The House Doesn't Always Win (Softback + PDF)

The House Doesn't Always Win is a zero-prep, tabletop role playing game about those who have been left with nothing fighting against those that hold everything. It runs entirely on a standard deck of playing cards and a single 10-sided die, can be run in any setting or theme and uses a unique, poker-like system to drive its game-play. The House Doesn't Always Win will transform your deck of cards into a high stakes game of pushing your luck and fighting against your oppressors. Sessions are full of heist-like plans gone awry, fragile allegiances between allies around the table beginning to crack under pressure, and constant morbid curiosity for exactly what card is currently sitting on top of the deck.

The House Doesn't Always Win is built on a unique set of mechanics that bring your deck of cards to life. The diamonds are your targets, those you need to destroy to remake the world in your favour. The Kings, Queens, and Jacks are your characters, those fighting to change what keeps them down. Everything else is all the influence, allies, favours, equipment, and luck you've managed to scrape together to attempt this paradigm shift. Once the game starts, it's not just how the cards are dealt, but how you play them that will ultimately decide your fate.

Defy the odds or die trying in a world where the slightest mistake can cost you everything. What you're attempting is not going to be easy, in fact, it's an enormous gamble, but if you liked the odds you wouldn't be here in the first place. The House Doesn't Always Win is a game of high tensions and situations that exist on a knife-edge - where failure is always avoidable but takes no prisoners. The odds are always changing as cards are discarded and removed from the deck and with everyone sharing the deck between them, every action is important, not just your own.

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