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Dust
2011-01-26, 06:42 PM
Pretty straightforward question. My PCs are soon to be ambushed in the biggest tavern in the dwarven capital by githyanki mage-assassins who specialize in this sort of thing. It's 4e. Thus far, all in actual mini-format, I have;

- A chandelier for swinging and breaking
- Destructible stairs, as well as large kegs of ale that can be rolled down them
- A dozen NPCs to take part in the brawl other than the assassins. They'll serve as obstacles that can be tumbled past, lest they take a swing at anyone who gets close.
- Ladders, planks, chairs, tables, and other pieces of furniture that can be used as weapons.
- A gigantic glass aquarium which houses the tavern's entertainment, a bardic mermaid. (Also breakable, of course)

What would make this encounter memorable in addition to what I have here? Dwarvish drunken master punching his way through the crowd? The Soup du Jour being overturned and used as a scalding liquid much like boiling oil? I'm open to ideas!

Amnestic
2011-01-26, 06:46 PM
I don't see "Windows large enough for people to be thrown/jump through" yet, so that definetly needs to be included. Nothing more satisfying than ejecting a person from a bar brawl through a window.

Pisha
2011-01-26, 06:49 PM
Oh man... I don't know, but I am TOTALLY stealing this for an upcoming session! The classic, quintessential barfight...

Elfin
2011-01-26, 06:58 PM
A timid barkeep who cowers behind the counter as glasses and tankards shatter on the wall behind him.

pffh
2011-01-26, 07:03 PM
A large mirror behind the barkeep with a shelf full of "expensive" spirits in front of it. The barkeep tries desperately to save both the mirror and the bottles.

Coidzor
2011-01-26, 07:05 PM
Small-sized humanoids getting into mischief and/or occupying the choice seats/hiding spots. Or just dorf "minors" taking advantage of the chaos to get at the good stuff (what, you think they waste the good stuff on kids? Bah, no, it's ale for yeh laddie and ye'll like it till yer 45 and can hae a full whiskey) which in turn causes more chaos, possibly in the form of fire or fire breathing hazards or accidentally activating dwarven disco mode(which menaces with floorspikes of funk)...

The Bumpus's dogs coming through and scavenging the food thrown and hurled about everywhere and generally causing difficult terrain, cats in the area taking offense to this loudly and agitating the dogs into a chaotic frenzied mass that ends up carrying off some people by the sheer press of them... Since this is a dorf hold... maybe dire rats? Not sure about the relationship between dog and dorf, tbh....

Amnestic is right, defenestration is a vital part of a good bar fight. 'Tis the primary reason why dorfs build windows, don't'cher'know.

A thing to consider would be having someone end up using dwarven whiskey to breath fire with... Either accidentally or on purpose...

TinselCat
2011-01-26, 07:11 PM
Although this is taking place in the Dwarven capitol, I'm sure the tavern sees enough non-dwarves that they might have a store of bottled wines under the counter. I see these as projectile weapons thrown from behind the cover of the bar (which is, of course, bolted to the floor).

Another option could be a set of curtains separating the kitchen from the main room. More convenient than a door, and in combat can be torn down and used to entangle opponents and cause other useful mayhem.

I love the boiling oil idea, though, you should use that. And remember - even if it doesn't burn anyone - once it hits the ground it'll be slick and hard to stand on, especially if the soup has chunks.

Coidzor
2011-01-26, 07:13 PM
Although this is taking place in the Dwarven capitol, I'm sure the tavern sees enough non-dwarves that they might have a store of bottled wines under the counter. I see these as projectile weapons thrown from behind the cover of the bar (which is, of course, bolted to the floor).

Heck, the bar could be carved from the living rock of the mountain, along with the edifice of the bar proper.

AslanCross
2011-01-26, 07:28 PM
A timid barkeep who cowers behind the counter as glasses and tankards shatter on the wall behind him.

Or a cantankerous barkeep who joins in the fun chaos to beat up the brawlers.

bobspldbckwrds
2011-01-26, 07:34 PM
why has no one mentioned the bouncer?

