The Spotted Parrot (and other establishments)

Image courtesy FreeImages.com/Alexander Rist
In part one of this series, six tables (and one set of subtables) defined the physical properties of a tavern (no guest accommodations) or inn (with guest accommodations), plus – because the modifiers needed were at hand – the meals provided by the kitchens. (This is an era when “restaurants” (i.e. locations for the sole purpose of dining) were fairly rare, but most taverns and inns provided meals of some sort for those who patronized the establishment. It might be that it was the introduction of age restrictions on the labor force that led to age restrictions on entry to pubs and taverns, and hence to the introduction of dedicated dining establishments – that’s just a theory on my part, I have no information from which to determine its validity. I mention it only because any GMs who have such restrictions as part of a “progressive” society in their worlds might need to investigate further).
The establishments created using this generator assume that there are no such age or gender restrictions in place!
A Note Regarding Table 12
I also want to draw reader’s attentions to Table 12, which is a simplified form of a personality generation system that I created for my TORG campaign. That system used a d20 to select from 20 tables each of which had 20 related personality traits. There were also various ways of biasing the results thanks to the way they were organized, so that I could roll d6+14 for trait one if I wanted a criminal, or d6 for a lawman, and so on. One of these days, when I find where I filed it away after that campaign closed down, I’ll present it in a game supplement or something – but, in the meantime, Table 12 can exist quite happily as a standalone personality generator for use in just about any campaign for just about any NPC.
Tavern Generator (cont)
We pick up the process right where we left off. It is not possible to use some of these tables without having completed the first part of the process.
Table 7: Common Room Wall Decorations
Roll d% to determine the nature of the decorations in the Common Room.
d% | Common Room Decorations |
---|---|
1-7 | Stuffed heads, animal |
8 | Stuffed heads, enemy |
9-12 | Skulls, animal |
13 | Skulls, enemy |
14-18 | Religious iconography |
19-26 | Tapestries – battle scenes |
27-30 | Tapestries – historical scenes |
31-36 | Tapestries – drinking scenes |
37-40 | Tapestries – other social scenes |
41-47 | Tapestries – farming scenes |
48-54 | Shields, whole |
55-56 | Shields, battle-scarred/damaged |
57-59 | Weapons, whole |
60-61 | Weapons, damaged |
62-65 | Paintings, poor quality |
65-67 | Paintings, good quality |
68 | Paintings, high quality |
69-72 | Stained-glass windows, poor quality |
73-74 | Stained-glass windows, good quality |
75-80 | Scoreboards/honor rolls |
81-84 | Roll twice, alternating between results |
85-91 | Roll again, alternating with bare wall |
92-98 | Roll twice, alternating between results, seperated by bare wall pattern -A-B-A-B-A- |
99-00 | Roll three times, pattern ABACABACA |
Table 8: Bar Decorations
Roll d20 to determine the decorations behind the bar.
d20 | Bar decoration |
---|---|
1 | Stuffed heads, animal |
2 | Stuffed heads, enemy |
3 | Skulls, animal |
4 | Skulls, enemy |
5 | Religious iconography |
6 | Tapestry – battle scene |
7 | Tapestry – historical scene |
8 | Tapestry – drinking scene |
9 | Tapestry – other social scene |
10 | Tapestry – farming scene |
11 | Shields, whole |
12 | Shields, battle-scarred/damaged |
13 | Weapons, whole |
14 | Weapons, damaged |
15 | Painting, poor quality |
16 | Painting, good quality |
17 | Painting, high quality |
18 | Scoreboards/honor rolls |
19 | Mirror |
20 | Bare wall |
Table 9: Librations Served
Roll 5d6 and add the Tavern Size Modifier to determine the range and quality of the drinks provided by the tavern.
