Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Economics of Life

It seemed just the start of another week ahead on the 21st day of July 2008. How was I to know what lay ahead. All I knew that the weekend would be special. And in more than one way. A month into IIMB, and my smooth running came to an abrupt halt. The Convocation was a temptation that loomed large in the foresight. But the road to the convo was something I had never planned. And the return not even imagined. So cometh the Monday, we were given cases to submit on Friday, the big day in my life. So, I had to get to work against all odds all by myself. The first glitch: I had no idea how to go about it. There was a sense that I would put some crap.. which i earnestly did. But after 3 straight night outs and bunking of classes for the first time at IIMB, I thought I ended up with something decent. The exam at the weekend was far off my mind till I finished the report.



Off I went to the sultry and hot Chennai, the only solace being I could catch up with old friends and be honoured as a B. Tech in Biotechnology. We had a ball. With all the red gowns, the hall looked like a garden of roses. I was utterly disappointed that I couldnt bag the Institute Merit Prize but I am more than willing to make up for it out here. The night was as planned. Dinner with friends, received lots of gifts. gave none, forgot some and all kinds of stuff. Finally, the long awaited walk, one with which I have to be content for a long long time.

Back to Bangalore, ran into an auto driver who wouldnt compromise. Got into a belie with him, the fact that I was in insti was heartening. Exam Sunday morning loomed large, but what loomed larger was the lack of sleep, and off I went into the dreamland. Exam I cupped for sure, but lesson learnt. There is so much more to life and we need to go fetch it. Everything comes at a cost. This is the Economics of Life. The indifference curve after all makes sense, that I had to trade off an exam for going to convo. And this is called learning. As practical as it can get. But, I am now assured that the satisfaction was the highest i could have attained irrespective of the exam.

Monday, July 21, 2008

BANG!!

Overview

The game is played by four to seven players (two to eight players with variants and expansions). Each player takes one of the following roles:

Each player also receives a unique character card with special abilities and a certain amount of 'bullets' (i.e. life-points).

The object of the game is different for every role:

  • the Outlaws must kill the Sheriff;
  • the Sheriff and his Deputies must kill the Outlaws and the Renegade(s);
  • each Renegade's objective is to be the last character in play. The Renegade(s) must kill all the characters with the sheriff being the last one dead.

Game Rules

Set Up

Each player is dealt a Character card and a Role card. The Role cards are given face down to each player.

4 players = 1 Sheriff, 1 Renegade, 2 Outlaws

5 players = 1 Sheriff, 1 Renegade, 2 Outlaws, 1 Deputy

6 players = 1 Sheriff, 1 Renegade, 3 Outlaws, 1 Deputy

7 players = 1 Sheriff, 1 Renegade, 3 Outlaws, 2 Deputies

8 players (with Dodge City expansion pack) = 1 Sheriff, 2 Renegades, 3 Outlaws, 2 Deputies

The Sheriff announces his role and places it face up in front of him. The other players' roles remain secret. All players reveal their character cards.

The character cards determine the amount of life points each player has (the number of "bullets" is the amount of life points); each player reveals their assigned number of bullets on the back of an unused character card. The player given the Sheriff role starts with one additional bullet. Each character is equipped with a special ability. Players should announce their character and ability.

Each player is dealt a number of cards equal to the number of bullets they have. The Sheriff plays the game with one additional bullet. If his character has 3 bullets, the Sheriff will play with 4.

Each player is considered to be at distance 1 from the players sitting next to him on either side, distance 2 from those sitting one seat further away, and so on (counting the shortest route).

Gameplay

The game is played in turns, in clockwise order. The Sheriff begins. Each player's turn is divided into three phases.

1. Draw two cards

  • The active player draws the top two cards from the draw pile. As soon as the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile to create a new playing deck.

2. Play any number of cards.

  • Now the player may play to help himself or hurt the other players, trying to eliminate them. He is not forced to play cards during this phase. Any number of cards may be played; there are only two limitations.
  • Only one BANG! card may be played per turn;(Unless one has a "Volcanic" or their special ability is to play more than one BANG! IE: Willy The Kid)
  • No player can ever have two identical cards face up in front of him.

When a card is played just follow the symbols on it. Cards can be played only during your turn (with the exception of Beer and Missed!).

Normally a card has an effect which is immediately resolved, and then the card is discarded. However, blue bordered cards, like weapons and horses, etc., have long lasting effects, and are kept in the table face up in front of you.

The effects of these cards (in play) lasts until they are discarded or removed somehow (e.g. Cat Balou or Panic) or a special event occurs (e.g. in the case of Jail or Dynamite.)

3. Discard excess cards.

Once the second phase is over (you do not want to or cannot play any more cards), then you must discard from your hand any cards exceeding your hand size limit. The hand size limit of a player (at the end of his turn) is equal to the number of bullets currently shown on the card that lies under his character card. Then it is the next player's turn, in clockwise order.

Card effects

To shoot at another character, a player must play a card bearing a "Bang!" icon to a player within shooting range.

  • This means that if the shooter hasn't got any weapons, he can only shoot players at distance 1; if he has a weapon that can fire to distance 3, he can target any player at distance 3 or less.

If the targeted player has a "Missed" card, he can play it to avoid getting shot; otherwise he loses one bullet (life point).

When a character loses his last bullet, he is "dead."

A Beer card can be used to restore a bullet. A player cannot use Beer cards to exceed his character's number of bullets. A player can only restore his own bullets via a Beer card, and he can only play it during his turn. A Whiskey card performs the same function as Beer cards, except that it restores two bullets (may not exceed the character's number of bullets).

  • Exception: if a player loses his last bullet, he can immediately play one or more Beer cards until he remains at 1 bullet.

A player may usually play only one "Bang!" card during his turn, but other cards can be played without restriction during the turn.

  • For example, some cards allow to steal cards from an opponent's hand, force an opponent to discard a card, jail a character, change the relative range to other players, or change the range at which the player can shoot. Most of the cards are self-explaining, bearing little symbols that describe the card's effect when combined; the rest carry a symbol that suggests that the player consult the game manual (this is not true starting from the 3rd Edition, where these cards have a written text explaining their effect).

Some cards require a "draw!": this means that you have to reveal the first card of the deck and check the card suit and value shown on the lower left corner. For example, you may escape from the Jail only if you successfully "draw!" a Heart card.

Penalties and Rewards

If the Sheriff eliminates a Deputy, the Sheriff must discard all the cards he has in hand and in play.

Any player eliminating an Outlaw (even if the eliminating player is himself an Outlaw!) must draw a reward of 3 cards from the deck.

Determining the winner

Once the Sheriff is killed, the game is over. If the only player left is a Renegade and is alive at this point, the Renegade wins. However, if two or more players are still alive or the only remaining player is an Outlaw, all the Outlaws win, dead or alive.

On the other hand, if all Outlaws and Renegades are dead before the Sheriff dies, the Sheriff and all the Deputies win, dead or alive.

Dunno.. But there is something in it..

Long long ago... I used to write something.. Its been a huge break and now I am back to writing.. The diaries and the blogs see little of me these days, of course, thanks to the so called IIM where sleep is a precious commodity leave alne pursuing something like writing. I have had a good couple of weeks though, will lots of fun and lots of pitching for me... and lots of exams too.. No points for guessing that I mentioned exams because I did well.. So, coming back to Bangalore or the newly called Bengaluru, at the first go itself you realise that it is far far better than Chennai. The weather is just amazing, and the place has a plethora of pubs and restaurants to offer... I have been to some already which calls for a huge description...

Brew haha... The latest place i visited, on Amaru damru's birthday, is a happy go lucky place offering a variety of games, coffees and snacks on the table. Heard of the game bang?? I got addicted to it in three hours.. Its something like wolf that we used to play in insti but much more fun.. with cards and banging each other.. there is never a dull moment. The rain hampered lil fun though, but a good outing and more importantly a much needed trip outside insti..

Legends of Rock, not much about the place, but more about the fun.. The songs, the whisky and the music and the dance, the tequilla and the girls was all fun... The beginning of the fun, association with peers and seniors.. everything seems so similar yet more challenging than what I have seen before.. The time management out here at IIMB is something I adore very much.. No frills attached, every meeting is short and sweet, and to the point... No one believes in wasting everyone else's time.. There is much more to do.. Like sleep... Yeah Legends of rock.. the view from the terrace was amazing.. I could look down on the entire city..


Being in Bangalore has another advantage.. You have friends coming down to see you ofter.. Lays came down the other day and a nice chat with him left me happy.. With MLD moving into the job come tomorrow, Zufster recovering from the surgery , Deja making his models, I here have the need to study much harder than ever before.. For what i am looking for is simple... The three letters.. "DML"..

Good night and Good luck...