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Three Dragon Ante has been a hit with me and my players since I got it; so much so, in fact, that my deck is starting to wear out and I need to think about purchasing a replacement one of these days.
I purchased a whole bunch of cheap gold plastic coins at a party supply store and keep them in a hand-carved wooden treasure chest box along with my deck, which just adds loads of style on those rare occasions that we play it as part of an in-game event. (My players' characters appropriated their own decks from a gambling den in their Age of Worms campaign.) Playing with "real" gold pieces instead of poker chips or pennies really enhances the atmosphere of the game.
It is a tremendously fun card game, and we often play it for an hour or two after our D&D session wraps up on game night. There's enough randomness in the draw of the cards to keep things interesting, and enough room for strategy in how you play them to make it a game of skill as well as chance.
I'd go so far as to say that it is my all-time favorite card game.
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I can't say that I've played the game, but I am completely enthralled with the Three Dragon Readings character generation article from Dragon 346. I'm actually working on a software version for my own entertainment...
I play it ocasionaly at my FLGS. The more players you have the more fun it is. We use Magic commons for gold.
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I have found a great source for coins....World Works' coins of the Realm, here is a LINK!!!
In the set is Elven coinage, Dwarven coinage, and Standard issue human in various denominations. Also comes with a chest to hold your coins. $5 for a PDF and print it out on 110lb paper and make all the coins you ever want. I love their site and the stuff they sell.
I can't seem to get anyone interested in playing 3DA...Guess I need to use it in game or something.
FH
I tried to get my players interested in it for an off-week 3DA game, but we have enough of a hard time getting away from their daily responsibilities for our bi-weekly Eberron sessions. One player got into it, and he and I played regularly for a while.
I recently brought my deck and gold coins with me to Thanksgiving where I introduced one of uncles and my younger cousin to the game. They both loved it! A friend of my cousin's came over, too, and he got hooked. The next day (Black Friday) was his birthday, and I took him to Sci-Fi City in Orlando which offered 30% discounts on everything in the store. I bought him the newer D&D Basic Game and a deck of Three-Dragon Ante cards. We then stopped by a party supply story on the way back to his home and picked up some gold coins for him. The only thing I couldn't get him was the red velvet bag with gold drawstrings that I used to hold my coins, which I acquired from buying a bottle of Captain Morgan's Private Stock.
I might pick up a deck and some coins as a Christmas present for my uncle since he seemed to love it so much.
I might as well mention that My cousin was a fast learner, too. He ended up taking all of our gold everytime we played. I told his dad that he's going to come home one day and find his son playing his friends for real money!
Speaking of which, I've been tempted to get a one shot game going where we each play with two rolls of US gold dollars.
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I recently brought my deck and gold coins with me to Thanksgiving where I introduced one of uncles and my younger cousin to the game. They both loved it! A friend of my cousin's came over, too, and he got hooked. The next day (Black Friday) was his birthday, and I took him to Sci-Fi City in Orlando which offered 30% discounts on everything in the store. I bought him the newer D&D Basic Game and a deck of Three-Dragon Ante cards. We then stopped by a party supply story on the way back to his home and picked up some gold coins for him. The only thing I couldn't get him was the red velvet bag with gold drawstrings that I used to hold my coins, which I acquired from buying a bottle of Captain Morgan's Private Stock.
I might pick up a deck and some coins as a Christmas present for my uncle since he seemed to love it so much.
You can get personalized Crown Royal bags at THIS SITE.
They will let you put names, phrases, etc on it (embroidered) for like $10 each bag. Make a nice personalized gift bag with the coins and game.FH
You can get personalized Crown Royal bags at THIS SITE.
They will let you put names, phrases, etc on it (embroidered) for like $10 each bag. Make a nice personalized gift bag with the coins and game.FH
Thanks, but I feel wierd giving a kid who just turned 13 years old a crown royal bag. I'm not sure his father would appreciate it. ;)
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Thanks, but I feel wierd giving a kid who just turned 13 years old a crown royal bag. I'm not sure his father would appreciate it. ;)You can get personalized Crown Royal bags at THIS SITE.