5d6 + Tav Size Mod | Common Drinks Available | Additional Uncommon Drinks Available (if any) | Additional Rare Drinks Available (if any) |
---|---|---|---|
5 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Good quality | 2 uncommon options, Excellent Quality | – |
6 | 3 most popular beverages locally, Good quality | 2 uncommon options, Poor Quality | – |
7 | 3 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 2 uncommon options, Good Quality | – |
8 | 3 most popular beverages locally, Good quality | 2 uncommon options, Average Quality | – |
9 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Good quality | 2 uncommon options, Poor Quality | – |
10 | 3 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 2 uncommon options, Poor Quality | – |
11 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Good quality | 2 uncommon options, Average Quality | – |
12 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 2 uncommon options, Good Quality | – |
13 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 2 uncommon options, Poor Quality | – |
14 | 3 most popular beverages locally, Good Quality | – | – |
15 | 3 most popular beverages locally, Poor Quality | – | – |
16 | Single most popular beverage locally, Very poor quality | – | – |
17 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | – | – |
18 | Single most popular beverage locally, Poor quality | – | – |
19 | 3 most popular beverages locally, Average Quality | – | – |
20 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Poor quality | – | – |
21 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Very Poor quality | – | – |
22 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 1 uncommon option, Poor Quality | – |
23 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 1 uncommon option, Very Poor Quality | – |
24 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 1 uncommon option, Good Quality | – |
25 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 2 uncommon options, Excellent Quality | – |
26 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 4 uncommon options, Good Quality | – |
27 | 3 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 2 uncommon options, Excellent Quality | – |
28 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Average quality | 4 uncommon options, Excellent Quality | – |
29 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Poor quality | 4 uncommon options, Good Quality | – |
30 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Poor quality | 4 uncommon options, Excellent Quality | – |
31 | 3 most popular beverages locally, Good quality | 2 uncommon options, Excellent Quality | – |
32 | Single most popular beverage locally, Poor Quality | 4 uncommon options, Average Quality | 1 rare option, Excellent Quality |
33 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Good quality | 4 uncommon options, Excellent Quality | – |
34 | Single most popular beverage locally, Average Quality | 4 uncommon options, Good Quality | 1 rare option, Excellent Quality |
35 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Good Quality | 4 uncommon options, Average Quality | 1 rare option, Poor Quality |
36 | 2 most popular beverages locally, Poor Quality | 3 uncommon options, Good Quality | 2 rare options, Excellent Quality |
Hint: Think about what this result says about the clientele and why they might choose to drink there. And if the business doesn’t seem viable given the location, it’s a good bet that the tavern owner has at least one “additional” source of income on the side!
Table 10: Accommodations Details
Roll 3d6 OR 2d6 + Tavern Size Modifier (GM’s Choice) to determine the size, quality, and suggested price of accommodation in rooms provided by the tavern. The referee should use the latter as nothing more than a guide; proximity to services, travel routes, etc will all alter the value, as will the type of local businesses and so on. Most taverns will permit travelers to sleep in the Commons Room for 1 cp per night. It is assumed that these accommodations are on a second story. Prices are based on those quoted in the Pathfinder Core Rules p159.
3d6 or 2d6 + Tav Size Mod | Size (guests) | Size (spaces) | Quality | Suggested price per night |
---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Large (two-eight people) | 0.1 x (d12+15) | Good | Underpriced (8 sp/night or 5.5 gp/week)* |
4 | Large (two-eight people) | 0.1 x (2d6+15) | Common | Overpriced (6 sp/night or 4.5 gp/week)** |
5 | Medium (two-four people) | 0.1 x (2d6+10) | Good | Underpriced (6 sp/night or 4 gp/week)* |
6 | Tiny (single) | 0.1 x (d8+5) | Good | Overpriced (4 sp/night or 5 cp/hr)** |
7 | Tiny (single) | 0.1 x (d8+5) | Poor | Underpriced (1 sp/night or 1 cp/hr)* |
8 | Tiny (single) | 0.1 x (d10+5) | Poor | Overpriced (2 sp/night or 2.5 cp/hr)** |
9 | Small (couple) | 0.1 x (d12+7.5) | Poor | Underpriced (1.5 sp/night or 2 cp/hr)* |
10 | Small (couple) | 0.1 x (d10+7.5) | Poor | Overpriced (3 sp/night or 4 cp/hr)** |
11 | Small (couple) | 0.1 x (d10+7.5) | Common | Overpriced (4 sp/night or 5 cp/hr)** |
12 | Small (couple) | 0.1 x (d10+7.5) | Common | Underpriced (3 sp/night or 4 cp/hr)* |
13 | Tiny (single) | 0.1 x (d10+5) | Common | Overpriced (3 sp/night or 4 cp/hr)** |
14 | Small (couple) | 0.1 x (d12+7.5) | Good | Overpriced (6 sp/night or 8 cp/hr)** |
15 | Medium (two-four people) | 0.1 x (d12+10) | Common | Overpriced (5.5 sp/night, 7 cp/hr, or 3.5 gp/week)** |
16 | Medium (two-four people) | 0.1 x (2d6+10) | Poor | Overpriced (5 sp/night, 7 cp/hr, or 3 gp/week)** |
17 | Large (two-eight people) | 0.1 x (3d6+15) | Common | Underpriced (5 sp/night, 7 cp/hr, or 3.5 gp/week)* |
18 | Large (two-eight people) | 0.1 x (3d6+15) | Good | Overpriced (12 sp/night or 8 gp/week)** |
* suggests proximity to disreputable parts of town, undesirable industry, location in the poor/slum quarter, etc.
