Dice Games

Cutpurse
Part 1 of 11
by Mark A. Jindra

The 1st edition Players Handbook (pg. 122) had an entire section regarding suggested agreements for division
of treasure, which included equal shares, plus dicing for magic items. For those interested in dicing for items,
we offer the following dice game.

Cutpurse
Originating in back alleys and played by thieves and other unsavory types,
Cutpurse has made its way into local taverns and gambling establishments.
Cutpurse is a simple game played with two six sided dice by any number of
players for stakes. Each player rolls a die, with the highest throwing first in
the game and the lowest "setting the point". The player with the lowest roll
throws a die again, and the number rolled becomes the point number.
Each player in turn rolls the dice and scores one for every occurrence of the
point number. A player who rolls a double point number scores 3 points
instead of 2. The first player to reach 11 points wins the game.

Rogue, Thief
A variant of Cutpurse known as Rogue or Thief is played with two 4 sided dice. Rolling a double point number in
this game however counts as 0 points and requires you to add a set amount to the pot.
This game requires two 4 or 6 sided dice (2d4, 2d6). This game is based on
dice game known as Passage.

Dice Weirdos
Oh, how we loved the stories! For those who missed the original article, this summer we discussed the various
superstitions folks here at Wizards of the Coast harbor about rolling their diceand, of course, asked for your
superstitions and stories as well! To share a few:
It Was the Best of Rolls
Back in the 2.0 days, I rolled a paladin with absolutely great stats, including an 18/00 Strength. All the rolls were
made with the DM and players watching, but with that 18/00, the DM claimed he missed the roll. My fellow
players howled in protest, but he was DM, so I rolled again, this time ensuring he was watching.
Bam! Another 18. The DM grimaced while the players chuckled, and I rolled the dice for the exceptional score.

Bam! Another 00.

Thus was born "Ahnold", my bermensch of a paladin.
--Patrick
It Was the Worst of Rolls
I'm not sure if this counts as a dice story or not, but I can recount many events where my luck (or lack thereof)
with dice is unparalleled. A few highlights:

I have rolled five consecutive "1"s in game on a d20.

Recently, our gaming group returned from a three month hiatus. My first two rolls on the d20: 1 for
initiative (no positive modifiers) and 1 on the first attack roll.
When one of the gamers purchased a new kitchen table, he allowed me to christen it by having the first
roll (perhaps to allow my luck to change): it was a "1" on a d20.
Most notably, I recently got a fortune cookie that stated: "The best roll of the dice is to throw them away."

My luck is so consistently bad that my group has allowed me to roll 2d12 and add the result in place of a d20.
That's why I always play a cleric. Even if you botch a roll on a cure spell, you're still healing the barbarian one
point per die.
--Brown
Bad Dice! Bad Dice!
I have to punish dice that consistently roll bad as an example to the other dice I own. What I do is throw the
offending die in a large body of water. The bigger the body of water, the better. I was in the U.S. Navy for 6
years; as it stands now I have one d20 in the Atlantic Ocean, one d20 in the Indian Ocean, and two d20s in the
Pacific ocean (one near Oahu, HI, and one near Adak, AK), and one d20 in the Huron River in Michigan.
--James
And Finally
During play, a fellow player had the tendency to shout a rather obscene name for a prostitute whenever his dice
happened to roll low. After a couple sessions with him I suggested rather snarkily that he pay his dice, and that
maybe he'd have better luck. I then handed him a quarter. He laughed and set the quarter down next to the die.
His next roll was a 20. Being rather superstitious he set down another quarter next turn, and again rolled high.
By the end of the night we all sat in rapt amazement as, so long as he paid his dice, he never seemed to roll
under a 15. While this hasn't held true for subsequent gaming sessions, said player has been know to bring
some spare change along with him to game night.
--Andrew
Plus, our favorite quote on the subject:
I have never met a player without some superstition. We are all a little unstable that way.
--Daniel

Feedback
If you use a dice game in your own campaigns, here's your chance to share it. Send it in to:
dndcolumn@wizards.com, and we may feature it in a future edition of Dice Games!

About the Author

Mark A. Jindra has been a fan of Dungeons & Dragons for over 25 years. In 1998 he landed his dream job as a
web developer for Wizards of the Coast and is currently the developer of the D&D website.

1995-2006 Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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