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RPGNow Memories: Tournaments, Fairs, and Taverns

With all the recent brouhaha regarding Wizards and their decision to disallow the sale of any of their PDF products, I started looking through all of my purchases on RPGNow. And, boy, do I have a lot. My account history goes back 15 pages and it will get longer as time goes on. With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to look at the items I’ve purchased, or downloaded for free, and review them. From the PDFs that I’ve used quite a bit to the ones where I just shake my head and ask, “Why would I ever spend money on this?”

The very first PDF I ever bought from RPGNow was a little book called Tournaments, Fairs, and Taverns. It was put out by EN Publishing and I bought it way back in May of 2002. I still have fond memories of this 74-page book. I have tried to find a way to use it in every one of my campaigns. It’s chock full of games and rules for running large gatherings.

Chapter 1

The first chapter deals with the basic rules such as degrees of success and drinking. Degrees of success are in competition between people. It’s a different mechanic that can be used rather than “roll a d20 and whomever gets the highest number wins.” The drinking rules are fun not only because it helps you apply the effects of alcohol on a person but it also gives remedies for drunkenness.

Chapters 2 – 6

The next few chapters deal with the specific games themselves. Rules for games such as Arm-Wrestling, Archery, Trollbridge, Conjuration Combat, and Squashgoblin are all included. My personal favorite is Crazy Ernie’s Bear Wrasslin’ for Crazy Folk. It’s bear wrestling run by a guy who’s, more than likely, clinically insane. It’s always fun to throw the players into the situation.

Chapter 7

The last chapter gives advice on running games and how to create encounters during the festivities. It has some sample groups that the PCs may run up against during the celebrations.

Conclusion

All in all, this book is well worth cost. As I wrote previously, I bought it almost 7 years ago and I still get a lot of use out of it. You’ll definitely get your money’s worth from it.

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