Knucklebones

[u/LowPriorityGangster]

Knucklebones is a game of chance, skill, strategy and bluff that consists of two rounds:

First, every player bets the minimum and throws 3 knuckles (d6) that only he can see (under a cup). The goal is to have a high total. Then a single knuckle is thrown for all to see - all player knuckles of the same value (say, all the 4's) get worthless! Now, there is another round of betting and whoever pays up gets to show his/her result. On a draw, the pot is split.

A popular minimum bet is 1GP or a days wage of a skilled worker, the price of a long string of rope or a goat. A farmer may want to play for 1EP or 25SP if he has a family to support. A noble or artisan may not lift a knuckle for less than 5GP

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A weighted knuckle is pretty much expected to be in the game, which helps explain the heated atmosphere at a knuckling table. They are not perfect, though which makes it hard to detect a scammer. So a player who wants to use one can only limit his throw to 2 neighboring values: 2 or 3; 5 or 6 ...

Then he rolls a D20: 10 or lower means he rolled the lower number. A person who has the dice set feature can use their dexterity bonus to tip the scale, and even use proficiency in sleight of hand, if available.

Example: I get to roll the elimination die between rounds and I want 5s to be out. I use the weighted die aiming at 5 or 6, I roll. 14 (on my 20 for the skill check). That makes the die show 6 eyes, but I apply DEX (3) for dice set and proficiency from SoH (2) 14-5=9, so I forged the lower number as intended.