Haunted Tavern
- Thread starter avin
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Sammael
Adventurer
Option A: the tavern is not really haunted. All the weird stuff going on are just illusions produced by a mage paid to scare the potential customers. The mage comes into the tavern disguised as a different patron every day. Who is paying him to do it? Mystary!
Option B: the tavern is built on top of an ancient cemetery, and spirits of the dead are outraged by this sacrilege. They can be placated for a while, but the only solution to get rid of them is to demolish the tavern. Of course, to learn this, the PCs must find a way to somehow communicate with the spirits (who are not necessarily human).
Option C: grandfather of the tavern's current owner won the tavern in a game of dice. After losing his tavern, its previous owner got endebted and finally killed himself, only to learn in the afterlife that he got cheated in the dice game. He now manifests in front of honest gablers to warn them or waits until a cheater retreats to his rooms and scares him to death.
As for the exact manifestation of haunting... let's see. exploding bottles, darts that fly through the air on their own, blood appearing in guests' glasses instead of their drinks, flying kitchen cleaver of doom, unnerving sound of rattling dice that wakes guests at night, maggots in food, rugs that wrap around people and constrict, grandfather clock with a really sharp pendulum, talking trophy heads above the bar...
Option B: the tavern is built on top of an ancient cemetery, and spirits of the dead are outraged by this sacrilege. They can be placated for a while, but the only solution to get rid of them is to demolish the tavern. Of course, to learn this, the PCs must find a way to somehow communicate with the spirits (who are not necessarily human).
Option C: grandfather of the tavern's current owner won the tavern in a game of dice. After losing his tavern, its previous owner got endebted and finally killed himself, only to learn in the afterlife that he got cheated in the dice game. He now manifests in front of honest gablers to warn them or waits until a cheater retreats to his rooms and scares him to death.
As for the exact manifestation of haunting... let's see. exploding bottles, darts that fly through the air on their own, blood appearing in guests' glasses instead of their drinks, flying kitchen cleaver of doom, unnerving sound of rattling dice that wakes guests at night, maggots in food, rugs that wrap around people and constrict, grandfather clock with a really sharp pendulum, talking trophy heads above the bar...
Aeolius
Adventurer
On the topmost shelf behind the bar rest three dusty bottles of wine owned by the original proprietor. Those who hold the bottles hear unintelligible whispering.
On the wall is a painting of a woman. The painting has been defaced. On a shelf below the painting are two lit candles and a small glass of brandy.
One table in the center of the room is horribly burned. No one sits there and no one acknowledges its presence.
Whenever the local minstrel sings “The Ballad of Nellie Windhaven”, all of the flames in the tavern dim.
On nights of the new moon, the flames in the largest fireplace burn green.
If anyone orders a meal of mutton and white wine, the meat inexplicably grows cold within seconds of serving.
In a jar or preservatives behind the bar is a single white mouse, “Nibbles”, the unofficial mascot of the tavern. There is a 20% chance that Nibbles will not be in the jar, if observed.
The weathered wooden mantle above the secondary fireplace seems to have living branches with leaves.
Those who drink to excess and pass out within the tavern have been known to awaken in the mist of playing chess by themselves, in a darkened corner of the tavern.
Those who sleep in the rooms above the tavern share a common dream of drowning, sealed within a keg of ale.
On the wall is a painting of a woman. The painting has been defaced. On a shelf below the painting are two lit candles and a small glass of brandy.
One table in the center of the room is horribly burned. No one sits there and no one acknowledges its presence.
Whenever the local minstrel sings “The Ballad of Nellie Windhaven”, all of the flames in the tavern dim.
On nights of the new moon, the flames in the largest fireplace burn green.
If anyone orders a meal of mutton and white wine, the meat inexplicably grows cold within seconds of serving.
In a jar or preservatives behind the bar is a single white mouse, “Nibbles”, the unofficial mascot of the tavern. There is a 20% chance that Nibbles will not be in the jar, if observed.
The weathered wooden mantle above the secondary fireplace seems to have living branches with leaves.
Those who drink to excess and pass out within the tavern have been known to awaken in the mist of playing chess by themselves, in a darkened corner of the tavern.
Those who sleep in the rooms above the tavern share a common dream of drowning, sealed within a keg of ale.
Aeolius
Adventurer
InVinoVeritas
Adventurer
Read The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes.
frankthedm
First Post
I am pretty confident a few years back there was a 3E Dungeon Magazine adventure for a haunted inn that had a full fold-out battlemat
Asmor
First Post
Clearly, the mage is Old Man Withers, he's trying to scare off people from the tavern so he can search its basement for the buried pirates' treasure in peace, and he would have gotten away with it if not for you meddling adventurers.
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