Has anyone made good bar fight encounters?

[Hand of Evil]

It all comes dow to a flow chart -

Fight Starts - does not matter how, it just does.

• Did PC start or is part of the fight?
• YES
  
  [*]What is the ALIGNMENT of the foe?
  [*]- LG will wait to be hit and defend themselves
  [*]- CG will laugh or hit first
  [*]- any N will try and stay out of it
  [*]- any E will fight dirty​
• What is the CLASS of the foe?
  
  [*]- Fighter will fight to win and use what is available
  [*]- Rogue will fight dirty, use what is available but may stab the PC
  [*]- Magic User will use magic​
• What does the Foe do in the fight?
  
  [*]- Fist/Kick to Body part (create a random table for effect and damage)
  [*]- Grapple
  [*]- Fight Dirty (create list of actions; uses chair/bottle as weapon)​
• What happens when the fight starts getting out of hand?
  
  [*]- Bets are being made
  [*]- Friend(s) steps in
  [*]- Two or more fights start breaking out
  [*]- The Watch is called (create a chart on when they will show up)
  [*]- Spells are released
  [*]- FIRE
  [*]- Watch shows up
  [*]- Watch starts knocking heads
  [*]- Fighters run for the doors, windows
  [*]- PCs wake up in a cell
  [*]- PCs get chased
  [*]- PCs get out but leave a man behind (oops)
  [*]- All PCs get away​

 

[Hand of Evil]

Things to do to make a bar fight go crazy!

• Add girls - all girls fight dirty, they wll pull hair, and IF they get both hands in the hair they will thrown you. This is a spinning let go move that will throw you into two places, other people or the floor. Oh, you just lost CHR with two hand fulls of hair! Don't forget, girls get claw attacks in bar fights!
  
• Halflings - they like to tag team and jump from high places. How the hell they get to those places does not matter, runt from above! Halflings double their movement value in a bar fight! Oh, they use kitchen items as natual weapons!

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

DnD is pretty bad for bar fights prior to 4e. There's just too little in the way of defenses.

4e (or good low-magic rules) are slightly better, but the characters are too tough. Although I suppose using healing surges after a bar battle might not be too bad, depending on campaign/setting/feel/etc.

Also, the characters won't want to give up their armor. You'd want a setting where characters can not wear armor and not die because of it. And in DnD, characters generally carry their (often large) weapons everywhere, unless it's a big city with a heavily-armed guard force. DnD has pretty lame unarmed combat moves.

I've run a fun convenience store brawl (closest I could get to it) using an encounter described in Feng Shui. I've never played that game and only barely understood the rules; I used d20 Modern rules instead. (The class defense bonus helps big time, and the characters are less tough and less likely to wear heavy armor than in 4e.)

Here's a short description:

With the thugs spread out around the store, there are some cool opportunities here. A running gunfight can take place between the shelves, as Mooks try to avoid pursuers. Shelves can be knocked over, trapping people. The checkout counters can provide cover. The money tray from a cash register can be used as a weapon (the change could be used to trip people up, if enough coins are used). The Deli counter can provide some fun too: large selections of uncut meat can be used as weapons, to distract opponents, etc. The meat slicers are good for cutting up fingers, etc (but be sure to get them over to them, since they are usually stationary) Hooks for meat hanging from the ceiling are good to hang someone from too. In the frozen foods section, frozen meals, meats, etc make excellant bludgeons and/or missle weapons. Go in the back, and fight in the freezer! And of course there are fresh fruits and vegetables to throw around, or if you find the lighter fluid, make an improvised flamethrower. And don't forget the store's employees, and any customers unlucky enough to be trapped in the store when all this goes down

Obviously this is for a modern setting; you'd want to put the same amount of thought into a medieval bar. But it should still give you ideas. Replace deli counter with hot soup, etc. It helps that d20 Modern has some decent unarmed combat rules, as long as said rules involve martial arts. (The basic unarmed combat and the Brawl chain of feats are worse than useless. Just use nonlethal damage like in 3.x and it'll work fine though.)

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

I did a bar fight that my players really enjoyed. It was inspired by the double-cross in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Similar to the opening scene of the movie, I poisoned the players with an altered version of goodnight tincture and had the bad guys jump them.