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MORE THAN JUST A PLACE TO SLEEPIn most D&D games, the characters are going to stay at an inn. You have permission, though, to let players find other places to stay--in this adventure and in others. WHERE the players sleep and wake will determine where and with whom they'll break bread. Hospitality is the traditional foundation for alliances, deals, and favors. The players can stay anywhere in Port Nyanzaru, so long as someone would welcome them. Consider being flexible about this. Most of these options will have cheat sheets so you can run these settings easily. The Thundering Lizard - The Loud One
We'll make this a cross between a Rainforest Cafe and the Mongolian tavern in Raiders of the Lost Ark. During the day, it's a family tourist trap; after dark it devolves into a wild pirate bar. This dichotomy gets amusing when hungover parties are trying to get their breakfasts down. Here's my flavor text for when they find the inn: The Red Bazaar--an open-air market stacked with heaps of shining fresh meat--is full of people from around the world. Over the red table banners, you spot the skull of a Tyrannosaurus Rex framing the doorway of a building with its mouth. Over the skull arches a giant sign of individual, self-illuminated letters glowing in reds and golds like Vegas: "The Thundering Lizard." Shrieking children are chasing each other in the entryway. If the players arrive during the day, keep the vibe very Chuck E. Cheese: lots of families from around the world, eating with kids. Toddlers are screaming, going wild. Waitresses are frazzled and annoyed. Management is putting out fires with upset families. Trying to secure a room at this time should be a pain in the butt and annoying. It costs 5 sp/night to stay at The Thundering Lizard. If they arrive after dark, it's a wild honkey tonk, full of drunk jeering revelers--many of whom are betting on dinos. Both inns have bulletin boards near their front doors with guide advertisements. If the players want to hire River Mist and Flask of Wine, they need to go outside the walls where Jobal has less reach. Volothamp “Volo” Geddarm | Mel Brooks' King Louie is staying at this inn and doing presentations on monsters once every nine days (a Faerun week). Have him drinking in the bar most nights too, bragging, and hawking his book. He is willing to pay good money for monster information about obscure species, so he'll be very friendly with the characters. ADVICE: The book says that Volo's Guide will give wrong information with the good. Don't do this. False information will confuse and eventually anger your players. Instead, make the information limited. If they ask to look up a monster in the book, hold the page of the Monster Manual up to the player for 60 seconds. It's easiest. Emeka Isrit | Arthur/Billie Madison--an ex-adventurer who runs the place with his family. At night, he's a sloppy-drunk--but super-friendly--bartender. He pours too many free drinks and sometimes slips and falls. During the day, he's a competent manager for the restaurant and hotel. The Thundering Lizard only sells their house-made tej; no other drinks. Tej is a honey wine made from honey, water and the medicinal shrub gesho. It's mellow and sweet, with a acerbic aftertaste that clears the palette in the heat. Tej is 4cp/mug; 2sp/gallon (when not being poured for free). My Drinking Rules: For every typical serving of alcohol after the first, characters should roll a DC12 Con check against being poisoned for 1 hour. Three failures in a row, and they're "double-poisoned"--rolling with double-disadvantage on all checks and periodically throwing up and falling down. You can also use some of the various carousing rules out there if your players are the types to really get into the drinking fantasy. Velociraptor Fights At night, the bar hosts heats of velociraptor fights. In real life, these dinos were the size of chickens, so this is a lot like cock-fighting. The game, though, presents them as they are in the Jurassic Park movies--and that's fine by me. I use the raptor fights as a way to teach players about how mechanics like pack tactics swing fights (similar to flanking and helping actions--which also give advantage on rolls). The fighting pen is a 10'x 10' square. This means that the raptors are always within melee attack range. I present the players with fighting data for the 3 teams of raptors and they are able to bet on the one they think will win the next fight. Here are their combat and gambling information. Players place their bets, then choose two players to run the dino fight against each other. Once one of the teams is knocked unconscious, bets are paid. The creatures are taken out of the pen and given a healing potion and this is repeated. Kaya's House of Repose - The Quiet One