Vknight
2011-01-26, 07:49 PM
Yes! A goliath bouncer who comes in who swats people away using lots of powers to knock people prone & push them. Large sweeping attacks to represent his blast attacks with spinning moves for bursts. He can even pull the party fighter away for some one-on-one action.
In that event play up his toughness with a Brute but with a bonus to hit.
This is to make up for Brutes poor defenses & ability to hit.

Craulnober
2011-01-26, 08:01 PM
The ever-present cute waitress that knows how to handle a knife (well hidden in her bosom which is not covered much by her dress).
The seedy guy having a table at the darkest corner of the tavern, with his back to the wall and the suspicious look that makes the PCs think he is something more than just a seedy guy having a beer (which is exactly what he is).

Elfin
2011-01-26, 08:08 PM
The seedy guy having a table at the darkest corner of the tavern, with his back to the wall and the suspicious look that makes the PCs think he is something more than just a seedy guy having a beer (which is exactly what he is).

"That is no mere trinket you carry..."
"Gah! Gerrof me, you creep!"

That is how I always wish it had gone. Did Frodo's mother never tell him not to talk to strangers?

Vknight
2011-01-26, 08:14 PM
No she told him to go into there homes & do whatever they say even if it feels wrong.

Hyudra
2011-01-26, 08:15 PM
The one really big guy (I was going to say Goliath, but the guy above me beat me to it) who is slow to get into the fight, but really tears things up once he gets pushed to his limit.

Coidzor
2011-01-26, 08:33 PM
The ever-present cute waitress that knows how to handle a knife (well hidden in her bosom which is not covered much by her dress).

Ah, yes, dorf bar wenches. :smalleek: ...Wait. Awesome idea. Dorfs (http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Dwarf)don't really notice/care if they catch on fire. Dwarven women have beards. So at some point you could have some of the dwarves catch fire and not really pay it much mind/take much immediate ill-effects. Nothing like a dwarf woman menacing the party with a knife while her beard swings hither and thither while the tips of its braids are alight. :smallamused:

Oh, and some way of replicating the mended drum from the Discworld, which basically devolves into one of those dustcloud sort of fights with weapons, limbs, and assorted bits sticking out and then going back in, occasionally grabbing hapless bystanders/objects on the periphery of the brawl and dragging them in. Possibly represented by occupied/difficult terrain which is a combination grapple orgy and damaging terrain effect?

Dwarves do like going for the knee-caps, after all...

sombrastewart
2011-01-26, 08:35 PM
I was going to offer an idea I had until I saw it was 4e.

Aw, what the heck.

I had a session in my 3.5 campaign where the party was doing a little traveling on a Githzarai ship and just having some fun. They went into a bar where some githyanki started a fight. The bouncer was a goliath monk/Drunken Master who started chugging down brews as soon as trouble looked likely.

Coidzor
2011-01-26, 08:39 PM
Ooo, or even better. Have a Beardfist (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7814.msg257943#msg257943)shoutout by having a dorf or dorfs who are fighting with their beards before their beards catch fire and then they're beating people with their flaming beards.

Clepto
2011-01-26, 08:47 PM
I see a distinct lack of Drunken Master. I know the OP mentioned 4e, and I'm not sure if Drunken Masters even exist in 4th, but if they do, they need to be included.

Either a lone Drunken Master that uses the fight as an excuse to own everyone. Or perhaps several drunken boxing students that happen to be in the area, under instruction from a Master.

Vknight
2011-01-26, 08:49 PM
Now we are being silly.
This is serious we have many dwarves & other people fighting within a bar this should be played for all its worth. Lots of dwarves & goliaths many drunken masters getting into the fight. It should actually be the point the Githzerai rellie on the bar fight weakening the party then attacking.

Cerlis
2011-01-26, 08:58 PM
Electric eals in the aquarium, and a Buxom woman, to be thrown at people.

Vknight
2011-01-26, 09:10 PM
Don't forget the ceiling fans or maybe icicles on the ceiling for the bars ice and/or to hold drinks in.

