How Pro D&D DM's Create Memorable Locations 

I like the Stargate-y idea in a tavern, might steal it for my homebrew world. Had the idea of an early villain fleeing to some outer planetary hostile world, and wanting the players to go on a detour to figure out how to follow the guy.... so perhaps if they just punch in a random adress, thes end up in a tavern on the other side of the world.

I made what at first glance looks like a chain of taverns. I called it the Mana Bar (a name that I borrowed from Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation), but once my players visited a few different ones, they realised that it was the same barman every time, regardless of which particular building they entered. The Mana Bar is actually a multilayered demiplane with many entrances all across the cosmosolgy. Each entrance takes folks who enter to its own instance of the demiplane, but the barman sees every instance simultaneously. One minute he's pouring you a drink, the next he's yelling at a pit fiend in a layer that you can't perceive for breaking the furniture and threatening him with a devil-bane crossbow, or speaking undercommon to some invisible Drider in the corner and telling him to mind his manners. To anyone else i.e. the players, he looks absolutely barking mad, but he's just serving the whole universe at once. My players love the random outbursts he has with the invisible NPCs, but it also serves as a bit of a play for time. if the players put me on the spot and I need a bit of time to think, I can just improv a random interaction with some patron in another instance while I think about how to respond to them. I do have ordinary taverns as well, so there are different flavours for them to visit. The Mana Bar is generally the place to go if you're after information.

I often meta-game the names of tavern. Last campaign the cleric was able to turn a dragon. Now in this campaign there is a tavern called The Dragon Turner.

A fan favorite of my players is what we call the Travelers' Tavern Think room of requirements meets inter-dimensional cracker barrel. The building is a wonky 2 story structure in the shape of a giant camping backpack with big, front-facing windows that warm inviting light pours out of. It appears randomly on the material plane or otherwise, even shifting hard stone out of the way in tunnels deep in the Underdark, though it only ever stays in one place for 24 hours. The structure on the inside of the tavern, however, doesn't match the outside, and some doors may lead to a different room inside the Tavern based on who opens them. The Travelers' Tavern is full service thanks to mysterious spectral hands which may clean up messes, enforce restrictions, cheer on a performance from the bard, draw a floral-scented bubble bath, or any other amenity that the esteemed guests may desire (within strange magical reason). Exchanges must be made for your stay and any of the gift shop items, though they don't need to be of equivalent value. If someone tries to leave without offering payment, a random possession may go missing, to be added to the gift shop's collection. If they try to take something without exchanging for it, the item will vanish from their personage as they leave the tavern since the sale was never finalized. Final rule: Guest checkout is strictly at 11 AM. If any are so unlucky as to sleep in late, they may find themselves stuck in a strange and unfamiliar dimension. As a result, there may be an occupant in the tavern when the party arrives who's just hoping the tavern will go back to their home dimension. Feel free to use this idea, and let me know how it goes if you do!

To help push my players to confront the ending for the adventure they were on, I burned their beloved tavern down around them while they slept and put several of their favorite NPCs from the area in it to rescue. They noticed several clues that pointed to who did it, and off they ran to take vengeance.

It was Matt who introduced the dice game originally in Vox Machina, when the group visited a casino in Ankarel. Great of Aabria to bring it back for Exu!

One of the favourites I did wasn't a tavern per-se, but a theatre. It was part Globe Theatre, part Muppets Theatre, full of low level crime and run by the group's patron for many adventures. It was fun fitting in lots of references to plays and theatre superstitions and was easily the most distinctive recurring location I've done in a long time.

BLeeM used to be a New York City Bartender so that kind of hospitality thing is a bit ingrained too.

I would like to give a go at playing with a "pocket tavern". It would be an exclusive club that heroes have a pocket portal to.

One reason for lots of basic taverns, i imagine, is that most taverns that crop up in games will be in the smaller towns and larger villages that parties visit when exploring.

The second one's well, Is cool but a bit random. Maybe have a bar game similar to the red mile in star field where you try to get a certain time, or go to a certain depth. Or incorporate it as a distribution network for bar supplies, with a passageway to the local underground canal (or sewer) or network

I run a Star Trek campaign, and in this frontier colony I had a thicccc older Orion woman who was running this "Sunset Inn". She was this charming big personality southern US like lady who loved you until you messed up, then she was willing and able to shotgun you. The first floor had your standard kitchen and bar and sitting area, and a stage for Cabaret shows. In the back there was a massage parlor and spa staffed with Amazonian like women from many different species of the galaxy. And in the floors above, there were rooms for rent and a courtyard with an inlet little park and a swimming pool over top the completed first floor.

Other than the building itself, one way to make a tavern memorable is to include very memorable NPCs in it. Maybe it's the tavernkeep or the town's bard that hangs out there all the time!

I have a great group of players that kept going after finishing the Dragon of Icespire Peak starter box. In Leilon they found "Captain Marcus's Red Skies Ahead," a Red Lobster-esque seafood restaurant in Leilon. I wanted to give them a tavern with hints of high-seas adventure, if they are interested. They seemed to like that one, and eventually Captain Marcus helped hide a body for them, so that's good.

if its gonna be a multi versal point with creatures, heroes, and villains all traveling through, it would make sense that it was the rules of the building in john wick, and that could be another aspect for your players to think about, no Fighting on the premise of the tavern.

Loved the video. You made it fun and interesting.

Love the videos keep them up!

Thanks for the vids!!

2:43 - lower right corner - there we have matt mercer

My players own a tavern, makes it easy!

Why a tavern? Have your players gather at a Bed and Breakfast run by Martha and Gertie, an elderly couple who forget your boundaries and privacy a little, but they can remember when they were young and did a little adventuring themselves. Except back in their day no one had all these fancy words to describe themselves. You were basically either simply a magic user or a fighting man, even if you were a woman. But they're pretty sure they can help you work out your THAC0 that all of the young folk have been talking about if that's still the hip thing. Or maybe the town doesn't really get visitors, but you can get billeted in a contact's house. Just, do you mind doing some babysitting to help out in between fighting the forces of evil? Or the local barracks has guest accommodations for those that bring in outside techniques. Hope you're an early riser though. Or gather at the local artists' commune. It's like a constant low-key party of all sorts of out-there stuff and you can crash anywhere. I mean probably not on beds specifically, but like couches and stuff, and also you may wake up as the model for someone's new painting or in the middle of an active play rehearsal or something like that. And if it is just a meet up spot rather than a home base then there's things like coffee dens, churches and temples, gymnasiums, park gardens, town squares, libraries, and more. In Dimension 20's Fantasy High Basrar's ice-cream bar is basically a tavern for them.

Just call that second tavern Reflections. No need to get overly complex with it. 😀

My DM create tavern with curse where Necromancer collected soul witch desth nerbay, the tavern have tower. The tower grow with number of souls. If the necromancer get enought he back to live. And what is mote interesting it was the place where you can find some trap souls of interesting character. My grave looter meet pianist that i take ring from grave

There was one tavern I did which was basically a run-down hobbit hole in a blizzard on a back road no reputable person would ever take. The blizzard wasn't intentional, that complication was on the dice, but that also meant that as it wouldn't let up, with a dozen people stuck in a space much too small for them as they were completely snowed in, and resources were dwindling, we spent a session going through each day waiting for that powder keg to blow, sleeping with one eye open, protecting what food they had with them. We relied pretty heavily on an exhaustion mechanic for that one. Obviously, very RP-heavy, but it was a good time.

I get why you use their faces on nearly every one of your videos Thumbnails 😅 but maybe choose different expressions/poses? Kind of getting repetitive/over used at this point.

Very useful video man!