** suggests proximity to the better parts of town, protection from undesirables, location in the mercantile or wealthy quarter, on a major thoroughfaire, etc. If none of these is true, it suggest that the innkeeper has some reason for not wanting strangers to reside in the inn, is using pricing to drive customers away, and is probably up to something underhanded.
NB: Most taverns of common or good quality will not let rooms by the hour – this usually signifies a brothel operating within the tavern.
NB2: Note that this table does not tell you how many of these rooms there are, that is calculated later.
A Word On The Interpretation Of Quality
I’m not going to reiterate my precious spiel on the subjectivity of statements of quality; for one thing, objectivity is easier when describing a room relative to the more personal experience of consuming food.
Quality of accommodations is best defined as the intersection point of additional services & comforts and the quality of both those and the more fundamental elements of residential existence, but that is a definition that might not be clear to the casual reader; it requires explanation, and hence this brief insert.
The more services and comforts that are included with the residence, the more quality that accommodation will be percieved as having. A room with a view is better than one without; a room with better access to amenities is better than the alternative; additional furniture for the use of the resident, services such as the provision of fresh linen on a regular basis, and so on, all contribute to a better percieved standard of quality.
But each and every one of these additional services and comforts can be better or worse, a relative value statement, and if they are sufficiently poor, they may as well not be there, or could even be contrary to a better quality assessment; a room with a view of a dungheap may have “natural light, fresh air and a view” but the view is undesirable, the fresh air smells foul, and the natural light is not worth the price of the problems that come with it; better to brick up that window, cover it with a tapestry, and provide an extra lantern!
On top of that, basic expectations of accommodation are subject to the same demand for a satisfactory standard. It doesn’t generally matter how good the view is if the walls are dirty and the linen mouldy! Basic expectations can only lift quality of accommodations so far, however; beyond that, it is the presence of extras also of a satisfactory standard, or better, that can elevate quality.
Table 11: Barman skill
Roll d6 and add the Tavern Size Modifier to determine the skill of the barman. Each result also specifies a “Staff Modifier” which is a reflection of how many typical staff the Barman counts as – a skilled individual may be worth as many as 4 or 5 average staff.
“Barman skill” should be used as the number of ranks in all relevant skills in D&D 3.x / Pathfinder. It may need interpretation for use with any other system. It has been expressed as a die roll which should be rolled seperately for each such skill.
d6 + Tav Size Mod | Barman skill | Staff Modifier |
---|---|---|
1 | d3 | 1 |
2 | d3+1 | 1 |
3 | d4 | 1 |
4 | d4+1 | 1 |
5 | d6 | 1 |
6 | d4+2 | 2 |
7 | d6+1 | 2 |
8 | d4+3 | 3 |
9 | d6+3 | 3 |
10 | d6+4 | 3 |
11 | d5+6 | 4 |
12 | d6+8 | 5 |
Table 12: Barman personality profile
Roll d20 three times to determine the basic personality profile of the barman. I think I’ve weeded out all the nonsense combinations.
d20 | Barman Hostility & Greed | d20 | Barman Bravery & Religion | d20 | Barman Lawfulness & Rationality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | hostile, greedy | 1 | cowardly, irreligious | 1 | lawman/ex-lawman*, coldly logical |
2 | hostile, mercenary | 2 | cowardly, impious | 2 | lawman/ex-lawman*, sensible/practical |
3 | hostile, penny pincher | 3 | cowardly, pious | 3 | lawman/ex-lawman*, thinks with emotions |
4 | hostile, soft-hearted | 4 | cowardly, fanatical | 4 | respectable, coldly logical |
5 | angry, greedy | 5 | cautious, irreligious | 5 | respectable, sensible/practical |
6 | angry, mercenary | 6 | cautious, impious | 6 | respectable, thinks with emotions |
7 | angry, penny pincher | 7 | cautious, pious | 7 | respectable, can be confused |
8 | angry, soft-hearted | 8 | cautious, fanatical | 8 | respectable, scatterbrained |
9 | calm, greedy | 9 | bold, irreligious | 9 | blind monkey, coldly logical |
10 | calm, mercenary | 10 | bold, impious | 10 | blind monkey, sensible/practical |
11 | calm, penny pincher | 11 | bold, pious | 11 | blind monkey, thinks with emotions |
12 | calm, soft-hearted | 12 | bold, fanatical | 12 | blind monkey, can be confused |
13 | polite, greedy | 13 | brave, irreligious | 13 | snitch/cheat, coldly logical |
14 | polite, mercenary | 14 | brave, impious | 14 | snitch/cheat, sensible/practical |
15 | polite, penny pincher | 15 | brave, pious | 15 | snitch/cheat, thinks with emotions |
16 | polite, soft-hearted | 16 | brave, fanatical | 16 | snitch/cheat, can be confused |
17 | friendly, greedy | 17 | fearless, irreligious | 17 | lawless/felon/ex-felon, coldly logical |
18 | friendly, mercenary | 18 | fearless, impious | 18 | lawless/felon/ex-felon, sensible/practical |
19 | friendly, penny pincher | 19 | fearless, pious | 19 | lawless/felon/ex-felon, thinks with emotions |
20 | friendly, soft-hearted | 20 | fearless, fanatical | 20 | lawless/felon/ex-felon, can be confused |
* note that most members of the watch / local law-enforcement will prefer to drink at an establishment run by an ex-colleague of good character/reputation.
** fanatics may refuse service to particular groups, individuals, races, or professions. This result may modify the outcome of other rolls.
Example: The Palomino and Fox (continued)
What we know so far:
The “Palomino and Fox” is a Medium-Large Tavern. It contains (with relative sizes) a bar (2), Large Common Room (5), Storage Cellar, and Family Dwelling (2). The Kitchens consist of Medium Stove, Large Ovens, Medium Grill (1.75) and a Medium-sized Food Prep area (2.5) relative to a business of this size [Total Kitchen Area 4.25]. The cuisine is Good Quality Food, a hearty meal with bread and meat/fish 0-1 (d3:0, 1/2, 1) day old, costing 7 sp.
Within the common room are 6 large tables that seat 20 each, occupying a total of 72 five-foot square spaces. The tables are L-shaped and made of wood. The walls of the tavern are rough-hewn stone.
The name is suggestive either of a tavern sign featuring the named animals, or of hunting, but which one has yet to be determined.
I want either The Palomino and Fox or Example #3, “The Robber’s End”, to be a multistory residential Inn, while the other is to be a more typical 2-story building, but haven’t decided which yet.
Tavern Size Modifier is 4, Commons Size Modifier is 3.
Resuming the example:
It’s always worth re-examining undecided questions after each major stage of the process, to see if any can now be resolved. In this case, there are two questions, both indicated above:
- Is this tavern/inn a hunting lodge or similar, or just a name? And,
- Is it more appropriate for this to be the larger building example that I want to include, or should I leave that “honor” to “The Robber’s End”?
There’s been nothing decided that contributes to the first question in any way; it’s still completely up in the air. Some clues may come from the ambience, which is the subject of this part of the generation process, in particular from the decorations; if anything comes up that might be reflective of hunting, that would be a positive indicator. That could be scoreboards, or trophies, or weapons, or even some of the tapestry options.
