DM’s Guild Page.
From the same makers as Glittergold’s Clockwork Combat, Glittergold’s Guide to Gambling (shortened to GGG for this review) is a rather creative piece of work providing seven games of skill and chance. The concept is that Garl Glittergold, god of gnomes, opened a new temple-casino known as the Gilded Nugget, and this book is his in-character guide in sharing some of his favorite games with the reader. In keeping with the charitable nature of Clockwork Combat, proceeds of all sales go to
Extra Life.
GGG introduces a new game mechanic and in-universe item known as gembones. They’re basically the polyhedric dice we all know and love, and they can be used for gambling with the games in this book but are also wagered in those very games. The value of a gembone is determined by the make of its material (ranging from bone to precious metals and gems) and the number of sides, and for the purposes of these gambling games gembone rolls use a “g” instead of a “d” for rolls. A shared set of material is commonly used depending on the stakes of a game; for instance, a six-sided gembone made out of bone would be worth 6 copper pieces, read as a g6, and used in low-stakes casual games. But a twenty-sided die made from sculpted gold would be worth 20 gold pieces, be read as a g20, and used in high-stakes games often in casinos and high society functions. GGG links to some online dice sellers on Amazon for appropriate-looking dice, all the better for DMs who want to encourage their use as props.
Furthermore, there are ways for a 5e character’s in-game abilities to affect gembone games. For instance, the Lucky feat can be used to reroll a single roll for gembones (not just d20s), a Persuasion check can be used to move the dealer with a desperate sob story to try and go for “double or nothing” after a loss, and there are even ways to cheat at the games such as using Sleight of Hand to swap a valuable gembone with another!
Following are the 7 games. Each provides an alternative set of Game Variants for different modes of play, as well as a Point System for those who want to gamble for fun without wagering gembones. In the latter case they are divided into point values for Quick Games (if you want to do more than one such game a session) and Full Games (for when a single game takes center stage during a session).
Tripledip is a game of chance where each player rolls 3 four-sided, six-sided, or eight-sided gembones; higher die values are rare due to making the game much longer. Getting two or three of the same number in a combination (“dubs” for two matches or “trips” for all three) counts as a win and the player has their dice “locked.” Remaining players reroll until they get a winning combination, and the person with the highest winning combination receives gembones from other players, the amount based on the combination tier. There are four game variants, such as Machae’s Golden Pot where gembones ordinarily given to the winner are placed in a “golden pot” whose contents are given to the player to first roll “trips.”
Garl Glittergold, as well as one of the game variants, warns of a high-stakes Tripledip casino which tricks betters into signing over their souls to play the game for eternity…or until they win with a 20-20-20 roll.
Lucky No. 13 is popular among the worshipers of trickster deities, and it is common tradition to give a portion of one’s winnings to the altars of such gods. Every player needs a four, six, eight, and ten-sided gembone, and the aim of the game is to roll as close to 13 as possible without going over. Only one gembone is rolled per round, and once rolled that player’s gembone stays on the table until the game ends. The sole game variant known as Blessings of the Tricksters has players choose from among one of six deities (all from Forgotten Realms) at the beginning of the game to grant them a unique power they can use once during the game. For example, Tymora allows a player to flip a coin and add 1 or 2 to the result if their gembone total is 12, while Brandobaris allows a player to swap their last roll with a roll from an unrolled gembone if they go bust.
Rolled Gold is a game where players compete against the house, where gembones of a minimum size are the “buy in” but the house rolls a 1g20. The house’s roll determines the single potential payout die for players who win (can range from a g4 to a g100), which is called out by the house, and then players can follow up with up to three “wager dice.” The wager dice are rolled, and a player wins if they roll higher than the house or have a total of 20 or above; if the house rolled a natural 1, the wagers are paid 1 to 1 and the game is over. For games that have the payout and wager die as both g20, a bonus g4, g6, or g8 die can be wagered and added to a single g20 roll with the move being named after a spell or class feature (ex: g4 is Guidance). There are six minor Game Variants, such as Acerak’s Bane where the house rolls 1g4 and subtracts the result from all player rolls but a player roll of 20 has a better payout, or Dark Moon Heresy where house rolls are made at advantage in one game and disadvantage the next.
Barovian Boneyard is a game played against the house that originated in the Demiplane of Dread, and several names for its rules derive from locations such as Svalich or Vallaki. The game is played solely with g6s, and each player wagers one such die. The house rolls 2g6 and the players 1g6. The result of the players’ rolls are compared to the house rolls. The goal is to get between the house’s highest roll and lowest roll for a Ravenloft, but matching either roll, a Svalich, pays out evenly; unless the house rolls doubles, in which case matching it is a 2 to 1 win. Getting higher than the higher roll or lower than the lowest roll is a Mist, or a loss. There are five minor variants, such as Blinsky where instead of gembones winners receive tickets which they use to buy creepy stuffed toys, or Wolves in the Woods where a Svalich result is a loss for the player.
