Hipsters and Dragons

0. Taverns

Of course.

1. The Main Square

One “like for like” replacement for the tavern – maybe the only one – is a village, town or city’s main square. The centre of any medieval settlement, the main square was where traders came to sell their goods at market, and it would be full of merchants, nobles, peasants, travellers, bards and other entertainers. It was also the place where politicians delivered speeches and town criers announced news from neighbouring settlements, and would play host to fairs, tournaments, street theatre, parades and other spectacles. It may also have served as a place of executions, and a gathering point during any uprisings and civil unrest.

In other words these market squares were places ripe with adventure, so your PCs will hardly need an excuse to be hanging out here, and you, as the DM, will have plenty of scope to deliver the call to action that kickstarts your adventure. Whether it’s a creepy soothsayer grabbing a PC with their spindly arm and prophesying a gruesome event, militant clerics arresting a respected civilian for heresy, or a straight forward “heroes wanted” announcement bawled aloud by a noble’s steward, the possibilities are close to endless.

2. Other Urban Locations

After a town’s taverns and market square, there are a few other places which, while not quite as open-ended, could be considered as a potential starting point for a D&D adventure. The docks of a seaside town are a lively meeting point for sailors, gossip mongers, soldiers, custom officers, drunks, merchants, travellers and strange cargo. Pious PCs might be found in a temple (hint: injured fighters tend to develop new found piety, as do poisoned rogues), scholarly parties might have a reason to be in a library, and those with official business might be found in a town hall. A bridge is always an exciting place for a fight to break out.

Obviously larger cities have more potential for creative starting points than small villages, but in this example I want you to think of public spaces that are accessible to the PCs without any pre-conditions. You, or they, might still have to work on why they’d be there (at the same time).

3. The Event

One of my favourite ways to start an adventure is not at a geographical location per se, but at a social ‘location’, i.e. at an event. You hardly need to come up with an excuse for why PCs would be attending a festival, fair or tournament, and after that anything can happen. A princess throws a PC a flower (that has a secret message wrapped around its stem), a wealthy noble is poisoned, a fight breaks out between pro and anti-monarchists, a patron sees potential in the party (after they foil a thief, or win a tournament prize) that will help them achieve their aims, a valuable item goes missing from the town’s treasure vault and the travelling circus are blamed. Again the possibilities stretch a long way for this one.

Some potential events you could use as starting points would be:

i. Festival (be sure to use some real life inspiration for what that might entail… parades, costumes, religious ceremonies, music, drinking, dancing are a good start)
ii. Travelling carnival or circus
iii. (Trade) fair or exposition
iv. Tournament or sporting event
v. Royal wedding
vi. Costume or masked ball
vii. Funeral (for a statesperson or hero)
viii. Speech (announcing a controversial new law)
ix. Execution
x. Uprising or riot

Any of these would lend your world a lot of flavour and make the start of your adventure more memorable than most.

Bardiches And Bathhouses

Old-style Public Houses
Over their 6000-year history, most drinking establishments did not look like this. In many cases, "publick houses" (hence, pubs) were simply private homes which were opened to customers seeking victuals and potables, which were usually produced in-house. Oftentimes, these establishments did not have a name, and were simply known as "the house of so-and-so, where you can get something to eat and drink".

It may seem like a randexpand point, and perhaps even a poor choice to make establishments less flavorful and memorable by calling them Johnson's instead of the Merry Mermaid. But the differences need not be merely cosmetic. Family-run taverns usually organized space differently than modern bars, which invariably serve as the models in games. If you drank there, you were essentially invited into people's house, into their familial environment. You were in a common area, sitting at tables (or even a single large table) with other patrons, and mingling with the servers, and often, cooks. If the tavern doubled as a hostel or inn, the guests also slept in the common area (or in a shed, with other guests, and not in private rooms made up with beds, chairs, and other hotel furniture short of a TV). There was often little or no division between the areas where the food was prepared and the drinks poured, and the area where the customers consumed what was being served.

The atmosphere of such establishments was more intimate. Although money might be exchanged, the visitor was more guest than client. The host's or hostess' family, including children, was usually present. It was significantly more likely that outlandish guests attracted much more attention than they would in a bar, where the only important thing was that they paid with coin. Children could become fascinated with, or frightened of, exotic visitors. Family problems would be much more visible, and the proprietors much more likely to ask powerful-looking strangers for help (without offering much in return). Long-term friendships and intimate relations with family members might arise much more frequently, but so would incidents where a desperate family might murder or rob a wounded adventurer. On the whole, a frequenter of such establishments would more quickly become integrated into the fabric of the local community than the customer in a modern-type bar.
Residence of local ruler
The citadel of the local ruler is also a good place to gather information and offer one's services. Trying to get an audience with the ruler or official isn't the same as going to a bar and spending some coin. It might involve preparation (like buying presentable clothes, or the procurement of gifts, or forging letters of introduction), but the role-playing opportunities at such venues are arguably greater and more varied than in taverns. And coming to know the local notables is another step toward integration in the community.
The Feast Circuit
Wealthy merchant cities had feast circuits where important people met, hobnobbed, and exchanged intelligence. Those who gathered there wielded influence and had money to spend. As members of the elite, many of them were also skilled combatants, thus privy to knowledge about expeditions and adventure. Getting invited to a feast wasn't easy if you were an unknown or a new arrival, but trying to gain admittance by performing in public, or pretending you were a foreign prince could sometimes result in an invitation. If that didn't work, hiring oneself out as a servant could get you in the door, where you could then overhear all kinds of things. How often are adventurers in the position of servants, instead of customers? Why aren't they? As a variant, VIPs can also get together in a bathhouse; it would really change things up to have an encounter there, rather than in a bar.
Caravansarai
A caravansarai (if such an institution exists in your world) is another place where information about interesting locales, or even work as a caravan guard can be acquired. With their open-air layout, mysterious alcoves, and beguiling stories by mysterious foreigners, they provide a very different feel from the typical tavern.

Corpathium: Unique Boroughs

City Crawling

Carousing & Reputation

Shops

(DnD Speak)

