Tanglewood Faire Games

These games are a part of the Tanglewood Faire one-shot, but you're welcome to borrow and adapt them to your own settings or games!

Bet Your Bottom Copper
A bronze-colored dragonborn woman meets your gaze with a sly grin. With one hand, she flips a gold coin high in the air and catches it effortlessly. "Come to call on Lady Luck, traveler?" She opens her other hand and drops a pair of carven bone dice onto the weathered bartop before her, then nudges them towards you with one long, clawed finger.

Entry cost: 1 gp minimum Prize: 3x total entry cost Notes for the DM on Gambling

Playing the game:

Player rolls 2d6 and adds the dice rolls together.

If they get a 7 or 12 in total, they win 3 gp (or 3x their entry cost).

If they do not, they can choose to pay another 1 gp. Player rolls one more 1d6 to try to get 7 or 12 in total.

If they get a 7 or 12 after anteing up, the player wins 6 gp.

Holding Hands, But Make It Angry
You see a stout, handsome figure standing atop a sealed crate, an empty stool to the left and the right. As you draw closer, you make out a brown-skinned dwarven woman dressed in a leather jerkin and skirt, muscular calves and arms bare. She claps her sword-callused hands together and shouts: "Next contenders, please! A free drink ticket to the winner of each arm-wrestling bout!" She spots you and gregariously waves you towards one of the stools.

Entry cost: 1 sp Prize: 1 Drink Ticket Notes for the DM on Arm-Wrestling

Playing the game:

Both characters make a Strength check.

The character with the higher roll gains ground, moving the clasped hands closer to their side of the table.

Repeat this opposing Strength check a minimum of three times until one character wins. The winner must have a total of 3 more successes than the other character. (Example: A has 4 successes and B has 1 success; A wins. A has 3 successes and B has 6 successes; B wins.)

Likely NPC challengers:

Keyde: 1d20+3
Jhortigunt: 1d20+2
Bearchaser: 1d20+4

Eye on the Ball
A lithe, winsome high elf whistles an intricate melody until he can catch your eye with a gleaming smile. "Friend, come, come! A game for every age! Find the ball in the cups!" His long hands dance deftly over a trio of amber-glass shot glasses, rolling a similarly-golden glass marble across the table between each cup with exaggerated slowness.

Entry cost: 1 cp Prize: a "good luck charm" that resembles one of the following (roll 1d6):

a jet-black worrystone
an antique key
an unminted copper piece engraved with an asymmetrical symbol
the dried, severed foot of a common songbird
a river-smooth hagstone
a doll's painted ceramic hand

Notes for the DM on Balls

Playing the game with Perception:

The player rolls three successive Perception checks to keep track of the ball as it moves between cups.

The DC for the first check is 12. A success does not change the DC, but each failure raises the DC by 2. This applies for every Perception check.

If this character has played this game once before, the performer will cheat and use Sleight of Hand to vanish the ball on the third check; DC 17 Perception for the last check to catch him cheating.

Playing the game with Charisma:

The player attempts to fluster or distract the performer with a Charisma check (Persuasion, Deception, Intimidation, or Performance). They must make three Charisma checks of their choice.

The DC for the first check is 15. A failure does not change the DC, but each success lowers the DC by 1. This applies for every Charisma check.

If this method is used, the performer declines to let this character play again.

Hair of the Dog
Raucous shouts and cheering draw your attention to a pot-bellied human man waving a sloshing tankard high in a toast. Nearby, a few individuals share hazy looks of disgruntlement after setting down a smaller mug. One of them turns away and heaves, and the human host roars a laugh. Upon spotting you, he gives you a greasy grin, dips a clean mug into an open barrel of what could be gutter water, and sets it on the table for you. "Free Hair o' the Dog, mate! Keep three of 'em down an' you'll get a drink ticket for somethin' better!" You peek at the liquid inside the mug; it's dark and almost marbled, like silt stirred from the riverbed, and it smells swampy and acrid.

Entry cost: free! Prize: 1 Drinking Ticket Notes for the DM on Alcohol Poisoning

Playing the game:

There is no minimum or maximum number of participants for this game.

Each participating character must roll three consecutive Constitution saving throws against a rising DC of 13 (first roll), 14 (second roll), and 15 (final roll).

Any failures cause the character to gag, throw up, or otherwise lose the competition.

Any natural 1 rolls are Poisoned for 1 hour but take no immediate damage.

Any characters who succeed all three saves win the prize; there may be multiple or zero winners per match.

Optional drunkenness rule: After this game, each participating character rolls a Constitution check against a DC of 12 + every Hair of the Dog they successfully drank. On a failure, the character is Drunk for 1d100 minutes or until cured by a Lesser or Greater Restoration spell. While Drunk, the character has disadvantage on all skill checks, disadvantage on Dexterity and Intelligence saving throws, resistance to Poison and Psychic damage, and advantage on saves against Charm and Fear. Likely NPC challengers:

Jhortigunt: 1d20+7
Emeir: 1d20+5
Pelyas: 1d20+4

Truth or Faire
A professorial gentlegnome in a neatly-pressed linen suit sits primly in front of a double stack of old books, eyeing each passerby over the rim of his half-moon glasses. "You there," he abruptly calls, looking you up and down. "Have you any culture? Enough intelligence, perhaps, to know famous books from infamous lies?" His white moustache bristles in a smirk, and he drums his knuckles on the leatherbound tome in front of him. The twin stacks have their spines facing inwards, hiding their titles.

