Gambling and tavern games

"dice and card games are the way to go if you want to make some money or obtain valuable information" - A local gambler

Sizzling Sixes

1. Place bet
2. The “house” rolls 2d6
3. If the total is 6 or 12, you win the round and receive twice your bet amount.
4. If the total is not 6 or 12, you can double your original bet to add 1d6. If the new total is a 6 or a 12, you get 4 times the original bet.
5. If neither of the situations occur, you lose your bet and the money goes to the house.

Goblin's Eye

Basically it's darts. Player's take turns rolling 1d20 and 1d6 (3 times). The d20 determines what number they hit. The d6 + Dex determines where on the number it hits. First player to 301, wins.

• 1-4 = Outer Ring (face points)

• 5-7 = Middle Ring (2x points)

• 8-9 = Inner Ring (3x points)

• 10+ = Bull's Eye (60 points)

Dead-Eye Dice

Dead-Eye is a popular back-alley game of chance. Two or more players each start with the same number of 6-sided dice. Traditionally, the game is played with 2 - 5 dice. Each additional die adds more volatility to the game.
The winner of the game is the first player to build a hand with all the same number showing. Rolling a 1, or a dead-eye, is an automatic loss.
A round of play consists of the following steps:

1. Pay into the pot for each die that will be rolled.
2. Roll the dice.
3. Did you roll any 1s? If so, you lose.
4. Set aside any dice you wish to keep.
5. Are all your kept dice showing the same number? If so, you win.
6. f no one won this round, begin again at step 1.

If play ends in a tie, either through a mutual win or mutual loss, the pot remains and the tying players must play another game to determine the winner.

Ship, Captain, and Crew

Making bets
All people playing the game must bet an agreed upon amount of gold or silver.
Assembling the "ship" and "crew"
Each turn consists of three rolls of the dice. The player must roll a 6, 5 and 4 in descending order. ex. The first roll of the dice shows a 6 a 4 two 3's and a 1 The player banks the 6 but must reroll the 4 because there is no 5 yet The second roll the player gets a 6 a 5 a 4 and a 1 The player banks the 5 and 4 and now they have a full "crew" for their "ship"
Getting the "cargo"
Once the "crew" has been assembled, the player may now stop and add the pips on the remaining 2 dice to determine their score from their "cargo" or the player may re-roll one or both of their remaining dice to try to get a higher number for their "cargo". ex. If the player chooses to stop with their 6 and 1 from the above example, they get a score of 7 Determining the winner The winner is the player at the end of a round who has the highest score.
Consequences
The winner gets the pool of bettings.
Next round
When beginning the next round, play begins with the player to the right (counter-clockwise) of the first player in the previous round. Alternatively, the player who won the last round starts the next round.

Dagger Juggling

There is a juggler juggling daggers. People are betting on how long he can last before dropping a dagger. Roll sleight of hand checks for the juggler with a +8 sleight of hand to see how long he can keep juggling. DC 10 if 2 daggers, DC 15 if 3 daggers, DC 20 if 4 daggers, DC 25 if 5 daggers. Each successful roll is a round of juggling without dropping any daggers.

Arm wrestling

d6 throws in turns, the arms move towards one side or the other, to reach 6+maximum STR bonus between the two opponents. For example: personX has +3 STR, personY has +2 STR. The arms have to reach a score of 9 (6+3) on one side or the other. personX, being stronger, could roll a 6+3 and win on the first turn, but if it rolls a 2+3 reaching only a position of 5 towards his victory, personY might roll a 6+2, and reach a position of 3 towards his victory. And so on.

Dwarven Roulette

6 beer mugs are placed on a table, one of them is actually piss. Two opponents pay equal amounts into a pot. Two opponents take turns in choosing and drinking one. The dude who gets the piss loses. No sniffing allowed. Winner gets the whole pot.

