Who is a God of Gambling?

[Rodney Dangerduck]

Mainly cards, dice, etc.

I can imagine some Eurmal tie ins, and possibly Krarsht in the nastier darker areas.  But anybody else for "fun" gamblibg?  Donandar?  I know Kolat does a little with tossing sticks.

Thanks for any ideas.

[g33k]

Our Lady of Credit, down in Casino Town?

[Ormi Phengaria]

Asrelia has the Luck Rune, and that always made me think of a bunch of grannies playing mahjong.

[JRE]

Looking to Earth, most gambling deities are either those associated with good fortune, often with some trickster aspect. The more gambling, more tipically will a specialized gambling deity, like the Roman Fortuna, rather than one aspect in an overworked deity, like the Greek Hermes or the Hindi Lakshmi.

Only one major deity, so far, has the Luck rune, which makes me think there will be several local deities with it as well. It is interesting that the two known (at least to me) links to the Luck rune are in Kethaela, as Gambling is more prevalent in material rich cultures. So I would expect that Asrelia has that role in Ernalda strong cultures, while some aspect of her, or a specialized deity will take that role in others. 

[Joerg]

Gambling is one core activity in Shamanism.

[Zit]

There are 2 huge dice at Gonn Orta's castle, made in the God Age by a god of law and a god of change. Law (today Stase) because the odds are fixed and same for all numbers, change because the results are unpredictable. It fits well to the Twins model.

You may add the Fate rune.

[svensson]

Eurmal.

[mfbrandi]

LUCK - (Chance) - Thought to be both an expression
of Chaos, and yet the stamp of approval of the gods.
It is little used, except in the Holy Country, where
the Masters of Luck and Death proudly display the
symbol of the chance they take with every breath.

— RQ2
—————————————————————————

In the Chaos-phobic times we are living in, this seems like a tricky concept, but surely gambling is not restricted to cultures where is respectable. Maybe the average Gloranthan gambler thinks gambling depends on skill, cheating, and the favour of their own god, rather than true randomness or other suspect phenomena. Maybe.

Is the luck rune ‘little used’ to steer people away from fourth wall breaking, to draw attention to the fourth wall, or both?

I like to imagine this patron demigod of gamblers: he lost his child to a pointless war, then left his settled life to wander Genertela gambling away his possessions and trading poems for food. Wears spectacles, looks a bit like a Desi Alf Garnett, and has a knack for baking cakes.

Edited July 6, 2023 by mfbrandi
punctuation, demonstrative

[hipsterinspace]

Chalk Man, a fairly notable spirit, also has the luck rune. He is said to always know the odds of any contest, among other things.

[EricW]

I would have thought Trickster is mostly about cheating when it comes to gambling, he is full of illusion and deceit.

[Sheliak]

My first thought is Asrelia (though I'm definitely influenced by the scene in King of Dragon Pass where a lost heroquester can gamble with her). 

[JonL]

In a game I ran we had an Asrelia subcult for gamblers and prospectors. 

I could certainly see Eurmal and Lanbril providing cheating magic, though by different means.

[jajagappa]

6 hours ago, JonL said:

In a game I ran we had an Asrelia subcult for gamblers and prospectors. 

Delaeo, one of the Six Sisters of Esrolia, is also noted as the Goddess of good fortune, good luck, and wealth. However, I think she gets the Fate Rune rather than the Luck Rune.

A quick scan of the Prosopaedia shows the following with the Luck Rune: Asrelia, Aleshmara (who the God Learners identified with Asrelia), and the Rich Twins of the Vithelan pantheon.  All are associated with the Earth.