What names do you give to taverns in your games?

[Throne12]

So I told my players the name of the tavern they were in and a player irl as why is the tavern called Goblin's Tankard. I told him just because tavrens in D&D have werid names

[Renduaz]

I personally call mine generic_tavern_1, generic_tavern_2 and so forth. But on topic, if I were to suggest a plausible backstory for yours:


"Ayyy you see my tavern got burned down to a cinder round X years ago, a nasty goblin ransacking party in town you see, didn't see fit to leave us with anything they couldn't steal, so they set fire to da whole place. T'was then that a buncha do-gooder adventurer types showed up at me doorstep for a lodging, saw the situation and offered to take care o' the problem for me, least in exchange for some discount on the drinks. Chased down dem goblins back to their hiding hole, most o' the food was gone by that point, but cupware and else was still around albeit filthy with goblin slime and no doubt as many diseases as the stars in the night sky, but return them to me they did. Seeing as how I lost what little I had in that fire, had no choice but to keep em just as it were. Been known to folk by that name ever since. Enjoy your drink."

[RazDelacroix]

Even if I do use the random tavern name generator (of which there are many to be found across the net & books), I feel that in-universe, there should be a story behind the name.

The Goblin's Tankard? A tavern that got it's start when a band of adventurer's settled down and the one goblin sidekick/mascot/only-friendly-brewer got them all drunk after the building was finished.

[Unoriginal]

So I told my players the name of the tavern they were in and a player irl as why is the tavern called Goblin's Tankard. I told him just because tavrens in D&D have werid names

What is weird about "Goblin's Tankard" ?

Real life has names like that, or weirder:

https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0c/68/f0/bd/the-king-s-head-galway.jpg

As to what names I give to my taverns, it depends of the place, the culture of the country, who own it/drink there, and how much backstory for it I thought about for it.

Several taverns and drinking holes won't even have names.

[Joe the Rat]

Those random generators give you some wonderful names. Often involving roosters.

Generally, I like names that make good logos. Your establishment is discernible regardless of literacy or language. You have a unicorn, painted all in gold? That's the Gold(en) Unicorn. A large, emerald-colored tongue of fire? Inn of the Green Flame. Tankard with a Goblin head on it? Goblin's tankard. etc.

Higher class establishments may get a bit more esoteric, in part because they cater to a literate population.

There is one exception: Every so often, the party will find a place called the F(Bombing) Pint. It's a franchise.

[Nifft]

Thombolt's Place - Run by Thombolt's daughter now.

The Yakford Inn - There was once just one inn in Yakford, so it was "named" this before it needed a name. Then when the nearby mines struck mithral, another inn got built, so the original inn made this name official.

Ye Blue Dragoon's Friendly Tankard - Probably a tourist trap and haven for pick-pockets. Avoid.

The Bloody Bucket - Known for particularly brutal bar fights. There's a second floor gallery where the well-to-do pay significantly more to occasionally see violence exceeding that of the gladiatorial arena. Good place to pick up a couple of hench-people.

Dandelion Rampant - The mocking nick-name for a disgraced local knight, whose shield is the current tavern's shingle. Nobody remembers exactly what happened, but there are a lot of hilarious stories around it.

[GlenSmash!]

I've never used a random generator, but I do randomly throw nouns and adjectives together myself. It must sound terrible, like the Moldy Throat.

[Eradis]

There is one exception: Every so often, the party will find a place called the F(Bombing) Pint. It's a franchise.

Nice touch there with the franchise.

Logo that speaks to the people depending on the location is awesome. What's more patriotic than "Orc on a pike" to let you know you can let your wrath go loose, or the "Grilled Boar's Tavern" which is the house famous meal. I'm not the biggest fan of name without sense though. Gotta be a story behind the name!

[Renduaz]

I've never used a random generator, but I do randomly throw nouns and adjectives together myself. It must sound terrible, like the Moldy Throat.

The Moldy Throat is the perfect name for a tavern whose cellars/barrels are experiencing a "mild" infestation of Brown Mold, and anyone who drinks there, when in the next minute or two is exposed to a source of heat in close proximity to his mouth while the beer foam and slick tongue is still fresh, is then instantly suffocated by a patch of brown mold expanding 5 feet down his throat. Absolutely fantastic.

[GlenSmash!]

