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Headache |
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What You Need
To play Headache you will need the following:  At least 5 players.
A standard set of polyhedral
dice (4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 sided).
6 identical cups (or similar). If
these have some kind of lid then they're ideal.
A sack or bag (which you can't
see into).
In addition each player should have a stack of coins. Before you begin you should put the six dice into the sack (and shake it about a bit). A Word About Money These rules do not refer to actual monetary values. Instead, we talk about a unit we call a "sucker". Before the game you should decide what you are going to make a sucker equal to. An example for players in the United Kingdom: If you are simply playing for fun, then you should make a sucker equal to 1 penny. This is just enough to ensure that people won't just lose suckers for the hell of it, but not enough that anyone is going to end the evening upset. If you want your games to be a bit more exciting, and are perfectly comfortable with some of your closest friends leaving the game in tears whilst you gloat over your winnings, you should make a sucker equal to 20 pence. If you really have way too much money then you should make a sucker equal to �5. In addition, you should contact us urgently to discuss a range of exciting business opportunities that are in need of large-scale venture capital funding. The Rule Of Notes This is actually two rules: 1) You aren't allowed to take any notes on what is happening. You have to use your memory. 2) You aren't allowed to pass notes to other players. You either say it aloud so everyone can hear, use any telepathic powers you happen to possess, or make funny grunting noises and hope your co-conspirator gets the gist. How A Match / Session Is Played A match of Headache consists of a series of games, played until the players grow bored or begin to suffer an unacceptable degree of financial loss. Each game consists of a number of successive phases. They are: 1) Paying entrance fee. 2) Rolling for first pick. 3) Drawing dice. 4) Determining number of swaps. 5) Swapping the cups. 6) Determining method of auction. 7) The auction. 8) Determining method of play. 9) Playing for the pot. PHASE 1: PAYING ENTRANCE FEE Each player should throw 5 suckers into the centre of the table. This pile of cash is known as the pot. In successive phases the pot will grow. The objective of the game is to be the player that ends up winning the pot. Andy, Bill, Pete, Jack and Colin are playing Headache, with a sucker equal to 1 penny. They each put five pence into the pot. Alright... you'd have to be a moron to need an example for this phase, but we wanted to be consistent. (And we picked only blokes for the example because we figure only men will be stupid enough to play this game). PHASE 2: ROLLING FOR FIRST PICK Now you need to determine in which order people will pick dice out of the bag. This is done using the twenty-sided dice (D20). Each player rolls, starting from the person who won the last game (or the youngest player if it is the first game), and going clockwise round the table. Once all players have made a roll, any player may pay 1 sucker to roll again. If the new roll is a higher number than that player's previous roll he can use that number instead. Players can make any number of successive rerolls, paying a sucker each time. This continues until no one wants to roll again. The player who rolled the highest number is declared to be the prime. The prime generally goes first in each phase of the game. The player who rolled the lowest number is declared to be the chairman. The chairman's job is to administer the game, and make sure everything runs smoothly. There is no real power in this job, and very little advantage. If two players are tied as prime, they should roll again (this additional role costs nothing) with the highest becoming prime. They can if they wish, pay a sucker to take a further, additional roll. If two players tie as chairman, they should an additional roll, and again if they tie again, with the lowest becoming chairman. (These additional rolls cost nothing). Andy, Bill, Pete, Jack and Colin each roll the D20. Andy rolls 7, Bill rolls 16, Pete rolls 3, Jack rolls 5 and Colin rolls 14. Pete pays 1 sucker to roll again. He gets a 16. He is now tied with Bill. At this point, no one else wants to pay to roll again, so Jack is appointed chairman. Bill and Pete (tied for prime) both roll again. Bill rolls 11, Pete rolls 9. Pete pays 1 sucker to roll again and gets a 7. He pays another sucker to roll again and gets 13. Bill thinks that 13 is not a particularly high target, so he pays a sucker to roll again and gets 15. Pete pays yet another sucker to roll again and gets 18. Bill decides that the odds on beating 18 are too slim and gives up. Pete is appointed prime. The pot now contains 30 suckers. The order of play in the next round will be Pete, Jack, Colin, Andy and Bill. PHASE 3: DRAWING DICE All 6 dice should now be placed into the bag. Starting with the prime, each player reaches into the bag and takes out a die. He should not show the die to any of the other players, nor tell them what he has selected. He should immediately place it into the cup and place the cup before him (in such a way that no-one still has any idea which dice he has selected). Selection should continue until all dice have been picked. This means that some players may have more than one dice in a cup before them. In this case, they should arrange the cups from left to right, so the first dice they picked is in the cup to the left, and the second in the cup to the right (of course, no-one actually knows what the dice are except for the player himself). Cups must be left in front of the player who drew them. They must not be moved in any way. If you have more than six players, then some people aren't going to get to draw a dice. This is not a problem, and they can still carry on in the game. Pete reaches into the bag and draws out the D20, placing it under