Pai Sho Research

[bumi]

*keeps looking impatiently*

And give your dad Avatar Kyoshi's highest regards

[Griffin]

I haven't read the entire thread, however, I just wanted to say I think the rules are nothing at all like chinese checkers. Simply because the tiles in the Pai Sho game are different from each other, and with different tiles the chinese checker game would make no sense anymore whatsoever. Xiangqi ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangqi ) seems more like being the same, although I don't think so either. I think it's something completely different. Perhaps the score is calculated similar to the way it is in the game Mahjong? ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong ) It seems to make sense to me, because they've also got different types of tiles, including four winds (could be the four elements/seasons? Edit: Oops ^^ There already are four seasons. Perhaps the four winds could then be the elements?) and flower tiles (White Lotus? Edit: None of the tiles is the Lotus though.). I don't really know anything about the game though, so someone whose english and logic is better could figure out the rules ^^ (I tried, but it's so hard and complicated).

One last thing, they've also got dragons, I don't know but it might have to do something with avatar. Who knows?

[Zerolott]

So, I think this thread should be moved back to the top to reopen discussions about Pai Sho

[Hybrid]

I want this game to be made. It looks so good. But please, no plastic, over advertised, cheapo stuff.

[nightcalyster]

http://paisho.pbwiki.com/ here u go learn to google please lock thread im out of site

[scarletcougar]

Ok... the board is DONE!
Tiles in progress.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HAhktW7__DM/SL....aisho-board.jpg

My dad is the AWESOMEST dad ever. He made that!

[Scooz TJQ]

Oh wow, that looks amazing! He did a fantastic job on that. I love the different shades of wood he used. Can't wait to see what the tiles look like.

[Griffin]

Wow. That is just amazing. The different kinds of wood, the perfect size, shape, everything! Compliment your dad from me on this amazing job :)

I can't wait to see what the tiles look like.

Just one question, what tiles is he going to make? Because we don't have a good view of all the tiles in the show, nor know we what they are, and of the ones we've seen we don't know how many you need.

[scarletcougar]

My language research has turned this up:

I vaguely remembered the Mike & Bryan said that Pai Sho was a mix of Chinese and Japanese but never really said more.

Name Translations and Speculations:

Pai (Chinese)
This can mean any of the following:
- beat (as in to beat someone up or beat them in a game or beat a carpet clean)
- shoot (as in to shoot a film)
- to send
- flatter
- a bat (like a baseball bat)
- a paddle (like a pingpong paddle)

Sho (Japanese)
This can mean any of the following:
- calligraphy
- book
- prize
- disposition / nature / personality
- chapter
- ministry (like the Ministry of Justice)

So... well... I dunno.

As for tiles, it looks like a two-player came uses 27 tiles each player (28 if there is a white lotus tile in the middle). My dad is making 40 blank tiles of two different woods. I will design the tiles myself. In the first post of this thread, I list the tiles we know in the show.

[darthmarmalade]

Here's my first attempt at some Pai Sho pieces. They're laser-engraved plywood, hand-colored with Sharpie markers (which bled a little in places). Later, I'll try masonite and acrylic plastic, and maybe actual wood if I can find any thin enough. They're 1.5 inches in diameter, which is a little larger than would be playable on ScarletCougar's board, or the one I'm planning. These might be a good size to give away to potential initiates of the Order of the White Lotus.

These are my interpretations of all of the designs we've actually seen on the show. If anyone has a screenshot of any pieces I've missed, let me know.

http://imageuploadr.com/show.php?image=878968001222383003

http://imageuploadr.com/show.php?image=091308001222384054

[kingroku]

Scarlet Cougar the Pai Sho board looks incredible and so does darthmarmalade's tiles. Nice work both of you :)

[Renori Fa]

Wow, it seems like a great game! But it is hard it seems like. I tried playing once, I lost in like 5 seconds

[Griffin]

You tried playing? Which rules did you use?

And Deathmarmalade, I love the tiles! If only we had good solid rules to play by ._.

[pogolian]

Hi yh i'm a noob here but i'm a big fan of ATLTA and pai sho and have been looking around for rules etc. for a while. i have my own board (3mm dense card like thin plasterboard) but haven't found any real rules anywhere so i thought that this place would be ideal to try and combine ideas to form the perfect pai sho game.

