Gambling
Gambling is a finer racket. Gambling is irresistible to many people, and the
swindler loves to take advantage of this weakness. Every sort of gambling—dice,
coin-matching, the shell game, races and gladiatorial contests (the fantasy
equivalent of modern organized sports)—presents an opportunity for the swindler to
make a load of silver. A swindler needs gambling proficiency to work any of
the following scams, and any other character who makes a gambling proficiency
check will probably be wise to the swindler's tricks.
Dice Games: Dice-throwing developed in ancient times, and has remained popular since
(even into RPGs). An astute gambler understands the odds of winning in any dice
game, such as craps, and a skilled swindler knows how to rig the game in his
favor. Loaded dice (with imperceptibly rounded faces, or weighted pips, and so
forth) are one way, but the true master can even throw dice so that they will land
as he wishes. To do this trick, a swindler must make a successful pick pockets
roll, at -40%, for each die.
Coin Matching: Coin matching is a simple, age-old game, appearing in various forms since the
days of the pharaohs, and is simple to run a scam around.
The favorite variation for two swindlers working a sucker is "odd man wins";
Three coins are tossed, or revealed simultaneously (like the rock-paper-scissors
game). If two are heads or tails, and the other is the opposite, the holder of
the odd coin wins. If all three are the same, no one wins.
To set this up as a scam, there should be two swindlers. One plays the
steerer, gaining the confidence of the pigeon, while the other pretends to be a
foolish stranger. The steerer conspires with the real target, ostensibly to swindle
the money of the stranger, his true partner. In the course of the game, the
steerer winds up with all the money.
Of course, he's not able simply to share it with the pigeon, since they've
supposedly just pulled a fast one on the foolish stranger. They have instead
agreed beforehand to meet somewhere and share the spoils. Of course, the steerer
never shows up to share and the would-be con artist is left penniless.
Furthermore, since he was duped on account of his own greed, trying to do what was done to
him, he'll probably swallow his chagrin and never report the incident to the
local authorities!
The Shell Game: The shell game is another age-old classic. The swindler sets up at some
event, like a circus, fair, or even a busy street corner. He has a single pea and
three shells, which he rearranges. It is a test of observation, he says: Anyone
who can identify which shell covers the pea, after they've been shifted around,
will win whatever he bet. If he guesses wrong, he loses his money.
Someone takes on the challenge, and wins! Of course, this is an accomplice of
the shell man (known as a "capper"). The crowd thinks the swindler is playing
honestly. Then a real target places his bet. He, too, will win. The swindler
will nurse the target's self-confidence to raise the stakes, and then
(mysteriously!) the victim's powers of observation will decline, and he'll fail to spot the
right shell! This of course is done through sleight-of-hand. (To do it
unnoticed, the thief needs to make a successful pick pockets roll.)
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