Oddities for a Tavern

The best adventures begin and end in taverns, but in the hurlyburly world of professional adventuring, there's no reason why a tavern can't become an adventure in itself. And so the mad barmen of d-Infinity bring you a new ever growing, ever evolving list of oddities to breath new and wondrous life into the watering holes where your heroes wet their whistles!

1. A public bulletin board is mounted on the tavern's east wall. Among the crudely printed broad sheets, declarations, and wanted posters are hand-written entreaties seeking the aide and promising thrilling adventure and great reward in return. However, these "heroes wanted" posts are false, tacked to the board by local brigands to lure foolhardy adventurers to isolated locales to be waylaid and robbed.

2. A cleric from a nearby temple wanders through the tavern offering simple blessings and warning against the sin of drunkenness. Every now and then the cleric casts a spell turning the libations in nearby mugs into pure water. It won't be long before a disgruntled patron calls out the cleric or gets into an altercation with the barman accusing him of watering down the ale.

3. A tip jar stands like a weary sentinel at the edge of the bar. Within the tip jar are a random assortment of coins and something odd. Equal chance of a mousetrap meant to discourage thieves, a venomous snake planted by the local thieves guild to send a message to the tavern owner, or a tiny leprechaun digging through the change in search of a magic gold coin stolen from his pot of gold.

4. A floppy-eared old mutt lazes by the fire, close enough to the flames that the heat should be intolerable. The dog is a hound of Hell that escaped the infernal kennel its demonic master and disguised itself as a mangy cur. The hound is fiercely protective of the publican, who gave it scraps thinking it was a pitiable stray.

5. A bard plays sweetly upon a lute strung with fine silver strings. The strings are woven from the hair of an angel, a choirmaster of the the celestial realms. Somewhere on a prime material plane a bald angel seeks the bard.

6. A fire burns happily in the hearth, the flames occasionally rising higher and momentarily changing color to unnatural greens, purples, and blues. The cause of these unnatural colors is either the wood of a sacred elder tree, the wood of trees cut from a section of forest where an unscrupulous alchemist dumps the waste from her failed experiments, or several magical tomes someone threw into the fire.

7. Trophies donated by various local hunters decorate the walls of the tavern. The trophies were all taken from animals that were humanoids polymorphed into the shape of beasts.

8. A gambler tosses a pair of bone dice in the corner, asking anyone who comes near if they'd like to place a bet. The gambler's left hand is missing a finger, the digit from which the dice were carved.

9. The barman went into the cellar 1d6x minutes ago to fetch a fresh cask of ale and hasn't returned. In the cellar is either his corpse, a scorch mark smelling of brimstone, or a secret door connecting the tavern to a network of smuggler's tunnels.

10. A tipsy wizard juggles fireballs to the nervous delight of onlookers. However, the wizard an his fireballs are an illusion created by a real wizard sneaking behind the bar to purloin a bottle of wine just outside his price range.

11. A small mug made of a dark, polished wood, carved with vines and fruit. It fits very comfortably in the hand. It converts anything poured into it into a random drink. Roll 1d6 for the result. (1) The favorite alcohol of the person holding the mug (2) A fine wine (3) A really good quality lager (4) A bad quality wine (5) Skunky-smelling water (6) A foul liquid with lumps of something awful floating in it (it’s a healing potion for any who can get it past their gag reflex).

12. Small barrel of large, pickled eggs. These are not hen’s eggs…

13. There is a secondary tavern in the rafters, catering to a tiny humanoid people. There is a preserved cat’s paw hung over their bar. Occasionally one gets drunk and falls from the rafter to the greater tavern below. They ride mice and occasionally send out adventuring parties to raid the giant kingdoms below for food and treasure.

14. A lifelike painted metal doorstop in the shape of a guard dog and about the size of a housecat. The paint is fading and chipped but the figure’s eyes gleam luminously and it detects as magic. With the correct command word, it grows to full size, comes to life, and will obey the commands of the person who spoke the command.

15. An ornately carved wooden cabinet, sitting in a place of honor behind the bar. On the front is an inscription that reads “In memory of Bruno”, above a pair of doors that open outward. When opened, it reveals a pickled head in a jar. The skin and hair drift about slightly and the eyes are open. If you make eye contact they eyes will track you for a time.

16. An old ginger tomcat with frost-bitten ear-tip is curled up near the stove in the kitchen. He is blind in one eye and missing his left front paw.

17. A quarto-sized leather-bound notebook with vellum pages. The leather binding is battered, and the first few pages are filled with Latin text copied in a student’s handwriting. But starting on the 4th page, it is filled with pencil sketches of the tavern and some fairly talented caricatures of the regular patrons.

