Daistallian Mahjong

Daistallian Mahjong is a variant of standard Majong, with influances from Hanafuda and western card games..

Equipment
Daistallian Mahjong is played with a varient set of Mahjong tiles

Sets also include a set of 'plates' for scoring, as well as indicators denoting the dealer and the prevailing wind of the round. Some sets may also include racks to hold tiles and plates, although in many sets the tiles are generally sufficiently thick so that they can stand on their own.

The tiles for Daistallian Mahjong are:

Plain Tiles
Tiles of a suit and a face value, each with a suit that combines color, direction, or season. The point value is equal to the face value. There are 256 Plains.

Suits
The plain suits include a combination of color (red, blue, yellow, or white), object (coin crack, bamboo, dot, shield bell acorm, or rose), and direction (north, south, east, or west).

Half Suits
Tiles that share one but not both elements are said to have be suits. For example, Red Coins and Red Cracks are half suit tiles, as are Red Coins and Blue Coins.

Color Plain Tiles
6 of each, with a face value of 0-5, 96 total

Half Suits
Red, Blue, Yellow, White, Coins, Cracks, Bamboos, Dots

Suits
Red Coins, Red Cracks, Red Bamboos, Red Dots

Blue Coins, Blue Cracks, Blue Bamboos, Blue Dots

Yellow Coins, Yellow Cracks, Yellow Bamboos, Yellow Dots

White Coins, White Cracks, White Bamboos, White Dots

Directional Plain Tiles
5 of each, with a face value of 1-5, 100 total

Half Suits
South, West, North, East, Center, Sheilds, Bells, Acorns, Roses

Suits
South Sheilds, South Bells, South Acorns, South Roses

West Sheilds, West Bells, West Acorns, West Roses

North Sheilds, North Bells, North Acorns, North Roses

East Sheilds, East Bells, East Acorns, East Roses

Center Sheilds, Center Bells, Center Acorns, and Center Roses

Seasonal Plains (Flowers)
5 of each, with a face value of 1-5, 60 total

Half Suits
Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn

Suits
Winter Paulownias, Winter Pines, Winter Plums

Spring Cherries, Spring Wisterias, Spring Irises

Summer Peonies, Summer Clovers, Summer Pampas Grasses

Autumn Chrysanthemums, Autumn Maples, and Autumn Willows

Bright Tiles
Tiles of a suit, each with a color, direction, or season. Brights have no face value of, but have a point value of 5 each. There are 49 total brights.

Color Brights
2 suits, 4 colors, 8 total

Half Suits
Red, Blue, Yellow, White, Cups, Banners

Suits
Red Cups, Blue Cups, Yellow Cups, White Cups

Red Banners, Blue Banners, Yellow Banners, and White Banners

Directional Brights (monsters)
5 suits, 5 directions, 25 total

Half Suits
South, West, North, East, Center, Dragons, Demons, Ghosts, Goblins, Vampires

Suits
South Dragons, South Demons, South Ghosts, South Goblins, South Vampires

West Dragons, West Demons, West Ghosts, West Goblins, West Vampires

North Dragons, North Demons, North Ghosts, North Goblins, North Vampires

East Dragons, East Demons, East Ghosts, East Goblins, East Vampires

Center Dragons, Center Demons, Center Ghosts, Center Goblins, and Center Vampires

Seasonal Brights (Weathers)
4 suits, 4 Seasons, 16 total

Half Suits
Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winds, Rains, Clouds, Lightning

Suits
Winter Winds, Winter Rains, Winter Clouds, Winter Lightning

Spring Winds, Spring Rains, Spring Clouds, Spring Lightning

Summer Winds, Summer Rains, Summer Clouds, Summer Lightning

Autumn Winds, Autumn Rains, Autumn Clouds, and Autumn Lightning

Grands
These are special tiles divided into their own suits. They have no color, direction, season, or face value, but have a point value of 10 each. There are 95 total grands.

Suits
Like the plains and brights, the grands ared divided into suits.

Over Suits
The grands are first divided into over suits. The over suits are: people, animals, edibles, things, and time.

Grand Suits
Each over suit is divided into grand suits. The grand suits are: greats, overs, townsmen, unders, religious, army, birds, beast, grains, vegitables, fruits, intoxicants, weapons, disasters, celestials, jewels, years, and elements.

Greats (3 total):
Alchemist, Poet, and Sage

Overs (4 total):
Emperor, Kings, Lord, and Lady

Townsmen (5 total):
Rich Man, Merchant, Artisan, Courtisean, and Peddler

Unders (5 total):
Peasant, Poor Man, Beggar, Sing-Song Girl, and Theif

Religious (5 total):
Buddha, Lama, Priest, Monk, and Nun

Army (5 total):
General, Knight, Charioteer, Soldier, and Boxer

Birds (8 total):
Pheasant, Crane, Nightingale, Cuckoo, Butterfly, Goose, Swallow, and Phoenix

Beasts (4 total):
Elephant, Boar, Deer, and Cat

Grains (4 total):
Rice, Barley, Millet, and Wheat

Vegitables (4 total):
Potato, Cabbage, Beans, and Radish

Fruit (4 total):
Mangos, Melons, Peaches, and Litchis

Intoxicants (8 total):
Beer, Schnapps, Wine, Brandy, Coca Leaf, Marajuana, Opium, and tea

Weapons (6 total):
Club, Staff, Sword, Spear, Halbred, and Bow

Disasters (4 total):
Flood, Famine, Typhoon, and Earthquake

Celestials (5 total):
Sun, Moon, Star, Comet, and Planet

Jewels (4 totals):
Ruby, Sapphire, and Diamond

Years (12 total):
Rat, Ox, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar

Elements (5 total):
Fire, Wood, Metal, Water, and Earth

Preliminaries
First, the players determine the Game Wind. Each player throws three dice and the player with the highest total is chosen as the bank. The bank's wind starts as East, the player to the right of the dealer has South wind, the next player to the right has West and the fourth player has North. Game Wind changes after every round.

