Difference between revisions of "Daistallian Mahjong"

Revision as of 09:52, 21 February 2007

Daistallian Mahjong is a variant of standard Majong , withinfluances from Hanafuda and western card games..

Equipment

Daistallian Mahjong is played with a varient set of Wikipedia:Mahjong tiles

Some sets also include a set of bone plates for scoring, as well as indicators denoting the dealer and the prevailing wind of the round. Some sets may also include racks to hold tiles and plates, although in many sets the tiles are generally sufficiently thick so that they can stand on their own.

The tiles for Daistallian Mahjong are:

Plain Tiles

Tiles of a suit and a face value, each with a suit that combines color, direction, or season. The point value is equal to the face value. There are 256 Plains.

Suits

The plain suits include a combination of color (red, blue, yellow, or white), object (coin crack, bamboo, dot, shield bell acorm, or rose), and direction (north, south, east, or west).

Half Suits

Tiles that share one but not both elements are said to have be suits. For example, Red Coins and Red Cracks are half suit tiles, as are Red Coins and Blue Coins.

Color Plain Tiles

6 of each, with a face value of 0-5, 96 total

Half Suits

Red, Blue, Yellow, White, Coins, Cracks, Bamboos, Dots

Suits

Red Coins, Red Cracks, Red Bamboos, Red Dots

Blue Coins, Blue Cracks, Blue Bamboos, Blue Dots

Yellow Coins, Yellow Cracks, Yellow Bamboos, Yellow Dots

White Coins, White Cracks, White Bamboos, White Dots

Directional Plain Tiles

5 of each, with a face value of 1-5, 100 total

Half Suits

South, West, North, East, Center, Sheilds, Bells, Acorns, Roses

Suits

South Sheilds, South Bells, South Acorns, South Roses

West Sheilds, West Bells, West Acorns, West Roses

North Sheilds, North Bells, North Acorns, North Roses

East Sheilds, East Bells, East Acorns, East Roses

Center Sheilds, Center Bells, Center Acorns, and Center Roses

Seasonal Plains (Flowers)

5 of each, with a face value of 1-5, 60 total

Half Suits

Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn

Suits

Winter Paulownias, Winter Pines, Winter Plums

Spring Cherries, Spring Wisterias, Spring Irises

Summer Peonies, Summer Clovers, Summer Pampas Grasses

Autumn Chrysanthemums, Autumn Maples, and Autumn Willows

Bright Tiles

Tiles of a suit, each with a color, direction, or season. Brights have no face value of, but have a point value of 5 each. There are 49 total brights.

Color Brights

2 suits, 4 colors, 8 total

Half Suits

Red, Blue, Yellow, White, Cups, Banners

Suits

Red Cups, Blue Cups, Yellow Cups, White Cups

Red Banners, Blue Banners, Yellow Banners, and White Banners

Directional Brights (monsters)

5 suits, 5 directions, 25 total

Half Suits

South, West, North, East, Center, Dragons, Demons, Ghosts, Goblins, Vampires

Suits

South Dragons, South Demons, South Ghosts, South Goblins, South Vampires

West Dragons, West Demons, West Ghosts, West Goblins, West Vampires

North Dragons, North Demons, North Ghosts, North Goblins, North Vampires

East Dragons, East Demons, East Ghosts, East Goblins, East Vampires

Center Dragons, Center Demons, Center Ghosts, Center Goblins, and Center Vampires

Seasonal Brights (Weathers)

4 suits, 4 Seasons, 16 total

Half Suits

Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winds, Rains, Clouds, Lightning

Suits

Winter Winds, Winter Rains, Winter Clouds, Winter Lightning

Spring Winds, Spring Rains, Spring Clouds, Spring Lightning

Summer Winds, Summer Rains, Summer Clouds, Summer Lightning

Autumn Winds, Autumn Rains, Autumn Clouds, and Autumn Lightning

Grands

Tiles of a suit, but no color, direction, season, or face value, but have a point value of 10 each. There are 95 total grands.

People (27 total):

Greats (3 total): Alchemist, Poet, and Sage

Overs (4 total): Emperor, Kings, Lord, and Lady

Townsmen (5 total): Rich Man, Merchant, Artisan, Courtisean, and Peddler

Unders (5 total): Peasant, Poor Man, Beggar, Sing-Song Girl, and Theif

Religious (5 total): Buddha, Lama, Priest, Monk, and Nun

Army (5 total): General, Knight, Charioteer, Soldier, and Boxer

Animals (12 total):

Birds (8 total) Pheasant, Crane, Nightingale, Cuckoo, Butterfly, Goose, Swallow, and Phoenix

Beasts (4 total): Elephant, Boar, Deer, and Cat

Edibles (20 total):

Grains (4 total): Rice, Barley, Millet, and Wheat

Vegetables (4 total): Potato, Cabbage, Beans, and Radish

Fruit (4 total): Mangos, Melons, Peaches, and Litchis

Intoxicants (8 total): Beer, Schnapps, Wine, Brandy, Coca Leaf, Marajuana, Opium, and tea

Things (19 total):

Weapons (6 total): Club, Staff, Sword, Spear, Halbred, and Bow

Disasters (4 total): Flood, Famine, Typhoon, and Earthquake

Celestials (5 total): Sun, Moon, Star, Comet, and Planet

Jewels (4 totals): Ruby, Sapphire, and Diamond

Time (17 total):

Years (12 total): Rat, Ox, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar

Elements (5 total):

Fire, Wood, Metal, Water, and Earth

Setting up the board

To determine the Player Game Wind, each player throws three dice and the player with the highest total is chosen as the bank. The bank's Wind is now East, the player to the right of the dealer has South wind, the next player to the right has West and the fourth player has North. Game Wind changes after every round, unless the dealer wins. In some variations, the longer the dealer remains as the dealer, the higher the value of each hand.

