Every Claim Is Weighed
Rock weights are measured in scruples (1/24th of an ounce). A pebble runs about 20 scruples, a fist-sized stone around 70, and a hefty chunk you'd need both hands for tops out near 200. Each rock is weighed at random somewhere in that 20–200 range, independently of every other rock — there's no guarantee any two will be close, though drawing more rocks improves your odds of finding a good match.
Choose how many rocks to draw — 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 — with the slider. Each pan holds up to 2 rocks, so drawing more doesn't mean loading more onto the scale — it means a bigger pool to pick from, which improves your odds of finding two sides that are close in weight. Drawing costs 1 Gold per rock.
Any rock can be investigated for a weight hint. Investigating rolls a d20 and adds your bonus; the total tells you how wide a range the real weight is narrowed down to (the weight can fall anywhere in that range, not necessarily the middle):
| Roll + Bonus | Range Width |
|---|---|
| 8 or below | No clear read |
| 9–12 | 50 scruples |
| 13–16 | 30 scruples |
| 17–19 | 20 scruples |
| 20+ | 5 scruples |
| Natural 20 | Exact weight |
A natural 1 on the die is a fumble: it hands you a normal-looking range that's simply wrong, and the real weight lies outside it. You only get a limited number of investigations per round, based on how many rocks you drew.
Drag a rock from the Bench onto the Left or Right pan (or use its Left / Bench / Right buttons) — up to 2 rocks per pan. Anything left on the Bench doesn't count toward the judgment.
The scale compares the total weight on each pan. How close the two sides are, as a percentage difference, decides the outcome. Payouts are a flat multiple of your wager: Perfect Balance (within 1%) pays 10x, Fine Balance (within 2%) pays double, Near Balance (within 5%) returns your wager, Slight Tip (within 10%) returns half, and Dead Weight loses it all. Since your wager equals the number of rocks drawn, drawing more raises the stakes — win or lose.
Start a new round once judgment is rendered. The House closes up if you run out of Gold to draw at least 2 rocks.