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traditional bourgeois canon ~ Cosmic Tribe


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How to play Cosmic Tribe tarot and any 3-way or other friendly variation of tarot trumps

Tarot Rules for 4-player variation: Academie Française Jeu de Tarot, à la mode du Tarot Nouveau Bourgeois

Adapted from game by François & Pierre Uhrich (available at LeTarot.net as shareware) and re-translated by Kevin Hutchins (Teledildonix), original text and game from:
letarot.net/en/rules.html
Example cards from www.stevee.com/tarot.html

_____ The Cards _____

The deck consists of 78 cards:

• 56 cards are divided into 4 "minor" suits, each composed of 14 cards which are in descending order: King, Queen, Knight, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.

• 21 "major" Trumps (or major Tarots): these are ranked from the most powerful 21 ("Cosmos" or "Universe" or "World", depending on your deck) down to the least powerful Ace. The Ace of Trumps is called the "Wizard" or the "Magician", or some such title indicating that it is the smallest trump but it has a special "magic power" (if it’s utilized during the last trick). Any major Trump is always higher than cards of minor suits. If the Ace is played during the last trick, we say it involves the "Least-At-Last" bonus.

• The "Fool" (or harlequin Joker, "Zero the Hero") is the card which is "unsuitable" because it is considered to have zero ranking in the canon of suits, numbers, or names. It is "transcendant" of conventions, and can be played instead of any other card of any suit (even Trump), but it cannot win the trick. The Fool cannot change sides and usually remains in the pile of its original owner where it was dealt. The Fool can only change sides in the rare exceptional case where it is played at the last trick ("Nothingest-At-Last" situation). If the Fool is played during the last trick, it will change sides automatically, except in the special rare case of a "Slam" (see bonus Slam section below).

The most important cards are the three "KEY terminals": the 21 of Trumps (COSMOS), the Ace of Trumps (WIZARD), and the FOOL. The 21 can never change sides because it is the highest unbeatable card of the deck; on the other hand, the Ace of Trumps is dangerously vulnerable and perplexing. The queer FOOL is the third of these KEY cards, and together the final disposition of those KEYS will determine the "scoring targets" of the contract.

_____ The values of the Cards _____

Each of the 78 cards has a specific value as shown below.

Each KEY terminal (FOOL, WIZARD, COSMOS): 4.5 points
Each King: 4.5 points
Each Queen: 3.5 points
Each Knight: 2.5 points
Each Jack: 1.5 points
Each "empty" pip card or non-key trump: 0.5 points
Total of the Pack: 91 points (0+1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13=91)

Kings of Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades: 4.5 x 4 = 18
Queens: 3.5 x 4 = 14
Knights: 2.5 x 4 = 10
Jacks: 1.5 x 4 = 6
All face cards: 18 + 14 + 10 + 6 = 48

Pip cards Ace thru Ten in four suits: 0.5 x 10 x 4 = 20

KEYS: 4.5 x 3 = 13.5

"empty" Trump cards "2" thru "20" in the void: 0.5 x 19 = 9.5

All cards together
= face cards + empty pips + KEYS + empty trumps
= 48 + 20 + 13.5 + 9.5 = 91 tricky points

Each pair of cards is worth at least 1.0 point (0.5 + 0.5) and each trick of four cards (a "quart") is worth at least 2.0 points (0.5×4) before adding extra points for the face cards or KEY cards.

_____ The Goal of the Game _____

Tarot Trumps is simultaneously an individual and a team game. During each deal, one of the players (the contract Taker) will play against the other three opponents (the co-Defenders). The co-defenders temporarily form a team against the contractor, but this situation only lasts during a single deal, then is reconfigured every time the cards are dealt for a new bid.

