Help me instigate a bar fight.

[Flipguarder]

I (as DM) would like to encourage a bar fight in Sigil. They are level 10 and I need just a small push to get them to 11. These are the characters:

1. A Human fighter worshiper of Flarghan who is investigating his whereabouts (currently unknown. Seems very hard to offend, and very relaxed.

2. A bullywug monk, who I have decided will be the most out of place of them all. Possible racial tension angle. Has very little connection to his people, however.

3. A Genasi swordmage who acted as a "police officer" in the City of Brass. Also a member of a secret organization devoted to general good. Has too much on his plate for missions and goals. Could feel stressed.

4. A Elf ranger, who is a high ranking member of the feywild guard, a military organization devoted to protecting the feywild from the dangers in the world and vice-versa. Also feeling fairly stressed due to some problems back home.

5. A human Artificer who's really only goal is money, intersting things, and the acquisition of rare alchemical and ritual materials.

 

[Rhun]

Should be simple. Have a drunk accost one of the PCs, blame him for stealing his drink or his woman or just about anything, and when the PC tries to cool things down just have the drunk punch him. Nothing should be easier.

 

[fba827]

Unless the people at the bar _know_ about their backstories, a bar fight could only happen based on what they see (clothes, equipment, race).

So (figuring they aren't carrying/wearing some offensive material) that pretty much leaves race.

As you walk in, a burly man sitting at the bar with his back turned to you stands up muttering "Phew... what is that wretched smell..." He slowly turns to see you standing in the doorway, "Ah... that explains it..."
He lumbers up towards you, a little swagger in his step brought on my his ale. Bringing his face no more than a few inches away from (pick random PC, possibly the bullywug if they are that rare here) he speaks with the smell of booze all around him, "Unlike you, this place is clean, how about you get your stinky flesh out of here ... " If the PC doesn't leave, he gets more demeaning, implying that the PC's race is meant to do subserviant things like shine his shoes. And so on ...

 

[Theroc]

Have one of the NPC's be part of an Logging operation getting setup to cut down sections of the Feywild(I'm assuming it's a forest, but I know nothing about it).

To get two PC's riled, talk about how many illegal things like extortion, blackmail, and roughing up local authorities to get the operation setup.

If the NPC's are already drunk, they say this too loudly, drawing the potential ire of both the Genasi AND the Ranger.

Dunno how quickly those two would be to respond, but the police officer type might try to interrogate them, and being a Genasi(aren't they part elemental? Wouldn't this be a racial angle too?), they just tell the Genasi to get lost, throwing in an insult about his race too.

 

[Nebten]

Let's look at history for some of the classic set ups to a bar fight:

He doesn't like you.
Luke: Sorry.
Dr. Evazan: I don't like you either. You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve [planes].
Luke: I'll be careful.
Dr. Evazan: You'll be dead!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Have someone walk into the bar with a knife and a bag of flour.

He uses the knife to cut open the bag of flour, which he then swings in such a way as to eject the flour in all directions, giving everyone a good coating...

and he yells "Hey, UGLY!" at nobody knows whom.

That should do it.
(It worked pretty well for a barbarian aardvark of some reknown...)

 

[fba827]

Thief: someone tries to pickpocket an easily angered PC

Mistaken identity: One of the PCs is mistaken for someone else (it can be something mundane "hey, you're the guy that slept with my wife!" or more fantastic "hey, you're the guy who slayed the dragon... i'll whoop you to prove i'm the biggest baddest around here") or, used in conjection with the thief idea, if the pc lets the theif go, maybe someone watching sees the pc holding the theif's arm thinking that the PC is picking on the little kid.

Accident: Someone drunk bumps in to the least-agile PC. Have that PC make an acrobatics/dexterity check to keep his balance. If he fails (presumably so since you're targetting the least agile one) have him topple in to a big drunk guy who ends up dropping his drunk on to another guy. This causes drunk guy to get mad at PC, and now-wet guy to get mad at the drunk guy. I see shoving goign on real soon, and chairs and bottles being used as improvised weapons ...

anyway, just random ideas off the top of my head. lots of other (if not better) ideas already mentioned by others above!

 

[Infiniti2000]

Another real easy one occurs if you can entice one of the players into a friendly gambling game. Make sure the PC wins somehow and then, of course, accuse him of cheating. Enticing them to gamble might even be easier if you can throw a plot hook onto it, perhaps along the lines of "yeah, I'll tell you what you want to know...over a couple games of craps." That may even make it seem less random and not railroaded.

 

[Quartz]

Why make the PCs the targets? How about having a bar-fight erupt and the PCs can choose to get involved or not as they wish. Then use their behaviour as a plot hook for the next adventure. "I've been told how well you handled yourselves..."

 

[Flipguarder]

I love the replies to this thread.

"A big burly guy says he doesn't like you and pushes." lacks the realism and engrossing kind of scenario building I normally like to use in my campaign. So far I really like fba827's and Theroc's ideas.

Thanks for the ideas all, more would be very welcome.