Tavern Tables: Games of Chance

Making your way down the short series of steps that lead to the tavern’s sunken gaming area, you enter the throng of gamblers. All around you is the sound of shuffled cards, clattering dice, clicking tiles, and - of course - the tinkling of coin. Through the lingering haze of pipe-weed and smoldering taveesh resin, your eyes catch a glimpse at the games being played on the stained, felt-covered tables placed about the gaming pit. With a hand firmly wrapped about your money pouch, you take a seat at a nearby table and signal the games’ master that you’re ready to play.

Random Games of Chance Chart
1) Spottle
2) In Between
3) Zowie Slots
4) Up is Down, Down is Up
5) Crystal Palace
6) Wolves & Jackals
7) Mouse Racing
8) Hornswoop Me Bungo Pony
9) Xultvarian Tile Storm
10) Knucklebones
11) Battle Chess
12) Punch-for-Punch
13) Fizzbin
14) Roulette
15) Arm Wrestling
16) Craps
17) Double Cranko
18) Guts & Balls
19) High-Low
20) Lick the Lich


Quick and Dirty Gambling Table
There will come a time when a player wants to spend the evening sitting at the gaming table rather than pillaging forgotten tombs. This isn’t a problem if the rest of the players are also keen on a night of R & R, but when the rest of the party wants to go exploring, it helps to have a quick and easy way of determining the gambling character’s luck at the tables. Rather than play out the process, have the gambler state how much he or she is willing to risk at the tables (known as the character’s “stake”) and roll on the table below. If the character wishes, he or she may cheat, which adds a +20 modifier to all rolls made on to the table below, but also increases the chance that they’re caught.

Gambling Results Table (d100)
01: Lose stake plus all wealth carried unless a successful WIS check is made. If successful, result as 02-10.
02-10: Lose stake plus an additional 10-100% (1d10x10).
11-50: Lose stake
51-60: Win stake + 10%
61-70: Win stake + 50%
71-80: Win stake + 100%
81-85: Win stake + 200%
86-88: Win stake x (2d4)
89-90: As 86-88 plus an additional unusual object (magic item, treasure map, deed to Tegel Manor, the Millennium Falcon, etc.)
91-95: Another gambler is cheating; roll again and subtract -20 from the result.
96+: Character is accused of cheating/caught cheating. Lose stake plus additional consequences of the referee’s devising.