Talk:The Pool Table

Moonbeam squints at you curiously as you place your bet on the side rail. "Wow, man," she says, "your aura is really amazing. Like, every time you move, there are these trails of light coming off of you! It's totally amazing, man."

Moonbeam lets you break, but you don't sink anything. She leans over the table, and sends the cue ball flying past all the balls onto an empty rail. Then she starts to line up another shot.

"Uh, I think it's my turn," you say.

"I sunk the ultraviolet ball!" Moonbeam says, pointing at the empty pocket.

"Uh, there's no ultraviolet ball," you say.

"Oh. Huh. Far out," she says, stepping back from the table.

Even though Moonbeam manages to sink the infrared, octarine, and paisley balls, you still win by sinking all of your regular balls and the 8-ball. Moonbeam pays her debt and you leave her staring at the light trails she insists are coming from her fingertips.

You gain <your bet> meat.

---

Moonbeam puts her palms together and bows to you. "Let us celebrate the fact that we are alive, here and now, and that Gaia has brought us together to test our skills against each other," she says.

"Yeah, uh, ditto," you reply. "You can break."

Moonbeam leans over, lines up her shot, and sinks a ball. She misses the next shot, and you take over.

While you're lining up your shot, though, she puts a glass sculpture on the side rail of the table. It must be some kind of incense holder, because thick, sticky-sweet smoke billows out of it.

You know, you've never noticed how easy it is to play pool! I mean, it's like, the angle you hit the cue ball into the other ball is the angle the other ball will take! It's just, like, geometry, man! You can practically see little trails indicating where the balls will go when you hit them. You sink ball after ball, finally missing when you're distracted by how truly electoral your hands are.

It looks like Moonbeam can see the trails, to, since she sinks most of her balls on her turn, before she stops and wanders off to get a snack. You sink your last ball and the 8-ball as Moonbeam comes back, holding a bowl full of pretzels.

"You have to try these pretzels, man," she says, dreamily. "Wait, what were we doing? Did I win?"

You don't want to harsh her buzz, so you just assure her she won, and she lets you take the meat anyway, since we are all one, you know, man? Far out.

You gain <your bet> Meat.

15 adventures and Moonbeam hasn't beaten me once. Is it even possible? --billybobfred 01:01, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

• What's your mysticality? I failed repeatedly at level 3.--Toffile 01:02, 23 October 2010 (UTC)
  • 23 (18), and she finally beat me just now. Took her long enough. --billybobfred 01:17, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Moonbeam smiles serenely at you. "May the one with the most adjusted chakras win," she says. Her chi is insufficiently focused for her to sink any balls on the break, and you manage to pocket a few before unfortunate feng shui leads you to miss a shot. She consults the i ching and lines up a few good shots herself.

Play continues that way until the alignment of the planets causes you both to be fated to be going for the 8-ball at the same time.

Moonbeam balances on one foot and extends her arms over her head, meditating for a few seconds, then sinks the 8-ball with her eyes closed.

"You're, like, a really old soul," she says. "But I'm totally reaping the karmic benefits of my last reincarnation. Better luck on some other plane!" She collects your meat and floats away, presumably to spend her winnings on herbs and candles.

You lose <your bet> meat.

---

Chet makes sure that both of his collars are properly popped, sprays on a little more body spray, and accepts your bet. "Now, let's make this a fair match, Bro-meo and Juliet," he says. You promise to play fair, and he lets you break.

As you lean over the table, though, something taps you on the butt. You jump up, your shot going wild and dropping the cue ball in a side pocket. You spin around and Chet's holding his frat paddle, smirking. "Oh, did I tap you, Bro-setta Stone? Sorry 'bout that. But, I guess it's my turn now, huh?"

He hands his paddle to a nearby sorority orc, chalks his cue, and proceeds to run the entire table. He sinks the 8-ball and walks away counting his winnings, leaving you with a lighter wallet and two sets of red cheeks. What a jerk!

