Comments on: 118 Tavern Names

By: Philander the Bard

Philander the Bard — Mon, 30 May 2011 22:36:31 +0000

I found this looking for pics of Tavenrs, for a setting of a orpahned satyr character named Malachite who was raised by Dwarves. The Local Inn is called Shade aand Sweetwater’s Inn, They are two Syvan Elves (very Elfquest wolfrider looks) Shade is a theif and Sweetwater is a bard.
I really loved the names of the Taverns, surprised a few I ahve used myself …
Some I ahve used are:
The Fawn’s Arse,
The Black Goat,
The Buggered Goat,
The Dancing Goat,
the Drunken Satyr “What do you do with a drunken satyr..?”,
Horns and Hoves,
Lonely Goatherder,
Two Bucks,
The Rampant Goat Nan,
The Dirty Goat,
Pan’s Arms,
Nanny’s (a brothel, although Houri, prostitutes and Sacred Prostitues tend to be found in all of Phil’s taverns and Inns)
These were all built by the same person my Satyr Bard called Philander once he became rich and well known. Philander personally chose the Bartenders/Managers … from his “casting couch”

By: Acheron

Acheron — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:44:30 +0000

The Drunken Priest

By: Bullgod

Bullgod — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 21:17:17 +0000

Aren’t you missing the point here? Pub names aren’t random, there a point to them, at least those with heritage.

For example, I live in rural England near the Welsh border, at a guess I’d say 90% of the pubs within 15 miles are called either “The White Hart”, “The White Lion” or the “The Swan”.

“The White hart” (hart=deer) is always depicted with gold crown and chain, because it’s the badge of Richard II. As seen on the reverse of the Wilton Diptych http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilton_Diptych
see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_hart

The White Lion is the badge of the Marcher Lords, and eventually inherited by Edward IV. Marcher as in Welsh Marches http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Marches

The Swan, has as similar story.

My point is that all these serve to point to an allegiance if not outright fealty to certain houses. You can be damn sure the JRRT had a rationale for naming the inn at Bree after a horse rampant.

Now while you can get away without a back story to a village boozer called “The Plough”, I be surprised at finding a pub called “The Cross Keys” in a fantasy setting, unless you’re going to come up with additional explanation that doesn’t include St. Peter holding the keys to the Pearly Gates.

Similarly if I were a player walking my character into “The Hound”, “The Fox” or “The Unicorn” etc, I’m going to want to know whose shield that is, I want to know which noble it would be a bad idea to insult, and maybe who he’s got a grievance with that might lead me being able to sweat-talk the inn keeper.

So yes the tavern’s name is important, but not just because it maintains your setting’s illusion, more often than not it is material detail that really should add substance to your world. Making ever inn sound like it’s got a comedy name breaks the illusion even worse than not giving it one.

For more examples for the origins of pub names you can start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pub_names

By: K570 (Alpha Claw)

K570 (Alpha Claw) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:15:54 +0000

I used the tavern name “The Wasted Wizard” and claimed it to be a successful chain found throughout the land, to make things easier to plan /remember (I am a relatively new DM [4 dungeons total])

By: Adventure Hooks: Welcome to the Sun & Moon Tavern (Part 2) — Dungeon's Master

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:01:55 +0000

[...] dark and mysterious. If you need help coming up with a tavern name, Wimwick put together a list of 118 Tavern Names and many of our readers added to that list in the comments. Once you’ve decided on a creative [...]

By: Adventure Hooks: Welcome to the Sun & Moon Tavern (Part 2) — Dungeon's Master

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:01:55 +0000

By: Molag Bal

Molag Bal — Mon, 31 May 2010 05:38:39 +0000

The Murderous Mackerel
The Drunken Sailor
The Stories End
The Missing Finger
The Maledictum
The Miscellaneous Missile
Ackbar’s Trap

By: Zodling

Zodling — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:17:48 +0000

I had two taverns in my old campaign that the PC’s used to go to.

One was the Dancing Bear. It had a very large stuffed bear in the center of the main room. When one of the PCs asked the bartender what happened, the bartender just said “he stopped dancing”.

The other one was the Flying Badger. It had a mural of a gnome hurtling through the air at some kobolds. The gnome was a barbarian, nick-named Badger, and he was a retired adventurer. The mural depicted a battle in which one of his companions through him at the enemy.

By: Tavern Trappings — Dungeon's Master

Tavern Trappings — Dungeon's Master — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:02:27 +0000

[...] week we provided a list of 118 Tavern Names. In the article, Wimwick provided some good positioning around making a tavern more than just a [...]

By: Ragnarok

Ragnarok — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:57:02 +0000

My group’s campaign has a Dirty Goat.
How odd. We ended up being part of the scuffold that burned it to the ground.