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Tibet rules: Difference between revisions
expanding simplified scoring system, framework for remaining rules players need to learn for the full ruleset
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Regardless, once players are comfortable at this level, the next step is to increase the hand size to ten tiles. A completed hand will have eleven tiles, consisting of three sets and one pair. | Regardless, once players are comfortable at this level, the next step is to increase the hand size to ten tiles. A completed hand will have eleven tiles, consisting of three sets and one pair. | ||
== Approaching the | == Approaching the full-sized game == | ||
There are multiple possible paths here for what to add in order to bring players up to full-sized mahjong. From this point onwards, the rules start to deviate from "Tibet Rules" and start to go towards actual "Riichi Mahjong". | There are multiple possible paths here for what to add in order to bring players up to full-sized mahjong. From this point onwards, the rules start to deviate from "Tibet Rules" and start to go towards actual "Riichi Mahjong". | ||
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It is possible for a tile to be claimed by someone wanting to call ''pon'' at the same time as ''chii'' (e.g. a 333 triplet of bamboo in the example). If two players want the same tile, the ''pon'' caller gets priority and their call goes through. (In other words, ''pon'' > ''chii''.) For that reason, if you want to call ''chii'', it's a good idea to wait a second or two before making your call, just in case someone else wants to make a ''pon'' call. If you've given enough time for someone else to call, you should be free to claim your tile without needing to take things back. | It is possible for a tile to be claimed by someone wanting to call ''pon'' at the same time as ''chii'' (e.g. a 333 triplet of bamboo in the example). If two players want the same tile, the ''pon'' caller gets priority and their call goes through. (In other words, ''pon'' > ''chii''.) For that reason, if you want to call ''chii'', it's a good idea to wait a second or two before making your call, just in case someone else wants to make a ''pon'' call. If you've given enough time for someone else to call, you should be free to claim your tile without needing to take things back. | ||
=== Simplified scoring system === | |||
If your players are feeling competitive, they might ask to play while keeping score. While there's a lot of different ways of setting up a scoring system (and indeed, scoring is one of the main ways in which different variations of mahjong distinguish themselves), a simplified version of the Riichi scoring table will be introduced here: | |||
*Riichi: A player | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|- | |||
!'''Total Han''' !! 0 !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4-5 !! 6+ | |||
|- | |||
| '''Dealer win, tsumo''' || 2 from all || 5 from all || 10 from all || 20 from all || 40 from all || 60 from all | |||
|- | |||
| '''Dealer win, ron''' || 5 from discarder || 15 from discarder || 30 from discarder || 60 from discarder || 120 from discarder || 180 from discarder | |||
|- | |||
| '''Non-dealer win, tsumo''' || 2 dealer / 1 non-dealer || 5 dealer / 3 non-dealer || 10 dealer / 5 dealer || 20 dealer / 10 non-dealer || 40 dealer / 20 non-dealer || 60 dealer / 30 non-dealer | |||
|- | |||
| '''Non-dealer win, ron''' || 3 from discarder || 10 from discarder || 20 from discarder || 40 from discarder || 80 from discarder || 120 from discarder | |||
|} | |||
To unpack the table, on a ''tsumo'', each player pays the winner; on a ''ron'', only the discarder pays, and they pay for everyone's contribution. The dealer is individually responsible for twice the amount against each other player, so they ultimately get 1.5x the score of non-dealers on a win. | |||
As for what the ''han'' value represents, hands earn ''han'' based on the scoring patterns, or ''[[yaku]]'', that they satisfy. When a hand's sets are consistent or exceptional, that consistency or exceptionality is rewarded. To score a hand, add up the total ''han'' from all of the patterns satisfied by the hand, then look up its point value from the corresponding column. | |||
At the ten-tile hand game with two numeric suits and dragons, use the following patterns: | |||
* '''Concealed Hand''' (''menzen''): [1 ''han''] Hand has no ''chii'' or ''pon'' calls before winning. ('''Note for teachers''': This differs from the standard Riichi rules in that it allows for ''menzen ron'' wins. If this bothers you or you think that it will create additional friction to unlearn this later, you can consider teaching the ''riichi'' declaration here, ignoring ''furiten'' until it becomes relevant.) | |||
* '''All Simples''' (''[[tanyao]]''): [1 ''han''] Hand has no 1s, 9s, or dragon honors. Or, in other words, the hand only contains numeric tiles between 2 and 8, inclusive. | |||
* '''Dragon Triplet''' (''[[yakuhai]]''): [1 ''han'' each] Hand contains a dragon triplet. Stacks for multiple dragon triplets. | |||
* '''All Triplets''' (''[[toitoihou]]''): [2 ''han''] The hand's sets are only triplets (plus the standard pair). | |||
