Fortune's Wheel games? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Fortune's Wheel games?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Cyriss
Feb 23, 2007 23:19:26 Has anyone ever created rules for players to use to spin the wheel?

What about any rules for the other games in the establishment?
#2
zombiegleemax
Feb 24, 2007 13:29:57 I have taught various courses including probability, game theory, and the like, so if you'd like to describe some of the available games I could cheerfully model them, both as chance and as opportunities for characters to employ skills. Just let me know the rules, risks, payoffs, and the like (and, of course, whether the house cheats!).
#3
Cyriss
Feb 24, 2007 14:57:05
I have taught various courses including probability, game theory, and the like, so if you'd like to describe some of the available games I could cheerfully model them, both as chance and as opportunities for characters to employ skills. Just let me know the rules, risks, payoffs, and the like (and, of course, whether the house cheats!).

Ok, thanks! Here is the info about the Wheel from In the Cage:

The Wheel is an enormous cartwheel decorated with nails & weathered iron to form a "Wheel of Fortune" looking spinner.

Bets are placed on the table before it's spun & are paid off once the spinners clicker stops on one of the iron squares between the nails.

The odds are terrible, only 1 square is golden instead of iron and landing on it pays 1000 to 1.

Since the odds are to bad, in order to keep people playing; set on a tiny half-space between extra clickers is the promise of winning a magical item payoff referred to as the Mage's Prize. It may be magical rings, wands, or potions. The minimum bet for the Mage Prize is 10gp.

The description of the wheel in the book is kind of confusing. It doesn't say how many iron squares are on the wheel. But I guess it would be 1000 squares since the odds are 1000 to 1?
#4
zombiegleemax
Feb 25, 2007 2:19:51 So there's just the one roulette wheel? Then unfortunately, there's no skill involved in playing.

Along the lines of your question, if that was the only payoff, then in order for the house to make money the wheel would need to have more than 1000 squares if there is such a "golden square" available -- if 1 square in 1000 pays off at 1000 to 1, 999 times the house collects the bet and 1 time they pay back the 999 to make 1000 times the original bet, and break even. Either that, or not all the squares are the same size, and this square is less than 1/1000 of the circumference.

One possible arrangement of the squares is as follows:
There are 998 "normal" squares. (If the wheel is a meter in radius, this means each square can be half a centimeter wide.)
There is 1 "golden" square.
There is a Mage's Prize half-square.
Next to it is an empty half-square.

Bets and odds:

You can place a bet on the golden square coming up. If it does, it pays off at 1000 to 1. There should be a house maximum on the bet to be placed here. (It doesn't matter what -- the house should simply be able to cover paying it off.) Ironically, this square has the best odds -- the house only makes money on it by luring customers to bet on other squares, buy drinks, etc. Betting on this square all the time would let you break even... if you could survive winning just once in every 1000 spins. Any basher trying this with a few coins in his pocket will go broke.

You can bet on the Mage's Prize. Since the odds of this square coming up are 1 in 2000, with a minimum bet of 10gp the house can afford to offer Mage's Prizes below 20,000gp in value. (This covers almost all wands and some nice rings.) The house might take only one person's bet per spin on the Mage's Prize, or a maximum number per spin based on the number of prizes they can pay off.

Half the "normal" squares are colored red, and the other half are black. You can bet on "red" or "black" and have them pay off at 15 to 10, or even 18 to 10, and the house still makes plenty on the bets.

Scattered among the squares are some denoted with faction symbols. You can bet on a given faction coming up. These pay off at varying amounts.

If the empty half-square comes up, the house collects all bets.

Resolving in-game:
Roll d10 and note the results in order for 1d1000 (hundreds, tens, ones).

On 000, roll d6. On 1, 2, or 3, the Mage's Prize came up. On 4, 5, or 6, the house empty square came up.

On 999, the golden square came up.

On any even number other than 000, the red squares pay off. (At 15 to 10, the player keeps his bet and collects another half of whatever he bet, so if he bet a gold piece he would walk away from the table with a gold and 5 silvers.)
On any odd number other than 999, the black squares pay off.

If you'd like to let players bet on factions (probably the pre-FW factions, the joint doesn't strike me as the kind to change the wheel), there are a lot of ways to do it. The simplest is to list all the old factions, assigning them numbers from 0 to 14. Assign 0 to the Dead, 1 to the Sign of One, and 15 to the Fraternity of Order, as my personal preference, but it's up to you. After you roll, if you didn't get 000 or 999, divide the result by 15 and check the remainder against the list of factions. Pay off at 10 to 1. (Add 9 times the player's bet, or simply change his coinage up to the next type: if he bet 1 gold, he walks away with 1 platinum.)

Of course, that rule has all the factions running around the wheel in the same repeated pattern. For some alternatives:

If the number is divisible by 15 (and not 000), the Fraternity of Order came up. Pay off at 10 to 1.

If the number is divisible by 10 but not by 15 (the ones digit is 0 and the first two digits don't make a number divisible by 3), the Red Death came up. Pay off at 10 to 1.

If the number is 222, 333, 444, 666, 777, or 888, the Hardheads came up. Pay off at 2 to 1. Hardheads don't gamble much.

If the number is 1, 11, or 111, the Sign of One came up. Pay off at 111 to 1.

Generate 29 random numbers before play that aren't any of those above. These are the Xaositects. Pay off at 20 to 1.

If the number has two of the same nonzero number on either side and a different one in the middle, the Revolutionary League came up. Pay off at 10 to 1. If this number is also one of those described above, pay off that bet as well.