Madame Ortho’s Oddities: A curiosity shop that sells useful (sometimes cursed) trinkets. Examples of some of her wares: a mummy hand that tries to strange it’s owner while they sleep, a compass that points to the person that hates the owner the most, and a stuffed Vargouille.
The Cobbler: A store that sells all kinds of horseshoes, for all kinds of reasons, but you notice, this town has no horses.
A Man’s Burden: A blacksmith who displays and sells exotic weapons, made using blueprints gathered from across the land.
Row after Row: A store specializing in boats, specifically, boats that use rowing to move.
Gertha’s Topography: A woman who sells maps she has found and made across the continent, from huge full continent maps to small maps of ruins and towns.
Fran’s fortuitous froths: potions of dubious origins and craftsmanship, they almost never work as advertised, but always help you in a way you didn’t know you need.
Sofie’s softies: pillows of the highest quality, stuffed with feathers of magic beasts, and enchanted with various effects.
All the RAGE: battle axes and fashionable shirts.
Wrench warfare: magic craftsman tools that can change into weapons. Great for sneaking weaponry past the border or into the castle. You can place custom orders.
Caesarean’s Palace – “Veni Vidi Veni”: The strip club on the bad side of town.
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes: A store ran by a mysterious wizard, it only sells human appendages.
The Lotto Grotto: A store that sells magical items, but the item could be cursed or enchanted, and the buyer only knows after using it once.
Gertrude’s Trinkets:A dingy magic shop on a back street that sells surprisingly good (we’re talking some top notch stuff here) magic weapons and trinkets for ridiculously low prices (half the price of normal on average). At midnight anything bought from the shop returns back to the shop magically, and the shop teleports to another remote location.
The Satyr’s Pact: A tavern run by a satyr who offers musicians a deal. If they impress him and the crowd with a song they earn a instrument that is always in tune and free room and board for life. If they fail, they work in his tavern for a decade but can audition again for the same deal, years do add up.
Rock Candy: Sells and buys a wide variety of gemstones. The shopkeeper is an Oread who has a tendency to eat the product, much to the dismay of the shop owner.
Scrumdidilyumptious: This bakery is owned by a sorcerer whose focus is on her craft. She likes to infuse her goodies with spells, from rainbow cookies that make your tongue temporarily a new color to a slice of chili cake that makes your fire spells scarily more potent for a while.
Munsters R Us: A tiny Pug stands at a crate, hollering in broken common to come over. He’ll buy your scavenged monster parts (albeit at varying prices) from you. If you give him enough, he’ll turn them into an item. It’s disturbing, but how can you resist his cute lil’ face?
Furever Homes: Offers small and under-sized creatures as animal companions and pets. They have the basics, like rats, spiders, etc., but if you have enough money, you could adopt more exotic creatures.
The Mountaineer’s Bandolier: Sells survival kits, potions that help you adapt to weather, and various supplies that help explorers get through tough climate situations.
Fizzlesprocket’s Dairiticiary: A quirky gnome runs this ice cream stand and tries to pawn off bizarre treats. You won’t know if you like it till you try it.
Blood letting: general store takes payments in different kinds of blood.
Binxes potions: potion store run by the Sanderson sisters from hocus pocus. Don’t let kids near this place they have an unfortunate habit of disappearing.
Morticias morgue: will hide and remove bodies, perform autopsys etc in return for rare bodies/monster parts.
Tinker and sons: apocalyptic/doomsday prepper family of ghomes will fix, repaid or mod weapons in return for canned foods, junk weapons and scraps of metal.
Fallen from a star: A well known bar/pub can find different celebritie style characters like Worgen Freeman or Clint Westwood.
Seamus the Imp Peddler: A travelling peddler, riding a covered cart led by a mule, stops by the party. He explains that he specialises in the sale of imps, but so far the only ones he has been able to obtain (trade secrets and all) have limited lifespans. It’s a mixed bag in his opinion so all the imps cost the same. Imps cost [1d20/1.33] GP each, half this if it’s raining. On purchase the imp is bound to the character until the imp’s unique demise. Each imp has a craving and a fear; if the character is helpful in these regards the imp’s loyalty will improve. Each imp also holds a secret agenda of mischief.
Herb the Hatters: Herb makes exquisitely beautiful hats which are quite uncomfortable.
The Transport Tube: Any common item will fall down from a tube from above, assuming something of value has been put in the slot in the cubicle. Approx 5ft square circle room. Out the back, some creatures would be feeding the items in.
Murray’s Theatrics: The half-elf Murray retired from the life of a wandering bard eight years ago, but still loves the trade dearly. His shop (which is really just the anteroom to his house) stocks sheet music and scripts for the lutist looking to expand her repertoire, or the troupe seeking to get ahead of the new fashion in comedies. The texts cost next to nothing – Murray remembers what it’s like to travel on a performer’s income. The real money comes from his younger brother, Astor, whose potions create audience-dazzling special effects.
The Furrowed Brow: Esmeralda Turnbottom’s mother made wards, and her mother made wards, and her mother made wards… And Esme has never been one to spoil a good tradition. The wares range from mundane (a pendant against forgetfulness, carved from gingko bark) to the specialized (ground cat’s tooth to drive off harpies). Once a year, she closes up shop for a much deserved vacation, and returns with an armful of oddly specific wards. Such as “protection from a stampede of your own cattle frightened by a thunderclap on a moonless summer night”. And yet they always get bought, and they always end up useful…
The Sizzler: An exotic restaurant run by a very jovial, and very fat, half-ogre named Thog. They specialize in rare meats of all kinds and will pay well if what you have is fresh. From drake wings to spider legs, if it’s fresh and serviceable they’ll buy it. Their meals are renowned for being tasty and surprisingly filling, and the exotic nature of their ingredients has been known to impart certain temporary boons to the consumer. The house special is constantly changing, so get in quick before the line forms!
Nero’s Place: A shop run by an aging, paranoid neurotic elf that is convinced there’s a demon after him. Nero sells a wide assortment of scrying crystals, mirrors, looking glasses, and patented listening tools that he uses on a daily basis. Some of his inventions are actually helpful, like his ‘Peek-around’ that angles two mirrors inside a square tube to look around corners. Others are less helpful, like his ‘Hearing Helm’ that is basically two gramophone bells welded onto a bucket. He also sells protective charms and wards to help keep… well anything off your back, really. For the paranoid inside us all, Nero’s Place is the Place for you!
Goldie’s Locks: a wig shop selling enchanted wigs that are just right.
The “ooks” Store: A dingy store front window displays “ooks” peeling gold lettering. Inside the dimly lit shop are shelves upon shelves of musty old volumes fill up the space until only narrow paths await the adventurous customer. After searching the store you might find what you want…or need in the future.
The Amazing Omar’s Shop of Curiosities: Omar, a flamboyantly dressed merchant waves, you over to his display wagon to view his wears. Various charms, potions, knick-knacks, and unguents are on display for all to see. If you are a polite and interested customer he may be persuaded to showcase his more interesting items…
Adon’s Exceptional Reflection Collection: A good sized shop that sells mirrors of various shapes and sizes, run by a reclusive and eccentric old gnome named Adon. Mirrors hang from almost every surface, with some even dangling from the ceiling or the bottom of other mirrors. It is incredibly easy to get lost wandering the store, and the inside seems significantly bigger than its outside appearance belies. An observant customer will notice that some mirrors occasionally reflect fantastic locations with startling realism.
Ketterman Barley’s Stonecarving and Statuary: Ketterman is a stone carver of some renown, and does all kinds of stonework from bas-reliefs and fountains to statues and headstones. He’s expanded his business recently by offering smaller, personal busts of the client for a reasonable sum, depending on the quality of the stone. Ketterman typically sells to the upper class, but as long as you can pay he’s more than willing to work with just about any customer. But here’s the catch: Ketterman is actually an accomplished diviner as well. Every time he carves an eye into his stonework he can use those eyes to scry through at any time. Ketterman uses his vast network of eyes to spy on anyone within their gaze, and if he comes across something particularly noteworthy he sells that knowledge to the highest bidder, or uses it as leverage for blackmail under his assumed alias of ‘The Emerald Pool’ (because his eyes are green). Ketterman has been operating for almost two decades now, and his work has traveled far across the land. Odds are his stone eyes have seen something you didn’t want to be seen. So tell me friend; what are you hiding?
Blood Of Thy Enemies/Blood Of My Blood: Half the shop weapons & instruments of death run by tiny, aggressive woman. The other half a healing shop run by a large barbarian type man who’s gentle. They are a couple…opposites attract?
Rats, Bats, & Vats: Your typical cauldron witch type store. Alchemy, herbs, could be run by hag.
Kern The Hammer’s Hammers: Shout out to Critical Role. Half-Orc Kern The Hammer has given up on fighting in the pits after the loss to Grog the Barbarian, the shop has every kind of hammer you could ask for.
Maybe It’s Adamantine: A clearance type shop of magical items. Genuine as advertised Magical Items are in stock but rare. Lots of faulty or completely misidentified items. Create any additional rules, such as refund any item after purchase but at 30% of it’s value, no identify spells allowed on store premises, etc.
Ninth Level: Hell themed. Run by a demon or devil. Opportunity to buy existing contracts or forge a new one.
Mendelsen’s Magnificent Mending: Mendlesen is the most talented mender in the world. Clothes, artifacts, magic items, you name it & he/she can mend it.
Carts & Crafts: Every kind of vehicle for sale & rent. Can purchase passage on different methods of transportation as well. Purchases come with option to register as a transporter to provide passage & collect fares.
Dark Arts & Melted Hearts: Your typical “Dark Arts” type store, but complete with a tavern type meeting area that regularly provides a speed dating-esque environment for undesirables, villians, & general ne’er-do-wells. Everyone deserves a shot a love right?
The Dock of Many Flings: A store either on the water or with a large well inside. There are no items, only shelves and shelves of pebbles worth different tiers of gold. You buy a pebble, then stand over the designated area and cast your pebble into the water. You gain a random magical effect, item, or etc. (eg. A Mini or alternate deck of many things)
Whispers & Secrets: The only goods bought and sold here are rumors, secrets, other generally unknown information. You cannot pay with traditional currency, must offer hidden information of your own to barter with. Use either an unbiased magical system (such as speaking your secret into a glass jar, putting the lid on placing upon a magical scale that determines it’s weight/value), or for more interesting roleplaying opportunities have a totally biased shopkeep the players can haggle with or try and persuade.
Proctor & Son’s Deadly Traps: More a small dungeon than a store, the ceiling to floor to finally the basement is covered in traps. You must survive long enough to actually disarm and then purchase your chosen traps. It used to be a family business but that didn’t last for very long.
Impeccable Times: In a building stylized as a home befitting a cuckoo clock, the sound of ticking from countless mechanisms dominate the senses. The blind elderly craftsman shows no concern for anyone except his owl which is never far from his side. Secretly, he can hear from every watch and see from every clock he creates. The owl is also a mechanical contraption.
Ayesha’s Insult Emporium: The store’s name, in simple black lettering, is all that infers what lies inside. A friendly middle aged woman (presumably Ayesha) wearing a sari greets customers entering this store’s antechamber with a sharp personal insult. Anyone who takes great offense to the insult is teleported out of the shop and can’t re-enter. However, those who accept it in good spirit will be led by Ayesha to the main room which contains shelves and cabinets filled with scrolls, books and scraps of paper containing some of the most brilliant, sought-after and mind-bending insults to ever have been uttered or penned.
The Green Room: This inn, hidden by an entrance in the sewers, provides lodging in rooms made completely of thick glass. The floors consist of different types of soil, and beds are constructed from clay with meagre hay mattresses. Patrons that stay the night develop a slight green tinge to their skin that persists for a week. For this duration, as long as one stays in direct natural sunlight for at least 4 hours a day, they need not eat. Sleep is required as usual, and water requirements per day to survive are doubled.
The Potato Is Just An Illusion: A comedy club and tavern frequented by illusionists, diviners and enchanters. Patrons dine, drink and listen to wizards from the local guild tell comedy that is usually highly academic in nature and augmented by various creative illusions. STRICTLY NO IMP FAMILIARS ALLOWED.
Piander’s Books: A poorly lit bookshop filled with books of ancient lore. Run by a seemingly mute man in a dark cloak, he watches visitors closely from the shadows.
Alethra’s Tear Shop: A medium sized store with shelves full of tiny bottles of tears, the are all carefully labeled with the date the tears were shed, the name and race of the being that shed them, and the reason they were shed. Run by a middle aged woman named Alethera, an unusually cheerful woman who is as eager to buy new tears as she is to sell them. Alethera is especially interested in the tears of adventures and famous people.
Adventure’s Emporium: On the outside it looks abandoned and if you ask around town you will be told it is cursed or haunted, but when adventures enter the building they enter a spacious, well lit store full of ten foot poles, iron spikes, torches, and other adventuring gear. It is run by a retired adventurer.
Darvin’s Dandy Dolls: A shop with shelves full of dolls, many of them resemble important political figures of the region. It is rumored that some of the dolls have power over the people they represent.
Sprog’s Spirits: A dark shop run by a well tempered and grim half orc. It’s shelves are filled with bottles that Sprog claims hold the spirits of the dead.
Anton’s All-porpoise Absolutions: An office run by a cleric of a god of mercy. A place where kings and commoners alike go to repair their relationship with their gods and other extraplanar patrons.
Magroma’s Jewelry: A “jewelry store” run by an old woman where all of the jewelry is made out of the polished bones of various creatures, some of them quite exotic.
Arcadia Glass: A small shop with shelves filled with tiny and exquisitely beautiful glass statues. Run by a half elf, behind his desk he has a small collection of graphic statues that appear to depict past and future events.
Gulthric’s Curiosity Shoppe: A mostly nondescript store from the outside, this shop is run by an old copper dragonborn. The inside of the shop is sectioned off with all sorts of magical items for sale, and there is the slight smell of incense. The shopkeeper will sell magic items in trade for a true story. The more important the story is to the character, the more likely they are to receive a more powerful magic item (limited within DM’s reason, of course). Magic items range from a large selection of small trinkets to a rather limited selection of powerful items.
Fletcher’s Hunting Goods: A traveling fletcher who makes high quality bows and arrows. More likely to be seen in a frontier town or on the trails in the wilderness.
Clara’s Haberdashery: a half-orc woman makes and sells fashionable hats to normal patrons, but sells magical hats on the black market. Her hats are imbued with special abilities by using rare and wonderful items. She’s an artist to her core and she’ll try to accommodate your request, but at the end of the day, it’s her final word. Imagine wild versions of hats you know, precursors to hats we have now, but much more ornate and fanciful.
People, People!: It’s a shop where you can hire people. There’s different races and strengths of people for different prices. You can hire a commoner for 1 gold as usual, but there’s a few stronger people, or twin halflings that come as a bundle, or an old lady that’s very expensive. There’s not usually shops where you can easily hire people. Here one is.
The Flying Dutchmans’ Insurance Agency: A pair of brothers, The Dutchmans, enchant items to levitate back to a predetermined location after using a keyword. Useful for if an item is stolen.
Mounds of Masks: A disorganized store stuffed with various masks of all kinds. Owned by a retired, deranged playwright who is rumored to have fallen into the occult.
Dundragon Family Goods: This store appears to be an average general goods store run by a small family of three, a father, a mother, and a daughter, but any local criminal will know that “Dundragon Family Goods” is actually the best place to find illegal supplies without attracting attention, as the whole family knows thieves cant.
Ship Shape Ships: A shipwrights store that constantly smells of the sea. Behind the shipwright’s desk are a collection of model ships in bottles that represent real ships, and whoever owns these models owns the real ship.
Stiletto Emporium: Stilettos give bonuses to charisma on female characters, but reduce speed and increase noise.
Beets Beets Beets!: They sell Beets!
The Weather Station: They have bottles of weather. If you open a bottle, the weather inside comes out and fills the room.
The Rusty Key: Sells Keys. Sells rings of keys. Sells keys for specific areas or boxes. Simple keys, giant keys, intricate keys, one magical key. They recommend using keys for decorative purposes only.
Dirt’s Dirt: Sells dirt. Also small stones. sells mystery dirt and a “dirt mystery bag” that has dirt plus one item in it.
Balloons and darts: Every balloon purchase also comes with darts. You can get transport on a hot air balloon and tons of darts. Balloon animals and dart animals. Buy a balloon (and dart!) and get a balloon (and dart!) free! [On walking out, the dart is thrown at the balloon].
Rosewaters: Sells tinctures of water. Rose water, holy water, filtered water, spring water, toilet water, alcohol water, etc.
Lukas’ Lucky Oddities: At the start of each day, Lukas rolls twice on the trinket table and chooses one trinket. He must sell it for an exorbitant price before dusk. Such is his curse.
Madame Tralancet’s Veritable Shop of Disguises and Costumes for the Modern Journeyman: She has an enormous selection of suspiciously cheap costumes, disguise kits, wigs, and other fake parts. She has seven drawers bulging with moustaches alone.
Doctor Nehantil’s Reputable Establishment: In a rundown shack in a bad part of town, a half-orc woman runs reception. Give her your appointment card, and she’ll tear off the planks from the back wall where you can meet Dr. Nehantil, a “physician” with cheap prices and even cheaper services, no questions asked.
Mira’s Oozes: A pet store of sorts filled with living oozes of all colors stored in jars. Run by a young and naive sorceress who insists that the oozes are harmless when properly handled.
Temple of the Tiny: A quaint little store stocked with holy symbols and other religious merchandise, all marketed towards children.
Kesheki’s Weapon Shop: A store in the darkest corner of the town run by a curiously well mannered female gnoll, Kesheki. The shop sells all kinds of the most exotic and vicious weapons imaginable. The only currency Kesheki will accept are the scalps of humanoids, the stronger the creature the scalp was taken from the more valuable the scalp is.
Walters Watch/Warehouse/Witchcraft/Wizardry/Weaponry: Walter is an aged peddler who settled in a small town. He has a bit of everything, is the towns postmaster and guard. The shop’s sign says “Walter’s ” on the left side. The right side is a stack of signs he changes as needed. “Watch, Warehouse, Witchcraft (Herbs), Wizardry (mostly useless magic items) . When not selling he switches to “Walter’s Watch” and earns his wage as the only townguard.
Clifford’s Catastrophic Candys: a candy shop that only sells empty bags that fill with either just the treat you want or something utterly disgusting once you get hungry. You must eat what appears before it fills again.
Place Your Hand: An old shop, completely empty, run by and old human wizard. In the shop you can find only a table, and this old man sit on a wooden chair, behind the table. Over the table there is a Bag of Holding; for 10gp the old man let you pull out one random non-magical object, from a rusty pan to a brand new plate armor. Every thing is possibile in this shop! Are you brave enough to �Place your Hand� in the bag?
Tomes of Tombs: A shop specializing in information on death, undeath, and graveyards. Includes biographies of famous figures buried in local area as well as maps of some family crypts.
Old Elmer’s: A wooden building that walks on several insectile legs, ran by an aging half-elf with a wooden leg, a glass eye, and a fully animated brass hand. Sells prosthetics of all kinds, magical and mundane.
The Meat Place: A luxurious, popular tavern with really good food, mainly specializing in one kind of meat. An still living animal covered in scars is suspended from the ceiling, chains covered in glowing runes. Occasionally an employee comes in and cuts it up, carrying the meat to the kitchen as the animal heals. Neither the staff nor the patrons seem to have any issues with this. The animal is a 1: Pig 2: Sheep 3: Goat 4: Cow 5: Irrecognizable mass of scar tissue with a distinct taste that you cannot place. 6: Roll twice. Both. If a die lands on a 6 again, it’s a sapient being being kept against their will.
Frey’s Fresh Fish Flesh; A middle-aged female water genasi carrying a large Urn of Infinite Water, as well as various fishing supplies. Sells fresh fish, which she fishes out of the urn, as well as fishing supplies. Often found in deserts.
Skeleton Shop: A large underground complex selling all kinds of animate skeletal animals. The owner is a jovial skeleton who only accepts currency taken by force, without the previous owner’s consent.
Howard The Doe Has A Shop Now Come Check Out Howard The Doe’s Shop: A rundown house obviously built as a home and not as a shop. Staffed by a very excited yet forgetful doe, Howard, who insists on maintaining bipedal gait while the party is present despite being really terrible at it. Will attempt to sell anything not nailed down, and is surprisingly persuasive despite having obvious trouble speaking with her doe vocal chords and holding objects with her doe hooves. Has no actual grasp on what objects are worth or even what constitutes valid payment and will often overcharge or undercharge the party to ridiculous degrees.
The Tavernacle: a tavern run entirely by beer-making monks.
QIA – Questions, Information, Answers: This business buys and sells information, brokers missions, offers services. Gathered by magic means, bought from adventurers or received from distant locations a party can find the information it needs, learn about a mission offered by a trader or use the shops scrying or message service for a fee. This shop and some traveling business wagons are run by an elderly, stonefaced dwarf named “Harthos Adori Treasurebringer” in wizard robes with a nameplate saying “Hat Wizard”.
Wyatt’s Wandering Wares: This shop, run by a young half elf, is of a special kind. It appears in a free spot in a street, and when it appears it has always been there. Wyatt is a good natured trader, selling wares with magic properties that often are unknown, and always trying to play a little trick with his customers.
Kabooms and Korpses: A fireworks store that has been almost completely blackened by numerous incidents. Run by a goblin inventor who is also an amateur undertaker, offers to use some of his bigger rockets to give loved ones a glorious send off.
Dolores’ Caf� & Dispensary: – a public shop for purchasing all kinds of alchemical reagents and paramacutical goods for healing, potion making and poison brewing – Also doubles as a delightful caf� where patrons can drink hot brews of cocoa and indulge in their preffered choice of reality enhancing herb.
The Gold Chain: They sell gold. Great place to exchange currency types, trade figurines or valuables for gold. They sell a few gold coins with magical properties, like the boomerang coin and the communication coin. Sometimes they have slow sales so they have a “buy-one-get-one-free” deal on gold coins. Deals primarily in gold. Also can melt gold into shapes like rings and earrings.
Store Store: Sells stores. You can buy storefronts ranging from a clothing store to a hot dog stand. Not cheap! They also have an enchanting business, password protected chests, charms to prevent theft, money pockets that only the owner can withdraw from, and alarm bells. They also sell signs of various types, some with glowing lights.
The Prime Meridian: This store has one person inside with very, very shiny golden shoes. “These are my prime shoes” they say. They will sell you almost any item, and have it back to you within two days. However, there is a significant charge to getting the item, and some items might not come within two days. Unfortunately, before you can buy, the man tries to up sell you with a long list of items, and won’t begin getting your item until bombarding you with the other items. Things like a bard service to follow you around with music, a chef service to cook you food, an enchanted rock that you can talk to, but also tells him your preferences in case you come back, a painting delivery service that sends you paintings every week for you to look at, but the paintings are pretty bad, like a child drew them. Each service costs 2-3x the cost of the item they are going to get in 2 days.
Sew it seams: A textiles shop full of misleading fabrics and clothes.
*ALWAYS A WINNER!: A lottery outlet. To enter, you have to put a GP into above the doorknob. You walk in and bells go off – you’re a winner!! A crowd cheers around you and you see then number 10,000 person. A sash is placed on you. You’re the 10,000th customer! You win a large cash prize! Congratulations! You can either stop now, or take the chance to double or nothing your earnings!! The shop has a large prize wheel. Roll a D10 – anything other than a D10 loses! You just have to sign here and pay the deposit of 10 gold coins! If the PC does so, they earn the prize of 1,000 gold coins. They check their pouch and a faint golden vapor is leaving their pouch and moves toward the lottery. If they re-enter, they must pay another coin, but the building is empty.

