The last few days were all a bit dark. I mean, mercenaries, killers, criminals… time to do something lighter. I had thought I wouldn’t come back to Tiny D6 this time around, but now I feel that Tiny Taverns should get an encore. This time I might include material from the “A La Carte” expansion.
Similar to last year, I will use rolls on the optional tables most of the time. This year, let us do three characters. Accordingly, I will split this into several posts. But first is the generation of the basic business we are playing. Usually a group discussion, but the game provides random generation tables to assist. And it is only me, and I do not do well discussing things with myself.
Two sixes - a failing saloon or gambling house. The location gets a 6 - extra-dimensional. And close by is (roll of 4) a territory filled with wild, exotic animals. Oh my. This one will be interesting. For a unique feature, I roll a D66, and get a 43 - “a sprawling network of dungeons and caverns which shift and change, filled with traps, treasure, and artificial creatures.” I can see where the "failing" comes in.
So, obviously, we are in the hub where a lot of megadungeons cross. Whoever founded the place stumbled upon this place via other means, and saw connections to all manners of plains. But they didn’t realize that there would be dungeons growing out from here that will make access… tricky. But why do we stay?
How this is the temple to a goddess of luck. Let us call her Orire. The temple’s location was chosen by a game of chance - a teleport spell with a random component sent the originating priest here a century ago. The temple looks like a marble casino, with an attached guest house. It caters to whoever stumbles in from the surrounding dungeons; the goddess’ magic keeps anything too dangerous out. Adventuring parties, liches, sentient clouds of luminescent gas - they all have been customers. But the dungeons are getting more dangerous by the year, and the number of customers is plummeting. The ever-shifting nature of the dimensional connections doesn’t help either, since quite often regulars at one point just do not find their way back. To make this work I will give the place one more feature - whoever comes in through the doors can speak to anyone else in the place and be understood. Cultural differences abound, but at least people can talk. Oh, and in passing, we took care of the next step - thinking about who typical customers might be. And then we are off to create some regulars. I will supplement this table with the one in the expansion.
Let us do two regulars, and two NPC employees. The first one is a Pixie Bard/Storyteller. Let us call them Gryneret; they are an employee. Not only do they perform regularly to keep guests entertained beyond games, but they are also a croupier. For their specialty I roll a 6 - they are a powerful being in disguise (suggested is a dragon) or have some other large secret. I like the idea that Gryneret is actually a genuinely divine being, the equivalent of an angel in the faith of Orire. To keep things interesting I will assume the PCs do not know that bit. Looking at the A La Carte table they are very outgoing and artsy, which fits well.
Next is a <Other> soldier. Let us make this one a sentient cloud of luminescent gas, patrolling the edges of the megadungeon connecting the reality their people live in to this place. They like to be called Grant, and they sometimes come in to gamble away some of their salary. Mostly because they like the atmosphere of the place. They also (dice roll of 4) spy on one of the PCs for a reason. Luckily, Grant is a bit lazy.
For the next guest, I roll a Mandrake cartographer (think giant dragon folk), who has a sideline performing minor magics for drinks and, I assume, ante. Her name is Bonandias, and she is one of our regulars. She stops by every once in a while to take a break from mapping the dungeons. She is rich and eccentric (looking at last year's tavern there is a tendency for Mandrakes to be just that, it seems), which probably explains her embarking on dungeon mapping. She has a cynical nature.
I wanted to make another employee, but then I rolled a human parcel-delivery person. Dzambeg Kertibiev has been cursed by the gods of their world to deliver missives between planes of existence. The one thing they gave him to drive the point home is that he is immortal. Not invulnerable, but they come back from the dead quite fast. Every once in a while he gets to catch a break here. He also is a bit of a charmer and will have a crush on a PC.
Finally, let us get another employee. This one is another <Other>. Let us go with a living statue. Yogam has been around since the beginning, they are part of the place. Their job is the janitorial things - making sure the drains are free, the tables are clean, and the oven is working. That the spinning wheels are actually spinning well. They are mute. Their attitude is questioning - I assume some passive-aggressiveness from time to time.
And now I need a name - ‘Next Level Games’? Not sure that counts as a clever pun - if it would, each PC would start with a point of Fortune. Ah well.
I think that will be it for post one. Have a sheet.
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