The Taker contracts during the bidding that she will reach (with her captured tricks) a minimum amount of points. This minimum amount is determined by the number of KEY cards that the Taker will accumulate among her tricky pile at the end of the hand:

_Number of KEYS_ : Minimum tricky points scoring target
0 KEYS requires 56 points minimum for contract
1 KEYS requires 51 points minimum for contract
2 KEYS requires 41 points minimum for contract
3 KEYS requires 36 points minimum for contract

The minimum amount of points does not depend on the bid taken; the target depends on how many of the three KEYS are held by the contractor after all tricks are resolved. This is assymetrically related to the size of the deck: if you hold more than half of the KEYS, then you’ll need less than half of the points in the deck; if you hold less than half of the KEYS then you’ll need to earn more than half of the points in the deck.

56+36=92 and 51+41=92, but the deck has only 91 points, so you see only one side (contractor or defenders) will be able to succeed during any hand, as there are never quite enough points (91 in the deck) for both sides to ever reach a target simultaneously.

_____ The choice of the Dealer _____

Before the first deal, all the cards are laid down unseen and each player chooses one. The "lowest" card designates the first Dealer. A Trump is higher than any suit card. If there is equality of suit-card rankings then the following priority order between the suits is applied: Spades above Hearts above Diamonds above Clubs. Therefore Ace of Clubs is always ultimate lowest and designates the first Dealer. If a player picks the FOOL they must select another card.

For subsequent deals, the player on the right-hand side (counter-clockwise) from the previous Dealer becomes the new one. After the first deal, the deck is not shuffled, because further deals will perform enough "soft-shuffling" pseudo-randomization of the clumps of cards subsequently.

_____ The Cut and the Deal _____

The player across from the first dealer is allowed to shuffle the cards before the first deal. Then the deck is cut into two approximate halves by the player to the left of the dealer (each ‘half’ must contain at least 4 or more cards).

The cards are dealt counter-clockwise in packets of three at a time (a group of three cards is called a "tierce".) The "Dog" (talon) is composed of 6 random cards. It is made during the deal randomly at the choice of the dealer one card at a time, but is never allowed to use the top nor bottom card of the deck. Each of the dog cards must be plopped in the dog pile one at a time between random tierces. Eventually each of the four players will have 18 cards and the dog will have 6, so all 78 cards will be dealt.

Special Deal Cancellation: The Lonely Least. If the Ace of Trumps WIZARD is the only Trump card dealt to one of the players, this player must show her cards and annul the deal. This is because a singleton Ace of Trump is indefensible by these gaming mechanics, so the cards must be re-stacked and cut and dealt by the next person.

_____ The contract bidding _____

After confidentially evaluating their cards, each player bids, beginning with the person on the right side of the Dealer.

Each player may only bid once per deal. She may pass, or she must bid at a higher level than the players who spoke before her. The possible bids are as follows:

• Pass. If all players pass, the deal is annulled, the cards are re-stacked and cut, and the next dealer to the right makes a new deal.

• Take. (A bid with "normal" levels of payments.)

• Guard. (A bid with "double" levels of payments.)

If a player is able to Take or Guard the bid, then they turn the Dog over and show it to everyone. These 6 cards are incorporated into the bidder’s hand. Then the contractor must secretly discard 6 which nobody will see until after the tricks are played. Those secret discards will be included in the tricky pile scoring for the contractor after all the 18 tricks are played on the table.

• Guard Without Looking. The Dog is not shown, but is secretly included in the pile of tricks captured by the contractor, and will be displayed to everybody at the end of the hand. (This is a bid with "quadruple" levels of payments.)

• Guard Against the Dog. The Dog is not shown, the contractor does not touch it, and the dog cards are included in the pile of defenders’ tricks to be counted toward their score at the end of the hand. Nobody sees the dog cards until after all the tricks are played on the table, and the contractor never captures nor touches those dog cards. (This is a bid with "hextuple" levels of payments.)

_____ The Discard _____

The player who bids to Take or Guard a contract will incorporate the 6 cards of the Dog into their hand, then discard 6 of these 24 so she will have 18 again. This discard is secret but will be included into the pile of tricks captured by the Taker.

