Got a bit bored of the standard gambling games whenever my players entered a tavern looking to make yet another 2 gold. I've always fancied to build a proper minigame where players with any character build can use their favourite skills to play and it feel fair. So here's what I came up with!

Cardinals is a game originating in the taverns of Sigil. It is designed to be played quickly, often resolving in 10-15 minutes. Instead of cards or normal dice, you use items called "Boards". These are enchanted devices that act as your focus to channel through, and they take a character's mental energy and refract it into visible illusions. A board can be anything your character likes, and can say a lot about you, as can the illusions you create. The main goal of the game is to reduce your opponent's Life Points from 3 to 0 before they do yours.

The Setup

To play, each player needs:

• A "Board": The enchanted device used to play. It can be anything your players think of.
• 2d10 (Cardinal Dice): These represent the mental power available for the round.
• d20 (Skill Die): Used for the resolution roll.
• 3 Tokens: To represent your 3 starting Life Points.

The Mechanics

The game is played in rounds, with Phase A and Phase B so players take turns being the Attacker and Defender.

1. At the start of the round, both players roll their 2d10 Cardinal Dice simultaneously and leave them visible on the table.

2. The Attacker pushes one of their d10s forward to commit it to the attack. The Defender sees this and pushes one of their own Cardinal Dice forward to counter it.

3. Both players secretly pick a skill to channel through their Board, then reveal them simultaneously. You can only use each skill once in a single game before it is "burned" (making the maximum number of 8 rounds playable!).

4. The Clash: Here is how to rule the matchups on the fly. It's basically rock-paper-scissors, but based on the attribute/ability tied to the skill. Every attribute beats two other attributes, and loses to the remaining two (Constitution isn't used since it has no skills, we tried to make it work for the Barbarians sorry!).

• Strength beats Dexterity & Charisma. (Loses to Intelligence & Wisdom).
• Dexterity beats Wisdom & Charisma. (Loses to Strength & Intelligence).
• Intelligence beats Strength & Dexterity. (Loses to Wisdom & Charisma).
• Wisdom beats Strength & Intelligence. (Loses to Dexterity & Charisma).
• Charisma beats Intelligence & Wisdom. (Loses to Strength & Dexterity).

Effective Attack: Attacker adds their d10 + Skill Modifier + d20. Defender gets no bonus from their Cardinal Die, just their Skill Mod + d20

Normal Clash: An even matchup. Both players add their d10 + Skill Mod + d20

Ineffective Attack: Attacker gets no bonus from their Cardinal Die. Defender adds their d10 + Skill Mod + d20

Proficiency: If you are proficient with Cardinals, you can add your Proficiency Bonus (PB) to your dice total. If you aren't, you don't. This helps skill proficiencies actually matter and prevents any weird interactions.

5. Whoever has the higher total wins, with ties going to the Defender. If the Attacker's total is higher, the attack lands and the Defender loses 1 Life Point.

6. You then reverse roles for Phase B, and players must use the remaining d10 from their initial roll.

7. You start a new round, roll new Cardinal Die, and swap who goes first as attacker.

Variants

Threw in a bunch of variants too, like "Speed Cardinals" (or the Hive Hustle) which lasts only 3 rounds. There is also a sketchy "Blood Cardinals" variant where the Board draws upon the user's life force rather than mental stamina, and losing a round results in physical wounds.

Cardinal Matrix

Because the sub doesn't allow images (I think), I couldn't include the actual Cardinal Matrix table. We mapped out a whole thing so it's visually clear exactly how the 18 skills interact without having to do the attribute matchups in your head.

If you're a visual DM like me, the full matrix, a d20 table for generating random game boards ideas, and all the other lore we've written you can grab as a free PDF here.

Let me know what you and your players think if you give it a whirl!