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Fizzel
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 5:39 pm    Post subject: Fizzel Reply with quote

I like to create real gambling games for my players to play. It's fun! And, it leads to some cool roleplaying, two gamblers, eyeballing each other over a smoke covered table, cigarillos clenched between their teeth.

Plus, it gives some love to the often not-improved gambling skill.

Of course, there's the Sabacc game, but I find it too fiddly. I've never really used it.

I prefer a simple game that simulates a good gambling moment at the table, uses the character's Gambling skill, allows some random chance, and is not a complete lock for the character with the highest skill.

Here's a little something I cooked up called Fizzel (or Fiz'zel, depending in what part of the galaxy you happen to be playing the game....
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fizzel



I. THE ANTE. Each player pays an ante bet to the pot. This is a first bet, to get the players interested. Sometimes, this best can be substantial. In more friendly games, the bet is just enough to keep the players interested.







II. THE DEAL. Each player is dealt a single Fizzel card, which run in number from 1-6. This is dealt face up for all to see.

Quote:
RPG Rules: To simulate this during a game session, Roll 1D, out in the open, for each Fizzel player.








III. THE PLAY. Fizzel is a four card game. But, it's the second card where the gambling and action take place. The second card can make a hand, or break it.

Starting with the highest card (highest die showing) to the dealer's left, that player is dealt his second card, face up, to the player. This second card will inform the player about his chances of winning the hand.

Quote:
RPG Rules: Roll 1D for each Fizzel player, and place the die next to the player's first die so that both are seen.


After each player has received his second card and can see the second cards for all the other players, again in order, each player may Check, Bet, Raise, Call, or Fold.

Check = Pass the decision to the next player. Bet no money at this time. If all players check, then the round of Fizzel is being played for the ante money already in the pot.

Bet = Bet an amount of money, paid to the pot. Each player must meet this bet or fold his hand. In some games, the bet must equal the amount already in the pot, which is the total of the ante bets. In this fashion, each player who remains in the game will double the original ante pot, making the final pot quite desirable.

Raise = If a player has bet beforehand, a raise indicates that the total bet is doubled. In some games, each player is allowed to raise one time. In more spirited games, there is no limit to the number of times the bet can be raised.

Call = If a player has checked and a competitor bets after him, or if a player bets and another player raises after him, then the player may call the total bet, which means that the player will match, but not raise, the bet.

Fold = A player can withdraw from the game, losing his ante bet, at this point.







IV. THE REVEAL. Now that all players have two up cards and have had a chance to bet, the final showdown to determine the winner is executed.

From the dealer's left, the highest total of the up cards (the two dice) in front of each player goes first. Each player is dealt two down cards that is not seen by the other players. This will be simulated by the character rolling his Gambling skill.

Quote:
RPG Rules: Each player rolls his Gambling skill.








V. THE WINNER. The two dice in front of each players serves as a difficulty for the Gambling roll. If the Gambling roll is higher than the difficulty, the players hand is considered to be a Royal.

The highest Royal hand (the highest Gambling throw that qualifies as a Royal hand) wins the pot.

If no Royal hands are achieved (where no player's Gambling throw is higher than his difficulty), the highest hand wins the pot (where the highest Gambling throw is the highest hand).

If the two up cards in front of each player match (dice are doubles), then the player has suffered a fizzel. In addition to the matched dice serving as the difficulty for the Gambling throw to score a Royal hand, as discussed above, the Gambling throw is possibly penalized or fizzeled.

Quote:
RPG Rules: When a fizzel occurs, remove any die from the Gambling throw total that matches the two difficulty dice.

Example.

If the two up cards shows 5, 5, then the player suffers a fizzel. The player rolls the character's Gambling skill against a difficulty of 10, but in the process, all dice that roll 5 are removed from the throw.

If a player has Gambling 5D +2, and difficulty is 3, 3, then the total difficulty for the throw is 6. But, the Gambling skill task must still be made because "3's" might be thrown. If the skill toss results in 3, 1, 3, 3, 2, the Gambling skill loses the three dice that show "3", giving the player a total of 5 (with the +2 skill modifier). This means that the player has a hand total of 5, which is not a Royal hand because it did not beat the difficulty of 6.
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FIZZEL EXAMPLE



There are many variants and custom or house rules for Fizzel. It's a wide spread game played over the entire galaxy. Make up your own rules! But, if you do, post them so that I can enjoy them, too!

This is an example of how Fizzel can be played in your Star Wars game.

Imagine...



Two gamblers saunter up to a round table and sit down across from each other. The table can hold up to eight players, but only the two are present at this late hour in the casino.

