Twelve Coins

Deception and thievery, but in a game

Twelve coins, a game of deception and bluffing very popular in Baltashia. The game is usually played with between 4 and 8 players. Each player places a wager (usually 12 gp) then each player gets a cup and 20 “coins” these coins are usually stones, specific wood tokens for the people who regularly play it or actual coins if the players are wealthy. On each turn a player can do one of four  things, look at their cup, swap (or pretend to swap) with another player, call a robbery or call their coins. When a player calls a robbery all players must close their eyes for 6 seconds, the robber then can take as many coins as they want (or pretend to) from another player or the court (you cannot rob the bank), however, if another player opens their eyes and catches them stealing or “gold handed” then the robber must give back all the coins they stole and pay a robber’s fee, which equals to half of what they stole (rounded up) or twice the numbers of players they robbed from, whichever is highest. If a player looks before the six seconds are up, they can call the robber but only if they look the robber in the eye and call them first, but if they get caught they suffer no consequence unless the robber calls them a peeker, in which case every player votes on which punishment they get : wear a blindfold for the rest of the game, play without their leading hand or they must use a glass cup for the rest of the game. However the robber can give the peeker a choice, if the robber catches the peeker peeking, they can give them a deal. If the peeker nods then they agree, otherwise it continues as above. If the peeker agreed then the robber can wink with their left eye implying they want a bribe in which they give the robber 3 coins for secrecy, or they can wink with their right eye which means they want protection, in which case the peeker can’t take any actions against the robber until two rounds have passed. If a player calls their coins then they state what their coins are, and then each player can contest that or do nothing. If no players do anything, then the player who called (or caller) can take half of the coins they claimed from the bank. However if a player challenges them then the caller and the player(s) who challenged them reveal all their coins, and whoever has the amount of coins closest to what the  caller claimed wins and instantly gets half of the amount called plus they get to switch (or pretend to) with another player. The losers however must pay 1 + the number called divided by 5 (rounded down) to the court. A player loses if they have 0 coins and wins when everyone else loses or when they have as many coins as the total bet amount.