The Taker is not allowed to discard Kings. The Taker is not allowed to discard KEYS (WIZARD, COSMOS, FOOL). The Taker is not allowed to discard Trump unless she has absolutely nothing else but KEYS, Kings, and Trumps in her hand. In this bizarre case, she must show all the Defenders the superfluous discarded Trumps. This is the only (very rare) case when defenders might know something about the taker’s discard before beginning the tricks on the table.

_____ Playing the cards _____

The opening of the first trick is usually made by the player to the right of the dealer (counter-clockwise). The order of play is counter-clockwise around the table. Each trick is won by the highest Trump card played, or by the highest card of the minor suit led if no Trumps were played. The player who wins the trick opens the lead to the next one.

If a card of a minor suit opens a trick, each player is required to follow the same suit. If a player has no cards of the requested suit, she must play a Trump. When a player has neither cards of the requested suit, nor any Trumps, she is allowed to dispose of any other card she wishes, but she doesn’t win the trick.

If a Trump card opens a trick, each player is required to Trump, unless they have none left, in which case she is free to play any card she wants. Whenever a Trump has to be played, either after a Trump opening or instead of a missing suit ‘in the void’, a Trump higher than the highest played so far in that trick is requested. This overtrumping is always mandatory. If a player can not play a higher Trump, she has to play any other lower Trump which loses the trick. If she has to play a Trump but she has none, she is free to dispose of any other card prudently.

If the opening of a trick is the FOOL, then the *next* player of the trick may utilize any card and thus determines the "suit requested for following" or "trumps requested" as desired.

_____ The bonus scoring _____

• The Least-At-Last bonus is for playing Ace of Trumps (WIZARD) at the very end.
If the Ace of Trumps is played during the 18th (final) trick on the table, then it gives a bonus of 10 credits to the player who wins the trick, multiplied by the contract bidding level (see Score section). This bonus (or punishment) is applied regardless of whether the Taker was winning or losing their contract, if the WIZARD is used at the end.

• The Handful: supermajority ‘in the void’.
A player holding 10 or more trumps in her hand can optionally declare a Handful: either Simple, Double, or Triple. Before playing her first card into the first trick, she may display the correct amount of trump cards to gamble:

Simple Handful, over one-half supermajority, 10 Trump cards held, gambling bonus 20 credits.
Double Handful, approximately two-thirds supermajority, 13 Trump cards held, gambling bonus 30 credits.
Triple Handful, over three-quarters majority, 15 Trumps held, gambling bonus 40 credits.

This handful bonus is not multiplied by any bidding level (see Score section.) The bonus is added to the score of the side winning the deal (taker, or co-defenders, whoever succeeded). If the FOOL is shown in the handful (as a pseudo-zero of trumping) then this indicates that the player has no further Trumps in her hand beyond the 10/ 13/ 15 needed to be displayed. The FOOL is only displayed in a handful if absolutely needed to reach the declaration level of 10, 13, or 15 trump cards majority.

It is possible to declare a smaller handful than necessary, if a player wishes to gamble fewer credits and reveal less dangerous information. For example, a player might hold enough trump cards to reach a double or triple handful, but she might choose to only mention a single handful if she believes that is her best strategy. It depends on how dangerous she thinks the information would be, how much it’s worth mentioning.

_____ The SLAM _____

The Slam consists of winning all 18 tricks of a deal.

The Slam attempt may be declared by the Taker when she has bid her contract. An extra bonus (not multiplied, see Score section) is added to the credits scored from the contract:

• Slam attempt declared and successful: a bonus of 400 credits.
• Slam unannounced but covertly successful: a bonus of 200 credits.
• Slam attempt declared but failed: a penalty of minus 200 credits.