As soon as two beings are registered in the seats, a cylindrical-column shaped droid raises from the center of the table. Lights begin to blink. Silently, servo-droids are summoned to the table to take drink orders. The dealer droid randomly selects the player to act as dealer (roll randomly between the two players), and from then on, the deal will pass to the left.

"The ante is 100 Imperial Credits." Says the droid. A light from the column in the center illuminates the Rodian, to indicate that he must ante up the 100 large to the center of the table.

Chezzna does so, and the table at the center, near the column droid, falls to a slant, allowing the square coins to slide down out of sight. The pot door closes, and a digital read-out on the droid, easily viewed by all players, changes from 0.00 to 100.00.

The light that was on Chezzna swings now to the only other player, to indicate it is his turn--the designated "dealer's" turn--to ante up.

The other player is a human, wearing a cape and smoking an Ithorian cigarro, raises a clear, rectangular piece of plastic--an Imperial Credit Chit. "Will this do?" Stone Beckersmith says, "I don't carry hard currency."

"Please insert the chit into the illuminated slot," replies the droid, and Stone looks to the edge of the table, just at his waist, where a slot has illuminated with a green light. Beckersmith inserts the chit, and the dealer droid's read-out changes to 200.00.

"Dealing!" Says the droid. A card shoots out of the cylindrical column towards Chezzna. Tiny holes in the table's surface--too small to see--blast air at the card so that it elegantly comes to a halt and falls to the table immediately in front of the Rodian.

Quote:
Here, we roll 1D for the Chezzna character. He gets a 4. Place the die in front of the player playing Chezzna (or the GM if this is an NPC).


"Player takes a 4 of spots!" The dealer announces excitedly. Then, very quickly, the card dealing slot on the droid rotates to face the human. A card shoots out towards Stone but comes to a soft landing in front of him on the table.

Quote:
We roll for the dealer character now, the human Stone Beckersmith. He gets a 5.


"A 5 of boxes! And, he retains the deal!," narrates the droid.







The above is the start of the game, the Ante segment, and the Deal. That's the first two steps of a round of Fizzel.

Now, we move on to step three, where the second card is dealt.



Quickly, the dealer droid swings to the Rodian again and shoots a second card to him. The same is done for the human player.

Quote:
Another D6 is rolled for each player. The Rodian gets a 6 and now showing 4, 6, for a total of 10. He knows that he doesn't have a fizzel because his two dice are not matched. The difficulty to obtain a Royal hand is 10--that is, Chezzna the Rodian must roll 10+ with his Gambling skill to qualify for a Royal hand.

The second die for Stone, the human player, is 4, giving him a total of 9, showing the 5, 4, cards in front of him. Stone knows that he doesn't have a fizzel, either, and to rate a Royal hand, he must roll 9+ with his Gambling skill.

But, first, it is time to bet.




The human no longer has the deal. The Rodian has stolen it from him (as Chezzna's total is 10 vs. Stone's total of 9), but in this version of Fizzel, the deal means little--and there is little advantage to going first or last. The dealer is simply the last to act in order of the number of players. Other versions of Fizzel may put more importance on being the dealer.

It's Stone's bet. He can push (also called a "check" or a "pass"). He can bet, but in this version of Fizzel, the rules are the minimum bet is the total of the ante, which is not at 200 credits. Any other action, it would not make sense to take at this point in the game (as in folding now).

The human enters something on the keypad embedded on the table. The droid's display clearly shows that Stone made the minimum bet of 200 credits. The rules for this Fizzel came say that each bet must be a multiplier of the total ante, so Stone could have bet 200, 400, 600, and so on.

The Rodian sees the read-out. He must match the Human's bet of 200, or he can fold right now, forfeiting the original 100 that the Rodian paid on the ante. But, instead, the Rodian decides to raise, and he must do this in increments of 200. He reaches into his pouch and pulls some oddly shaped coins, tossing them towards the dealer droid. The table opens. The coins slide away, and the dealer droid's spotlight illuminates the Human.

"You have been raised 400 credits." The dealer droid says cheerfully to Stone as the human studies the pot display that reads:

Bet: 200

Raise to: 600

Pot Total: 1,000


Starring at the Rodian through squinted eyes, Stone exhales smoke from his cigarro and says, "I'll re-raise. 1,000 more."

The Pot Total read-out changes, as the droid says, in an amplified voice, "1,000 more, to you!"

Chezzna waits, thinking. He takes a long stare at Stone, who is basically saying, I'm a better player than you, as both can see each others cards at this point in the game. The human is betting that he can out play Chezzna with the coming down cards.

Chezzna agrees. "I call." He reaches into his pouch and drops a handfull of coins on the table--which promptly disappear as before.

The dealer's readout now reads: 3,600.00







We've now completed step three, The Play. Now, we end the round and see who the winner is.

