Knucklebones is a dice game which originated in Balic in ancient times and soon spread throughout the Tablelands. It remains most popular in its home city-state, but almost any knowledgeable gambler will have some experience with it.

The pieces were originally made from the knucklebones of carru or sygra, but most modern "bones" are carved tetrahedrons (four-sided pyramids) made from ivory, bone, wood, baked clay, carved stone (marble, sandstone, and the like) or (rarely) bronze.

Each side of the knucklebone has a symbol on it, and each symbol is worth 1, 2, 3, or 4 points. Four bones are tossed onto a gaming table or the ground, and the throw that adds up to the highest total wins. If there is a tie, poker-like rules prevail (see below); that is, a triple beats a pair, but two pair beat a triple. The combinations called King, Cleric, Kes'trekel, and Kank have special meanings, explained below.

Players begin the game with a "purse" or fixed amount of bits, usually ten or twenty bits apiece. The amount is set at the start of the game. The game is played until one player has all the bits, or until mutual consent or violence ends the game. Any player with an empty purse at the end of a round is out of the game.

Players bet a fixed amount every round, as in poker. This amount is called the "stake." Bones are thrown in rounds; the first thrower in a round sets the stake, and each player adds that amount to a pile in the center of the table (the "pot"). Then the bones pass around the group clockwise until everyone has thrown once, at which point the scores are tallied, the bets are paid out, and the round is over. The first thrower in a round may raise or lower the stake as he pleases; game etiquette asks that the stake increase or at least hold steady from round to round, but it's not a hard and fast rule (though dropping the stake can result in a fight if the thrower isn't careful).

The person with the highest roll wins, and the winner claims the pot. Ties are broken by checking matching numbers: two pair beats three-of-a-kind beats one pair. If the tie can't be broken, the tying players split the winnings, with odd bits staying in the pot for the next round.

Anyone throwing the Kes'trekel takes his current bet back into his purse, but he must bet 4 times the current stake on the next round. Kanks not only lose the current bet, but require the player to put his entire purse in the pot on the next round. The Cleric is a wild throw; any player throwing a Cleric folds out of this round, neither losing nor claiming any bits. The player throwing a King takes all. The King ends the game—he gets the current bet, the purses, everything.

SCORING:

Roll	Score	Value (in case of a tie)
1,2,3,4	King -- all four bones with different sides. Winner take all; game over.
4,4,4,3	15	Triple
4,4,4,2	14	Triple
4,4,3,3	14	Two Pair
4,4,4,1	13	Triple
4,4,3,2	13	One Pair
4,4,2,2	12	Two Pair
4,4,3,1	12	One Pair
4,4,2,1	11	One Pair
3,3,3,2	11	Triple
4,4,1,1	10	Two Pair
3,3,2,2	10	Two Pair
3,3,3,1	10	Triple
3,3,2,1	9	One Pair
3,2,2,1	8	One Pair
3,3,1,1	8	Two Pair
2,2,2,1	8	Triple
3,2,1,1	7	One Pair
2,2,1,1	6	Two Pair
3,1,1,1	6	Triple
2,1,1,1	5	Triple
4,x,x,x	Cleric -- a single four and anything, fold out.
4,4,4,4	Kes'trekel -- all bones the same, lose your stake, quadruple the current stake next round.
3,3,3,3	Kes'trekel -- all bones the same, lose your stake, quadruple the current stake next round.
1,1,1,1	Kank -- all bones the same, lose your stake, put your entire purse in the pot next round.

AD&D NOTES:

If you'd like to play knucklebones around the gaming table, you can simulate the bones with four-sided dice, and bits with pennies or any other set of small, identical objects.

In real Balican-style play, a single set of bones would be used; since every player has to throw the same set of bones, the chance of cheating is reduced. However, in roleplaying the game, we've found it easier to remember the totals and compare the tie values if each player rolls his own set of four-siders, with everyone throwing simultaneously after the "first thrower" calls the stake. In this case, designate one player to be the "first thrower" at the beginning of the game (we suggest rolling off for it, with highest roll going first). From there, play proceeds normally, with the chance to set the stake passing around the table clockwise.