Traditionally, biker gangs chose their leaders through a merciless contest called “Back on the Pavement”, which consisted of seeing who could last the longest while being dragged behind a heavy cylinder... without spilling his beer.
The sorry state of their leather after such trials caused some of them to look for a cheaper alternative, however.
It's during their regular meetings at their favorite bar, that the more Machiavellian bikers created a fearsome game of bluff which is still used to this day to choose their supreme leader.
Welcome to Skull and Roses!
-This game is for no fewer than five players, and no more than seven. The number of players must be odd.
-Communication outside of the game thread is banned.
-All players are sitting around a table in the corner of a dimly lit bar. The order in which the players sit down around the table will be RNGed.
-Each player has in their possession four coasters: Three with roses inscribed upon them, and one with a skull.
-If a player loses all their coasters, they are eliminated from play.
-This phase will only happen once per game, at the very beginning.
-Each player stares at the floor, and on the count of three looks up, directly at another player.
-The player you look at must be PMed to me.
-If two players make eye contact, both are eliminated.
-Players may not look at the same person more than twice in a row.
-This process is repeated until only one player is left uneliminated. This player will take their turn first during the Prowl. This player will also determine of the progression of play goes clockwise or counterclockwise around the table.
-All players place one of their four coasters face down on the table. The coaster that is placed must be PMed to me.
-Then, beginning with the player determined to be going first by prior events, and progressing around the table in the order the Sight-of-a-Snake winner had previously determined, each player takes their turn.
-Players take one of two actions on their turn: Place another coaster face down, on top of the previous coaster, or declare a number. If a player declares a number, the game automatically proceeds to the Burn Out.
-If a player has no coasters left in their hand, they must declare a number.
-Continuing from the player who declared, in the order of progression, each other player must raise the stakes, and declare a larger number, or fold.
-Once everyone except for the player with the highest declaration, called the challenger, has folded, the challenger must flip over a number of coasters equal to their declaration.
-The challenger must flip over all their own coasters before they can flip over anyone else's.
-The challenger must flip over the coaster on top of a stack before they can flip over coasters beneath.
-If the challenger flips over the required number of coasters without revealing a skull, they have won the challenge, and earn a strip of studded leather.
-If the challenger flips over a skull, they have failed the challenge, and stop immediately.
-If the skull was in their own stack, the challenger must choose one of their coasters to remove from play, PMed to me.
-If the skull was in another player's stack, that player removes a coaster from the challenger's hand at random, without looking at what they have taken. The challenger must PM me a number (1-4) to represent their own skull, and the player whose skull ended the challenge must also PM me a number to represent the coaster they take out of play.
-The Prowl begins again. The owner of the skull that was revealed goes first.
If a player earns two strips of studded leather, they win the game.
Panthers (who is first player) and the next two players have added a second coaster. Snakes, the fourth player, would rather issue a declaration. There are therefore 8 coasters currently placed on the mat.
Werewolves announces: “I declare 2”.
Snakes says: “3 coasters”; Himself folds and slides his stack of coasters to middle of the table.
It's Panthers' turn, who says:
“Ice-cold guys, 5 coasters”.
The other players pass one after the other. Panthers is the challenger.
If he wants to win his bet, Panthers will have to flip 5 coasters from the 9 placed on the various game mats... but only Roses!
He starts by flipping over his own coasters: 2 Roses, he hasn't bluffed.
Then he flips Werewolves' coaster: It's a Rose. Good show!
Now Himself's coaster: it's also a Rose. Good guess!
There's only one Rose coaster missing to win his bet. The suspense is terrible...
Panthers chooses to flip Eagles' first coaster (Eagles had placed 2) and falls into a trap! It was a Skull!
How sad... the challenge has failed!
Panthers has lost his bet:
He revealed a Skull from Eagles.
So it's Eagles who'll choose the coaster to be discarded.
Panthers shuffles his coasters and places them face-down on the table.
Eagles chooses one of them. Panthers secretly checks which coaster it is and removes it from play.
-It's very advantageous to be the first player. It's worth the trouble of taking risks to get that position, even if it means losing a coaster.
-Don't hesitate to bluff by issuing a challenge or increasing the bet while having just played a Skull. It's the best way to reassure the future challenger and have him or her choose your coasters only to fail.
-Foster a mood of anxiety by commenting on the choices of the challenger.
-As with other confrontation-based games, by the end of the game, when there are only a few remaining players with about as many coasters, there are winning strategies!