Hag’s Haggle is our final game versus the house, where the concept is that the players are entering into a risky bargain with a hag. The dealer, taking the role of “hag,” states a code of conduct for players to abide by at their table, and tend to be silly things that don’t have a direct effect on the rules (players roll dice with tiny polymorphed t-rex arms, gembones must be rolled and handled with the left hand only). Failing to abide by the bargain means that the player is considered to be cheating at the game and they lose. The dealer calls out which kinds of gembones will be used in the game, and the players place their wager dice in the tray, at which point the house rolls and then the players roll. The house rolls are two dice that have the same max result as the player’s but with better odds: for example, if the house is rolling 2g10 then the players roll 1g20, and such dice also determines the payout. At various points during the game the dealer can offer the player the opportunity to “strike a bargain,” where they may have the chance of undoing a loss but with greater risks. The bargains can also vary like the Codes of Conduct, but three sample bargains are given. One example has the player guessing the result of their next die roll for a potential 10 to 1 payout, but at risk of losing their gembone if they don’t call the number even if they would ordinarily win the roll-off.
I Cast ‘Fireball’ relies more on skill than the other games while still having some unpredictability with dice; it is a houseless game where the players play against each other but a neutral spectator is used. It is custom for an illusory fireball to be cast centered on the table when someone wins the game. Much like the fireball spell, every player begins the game by rolling 8g6 when the spectator shouts “cast!” Once rolled, each player must find out which number appears the most often among their gembones, and set all such gembones with that result off to the side as being “locked.” This process is repeated with lower amounts of gembones being rolled until one player has all of their gembones being the same number, at which point they must shout “FIREBALL” to win the game. The locked gembones of every player are given to the winner, where ties are determined by either the spectator or other players. There are six variants which are themed around different spells, such as “I Cast Wall of Fire” where locked gembones are stacked on top of each other but those who fall off become unlocked.
Tiamat Is the only game in GGG that makes use of cards. The only die used and wagered is a g100, which is used to keep score rather than rolled itself in the game. Tiamat uses a custom 50 card deck, with 10 cards each of five different chromatic dragon colors. The goal of the game is to make a winning combination from a hand of five cards, and the more cards of the same color you have the better your result. The player with the highest winning hand deals damage to other players that is based upon their own hand, where the relative strength of the losers’ hands determines how much damage they “block.” Tiamat card decks are often magical and enchanted to create illusory dragons doing battle during such a time, making it a popular spectator sport. Players who take damage change their g100 to lower results, representing their “life counter.”
Tiamat’s three game variants are based off of popular draconic creatures, such as Bahamut where players are organized into two teams (chromatic and metallic) and team members cannot damage each other.
The subsequent sections are much shorter. Gambler’s Code talks about common rules of etiquette for gembone gamblers as well as consequences for cheating. Gembones made of gold piece-equivalent and higher value material are often crafted with magic that makes them glow if the results are magically altered. Cheaters caught at the Gilded Nugget are punk’d by the manager: in claiming to be impressed at the cheater’s ingenuity, they are escorted to a VIP Room and offered one of four new magic items provided in this book as a reward. All four such items are cursed, with the curse only removed via an exorbitant donation to the Church of Glittergold. They include the Belt of Gnome Giant Strength (STR becomes 10 if higher than that value), Duck Blade (looks like a Luck Blade but summons 10d100 ducks to the area if the “wish” is used), Snake Eyes Greatsword (+1 greatsword that treats all damage rolls as if the dice rolled a total of 2), and Stone of Fool’s Luck (attuner believes they have advantage on Ability Checks, but actually has disadvantage).
Our product wraps up with a glossary of common gambling terms as well as a few specific to this product, and an advertisement for four other 5e products by other publishers the author believes make a good addition to gambling-themed events and adventures.
Thoughts: I am not a probability expert, so I cannot accurately attest to the odds and playability of the games within Glittergold’s Guide to Gambling. Most of their rules are simple enough to be ascertained quickly by players, and between the game variants and point values there’s a good amount of ways to keep these games feeling fresh. I particularly like how the in-game skills and proficiencies of PCs can influence play, even if such rules are brief, and I love the concept of gembones as the major betting mechanic because it has a more interesting feel than just wagering coins. They can also make for good treasure for parties to find on adventures and introduce them to the games. The in-character text boxes of Glittergold’s narrations are flavorful, and I do appreciate the fact that the author is willing to shout out the products of other publishers and dice makers.
When it comes to the gambling games themselves, I’m rather fond of the last two, likely due to them having a better mixture of skill as well as chance. I Cast Fireball encourages sharp eyes and quick estimations, while Tiamat is a rather simple card game that is quicker to play than something like Three-Dragon Ante. I also like Barovian Boneyard, where instead of a simple “higher/lower is better” the winning combination of die results is highly dependent on what the house gets. Beyond this, I enjoy its concept of extraplanar call-outs that come with the implied shared universe of many D&D settings.
Tripledip and Lucky No. 13 are a bit too simple for me to have many thoughts on one way or another. Hag’s Haggle feels similar in being an inherently simple game, with the Codes and Bargains being more of an ad hoc means to add complexity. I’m a bit unsure about Rolled Gold. A single d20 has every result being an even 5% chance, but when rolling three dice that creates a bell curve.
I can see a 3d6 being “fair,” although when you hit 3d8
the dice start to tip in the player’s favor. I’d have expected the “buy in” die to be lost no matter what. On the other hand, as the payout die for a win is only ever a single gembone (with g12s for house results of 11-12, g20s 13-18, and g100 for 19-20) that still means that over half of players are at risk of losing an equal or greater value (3d4 is 12, 3d6 is 18) of gembones money-wise via the wager.
The cursed magic items at the end are an amusing touch, although the flaws of the Duck Blade are a bit more subjective; there may be times when a one-use hoard of ducks can actually be helpful to the party!
