Games of Chance

All across Exandria, mortals labor away at work of one kind or another. When their tasks are complete, they often seek entertainment with friends, family, or strangers at a tavern. One of their more popular pastimes, especially among those who can afford to gamble on such things, is games of chance.
Games of chance vary in popularity by region, and each culture typically has one or more it prefers over the others. However, individuals are often willing to try something new, and games that make a good first impression may find themselves adopted into foreign cultures and adapted to suit different types of players.
It is important to note that buy-in costs vary wildly by establishment.

Dice Games

Avandra's Favor

Dice game, 25 gold pieces minimum buy-in
This dice game is deceptively simple and an easy way to lose gold in a hurry. “Roll the dice and may Avandra be with you!”
Rules: Players roll 2d6. If they add to a 7 or 12, the player wins. Gamblers can double the bet to add 1d6 to the total.

Gambit of Ord

Card game, 50 gold pieces initial buy-in
Rules: Each player rolls 1d8, keeping the die hidden. Each player has the chance to raise the bet, call the bet (meet it), or fold. It continues when all bets are equal.
Then each player rolls a 1d6, keeping it secret as well. A final chance to raise, call, or fold.
Each remaining player rolls 1d4. They all reveal the 1d8, 1d6, and 1d4, adding them all together.
Winner takes 80% of the pot (the other 20% goes to the casino). Ties split the 80%.
Sleight of Hand can give a reroll; Deception can force a fold.

Time for the Second Eye

Dice game, 1 gold piece initial buy-in

Elves adore this game, while many orcs slaughter anyone known to own a Time For the Second Eye set. A set consists of four green d6 (the elven archers) and one black d20 (Gruumsh).
Rules: A player must put 1gp into the pot at the start of the game and 1gp for each d6 that he choose to roll on each of his turns. On his turn, a player rolls one or more d6 and the d20—if the sum of his d6 rolls equals his d20 roll, or if any of the individual d6 equals the d20 roll, then his archers have taken out Gruumsh’s second eye and he wins the pot. The player making the first roll of the game cannot buy more than one d6, the second no more than 2d6, and the third no more than 3d6. On the fourth roll and thereafter, players are free to purchase as many elven archers as they wish. Multiple Second Eye sets can be combined to allow more d6 to be roll.

Roulette

Dice game, 10 gold piece minimum buy-in
Rules: The player picks a number between 1 and 20. The dealer then rolls 1d20. If it lands on the number selected, the player receives double their bet.

Liar's Dice

Dice game, 10 gold piece minimum buy-in

Rules: A player rolls 5d6 and keeps their roll secret. Each player takes turns bidding a face value and a number equal to the number of dice showing said face value amongst all player’s dice. A player has two choices during their turn: make a higher bid or challenge the previous player’s bid. Raising the bid means either increasing the quantity, or the face value, or both. If a bid is challenged, all dice are revealed. If the bid is true, the bidder wins and the challenger is eliminated. If the bid is false, the challenger wins and the bidder is eliminated.

Avandra's Spinner

Dice game, 10 gold piece minimum buy-in
Rules: Each player chooses one of two options: choose a number between 1 and 20, or choose whether the result of the die roll will be odd or even. The dealer then rolls a d20. If a player chose a specific number, they win triple their bet if the die lands on said face. If a player chose between even or odd, they win 1.5 times their bet if the die lands on a correct face. A player loses otherwise.

Hand of Fate

Dice game, 50 gold piece minimum buy-in
Rules: Each card player rolls 1d8, keeping the die hidden. Each player has the chance to raise the bet, call the bet (meet it), or fold. It continues when all bets are equal. Then each player rolls a 1d6, keeping it secret as well. A final chance to raise, call, or fold. Each remaining player rolls 1d4. They all reveal the 1d8, 1d6, and 1d4, adding them all together. Winner takes 80% of the pot (the other 20% goes to the casino). Ties split the 80%.

Threes

Dice game, 20 gold piece minimum buy-in
Rules: All players ante. They take turns rolling 5d6. All numbers on the die are face value except for 3's which are worth 0. Lowest score wins the pot.

Races

Quon a Drensal, “Run of Luck”

Racing lizard game, 25 gold pieces minimum buy-in
Quon a Drensal is an age-old traditional game of Marquet. Five small desert lizards are released in a small maze-like track that rests upon the table. The lizards themselves are in separate cages at the end of a table until released to race. Gamblers can bet as much as they’d like on one particular lizard, with a 25 gold minimum.
Rules: Roll 1d4 for each lizard three times, describing the stages of the race at each round of rolls. The lizard with the highest roll total wins, and those who bet on it double their bet as winnings. Second place bet gets half of their bet back.

Other

Skullrattle

Pachinko game, 5 gold pieces to play
To play this pachinko game, a gambler buys a set of three polished behir fangs from the tavern for 5gp and drops the teeth one at a time into a slot carved in the top skull. The fang rattle down through the hollow skulls and emerges from a random orifice in the bottom skull. Roll 1d6 three times and consult the following table to determine the exit aperture of each dropped behir fang.
1 - Drain hole (for taxidermic trepanning)
2 - Right eye socket
3 - Left eye socket
4 - “Garl’s gash” (axe wound splitting open the left parietal plate)
5 - Mouth
6 - Spitter (mouth, but instead of coming to rest in the lower jaw, the fang bounces out of the skull and across the table)

The following are notable results:

• Any combination of all eye sockets pays 10gp and a free bed at the inn.
• Any combination of all mouths and spitters pays 20gp and a free drink.
• Three trepanning drain holes means the player buys drinks for all.
• Three “Garl’s gashes” pays 120gp.
• Three spitters pays 100gp and, if the rattleskull board has been blessed by a priest of Garl Glittergold within the last year (50% chance), a +1 luck bonus on saving throws for the next 24 hours.
• Three mouths pays 50gp and a special brew the tavern has on hand:
  - 40% chance that the brew is a 50gp potion (generated randomly from the DMG)
  - 60% chance that the brew is behir nerve lightning (poison, ingested DC 15, initial damage 0, secondary damage 1d6 Wisdom)