Dealing tiles
All 400 tiles are placed face down and shuffled. Each player then stacks a row of tiles two deep and ten long in front of him (a total of twenty tiles).

The bank throws three dice. Counting counterclockwise so that the dealer is '1', a player's row is chosen. Starting at the right edge, a number of tiles equal to the dice roll are shifted to the right.

The board is now ready and new tiles will be taken from the bone pile, or remaining tiles.

The Whilan
In certain local variations, it is required that before each hand begins, a Whilan is enacted. This consists of a procedure where three tiles are passed to the player on one's right, followed by three tiles passed to the player opposite, followed by three tiles passed to the left. If all players are in agreement, a second Whilan is performed, however, any player may decide to stop passing after the first Whilan is complete.

Gameplay
Gameplay consists of drawing a new tile, laying down combinations of tiles, and discarding a rejected tile. This continues until a player is out of tiles.

Drawing
At the start of his turn, each player draws a tile from the bone pile and places it in his hand.

Playing Melds
If a player has a meld (a specific combination of tiles) after drawing, they may play it. However, doing so is not required, and players may forgo doing so in order to build more powereful hands.

Discarding
At the end of his turn, the player must discards a tile onto the table. This signals the end of his or her turn, prompting the player to the right to make his move.

Courtesies
As a form of courtesy, each player is encouraged to announce loudly the name of the tile being discarded. Courtesy also requires that discarded tiles be placed in an orderly fashion in front of the player.

Another courtesy consideration happens when three players in a row discard a West tile, the fourth player should avoid discarding another West tile, as superstition says when all the players discard a West together, all players will die or be cursed with bad luck.

Bidding
When a player discards a tile, any other player may "bid" for it. A bid must be made before the next player draws a new tile. Biding may involve a monetary deal or a tile trade.

Melds
A meld is a certain set of tiles. There are several types of melds. When a meld is played, the player must state the type of the meld to be declared and place the meld face-up. If playing a meld means a player cannot discrad a tile, he may not play the meld.

Ordinary Melds
Ordinary melds consist of a set of two, three, or four tiles either of the same numerical value, in numerical sequence, of the same suit, or of both.

Plain Yan
A plain yan is a meld of two plain tiles of the same suit or value.

Bright Yan
A bright yan is a meld of two bright tiles of the same half suit.

Plain Pang
A plain pang is a meld of three or four plain tiles of the same suit.

Plain Kang
A plain kang is a meld of three or four plain tiles of the same value.

Plain Xhan
A plain kang is a meld of three or four plain tiles of any suit in numerical sequence

Plain Chau
A plain chau is a meld of three or four plain tiles of the same suit in numerical sequence.

Half Plain Pang
A half plain pang is a meld of three or four plain tiles with half the suit the same.

Half Plain Chau
A half plain chau is a meld of three or four plain tiles with half the suit the same.

Bright Pang
A bright pang is a meld of three or four bright tiles of the same suit.

Half Bright Pang
A half bright pang is a meld of three or four bright tiles with half the suit the same.

Grand Over Yan
A grand over yan is a meld of two grand tiles of the same over suit.

Grand Yan
A grand yan is a meld of two grand tiles of the same grand suit.

Grand Over Pang
A grand over pang is a meld of three grand tiles of the same over suit.

Grand Pang
A grand pang is a meld of three grand tiles of the same grand suit.

Special Melds
Certain specific combinations of tiles, especially of grands, constitute special melds, with point value multipliers.

General Specials
Dead Hand - if a player has yet to play a meld, and cannot do so when the game ends, he gets a dead hand, and takes the winner of that turn's points.

Local Specials
The rules for these vary locally, and tend to be complicated.

Fizzbin Melds
Beyond special melds are fizzbin melds. These are extraordinarily complicated, and vary according to the date, weather, season, time of day, geographic seating of the players, etc. The term comes from an invented game of similar complexity from a fictional drama series known as Star Trek.

End of Play
Play stops when a player has discarded his final tile.

Scoring
When play stops, the turn is finished. Players then expose the tiles in their hands, count up the value of their melds and hand, subtract the point value of their hand from that of their melds, and the score for the round is recorded with the distribution of plates.

Draws
If only the discard pile remains and no one has won, the round is drawn. When this happens, the game wind must change.

Turns and rounds
After a turn is finished, the bank rotates to the right, in the sequence East-South-West-North.

After the wind makes a full rotation and returns to East (ie. each player has been the bank), the round is complete and the Prevailing Wind will change, again in the sequence East-South-West-North. A full game ends after 4 rounds, ie. when the North Prevailing Wind round is over. It is generally regarded as an unlucky act to stop the gameplay at the West round.

Double Dragon Fanucci Fizzbin Daistallian Mahjong
This is an extremely complicated version, which includes six players, adds the Deva Plains (Elves, Ogres, Unicorns, and Pervects - 1-9 value), Zork Plains (Mazes, Books, Bugs, Fromps, Inkblots, Scythes, Plungers, Faces, Lamps, Hives, Ears, Zurfs, and Tops - 0-10 value, and one grand per suit), and Zork Grands (Granola, Death, Light, Snail, Beauty, Grue, Lobster, and Jester) suits, and uses the fizzbin melds.