Market Stalls

(DnD Speak)

Vegetable Stall – Sells many different types of locally-grown vegetables.
Flag/Tabard Stall – Custom made flags and tabards for sale.
Gronba�s Fresh Fish Stand. A bullywug sells fish for 2-4 gp each fish.
Lemonade stand – For some reason, the owner gets really frustrated when you ask for grapes.
Sal�s salted meats – A place to buy preserved meats for long journeys. Staffed by a young man who is desperate to keep his job with his uncle Sal�s business. Is hesitant to lower prices because of this.
Sandman stall. Sells sleepy time sand. Sprinkle on your eyes and fall into a magical relaxing sleep.
Third Hand’s Third Hand Store – goblin selling knickknacks, junk, and random items.
Istvaan’s Legitimate Enterprise – Market stall that seems busy, but never has anything for sale besides a few oddly shaped ‘lucky charms’.
Lute the Room Musical Equipment.
A cart with a pushy but charismatic foreign clerk with aggressive sales tactics who grabs passersby by the arm to test overpriced salves and salts on their skin.
Farg Tusktaker’s Teeth and Scrimshaw
Fishman’s Man Fry – A Triton with broken Common serves delectable seafood dishes. If asked about the name, he explains that it is food FOR men, not for fishes.
Scrivener’s Arrow – A kenku sells calligraphy and cartography equipment, parchment, quills, and ink.
Whisper’s Telogracy – A business started by a group of Academy students for transmitting letters and messages across the world. Insults are, for some reason, half price.
A scribe, who once worked in a royal court but lost her job because she’s addicted to a narcotic. She has next-level drawing skills, and she’s very quick with them, so in addition to writing letters for the illiterate she can draw pictures of, e.g., new brides or children, and send them with the letter so that the recipients get the pictures as well. But all of this is only true before noon or so, once she gets enough money for her drugs. Then, she packs up and goes home. If you seek her out at home, rouse her and pay her 10x her normal price, she will scribe your letter or draw your picture, but everything she writes will be eldritch riddles (that might help the players) and everything she draws will be straight out of Acidland. Some of these drawings are attractive to a certain sort of decadent collector.
Gibbem Geld�s Gold Exchange: A goblin with a bag of holding who will convert any currency to any other for a 5% fee.
Finder’s Keepers Grave-robbing Equipment: A bemused-looking dwarf sells adventuring, spelunking and excavating gear, as well as thieves tools, or (with a raised eyebrow) ‘locksmithing equipment.’ While his name draws some ire, he shrugs and suggests that at least he is honest about it.
Lost Soles – a charity cobbler stall where reformed monsters and the indigent are taught a marketable skill. Run by Horace Shemmelpeg, a master cobbler and Paladin of Redemption. Shoes and boots are sold here, and can be repaired for free, although one can choose to make a donation.
An old looking stall run by an elderly women. She sells and dyes cheap linens, mostly to commoners.
Guard Drake Eggs (Volo’s guide to monsters) Owned By Sinclair Redshore, a skinny human wizard who can also send the PCs on quests for difficult to find ritual componets.
A bearded old man selling all sorts of bones and skulls from creatures across the land and beyond. Will sell ‘something more’ for the right price.
Digby’s Dungeoneering emporium – A former explorer/adventurer selling dungeoneering kits and equipment, many of them unique to specific types of dungeons and environments, based on his experiences raiding dungeons. Digby would also have a lot of information/quests and could possibly be recruited as a dungeon guide.
The Meat and Mash – a food stall run by two half Orcs who speak very little common. Their food is spiced fresh game meat atop a veggie mash.
The Green Arrow – an elf wishing to barter for information sells individual magic arrows.
randexpand Intervention – a Ratfolk (or Halfling if there are no Ratfolk in your setting) sells found trash / trinkets. They worship a luck god and these trinkets have a knack for being useful.
The Bleeding Hart – A surly half-elf named Tjatch sells game, bone, and skins. The shop is dark and forbidding, but the prices are good. Adventurers may learn from a druid with a bandaged shoulder that Tjatch is an excellent hunter, but also one who enjoys causing pain to animals and who will sometimes shoot to wound instead of to kill.
The Four Finger Discount- A pale and easily startled man sells finger bones from various saints, heroes, and villains. Or so he claims. He is missing the index finger on his left hand.
The Little Chisel – A young gnome lady selling hand carved statuettes. She has a set of statuettes containing every deity in the local pantheon. For some reason she has ten nigh identical statuettes of elephants.
Leather worker. Will repair any damaged leather items and also has armor, bags, scabbards and the like for sale.
The Sprig of Muslin – a middle-upper class hat and accessory shop.
The dragon hoard – a small stall of various sized wooden boxes with holes in them, each one holds a different kind of small lizard. Most lizards are not actual dragons, one inconspicuous box actually does hold a dragon that will grow very larger very quickly.
Stone and Iron Masonry – A collective of builders offering ‘Only True Dwarven Talent’.
The Devil in the Details – Curtis Vaquiri, Tiefling barrister, solicitor, notary, insurance agent and Venture capitalist.
The Shinies – a wooden barrel full of semi-precious stones, guarded by a flock of ravens, one of which apparently has good business sense. There is a skull nearby as a reminder of what happens if you try to take anything without leaving a shiny of greater or equal value.
Annie, a halfling woman selling apples (fresh, canned and dried), cider, applesauce, candied apples, apple corers, apple tarts, Pork in Apple Skins, and apple memorabilia.
C.M.O.T. Dibbler’s pies, sausages, and vittles. If you feel something crunchy in your sausage, just remember that times are hard and sometimes dibbler cant make both ends meat. Dibbler is also fluent in thieves cant and runs a black market on the sausage principle- ‘If you love something, don’t ask where it came from.’
A wood elf ranger/forager that sells natural remedies to commoners. For the keen-eyed spellcaster they may have some quality natural spell components. They can also guide adventurers through difficult natural terrain and may even have seen some caves or ruins in their gathering that they didn’t feel equipped to explore on their own, and would be willing to show the party there for a cut.
The Handy Man – He sells hands, all of them. You name it, he has it, somehow. Why? No idea.
Flint- A stone golem sells adventuring gear and other useful items. He eats the money given him for the items.
The Nasty Pastie- Grandma Ipswitch, a foul-tempered woman with piercing purple eyes, sells pasties and potions. The pasties are famously odd and yet strangely addictive, leading to people complaining about their poor quality while in line for a third or fourth.
A fortune teller who is off by one customer. She will always tell the fortune of her next customer.
Totally Legit Goods- Really shifty looking stall, all dirty and stuff. Merchant looks like a hobo, is really rude and annoying. Looks like he just sells junk. Everything is a magic item in disguise.
Finn’s Churro Stand: Delicious fried dough dipped in cinnamon and sugar.
Jill’s Flavored Popcorn: Sweet cheese and caramel covered popcorn is warm and perfect any day of the week.
Piotr’s Picklemonger: Different spiced pickles and cucumber flowers are for sale at this stall. The only thing saltier than the barrels of pickles is the stall owner himself.
Mary Jane Greenleaf�s Herbal Emporium. An attractive high elf named Mary Jane Greenleaf sells herbs of all kinds. Some for seasoning food, some medicinal, and some �recreational�.
A shrimp stall (bonus points for the Forrest Gump quote: ‘You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich.’)
Things on Sticks; popular with the local orcs/halforcs. It’s unidentifiable and stinky meat on a stick
Banana stand; 10 gold per banana. If the NPC’s decide to burgle the place at night, there’s money hidden in the walls.
Backstreet organ trader; I sell you guills, you breathe under water! You don’t need lungs anymore! I take lungs now guills come next week!
DnD crypto; a guy tries to sell you magical coins and only a select few places accept them. Every time he says the price it swings up or down wildly.
Exotic bottled water, right next to a well on the market square. He tries to sell to every person coming for water, but it’s extremely expensive because the water comes from far away. It tasted great but has no added benefit.
A herb outlet; lots of dried herbs, spices, maybe potions, which are all past their due date. They smell and are probably bad. Roll dice to see their effect.
Titian’s Toothpicks – A self-satisfied gnome in a scarlet cloak sells polearms, including magical ones.
Straight from the Soil – a cart with various fruits and vegetables. Notable less for the produce and more for the proprieters, a human brother and sister, Clavald (20) and Iojen (18) (He runs it in the morning, she runs it in the afternoon; the other shops in the market or takes in the sights). They are both tall, blonde and stunningly attractive, with an earnest wholesomeness that makes them even more so.
A Merc’s Mercantile- A Silver Dragonborn sells army surplus and adventuring gear. He is also a great contact for mercenaries and quest hooks.
Alvi’s Discount Confessions- Healing items, atonement spells-while-you-wait, discount holy water, and basic cleric gear from a giant of a man with a black beard and a missing arm.
Milo’s Menagerie: A deeply passionate Gnome Taxidermist who sells a wide variety of stuffed animals.
Like Your Likeness- an elven portrait painter offers to record your adventuring party in paint. Roll a d6 to see the quality- 6- A masterpiece. 5- A good likeness 4- A caricature of the group. 3- A mediocre likeness 2- A terrible likeness; nearly unrecognizable. 1- Clearly not even your group.
To Your Health- A potion shop specializing in poisons.
Uatashi-Wa! An overly enthusiastic human sells swords, armor, monk gear, and other things clearly made poorly but decorated to look exotic.
Big Rocks- A half-orc tries desperately to sell you a bread-loaf sized rock. ‘Great for head-mushin’!’
Plowshares- an unassuming farm equipment stall, run by a man who is CLEARLY about to get a summons from a shadowy organization for ‘one last mission.’
The Beholder’s Eye- jewelry store with very tasteful pieces. ‘High quality, high prices-Low quality, low tolerance’ is written unobtrusively in Thieves’ Cant in a bottom corner.
Larson�s Lutes- a young luthier selling lutes and lute accessories. He tends to be playing more often than actually working though. He�s quick to let people know where his next performance is; they should come out to watch him.
Thralgov�s Thrilling Thaumaturgic Threadwork: An upperclass clothing and fabric store, run by an old dwarf named Thralgov that is as surly and blunt as his creations are impressive. In addition to being quite talented, the elderly seamster has some small magical ability that allows him to sew certain arcane properties into the fabrics he makes. These can range from randexpand improvements such as an inability to get wrinkled or stained, all the way to stronger enchantments that raise AC or grant resistance to certain types of elemental damage. The stall itself is an elaborate creation composed of many brightly colored and beautifully decorated cloths, all of which he sewed himself. A testament to the power his work can have, the fabrics are unnaturally resistant to all forms of damage and inflictions, while also magically blocking out all noise that would pass through them. Thralgov always has a few choice pieces prepared to be sold at any given time, while also offering to do commissions given the appropriate time and compensation.
Surprisingly Useful Stories- A bookseller with an impossibly long nose and brilliantly twinkling eyes offers you a dusty tome. It is a fictional story, yet has some magic in it that teaches a valuable skill or a hidden secret.
Throk’s Threads: An ogre sells piles of intricate lace doilies. His nimble fingers and two fairy roommates makes sure they are never out of stock. Sleeping with the magic infused lace patterns over your face lets you wake up well rested no matter where you decide to sleep.
Millie Monka’s: Sells chocolate and other trap candy. Has a veritable army of orange gnomes to do her bidding in a pocket dimension where her factory resides. Can move her stall to more than one city and can exist simultaneously in multiple locations.
Yabba’s Yarns: An old, retired Tabaxi adventurer sells different patterns and magic infused yarn but also local legends, dungeon maps, and histories. She is famous at the market for pinning a thief to the wall with one well placed knitting needle.
The Hands of Fate- A tiefling named Careful sells cards, dice and gaming equipment. She is happy to point the players to gambling places. She runs a small dice game at night, with a 20gp cap (once you have won or lost 20gp, you are finished).
The Book Swap – An old dragonborn with glasses and a beard buys sells and trades books. His motto: ‘Books should be read not lie in dusty old libraries.’
The Pull and Wind- Farragus Goldtrotter sells crossbows and bolts of all varieties. He has some special stock and will give a discount to an adventurer who succeeds on a straight Charisma check and who promises to brag about where he got his new weapon.
Wanda’s: a small stall run by Wanda Wimple: a portly and cheerful witch with a bird familiar. She sells a variety of wands she made herself- and although the wands are pink with painted flowers in them- almost all of them do unpleasant spells…
Solutions: a potion stall run by a hungover human named Alphonse- or Al for short. He will not be all set up until 11:30 And will ask the party to not speak so loudly whilst selling them potions. His stock is surprisingly comprehensive and has fair prices but if the party tries to haggle too much he’ll just close early without selling anything because of his headache.
Ophelia’s: a beautiful flower stand run by a slightly ‘off’ human woman. If a player decides to inspect the stand, the woman running it will speak in the occasional rhyme and give the player ‘their’ bouquet that ‘they’d already paid for’. The bouquet, when inspected with a mind to their symbolic meanings, gives a an important message to the player. If they try to find the stand again later, it is gone.
The Snowdrop – incredibly beautiful art and sculptures by a small goblin named Skamie. A clever tradesman could make a tidy profit selling the items in another city. Any insult to or question of his heritage sets him off and he will refuse to sell.
The Profit Marsh – An inscrutable lizardman stares at the party under hooded lids. The shop sells nothing except ‘friendship’; investigation reveals that this means an introduction to lizardfolk traders, a handbook of trade routes, passwords for safe passage through swamps, access to job offers, and connections to a Lizardfolk Tribal Consortium. Levels of friendship are earned by conduct and require periodic dues.
Lee Hyuns Stall of Sculptures – he sells hand sculpted animals and ornaments made of almost everything imaginable. From wood to gems, every piece enhances one attribute of the user for 1d4 hours, when looked at. (Only one buff can be active at the time) the item loses its magic after two uses. (Source: the legendary moonlight sculptor web novel/comic)
Ebenhardt’s Antiquities – brooches, rings, lesser gems and lesser magical charms can be found in this stall. Most of it is fancy looking trash. Some truly magical items can be found on arcana checks. On a 20, your eyes fall onto a ragged cloak of dark greyish color mix in the back of the shop, it is used as a blanket for displaying daggers. It is a cloak of fog, which gives the level 1 spell (fog cloud) that can be used once a day by the wearer. He will always succed in stealth checks in fog.
Albenas Herbs – a female druid sells herbs and crafting material for druids or herbalists, and some potions as well. She has an advanced herbalists guide, that helps the reader gain +1 proficiency when using nature and medicine checks for healing purposes. The lines vanish as the reader reads them. So only one PC can learn it.
Paulto�s Gems and Jewels: A half elf sells, buys, and appraises all manner of precious and semiprecious stones, he even has five glowing crystals hanging in the back of his stall.
Druids Suck- An angry-looking elf with an irregular scar across one cheek sells axes, saws, machetes, flint and tinder, torches, poison antidotes, fire spells, and staffs of withering. His name is Worinten, and if asked about the scar, he will wax eloquent on the dangers of the wilderness and of druids who raise shambling rosebushes.
Ghost Face Killers – A Tiefling with a lisp sells silvered weapons and blessed ammunition, which deals radiant damage to undead creatures.
Throkik’s Calfskins- A giant, heavily muscled minotaur sells baby and young child clothes and other baby goods. He loves babies and will coo adoringly over them. Some of his wear would fit an adult gnome or halfling.
Nazim’s Trade Goods – A darkly beautiful half-elf sells a wide variety of items. She is incredibly shrewd, but has been cursed such that she must answer direct questions honestly. She is searching for the cure and will pay handsomely for help.
A short human claims to be a powerful divination wizard, and will read the player’s future for a high price. In truth they only give fortunes that are vague enough to be left up to interpretation, and the only magic they know is randexpand illusion, as to better give the impression of real magic.
A dwarf with a mechanical finger sits in one of the seedier corners of the market. They promise that they can crack any safe for the proper price, no questions asked.
A butcher shop carries all types of exotic meats. If you ask for last week’s special they will show their true product, meat from the humanoid races.
Notch-me-own-pegleg Dibbloor’s pie cart. Once a pirate on the high seas, with the loss of his leg Dibbloor turned entrepreneurial. He can be found near any crowd pushing his cart and haggling his wares. He’s sold many things (not all of which were his), but his specialty has always been rat pie. ‘Fresh off the ships!’ He says, and despite making most sick, it’s a staple food at any gathering. ‘I’ll give you two for three dubloons, and tha’s notchin me own pegleg, tha’ is.’
Saleetha’s Apothecary – A lithe, attractive, female Yuan-ti sells a wide variety of poisons and a few potions of both Cure and Inflict wounds.
Arcadia’s candles: a green haired elf woman sells candles that have potions mixed into the wax. If you light a candle then the effect of the potion it’s infused with begins to take place over the duration of the candle burning, and affects everyone that can smell it.
Mother Gimble’s – A small old woman, bent and ancient, whose race cannot be determined, leads her overloaded wagon with a cantankerous donkey in the most remote places of the world. She always has precisely the items the party needs in stock, even if the item can’t possibly have been found by her (a key for the right door, water in the desert, that phoenix feather you need for your rejuvenation potion). In exchange for these items, she takes no gold but instead insists on telling each person their fortune, which is always something as terrible as the item is important to you.
Cobb’s Stalls – A dapper human named Cobb sells equipment for market stall creation and operation.
The Pouch – A spell component place that also serves as a hangout for magicians to talk shop, swap spells, and make connections.
The Nicked Apple – A seedy-looking man named Marlin sells drinks and food. He also buys items of questionable legality, which is his real job- he is in fact an undercover guard, and the whole stall is part of an elaborate sting.
Dann’s Furnace – A relatively slim half-orc sells winterwear and climbing gear. His Special Hand Furnaces can provide heat for a tent and are recharged whenever the holder casts a fire spell.
Starlight’s Lost Wish- A white Aarakocra runs a large, eclectic stall. Once, upon being granted a wish by the genie Vur’nnon, Starlight wished for limitless wishes. As genies do, Vur’nnon altered her wish so that every day she magically receives something someone has wished for, ranging from powerful magic items to a horseshoe nail to an extra turnip. Making the best of a bad situation, Starlight has a permanent sale.
The Unencumbring – An elf named Cavea Tvenditor ‘sells nothing, buys anything’. She offers a nearly fair price for all offerings. Anyone selling more than 3 things at a time must make a Wisdom Saving Throw or also sell something they didn’t intend to part with (an item, a memory, etc-DMs choice). The person realizes 1d4 minutes after leaving the shop, and Cavea does not let go of bargains easily…
The Satyr’s Pipe – Giles of Sorania sells flowers, perfume, gifts, and sweets. For the lovelorn, he will also (for high prices) sell scrolls of randexpand illusion, diodems of charisma, and ‘virility and fertility aids’. If asked correctly, Giles also has charm person and domination spells for the right price…

