Creating Your Own Tavern Games!

Join us in our tavern as we guide you through the process of creating your own games. In this video, we'll show you how to create a den of ill repute to life by making a 9 men's Morris board from leather, fashioning bone dice for a touch of historical authenticity, resurrecting the ancient Ur board game, and even customizing a deck of cards to suit the medieval theme. From the smell of leather to the clatter of dice, join us as we embark on this immersive DIY adventure, unlocking the secrets of medieval gaming and providing everything your tavern needs for an unforgettable experience. Unleash your creativity and let the games begin!
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[@embergeos]

Something worth mentioning if you are going to be removing material from bone is to ALWAYS wear a respirator if bone dust might be created. That stuff can mess you up.

[@ImaginationHobbies]

Same with stone of any kind

[@geoffallert1921]

You're right, but he has mentioned this in a previous video. Definitely worth a mention though. Cheers mate.🧙‍♂

[@ZanarCrestrider]

Amusing how something we’re made out of can be so harmful if you relocate the material to a different part of the body.

[@notamoose1894]

​@@ZanarCrestriderstomach acid urine feces ur iwn immune system yea ur right

[@kelseywatts589]

Dito for antler dust! Safe making everyone.

[@roguedizz]

If you're gonna be a gambler character for the LARP you should do an episode then learning either some card flourishes or slight of hand as a good gambler tries not to leave everything up to chance. haha

[@SkillTree]

We did similar videos about rogish skills! Loaded Dice/Coin Toss Cheat: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGGzlWB3iNeAba8 Card Counting: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2GrqpqLlttoj8U Mind Control: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZKmn6B4Zq5so9E Lock Picking with a Can: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXPUhXVqbMqKoNk Lock Picking with a paper clip: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWXXhJhueq2liKc

[@roguedizz]

@Skill Tree oh yeah!! Those are great videos, too. I forgot. Wooooo a true rogue of legends!!!

[@nigelhirth2181]

Maybe a collab with The Modern Rogue?

[@roguedizz]

@Nigel Hirth ooh, that would be sick.

[@Ptaaruonn]

One tip, for cube dice, the sum of the opposite sides is always 7.

[@sdivine13]

Opposite sides add up to 7, i.e. 6s opposite is 1. Just adding this because it took me a minute to understand what you meant

[@WolfWalrus]

The same is true for most polyhedral dice! The sum of opposite faces for a dN is N+1, which is also twice the average value of the roll Matt Parker has some great videos about the mathematics of dice rolling, opposite faces and making fair dice

[@FindTheFun]

One of my favorite old games like this is Mancala. It's so simple but after you play it for a while there's actually a lot of depth and strategy to your moves.

[@PixieNekoChan]

We had a mancala board when I was younger and I LOVED playing it!

[@FindTheFun]

@@PixieNekoChan It's so easy to play too! As a kid we would play on the beach with pebble and by digging holes in the sand. You can really play it anywhere using anything.

[@hollyingraham3980]

Mancala is the best, and they have found it in very ancient layers. It's easier than checkers, harder than chess. Just depends on the level you're playing at. I think it gets skipped because it was never big in Europe.

[@Kai-Xi]

I feel like every person I played mancala with learned a slightly different set of rules, which does complicate things a smidge

[@VIXXlight_VIXXComeBack]

In our country we have a version of this game called sungka. It's actually very fun

[@JustBlaisYT]

Man, I discovered your channel like three days ago and have binged a BREATHTAKING amount of videos. And then you drop this one today, which happens to be basically exactly what I was thinking about trying to do. 10/10 banger video, incredible content

[@leekestner1554]

I absolutely love Irving Finkel. No wonder I like you so much. My favorite is the video where he and others make a replica of the boat that Utnapishtam (Sumerian Noah) rode out the flood with. I was laughing so hard at his delivery.

[@joletapetty6706]

I literally shouted out Yes! when you got to the Royal Game of Ur! So fun! My kids love to play it with me, and it's really cool to think about all of the amazing people in history who probably knew how to play it. And Irving Finkle is the best idiosyncratic professor ever ❤️

[@zacharylindahl]

Was going to mention hnefatafl as well. Another fun tavern-like game we called ren darts. Stick a dagger in the ground and everyone makes a ring around it then take turns throwing their own dagger to see who can stick one closest to the original. It's not great on the blades so I made a set of daggers out of a bar of 3/16 mild steel and an angle grinder. They don't even have to be very sharp as long as they are pointy.

[@erinfinn2273]

Ahh, ancient lawn darts!

[@hollyingraham3980]

They used to call it mumblety-peg. Look it up to complicate your play.

[@DrachenGothik666]

@@hollyingraham3980 The Mumbleypeg I'm familiar with is the game where you place your hand on a table, fingers spread, you tap your dagger between the fingers, gaining speed as you repeat, sometimes varying the pattern of where you hit your knife: like thumb, pinky, ring index, or just going round the hand. Whoever goes the fastest without nicking their skin, wins.

[@luvnotvideos]

Those are awesome. One board game I've never gotten tired of playing is Chinese Checkers. My Grandfather used to make boards to sell in the flea markets down in Florida. Super easy to make and spaces for up to 8 people to play made it pretty popular in the retirement community. They are big, though, so not exactly a portable game.

[@LaineyBug2020]

It would be if you could make it fold into itself somehow, like fold up and hold all the marbles inside...

[@masternoobgaming1960]

"how about a little game, traveler?"

[@lukeboulter8735]

You might want to line your bench hole with a length of metal pipe. The closer the hole size is to your holdfast clamp the better it will work and the piping will stop the wooden hole being widened and distorted by the metal shaft of the holdfast

[@kameljoe21]

One can drill out and plug a hole too. All you need to do is take some scrap wood and a hole saw and cut out a hole and then remove the piolite bit and clamp that scrap to the bench and use the hole as a guide and cut the hole out. Then using the correct over sized hole saw cut out the correct plug using the same method. Then glue it. This is the cheap and easy way to do it. The next way is to use a chisle and chisle out a squre block and cut a square block and glue it in and redrill your hole. Ideally you want to go to a tree and cut you a bunch of branches with a good size wye on them. Then strip the bark off them and then start to use them. Shave them down to fit the holes and use linseed oil on everything. There might be severa table videos you can find on how to make a really nice table from a tree trunk. A nice wood working table and taking your time building it will last a very long time. You can even build a simple wood wedge vise.

[@AzraelThanatos]

With the alabaster dice, you might want to seal them...a bit of spray on varnish would protect them rather well. Also, since you have a laser, you could make a rather neat option for cards. A friend of mine bought some sheets of veneer and a simple design for a deck followed by a spray on varnish

[@jsmxwll]

You have so much enthusiasm! Thanks for the video. This is such a neat little project. Be careful with that holdfast. That is a cast holdfast and cast iron doesn't handle impact well and can snap pretty easily. For light use they are fine, but don't wail on them. You can put a leather pad on them to protect the wood that you're holding down as well. It's a nice quick little project. A forged to holdfast will cost 3 to 4 times as much but you'll break your workbench before you break the holdfast.

[@brianperkins469]

Sometimes in pet stores, You can find solid sections of water Buffalo horn. Cut out your half inch by half inch by half inch cube sand as you would the bone and use the Dremel for your pips. Main difference would be using white fingernail polish to fill in the pips. These dice would be easier to use in low light or at night

[@specs6637]

For the pouch, I use a dice with a hole drilled through it to cinch and keep it shut

[@BlameMyMuses]

I've been working on a set of coasters that are mini board games, and this video just might be the one that kicks me back into work on them! The only one I've finished so far is the Nine Man Morris board!

[@echodelta2426]

Love how the cards turned out. I made a similar 9 men's morris. used soft leather and burned the lines in with a wood burning/soldering pen tool. The lines weren't as straight as yours, plus I didn't think to make it double as a pouch. That is an excellent idea. Another game you can make is Mancala. Thanks for the inspirations..

[@legocathedral3248]

I absolutely love the nine men’s morris board! I’ve been wanting to do a morris project and now I know how I’m going to do it!

[@FinestSkydiver]

What a timely video. I've just been working on my own Royal Game of Ur leather playing board!