Drinking Contest

Two or more people all put in equal amounts into a pot. They all also pay 1 gp to pay for the drinks. The judge of the contest serves each person shots of strong alcohol. Each person takes the shot at the same time and then rolls constitution saving throws to see if they get drunk or not. The DC starts at 10 and goes up by one each round. Last one to get drunk wins the whole pot

Dice Crescendo

1. Each person pays a fixed amount to enter the game.
2. Each person rolls a D4 and remembers the result.
3. Each person pays the same fixed amount they previously paid to buy into the next round if they think they can roll higher than their D4 roll on their D6. Otherwise they can cut their losses and leave the game.
4. Each person rolls a D6, anyone who rolled less than their D4 roll is out.
5. Each person pays the same fixed amount they previously paid to buy into the next round if they think they can roll higher than their D6 roll on their D8. Otherwise they can cut their losses and leave the game.
6. Each person rolls a D8, anyone who rolled less than their D6 roll is out.
7. Each person pays the same fixed amount they previously paid to buy into the next round if they think they can roll higher than their D8 roll on their D10. Otherwise they can cut their losses and leave the game.
8. Each person rolls a D10.
9. This continues until only one person is left. That person gets all the money that was paid by all players. If the two final people get out at the same time, they split the prize money.

Deceiving Dice

1. Each person puts in an equal amount of betting money into the pot.
2. Each person rolls 2d6 in secret.
3. The person with the highest roll wins and receives the pot money.
4. Someone can “call the winner’s bluff” and make them reveal their dice.
5. If the former winner was lying, the person who called their bluff is the new winner and receives the pot money.
6. If the winner was not lying, the person who called their bluff has to double the amount they put into the pot and the winner still receives all of the pot money.

Dice Diminuendo

1. Each person pays a fixed amount to enter the game.
2. Each person rolls a D12 and remembers the result.
3. Each person pays the same fixed amount they previously paid to buy into the next round if they think they can roll lower than their D12 roll on their D10. Otherwise they can cut their losses and leave the game.
4. Each person rolls a D10, anyone who rolled more than their D12 roll is out.
5. Each person pays the same fixed amount they previously paid to buy into the next round if they think they can roll lower than their D10 roll on their D8. Otherwise they can cut their losses and leave the game.
6. Each person rolls a D8, anyone who rolled more than their D10 roll is out.
7. Each person pays the same fixed amount they previously paid to buy into the next round if they think they can roll lower than their D8 roll on their D6. Otherwise they can cut their losses and leave the game.
8. Each person rolls a D6.
9. This continues until only one person is left. That person gets all the money that was paid by all players. If the two final people get out at the same time, they split the prize money.

Goblin Roulette

A bunch of goblins and hobgoblins crowd around a table screaming and cheering in goblin and occasionally going completely silent for a few seconds. Upon further investigation, the adventurers see that there are six goblins sitting at a circular table, each with a shot of whiskey in front of them. Except one of the shots isn't whiskey, it's Purple Worm Poison. Whoever gets that shot instantly takes 12d6 damage and most likely dies. The remaining goblins split the pot consisting of the money they and their dead companion previously paid in to. The game keeps going with some different and some same goblins. If the players choose to play this game, warn them that they can die. If a player with poison immunity plays this and wins over and over due to his poison immunity, the goblins will get pissed off and attack him.

Fast Fours

1. All players put in an equal amount of gold into a pot.
2. In the open, all players roll 1d4, 1d6, and 1d8 as fast as they can with the goal of getting three 4s.
3. First person to get three 4s wins all of the money in the pot.

Assassins Ante

One player game. The player bets an amount of money. Then they roll a D20. If it is a 20, 18, 16, 14, or 12, they win back twice their bet. If it is a 19, 17, 15, 13, 11, or 9, they lose their bet money. If it is a 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, or a 2, they get back just their bet. If it is a one they lose twice their bet.

Line ‘Em Up

Two player game, a player and the dealer.

1. Both players put in an ante to the pot.
2. Both players roll 4d6 in secret.
3. They can then decide to reroll however many die, only once, if they want to get a better score.
4. They then tell eachother their added up score of all the dice.
5. They then each line up their dice horizontally, still in secret.
6. Their opponent will then say a die and they must reroll that die and change their score. Saying “first die” means die farthest to the right, saying “second die” means die second farthest to the right, etc.
7. If your score was lower than your opponents, but is now higher, you win twice your opponents original ante.
8. If your score was higher than your opponents, but is now lower, you must put in another ante equal to your previous, and you lose both.
9. If your score was higher and it still is you win your opponents ante.
10. If your score was lower and it still is you lose your ante.
11. If the scores are tied both players get back their antes.