[pogolian]

oh yeah and by the way that wooden board is awsome and the pieces too are you the same guy who has the wiki for paisho? because those pics are identical

[masica]

So how is it going with designing a Pai Sho board?

[darthmarmalade]

Greetings! Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I am very happy with the way my tiles turned out. I have a few now made of real wood and acrylic plastic, and I have a scrap of masonite to experiment with.

And hey there, Pogolian! Yeah, I posted those same photos to the Pai Sho Project Wiki. It's not my wiki, I didn't start it, and anyone can add content to it. Wikis are like that. But I figured it was a good place for those photos.

Designing the board is the easy part. It's pretty well documented in the show, and the best views of it are in "The Desert", when Iroh opens with the White Lotus gambit.

I've still only found screenshots that show good images of those same five tiles. There don't have to be more, I guess, but I'd be happier if there were. I need to watch the episodes again (I know, what a chore!) to see if the pieces really do move, or if they just stay where they're placed (Gyatso moved some pieces, but he was cheating). Again, in "The Desert", they're placed and stay put, but that was a ritualized game, a way for members of the Order to recognize one another.

We'll figure it all out eventually, I'm sure!

[geertholland]

wow it sure looks hard, only watching Avatar episodes making me see that it is a pretty hard game..

[orichal]

Hey guys, I just want to let everyone know that if they're looking for a place to learn how to play Pai Sho, that you can go to

www.freewebs.com/pai-sho

There is a complete set of rules, list of tiles, and a Questions section for anyone who wants to know more.

-A positive attitude won't solve all of your problems, but it will annoy enough people to be worth the effort.

[RongNuShii]

This is a very helpful site orichal ( :

Nice find

[orichal]

thanks. i have my own board and tiles and me and my friends play all the time. The rules work great for the game. I'll send you pictures of my stuff when I have the time if you want. I'm gonna make a new one soon also, because the one right ow looks really bad. Ill probobly put the pics on the website.

[orichal]

EVERY1 IF YOU WANT TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY PAI SHO, GO TO


WwW.FrEeWeBs.cOm/pAi-ShO

there is a complete set of rules, place to ask question, and a place to vote for the site.

VISIT IT!!!!!!!
WWW.FREEWEBS.COM/PAI-SHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bumi]

That board looks awesome scarlet!!! You can send my admirance to the crafstman that made it! And great thanks to you for coming up with the idea and sharing it with the community ;D

[sozinho]

The Rules at the Pai Sho project are as good as any for now, but they are largely arbitrary, not necessarily canonical. I think we might want to devise a few different sets of rules; for instance, different varieties for different nations. This would a) account for the different ways we've seen the game played on the show (on the ship, the Air Temple, and in the desert cantina, and b) the idea that, while they all have their own arbitrary rules, the four nations all share the same board is very White Lotus.

There are four basic areas of rules to consider:

Pieces. Is there a standard set? Are there variants? How many are needed to play?

Betting. The game seems to be usable for gambling purposes, with various pieces "won" like poker chips. This could be part of the game's transnational appeal: while the various nations have their own currency and standards of exchange, Pai Sho tiles are a currency accepted in every port.

Placement. We've seen tiles placed at intersections and in squares. This may be an example of regional variation. In either case, there must be significance to the placement: once a tile is placed, it must restrict the opponents options for placement in some way, either by the rules ("no tile may be placed within two spaces of this tile for two turns," or something like that) or by strategy ("If I place it there now, I'll be vulnerable to" something something).

Movement. Is a piece, once placed, in place for the remainder of the game, or in some varieties do you move pieces? It could be a combination of the two; pieces are placed, each piece having perhaps some unique set of potential moves (like a chess or shogi piece).

I suggest three regional variations.

In the Earth Kingdom, where the chief virtues are substance and stability, the game is played with a great deal of ritual; there's an emphasis on predicted moves-each player heading off one another's strategy, and consequently, many tiles are played, and few are ever moved again. In this context, the White Lotus Ritual involves the two players essentially assembling a stalemate.

The Air Nomads played just the opposite: using few tiles, and moving them around to create inventive strategies. The emphasis is on fun.

In the Fire Nation, there is a culture of conquest, winning, domination. Consequently, for them Pai Sho's gambling aspect, allowing one player to seize another's tiles, is emphasized.

[bumi]

Whoa sozinho, i feel like i've learned somethin after reading your post, that's good right? ;D