Since Chezzna is now considered the "Dealer", Stone goes first.

Quote:
Stone rolls his 2D Perception. He has not improved his Gambling skill and was trying to bluff the Rodian out of the pot with that large bet.

Stone rolls 2D vs. 9 difficulty. He gets a total of 6, which means he has a Common Hand, rank 9.

Chezzna has a big Gambling 6D skill. He rolls 6D vs. 10 difficulty, and his total is: 29. Chezzna has a Royal Hand, rank 29, and easily wins the pot!

Next hand!
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FIZZEL NOTE


With the Rodian having a 6D Gambling skill, you would think that he will beat Stone every time (the human's skill being at his base Perception of 2D), but although the odds favor Chezzna, Stone can get lucky and win.

With a skill that high, the 2D difficulty will never be that much of a problem for the Rodian. I mean, Gambling 6D is a hell of a score, and Stone Beckerwith is out of his league playing this guy. There's less than a 1% chance that 6D will result in a number lower than 12. And, the chance that the Rodian's difficulty will be 12 is less than a 3% proposition. But, it's possible!

Still, it is not odds that any smart person would take to gamble.

Where Stone has a chance is if the Rodian fizzels. That is, the Rodian rolls doubles for his difficulty, and his 6D Gambling roll ends up with a lot of that number in the roll.

For example, Chezzna rolls double 5's for difficulty, making it a 10+ to roll a Royal. And, the Rodian's 6D roll is: 1, 5, 3, 2, 5, 3. This means that the 5's are not counted, and Chezzna's total is reduced to 9, which is not enough to beat the 10+ difficulty. The Rodian would have a Common hand. If Stone scores a higher Common Hand or rolls a Royal Hand (easily done if difficulty is, say, 1, 3), then Stone flat out beats the Rodian.

Fizzel is a game, fortunately for the human, where skill is evident early. Thus, you don't see too many Fizzel games where the skill is as wide spread as what I have put in the example above.

More than likely, Stone Beckersmith will realize quickly that he's over his head, get up from the table, and go lick his wounds elsewhere.
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FIZZEL VARIATIONS!



Like poker, there are lots of variations of Fizzel. I'm sure you can take the basic idea and create your own version. Here are a couple of changes to the game that I could see implementing.



High Fizzel.

This meant for players with very high skill, like the Rodian Chezzna, above. The game is played the same except that the difficulty is increased by 10 or another number to make the difficulties quite high. This is to challenge the likes of a 6D gambling skill.

With gamblers of that calibur, try adding +15 to the difficulty (or an automatic -15 penalty to the Gambling throw), or try multilying the difficulty by 3. Thus, a difficulty of 7 would become 21, which a 6D skill has about a 55% chance of indicating a Royal Hand.

I designed the game with a 3D difficulty because I figured most gamblers in this game would have low scores. If you find yourself gambling with the likes of Lando Calrissian, then High Fizzel, or some version of it, is more likely to be the version played than not.

Note that this rule can also be used in a lopsided game where one player has more skill than the other, not unlike spotting balls in a pool game or allowing strokes in a competition golf game. If Stone and Chazzna ever play Fizzel again, Stone may has for a handicap--say something like Chazzna has to play with is difficulty at x3 where as Stone plays with the dice as they are shown.





Blind Fizzel.

Another version of the game is one that I think is more exciting. Instead of dealing two cards (2D for difficulty), instead only deal one card.

The player only sees 1D of his 2D difficulty. If the 1D shows a 5, then the player knows the difficulty will be 6-11, depending on what the second card reveals.

The second card is dealt right before the Gambling roll is made. This way, the player doesn't know his total difficulty, but can put it into a range within 6 points. But, the bigger issue is that the player does not know if he has a fizzel.

In the original game, a player can see if he has a fizzel before he bets. Some skill gamblers, like the Rodian, might play anyway, inspite of the fizzel, taking his chances. But many players will just fold upon seeing the fizzel.

To make the game more sophisticated, allow the players to bet on less information--hold back the second card, revealing no information about a fizzel and only half the information about the difficulty.

That will make for a more exciting game!
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fizzel Quickie Rule Summary



1. ANTE - Each player antes an amount of credits--basically placing a bet to play the hand. In some Fizzel games, the ante can be quite a sum.



2. DEAL - Each player is dealt two Fizzel cards. To simulate this, roll a D6 for each card and place the two dice, total showing, in front of the player.

The "dealer" is the player with the highest total (or the winner of the last hand as a new hand is started). The dealing player is always last to act, and the action passes to the dealer's left. The deal can shift in the hand, starting out with one player acting as the dealer then shifting to another player once the up cards are dealt.