Entry cost: 1 gp Prize: A pocket-sized Enduring Spellbook (common Wondrous item). Notes for the DM on Nerds

Playing the game:

On each round, each of three participants rolls an Arcana or History check (their choice) to determine whether the book title given is real or fake. Each participant gets one point for each correct answer.

Q1: A Voyage Through Bound Ley Lines. DC 15 to determine as fake.

Q2: On Detecting Empty Places in the Astral Plane. DC 13 to determine as fake.

Q3: Magic on the Other Side of the Master's Lightning. DC 14 to determine as real.

Q4: The Origin of the Creation of Components and Enchantments. DC 12 to determine as fake.

Q5: The Lesser Key of Alchemical Castles. DC 16 to determine as real.

Tie-breaker (if necessary): "What was Carrow Lucier's famous treatise on the knitting technique theorized to have crafted the warp and weft of space-time as understood 350 years ago?" DC 15; highest roll above 15 gets the correct answer fastest and wins the game. (A: Foundations of Astrological Intarsia.)

Likely NPC participants:

Pelyas: 1d20+7 Arcana
Bearchaser: 1d20+6 History
Gilynore: 1d20+6 all Intelligence checks

Work-in-progress games:

Dance, Dance
Weird af setup on a rolly and/or bouncy surface while trying to knock a competitor off with like a foam stick or sommat. All agility and DEX and flex.

Entry cost: 1 sp Prize: ??? Notes for the DM on Fake Jousting

Playing the game:

Two players, or one player and one NPC, face off with opposing "attacks" (each rolls 1d20 + Strength or Dexterity, their choice). Encourage creativity and unexpected tactics from the player(s)!

In reaction to each attack, the characters must make Dexterity saving throws to avoid impact. The saving throw must be higher than the "attack" roll in order to avoid the impact.

Upon taking 1 blow, the character must choose to take Disadvantage on their next "attack" or on their next Dexterity saving throw.

Upon taking 2 blows, the character has Disadvantage on both their "attacks" and their saving throws.

Upon taking 3 blows, the character loses and falls.

If both characters fall on the same round, each must roll an Acrobatics check against a DC of 15. The character who rolls over 15 AND higher than the other wins. (If both characters fail to meet the DC, neither wins.)

Likely NPC challengers:

Qibalar: 1d20+3 attack, 1d20+6 Dexterity save
Gilynore: 1d20+3 attack, 1d20+6 Dexterity save
Tomorn: 1d20+4 attack, 1d20+7 Dexterity save

Popularity Contest
Three people at a time play a game to coax, persuade, bait, or command a small creachur to come to them instead of the others. Winner gets a creachur of choice from the little petting zoo stall.

Entry cost: 1 gp Prize: Winner's choice of available creature.

Fool's Gold (a coin-shaped, palm-sized mimic)
Jello Shot (a transparent, 2"x2" gelatinous cube that eats insects)
Dog (a three-eyed black kitten that is otherwise a normal housecat)
Flicker (a displacer rat)
Blinky (a tiny levitating creature that resembles a naked eyeball and trailing optical nerves

Notes for the DM on Winning Goldfish

Playing the game:

Each character chooses a roll to make from Animal Handling, Persuasion, Intimidation, and Deception. Players are highly encouraged to narrate how they try to lure the creature toward them! No physical props or magic are allowed, but characters may pretend (Deception) to have a treat or similar.

The DC of these rolls is 10. Any rolls that fall below 10 have no effect on the creature.

The highest roll results in the creature moving 1 step towards that person. If the highest roll is a tie, the creature tries to move towards both, which may work if the tying characters are adjacent or not if they're opposite each other.

Rolls are repeated until the creature has taken 2 steps towards one character (from its starting point in the middle of the circle; it may need to take 3+ steps if it is drawn away from a character first).

The final roll to win the creature over has a DC of 15. If the character fails, the creature returns to the middle of the circle again.

Likely NPC participants:

Braldeth: 1d20+6 Persuasion
Qibalar: 1d20+6 Animal Handling
Tomorn: 1d20+6 Persuasion

Feelin' Lucky?
Fortune-telling with runes!

Entry cost:

1 cp for a 1-rune reading

1 sp for a 3-rune reading

1 gp for a 7-rune reading

Notes for the DM on Bamboozling

Playing the game:

The querent chooses a topic or asks a question, then the player rolls 1d20.

Don't tell the player this, but: the higher the number, the more accurate and detailed the information they receive. As a DM, you can use this as an opportunity to drop hints, clues, or suggestions about the character's circumstance. You can also choose to make this a message from a cleric's god or warlock's patron.

If you have no hints to give, if you enjoy randomness, and/or if your player rolled below a 10 on their d20, feel free to use the method below to construct a genuine rune reading:

Crafting a Reading:

Roll 1d20 for each rune in the reading and consult the meanings table below.

For a 1-rune reading, no additional interpretation is included. This reading is useful for yes/no answers, vibe checks, or very cheap characters.

For a 3-rune reading, a small amount of extrapolation is provided.

The first rune applies to the past;

The second to the present;

The third to the future.

For a 7-rune reading, the fortune-teller spends a full 30 minutes talking to the character in depth about their runes and what they might mean in response to the question or topic provided.

The first rune applies to matters of the flesh and the mundane earth;

The second applies to matters of intense base emotions (joy, anger, lust, etc

The third applies to matters of more nebulous emotions (accomplishment, security, curiosity, etc) and creativity;

The fourth applies to interpersonal relationships;

The fifth applies to how the character communicates their needs, wants, and motivations;

The sixth applies to the arcane, philosophy, and science;

The seventh applies to deities, other planes of existence, and fate/destiny.

Rune Meanings: