Pernese Playing Cards

[Zen]

The traditional deck of cards was adapted to Pern sometime during the First Interval, at first simply for the fun of it, but it soon replaced the Terran decks as the traditional cards lost their meaning to Pern. The four suits were replaced with four new suits representative of the first four Weyrs, the King, Queen, and Jack all replaced with more Pern appropriate titles. As paper products became more valuable, the cost of a deck of cards rose and two versions were made. One, the colorless version, is black and white through all suits and is the deck most Pernese can get their hands on and use. The second version is colored and tends to be owned only by higher ranking members of Pernese society.

Suits
Each suit represents one of the original four Weyrs, and if one knows their history, it is easy to remember which suit has a higher value, as the older the Weyr the suit represents, the more value it has.

• The Stones suit represents Fort Weyr, the first Weyr, and therefore outranks any other suit. The symbol for Stones is a circle, and in colored decks the suit is brown.
  
• The Stars suit represents Benden Weyr, the second Weyr, and outranks Spindles and Sands. The symbol for Stars is a five point star, and in colored decks the suit is red.
• The Spindles suit represents High Reaches Weyr, the third Weyr, and outranks Sands. The symbol for Spindles is a seven point crown, representative of the seven spindles at High Reaches, and in colored decks the suit is blue.
• The Sands suit represents Igen Weyr, the fourth Weyr, and is the lowest valued suit. The symbol for Sands is an hourglass, and in colored decks the suit is yellow.
• For games similar to Solitaire, where previously the red and black suits were important, the Pernese deck is instead divided into Smooth and Sharp suits. Stones and Sands are Smooth suits while Stars and Spindles are Sharp suits.

Face Cards
While each suit still has an Ace, as well as numbered cards from 2-10, the face cards have changed to be more relevant to Pern, and as the suits are based on Weyrs, the face cards are based on ranks within the Weyr.

• The King card has been replaced by the Weyrwoman card, notated on the card by the initials WW, though it is sometimes called the Gold card instead as the image on the card is of a dragon, rather than a woman. In colored decks, the dragon is gold.
  
• The Queen card has been replaced by the Weyrleader card, notated on the card by the initials WL, though it is sometimes called the Bronze card instead as the image on the card is of a dragon, rather than a man. In colored decks, the dragon is bronze.
• The Jack card has been replaced by the Wingsecond card, notated on the card by the initials WS, though it is sometimes called the Brown card instead as the image on the card is of a dragon. In colored decks, the dragon is brown.
• The Joker card has been replaced by the Egg card, acting as a wild card because, as the egg is yet unhatched, it has endless possibilities. Unlike in traditional Terran poker, the joker/wild cards, or in this case, the Egg cards, are used in the game of Dragon Poker, and can represent any card the player would like in the hand. However, if two players have the same hand and one uses an Egg card while the other doesn’t, the hand without the Egg card wins, even if the hand with the Egg card is a higher ranking suit or has higher value cards. The image on the card is a clutch of four eggs, and in colored decks each egg is a color for each of the different suits.

[Zen]

Dragon Poker

Dragon Poker is very similar to the Terran five card draw poker, played in much the same way but with a few Pernese twists to the possible hands. Dragon Poker can be played with two to six players, the size of a deck of cards limiting the amount of people who can play. When there are fewer than four players, the players may agree to play with a stripped deck, taking out several of the lowest value cards (usually anywhere between the 2s through the 5s) in order to give a greater chance of being dealt a higher value hand. Betting is an important part of Dragon Poker and though marks are most commonly used, anything can be up for grabs if the players all agree to it.

The game begins with the dealer dealing out five cards face down to each player. Each player then looks at their hand and the player to the left of the dealer ‘opens’ with their bet. The player can also choose to ‘check’ (pass on betting yet) but if anyone else in the game bets, when it gets back around to them, they will either need to ‘call’ (meet the bet) or fold and are out of the game for that round. Each player can also ‘raise’ (up the bet rather than simply match it) and any player not willing to call (match the new bet) must fold, and they do not get back anything they might have already bet. It is generally agreed between players beforehand if there is a limit to how much a raise can be or how many times someone can raise during a betting round.

After everyone in the game has either called or folded, the players may discard as many cards from their hand as they like and draw the same amount of cards to replace them. Another round of betting then occurs. After each player has either called or folded once more, the ‘showdown’ happens. Everyone who hasn’t folded shows their hands and the highest value hand wins the pot (everything that was bet that round). The cards are then shuffled and a new hand is dealt to each player, beginning the cycle over.

