Every Claim Is Weighed
Rock weights are measured in scruples, the Keeper's own unit — 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 140. Each rock you draw is weighed at random somewhere in that 20–140 range, independently of every other rock — there's no guarantee any two will be close, which is exactly why drawing more gives you better odds of finding a good match.
Choose how many rocks to draw — 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 — with the slider. Each pan only ever holds up to 2 rocks, so drawing more doesn't mean loading more onto the scale — it means a bigger pool to pick from, improving your odds of finding two pairs that are actually close in weight. Drawing costs 1 gold per rock, taken from your gold up front as your wager for the round.
Each rock can be investigated for a weight hint — a d20 roll plus your bonus, giving you a range the real weight falls somewhere within (not necessarily the middle). A total of 10 narrows it to a range of 50, 12 to 40, 15 to 30, 18 to 20, and a natural 20 to a razor-thin range of 5. A natural 1 hands you a normal-looking range that's simply wrong — 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. Each rock keeps its own fixed spot on the Bench, so moving one rock never shifts the others around. 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 pays 10x, Near Balance returns your wager, Slight Tip returns half, and Dead Weight loses it all. Since your wager equals rocks drawn, drawing more rocks 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.