They will let you put names, phrases, etc on it (embroidered) for like $10 each bag. Make a nice personalized gift bag with the coins and game.FH
I meant the uncle, but I don't know if they even say Crown Royal on them.
FH
My group has it. We play infrequently, but we like it. The game is fun and quick, and is good for breaks in games or a week off. I quite like it.
When Dragon 346 came out I was enthralled enough to actually implement it in C++. I still occasionally play it against my computer (mainly because it tickles me when a program I wrote beats me at a game), but have only played it with others about four times ever.
When Dragon 346 came out I was enthralled enough to actually implement it in C++. I still occasionally play it against my computer (mainly because it tickles me when a program I wrote beats me at a game), but have only played it with others about four times ever.
Wait, you created a computer-based Three-Dragon Ante game written in C++? If so, I would love to have a copy!
My group plays 3DA whenever something prevents us from playing our weekly campaign, such as too low a turnout or me (bad DM!) not being prepared to run something.
There hasn't been an in-game encounter using 3DA yet, although we've experimented with the "character skills" rules.
I'd have to say that our favorite part of the game is how the number of characters changes the complexion of the game.
Does anyone play this game and if so what experiences have you had with playing?
Played it for a few hours one afternoon many, many months ago when 1 of 2 game groups I was in that day was canceled (but a couple of us showed up anyway.) I loved it, had a great time playing it (I'd already bought poker chips to play with it and brought them for just such an "emergency".) Sadly, that was the only time I ever played. I occasionally glance at the box on my bookshelf, hoping a call will go out for another card game. So far, that call has yet to arrive. :(
- Chris Shadowens (who had 2 posts yesterday get swallowed up by the electronic otyughs or some such...we'll see where this one winds up.)
Wait, you created a computer-based Three-Dragon Ante game written in C++? If so, I would love to have a copy!
When Dragon 346 came out I was enthralled enough to actually implement it in C++. I still occasionally play it against my computer (mainly because it tickles me when a program I wrote beats me at a game), but have only played it with others about four times ever.
As would I. I started one myself, but I just don't have the time to be able to do all the coding.
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Since I wrote "Three Dragon Readings," for #346 it seems obvious that I like the game a lot... although when I pitched the idea I offerred to write it either for 3DA, a regular deck, a Tarot deck, a deck of many things or a made up deck. When I got the go ahead to write it for 3DA, I had to scramble to buy the game and learn how to play it!
That said I do like the game a lot, and my group has unanimously agreed that the Three Dragon Reading will be our standard character generator from now on. We have played 3DA both in character and out of character. We use bingo and poker chips, which we use for money in D&D anyways.
The one thing I'm not entirely satisfied with is the rules for using skills to affect the game. We've only done it once, but when we did we required opposed checks every time someone wanted to use their special skill effect. We liked this better than a flat rank requirement, but I'd probably review the whole thing if I did it again.
The other thing is that I really played up the connection between 3DA and the three progenitor dragons in my Eberron campaign; I changed the names of the Bahamut, Tiamat, and Dracolich cards to Siberys, Khyber and Eberron respectively, and tied the whole deck to the draconic prophecy. I think it's a nice fit.
What I'd like to know is what does Rob Heinsoo think of the readings article?
Craig Shackleton
The Rambling Scribe
I enjoy the game a lot, especially with 4 or more players. I was in a regular D&D game about a year ago now and we would meet at a player's house right by work but the DM would usually be a while getting there so we started playing it as a time killer while we waited.
Unfortunately, since then the group disbanded and I also moved. I did however just give a copy to a friend of mine from work who is a big gamer so hopefully I can get a good game of 3DA going again soon.
L
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Here's an odd question: Does anyone have any ideas for incorporating a 5-minute countdown into a Three Dragon Ante game? For Christmas I received a beautifully sculpted hourglass of intertwined dragons, and I'm eager to somehow incorporate it into a Three-Dragon Ante variant...possibly within the context of a D&D session.
