Burglar & The Dragon (wip)

You walk into the tavern and are hit by familiar sounds and smells: laughter and shouted conversation; stale beer and roasted potatoes. Behind the bar you see a tired looking human shuffling about, with more hair on his chin than on his head. A scattering of patrons briefly glance in your direction when they notice the door open before returning to their revelry. You see one particularly animated table near the crackling fire; they are playing Burglar and the Dragon, and there are empty seats. Do you sit down to play?

Burglar & The Dragon (or simply Burglar is some circles) is a game of chance played in taverns across the lands. It was first made popular by the disgraced paladin Willas Vere, remembered more for his gambling addiction than his heroic deeds. The game is played with 2 six-sided dice on a 3x3 gridded playing board. Players take turns rolling dice, and placing and coins on the grid or taking them.

What you need:

• 2 six-sided dice.
• Coins or tokens to track them, such as poker chips or the teeth of your enemies.
• A 3x3 gridded playing board, like a tic-tac-toe board. It can be a holoprojection, a crude carving on a wooden table, or 9 red plastic cups arranged in a square. Just make sure the center position of the grid is big enough to hold a fistful of tokens, or a few days’ wages.

How to play:

Starting the game

The Tokens

Each player should have a number of tokens equal to the number coins they are willing to wager over the course of the game. Or give each player 20 tokens.

The Board

Number each grid space 3 through 11 with 7 in the center space. The center space is called the Dragon’s Hoard, the outer spaces are the Coffers.

Turn Order

If starting a new game each player rolls one die, highest goes first and play moves to the left. If the highest roll ties then have a roll-off.

If joining an ongoing game take an empty seat and play when your turn comes around.

On your turn

Roll 2 dice and add them together, then act based on the result:

• on a 3 through 6 or 8 through 11 (Coffers): If the Coffer that matches the number rolled is empty pay a token into it. If there is already a token in that coffer collect it. There should never be more than 1 token in a Coffer.
• on a 7 (Dragon’s Hoard): Add one token to the Dragon’s Hoard. There is no limit to the number of tokens in this space.
• on a 2: Collect all the tokens that are in the Coffers.
• on a 12: Collect all the tokens that are in the Dragon’s Hoard.

Play continues to the left.

Ending the game

When you are out of tokens you are out of the game. You can also leave earlier to avoid going broke, but once you leave a game you cannot return to that same game until after the next sunrise.

If only one player remains they close the game by collecting any remaining tokens from the board.

Licensing

Burglar & The Dragon © 2023 by Joey V is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Treasure Trove spot illustration by Stoneshore

Grid designed with Dungeon Scrawl

Inspired by Dragon and the Thief by Raging Swan Press