A while back I got the Kickstarter 'zine Two Minute Taverns. I liked it as it makes some interesting taverns, and even used it for non-fantasy taverns, though I had to curtail some of the more, well, fantastical aspects! See this post for that initial run-through.
The Fantasy Trip's Hexagram 10 recently arrived, and it too has a tavern generator. It also came with a nice box to put all the Hexgram magazines in. Taverns are suitable for any fantasy game - there are no rules for the ambiance and designs of taverns. So either generator is equally viable for any game regardless of which rule set.
So, let's run through the version by Christopher Rice and see what we get!
First, we roll for the class of tavern, and our 2d6 roll of 6 gives us a typical tavern, the local hangout. One nice part of this is that there are some rules that are specific to TFT, though not really. The prices for food and services are given, which is nice. I always have a hard time figuring out how much to charge for some of the most basic things. I really need to make a table for basic costs. Though perhaps not as detailed as the one I cribbed for the Cowboys & Dinosaur game: I researched prices in the 1880s. Anyway, our typical tavern meals run about 2 silvers, a room for 10 silvers or 1 gold.
For services, I rolled a 4, giving us 1d services. Our typical tavern has 3 services:
- entertainment - there's a dance hall available and dancing is there. It does not say if the patrons are dancing, or there is a dance troupe, but as "the patrons should toss a coin", going with this is dancers for our patrons entertainment.
- long-term storage is available. There are some rules for strongboxes, which could easily be translated to other systems. A block of storage holding 50 pounds of equipment will run you 5 gold a week. And there are some adventure hooks for stores that have not been picked back up and the proprietor may be willing to sell, sight unseen, the contents.
- lodging. our typical tavern is really an inn
Checking for special clientele, our inn seems to cater to wizards. Now I am thinking of that pub in Ankh-Morpork that the wizard hung out (and I cannot remember the name, but it was in several of Terry Pratchett's very excellent books.
Finally, there are some suggestions about organizing things, and suggestions about notable characters but nothing to generate these characters, nor any random naming processes. As there are a lot of random name generators out there, no real loss. So off to a random
inn name generator!
The Known Loaf Tavern is a typical tavern: a main floor with kitchens and the tavern. What sets it apart is the raised dance floor where a local dance troop of Gnomes performs 3 times a week. It is also the local hangout for wizards, and non-wizards tend to get a quick glance of disapproval. Meals run about 2 silvers, and a room for the night can be had for a gold. There are also long-term storage boxes available for the adventurer who may need to put some of their equipment up for a spell. Hagatha Vexx runs the place, and due to having the meal spell, can readily make anything that is not normally on the menu.
Hagatha Vexx, older female wizard, retired from adventuring. Almost 6' tall but thin, she does most of the cooking and her sons tend the bar and act as the occasional bouncer as needed. Though the sit eof the magic sword hanging above the kitchen door does tend to dissuade most people from causing a ruckus. ST 10 DX 12 IQ 14, Light, Magic Fist, Meal, Staff II (3 mana points), Sooth, Sword, Literacy, Business Sense. Magic sword; Keskirr (+1 damage, +3 vs goblinoid; from
Dyson's Book of Swords)
In the end, I think I prefer the two-minute tavern: it has more fun quirks and things, as well as some interesting character building. Though I'll also pull from the services here as that is nice (though the zine also has something similar). Of course, the two-minute tavern is also a complete 'zine of 11 pages versus a 5-page article in a relatively short (38 page) magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment