The Red Dragon Inn: Gambling? I'm In! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Getting Started
• On Your Turn
  • 1. Discard and Draw
  • 2. Action
  • 3. Order a Drink
  • 4. Drink
  • Ending Your Turn
• Sometimes and Anytime Cards
• Losing the Game
  • Running Out of Gold
  • Passing Out
• Gambling
  • Ending the Round
  • Winning Hand!
  • Leaving a Round of Gambling
  • Forcing a Player to Leave a Round of Gambling
  • Gambling Example
  • Running out of Gold During Gambling
• More Drink Rules
  • Running Out of Drinks
  • Drink Events
  • Chasers
  • Discarding and Drawing
  • Drinks That Aren't Discarded
  • Ordering Additional Drinks
• Other Rules
  • Minimum and Maximum Fortitude, Alcohol Content, Gold
  • Cards That Affect Your Fortitude, Alcohol Content, Gold
  • Negate and Ignore Effects
  • Timing
  • "The Wench thinks you should stop playing with the drinks."
  • Splitting Drinks
  • Mead and Similar Drinks
  • Round on the House and A Toast to Villainy!
  • Drinking Contest
• Variants
  • The Bar Deck Variant
  • The Prize Variant

Object of the Game

Keep your Gold and stay conscious. If you run out of Gold, or if your Alcohol Content is ever greater than or equal to your Fortitude, you are out of the game!

Getting Started

Shuffle the 30-card Drink Deck and place it where everyone can reach it, leaving space for a discard pile next to it. (To use more than 30 Drink Cards in the game, see the Bar Deck Variant on page 13.)

Each player takes a player mat, a red marker, a clear marker, and one of the Character Decks.

Make sure that you are using a regular Character Deck that contains no Boss cards! Boss cards have a dragon head in the upper corners.

Shuffle your Character Deck and place it next to the space labeled Deck on your player mat. When you must discard Character Deck Cards, place them next to the space labeled Discard on your player mat.

Take 10 Gold. This is your "Stash." (For games with 2 players, take 8 Gold instead. For games with 7 or more players, take 12 Gold instead.) Put the extra Gold to the side. This is the "Inn."

Place the red marker on the 20 on your player mat. This is your Fortitude. Place the clear marker on the 0 on your player mat. This is your Alcohol Content.

Take a card from the Drink Deck and place it face down next to the space labeled Drink Me! This is your Drink Me! Pile. Do not look at the cards in your Drink Me! Pile yet.

Draw the top seven cards from your Character Deck. This is your hand. You may look at these cards, but you must keep them hidden from the other players.

Some characters come with special tokens or a secondary deck. Shuffle the latter if so instructed. For example, Molly comes with a secondary deck of Stable Cards, while Amundyr comes with Scarab tokens.

Choose someone to go first.

On Your Turn

Your turn consists of four Phases, which must be played in order: Discard and Draw, Action, Order a Drink, Drink.

1. Discard and Draw

You may discard any cards from your hand that you do not want and then draw from your Character Deck until you are holding seven cards. You may not play any cards or effects until you have finished drawing cards.

If you draw the last card from your Character Deck, shuffle your discarded Character Cards and put them back on the Deck space on your player mat.

If you are holding seven or more cards you may opt to keep all of them and draw no new cards.

2. Action

You may play one Action Card. To play an Action Card, read the title of the card out loud, give other players a chance to respond to the card, then follow any instructions on the card and discard it next to the Discard space on your player mat.

If you play a "Gambling? I'm in!" card, you start a Round of Gambling (see "Gambling" on page 4 for more details).

If you cannot or do not want to play an Action Card, you don't have to.

3. Order a Drink

Take the top card from the Drink Deck and place it face down, without looking at it, on top of any other player's Drink Me! Pile.

If the Drink Deck runs out of cards, each player must pay the tavern 1 Gold to serve up a new round of Drinks. (See "More Drink Rules" on page 6 for details.)

4. Drink

Reveal the top card of your Drink Me! Pile, follow the instructions on the card and place it in the Drink Deck discard pile. Some of the instructions on Drink Cards are represented by icons:

• Gain [X] Alcohol Content
• Gain [X] Fortitude
• Add a Chaser (see "Chasers" on page 6)
• Lose [X] Fortitude

If you don't have any cards in your Drink Me! Pile when you have to drink, you start to sober up; reduce your Alcohol Content by one.

Ending Your Turn

After your Drink Phase, the player to your left goes next.

Sometimes and Anytime Cards

Sometimes Cards can only be played under certain conditions. Each Sometimes Card tells you when it can be played in its text.

Some Sometimes Cards allow you to Negate or Ignore another card. These cards are described under "Negate and Ignore Effects" on page 8.

You may play multiple Sometimes Cards in response to the same game event, even if they are multiple copies of the same card. However, you must play the cards one at a time and give your opponents an opportunity to respond to each one.

Anytime Cards may be played at any time, even if they interrupt another action.

Relevant Sometimes and Anytime Cards may be played in any phase of a turn, either before or after the special action for that phase. For example, you may play an Anytime Card during your Discard and Draw Phase before you discard and draw.

If two or more players would like to play Sometimes or Anytime Cards at the same time, see "Timing" on page 9.

Losing the Game

Running Out of Gold

If you run out of Gold, you lose your place at the table and are on dish duty for the rest of the night. You are out of the game.

Passing Out

If your Alcohol Content is ever greater than or equal to your Fortitude, you fall unconscious and the remaining staff drags you to your room to sleep it off. Your Gold is divided between the Inn and any players still in the game. Split your Gold in half. One half, rounded up, goes to the Inn. What's left gets split evenly among the remaining players, with any remainder going to the Inn. You are out of the game.

If you run out of Gold or pass out, you don't lose immediately. First, finish resolving any cards that have been played but have not yet resolved. After these cards resolve, you have one last chance to play Sometimes or Anytime Cards to save yourself or attack others. If you can't save yourself, then you're out of the game.

If you have any cards in your Drink Me! Pile when you lose, put them in the Drink Deck discard pile.

It is possible for multiple players to lose at the same time. If this happens, first determine which players are passing out. Each of those players divides their Gold among the players who aren't passing out, as described above. After this, if any players have no Gold, they lose the game as well. This means that if one player passes out and another runs out of Gold simultaneously, the player who is running out of Gold could be saved by getting a share of the Gold from the other player!

If all remaining players would lose the game simultaneously, the game is a tie between those players.

Gambling

When a player plays "Gambling? I'm in!" as their Action, this starts a Round of Gambling.

When a Round of Gambling begins, normal play is suspended and each player must ante 1 Gold, putting it in the middle of the table (making sure not to get it confused with the Inn's Gold).

The player who started the Round of Gambling is currently winning ("in control" of the Round).

Play proceeds clockwise around the table from the player who started the Round. On your turn you may either play a Gambling or Cheating Card or pass.

Play a Gambling or Cheating Card: Playing either of these two types of card gives you control of the Round of Gambling. The card you play may have other effects, as well.

Pass: You may choose to pass instead of playing a card. You may pass even if you have a Gambling or Cheating Card that you could play (and it is often correct to do so!) If you pass, you are still in the Round of Gambling and may play Gambling or Cheating Cards later in the Round, as long as the Round does not end first.

Ending the Round

If you play a Gambling or Cheating Card and everyone else passes, the Round of Gambling ends, and you win. Take all of the anted Gold and add it to your Stash.

As soon as the last player passes, the Round of Gambling ends immediately. You may not play cards that would affect the Round after this point unless the card explicitly states that you can. In particular, The Wench's "Oh, I guess I thought that was my tip…" may not be played after the last player has passed.

If a card effect says that you win the Round, the Round ends immediately, and you take the anted Gold.

When the Round of Gambling is over, normal game play resumes. The player who started the Round moves on to their Order a Drink Phase.