18. A beautiful and vivacious but pale young woman attaches herself to a table and starts a lively drinking game. A little later she is seen leaving with the drunkest of the revelers. She is the assistant of an alcoholic vampire, whose preference is to drink the blood of an inebriate.

19. The inn has an extensive system of chimneys that branch out from the large central fireplace in the main tavern. The smaller fireplaces in the upper rooms on the West side of the inn do not burn well – they produce a lot of smoke and the fire goes out. Upon investigation, it will be discovered that the main chimney for this section is being blocked by the body of a young thief. It appears that this thief became stuck in the chimney, unable to move forward or back, and suffocated. The thief has folded document that is written in a cipher.

20. A small red leather pouch with a drawstring. It contains 14 silver coins in an unknown, foreign denomination. The coins appear to be silver. The pouch also contains a pair of loaded dice and a chess piece – a black King, decorated with an intricate tracery of inlaid gold wire.

21. On the mantelpiece above the large central fireplace, there is a very large egg, a curio purchased from a travelling merchant. After some weeks of basking in the warmth from the fireplace, it hatches – it is a small dragon with iridescent scales, big dark eyes and stubby little wings. After the initial shock, it becomes a hit in the tavern (so CUTE!!) and takes up a perch on the warm mantelpiece. It shrieks with delight as patrons feed it tidbits of food and small bowls of beer. However, 1d6 days after this, its much larger mother appears.

22. One of the walls towards the back of the tavern has a painting of a street scene – it is quite nicely done but hanging in an area that does not get a lot of light. The painting changes when no one is looking – different people appear, or the same people in different places, different times of day, and different seasons.

23. The bottom of the arched opening to one of the private dining chambers has a loose stone. When removed, you will find a hiding spot that contains a bloody butcher knife, mask and leather gloves.

24. There are several dartboards in the tavern. One of them is charmed so that it removes some small item of moderate value from each loser of a game of darts – a silver coin or object of similar value. The object disappears from the person of the loser and appears in a small cubbyhole behind the dartboard. The proprietor of the tavern empties the cubbyhole early every morning.

25. In the cellar of the tavern there is the opening for a well – it has a metal lid that is held in place by several padlocks, and it is in a small room that is kept closed. But odd sounds come from this sealed well whenever the there is significant rainfall – clanking and creaking and sounds of moaning. It is most common in the Spring and Fall. The staff know about it and avoid going down into the cellar on rainy nights, and there are vague tales about murdered women being dumped there. However, it is not haunted and it is not actually a well, though if a bucket is lowered, there is water down there. It has a ladder down to a network of underground waterways used by smugglers. When it rains, water runs into the tunnels from the sewers and causes the waterways to surge. The noises that rise up through to the tavern cellar are an acoustic oddity.

26. The tavern has a separate building. It is older than the tavern and was clearly part of some larger building complex. It is decorated with mosaics and has hot and cold pools for bathing. If anyone tries to use the hot pool, the water heats to a rolling boil and the pool is not safe to use. There is a trapped fire elemental that has become very angry.

27. The tavern has a back stairway leading to a small landing with no door. From the outside you can see a small, shuttered and locked window. Upon closer inspection, observant people can tell that the wall at the top of the stairs is newer than the sections of wall near it. The room that is behind the wall was the scene of a grisly murder 10 years ago. The staircase could not easily be removed without damaging the structure of the rest of the tavern, and the owners chose to simply close that room off - it was never cleaned up after the murder. The proprietors use the staircase and landing for storage.

28. There is a high shelf that runs around the interior of the tavern, just above head level. It is filled with ornaments – fancy bottles, plates, decorated steins, etc. One of the bottles has a genie in it.

29. Sometimes, late at night, ghostly shapes can be seen of soldiers wearing antique arms and armor. They are only visible from the knees up, as though their floor were lower, and they move through tables and walls as if they were not there. They appear in pairs, and move as though patrolling.

30. A small, folded note has been jammed into a crack in the wall next to one of the tables; there is a name, “Marcus”, written on the outside in purple ink. The paper feels expensive and smells of perfume. If one of the players pulls it out and begins to unfold it, it unfolds into an imp dressed in a garish gown and blonde wig. The imp howls, takes a swipe at the person unfolding the note, and then proceeds to wreak havoc in the tavern – overturning chairs, spilling drinks and raking random people with its claws. Several students of a local arcane academy can be seen trying to slip out surreptitiously. This was a prank aimed at the person who usually sits at that table.

And that's only the beginning! Check back in the coming days to see how the list grows, and add your own in the comments. How quickly can we get to 100?