Swift Salamanders

5 small salamanders are in a cage at the start of a maze on a table. Each salamander has a number and a name as listed below. People are gathered around the table and the salamander tamer stands at the head of the table. He introduces each salamander one by one. Then he asks for bets on each salamander. Everyone calls out how much they bet on one salamander of their choosing. No betting on multiple salamanders. After all bets are placed into the pot, the salamander tamer yells in whatever language he speaks “Run”, and the cage magically opens. The salamanders crawl relatively slowly through the maze, all going different directions. Some bump into dead ends, other accidentally go the wrong way. About two minutes passes before one of them finds the end of the maze. In order to see who wins, roll 3d4 for each salamander. The salamander with the highest total finds the end first. Once a salamander wins, most people are booing and some people are cheering. Everyone who bet on the winning salamander splits 90% of the total betting money. The salamander tamer keeps 10% of the total. Only 3 races happen all night.

1. Lizzie
2. Sal
3. Scoot
4. Spike
5. Toothless

Bolster

Minimum of 3 players. Each player puts an ante into the pot. Each player rolls 3d6 and your score is based on the various hands that can appear that are listed below. It is possible to have multiple scoring hands in the same roll of dice. Between rounds of rolling, the players can ante in a new amount to the pot. All players must either match that ante and put it into the pot as well, or cut their losses and quit the game. First one to 10 points wins the whole pot.

Hand

Description

Score

Pair

Two of the dice match (1,1,2)

+1 point

Closed Pair

Same as a pair, but last die is a 1 (4,4,1)

+2 points

Addition

Any two dice equal the third (1,2,3)

+1 point

Sequence

Three dice showing consecutive numbers (3,4,5)

+1 point

Perfect Zero

All dice show the same number (5,5,5)

-1 point

Triton’s Kiss

Many tritons and water genasi are gathered around a circular table where 6 tritons or water genasi sit. All 6 of them have a magical mug in front of them that refills with saltwater each time it empties and hits the table. All 6 have also put in an ante to a pot in the center of the table. At the count of three from the crowd around them, they begin chugging the saltwater in the mugs then slamming it down on the table and chugging the saltwater again. This continues and as it progresses people either quit or drop on the floor from dehydration and fatigue. Last one left is the winner and receives the prize money. If the players decide to play, they must put in an ante equal to everyone else. Then each time they drink the saltwater, they must make a constitution saving throw. Each time they slam down the mug and refill it, the DC goes up by 1. It starts at DC 8. The water genasi and tritons get advantage on their throws because they are water beings. Failing a saving throw gives them level 2 exhaustion.

Threes

Minimum of 3 players. All players put an ante into a pot. They all take turns rolling 5d6. All numbers are scored at face value except for 3s which are worth 0 points. Lowest score wins the pot. Ties are split 50/50.

Crown and Anchor

Pick a number and place a bet on it. The dealer rolls 3d6. If 1 die lands on your number, you get your money back. If 2 dice land on your number, you get double your money. If all three dice land of your number, you get triple your money.

Portholes

All players put an ante into a pot. Everyone rolls 2d10 and your score is the higher of the two numbers. If you roll the same number, you get to add them. Rolling two zeroes is called “Portholes” and is an instant win. Otherwise, the highest score wins. If there is a tie, the tied players must each roll 1D10 higher number wins and takes the pot.

Over Under

Played with 1 person and the dealer. The player places a monetary bet. The dealer then rolls 2d6. The player has to guess either “over”, meaning over 7, “under”, meaning lower than 7, or 7. If they correctly guess over or under, they get double their bet. If they guess incorrectly they get nothing and lose their original bet. If they correctly guess 7, they get triple their bet.

Dragon Chess

Played on a checkered wooden or stone board and with carved figurines of Kobolds, Wyrmlings, Young Dragons, Drakes, Adult Dragons, and Ancient Dragons. Played between two people to see who gets the best 2 out of 3 Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma checks. Both players roll the 3 checks and add their modifiers. Drop the lowest check. If both of your checks are higher than your opponents, you win 1 point. If the checks are equal or one is higher and one is lower, no one wins that round. First one to 4 points has successfully moved all of the dragon chess pieces and captured all of their adversaries pieces. No bets are required. This game is normally used to settle intellectual disputes, but can be used to gamble too.

Magical Slot Machine

1. Insert 1 GP into the machine.
2. Pull the lever on the side of the machine.
3. Roll 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, and 1d12.
4. If all dice add up to 20, you win 10 GP.
5. If all dice are 4s, you win 100 GP.
6. If you get all 4s, you do not the reward for getting 20, just the 100 GP.