Winning Hand!

"Winning Hand!" is a special Gambling Card, because only Cheating Cards (and a few specific other cards) can be used to take control after it has been played. If "Winning Hand!" is played and it is followed by a Cheating Card, then any Gambling or Cheating Card can be played next. Just remember:

• A Cheating Card can be played after anything.
• A Gambling Card can be played after anything except a "Winning Hand!"

Leaving a Round of Gambling

Some cards allow you to leave a Round of Gambling. If you leave a Round of Gambling, you cannot play Gambling or Cheating Cards for the rest of that Round, but you may still play Sometimes or Anytime Cards. You are no longer affected by cards that require you to ante, such as "I raise!" Any Gold that you previously anted stays in the pot.

If you play a card that requires players to ante, then immediately leave the Round (for example, with "Gambling? I'm in!" followed by "I'm a little busy right now!"), then the Round proceeds normally, but currently has no winner. If the Round ends before any player takes control, all anted Gold goes to the Inn.

Forcing a Player to Leave a Round of Gambling

Some cards force a player to leave a Round of Gambling. When a player is forced out of the Round, each player, including the one being forced out, has a chance to respond—for example, with an anti-cheat card like Warthorn's "The Red Dragon Inn doesn't tolerate cheaters! (Usually.)".

If forcing a player out causes there to be only one player left in the Round, the Round of Gambling ends and the remaining player wins.

Gambling Example

On his turn, Warthorn plays "Gambling? I'm in!" to start a Round of Gambling.

The Wench plays "Wait a minute! Someone's playing with the drinks!" to leave the Round of Gambling. She does not have to ante, but she cannot play any Gambling or Cheating Cards for the rest of this Round.

Warthorn, Molly and Jasper each ante one Gold. Since Warthorn started the Round, he's winning (in control).

Molly goes next. She passes.

Jasper plays "I raise," a Gambling Card that forces all players in the Round to ante an additional Gold. Warthorn, Molly and Jasper each ante one more Gold (bringing the pot to 6 Gold). The "I raise" card also puts Jasper in control of the Round of Gambling, so he is now winning.

Warthorn plays "Winning Hand!" This is a special Gambling Card that can only be beaten by Cheating Cards. Warthorn is now winning.

Molly plays "Oops… I dropped my cards," a Cheating Card. Molly is now winning.

Jasper passes.

Warthorn plays "Gambling? I'm In!" In addition to starting a Round of Gambling, "Gambling? I'm in!" can be used during a Round to take control. Warthorn is now winning.

Molly passes and so does Jasper.

Warthorn wins the 6 Gold in the pot.

Running out of Gold During Gambling

If you run out of Gold during a Round of Gambling, you will remain in the game at least until the Round of Gambling ends, even if you leave the Round of Gambling or are forced out. Ignore any effects that force you to pay or ante Gold. If you do not win the Round of Gambling, you are out of Gold and out of the game!

If you play a card that would require players to ante, but you cannot ante (because you are out of Gold and cannot use a card like "Illusionary Coin"), then no player is required to ante.

More Drink Rules

Running Out of Drinks

When you reach the end of the Drink Deck, each player must pay one Gold to the Inn to get the tavern to bring more Drinks.

After each player pays one Gold, shuffle the discarded Drink Cards into a new Drink Deck. This happens instantly, so the Drink Deck is never out of cards. Drink Cards that have been put on Drink Me! Piles remain where they are.

Drink Events

Some cards in the Drink Deck are Drink Event Cards. If you reveal a Drink Event Card, follow the instructions on the card. Cards that affect Drink Cards do not affect Drink Event Cards unless they specifically say that they do so.

Chasers

If you reveal a Drink Card that has the phrase "with a Chaser" in the title and the "+" mug icon, reveal the next card from the deck from which you revealed the original Drink. If it's a Drink Card, add its effects to the original Drink. If it's another Drink with a Chaser, add its effects to the original Drink and continue this process.