Gettles
2011-01-26, 09:51 PM
You need a pool table somewhere tons of things can be used with that. (Beating people with the sticks, slamming them into the table itself, tumbleing over it to create space, the Michael Jackson "Smooth Criminal" crush a ball into dust with your bare hands and blow the dust into the eyes of an attacker to blind them)

Zaq
2011-01-26, 10:13 PM
Card games. You need to have people playing cards. You can go several ways . . . they can comically try to keep playing despite the brawl, they can get mad and start a second (separate) fight, they can be the ones who initiate the brawl in the first place, or whatever.

Darwin
2011-01-26, 10:19 PM
The obligatory piano playing music in the background.

An mp3 file with the Wilhelm Scream to play when anyone gets hurt.

mobdrazhar
2011-01-26, 10:24 PM
The bar owner needs to be an ex-adventurer with a crossbow behind the bar.

blueblade
2011-01-26, 10:24 PM
I think all of these point to a similar theme: Lots of slightly implausible characters joining the bar fight at different times. A couple of ways you could do this:

- New NPCs join the fight at set rounds. Easy, but kinda boring.

- Track the HP of the bar itself. As the bar takes property damage, at certain thresholds a new group joins the fight (their table is upended, a drink spills, they get hit by an AoE, just describe it any way you like). This rewards your players for fighting with respect to their situation, and gives consequences for doing crazy things like making improvised weaponry.

- As above, but much more tied to AoE effects and the employees in the bar getting involved:

First Infraction - The barmaid gets involved. low-level, with some backstab type/thief skills. Killing her would count as a major infraction and draw in a whole group of NPCs (as well as triggering the next 2 at once)
Second Infraction - The goliath bouncer comes in (see above). Large reach, sweeping blows, likely to draw in others if not taken down quickly.
Third Infraction - The barkeep. High level NPC, to the point of almost being a party appropriate encounter on his own. If you haven't killed anyone he likes, his main goal is to just move the whole fight outside. If you have... you in trouble now!

Scalenex
2011-01-26, 10:25 PM
I think a bouncer is not a good idea in a classic (Western style?) barfight since bouncers (in theory) create order and a good bar fight is all about disorder.

Slipperychicken
2011-01-26, 10:26 PM
I don't think anyone's mentioned policemen or other authorities busting in, trying to preserve the peace, but eventually just adding even more fists truncheons beards to the chaos.

There's also the obligatory crack-two-different-people's-heads-together-and-knock-them-both-out move, and the old classic of dodging one persons blow, having it hit someone else, and watching that person punch the attacker even harder. Having the pair of old-western-saloon-style doors at the entrance to the bar might help too. If you want to add more to the chaos, you could throw in some gambling and dart-board shenanigans.

my $0.02


EDIT: Ninja'd on the gambling...

Marillion
2011-01-26, 10:27 PM
A guy seated in the middle of the bar who is so absorbed in his drinking that he doesn't even notice the fight going on around him.

An old blind lady who, about 3-4 rounds in the fight, stands up and walks out, causing the fight to come to a complete stop until she's gone.

A projectile vomiter.

BarroomBard
2011-01-26, 10:29 PM
A second floor balcony, with a fragile railing, to throw people off.

mobdrazhar
2011-01-26, 10:31 PM
A second floor balcony, with a fragile railing, to throw people off.

going with that a lot of windows for people to be flung threw

ShriekingDrake
2011-01-26, 10:38 PM
Have you considered the obligatory sliding the character/dwarf, etc. along the top surface of the bar.

I think parlor or card games that get disrupted is a great idea as is the defenestration that someone mentioned

Having a second level and people fighting on the upstairs balcony is a common element in these types of scenes.

Because dwarves are smaller in stature, it would be interesting for the larger PCs to feel less than comfortable in the seats, hit their heads on lights, archways, etc. It should only feel cramped for those who are above 4 feet and that will make it more amusing for them to be involved in the brawl.

Ragitsu
2011-01-26, 10:47 PM
No one's mentioned a full mug of beer. Gotta get in the right mindset, after all!

By the way, how do Epic Level Bar Fights work?

DragonSinged
2011-01-26, 10:54 PM
I'm thinking that at the beginning of the fight (after the first punch has been thrown/barstool swung), tell the players something like, "Alright, what we've got here is a classic bar brawl. There will be bonuses given for classic bar-fight tactics based on originality and style."

