About

Trading card game based on
dragon poker from Mythic histories
by Robert Asprin

 Connoisseurs of the mythical series by Robert Asprin remember greatly the stories associated with the dragon poker. Incredibly difficult game the acquisition of which requires a half-life, and, anyway, it is reasonable to have a collection of rules at hand (for a specific dimension)! In the Internet, you can find many sites with different variants of rules, but the number of people wishing to study them seems to be far less than those wishing to write ones...

 Draker corrects this sad situation! Its rules are much easier in comparison with classic poker, but at the same time, they preserve the diversity of dragon poker modifiers. Each card of the deck contains a unique effect which this card has on the game. Collectible card form allows expanding the set of modifiers infinitely.

What is the difference between Draker and traditional poker cards? Besides usual attributes such as suit and rank, there is one more: the profession (or military specialty). In total, there are ten of them, and they have their own range - from the youngest Spear to the court Etsilop profession. The professions are scattered along the deck and do not depend on cards rank. So, King can be a Spear, and Six - Etsilop.

In addition, to the traditional four suits we have added two others: elves and gnomes. Each suit has its Artefact - joker analogue. But as the suit is already specified for artefacts, it is possible only to assign the rank and profession to it. Thus, Draker deck consists of six suits, each of which includes 14 cards, totally 84 cards.

Why Draker is easier to learn than poker? In traditional poker, you can make a dozen of different combinations. In Draker – there are only two! First is a set of cards ordered according to the profession or rank, let it be straight. For example, Ten-Jack-Queen-King or Swordsman-Archer-Field musician. The second one is a combination of cards of the same rank or profession; let us call it a Quad. But! The length of such combinations is not restricted – it can be even a single card. However, the most interesting thing occurs if the combination involves three or more cards. If the combination collected at the same time is a straight according to the profession and rank, or straight according to the rank and quad according to the profession, then its cost increases significantly! Combinations consisting of cards of the same suit get even greater increase.

Combination assembled by you are your Strength. Attack and defence strength, which is needed to damage the opponent and to reduce damage received back from him. However, Draker is interesting not only for a simple waving of fists! The strength obtained from the set is a resource that can be paid for different card effects. Due to them, you can achieve greater success, than via a frontal impact. Or you can lose ... Suddenly triggered effect can confuse your plans. No guts, no glory!