Kobold Switch

A goliath sits at a rectangular table holding 5 cups and a kobold. If you want to play the game, you pay him 2 GP. He puts the kobold in one of the cups and puts in upside down on the table with the rest of the cups. He mixes the cups up 5 times and then you have to guess which cup has the kobold in it. In order to keep track of the cup with the kobold in it, each time he shuffles the cups you must make a wisdom check (not saving throw) to see if you successfully tracked it. The first time he shuffles them the DC is 10. The next is DC 11. The next is DC 12. The next is DC 13. The final shuffle is DC 14. If you lose any of the wisdom checks, you have no idea which cup it is in and have to guess a number between 1 and 5. If you succeed every check or randomly guess correctly the goliath gives you 6 GP. If this game is too hard increase the reward and/or lower the cost.

Spottle Dice

A big spottle frog sits on a table. Behind it in different containers are an assortment of different D6 dice. There are platinum dice, gold dice, silver dice, and copper dice. Behind the table is a tall tortle man who has many spottle frogs sitting on him. He is the “house”. In order to play the game, the characters need to purchase one of the die. It is a one player game. The player and the house both place an ante, decided by the player unless it is a ridiculous amount, into the pot. The player and the house both roll a D6. Proficiency bonus is not added to this roll if player is proficient because these dice are different than normal dice. The spottle frog tamer rolls a platinum die. The player rolls whichever die they bought. Whoever rolls higher wins. Ties are considered a loss to the player. However, once all dice are rolled, the spottle frog may choose to eat one or both of the dice. If only one die is eaten, the person with a die remaining wins. If both dice are eaten, the house keeps both antes and they are added back to to the pot if the player decides to play again. Different dice have different chances of being eaten and cost different amounts, as shown in the table below.

Die

Chance of being eaten

Price

Platinum

15

1 Platinum Piece

Gold

20

1 Gold Piece

Silver

25

1 Silver Piece

Copper

30

1 Copper Piece

Fighting

There is a magical square ring surrounding two fighters. They are punching each other and blood is flying all over, until one drops to the ground unconscious and the crowd cheers wildly. People make bets on whichever fighter they think will win and the fighter who wins gets a percentage of all of the money bet on that fighter. Players can choose to enter the ring and fight. In order to fight, each fighter rolls initiative and takes turns making unarmed strikes against an AC of 10. Weapons and armor are prohibited. If they win the fight, they get 5% off all money bet that they would win.

Streaks

1 player and dealer game

1. Player and dealer put in an ante.
2. Player and dealer roll d20s in secret.
3. If the player's roll is more than 2 above the dealer's roll, the player wins. If not, the dealer wins. If the player wins he can decide to keep the game going. The player or dealer can call each other’s bluffs if they think the other is lying about a dice roll. Being caught lying about a dice roll means your adversary instantly wins.
4. If the player decides to keep the game going, the dealer must double their ante.
5. Player and dealer roll d20s in secret.
6. If the player's roll is more than 2 above the dealer's roll, the player wins. If not, the dealer wins. If the player wins he can decide to keep the game going. The player or dealer can call each other’s bluffs if they think the other is lying about a dice roll.
7. If the player decides to keep the game going, the dealer must quadruple their ante.
8. Player and dealer roll d20s in secret. If the player's roll is more than 2 above the dealer's roll, the player wins. If not, the dealer wins. If the player wins he can decide to keep the game going. The player or dealer can call each other’s bluffs if they think the other is lying about a dice roll.
9. If the player decides to keep the game going, the dealer must octuple their ante.
10. Player and dealer roll d20s in secret.
If the player wins this round, they get the entire pot and can no longer continue the game. If not they lose everything.

Lucky Twenties

The player picks a number between 1-20. The player puts in an ante. The dealer rolls a d20 in secret. If the d20 roll lands on the number which the player bet on, the player wins twenty times their ante. If the d20 roll lands on a number only 1 away from the player's guess, the player gets their ante back. If it lands on any other numbers, the player loses their ante. If the player thinks the dealer is lying, they can call the dealer's bluff. Catching the dealer bluffing wins the player thirty times their ante. Falsely calling the dealer’s bluff makes the player loses five times their ante.

Consecutive Sixes

The player puts an ante in the pot, as does the dealer. Player rolls 3d6 in the open. The result of this roll determines what they win or lose. If the result of the roll fits multiple descriptions and therefore results, results do not stack. If the dice roll fits multiple and one has the dealer win, the dealer wins and the other dice roll descriptions are ignored. See table below.

