The show began with the opening them and a fancier version of the game board lighting up one digit at a time.

And now, a game of risk where every choice is a gamble and every move could be the last... Ruby Rollers! And here's your host with all the action, Henry Gale!

"Thank you and welcome to Ruby rollers where we're wrapping up our Oz Madness Tournament. We started with sixteen players and we're down to the last four. Each will be playing for the championship and a special prize if they can win two games with these very unpredictable dice," Henry told the large audience.

"We will be playing our northeast semifinal first. So let's meet those contestants. First, we have the 13th seed and winner of the Munchkin District. Some know him as Nick Chopper, and others simply call him the Tin Woodman."

"Thanks, Henry. Let's hope I can keep my perfect streak going," the Tin Woodman replied.

"You'll have your work cut out for you. Despite being seeded eighth, your opponent roared out to a good start and advanced from the Gillikin District. Let's welcome back the Cowardly Lion."

"Thanks," the Lion replied. "This almost feels like a reunion of sorts. You know, I once tried calling myself 'the Brave Lion,' but it just didn't sound right."

"Well, I'm sure you'll play bravely no matter what happens. But you'll have to wait because the Tin Woodman plays first. You already know all the rules, so let's get started."

"Alright, let's get a big number to start," he said.

"Seven. How would you like to take that?"

"Give me the seven."

"Seven comes off and you get to go again."

"Let's go big numbers!"

"Double six! That's the biggest one you can get. You get an insurance marker and your choice in removing 12 off the board."

"I'll take the nine and the three."

"Those numbers come off, all the rolls are good, and you get to go again."

"How about another double."

"Four and two. How do you want the six?"

"I want the six, Henry."

"Six comes off the board. All rolls are still good."

"That's good to know. Let's get a big number again."

"Three. Your only option is the one and two. Your good rolls are now four, five, eight, nine, and twelve," Henry informed the Tin Woodman.

"OK then. Let's get one of those numbers."

"Five. That's a good roll. We take that off the board. You're down to the four and the eight. Another twelve would clear the board."

"Let's keep that streak going. C'mon 12!"

"One and three. Four is a good roll! You need an eight to clear the board."

"I got this. Let's go eight!"

"Three. That's a bad roll, but you have an insurance marker. We'll take that and you have one more chance to roll and eight."

"Let's get that eight now."

"Double twos. Normally, you'd get an insurance marker, but four is a bad roll. You still get to roll again to try to get that elusive eight."

"Alright, let's get that great eight!"

"Three. Three is a bad roll, so you finish with eight points. Lion, you have to beat eight to advance to our championship."

"That sounds simple enough, here we go," the Cowardly Lion said as he took his initial roll.

"Eleven. You get to take at least two numbers off the board. What will they be?"

"Let's see. I'll take the nine and the two."

"Alright. Those numbers come off. You get to go again."

"Let's get another big number."

"Nine. You have three or four possibilities for that including eight and one, six and three, five and four, and the 1-3-5 combination."

"I'll take three and six."

"Those numbers are gone. Three is now a bad roll. Go ahead and roll again."

"Let's get a big number again."

"Double three! That gives you an important insurance marker. One and five come off the board. Four, seven, and eight are the good rolls—along with 11 and 12."

"Let's get a good number, then!"

"Five and three. Eight is a good roll. It comes off. Four and seven are the last numbers remaining and an 11 will clear the board. All you need is to take off one of the last two numbers to win."

"Let's get those numbers or an 11!" the Cowardly Lion called out as he rolled.

"Five. That's a bad roll. We'll take your insurance marker and you get another chance for the four, seven, or eleven."

"Let's get that 11!"

"Six and four. That's just short and a bad roll. The Tin Woodman wins the game and is our first finalist."

The audience applauded and cheered loudly.

"Lion, you had the same score you had last time, I think, but it wasn't quite enough today."

"It's OK, Henry. I had fun doing this and Nick here was the better player today. I hope he does well in the finals."

"That's very kind of you to say," Henry replied. "We'll have a nice parting gift for you for making to the Emerald City and to thank you for being part of our tournament. Nick, you will go backstage and wait to see who you play from the winner of our next game. That takes place right after this."

"Welcome to back to Ruby Rollers and the final day of our Oz Madness Tournament. Let's meet the remaining two players vying for a spot in the championship game," Henry said. "First, we have the sixth seed who had fun playing two perfect games. Welcome back, Eureka."

"Thanks," Eureka replied. "This game is more fun than chasing piglets around the palace."

