Rules

Black Swan :: Rules

While in most games it's about maximizing a score, Black Swan offers the peculiar alternative of striving for a minimal score during play. A so called Subpar Conversion at the game's end will shift points in a way that values below average turn into values above average. Hence it doesn't matter if a player tries to collect as many or as little points as possible.

In a duel, statistically half of the cases yield a 1 point difference between highest and lowest player, while the other half results in a tie, which is decided by captured cards.

Only with 3+ opponents we see a more interesting play, where the entire midfield tips the scales.

Another rare concept is the possibility of passing down a card instead of leading a trick, which can be used in the minimize style to get rid of high cards, or to relay the Black Swan in case of penalty risk.

Rules

Overview
- Players: 2-6
- Deck: Dridge Taroc, full set (Minor/Major Arcana and Black Swan).
  - Aces: Highest cards of their suit (above Kings).
  - Black Swan: Ranks between Minor and Major Arcana.
- Pledges: 6 Feathers, 4 Stones, 2 Pearls.
- Objective: Accumulate points by winning (or losing) tricks.
Setup
- Shuffle: Thoroughly shuffle the deck.
- Dealer Appointment: After each player has received 1 card, the one with the highest value will be the dealer.
- Deal: The dealer shuffles the deciding cards back into the deck, and distributes single cards clockwise until each player has got 10 cards.
- Draw Pile: The remaining cards serve as a draw pile.
- Pledges: Each player receives 1 feather.
Gameplay
- Turn Order: Play proceeds clockwise.
- Pass Down: Instead of performing a trick, the leading player may decide to pass down (anti-clockwise) one of his cards to his right neighbour, by which the turn ends.
- Leading a Trick: The current player starts a trick by laying an open card on the table.
- Following Suit: Others must (clockwise) follow the suit of the leading card if possible.
- Answering to Black Swan: Any card can be played, because there is no suit.
  However, only a trump can beat the Swan.
- Inability to follow: Either any card, or a pledge can be played.
  A player having neither cards nor pledges simply skips the current trick.
The Black Swan Card
- Playability: Can only be played as the final card in a player's hand.
- Penalty: Minus 10 points if held in hand when the game ends.
Trick
- Winning: Highest card (of the leading suit) wins the trick.
- Scoring
  - per Minor Arcana card: 1 point.
  - Black Swan: 10 points if own card, else 1 point.
  - per low Major Arcana card: 2 points.
  - per high Major Arcana (Elements or Astro) card: 3 points.
- Draw Phase: Each player (clockwise, next lead begins) who has less than 15 cards takes one card from the draw pile, if possible.
Pledge handout
- Whenever a round is finished (former dealer's turn ends) and pledges are still available, the player who's showing the lowest card gets a pledge (the lowest) from the bank. A player without cards is excluded from handout.
Ending the Game
- Empty Hand: If the leading player has no cards to play, the game ends immediately.
- Black Swan: If the Black Swan is played, the game ends immediately after the current trick.
Counting
- Cards: The values of captured cards are added (see Trick | Scoring and Penalty).
- Pledges: The values of pledges are added (see Appendix | Pledges).
- Effective Points: Convert actual game score (see Appendix | Subpar Conversion).
Winning the Game/Tournament
- The player with the highest (total) score wins.
- In a tie, the player who captured the current game's Black Swan wins. If no-one did, the one with the highest captured card wins.

Appendix

Pledges

Pledge Value
each
6 Feathers 1
4 Stones 2
2 Pearls 3

Affiliation

The 6 Minor suits (Buds … Bones) correspond to the 6 Major suits (Vocations … Astro).

6 Suits	6 Trump Suits	Mnemonic
14 Buds	7 Vocations	We're talented by nature
14 Hearts	7 Creatures	Every creature has a heart
14 Coins	7 Structures	Make money via renting
14 Goblets	7 Mysteries	Keep goblets in a chest
14 Pentacles	4 Elements	Occultism goes with alchemy
14 Bones	4 Astro	Death and space are coldest

Subpar conversion

To make relatively bad outcomes worth as much as relatively good ones, player's points below average are mirrored upwards.

Step 1: Calculate Par
The Par value (rounded average score) is determined.
Par = round( sum(Scores) / Players )

Step 2: Calculate Final Points
For each player, subtract Par from the actual game score and use the absolute value.
Final = abs( Score - Par )

Pledge	Value each
6 Feathers	1
4 Stones	2
2 Pearls	3