What is more clear is that the size of the tavern is very relevant to the second question. With a large tavern, multiple stories for guest accommodations would indicate a substantial residential capacity, and that would be consistent with the size of the kitchens and the size and number of tables in the common area; but that in turn is suggestive of a location that is very central to a well-populated area that many guests would travel to, which is not appropriate to the hunting-oriented approach. The roll results therefore indicate that this is an either-or situation: either this tavern is a hunting-oriented establishment, or it is located near the capital or in some other major population centre to which many guests will flock, and is the multi-story example.
In actual use for a game, of course, you wouldn’t generate an Inn or Tavern for the sake of generating one, you would generate it for a specific locality, and this would be decided on that basis. I, on the other hand, have that luxury, and hence don’t have to decide yet; I can let the results continue to speak for themselves.
- Table 7: Roll 02: Common Room Decorations are stuffed or preserved animal heads.
- Table 8: Roll of 13: Behind the bar are mounted weapons, whole and intact. These last two results are definitely supportive of the “hunting lodge” interpretation, and are less appropriate for a major urban inn. Even the name has a slightly rural feel to it, now that I think about it.
- Table 9: 17 rolled, plus Tavern Size Modifier 4, = 21: The bar serves very poor quality versions of the two most popular drinks, locally. There are no better alternatives available to patrons. Whatever people come here for, it’s not the alcohol.
- Table 10: Because the tavern size is somewhat unusual, I am choosing the 2d6 option. Roll of 11 + Tavern Size Mod 4 = 15: Rooms (if any) are medium, capable of accommodating 2-4 people, and of common quality. They are overpriced at 5.5 sp/night, or 3.5 gp/week. Relative room size is 0.1 x (d12+10): 9 rolled, so 0.1 x (9+10) = 1.9.
- Table 11: 2 rolled, plus Tavern Size Modifier 4, = 6: The barman’s skills are given by d4+1. I could roll once for all of them (the quick & generic solution) or seperately for each relevant skill. He counts as 1 worker, so nothing special.
- Table 12: rolls of 8, 12, and 15: The barman’s personality profile is angry but soft-hearted, bold, fanatical about his religious beliefs, and a snitch or cheat who thinks with his emotions. “Snitch” doesn’t seem to fit, so he’s a cheat of some sort, behavior that obviously is not forbidden by his faith. The subject/cause of his anger remains undecided and suggests that he tries to mask his tenderheartedness behind a gruff exterior, so it might not even be real.
More fairly rural results. Every result this time around argues in favor of the “hunting lodge” approach, with only one floor for accommodations.
So that decision is made, but there’s a new question or two to take it’s place: what (if anything) is the barman angry about, and what does he cheat at?
My preliminary thoughts are that the Tavern is the centre of a fox-hunting club or association, with a quite respectable clientele, and that they have run afoul of a Druidic order in the vicinity, who have used their powers to persuade all the foxes to go elsewhere. Rather than try to actually reach some settlement with the Druids, who have a philosophic objection to hunting for sports, the Barman has resorted to “cheating” to make sure that each hunt bags something they can brag about. If this deception is exposed, he will have even more trouble with the Druids, and hence would be a little paranoid about strangers. Because of his cheating, the tavern/inn has built up a reputation, publicly justifying the “overpriced” accommodations; in reality, the extra covers the cost of maintaining that reputation.
Example: The Spotted Parrot (continued)
The name is so suggestive of pirates that I wanted to play on that; this is an example of how to shape the results to fit a preconcieved idea or requirement, essentially re-rolling until you get results that “fit”.
The concept is of a floating tavern, either a barge decked out to look like a sailing ship, or an unseaworthy vessel that has been recommissioned as a novel tavern or inn. The presence of a cellar would decide which. Meals would be served on the deck, and would have a definite seafood theme. If there are any accommodations – something I haven’t yet decided – these would be small staterooms, probably below decks, while the family would live in accommodations on the ship’s deck level, which is also where the kitchens would be located.
