Powershop

A modular mini-game for shopping scenes in RPGs

Setting:

The PCs are shopping at a market or bazaar. The GM has determined that the players will be able to buy what they are looking for, but would like to spice up the results of the shopping endeavor.

You Need:

• A Game Master
• Two or more Player Characters (PCs)
• A deck of playing cards

How to Powershop:

1. The GM will briefly determine determine whether any players have advantages or disadvantages during this shopping trip. An in character advantage for this shopping trip compared to the other PCs might be higher charisma, better haggling skill, more familiarity with this store, etc. A disadvantage might be poor personal hygiene, bigotry of the townspeople, low intelligence, etc. (This whole determination should take no more than two minutes, though the players are welcome to make suggestions during that time about who should get an advantage or disadvantage.)

2. The GM will deal one to three cards to each player. Players with an advantage receive three cards. Players with a disadvantage receive one card. Other players receive two cards.

3. Players all reveal their cards. The player with the highest spade or club (aces are high) successfully buys the most expensive item he wants to buy, and discovers that it is of unusually high quality. (The GM should give some small in-game bonus to this high quality item.)

• The player with the lowest spade or club, or with no spades or clubs, successfully buys the most expensive item he wants to buy, and discovers that it is of unusually low quality (with some related, small in-game penalty for its use.)
• The player with the highest heart or diamond successfully buys the most expensive item he wants to buy, and only has to spend 75% the list price.
• The player with the lowest heart or diamond, or no hearts or diamonds, can buy the most expensive item he wants to buy, but only if he is willing 125% of the list price. The item will not be available at a lower price anywhere else during this game session.

In the case of a tie between two players, both players receive the appropriate shopping benefit or penalty.

Underdog

A card game for 2-5 players

You Need:

• 2-5 Players
• One deck of cards shuffled

Each Round:

Deal five cards to each player. Players examine their cards, turn face cards and tens face up in front of them, and place one other card face down in front of them. (This other card is called your Underdog card.) All remaining cards are placed in one big pile in the middle of the table with everyone else’s extra cards. This pile is the “Big Dog.” (So you have your 10s, Jacks, Queens, and Kings in front of you, along with one other face down card of your choice. All the rest of your cards go with everyone else’s in the Big Dog pile.)

Each player must then say whether they think “Big Dog” or “Little Dog”  will win this round. Big Dog wins if the pile in the middle of the table totals higher. Little Dog wins if all the players’ face up cards plus your Underdog card totals higher.

All cards are turned face up, and the Big Dog and Little Dog are totaled.

• Face cards and 10s are worth ten points
• Aces are worth one point
• All other cards are worth their printed number

Note: Since your Little Dog is equals everyone’s face cards plus your Underdog card, it is possible that one player’s Little Dog may beat the Big Dog, and another player’s may not.

Scoring:

• If you correctly guessed the Big Dog would beat your Little Dog, you win points equal to the Big Dog.
• If you correctly guessed your Little Dog would beat the Big Dog, you win points equal to your Little Dog.

Bonus Points: Compare the suit of your Underdog card to the suits of the cards in the Big Dog. If your Underdog suit is the least common suit in the Big Dog, or if there are no cards in the Big Dog with a suit matching your Underdog, you win points equal to five times the number of people playing.

Next Round:

Shuffle all the cards and play again. Play for at least three rounds.

Note: for the first few rounds, while you are learning the game, it may be helpful to put all the face up cards together in a second pile. That way you are guessing whether the face down Big Dog pile is the strongest or the face up Little Dog pile plus your one hidden card is the strongest. In playtesting, this decreased the new players' confusion.