The Prevailing Wind is always set to East when starting. It changes after the Game Wind has rotated around the board, that is, after each player has lost as the dealer.

A Mahjong set usually includes a Prevailing Wind marker (typically a die marked with the Wind characters in a holder) and a pointer that can be oriented towards the dealer to show Player Game Wind. In sets with racks, a rack may be marked differently to denote the dealer.

These winds are also significant as winds are often associated with a member of a directional tile set.

Dealing tiles

All 400 tiles are placed face down and shuffled. Each player then stacks a row of tiles two deep and ten long in front of him (a total of twenty tiles).

The bank throws three dice. Counting counterclockwise so that the dealer is '1', a player's row is chosen. Starting at the right edge, a number of tiles equal to the dice roll are shifted to the right.

The board is now ready and new tiles will be taken from the bone pile, or remaining tiles.

In certain local variations, it is required that before each hand begins, a Whilan is enacted. This consists of a procedure where three tiles are passed to the player on one's right, followed by three tiles passed to the player opposite, followed by three tiles passed to the left. If all players are in agreement, a second Whilan is performed, however, any player may decide to stop passing after the first Whilan is complete.

Gameplay

Gameplay consists of drawing a new tile, laying down combinations of tiles, and discarding a rejected tile. This continues until a player is out of tiles.

Drawing

At the start of his turn, each player draws a tile from the bone pile and places it in his hand.

Playing Melds =

If a player has a meld (a specific combination of tiles) after drawing, they may play it. However, doing so is not required, and players may forgo doing so in order to build more powereful hands.

Discarding

At the end of his turn, the player must discards a tile onto the table. This signals the end of his or her turn, prompting the player to the right to make his move. As a form of courtesy, each player is encouraged to announce loudly the name of the tile being discarded. Courtesy also requires that discarded tiles be placed in an orderly fashion in front of the player.

During gameplay, the number of tiles maintained by each player should always be the same. Failure to do so rules that player effectively out of winning (since a winning combination could never be built with one extra tile or less), but he or she is obliged to continue until someone else wins.

Other courtesy considerations include when three players in a row discard a West tile, the fourth player should avoid discarding another West, as superstition says when all the players discard a West together, all players will die or be cursed with bad luck.

Bidding

When a player discards a tile, any other player may "bid" for it. A bid must be made before the next player draws a new tile. Biding may involve a monetary deal or a tile trade.

Melds

A meld is a certain set of tiles. There are several types of melds. When a meld is played, the player must state the type of the meld to be declared and place the meld face-up. If playing a meld means a player cannot discrad a tile, he may not play the meld.

= Ordinary Types of Melds

Ordinary melds consist of a set of two, three, or four tiles either of the same numerical value, in numerical sequence, of the same suit, or of both.

Plain Yan

A plain yan is a meld of two plain tiles of the same suit or value.

Bright Yan

A bright yan is a meld of two bright tiles of the same half suit.

Plain Pang

A plain pang is a meld of three or four plain tiles of the same suit.

Plain Kang

A plain kang is a meld of three or four plain tiles of the same value.

Plain Xhan

A plain kang is a meld of three or four plain tiles in numerical sequence

Plain Chau

A plain chau is a meld of three or four plain tiles of the same suit in numerical sequence.

Half Plain Pang

A half plain pang is a meld of three or four plain tiles with half the suit the same.

Half Plain Chau

A half plain chau is a meld of three or four plain tiles with half the suit the same.

Bright Pang

A bright pang is a meld of three or four bright tiles of the same suit.

Half Bright Pang

A half bright pang is a meld of three or four bright tiles with half the suit the same.

End of Play

Play stops when a player has discarded his final tile.

Draws

If only the discard pile remains and no one has won, the round is drawn. When this happens, the game wind must change.

Variations may also have special nonstandard hands that a player can make (in this sense, American Mahjong is a variant where only special hands exist).

Turns and rounds

If the dealer wins the game, they will stay as the dealer. Otherwise, the player to the right becomes dealer and the player's wind becomes the Game Wind, in the sequence East-South-West-North.

After the wind returns to East (ie. each player has been the dealer), a round is complete and the Prevailing Wind will change, again in the sequence East-South-West-North. A full game of mahjong ends after 4 rounds, ie. when the North Prevailing Wind round is over. It is often regarded as an unlucky act to stop the gameplay at the West round, as West has a similar sound to death in Chinese.