Games of Chance

[beaumont sebos]

I'm sure this has been posted before, but I'm inept (and impatient) when it comes to searching forums.

My PCs have decided thay like to gamble. I'm wondering if any of you know some dice games (or games where the results can be determined using dice) that would be good to use in SWRPG and would also take into account the Gambling skill. I can use any "sided" dice as I have D&D dice also.

I know there's a Gamblers Handbook or some such out there that may help, but I don't have it.

Thanks in advance.
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Beaumont Sebos

"Saving the multiverse, one Gamorrean Ale at a time."

[Endwyn]

Well, it's something I haven't finished yet, but basicly the simple idea is play yatzee. If you have a gambling skill of 4D, you're much more limited than a person with an 8D gambling skill. Example:

4D: rolls 6, 6, 4, and 3
8D: rolls 6, 6, 6, 5, 4, 3, 3, and 1

The 4D roll at best has a pair of 6's; the 8D has a full house 6's and 3's.


That's the basic idea of mine.
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Luke, I am your father.
That's impossible!
And Leia is your sister!
That's improbable?
And the Empire will be destroyed by..EWOKS!
That's...highly unlikely.
The Force? Bacteria called midichlorians.
If you don’t take this seriously I'm out.

[Volar the Healer]

I have the characters choose the game they wish to play, then roll their gambling skill. A low stakes game pays Cr 1/pip medium pays Cr 10/pip and a high stakes game pays Cr 100/pip. The wild die is always in play for this. The players don't actually play a gambling game.
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Know Jesus, Know Peace.
No Jesus, No Peace

[Boomer]

Both are great options.

Stick to the gambling skill and using D6s.
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My backpack has jets!
I'm Boba the Fett!
And I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt,
to finance my 'vette!

[garhkal]

How do you determin how much is won?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Endwyn]

I say the player rollplays out the betting. Are they sitting at a low end table, the high roller areas, or did they dare go to "the back room". What kind of money do they want to go for, ect.

If you're using the yatzee rules I was working on, the players would gamble, roll their dice, gamble, re-roll the dice they wanted, gamble, and then show their results.
_________________
Luke, I am your father.
That's impossible!
And Leia is your sister!
That's improbable?
And the Empire will be destroyed by..EWOKS!
That's...highly unlikely.
The Force? Bacteria called midichlorians.
If you don’t take this seriously I'm out.

[scott2978]

I've done gambling many ways in my games. I've found that the true important factor in gambling isn't the games the characters play but how much effort and time it takes away from the adventure. Even relatively simple gambling mechanics distract from the story. The easiest way to handle it is best roll wins. Let the chartacters specialize in their favorite games of chance. During play, they simply say "I'm going to walk over to the dongo wheel and have a go!" and they roll. All players (or the GM rolling for house) roll and best roll wins. The gambling is done and the character can continue with the story, or even continue with it while they are gambling. "I spin the dongo wheel, and subtly look around for my contact."

On the oposite end of the spectrum is having the players actually gamble. This is a bad option IMHO, because it takes away valuable RP time, makes you divert resources to figuring out the rules and probably has nothing to do with the story, it's just a gigantic distraction. And if not all the characters are gambling, then the whole game bogs down quick. the easy method has the advantage that just one or two characters can be gambling without disrupting the game for everyone.

That's my experience.

[Chabit Rane]

I have to agree with scott on this one. I had a player that always wanted to have his character gamble. It took away to much time away from the game (also made the other players a little ticked off as well).

[Boomer]

For me, I don't mind myself rolling anything complicated, especially if I have a dice-roller program. The players should not have to burdened however, and a single roll for their gambling skill should be enough.

So, I agree with simple=better.
_________________
My backpack has jets!
I'm Boba the Fett!
And I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt,
to finance my 'vette!

[beaumont sebos]

Good tips from everyone. This is the first time in that we are including gambling, so I appreciate the advice.

I want to try to use it as part of the story arc (considering the characters are smugglers), so hopefully I'll avoid the pitfalls you all mentioned. However I do want to give it a try.

I'll let you know how it goes.
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Beaumont Sebos

"Saving the multiverse, one Gamorrean Ale at a time."

[Volar the Healer]

Gambling can be an adventure hook inside a campaign.

More than once our team needed money to complete our mission, but was cut off from any Rebel support. Our leader collected what funds were available from the team, handed it all do the gambler, and told him how much we needed. He always ended his instruction with "Do not fail us."

Now, the gambler (both the character and the player) had some pressure on him. He always came through.
_________________
Know Jesus, Know Peace.
No Jesus, No Peace

[Endwyn]

The reason I recommend the "yatzee" method is that at low levels skill plays a big part of "chance to win". At the higher levels, everything above 5D, anyone could get the better set of 5. While a more skilled player has a better chance to get the best 5 combo out of their roll, they could still be beat by the 5D gambler. But they could only under crazy circumstances be beat by a novice (less than 5D).

Most importantly; it combines "gambling" with a single die roll; thereby not taking up any more time than the gambling roll.
_________________
Luke, I am your father.
That's impossible!
And Leia is your sister!
That's improbable?
And the Empire will be destroyed by..EWOKS!
That's...highly unlikely.
The Force? Bacteria called midichlorians.
If you don’t take this seriously I'm out.

[Argamoth]

"Gambling" might not have to be a simple game. One non-SW campaign I was in had a tournament, and we gambled on the outcome. The Gambling skill could be used to find the best place to bet, where you'll get the best pay-outs.

[KageRyu]

I've always handled gambling like this: If the gambler isn't cheating to influence the odds in a game like Sabac or similar, then it is more random luck. Otherwise, he needs to make a skill roll, and anyone hes playing with makes their skill rolls, and there is a chance of being caught too... which sort of happened in one adventure.

Argamoth has some good points though. The gambling skill could also reflect playing the odds, knowing when to fold, knowing who to bet on, etc...

Thing is, as said by others, if you make the gambling to time consuming, the adventure drags. But, I do think you shouldn't just glaze it over either, as it is one of the characters specialities, and he needs to feel as big a part of the game as others...Just as you wouldn't just roll a single oposed blaster roll to determine who survives a firefight
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"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra

[garhkal]