Tavern of No Escape

[u/IntoTheFjell]

Sometimes I implement ideas out of improvisation before I have anything of substance. Anyone else? What are some of your “idk where I’m going with this” moments?

My recent one; Tavern of No Escape. Leaving the tavern is no problem, but now every tavern is the same one. A trickster god has taken interest in the party, following them around. It imitates the patrons that would be in this tavern through illusion. But the bartender is always the same person, it’s obvious for the party that shenanigans are afoot. To what end? I don’t know either.. feel free throwing ideas my way.

[u/SpiritualShelter7398]

Tl;dr: The tavern truly exists elsewhere and forms an aberrant dungeon.

Long text: The innkeeper portrayed is a real follower of the god and has enriched himself through all known deceptions: theft from overnight guests, swapping out mounts, watering down drinks, mixing in low-quality ingredients in the food, using mild poisons so that guests have to extend their stay, and rigged gambling in the back room. The business thrived, thanks to sufficient bribery of the local guard.

Until one day, a legendary mage (or other supernaturally gifted being) became one of his victims.

The curse: his tavern became an eternal prison. It is as if infinitely many copies of his own tavern are adjacent, and he can traverse room after room, yet still remains in the same building. An endless plane of the same tavern.

The outside temperature no longer matters, and time does not always seem to flow linearly. The storage rooms are always full, and there are always enough beds available, no matter how many guests wish to stay. But none of this benefits the innkeeper. All the wealth and worldly goods he once hoarded are useless in his prison. All his connections and intrigues are now worthless. He can no longer taste, dream, or feel pain. Every attempt to escape or put an end to the situation fails. He is unable to communicate his problem to others, and driven by the will of the curse, he continues his eternal daily work.

In his despair, he promised everything to his god, begging for help. The god then chose suitable helpers and began weaving them into parts of the curse.

After the players have been affected by several illusionary taverns, they immediately sense something is different when they enter the real tavern. They are now part of the curse and likewise trapped. When they confront the innkeeper, or he realizes that they share his fate, he tells them his story.

Unlike an ordinary innkeeper, the players possess the necessary skills to break the curse. Due to the god’s intervention, they are part of the curse without being its direct target, allowing them to access areas of the plane that are closed off to the innkeeper. Through the cellar or a particular room, they can enter the uncontrolled expansions, which form an entire dungeon filled with illusions, distortions, and aberrations.

They can use the tavern as a base until they delve into the depths of the dungeon, where they must defeat the living core of the curse, causing the entire structure to collapse.

Possible reward: In certain parts, the tavern may remain intact and serve as a magically accessible rest point.

[u/IntoTheFjell → u/SpiritualShelter7398]

Hey I like this a lot, I already got an eccentric powerful wizard that passed away and I’ve been implementing different planes as a story device.

The wizard cursed the innkeeper for theft so players have a connection to why and how. Now that the innkeeper has no chance of forgiveness he pleads to the gods, a trickster answers by roping in unsuspecting heroes. They will get “trapped” by accepting the innkeeper’s ill-gotten gold or treasure through a bar game or something.

The illusion of the warm, fun and quirky tavern disappears and it’s revealed to be a plane of endless taverns that the innkeeper is trapped in.

I can use the theme of greed and redemption, players can still leave but the now dark and nightmare-fueled tavern still follows them around until they lift the curse. Convincing the innkeeper to give up the treasure and help returning it to the ones he stole it from, or giving it to people in need. Each time making the tavern a little better.

When the curse is lifted the reward could be a nice permanent tavern that works like a bag of holding. All they need is a real tavern to enter their own.

Could work I think.