[@kameljoe21]

The first game one should make a bet area so you can lay down some coins. This way when you win or robo your opponent you draw your strings in and away you go! I love this channel. Its quite good. Now back to the games!

[@JeffDrennen]

I love the enthusiasm that is put into each video on this channel.

[@wolffire007]

i really enjoyed watching this vid, i know you already know this but, for liars dice you need 10 bone dice(5 dice each) and 2 wooden cups(you should make the cups in another vid), plus the designed-leather mat to play it on(make it look old/destressed/used).and don't forget if your gonna be the gambler-larp you need a gamblers feathered hat-lol.

[@tauIrrydah]

I love Dr Iving Finkel! The Royal game of Ur is so interesting. And a good pub game.

[@chux72vette]

Just an FYI, I just watched an episode with Josh Gates on Expedition Unknown and he was treasure hunting and they found some lead made dice from around 1300 years ago which is not only awesome but surprising. So in essence it would be viable to have metal(lead) dice included. Awesome leveling up today!!!

[@dannyboiman1]

Hey how about a war apron, like if your a fantasy bar keep but you have to defend your tavern from an incoming horde of cheap but uppity goblins. Like the cloth on the outside but leather armor on their side

[@kencoffman7145]

DARTS! The most basic of tavern games. Old style English darts would be a nice addition in a leather case

[@BoredxISxI]

I love the leather board/pouch combo!! Doubles as a mimic coin pouch to confuse your average cutpurse 🤣

[@BavarianBlackBear]

Also remember if you want to make the dice balanced number wise two sides added together will equal 7. so 1 and 6, 2 and 5, 4 and 3 are on opposite sides of each other. Funny I've made a lot of these already, but I want to make them again since I have leveled up in my skills. The Ur game I have only made in paper, but would love to do it out of wood.

[@toddjackson3136]

If you haven't come to Utah and gone to Evermore you're missing out! Its a fun little larp amusement park for both those who enjoy dressing the part of a quest participant, and regular people who dont get into the whole fan fair.

[@ther3dk1n9games6]

"Yep" that's all I could say as soon as I saw this just "yep" ❤❤❤🎉

[@lars_of_the_north]

Absolutely loved this episode.

[@jeffeppenbach]

Finkle! Great mention!

[@3nertia]

Love this design! And BONUS! I get to learn about yet another historic board game; Nine Men's Morris :D Thanks!

[@craigbryant9925]

The same idea as you used for your nine men's morris, I have been wanting to do similar for a Tak (from the King Killers chronicles) set. I love the idea of just having this little pouch that I can hook onto my belt and set up in seconds on any flat surface. Ur is a fun game to DIY. You can take so many liberties with all the pieces to make it your own. The one I made is a box that contains all the pieces and the board is the lid that slides off. I used clay for the all the little pieces. Sculpting a bunch of D4s out of clay was a pain in the ass but I love the way they turned out. It's an awesome game to play sitting next to a camp fire.

[@stephenmanak6024]

Bone dice- Necromancer who is also a gambler, his bone dice cam be his focus!!!

[@snowhaired4757]

This has inspired me to craft my own game of Ur (which I already wanted to play as an Irving Finkel fan) specifically to bring it to Conquest of Mythodea 2024, thank you !

[@issinho]

Nice!!! Love your episodes

[@nichlasbundgaard5583]

There are plenty other games you could make, one of my favorites is an ancient chinese game called Xi Gua Qi or watermelon chess as it is known as in english. In general i'll recomend checking out Newventure games here om youtube, they have a lot of old games they've made into little peg games. Happy crafting and happy gaming!

[@paulshri8609]

Hi Clever, subscribed after watching Staff of the Wandererand binged your content, first time commenting. It always makes me laugh when you say you're cheap, then make something that looks expensive😂😂also, the tool you used is a bench holdfast. Looking forward to more excellent content. I would love to see your dogs reaction to finding his bones missing...I'm picturing him strapping on his armour muttering 'OK...bones missing...let's do this. The hunt is on!!!' 😂😂😂

[@matthhood]

Got my conquest ticket already, the carmine brotherhood will be awaiting with drinks!

