Meeting in a Tavern and Alternative Ways to Start a D&D Campaign
You guys, I’m so excited to start our new campaign. It’s going to be great! Yep, I’ve been looking forward to giving my career a fresh start after my last less than stellar performance evaluation. All right, your new characters all meet up at the Sloshing Boot Tavern featuring Lyr the Bard playing a musical number in the corner.
Really? We’re starting in a tavern? Yeah, I kind of had higher expectations. And a bard playing music? Yeah that’s not cliched. Well at least we get have a tavern brawl! Yeah, but that’s not exactly the sort of innovation that going to drive us to outpace our competitors.
Look you guys, there’s nothing wrong with starting in a tavern. I agree. I’ve been playing this game since secondary school, and always started in taverns. It is a beautiful and wonderful tradition, and there are many fine reasons for doing so. You know… Since we’ve killed you in the last three videos, you’d think you’d shut your mouth already.
Yeah, Old Man Commoner, it’s not that starting in a tavern is BAD exactly, it just that, well, it’s kind of boring. And being like every other 9 to 5er who just keeps their head down and puts in their time is NO WAY to jump start our career tracks. We need to do something to get the boss’s attention! Come on, be reasonable.
How long does the tavern scene even last? Is it really worth our dungeon master’s time think of a different way to begin the campaign? I’ve had about enough of this. Yep, stabby stabyy time! Yeah, killing the old man commoner is fun! True, but don’t forget about all the paperwork our VP is gonna want from us.
You guys, you can’t just kill him at the end of every video. You know I’m just going to bring him back! It’s – It’s okay, I got this. There, now where were we? Yeah, huh, you start in a tavern. Welcome to the DM Lair. I’m Luke Hart, and I’ve been a dungeon master since the very first campaign ever began in tavern.
On this channel I give practical dungeon master advice that you can implement at your table. Today in the Lair, we’re going to talk about starting your campaign in a tavern – OR NOT. You see, lots of folks like to get down on starting a campaign in a tavern, talk about how it’s all cliched and lame and boring and all that jazz.
And they’re kind of right… But the fact is there are LOTS of good reasons taverns make great starting points. And there are lots of good reasons you might want to start your campaign someway else. So, today we’re going to delve into this topic, talking about what makes taverns good starting points and then alternative ways to start your campaign.
And on this Friday’s live stream, here on YouTube, we’re going to brainstorm together a massive list of alternative ways to start a campaign, besides in a tavern. So come hang out and contribute some cool ideas. Also don’t forget I steam over on Twitch Mondays and Wednesdays, so give me a follow over there for more chill live streams where we hang out, answer questions, and even paint minis together.
Why Taverns Make Great Starting Places Now, before we crap all over starting in a tavern, let me be clear: there is NOTHING wrong with starting your campaign in a tavern. They are the default starting place for a slew of reasons, and I myself usually use a tavern to kick off a campaign.
In fact, I just did so for my Curse of Strahd campaign which you can watch over on my second YouTube channel, The DM Lair Streams. I’ll throw a link to that video below if you’re interested in checking it out. First reason to start in a tavern: it makes sense and it’s not forced.
Historically taverns have been the main gathering area in societies for people of all types and backgrounds. The bard is there plying his wares. The priest is spreading her faith. The barbarian is getting sloshed after a deadly rampage. Taverns also give players a general feel for the culture in the area, any conflicts that might be present, or any important historical events characters might know about.
For instance, in my Curse of Strahd campaign, I emphasized that the tavern was in New Rasslantar that had been rebuilt a couple decades ago after being razed to the ground by an army of giants. You see, the players previous characters in my Sword Coast Guard campaign had failed to prevent that army of giants from destroying the original Rassalantar.
So, this was a great opportunity to show the players how the world had progressed since their last campaign, and tie together those two points in the campaign’s timeline. I also set the stage and tone for the current campaign by explaining how a thick fog was creeping over the land, almost forcing them to flee into the safety of the tavern.