This game, being a bluffing game, is the most fun when psychological play is involved. Therefore, communication is key. Please join only if you are positive you can be active and competitive.
Basics
-This game is for no fewer than five players, and no more than seven. The number of players must be odd.
-Communication outside of the game thread is banned.
-All players are sitting around a table in the corner of a dimly lit bar. The order in which the players sit down around the table will be RNGed.
-Each player has in their possession four coasters: Three with roses inscribed upon them, and one with a skull.
-If a player loses all their coasters, they are eliminated from play.
Sight-of-a-Snake
-This phase will only happen once per game, at the very beginning.
-Each player stares at the floor, and on the count of three looks up, directly at another player.
-The player you look at must be PMed to me.
-If two players make eye contact, both are eliminated.
-Players may not look at the same person more than twice in a row.
-This process is repeated until only one player is left uneliminated. This player will take their turn first during the Prowl. This player will also determine of the progression of play goes clockwise or counterclockwise around the table.
The Prowl
-All players place one of their four coasters face down on the table. The coaster that is placed must be PMed to me.
-Then, beginning with the player determined to be going first by prior events, and progressing around the table in the order the Sight-of-a-Snake winner had previously determined, each player takes their turn.
-Players take one of two actions on their turn: Place another coaster face down, on top of the previous coaster, or declare a number. If a player declares a number, the game automatically proceeds to the Burn Out.
-If a player has no coasters left in their hand, they must declare a number.
The Burn Out
-Continuing from the player who declared, in the order of progression, each other player must raise the stakes, and declare a larger number, or fold.
-Once everyone except for the player with the highest declaration, called the challenger, has folded, the challenger must flip over a number of coasters equal to their declaration.
-The challenger must flip over all their own coasters before they can flip over anyone else's.
-The challenger must flip over the coaster on top of a stack before they can flip over coasters beneath.
-If the challenger flips over the required number of coasters without revealing a skull, they have won the challenge, and earn a strip of studded leather.
-If the challenger flips over a skull, they have failed the challenge, and stop immediately.
-If the skull was in their own stack, the challenger must choose one of their coasters to remove from play, PMed to me.
-If the skull was in another player's stack, that player removes a coaster from the challenger's hand at random, without looking at what they have taken. The challenger must PM me a number (1-4) to represent their own skull, and the player whose skull ended the challenge must also PM me a number to represent the coaster they take out of play.
-The Prowl begins again. The owner of the skull that was revealed goes first.
If a player earns two strips of studded leather, they win the game.
Example of Game Play:
Panthers (who is first player) and the next two players have added a second coaster. Snakes, the fourth player, would rather issue a declaration. There are therefore 8 coasters currently placed on the mat.
Werewolves announces: “I declare 2”.
Snakes says: “3 coasters”; Himself folds and slides his stack of coasters to middle of the table.
It's Panthers' turn, who says:
“Ice-cold guys, 5 coasters”.
The other players pass one after the other. Panthers is the challenger.
If he wants to win his bet, Panthers will have to flip 5 coasters from the 9 placed on the various game mats... but only Roses!
He starts by flipping over his own coasters: 2 Roses, he hasn't bluffed.
Then he flips Werewolves' coaster: It's a Rose. Good show!
Now Himself's coaster: it's also a Rose. Good guess!
There's only one Rose coaster missing to win his bet. The suspense is terrible...
Panthers chooses to flip Eagles' first coaster (Eagles had placed 2) and falls into a trap! It was a Skull!
How sad... the challenge has failed!
Panthers has lost his bet:
He revealed a Skull from Eagles.
So it's Eagles who'll choose the coaster to be discarded.
Panthers shuffles his coasters and places them face-down on the table.
Eagles chooses one of them. Panthers secretly checks which coaster it is and removes it from play.
Tips
-It's very advantageous to be the first player. It's worth the trouble of taking risks to get that position, even if it means losing a coaster.
-Don't hesitate to bluff by issuing a challenge or increasing the bet while having just played a Skull. It's the best way to reassure the future challenger and have him or her choose your coasters only to fail.
-Foster a mood of anxiety by commenting on the choices of the challenger.
-As with other confrontation-based games, by the end of the game, when there are only a few remaining players with about as many coasters, there are winning strategies!
Joining
This game, being a bluffing game, is the most fun when psychological play is involved. Therefore, communication is key. Please join only if you are positive you can be active and competitive.
