![]() ![]() These could be plot hooks that take the players on a full adventure or simpler one-off encounters. Players love uncovering secrets, so make sure to include some! This could be a hidden passage, a stashed treasure from a previous adventurer (guarded by their ghost!), or a criminal activity the innkeeper is involved in. Then, think about minigames: a dartboard, gaming table (playing D&D in D&D sounds fun!), or even a full-on bowling set-up. This is a small detail, but if you give them an interesting description, you’re giving an easy opportunity for social interaction to your players. It’s a win-win situation!Ĭonsider adding a bard or a band playing ambient music. The great thing about downtime is that it usually requires less prep time on the DM’s side and it gives breathing room between adventures. ![]() Having a place to sleep, drink, and start bar brawls is great and all, but what if it could be more than that? This can be a great opportunity to not only add more opportunities for plot hooks but also to give your players fun downtime activities. Or, depending on the setting, you could instead have magic-powered automatons! This will make the tavern a hundred times more memorable instead of being just another place for the players to sleep in. In a fantasy world, you could have ghosts serving as waiters. Use the genre, mood, and theme to spruce these basic elements up. You probably want at least one member of the staff sleeping there, in case something happens at night! And where do the innkeepers live? They could have separate homes, or maybe they live in the same building. ![]() Remember all the elements a D&D tavern should have! It needs a bar, places to sit, a kitchen, and, depending on the kind of establishment, bedrooms too. Want to learn more about mood and theme? Check out our blog post about the world meta! 3. Or, if the theme of your world is about nature reclaiming the world, there could be a massive griffin nest on top of the tavern-that’s a problem for your players to solve! For example, scorch marks in the wall might represent a decaying mood but it’s also a plot hook to discover where the burn came from. If you keep this kind of symbolism going through the whole campaign, your players will be much more immersed-even if they don’t know why!īut mood and themes don’t have to be just atmospheric details! You can use them to create plot hooks too. Or if your campaign theme is the struggle of good versus evil, you might choose to name your tavern something like “Candle in the Darkness”, or even have purple-black vines slowly engulfing the building. For example, if your mood is grimdark, make sure to describe the dirty floor and the raucous crowd, which is probably not very welcoming towards foreigners. One of the best ways to create a campaign that feels coherent is to keep a consistent mood and reinforce your world’s themes. Is it just in appearance or is there something deeper going on? Just playing with the atmosphere of the campaign can create new plot hooks for your players. They will know to expect an innkeeper, local patrons drinking ale and possibly sharing rumors, and a quest board for up-and-coming adventurers like them.īut you can also flip the script! In a modern-day setting, you could have a fantasy-looking tavern. Use this to your advantage! If the tavern fits the usual tropes of the genre, your players will be able to imagine it without you having to make a detailed description. In a cyberpunk setting, they’ll expect neon lights everywhere, and in a high fantasy world they’ll expect a bard playing in the corner. Your world’s genre will define the expectations your players have about a tavern. Taverns and inns are very important in D&D games-it’s where players go after a long day of hard work! However, it’s very easy for a tavern to feel generic, so let’s look at five easy steps you can use to make your D&D tavern feel unique! 1. ![]()
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