The following rules are for professional gambling, and not casual gambling, like can be found in a local tavern or street ally. For those types of games, they should be a random roll or a quick skill check per game. When a character is trying to use their profession skill to make money gambling, then the following rules come into play
Standard Gambling
This represent gambling in casinos, taverns that are known for gambling, and other gambling houses.
Reputation
A gambler can't just walk into any establishment and start betting high stakes. He must earn his place at the high end games. This is done through Reputation. A gambler must build up his reputation in order to get invited to the games / room where the big money is being moved. A gamblers reputation is a direct reflection of not only his access to high end games, but how well he is treated by various gambling establishment. User with high gambling reputations often earn perks like a credit line, free drinks, rooms, and "other" amenities as are available.
Gambling reputation can also be used to determine how well a player may be know in the criminal underworld, even if the gambling he specializes is completely legal.
Gold Cap per Day
Reputation limits the amount of gold a gambler can bet each day.
| Reputation |
Gold Cap / per day |
| 0-5 |
50 |
| 6-10 |
100 |
| 11-15 |
250 |
| 16-20 |
500 |
| 21-25 |
1,000 |
| 26-30 |
5,000 |
| 31-35 |
10,000 |
| 36-40 |
50,000 |
| 41-45 |
100,000 |
| 46-50 |
100,000+ |
Diplomacy Bonus
Players can leverage their gambling reputation to gain a diplomacy bonus when dealing with the criminal element.
| Reputation |
Diplomacy Bonus |
| 1-10 |
+2 |
| 11-20 |
+4 |
| 21-30 |
+6 |
| 31-40 |
+8 |
| 40-50 |
+10 |
Earning Reputation
A player can earn (or lose) gambling reputation in several ways. Earning reputation is mostly a slow process as people are not only watching you and how well you play, but also making sure you are trustworthy and can cover your bets.
| Action Taken |
Rep Gained |
| Spend one week gambling, coming out at least even. |
1 + 1/5 character levels rep |
| Win a big prize (2x daily gold cap) (1/day) |
1 rep |
| Win a grand Prize (4X daily gold cap) (1/day) |
2 rep |
| Spend time working the community (takes 1 full day, and
character must make a Diplomacy check - DC set by DM)
Limit 1/week |
1 + 1/5 character levels rep |
| Have a losing week |
-1 + 1/ Character levels rep. |
| Get into a fight in a gambling establishment |
-1 +1/5 character levels rep |
| Get Caught Cheating |
Lose all rep. |
| Buy your way in |
+1/1000 gp |
Gambling Check
For each day spent gambling, you may make one Profession Gambling Check. This represents one day of gambling and many losses and wins through the day. You can bet up to your Gold cap based on your reputation each day. You decide how much to bet before rolling your check. The type of settlement you are in also limits this, see below.
| Check result |
Outcome |
| 0-9 |
Lose all your bet |
| 10-14 |
Lose 50% of bet |
| 15-19 |
Break even |
| 20-24 |
+1 X bet |
| 25-29 |
+2 x bet |
| 30-34 |
+3 x Bet |
| 35+ |
+4 X bet |
Games of Skill
For games where a certain skill is used to improve your odds of winning (Bluff, intimdate, etc) You can gain a bonus based on your ranks in that skill. If you have 5 ranks of higher, you add + 2 to your profession gambling. For 15 ranks or higher, gain +4
Cheating
Cheating at professional gambling establishments is a dangerous proposition. Getting caught means the instant loss of all your reputation, and most likely additional punishment. The higher your reputation, the worse the punishment usually is.
If you wish to cheat, than all you need to do is state your intention, and make a separate Profession Gambling Check.
The DC for successfully cheating is DC 15. For every point over 15 yout get on your cheat roll, you may add that to your daily profession gambler check to gamble. Failing the cheat roll just means you were unable to pull off the cheat.
Each gambling establishment has it's own difficulty for discovering the cheat, whether you are successful or not.
Gambling Establishments
Settlements can only support a certain amount of gambling. The larger a city is, the more it can support gambling. In addition to your gold cap based on your reputation there is also a daily gold cap based on the type of settlement you are in. The chart below shows the gold cap, the highest example of a gambling establishment found in th esettlement, and the standard DC for not being discovered cheating.
| Settlement Size |
Establishment |
Gold Cap / DC |
| Village |
Tavern |
50 / DC10 |
| Small Town |
Tavern |
100 / DC15 |
| Large Town |
Gambling Parlor |
500 / DC20 |
| Small City |
Gambling house |
1000 / DC25 |
| Large City |
Casino |
10,000 / DC30 |
| Metropolis |
Great Casino |
10,000+ / DC35 |
Reputation in other settlements
The gambling community is rather tight and even if you earn your reputation in one city, others will hear about you. The father you go though, the more your starting reputation drops.
For every large town, or larger settlement between you and your highest rep settlement city, your starting reputation drops by 5. You can spend a week reestablishing your reputation in a new city. For that week, you don't gain any rep, but your rep for that settlement instantly goes up to match your main reputation
Other ways to gamble
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