Gambling Suggestions?

[Faux_St_Hooligan]

Greetings,

I am new to TtB rpg and somewhat new to the world of Malifaux.  Just recently started running TtB (loving it) with a great group that I've been gaming with for most of my life.  In our last session we dipped into an aspect of gaming I should have anticipated and prepped from the start...Gambling.  My guys can't resist starting a game at the nearest backroom, tavern, or gambling hall that the story passes through.  They love to throw their cash on the table in hopes of supplementing their income, or winning a nice big jackpot.  One has even started the Wastrel Pursuit so I know I need to up my ante so to speak.

 

I was hoping for a bit more in the rules other than a basic description of what "Gambling" skill is, but rather how it works in terms of game mechanics.  I did eventually find a couple examples "Into the Bayou" (Gambling with Zoraida & Bullet) and they do help. But as I'm still new to the game I haven't got a feel for the real value of a Scrip yet, where to set the limit so it doesn't get out of hand or abused? Also would like to avoid getting sucked into anything too Meta or complicated that eats up too much of the actual session time.

 

I was curious if anyone had suggestions/experience on how they like to handle this colorful aspect in TtB?  I thank you for your time and any help you might offer.

[Steamtastic Vagabond]

Something you could do is hold simple card games like blackjack, poker and what not using the rules for gambling with Zoraida. For pay out, I would recommend 2-4 scrip for low stakes games and anything higher for higher stakes.

[Faux_St_Hooligan]

Using simplified card games is a viable option.  Though how would you see Gambling Skill playing into the action?  Somehow I'd like to see a Skill Duel play into the action so the players have a reason to work on the skill.

[Steamtastic Vagabond]

Quote: Into The Bayou Pg. 48

”To gamble with Zoraida, the character must make a TN 5 Gambling Challenge. On a failure, the character loses the game then and there...”

 

4 hours ago, Faux_St_Hooligan said:

Using simplified card games is a viable option.  Though how would you see Gambling Skill playing into the action?  Somehow I'd like to see a Skill Duel play into the action so the players have a reason to work on the skill.

Super easy to incorporate the gambling skill with this.

Simply edit this number to represent better more skilled gamblers, or worse ones.

[Faux_St_Hooligan]

Thank you for the input. Looking forward to the next time my guys take to the tables.

[diki]

You could just get everyone to flip gambling and whoever gets the highest wins.

To make it more random, you could start by flipping a card to choose a suit for the round. For that round everyone gets a trigger with that suit to add 5 (or half the value of the card) to their flip?

Everyone with a high gambling and/or cunning should win more than average.

Alternatively, a simpler method just set a TN for the game, everyone flips gambling gains or loses scrip equal to the difference.

[gribble]

I'd tend to keep it simple. Something like:

• GM sets a stake amount and TN determined by the best opponent's Rank + Gambling or a set house difficulty for games where you play against the house.
• Each player flips gambling, with potential [-] based on circumstances. E.g. one player vs multiple skilled opponents should make things harder for the player, so perhaps for each other opponent who has a higher gambling than the Fated they suffer a [-] to their flip.
• On a success, that player wins the stake. For each margin of success, the player wins an additional amount equal to the stake.
• On a failure, that player loses the stake. For each margin of failure, the player wins an additional amount equal to the stake.

Or, if you're looking to simulate a game more directly and have gambling skill influence the outcome, just play a normal hand of poker / blackjack, with each player (including the GM) drawing an extra card into their starting hand per Rank in gambling (they still have to pick the best 5 cards / 2 cards for blackjack).

[Faux_St_Hooligan]

Thanks again everyone. Very helpful stuff!

[Spyder Revenant]

For small games, our table usually does a standard duel flip for low stakes. For high stakes game, our FM uses and ongoing duel with rules to reflect the stakes of the game.  If you are looking to throw a slight curve ball at the group look up  some Asian games like Heaven and Earth.