I'm thinking that a local variant of the game will be played with a 5-minute timer changing the gameplay in some manner, so that when the PCs sit down to play a hand after reaching Greyhawk, they're confronted with an unexpected twist.
It might be as simple as "if it's your turn when the sand runs out, you have to add 5 gold to the ante and reset the timer", but I'm open to suggestions. :)
Another idea: a game of three or more players doesn't end immediately when one runs out of money, but instead the dragon timer is put into play and the remaining players have 5 minutes to see who comes out on top.
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Here's an odd question: Does anyone have any ideas for incorporating a 5-minute countdown into a Three Dragon Ante game? For Christmas I received a beautifully sculpted hourglass of intertwined dragons, and I'm eager to somehow incorporate it into a Three-Dragon Ante variant...possibly within the context of a D&D session.
I'm thinking that a local variant of the game will be played with a 5-minute timer changing the gameplay in some manner, so that when the PCs sit down to play a hand after reaching Greyhawk, they're confronted with an unexpected twist.
It might be as simple as "if it's your turn when the sand runs out, you have to add 5 gold to the ante and reset the timer", but I'm open to suggestions. :)
Another idea: a game of three or more players doesn't end immediately when one runs out of money, but instead the dragon timer is put into play and the remaining players have 5 minutes to see who comes out on top.
You need to stress the "out of time" aspect of the hourglass, not just that it is a timer.
Idea 1.)Maybe when the Hourglass runs out the players need to assess their current funds and all players have to put a sum into the pot that is equal to the amount of money that the lowest player has (effecting a win or lose situation for the last place player and making that pot into a large prize.Idea 2.)Timer runs out players all hand their cards to the person to their right. Play continues as normal but now the players are all working with different cards to try to make a good hand.
Just some thoughts.
FH
Well, I liked the 3DA readings article and decided I needed to get a copy of the game. My family, which is also my D&D group, loves to play card games as it is (played Uno and rummy last night while we watched the Eagles "Farewell I Tour" dvd set I picked up), so I think we'd all love it.
Plus, our party just found a 3DA deck in the Slaughtergarde module...
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LOVE 3DA!
For about a month after we got it, we coldn't play our regular game beacuse we wanted to play 3DA instead. We play semiregularly now (as time and work and kids allow).
We use silver and gold plastic coins and colored plastic shaped like gems for the gold pieces. It is really fun instead of the pennies we used the first time.
I have not thought about running a few hands at the FLGS. That would be a lot of fun.
When 3DA first came out, my FLGS promoted it heavily. It is a good beer & pretzels game, and still is popular at the store. About once a month the owner holds a tournament -- the first iteration of which was ill-conceived.
Since 3DA is advertised as a poker variant for D&D characters, the final table was to be played like poker, eliminating people once they had no chips (or were in debt) at the end of a gambit. However, it was forgotten that poker is able to pair players down like that due to raising minimum antes.
The final table eliminated two of the six players quickly, and then the game dragged on for 4 hours before another was eliminated. Ultimately the top prize ended up being split, since the players didn't want to play anymore. Total time for the previous 3 swiss rounds: about 90 minutes. Total time for the tournament: about 10 hours.
That 50 gp per person was either a very lucky designer's guess or a great tribute to playtesting. Going 10 gp either way will modify the length of the game by a great margin.
Eventually, a house rule of gp elimination was created, in order to play the game pairing down. Each time a player is eliminated from the game, each remaining player must remove 20 gp from their hoard. If they can't, they too are eliminated and the process repeats for those remaining. The house rule still has its problems, particularly when it comes to "the showdown", but it works beautifully for the larger 6-player games.
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What if, instead of eliminating gold from the horde, the ante gets multiplied for each player removed from a multiplayer game? This would get ridiculous in really large games, but for 3-5 people it might work quite well.
Play proceeds as normal until a player is eliminated. After that, all antes are twice the strength of the ante-winning card. (So if a strength 6 dragon wins the ante, all players put 12 gold into the pot instead of the usual 6.) When another player is eliminated, all players put in 3 times the ante, and so on. This should force an escalating urgency to win gambits and get into a good position as quickly as possible, since the big antes mean that players will be going broke faster and faster.