If no cards remain in your Drink Me! Pile when you would reveal a Chaser from it, or if you reveal a Drink Event Card as your Chaser, there is no additional effect. Do not continue revealing cards. You do not sober up if your Drink Me! Pile runs out while revealing Chasers.

The Drink Deck is never out of cards, so if you run out of cards while revealing Chasers from the Drink Deck, follow the Running Out of Drinks rule and then continue revealing Chasers.

The original Drink and its Chasers all count as a single Drink. A card that allows you to Ignore a Drink will Ignore the original Drink and all of its Chasers.

No player may respond to a Drink until all of its Chasers have been revealed.

Chaser Example 1: Jasper drinks from his Drink Me! Pile and gets Halfling Stout with a Chaser. He reveals the next card on his Drink Me! Pile and gets Dragon Breath Ale. He adds the effects of both Drinks, for a total Alcohol Content of 6. Jasper plays "Not now. Gotta bounce!" to Ignore the Drink, so he gains no Alcohol Content.

Chaser Example 2: During a Drinking Contest, Warthorn reveals Light Ale with a Chaser from the top of the Drink Deck. He reveals the next card from the Drink Deck and gets Round on the House! Since Round on the House is a Drink Event Card, it has no effect as a Chaser. Warthorn gains 1 Alcohol Content.

Discarding and Drawing

Some Drinks cause you to draw cards, discard cards or reveal cards from your Character Deck. If a Drink includes multiple such effects due to Chasers or other effects added to the Drink, resolve them in the order of your choice. However, you must fully resolve one such ability before moving on to the next—you may not interrupt one ability to resolve another.

Drinks That Aren't Discarded

Some cards, such as the Elixirs in the Wench's Special Reserve Deck, instruct you to do something with a physical Drink Card other than putting it in the Drink discard pile after it resolves. In certain cases, multiple players can end up being affected by such an effect, but only one of those players can move the physical card. If that happens, start with the player who controlled the Drink when it resolved, or the active player if the Drink had no single controller (like in the case of "Round on the House"). Then proceed in turn order among all players who were instructed to move the Drink, skipping any players who Ignored the Drink or passed it to another player. The first player in that order takes the indicated action with the physical card. If no player is eligible to take the action, the Drink goes to the Drink discard pile as normal.

Example: On his Drink Phase, Warthorn reveals Elixir of Alacrity. He plays "Here, finish my drink!" to split the Drink with Jasper. Warthorn and Jasper each gain 1 Alcohol Content. Since Warthorn is the first affected player in turn order, he puts the Elixir of Alacrity in front of him. Unfortunately for Jasper, he does not gain the benefit of the Elixir.

Ordering Additional Drinks

Some cards allow you to order additional Drinks during your Order a Drink Phase. When you do this, you may put the Drinks face down on any other players' Drink Me! Piles. They can all go to the same player, or they can be distributed however you like among multiple players.

Other Rules

Minimum and Maximum Fortitude, Alcohol Content, Gold

Your Fortitude and Alcohol Content can never go below 0 or above 20. Your Gold can never go below 0, but it has no maximum. If the Inn runs out of Gold Pieces, use some other markers as a substitute.

If a card effect cannot fully take effect due to these limits, the card still takes effect as completely as it is able.

Example: Warthorn is at 0 Alcohol Content. Fleck plays "And now I'm going to play something really sad" to make each player lose 1 Alcohol Content and pay him 1 Gold. Warthorn cannot lose 1 Alcohol Content, since he is already at 0, but he still must pay Fleck 1 Gold.

Cards That Affect Your Fortitude, Alcohol Content, Gold

Some cards specify that they can be played in response to a card that affects your Fortitude, Alcohol Content or Gold. A card affects one of these attributes only if it would directly change that attribute when it takes effect.

If a card would normally affect an attribute but can't because that attribute is already at its minimum or maximum value, the card is still considered to affect that attribute.

