Gambling in the San Saba

Howdy Vados!

It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to next Dystopia Rising Live event THE GUILTY AMONG US! This game will be led by Chase Lira, Casie Spivey, and Kalen Lewis. Each week, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are covering one of the major social events of the weekend, the SAN SABA GAMBIT!

• TICKETS FOR OUR april EVENT ARE ON SALE NOW! will you risk it all for the score of a lifetime?

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• We have new neighbors! DR Kansas has announced their first event for the weekend of April 4-6, right before our next event! It’s a bit of a drive for us, but it’s the next closest game beyond DR Arkansas. You’ll see a few friendly faces on their staff, so check out their webpage if a travel game sounds exciting!

Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team, including Lily-Jay Jones, Miranda Farmer, Noah Goodman, and Max Pohlmeier. Race graphics were designed by Chase Lira and Casie Spivey.

gambling? I’m in!

One of the many past times in the San Saba is the enjoyment of healthy wagering on games of chance. From cards to dice, from games of skill to contests of strength, the competitive spirit is at the heart of many social events in the Lone Star. Various establishments have held major contests of skill, like the Dead Man’s Hand Tournament in Essex, to tales of the pepper eating contests or hooch drinking challenges of old Bravo.

During our April event, there will a very important gambling event - a horse race called the San Saba Gambit. If you’ve paid attention a bit this season, you might have even run into a few characters advertising betting, stakes, or even horse ownership over the past few events. I’ll go a bit more into detail in a moment, but in game the horse races are functionally just a big board game style gambling event and it will involve a bit of dice rolls at a few key times during the event. For these rolls, you’ll be able to use your skills and items to manipulate the outcome.

In the world of Dystopia Rising Live, gambling is normally an in-game activity done over a friendly card game or as a wager on some event in game. There are a few items and skill interactions within the mechanics of the DR Live system, but these mostly are contained to pushing the results of a contest slightly into your favor, versus the outright wins of old systems. While Texas Hold ‘Em or Poker are popular games to gamble over, our players have played dozens of different games over the years, from Battleship to car racing board games. There’s only one specific skill in the Player’s Guide that impacts gambling in game, Basic Financial Manipulation. This skill doesn’t really mess with the rules of the gambling game itself, like changing how two of a kind works in poker or letting you roll extra dice in Monopoly, but it instead lets you shift the odds slightly in your favor by manipulating the dice or cards themselves.

Let’s cover the basics, Rules Ramble style:

Basic Financial Manipulation -- Target Self

With this skill, an individual may spend 1 Mind Point during an in-character game of chance to call “Financial Fuckery” and apply one of the following effects. This skill improves the player’s chances in gambling and games of chance but does not guarantee a win. The skill must be used by the player on their turn and immediately after a card is drawn or after the player rolls a die. Note that equipment may modify die rolls or card draws but will never provide an automatic win.

Re-roll a Die: The player may re-roll a single die in an attempt to gain a better result. The new roll must be kept.

Replace a Card: The player may replace a card in their hand or one that was just drawn with the next available card.

Limitations: This skill cannot be used for out-of-character mechanics (e.g., regaining Infection, loss of Infection, or gaining Fracture through randomizers). Items in the game may alter the probability of success but never guarantee it.

This is a Development skill that doesn’t see a whole lot of use in game outside of these types of gambling opportunities.

• You can re-roll a dice, but you got to keep the second result. This is a super useful ability, as a reroll in most dice games is a huge advantage. Many of the crafted items interact with this ability.

• You can draw a different card or swap one in your hand. This can be useful for card selection, improving your chances of drawing that straight, or maybe trading out a low card for a high card.

• This doesn’t work on stuff like Life for a LIfe. This re-roll ability only really affects games of chance, not other systems that might have you roll a d6, like Travel or several Profession Skills.

• The skill can’t guarantee a win, just improved odds. Unlike older 2.0 mechanics, this skill can’t really just auto-win. There are no items that do this either. You’ll have to be clever and a bit lucky, but sometimes a re-roll won’t be enough to save you.

For our April event, this will be a useful skill to explore, particularly if you are interested in participating in the horse races. If gambling isn’t your thing, there will still be some other ways to get involved during this event, don’t worry! While this skill does take Mind points to activate, it’s only 1 Mind Point per re-roll so even a brand new player can use it a few times without effort.

