Great Dalmuti, The

The Great Dalmuti is a wonderfully simple, but difficult to master, card game that was popular throughout Starfleet chapters, beginning in the mid 1990's. It is described as a game of "world domination" in which the person who gets rid of their cards first becomes the Great Dalmuti -- a kind of a king-of-the-world. Each person is ranked according to when they go out, all the way down to the Greater Peon, who must do all the shuffling, dealing, and "cleaning the world," or taking the cards off the table.

Usually, a set number of games was decided upon in advance, and a point system was devised according to when each player went out. On the USS Khai Tam it was the first person out who scored the highest, and that person became Dalmuti for the next round. Whoever had the highest overall score at the end of all the games was the true Great Dalmuti (at least until the next time it was played).

Having Fun With It

Some people really get into the game and roleplay, especially if they are the Dalmuti. The Great Dalmuti for the round may wear a crown (and force the Greater Peon to wear a jester's hat), and may request or demand that his subjects at the table do certain tasks for him/her (especially the poor Greater Peon). Jon Reddick specially made a Dalmuti "sceptor" (little more than a wooden spatula with a design carved into it and painted gold) for a Dalmuti to whack inattentive players when they took too long at their turns or tasks, although not many Dalmutis used it with the same relish as he.

Tournaments

For years, it has been the practice at Starfleet regional conventions to have a Great Dalmuti tournament with the coveted crown going home for a year with the winning chapter member who made the Dalmuti position the most during tournament. These tournaments might last many hours, or even have to span several days due to the large participation. Although on a smaller scale, the USS Khai Tam had their own tournament at their yearly KhaiCon. Despite large quantities of alcohol, and plenty of good-natured ribbing of other players, these competitions were nonetheless intense, and, at times, fierce, with visiting regional chapter members determined to take the crown from the USS Khai Tam.

Treasure Hunting

The Great Dalmuti became hugely popular among the thousands of Starfleet members, and the clamor was on to find decks of Dalmuti cards to replace the much used and worn old decks. The problem was, the company who made the cards stopped making them sometime in the late 1990's. Suddenly, the formerly $8 card sets were appearing on Ebay for more than $30. Oddly, the German version of the cards were plentiful online, and not too difficult to purchase for under $20. Despite the fact that they looked nearly exactly like their English counterpart, the English version was still more coveted to own, and many people gladly gave into the high price to be the owner of a new set of cards.

Dalmuti Today

Apparently, word got around to the distributors of the card sets of just how popular the game had become, and once again The Great Dalmuti was put into production. It is still a favored game of Trek fans, and tournaments continue to be held at various science fiction conventions.