You may not Ignore a Round of Gambling with a card that allows you to Ignore a card that affects your Gold.

Example 1: Molly plays "Tip the Wench" to make Jasper pay 1 Gold to the Inn. In response, Jasper plays "Zzzzzzzz…", allowing him to Ignore the card, since it would directly change his Gold.

Example 2: Jasper reveals Wine on his Drink Phase. Dimli plays "Spike it with Firewater" to add 2 Alcohol Content to the Wine. Jasper may not play "Zzzzzzzz…" here, because Dimli's card is not changing Jasper's Alcohol Content directly—it is changing the effects of the Wine.

Example 3: Jasper reveals Dragon Breath Ale on his Drink Phase. He plays "Not now. Gotta bounce!" to Ignore the Drink. The Wench plays "I don't think so!" to Negate "Not now. Gotta bounce!" Jasper may not play "Zzzzzzzz…" here, because The Wench's card is not changing Jasper's Alcohol Content directly—it is Negating Jasper's card that would allow him to Ignore the Drink.

Example 4: Jasper wins a Round of Gambling. At the end of the Round, Gerki (from the original Red Dragon Inn game) plays "Um…I know you think you won, but…" to take the pot. Jasper may not play "Zzzzzzzz…" here, because Gerki's card is not directly changing Jasper's Gold. It is affecting the outcome of the Round of Gambling.

Negate and Ignore Effects

Some Sometimes Cards allow you to Negate or Ignore another card.

When you Negate a card, you completely prevent it from resolving. The Negated card goes to the appropriate discard pile. None of its effects happen.

When you Ignore a card, the card resolves normally, but it has no effect on you. It still affects other players as usual.

Cards do not Negate or Ignore other cards unless they specifically use the word "Negate" or the word "Ignore." So, for example, cards which reduce or redirect damage, reduce Alcohol Content, or pass Drinks to other players are not Negating or Ignoring anything.

Many cards allow you to Ignore a Drink. You may only play a card of this type on a Drink that would affect you in some way. You may not Ignore someone else's Drink unless that player first passes it to you or splits it with you, or if you would somehow take effects from it.

Some cards allow you to Ignore a card that affects your Gold. You may not use such a card to avoid a Gold payment on a card that you played yourself. You may still use cards that reduce payments or pay with Gold from the Inn, however.

Negate Example: Jasper plays "Hey! Don't mess with the staff!" on Warthorn. Warthorn loses 2 Fortitude, then plays "Never mess with a dwarf!" to try to hit Jasper back. Jasper responds with "I don't think so!" Warthorn's card is Negated, so it has no effect. Jasper loses no Fortitude.

Ignore Example: Molly plays "Stampede!" to make Warthorn, Jasper and The Wench each lose 2 Fortitude. In response, Jasper plays "Zzzzzzzz…" to Ignore the card. Jasper does not lose Fortitude, but the other players do, since Molly's card affects them normally when it resolves. (And Molly must still pay 3 Gold to the Inn.)

Timing

Whenever any card is played or a Drink or Event is revealed, each player (in turn order, starting with the player who played or revealed the card) may play relevant Sometimes Cards in response.

If no player has any response to a card, that card resolves and its instructions are carried out.

If a player plays a response to a card and that response resolves, each player (in turn order, as above) has another opportunity to respond to the original card. If no player does, the original card resolves.

Timing Example 1: Molly reveals Light Ale during her Drink Phase. She is holding "We'll save this one for later, right boy?", which would allow her to Ignore the Drink. She chooses not to play it, since the Drink only has an Alcohol Content of 1. Dimli plays "Spike it with Firewater" to add 2 Alcohol Content to the Light Ale. After Dimli's card resolves, Molly will have another opportunity to play "We'll save this one for later" to Ignore the spiked Light Ale, even though she previously chose not to respond.

