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gambling and alignment
- Thread starter alsih2o
- Start date
alsih2o said:
Well, yes and no, alsih2o. For the house, on many games statistics eventually tells, and the games are slanted such that the house eventually wins.
However, for individual people, that's not the way it goes. In any particular bout of gambling by one person, randomness can dominate. Statistics only applies for a mass of gamblers over time. In addition, for some folks gambling can be an addiction, and the results of addictions upon a given person's life are usually pretty chaotic.
Also, not all gambling is dice rolling. In poker, skill is more of an issue than the odds. And in gambling upon sporting events, the odds are only estimated, as opposed to being based in hard mathematics, making the results less predictable.
Ukyo the undead
First Post
arnwyn said:
I agree.
Belief in good or evil, or Law or Chaos, are not affected by gambling alone.
CCamfield
First Post
Some rambling thoughts
What works the same way?
Historically, say, before the 19th or 20th century, I don't think gambling was ever state-controlled. There were no casinos, no lotteries, at least not nation-wide, unless one counts crazes for the stock market and the like. (In the 17th century there was massive speculation on... Dutch tulip bulbs!?!?!?)
(For a bit about the tulip craze "bubble", see http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dotcon/historical/bubbles.html - it might make an amusing story idea)
Of course in a world with thieves' guilds there might be organized games. There certainly would be in a city where gambling is outlawed. Otherwise I see it as unlikely that rulers would be collecting taxes from gambling, or that a criminal group would either.
Which makes it relatively unrelated to alignment, although I bet some good temples would frown on it because they see the tragedies that occur when someone gets addicted to gambling and reduces themselves and their families to poverty - and then perhaps resorts to crime in order to make ends meet.
A simple form of gambling that was popular with the upper classes was wagering. Two nobles might make a bet based on the outcome of a joust or just about any event. Also in the middle ages there were fights between dogs & bears, cockfighting (har har, very funny)... heck, you might even wager on hunting. In Roman and Byzantine times chariot racing was incredibly popular and bets could be placed (I think) on who would win, like horseraces today. I suppose betting on big events like that would be places where the state might intervene to take a cut or sell licenses to bookies, or where a criminal group might run the show or take a cut.
alsih2o said:
What works the same way?
Historically, say, before the 19th or 20th century, I don't think gambling was ever state-controlled. There were no casinos, no lotteries, at least not nation-wide, unless one counts crazes for the stock market and the like. (In the 17th century there was massive speculation on... Dutch tulip bulbs!?!?!?)
(For a bit about the tulip craze "bubble", see http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dotcon/historical/bubbles.html - it might make an amusing story idea)
Of course in a world with thieves' guilds there might be organized games. There certainly would be in a city where gambling is outlawed. Otherwise I see it as unlikely that rulers would be collecting taxes from gambling, or that a criminal group would either.
Which makes it relatively unrelated to alignment, although I bet some good temples would frown on it because they see the tragedies that occur when someone gets addicted to gambling and reduces themselves and their families to poverty - and then perhaps resorts to crime in order to make ends meet.
A simple form of gambling that was popular with the upper classes was wagering. Two nobles might make a bet based on the outcome of a joust or just about any event. Also in the middle ages there were fights between dogs & bears, cockfighting (har har, very funny)... heck, you might even wager on hunting. In Roman and Byzantine times chariot racing was incredibly popular and bets could be placed (I think) on who would win, like horseraces today. I suppose betting on big events like that would be places where the state might intervene to take a cut or sell licenses to bookies, or where a criminal group might run the show or take a cut.
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tzor wrote:
Just for character I had my PC Rogue have a side activity of running a 3-shell game for visitors to town etc. Generally not cheating...ie the pebble would actually be under one of the shells. She should be fast enough to be able to feed herself on a daily basis though not get rich...and even have a bit left over to 'lose' to cute kids, or to not financially ruin a gentleman in front of his lady...both big nono's in her book.
but how would the mechanics of that work? It hasn't come up yet. My guess:
Since the random-guess-by-the-mark odds are 1 in 3 chance of success, a basic check would be for the Mark to roll a d6 and they win on a 1 or 6. But since this is also a check versus the mark's visual acquity, and the Sheller's speed this need to be modified somewhat. But what to use?
1d6 + Wis Bonus for the Mark and 2d6 + Dex Bonus for the Sheller, Highest wins? should higher dice be used? lower dice? What is fair?
Just for character I had my PC Rogue have a side activity of running a 3-shell game for visitors to town etc. Generally not cheating...ie the pebble would actually be under one of the shells. She should be fast enough to be able to feed herself on a daily basis though not get rich...and even have a bit left over to 'lose' to cute kids, or to not financially ruin a gentleman in front of his lady...both big nono's in her book.
but how would the mechanics of that work? It hasn't come up yet. My guess:
Since the random-guess-by-the-mark odds are 1 in 3 chance of success, a basic check would be for the Mark to roll a d6 and they win on a 1 or 6. But since this is also a check versus the mark's visual acquity, and the Sheller's speed this need to be modified somewhat. But what to use?
1d6 + Wis Bonus for the Mark and 2d6 + Dex Bonus for the Sheller, Highest wins? should higher dice be used? lower dice? What is fair?
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