Simple Question on two of my favorite cards:
In a Game of Malkav, or in a Malkavian Prank, can the players
holding blood in thier hands hold MORE than they possess in thier current
pool?
In other words, I play a Game of Malkav, and I only have 3 pool
left, can I legitimately hold six blood in my hand for the game? Would I
gain all six?
As an aside: has anyone figured out a decent strategy for handling
these mini-games? (short of sudden reversals, that is)
"When you opponent is down, kick him"
-John's Axiom
hoff...@matrix.newpaltz.edu
In article <3ob64s$9...@motss.newpaltz.edu>,
steve hoffman <hoff...@matrix.newpaltz.edu> wrote:
> Simple Question on two of my favorite cards:
>
> In a Game of Malkav, or in a Malkavian Prank, can the players
>holding blood in thier hands hold MORE than they possess in thier current
>pool?
Yes. [TOM]:
From: aa...@cats.ucsc.edu (Thomas R Wylie)
Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad
Subject: Re: Design question: Hawg
Date: 12 Mar 1995 21:41:00 GMT
>When playing Game of Malkvan, you can choose a number that exceeds the
>blood in your pool, since you are not removing blood from your pool in
>order to gamble. The same goes for Malkavian Prank.
--- [END] ---
> In other words, I play a Game of Malkav, and I only have 3 pool
>left, can I legitimately hold six blood in my hand for the game? Would I
>gain all six?
>
Yes. Assuming no one was smart enough to hold five. :-)
--
-----
L. Scott Johnson (lsc...@crl.com) | The opinions expressed are mine
Graphics Specialist and Jyhad Rulemonger | and subject to card text
steve hoffman (hoff...@matrix.newpaltz.edu) wrote:
: Simple Question on two of my favorite cards:: As an aside: has anyone figured out a decent strategy for handling: these mini-games? (short of sudden reversals, that is)
For the Malkavian Prank, which allows a person to choose from 1 to
4, usually people will pick three. This is strictly psychological in
nature, a sort of society programming that we all put up with... people will
usually walk in through the third doorway in a series of four or something
similar. When I play this game, I usually say "Three, all round" and gain
upwards of six pool.
If this seems far fetched, ask the person next to you to pick a
number.. one, two, three, or four.. and see what their response is. It will
probably be three.
Joseph. (mcev...@matrix.newpaltz.edu)
In article <3ob64s$9...@motss.newpaltz.edu>,
steve hoffman <hoff...@matrix.newpaltz.edu> wrote:
> Simple Question on two of my favorite cards:> In a Game of Malkav, or in a Malkavian Prank, can the players>holding blood in thier hands hold MORE than they possess in thier current
>pool?
you may bet more pool than you have in a Malkavian Game (either sort);
you may be ousted by one (and you prey gets the 6 pool and other goodies,
of course, regardless of who called the Game). i was, not ousted, but
reduced to 1 pool and left for oustbait, by a Prank. arrgh.
> In other words, I play a Game of Malkav, and I only have 3 pool
>left, can I legitimately hold six blood in my hand for the game? Would I
>gain all six?
yes, and yes. it's fun to make the guy calling the game lose 9 pool over
two games (can i help it if he telegraphs his intentions on his face?).
> As an aside: has anyone figured out a decent strategy for handling
>these mini-games? (short of sudden reversals, that is)
i'm SO glad you asked.
Game of Malkav: A Game-Theory Treatment.
or, perhaps, nothing quite so grandiose, and certainly not formal game-theory,
just observations.
one is the safe bet. no one can undercut you. almost every game,
someone's bound to pick one, especially if they're low on pool and don't want
to risk being ousted.
by that token, two is bad. very bad. you'll be undercut lots of times.
three is a safe number, since anyone who reasons well can deduce that two
is bad; you're pretty safe from undercuts.
three, being lots better than one, is lots more tempting, which makes four
twice as bad as two.
five is less safe than three, but more tempting, and still better than four.
six is for malkavians. 'nuff said.
we see, then, that the odd numbers are safe in decreasing proportionality
to their magnitude; the even numbers are dangerous in ascending
proportionality.
typically, the first game of malkav played in a group (if everyone has
well-developed faculties of ratiocination) will have the result of
everyone playing the fairly safe bet of three.
after that, it's psych-out time. the game of malkav requires subtle
psychological skill to win consistently. is this fellow a risk-taker, or
will his weak condition tempt him towards safety? who looks desperate and
really needs lots of pool? most importantly, what is your prey going to
pick? ESP helps lots here. the non-gifted of us can make do with analyzing
facial expression and body nuance. if you're playing with stupid people,
you can check how many counters they take from the blood bank and how
many they put back; if they're dumb enough to be obvious about it, they
deserve to get it up the butt.
pay attention to the table conditions. play the players, not the card.
don't let your own pool requirements induce wishful thinking. pick four
when your prey picks five. cackle.
malkavian pranks are more difficult to psych out, since it's all more or
less up to the malkavian's whim. if it's being played on you, think of
what the most reasonable number for you to pick would be, and pick another
one. if the malkavian is a devious one, going for the duh-obvious can
be effective.
if you're the one playing the prank, analyzing table conditions and player
temperament is again a valuable resource. or you can just do what the local
malkavian does and shout out random numbers while pointing. this approach
precludes careful planning; just stare at your hand and go with your instincts.
they tend to be accurate.
heckler
batting .909 on games of malkav, .500 on pranks
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