If two or more players are instructed to reveal and drink Drinks at the same time (for example, with the Drink Event "Drinking Contest!"), they first reveal Drink Cards and Chasers, as appropriate. After that, in turn order (as above), players may play Sometimes Cards that modify Drinks. Anytime Cards may also be played here. When no player has any further responses, each player drinks their Drink simultaneously.

If two or more players wish to respond to the same game event with Sometimes or Anytime Cards, players should take back their plays, then play and resolve their Anytime Cards in turn order, beginning from the player whose turn it is. After that, they should play and resolve their Sometimes Cards in the same way.

If a situation arises in which two or more players are each waiting for the others to act before making a decision, the deadlock should be broken with a similar method. In turn order, beginning with the player whose turn it is, each player declares their choice, then the game continues normally.

Timing Example 2: Jasper is at 12 Fortitude and 10 Alcohol Content. On his Drink Phase he reveals Elven Wine. In order to keep from passing out, he plays "Not now. Gotta bounce!" to Ignore the Drink. The Wench (sitting to Jasper's left) and Warthorn (sitting to The Wench's left) each hold an "I don't think so!", and each suspects that the other is holding one. Both The Wench and Warthorn are interested in Negating Jasper's Ignore card, but neither wants to be the one to spend their critical "I don't think so!" To resolve the deadlock, first The Wench, then Warthorn must either play a response to Jasper's card or choose not to. If neither The Wench nor Warthorn decides to play "I don't think so!" on Jasper's card, he Ignores his Drink and remains in the game.

If two or more players wish to respond to sequential game events that occur as the result of a card being played, then players should take back their plays, then play them sequentially.

Timing Example 3: Molly plays "Stampede!" to make Warthorn, The Wench and Jasper each lose 2 Fortitude. At this point, Jasper wants to play "Zzzzzzzz…" to Ignore the effect and Warthorn wants to play "Never mess with a dwarf!" to hit Molly back. Since the game event of responding to Molly's card happens before the game event of players losing Fortitude, Jasper plays his card first. Once that card takes effect, Molly's card resolves, causing Warthorn and The Wench to each lose 2 Fortitude, and causing Molly to pay 3 Gold to the Inn. At this point, Warthorn may play his card to hit Molly back.

"The Wench thinks you should stop playing with the drinks."

Negating or Ignoring a Drink, passing a Drink to another player, splitting a Drink, and increasing or decreasing a Drink's Alcohol Content are all considered changing the Drink's effects, so "The Wench thinks you should stop playing with the drinks" can be played in all of these cases.

"The Wench thinks you should stop playing with the drinks" cannot be used to Negate another copy of "The Wench thinks you should stop playing with the drinks."

"The Wench thinks you should stop playing with the drinks" cannot be used to Negate a card that orders you Drinks, gives you Special Reserve Drinks, forces you to drink, or directly increases your Alcohol Content.

"The Wench thinks you should stop playing with the drinks" cannot be used to Negate a card that affects a Drink Event Card.

The Wench's own "I think you should stop playing with the drinks" is functionally identical to other players' "The Wench thinks you should stop playing with the drinks."

Splitting Drinks

When a card is played that can split or duplicate a Drink, it creates separate, independent Drinks. A card that affects a Drink can only affect one of the split Drinks. If a Drink is altered before it is split, then the altered Drink is split.

Split Example 1: Warthorn reveals an Elven Wine (3 Alcohol Content). He plays "Here, finish my drink!", which splits the Drink into two Drinks with 2 Alcohol Content each (3 Alcohol Content split in half, then rounded up). Dimli then plays "Spike it with Firewater" to add 2 Alcohol Content one of the two Drinks. The result is one Drink with 2 Alcohol Content and another with 4 Alcohol Content.

Split Example 2: Dimli plays "Spike it with Firewater" as soon as the Elven Wine is revealed, making the Elven Wine a Drink with 5 Alcohol Content. Warthorn then plays "Here, finish my drink!", creating two Drinks with 3 Alcohol Content each.

To split a Drink with one or more Chasers, first combine all like numeric effects (Alcohol Content, Fortitude, drawing cards, etc.), then split each combined effect in half, rounding up.