Other factions if you care to work them up.
#5
Cyriss
Feb 28, 2007 20:20:44 Wow, you came up with an entire system here. Nice. My heads spinning from all the numbers :P There's some good ideas thrown into it to spice it up, nice. Thanks!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Cyriss Feb 23, 2007 23:19:26	Has anyone ever created rules for players to use to spin the wheel? What about any rules for the other games in the establishment?
#2 zombiegleemax Feb 24, 2007 13:29:57	I have taught various courses including probability, game theory, and the like, so if you'd like to describe some of the available games I could cheerfully model them, both as chance and as opportunities for characters to employ skills. Just let me know the rules, risks, payoffs, and the like (and, of course, whether the house cheats!).
#3 Cyriss Feb 24, 2007 14:57:05	I have taught various courses including probability, game theory, and the like, so if you'd like to describe some of the available games I could cheerfully model them, both as chance and as opportunities for characters to employ skills. Just let me know the rules, risks, payoffs, and the like (and, of course, whether the house cheats!). Ok, thanks! Here is the info about the Wheel from In the Cage: The Wheel is an enormous cartwheel decorated with nails & weathered iron to form a "Wheel of Fortune" looking spinner. Bets are placed on the table before it's spun & are paid off once the spinners clicker stops on one of the iron squares between the nails. The odds are terrible, only 1 square is golden instead of iron and landing on it pays 1000 to 1. Since the odds are to bad, in order to keep people playing; set on a tiny half-space between extra clickers is the promise of winning a magical item payoff referred to as the Mage's Prize. It may be magical rings, wands, or potions. The minimum bet for the Mage Prize is 10gp. The description of the wheel in the book is kind of confusing. It doesn't say how many iron squares are on the wheel. But I guess it would be 1000 squares since the odds are 1000 to 1?
#4 zombiegleemax Feb 25, 2007 2:19:51	So there's just the one roulette wheel? Then unfortunately, there's no skill involved in playing. Along the lines of your question, if that was the only payoff, then in order for the house to make money the wheel would need to have more than 1000 squares if there is such a "golden square" available -- if 1 square in 1000 pays off at 1000 to 1, 999 times the house collects the bet and 1 time they pay back the 999 to make 1000 times the original bet, and break even. Either that, or not all the squares are the same size, and this square is less than 1/1000 of the circumference. One possible arrangement of the squares is as follows: There are 998 "normal" squares. (If the wheel is a meter in radius, this means each square can be half a centimeter wide.) There is 1 "golden" square. There is a Mage's Prize half-square. Next to it is an empty half-square. Bets and odds: You can place a bet on the golden square coming up. If it does, it pays off at 1000 to 1. There should be a house maximum on the bet to be placed here. (It doesn't matter what -- the house should simply be able to cover paying it off.) Ironically, this square has the best odds -- the house only makes money on it by luring customers to bet on other squares, buy drinks, etc. Betting on this square all the time would let you break even... if you could survive winning just once in every 1000 spins. Any basher trying this with a few coins in his pocket will go broke. You can bet on the Mage's Prize. Since the odds of this square coming up are 1 in 2000, with a minimum bet of 10gp the house can afford to offer Mage's Prizes below 20,000gp in value. (This covers almost all wands and some nice rings.) The house might take only one person's bet per spin on the Mage's Prize, or a maximum number per spin based on the number of prizes they can pay off. Half the "normal" squares are colored red, and the other half are black. You can bet on "red" or "black" and have them pay off at 15 to 10, or even 18 to 10, and the house still makes plenty on the bets. Scattered among the squares are some denoted with faction symbols. You can bet on a given faction coming up. These pay off at varying amounts. If the empty half-square comes up, the house collects all bets. Resolving in-game: Roll d10 and note the results in order for 1d1000 (hundreds, tens, ones). On 000, roll d6. On 1, 2, or 3, the Mage's Prize came up. On 4, 5, or 6, the house empty square came up. On 999, the golden square came up. On any even number other than 000, the red squares pay off. (At 15 to 10, the player keeps his bet and collects another half of whatever he bet, so if he bet a gold piece he would walk away from the table with a gold and 5 silvers.) On any odd number other than 999, the black squares pay off. If you'd like to let players bet on factions (probably the pre-FW factions, the joint doesn't strike me as the kind to change the wheel), there are a lot of ways to do it. The simplest is to list all the old factions, assigning them numbers from 0 to 14. Assign 0 to the Dead, 1 to the Sign of One, and 15 to the Fraternity of Order, as my personal preference, but it's up to you. After you roll, if you didn't get 000 or 999, divide the result by 15 and check the remainder against the list of factions. Pay off at 10 to 1. (Add 9 times the player's bet, or simply change his coinage up to the next type: if he bet 1 gold, he walks away with 1 platinum.) Of course, that rule has all the factions running around the wheel in the same repeated pattern. For some alternatives: If the number is divisible by 15 (and not 000), the Fraternity of Order came up. Pay off at 10 to 1. If the number is divisible by 10 but not by 15 (the ones digit is 0 and the first two digits don't make a number divisible by 3), the Red Death came up. Pay off at 10 to 1. If the number is 222, 333, 444, 666, 777, or 888, the Hardheads came up. Pay off at 2 to 1. Hardheads don't gamble much. If the number is 1, 11, or 111, the Sign of One came up. Pay off at 111 to 1. Generate 29 random numbers before play that aren't any of those above. These are the Xaositects. Pay off at 20 to 1. If the number has two of the same nonzero number on either side and a different one in the middle, the Revolutionary League came up. Pay off at 10 to 1. If this number is also one of those described above, pay off that bet as well. Other factions if you care to work them up.
#5 Cyriss Feb 28, 2007 20:20:44	Wow, you came up with an entire system here. Nice. My heads spinning from all the numbers :P There's some good ideas thrown into it to spice it up, nice. Thanks!