Guilds

(DnD Speak)

The Salty Dogs: A mercenary guild that specializes in maritime activities. Crew for hire, protection of merchant vessels, dock security, etc. You can find a Salty Dogs guildhall in any city with a port. They recruit all types, but their primary composition is of the more physically inclined. Everyone has to pull their weight on a ship.
Disciples of Trastor: Almost more of a cult than a guild, the Disciples of Trastor follow the teachings of an ancient necromancer, rumored to have been the first Lich. Their practices are, of course, veiled in secrecy, as Necromancy is generally frowned upon, but every tavern usually has one drunk who claims to know all about their secret rituals…. heard from a completely reliable and not at all suspect chain of sources.
Nightblades: A guild for the more violently inclined roguish types. Small, but widespread. From intimidation to assassination, the Nightblades have you covered.
Hinterland Paragons: A religious order who follow the patron deity of travelers and pilgrims, the Hinterland Paragons are dedicated to keeping the roads safe for travelers of all faiths.
Order of the Shattered Helm: A guild sworn to follow in the legacy of an ancient hero, slain in battle. The Order is host to many paladins, clerics, war clerics, and fighters. They take on only just causes, and claim their reward from fallen foes. They constantly search for relics of the fallen hero.
Cult of the Eternal Dragon: A group of sorcerers and warlocks devoted to finding the next vessel of the Eternal Dragon, a deity they claim is trapped in a mortal form, doomed to be reincarnated as a mundane being over and over until his followers can find him and break his curse. Most regard the Cult as a collection of crackpots, but what if they’re right?
The Sons of the Sword: A guild of knights dedicated to mastery of swordplay. They take mostly noble sons, but those with enough of a reputation may be able to secure membership. The Sons accept quests based on political gain, and are constantly maneuvering for ever more power among the elite. And they don’t come cheap, either.
Purple Pansies: One of the longest-standing guilds, the Pansies are well respected and quite proud of their heritage, which is very serious and not all silly. The tale seems slightly different every time it is told, however. The Pansies are almost always seen in their ostentatious formal uniform, gratuitously bedecked in brightly colored ribbons and polished medals. (Seriously, though, the founder did participate extensively in a resistance against an occupying army. It just wasn’t very well documented.)
The Aeternal Academy: A group of wizards dedicated to lofty study and ideals of knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Masters of magical theory, not always great with practical application.
Divers of the Deep: An adventuring guild specialized in spelunking and dungeon diving. Not for the claustrophobic.
The Fatherless Sons: a guild of former squires whose knights fell in battle, who had to make their own way in the world.
The Shepherds: A guild dedicated to protecting the common folk from danger. Take a tithe from their members’ loot to offset costs for those who seek their aid.
The Fuster Cluck Cabal: Sure, you can keep up to five hens in your backyard for breakfast egg production, but you get that sixth chicken and don’t tithe to the cabal, you’re going to be real sorry. They have a stranglehold on chicken/egg production in town: good quality birds and eggs, but pricey. They live like kings.
Gourmet Gorget: A society of cooking professionals. In a world of hungry adventurers and monsters, someone has to prepare the dishes to sustain and liven up a party. And who knows, rare ingredients in dangerous places don’t collect themselves!
Society of Former Healers: This group of disenfranchised healers, abused by adventurers, have banded together. They learned the sacred art of healing for undead destruction or for precise calculations of death, not to cure the first idiot who thought jumping off a 50 foot cliff to ‘ride the giant crow to the ground’ was a good idea.
Experiment X: A guild dedicated to the advancement of science, for and only for science sake. There are no limits to what members of this guild will do just to see what might happen. The guild accepts members of any race/class as any good experiment needs a wide sample size. Members of Experiment X can be known by the large green X patch that they wear on their personal garb, although often you will know they are a member of the guild before you see the patch, whether it be by the extra appendages, copious glowing boils, or an ever present burning smell.
Syndicate of the Hammer/Camaraderie of the Sickle: Secret guilds of city and farm workers (respectively) usually found on big cities, working to make the worker’s lives a little better, including paying warriors to protect the people during strikes and even assassins to try to kill bosses/leaders/royalty if they’re known to exploit their subjects.
The Flying Dragoons: Once a powerful independent fighting force for a civil war long past. This guild comprises of skilled pilots of the skies. Many members are dirigible and airship captains, in fact it is hard pressed to find a skilled pilot or captain that isn’t a part of this prestigious group. Dedicated to the freedom and clarity of the skies, Flying Dragoon’s have no problems speaking their mind, and many are quite vocal about being committed to fighting tyranny if the need ever again arose. Most just view this as idle talk however as commuting adventurers around the skies can often be a long and lonely task.
Fellowship of the Bling: A group of jewelers, varying in race and class, focused on creating the most extravagant pieces of jewelry known throughout the world. Their founder, Sir Laurence Tureaud, is know for keeping his hair in a mohawk, a career as a member of the B-Team, and wearing so many heavy, ostentatious gold pendants and amulets, that he now walks hunched over.
Harlequins: An assassin’s guild, going into every job like they’re stepping onto stage, a smile or a snarl on their face to fit their role. Each Harlequin is deadly, but they work together in troupes, led by Solitaires that are some of the most dangerous individuals in the world.
The Keepers: It’s only member is Gerry (or is it?), the crazy homeless guy on the corner, but he will tell you and anyone who will listen that they number in the thousands and are the most powerful secret society in the verse. A tribute paid to him will ensure you good favor and that the Keepers will watch your back.
Carrion Crows: The garbage collectors of major cities, traveling armies and outer regions. They collect, burn and remove refuse in all its forms. They work closely with assassins guild in disposing of bodies and thieves guilds with finding homes with wealthy residents (who knows more than the goon going through your garbage). Refuse to pay off their dues at your own risk. You may find garbage, dead bodies and fecal matter on your doorstep.
The Augerers: Because even your fantasy setting needs weathermen.
The Vixen Syndicate: A well organized guild of highly trained escorts and confidantes for hire who specialize in finding secrets out about their clients. Used as spies and information gathering. They can also be used to disseminate information, gossip, or lies, to those they work with to pass on to their clients. They have no government affiliation and often have a member in every place people of power go for comfort. It is advisable to pay promptly and often tip for their services as any failure to pay for services rendered will lead to the hiring person being ruined, disgraced, or having the same mission done to them free of charge.
Golden Griffin Guild: Once a big and prosperous guild spanning their work through many nations, supporting and training many adventurers, they had their castle destroyed by plague magic and now ,the few members left, live in a dilapidated tavern in a rural town. The Guildmaster, Svetlana Trigg, a middle Aged Wood Elf, still receives requests from the local populace, but unable to fill them will pass the quests to any of the tavern’s patrons who are interested in some easy cash. People close to her also say that she has maps of local abandoned dungeons and fortresses, including one of the old Golden Griffin Castle, now plagued with blight, surrounded by poisonous bogs and home to all kind of evil and pestilence, but still, filled with the treasures of adventurers who wintered there.
The Lightning Hooves: Guild of all types of transporters, riders, and drivers of all kinds. Emphasis on speed, they are the ones to call if you need a message delivered swiftly, a package transported securely, a ride through dangerous territory, or just need someone who can pilot/ride a vehicle or mount to an expert ability.
Tree-buchets: A siege crafter guild dedicated to the finest siege weapon ever made: The Trebuchet. For some reason the guild is heavily themed after trees… Rivals to the Cat-apults.
Cat-apults: A siege crafter guild dedicated to the finest siege weapon ever made: The Catapult. For some reason the guild is also heavily cat themed… Rivals to the Tree-buchets.
The Gilded Compass: An organization of adventurers that specialize in hunting magical or extraplanar creatures. They are named after the golden compasses handed to proven members which always points to the guildhall instead of pointing north. Currently still lead by the Gnome who was part of the founding members, but is retired from the hunts because of his age.
The Justichars: a chain of slaughterhouses that specialize in beef products. Their signature product? The charred ground beef patty served on a bun with a leafy green to boot. The individuals in the guild are referred to as ‘burgers’… Whatever that means.
The Namesayers: A guild of scribes, tailors, and artists. Want to start your own guild but can’t think of a cool name to stand out among the Flying Dragoons or the Nightblades? Come to us, give us some details on your guild and founding members, and we’ll come up with a name for you! We also do crests and tabards.
The Sirens: An elite group of bards who meet once a year to complete and share new skills. Each year, the 3 High Callers – those in charge – get a Silver Note, a silver pin in the shape of a music note, to award to one bard. This allows them to join the next annual meeting, getting them through the advanced wards and spend surrounding the site each year.
The Hoard: A group of various races who work for a beholder known as The Collector, trading artifacts or knowledge for secrets and information. (Personally, I’d call the members ‘Hoarders’)
The Ceaseless Bloom: A group of farms and coops run by druids and rangers who manipulate growth times to produce large amounts of crops all year.
The Silver Lions: A three branched guild of mercenaries ran by fraternal twin Tieflings, and their human half brother, which take many different contracts for their services, often offering reduced pricing for quests that have them searching out powerful artifacts. The twins work together for now, but one seems to always have the harder contracts to fulfill, against their better judgement.
The Heirs of Xor-Kumbukquan: This guild is a trail of refugees who survived a subterran battle around the already perilously conflicted dwarf city Xor-Kumbukquan in which the drow defeated the dwarf army that stood watch. This specific guild of dwarfs dared venture to the surface world in order to plan the recapture of their home city. They are, for dwarf standards, open to new things and even allowed other races to join their guild, which they originally registered to have weight in surfacer politics. Now some dwarfs catch themselves thinking about dwelling on the surface forever. The dwarfes are apparently about to split up into different groups again, re-creating the fate of Xor-Kumbukquan. Some disagree with letting other races join, some want to become mountain dwarves and get even higher into the mountains. They are expert miners and sell coal and small amounts of valuable materials found under the earth. Also their elders know the drows plans to expand and eventually start raids against human settlements at night.
The Navigators: a semisecret guild that offer planar travel services for a big price. (You’ll probably have to pay them in rare spices)
The Other Hand: A guild of street urchins who have dedicated themselves to moving in and out of urban social situations. Their speciality is in creating large distractions throughout the city…for the right price.
The Spotless: This guild began as simply members of a city’s street cleaning crew. However, over time they began accepting coin in order to clean up some adventuring party’s misadventures. When a team of adventures have an encounter go sideways and need to dispose of evidence, bodies, or clean a crime scene it will be The Spotless that they call upon.
Embertenders: Viewed as a �guiding light� type of organization from anyone on the outside, this Guild serves a wildly different purpose known to the dwarves whose strongholds are lucky enough to support a branch. Primarily, they are fire mages charged with keeping those bastard trees from burrowing in and destroying their craftwork and tunnels, whether it be root-ine maintenance or clear cutting forests around growing settlements before or during development.
The NPC’s: A guild of meta-knowledge truthers who recognize that there is something off in the world. For example, why does everybody always stand 5 feet apart from one another?
The Denizens of the Endless Void: Members of this organization call themselves ‘listeners.’ They are dedicated to contacting and uncovering life on other planes. Not appropriate to all settings, but possibly great for irony in settings where extra-planar creatures are relatively common.
The Contenders: Your local fantasy organizers, rule-creators, and sometimes inventors of non-combat sports.
The Spice Traders: No need to be coy or mince words. These merchants pay well for exotic spices, reagents, and herbs.
The Order of the Secret Chest: Dedicated to the art of non-magical security, including the finest locks, the most innovative traps, and the strongest chests.
The Arbitrators: Powerful, neutral, and unquestionably wise. They are invited to resolve disputes before war breaks out not only for their wisdom, but because they have the power to enforce their decrees.
The Inquiring Minds: Dedicated to invention, innovation, and tinkering of all sorts.
The Order of the Faithless: In worlds where the divines unquestionably exist, these humanitarians defend those who believe that great power does not necessarily grant authority to rule against those who would abuse divine magic.
The Court of Miracles: A group of shapeshifters, changelings, illusionists and the like who infiltrate other guilds and high ranking positions to gather private information, whether it be for personal/guild gain or blackmail. Anonymity is highly valued by the members and as such they usually communicate with untraceable or cryptic messages. Entry is only through anonymous invitation and the cost is a valuable secret which can benefit the guild members. The guild motto is ‘We are no one…and everyone…’.
Golden Road Caravan Company: Works with independent artisans and guilds to transport goods between settlements in the local province. Also buying goods that are cheap and taking them to high-demand areas for extra profits. They run a set of wagons and cart trains, with a crews of drivers, guards, and extra hands to load and unload goods, along with a guild representative.
The Brokers: Technically a form of indentured servitude, it is a government-run guild that is considered a respectable form of repaying your debts to other citizens and to society with strict regulations protecting the worker. Have a love/hate relationship with many other guilds due to perceived stolen contracts. – Service Brokers operate as house servants and chefs. – Labor Brokers work as farmhands, miners, builders, etc. – Protection Brokers provide mercenary and security services. – Underling Brokers are apprentice tradesmen who assist artisans and merchants. – Wild Brokers act as hunters, trackers, rangers, and scouts. – Pleasure Brokers operate brothels & manage acting troupes and bards.
The White Lotus Order: A worldwide, secretive guild of elves that works to control the flow of magic users, and magic in general in the world. You can tell one by their white lotus amulet.
The Watchers: A thieves guild of Wererats lead by a WereTiger named Korrik Sandarian. Based out of Luskan, they spread out amongst the Sword Coast watching and learning secrets, selling said secrets to the highest bidder. Sometimes infiltrating entire governments to sell secrets to their enemies.
The ROMP Riders: The Righteousness Order of Mounted Paladins are a mercenary guild that are hired out by the various provinces to police the smaller cities and islands of the archipelago. They ride on horseback, or whatever mount suits them and carry pole arms and long weapons. Their ranks mostly includes Paladins, Clerics, Fighters, and Rangers but anyone of good intention is more than welcome to join so long as they are willing to pledge allegiance to Tyr and uphold justice over self-held beliefs. Oh, and their horses are equipped with horseshoes of waterwalking.
The Glass Eyes: A small group of elite wizards specializing in scrying. Need to find a person or object? Pony up enough coin and they�ll look for you. Very stingy with their services and what they consider is worth their time.
The Honorable Profession of the Clothier: While they do not mind people mending their own clothes, or children wearing hand-me-downs, they are remarkably proactive about ensuring no one else makes clothes. These tailors and seamstresses demand to inspect all cloth and clothing sold within their territory. Anyone caught making clothes or worse, counterfeiting HPC tags, finds out the hard way that people who sew tend to own multiple variants on the theme of scissors.
