible, for the above reasons. Sorry.

> Past Life Regression / Thing / Action: The next time you would draw
a card,
> put the top card on the discard pile into your hand instead.

Again, no tops, although I suppose we can just remember which was
discarded most recently. Or maybe "any card from the discard pile"
would be more useful?

> Ley Lines / Thing / Each turn, you and another random Player draw
an extra
> card.

Hm. You and a randomly-selected player get to draw an extra card at
the start of each of your turns, or you and a continually-randomly-
selected player draw an extra card during *everyone's* turns?

> Scientology / Action / Destroy a Thing each Turn for five
consecutive Turns
> to win the game.

Easier to remember if it were a Thing, I think.

> Kirlian Photograph / Thing / Add 1 to any variable 'X' mentioned in
another
> card.

I'm confused. Do you mean something like "Whenever a card specifies a
number, increase that number by one"?

Good stuff, anyway; it should be amusing to play this one. To offer a
few submissions of my own:-

Feng Shui / Action / Give control of each Thing in play to a random
Player.

Precognition / Action / A chosen Opponent names a card. At the end of
their next turn, if they haven't played that card during the turn
they must discard their hand.

Breatharianism / Thing / Players may not draw cards. Action: Destroy
Breatharianism, unless an Opponent objects.

Zen Meditation / Action / If your hand is empty after you play Zen
Meditation, every Opponent must discard their hand.

Horoscopes / Action / Draw and reveal a card for every Player in the
game. Give each card to a separate Player.

Egely Wheel / Thing / Whenever an Opponent puts a Thing into play,
you may draw a card.

Hypnotic Suggestion / Action / Name a card. All Players reveal their
hands. Any Opponent who has the named card in their hand must play it
immediately.

Tuned Crystal / Thing / You may not be the target of Actions. If
Tuned Crystal is affected by an Action, discard a card at random.

Rebirth / Action / A chosen Player discards their hand and draws five
cards.

Dolphin Music / Thing / Players may not play Actions which directly
affect other Players or other Players' Things (except Dolphin Music
itself).

Automatic Writing / Action / Draw four cards and show them to all
Players. If any are Actions, play them immediately, making any
targetting decisions at random. Discard the rest.

False Memory Syndrome / Action / Shuffle the discard pile into the
draw pile. Put the top five cards from the draw pile into the discard
pile.

Astral Projection / Action / Gain control of all Things belonging to
a chosen Player, until the end of the turn.

K.

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"Humming a half-remembered song."

At 07:41 PM 18/10/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>You know, what this list needs is something like a deck-building game. How
>about each person submits a several cards for a deck based around, oh, let's
>say... New Age Psuedosciences, Alternative Medicines, etc. After everyone
>submitted several cards, we can prune the list down to a workable and
>elegant deck.

Voodoo / Action / Destroy a Thing in play you posess (sp?) to destroy a
Thing another player controls.
Ley Lines / Thing / Each turn, you and another random Player draw an extra
card.
Scientology / Action / Destroy a Thing each Turn for five consecutive Turns
to win the game.
Kirlian Photograph / Thing / Add 1 to any variable 'X' mentioned in another
card.
Dowsing Rod / Thing / If you play "Dowsing for Water", do not miss a turn.
Dowsing for Water / Action / Miss a turn.  At the end of the Missed turn
search the library for a card of your choice and add it to your hand, then
shuffle the Library.

I wonder why this particular idea has sparked my imagination? :-)

Paul

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You know, what this list needs is something like a deck-building game. How
about each person submits a several cards for a deck based around, oh, let's
say... New Age Psuedosciences, Alternative Medicines, etc. After everyone
submitted several cards, we can prune the list down to a workable and
elegant deck.

Ideas:

Aromatherapy / Thing / When Aromatherapy comes into play, all players may
draw a card. If Aromatherapy is destroyed, all players must discard a card.
Inner Peace / Action / At the begining of your next turn, if any player has
more things than all other players, that player wins.
Biorhythmic Harmonizer / Thing / You may play two actions per turn. Action:
Discard two cards, and destroy Biorhythmic Harmonizer. Any player may use
this ability.
Crystals / Thing / Two players must object to a newly created card in order
for it to not be added to the game.
Ley Line Compass / Thing / Action: Look at the top card on the library.
Magnets / Thing / Action: Draw a card, then discard a card at random.
Yoga / Thing / Action: Draw a card. Any player may use this ability.
Placebo Effect / Action / Destroy a thing.
Cold Reading / Action / Look at the top X cards in the draw pile, where X is
the number of players, and put them back down on top of the draw pile in any
order.
Past Life Regression / Thing / Action: The next time you would draw a card,
put the top card on the discard pile into your hand instead.
Credit Card / Thing / Each player may play an additional thing each turn. If
Credit Card is destroyed, each player must destroy all but one of their
things.