I haven't playtested this, but I like it in theory.
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I like the diea but it also defeats some other winning strategies.
My wife wins the majorit of games. She shared he secret with me one night. She does not try to win the gambit. She goes for every chance she can to get some gold. One gold from a player, five from the horde, etc. Almost every hand she wins back her ante and then some. She wins by slow attrition. Which I find is a great strategy and now means that I do NOT sit at her left anymore.
The one change I would make is the "Player on the Left" rule. In most of our games a few just get picked on and the women are usually the predators and the guys are the prey. I still think the women would pick on us guys, but maybe it would get spread around and maybe once or twice they would pick on each other.
I play it. It is a great game. Though it can take a while some times.
I was even thinking of having it as a way to newer character to start with more cash (namely they plat me before the make it and if they win they get more gold to start with).
What if, instead of eliminating gold from the horde, the ante gets multiplied for each player removed from a multiplayer game? This would get ridiculous in really large games, but for 3-5 people it might work quite well.
Play proceeds as normal until a player is eliminated. After that, all antes are twice the strength of the ante-winning card. (So if a strength 6 dragon wins the ante, all players put 12 gold into the pot instead of the usual 6.) When another player is eliminated, all players put in 3 times the ante, and so on. This should force an escalating urgency to win gambits and get into a good position as quickly as possible, since the big antes mean that players will be going broke faster and faster.
I haven't playtested this, but I like it in theory.
In theory, yes, it seems a good idea. Unfortunately (at least, with the people I play with) it leads to only one winning strategy - win the pot or die. This particularly comes to light when Bahamut or another high-strength card is put in the ante. 26 gp ante + at least 52 gp in the pot? Winning that gambit will likely end the game, even if you were successful at another strategy (drawing to a max hand, playing flights, stealing as much gold as possible). Unlike poker, part of the fun of 3DA is the fact that it's not all about winning the pot.
Granted, eliminating gold fromt the horde swings the game a bit in the other direction - toward the strategies of not focusing on the pot. I personally like that better, though, since successful hands can be spread out among players more easily. Also, it just seems easier to remember a triggered event such as removing gold from the hoard rather than an ongoing effect like doubling up antes every gambit. But that's just my opinion.
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Hmm, that's true. The ante-doubling effect does detract from the other strategies.
With that mind, the doubling thing is probably only appropriate for three-player (or maybe four-player) games where you want to end the game soon after the first person goes bust, but not immediately. It escalates the urgency of winning pots and gives the remaining players one or two more hands to use whatever cards and tactics they had been setting up.
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Here's an odd question: Does anyone have any ideas for incorporating a 5-minute countdown into a Three Dragon Ante game? For Christmas I received a beautifully sculpted hourglass of intertwined dragons, and I'm eager to somehow incorporate it into a Three-Dragon Ante variant...possibly within the context of a D&D session.
I'm thinking that a local variant of the game will be played with a 5-minute timer changing the gameplay in some manner, so that when the PCs sit down to play a hand after reaching Greyhawk, they're confronted with an unexpected twist.
It might be as simple as "if it's your turn when the sand runs out, you have to add 5 gold to the ante and reset the timer", but I'm open to suggestions. :)
Another idea: a game of three or more players doesn't end immediately when one runs out of money, but instead the dragon timer is put into play and the remaining players have 5 minutes to see who comes out on top.
Been thinking about this. I think variants could be when the timer expires it is reset. During the next five minutes any card that affects the person to your left affects the person to your right. During the following five minutes you can reverse cards that normally require you to play over/under their power (so that if you normally must have a card higher than a 6, you instead must have one lower than a six). You can also have five minutes during which you reverse rewards for a flight (You take gold from the hord for a Power Flight instead of each player). Or my favorite, Evil becomes Good and Good becomes Evil (though this one requires a bit more modifications to work right).
I bought a deck a while ago but haven't had a chance to play with my gaming group just yet, so we'll see if they are interested or not.
we usually just play Smash Bros Melee during breaks so it's gonna be hard to steal em' away from it, haha.