The Gatekeepers: A group of conjurers that maintain stone daises which allow for economical teleportation. Travel to cities halfway across the world without having to deal with bandits, monsters, and other unpleasantness of the road. All for a reasonable fee of course.
The Blades of Bahamut: A devoted order of monks serving the Draconic God of justice. They are known for establishing monasteries and orphanages and providing protection and aid for communities in need. Their fearsome reputation and ruthless manner of dealing with the wicked tend to keep criminal elements and evil aligned guilds far away from them.
The Bonfire Battalion: A mercenary guild who make their living by leading expeditions through frigid climates. Members are mainly rangers, druids, and Mages with a specialty for fire magic.
Sphinxchasers: A small group of treasure seekers and riddle solvers. They have a base of operations, but no one remembers seeing lights on inside because they’re always out in the field, chasing the next rumor.
The Surety Guild Fantasy insurance. For a fee up front, they cover the losses of a failed expedition or trade journey. Ripe for exploitation and plot hooks.
The Town Criers: sharers of news, tales, and lore, these bards and minstrels ply their trade in markets and bars across the kingdom. They can be induced to spice up your particular story for a nominal fee.
The Royal Zoological Society: Dedicated to identifying, cataloging, and describing all living things.
The Red Wolf Hunters semi-legal professional bounty hunters. These warrior-trackers work alone, and are recognized the world over as the names to call when an individual needs to be apprehended alive.
The Order of the Silent Temple: A society of monks, clerics, and bards dedicated to cataloging and studying forgotten religions. They don’t profess to seek to bring these god’s worship back into the world, but their archives are an invaluable resource to adventurers (and cultists…) of all kinds.
The Shrikes: A group of assassins they say cannot be hired, and no one can reliably say how to contact them. They are known only by their kills, which are all very distinct. The Shrikes only target people who abuse the law for their own ends. Those who act ‘lawfully’, but are wholly unethical. A Shrike’s target is always found impaled to spikes set in a wall or other vertical surface, and marked with feathers of a shrike.
The Sisters of Stone: A multi-purpose guild primarily composed of Dwarf women, the Sisters work in adventuring, stonecraft, brewing, smithing, and more. They were originally founded to help their fellow dwarf women, and fight the belief that there are no dwarf women. As time passed and that notion fell by the wayside, they have opened up their membership to women of all races, particularly those who still regularly fall under prejudice.
The Iron Circle: A group of mages dedicated to guarding against the dangers of magic. They understand that with power comes temptation, and they dedicate themselves to policing the magical community and researching ways to detect, resist, and fight the threats specific to magic-users. Their intentions are good, but not appreciate their efforts, and sometimes the methods of some members fall into definite gray territory.
The Street Worker’s Action Guild: A loose conglomerate formed to organize and protect all those who ply their trade on the streets. From traveling merchants to street performers to women(and men!) of the night to your favorite meat-on-a-stick vendor, SWAG makes sure that everyone gets access to the choicest corners equally. The guild also records any reports of harassment or mistreatment by any other organization, and pressures them accordingly. Just make sure you pay your dues… It’s amazing how quickly your sales can dry up.
The Wave Breakers A loose collection of human armadas, merfolk, and powerful marine entities that guard the ports of important trade cities from the many threats of the deep.
The Mechanim Heart: As cities rely more and more upon great works of technology and magic the government repair systems were lacking. The Mechanim Heart keeps the vital systems of the world running, from floating citadels to small country lift bridges.
Fiddlesticks: A relaxed musicians guild that provides job posting and benefits to members like reduced travel fees and lodging costs by cooperating with other establishments.
Corvin’s Tears: Bodies tend to pile up around cities and are not often disposed of properly. This guild collects bodies from off the streets and execution grounds, then gives them the burial rites of a handful of common gods before disposal. The most common method is cremation. During plagues or other crises mass graves are employed and covered in holy seals to protect the bodies from the forces of undeath. The guild also keeps large flocks of enchanted carrion crows that patrol the surrounding countryside for forgotten bodies or in extreme cases rip and tear unholy animated flesh to pieces.
Overland Express: Sometimes you need to send a message, but those pesky wizards are just. so. expensive! Overland Express is the budget-friendly way to get your message from A to B. Though sometimes less reliable than other methods, they’re still a household name in most of the world.
The Royal Bird Watching Society: if you are dreaming of sitting alongside tranquil rivers watching the graceful dance of migrating birds then this is not the guild for you, as only the most diehard and adventurous birdwatchers choose to join the RBWS. Perhaps one of the most ruthless and blood thirsty guilds in the land, the RBWS’s annual bird watching competation see’s adventurous birdwatchers competing to find some of the most far flung, exotic and dangerous birds in the world. But it is not the many feathered fiends that appear on the annual list that makes this guild so dangerous, but rather the extreme and often homicidal lengths your fellow guild members will go to to ensure they win the prize.
Bureau for the Conservation and Management of Magical and Mundane Wildlife: With so many different kids of magical game and varied hunting methods the job of wildlife management is unending. From regulating hunting lodges to fining local necromancers for letting their creations feast on animal these surprisingly bureaucratic druids, rangers, and even clerics keep the forests well stocked and healthy.
Friends of the Fey: Druids and other lovers of nature who preserve and protect the most ancient sources of first-world magic.
The Horizon-Seekers: Guides, generally non-magical rangers, rogues, and bards who use their local knowledge to pierce into the unknown and unexplored.
The Uptown Gentlemen: A secretive guild of confidence artists who prey on the naive rich.
Followers of the Broken Blade: Ideals: this guild is devoted to using and making broken pieces of equipment as they believe they are better then anything else, normal members normally only cray small broken objects such as rings, daggers and other small rusted or broken trinkets. | Higher standing and more devoted members have been know to wear shattered pieces of armor and only arm themselves with rusted, broken and chipped weapons. | Entry: to show devotion to the guild one must bring a item of personal value, and break it in some way, however it has to be broken in some way not destroyed as destroying an item is seen as a symbol of a inability for restraint as the group only values broken items not destroyed. | After the breaking, the act will be judged by the most devoted and high ranking members of the guild if the act was seen as sufficient and showed willingness to the cause then they will be let in, but if the believe the person hesitated or went to far they will deny them entry, not for life however but a person can only apply and go trough the ritual once a year.
The Torchers: Once a vile group of nighttime marauders, but now a respectable group of escorts and tour guides that use preventive measures and escape tactics to keep their customers alive from the freaks and scares of the world.
Scroungers: A group of people looking to teach the homeless, poor, or whomever is curious how to find food wherever they go: which spotted mushrooms are good to eat, and which will cause your skin to rot. How long can a banana sit in the trash before it’s considered inedible? Which roots should be boiled, which should be ground, and which should be left out to dry to attract green beetles: which make for a great paste on old toast. Great for aspiring adventurers, those who find it difficult to make or keep coin, and those who are thrifty and curious!
The fishing district of ‘town name’: orcs that seem like reformed, civilized fishermen, but when they sail, its 10% actual fishing, 90% fighting sea beasts to protect the kingdom and relieve orcish agressive tension. (Evil version: they raid Triton villiges)
The Scholarly Gents: Archive upkeep, funding for magic colleges, and staring directly into the heart of the weave. This group of superannuated archmages tend to the preservation and pursuit of knowledge. Just be sure to turn your book in on time.
The Unseen, a group of halfling druids, rangers and others guardian a forest that keep a monster trapped by magic.
The Treant-Hugger Coalition: A worldwide, cross-governmental preservation and research society founded on the common goal of protecting Treant historical sites, preserving magical woodland zones, and maintaining sacred forest parks. Members of the coalition and most of their honorary members are granted safe passage through most Treant forests. Consequentially, most coalition outposts make their required dues to their regional guild through selling out their services as guides through Treant forests and educators of Treant culture. Due to their deep connections with nature, natural magic, and the wilderness, most members of the coalition come from druidic and necessity-hunter backgrounds�the former making up the the educator workforce and the latter making up most of the �Park Ranger� workforce.
The Old Constabulary: When a new lord moves in, sometimes he wants to put new laws in place. Guardsmen/Police that refuse to go against their long standing principles for trivial things such as a temporary new boss, will generally be unceremoniously dropped from the force. That�s where the Old Constabulary recruit from. Their motives are to uphold the (previously established) law, and provide safety to those harassed for jumped up charges. Oftentimes they�ll be above average age for their race, and have a knack for blending in/remaining under the radar. Anyone ringing a handbell can expect a Constable to aid them, if one is within earshot.
The Glitter Court: they travel the land recruiting promising young beauties and train them in nobility, selling them off as brides/husband’s to knights and Lord’s without spouse
The Capstone Guild: An organization of mostly halflings, dedicated to the collection, cataloging, and study of the different mushrooms around the world. They know which ones are edible, which ones are poisonous, and which ones have special or magical properties. A member tends to always have some type of special or magical mushroom on hand, for emergencies.
The Rawhide Guild: A guild of leatherworkers, they are experts in creating clothing, armor, and any type of ornamentation in leather. A member’s uniform consists of a blue-dyed leather jerkin, leather pants, leather boots, leather gloves, all topped with a blue stylish leather cap.
The Kensington Tumblers: This guild is ostensibly known as an organization of acrobats and showmen, experts at putting on circus-type performances for the townsfolk. To those in the know, however, they have a reputation as the finest burglars in the business, and may be willing to steal certain objects for a client, if the price is right.
The Slave Traders Union: They would never trade slaves in an area where it is forbidden but this merchants guild will do anything and everything within the law to make as much money as possible. There is even a special division of lawyers dedicated to finding loopholes for lucretive streams of business. There are certain benefits to being a member so long as your fees are up to date such as if a member is accused of something illegal the guild will pay for their defense attorney. However of a member is ever found guilty of a crime then they will be outcast, fined, and forbidden from applying for new membership ever again. Their leader is a halfling with a silver tongue who has skin in the game in every game, and a pension for getting other people in trouble instead of themselves.
The Night Lighters: A union comprised of the men who are hired to light the torches and lamps around town each night. They’ve managed to intimidate the torchmakers and lamp oil salesman to the point where they have a monopoly on post-sundown light and are working to get the Continual Flame spell outlawed. But at least they aren’t a shadowy conspiracy that works in the dark.
Hand of Smaddur: Self proclaimed children of the smithing god, this group of Dwarves is known for their talent at making things. Tricks include making babies from metal, making mechanical limbs that can shatter mountains, swords that sing of peace and ships that become stable during storms. Their current leader is Haddrin Connor, a 350 year old who is known for his armor, the Dwegennaer, an armor that would shriek at attackers, stunning them.
The Path Walking Guild: Who keeps the walked paths walked? For a path Unmaintained becomes a path unwalked. A walked path is inviting, even if it leads through the dangerous wilds. These folk seek adventure and wish it upon others, however they see the difficult level of entry and so they vow to keep the paths walked so that fledgling hikers, travellers, merchants, and adventurers can go forth without fear and with some level of decency. Many are retired folk, and many are simply folk who care about their health. �Walk the path, my friends, so that others may follow.� Edit: some are map makers and contribute by prospecting new paths. Each year they hold a ceremony to announce the formation of a single new path. Each member walks on it. In doing so a brand new path is born. The guild values distance efficiency, terrain quality, scenic score, oxygen level based on elevation, and many other factors. Note that they value the origin and the destination less because they believe it is the journey that matters most.
The Silent Orchestra: A surprisingly large guild consisting of bards and some rogues. They are used to pass along messages to others, sometimes in secret, sometimes in public. The bards developed their own version of Thieve’s Cant and use it in song. This is especially useful when it comes to spreading a message quickly. Some bards travel on their own while others hide in a traveling group, unaware to having a Silent Orchestra member among them.
The Orphan’s Vow: a secluded, monastic cult of sorcerers who curse their gift of magic, refrain from practicing it under severe penalty, and pray their whole lives for it to go away.
Ylem�s Brothers: Guild of constructs named for the first successful creation of the great wizard Isemar. Ylem looked like a mortal man, but needed no sleep, could crush stone with its bare hands, and cast spells like a sorcerer; despite years of tireless work to better the kingdom, Ylem was eventually destroyed by a fearful populace that believed constructs were going to replace them. This guild welcomes all outcasts but especially warforged and other homonculi or those of mongrel blood – tieflings are a large randexpandity, and many of the members of the guild are sorcerers. They make their gold through typical mercenary work, but lend sorcerous aid to researchers and those who wish to study artificial life forms. Wise investment of wealth allows them to intercede on the behalf of artificial beings and mongrels everywhere who are mistreated. Their symbol is a brown field divided by black bands, a heart at its center – the heart is half flesh, half metal.
The Order of Militant Moderates: This cabal of ascetics firmly believe that mankind is unworthy of excessive reputation. They wear rough-spun robes of undyed wool and plain wooden masks to obscure their features. Each chapter meets once a month to nominate individuals operating within their jurisdiction who have gained too much acclaim. A vote is held and one target is selected. It is then each member’s duty to bring about disgrace and humiliation to that individual, by covert means. Additional Details: The Order employs methods of maintaining anonymity even during internal proceedings. This allows them to enact and discuss elaborate plots of humiliation against vainglorious citizens without accruing any renown even within their own circles. Larger chapters might nominate more than one target, but once nominated the target is never removed from the chapter’s bounty board until they have been suitably humiliated. Particularly prominent targets have, at times, been added to the list on a ‘for life’ basis. They refer to one another as ‘Moderator’ and believe they perform vital work to keep mankind’s ego in check. Outsiders often refer to them by the epithet ‘Peggers’, since they are said to be gripped by jealousy and obsessed with taking their betters down a peg. Any member inflicting more than superficial bodily harm against a target is subject to expulsion from the Order: Bruises and scrapes are acceptable, broken bones and cuts are not.
Victus Mercentile Guild: A merchant’s guild renound for their prowess and aggressive acquisition behavior. Originally tasked with keeping trade routes safe, they have since begun acquiring all shops, banks, and caravans, and enforcing various ‘Maintenance fees’ on its members, while gray robed bureaucrats have become the norm in most cities.