Split Example 3: On Warthorn's Drink Phase, he reveals Elven Wine with a Chaser of Ale of Intrigue (Gain 2 Alcohol Content, draw 2 cards). He then plays "Here, finish my drink!" to split the Drink with Molly. Warthorn and Molly each gain 3 Alcohol Content and draw 1 card.

Baron von Vlazlo's card "Zis drink is fang-tastic!" splits a Drink, but in a slightly different way. First, it splits the Drink with no one—the other half of the split Drink simply goes away. Second, it rounds any fractional results down instead of up.

Mead and Similar Drinks

Mead, Fermented Orc Sweat, and Sauvignon Blech are Drinks that have their own built-in split effects. When a player reveals one of these Drinks, players first get an opportunity to affect the Drink. When players are done affecting the Drink, the player who revealed it may choose a player with whom to split it. Players then have another opportunity to affect the split halves of the Drink. Because players have an opportunity to affect the Drink after it is split, the two players sharing the Drink could end up taking different effects from it!

Mead Example: Warthorn reveals Mead during his Drink Phase. No player alters the Drink, so he decides to split it with The Wench. This creates two copies of Mead with 2 Alcohol Content each (half of 3 rounded up). After this, Dimli plays "Spike it with Firewater" on The Wench's Mead, giving it a total Alcohol Content of 4. Each player then drinks their half, so Warthorn gains 2 Alcohol Content and The Wench gains 4.

If Mead, Fermented Orc Sweat, or Sauvignon Blech is the result of a Drink Event Card or if either is revealed as a Chaser to another Drink, it may not be split with another player. The player drinking the Drink takes its full effects.

Round on the House and A Toast to Villainy!

The cards Round on the House and A Toast to Villainy! are similar to a split effect, but are not considered split effects. When a Drink is revealed for either, each player immediately receives a separate, independent copy of that Drink. Players do not have an opportunity to affect the Drink before it is copied, but may affect the individual copies afterward.

Drinking Contest

When a player reveals a Drinking Contest card, each player, starting with the player whose turn it is, reveals the top card of the Drink Deck. If that card is a Drink Event, it has no effect and counts as a 0 Alcohol Content Drink. If it is a Drink with a Chaser, the player continues revealing Drink Cards as appropriate. Once all players have revealed one or more cards from the Drink Deck, players may, in turn order, play Sometimes Cards that modify Drinks. Anytime Cards may also be played here. When all players are done playing cards, each player drinks and discards their Drink, then the player who revealed the Drink with the highest total Alcohol Content receives one Gold from each other player.

If two or more players tie for the Drink with the highest total Alcohol Content, the tied players repeat the process of revealing, modifying, drinking and discarding Drinks until there is a clear winner. If all tied players but one pass out during this process, the remaining player wins the Drinking Contest and does not continue drinking. If all tied players pass out during this process, the Drinking Contest has no winner.

If a player would win the Drinking Contest and pass out at the same time, that player collects Gold for winning the contest, then passes out.

If a player passes out during a Drinking Contest, that player loses the game, but does not split their Gold among the other players until after the Drinking Contest is completed. Players who lose the game in this way still must pay one Gold to the winner of the Drinking Contest before splitting their Gold.

Cards that increase or decrease the Alcohol Content of a Drink will affect the outcome of a Drinking Contest. If a Drink is split, Ignored, or given to another player, this does not affect the outcome of the contest. If a player somehow takes extra Drinks during a Drinking Contest (with a card like The Wench's "Drink up, before it goes flat!"), these extra Drinks do not affect the outcome of the Drinking Contest.

If a Drink's total Alcohol Content is less than 0 (such as Coffee), it counts as a 0 Alcohol Content Drink in a Drinking Contest. The Drink will still affect your Alcohol Content as normal.