Now it's your turn! I'd suggest www.skepdic.com for those who don't have any
ideas but still want to make cards. It's slightly cynical, but a land mine
of potential cards. And of course, you can submit more or less than what I
did. There's nothing magical about the number 11. Unless you make a
Numerology card. ;)
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This is a test. This is only a test. If this had been an real post,
it would of had (arguably) useful content. Now back to your reguarly
scheduled programming.

> I had thought I had posted this earlier, but evidently it never got
> through. Where exactly is the MUSH located, again?

absolute.spod.org, port 6250. Although it may well be preferable to
annex an older, deader MUSH for our purposes - I think we found one
for Unanomic discussion that was peacefully empty...

> And, for those of
> us blissfully ignorant in such things, is there some type of
software
> one needs to run MUSHes and their ilk? I seem to remember
downloading
> something along those lines, but that was a computer ago. And it
> might have been for IRC instead.

You just need a telnet client, which is entirely standard on pretty
much every computer, I should think - rattle "telnet
absolute.spod.org 6250" at a Unix or DOS prompt, or
type "telnet:absolute.spod.org:6250" into your browser as a URL, and
something should happen.

Once you're connected, just type "create YourName DesiredPassword" to
create a character, and wade in. "WHO" will show you who's connected;
if I'm on there, you can type "p kevan=Hello." or whatever, to talk
to me. Either way, to move your character to the Dvorak Lounge,
type "@tel #7714"; if the Dvorak Engine's there, you're welcome to
fiddle around with it. (Three new and relevant commands are "savedeck
<name>", "loaddeck <name>" and "cleardeck", the latter starting a new
game with a blank deck - this should, I think, be more than enough to
let people play around with the Engine in my absence, should other-
timezone list members wish to have a go.)

Hm, I should probably sketch a little FAQ for all this. I've been
meaning to update the Dvorak pages a bit. Maybe tomorrow.

K.

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"Woke up this morning, found myself in bed."

> Much more. And with obviously greater penalties for cross-diagonal
> counter-shifting.

Obviously, eh?

> Hm. Must try and get an online game of this sorted at some point,
> anyway. I tend to be around intermittently on weekdays from
nine 'til
> five, Greenwich Mean Time, on the MUSH detailed on the Web page.
Feel
> free to stick your head around the door if you've got a moment,
> Tyrethali or anyone...

I had thought I had posted this earlier, but evidently it never got
through. Where exactly is the MUSH located, again? And, for those of
us blissfully ignorant in such things, is there some type of software
one needs to run MUSHes and their ilk? I seem to remember downloading
something along those lines, but that was a computer ago. And it
might have been for IRC instead.

> Quite amusing, even though I don't really play Mornington Crescent.
Or know
> how, although I have a sneaking suspicion it's a lot like "Bok",
except more
> serious.

Much more. And with obviously greater penalties for cross-diagonal
counter-shifting.

> [...self-referential cards...]
> And so on. Of course, each player no doubt has different opinions
of what is
> good, bad, odd, whatever... They could be set at the begining of
the game,
> or preferably, at least IMHO, just adlibbed as the game goes on,

I suppose if you followed a system of consistent precedence-
observance,
it'd work quite nicely. And it would automatically discourage abuse;
"Well, okay, since you said earlier that drawing ten cards
was 'slightly
bad', when you played that Action on yourself, I'll play *this*
slightly-bad card to draw ten cards myself."

Although you would need something to stop people saying "Winning the
game is a mediocre occurence. I win.", I suppose. (Or, more
imaginatively, "Denying all other players the ability to draw cards
for
the remainder of the game is a fairly good occurence.") Maybe
whenever a
new occurence is suggested (which they could be at any time), players
should agree whether it was awful, bad, quite bad, boring, quite good,
good, superb or unfair.

(In fact, the "if everyone agrees on something, go with it" aspect of
Dvorak probably needs to be underlined a bit.)

Hm. Must try and get an online game of this sorted at some point,
anyway. I tend to be around intermittently on weekdays from nine 'til
five, Greenwich Mean Time, on the MUSH detailed on the Web page. Feel
free to stick your head around the door if you've got a moment,
Tyrethali or anyone...

Kevan

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"I think we have different value systems."
"Well, mine's better."

Quite amusing, even though I don't really play Mornington Crescent. Or know
how, although I have a sneaking suspicion it's a lot like "Bok", except more
serious.

Another idea for a deck/game would be an amusingly self-referential one,
with cards like:

Totally Broken Card: Do something really good for you.
Annoying Combo A: If played with annoying combo B and C, do something good.
Annoying Combo B:  If played with annoying combo A and C, do something good.
Annoying Combo C:  If played with annoying combo A and B, do something good.
Boring Card: Do something kinda good, but not particularlly exciting.
Wacky but Pointless Card: Do something really odd that doesn't benefit any
one player more than any other.
Confusing Card: When this card is played, everyone argues over how exactly
it works. Do something good for the person who argues best.
Zero-sumish Good Card: Do something bad to another player.
Cooperation Card: Do something sorta good for you, and something better for
any opponent.
Annoying Card: Do something kinda bad to each player.
Weird Reversal: Turn the bad thing into the a good thing, or the next good
thing into a bad thing.