The Moldy Throat is the perfect name for a tavern whose cellars/barrels are experiencing a "mild" infestation of Brown Mold, and anyone who drinks there, when in the next minute or two is exposed to a source of heat in close proximity to his mouth while the beer foam and slick tongue is still fresh, is then instantly suffocated by a patch of brown mold expanding 5 feet down his throat. Absolutely fantastic.

You, sir. Have the perfect explanation for two random words I stuck together. Bravo!

[Nifft]

The Moldy Throat is the perfect name for a tavern whose cellars/barrels are experiencing a "mild" infestation of Brown Mold, and anyone who drinks there, when in the next minute or two is exposed to a source of heat in close proximity to his mouth while the beer foam and slick tongue is still fresh, is then instantly suffocated by a patch of brown mold expanding 5 feet down his throat. Absolutely fantastic.

"Trying to quit smoking pipeweed? We can help!"

[Unoriginal]

The Moldy Throat is the perfect name for a tavern whose cellars/barrels are experiencing a "mild" infestation of Brown Mold, and anyone who drinks there, when in the next minute or two is exposed to a source of heat in close proximity to his mouth while the beer foam and slick tongue is still fresh, is then instantly suffocated by a patch of brown mold expanding 5 feet down his throat. Absolutely fantastic.

Or it could just be a place where they sell blue cheese.

Or they could use the brown mold to keep their cellar cold.

Unless if it's a trap to kill customers and rob them, but then advertising there is mold here kind of ruin it.

[Renduaz]

Or it could just be a place where they sell blue cheese.

Or they could use the brown mold to keep their cellar cold.

Unless if it's a trap to kill customers and rob them, but then advertising there is mold here kind of ruin it.

But now where would be the fun in all of those? A realistic scenario could be with a "name that stuck" rather than the actual name, after a patron or two have experienced a slight case of the moldy throat following their lounging in the tavern. Granted, other patrons who haven't been quickly exposed to a heat source after drinking might remain unscathed, so the slimy owner insists that the famous incidents had nothing to do with his tavern, the affected patrons must've had contracted it elsewhere before arriving to the tavern, and maybe even having spread it orally. The few people desperate enough for a cheap drink still frequent the tavern while keeping the stories in mind, though. Of course, it might also be that only a few barrels are infected but some aren't as is usually the case.

[Regitnui]

Personally, I try and name them something that fits with the atmosphere I'm going for. I named a dockside sailors' tavern run by a water genasi "The Shark Pit", both after the local piratesresident sailors of questionable morals and unquestionable skill, and after one of the stories the owner would tell as to why he has a water tentacle replacing his left arm.

[Mortheim]

If it isn't "Broken Wheel", then it is "Scabby Dog".

[Vaz]

The Seagull's Rest, owned by a grizzled lank-haired man, and an anthropomorphic badger. They are noted for a particular adeptness with making meals of mashed potato.

[Bahamut7]

The Prancing Brony...only because my DM is a LOTR and MLP fan. So whenever I DM, this tavern is ALWAYS there. :) lol

[DarkKnightJin]

Tavern we started in, for the first ever proper table of D&D I had the luck of joining.. was called "The Nifty Duck".
Not a fricken clue why it was called that, and didn't have time to ask ICly, because plot happened.

[Aembrosia]

Named after an important local family, guilded artisan brewery dedicated to a god, or 'the adjective animal'.

Gander's Bar and Grill. Durgedoine's Quaffs and Draughts. The Drowned Hog.

[Christian]

One thing to keep in mind is the length of history of your campaign world and of the particular town or village, and how likely it is for written records of such things to be kept. There are inns and taverns in eg. England for which the original reason for their name is lost to the mists of time. It's just 'always' been called that, and there's not really anything else to say.

That can lead to some fun speculation on bizarre names. I like "The Furious Chipmunk".

[Legendairy]

One of our base of operations tavern was called The Dizzy Cyclops.

Others:
The gnawed ear

The slaughterd hog

The angry orc

The den

The rusted bucket

And so on and so forth.
We try to vary them by race and such.
An elven inn was the red rose
A dwarf tavern was the pitted anvil

Those are the ones that come to mind.

