Dwarven Four-Cards

Dwarven Four-Cards, also known as Barad's Skull, Dwarven Skull, or simply Skull, is a card and bluffing game originating from the highlands of Ûrad-Dum.

[A/N: Dwarven Four-Cards is based on the real-world game of *Skull*, sometimes *Skull and Roses*]

## Gameplay

Barad's Skull is played with a specialized set of four cards: three plain non-lethal cards, and one lethal card referred to as a *Skull*. Play might feature any number of players, though three to six is standard. Each player has their own set of four-cards.

Players start by putting down one of their cards face-down on the table. A first player is determined at random. Players then take turns, starting with the first player and moving clockwise around the table. On their turn, a player can either put down another card, or start the betting. Players bet on the number of cards they can reveal (turn over) without hitting a Skull. Once the betting starts, players can no longer put down cards. Instead, they may raise the bet or pass. If they pass they are out of the round.

Once every player but one has passed, that player must prove their bet. They start with revealing all of their own cards, and may then turn over single cards of opponents. They do this until either they make the bet, having revealed no Skull, or until they have hit a Skull, in which case they lose the round. If a player makes their bet, they take one point. If a player has hit a Skull, in addition to losing the round they must discard one of their cards, face-down, usually to the center of the table. When a player discards their last card they are out of the game. Whether a player made or lost the bet, they now become the first player for the new round.

Play continues this way until either all players are out of the game, or one player has amassed a total of two points.

## Cards

Sets of Dwarven four-cards come in many different shapes and sizes. No standardized set exists, and players are usually expected to bring their own set of four-cards to a game. Most taverns or inns have sets behind the counter available to borrow or rent for a night. These are usually of lower quality, having been used and worn, and often stained with alcohol.

Common sets feature runes, coins or flowers as non-lethal cards. Others feature gems, birds or ships. Plain cards with no illustrations and a single black mark for a Skull are also common. Pricier sets often include Skulls that recreate an image of deceased Dwarf monarch or other influential person. Highly detailed sets might have been carefully illustrated by an artist, and feature one who ordered it made as the face of the Skull card.

## Variants

A standard set of playing cards might be used to replace the specialized Dwarven four-cards. In that case players are dealt one card of each suit of the deck, and one suit of the deck will be the designated Skull-suit.

An alternate rule of Barad's Skull is that instead of choosing which card to discard, the player discards randomly. Usually the player whose Skull was turned over gets to pick a card from a face-down hand.

Another alternate rule states that, instead of becoming the first player when they hit a Skull, the player whose Skull was turned over becomes first player. This is a common rule used in most tavern plays.

Players might choose to not end a game when a player amasses two points, instead opting to play for coin. Players usually agree on a common ante, and pay extra to the pot when they fail their bet. Often a player that then makes a bet gets to keep the pot.