Festivals

(DnD Speak)

Festival of Returns – Celebrated by keeping one’s door open all day during festivities. In remembrance of the day that countless missing people returned home after an adventuring group of paladins vanquished a coven of hags who had been stealing people away in the night for their rituals
Weaver’s Eve – An artful festival for fabric makers. Celebrates the day when the nearby forest’s local spider population came to the townspeople asking for help to safeguard their nests from foraging cockatrices. The local seamstresses responded by making large, sturdy fabric webs for the spiders to hide in until the cockatrices could be dealt with.
Day of Stone – Celebrated as a masonry recognition day. Began as a day of remembrance some hundreds of years before when Hunters returned to town only to find that every person had been turned to stone by a roaming Medusa.
The Haunt – A day when people offload their grievances with one another, lest they be haunted by holding it in. In recognition of the day long ago when a necromancer bestowed a curse of silent aggression over the town until people began killing one another, then raising them for his army of dead.
The Honey Moon festival – Every few months, the moon will rise with a golden glow for two or three nights. In the little town of &amp;lt;im bad at names&amp;gt; they say that the moon does this when someone, somewhere, finds true love. During these days, tables are set out in the streets and people ask others to join them on dates, platonic and romantic, underneath the golden moonlight (similar to real world valentines dates).
The Barstool Burning – After an incident where a mimic disguised as a barstool bit off a chunk of a poor patron’s bum, the tavern’s inebriated clientele burned all its barstools in the street. An afternoon of drinking and building street bonfires made of barstools and other flammables has since become an annual holiday that has spread to all the taverns in the city. The taverns use the bump in proceeds to buy new barstools.
Monster Parade – Once a year, all the cities in region hold a parade where all the participants wear elaborate monster costumes. Larger cities may employ magicians for special effects and have multistory beasts mounted on wheeled carts with movable parts and participants riding inside. The final attraction in the parade is the “holy paladin” with an elaborate armor outfit and costume weapons who is driving the “monsters” away. The role of the paladin is chosen by popularity contest or some other method, and is almost never an actual paladin. The parade celebrates a plot to deter a foreign attack by making it appear that terrifying monsters had already overrun the streets, yet they were easily defeated and driven off by guards.
The Bath and Swim – This “festival” originated in a region with intermittent vampire problems. When another drained person is found, every man, woman, and child in the territory are ordered to assemble and wade across a shallow river. Immobile people are carried and then submerged. A census is then taken, and anyone who didn’t show up or refused (even visitors) is captured and dunked. Bored youths waiting for the trials to end soon started a now traditional swimming contest in the deeper part of the river. Thanks to a pair of enterprising visiting bards, a recurring comedy act developed. Two bards playing an oblivious guard and a vampire sit in a single large wooden bath and deliver “Straight Man and Wise Guy” skits. The comedy act has an informative end: it addresses vampire powers and weaknesses, and cautions against explicitly inviting anyone into your home, or your bath.
Masquerade ball – An event for the upper classes and nobility. Participants ballroom dance while wear highly concealing masks and costumes. Because everyone’s identities are ostensibly hidden, participants are expected to cut loose. Statements challenging authority, outrageous clothing, lascivious dancing, public displays of affection, impoliteness, crude jokes, and open gossip is also permitted. Many champions of silenced and oppressed factions voiced their first manifestos here. The masquerade ball is a can’t-miss for anyone investigating aristocratic allegiances and doings, social climbers seeking courtly influence, and underworld rogues looking for high level protection and buyers.
Catacomb Carnival – Once per year in the great cities the citizens head to the catacombs to celebrate another year alive and honor the dead interred in them by properly cleaning and arranging the bones of those that have been in the catacombs for a year into elaborate structures and designs. Any bones that are damaged in any way are burned in a great pyre in the city square and the ashes are used in the mortar of the bone sculptures below. They also leave offerings to the beetles and rats that do the job of stripping the bodies down to the bone. After the catacombs have been cleaned and the years previous dead have been attended to there is a day and night of celebration where revelers light the catacombs and tunnels and celebrate in procession above and below the streets wearing masks of beetles, rats, and skeletons to ward off any dark spirits and denizens that might also haunt the dark recesses below the city.
The Minstrel Masquerade – A yearly festival wherein bards gather from every kingdom to enjoy one another’s company. Every bard seeks an invitation to such a jovial event, but only a few will be deemed worthy of winning a “Bardy.” The masquerade’s origin stems from the tragedy of Gerrick the Mad. Gerrick was a loyal jester, a bard of Lore, whom kept his sleepless king laughing for 3 months straight. Unfortunately Gerrick was only a man, a simple bard, and when the king finally gave word for him to stop jesting, he fell to the ground, stone dead. This festival exists to honor Gerrick and other bards alike for their insatiable desire to be the best artistic minds in their kingdoms, and the horrid sacrifice Gerrick made for the price of his King’s smile.
The Salmon Bulb Run – It is this time each year that the giant salmon (which dwell within the nearby rivers) finish their yearly rot on the shores of nearby villages. You see, each year the salmon spawn, die, then float to shore causing a special type of psychedelic river mushroom to form on their carcasses (after they rot for approximately a year). These mushrooms are collected and shared amongst the Firbolg community as a right of passage.
Winter’s Ritual Day – To prepare the day before, a branch of the sacred tree is cut and carved into a bowl, in it, runes are scribed asking for what you want come Spring and the next year; fortune, fertility or good health and inside is placed a special candle. After midnight, the candle is lit by a special bonfire created by the temple. A special ceremony is held at midday, where the priest incants a ritual spell ceremony, asking that the city be warded from the Spirit of Winter till next year. After this ceremony, which lasts 5 hours, the people drink ale and sup broth from their bowl cup (candle still lit hopefully), until midnight when they blow out the candle. If your candle goes out beforehand, terrible luck will befall you in the coming year.
Day of Mending – A celebration to better one’s community and strenghten the bonds between townsfolk, this holiday is a day when tailors, crafters, smithies and similar trades set aside their work for a day offer their services for free on small projects for members of their community. As the holiday has grown, it has become a tradition for others to offer their goods and services to the community as well: bakers give away small food stuffs, taverns offer drinks on the house (one per customer!), and musicians and artisans flaunt their talents to all. Many enjoy the holiday as an opportunity to bond with their neighbors and community, while the more savvy use it as an opportunity for self promotion. The primary tenet of the Day of Mending is that old grudges and quarrels are set aside, if only for the day, and folk put the community ahead of the individual before the old business resumes on the following day.
The Lovers’ Return – One night each year, it is said that the spirits of a young man and woman return to roam the town where they died, looking for each other. Old tales tell of the young lovers kept apart, until one committed suicide from grief, only to be shortly followed into death by their partner. Now, the oldest townsfolk whisper of seeing the crimson specter of half-seen figures, sometimes a young man, sometimes a young woman, roaming the town on the night of the Lovers’ Return, rapping lightly on the doors of homes to be let inside to search for their lost love. The townsfolk believe that hanging certain totems around their entryways will keep the lovers from coming to their doors, but even so, every few years a young man or a young woman goes missing on the Lover’s Return, presumably taken away by one of the specters mistaking them for their lost partner.
Winter’s Offering – An old holiday, mostly celebrated by rural farming communities, it serves as both a celebration to venerate the old gods as well as preparing the villages for the winter to come. After the fall harvest, each household is granted a number of bushels of the food grown, while a large portion of it is prepared and sealed in unadorned clay urns to be buried in the ground and kept in reserve for the cold, hungry months of winter. As well, the villagers bury the bodies of their young at this time: the stillborn and the infants who passed in the previous year, their bodies prepared and buried in urns painted black, offerings to the old gods. The old midwives of such communities often keep unruly children in line with tales of how the cries and tears caused by misbehaving children echo into the ground and cause the blackened urns to crack, prompting their buried occupants to crawl their way out to the surface and drag away bad little boys and girls.
Festival of the Sashes – to commemorate the purge of a despotic royal lineage centuries ago, when the ruling family was chased out of town by the commoners, their clothing stripped of their bodies as they ran through the streets. Groups and families prepare mannequins adorned with colorful sashes, each trying to make theirs the most elaborate and festive. The mannequins are then hoisted on poles and carried through the city. The groups race from Royal Plaza to the city gates. People line the streets and try to grab and tear handfuls of the sashes and ornamentation off as the mannequins pass. The atmosphere is very festive with public drunkenness and groups of young people chasing after the mannequins.
Week of Rest – Neighbors take turns cooking meals for each other. Based on when a plague swept through the town and some got better while others got sick.
Monument Race Day – It is said that when a near by volcano erupted destroying the old town, after evacuating their families many of the villagers returned to move the stone monument from the old town center to the new town�s location. In honor of this deed, every year on the anniversary of the eruption, the townspeople form teams that carry replica monuments in a race from the site of the old village to the monuments�s current location. Afterwards the town celebrates by having lava soup (a spicy red tomato based soup), with monument shaped bread rolls.
Lamentations of the Cinders – a somber day of reflection on the anniversary of the Great Fire that killed thousands. At third bell after noon, which is when the fire began, people begin silently filing from their homes. Everyone covers their faces with soot and ash. Particularly devout people or older folk who lost everything in the fire may go completely naked and cover their whole body in soot. Citizens keep their faces downcast as they slowly walk a circuit around the neighborhoods that were most affected. A bell tolls every minute for the lives that were lost. At sundown everyone quietly returns home. Recently people have begun to include a great feast of preserved foods, like jerky, salted fish, and dried fruit afterwards.
Last Tidings – It is said there once was a witchy lass who fell in love with a sailor. He went to sea and for twentyfive years she would wait for him at the sea cliff until the last tide went out at dusk. On the final night of her vigil on the last outgoing tide of the year she received word that her lover had perished. She cursed and vowed to the heavens that nobody would ever have to suffer and wait as long as she did for closure. She performed some unknown ritual and ever since that night, on the last out going tide of the last day of the year, anybody who whispers the name of a loved one on the seaside cliff will either hear the name returned meaning they were still alive or hear the cry of an albatross and know them perished. Two night long festivals have arisen one mourning the other joyous as lovers learn the truth. It is no coincidence that many of the single participants find comfort and more in each other’s company.
Wall of Melons – A hundred years ago the city was under siege. The invaders climbed a wall to get inside only to be rebuffed by peasants who tore down their own homes to toss rocks down on the climbers. The day is celebrated by a committee selecting a portion of wall up witch a the town’s young men try to clamber. At top are an equal bumber of lasses armed with melons both ripe and rotten. It isbl traditional for the first climber up to ask for and be given the hand in marriage of his choice. The climbers are protected by feather fall spells and blanket carrying elders.
Sweet Night – The orchids of fruit trees in the town’s fields are pollinated by bats from a local cave. This wasn’t known until a hundred years ago when a vampire ravaged the country side. It was tracked back to the cave and burned out, scattering the bats as well. The next years harvests were bad until a traveling holy man told the villagers they must lure the vats back. This was done by pouring syrup and other sweets out on a long path from orchards to cave. It worked and has become an annual event to remind and thank the bats. The sweets used have become candies for children and alcohol for adults. It starts with a barnfire at dusk and culminates in a long hike to the cave. Dancing and costume wearing is common as well as many bat theme toys and souvenirs.
War of the Monsters – An Olympic sports like event with many different athletic competitions and games. The main event is a destruction derby style event where groups make “monster wagons”. Essentially people driven/powered wagons/carts that are made to look like monsters of the world (dragons, dire animals, beholders, etc). The goal is just to disable the opponents wagons, not hurt the drivers. Last monster wagon still able to roll wins. History harkens back to a day many many years, when several large wild monsters wandered into town at the same time. They ended up fighting each other rather then attacking the people, in a territorial dispute. This gave the civilians time to evacuate and adventurers time to gain control of the situation. Contradictory stories developed how one monster (it’s always a different one, since no one agrees which it was) was actually there to save the City from the other monsters. As several monsters actually escaped, this “hero” monster is said to still be out there guarding the city. People in the city are split into groups by what monster they believe is their guardian.
Day of stillness – No-one goes outside or opens doors for 3 days. Very worrying to newcomers to the huge city. It is surreal to see a giant city completely still and silent. Almost no lights and no answers. In remembrance in how they barely escaped the plague by not greeting any infected during those trying times.
Day of the Hawk – Adepts at the shortbow and longbow compete in a test of skill and accuracy (ex. piercing a thrown copper penny-sized item in the center), hitting fast moving targets from horseback. Gnome artificers, smiths, and other weapons craftsmen travel to the city from far and wide to tout their new inventions and wares. The festival began when the city was a small village and those who came of age had to prove their proficiency with the weapon as part of demonstrating their skills in order to successfully hunt and defend the community.
The Day of Ribbons – An annual occasion where beautiful ribbons are tied to posts all over town. When asked why, people only give a somber look. Nobody speaks about it, giving the impression that it’s disrespectful and insulting to do so.
The Night of Burning – In memory of the defeat of an ancient black dragon that had kept them in slavery, this town has an annual tradition where they kill, cook, and eat a juvenile black dragon.
Orctoberfest – A yearly weeklong celebration commemorating the defeat of a massive army of orcs that had once besieged the city. Lots of drinking of fermented beverages, dancing, and general public revelry.
Market’s Day – A day of great deals and bargains from merchants and vendors. It marks the beginning of the new market year and celebrates when the open trading and selling of dwarven and elvish wares to humans was legalized throughout the land.
Candlenights – A night when the entire city holds a candlelight vigil until the dead of night, and then exchanging gifts and celebrating with a feast. Groups of families and neighbors stand around the city in patches, while holding their candles up high. This commemorates the time when a group of adventurers killed a nest of gold dragons, relieving many of the farmers of the fear of being killed and their crops burned. The adventurers brought back the dragon’s hoard to share with the town, but because of a raging blizzard, had to be guided in by groupings of torches.
Day of Snakes – a day literally celebrating the existence of snakes. Vendors sell all kinds of snake-related items, restaurants serve dishes with a bit of snake flair added on, and people release their pet snakes all around town. This goes far back to when there was a large rat pestilence in the town, and it looked like it would never get better until a random snake merchant came to town and offered to begin breeding snakes for them in order to control the population. Disease rates fell, overall cleanliness increased, and the town felt better overall after the rats were driven down to a dwindle.
Propitiation of the Twins – around twenty years ago a pair of shooting stars appeared in the night sky. Soothsayers and astrologers predicted that this would usher in a new age of prosperity. People began leaving offerings in public squares to entice “the Twins” to bless their household. Now, every year on the anniversary, people have continued the tradition by lighting two candles and leaving a small bread cake in a public area at dusk.
Boulder Pushing Day – On this day every year, the town splits into 2 teams (east and west). Using the whole town as a playing field, they attempt to push a boulder sized ball (many years ago they realized that a real boulder caused too much damage to the town)towards the opposite side of town. The winning team must push the ball into the outskirts of the town on the opposing side. It�s a friendly competition akin to a high school sports rivalry. Those who cheat or intentionally hurt others are looked down upon by their peers. The town sits in a u shaped valley that they say the gods carved out by rolling a marble on flat land.
The day of Ashes – more of a ritual than a actual holiday. At this specific day of the year, the towns women get dressed in white and their faces are covered behind a veil. They roam the streets in packs singing and dancing, while the men, all dressed in black, try to coerce the women into having intercourse. Women are treated like goddesses, gifts are given to them and they have free choice of taking or refusing a partner. Each woman has a pot filled with ashes with her. After they have found and bedded their man of choice, they empty their pot onto his clothes, so the other women know not to touch them. This tradition comes from ancient times, when after a volcanic eruption the lands were covered with ashes and many people were killed by the initial eruption or starved to death in the aftermath of the event. To ensure the survival of the ancient tribes in this region, the council of all tribes instated the law of reproduction. What the town celebrates today is the day for the gods and the women, who ensure the succession of their lineage.
Festival of the Drink – Long long ago, a small group of dwarfs set out into the wilderness to establish a new outpost for the glory of their empire. When they finally settled down, they were quickly able to establish a secure outpost with plenty of food, but soon they realized they were missing one of the most important supplies of all. Alcohol. Without this necessity, order soon began unraveling in the fledgling outpost, until the lone brewer was forced to improvised. Facing no other choice, she ordered everybody to gather as much of any kind of fruit that they could find. Once the gathering was complete, she worked tirelessly for a week straight to make alcohol out of anything the other dwarfs had brought, churning out such strange brews such as cherry wine and plum cider. At the end of this massive burst of brewing brilliance, the anxiously waiting dwarfs were finally rewarded with the finest tasting drink they had ever tasted in their life. In remembrance, the now flourishing Dwarven outpost celebrates this event in it�s history by holding a festival every year where brewers compete to create the best brew possible from the local fruit chosen for that year.
The Sun God Observation Day – On this day all the village observers the sun god. I.e. stare at the sun as long as possible. The people at the village do this because an old witch told them that it would prevent them from seeing the destruction of the village. Since everyone is mostly blind her prophecy seems to have come true.
Wishmore Night – The city holds a festival at the docks, all walks of life are included and encouraged to mingle with each other. Everyone, either individually or in groups create floating wreaths in whatever way they want to present it. At midnight when the water is still, the leader of the city will wade out into the water and release their wreath first, as an offering to the gods. Everyone in turn will release theirs following the leadership, before returning to the festivities which will often go long into the next night. This celebration is to thank the gods for a bountiful year, or even a year of character building (in case of hard times). It is to mourn those lost in the Shipping routes and to pray for the safe return of others. If the water isn’t disturbed except for the wreaths, it is fabled to be a year of easy storms for the sailors. It is also of note that these wreaths never ever turn up anywhere else in the world. They disappear completely.
Celebration of Destruction – The Nine Hells love the awakening of the tarrasque so much that they make it a festivity. The celebration comprises of feasting upon whatever the titan destroyed and watching it as it rampages through entire cities, leaving nothing but rubble and dead life of all varieties in its wake. After the gargantuan beast falls asleep once again, all of devil kind praise the strength and ferocity of the powerful tarrasque.
Ale Day – A dwarven celebration that simply commemorates the invention of their favorite drink. It quickly spread to many other humanoid peoples. Dwarves and satyrs love it the most.
Owlbear Memorial Day – Elven cities that use owlbears as defense use this day to give thanks to the beasts that have protected their land for decades, sometimes centuries. The whole town offers food of all kinds for the creatures below. It�s very easy to argue that the owlbears enjoy this day more than the elves above ever could.
Festival of Life – A celebration of the Upper Planes where the denizens of the heavens celebrate the good in every creature of the Material Plane. Commonly occurs when large amounts of good, neutral, or unaligned creatures are born. This involves animals and humanoids alike. A huge feast is held with some of the most delicious food in existence.
Day of the Arts – An elven celebration where every form of art is honored. For months before this day, humanoids all across the Material Plane prepare songs, plays, dances, paintings, sculptures, and many other forms of art. A favorite day for many satyrs, with many placing it right behind Ale Day in their lists. Bards of many peoples are particularly fond of this festival. Silver dragons also love to celebrate alongside the humanoids that have arrived.
Beholder Day – A holiday invented by beholders to celebrate themselves. They give themselves presents, and demand that their servants get them presents or they die. If a cult has decided to worship the floating aberration, the beholder will only have to remind its worshipers once and it has a myriad of presents coming its way. Unlike normal holidays that occur annually, Beholder Day happens once every week.
