nymphs and card games

cathyfreeze

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Hey, all you experts out there. :)

I have a half-nymph--generally one who is *not* tied to a single tree but who helps things grow. I want her to be a gambling addict in an alt-world neo-industrial world.

I've got her captured by someone who is in the gambling biz. Is there any way you can think of that my nymph-girl could use her 'powers' to cheat at cards? I've researched the various powers that nymphs have, and her growing-plants ability isn't absolutely necessary to the plot, tho her ability to commune with nature *is.*

I'd so appreciate any input, here! I'm totally stumped and am thinking i'll have to round-file the whole story.

cat
 

Sarpedon

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Well, if the other guy has a tree looking over his shoulder...

This thread is going to get lots of clicks.
 

Calla Lily

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Cards are made of paper. Paper used to be trees. She can communicate with the ghosts of the trees that are inhabiting the cards.

Perhaps the "in thing" for gamblers could be decks of cards with tree designs on the backs. She can stretch her powers to reach designs of trees, too.

Maybe?
 

Drachen Jager

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IMO you can't just go inventing abilities whenever the character needs it. It makes the whole story seem fake. Give the character a set of abilities and then figure out how they can use them to accomplish their goals.

I presume cheating is not the goal. How else can she use her powers then?

Superheroes need limits. That's what makes the '80s Superman movies so terrible. "Oh, I really screwed up, I'll just reverse time and fix that." WTF? If you can reverse time on a whim then the bad guys should just pack up their toys and play with someone else who fights fair, it's silly. This is an extreme example.

Maybe her abilities don't help her. Maybe she has to use her brain, find another way. It would help her seem more real.
 

Aerial

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You could take a sort of sideways approach... If her ability to commune with nature includes insects and things like wood mites or fleas, she could send them to quietly plague her opponent. It wouldn't exactly be cheating, but it would interfere with his concentration and probably make him play worse than he otherwise would.

Aerial
 

cathyfreeze

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Heh. Oh, cheating is totally the goal. But the point was *not* to *add* abilities--to make up new ones. I wanted something that sounded organic to her nature.

I thought of the wood-pulp cards, but hrm. Didn't think the cards would have much idea what was written *on* them--they'd be more likely to regail her with horror stories of being pulped. Well, or with horrible *feelings,* since wood, pulped or not, doesn't do words, much. Much thanks for the offers of help, tho, folks.

I actually love the idea of a tree looking over the other guy's shoulder, Sarpedon. That's kinda a hoot.

I wonder if it would be possible for her, since she can influence 'growth'--which is another word, kinda, for change, to influence the movement of the cards *under* the ink, so the numbers change on the cards' faces? Into what she wants to be there? Would you buy that?

cat
 
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cathyfreeze

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You could take a sort of sideways approach... If her ability to commune with nature includes insects and things like wood mites or fleas, she could send them to quietly plague her opponent. It wouldn't exactly be cheating, but it would interfere with his concentration and probably make him play worse than he otherwise would.

Aerial

I like this, too, Aerial. I've not seen this in any description of Nymph abilities. I'll look for it, tho. ;)

cat
 

Wiskel

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I wonder if it would be possible for her, since she can influence 'growth'--which is another word, kinda, for change, to influence the movement of the cards *under* the ink, so the numbers change on the cards' faces? Into what she wants to be there? Would you buy that?

cat

I wouldn't. I'd start wondering why she didn't just cut out the card games and make her money rearrange itself into higher value bills.
 

Sydneyd

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I'm not positive how this helps you but I thought it was interesting. From wikipedia:

Popular legend holds that the composition of a deck of cards has religious, metaphysical, or astronomical significance.
Thus each suit of 13 cards represents the 13 months of the lunar year. Since the Sidereal lunar month may be approximated to 28 days, each suit is equal to 364 days of the year.
Similarly the whole deck of the 52 cards represents the 52 weeks of the year. Therefore the whole deck is also equal to 364 days of the year. For reference see the "positivist calendar".
The Ace is symbolically “Alpha and Omega” or “the Beginning and End”.

I love learning.

EDIT: Adding link on the off-chance that you don't know this already http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playing_card
 

cathyfreeze

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Sets my mind spinning into a different direction, Sydneyd, which is always helpful.

And thanks, Wiskel! That should have occured to me. I don't want her looking like a doofus. ;) It's sad that your characters can only be as smart as you, sometimes.

cat
 

Sarpedon

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I wonder if it would be possible for her, since she can influence 'growth'--which is another word, kinda, for change, to influence the movement of the cards *under* the ink, so the numbers change on the cards' faces? Into what she wants to be there? Would you buy that?

If you build up to it correctly, I can believe anything.
 

Buffysquirrel

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It might help if you shared the powers she does have with us :). Maybe think outside the playing cards--can she influence the table they're playing on? the chair her opponent is sitting in?
 

cathyfreeze

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It might help if you shared the powers she does have with us :). Maybe think outside the playing cards--can she influence the table they're playing on? the chair her opponent is sitting in?

Hrm. Good point. Well, from what i can tell from myth, nymphs who are not connected to one tree are nature communers; no more no less. They encourage growth--they give energy to green things to let them flower and grow. Mine own girl seems to be on the high end of that, and she's able, at the story's opening, to hear the ghost-screams of things recently dead--tables made from heart wood, specifically.

There are, apparently, other kinds of nymphs--ones attuned to other natural elements. Water, air, fire. I wondered if i could adjust her background to make her one of those, instead. If one of those would aid in card cheating, i may be tempted. The game she's playing, tho, isn't about turning over cards--she'd have to be able to influence what numbers turn up when the dealer flips cards over. Or know what's on the cards, perhaps? I'm going to have to get better acquainted with Red Dog, to see what else is potentially there.

cat