User:Countakeshi/sandbox

Test 2
The history of Confucianism begins in China's late Bronze Age. It became the state orthodoxy during the Han dynasty and remained so for most of the last two millenia. With the support of the scholar-officials, it permeated through all ranks of Chinese society and spread to neighboring countries and cultures.

History
Tarot games arrived from Alsace around the 1720s but did not make any impact until the invention of French-suited animal tarots in the 1740s. The first German language game books to include tarot were written in the 1750s. Großtarock is a German development from the French games of the 17th and 18th centuries and this is reflected strongly in the French terminology. It is also related to the Mitigati games played in the Savoyard state and the Duchy of Milan which still survives in Piedmont. Großtarock receded from the southern German states and Austria in the late 18th century, having been replaced by Tarocc'Ombre. In northern Germany, it outlasted Tarocc'Ombre and lingered on as a minor game till the First World War. In Denmark, the game survives with a shrinking pool of players.

Cards
Großtarock was played with a French suited pack of 78 cards of the animal tarot type. These comprised:


 * Two black suits (Clubs and Spades) ranking as follows: K (high) Q C J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A (low)
 * Two red suits (Hearts and Diamonds) ranking thus: K (high) Q C J A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (low)
 * Twenty one Taroks as permanent trumps
 * One unnumbered card, the Fool or Sküs, which excuses the player from following suit

Aim
The aim of Großtarock is to achieve the highest score in card points through taking tricks. The spirit of the game is to win the last trick with the lowest trump or a king. The rules described are based on Dummett's description of the game 'as formerly played' and not the modern Danish version.

Play
Großtarock is a three-hand game, and dealing and play are anti-clockwise. Dealer distributes all the cards in packets of five, leaving himself with the last eight cards. He then discards three cards which must not include a King or Tarok 21. He must not discard any other Taroks unless he has the Pagat (Tarok 1) and no more than 2 others.

Declarations
Beginning with the dealer, players may declare melds for bonus game points. The Sküs can act as a wild card to replace a missing card. This feature is also found in Tarocchini and was also known in 16th century Piedmont. It is uncertain if this is an independent reinvention or inherited from an earlier game. An unnatural meld with the Sküs reduces the value by half.


 * Ten or more Taroks - 10 game points (the Sküs can count as one)
 * Three or more Matadors - for Sküs, Pagat, 21 and any Taroks in succession from 20 downwards. 10 points + 5 for every extra Tarok.
 * Three or more Kings - 10 points + 5 for each additional "King" (the Sküs, Pagat and 21 also count as Kings so there are up to seven Kings).
 * Cavallerie - 10 points for all four face cards of the same suit
 * Half Cavallerie - 5 points for three face cards of one suit and the Sküs

Playing
The player to the left of the dealer leads to the first trick; thereafter the winner of the trick leads to the next one. Players compete for tricks in clockwise order again. Tricks are won by the highest Tarok or, if no Tarok is played, the highest card of the suit led. The Sküs may not take a trick. Players must follow suit, but there is no compulsion to win a trick.

Scoring
The card values for scoring purposes are:


 * Honours (Tarok 21, Pagat/Tarok 1, Sküs) - 5 points
 * Kings - 5 points
 * Queens - 4 points
 * Cavaliers - 3 points
 * Jacks - 2 points
 * All others (the Ladons) - 1 point

Cards are grouped in threes, points totted up and 2 deducted per triplet. So a Queen, Jack and 7 count as 4+2+1 - 2 = 5. The whole pack thus contains 78 points.