Known originally as Paille-Maille in
French, and later as Pall-Mall in English, the name of this game means
"ball and mallet". Like many games dating back in history, the exact
origin of this game is difficult to determine. It was mentioned as early as the
13th century in French texts. It was known to be very popular in England in the
1500s. By the 1600s, it had also reached favor in Italy and Scotland. It rose
and fell in popularity through the centuries, never quite catching on as
"the" favorite pasttime.
It was played in a long alley with a hoop
of woven straw or iron suspended over the ground at either end. The object was
to strike a boxwood ball of about 3 inches in diameter with a heavy wooden
mallet, down the alley so as to traverse the course, passing their ball through
the wickets in the correct color order, striking the Midway Hoop at the far end
of the alley with their ball, then traversing the course back, passing their
ball through the wickets in reverse color order and finally striking the
Start/Finish Hoop. The first player to do such wins, the second player to do
such is second, and so forth.
To start, players choose which of the
six available colors they wish to use. This may be done in any method deemed
fair by the players. (Each player will bring his/her ball into play in the
order of the colors on the stake: blue first, red second, black third, yellow
fourth, green fifth and orange sixth.) Once each player has selected his color,
they are given the corresponding ball and a wicket marked with their color.
Next, the course is set up. The
Start/Finish Hoop and the Midway Hoop are placed at the ends of the alley or playing
field. There is no set distance but it is recommended that 50' should be about the
minimum course length and 100' feet about maximum course length; for course
width, 30' should be about minimum width and 50' about maximum width. Although
rarely done in period, boundaries may be marked out via string or other method.
Most usually, natural boundaries were established. After the stakes are placed,
the players then set their wickets on the course.
Unlike its descendant, croquet, the game
of Pall-Mall does not have a set lay-out for the wickets. The players may place
their wicket anywhere on the course, at any angle. Hence, players may have to
go toward the far end of the course to go through one wicket then come back to
the other end for the next wicket, and so on. Each game of Pall-Mall thus
becomes unique. Once the wickets are placed, play begins.
Optional rules include "Pall-Mall
Partners" or "Pall-Mall Sides". With partners there are 3 teams
of two colors (usually blue & yellow, red & green and black &
orange). With sides there are 2 teams of three colors (usually blue, black
& green and red, yellow & orange). In these variations, all members of
a team must complete the course and hit the Finish Stake for a team to win.
The name came to refer not only to the
game, but also to the mallet used and the alley in which it was played. Many European
cities still have long straight roads or promenades which evolved from the
alleys in which the game was played. Such in London are Pall Mall and the Mall,
in Hamburg the Palmaille, in Paris the Rue du Mail, and in Utrecht the
Maliebaan. When the game fell out of fashion, some of these "pall
malls" evolved into shopping areas, hence the modern name of shopping
centres in North America—shopping malls—while others evolved into grassed,
shady promenades, still called malls today.
The 1615 Merian map of Paris depicts a Palmail alley just outside the wall and moat
between the Porte Mont-Marthe and the Porte St. Honore and another, smaller Palmail alley between Larcenal (the Arsenal) and
the Right Bank of the Seine.
Palmail between Porte Mont-Marthe and Porte
St. Honore
Merian even included several Pall-Mall
players on his map!
Smaller Palmail (to the right of
Larcenal on the map)
Sources:
Since several of the player characters
in my campaign are nobles and two are courtiers I decided to create some simple
rules for playing Palmail.
Easy Made-up Rules for Pall Mall
Pick a scenic location: use one of the
two locations on Merian’s map or one of the royal gardens.
The alley has 6 wickets with a hoop at
either end of the alley. Players must move their balls through all six wickets
in order (determined by color) then through the hoop at the far end of the
alley, then back through the six wickets in reverse order and through the end
hoop on the side where they started. The player or side with the lowest number
of turns taken (not counting any free turns) wins.
Each player has a ball in one of six
different colors and a matching wicket. The alley has six wickets in matching
colors: blue first, red second, black third, yellow fourth, green fifth and orange sixth.
On each player’s turn they make one or more strokes rolling 2d6+Quality+Career,
as usual a 9+ succeeds. Unless the player uses a stroke that ends the turn (Set, Block)
a successful stroke allows the player to continue with another stroke. Each successive
stroke is made with a cumulative penalty of -2. Failure to make a stroke ends
the player’s turn.
Strokes
Move
(pass a wicket and continue) Flair+Career‑Savvy
of the setter of the wicket
Set
(+2 on your next stroke; ends your turn) Flair+Career
Block
(ball blocks wicket, +2 to difficulty; ends your turn) Savvy+Career
Knock
(remove blocking ball from wicket) Might+Career
Score
(pass through a hoop) Flair+Career -2
Combo
(make any two strokes, with a -2 penalty to each)
Turn
continues until a stoke that ends a turn is played or the player fails to make
a stroke, each additional stroke taken in a turn has a cumulative ‑1 to
succeed.
A
Mighty Success on any stroke gives
one free turn.
Order
and Colors
BLUE
RED
BLACK
YELLOW
GREEN
ORANGE
Designer
Notes
In creating a set of rules I had several
goals in mind.
The rules should be simple and
fun to play.
Play should resemble or at least be
evocative of the actual game of Pall-Mall.
Different types of strokes should
simulate tactics in play and feature more than one of the qualities.
Since the game is popular at
court and with courtiers the Courtier career instead of a Combat Ability is a
modifier.
Flair, the consummate quality of
the courtier, is the most useful quality, Savvy should be second.
Non-combat characters should have
a chance to shine; therefore Daring will have no effect on play.
For solo play or PC vs. PC play the individual rules will work. For team play use the optional rules for "Pall-Mall Partners" or "Pall-Mall Sides".
These rules are available via common cause license.
EDIT: The original post had a misprint. Each additional stroke has a -1 cumulative penalty, not a -2 penalty.
