THE COMPLETE TAVERN GAMEMASTER’S TOOLKIT

“You all meet in a tavern…” doesn’t have to be boring. The Complete Tavern Gamemaster’s Toolkit is a system-neutral collection of d20 tables designed to help you create memorable inns, taverns, and roadhouses on the fly. Whether you need a roadside inn for tonight’s session, a criminal den where deals go bad, or a haunted tavern that becomes the centrepiece of a whole adventure, this toolkit gives you fast, flavourful prompts that work with any fantasy RPG. Use it as a prep tool, an improvisation aid behind the screen, or a spark for entire scenarios that begin (or end) over a mug of something questionable. What’s Inside This document focuses on fantasy taverns and is divided into clear, table-heavy modules: Module 1 – The Tavern at a Glance Build a complete tavern profile in a handful of rolls. Tavern Type & Overall Vibe (d20) – From rough dockside dives to noble winehouses and liminal, reality-bending inns. Location & Surroundings (d20) – Market squares, city gates, bridges, ruins, shifting streets, and more. Exterior Appearance & Sign (d20) – Crooked beams, animated signs, ivy-covered walls, and watchful balconies. Tavern Name Generator (2d20) – Mix-and-match names like The Rusty Griffin or The Moonlit Tankard. Owner / Proprietor Archetype (d20) – Retired adventurers, exiled nobles, cultists in disguise, and more. Reputation Across Town (d20) – Safest place in town, den of thieves, haunted dive, neutral ground, etc. Signature Feature or Quirk (d20) – Hero walls, secret trapdoors, living trees, infamous house drinks… Module 2 – Inside the Common Room Everything the PCs see, smell, taste, and bump into once they step inside. First Impression When You Enter (d20) – Warm welcomes, sudden silences, smoke, noise, and tension. Layout & Seating (d20) – Communal tables, private booths, balconies, cramped mazes of furniture. Decor, Details & Oddities (d20) – Maps, trophies, shrines, strange stains, and objects that don’t belong. Food Specials & Kitchen Style (d20) – Hearty stews, regional dishes, chef’s surprises, and overwhelmed staff. Drinks & House Specials (d20) – Cheap ale, rare wines, challenge drinks, seasonal brews, and weird concoctions. Staff & Their Attitude (d20) – Harried servers, ex-adventurers, informants, exhausted apprentices. Regular Patrons & Typical Crowd (d20) – Farmers, guards, gamblers, students, mercenaries, mixed crowds. Current Mood & Energy Level (d20) – Calm, rowdy, anxious, celebratory, secretive, or charged with drama. Module 3 – People, Secrets & Trouble Turn the tavern into a living, dangerous social hub. Quick NPC Generator (d20) – Staff or patrons with instant hooks and visual details. NPC Goals in the Tavern (d20) – Deals, spying, recruiting, hiding, stealing, regretting, celebrating. Rumours & Tavern Talk (General) (d20) – Hooks about the wider region, politics, monsters, and mysteries. Rumours About This Tavern (d20) – Secret cellars, ghost stories, rigged games, hidden treasures. True Secrets of the Tavern (d20) – What’s really going on behind the scenes. How Bar Fights Start (d20) – Spilled drinks, insults, cheating, mistaken identity, pranks gone wrong. Bar Fight Escalation & Consequences (d20) – From bruises to fires, arrests, and legendary brawls. Criminal Activity in Progress (d20) – Pickpockets, fences, bribes, kidnappings, botched deals. Tavern-Based Adventure Hooks (d20) – Concrete ways to start a whole session or campaign in this tavern. Module 4 – Variants, Themes & Weird Taverns Reskin the toolkit for different tones and campaign styles. Rural Roadhouse Details (d20) – Stables, caravans, road gossip, and country hospitality. Noble or High-End Tavern Details (d20) – Dress codes, private rooms, discreet staff, expensive wine. Criminal Den or Thieves’ Tavern Details (d20) – Cant marks, safe tables, trapdoors, fences, and codes. Religious or Pilgrim’s Inn Details (d20) – Shrines, dormitories, donation boxes, simple communal meals. Frontier or Adventurers’ Tavern Details (d20) – Job boards, trophy walls, maps, and walls of the fallen. Haunted or Cursed Tavern Details (d20) – Cold spots, ghostly routines, cursed rules, repeating nights. Magical or Weird Tavern Features (d20) – Shifting doors, prophetic drinks, living decor, time-odd clocks. Cross-Genre Reskins (d20) – Turn any tavern into a space bar, cyberpunk dive, western saloon, etc. Tonight’s Special Event (d20) – Weddings, wakes, festivals, tournaments, raids, auctions, anniversaries. Module 5 – Games, Rules & Complications Extra tools to make scenes in the tavern dynamic and fun. Tavern Games & Pastimes (d20) – Dice, cards, contests, forfeits, and mysterious regulars’ games. House Rules & Taboos (d20) – Posted and unspoken rules that shape behaviour and conflict. Complications During a Meeting (d20) – Perfect for intrigue scenes and secret deals. Who’s Watching the PCs? (d20) – Eyes in the crowd with their own agendas System-Neutral Design This toolkit is written to be system-agnostic: No stats, DCs, or mechanics. Works with any fantasy RPG (5E, OSR, PF, story games, homebrew, etc.). Easy to reskin for other genres using the cross-genre table. This one is on the house! Go and grab it! TAG UNIVERSAL RPG — My flagship tag-based system. Grab the bundle! For a lot more toolkits check my Toolkit Section! For a collection of Settings for your games see my Settings Section! For incredible original RPG's visit my RPG Section!