[@amjbailey8123]

OMG! Yes!

[@elijahcabacungan2915]

Watching this now after watching the conquest videos is hilarious.

[@MASI_forging]

Great work dude. 👏👏

[@brunoethier896]

That is a fantastic idea!! 🥳

[@markfergerson2145]

Got a rock tumbler? Tumble those dice to knock off those sharp edges and corners, plus polish the faces. Dice with rounded corners and edges are “livelier”, rolling farther before coming to rest. They also feel nicer in the hand and won’t look so new. Use a relatively soft abrasive like crushed walnut shells.

[@Night-Fire-nj1rd]

As someone who loves larp stuff those cards look awesome. As someone who loves cards you taking the sandpaper to them hurt

[@pixydarkstar8734]

I recommended for your next set of bone dice something other than cow bone; cow bone is VERY porous. Elk or Camel are both very hard bones that polish into that bone white; bonus fact camel bones are so dense you can make edged weapons out of them. Bonus craft: have you ever "boned" a piece of wood? Stop the giggles NOW! Boning is where for a final polish you rub a bone or antler over the wood, various chemicals in the antler and bone will colour the grain of the wood, my husband like to use it especially on small wood working projects like jewelry boxes and hairsticks as a final touch before wax or sealant. Quick colour guide deer=green, elk=brown, buffalo(water)=white, moose=pink, bull= gold, petrified reindeer=silver(very incomplete list)

[@lacewinglml]

my wife made fabric bag board games years ago. its cool seeing the idea come up with again

[@janetcameron4652]

Thanks ST.

[@jeffventure6078]

Made a Glückhaus game a few months ago painted on canvas to roll up. It stores in a scroll tube box i scratch built as well. Lots of fun.

[@RdKil]

This just gave me the idea to make draw-string pouch Ur boards with leather by stitching the squares and using rocks or coins as pieces. Thanks!

[@kieranneale973]

Could you make an ace up your sleeve gamblers holdout mechanisms for your next LARP character? Think it could suit the aesthetic 🤙 Love your videos

[@raktoda707]

You are amazing !

[@Scarybug]

A fun thing about the Game of Ur, is that no one knows the actual historical rules, just that it's a race game that probably has rules for capturing opponents like Pachisi/Parcheesi and Sorry! Finkel's rules make for a quick game but don't account for why the pieces have one decorated and one undecorated side. There are many suggested alternate rulesets you can find, and it's fun to come up with your own house rules. Irving Finkel has a paper translating some rules from an ancient cuneiform tablet, but the rules are clearly either for using the game board for fortune telling or gambling. It describes knucklebone dice and different bird-pieces to be used with the game board, but no archaeological sites actually have those with the game boards, so the tablet was probably for alternate rules. No one needed to write down the actual rules for the game because everyone learned to play by playing with people who already knew the rules.

[@user-xu7rb7pf3v]

Awesome game tutorial 😂❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@malysyforethought1195]

Quick and easy tip for the clamps and the extra blocks you used when gluing up the Royal Game of Ur. Slap some brown plastic parcel tape on them and the wood glue won't stick so easily to the bits that need to be removed.

[@CorsoWorkshop]

Hey man, been catching up with your work recently...and HOT DAMNNNN it's looking better with every vid! Keep it up bro! Keen to see the next one!

[@Nexus3DPrints]

You should use a 3d printer. If you print in TPU and give it a lot of infill, then it’s difficult to break with a sledgehammer. And you can make anything you can 3d model or find that someone else modeled

[@SLorraineE]

Board games for the win!

[@jacobvaldez8794]

One of my favorite stories is when my wife, a friend, and I decided to play a period card game at a faire themed around the Three Musketeers. We picked up a tarot deck with old artwork and learned to play French Tarot, a 3- to 5-player point-trick-taking card game. Dressed in garb, we must have spent 2 hours just playing in the tavern.

[@RDGoodner]

I love nine man's morris. You can play it anywhere you can get paper, a pencil, and change for a dollar. (specifically 9 dimes and 10 pennies)

[@nevernether3368]

Can't wait to see these at a skill tree tavern at reckoning or something and I'm excited to see custom cards made

[@NMiller_]

The "clamp" is called a holdfast and is commonly used in wood working and blacksmithing. I made one out of rebar a few years back for use when forging.