There’s a few items of note that interact with gambling

• Accounting Journal Pen - Normally, Financial Fuckery only lets you re-roll, but you are at the mercy of the dice gods and have to keep the final result. With this gizmo, you can spend 5 mind and re-roll, but you’ll get to keep your choice of the two rolls. Each time consumes one of the 5 uses this gizmo has, but it can be a useful way to bend the odds.

• Clean Gambling Gear - This is one of the few ‘defenses’ against the Financial Manipulation skill, as it makes every use more expensive. This lets you call "Area of Effect: Basic Financial Manipulation costs 2 Mind base for one hour", so make sure you use it at the right time!

• Dead Man’s Hand - This item lets you add a +1 or -1 to your rolls, making it a great way to ‘nudge’ the race in your favor. This might be one of the more powerful items since it stacks with the basic function of the skill. This could be a great way to break a tie, but you’ll usually use this to increase the dice roll. However, if you have all your money riding on another horse, it would be a shame if they happened to fall behind at an inopportune time…

• Royal Flush - This is the only Financial Manipulation item that doesn’t apply to main event of THE GUILTY AMONG US. While this could be useful for any side card games, this item is entirely focused on manipulating card games. Sorry!

While there are not really any laws that prohibit manipulating a game of chance, keep in mind that other characters or NPCs may not agree. If you’ve done something in game to push the odds in your favor, make sure you are prepared for the consequences if someone decides they want to take it outside after…

The San Saba Gambit

The main event for April is a horse race unlike any other - the SAN SABA GAMBIT! High stakes, high speed, and hooch that never stops flowing! This race runs from Bastion to Bravado and is sure to get leadership from each settlement involved, including the infamous General Mustang. Gamblers from as far away as Essex will be attracted by the chance to earn a small fortune of Brass if they have a bit of talent, and maybe a whole lot of luck. Racing massive muscled thoroughbreds that are only in the loosest terms called a ‘horse’, these racers must manage the pitfalls of the various race tracks while not being devoured by their own mounts. It’s a proper apocalyptic contest of skill!

Cipher, a famed horse of the Hellfire bloodline

A quick note on the steeds: Horses have existed in the world of Dystopia Rising for a while, actually. In the original 2.0 DR source book for the Texas area, Embers of the Irradiated Wastes, there were even zombie horses called “Rot Mares” (p. 30) and stories of the various cowboy-hatted survivors atop their trusty steeds. Horses are like other critters in the Dystopia Rising world, mutated by the infection and the radiation inherent to the wasteland. These horses don’t really resemble the horses that you or I might think of in real life, but they are still used for transportation, travel, and even commerce.

These animals will be mostly ‘off-screen’ for the event, as these aren’t really combat targets. Not every creature needs a stat line. There are certainly some common animals in the wastelands — Eggs and Meat from the Travel skill gotta come from somewhere, after all. You won’t probably won’t ever need a Critter stat line for a San Saba Horse, since they are mostly encountered by the jockeys and handlers of the big race. Critter abilities are really reserved for dangerous creatures you might face off against in the field, like Murder Goat Deer, Behemoth Polyps, Leviathans, Armordillos, or Midnight Jellyfish.

Over the past few events, we’ve held a few different horse races in game. From the San Saba Stakes, to the Bravado Derby, or even the Pit Stop Steeplechase, these races have featured a few ways to get involved in the gambling of the San Saba. A few players have invested in the horse tracks and breeders of the area, and even claimed ownership of a few of the illustrious competitors in these races. The San Saba Gambit aims to one-up each of these races, featuring a contest on not just speed and stamina, but politics and elaborate ceremonies that take place over the whole weekend event. Every horse will have a chance to compete on its strengths.

The Gambit is a little nontraditional in that this race is more of a cross country style rather than the usual laps on a track. Each segment is characterized by its own unique terrain and hazards and as such should test each horse in all the ways it can be and really challenge the competitors and jockeys.

Starting in Bastion, the first leg of the race will be the longest segment across mostly grassy terrain. Flowing into the ever treacherous and deadly Exclusion Zone, the racers will face many jump hazards, probably needing to dodge irradiated zed and who knows what else across a mixed series of terrain that can best be categorized as dirt. Exiting the Exclusion Zone will propel the competitors into the final stretch, a quick dash across a sandy expanse and over the finish line near Bravado. This three leg race will happen over three separate betting events over the weekend, all three on Saturday. For the MILLER BAR VIP EVENT, the horses will even compete in a Dressage Event, showcasing their training and skill in a graceful show of qualities not always seen on the track. Each racing event will involve some gambling, some friendly wagers and haggling, and a bit of intrigue.