a cup in front of him. Jack reaches into the bag and draws out the D8. Colin reaches into the bag and draws out the D12. Andy reaches into the bag and draws out the D10. Bill reaches into the bag and draws out the D4. Pete reaches into the bag and draws out the D6. What does everyone know? Pete knows that the D20 and the D6 are in front of him. Jack knows that the D20 is in the left-most cup in front of Pete, and that the D8 is in front of himself. Colin knows that the D12 is in front of himself, and that the D20 is either the leftmost cup in front of Pete or the cup in front of Jack. Andy knows that the D10 is in front of him. He knows that the D6 and D4 are in either the rightmost cup in front of Pete, or in the cup in front of Bill. Bill knows that the D4 is in front of him and that the D6 is in the rightmost cup in front of Pete. PHASE 4: DETERMINING NUMBER OF SWAPS The players now have to decide how many rounds of swapping will take place in the next phase. This is decision is made by a vote, administered by the chairman. When a vote is called, each player secretly puts a number of suckers into his hand (concealed in a fist). This is all done simultaneously. The chairman then directs each player in turn (in any order he wishes) to reveal how many suckers are in his hand, and to state what he is casting his vote for. All suckers spent in voting are added to the pot. A player can spend nought suckers on a vote (e.g. he reveals an empty fist). The option that has the most suckers voted for it is the winner of the vote. If multiple options are tied with the same number of suckers, the chairman decides which one is the winner (this is called the chairman's casting vote). In this phase, the purpose of the vote is to determine the number of rounds of swapping in the next phase. This can be any positive number, although 1, 2, or 3 are the typical choices. Generally, players with good memories will want more rounds of swapping. Jack, as chairman, announces: "Okay, the vote is for the number of rounds of swapping. Everyone get their votes ready." The players, including Jack, scoop some of their suckers from their own personal pots, then divide them up between their left and right hands, thus concealing the amount of their vote. When they are ready they nod at Jack. Jack says: "Okay, let's show 'em!" Each player extends his right fist out over the table. "Pete, what you got?" Pete declares: "I got this..." He opens his palm to reveal 3 suckers "...in favour of 2 rounds." Voting continues around Colin, 2 suckers for 2 rounds, Andy, 4 suckers for 1 round and Bill, 0 suckers. By then the voting is: 5 suckers in favour of 2 rounds. 4 suckers in favour of 1 round. Jack then reveals his own vote, 1 sucker, which he declares to be in favour of 1 round. The two options are now tied on 5 suckers each. Jack therefore makes the decision. He could decide on either of them, but decides, logically enough, in favour of the option he voted in favour of: 1 round of swapping. PHASE 5: SWAPPING THE CUPS In this phase, the cups are swapped around, thus making it harder for everyone to know what's where. I mean you weren't quite sure what was where anyway, now you've got to remember where what you weren't sure about was where - before it was swapped. There will be a number of rounds of swapping, as determined in the previous phase. In each round of swapping, starting with the prime, each player can take any pair of cups, in front of any player, and swap them over. This should be done in such a way as to not reveal the contents of the cups. The players have decided to have one round of swapping. Pete swaps the cup in front of Jack with the cup in front of Andy. Jack swaps the cup in front of himself with the left-hand cup in front of Pete. Colin swaps the cup in front of himself with the cup in front of Bill. Andy swaps the cup in front of himself with the cup in front of Colin. Bill swaps the right-most cup in front of Pete with the cup in front of Andy. Just for those who have been trying to keep track, the dice in front of the players now are: Pete has the D10 in his left-hand cup and the D4 in his right-hand cup. Jack has the D20 in his cup. Colin has the D8 in his cup. Andy has the D6 in his cup. Bill has the D12 in his cup. Note: which person the cups are in front of isn't particularly relevant. The dice aren't in any way owned by the person who they are in front of. PHASE 6: DETERMINING METHOD OF AUCTION In phase 7, the dice will be auctioned off. In this phase we decide what the rules for that auction will be. Three separate votes are held. In each one, the players vote in exactly the same way as in phase 4. The first vote is held to decide the type of auction that will be performed. There are two types of auction described in these rules, but it is allowable for a player to propose any other type (as long as it is clearly defined): Blind: In this type of
auction, each player conceals a number of suckers in his fist
(just as with a vote) and all players then simultaneously reveal their bids. The
player who bid the most suckers wins the auction.
Standard: The
chairman conducts this type of auction much as in a standard commercial
auction. Each player can make higher and higher bids until all but
one player has dropped out. The chairman then shouts "going, going, gone"
and that player has won the auction.
The second vote is held to determine what happens to failed bids. The options are: Nothing: Only the
player who won the auction contributes the suckers he bid to
the pot.
Half: The player who
won the auction contributes all the suckers he bid to the pot.
The other players who bid, and lost, contribute half, rounded up, of all the
suckers they bid to the pot.
Full: All
suckers which were bid are contributed to the pot.
The third vote is held to determine at what point, and to whom, the dice that have been bid for are revealed. The options are: Reveal All: After an
auction is held for a dice, and someone successfully bids for it, the cup is lifted
/ opened, and the dice within revealed. Thus as the dice are auctioned off,
everyone knows which dice are left.