I'm considering having the ante be the sum of the ante cards at the beginning of the gambit rather than the highest ante card.
Has anyone created a computer version of this game yet? WotC is taking suggestions for other games including board games to include in their DI and I mentioned this one. It's had a few additional votes.
I can't say that I've played the game, but I am completely enthralled with the Three Dragon Readings character generation article from Dragon 346. I'm actually working on a software version for my own entertainment...
Did you have any luck on a workable software version of the 3DA character generator? I know only two things about programming (jack & squat) but was hoping someone out there had managed to put one together.
Played it for the first time a few weekends ago, and really enjoyed it.
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Craig, my friends and I used Three Dragon Readings to create characters for our current "Expedition to Castle Ravenloft" campaign, and it was very warmly received. As you wrote in the article, it keeps characters balanced with one another but still allows for that unexpectedness and interesting choices that comes with rolling stats. One of them is even working on a simple program to perform the readings without the cards, since he enjoyed the method so much but doesn't have a deck. I'll share it with you once it's completed.
And, yes, I LOVE playing 3DA. It's the perfect way to pass the time if someone is late to a session, as I was this afternoon. *blushes*
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Thanks for the kind words!
Castle Ravenloft is an excellent place to use it; I remember the Taroka(?) cards in the original module affecting the outcome of the adventure. Very appropriate thematically.
In other news, my brother entered the 3DA tourney at GenCon and won! He had a blast and won some nice stuff. I was busy at the Paizo booth at the time.
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In other news, my brother entered the 3DA tourney at GenCon and won! He had a blast and won some nice stuff. I was busy at the Paizo booth at the time.
Which day did he play? I might have been in that game. (I played in the Friday evening tournament.)
I finished 4th out of about 18 players, and our final table had agreed before the game to divide the stack of prizes: with winner getting first pick, and so on. I walked away with Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk and an Eberron hardcover; I think everyone had a great time and was similarly pleased with their loot. :)
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In other news, my brother entered the 3DA tourney at GenCon and won! He had a blast and won some nice stuff. I was busy at the Paizo booth at the time.Which day did he play? I might have been in that game. (I played in the Friday evening tournament.)
I finished 4th out of about 18 players, and our final table had agreed before the game to divide the stack of prizes: with winner getting first pick, and so on. I walked away with Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk and an Eberron hardcover; I think everyone had a great time and was similarly pleased with their loot. :)
My brother played on Thursday noght... His game was delayed becasue of the 4e announcement. (That was Thursday right? It's all a blur).
He had cut a deal with another player to play the druid one hand (making him win the hand) and gave her first pick of the prizes I believe. Then he shared out some of the other stuff as well.
Chris, if I had known you were at GenCon, I would have made a point of trying to meet you... not that I wasn't busy mind you!
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Likewise!
Unfortunately, I was only there on Friday and Saturday, and I spent much of Friday at the Indianapolis Childrens' Museum with my family. It was fun, but I'd have loved to get together and chat with more people and spend more time wandering the exhibit hall. More 3-Dragon Ante would have been nice, too. :)
Next year I'll try to get into more tournaments. It was a blast!
well, I dont know much more than the title; can anyone give a rundown; my group plays the card game munkin as we wait for players to arrive or are just sitting around for a laugh; we used to play yuguio or however its spelled; only rule on those decks is that you had to have a theme deck; ie mine is an insect deck; one friend has a water deck; another has a disco deck (hehe earth wind and fire) as examples of themes, so no cards that dont have your aspect except for magic cards and like that.
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Three-Dragon Ante is a standalone card game that is a bit like a medieval fantasy poker game. The only betting round (the ante) comes at the start of the game, but various card effects let players add gold to the pot or take some out.
It features a deck of cards with suits made up of D&D's chromatic and metallic dragons at different strengths (the number on a card is it's strength-they range from 1 to 13). All cards of a suit share the same special power, written at the bottom of the card. For example, red dragons let you steal a gold and a card from another player. Several mortals such as the archmage, the druid, and the dragonslayer (to name a few) are included, each with unique powers. There are also two dragon god cards (Tiamat and Bahamut, both strength 13), and a Dracolich (strength 10).
