Pai Sho

"neutral"

- I always told you Pai Sho was more than just a game.



Pai Sho is a two-player strategy game. The game is quite popular throughout the world, as many people from all four nations have been seen playing it. It still remains popular even after the century long war. Pai Sho is also used by the secretive Order of the White Lotus to identify its members.

Rules
The actual rules of Pai Sho are unknown, only some details about the game were shown.

The large, circular board is split into twelve sections, divided by an 18x18 grid of colored squares. Round tiles are used as pieces, with each of them having a different image. Each player is given a certain number of tiles, which are placed and moved around the grid.

White lotus Tile
The White lotus tile, like all tiles of Pai Sho, is a round black circle one and a half inch in diameter. It is identified by the image of a large white flower that takes up most of the tile.

According to Iroh, many underestimate its importance, though this may merely be a reference the Order of the White Lotus. It seems it is important to have one for a set, because when Master Yu saw one on the floor, he said someone had "an incomplete Pai Sho set".

Order of the White Lotus
Pai Sho is also used by the Order of the White Lotus to identify its members. In a bar at the Misty Palms Oasis, Uncle Iroh played a game with another member, Fung, as a way of identifying himself as part of the society. The key to recognition between members includes scripted dialog revolving around the opening move of placing a certain tile, the white lotus, in the center of the board, followed by the rapid placement of pieces in an exact pattern that mirrors the central piece. It is possible that this dialog has several outcomes to allow not only identification as a member of the group but also as a certain rank within the group. Iroh is a Grand Master, also known as a Grand Lotus.

Notable Players

 * Iroh
 * Aang
 * Gyatso
 * Fung



Trivia

 * Pai Sho bears a resemblance to Go, Chinese Checkers, straight checkers, and Shogi.
 * The name of the game bears resemblance to a Tibetan game called Sho-pa. Although Sho-pa in reality is a gambling game and is not at all similar to chess or checkers.
 * The name bears even more resemblance to the Chinese tile game, Pai Gow.
 * There is a giant Pai Sho table in the Western Air Temple.