The Old Mill is a simple tavern at the end of some docks that is popular because of its proximity with the docks where many workers go. It proudly serves five kinds of suds to patrons and features small stage and gambling tables around the room. It’s run by an ex-chef and his barkeep wife, Betsy (who doubles as The Mill’s bouncer).

The served suds are:

Bilgewater Brew

Dwarven Mist (light and refreshing)

Sturdyheart Stout

Orc Rudder

Ale. Just Ale.

The PCs found Neum here and asked him about a ship he might have available called The Falcon.

At The Mill there are three games of chance available to play:

The Queen’s Dirty Eye

Played in some of the shadier pubs where the Queen’s influence does not extend, The Queen’s Dirty Eye can be as vulgar a game as you wish. Depending on how badly they lose, sometimes players drop their trousers to show the table the Queen’s Dirty Eye, while other times the entire table just shouts it out and all take a drink. It’s a game played by those who fall through the cracks of society and people who toil every day of their lives. It’s played like this:

Everyone makes a wager and rolls 1d8 (record the number). They wager again and roll another 1d8 (record this number too). Now, they can sit on their total or roll again (winner is closest to, but not exceeding 15). If you roll over, you forfeit your wagers. The Queen’s Dirty Eye rears its head if anyone rolls a 1 at any time (the same result as rolling over 15). You lose all of your wagers if you roll a 1. The house wins draws.

Evens

A popular game in Kvothe’s betting halls is called Evens. It’s played like this:

Everyone playing bets any amount of money they’d like at the start of the turn. Dealer rolls 2d6. If numbers on both dice are even, betters double their wager. If the roll is double odds, the house keeps all bets. If the numbers are one odd and one even, everyone keeps their bets.

Betweens

Another popular game in Kvothe’s betting halls is called Betweens. It’s played like this:

Each player places a bet. Each player takes turns rolling 2d20 to create a spread from high to low. They then roll another d20 (preferably another colour dice). If this roll is between the original spread, they win 2x their wager. If the roll is outside the spread the house wins . The house also wins ties.

I also included the map that I used for the tavern in case you want to use it too! In the photo, all of the raised 2x2s are tables. The brown 2x2 at the right is a small stage (in case the party bard wanted to play), and the long strip of cardboard is the actual bar. There is a hard-to-see door open at the bottom of the image if you’re looking for it.

This was a great way to break up the action in Friday night’s game and everyone had fun counting money, placing bets, and interacting socially. In the end, the NPC they were meeting to talk about his boat ended up winning The Queen’s Dirty Eye and when he raised a glass to celebrate, dice fell out of his sleeve resulting in an epic bar brawl.

Extra fun: the NPC’s name was Neum and his boat was The Falcon. The Mill was at the end of the dock, they met Neum about The Falcon:

Mill end neum Falcon

My players are top-tier Star Wars nerds so I tossed in a secret word puzzle for them too. It never came up in the game at all, but I like to toss in secret references to engage them all on a meta level as well. Very few dice towers are built when everything is a clue. ;)

- Mathew out!

PS: if you right click the image above you can view it in a new tab in it’s full-size glory. :)