Player Looks: After a
player has successfully bid for a dice, he can take a peek to see what he has
just bought. However, he doesn't have to show it to anyone else.
Stay Hidden: None of
the dice are revealed until all dice have been bid for.
In our example, the votes are for a blind auction, with half of failed bids going to the pot, and dice to stay hidden until all dice have been auctioned. PHASE 7: THE AUCTION Each of the dice (hidden in the cups) is then auctioned off one by one. Players will use the die or dice they have purchased in the final phase when they compete to see who wins the pot. If you do not successfully bid for a least one die you will play no further part in the game and have no chance of winning the pot. The auction is conducted by the chairman. He auctions off the dice/cups in any order he desires. A player is allowed to purchase more than one die. If no one bids on a dice then it is discarded. Jack says: "Okay, first we're auctioning off the dice in front of Andy. Everyone get their bids ready." All five players extend their fists over the table, and then simultaneously open them. Bill has 4 suckers in his hand. Andy has 2 suckers. The rest have none. Andy pushes the cup over to Bill who puts it to one side. Bill puts 4 suckers into the pot. Andy puts 1 sucker into the pot. "Okay, now we'll do the one in front of Colin." Colin bids 4, the rest bid nothing. Colin puts 4 suckers into the pot. "The right-hand one in front of Pete." Pete bids 2, Jack bids 4 and Andy bids 2. Jack puts 4 suckers into the pot, Pete and Andy 1. "The one in front of me". (This contains the D20 which both Pete and Colin have been able to keep track of). Pete bids 16, Jack bids 14. Pete puts 16 suckers into the pot. Jack puts in 7. "The one in front of Bill." Colin bids 12, Jack bids 10 and Andy bids 10. Colin puts 12 suckers into the pot, Jack 5 and Andy 5. "And finally the one still in front of Jack". Andy bids 16, the rest bid none. Andy puts 16 suckers into the pot. The players then lift the cups to reveal what they have purchased. Bill has a D6 (spent 4). Colin has a D8 and a D12 (spent 16). Jack has a D4 (spent 16). Pete has a D20 (spent 17). Andy has a D10 (spent 23). PHASE 8: DETERMINING METHOD OF PLAY The final phase will see the players making a series of dice rolling contests to see who will be the final winner of the game, and the pot. However, there are a number of different rules that can be adopted for the contest. Which of these rules to adopt will be determined in this phase, in a series of votes. The options to on offer all relate to how players who own more than one dice are handled. The options are: One Die Only: At the start of the contest (Phase 9), any player who owns more than one die, must select one die to play with and discard all others. Multiple Lives: Each die is treated as though it were a separate player. If a player rolls two dice, their scores are evaluated separately. If one "loses" (e.g. it has the lowest total of all dice rolled) the player loses that dice, but can carry on playing with his other dice. Select Highest: On each round of the contest, the player rolls all his dice. On each roll he selects the highest score and uses that as his score. Add Together: On each round of the contest, the player rolls all his dice, adding them together and using that as his score. Generally, Add Together and Multiple Lives are the best options if you have multiple dice. Not surprisingly, Colin wants an option that allows him to use both his dice. He votes in favour of Add Together. However, he is outvoted by the others, who select One Die Only. Colin is forced to discard his D8. PHASE 9: PLAYING FOR THE POT The final contest is conducted in a series of dice rolling contests. In each round, all the players who are still playing roll their dice and work out their scores. The player with the lowest score is eliminated from the game. If multiple players are tied on the lowest score, they roll again to determine who is eliminated. Rounds of dice rolling continue until only one player remains. That player wins the pot. That's it... In the first round, the rolls are as follows: Bill rolls 2 on his D6. Colin rolls 8 on his D12. Jack rolls 3 on his D4. Pete rolls 13 on his D20. Andy rolls 6 on his D10. Bill is eliminated. In the second round: Colin rolls 5 on his D12. Jack rolls 4 on his D4. Pete rolls 18 on his D20. Andy rolls 7 on his D10. Jack is eliminated. In the third round: Colin rolls 9 on his D12. Pete rolls 4 on his D20. Andy rolls 4 on his D10. Pete and Andy roll again. Pete rolls 6 on his D20. Andy rolls 7 on his D10. Pete is eliminated. In the fourth, and final round: Colin rolls 9 on his D12. Andy rolls 10 on his D10. Andy is the winner. He claims the entire pot. Optional Rules ALLIANCES If this rule is adopted, players may, before the final contest phase, choose to ally together. If this occurs they play from that point on as a single player. If they each had dice then they play as a single player with multiple dice. If they win, they split the pot as they see fit. EXTRA DICE If there are a large number of players you can add extra dice to the sack. If You Lose, Really, Really Badly Sorry. It you really need someone to talk to then try http://www.samaritans.org.uk. You really shouldn't play this game for money. |
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Copyright � 2000 Critical Miss Gaming Society |
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