Next Campaign - Tiny Taverns

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Tommy Brownell

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So after an informal straw poll, this is next on the agenda for us:

tiny_taverns_gallantknightgames.jpg
It was the surprising winner in a list that included Savage Pathfinder, D&D5e, Blades in the Dark, and more.

Tonight, we made The Blind Rhino, a neutral ground tavern frequented by the criminal underworld. Nearly hidden down the alley of a city street, the tavern has a long standing tradition of turning a blind eye to the unsavory dealings and negotiations of the clientele.

It is owned by a Rhinotaurian (basically a humanoid rhino) who also serves as the bouncer, named Rick. People who don't know any better assume he's just the muscle, but he keeps the books straight and makes sure business is taken care of. He also *hates* humans.

The hostess/bartender is a Panguri named Talla. Panguri are cat-people, and her family comes from a long line of bartenders (the females of the family, anyway). She's the public face of the bar, in that she handles frontline customer service...if she can find a resolution to a problem, it's better for everybody. If Rick has to get involved...

The cook is Jabu, a squirrel-like Pooka who also tends the bar's enchanted rooftop garden. He believes that the right dish can change a being's soul.

Among their regulars are an humanoid bird type that does handyman work around the bar in exchange for not having his tab called in, and a Furbolg merchant who does minor magic tricks in the bar for drinks.

On one hand, it's going to be an unusual campaign for us. On the other, we did lots of screwing around in ETU, so it won't be a super weird fit. Everyone seems pretty excited. I plan on winging it every session...just throwing weird situations at them and letting them work through it. The Tiny D6 system is super light, so GM prep is a breeze in that regard.
 
I plan on winging it every session...just throwing weird situations at them and letting them work through it.

Chances are I'll do this with the next season of my episodic campaign. The most fun I think my players had was one session where I set up a battlemap and just let them go at it, improvising pretty much everything else.
 
It's a cool little game is Tiny Taverns. Well, based on a read through anyway. I bought this last year but I think it would be hard to sell most of my friends on this game sadly. That being said, it's also got a number of things in it worth stealing to use in conjunction with other Tiny D6 games so it is money well spent.

I look forward to hearing how this campaign works out for you!
 
Thanks guys!

My players brought the enthusiasm.

The tavern's gimmick was all one player, who misunderstood and thought that they were all playing as competing taverns, but everyone else just ran with it, and it's fertile ground for adventure ideas.

Roll20 has no character sheet support for this, so it was my first foray into using Role, which was cool because I'm looking for a Roll20 alternative (Roll's audio works way better than Roll20's, FYI).
 
Didn't know about this game, looks cool.
 
I don’t understand. Where’s the violence?

I jest, I jest. Keep us posted about the game, sounds intriguing.
 
I'm honestly mildly surprised I'm running it...because I picked up a couple of Tiny d6 games and was...underwhelmed.

But the premise was too unique to pass up.

Can I ask what you found underwhelming? I’ve been looking at Tiny d6 a lot lately. Haven’t played it yet, but I’m excited to try it out. But also interested to hear your reservations if you’re willing.

Thanks in advance.
 
I'm honestly mildly surprised I'm running it...because I picked up a couple of Tiny d6 games and was...underwhelmed.

But the premise was too unique to pass up.
I have had some fun, but it's a bit quirky in play.
 
Can I ask what you found underwhelming? I’ve been looking at Tiny d6 a lot lately. Haven’t played it yet, but I’m excited to try it out. But also interested to hear your reservations if you’re willing.

Thanks in advance.

I think, on the surface, that the system is a little too simple for me. Tiny Supers particularly underwhelmed me.

But my tune could change completely in play. I should know Sunday!
 
I don’t understand. Where’s the violence?

