Fantasy Gambling Ideas

[Guest Worldmaker]

I'm looking for ideas on new and different games and sports to be gambled over in a Fantasy setting. The players already know about the ones I adapted from the real world (like horse racing and dominoes and craps and several card games). But I want to include some games that might not be obvious to the players and am coming up empty.

 

Any helpful, non-sarcastic, non-silly suggestions would be welcome.

[Egyptoid]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

in one campaign we always gambled with these: DICE

a few of us were always betting 10 gold pieces here or there.

 

"Eh, the wizard and the cleric just went into the guild hall to negotiate

some stuff, so me and the dwarf are gonna whip out the dice."

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

There are some card games using the Tarokka from the Ravenloft setting in The Book of Souls at www.kargatane.com.

[Sociotard]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

A tavern betting pool on when the next orc invasion will be.

[Egyptoid]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

label 7 cockatrices with owners name.

 

owners put X00 gold pieces each in escrow.

 

chop heads off cockatrices.

 

toss cockatrices into large circular pit.

 

owner of last one standing gets the pot.

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

Zombie racing? Or Skeleton racing, it's more hygienic that way.

 

As a gimmick the Skeleton racing arenas offer the Repellor event. A Necromancer and a Paladin square off, the Necro tries to make the Skeleton go forward and the Paladin tries to send it back. Punters place bets on how long the Skeleton will last and where it will be when it collapses. You can also bet that it will reach one of the competitors although you have to pick Necromancer or Paladin.

 

Mage Golf. Like Crazy Golf with the weird level scaled up a whole lot. Occasionally fatal.

 

Troll Climbing. The troll is wearing a top hat. The first person to climb the troll and snatch the hat is the winner. The troll is very angry. Injuring competitors is perfectly allowable within the rules although actual maiming is frowned upon.

 

Trapping. Each team must build a trap for each of its competitors. The team which manages to negotiate/disassemble the most traps wins.

 

Iron Dwarf Championship. A quintathlon consisting of drinking, shin kicking, sprinting, (while wearing boots made of iron), stone-smashing, (only the head may be used) and extreme drinking.

 

Gryphon Skiing. Water-skis, a wild Gryphon, a couple of ropes and a foolhardy thrillseeker.

 

Polymarathon. Wizards compete to turn their apprentices into the fastest and fittest form.

 

The Annual Pirate Versus Ninja Grudge Match. Winning team gets to take home the Ashes. Traditionally the Ashes consist of the remains of the other team.

 

Dragon-baiting. This sport no longer survives in any known kingdom. Nor do any of the sportsmen who once practiced it.

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

I was actually thinking of less silly ideas, actually. Thanks a lot for the suggestions.

[Beast]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

these are game that where bet upon during the time of QE 1

 

bear baiting you bet how many dogs it will take to kill a bear in a pit

 

cat in the bag you shoot arrows at a hanging bag with a cat in it the 1 who hits the cat looses

[shadowcat1313]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

instead of Dominoes, what about another tile type game, such as a modified or even straight up Mah Jongg?

 

while I have a cheap plastic mah jongg set here, I have never played it, I found it still sealed in the box at a thrift store for a buck.... I always thought the tiles were kinda neat if nothing else.

[Markdoc]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

Here's one from my game: the players have actually played this several times, in-game.

 

Shield push (note: not my invention: I just elaborated on an idea from RuneQuest)

 

cheers, Mark

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

Well in that case.

 

You can bet on just about any kind of racing or sport of course.

 

E.g.

 

Some kind of polo which would be played by cultures who have a heavy emphasis on cavalry or horsemanship.

 

Husky-sled racing.

 

Pankration. Vicious bare knuckle boxing and wrestling.

 

Hunting. Who brings back the best kill.

 

 

Here is a webpage which has some information on a couple of Chinese gambling games. http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Culin/Gambling1891/index.html

 

And another which lists fictional card games and sports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_games#Card_games

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

The sports are good... very good. And the Chinese games link is gold, thanks!

 

It occurs to me I should have been more specific: I need games that might be found in a fantasy city's version of a casino. Sorry about that.

[Egyptoid]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

make a pit 100 inches across.

 

make 100 little squares in the bottom.

 

players buy chits with numbers, 1-100,

and they buy a kicker number, 1-10.

 

put a cockatrice down in the pit.

 

whenever the beast takes a dump,

the player(s) owning the square split the pot.

 

now during the evening, (game takes a while)

players are welcome to shoo the bird in whatever direction

benefits them. IE, scare the bird into the middle because

thats where my number lies.

 

since the players are interacting with a cockatrice,

there is a chance of petrification, and thats where the kicker comes in.

Its like a power-ball number. If I bet on 47 and 4, and the cockatrice

not only poops on square 47 but also four people get statued,

then I win all the money bet, plus extra from the house.

 

the house makes its money if the cockatrice poops on the square

of a petrified customer.

[MPT]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

The Poor Gamer's Almanac Issue 5 ... http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2695&it=1 ... has 3 games of chance (It is Free).

[Sketchpad]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

I recommend Three Dragon Ante ... the game is pretty cool and is a good stand in for other stakes-based card games

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

make a pit 100 inches across.

 

make 100 little squares in the bottom.

 

players buy chits with numbers, 1-100,

and they buy a kicker number, 1-10.

 

put a cockatrice down in the pit.