[KorvinStarmast]

So I told my players the name of the tavern they were in and a player irl as why is the tavern called Goblin's Tankard. I told him just because tavrens in D&D have werid names I tend to use the Adjective Noun format, thanks to three influences:
Prancing Pony (Tolkien/Bree/Butterburr)
Vulgar Unicorn (From the Thieves World series of books)
A Judge's Guild book I bought over three decades ago that provided tables for random tavern name creation, the weirdest of which came out as "The Sign of the Bandy Monkey"

While I drew out the floor plan of a generic "Green Dragon Inn" for use in play in one of my first dungeons, I have settled on a simple "Adjective + Noun" format that I tailor to the campaign or locale where I need a tavern. For example, near a marshland we had the Flyin' Frog that was often mispronounced as the "Fly and Frog" by locals on purpose. (To confuse those out-of-towners ...)

I had a period where I was doing Inns and Taverns on the Noun and Noun format (there was a bar called "Fox and Hounds" near where we lived in Virginia that isn't there any more) but I decided I liked what I could do with Adjective/Noun better.


A sailor's haunt in a port known for whaling/whale oil was called The Brewed Whale ...

[Unoriginal]

There was a French series of stories where no matter what, the name of any tavern the characters went to was "The [Insert Adjective] Monkey".

Except one, which was so much of a low-life ****hole the [Insert Adjective] part of the sign had fallen off years ago and no one cared enough to replace it.

[RickAsWritten]

Do you crave a more satiric take on the typical D&D tavern? Then head on down to Obligatorio's. Where the Dwarves are devastatingly drunk, the barkeep is jovial but generally useless, and that shady, hooded figure in the corner absolutely has a quest for you. Obligatorio's: "Come start your campaign with us!"

[Unoriginal]

Do you crave a more satiric take on the typical D&D tavern? Then head on down to Obligatorio's. Where the Dwarves are devastatingly drunk, the barkeep is jovial but generally useless, and that shady, hooded figure in the corner absolutely has a quest for you. Obligatorio's: "Come start your campaign with us!"

Is it built to maximize the number of dark corners?

[JellyPooga]

Every tavern, pub or inn in games I run, regardless of genre, is called The Brass Rings. Or more accurately, has a sign made of three interlocking brass rings. This has included (but isn't limited to) a generic d&d setting, Greyhawk, the Forgetten Realms, a Wild West game I ran using my own system, a watering hole in the Battletech Inner Sphere and a colonial illicit still in a GURPS game based heavily on the film Aliens.

The Brass Rings has the same layout, the same landlord and the same beverages on offer regardless of setting. I have this notion that the landlord is some kind of interdimensional creature (who has taken the appearance and attitude of a slightly overweight no-nonsense biker) that traverses the multidimensional cosmos for the purpose of selling beer to adventurous types. I did plan to run an adventure where the players got involved, somehow, in his interdimensional travels and the hijinks that inevitably ensue (almost certainly involving locating the ingredients for his homebrew from cruel and unusual places). Never did get around to that...

[Kane0]

My favourite was the Iron Flagon, which was the new name adopted when the tavern owner finally had enough of all the broken glass in bar fights.

Hunter's Lodge has become the group's de facto tavern/inn name when we can't think of one, always staffed by the same guy named Hunter (though his appearance and personality will vary).

Edit: And there's Greedo's Bank as well, with branches popping up pretty much everywhere.

[Tanarii]

You guys are making me trip out ... I just realized I almost never name Taverns. I mean, I rarely have adventures in Taverns anyway. But I can't remember the last name I gave one of the few.

I guess I just view Taverns as too hackneyed a concept to allow them real game time. They're like nameless NPCs like "the guard captain" or "the scout". There to do their job and let me move the game forwards.

[Hrugner]

I name them in a way I'll remember on the off chance the party stays there for awhile and wants to mention the location casually; I don't want them saying "I tell him we're at whatever tavern we're at". Usually it references the location of the tavern in some way, or it's a joke referencing something in the city. "Broker's Lounge" would be across from the bank, "dockside brewery" would be by the docks, that sort of thing. Trashy taverns and casinos always have lewd joke names "Minotaur's Horn", "The Hooker's Braces", "The Witch's Kitty" and so on like that.

[Zanthy1]

The Chipped Mug

The Broken Bottle

Slaughtered Prince (courtesy of Stardust)

The North Gate Inn (near the north gate of a city, can also supplement other directions and locations)

Baldrick's Hollow (can use any name, can also be used to describe a village or other location)

The Rooty-Tooty-Point-And-Shooty Shed (A player named it after seeing the briefly popular meme)

[Jama7301]

The [Adjective]('s) [Noun] seems pretty popular. It's something I use from time to time as well.

