Games in Xesteria

Xesteria is home to several different types of games that are played throughout the kingdoms. This article contains all games that are well established across the world.

## Arcana

Arcana is a dice game popular with gamblers. In Arcana, players take turns rolling five dice. Each player can take up to three rolls per turn. On the second and third rolls, the player may hold back dice from the previous rolls in order to create better scoring combinations. At the end of the third roll, the player must enter a score into an open field on their scorecard. If the player cannot use their third roll in any scorecard field, they must enter a zero into an open field. The game ends after all players have three full turns. The player with the highest score wins. Points are decided based on the following roll results:

 Balance
 Chance
 Eye of the Beholder
 Full House
 Straight

If multiple players have the same score after all three turns, a tiebreaker round is initiated where each player rolls a six-sided die and adds the result to their score. If both players roll the same number in the tiebreaker round, then it continues until the tie is broken.

## Beastmaster

**Beastmaster** is a card game created by the high elf Faelias Chancewood in 225 AP. Beastmaster is played on a three-by-three (3x3) square grid that the players build as the game progresses. Each card has four numbers placed in top left corner; each number corresponds to one of the four sides of the card. These numbers range from one to nine.

In a basic game each player has six cards. A dice roll often decides who goes first. The player who wins the roll may places the first card that will make up the 3x3 grid, and the opposing player may in response play a card to the top, left, right, or bottom of the first game played. The game continues with players' turns alternating until a 3x3 grid has been formed.

To win, a majority of the total ten cards played must be of the player's card color. To do this, the player must capture cards by placing a card adjacent to an opponent's card whereupon the 'ranks' of the sides where the two cards touch will be compared. If the rank of the opponent's card is higher than the player's card, the player's card will be captured and turned into the opponent's color (decided by faux blue and red gemstones placed on the cards). If the player's rank is higher, the opponent's card will be captured and changed into the player's color instead. Capturing can only occur during that player's turn, and no other opponent can capture a card during said turn.

A draw occurs if the player and the opponent possess equal numbers of cards in their color on the board. Depending on card rules, this can be defined by a sudden death scenario where the first person to capture a card in a new game wins, or by playing until a winner is defined. The winner claims a prize of taking one or more of the loser's cards, depending upon the rules in effect.

## Episkkrig

Each player has three twenty sided dice. They each roll dice at the same time. The object is to roll the three dice and get as close to forty as possible. The player who is closest wins. They do not have to roll all three dice and can stop after rolling one or two provided they feel safe with their current number.

If a player rolls two of the same number, their total immediately counts as forty and the other player can then, at best, draw the game by managing to get forty as well. If both players stop on the same total, the winner is whichever player rolled fewer dice. If they have the same total and rolled the same number of dice, it is considered a draw.

## Killer Ones

Killer Ones is a game popular amongst adventurers and soldiers. Players shake a six sided die and slam it onto the table while saying the current round's letter. There are six rounds, with each round being a letter in the word "killer".

If you roll a 1, you're killed (eliminated from the game). If you did not roll a 1, the number on your die is added to your score. This continues for all six rounds (K-I-L-L-E-R) or until only one player is left. If more than one player is left alive after all six rounds, the player with the highest score wins.

## Liar's Dice

Five dice are used per player with dice cups used for concealment.

Each round, each player rolls a "hand" of dice under their cup and looks at their hand while keeping it concealed from the other players. The first player begins bidding, announcing any face value and the minimum number of dice that the player believes are showing that value, under all of the cups in the game. Ones are often wild, always counting as the face of the current bid.

Turns rotate among the players in a clockwise order. Each player has two choices during their turn: to make a higher bid, or challenge the previous bid—typically with a call of "liar". Raising the bid means either increasing the quantity, or the face value, or both, according to the specific bidding rules used. There are many variants of allowed and disallowed bids; common bidding variants, given a previous bid of an arbitrary quantity and face value, include:

* The player may bid a higher quantity of any particular face, or the same quantity of a higher face (allowing a player to "re-assert" a face value they believe prevalent if another player increased the face value on their bid);
* The player may bid a higher quantity of the same face, or any particular quantity of a higher face (allowing a player to "reset" the quantity);
* The player may bid a higher quantity of the same face or the same quantity of a higher face (the most restrictive; a reduction in either face value or quantity is never allowed).

If the current player challenges the previous bid, all dice are revealed. If the bid is valid (at least as many of the face value and any wild aces are showing as were bid), the bidder wins. Otherwise, the challenger wins. The player who loses a round loses one of their dice. The last player to still retain a die (or dice) is the winner. The loser of the last round starts the bidding on the next round. If the loser of the last round was eliminated, the next player starts the new round.

## Memory Dice

Two people compete to see who has the better memory. One player rolls 10 six-sided dice out of view from the other player. The rolls are quickly recorded and then the dice are shown to the other player for 3 seconds before they are wiped away. The second player must then recall as many of the dice as they can. The two roles are then reversed for the players in the second round.

After the two rounds are up, the player who remembered the most correct numbers wins.

## Sharpshooter

Six to ten players ante up (1-20 gold in casual games, 20-50 gold in serious games). All players roll 1d8. The player who rolls lowest is eliminated. If multiple players roll the same, they are all eliminated. If any player rolls a ten, they may choose to veto one elimination in favour of eliminating a player of their own choosing. Each round, the surviving players add their rolls to their total score.

The game ends after 5 rounds, and the player with the highest score wins. The game ends prematurely if there is only one player remaining.