Cliffton Day – Cliffton was a local legend who long ago had defeated a demon water elemental which came upon the small fishing village of Mistwood. They celebrate his triumph every year with contests which correlate to what traits he was known for. Whoever wins any of the contests then participates in a final contest, the winner of which is given the title of “Aspect of Cliffton,” and is then invited to participate in a ceremonial recreation of the famous battle. They are given a costume and Cliffton’s old ax and told to strike down an effigy – a standing effigy of the demon is already in center of town, but underneath the rags which make up the costume is a bound man, the village drunk, being put to death without knowledge of the adventurers. Maybe now that the adventurer is close to the figure, they can hear strained breathing amidst the cheers and song of the villagers. If they refuse to complete the ceremony, the same water demon who attacked the town years ago rises from the nearby lake and threatens to destroy the town once again. As it turns out, the killing of a man in the ritually-prepared town square once a year is part of a ritual that keeps the demon at bay.
The Betrothment Battle – Every year on the first weekend after the Summer solstice, the town plays host to a wrestling tournament and exhibition. Hand to hand fighters from across the realm come to the town to prove their mettle, and rings are prepared for non-tournament participants to settle small arguments that have built up over the year. Named for a famous fight in the town at the wedding of the Mayor’s son and one of the prominent merchant’s daughters that saw the merchant, the mayor and most of their families tear apart the public house, the tavern, and a stable in an hours long fight.
The Wardens Gauntlet – In the spring the city’s best and brightest face each other in a series of physical and mental challenges. Some are complex rituals, puzzles and riddles testing mind and spirit. Others are tests of endurance, agility, and strength. Betting and boasts are a much enjoyed portion and the contests themselves are openly viewed by the public to cheer on their favorites. The top three are given the honorary title of Warden followed by celebration where the previous Wardens hand off the mantle to any new Wardens or retain their station from the previous year. These Wardens represent the common people in matters of ceremony and any concerns or grievances to the Crown and city councils until the next years contest. Being a warden is often the path to guild leaderships or council seats and even titles from the crown. The history behind the trials and celebrations is vaguely remembered from the time of city states when open warfare was avoided by settling issues between the Wardens of each city state. There was also a darker reason for the intricate rituals and ceremony. Now considered just a spiritual and mental exercise, they serve an unknown purpose strengthening ancient Runes and Spells against something truly horrific that is ever vigilant and hungry.
Stabbing Day – Using fake daggers the populace honors the day a group of rouges saved the city from a dragon attack. It’s exactly what you think, expect red dye stains.
Rom’Chuk – Local barbarian tribes meet together in an unfortunate city and hold a Dwarf tossing contest. Use of Gnomes with fake beards is extremely frowned upon.
Siggi’s Birthday – A great shield maiden gave her life to save the city. Women can let anyone they are sweet on know by picking them up over their shoulders and hauling them off. Siggi wasn’t known for her subtlety. Rooms at the Inn are free in her honor.
The Games – A week of festivities that include games of all types under the sun; from dexterity-tests like obstacle courses, to strength competitions such as log-tossing, and even an academia note to it, like a spellcaster’s competition. This week of fun was created some time ago when a tyrant ran the city with an iron fist. Once a year he would force his supplicants to participate in crazy games which usually ended in their death. Once he was overthrown, the citizens opted to keep the week of festivities, whilst removing the “death” part. It helped the community grow closer, keeping those with terrible ambitions out.
The Pilgrimage – A day when every person in the city is expected to “carry their weight” and bring their greatest distress out in the open, so that their neighbors, friends and community may support them in earnest. Those who refuse to participate are exiled from the community until they complete a pilgrimage to the neighboring continent and bring back something that will actively make their community better; be it money, food, or magical wards. This is a practice from when the city was still just a fledgling town and every person needed to pull their own weight, and everyone relied on everyone else to support each other.
Lottery Day – A crop fertility ritual where outsiders are encouraged to attend. Eventually someone is picked at sundown and stoned to death by the crowd. Do not take the raffle tickets they offer…but there are prizes afterwards.
Day of the Horn – the ceremony draws in tieflings like moths to a flame. Almost hypnotized by the low droll of an ancient obsidian tiefling skull horn being played amongst the music. Dusk brings the climax of the festival where all the spirits of an ancient battle posses the revelers and show them an ancient battle where a contingent of tieflings rebelled against their fiend masters and joined with the townsfolk to drive the demons back to Hell. The leader selflessly gave her life to save her comrades and new friends by blowing a smoldering hole through the chests of no more than 15 fiends…leaving just her skull. “We Remember” is the mantra and afterwards the tieflings are thanked and cared for with the thought “We can be more than the sum of our parts”.
Madel’s Star Day – A meteorite fell to form a crater where a town eventually sprang up. The 5 meter rock absorbs all hostile magic and steals any illusions. The soothing rhythmic glow is amazing to behold. Only a handful of elders have metal bracelets fashioned from the meteorite that allows them to cast spells in town. Only one new one is awarded every century. In town it allows for casting of spells, outside of town it has a chance to absorb a hostile one (even your own). The properties of the stone also royally mess with any Warforged that come into contact with it.
Grey Snow Day – A volcanic instability in the area uncovered a ruined fiend city. Excavations uncovered ancient masks that the party goers wear. The volatile nature of the masks grant a limited form of fire manipulation after sun down. The party notices that a vague form of possession is slowly corrupting the crowd every year.
Fomarath Day – Laurel and oak wreaths are adorned and offerings prepared for the four treefolk guardians in a nearby permanent druid grove. A group of Hill Giants were about to lay waste to a group of farmers when a druid and his party drove them off. The druid stayed behind for a year to make sure the spell would stick. The treefolk actually love the townsfolk and have attracted other peaceful sentient plants.
Craghoof Moot – A nomadic band of centaurs and a nearby halfling settlement have a very intertwined history of one ancestor saving another or one group saving the other from invasion. The most noble thing a member could do is swear an oath to one another to ride together for a year and a day protecting the territory. The amount of high grade alcohol and mead available is mind boggling. Watching halflings in war paint and centaurs in straw hats and vests is quite hilarious.
The Druid Chain festival – As a last ditch protection against incursions into this dimension three druids, twelve elementals, and three dragons can unite and merge for a primordial ritual called a Gaia Chain to drag whatever horror that threatens all existence into the maw of the planet itself trapping it within the molten core for all eternity. It kills all those involved and as such the three temple locations became holy places to all forms of life. It is the raw elemental fury and power of the first ones that saved the world are remembered in giant soul crystals that once a year show the images of these lost heroes.
Broken Toy Day – Warforged holiday marking their Independence.
The Anniversary of The Great Mayhem – Recalls the day tribe of barbarians, orcs, and goblins laid absolute waste to a city of necromancers, warlocks, and wizards.
Eeling – every autumn as the eel population in the local reservoir grows too great, the Swanmay invite the local village to come and collect as many as they can stock for the year. While fresh eel is on the menu, the festival itself is a community occupation, jarring eels, processing oil from them and otherwise making sure that what they want will keep until next year. Large communal tables are set up in the town square and the locals gather early to get a place at the centre most tables where gossip and ale flow strongest.
Digging High – At summer solstice the various dwarven families of the area come to The Kin Hole, where they will mine as one for the three days of the festival. The hole itself is barren of valuable minerals, but the myth that the families’ ancestors divined great wealth for all dwarven kind at its completion still exists. While much merriment is made by the dwarves, the presence of outsiders is an immediate dampener.
Gluttony – though not a festival per se, the first two months of the year are always eagerly anticipated by the hobbi… the halflingses of Portree. The tradition of the wealthier houses organising lavish bashes during the time as a means of canvassing has replaced a very loose sense of meritocratic governance with a very enthusiastic intoxicracy.
The Quiet – in the old days, the village of Pertiv was in a most precarious position. Early settlers had grouped to farm an area which they only later realised was threatened by orcs, owlbears and darker things from below. While everyone celebrates the heroes who saved the village all those years ago rambunctiously in Spring, in late autumn the people remember the early days of fear and salvation by drinking heavily together in silence. Any but the most necessary and cursory communication is looked down on, and there are those in the village old enough to remember those times from their childhood.
Fyre – The burning of the Winter Witch. They say that the Winter Witch (who is the spirit of winter) is dull and dreary, but can be driven away with humor and merriment. Villagers celebrate by erecting bonfires and once the sun touches the horizon they are set alight. They drink mulled wine, play games in the snow and sing crude songs to drive the Winter Witch away.
Grimm – Orcish first blood ritual. An orc is a child until they are blooded, among the more civilized tribes of orcs this takes place in a festival called Grimm. Those deemed worthy or are brazen enough to try form a Wog or raiding party then a suitable target is chosen usually small Kobold warren or goblin outpost. All participants must bring back a heart for Grummush (their god) and a head to prove their prowess.
Spring Break Wizard Demolition Derby – A popular beachside town is inundated by hundreds to thousands of student and apprentice wizards from several large nearby schools out on holiday break. The wizards inevitably form carousing groups, get absolutely sloshed, and then try to show off their spells to intimidate rival schools, impress potential dates, or simply cause chaos. In order to keep the wizards out of town proper and redirect the damage, the town sets up beer gardens, bathrooms, dirt cheap “inns”, and other sacrificial establishments on the beach. The student wizards naturally make it their goal to destroy absolutely every temporary structure they can, culminating in a massive destruction derby on the final night. Meanwhile, the city residents cower and hope the dispatched army can keep them from invading and burning down the town, again.
Spring Break Playwright Championship – A popular beachside town is inundated by hundreds to thousands of student and apprentice bards from several large nearby schools out on holiday break. The bards inevitably form carousing groups, get absolutely sloshed, and then try to outdo the acts of rival schools, impress potential dates, or simply make a name for themselves. In order capitalize on their creative output and increase tourism, the town builds temporary theaters on the beach. The student bards naturally make it their goal to claim the most audience. Students create original productions in several different categories, marching band, full orchestra, historical drama, tragic opera, comedy musical, dance, etc. and debut them head to head against rival groups from all the different schools. The one who captures the most audience wins. On the final night, all the student bards join together for an all night jam session. The city residents who aren’t spectating are out cold after over-drinking during productions. (Free alcohol is often used to bait audience members.)
Spring Break Ascetic Training Festival – A popular mountain town is inundated by hundreds of student and apprentice monks who jogged hundreds of miles to sit under cold waterfalls made of fresh snowmelt. The monks tend to be fairly orderly since this location is a prime spot to focus one’s ki and discover new techniques. Some waterfalls have better reputations than others, so the student monks will challenge each other for superior meditation spots. The poor fasting students monks tend not to bring much revenue, but tourists who want to watch them fight do. The town constructs several “arenas” sculpted from natural materials with silenced stands so the monks are not disturbed in their combat or meditation. The town hosts a streetside festival with many booths on the final day with rich foods for the starving monks and tourists to enjoy. Some more enterprising monks also do demonstrations or offer basic self-defense classes to tourists.
The Bathing – Held at the height of summer. A highly respected priest started this tradition many years ago for those who could not afford to enter the elitist bath-houses. Townspeople gather at the calmest part of a great river just outside of town and bath naked. Considered a family friendly event, those who attend forgo their qualms about nudity and know that all are equal in the eyes of the constantly moving water.
Lock Day – A small town dug up a mountain 90 years ago to make room for a new city hall, but ended up finding a black safe with an unbreakable lock. It can’t be moved or destroyed by any means (even a disintegration spell). Every year, they have a big festival where people try to open the lock. Everyone expects them to fail, but it’s the fun in trying. They amp them up too; an announcer holler their praises…”weighing in a 220 pounds, the scourge of Neverwinter, the axe-wielding monster, [barbaian character name]. But there’s drinking, dancing, a ceremony from the town’s Cleric, trading, cookies and cakes for sale. It’s a wonderful good time. Then…one day…the safe opens by itself.
Independence Day – celebrating independence from a former ruling nation. Tons of drinking and local food that other nations think you always eat, but you really don’t eat as much of it as they think.
Celebration of Armistice – Once a year, the ambassadors of every major city in the neighboring continents bring gifts to all the smaller hamlets and towns around the land. Gifts include anything from supplemental food to last for a long winter, new technologies, mages looking to relocate and can lend a hand to smaller communities… This tradition goes back some centuries, long enough that even few elves remember the origins. Legend says that a great tyrant sought to control the lands around, and a massive war raged for a long time. Eventually the tyrant was assassinated from the inside of his court, and his officers extended an olive branch to the peoples around, before disappearing themselves.
Festival of Limitless Water – A yearly celebration in town, where townsfolk race boats, swim, drink locally brew beer and feast on roasted fish. A reminder to appreciate the gifts the waters bring them, and to remember the year a storm tore through the town, destroying most of the crops and buildngs. The boat race is a recreation of the villagers urgent travel seeking aid.
Leatah’s Warming – the town celebrates the anniversary of their religious rebith to the forest spirit Leatah, who accepted the hospitality of the town many years ago. They believe her to be the cause of their town’s good fortune. On those rare occassions she still visits, she assumes that they treat every visiting spirit the same.
Zarantyr – The Zarantyr Drumming Festival – Focus is on drumming and singing. This harkens back to the community’s roots as a marching war band, before they settled in and created their own kingdom.
Olarune – The Rough and Tumble Games – Personal combat and feats of strength. A good old fashioned brawl designed to allow aggressive supplicants to get out their aggressions with one another, ensuring that there can be a peaceful year within the city.
Therendor – The Festival Restorative – Focus is on healing, health, love and renewed. Held by the House Jorasco. When a war raged nearby and people from all sides wandered in, hurting, House Jorasco responded by creating a safe haven for anyone injured, while nearby clerics or apothecaries would come in and provide rejuvenation to those hurt.
Eyre – The Thing Extraordinary Crafter’s Show – Focus is on crafting. Held at the western caravan junction. This was set up to commemorate the sudden and mysterious disappearance of a local nomadic people, who would always stop here and hold an exposition for their greatest craftsmen.
Dravago – The Dravago Stock Fair – Contests of halfling and their mounts. A large community of halflings decided they wanted to play a larger part in their community, so they created this fair in order to raise funds for the city. It turned out to be a hit, and the halflings have been heralded as heroes to their city from that point onward.
Nymm – The Grand Cookoff – Contests of the best food and drink. It’s held in Gatherhold by the House Ghallanda. The roots here go back a very long time to when the local Patriarch would force his cooks to eat their dish in front of him, to ensure that it was not poisoned. Long after he died, the tradition was carried on, but without the terrible connotations.
Lharvion – The Costumed Carnival – Everyone is in costume and there are costume games. From a rather scary time in the city when it was invaded by an outsider army, and everyone had to be as resourceful as they could with making disguises to fit with the plethora of monsters that the outsider’s army used.
Barrakas – The Hide and Seek Fair – Games of hide and seek, scavenger hunts, treasure maps. Goes back a ways to a deadly cartel that used to torment the people of the city, demanding that they follow maps to find these “treasures” that usually lead to many people missing or dead.
Rhaan – The Festival of Letters – A grand book and scroll fair where the halfings get together and have contests of words. It is an homage to the Renaissance of prose int he land, where it is legend that all of the world’s greatest writers were suddenly struck with inspiration.
Sypheros – Paint and Lantern Festival – The cultural event of contests of plays, and light and illusions. This has become tradition from long ago, before written history was a thing. All history was passed down via stories, or even play-like things being acted out.
Aryth – The Great Headstrong Races, this is a time of personal speed races; foot races, climb races, mud tobogganing, etc. A festival honoring the legend of Aryth, who is known as the fastest creature to live. Aryth ran a very long distance in order to warn the city of an approaching army, and the entire town survived because of it. They say that he ran so fast, that his soul ran right out of his body, because he died shortly after delivering the warning.
Vult – The Rogues Escapade. A fair about getting into and out of trouble. Teams devise cunning traps that the other team must escape from, then they switch. This stems from when the forefathers of the community all organized an incredible jail-break to escape from a tyrannical leader and set up their own independent state.
Fields of Cabbage Festival – Heads of cabbage are provided to all attendants, wherein they must begin to eat the cabbage. Attractions there include all kinds of ways to prepare cabbage, giant cabbages that have been hollowed out, cabbage stories, cabbage planting seminars. The person who eats their head of cabbage is declared the winner, and the winner must dictate when and where the next festival will take place. This strange celebration goes far back to when the only thing that a nomadic tribe of people had left to eat was cabbage, and some people went insane because of it.
Day of the Siren – Quite unnerving for a first time traveler to witness. About 1/3 of the city’s population will meet in the square every 3-4 hours during daylight, and only once after nightfall. They will scream, shriek, wail, shout, or otherwise make vocal noise at the highest possible volume. This came about as a defense from a siren who once lured too many of the city’s capable workers during a particularly hard summer. The shrieking was designed to scare off the siren as her song was sung, and after it was confirmed she had died, the city kept it up as a final insult to the dead fey.
Founder’s Blessings – A day when the local clerics hold a vigil in the streets, doling out blessings or healing as needed. Anyone is welcome, but in order to receive such a gift, one must recite the names of the city’s founders. This was made a way to keep the legacy of the four sisters who founded the city alive and well, and to make sure that the community always had a way to remain healthy.
Bride’s day – Commemorating the beginning of summer, all the new brides dance with the unmarried women, to imbue to them their own marital fortunes. The dance takes place in the kings courtyard and no males are allowed in. At the end the queen usually tries to set up an unwed dancer with a royal family member.
Maiden’s Night – a night when all unwed virgin girls/women gather with their fathers for a Father/Daughter dance, where the girls will pledge to remain abstinent until they wed. This became tradition after some time ago when an old drake demanded a dowry of virgin girls. The town was once burned down by the drake after it found out that the townfolk had lied about some of the girls.
A Dog’s Day – a day when all collected dogs in various animal control facilities are released. This came about after a group of druids wildshaped as direwolves saved the mayor of the city from a painful death. Before leaving, the “direwolves” told him to make sure every dog has it’s day.
The Number Crunch – A day when all master ciphers and code breakers have a competition for the favor of being security consultant for major companies. Stemming back years before when the city was settled by a multitude of competing kingdoms, and the entire populace was convinced that everyone else was a spy, while also trying to convince everyone that they were not.
Day of the Shouting Stone – local barbarians meet up to scream at a large boulder on the edge of town. In barbarian lore, it is fabled that this stone was one a powerful barbarian who shouted at another, larger boulder until it split in two, and he was then transformed into a boulder himself.
Anthem – the proud holiday of the city where a multitude of people gather drunkenly in the streets to sing bawdy songs loudly and obnoxiously. Anyone who asks them to keep quiet is met with a barrage of rotten fruits and/or vegetables. This comes from a long time of religious oppression brought by a cadre of evil paladins. The singing was the first act of rebellion, and the rotten fruits signify when the city folk began attacking to drive them out.
Sturgeon’s Wish – people catch wild sturgeon in the nearby river, put them in portable tanks and spend the day feeding them all kinds of crap before sending them back off to the river. Lots of fish due this way. Origins are iffy, but there’s a legend about a giant talking fish that came out of the river and asked for food from the elders of the city.
Bargaining Day – A day when all villagers have a chance to ask their greater community to help them with something. The community can ask for something in return, or nothing at all. No guarantee of a request being honored, even with payment given. This dates back to when the town used to have an elder dragon living beneath it. They would plead with the dragon for help, and it would make requests of them, sometimes with a promise to honor their plea, but often ignoring them.
The Rain Run – One the day of the first rain after the summer months, the entire town gathers on the outskirts and has a race. Anyone who finishes in the top ten are exempt from the strenuous labors that come with damming up the rivers, or strengthening the embankments around the city to prevent mudslides. This promotes a lean and fit community.
Silence Peak – A day when no one in the city will utter a single word. All communications are done using basic sign language. Anyone who speaks is tied up in the middle of the town square for the remainder of the day. Going back to when a powerful and malevolent wizard ruled the region, using listening spells to seek out malcontents and squash rebellion before it began. Eventually people coordinated in silence, and he was over thrown.

