• Getting Started

  Dungeons and Deuces is a free roleplaying game that uses regular playing cards to resolve encounters. The core game mechanics are similar to a game of Poker, and drawing encounters is based on Blackjack. The result is an easy-to-learn game that balances luck and strategy. Intended for 3-4 Players, but may be played with 2 or 5.

  • The Game Master (GM) and each Player need their own Deck of standard playing cards.

  • • Remove Jokers from all decks and shuffle them.

   

  

  • At least 1 Deck of Enemies (printed from our site)

  • • Print and cut an Enemy Set page twice to create a deck.
  • Optional: The GM also may use an additional Deck of playing cards as the “Loot Deck.” See the Loot section below for more details.
    • This Deck is optional but recommended; otherwise you will need pencil and paper.

  

  • Optional: Class Cards (printed from our site), important resource for new Players.
    • Players pick a Class and start at Level 1.
    • See the Leveling Up section for more information.
    • There are many Classes to choose from, some conventional and others unique, such as the Broker (pictured: right).

  

• Target Difficulty

  Enemy difficulty is displayed on each enemy card.

  Total difficulty is the sum of enemy difficulties.

  Target difficulty varies based on player count.

  • 1 Player = 5
  • 2 Players = 10
  • 3 Players = 15
  • 4 Players = 20*
    • 4 Players may require the GM to use 2 Decks of cards
  • Encounter Difficulty = The Difficulty of all Enemies Drawn added up

  

  Enemy difficulty is displayed by a large number near the top right of the card. The Werewolf has a difficulty of 5.

  RESULTS

  

  This example uses a two-player party, with a Target Difficulty of 10.

  • If Encounter Difficulty is LESS than Target Difficulty

  • • Players go first (no Initiative Draw required)
  • If Encounter Difficulty is EQUAL to Target Difficulty
    • Players go first (no Initiative Draw required)
    • Treasure: The cost of Loot is reduced by one card at the end of the Encounter (explained in Loot section)
  • If Encounter Difficulty is GREATER than Target Difficulty

  

  The Encounter Difficulty is exactly 10. For a 2-Player game, this would mean Players go first and the cost of Loot is reduced by one card.

  • • Treasure: The cost of Loot is reduced by one card at the end of the Encounter
    • Initiative Draw: GM and a Player Draw the top card from their Decks. The side with the higher value card goes 1st. Return cards to the bottom of the Decks. Players Win on Ties

• Encounter Setup

  PLAYERS

  • Each player draws a set number of regular playing cards from their personal deck. Initially, Players draw a 6 card Hand. At Level 3 and above, Players draw a 7 card Hand.
  • Players must Discard if their Hand-size exceeds 10 cards at any time
  • If a Player has no Discard Pile, they must Draw and Discard the top card from their Deck

  

  This Level 1 player begins with a strong 5 card Hand, featuring trip 10s and a Queen high card.

  ENEMIES

  • GM Draws Enemy Cards 1 at a time
    • Keep Drawing until the Encounter Difficulty is within 3 of the Target Difficulty
    • Like Blackjack, Players choose to have the GM Draw an additional Enemy Card or Stay
    • Draw Hands for each of the Enemies as indicated by their Enemy Cards
      • Enemies begin with Basic Abilities and gain their Elite ability when marked ELITE
        • They remain Elite at Levels higher than when they become Elite
      • The Level of the Enemies is equal to the current Player Level
    • Each of these Enemies is treated as its own separate Hand

  

  Each Enemy has their own Hand, drawn by the GM and spread face down in front of their card. The number of cards in the Enemy's initial Hand changes based on their Level. Here, the Level 1 Manticore has a Hand of 4 cards.

• Targeting and Turn Order

  TURN ORDER

  • There are two sides to every conflict: Players and GM
  • Every Entity or Player on a side gets to Attack and/or use Abilities before it becomes the other side’s turn.
  • Turn order is decided by the Players or GM (in the case of Enemies) and may change each turn.
  • Any Player, or any Enemy controlled by the GM, may choose not to take action during their side's turn.

