Soldier's Gambit
In my younger years I lost more than my fair share of coins playing some variation of Gambit in taverns. I always seemed to miss getting that four or five I needed to complete a major blessing. These days I prefer playing for rounds instead of coin. At least that way I get something to drink.
Soldier's Gambit is the most popular name of a dice game that is common throughout the imperial continent. It is played by soldiers and guards as a way to pass time, in taverns for gambling or just to decide who buys the next round, and by teenagers as a simple kissing game. The wealthy and influential typically call it a commoner's game, but many a noble's son has been caught rolling dice with soldiers or in a seedy tavern.
The game is most often played by humans and halflings, but many dwarves also like to play it when visiting cities outside the mountains. Few elves play it preferring their own more complicated card games. Numerous stories tell that variations of the game have been seen played by both orcs and goblinoids.
History
No one knows where the game originated, but Soldier's Gambit has been played with slight variation since before The Banishing. Some scholars believe that it originated in one of the lost empires and spread from there via trade. They point to old texts referring to a game known as Merchant's Gambit. Other claim that the game is as old as the races themselves and the name has simply changed with time.
Components and tools
The game requires few things, just five dice and a number of markers, typically three per player, to count lives. The markers can be stones, glass beads or coins.
Rules
The goal of Soldier's Gambit is to have the highest score after all players have had a turn. When it is a players turn they roll all the dice and set aside one or more dice. They then roll the remaining dice and again set aside one or more. this is repeated until all dice have been set aside to form the final score. At least one die has to be set aside after each roll but it is allowed to set aside as many as the player wants.
The score is calculated by adding the pips on each of the dice together. Certain combinations have a fixed value that is greater the combined pips. Five of a kind gives a score of 30 plus a single die, so five ones equal 31 and five fours equals 34. The sequence one to five is called a minor blessing and is worth 38 points while the sequence from 2 to six is called a major blessing and is worth 40 points. The player with the lowest score is the loser and loses a life marker. If more than one player is tied for lowest score they all loose. When a player loses his last marker he is out and typically has to buy the next round of beer or take the worst watch.
When playing for coins the loser of each round adds a coin to winnings pool and the last play left with one or more coins collects all the coins.
Variations
A number of variations exist of the game using different numbers of dice or other small variations.
Four or six dice The rules are the same except the value of four or six of a kind changes as does the use of the two blessings. They are typically kept for four dice while they are combined to a single sequence from one to six with six dice. Additionally other combinations such as two times two or three of a kind.
Coin Trader Markers are not used to count life in the variation. The player with the lowest score is still the loser while the player with the highest score is the winner. The loser pays the winner an agreed upon amount of money or some other prize and play starts over. If there is more than one loser they all pay the winner the agreed upon amount. If there is more than one winner the loser has to pay them all the agreed upon amount.
Treasure Hunt Markers are not used to count life in this variation. Instead each player starts with the same amount of coin. The loser of each round adds the coin to the winnings pool as normal. Whenever a player rolls the major blessing, or some other agreed upon combination, that player collects the winnings. Players who exhaust their original pool of coin are sometimes allowed to add more coins to keep playing.
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