There’s a reason almost every adventure starts in a tavern! Taverns are the perfect spot for bringing your 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons party to a central location to start their journey. Taverns alone can🌄 tell a party the vibe of their city or kingdomꦬ, the kind of people they may deal with, and where the plot may lead.

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Taverns can be as simple or as complex as you want them. From the Dungeon Master’s point of view, they𒁃 may already be too focused on the plot and characters to care about them, but there are a few easy things you can do to give taverns a bit of life!

What Exactly Is A “Tavern”?

A collage of Dungeons & Dragons artwork including Tasha, a Halfling Bard and a rich adventurer
Image credit (left to right: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything by Magali Villeneuve / Tavern Bard by Rob Rey / Triumphant Adventurer by Alexander Mokhov)

While the “tavern” term is the most commonly used in D&D, there are other words that are commonly associated that each come with their own definitions:

  • Tavern - An old term for “Pub,” which is a place that sells food and alcohol.
  • Pub - A place that sells food and alcohol.
  • Inn - A place that serves food and alcohol while also having rooms that people can sleep in (more akin to a hotel).
  • Bar - The stool/barred area where you physically buy alcohol.

Despite each having its own meaning, they are fairly interchangeable in Dungeons & Dragons. This is especially the case when describing a plac✱e's name; for example, the “Sleeping Lion Inn” may also have a 𒈔bar inside.

Tavern Creation And Personalization

Dungeons & Dragons Artwork, Showing a tavern brawl betwen a dwarf, a tiefling an elf and a goblin.
Brawl at the Yawning Portal by Scott Murphy

Much like the rest of their campaign, Dungeon Masters can be as creative as they desire regarding the overall creation of a tavern. From only gi💝ving a general description of the overall appearance to mentioning that the nails in the floorboards are made from Mithral, it’s all up to how vividly you want to describe it.

There are only a handful of things that most would call “required” when creating a tavern to ensure your players have a good enough image of the place they are walking into. Of course, all this is interchangeable and⛎ completely up to your✅ discretion.

A neat checklis🔯t of thing𝕴s to ask yourself when creating it is the following:

  • What does it look like? (Inside and Outside)
  • What kind of patrons are inside?
  • Who’s behind the bar?
  • What kind of food do they have?
  • Do they have lodging available?

Tavern Appearance

Like designing a town or city, the tavern’s appearance can be based on its environment. A tave𝓡rn built in a region that commonly snows may be made of oak logs and fitted with fur, while one bui꧟lt downtown in a grassy city may be made from stone.

In addition, the condition and appearance of the tavern can indicate its location status and notoriety. A run-down, seedy tavern can indicate that the pꦰarty is entering ꦓa dangerous part of town. In contrast, a neat and tidy one can indicate that military or political officials visit often.

Small details can be added not just to describe what the tavern looks like, but to help foreshadow to the players the environment they are walkin𒁃g into.

Tavern Patrons

Similar to using appearance to show the kind of environment the party is in, the patrons inside can be used to show what the city populace is like.

Creating patrons for taverns is almost like crafting one or two NPCs and replicating them throughout a space. While Dungeon Masters may not be expected to write a whoꦡle back story for every patron in a tavern, having one or two personality traits prepared in case the party talks to them is a great way to add more character to its residents.

Aside from their personality, the types of people present can further foreshadow and add plot details to your story. If your party is hunting for a missing criminal, perhaps adding one or two patrons with a sigil printed on their arm ཧthat means “DANGEROUS” is a way to cause them to start interacting.

Dungeons & Dragons art of Volo in a tavern drinking while gesturing towards mounted monster heads.
Volo, Guide to Monsters by Zoltan Boros.

Tavern Bartender/Workers

The best part of creating a tavern is coming up with the person who runs it. This will be the primary NPC that your party talks to most of the time. Many Dungeon Masters like to get creative and wacky with their character design.

Designing the bartender typically requires a bit more detail, such as asking yourself:

  • What’s their name?
  • What do they look like?
  • How do they talk?
  • What is their personality like?

In the end, many Dungeon Masters have fun coming up with bartenders on the fly. Since major plot movements often don’t occur iไn a tavern, this is the DM’s time to practice their improv skills and have fun with the rest of the party by introducing ൲them to a completely out-of-the-ordinary character.

Tavern Menu And Games

A collage of Dungeons & Dragons images including an artificer, a fight at a tavern and a rogue
Image credit (left to right: League Guildmage by Svetlin Velinov / Boromar Clan Nightclub Suzanne Helmigh / Half Elf Rogue by Daniel Castiblanco)

While adventurers may go to taverns to relax or get information, they often just want to drink and play games.

The Player’s Handbook has a whole table titled “Food, Drink, & Lodging,” which gives a general list of what most taverns and restaurants would sell. This is i💦ncredibly handy for giving your players a simple fo﷽od menu without having to get too fancy with things.

Alternatively, you can also create your own drink and food to give your tavern ev♓en more personality. Similar to ho♌w real-life taverns may have specialty drinks, nothing stops you from doing the same thing.

Perhaps a tavern called “The Broken Goblin Bone” sells something called “Goblin Snot,” a shot glass full of thick green ooze that tastes surprisingly sweet. Or a more refined tavern may sell “Dragon Wine,” w💧hich is said to be red wine sprinkled with the ashes of a dragon (it might not be comfortable with any Dragonborn characters, however).

Like drinking, taverns are known to have plenty of games to play (or gamble on). There are dozens of different games you can choose from, but the most common include the following:

  • Darts: Make competing Sleight of Hand checks against an opponent. Best of five wins.
  • Arm Wrestling: Make competing Strength checks against an opponent. Best of five wins (unless people want to arm wrestle in person).
  • Pit Fighting: Have a contained combat encounter (and have your party find ways to cheat to ensure you win).
  • Drinking Contest: Make competing Constitution checks against an opponent. First to three failures loses (DC determined by the Dungeon Master).
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