I jest, I jest. Keep us posted about the game, sounds intriguing.
Well, the bouncer took a combat-based trait and a combat based proficiency, so he's expecting to have to get violent at some point.
Based on previous campaigns, I think it would be more fun to take established fantasy characters and actually try to run an inn, or any business really. Hijinks always ensue.
I don't think my players have any interest in playing characters they didn't make. And none of their D&D campaigns have come away with the entire group intact (in fact...I don't think any of our campaigns have had them all make it through intact).
 
So after an informal straw poll, this is next on the agenda for us:

View attachment 38712
It was the surprising winner in a list that included Savage Pathfinder, D&D5e, Blades in the Dark, and more.

Tonight, we made The Blind Rhino, a neutral ground tavern frequented by the criminal underworld. Nearly hidden down the alley of a city street, the tavern has a long standing tradition of turning a blind eye to the unsavory dealings and negotiations of the clientele.

It is owned by a Rhinotaurian (basically a humanoid rhino) who also serves as the bouncer, named Rick. People who don't know any better assume he's just the muscle, but he keeps the books straight and makes sure business is taken care of. He also *hates* humans.

The hostess/bartender is a Panguri named Talla. Panguri are cat-people, and her family comes from a long line of bartenders (the females of the family, anyway). She's the public face of the bar, in that she handles frontline customer service...if she can find a resolution to a problem, it's better for everybody. If Rick has to get involved...

The cook is Jabu, a squirrel-like Pooka who also tends the bar's enchanted rooftop garden. He believes that the right dish can change a being's soul.

Among their regulars are an humanoid bird type that does handyman work around the bar in exchange for not having his tab called in, and a Furbolg merchant who does minor magic tricks in the bar for drinks.

On one hand, it's going to be an unusual campaign for us. On the other, we did lots of screwing around in ETU, so it won't be a super weird fit. Everyone seems pretty excited. I plan on winging it every session...just throwing weird situations at them and letting them work through it. The Tiny D6 system is super light, so GM prep is a breeze in that regard.
...And I'm 90% sold on Tiny Taverns:shade:!
 
I think, on the surface, that the system is a little too simple for me. Tiny Supers particularly underwhelmed me.

But my tune could change completely in play. I should know Sunday!
I get that, I do. Sadly, I'd hoped for more. Though the setting sourcebook might be worthwhile.
 
Got to play session 1 tonight (last week was a last minute cancellation).

I prepared some stuff using random roll charts, and very little of that panned out, but that's fine.

We opened with Rick meeting with the assistant to Prince Lance Covington, prince of the Kingdom of Veld, whose capital provides the base for our game. Seems he is engaged and wants to "live dangerously", having a full "living on the edge" experience at The Blind Rhino, known for its seedy, underworld nature. He also advised that the prince has a peanut allergy.

Rick, having no idea what appeals to human men, asked Tiny, the "Norm" of this bar, to get supplies and women for this shindig. Tiny - who is a humanoid avian - confessed to being a "human fetishist", which disgusted Rick.

The tavern saw a group of adventurers meet with a mysterious cloaked figure about a quest, a surreal moment for the players.

Rick met with Jabu, the Pooka chef, about preparations for the party, telling him to fix a dish worthy of a prince, and without peanuts, which led to first Jabu asking if he meant without peanuts or "without" peanuts, followed by an extended exchange in which Rick wasn't sure if Jabu was talking about "peanuts" or "penis", leading to Rick to tell him to just give him the list of ingredients he was planning to use - in writing - so he could sign off on it.

Then the hostess, Talla, had to break up an incident between a highwayman who frequents the place, and a new arrival - a halfling named Bartax. Bartax warned the highwayman that he would obliterate him from the face of the earth if Talla hadn't intervened, then proceeded to struggle to climb up on a bar stool, nearly tipping it over until Rick caught it. he then told the highwayman to calm down and back off...which didn't work, and the highwayman tried to hit Rick with a blackjack, which backfired horribly after Rick saw it coming through a mirror.

