If I had a nickel for every single time I had someone tell me that a tavern was a 'boring' or 'predictable' way to start a campaign, I'd have enough nickels to build myself an actual tavern from the ground up.
Now I know that this might not be too unpopular an opinion, but for those of you who disagree, I'd like to genuinely know why. Or, better yet, I'd like to know some superior alternatives to starting a campaign in:
A common meeting spot for adventurers and common folk alike.
Quest giver / gossip galore.
A new player / DM crutch, easily able to be modified and relied upon.
I once heard someone call it 'easy'. Of course it's easy! We DMs aren't trying to think of things to purposefully make our lives harder! We're all humans with lives - most of us can't devote hours of time to making new starts to games when taverns do the job just fine.
Now I may just be a grumpy DM who heard an unpopular opinion just one too many times, but that's my two coppers. Do with it as you will.
If I had a nickel for every single time I had someone tell me that a tavern was a 'boring' or 'predictable' way to start a campaign, I'd have enough nickels to build myself an actual tavern from the ground up.
Now I know that this might not be too unpopular an opinion, but for those of you who disagree, I'd like to genuinely know why. Or, better yet, I'd like to know some superior alternatives to starting a campaign in:
A well known and recognizable fantasy location.
A common meeting spot for adventurers and common folk alike.
Quest giver / gossip galore.
A new player / DM crutch, easily able to be modified and relied upon.
I once heard someone call it 'easy'. Of course it's easy! We DMs aren't trying to think of things to purposefully make our lives harder! We're all humans with lives - most of us can't devote hours of time to making new starts to games when taverns do the job just fine.
Now I may just be a grumpy DM who heard an unpopular opinion just one too many times, but that's my two coppers. Do with it as you will.
A tavern is like a really small sandbox, let's your players RP, and has plenty of people with adventures for the characters.
That said, if you have a limited amount of time, it might be more fun to do a different hook, since taverns are slightly limited and it's slightly harder to tie in a random hook in a tavern to a characters backstory.
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BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explainHERE.
There is a group I watch who specifically choose to go to taverns. This is even after finding a lonely tavern along a long road and they learned that it was a trap for lone travelers only after they were all drugged and captured and, in a different tavern in another adventure, the tavern furniture attacked them. They've either learned that's the best place to get started or they haven't learned that it's the easiest way for them to end up in trouble.
They were summoned by an Old One through a slimey hole in the floor. They joined a cult because three of their magic items ran away while they were drunk. They ended up in a gang war between lycanthropes. All because of what happened in taverns.
Most recently, they got audited in a tavern. (They even own a tavern and have completely forgotten about it. I'm surprised they were audited for that one.)
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
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That's right. I said it.
If I had a nickel for every single time I had someone tell me that a tavern was a 'boring' or 'predictable' way to start a campaign, I'd have enough nickels to build myself an actual tavern from the ground up.
Now I know that this might not be too unpopular an opinion, but for those of you who disagree, I'd like to genuinely know why. Or, better yet, I'd like to know some superior alternatives to starting a campaign in:
A well known and recognizable fantasy location https://routerlogin.uno/.
A common meeting spot for adventurers and common folk alike.
Quest giver / gossip galore.
A new player / DM crutch, easily able to be modified and relied upon.
I once heard someone call it 'easy'. Of course it's easy! We DMs aren't trying to think of things to purposefully make our lives harder! We're all humans with lives - most of us can't devote hours of time to making new starts to games when taverns do the job just fine.
Now I may just be a grumpy DM who heard an unpopular opinion just one too many times, but that's my two coppers. Do with it as you will.
A tavern is like a really small sandbox, let's your players RP, and has plenty of people with adventures for the characters.
That said, if you have a limited amount of time, it might be more fun to do a different hook, since taverns are slightly limited and it's slightly harder to tie in a random hook in a tavern to a characters backstory.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.There is a group I watch who specifically choose to go to taverns. This is even after finding a lonely tavern along a long road and they learned that it was a trap for lone travelers only after they were all drugged and captured and, in a different tavern in another adventure, the tavern furniture attacked them. They've either learned that's the best place to get started or they haven't learned that it's the easiest way for them to end up in trouble.
They were summoned by an Old One through a slimey hole in the floor. They joined a cult because three of their magic items ran away while they were drunk. They ended up in a gang war between lycanthropes. All because of what happened in taverns.
Most recently, they got audited in a tavern. (They even own a tavern and have completely forgotten about it. I'm surprised they were audited for that one.)
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.