"Indeed. Today, your opponent is seeded second and he's proven to be quite the dice player. Let's welcome Jack Pumpkinhead to our game."

"Thanks, Henry," Jack said, waving to the large audience. "It would be nice to do well again today."

"You guys know the rules, and I know you're anxious to play, so let's begin with Eureka."

"Alright. I've been looking forward to this," she said as she batted the dice onto the playing area with her paws.

"Double fives! That earns an insurance marker off the bad and a chance to take off at least two numbers."

"Let me think. I want the nine and the one."

"Those numbers come off and you get to go again."

"Oh good. Let's have some more fun."

"Double fives again. That's two insurance markers and another chance to take off two or more numbers."

"This is harder than I thought. How about the two and eight."

"Those numbers come off the board and all the rolls are good."

"Let's get doubles again."

"Double three! This is amazing, you've earned three insurance markers on three rolls. Your only choice here is the six, so that's gone. Six is now a bad roll."

"I'm not worried," Eureka stated. "Let's try for four in a row."

"Seven. You can take the three and four or the seven."

"Let's just take the seven."

"Seven is no longer lit. Six, ten, and eleven are the bad rolls. A twelve will clear the board of the three, four, and five still up there."

"Let's get that twelve then."

"Three and one. The four come off. Your good rolls are three, five, and the eight to clear the board. You have three insurance markers if you need them."

"That's going to help, I think. Let's get the eight."

"Another three and one. That's a bad roll. We'll take an insurance marker and you can roll again."

"Let's get the eight. I'm ready for a break."

"Five. That's a good roll. All you need now is the three to clear the board, and you have two insurance markers to help you."

"Let's clear the board the again. I like having zero as my score."

"Seven. That's a bad roll. We take another one of your insurance markers and you can roll again."

"Let's get that three."

"Double six. Twelve doesn't help you, but you get a free roll from the insurance marker that would normally come with the twelve."

"Let's try this again. I want a three."

"Five. That's a bad roll. We take your last insurance marker and you have to get three or doubles to stay in the game."

"Let's get that three. The third marker is the charm, or something like that!" Eureka exclaimed.

"Nine. That's a bad roll and your turn ends with a score of three. Jack, you have your work cut out for you, but it can be beaten."

"I'm not too worried. I don't think this batch of seeds has any worry in them anyways," Jack confessed. "Let's get a good first roll now."

"Eleven. How would you like to take off the eleven?" Henry asked.

"I'll take the three and the eight."

"Those are gone. Roll again."

"Let's get more numbers off this time."

"Eleven again. There's plenty of combinations for you to choose from."

"I'll take the four and the seven."

"Those numbers disappear. Four appears to be the only bad roll."

"Let's not get those then. Let's get good rolls instead."

"Five and one. You can take the six or the one and five."

"I'll go for the six."

"Six is gone. Four and eight are the bad rolls."

"Let's get a good roll again."

"Double two. Four is a bad number, but the doubles gives you another roll in lieu of an insurance marker."

"Let's get a good roll. I need it to try to win."

"Seven. That's a good roll. Two and five come off, leaving you with one and nine. Nine or ten are the good rolls. Either one gives you the win as well."

"Ten, ten, let's get a ten."

"Eleven. That's a bad roll. Your final score is ten. Eureka wins our second semifinal and advances to the championship!"

The audience applauded Eureka's victory.

"Jack, you played hard, but couldn't quite get the last roll you needed. We're glad you were part of the tournament, and we have some parting gifts for you as well."

"Thanks, Henry," Jack replied. "I had fun, and I'm glad I won a couple of games. We'll see if Eurkea has the same good luck she had in her next game."

"Eureka, as we wait for the Tin Woodman to join you for the championship game, we'll take this break."

Returning from the break, Henry addressed the audience again.

"Welcome back to Ruby Rollers as we wrap up our Oz Madness Tournament with the championship game. The Tin Woodman and Eureka the Kitten will square off in a minute to see who wins our special grand prize," he told everyone.

The audience cheered and applauded. For this game, previous contestants sat in the front row.

"Nick, since you're the lower seed—13th to Eureka's sixth—you'll play first."

"Let's get started then," the Tin Woodman said as he rolled the dice.

"Seven. Which combination would you like?"

"I'll take the seven."

"That comes off the board and you can go again."

"Let's get doubles."

"Five and three. The 1-3-5, two and six, five and three, or eight seem to be your options."

"I'll take the eight by itself."

"Eight comes off, all the rolls remain good, and you can roll again."