  TARGETING

  • Each Player can choose which Enemy to target for Attack.
  • The GM must target the Player with the highest card on top of their Discard Pile for Attack.
    • This card is referred to as the Player’s Threat Card
      • If cards of the same value, targeting is at GM’s discretion
    • GM may target a Player’s controlled Entities (pets) rather than the Player
  • Enemy Abilities may be used on any Player of the GM’s choice.

  

  Players Draw cards from their Deck, which is kept face down, and Discard into their Discard pile, which is kept face up. Here, the Player's Threat Card is 10.

• Combat

  THE ATTACKER

  • Can play a Single, Pair, Triple, Four of a Kind, or 5-card Poker Hand
  • Can Attack with a valid hand of ANY size, regardless of how many cards the target has remaining. If the target cannot Defend (due to lack of cards), then the target is Defeated.
  • Players may use an Ability and/or Attack once on their turn unless the Ability reads "Instead of Attacking," in which case the Ability can only be used in place of 1 Attack.
    • If the Player can Attack 2 or more times thanks to the effect of another Ability, only 1 Attack is consumed when using the “Instead of Attacking” Ability.

  • Can skip turn if desired

  THE DEFENDER

  • Must match the Hand Played in number of cards. (Unless otherwise stated)
    • A Single may only be successfully countered with a Single of equal or greater value, a Pair with a Pair, a Triple with a Triple, a Four of a Kind with a Four of a Kind, or a 5 card hand with a 5 card Hand.

  

  Abilities marked as "Disrupt" can be used at any time, even when it is not your turn.

  • • If you can’t Defend the amount of cards Played with a valid Hand, you must still Play an equal amount of cards, but you can’t Tie or Win regardless of the value of cards Played.

  • All cards Played are Discarded (unless otherwise stated).

  EVALUATION

  • For Singles, Pairs, Triples, and Four of a Kinds, only the value of the cards matters.
    • Cards may exceed the value of an Ace with Abilities or Loot.
    • Examples: a 7 beats a 6; a Queen beats a Jack; an Ace beats a King
    • Suits don’t matter
  • 5 Card hands are decided by Poker rules.
    • 4 of a kinds CANNOT be Defended by 5 card Hands
    • Suits don't matter
  • Wild Cards or value adjustments take effect BEFORE combat is resolved and may be chained.
  • Abilities can raise a card’s value higher than Ace.

  

  If Attacked with a Single Ace, Player cannot beat it despite having Trip 10s. Defending must always be done with the same number of cards used by the Attacker.

  RESOLUTION

  • The winner of a Combat hand Draws cards equal to the amount of cards that he/she Played.
  • If Combat is a Tie, BOTH the Attacker and Defender Draw as if they'd Won unless otherwise stated by an Ability
    • Both Wins and Ties are considered success in Combat for Drawing purposes

  

  The Player has a 5 of Hearts Epic Tier Loot card, so the 5 of Hearts in his Hand is Wild. Player can turn it into an Ace to complete a Full House with Aces over 10s.

  VICTORY & DEFEAT

  • A Player or Enemy is Defeated when they have no cards left.
    • Player/Enemy controlled-entities are NOT Defeated when their master is Defeated
  • If all Players are Defeated, they must shuffle their Discard Piles back into their Decks.
  • Upon Victory all remaining cards left in players’ hands are Discarded.
    • Remember to finish battles and draw to the end – this is XP after all!
  • If the last remaining Player is Defeated at the same time as the last enemy, Players Win
  • If any Player goes through their entire Deck, the entire party Levels Up! See the section titled "Leveling Up" for more details.

• Enemy Types

  BASIC

  • Can only use the Basic (top) Ability
  • Cannot Attack with 4 or 5 Card hands.

  ELITE

  • May use both Basic and Elite (bottom) Abilities
  • Cannot Attack with 4 or 5 Card hands.

  BOSS

  • May use both Basic and Elite Abilities
  • CAN Attack with 4 or 5 Card hands.

