tysen2k at yahoo.com writes: > 3. Is the game of S'yang stones based on a real game > and do you have rules for it? I created my own dice > game trying to match as many of the clues given in the > books as possible. If you made up some rules, I'm > just wondering how closely I came... S'yang Stones is, quite clearly, NOT a dice game. The closest thing it could be would be a cross between craps, marbles, and hopscotch. The game consists of each player having several (possibly as many as twenty, at my guess) stones, about half of which are flat, the other half of which are rounded (or just 'round', I'm not quite sure on that one). The object of the game seems to be trying to place your stones into scoring positions while knocking the other guy's stones OUT of scoring position. 'Scoring positions' are squares drawn onto the board, or perhaps slight concavities, considering that the round stones are also able to score, and you've a BITCH of a time scoring when the stone just rolls on off the end. The playing of the game seems to consist of two players plus the actual owner of the game; Vlad, as we see, far prefers to be the owner, as compared to a player. 'About three copper's worth.' The feel of S'yang Stones to me is a game of good-sized stones; silver-dollar sized for the flat ones, perhaps smaller than that for the round ones, I don't know. With that, you also have to have a good-sized table for the game, perhaps the size of a pool table or -- here's where the craps comes in -- a craps table. Why do I say that? Because Vlad, with Loiosh's egg, is 'bumped' into one such table. I don't recall the table moving much. Now, considering the Empire's approach to illegal gambling, owning a good table runs its own risks, since if the Guard decides to crack down, they're going to bust tables as well as heads; you're going to have to pay to get a new table made, and start working on earning the money you spent on it. Other than that, I'd guess the thing really isn't all that complicated. You could play the game in the dust in the street; you could play it on campaign (wherein Vlad considers going and fleecing all those poor soldiers of their pay, but thinks better on't). The table, then, clearly doesn't matter, nor are the stones overly burdensome to carry around. Just don't get into a game with a Jhereg. Knightmarshall Felix Surnamed Eisen, or "Iron Felix" Hand of Morr, The Order of Bones