Mini-games can be fun distraction for your players in any TTRPG campaign. Downtime or social sessions can create a lot of opportunities for this in your game. With the release of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight adventure, players have asking about mini-games to use. So I thought I’d share the rules for my simple mini-game for Darts.
In the most simple case, a series of opposed DEX (Athletics) checks will suffice. However, I ended up with a play group that were Dart enthusiast and wanted a full on mini-game. So I’m sharing the simple rules I used in hopes it might have some use in your sessions.
The Rules
A player rolls 2 separate color D20s, the first represents the segment of the board, the second the ring. Like normal darts the segment the dart lands in (the number rolled on the die) determines the score. If you’re not familiar with darts, see the diagram below and it should make sense. The final score for the throw is modified by the result of the ring die like so.
- 5 - double the score
- 10 - triple the score
- 15 - 25 pt Outer Bullseye if the segment die is above 10.
- 20 - 50 pt Inner Bullseye if the segment die is a 20.
The player may modify either or both die results by a total of their ranged attack modifier.
Example
Beau takes a turn at darts, rolls an 8 on the segment die, and a 13 on the ring die. They choose to user their 7 ranged attack bonus to add 3 to the segment die to make it a 12, and 2 to the ring die to make it a 15. That’s an Inner Bullseye for 25 pts!
Conclusion
This level of mini-game isn’t for everyone, but groups looking to play out some downtime may enjoy it. The system is simple enough to play out, but isn’t intended to be a balance game on it’s own. It works best when players move along quickly, perhaps with a favorite libation, and make quick choices. So keep it moving and have them create some character moments. Now get out there and run some great games.
Reference
Structure of a Dart Board with slices and rings for scoring.
