At some point in D&D history, casino dungeons were a surprising novelty. Players who were used to ruined temples and trap-laden castles probably gasped in delight at the vibrant new wallpaper pasted on top of their dungeon crawl. Glitzy gambling games and a new way to rob monsters of their riches? How unique! These days, though, a Dungeons and Dragons casino makes me want to roll my eyes, not my dice.
The idea is simply overdone at this point. Since 2023, Wizards of the Coast has released five DnD campaigns and adventure anthologies, and three of those books featured casinos. If you go back further in the history of DnD books, the concept is mercifully less frequent – but I’m going to be very disappointed if I see another casino in 2025’s limited roster of book releases.
Beyond its lack of originality, the D&D casino facilitates gameplay that can, at best, be described as dull. Mechanically, most gambling minigames boil down to ‘roll one or more dice, and if the roll is high enough, you win some money’. For example, here’s the game ‘Life and Death’ from Keys from the Golden Vault:
“To play, each player places a bet; once bets have been placed, the house and the players each roll a d20. If a player rolls lower than the dealer, the house wins. A player who rolls higher than the dealer reclaims the money they bet and wins that same amount from the house.
A player who ties with the house has two options: the player can surrender and lose half their bet, or the player can “go to war,” in which case the player must double their bet, and then the player and dealer both roll again.
When a player wins a roll of life and death, they can opt to push their luck on their next bet. In this case, they bet everything they won on the last roll (their ante plus the winnings from the house). If they win, the house pays double their bet.”
Some common games of chance add extra steps and DnD skill checks. Three-Dragon Ante (the in-universe equivalent of poker) has players roll a pool of dice and reveal them one by one to introduce an element of bluffing. Other games may have players roll Intelligence to secure a victory or Sleight of Hand to successfully cheat.
Rather than interesting complexity, adding more dice rolls to the formulae of “roll good, get cash” tends to feel cumbersome. Generally, I think less is more in a D&D minigame – but without interesting stakes or actions to perform, even simple games can feel pointless.
Case in point: gambling games are boring as hell to describe. As far as descriptions go in D&D, sitting quietly and sneaking cards out of your sleeve doesn’t rank among the most exciting. There are only so many ways you can narrate your dismay at losing to a slot machine.
Surely, then, the solution is to play an actual gambling game? With so many dice at your disposal, you’re more than able to play a round of Craps or Liar’s Dice. There’s even a real version of Three-Dragon Ante you can buy and play at your table with actual cards. Dice rolls and descriptions are substituted for an actual tactile experience.
At this point, you’re not really playing D&D anymore. You’ve strayed so far from the rules that you’re in an entirely different dice game. Some people are fine with getting so drastically sidetracked, but I’m not a fan.
I’m also not keen on trying to roleplay a character while playing a real game of chance or bluff. My DnD Warlock may have an astronomical Charisma score, but my real-life poker face is pretty abysmal. Alternatively, I may be playing a DnD Rogue who’d use Sleight of Hand to cheat at every turn, but I myself don’t have the dexterity (or bravery) to do so. My actual actions are antithetical to the character I’m trying to play.
I’m not against minigames in D&D altogether, but I have very specific criteria for them. They must be a novel concept that’s interesting to describe; they must be relatively simple to avoid getting bogged down in unnecessary crunch; and they must further the party’s interests in some way.
Rolling dice for the sake of rolling dice, with no clear purpose and no interesting descriptions, feels like a waste of time. Maybe someone will invent a gambling minigame that changes my mind – but don’t bet on it.
If you want to check the odds of Wizards publishing another casino dungeon, check out this year’s DnD release schedule. Or, if you’re itching to join a game, here are the DnD classes and DnD races you’ll need to choose from.
Source: Wargamer