You lose <your bet> Meat

---

Scratch nods at you, tipping his fedora. "Well, I suppose I can take that bet," he says, "but I warn you, I'm pretty new at this. Foosball is more my game. I imagine you'll wipe the floor with me. Are you sure you don't want to double that bet?"

You decline, and he chuckles. "All right, then. I'll break." He opens a little case and pulls out a pool cue in three parts, which he screws together. Then he deftly swipes the tip with chalk, lines up his shot, and sinks half of the balls on the break.

"See? I told you I wasn't very good at this," he says. "Sure you don't want to double down? Easy money!"

You decline to say that while he's a good pool player, he's the world's worst hustler, and let the bet stand. Scratch quickly runs the table and pockets your meat with a satisfied nod. "Now, if you want to see a real game, you should hit me up at the foosball table, just as soon as the Tavern gets one," he says, and walks off to find another sucker to part from some meat.

You lose <your bet> Meat. --Lostcalpolydude 02:13, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Pool Skills

Anybody have a sense of whether playing here will improve your prowess at VIP room pool?

-- acm, 10:19, 1 November 2010 (EST)

How exactly do you win? I applied the advice on A Pool Table: equipped a shark jumper, pool cue, three lucky rabbit feet, used items to get chalky hand, chalked weapon, and swimming with sharks, untinkered to get the Staff of Fats, and I've watched one semi-rare game of pool in the Manor, yet I can't beat Chet, let alone Scratch. (My clan does not have a pool table, so I have no practice there.) --Club (#66669) (Talk) 21:25, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

I think I read on the forums that your drunkenness has to be a specific number, any higher or lower and your chances drop sharply. I want to say the number was 10 but I can't rule out 8 or 11. Hopefully this is true and not just my brain making stuff up to mess with me. --Johnny Treehugger 21:53, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

10 has been spaded as optimal. The further you are from 10 the worse your chances. If you get overdrunk it is hopeless. If you've done enough semi-rare games of pool it doesn't matter what your drunkeness is as long as you don't get overdrunk. --Bale 23:57, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

• Is that drunkenness level specific to this task, or is that true also for the clan VIP pool table? --Fig bucket 00:15, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
  • Clan VIP pool table shares the exact same mechanics at the Typical Tavern pool table. --RoyalTonberry 04:18, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

2014 Pool Skill Numbers

Now that we know what the pool skill numbers are, here's a start on spading the amount of skill necessary to win: (Numbers come from a couple of different accounts, in aftercore, using mafia's "poolskill" command, combined with my own memory to be sure it's not missing anything.)

• Won 0/1 vs. Moonbeam at -4 pool skill.
• Won 0/5 vs. Moonbeam at -1 pool skill.
• Won 6/6 vs. Moonbeam at 0 pool skill.
• Won 10/10 vs. Moonbeam at 1 pool skill.
• Won 4/4 vs. Moonbeam at 2 pool skill.
• Won 12/12 vs. Moonbeam at 5 pool skill.
• Won 2/2 vs. Moonbeam at 8 pool skill.
• Won 5/5 vs. Moonbeam at 14 pool skill.
• Won 0/5 vs. Chet at 14 pool skill.
• Won 5/5 vs. Chet at 15 pool skill.
• Won 10/10 vs. Chet at 16 pool skill.
• Won 5/5 vs. Chet at 19 pool skill.
• Won 0/12 vs. Scratch at 22 pool skill.
• Won 0/5 vs. Scratch at 24 pool skill.
• Won 16/16 vs. Scratch at 25 pool skill.
• Won 23/23 vs. Scratch at 26 pool skill.

So, it's looking like you always beat Scratch at 25 skill, and lose at anything less. Chet looks to require 14 or 15 (my money's on 15). I only lost to Moonbeam once, and that was at negative pool skill while overdrunk. Numbers nailed down: Moonbeam requires 0 skill to beat, Chet 15, Scratch 25. Adding to main page, and deleting the needs spading note.--Xande (talk) 09:12, 4 November 2014 (UTC)