Kaya's House of Repose is an elegant small hotel just barely outside the Merchant Ward. It's twice as expensive as The Thundering Lizard, but the quality of the stay, the range of the services, and the social access it provides is elevated as well. It costs 1 gp/night to stay at Kaya's. Kaya | Morticia Addams is an elegant and kind Chultan noble--and because of this, she has knowledge and access to the Merchant Princes and the royalty in town. If the upper crust is going to go out on the town, it's likely they'll eat at her inn (unless, they're out slumming it, as some do). Unlike The Thundering Lizard, Kaya's offers much better fare than tej and a sampler appetizer platter. Kaya's offers an extensive menu, a wide array of drink options, stabling, spa services, and a tobacconist shop. Consider offering temporary stat boosts and other effects for some of these amenities: +2 temporary hit points after spending the night at Kaya's, +5 temporary hit points for staying in the suite, +2 Charisma for 24 hours after a full spa treatment, or +2 Intelligence for 2 hours after smoking one of the hand-rolled cigars. Be creative; incentivize spending money on the best. Kaya's also houses a full staged theater that seats a 160 people between the floor and mezzanine. A few guides frequent Kaya's. Most significantly, this is the only location where players will find Eku, but she will only join a group of good characters. Similarly, Faroul and Gondolo | Rosencrantz & Guildenstern frequent Kaya's often because they see its clientele as more likely to fall for their BS--and they like the soft life. I include Salida's advertisement at all three notice boards because I think her betrayal is the most interesting to set up, leading into the Fane of the Night Serpent. An ad that connects the players to the Help the Lord's Alliance side quest (p.16) is on the notice board as well. Lerek Dashlynd | Mr. Wednesday occasionally gets a cocktail at the bar and asks if anyone has asked about the notice. This reinforces the map intrigue dynamic in Port Nyanzaru and can be used to send the heroes out into the jungle when you're ready. The main bit of fun for most is the "mixologist" Ronhip Foechuckle | Tom Cruise. He's a slick hipster bartender with rolled up sleeves and knows everything about booze. NOTE: some of his cocktails have special effects when poured--or drunk. Recipes will be followed by ingredient descriptions. RONHIP RECIPES
INGREDIENTS: Amberfire: hot whiskey Cherryfire: cherry whiskey Dragon’s Breath: Moonsea brandy Elverquisst: ruby-colored and fruity; gold flecks, magic makes them form shapes Fireseed: dwarven; in non-dwarves, DC 15 Con, fail = drunkenness; succes = +2 resistance rolls Flamebeard’s Firebrandy: rotgut from Mirabar Garlrawdwarven: buttery syruppy whisky Gulluk: giant booze; made from broth Harborbottom Whiskey: Rotgut; tastes like fish poop Heart of Wine: Zakhara desert or snow mountains Hultail spirits: Cormyr instant-drunk, +2 dmg +2 AC, disadvantage; pass out in 2 rounds for 12 hrs Kumiss: Zakharan mare liquor; sour milk Luiren Rivengut: For cleaning and fire Moon Rum: c. 1372; purple from beets Moonshae Moonshine Old One Eye: excellent cyclopsian pale red Sagecourse: From wildspace; smokey Sake: From Kara-Tur Seawine: Mount Sar liqour Thannaberry: dark blue; sweet, from Khôltar in south Wyvern Whiskey: scale in it; from Nimbral; super-excellent Zzarfortified sherry: orange/almond—elves hate it Merchant Prince's VillaThough the characters may not be able to figure out how to do so right when they arrive in Port Nyanzaru, they might find a way to make themselves guests to one of the Merchant Princes. The game comes with a detailed map and description for a generic Merchant Prince Villa, but I assume this was included as an infiltration and burglary option--not as a lodging option The Merchant Princes live in opulence and luxury. Play that up in the role playing. They have servants and access to all of high society. If the players are in their domain, turn up the dials in terms of intrigue and rumors they can overhear. Some Merchant Princes are more hospitable than others; likewise the accoutrements of each particular villa match the interests of the princes themselves (see p. 27). Double-check the details for each before introducing any villa to the characters. The villas are within the highest walls of Port Nyanzaru--and all have easy access to the political hub Goldenthrone (p.20), the research center of Temple of Savras (p.20), and the elite spas of the Temple of Sune (p.21). They also have cherry views for events like the dinosaur races. Alternative OptionsYour heroes may end up sleeping anywhere in the city. I've put together some options here and some ideas for how to handle them. Ships Any character with a sailor background can secure free passage on ships for the team as crew-members -- but they will sail at the mercy of the captain. Players may decide to sleep below-decks instead of paying for lodgings.
On the Economy The characters might impress a local enough to be invited to sleep in their home. This is an opportunity to dole out un-masked opinions of the Chultans about any of the happenings or people in the city. This could be done in any district, inside or outside the walls.
In the Streets The players may just find an alley behind a bar to sleep in.
UP NEXT: Merchant Princes!
4 Comments
Daniel
1/29/2023 02:45:19 am
Would you mind posting the google drive or high-resolution photos of the Thunder Board and Repose Posts like you did with the Harbormasters? Thanks!
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Micah
1/29/2023 09:12:56 am
Hey, Daniel! Good catch!
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Daniel
1/29/2023 04:51:27 pm
Thank you so much Micah! I'm loving the blog! Keep up the great work!
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Redbeard_DM
8/10/2023 02:51:17 pm
This is a fantastic resource, glad you are back in the game.
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AuthorMicah Faulkner first started playing D&D back in 1985. He took many years off after high school, but came back in 2016 to find everything new and changed. Now he plays with his wife, son, and sisters every couple weeks. Archives
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