One More For the Road

Oftentimes adventures start off in a tavern in some town or city where the characters meet for the first time. It’s so common to gamers that we actually make jokes about it. But why do we use the tavern as a place of beginnings? Historically taverns were a gathering place for most small towns, and in bigger cities they were a place you could get lost among the faceless crowds that come and go through the tavern doors. In most games we usually gloss over the part where the PCs find their adventures, but sitting in dark corners waiting for adventure to hit you over the head with a club is not the auspicious beginning that every player wants for their quest.

So why start in a tavern?

Being a common meeting place, the tavern seems like a natural - and neutral - place to gather groups of disparate personalities. Prospective employers might choose to meet their possible agents away from their home turf. You always have the trope of the cloaked stranger to fall back on as well. As someone who spends a fair amount of time in a bar I can tell you there is nothing like a local establishment you frequent and feel at home in. The PC could even use their local bar, where they know every patron by name, as a place to screen their employers.

What else can PC get out of a tavern?

Since locals tend to gather in eating and drinking establishments, the tavern is a perfect location to gather information. Lips loosened by a bit of alcohol are more likely to spill information you may not have otherwise found on the street. Even those trying to keep a low profile stand out to the guy at the end of the bar who has been frequenting the tavern for 20 years. The barkeep himself is a great source of information as many a besotted patron will speak endlessly about their woes to the guy pouring their ale.

In many modern bars you’ll find a pool table or a dart board. They might also have a jukebox or a live band. So how do we translate this into ways to liven up a tavern scene? Background music can work wonders when you’re sitting down to play, and live music for a tavern is probably easier to find than the sounds of dripping water in a cave. Throwing knives or darts can become a fun diversions for a party before things get serious. The curmudgeon dwarf who swears he can drink you under the table or the guy half in the bag who challenges everyone to an arm wrestling contest can both provide a sense that the tavern is more than just a backdrop for shady adventurers.

Making sure you get the proper atmosphere for the kind of tavern you are using can give your players a better feeling of immersion. A seedy dive in a bad part of town has a different feel than an upscale establishment in a high class neighborhood. In smaller towns there may only be one tavern which doubles as an inn. The townsfolk very likely use the place for large meetings so the whole place has a homier feel to it. Making sure you properly describe the place where the players are meeting as well as the patrons within goes a long way toward setting ambiance.

Lastly let’s talk about one of the most fun aspects of the tavern, bar fights. Nothing says fun and chaos like a drunken barroom brawl. Maybe you have an organization of fist fighters like The Brotherhood of the Brawl as written by our friend Neal Lihterland from Improved Initiative. Or maybe things just get out of hand when a patron has downed one too many. Barroom brawls can be hard to keep organized for a GM but can add a little excitement to the old “you meet in a tavern” trope. Maybe the PCs even start the brawl as a means to slip out of the tavern unnoticed by a threat they aren’t ready to face head on.

We all have a great bar story. I’ve got more than a few, having worked both behind the bar and as a bouncer in addition to my patronage. So tell us your in or out-of-game story and share your ideas on how to keep the tavern more than just a running joke.

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