Through it all, the various owners and jockeys will compete to challenge their rivals and place wagers on who will win the big score. If you have some spare Brass, you might even be able to win it all!

Horse Racing Basics

While the basic function of the San Saba Gambit simply involves rolling dice, there are a few factors that might tip the odds in your favor if you are clever and pay attention. While items and re-rolls with Financial Manipulation can help, this is still a game of chance so any edge you can apply could mean the difference between eating dirt, or being eaten by an unruly beast.

Each leg of the race contest involves rolling a d20 die over three rolls, and the Guide will apply a few hidden modifiers on the back end to keep things interesting.

You’ll be able to use Basic Financial for this roll, as well as the various items I listed above. The highest combined rolls will determine the winner, but particularly bad rolls could even disqualify the horse from that leg of the race. The horse you choose to back will have different modifiers, and some horses may have a bit of advantage depending on the type of race. This is functionally just gambling on a silly board game and uses dice rolls and storytelling, but our players have enjoyed the first few races!

If you want to dig into the lore and strategy of the races, you can use the Education skill, your Lores and role play with NPCs in game. The owners of the horses will have detailed descriptions of their horses, but the rest will need to rely on the racing guide and role play to learn more. If you are clever, you may be able to understand and predict a few of these variables so you can save your items for the most important gambling rolls. In game, you can learn more about the various horses and riders with the bookies that run the show.

Each race has a few variables that can impact the outcome:

• Track Type - As described above, the conditions of the race can make a huge difference, and certain horses will be better suited for the various types of tracks. There are three types, Sand, Grass, and Dirt. For the Gambit, the first leg will take place over Grass, the second leg over Dirt, and the last leg over Sand, so each type of horse could have an edge. Some races, called a Steeplechase, will involve obstacles and other hazards.

• Position Types - In a real horse race there are various strategies employed by the jockeys. There are three basic forms, the Front Runner, Stalker, and Closer. The length of the track can also impact the race, as certain horses might lead from the start while others start slow and finish with a burst of speed, or even stay in the mid-pack for a late surge.

• Bloodline - While the skill of the rider and the terrain can have an impact, some of the race falls to just sheer talent and having fewer mutations (or at least beneficial ones) than the others. There are several family lines of San Saba Horses bred for racing, including the Windstriders, agile desert racers and excellent jumpers, Destrier and Courser, highly protected horses used exclusively by the Fallow Hope cavalry, Hellfire, fierce horned beasts known for their stamina and speed but also terrible tempers, Dawnslight, flashy, showy racers that excel at Dressage, Catsgrace, with adaptable cat-like reflexes, and the Rosa Roan, masters of endurance and the long race.

• Traits - Each horse has a different combination of Speed, Endurance, Power, Temperament, and Conformation, which represent the sum of their training and ability. While Speed affects performance and initiative during a race and can be a tiebreaker if the rolls are close, Endurance boosts long race performance. Power excels in shorter races, while the Temperament of the horse can reduce pre-race mishaps (like taking a bite out of the rider). Conformation is especially prized for breeding and skill during Dressage events.

The best part of horse racing is that you don’t have to keep track of this stuff, as it will all be written down for you on the Lore Cards used during the race. You’ll be able to make a judgement of which horse and racer you want to see win the Gambit. Will you be able to choose the right time to surge to victory, or will the dice betray you at the last moment? Let’s find out together!

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Wrap Up

That’s it for today, Vados.

We hope that you will come join us for our next event, THE GUILTY AMONG US. While the festivities of the upcoming celebration are certain to impress, it’s a bit of a Bravado tradition for a big party to go horribly, horribly wrong. What threats lurk in the shadows of the horse races? Will you get a ticket into the VIP lounge to hobnob with the elite of the San Saba? Will you win it all in a game of chance or will the stakes be more than you are willing to pay? Will you uncover the deadly mystery at the heart of this event?

Next week we will cover some of the mystery and intrigue you expect during the San Saba Gambit and a few other ways you can be involved during the event! See you soon, Vados!

Tickets are on sale for our april event noW!

Hope nothing bigger than this shows up!

Horse races make horse girls happy.