Description of roll

Result

All dice land on the same number

Dealer wins the pot

Dice land on 1, 2, and 3

Dealer wins the pot

Dice land on 4, 5, and 6

Player wins

Two of the dice rolls multiplied together equal the third roll (example: 2,3,6 or 1,6,6)

Player wins

Two of the dice rolls added together equal the third roll (example 3,3,6 or 1,5,6)

Dealer wins the pot

Anything else

Both player and dealer get their ante back

Orb Express

Minimum of 4 players, better with 5 or more players. All players must be spellcasters. All players put an ante into a pot. Then they all stand shoulder to shoulder at one end of the room against the wall. A wizard who works at the casino/bar casts a spell that makes a magical holograph of a race track, separated into lanes based on how many players there are. The track goes from where the players are standing to the opposite wall. The wizard then casts a spell that causes small colorful orbs of light to appear in front of each player. Each player has a different color orb. They can control the orb of light and the goal is to get your orb to be the first one to the end of the track. An orb has two possible actions: move 1d20+player’s spellcasting ability score or attempt to knock back another orb. It is not turn based, everyone rolls at the same time in order to make it fair. In order to knock back an enemy orb, the orb must roll 1d20+player’s spellcasting ability score and exceed the enemy orb’s controller’s spellcasting DC. If they succeed in this roll, they roll another 1d20+player’s spellcasting ability to determine how far back the enemy orb is knocked back. The length of the race track varies depending on where the game is played and how high the stakes are. Whoever gets to the end of the race track first wins first place, whoever gets their second gets second place, and whoever gets there third gets third place. First place receives 60% of the pot, second place receives 20% of the pot, third place receives 5% of the pot, the wizard receives 5% of the pot, and the club or casino which the PCs are in recieves 10% of the pot.

Mix and Match

Minimum of 4 players. There is no dealer. All players put an ante into the pot. All players roll either a D6 if there is 5 people or less, or a D8 if there is more than 5 people. The player who roll the lowest then rerolls their die. If the new roll is the same as any other player’s first roll, the player whose die matches the new roll wins. If the new roll doesn’t match anyone’s die roll, the player who rolled lowest in the first round (same person who had to reroll) wins the game and the entire pot. If there are any ties, both players roll d20s and the lowest roller wins

• Variation: A variation of the game is that all players can roll in secret. After rolling all players announce their rolls and can lie about their rolls. The game functions in the same way, but if a player is caught lying, the person who catches them lying wins the whole pot. Falsely accusing someone of lying is punished b being forced to double your ante.

Dare Dice

2 player game. 1 player can be “the house” or two individuals can play.

1. Each player selects either a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, or d20 to roll in secret. They can choose whichever die they want.
2. Both players tell eachother what die they chose at the same time.
3. Both players simultaneously roll their die. The higher number wins, regardless of what number die it is.
4. The winner gains points depending on what die he/she had in comparison to his/her opponent. If the winning die is larger than the losing die, the winner gains 1 point. If the winning die is the same size as the losing dice, the winner gains 2 points. If the winning dice is smaller than the losing dice, then the winner gains 2+x points, where x=number of dice sizes between the winner and loser. Ex. a d6 beats a d12, so the player who rolled the d6 gains 5 points because the d12 is 3 sizes larger than the d6.
5. First one to 15 points wins.
After using a die, you cannot use it again until you have used all of the dice sizes.

Dice Hydras

2 player game. Played with a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. How to play: Your dice are your Hydras, and the game is won when one player rolls an 11+

1. Each player rolls their highest unlocked dice. In Turn 1 this will be d4 for both players. The player whose number is higher wins, but that is no good thing. Everyone knows when you behead a hydra, it grows back stronger.
2. The losing player in the roll-off moves up to the next size. If the scores are equal you simply re-roll.
3. The players roll again. Once again the lowest scorer moves up a dice size. (The dice size is not taken into account in the score, so if Player 1 rolls 4 on a d4 and Player 2 rolls a 3 on a d6, Player 2 sizes up again.)
4. This roll off is repeated until one player rolls 11 or higher, which can only be done on a d12+, and kills the opponents Hydra, thus winning the game.
5. If both players roll an equal 11+ on the same turn, their Hydras automatically size up to the highest level and enter a "Duel".
6. The Duel is resolved by a best-of-3 1d20 roll off, with the highest numbers winning.