Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
Here's another idea the GM can use to spice of his game.
Gambling. We all love smoky gambling parlors where deals are made, money is traded for favors, cons are executed, and games of chance sometimes influence the outcome of the entire adventure.
When's the last time you had a gambling session in your game? Try it some time. Your players will love it.
What I like to do is this. I'll set the scene, whatever it is. The generic version is that the player characters run into a game at the local starport bar. If you've got a character with a high Gambling skill, then maybe he'll try to use Streetwise to find a game.
Whatever the case, what I like to do is...play out a few hands of a real game.
You might make up a game. You might bastardize a real game, like craps. Or, you must might play a real game.
Let's go with poker. It's been around for a few hundred years, and there's no reason why it still won't be played in the 30th century.
As your players sit around the gaming table, break out some real cards and real chips (or, just keep track of chips on a piece of paper). Let's say the game is Texas Hold 'Em. Deal the game as normal, one big difference: We need to artificially skew the game based on a character's gambling skill. So, every time a down card is dealt, have all characters roll 2D + Gambling Skill. The gambler with the higher total is allowed to toss away one of his down cards having another card dealt to him as a replacement.
For example, Texas Hold 'Em is played like this:
Round 1: Two cards are dealt to each player face down. Betting takes place.
Round 2: The Flop occurs....three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. These are community cards--all players can use their two down cards plus the three in the middle. Betting takes place.
Round 3: Called the Turn, a single card is added to the community cards in the middle of the table. Betting takes place.
Round 4: Called the River, a last card is added to the community cards i the middle of the table. This gives each player his two down cards plus the five community cards in the middle of the table, and each player makes his best five card hand with those seven cards. Betting takes place. And, the hand is over.
To skew the game artificially, roll the Gambling throw as noted above. This throw is made on each of the four rounds just before the betting takes place. The winner of the Gambling throw could potentially trade in one of his two down cards up to four times, if he wins all four tosses.
Sometimes, shear luck will allow a character with Gambling-0 to beat a character with Gambling-3 (say the G-0 character throws 2D+0, with a total of 12 vs. the G-3 that threw 2D+3 for a total of 8). But, in the long run, the better gambler will have too good an edge not to win most of the time.
If all players don't want to play, then allow those players to play NPCs in the game.
Also note that the GM can use these games as a tool for his game. He can inspire "gambler banter" as the game goes one. Maybe the players will hear rumors this way. "Pulls" and "Pushes" for adventures can be dispensed through interaction with NPCs this way. Patrons can be found. Action can be had in the form of barfights...or catching someone cheating.
There's lots to do.
This can take up an entire night's gaming, and the players will have a blast.
Heck, break out the inebriation rules.
Also note that players, including the GM playing NPCs, need to reveal the Gambling skill level of the characters being played. It's the final result of the throw that matters. Players don't even need to know the result of the NPC gambling throws--all they need to be told is if they won or lost (and they'll probably see which character did, indeed win).
Don't forget to "bluff", if needed, during this process. Maybe an NPC really wins a gambling toss, but the GM decides to give it to the second highest throw. In effect, the NPC is throwing his hand away--maybe he's trying to sucker the other gamblers or the PC gambler. Maybe he's trying to disguise how good he is. If the player gambler thinks his character is no match for an NPC, then he may not play him. The NPC gambler, by way of the GM, may take some steps, like throwing a hand or two, in order to make the player gambler think he's got a real good shot at winning long term, when he really doesn't.
There's all sorts of fun you can do with this.
Try other types of games. Try making up some games.
A slot machine or roulette can be pretty much simulation by using a D66 matrix.
Use your imagination, and have a dynamite night gaming, using a skill that is typically forgotten after character generation (and the +1 on the Cash table during the Muster Out process).
Try it. You might like it.
S4.
Gambling. We all love smoky gambling parlors where deals are made, money is traded for favors, cons are executed, and games of chance sometimes influence the outcome of the entire adventure.
When's the last time you had a gambling session in your game? Try it some time. Your players will love it.
What I like to do is this. I'll set the scene, whatever it is. The generic version is that the player characters run into a game at the local starport bar. If you've got a character with a high Gambling skill, then maybe he'll try to use Streetwise to find a game.
Whatever the case, what I like to do is...play out a few hands of a real game.
You might make up a game. You might bastardize a real game, like craps. Or, you must might play a real game.
Let's go with poker. It's been around for a few hundred years, and there's no reason why it still won't be played in the 30th century.
As your players sit around the gaming table, break out some real cards and real chips (or, just keep track of chips on a piece of paper). Let's say the game is Texas Hold 'Em. Deal the game as normal, one big difference: We need to artificially skew the game based on a character's gambling skill. So, every time a down card is dealt, have all characters roll 2D + Gambling Skill. The gambler with the higher total is allowed to toss away one of his down cards having another card dealt to him as a replacement.
For example, Texas Hold 'Em is played like this:
Round 1: Two cards are dealt to each player face down. Betting takes place.
Round 2: The Flop occurs....three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. These are community cards--all players can use their two down cards plus the three in the middle. Betting takes place.
Round 3: Called the Turn, a single card is added to the community cards in the middle of the table. Betting takes place.
Round 4: Called the River, a last card is added to the community cards i the middle of the table. This gives each player his two down cards plus the five community cards in the middle of the table, and each player makes his best five card hand with those seven cards. Betting takes place. And, the hand is over.
To skew the game artificially, roll the Gambling throw as noted above. This throw is made on each of the four rounds just before the betting takes place. The winner of the Gambling throw could potentially trade in one of his two down cards up to four times, if he wins all four tosses.
Sometimes, shear luck will allow a character with Gambling-0 to beat a character with Gambling-3 (say the G-0 character throws 2D+0, with a total of 12 vs. the G-3 that threw 2D+3 for a total of 8). But, in the long run, the better gambler will have too good an edge not to win most of the time.
If all players don't want to play, then allow those players to play NPCs in the game.
Also note that the GM can use these games as a tool for his game. He can inspire "gambler banter" as the game goes one. Maybe the players will hear rumors this way. "Pulls" and "Pushes" for adventures can be dispensed through interaction with NPCs this way. Patrons can be found. Action can be had in the form of barfights...or catching someone cheating.
There's lots to do.
This can take up an entire night's gaming, and the players will have a blast.
Heck, break out the inebriation rules.
Also note that players, including the GM playing NPCs, need to reveal the Gambling skill level of the characters being played. It's the final result of the throw that matters. Players don't even need to know the result of the NPC gambling throws--all they need to be told is if they won or lost (and they'll probably see which character did, indeed win).
Don't forget to "bluff", if needed, during this process. Maybe an NPC really wins a gambling toss, but the GM decides to give it to the second highest throw. In effect, the NPC is throwing his hand away--maybe he's trying to sucker the other gamblers or the PC gambler. Maybe he's trying to disguise how good he is. If the player gambler thinks his character is no match for an NPC, then he may not play him. The NPC gambler, by way of the GM, may take some steps, like throwing a hand or two, in order to make the player gambler think he's got a real good shot at winning long term, when he really doesn't.
There's all sorts of fun you can do with this.
Try other types of games. Try making up some games.
A slot machine or roulette can be pretty much simulation by using a D66 matrix.
Use your imagination, and have a dynamite night gaming, using a skill that is typically forgotten after character generation (and the +1 on the Cash table during the Muster Out process).
Try it. You might like it.
S4.