What is known so far:
The “Spotted Parrot” is a Medium-sized Tavern. It contains (with relative sizes) a bar (1.5), Small-Medium Common Room (3.5), Storage Cellar, and Family Dwelling (1.5). The Kitchens consist of Small Stove & Ovens (0.75) and a Medium-sized Food Prep area (0.75) [Total Kitchen Area 1.5]. The cuisine is of Good Quality and consists of bread and a small meal (soup, stew, or pie) AND meat/fish 0-1 (d3:0, 1/2, 1) day old, costing 6 sp per serve.
Within the common room are 12 medium tables that seat 6 each of rectangular shape (2:1 proportions), made of stone; these occupy a total of 38.4 five-foot square spaces. The walls of the tavern are sawn timber.
Tavern Size Modifier is 2, Commons Size Modifier is 1.
Resuming the example:
As stated above, this is a good point to take stock of the unanswered questions. The fact that this tavern indicates a storage cellar instead of ground-floor storage rules out a barge, and automatically makes the inn big enough to have guest quarters. However, the size of the kitchens makes it clear that these would be quite limited in capacity; and, if anything, the number of people who can be seated at the tables (up to 60 at a time) is far in excess of what can be justified given the size of the kitchens, unless those tables are used for something more than meals. The suggestion is, therefore, that a lot of the tables are used for sitting and drinking, and not for the consumption of food.
- Table 7: Roll of 76: The Common Room decorations are scoreboards or honor rolls. That doesn’t quite make sense in light of the piratic “theme”, but can be reinterpreted as a series of wooden panels illustrating infamous acts of piracy, which does fit the ambience. The “scores” are thus the tonnage of ships captured or raided, the value of treasures looted, and so on, and might be half-truths or complete fictions.
- Table 8: Roll of 4: Behind the bar, the skulls of slain enemies are mounted as decorations – or (it may be assumed) reasonable facsimiles, thereof. This is a result that feels like it might or might not fit, with a little more thought. Just in case it doesn’t work out, I made a second roll – result of 16 – which yields, “Painting, Good Quality.”
- Table 9: 22 rolled, plus Tavern Size Modifier 2, = 24: The bar serves average quality versions of the two most popular local drinks and has 1 uncommon option of Good Quality available. Given the motif, the “two most popular” are probably rum and ale, and the third, uncommon option might be a wine or brandy.
- Table 10: The tavern size is not all that exceptional, so I choose the 3d6 option and roll a 14: Any accommodations are small (large enough for a couple), of good quality, but overpriced at 6 sp per night. The actual room size is determined by 0.1 x (d12+7.5); 2 rolled = 0.95.
- Table 11: 5 rolled, plus Tavern Size Modifier 2, = 7: The barman’s skills are given by d6+1. I could roll once for all of them (the quick & generic solution) or seperately for each relevant skill. He counts as 2 workers, so he is skilled at his profession.
- Table 12: rolls of 13, 6, and 18: The barman is polite, greedy, cautious, impious, sensible or practical, and lawless, a felon, or an ex-felon. Sounds a lot like Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) from the Pirates Of The Carribbean movies, maybe in retirement.
This all seems to be coming together nicely – and I didn’t even have to reroll anything!
The behind-the-bar decorations remain a problem. The thought that was eluding me during the generation process was sets of skull-and-crossbones using real bones inset into the timber behind the bar; that sort of works, but seems a bit cheesy, in hindsight. Similarly, the “wooden panels” idea seems a bit too Walt Disney. So I’m going to override the latter result and go with the alternative roll for the former: The common room is decorated with leg irons, cutlasses, and other piratical/nautical memorobilia, while the space behind the bar is decorated with a large and quite good painting of a ship at sea in a storm.
Example: The Robber’s End (continued)
What we know so far:
“The Robber’s End” is a Small Tavern. It contains (with relative sizes) a bar (1), Small-Medium Common Room (3.5), Ground-floor storeroom (0.75), and Family Dwelling (1). The Kitchens consist of a Small Pit/Rack (0.5) and a Small Food Prep area (0.25) [Total Kitchen Area 0.75]. The cuisine is of Average Quality, normally bread with soups, stews, or broths containing a little meat 0-3 (d4-1) days old, and costs 2 sp per serving.