[Tanarii]

I name them in a way I'll remember on the off chance the party stays there for awhile and wants to mention the location casually; I don't want them saying "I tell him we're at whatever tavern we're at".That's one reason I don't name Taverns. Or the majority of NPCs. They won't use the names for the NPCs I do bother to name anyway. But they'll sure invent their own nicknames for them ... :smallyuk:

Unless I keep it super simple & catchy and I get to use it constantly. (i.e. Henchmen named Hanz & Franz.)

[Throne12]

Wow I didn't expect this thread to go pass the first page. But I got to say some of these post have got me Laughing

[RedMage125]

Do you crave a more satiric take on the typical D&D tavern? Then head on down to Obligatorio's. Where the Dwarves are devastatingly drunk, the barkeep is jovial but generally useless, and that shady, hooded figure in the corner absolutely has a quest for you. Obligatorio's: "Come start your campaign with us!"
This is hilarious.

Is it built to maximize the number of dark corners?
It would almost have to. Maybe even feature lanterns that create shadows.

For me, my most memorable tavern was the one in one of my larger cities, Val Lumina. The city has a Magic District (high population of arcane casters here). There is a bar in that district called "The Tipsy Mage". The bartender is a Silver Half-dragon whose "obligatory bartender cudgel" is a +3 merciful club (haven't updated to 5e yet).

He serves any unusual drinks. One very popular liquor is brewed by the genies of the plane of Air, they call it "gin"...*dodges thrown tomatoes*

He also serves several beverages that can have unusual hallucinatory effects, or may affect spellcasting (bonus effects to spells with certain descriptors, etc). It is important to note that "Conjuring Under the Influence" is a crime in Val Lumina.

[sir_argo]

True story: an immigrant from Thailand opened up a restaurant in my town. He went down to the city clerk to get his business license. His intent was to name his restaurant Thai Grill, but his English was terrible and he had a heavy accent. The city clerk thought he said Thai Girl, and thus a very uniquely named restaurant was born.

So, using this same theme... a tavern named Elf Girl, ran by a male elf who doesn't know the common language. It's a perfectly reputable establishment that just serves family style elven food.

[Samayu]

A clue pointed to a place, and we asked the GM what the name of this place was. He looked down at the table and saw an eraser. The eraser was Pink Pearl brand, so that's what the name of the place became.

Oh wait, this is off-topic, because that place was a brothel.

A brothel named The Pink Pearl.

[MagneticKitty]

In the campaign I am in we got to name a newly created tavern after we saved the town. Our Sorcerer had a weasel carved out of soap, and he gave it to the tavern owner. and we decided to call the pub "The Soapy Weasel." I can't wait until our new characters (after the TPK we had) go there and wonder why the tavern is called The Soapy Weasel.

[Regitnui]

A clue pointed to a place, and we asked the GM what the name of this place was. He looked down at the table and saw an eraser. The eraser was Pink Pearl brand, so that's what the name of the place became.

Oh wait, this is off-topic, because that place was a brothel.

A brothel named The Pink Pearl.

That is strangely appropriate for an improvised name.

[Kane0]

Yeah was going to say, genius name on the spot.

[Stormjack]

The names above are certainly more interesting than the typical [Color] [Monster] combinations. Moldy Throat is my favorite. That name alone would certainly give players pause, especially if the drinks looked or smelled abnormal.

[Knaight]

Taverns (and tea houses, coffee shops, opium dens, and restaurants depending on when and where exactly I'm pulling historical inspiration from*) tend to either be mentioned in passing and likely unnamed or get some name that reflects the regional culture I'm borrowing from. With that said, for online games where players aren't local I've just stolen names from nearby bars - some of which work surprisingly well in an older setting.

*All of them are surprisingly old in places, for all that they sound modern. Coffee shops show up in the 1600s, tea houses and restaurants are basically bronze age, opium dens aren't likely to show up in D&D but the same methodology applies to non-D&D games.

[krugaan]

A clue pointed to a place, and we asked the GM what the name of this place was. He looked down at the table and saw an eraser. The eraser was Pink Pearl brand, so that's what the name of the place became.

