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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 9032500" data-attributes="member: 20323">GM POST<img src="https://storage.prompt-hunt.workers.dev/clhg5hbu6000nmh08480do91w_1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable fr-fil" data-size="" style="width: 287px" /> Chuckling at the fairy's bravado, Thidrik Steingrimsson moves the candle and empty tankard from the table to make room for cards. "Well if it's wild you're after, little fellow, then we play with Tiamat's Gambit rules!" The others emphatically agree. Any gambler knows that Tiamat's Gambit is risky. You begin with a "hoard" of 50 silver pieces. Each round when you play a card, you must add that card's face value in silver pieces to the pot (removing those silvers from your "hoard" and into the pot they go); thus, just like Tiamat's greed begins small but grows obscene, the betting starts small but can get high.The seven mercenaries rummage around in their belt pouches, each placing 50 silver pieces in front of himself, joking with each over in throaty Illuskan – their words are lost on you, but their overconfidence is plain. The others besides Thidrik introduce themselves in accented Common, one at a time, "Arnholt... Rudolf... Sodt... Johun... Osvic, I am Thidrik's cousin... Ottar, I am his other cousin. See, it's a true joke: Ottar cousin."[GM][USER=6746292]@Aethmud[/USER] [USER=6855204]@tglassy[/USER] This is a bit of an experiment! I've summarized rules here, but also attached PDF I got this from. If it's too involved for you, let me know, and we can just go with ability checks. You can assume you are able to exchange 5 gp for 50 silver pieces at the tavern.Either of you can go first, then the mercenaries, but we can be organic about it to account for posting schedules.[/GM][spoiler="Here's how the game works"]A gambit (game) of Three-Dragon Ante consists of 3 rounds.You begin with your "hoard" of 50 silver pieces.On your turn each round you roll for a dragon card – roll a d12. Then roll the follow-up "Strength" die (if any) indicated on this chart to determine the card's Strength. There are other cards in the game (called Mortals), but they are abstracted away to focus on the powerful dragon cards.<table style='width: 100%'><tr><td>d12</td><td>Type</td><td>Alignment</td><td>Strength</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Tiamat [god]</td><td>Evil</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Brass</td><td>Good</td><td>1d4</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>White</td><td>Evil</td><td>1d4</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Copper</td><td>Good</td><td>1d6</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Black</td><td>Evil</td><td>1d6</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Bronze</td><td>Good</td><td>1d8</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Green</td><td>Evil</td><td>1d8</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Silver</td><td>Good</td><td>1d10</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>Blue</td><td>Evil</td><td>1d10</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Gold</td><td>Good</td><td>1d12</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>Red</td><td>Evil</td><td>1d12</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>Bahamut [god]</td><td>Good</td><td>13</td></tr></table>Take Silver Pieces equal to the card's Strength from your "hoard" and add them to the pot.Optionally, you can instead withdraw in any round, forfeiting any Silver Pieces you've placed in the pot so far.After the 3 rounds, whoever has the highest "flight" (sum of the Strength of your cards) wins and claims the pot.Ties at the end of the game are broken in this order of precedence: largest "hoard" > most dragon gods played > most good dragons in dragon flight > whoever rolls the highest Gaming check (or DC 10 against these npc mercenaries).In addition to whatever you might try with skill checks & magic (e.g. Gaming check to roll for 2 cards and pick one, Insight to anticipate opponent's hand, Sleight of Hand to cheat replacing your roll with a card of your choice, etc), there are 2 special rules: Card Powers & Dragon Flights (like poker hands).Card Powers:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Evil Dragons (steal): When you play a non-god evil dragon, steal Silver Pieces from the pot equal to 1/2 the Strength (rounded up) of the card. If the full amount of stealable Silver is not available in the pot the player steals as much as they can.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Good Dragons: When you play a non-god good dragon, choose an opponent with an evil dragon in their flight. That opponent must place Silver Pieces in the pot equal to 1/2 the Strength (rounded up) of the card. If the opponent does not have the full amount of Silver, they pay as much as they can now and owe a debt to whoever wins.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tiamat: If Tiamat is still in play at the end of the game, the lowest dragon flight wins the pot (instead of the highest). Her apparent strength of 1 is magical treachery to make her more likely to win!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Bahamut: When Bahamut is in play, the owner may choose to sacrifice him at any time to destroy a Tiamat of their choice that is in play. Each of those players immediately plays a replacement card, with a Red dragon card replacing any removed Tiamat card and a Gold dragon card replacing any removed Bahamut card. The owner rolls the new dragon’s Strength as it enters play.</li> </ul>Dragon Flights: At the end of the gambit (game), evaluate each player's flights with the following criteria in the following order:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">God Flight: A player that rolled a dragon god at the start of EACH of their three turns may take 1/2 of the pot's Silver Pieces (rounded down) and add it to their "hoard." Those dragon god cards are not necessarily required to still be in the player's flight.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Triplet Flight: A player with 3 dragons of the same Strength in their flight gains a reward from ALL opponents. The player chooses one the player with Silver Pieces equal to 1 of those dragon‘s strength from all opponents. If an opponent does not have enough gold, they pay what they have until they are out of gold, and owe a debt to the player for the remaining gold amount.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Allied Flight: 3 dragons of the same Alignment in a flight rewards a player the strongest dragon's Strength worth of Silver Pieces from the pot. If the full amount of silver is not available, the player takes as much as they can.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Leader Flight: Add the strength of all dragons in each player’s dragon flight together. The player with the strongest dragon flight (or weakest if Tiamat is in play) is the leader and wins the remaining pot.</li> </ol>[/spoiler]</blockquote>

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