[@silkelillig4864]

When I was young I played Solitaire at my maternal grandmother's house. But not the card variant, it was the wood board variant. It was a board with a cross of holes (I think it was 4x4 on the parts outside the middle but not sure as it was given to a cousin who loved it as well when my grandmother died more than two decades ago). Into each hole you fitted a small stake (the board was pale and the stakes were black). At the start you removed the stake in the middle and from then on to remove a stake you have to use a stake to "jump" over the stake you want to remove. The fewer stakes you have at the end you cannot remove since you cannot jump over one of them the better. The goal is to have only one left. A great game for the silent loner types sitting in a corner of the tavern.

[@KrazeeKraftZ]

I do love your enthusiasm and feel you must have been an actor in some life!! I'm making a wild west themed escape room scenario and think some of these games might make good props at the very least, added ambience. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@dallasdenton4235]

One note on your dice. Back in ancient times the Chinese would drill the pip that is the one a bit larger. The reason for this is that it would make the dice more fair. The reason this works is because of the amount of material cut out of the 6 pip side is lighter than the side with the one pip. The heavier side will more frequently land on the bottom. Cool project. I am going to make this board using a piece of wood this weekend. Should be fun! TY sir!

[@RainMakeR_Workshop]

You should make a Hnefatefl pouch game too.

[@elricthebald870]

I did exactly that a few weeks ago. Turned out amazing.

[@draconianhand]

You can contact cement some heavy weight leather to, or make a leather "sock" that goes over, the face of the holdfast for a more permanent method of preventing the metal from marring the wood.

[@ZanarCrestrider]

Ahh the good old method of templates…. “I just grabbed this large round object I had.” My favorite method of these types of bags/boards/ circles is a pizza pan.

[@davidstevens8063]

In real medieval inns, taverns and hospitals the gameboard was often carved into the tables (very roughly) also they liked drinking games and puzzle mugs.

[@VyseRogue13]

Puzzle Mugs?

[@scottvarley3823]

Senet is my favorite, Ur is really fun too

[@gothnate]

For the first game, you could also just hand-draw the board with a pencil and use a wood-burner to go over the lines afterwards. It would give that hand made appearance and the tools are super inexpensive. The lines wouldn't bleed if they got wet either. For the dice, if you can't find bone that is thick enough to cut into the right size, you could either change the shape of the dice (in ancient Egypt they used both throw-sticks, similar to what you made for the third game, and the first d20s), or you can use antlers or horns. Specifically, water buffalo horns are solid and are fairly cheap at Walmart. They usually come in black, though. But wood isn't out of the question, either, though they'd probably be a little light. Personally, I'd steer clear of any modern techniques of manufacturing for a one-off item for personal use, or for any item for a personal gift. Hand crafted items look much better, and are perceived as being a higher quality, especially with their flaws. That being said, if you were making these to sell at festivals or events, using a laser engraver would net the most profit. For the cards, for a one-off item I'd definitely take the time to make my own. Get some card-stock, cut everything out by hand, hand paint it all, then distress it a little, but only with natural things like dirt and handling. Just sit and watch a couple of movies with dirty hands and play with all the cards, like shuffling and riffling.

[@Crits-Crafts]

I make resin dice as a hobby and that's exactly how I ink the pips

[@DebbieBuckland]

I made my own royal game of ur out of wood pieces and put a draw into it to hold the dice and game pieces. My dice are blank d4's that were marked on the die like Irving Finkel uses. Because my character is Norse I used runes and the rosettes as the double roll squares. I also made a pouch version of the scandinavian game: Hnefatafl (predates chess) - with the board as the board and wooden circles as the pieces.

[@ericwilliams1659]

Irving finkle is awesome

[@Asbjern_Longfellow]

Can´t wait to meet the gambler some day :D

[@lyllydd]

Hint for people making stencils out of plastic or cardstock - use Pixie Spray or Alene's Tack It Over And Over on the back. These are low-tack repositionable glues which can cover all the tiny areas of the stencil and makes them reusable.