The Slam may be declared after the Discard (if they Take or Guard a bid) or may be declarded after secreting the Dog (if the bid is Without Looking, or Against). If a player announces her attempt to Slam, then she automatically opens the lead into the first trick, regardless of which position she is sitting around the table. The Slam announcement gambler will lead to the first trick no matter in which spot she is located relative to the dealer seat.

If a player attempting to complete a Slam is holding the FOOL, then she is allowed to play the FOOL during the last (18th) trick on the table, and she wins the last trick with that FOOL if she has already won all the other prior 17 tricks. In this case, if she also has the Ace of Trumps WIZARD, she is allowed to play the Least Ace during the penultimate trick (the 17th, just before the FOOL) and is still considered to succeed with "Least-At-Last" at the end if the Slam is achieved with those final trumping cards.

_____ The Score _____

To win the bid she has contracted, the Taker must reach a minimum amount of points depending on how many of the three terminal KEYS she has in her tricky pile by the end of the hand (see the Goal of the Game section). If the amount of points in the tricks of the Taker is below the required target then she loses her bid.

A bid is worth 25 credits, with adjustments. The amount of points by which the Taker exceeds (or fails deficiently) at the target level is added or subtracted to the 25. If Least-At-Last occurs, then 10 credits are added or subtracted also. The sum of these credits are then multiplied by an amount depending on the bidding level:
Take = multiply by 1 (normal)
Guard = multiply by 2 (double)
Guard Without Looking = multiply by 4 (quadruple)
Guard Against the Dog = multiply by 6 (hextuple)

After multiplication, any further bonus credits are added or penalized for Handfuls which were declared, and credits for Slam success or failure are added or penalized if appropriate.

Here is the formula for payment amounts:
25 = the Contract base
T = the amount above or below the Target of the KEYS
L = Least-At-Last if the WIZARD is at the very end
M = multiplier for the bid level (1, 2, 4, 6)
H = Handful credit if announced
S = Slam credit if mentioned or achieved

[ (25 + T + L) x M ] + H + S = payment

If the Taker wins the bid, each of the three co-defenders pays her the proper amount. If the Taker loses the bid, she pays each of the three co-defenders the proper amount. This is a "zero-sum" scoring system.

It is possible to have a mixture of positive and negative credits in the formula. For example, a Taker might win her contract, but still be punished by a defender’s handful. Or a Taker might lose her contract, but still ‘cushion the blow’ with a lucky Ace of Trumps in the last trick. Or a Taker might win her contract but lose her attempted Slam announcement. Etc.

Scoring example: the Taker bids Guard. At the end of all the tricks she holds 43 points in her tricky pile, while the defenders keep 48 in their tricky pile (there are 91 total in the deck). The Taker held onto her FOOL, and she won the last trick with her WIZARD, so she has two of the important KEYS. She had announced a Simple Handful, and never mentioned nor achieved any slamming. When holding two of the three KEYS a player needs to reach a target of 41 tricky points, so her 43 is able to exceed the target by 2 points. Putting all this together: her 25 plus the 2 excess plus the 10 for Least-At-Last is a sum of 37. This is multiplied by 2 for bidding Guard level, producing 74. The Simple Handful adds 20 credits bonus, reaching a grand total of 94. Now each of her three opponents pays her 94 credits, so their accounts are debited -94, and her account receives 94×3= 282 credits.
[(25 + 2 + 10) x 2] + 20 + 0 = +94

Scoring example: the contractor bids Take. At the end of all the tricks she holds the 21 of Trumps, the FOOL, and she used the WIZARD for Least-At-Last in the final trick. She is thus holding all three of the important KEYS. The contractor never mentioned any handful nor slam. She earned 31 points on her tricky pile, while the defenders kept 60 points on theirs (the deck has 91 altogether). While holding three of the KEYS a player needs to reach a target of 36 tricky points, so her 31 is deficient below the target by 5 points. Putting all this together: her -25 and the -5 deficient yields -30, but the Least-At-Last helps with +10, so the sum is -20. This is multiplied by 1 for bidding level Take. There were no additions for Handful nor Slam, so the grand total of her penalty is -20. She must pay 20 credits to each of the three co-defenders (debiting her account by -60 altogether) and each of the defenders adds +20 to their account from her payment.
[(-25 - 5 + 10) x 1] + 0 + 0 = -20