At the start of the game, each player has a horde of 50 gold coins and players choose a card out of their hand of six to "ante". These ante cards are revealed to the other simultaneously, and whoever antes the highest strength card goes first in the first round. All players put gold coins into the pot equal to the strength of that card. The ante cards also remain in the pot, and some cards let players take those cards into their hands during the course of play.
A game is made up of "gambits", which usually ends with a set of three cards in front of each player. During a gambit, players take turns laying down cards in front of themselves, one at a time. The player with the highest total strength of cards at the end of the gambit wins all of the gold in the pot. (Unless someone successfully played the druid card, in which case the pot goes to the lowest strength instead!) Each gambit starts off with another ante, and you draw two more cards for your hand at the end of each gambit.
Each card has a power written at the bottom; these powers are activated for you if the card's strength is equal to or lower than the strength of the card played before you. The evil dragons usually give you gold from the pot or from other players, while the good dragons usually give you more cards. (Your hand of cards continues between each gambit; there's no discarding between gambits.)
Additionally, if your set of three cards features dragons of the same strength (a "strength flight"), you get that strength value of gold out of the pot, and you get all of the ante cards left on the table to add to your hand.
If you have three dragons of the same color (three gold dragons of strength 11, 9, and 13, for example), you get the middle strength value (in this case, 11) from every other player. That's called a "color flight".
The game ends when a player has no gold left at the end of a gambit, and the winner is the player with the largest horde of gold.
It's a very fun game that plays out with an interesting dynamic: In order to get your card powers to trigger, you have to play equal to or lower than the strength of the card played by the player in front of you (play goes clockwise), but in order to win the pot you need to play the strongest flight (biggest total of points from your three cards). This, with the additional possibilities enabled by strength flights, color flights, and the druid card, enables a lot of different strategies and choices to make. You can spend gambits trying to rebuild cards in your deck using good dragons, stealing gold from the pot with evil dragons, or trying to win the pot with high-strength cards. Two gambits never play out quite the same way, and to win you usually need a good blend of luck and planning.
thanks for the detailed description; I enjoyed it.
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I've played it a bit with my group, and some other folks, and the biggest problem I have found is it doesn't play well in diminishing scale.
According to the rule book, once one player is eliminated whoever has the most gold at that point wins.
But that is not the natural instict years of playing games has developed, you want to claw your way to the top pf the heap. And well, 2 player 3DA, is not as fun as a 6 player game.
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thanks for the detailed description; I enjoyed it.
My pleasure!
According to the rule book, once one player is eliminated whoever has the most gold at that point wins.
But that is not the natural instict years of playing games has developed, you want to claw your way to the top pf the heap. And well, 2 player 3DA, is not as fun as a 6 player game.
True, though 3-player 3DA is still quite enjoyable! It plays different from the larger games, but is no less fun in my opinion. 2-player can still be entertaining, but it loses some dimension when the "opponent with the strongest flight" is always the same guy as "the player on your left" and so on. Some cards also become relatively worthless in small games: the priest, the fool, etc.
The reason the game should end when one person runs out of gold, though, is simple: It lets you start over so that everyone can keep playing. Watching from the sidelines gets old rather quickly.
There is one major problem with this game.
Namely, the packaging. It's a terrible, terrible box. It doesn't stay closed, it's not sturdy, and it's entirely too large. Lucky me a friend made me a replacement box out of an iPod box... and that works really well.
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There is one major problem with this game.
Namely, the packaging. It's a terrible, terrible box. It doesn't stay closed, it's not sturdy, and it's entirely too large. Lucky me a friend made me a replacement box out of an iPod box... and that works really well.
Good to know. I have the same complaints, and from what I saw of Innfighting, they have not fixed this problem.
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Agreed packaging is awful. I am having a friend make a custom leather case for it with the dragon logo embossed on it.
I just bought a new deck yesterday and was re-reading the rule book and it seems the rules have been revised. Some things are clearer and I think some things changed. Has anyone else noticed this?