Playing Card Game Mechanics

Could someone point me to instructions for integrating playing cards into a game here? I don't see anything about drawing cards in the default dice roller, but I know people have done such things. How does it work? Thanks!

So, I found this: https://gamersplane.com/tools/cards/

Still, some guidance for integrating that tool into a game would be appreciated!

Your GM has to enable card draws, then they appear below the dice roller

First a deck has to be added to the game on the Game Details page



Then the GM enables deck draws when creating a thread



And then the option appears in the Advanced posting thing

Wonderful! Thanks for the how-to, bowlofspinach. I just read the rulebook to Noirlandia last night and am now itching to get a group together here.

Just notice that (if things didn't change in the mean time) the cards will be drawn "face down" so you need to click on them to "play them", making them visible to others. Also, there is no "hand", meaning that the cards will be associated with the post they are drawn in. Sometimes, this makes it difficult to find them again so you may need to take that into account.

Has anyone ever used the decks feature in a real game?

I believe Qralloq has used them in his Savage Worlds games, as that system uses playing cards for initiative

I once had an IC poker game. It was... different.

I have used the decks feature for Savage Worlds games. It's used for Initiative but drawing the joker also gives certain advantages. In Deadlands they can be used for gambling, spellcasting (hucksters), and inventions (mad scientists).

I used in SW as well (probably the same game as Windy) and extensively experimented with it during my many … game experiments 😆

I have used them this week in a game, and use them in every Savage Worlds game. They work easy.

Oh, interesting. Does the forum software keep track of which cards have been drawn between posts, though? (E.g., if a King of Hearts comes up in Post 1, it won't come up again if someone draws cards in Post 2)?

That's right. The card deck has to be Shuffled (an action the GM can make on the Game Details page) in order for the drawn cards to be returned to the deck.

It might be useful to create a 'Hand' thread where cards (and only cards) are dealt than dealt with. This still does not simulate an actual hand of cards, but it will help them not get lost on the posts.

I'm assuming there's no way to create a deck other than a standard playing card deck? I'd like to figure out a way to do the intrusive system that Troika! uses. A deck (or stack in the game description) of cards (or tokens or whatever) is assembled when combat begins. Each PC and NPC adds a number of cards to the deck equal to their initiative number. There is also a card that triggers the end of a round. The deck is shuffled and cards are drawn one at a time. If your character's card is drawn, it is your turn. Characters continue to take turns in a round until the deck is exhausted or the end of round card is drawn. Then the deck is assembled again and the next round starts.

I'd like to try running a game of Troika! in PbP, but it'll be tricky to figure out how to keep track of initiative in a way that's visible in the thread.

I gave that some thought but I can't think of any way to do it. The easiest thing would be to have a set of cards in RL and just do it in meatspace.

If you are open to using a Discord server for your game, there's a bot called the Troika Initiative Bot you can install to handle this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/ewb6uy/troika_initiative_tracker_discord_bot/

Presenting David Schirduan's awesome Troika Generator and Tracker! Not a perfect solution for PbP (you could also just use a physical bag and tokens you could pull directly), but it's pretty damned cool.

Thanks for the suggestions! I've seen posts about the discord bot, but haven't sat down and figured out how to make it work. I have only a bare surface level understanding of "things that can be done with discord."

That website is super cool!