Have you ever found employment while in a bar?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've never sought employment in a bar. But if I were a treasure hunter, assassin, tomb robber, or dragon slayer, I probably wouldn't advertise in the local paper.

Check out Heinlein's "Glory Road" for a fantasy hero who gets a job ... from the local paper.

 

[ssampier]

You guys are all just city-folk who don't understand the concept of "The watering hole". Where I live, there are TWO BARS, and that's that. Everyone knows everyone else through the bars and restaurants - it's how small-town life pretty much works. People gather at these places... it's natural that in a society that doesn't have internet job postings, or even resumes, that people get hired at the bar.

Huh. I live in a small town and we don't have a watering hole like this (we do have 5 bars, though). In my town, I'm pretty sure they just go through the applications and weed out people they don't personally know.

Thanks for this post.

 

[Scribble]

Well... I once met up with an old boss of mine for a beer. He offered me my old job back (left on good terms because I moved across the country.) I already had a better paying job though, so I turned him down... Does that count?

Aside from that, I agree with what's been said about adventurers... The many worlds of D&D tend not to feature Soldier of Fortune Magazine.... So I guess the Tavern is the next best option.

 

[KenM]

First session

DM: " OK, you are all total strangers that are in the tavern when another stranger comes in and hires all of you to go into the caves outside of town to find out what happened to the last group of people he sent into the caves. You all know its very dangerous but you'll trust each other with your lives even though you don't know each other at all."

thats why IMO the "you all meet in a tavern/ bar" hook does'nt work.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

First session

DM: " OK, you are all total strangers that are in the tavern when another stranger comes in and hires all of you to go into the caves outside of town to find out what happened to the last group of people he sent into the caves. You all know its very dangerous but you'll trust each other with your lives even though you don't know each other at all."

thats why IMO the "you all meet in a tavern/ bar" hook does'nt work.

That's why any hook handled in a half-assed manner doesn't work.

 

[KenM]

That's why any hook handled in a half-assed manner doesn't work.

I was generalizing, but thats the basic hook of many starts of campagins.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I was generalizing, but thats the basic hook of many starts of campagins.

Well, it's still possible to do it right. Arguably, that's the start of many versions of the Three Musketeers, for instance.

Any hook can suck if half-assed and any hook can be done well.

 

[IceFractal]

True, the "tavern" hook is not the most realistic. However ... do you really want to spend the first three sessions just trying to have the characters meet in a realistic manner - then somebody has to make a new character because the old one was suspicious of the rest and left town, and so forth?

It's the same problem when introducing new players - I had a DM who always wanted to introuduce new characters in the most realistic way; this often meant the new player had to wait around 4-5 hours (after their character was done) before getting to start playing - not so fun.

IMO, both introducing characters and having the initial meeting are things that work best offscreen, between sessions. Although if you do want to have the initial meeting played out, having some of the characters know each-other can help. For instance - A is B's long-time friend, B was in the same army squadron as C during the recent Orc invasion, and D is A's brother in law. So even if C and D don't know or initially like each-other, they have a reasonable reason to be adventuring together.

 

[Greg K]

Actually, I got some work while at a bar.
My friends frequented a particuliar bar every weekend to shoot pool. One day they invited me along and introduced me to someone there that was an art director. She reviewed my portfolio which was in the car and I got some logo work.

 

[the Jester]

Sometimes the pcs meet at the bar, but notby getting hired.

My campaign began when a crazy wizard stood up, shouted "MYNAR!!" and fireballed the tavern, engulfing all the tables and killing most of the patrons. The survivors, who were the people at the bar (for the most part), were the pcs. After they took down the wizard, they joined up to investigate what the hell just happened, naturally curious after nearly all being killed.