[@stephenrenwick8781]

Great video sir! Interestingly enough nine men's Morris boards have been found scratched into seats in monasteries and churches. You could have also gone for one of the tafl games, mine is on cloth with fake ivory pieces 😂... I really should upgrade to leather.

[@mattpayne4852]

The leather nine mens morris pouch is a great idea. The only thing that stands out is you are missing 4 corner markers in the centre square

[@sharoncrimm]

This video was so much fun to watch. I've never heard of any of these games, but I can't wait to learn them. Also just wanted to know, who won the scraps giveaway?

[@TheHairyBeastie]

Skilltree - Also you should put a "hnefatafl" board on the outside of the pouch.

[@williamapalla6831]

Here in the Philippines we still play that and it's too be fancy we draw it on concrete chair and others and the piece's is stick's and stone. But without the cards 😊

[@ecornely]

If you want to be really accurate, I've been told that as gambling was forbidden in medieval times, they were using bone dices small enough so that you could swallow them easily.

[@benkayvfalsifier3817]

For those who didn't see the video, he was referencing the rules of the game (like me, since I'm on my phone) you can go to the description under the video.

[@erikwulfrik1934]

Was wondering why my eyelets weren't setting right. Thanks for that little bit there.

[@alternator7893]

There’s tons of games you can play with just 2 dice: craps, hazard, pass the aces, blackjack, barbut and Mexico just of the top of my head

[@elias._.k1273]

would love to come to conquest but it hit right where I'm going on holiday. So please make a video about your journey.

[@probablycringe7316]

I love how the cards came out! also does that grommet company make thinner grommets that you can use on fabric?

[@CalliopePony]

For fabric use eyelets. (Grommets and eyelets are basically the same thing but grommets are used for heavier materials and eyelets are used for lighter materials.) Any sewing or craft store should have eyelets. You can apply eyelets the same way as grommets with the hammer or you can use eyelet pliers.

[@redbeard716]

So, you're bringing these games to Pennsic, yes? I'll be there!

[@dennisking4589]

COOL! Now I just need alabaster chunks and a ban saw....

[@FireStar-gz2ry]

You could have also pre-marked the faces of the bone, and then heated up the point on a sharp nail. Pressing the point into the bone will burn in a divet, and then you can put a finishing coat of linseed oil/ or boild linseed oil

[@SkinnerNoah]

I've been inspired to start a project of my own. It's gonna be a drawstring pouch with three compartments. The idea is to keep dice, larp money, and real money separate. It'll also have an exterior pocket, a belt loop, and a key ring to hang another pouch or some keys

[@j.nereim9055]

Post pictures!

[@charleenhenn8839]

But but but... your Royal Game of Ur is missing a row! 😨 The result, however, is still insanely pretty. Gotta love some fancy mahogani! ...aaand, continuing the video, yes, you said so yourself 😅 but it's literally an age-old game - there'll have been so many variations! Very excited to see the game of Ur - I made some game sets along with my partner, including the fun pyramid dice!

[@Out-to-Pastor]

I feel like, with the alabaster dice, dropping them repeatedly will add some nice aged character to them

[@bigbadwolfstudios1]

I've been playing Nine Men's Morris for a little while with my partner, we've just known it as Tria but it is a helluva way to kill time!

[@mortsnerd5100]

Another cool deck of cards is Kikkerland Tattoo.

[@mortsnerd5100]

I have a set of bone dominoes I bought from Townsends, they're really cool.

[@dontaecamacho5780]

You definitely have to make a cane to go with your character but I suggest you make a shillelagh(an Irish walking stick/club used by pub gents) or a larp safe one at least lol

[@alexjbatman]

You should make a leather card deck holder for your cards

[@SatansPenguin]

I thought for sure you were making Petteia on the leather. This game would also work and dates all the way back to ancient, Pre-Rome, Greece. But, it's a game of skill, not of chance. So I see in retrospect why this may not be a great choice for "tavern games". Still, if any of you reading this have never played it, look it up, it's fun and easy to make using the same instructions for the first game in this very video!