![]() ![]() After all, a grumpy dwarf will give the place a very different feeling than what a quick tongued cyborg would. ![]() Did he build it? Inherit it? Bought the tavern from a bankrupt previous innkeeper? While you are at it, you can also flesh out his personality a bit. Because of this, it’s important to think well about who he is, and his relationship with the place. And where better to start than from the pumping hearth of the place, the innkeeper? This NPC will likely be the first one the players meet, and is basically the face of the tavern. Once you have your basic concept and the location of the tavern written down, it’s time to populate it. The innkeeper Thanks to Kia Pagani on Pinterest for the image! If you describe a “crumbling inn, with small tables built from driftwood, smelling like salt and rotting algae”, for example, your players will expect pirates as patrons without you doing anything more. No one says you should get a degree in architecture to properly design your tavern, but a little thinking about materials and style of building can greatly simplify your job. If you’re in the slums of a megalopolis, it’s highly unlikely your pub will have chromed walls and elaborate crystal windows. One reason to think about the tavern’s location is that it helps when deciding how the inn is built. I can assure you that, during their adventures, the players will set foot in a whole lot of inns! The building proper ![]() Don’t worry, you can always use the old idea for another tavern in a more suitable spot. If the world you are creating must have an inn in that spot, scratch your basic concept and create another. ![]() No matter how much you need your cheerful tavern, it will not do for it to be built in the middle of a swamp. Most important of all, you must remember to keep it coherent. Where the inn is will have a profound impact on both the building itself and its patrons. Once you have your generic concept, there’s another detail that can help you building a good, believable tavern: the location. The tavern’s location Thanks to Cromoedgeart for the picture! Much like the character creation process, remember to keep it simple and brief: the idea should be enough to guide your creativity, but not so detailed that it stifles you. If the place is build around a single precise concept, however, I can assure you that your players will remember it for a long time. Your work will not evoke a precise atmosphere, and will quickly turn into “another generic tavern”. While you can create a tavern without a core concept in mind, you’ll risk turning it into a ragtag collection of elements with little to no cohesion. A concept for a tavern? Why?īecause it will greatly simplify the rest of the creation process. Does it need to be a place where adventurers can relax, or is it filled to the brim with secrets and quest hooks? Depending on your answers, you’ll settle on very different concepts. Instead, “happy, cheerful inn with a dark secret” works, don’t you think? At this stage, you should think of how you want to use the tavern in the campaign. Need a spooky mood for a horror story? Then “happy, cheerful inn” isn’t a good idea. So, you should define the concept based on what atmosphere you want to create. However, an inn is not a PC: rather, it’s something for the players to enjoy. You should still write down a concept, a basic idea that will guide you through the creation process. In some ways, creating a tavern is not that different from creating a character. ![]()
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