If the two up cards match (doubles on the D6 dice), then the player has drawn a fizzel.



3. BET - Each player can check, bet, raise, call, or fold at this point. Normally, the minimum bet is equal to the amount in the pot--the total of the antes.



4. REVEAL - To win the hand, a player must roll his Gambling skill. The total of the up cards are his Difficulty, and each player has his own difficulty according to the two dice in front of him, added together.

If the Gambling check succeeds, then the player has a Royal Hand.

If the Gambling check fails, the player has a Common Hand.

The highest Gambling check wins the pot, but Royal Hands always trump Common Hands, and thus a lower Gambling check could win against a higher check.

If the player draws a fizzel--that is, his two dice show doubles--then that number shown on each die is removed from the Gambling throw. This could be a major impact or no impact at all in lowering the throw's total.

SEE the variations on Fizzel above.
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Straxus
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 6:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for this, it's really cool! It's good to have something semi-concrete to play instead of just rolling Gambling. Also, I think players will enjoy making some decisions while still the characters ability have a big impact.

I liked the Blind Fiz'zel best (the apostrophe makes it more Star Wars, IMO Smile ), it makes it more exiting to watch the second dealing. I think perhaps I would like two rounds of betting, one after the first "card", and another after the skill roll. After last bet, and before the last card reveal, skill roll results are shown.

If any of my PCs are trying their luck at a casino it will be probably be a game of Fiz'zel!
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 9:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Straxus wrote:
I liked the Blind Fiz'zel best (the apostrophe makes it more Star Wars, IMO Smile ), it makes it more exiting to watch the second dealing. I think perhaps I would like two rounds of betting, one after the first "card", and another after the skill roll. After last bet, and before the last card reveal, skill roll results are shown.


If you make some changes, then please post your version of Fiz'zel.

I think I like Blind Fiz'zel the best, too.

And, if it pops up in a game, let me know how it goes! Very Happy
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 4:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DOUBLE BLIND FIZ'ZEL.



This is a popular variation of Fizzel as it adds a third betting round. Players bet before cards are dealt during the ante phase.

Then, a card is dealt (1D rolled for each player and displayed openly). A better round happens after this one card is dealt, and betting starts with the first highest card (which is different from basic Fizzel).

The second card is then dealt (a second 1D is rolled in the open for each player), and the third betting round occurs. The highest total of the two dice bets first.

Then the showdown happens where each player rolls Gambling skill vs. the difficulty.
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OPEN FIZ'ZEL


This variant is played just like other versions of the game, except, during the ante round is played as a betting round where a player can check or bet whatever he wants, and other players can raise.

Open Fiz'zel is often played by highly skilled players who push the ante up thinking that the higher bets will push the lower skilled players out of the game early.

As with regular Fiz'zel, the minimum bets for future rounds are the total of the ante round bets.
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Bren
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PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2019 4:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I came across this thread the other day and I liked the idea of some sort of mini-game for gambling, especially for gambler characters. It inspired me to create a game that I call:

The Rules for Three Card Sabacc

Step 1: Each player antes a set number of credits into the pot.

Step 2: Each player rolls one hidden die and one open die.
(This represents one card face down, and one card face up.)

Step 3: Betting Round: play begins with the player to the dealer’s left. He must pass, bet, or fold. If he passes, play moves to his left. Play continues to the left until either all the players have passed, in which case the game ends with the highest total for the two die winning the pot, or some player has bet. Typically the minimum bet is at least equal to the amount of the ante. Players must then call by matching the amount bet or they can match the amount bet and raise the bet. The minimum raise must be at least equal to the previous bet.

Step 4: Each player rolls one more open die. Traditionally, if the two open dice match, the dealer announces “possible Sabacc.” (This represents dealing one more card face up.)

Step 5: Second Betting Round: another round of betting occurs.

Step 6: Showdown: the remaining players reveal their hidden die starting with the player at the dealer’s left. If all three dice match that player has a Sabacc of rank equal to the matching die. If no player has Sabacc, then each remaining player makes a gambling skill roll and compares that to their 3-dice total.

    If the gambling skill roll is ≤ the 3-dice total, that is a Common hand with a rank equal to the dice total, e.g. Common-14.
    If the gambling skill roll is > the dice total, the player has a Royal hand with a rank equal gambling skill roll, e.g. Royal-21. A Royal hand of any rank beats any Common hand.

There are several common variations for resolving a tie.
    Friendly: the tied winners evenly divide the pot.
    Sudden Death: the winners roll 3 dice, high roll wins.
    Winner Take All: winners play a tie breaker hand.


Sabacc (3 of a kind) > Royal > Common; and among those, higher rank > lower rank
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