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TheTome /
SejYou are on the archive wiki. The new wiki is here. SejWhat is Sej? Sej is a weird game that I discovered amidst the pages of C.J. Cherryh's book "The Serpent's Reach". This SF novel is set in her well known Union-Alliance universe, which is a near-future setting that spans the events of the next 1000 years or so. The books themselves are very well written, although slowly paced, which is not to everyone's taste. However, the universe is brilliantly fleshes out and is, in my opinion, probably the best gritty realistic SF universe in existence. Anyway, now that my Fanboy bit is done, I'll explain some more about Sej. The game is fairly simple in nature and relies mostly on luck, with a little bit of strategy.. According to the novel, is popular among lower and middle-class gatherings in the Serpent's Reach, the human inhabitants' name for the constellation of Hydri. The rules of the game itself are quite possibly based of something else that the author once played, although they're really simple enough that she could just as well have invented the game herself. How well it plays remains to be seen, but I think we'll be able to find out quite soon, once I put together a simple Java client and server for it. Anyway, now that that bit is over, the rules follow. This rules text is transcribed from the book. Unfortunately, I do not have the publisher's permission to do this, but who cares. It's only a page and a bit of rules, so I really doubt I'll get sued for putting it up. The Rules: Pieces: One pair of six-sided dice; trio of four-sided wands: first wand fade Black, second blue with Ship symbol, third White, fourth orange with Star symbol. Object: first player to reach 100 points wins. To start play: high roll of dice determines starting player. The Starting Player throws the wands, and play proceeds. To score: The players roll dice for possession of the points represented by the wands. The casting of the wands proceeds in alternation, one player and the next. The wand-thrower has the option of the first cast of dice; the dice then proceed in alternation, during the Hand(this particular casting of the wands). High roll takes the wand or wands in contention, and points are recorded as follows. Value of wands:
Play always proceeds from ships to stars to black: that is, in a Hand, the dice must be rolled first for possession of the Ships, then for the Stars, and last of all for possession of the Black. If a tie occurs in the roll of the dice, the dice are rolled again. If the wands come up doubled or tripled Stars, Ships or White, the winner of the first of the double or triple set automatically takes the others of that colour; for this purpose also, White matches the highest wand of the Hand. Should triple White show, the winner automatically takes the Game. Should triple Black show, the winner automatically loses the Game. Passing: In this matter rests the skill of the game, judging when to pass and when to risk play. A Hand containing a single Black wands or any number of Black wands may be declined by the thrower of wands, thus entirely voiding the Hand. The dice will not be rolledl; the wands pass into the hand of the next player, who will cast again, with all priveledges of the wand-thrower. Further, a player with the option to throw either wands or dice may voluntarily pass that option to the next player, who is not, however, obliged to accept: the player who has passed will recieve the wands or dice again in alternation. The latter is a matter of courtesy and custom of the game: highest or decisive points are played last. |