Games within games are serious business, as seen in many of the Gwent-related quests in The Witcher 3. Cards not only come at high costs of coin but sometimes also lives and property. "A Dangerous Game" is a secondary quest that will involve Geralt hunting down some rare cards by any means necessary.
The White Wolf's old friend, Zoltan Chivay, has become involved with the shadier side of Gwent card trading and must find 3 specific things in order to complete a high-pay deal. The dwarf asks Geralt for help acquiring the Fringilla Vigo, Isengrim, and Natalis cards, which take up the 3 main objectives of this quest before the trade is made with Zoltan's client.
Meet Up With Zoltan At The Rosemary And Thyme
Before going into the next phase of The Witcher 3 that involves completing "The Isle of Mists" main quest, the player can find this secondary one outside the Rosemary and Thyme. Zoltan will be chatting with some strangers, however, when Geralt walks up to them he enters their conversation.
A few thuggish characters; Earl, Duke, and some of their cronies; are speaking to Zoltan, though leave rudely shortly after Geralt shows up, which is followed by Zoltan explaining the situation. He tells Geralt of his need to gather 3 specific rare cards for an upcoming deal and asks the witcher for his assistance. Agreeing will send the player off to find the 1st of these 3 collectibles, the Isengrim card.
Getting The Isengrim Faoiltiarna Card From Zed
Zoltan will tell you where to find Zed, the owner of an Isengrim card, and Geralt will head to his house. The door will be locked, therefore one must look around to find a way in. Scale the house and leap across the gap to the neighboring one. Players will find a door here that will lead them down into Zed's house.
Upon doing so, one will find Zed's dead body and will notice some bandits conversing nearby about a ledger. They are also talking about an Isengrim card that they took from the now-deceased Zed. Engage them in battle so that one can loot their remains for both the card and a key.
Look for suspicious marking on the floor and use Aard to break through a frail wall, revealing a chest containing the ledger. After collecting it, head back to Zoltan to get leads on the 2 remaining cards. Players can either search for the Natalis card or the Vigo card in whichever order they desire, as it does not impact the story or outcome in any way.
Getting The John Natalis Card From Ravik
Follow the quest marker to The Golden Sturgeon to find Ravik. This will lead the player to encounter the blonde and bearded man at the mercy of two thugs; Earl and his henchman. Earl offers to play Gwent with Geralt for both Ravik's life and the John Natalis card. If one refuses, a fight will break out after Earl kills Ravik. Don't worry too much if this happens, if one does not care for Ravik, as the card can still be looted from his body after the thugs are dealt with.
However, winning the game of Gwent will let Ravik live, though a fight will also break out as Earl is a lying scumbag. It should be noted that losing this game of Gwent will also cause Ravik to be killed (the card can still be looted from his body). Following the card and sword fights respectively, if Ravik is alive, one will have to chat with him until he gives up the prize. He will try to weasel out of it but keep insisting and he will eventually hand over the John Natalis card. With this goal achieved, head now to Caeser Bilzen's house to meet up with Zoltan and follow his plan to snag the Fringilla Vigo card.
Getting The Fringilla Vigo Card From Caesar Bilzen
When one approaches the entrance, they will see Zoltan hanging out by the door. Talk to him and the dwarf will fill the player in on his plan, which consists of getting Caesar drunk enough not to notice Geralt rummaging through his belongings. After the briefing, the pair knock on the door and are invited in by Caesar.
The plan starts off quite well with Zoltan being able to get Caesar drunk and keep him distracted while Geralt gets asked to 'get more alcohol'. As the witcher is excused, the player is given the chance to snoop around for Caesar's card collection.
Go upstairs and investigate the room with a bookcase that has a small keyhole and a knife in the wall. Interacting with the knife will cause it to turn, revealing it to be a cleverly disguised lever. Moving it to the other position will cause a drawer to open. Inside, there is a key that the player can use on the strange hole in the bookcase that will make it move, unblocking the secret door beyond.
Head through it and climb the stairs to find a room with Caesar's collection, which contains the rare Fringilla Vigo card. There is also a special item that starts "The Soldier Statuette" secondary quest called the Jade Figurine here, so one might as well grab that too.
Loot everything of value and then backtrack to Zoltan and Caesar, though, before Geralt and his friend can leave, two dwarven thugs sent by the crime boss Cleaver will show up and start trouble. The player can either dispatch them and protect Caesar or let the thugs have him. The only difference between the two actions is that Caesar will thank Geralt before packing his bags and leaving town if he survives. All that is left to do now that all 3 rare cards have been acquired is to seek out the buyer.
Meeting The Buyer
With all 3 cards in hand, Zoltan will lead Geralt to the site of the deal, though they will find the buyer dead and Duke, one of the thugs who was bothering Zoltan earlier, is the murderer. He will summon thugs to distract Geralt and Zoltan and then flee. Zoltan insists on taking on the thugs while Geralt chases after Duke.
Thankfully, there is no time limit and the path towards the enemy is a very linear one, making it impossible to fail this part of the quest or get lost. As one heads after Duke, make sure to loot containers on the way for some bonus goods. This path will eventually lead the player into the sewers, where they will have to fight off some drowners and find a cracked wall to break through with Aard near the end of the tunnel.
Beyond this, explore further until the player finds an injured Duke lying on the ground. Speaking with him will allow one to retrieve the crowns that the thug stole from the now-dead client. Geralt can either kill the scumbag or let him rot in the sewers to meet a slower demise. Either way, when the interaction is complete, the player will be transported back to Zoltan.
The friendly dwarf will give the player a choice of 2 rewards: the money or the cards. It is recommended to take the cards, as this is the prize that is not only more difficult to get but also more useful in creating powerful Gwent decks.