The typical hand values are as follows, from highest to lowest:

Straight Flush
This hand is five cards in a sequence, all of the same suit. In the unlikely event that two players both have a straight flush in the same round, the player with the higher value cards wins the round, and in the even more unlikely event that the cards are all the same value, the player with the higher value suit wins. (EX: 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Sands)

Four of a Kind
This hand is four cards all of the same rank. (EX: 7, 7, 7, and 7, one of each suit)

Full House
This hand is a three of a kind with a pair. (EX: 8, 8, 8 and 9, 9 of any suit)

Flush
This hand is any five cards of the same suit, but not in a sequence. In the event that two players both have a flush in the same round, the player with the highest value card wins, and if both players have the same highest value card in their hands, the player with the higher value suit wins. (EX: 2, 7, 5, 3, and 10 of Stones)

Straight
This hand is five cards of any suit, in a sequence. In the event that two players both have a straight in the same round, the player with the higher value cards wins, and in the unlikely event that both players have the same value cards in their hands, the players compare their highest value card, and the one with the higher value suit wins. (EX: 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of any suit)

Three of a Kind
This hand is three cards of the same rank. (EX: 10, 10, and 10 of any suit)

Two Pair
This hand is two different pairs of cards of the same rank. In the event that two players have two pairs in the same round, the player with the higher value cards wins, and in the unlikely event that both players have the same value cards in their hands, the players compare their highest value card, and the one with the higher value suit wins. (EX: 4, 4, and 5, 5, of any suit)

Pair
This hand is two cards of the same rank. In the event that two players have a pair in the same round, the player with the higher value cards wins, and in the unlikely event that both players have the same value cards in their hands, the one with the higher value suit wins. (EX: 3 and 3 of any suit)

High Card
In the event that a player ends up with none of the above hands, their highest value card is what is taken into account. If no other player has made a proper hand, then the player with the single highest value card wins the round.

There are also a few special hands that have been given designated names and have special value, from highest to lowest:

Queen’s Wing
This hand is a variation of a four of a kind. A hand with all four Weyrwoman cards is called the Queens’ Wing, and while four of a kind is normally trumped by a straight flush or a Weyr Council, the Queens’ Wing trumps any other hand in the game.

Rising Queen
This hand is a variation of a four of a kind. A hand with all four Weyrleader cards and one Weyrwoman card is called the Rising Queen, and is the second most valuable hand in the game. It can only be beaten by a Queens’ Wing, with one of the two hands requiring at least one Egg card.

Weyr Council
This hand is a variation of a straight flush and in Terran poker is known as a Royal Flush. This is (normally) the highest value hand in the game. It consists of an Ace, Weyrwoman, Weyrleader, Wingsecond, and 10 card, all of the same suit.

Full Flight
This hand is a variation of a full house. A hand with three Weyrleader and two Wingsecond cards is called a Full Flight and outranks a straight flush, making it the fourth most valuable hand in the game.

Fighting Wing
This hand is a variation of a flush. A hand with one Weyrleader, one Wingsecond, one Ace, and two other cards (can NOT include a Weyrwoman), all of the same suit, is called a Fighting Wing. This hand is worth more than any other flush hand except the Weyr Council and is the fifth most valuable hand in the game.

Searchrider’s Bounty
This hand is a variation of a two pair. A hand with one Ace and two pair is called the Searchrider’s Bounty, but is often shortened and called simply a ‘Bounty’. This hand has slightly more value than other two pair hands and will beat a three of a kind hand. It also has a variation with a much higher value.

• Searchrider’s Triumph
  A variation of Searchrider’s Bounty, a hand with one Ace, a pair of Weyrwoman cards, and a pair of Weyrleader cards is called the Searchrider’s Triumph, but is often shortened and called simply a ‘Triumph’. This hand beats any hand below a four of a kind.

Hatching
This hand is a variation of a pair. A hand with both Egg cards, one Weyrwoman card, and any two other cards is called the Hatching. This hand has more value than other pair hands and will beat a two pair hand, except for the Triumph and the Bounty.

[Zen]

Red Star

The game of Red Star is the Pernese version of the Terran game ‘Old Maid’. The game can be played with two to ten players. Using a normal deck of cards, all the aces are removed from the deck except the Ace of Stars. The game of Red Star is often used as a means of drawing straws, determining a loser who then must perform an undesirable task, but is just as commonly used as a casual way to pass time.

The dealer shuffles and deals all the cards (minus the removed aces) to every player, one card at a time. Some players may end up with hands of one or two more cards than other players, but this is fine. All players then look at their hands and lay down any pairs they have, face up. Beginning with the dealer, players take turns offering their hand, face down, to the player to their left. That player then picks a card, without being able to see what it is, and adds it to their own hand. They then determine if their newly acquired card is a match to anything already in their hand, and if so lays it face up with their other pairs. They then offer their hand to the person to their left, and the cycle continues.

The object of the game is to continue forming pairs until you have laid your entire hand down and are left with no more cards. However, the Ace of Stars, or the Red Star as the card is often called and from which the game takes its name, cannot be paired as all other aces were removed from the deck. Therefore the player left with the Red Star in their hand after everyone else has played all their cards is the loser. Red Star is a somewhat unique game in that determining the absolute loser is more important than determining an absolute winner, though some players may count how many pairs they’ve formed in order to determine a winner or winners.