And have a pre-drawn up list of bonuses for various things, such as


Swinging from the Chandelier - +2 to hit on one attack made in the next round
Throwing enemy out window - +2 to AC for next round
"Accidentally" copping a feel on the waitress, mid-fight - +2 morale bonus to saves for one round
Jumping up on a table to fight - +2 damage while attacking non-table-top fighters


Things like that. Maybe decrease the bonus by 1 for repeats of the same tactics, to reward originality.
Anyways, the point here being to try and get your players to join in on the brawl attitude, and not just draw their weapons and start slaughtering or whatever.


Edit - Maybe also grant special "combo-bonuses", for situations like - Player swings from chandelier, lands, grabs barstool and smashes enemy - +3 to hit with barstool attack, and enemy must make fort save or be stunned for one round.

Cerlis
2011-01-27, 05:00 AM
I'm thinking that at the beginning of the fight (after the first punch has been thrown/barstool swung), tell the players something like, "Alright, what we've got here is a classic bar brawl. There will be bonuses given for classic bar-fight tactics based on originality and style."

And have a pre-drawn up list of bonuses for various things, such as


Swinging from the Chandelier - +2 to hit on one attack made in the next round
Throwing enemy out window - +2 to AC for next round
"Accidentally" copping a feel on the waitress, mid-fight - +2 morale bonus to saves for one round
Jumping up on a table to fight - +2 damage while attacking non-table-top fighters


Things like that. Maybe decrease the bonus by 1 for repeats of the same tactics, to reward originality.
Anyways, the point here being to try and get your players to join in on the brawl attitude, and not just draw their weapons and start slaughtering or whatever.


Edit - Maybe also grant special "combo-bonuses", for situations like - Player swings from chandelier, lands, grabs barstool and smashes enemy - +3 to hit with barstool attack, and enemy must make fort save or be stunned for one round.

how bout swings from chandalier, lands on table grabs barmaid by the ass and swings her hitting her beer mug into another man and his head hitting another man?

kikesp24
2011-01-27, 05:22 AM
The barfight it's such a awesome idea.. my advice to you it's first to have some awesome backround music according to what's happening..like I'm shipping up to boston (the departed soundtrack)... some times things fly around the room, maybe include some flying beer mugs that hits the pCs randomly, things get spilled in the floor.. so make some areas slippery so they have to make checks or fall to ground.. include alway the guy who takes advantage from this situation to steal from them, the barkeeper.. etc.. the cityy guard always plays a nice role in here.. specialy if the party doesn't want be sent to jail or something.. and if they get caught... sent them in a very dangerous but not deadly (or at least make it seem like it's not) quest for the empire or city... and try to humiliate them jaja likee having a very strong female half orc grappling the spellcaster and kicking his ass... and i think weapons shouln't be allowed in the fight .. this makes things WAY MORE interesting.. but make sure your player's know that WEAPONS ARE NOT ALLOWED.. and if the use them.. nasty consecuences may come.

FelixG
2011-01-27, 05:30 AM
Dorfs? You need cats! have a few cats around that get pissy that their home is being assaulted by drunkards who need to be taught a lesson!

Leon
2011-01-27, 05:38 AM
A bar fight is the only time a Gnome is of any use - Handy weapon



but make sure your player's know that WEAPONS ARE NOT ALLOWED.. and if the use them.. nasty consecuences may come.

I had the pc's fight a bunch of ogres once who were just having a bit of a brawl and doing subdual damage till the sorcerer decided to use burning hands... well while it didn't really bother the ogres much it did piss them off and they started using clubs and things went badly fast for the party after that.

FelixG
2011-01-27, 06:20 AM
i think weapons shouln't be allowed in the fight .. this makes things WAY MORE interesting.. but make sure your player's know that WEAPONS ARE NOT ALLOWED.. and if the use them.. nasty consecuences may come.

This is also a fun idea, but I have a twist on it.

Use the movie Serenity as an example. When they enter the establishment they put their weapons in a chest with an arcane key they keep on their person. The fight breaks out, if they want to get to the weapons they have to make their way through the area to their chest to get at their goods.

ALSO: maybe make the room rough terrain (if it still exists in 4e) so they cant just run about, they have to be careful while moving.