  EXAMPLE

  • The Werewolf (right) becomes Elite at Level 3 and a Boss at Level 5
  • The Werewolf can use Friend Bite (top) as Basic and Carnivore (bottom) as Elite and Boss

  

• Loot

  LOOT DECK

  • The Loot Deck is a normal deck of playing cards used in addition to other decks

  • Whenever a Player receives Loot, they draw a card from the Loot Deck
  • The card that was drawn now has new properties according to its Tier for this Player
  • If you don't have an extra Loot Deck, shuffle the GM deck, Draw a card, and make note of which card is Drawn on a piece of paper.
  • Loot cards are placed next to the Player’s Deck face-up as a reminder
  • Using Loot – Whenever you draw a card from your Deck through the normal flow of the game that corresponds to a Loot card that you own, that card gains special properties.
    • These special properties vary dependent on the Tier of the Loot...

  TIERS

  1. Common – The card may be played as itself or 1 value higher.
  2. Rare – The card counts for two its kind (may be played as a Pair by itself or with other cards).
  3. Epic – WILD! The card can count as any card.
     1. Keep track of Tiers however you’d like – location, orientation, etc…

  

  One possible method to keep track of Loot. Players can also use a pencil and paper if they so desire.

  

  HOW TO GET LOOT

  • At the End of an encounter Loot is given to Players according to the number of 2s in their Hands.
    • Pair of 2s = Common
    • Three 2s = Rare
    • Four 2s = Epic
  • Players can only have up to 5 pieces of loot at once, but they can trade up for improvements
    • Trade 2 Commons for 1 Rare
    • Trade 2 Rares for 1 Epic

• Leveling Up

  When any Player goes through their entire Deck, all Players Level Up!

  • Every Player places all remaining cards in their Decks, if any, into their Discard Piles and then reshuffles; this is their new Deck
  • At Level 3, Players' Initial Draw Size increases to 7.
  • Each Level also grants access to new Abilities as described on each Class Card.
  • IMPORTANT - Players do not Level Up until Combat is resolved. The Player that runs through their Deck, if in the middle of Combat, should:
    • Shuffle their Discard Pile
    • Draw a new Threat Card
    • Continue to use their Deck as normal
  • OPTIONAL - For a faster-paced game, level up after every Encounter.

  

• Additional Rules

  ORDER OF OPERATIONS

  • Abilities, Attacks, and Defenses all occur in the order that they were presented.
    • Abilities marked (Disrupt) have the capacity to change or prevent the last action taken.
  • You may not blurt out an action while another Player or the GM is in the middle of performing an action. So once the intent has been declared, nothing can occur before that action is presented except a Disrupt Ability.

  MISCELLANEOUS RULES

  • Players may GUARD instead of Attacking or using an Ability during their turn
    • Guard allows the Player to Discard a card of their choosing and then draw a new card from the top of their Deck
  • Add/subtract from Target Difficulty to adjust Difficulty
  • Players may trade Loot with each other
  • Feel free to allow a single Player to play 2 or 3 Classes – the game works best with 2-3 characters playing, although certain characters can do well alone.

  FOLDING

  Being a punching bag is not a whole lot of fun, and an experienced GM will know when he or she is beaten, so feel free to concede an Encounter to the Players by Folding.

  • A GM can Fold at any time

  • Players may Draw cards equal to the number of cards that the Enemies had left when the GM Folds. This is to ensure they receive an appropriate amount of experience and chance for Loot

  CUSTOM ABILITIES

  • Each Player chooses a Custom Ability at the beginning of the game
  • Place the Custom Ability card beneath your Class card so that only the chosen ability is visible.
  • Now your character can use that ability as instructed for the remainder of the game.
  • See the Classes section to view Custom Abilities.

  

  Custom Abilities add an extra layer of complexity, and fun!, to the game.

"I WANT IT ALL!" DOWNLOAD THE BASIC GAME AND GET STARTED!

DOWNLOAD ENEMY PACKS, OR CREATE YOUR OWN!

DOWNLOAD CLASS PACKS, CUSTOM ABILITIES, OR CREATE YOUR OWN!

DOWNLOAD SAMPLE TRADITIONAL QUESTS!

  Class Select

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