Conversations also flow naturally in taverns, which makes them a great place for the dungeon master to deliver plot hooks to the players. You overhear a conversation between two shadowy figures at the table over. They mention a street corner, a time, and a “package.” It’s in taverns that news and gossip makes it way around the game world.
It’s in taverns that mercenaries can be found and thus where jobs can be doled out. It’s also quite easy to introduce important NPCs to the players while they are sitting in a tavern sipping cold ones. While my Curse of Strahd players sat around a table, having just met each other, the door to the tavern banged open, and a man dressed in lively color strode in as though just escaping the veritable wall of thick fog just outside the door.
I have a message for you from my master. He bids you come to Barovia at once and promises great treasure as a reward. Heck, yeah, baby! Uh, doesn’t this kind of seem like a trap? And there you go. The characters meet an important NPC, learn of a quest they might go on, and get a foreshadowing of events to come.
The bottom line is that starting in taverns is fairly easy, it helps the dungeon master to accomplish lots of key objectives in the first game session, and it doesn’t seem nearly as forced or contrived as alternative methods. So, if you want to start your next campaign in a tavern, you have my blessing.
Not – not that you need it. Now, before I discuss alternative ways to start a campaign, I want to turn it over to the Old Man Commoner for a special announcement. Yes, yes, thank you, Luke. I’d like to take a moment to thank all the wonderful patrons who helped me blast into oblivion the other characters at the table: CandySora Meepy670 Deto Fox Nathan Dead Lucky Timothy T Ed R Normal Bard Rhanwen Luke Gray Senjugiku Karen D Drake H Trevor M Lord Humungus John K Daniel B and PenguinButt Now, time for a nap! And if you’re interested in becoming a patron and supporting all the free D&D content I create, there’s a link to my Patreon below.
Alternative Ways to Start a Campaign All right, folks, let’s do this. If you want to start your campaign in a way that’s NOT a tavern here are some general suggestions. Now it’s going to be up to you to flesh out the details, but this will get you started.
First, important events and large gatherings in the game world. Is the mayor of Rassalantar giving an important announcement to the entire town about the toxic fog in the woods and increased wolf attacks on the outlying farms? Is there a festival, celebration, or masquerade ball happening in the town? Events like these simulate many of the ideal circumstances that make meeting in taverns convenient and useful without the downfall of it being cliched.
Any heavily populated area or common meeting place, such as a town square or market, could serve equally well, too. Next, start your campaign with ACTION and an exciting event, even combining it with an important event or public gathering. While the mayor is giving that important announcement in the town square, wolves howl from close by and fog begins to seep out of the sewers and nearby buildings.
Suddenly the characters are forced into a dramatic and interesting event. They must either flee or try to save the terrified townsfolk from whatever is happening. The masquerade ball is progressing quite nicely when several of the masked attendees strip their masks away and transform into werewolves, servants of Strahd, sent to terrify the villagers of Rassalantar and engulf more of the land into the demi-lane of Barovia.
The heroes are traveling down the Long Road, when large numbers of colorfully clothed bandits spring from the forest and attack. Despite the characters’ valiant struggle, the bandits take them captive in short order. The smiling leader cackles at them before knocking them out, and then the PCs all regain consciousness in the partially submerged prison cells of Castle Ravenloft.
Crap, now that I’m thinking this through.. Why did I start in a tavern? I mean, these campaign starts sound a lot more interesting, don’t they? Just a quick note to my Curse of Strahd players… Yeah, sorry. Now, do these approaches possibly have the downfall of feeling contrived by the dungeon master? Does it feel like a set up? Does it feel like a little player agency may have been “borrowed” by the DM? Sure, OF COURSE! But holy crap, is it not a lot more exciting than “You all meet in a tavern.” Don’t forget to follow me over on Twitch for some chill live streams where we hang out, talk D&D, and even paint minis together.