DrGonzo
2011-01-27, 06:38 AM
You need a pool table somewhere tons of things can be used with that. (Beating people with the sticks, slamming them into the table itself, tumbleing over it to create space, the Michael Jackson "Smooth Criminal" crush a ball into dust with your bare hands and blow the dust into the eyes of an attacker to blind them)

Or the Steven Seagal way, put a ball in a scarf and beat everyone into oblivion with it.

Combat Reflexes
2011-01-27, 07:48 AM
A timid barkeep who cowers behind the counter as glasses and tankards shatter on the wall behind him.

No no no!
A barkeep that goes Muhammed Ali as soon as someone breaks his precious furniture.

@V:
:smallconfused:
:biggrin:

Czin
2011-01-27, 07:49 AM
No no no!
A barkeep that goes Muhammed Ali Mike Tyson as soon as someone breaks his precious furniture.

Fixed, because deep down inside; you know you always wanted to put this in a D&D game.
http://www.matwolf.com/images/71.gif

Slipperychicken
2011-01-27, 08:35 AM
This made me think: Wenches/dancers/prostitutes/etc. They could also participate somehow, fighting or and being fought over, learn that the barroom singer has a mean left hook. I recall another classic being a wench and a john running out of their room on the upper floor to see what was going on, and then just running back in.

As for consequences... if they get dropped, have them wake up in a) prison or b) a gutter on the other side of town

PS: If all this stuff we mention gets included, the barfight'll practically be a session all in itself.

FMArthur
2011-01-27, 09:19 AM
PS: If all this stuff we mention gets included, the barfight'll practically be a session all in itself.

When I was reading the comment asking "what happens in epic barfights?" all I could think of was a plane consisting entirely of barfights. A sort of valhalla filled entirely with a diverse variety of wooden furniture and rowdy drunks. And I was thinking, "man, that would be awesome". A barfight like the one in this thread is absolutely worth a session. As a player I would routinely come back between adventures and do it again as if it was part of the character's everyday life.

Czin
2011-01-27, 09:21 AM
When I was reading the comment asking "what happens in epic barfights?" all I could think of was a plane consisting entirely of barfights. A sort of valhalla filled entirely with a diverse variety of wooden furniture and rowdy drunks. And I was thinking, "man, that would be awesome". A barfight like the one in this thread is absolutely worth a session. As a player I would routinely come back between adventures and do it again as if it was part of the character's everyday life.

Scribbles this plane into Zarvhax's cosmology, now-deceased former DM's plans for the setting be damned.

+1

This is just...EPIC...

Skaven
2011-01-27, 09:24 AM
Pretty straightforward question. My PCs are soon to be ambushed in the biggest tavern in the dwarven capital by githyanki mage-assassins who specialize in this sort of thing.

Poison.

And if that doesn't work, a knife in their sleep.

Successful Assassins aren't flashy.

At least that's how I would do it. If you want a big fight, I would use hirelings.

pasko77
2011-01-27, 09:24 AM
When I was reading the comment asking "what happens in epic barfights?" all I could think of was a plane consisting entirely of barfights. A sort of valhalla filled entirely with a diverse variety of wooden furniture and rowdy drunks. And I was thinking, "man, that would be awesome". A barfight like the one in this thread is absolutely worth a session. As a player I would routinely come back between adventures and do it again as if it was part of the character's everyday life.

I am SO stealing the barfight demiplane idea!

Myth
2011-01-27, 10:30 AM
A Frenzied Berzerker with semi-optimized PA. Already tried it :smallbiggrin:

Cyrion
2011-01-27, 10:58 AM
An improvisational weapon that's surprisingly effective and catches on- a la the frying pan from Entangled.

A pair of drunk, rival wizard apprentices with Prestidigitation. They get into a fight trying to change the color of each other's robes from across the room. They're drunk- all these get resolved like grenade-like missiles with unfortunate penalties on the to-hit roll. (Think the fight between the fairies in Sleeping Beauty.) Surely not RAW, but potentially worth it for the mayhem.

Definitely make full use of the mayhem of the terrain. I once did a fight involving clowns, pies, and a frozen pond. The challenges to moving and coordinating action was hilarious, even though the fight was for serious consequences.

