Hosting a murder mystery dinner for our first anniversary here on Halloween but BitD style. Invitations have been created and now I am creating some of the festivities for the evening.
||Spoilers! Lord Scurlock is the one who will be murdered||
What are some games you have used at your table or created in the lore? Would love to use some of them for the evening. Looking for perhaps a dice game, cards, even some that require props.
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Of course, I haven’t made explicit rules for these games, but they’ve been featured at bars, casinos, and the like- mostly functioning as backdrops for the conversation:
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Ralamesh: A Card/ Tile game that originated in Iruvia. The “Pool” of the game has 3 components- what is essentially part of a “Normal” deck of cards, the Iruvian/ Shattered Isles equivalent of Tarot Cards, and what would be the equivalent of Mahjong Tiles. The objective is to remove all of your opponents tiles from the game board in as few turns as possible. This is done by playing and combining tiles that allow you to draw from one of the two decks of cards. The drawn card will indicate what can and cannot be removed from the board. Typically, the “traditional” cards are used to protect your tiles and the “tarot” cards are used to remove opposing tiles. There is a Rock/Paper/Scissors approach to what cards can remove certain tiles, etc.
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Pratmahchk: It is debated if it started in Severos or somewhere in the Dagger Isles (rules are slightly different for each place- House gets to decide which variant they use). This Game is the basis for this “Ches-like” game. In addition, there is a card component (that is missing from the Severos variant of the game- it is replaced with player generated riddles instead). Upon moving pieces to certain points in the field for the aggressor (or defeating a piece as a defender), the player draws a card. The card will determine what events (good or bad) descend onto the battlefield. The Severos edition replaces this with riddles/ questions. If the one who is questioned gets the answer wrong- the questioner will choose the event that befalls on the field and vice versa.
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Dice ‘n’ Knives: Pretty simple Knife Throwing game. Roll Dice to see how many Knives you get to throw- get ‘em as close together or as close to the Bullseye as possible. Popular game to pass the time on the streets, but has become more popular in Casinos where an added rule is that you play with your opponent’s set of knives (which leads to a game of skill to determine which are or are not “trick” knives and how to overcome them). It is slowly becoming popular in Noble Ranks by using pictures of “Black Sheep Nobility” as the targets for a good laugh.
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Singing Dice: Unique dice are used for this game. They are meticulously crafted to be the exact same weight (though individual leagues will use different standards). The pips on the dice are convex, but are spring loaded and have ever so slight differences in their density and overall shape. The dice are all dropped by a highly tuned machine aimed to have them all drop at the same time on an equally well crafted game board. When the dice strike the board, the convex pips get pushed inward and remain for a few seconds. They then spring back out and strike the board with a very precise and unerring note each and every time. The participants are blindfolded and tasked with identifying, based on the notes played, which sides struck the game board. Played in alternating rounds (usually best of 5) with more dice added each round.
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Bold’n’Brash Darts: The players play darts at the same time… the catch? The targets are behind each other’s heads. The priority for Scoring is getting your opponent to flinch and dodge rather than getting a bullseye… but if they do flinch but make their shot a bullseye, it’s a significant point boost for them. There are a variety of other “If… then…” rules as to the permutations of this darts variant. Protective headgear is provided, but isn’t always used in underground games for the purpose of “street cred.”
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Singe Sonnets: A drinking game for artsy-types, the players take turns providing each other Sonnets (whose prose becomes increasingly complex). Before each reading, the player takes a Shot of Tycherosi Firebrand Whisky (usually spiked with a dilute essence of Fire Oil for the particularly “bold”) and try to complete the Sonnet as clearly as possible without coughing, retching, vomiting, etc. Alcahest is usually on standby (as are other calming and soothing herbs/ fungi for burns).
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Orchids and Ocarinas: Not many plants thrive in the Post Cataclysm without Radiant Energy Lamps- but Orchids are quite peculiar. The thrive without light but thrive even better in the presence of sound- their growth often reflecting the notes and melodies played. Players are challenged to play a tune on an Ocarina that will illicit the most beautiful or intricate growth patterns on their Orchid (usually arcanely modified to grow at a faster rate).
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Hunter’s Snooker: As the name suggests, this is a game not all that different when compared to Snooker, but heavily modified by Leviathan Hunters to represent the dangerous and vital “Art” of Leviathan Hunting (namely by incorporating elements of real world Snooker with real world Bocce Ball). Balls of varying sizes are placed on the table. The largest is about the size of normal Bocce Balls. The rest are equal parts marbles and Snooker Balls. The Largest is called “The Prey,” the next largest are called “Chargers,” and the smallest are called “Skimmers” (sometimes also called “Blood Letters,” depending on where you play). The goal is to have the most Skimmers as close to the Prey as possible (but Skimmers can only be positioned by Chargers). The other option is to use your Chargers to Pocket (called “Stealing”) your opponent’s Chargers. There are complex rules for taking and deploying a “Stolen” Charger at the cost of your opponent placing a Skimmer wherever they want and rules of the sort. The Prey is always unique for each game and is usually the trophy for most leagues. Most Hunters will display them proudly in their cabins/ quarters.
That’s all I’ve got! Hope that helps!
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That’s amazing! I love the colour on the invitation (literally and figuratively), but also thanks to @Sully5443 for the games - for those of us with characters who have a gambling vice, this would be great to add some depth and interest to what they are gambling on. Thanks so much for posting this.
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