Rick escorted him to the door and the highwayman kept spitting threats about attacking supply wagons and the like, until they got to the door and came face to face with crime lord (and businessman) Cyrian Balthazar, and his bodyguard Goretat (another Rhinotaurian).

Meanwhile, Bartax the Halfling ordered some milk, but hoped he wasn't offending Talla (because she's a cat).

Jabu fixed up some manticore wings for Cyrian, and did an okay job, but the bulbous crimelord was just getting warmed up, as he planned a meeting with some other infamous figures.

Talla's ex, Val - another Panguri - showed up and Talla was eager to see her, but couldn't spend time with her due to the lean staff. But she said they could talk later for sure.

Cyrian was joined by Fezzini (a dwarven rogue and crime boss), Malenda (a human female assassin), Paulo (a laid back human rogue), and Vortan (an orc - possibly half - crime boss). There were lots of veiled threats and the like being thrown around, through smiles and gritted teeth, but no overt hostility.

Haruld - a furbolg merchant who likes to show off his magic tricks - came bursting in, yelling out for Jabu, oblivious to the situation. Seems he had something for the chef: a half dozen basilisk eggs. Then he pulled a seventh from behind Jabu's ear as a bonus. Jabu said he can't wait until he can talk Haruld out of dragon eggs, and Haruld took credit for the adventuring party at the beginning of the adventure, saying he sent them here to meet with a friend of his about a dragon lair, noting that if they are successful, he may have some eggs to negotiate with.

As dinner was served, Talla's feline senses noted the smell of poison from the table, and she quickly discerned it was from either the food or drink. She alerted Rick, who stalled the group while Talla scrambled to find the origin. Finally, he called off the dinner (and confessed to Cyrian that someone had tried to poison them). As the food and drink was taking to the kitchen, Talla detected that much of their stock had been compromised. She rushed to the roof and the enchanted garden, but found that it was unspoiled.

As Talla cracked into Rick's secret booze stash (including his 600 year old silver Elven wine), Jabu cooked up an immaculate vegetable dish for each member of the criminal dinner party.

Malenda accused Cyrian and Rick of plotting against them, but Cyrian, Rick, and Talla held the tensions down, and Jabu's dinner (along with Rick's rare booze) proved to be a hit at the table, even easing racial tensions between Fezzini and Vortan.

The group could not find how the stores had become compromised, but Rick suspected both Bartax and Talla's ex, Val. The group scrambled to restore the stock ahead of the prince's party, and succeeded only when Jabu agreed to give Haruld access to the drunken prince "to ask a single question".

And we left off with the drunken, debaucherous party, but with mysteries still hanging out there (like who tried to poison the bar).
 
Impressions:

- I don't know if this campaign will have legs...but that's okay if it doesn't. It's really just meant to be a change of pace for us.

- I was nervous as hell going in, because it's SO non traditional for me, setup wise. Even as much as we screwed around in ETU, there was always a lot of traditional RPG conflict.

- Speaking of ETU: The group REALLY missed bennies, wild dice, and Adventure Deck cards.

- The world building and narrative flow was very collaborative. Val was established as Talla's ex when I posted a picture and asked her "who is she to you?" and her response was "my ex", so we ran with it. Same with the basilisk eggs and the secret booze stash. All added by the players.

- The system is very simple. Probably too light for me long term.

- I intended the crime lord Cyrian to be a much more vile and sleazy guy, but his relationship with Rick hasn't played out that way. The rest of the crime lords were created on the fly, so they are being developed as we go.

- The cooking minigame was kind of neat, complete with a success chart that shows how well the chef succeeded. It literally decided whether or not the crime lord meeting was going to turn into a breakdown or an alliance.

- We all had fun - my group brought the enthusiasm, which helps - I just think I got cold feet from going in with sooooo little preparation but it worked. Whole session was about two and a half hours, completely theater of the mind, with visual aids dropped in for the NPCs.

- And we definitely have a few hooks to play with coming out of the first session.
 
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