[News] Tabletop RPGs (& Other Games) Centered Around Fantasy Taverns

[Kn1GHT_AX]

In novels, fantasy movies, and games like Dungeon & Dragons, the humble village tavern is frequently the locale where grand adventures begins. Most fantasy tabletop RPG stories swiftly leave the tavern behind in favor of more perilous locales, but these games place taverns and their stalwart custodians at the heart of their narratives.

A good number of tabletop RPG campaigns begin with the DM or game master saying, "You all meet in a tavern" - or, at least, that's how the stereotype goes. Other stereotypical tavern-centric RPG tropes include the bard flirting with the wait staff, the rogue picking everyone's pockets, the barbarian getting black-out drunk, and brawls breaking out at the slightest of provocations. Modern-day fantasy writers and GMs generally try to avoid "tavern openings" in their stories, but the image of a rustic tavern filled with light and laughter is as much an icon of Western fantasy as spaceships are to science fiction.

The following tabletop RPGs, each focused on the challenges and foibles of running a fantasy tavern, are thematically similar to the Star Trek: Lower Decks spin-off series; rather than telling the stories of brave heroes saving the world, these RPGs focus on the small, yet meaningful, stories that play out in the backgrounds of epic fantasy narratives - people providing meals, brews, and beds for the mysterious strangers passing through their towns and going on small adventures of their own to protect what they've built in their neck of the woods.

Stewpot: Tales From A Fantasy Tavern

Stewpot: Tales From A Fantasy Tavern is a narrative RPG by Takuma Okada, creator of journal games and experimental RPGs like Alone Among The Stars. Set in a classic world of fantasy adventure, Stewpot: Tales From A Fantasy Tavern is about retired fantasy heroes who settle down to run a tavern of their own in a tranquil community, each player taking on a specific responsibility in the tavern. Mechanically, Stewpot is composed of 14 different story games, each with unique rules players use to figure out how they settle tavern brawls, help people in their town, serve food for special guests, or share their hard-earned wisdom with new adventurers starting out.