Coidzor
2011-01-27, 01:14 PM
Fixed, because deep down inside; you know you always wanted to put this in a D&D game.
http://www.matwolf.com/images/71.gif

Only the Barkeep is likely a dwarf so he's got 3 fists to most people's two. :smallbiggrin:

Moginheden
2011-01-27, 01:29 PM
It's designed for 3.5 not 4e, but the concept is the important part.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Drunkard_Swarm_(3.5e_Creature)

I put my players through one of these and gave it enough hitpoints that they didn't kill it, (but they could leave once they got out of it.) I made it fill the entire bar except for one square all around the outside edge. Was a fun backdrop to the BBEG's 3rd lieutenant fight I put them in.

BiblioRook
2011-01-27, 01:54 PM
The ever-present cute waitress that knows how to handle a knife (well hidden in her bosom which is not covered much by her dress).

What? A Knife?
Serving wenches use serving trays.

Improved improvised weapon or EWP >.>
(After all, she's probably been through this before)

Elfin
2011-01-27, 01:54 PM
Oh, I almost forgot: burly patrons with no sense of perspective, who consider being bumped into adequate cause to launch into a brutal wrestling match.

Dust
2011-01-27, 02:50 PM
You guys are awesome. Thanks much! :smallbiggrin:

term1nally s1ck
2011-01-27, 03:08 PM
No matter what you do, DO NOT have the drunken master use any other creature as a weapon.

The reason for that is that if he rolls a nat 1, the weapon 'breaks and becomes useless'.

If the weapon in question is a creature....erm...bad things.

BRC
2011-01-27, 03:22 PM
Not too familiar with the 4e rules concerning unarmed combat, but you may want to beef up unarmed damage, just so combat is actually exciting rather than people chipping away at each other with penalties to attack, and dealing practically no damage.

Get rid of penalties to using Improvised weapons, this is a barfight dangit!
Give the PC's bonuses for especially impressive actions.

As for features of the scene.

A massive Dragon Skeleton hangs from the ceiling over the patrons, a well-thrown bottle or spell could cause it to fall.

A gnomish Bard was performing for the patrons when the brawl broke out and he accidentally dropped his instrument. If one of the PC's can recover it before a brawler accidentally steps on it, he will use his bardic music to boost them.

A group of Miners has just come off-shift and are trying to have a quiet drink. If the PC's can get the Assasins to antagonize them (For example, by making one of the assassins bump into the dwarves, causing them to spill their drink), the Dwarves will swarm the Assassin. However, if the PC's antagonize them, they will get swarmed.

claricorp
2011-01-27, 03:50 PM
Have a good chunk of the floor greased by some kind of cooking accident.

A fire in general, particularly one that spreads fast and is heading for those rum barrels...

The fire could also create a lot of smoke and such, lots of line of site blocking.

Someones animal starts running around the room knocking down stuff.

Have lots of cool trophies and such hanging from the roof/walls especially plenty of stuff to fall and make obstacles.

Have perhaps someone in the bar (a spy mayhaps) trying to run from some dwarves, if the party helps them escape, they come back later giving the group money or a shiney +1 dagger.

BenTheJester
2011-01-27, 04:17 PM
The silent, hooded warrior who stays in his corner not participating until someone spills his beer. At which point he takes care of everyone.

Ragitsu
2011-01-27, 04:31 PM
Aw....

No idea(s) for Epic Level Bar Fights :smallsigh:?

Combat Reflexes
2011-01-27, 04:52 PM
The silent, hooded warrior who stays in his corner not participating until someone spills his beer. At which point he takes care of everyone.

That would be one of the PCs. It's ALWAYS the shady PC in the corner, just outside of the candle-light...

The Glyphstone
2011-01-27, 04:59 PM
Aw....

No idea(s) for Epic Level Bar Fights :smallsigh:?

You think Pit Fiends and Solars don't have bar fights?:smallcool: Bar fights are eternal and identical, the only difference is the size of the brawlers and the lethality level for bystanders.

Vknight
2011-01-27, 06:24 PM
Have the strange guy in the corner pull out a crssbow & shot at anyone comng near him he speaks in a scottish accent is human protects the waitress and wears strange black clothes, a black piece of cloth dangling from around his neck & polsihed black shoes.