* '''Full Flush''' (''[[chinitsu]]''): [2 ''han''] The hand's tiles are only from a single suit. | |||
After introducing the characters numeric suit and moving up to the full thirteen-tile hand size, you can add one more pattern: | |||
* '''Half Flush''' (''[[honitsu]]''): [2 ''han''] The hand's tiles are from a single numeric suit, plus any number of dragon tiles (including as its pair). | |||
** '''Full Flush''' becomes worth [5 ''han''] to reflect its increased difficulty with a third numeric suit. | |||
For now, it is not required to have a ''yaku'' in order to win a hand. However, note that while a hand's value doubles from 1-''han'' to 4-''han'', the 0-''han'' value is only about 1/3 the 1-''han'' hand value. So you should be encouraged to try and aim for having at least 1 ''han'' in your hand if you can see an opportunity for it; the full Riichi ruleset also enforces a 1-''han'' minimum so it can be good to be prepared for that additional restriction in the future! | |||
== Completing the journey to Riichi Mahjong == | |||
At this point, players should have a foundational understanding of Mahjong, enough to take the remaining steps towards the full Riichi Mahjong ruleset. From here, specific details on teaching and instruction are brief: this is more an overview of the remaining facets of the game that have not yet been introduced. | |||
* '''Wall building and breaking''': With all three numeric suits and the dragons, there will be 120 tiles on the table. This is enough tiles that just drawing tiles from a pool of face-down tiles in the center of the table might feel a bit disorganized. So you can start going through the rituals of wall-building and breaking at this point. Without the wind tiles, each player should gather thirty tiles after shuffling, and build walls of fifteen tiles long, stacked two tiles high. All other parts of the wall-breaking and starting hand draw procedure apply as standard. A key point for new players: while turn order is counter-clockwise, tiles are drawn from the wall in clockwise order. | |||
* '''[[Kazehai|Wind tiles]]''': Like the dragon tiles, winds are honor tiles that cannot form sequences. Unlike dragons, however, their value is conditional on your seat and the round of play. Wind triplets that do not match your seat or the round wind can still be used to advance your hand towards completion, but are not inherently worth ''han''. The dealer is always the East seat, and the winds advance in order of play to South, West, and North. Note that this does not reflect the compass directions when looking at the ground, but rather the celestial compass when looking up towards the sky. | |||
* '''[[Wanpai|Dead wall]]''': With the full set of tiles, not only will the wall be seventeen stacks on a side, but there's enough tiles to introduce the dead wall concept. Now, rather than exhausting the walls entirely before a draw, a draw will end when there are only fourteen tiles left in the wall. | |||
* '''[[Kan|Quads / kan]]''': It is possible to create sets consisting of four identical tiles, but they require additional handling. Since a ''kan'' requires one more tile than a normal set, after a ''kan'' has been declared (which includes if you want to set a quad where you've drawn all four tiles), a replacement tile must be drawn from the back (dead) end of the wall before a discard is declared. (The replacement tile can also complete the calling player's hand, which lets them call ''tsumo''.) Note that a draw is still declared when there are fourteen undrawn tiles left, so after a ''kan'', the last tile in the 'live' wall will become 'dead'. | |||
* '''[[Riichi]]''': If your hand is in ''tenpai'' and does not have any open calls (no ''chii'' or ''pon'' calls, and any ''kan'' calls must have been from having all four tiles in-hand), then you can declare ''riichi'' when making a discard. Declaring ''riichi'' tells your opponents that you are ready to win, which can cause them to change the way to play in order to avoid discarding your winning tile. Additionally, your hand is locked in: tiles that do not let you win must be discarded (exception: a ''kan'' can be declared using a drawn tile, if doing so doesn't change what you could win on). On the other hand, a hand won under the ''riichi'' status confers an additional ''han'', which can represent a large point boost. In the full ruleset, a closed hand without any other inherent ''yaku'' cannot be won on ''ron'', so ''riichi'' is a vital part of being able to win with arbitrary hands -- it's the name of the game, after all! | |||
* '''[[Furiten]]''': If a player had discarded a tile that their current hand could've won with, they are in ''furiten''. A hand in ''furiten'' may not call ''ron'' by any means. Even if the player's discarded tile and the opponent's tile are different, you may not call ron. A hand in fuirten may win from ''tsumo'' (self-draw) as normal, or change its wait so that it is no longer in ''furiten''. | |||
* '''[[Dora]]''' | |||
* '''Uncommon scoring patterns, [[Scoring table|fu points and higher scoring limits]]''' | |||
* | * '''Common [[rule variations]] in Riichi Mahjong''' | ||
== External Links == | == External Links == | ||