Within the common room are 12 small tables that seat 4 each, taking up 31.2 five-foot sqr spaces. The tables are square and made of wood. The walls of the tavern are plastered/surfaced/rendered brick.
Tavern Size Modifier is 0, Commons Size Modifier is 1.
Resuming the example:
“The Robber’s End” is defined more as being whatever the “Palomino and Fox” are not than by any other preconcieved ideas. This is very much whatever the dice decide to throw out.
What can be said is that if “The Robber’s End” is the multistory establishment, there would not be very many rooms on each level; it would be a small building with many floors, probably sandwiched between a couple of other buildings, almost a tower in design. That would posess a rather interesting ambience.
The alternative suggests that most if not all of the one residential floor would be taken up with the family accommodations, especially if the family (to be generated in part 3) is large in size. There would be few if any guest accommodations, and that points to this being a rather more seedy and disreputable establishment in the poorer quarter of a large town or a city.
The name, “The Robber’s End,” is also quite suggestive – but can be interpreted in many different ways. Is this a hangout for thieves, burglars, and pickpockets? Is this where a famous criminal was hunted down, hanged, or otherwise brough to justice? Is it both, signifying a wittier owner than is normally the case? No decisions can yet be made, but at least we know what to look out for, as we proceed!
- Table 7: 23 Rolled; The common room is decorated with tapestries of battle scenes.
- Table 8: Roll of 14: Behind the bar, weapons that are bent, broken, and mangled are mounted, clearly souvenirs of some past military campaign or battlefield booty.
- Table 9: Roll 15, plus Tavern Size Modifier 0, = 15: The bar serves poor quality versions of the three most popular local beverages, which fits well with the suggestion that this establishment is located in the poorer part of a community.
- Table 10: This tavern is unusually small, so I choose the 2d6 option. 12 rolled, plus Tavern Size Mod 0, = 12: Accommodations (if any) are small (big enough for a couple), of common quality, and underpriced (3 sp/night or 4 cp/hr). Relative room size is 0.1 x (d10+7.5); 1 rolled = 0.85, which is almost “tiny”, but is appropriate given the size of the inn.
- Table 11: 1 rolled, plus Tavern Size Modifier 0, = 1: The barman’s skills are given by d3. He counts as just 1 worker, so nothing special.
- Table 12: rolls of 19, 19, and 4: The Barman is friendly but a penny-pincher, fearlessly brave and a pious man without being fanatical, viewed as a respectable man, and coldly logical. Not the criminal type, in other words, or the type who would turn a blind eye to criminal activities that he came across. However, he does sound like the sort of person who would start a legitimate business in an area known to be rife with crime, insist on his establishment being neutral territory, and manage to make a go of things, eventually becoming a local fixture and trusted arbiter of neighberhood disputes.
The focus on battle-related decorations, coupled with the barman’s profile, suggests that he served with distinction in the military before creating his establishment, and is probably still someone not to be messed with. The profile suggests a third interpretation of the name: this is where ‘robbers cease to be robbers’. Perhaps many of the staff are reformed criminals. It might even have the local nickname of the “second chance”.
It has been decided by their respective results that this is the tall, small-footprint idea, possibly built into what used to be a square Tower.
Variations on the idea are still possible; if the region was invaded, years earlier, perhaps the barman was already located here, and fought off the invaders rather than seeing his establishment razed, or perhaps it was one of his ancestors who did so, making this a long-established local fixture.
If these walls could talk: wrap-up and prolog to part 3
With the three example taverns taking clear shape and distinctive character – exactly what the “ambiance” section was supposed to provide – we next must turn our attention to the questions of guests and other residents. That happens in Part 3, which includes the most comprehensive medieval family generator that I’ve ever seen, anywhere…
- The Palomino and Fox (and other establishments)
- The Spotted Parrot (and other establishments)
- The Robber’s End (and other establishments)
- Going down to the pub: Mike’s Fantasy Tavern Generator Pt 4
- Draw Another Pint: Mike’s Fantasy Tavern Generator Pt 5
- All Over Bar The Shouting: Fantasy Tavern Generator Pt 6
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September 12th, 2015 at 4:35 pm
[…] The Spotted Parrot (and other establishments) […]