 

whenever the beast takes a dump,

the player(s) owning the square split the pot.

 

now during the evening, (game takes a while)

players are welcome to shoo the bird in whatever direction

benefits them. IE, scare the bird into the middle because

thats where my number lies.

 

since the players are interacting with a cockatrice,

there is a chance of petrification, and thats where the kicker comes in.

Its like a power-ball number. If I bet on 47 and 4, and the cockatrice

not only poops on square 47 but also four people get statued,

then I win all the money bet, plus extra from the house.

 

the house makes its money if the cockatrice poops on the square

of a petrified customer.

 

 

You're still not helping. I don't want to discourage people from making suggestions, but this sort of thing is what I was talking about when I asked for suggestions that weren't silly.

[Korvar]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

For Dark Sun, where the common currency is designed to be split apart into smaller denominations ("Bits"), much as "pieces of eight" were silver coins that could be split up into eight, well, pieces, someone came up with a game whereby players take alternate turns placing Bits on the table. If you complete an entire coin, you get to remove it from the table. The coins had full-face designs, so you need the right Bit to fit any given space.

 

You could add other rules, to make it more a game of chance or skill, depending (for example, all the Bits are put in a bag, and you get a Bit at random each turn).

[Markdoc]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

Another possibility is a dice game from an old campaign of mine. Basically, take 6, 6-sided dice. In-game, the dice were blazoned with symbols, but you could use regular 6 siders. Each player - in turn - throws his dice, by shaking them in a cup, then placing the cup upside down (with the dice still inside). Then everyone places their bets. After betting, you can see what you have rolled by peeking under the cup. Then you lift your cup a fraction (shielding your dice), take out some of your cup and re-roll any of your dice you want: this time openly. The catch is, for every dice you re-roll, you have to remove one. There's another round of betting at this point. Then the cups are lifted to show all the dice.

 

The winner is the guy with the most faces the same and the faces have values (3 4's are better than 3 3's, for example) - he takes the pot: if there's a tie, the winners split the pot.

 

cheers, Mark

[A_Pail_Rider]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

Actual Ren. game===Blind Dice

One player at a time vs. The House. 6 6-sided dice, each die has pips on one side. Other five sides are blank.

 

Player puts up a stake. Then rolls the dice. What the player gets depends on the total showing.

0==lose stake, dice pass.

1 through 8==Keeps stake {My source doesn't say if the dice pass, stay, or the player gets to choose}

9-10==House pays amount equal to the stake {Again, my source doesn't say if the dice pass, etc.}

11-12==House pays twice the stake

13==House pays thrice the stake

14==House pays four times the stake

15==House pays five times the stake

16==House pays ten times the stake

17==House pays fifteen times the stake

18==House pays twenty times the stake

19==House pays twenty-five times the stake

20==House pays fifty times the stake

21==House pays ninety times the stake

[Curufea]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

(slightly silly)

Cripple Mr Onion-

http://www.crimron.net/cmo.html

 

Historic links of interest-

Historic game rules

Roman games

Introduction to Period Card Games

More Period Card Games

Still More Period Card Games

[A_Pail_Rider]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

(slightly silly)

Cripple Mr Onion-

http://www.crimron.net/cmo.html

 

Somebody made up rules for that?! That's a little and a lot

 

I'll check your other links when I got time.

[Curufea]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

Another method is to custom design a game to fit your setting. I've made about a dozen games so far - it isn't particularly hard (some are even finished).

It's just a matter of determining the source of the game - does it represent a particular battle or political situation? Does it represent politics or the system of government? Who likely invented it and what materials did they have at hand? Are there any elements of magic intrinsic to the game (Many fantasy settings neglect to think about non-combat magic uses).

 

You could even adapt my Siege game to use some kind of gambling mechanic.

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

Stumbled across this one recently.

 

There is an incredibly simple Japanese dice game called Cho-han bakuchi.

 

The dealer shakes two 6 sided dice in a wooden cup and then turns it over on the floor.

 

Players then bet on whether the score of the 2 dice combined is Chou (even) or Han (odd). Usually the players bet against each other with the stake being shared amongst those who guessed correctly, minus a small fee taken by the house.

 

There is no reason why one player cannot be the dealer and thus avoid this fee altogether, so long as the other players trust him/her.

 

It is traditional for the dealer to be shirtless in order to prove that they are not hiding anything up their sleeve.

[BigJackBrass]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

Kévuk might be worth considering. It's a dice game developed for the world of Tékumel by Professor M.A.R. Barker. The rules are available from RPGnow as a PDF, but you can also the buy special dice used (rather nicely done, too) from Tita's House of Games and there's even a computerised version of the game if you happen to use a Mac. Some links:

 

Tita's: Look under Live Action Role-Playing Props and Other Items of Interest near the bottom of the page.

 

Computer version: MacKévuk

 

RPGNow: Kévuk

[Egyptoid]

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas

 

I'm looking for ideas on new and different games and sports to be gambled over in a Fantasy setting. The players already know about the ones I adapted from the real world (like horse racing and dominoes and craps and several card games). But I want to include some games that might not be obvious to the players and am coming up empty. Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

Someone said Any Suggestions would be Welcome.

 

And risking Petrification may or not be silly. Silly was not mentioned in the original post.

 

===========================================

 

now here's some Fantasy Gambling:

I'll bet you 50 gold that I get 300+ Rep for this posting.