3 Dragon Ante in actual play?

[Xath]

I've been tempted for a while now to pick up the 3 Dragon Ante card game that Wizards has recently released. Partially because I think it'd add a neat aspect to the game that doesn't just rely on "roll an opposing bluff check" and partially because I think it's a novelty that WotC has put out a card game that's not collectable.

So, has anyone gotten it? How is it in actual play?

 

[Echohawk]

For in character use during a game... not so hot. A game of Three Dragon Ante generally takes long enough to play that it would be a little awkward to put a D&D game on hold to play a full game in character.

For use as a casual card game to play with friends... highly recommended. Easy to learn (or teach), some good strategic play and balanced enough that even when it looks as if someone is about to run out of gold they can still make a recovery.

 

[Ambrus]

I'll give you my impression of the game as what it's supposed to be; a widely played game in most fantasy D&D settings. I've bought a deck and tried a few test games with friends. Overall I think it's an entertaining game to play and gamble with. I didn't have the feeling however that I was playing a game that my PC would be likely to encounter in a roadside tavern which I believe was the intention of the game's designer. What I mean is, it seems too complicated a card game for commoners in a fantasy setting to play regularly. It's seems more like a modern CCG (with each card having its own paragraph of special rules written at the bottom) rather than a simple card game which any commoner could easily remember all the rules to.

It also doesn't really look like a game prop either; if a PC pulled this deck out of his backpack it would look out of place in a D&D inn. I'd imagine the craftsman/artist who would hand paint these cards in a D&D setting wouldn't be able to scribe a tiny paragraph of special rules at the bottom of each card. Cheap decks probably wouldn't have the rules written on them at all, counting on the players to simply know the relevant rules from having played the game before. Conveniently scribed rulebooks would also be unlikely to exist I'd imagine. That of course would lead to different rules being used in various communities which would cause a lot of confusion and heated arguments when travelers tried playing the game in neighbouring towns.

The rules to play the game are fairly solid, though like any game with so many added on rules (like every CCG) there are situations that leave you scratching your head. I'd imagine that such situations would often lead to bar brawls as each PC or NPC interprets the rules differently. The rules for actually winning the game also left me a bit puzzled. For instance, everyone starts the game with a "hoard" of 50 gp. The game progresses with each player winning or loosing hands and his "hoard" either increasing or decreasing. Play ends when one player has lost all his money and the player with the largest hoard is declared the winner. What isn't clear is what being the winner means; does each player get to keep his winnings or does the winner get all of the players' hoards? Again, I'd expect a bar brawl to be the result of playing this game in an unfamiliar inn.

The interesting thing about the game is that the flow of the game can shift quickly and unexpectedly with the right cards in hand. Hoards can increase and decrease unexpectedly. I did find however that if playing the game as written could take a good while since it seems hard to make another player loose his entire hoard, thereby ending the game. I'd imagine the game would make more sense if it were played like poker, with individual hands being played in turn and the game ending whenever the players are simply willing to stop playing, with each player keeping his own winnings.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Hmm, I'd really like a prop game that fits into the flow of D&D and seems plausible for most fantasy settings. I'm sorry to hear this probably isn't that product.

I might just go with Zhuno.

 

[dogoftheunderworld]

Some of my group played over the weekend for the first time. It's a fun casual card game. I would probably only play it "in game" if the "real" game was on hold. (IE waiting on players to arrive, eat dinner, party was split, etc.) While I admit the card design isn't "realistic" for an actual medieval fantasy tavern (details, instruction on cards, etc), I could totally see this being played in such a tavern. The rules are like any other -- even poker has regional and local variations. I could see the rules (again like poker) being generally well known over a region.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

We played an adventure recently where we got to play this in characterly. It works pretty well in an Eberron setting (like we were playing). I did find we were falling out of character a lot, but it was fun getting a chance to use the special abilities from the back of the rules book for having 5 ranks in my skills.

Of course, my character isn't so happy about is since he ended up losing 41 gold at the table. That's ok, the warforged juggernaut at the table lost the biggest and ended up threatening to kill anyone who asked for the extra money he owed them. It was pretty funny.

 

[Xath]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll pick it up.

 

[blargney the second]

It's a great game! If our gaming sessions were longer, I'm certain we'd play it on a regular basis in game. When we do play, it's usually as a warm-up exercise at the beginning of the game. The DM will either use the extra time to finish prepping or play an NPC, so we get some interesting "sit down & talk" time with NPCs, which is always good.

Highly recommended.
-blarg

ps - I also recommend using just one special skill-based ability per character. More gets... complex. (to the point where it's hard to RP while playing)

 

[Wik]

You know, in my games, "Pente" is the game that is played in bars and whatnot. Here's some basic info on the game:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pente

We have simple gambling rules built around it, too - you play for a pot, more or less. We've invented a few more complex rules, but I won't go into it here.

The great thing about it all is the game is really easy to learn (there are two or three rules, I think), but it has a lot of strategy to it. And, of course, not too many people are very familiar with the game, so it wouldn't really seem "out of place" in a fantasy setting.

 

[Nyaricus]

I picked up a set of cards, and while we haven't tried to do this in-characetr yet, we've been playing out of character and it's been awesome!! Tons of fun and enough mix-up of tactics to keep things interesting.

Highly recommended.