Aemoh87
2011-01-27, 06:26 PM
This thread kinda makes me wanna post all my encounters over Gtip, just to see all the whacky ways they can be improved.

FMArthur
2011-01-27, 06:57 PM
Aw....

No idea(s) for Epic Level Bar Fights :smallsigh:?

Okay, remember my idea for the bar fight plane? It's a fractal plane. Every room is a smaller piece of a larger barfight room. The battle is as big as you can make it go.

Vknight
2011-01-27, 07:04 PM
Dude if that is the case my party would spend the entire story there dieing of old age.
That or they would 'Fireball' it burning the place to a cinder.

Coidzor
2011-01-27, 07:16 PM
Okay, remember my idea for the bar fight plane? It's a fractal plane. Every room is a smaller piece of a larger barfight room. The battle is as big as you can make it go.

In the Noble Brightness of the Far Future, Acheron is now a giant bar fight. :smallamused:


This thread kinda makes me wanna post all my encounters over Gtip, just to see all the whacky ways they can be improved.

Well, bar fights are tropearrific and inherently mildly whackily aligned.

Comedy does take a bit more effort than playing it straight and is, well, hard to do consistently. But that would be interesting, now that you mention it.

Vknight
2011-01-27, 08:02 PM
Combining comedy and a serious nature is really hard but in a bar fight you can have so much fun with cameos.

Grelna the Blue
2011-02-01, 12:17 PM
The drunken barbershop quartet who sing along. THey could conceivably provide bardic bonuses to the fighters but could also just be providing that extra touch of bar brawl class.

RaveingRonin
2011-02-01, 12:23 PM
The dwarven tavern owner equipped with a greatcrossbow (Races of Stone).
"ME BOOZE! Ach, you'll pay fer that!" *thunk*

Maralais
2011-02-01, 12:28 PM
A flying stool. With a screaming gnome attached to it.

Seriously, everytime there was a bar-fight in my games, there would be pink-haired gnome who flew above the players. Good for comic relief.

DragonSinged
2011-02-06, 04:39 AM
Man, just wrote up a huge post, forgot to copy it before hitting submit, and lost it to the forum backup. :smallfurious:

Well, let's try and salvage what I can of it.

So anyways, I just ran a tavern brawl in my game tonight, and it went excellently. :smallbiggrin:

My players were going to the Brass Bucket (a tavern name that has made an appearance in every game I've run since the mid 90's) to wait for a Dwarven sorcerer to come and give them some info. The Tavern setup was: 3 stories tall, the main floor was the main bar room, with a long stone bar (ending in a window), a table of card players, assorted customers at the bar, a table in a shadowy corner with a shifty looking human visible only by the light from his lit pipe, and other tables of dwarfs. The second floor had more tables, with more patrons. The third floor had bedrooms.
Evil campaign, the players are all level 4, as follows:

Illyvyll, Drow Crusader
Drezmorlin, Half-Drow Warlock
Grifter, Human Rogue
Viktor, Human Artificer
Lazuli, Gnome Wizard
Drunik, Neraphim Ranger


Illyvyll, Grifter, and Viktor all went up to the second floor and ordered some food, sitting in the corner with a view of the door.
Lazuli wandered around looking at the patrons. Drez went to the bar to order some wine and try to creep out the bartender.

Drunik (Whose player is a Star Wars fan) was sitting at the bar. Two dwarfs come up to him. One tries to say something in Dwarven. Drunik doesn't understand. The other says;
"He doesn't like you. I don't like you either. You just watch yourself. We're wanted men! I have the death sentence in 12 cities!"
Drunik: "I'll be careful."
Dwarf: "You'll be dead!"

The dwarf then hits Drunik with a tankard.

Me: Alright, we've got a classic Tavern Brawl! The god of Drunkenness has blessed this brawl, so you'll all deal your straight up Strength score in non-lethal damage, with bonuses for pulling off classic Tavern Brawl maneuvers.
Drunik, you get one round to reply before we roll initiative.

Drunik: "This little one's not worth the effort. Here, let me get you a drink!"
With that, he hefts the dwarf up onto the bar, slides him through some drinks down the bar and right out the window.

