Hardriders was an arcade game popular in northwest Faerûn circa the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR. The object of the game was to propel a disk through a random obstacle course to achieve the greatest distance. Wagering on the outcome was very common. This game was offered by the Roaring Dragon House gambling hall located just outside of Waterdeep.[1]
Set-Up[]
This game was played on a long table between six and twelve feet (1.8 to 3.7 meters) long. The surface of the table was ideally flat, smooth, and polished to a high gloss. The perimeter of the table had a raised barrier to prevent the moving pieces from falling off. Above the midpoint of the table, across the shorter dimension, was a flat surface suspended between two posts that held the obstacles. This pan was attached to a handle that rotated it, dumping the four "hazard" pieces onto the playing surface. Each player had a "rider" piece in the shape of a thick, palm-sized disk. The riders could be made of bone, metal, or wood, but all players had to have pieces that were about the same size and weight. The hazards were carved from wood in various shapes.[1]
Rules[]
A player "shot" a rider down the table by placing it on the edge of one end of the table with a portion of it protruding beyond the edge and proceeding to slap the rider with some part of their hand (heel, fingers, palm, or whole hand). As the player took a shot, another person tipped the tray and spilled the hazard pieces onto the table, creating obstacles for the rider. The distance from the origin that the rider achieved was noted, the table cleared of all hazard and rider pieces, and the next player took their turn. The winner was the person whose rider reached the farthest distance.[1]
House rules at the Roaring Dragon allowed the player to observe the placement of the hazard pieces on the pan before choosing where to put their rider on the starting edge. The coin keeper (employed by the House to run the game) took bets, payed out winnings, tipped the hazards, and cleared the table after each shot. Players were not allowed to strike their rider with anything other than an open hand. The tables were set into metal sockets in the floor and secured with pins to prevent movement by vigorous players. Hardrider tables less than six feet long were rare. The tables at the Roaring Dragon were all ten feet (three meters) long.[1]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ed Greenwood (June 2004). “Elminster's Guide to the Realms: The Roaring Dragon House”. In Matthew Sernett ed. Dragon #320 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), p. 73.