Drinking Contest Example 1: In a Drinking Contest, Molly reveals Wine (2 Alcohol Content), and Jasper reveals Light Ale (1 Alcohol Content). The Wench plays "Playing with the drinks? That's my job!" to increase the Alcohol Content of Jasper's Drink to 2, causing his Drink to tie with Molly's. Molly and Jasper each gain 2 Alcohol Content, then the Drinking Contest continues.

Drinking Contest Example 2: In another Drinking Contest, Warthorn reveals Dragon Breath Ale (4 Alcohol Content), and Molly reveals Dark Ale (1 Alcohol Content). Warthorn plays "Here, finish my drink!" to split his Drink with Molly. Molly gains a total of 3 Alcohol Content and Warthorn gains 2 Alcohol Content, but Warthorn still wins the Drinking Contest.

If you run out of Gold during a Drinking Contest, you will remain in the game at least until the Drinking Contest is finished. Ignore any effects that force you to pay Gold. If you do not win the Drinking Contest, you are out of Gold and out of the game!

Drinking Contest Example 3: Molly has 1 Gold, and reveals a Drinking Contest on her Drink Phase. As Drinks are revealed by each player, the Drink Deck runs out, so everyone pays 1 Gold to the Inn to get a new round of Drinks. Molly pays her last Gold, so she will be out of the game if she does not win. She reveals a Dragon Breath Ale and wins the Drinking Contest, receiving a Gold from each other player and staying in the game.

Variants

The Bar Deck Variant

The Red Dragon Inn is designed to be played with a 30-card Drink Deck, so that the deck will run out during the game and force everyone to pay Gold to the Inn. However, there are now many more than 30 unique Drink Cards available across all expansions. If you'd like to play with a Drink Deck of more than 30 cards, use this variant.

Setup: Shuffle together all of the Drink Cards you wish to use for the game. This is the Bar Deck. Count out 30 cards from the Bar Deck face down and use those cards as your Drink Deck at the start of the game.

When the Drink Deck runs out, each player pays 1 Gold to the Inn, as normal. Then, take the next 30 cards from the Bar Deck and use them as your replacement Drink Deck. If the Bar Deck runs out during this process, shuffle all of the discarded Drink Cards and use that as your new Bar Deck.

The Prize Variant

Some promotional cards, including Absorbent Towel in this product, have the type "Prize". The Prize Variant provides an optional way to spice up Rounds of Gambling. To play with this variant, add any number of unique Prize Cards to the Inn at the start of the game. Whenever a player starts a Round of Gambling, that player must choose one of the Prize Cards in the Inn and add it to the pot before players ante. The player who wins the pot also takes the Prize and follows its instructions at the appropriate time.

Using a Prize will cause it to move to the Prize Bin, a holding pile for used Prizes. The Prize Bin ensures that each Prize must be won once before any Prize can be won again. If a player starts a Round of Gambling and there are no Prizes in the Inn, move all Prizes from the Prize Bin to the Inn, then choose a Prize as normal. If a player starts a Round of Gambling and there are no Prizes in the Inn and no Prizes in the Prize Bin, that Round of Gambling simply doesn't include a Prize.

If the pot goes to the Inn, the Prize in that pot goes to the Inn with it.

Stealing Gold from the Pot: A Prize is not Gold, so it cannot be stolen from the pot with cards like Eve's "Sleight of Hand". Stealing Gold from the pot does not cause you to win the Prize, even if you happen to steal the last Gold from the pot.

Taking the Pot Without Winning the Round: A few characters, including Gerki, Torglesnarf, and The Wench can take the pot without actually winning the Round of Gambling. If they do this, they get the Prize.

Captain Whitehawk: If Captain Whitehawk takes half the pot with "What a coincidence, I happen to have the same hand!", the original winner chooses whether to give the Prize to Captain Whitehawk or to keep it for themselves.

Events: If an Event Card starts a Round of Gambling, the active player chooses which Prize to add to the pot.

Team Variants: In a team game, a Prize is won by the individual player who takes the pot. That Prize may only be used by that player, not by that player's teammates.