Drezmorlin jumps up onto his bar stool and yells, "BAR FIGHT!"

Alright, some highlights:

Drunik pretty much just wades around, slugging and tackling people, and at one point essentially pile-drives a guy off the top of the bar.

Illyvyll gets charged by a drunk. She's got her Iron Guard's Glare on, and rolls an intimidate check. Natural 20, total 28. The drunk is knocked prone by the force of her glare. He later gets up and runs away, falls down the stairs.

Drez spider climbs up the walls to the ceiling, uses his Hand of the Mage to pull bottles of booze up to himself, which he then throws back down at the combatants.

Lazuli casts a few glitterdusts, then spiderclimbs up to the ceiling as well, where she then cuts the rope on the chandelier.

Grifter picks a guy up, throws him over the railing from the second floor, then finishes the guy off the next turn by pegging him in the head with his tankard. He then goes and rolls an ale barrel down the stairs, knocking three dwarfs right out of the entrance of the tavern. The bouncer charges him, so he attacks, rolls 3 20's in a row, and knocks the bouncer through the staircase. Grifter is at 1 HP at this point.

Viktor pegs a guy with his (thrown) tankard. The guy then goes to harass a pretty human waitress, so Viktor nails him again, this time with a flying barstool. The guy goes down, and the waitress comes to hide behind Viktor, her hero. His next turn, he sits her down, and starts chatting her up. She's all starry-eyed. Several very good diplomacy rolls later, she suggests that the third floor has some bedrooms, and she's got the keys. Viktor leaves combat.


The card players tried to continue playing through the combat, but with Drez pouring booze on them from above, and Lazuli dropping the chandelier, they pretty much just joined the brawl. Also, the entire brawl froze for a good 4 turns with no one doing anything as a little old lady finished her drink and got up to go. Drunik offered to help her, she politely declined. Once she was out the door, everything roared back into action.


Over all a great time was had by all. The nice thing was, everyone got several shining moments in the spotlight throughout the session, which kept everyone in a good mood. I was very lenient with the rules throughout this session (blessed by the god of drunkenness, dammit!), and that also contributed to good times.
Also, I had one player who had a netbook out on Tavern Brawl music duty, and that helped keep everyone in the mood.

So overall, awesome session, I highly reccommend trying it! :smallcool:

MeeposFire
2011-02-06, 04:54 AM
Bags of flour are nice to have for many reasons.

1) To find invisible attackers

2) to make some slippery ground.

My DFA kobold character used some in a bar fight with some magical assailants. That really helped when they fell down and became visible.

The_JJ
2011-02-06, 05:26 AM
Jukebox at the end of the bar so whoever ends up sliding down it has something to run into.

MeeposFire
2011-02-06, 05:30 AM
Two girl scouts getting into a fist fight? Also that has to start the jukebox which starts playing "staying alive". If you hear the music you must start dancing.

Coidzor
2011-02-06, 05:43 AM
Two girl scouts getting into a fist fight? Also that has to start the jukebox which starts playing "staying alive". If you hear the music you must start dancing.

...Not really thematic music, though. Then again, all I can think of for jukeboxes is the one from Alan Wake which plays that lime in the coconut song.

Dwarven girlscouts are hilarious enough though. Anything smaller though and they'd end up getting stepped on... Dwarven children in the bar though, might be a bit much or just right depending upon the group and how one plays dwarven alcoholism. Dwarf Fortress Dorf-Alcohol relationship and they'd definitely be in there. ...And the most fearsome warriors in there would be the bearded dwarven women with two babies...

MeeposFire
2011-02-06, 03:23 PM
...Not really thematic music, though. Then again, all I can think of for jukeboxes is the one from Alan Wake which plays that lime in the coconut song.

Dwarven girlscouts are hilarious enough though. Anything smaller though and they'd end up getting stepped on... Dwarven children in the bar though, might be a bit much or just right depending upon the group and how one plays dwarven alcoholism. Dwarf Fortress Dorf-Alcohol relationship and they'd definitely be in there. ...And the most fearsome warriors in there would be the bearded dwarven women with two babies...

Obviously you do not know the great movie "Airplane":smallbiggrin:.