Need to come up with a game of chance

[Sipex]

Alright, to clear the air, I play 4e, while that won't affect how you can come up with the game it might affect you from suggesting certain feats or skills etc.

Anyways, my last session our Warlock was approached by an Imp who said she needed to do some dirty work for his master or lose her powers (she's infernal based, it fit). She has to assassinate the leader of a street gang within a week. Since then it's been 6 days and the party has managed to track the gang leader down to a seedy pub in the 'ghetto'.

Anyways, to shorten things, the party rogue has decided to infiltrate her 'card game' ala Casino Royale style, and has to stay in the game long enough to seduce her and lure her away afterwards (for the assassination of course). They bought poison to drug her and everything, I'm very proud.

Anyways, we ended JUST as he sat down at her table in the private area of the bar and we were originally just going to roll a couple D20s to see how things go but the party seems really adamant in me making up a nice minigame for them to play (the others have taken random positions on the table). They're all interested in some sort of dice based pokeresque game from the sounds of it (I suggested simply playing poker but they said they'd like if I could try this first).

Anyways...I really need some ideas on how to set this up. I was thinking having each person roll five D6's at first and match up with pairs or total or odds and evens...etc.

Anywho, that's just rough, I've got two weeks so no rush. Any input at all would help though.

[FirebirdFlying]

Liar's Dice?

As a start.

[Grumman]

I've seen two or three different card games called Three Dragon Ante, including one described in this story.

[Sipex]

Wow...these are both really good examples of...EXACTLY what I needed.

Thanks!

[Mr.Bookworm]

As the person above answered, Three-Dragon Ante.

I've never actually played it myself, but it's supposed to be fun.

Have the other players fill in for the other NPCs at the card game, and play the villain yourself, and you'll be good to go.

(Of course, this requires that you actually spend money, so you might want to do something else. You could just whip out the poker deck and play Texas Hold' Em if all else fails.)

[valadil]

In the past I've used poker. But we modified things. Players could roll relevant skills or stats to get different effects. Thievery would let you get extra cards (but you still had to pick the best 5). Stealth would let you see other players' hands. Intimidate and bluff could control how NPCs would act. I think there was some amount of illusion magic too. Like you could change a card's number or suit but not both. These extra effects made the game interesting enough that it felt like we were playing something in D&D instead of just taking a break for poker. If any PCs aren't at the table btw, you should definitely let them play NPCs. There's no point in giving yourself 5 different hands to play when your players would sit out bored.

[Sipex]

Oh yeah, the idea is everyone plays an NPC, I play the villain and the rogue plays himself.

My players are reliable enough that I know they won't flub the game just because it's beneficial to them...but I might consider rewards if they play particularily well too.

edit: $10 for a card game? I could swing that easy. Maybe I'll see if my local shops have some in.

[Asheram]

Bought the three-dragon ante set a while ago without checking with my friends. Apparently it's a bit so-so, so noone wants to play with me. But the concept is good.
Beside. Three-dragon ante is a game that somewhat promotes cheating. ;)

[jokey665]

It's not a game of chance, it's a game of skill, but I feel the need to mention Dragon Chess. I love using dragon chess as a pastime for high-level mages and such, and having them help you/give you information/whatever if you can beat them/check them at least once.

[The Dark Fiddler]

My group made up a surprisingly fun and simple game. Suitable for any number of players but one.

Step 1: Roll a d6 and hand every player 3d6. Double the die roll (from now on refereed to as the house roll).
Step 2: All players roll their dice. Take the first roll, add the second roll, subtract the third roll. My players played that rolling a 6 on the second or third roll resulted in a 0 instead, but this doesn't seem to be necessary.
Step 3: The person who gets the closest to the house roll without going over wins. Anyone who ties automatically loses.

Note: The house roll doesn't necessarily need to be rolled by the person running the game. We played that the winner rolled it. No matter how you play though, the person running still rolls their own 3d6, unless they aren't playing.

Note 2: It may be preferable to you that the house roll is 2d6 instead of d6*2.

[Douglas]

I have no idea if this comes from somewhere else and has an official name, but here's a nice little dice game I encountered in a Neverwinter Nights module, called 66:

Establish a per throw stakes amount.

Each player takes turns either rolling dice and announcing the number or calling the previous player's bluff.

Rolling the dice is 2d6, and you take each die as one digit and put them together, higher digit first, to make a two digit number. Higher numbers are better, but doubles are better than other numbers, so 11 is higher than 65.

Choosing to roll costs the stakes amount. When you roll, you hide the result but keep it on the table, then announce what you rolled. You are allowed to lie, but it's risky. You must announce a result higher than the previous player (if any). 66 beats anything, even another 66, so there's always at least one legal option to announce.

Choosing to call costs triple stakes. If you call and the previous player announced a number higher than he actually got (he has to show everyone), you get the pot. If you call and he was not overstating his roll, he gets the pot. Either way, play starts over with the next player, who has no minimum to what he can announce.

You cannot choose to pass without withdrawing from the game.

[Gnomo]

My recommendations is to just go with Liar's Dice, is awesomely fun.

If you want a reference, one of the variants of this game is played in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

[onthetown]

I've played Three Dragon Ante a couple of different times -- usually when the party is on a ship and bored from wasting time til the next destination -- and it is insanely fun, especially if you stay in character for it (which I think is kind of what it's meant for). Our characters bet with their own money. It's a great way to get some extra spending cash, if you're good at it.