Rules Index | GM Screen

Taverns

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 198
It’s an understatement to say that the tavern is a staple location in the fantasy genre. It’s the perfect place for the PCs to meet up, conduct business, and wind down after an adventure. Shady characters abound in taverns and all manner of activities, legal or otherwise, can take place beneath their smoke-filled ceilings. Unfortunately, the tavern’s ubiquity is such that players may treat it as something of a running joke. Unless you’re willing to inject some variation into your taverns, the PCs will continually run into the same staple of surly bartenders, busty barmaids, and drunken patrons itching to get into a brawl at the drop of a hat.

This chapter looks at ways to add some variety into your campaign’s taverns, inns, and restaurants, making them into memorable experiences that can liven up the phrase “So, you all meet in a tavern...”

Services

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 198
By definition, a tavern is a business where customers can purchase alcoholic beverages. Sounds simple enough, right? But just as with modern bars, a fantasy tavern can be far more than just a place to get a flagon of ale. Defining what characters can find within a particular tavern goes a long way toward giving the place a unique feel.

Setting and Quality

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 198
One of the first aspects to determine is what sort of setting a tavern presents. Is it small and cramped, with greasy smoke obscuring the faces of the patrons? Perhaps it’s enormous, with vaulted ceilings and multiple fireplaces providing light and flame for slowly-roasting boars on spits. You can also play against stereotype and have a clean and well-appointed country inn in an otherwise destitute area, or a worn and spartan tavern, with merely a bench or two to sit upon, in a wealthy part of town. Consider that in some places, a tavern may very well be the only entertainment around, meaning that most of its regular patrons might consider it a second home and treat it accordingly.

Table 7–32: Unique Tavern Traits table on page 200 can be used to give a tavern, inn, or restaurant some unusual flavor. Roll 1d3 different traits or simply choose a trait or two from the list.

Drinks

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 198
The vast majority of taverns serve drinks (whether alcoholic or not) made from local ingredients. In a temperate climate, wheat, hops, and barley are the most likely ingredients, and a tavern in such an area probably serves beer and ales. If bees are present, mead is another option. In more arid locales, grapes are more likely to grow well, and wine is probably more prevalent. In places where crops or arable land is scarce, however, a tavern may serve fermented goat’s milk, cactus juice, or even more exotic drinks.

But why stop there? Perhaps a tavern stocks truly unusual or rare drinks crafted from unique plants or even monsters. A tavern along a swampy track may distill a special liquor from ambulatory plant creatures, which gives it a potent kick. Depending on how prevalent magic is in your campaign, it’s even possible that a tavern has an alchemist on staff who dabbles in the creation of remarkably strong, tasty, or even dangerous drinks. Drinks could be carbonated or flaming, could have an outward effect on imbibers (such as turning a drinker’s hair blue), or could contain mild (or not so mild) hallucinogenic ingredients.

Food

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 198
Many taverns, and certainly most inns, offer food to their customers. As with drinks, menus typically consist of local fare, although more upscale restaurants, particularly those in urban settings, may offer food from farther away—ranging from mildly unusual dishes from the barony a few leagues away to exotic dishes from the farthest reaches of the globe. See the Food/Drink equipment section for different types of common meals and their prices.

Offering exotic or bizarre food on a menu is another great way to make a tavern or inn more memorable. The players will quickly forget the tavern that just serves mutton, but they will probably remember the inn that serves poached drake eggs in firebrandy sauce.

Entertainment

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 198
Taverns primarily serve local customers, and the best way to keep them coming back is to provide some form of entertainment while they quaff their beer and dine on mutton or quail. While a simple singing minstrel is the stereotype, a tavern could also host a full band of musicians or possibly even a house band.

If the tavern is large enough, it may boast a small stage, allowing plays or other performances. Given the prevalence of magic, small-time illusionists can perform their coin tricks with full visual and auditory displays. Bards can tell tales of old or create new stories on the fly.

Remember that tastes in entertainment vary wildly from place to place. One town’s tavern may boast extremely bawdy songs and “performances” that would make even a barbarian blush, while other, more conservative areas may restrict entertainment to hymns or morality plays. Taverns and inns often serve as convenient sites for prostitution, either from among its clientele or as a service of the establishment itself. Such services can be either open or covert, depending on the tavern’s location.

Bedding

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 199
With the possible exception of a back bedroom used by the owner, taverns generally do not provide rooms to their patrons (the exception being taverns that also tolerate prostitution). Inns, of course, make their income by providing a place for people to sleep for the night. Even then, the quality of an inn dictates the privacy and comfort of its rooms. Poor quality inns offer little more than a spot on the floor or possibly a large, straw-filled mattress in a communal room with other patrons. Average inns have individual rooms capable of hosting two people in a single shared bed. Superior inns have private rooms, often with an adjoining antechamber, sitting room, or balcony.

Other Amenities

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 199
Taverns and inns serve as the focal points of most communities. The front of a tavern may boast a board with wanted posters, local decrees, available jobs, or requests for help, which the PCs might find of interest. The local sheriff or constable may use the tavern as second base of operations, deputizing any able-bodied citizens (or the PCs) as he sees fit.

Staff and Patrons

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 199
Once you’ve determined the services of a tavern or inn, you need to populate it. Usually it’s not necessary to create game statistics for the staff or patrons. If your players have a penchant for starting brawls, however, you can find stat blocks for some common bar staff and customers in Chapter 9. To determine what staff and patrons are working at or patronizing a tavern or inn, use the Tavern random encounter table on page 213 and adjust the numbers according to the size of the establishment.

Staff

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 199
Unless the business is closed, there is always at least one person running a tavern or inn (in most cases the owner of the business). Beyond that, the tavern needs bartenders, barmen, or barmaids, and, if it serves food, at least one cook. Most busy or popular taverns also employ one or more bouncers to keep the patrons in line. Depending on the size of the tavern, however, a single staff member could fill one or more of these roles—the owner might tend the bar and cook if necessary, or a barmaid could break heads if things get out of hand.

Patrons

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 199
Usually, the quality of a tavern or inn defines the type of people who patronize it. If a tavern serves as the hub of a community, its patrons are typically far more respectful of the staff and the facilities than those of a watering hole in a major city that caters to travelers or transients who come in for a single drink or bit of business and never return. Remember that not every tavern should be the headquarters of the local thieves’ guild—farmers, craftsmen, merchants, and even nobles all come to taverns just to have a drink or two and fraternize with their fellow citizens.

Describing Personalities

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 199
While every staff member of patron might not need a full stat block, it’s a good idea to come up with a list of personality types and quirks and assign them to the characters that the PCs engage with. Merely adding a lisp to the bartender or giving the waitress a severe limp while she hobbles around the tavern with numerous full tankards of ale can go a long way toward making a tavern memorable.

Archives of Nethys

Rules Index | GM Screen