Oh wait, this is off-topic, because that place was a brothel.

A brothel named The Pink Pearl.

Every tavern name is secretly a naughty pun.

Luckily, rule 0 of DnD "thou shalt never attempt to dirty-RP with the DM".

[Asmotherion]

As someone else suggested, think a small backstory about the tavern.

Think Skyrim for example and all it's taverns (and some of the shops) and how, when you ask the owner they have a small story to tell about the name. Make a possible side quest related to the name. That sort of thing. That's if your story is invested into actual Role Play.

It all comes down to how much analysed of a world, player agency and downtime you want to give to your players though. For your specific game, "The Tavern" might just cut it, and be the best name you could ever have invested, because anything else would have derived too much from the plot into it, and you never intended the Tavern to be a major adventure point.

[McMoria]

I want them to feel there's a persistent world but it's huge and variable so I keep a spreadsheet (that I add to when I'm feeling creative). Various merchants, inns and taverns with a brief description of the owner and their bartering bonuses. Then, when a party has visited, I'll note where it is in the world so it can be referred to with any relevant notes.

For instance, in a village I'll give them a choice to make them feel here might be consequences or relationships to be started.

"There are 2 taverns: The Twisted Pickle, which is a smelly and noisy, and The Brave Sir Robin, which is quieter but more expensive."

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1X-7j5OgTIXbDHoLatS4sVScLdLnSQYpZ

[Tanarii]

opium dens aren't likely to show up in D&D
Inspired. Next time I run a city adventure that needs a place of ill repute, it's gonna be an opium den instead of a brothel.

[SirGraystone]

In the Savage Tide adventure path campaign, in the city of Shuttlecove. There's a tavern called "The Violated Ogre", the reason of the name is the Ogre Mage chained inside that you can pay to abuse anyway you want as long as you don't kill him (Ogre Mage or Oni can regenerate). The poor creature had been chained that way for the last 10 years.

Our paladin really wanted to burn that place down :smallsmile:

[Vogie]

Mine are almost always puns.

Little Hoarse, Jumbo Shrimp, et cetera.

Although there is a chain of taverns in converted windmills called "Don Quixote's".

[The Shadowdove]

We have fast food chains.

McTavern's & The Drunketeria.

McTaverns is a fast food place with budget lodging.

The Drunketeria is a cheap buffet with a "kiddie" area where your kids are penned in and taken care of by kind elves/halflings/human teenagers/etc. Every 8 hours they shut down for a meal change, at which point the drunkards are tossed out (the tables have wheels to make this easier. )

[Laserlight]

You may find this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pub_names) helpful

Another way to do it: In the campaign I'm running, most villages don't have a tavern. You get your beer from whichever of the villagers made beer recently--bring your own jack / mug / bottle. You sleep in the house (or barn) of whoever will let you. You only get taverns in towns and cities.

[Knaight]

Inspired. Next time I run a city adventure that needs a place of ill repute, it's gonna be an opium den instead of a brothel.

They really do work wonders for instilling a sense of gloom and depression in a place.

[KorvinStarmast]

Some years ago, the tone of the scene we were playing was ruined due to the name of an inn. The party were having to cut a deal with the local theves guild in order to get a map they needed -- and we had gotten very much into role play mode of me playing the connection at the guild, and the two faces for the party (one man and one woman) playing their characters in character to the hilt. She offered a larger bribe than I had expected; the +'s to the reaction roll got them the info they wanted: who to meet and where. Softening my voice I told the two:

"Thank you. Ask for Kaldo at the sign of the Rampant Hamster. Just tell him Mazin sent you."
She (the thief) wrote this down, for later reference, but he (the druid) looked at me with a puzzled frown on his face.
"Why does a hamster need a ramp? Don't hamsters use wheels?"
Before I could reply, one of the players who was not being a face (and who understood what rampant means) blurted out:
"You're looking for a hamster with a hard on."
OK, there had been a few beers consumed, but not a lot. For whatever reason, this blurted out sentence opened up a whole load of naughty jokes and ribaldry, and the mood blew up with OOC shenanigans and silliness.

Before everyone left that evening, she (thief player) gave me a funny look.
"Ya know, you're the only person I know who'd come up with a name for an inn that involved a rodent with an erection."
But now, of course, five more people had that idea planted into their heads.