"Let's get doubles for some insurance."

"Five and one. You have four options to take off the six."

"I'll take the six."

"Six disappears. All the rolls are still good, thankfully."

"I need doubles!"

"One and five again. You can take the 1-2-3, two and four, or five and one."

"I'll take five and one."

"Those numbers get taken out of play. Eight and ten are now bad rolls."

"I need a big roll or doubles to help me now."

"One and five yet again. Your only option for the six is two and four. Those numbers come off the board. All you have left is the three and nine. Twelve would clear the board," Henry informed the Tin Woodman.

"I've been wanting doubles, so now's the time to get them," the Tin woodman replied as he rolled the dice.

"Nine! That's a good roll. The only number left is a three. Get that, and you clear the board."

"C'mon three! Let's get that three!"

"Double fives. Ten is a bad roll, but the doubles give you another chance to get a three."

"I need that three. Let's get it now!"

"Nine. That's a bad roll, but your final score of three will be a challenge for Eureka to beat. We'll reset the game board and she will play for a score lower than three now."

"It's a shame this is the last time I get to do this," Eureka replied as she batted the dice onto the playing area.

"Eleven. You have some choices on the board. Tell me which you prefer."

"I'll take the nine and the two."

"Those come off the board. Roll again."

"Let's try for doubles now."

"Five. Do you want one and four, or just the five."

"Just the five, please."

"Don't you just love how polite she asks? Five comes off. All the rolls are good for you to try again."

"Let's get doubles just to be safe."

"Nine. Do you want one and eight or three and six."

"Three and six."

"Those numbers are eliminated. Three, six, and ten are now bad rolls."

"Let's avoid those and get a good roll."

"Two and four. Six is a bad roll, unfortunately. Your final score is 20, which means the Tin Woodman is our tournament champion."

"I can't believe it. I won!" the Tin Woodman exclaimed, holding his ax triumphantly as the crowd cheered and confetti and balloons dropped from overhead.

"Let's go ahead and tell you what your grand prize is for winning our Oz Madness Tournament," Henry stated.

You win a grand tour of the Land of Oz. You and up to two guests of your choice will depart the Emerald City and visit venues that might include Swing City, Ugu, River Road, and Shutter Town. All this is yours as our Oz Madness Champion.

"For Eureka, Jack, and the Cowardly Lion, we have these parting gifts to thank them for making it to today's final rounds."

That's right, Henry. Each of them will receive their choice of an emerald ring or emerald charm necklace. They will also receive the Ruby Rollers home game.

As the camera returned to Henry, all sixteen contestants joined him on stage.

"For the past few days, these sixteen individuals competed in our Oz Madness Tournament. We'd like to thank them for participating and thank you for your support. Check again in the future for another tournament should we decide to do this again. This is Henry Gale thanking you for joining us. Please take care."

Henry and the contestants then fanned out to interact with the audience.

Ruby Rollers is a Mallet Media Production. Portions not effecting the outcomes of games were edited for broadcast.


Closing Commentary

Even though it took longer to write this than I thought, I liked the fast pace of this. Originally, I had planned to make each game at the Emerald City its own chapter, but I chose not to do that because it would slow the action down too much.

The unpredictability of dice rolling helped make the random seeding largely irrelevant. This is why I didn't make too big a deal out of lower seeds "upsetting" the higher ones. Should I conduct future tournaments, however, I might seed players based on their prior performance.

Also, if I were to do more tournaments in the future, possible changes include single games of shut the box with four players to save time and/or implementing a rule from the original version of High Rollers where players that rolled doubles in the main game didn't receive insurance markers.


Tournament Trivia

In fifteen games, the lower seed won ten times. Keep in mind, however, initial seeding was assigned at random.

Six games saw someone advance after clearing the board. The average score was 8.7. The Tin Woodman, having won his first two games by clearing the board, finished the tournament with just 11 points over four wins.

Eight was the number most frequently left on the board: 10 times in total. Next was the number four (7 times) followed by three (6 times). One player, Jack Pumpkinhead, finished game leaving only the number one on the board.

In 15 games, players earned a total of 37 insurance markers. Nine had to be used immediately, 20 were used later in the game, and eight went unused. Both King Renard IV and Eureka rolled doubles four times in separate games to earn the most insurance markers in one game.

The four players who failed to advance past the district semifinal round with the lowest losing scores were: the Shaggy Man (25), Dorothy (23), Mombi (19), and Button Bright (17). Should I conduct another tournament in the future, these characters will be replaced with four new ones.

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