Scoring example: the contractor bids Guard Without Looking at the dog. At the end of all the tricks she holds the 21 of Trumps COSMOS and the FOOL, and she captured the WIZARD during some trick, thus garnering all three important KEYS. She had mentioned and displayed a Double Handful of trump before starting the first trick. She was incredibly lucky and she won all of the tricks on the table, plus she receives the cards in the secret dog at the end, so she has the entire deck of 91 points on her pile, while the defenders have 0. While holding three KEYS a player needs to reach a target of 36 tricky points, so her 91 is above the target by 55. The WIZARD was captured during a trick which was not the very last 18th on the table, so there is no "Least" magic bonus. Adding the contract 25 plus her excess 55 makes a sum of 80. This is multiplied by 4 for the bidding level, so 4×80=320. She adds her Double Handful bonus of 30 credits, so 320+30=350. Then she adds a Slam bonus for winning all the tricks, so 350+200=550. Each of the co-defenders must pay her +550 credits (3×550=1650) and each defender must debit the -550 from their account.
[(25 + 55 + 0) x 4] + 30 + 200 = +550

Scoring example: the contractor bids Guard Against The Dog. At the end of all the tricks she has the 21 of Trumps COSMOS and also the FOOL, so she has two of the KEYS. She does not count any cards from the Dog into her pile, because they automatically go to the defenders. She announced and displayed a Simple Handful of trump before the tricks started. She captured 40 tricky points on her pile, while the defenders held onto 51 (there are 91 total in the deck) so she fails to reach her target. When holding two KEYS her target should be 41 but she is deficient by 1 point. Totalling her -25 contract and her -1 deficiency gives -26, and this is multiplied at the bidding level times 6 to produce -156. The penalty for failing with a Simple Handful announcement is another -20, so the total altogether is -176. She must pay 176 credits to each co-defender, and thus her account is debited -176×3=-528.
[(-25 - 1 + 0) x 6] – 20 + 0 = -176

Scoring example: the contractor bids Guard, and also announces a Simple Handful of trumps. After all the tricks she has the FOOL, thus retaining one of the KEYS. Her opponents have the COSMOS, and the defenders also won the last trick with the WIZARD. She accumulated 62 points on her tricky pile, while the defenders held onto 29 (there are 91 in the deck). If holding one KEY a contractor must reach a target of 51, so she exceeds this target by 62-51=11. Her 25 on contract and her excess 11 are adjusted by -10 for the opponent’s Least-At-Last, so 25+11-10=26. This is multiplied by the bidding level of 2 (double for Guard), producing 52. Then she adds her Handful credits +20, yielding a total of 72 altogether. Each of the defenders must pay her +72 credits (72×3=216) while each defender’s account is debited -72.
[(25 + 11 - 10) x 2] + 20 + 0 = +72

To play the excellent shareware version of the game of Tarot in French or English, you may enjoy www.letarot.net/ for learning the 4-player style. This version of the game may also be adapted for other scenarios, such as 5-player or 3-player or other methods. The 3-player method uses a slightly different scoring of the deck (78 points instead of 91), and the 5-player method uses a different bidding strategy (in which the contractor gains a co-conspirator to work two-against-three in the shifting alliances at the table). For further information on how to adapt to other rules, please visit the online encyclopedias regarding Le Jeu De Tarot!

Frage von Vanessa D: was bedeutet Shareware eigentlich?
was heist Shareware ??

Beste Antwort:

Answer by Blue
Es bedeutet das du die Software nicht komplett, oder nur zeitlich begrenzt Testen kannst.
Für die Vollversion musst du bezahlen.
Shareware = Demo

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