And so on. Of course, each player no doubt has different opinions of what is
good, bad, odd, whatever... They could be set at the begining of the game,
or preferably, at least IMHO, just adlibbed as the game goes on, eg. "Okay,
I played the Zero-summish card on you. From now on, if you don't speak in
rhyme, discard a card." Assuming discarding is bad, but then, of course it's
bad, the card says so! :)
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Inevitable, really...

     http://uncertain.org/~kevan/cgi-bin/cardlist.cgi?mornington

Departing from the Nomic tradition, the cards for this deck were just
thrown together by a single person (myself) during a quiet moment;
the Dvorak ethos works just as well for simple game design as
competitive Nomickery, really.

Although I daresay this deck will be amended and expanded once a game
or two has been played. If anyone's interested.

Kevan

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"Later on the Northern Line, she'll freak about the lack of sky."

> Well, when a friend and I played a "psychic combat" based game, the
starting
> rules were substantially altered. For one, it was real-time, and
there were
> a few other tweaks, such as drawing a card whenever one played a
card, and
> the goal beign to empty your opponents hand.

Sounds like a good one; any chance of seeing the deck list for it?

> Also, all the cards were
> designed between games, as opposed to in the middle of them,
primarily
> because of that realtime thing. Annoying to create a card while
one's
> opponent is attack you. =)

Mm, was this under the "action points" system you mentioned on the
Nomic
Bulletin Board, where card design became a strategic element of the
game? I can see that slowing the game down - if you have to choose
between making a new card, or actually *drawing* a card, the latter
seems preferable (trying to add to the draw pile is unlikely to
directly
benefit you, drawing a card will). "I really need to draw Psychic
Damping Field; I'd better not waste time creating new cards."

Dvorak works a bit better for allowing players to create cards
whenever
they feel like it, which usually means during their opponent's turn,
if
things are a bit quiet. Which does make the Nomic-strategy side of the
game a bit less foreground, but such can always be tweaked with a, um,
Permanent Rule Card. Or equivalent.

> I think it'd be best to simply agree beforehand what
special/different rules
> the game will be using, and you don't really need a card for it.
Except
> maybe as a reminder, but one still gets ideas about destroying it
with
> things or whatnot, so a sheet of paper explaining the differences
could be
> less confusing. Perhaps just say something at the top of the deck
list when
> posting it.

A sheet of paper is all that's needed, really - having the rules
written
down avoids confusion, and spares those with poor memory from having
to
give away their strategies in verification ("Just to check, we need
four
Aces to win, yes?").

Making it a card is just neatness, really, aiding storage either in
electronic deck archives or in a shoe-box under your bed. Not really
that different to the manufacturer's-details one you get in a pack of
normal playing cards. I imagine people would get used to the idea that
the Permanent Rule Card wasn't considered to be "in play" or anything,
and that it wasn't a card at all.

I might try it and see how it goes.

Kevan

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"I hate each Julie Andrews film they've made,
I'm just a nasty narrow-minded jade."

>was put into play at the start of the game. (Or you could, of course,
>just agree it aloud before starting, but actually writing it on a
>card would make it easier to settle disagreements, and would make the
>deck archives on the Web page a bit more coherent.)

Well, when a friend and I played a "psychic combat" based game, the starting
rules were substantially altered. For one, it was real-time, and there were
a few other tweaks, such as drawing a card whenever one played a card, and
the goal beign to empty your opponents hand. Also, all the cards were
designed between games, as opposed to in the middle of them, primarily
because of that realtime thing. Annoying to create a card while one's
opponent is attack you. =)

I think it'd be best to simply agree beforehand what special/different rules
the game will be using, and you don't really need a card for it. Except
maybe as a reminder, but one still gets ideas about destroying it with
things or whatnot, so a sheet of paper explaining the differences could be
less confusing. Perhaps just say something at the top of the deck list when
posting it.
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Might as well get the ball rolling with something...

Does anyone else think that a "Permanent Rule Card" might be a good
idea; one per deck, comes into play automatically at the start of the
game, doesn't count as a "card" for game purposes, and may never be
removed from play?

I think it'd give us a bit more scope for game styles; the "Mediaeval
Warfare" one used something like it - adding a temporary game rule
for the duration of the game ("Each Player has some Gold, starts with
none and gains two at the start of each turn."), but giving it more
power than a mere Thing, which you'd have to rely on being drawn (it
might be at the bottom of the draw pile) and played (when the drawer
might not want to).

You could get around it by including a few in the deck, or nailing on
a "When you draw this card, put it into play" clause here and there,
but it would seem simpler if it was written on a specific card which
was put into play at the start of the game. (Or you could, of course,
just agree it aloud before starting, but actually writing it on a
card would make it easier to settle disagreements, and would make the
deck archives on the Web page a bit more coherent.)

Any thoughts?

Kevan

--
kevan@...
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"And some blokes don't take apart valve amps for fun."