xBlackWolfx
2013-03-15, 07:07 PM
Its a bit of a problem I had the first time I played elder signs. None of the cards are standard size, infact they aren't anywhere near normal size.
They come in two different sizes. One is the various item cards and mythos cards which are rather small (like 2 maybe 2.5 inches long) and then there are the adventure cards (which comprise a rather large deck), along with the investigators and ancient ones, both of which are seperate 'decks', but they're particularly tricky since each is really just a pile of like around 10 cards, this makes them extra difficult to shuffle. Note that these cards are so large I cant stretch my hand out far enough to hold them long ways (like you would do during a riffle shuffle, which i can do perfectly fine), I can only hold them you would if you were doing a table shuffle (a variant of the riffle shuffle that keeps the cards down on the table so the players cant see the bottom card, popular in gambling casinos for obvious reasons). I wish I could give measurements as to just how big these cards are, but I dont actually have them here with me so I cant do that, but they are least twice as long as standard playing cards, if not more.
Also, I noticed that the cards are rather stiff, which makes a riffle shuffle impossible (in particular with the small cards). And besides that, the board technically doesn't belong to me, it actually belongs to a local comic shop which has wall full of game boards that you can play free of charge (very nice place).
I was wondering what would be an effective way to shuffle these cards that doesn't involve bending them, and isnt affected by their large size?
The best method I've been able to find (note that i've been practicing with standard playing cards) is a hindu shuffle, though I dont think that's a very good way to randomize the deck. My method, I cut the deck three times, placing the top cut on the bottom and the bottom cut ontop, I then do a hindu shuffle twice.
Yeah, I could just shove the cards together like an amateur does when they're trying to imitate a riffle shuffle, but that's not exactly easy to do (its what i did last time), and besides that I'm afraid i'll damage the corners.
I would like a shuffle that ramdomizes the deck as much as possible, such that the bottom cards don't automatically end up staying on the bottom (like what normally happens with a riffle shuffle). I dont want it to be guaranteed, I just want it to be possible for all the cards to end up anywhere in the deck, no matter their place of origin. But from my research, the only shuffle that would allow that is a 'wash' shuffle (spreading the cards out on the table, moving them around, then playing 52-card-pickup). This might work fine with the ancient ones and investigaters (since there's not that many of them anyway), but it would look a bit silly and rather amateurish.
Can anyone offer any help? Perhaps someone who has played this game several times and knows exactly what I'm dealing with? (no pun intended)
They come in two different sizes. One is the various item cards and mythos cards which are rather small (like 2 maybe 2.5 inches long) and then there are the adventure cards (which comprise a rather large deck), along with the investigators and ancient ones, both of which are seperate 'decks', but they're particularly tricky since each is really just a pile of like around 10 cards, this makes them extra difficult to shuffle. Note that these cards are so large I cant stretch my hand out far enough to hold them long ways (like you would do during a riffle shuffle, which i can do perfectly fine), I can only hold them you would if you were doing a table shuffle (a variant of the riffle shuffle that keeps the cards down on the table so the players cant see the bottom card, popular in gambling casinos for obvious reasons). I wish I could give measurements as to just how big these cards are, but I dont actually have them here with me so I cant do that, but they are least twice as long as standard playing cards, if not more.
Also, I noticed that the cards are rather stiff, which makes a riffle shuffle impossible (in particular with the small cards). And besides that, the board technically doesn't belong to me, it actually belongs to a local comic shop which has wall full of game boards that you can play free of charge (very nice place).
I was wondering what would be an effective way to shuffle these cards that doesn't involve bending them, and isnt affected by their large size?
The best method I've been able to find (note that i've been practicing with standard playing cards) is a hindu shuffle, though I dont think that's a very good way to randomize the deck. My method, I cut the deck three times, placing the top cut on the bottom and the bottom cut ontop, I then do a hindu shuffle twice.
Yeah, I could just shove the cards together like an amateur does when they're trying to imitate a riffle shuffle, but that's not exactly easy to do (its what i did last time), and besides that I'm afraid i'll damage the corners.
I would like a shuffle that ramdomizes the deck as much as possible, such that the bottom cards don't automatically end up staying on the bottom (like what normally happens with a riffle shuffle). I dont want it to be guaranteed, I just want it to be possible for all the cards to end up anywhere in the deck, no matter their place of origin. But from my research, the only shuffle that would allow that is a 'wash' shuffle (spreading the cards out on the table, moving them around, then playing 52-card-pickup). This might work fine with the ancient ones and investigaters (since there's not that many of them anyway), but it would look a bit silly and rather amateurish.
Can anyone offer any help? Perhaps someone who has played this game several times and knows exactly what I'm dealing with? (no pun intended)