Faire Activities

(DnD Speak)

An Axe-Throwing (or similar projectile) Contest. (Dexterity Check)
An Archery competition. The contestants are trying to shoot an apple off the head of a gnome. (Dexterity Check)
Raffle Lottery. 1gp to enter!
A great Tug of War over a pit of mud. (Strength Check)
A booth disguised as a pie stall that buys and sells illegal goods (drugs, banned religious symbols, etc.)
Arm Wrestling Contest. (Strength Check)
A Pick Pocketing Challenge. Everyone attending the fair is given a bright piece of cloth to be put in their belt/pocket. If you keep hold of yours, you win a prize at the end of the day. If you are able to pickpocket other people’s cloth, then you could win the grand prize. (Sleight of Hand Check)
An ale-drinking contest. (Constitution Check)
Fencing with wooden swords. Three hits, and you’re out! (Standard Combat Rules)
Lockpicking contest – while blindfolded! (Thieves Tools Check)
Rope Climbing Conpetition. (Dexterity or Strength Check)
A Log Balancing contest. The winners of the contest face off in a pool filled with water elementals. (Dexterity Check)
A music contest between individual performers or ‘bands’. (Performance Check)
Bull riding contest. Stay on the longest to win! (Athletics or Strength Check)
A scavenger hunt. A special golden coin has been hidden somewhere on the fairgrounds. Can you find it? (Perception Check)
Lumberjack Games. Who is the fastest at chopping these massive logs? (Strength Check)
Exotic Animal Show. Come see fantastical animals from all across the realm!
Animal races. Which one do you bet on to win the race?
A man dressed in a jester costume is sitting above a dunk tank. Can you hit the target?
Loose Livestock Catching (Oiled Pig, Chickens, Etc.) (Strength, Dexterity, or Animal Handling Check)
Carriage Rides (for the kids)
Carriage Rides (romantic for couples)
Horse Racing. Race against some of the most experienced horse-riders in the realm! (Animal Handling Check)
Gambling/Card/Dice Games. This is most likely illegal, so they take place in a closed tent in the back of the fair.
The Big Hammer And Bell Contest. (Strength Check)
House of Mirrors. Can you escape? (Perception Check)
Jousting on Horseback. Can you knock your opponent off their horse? (Animal Handling and Dexterity Check)
Every year, a particularly skilled Minotaur makes a hedgemaze. She is a gardner and spends the season making labyrinths for the townsfolks festival. There is a plate of cookies in the center, and her calf (young son) is patrolling inside to help people who become lost. The Minotaur charges 1 copper for entry, and donates the money to charity.
Bobbing for apples. Some apples are injected with a polymorph potion.
Wife/Husband-Carrying Race. (Dexterity/Strength Check)
Dance Competition. (Performance Check)
Pie Baking Competition. (Cooking Check)
A Popcorn/Kettlecorn Booth. Don’t let it get stuck in your teeth!
A Hair Braiding Booth. Any braid you like, even those fancy Elven ones!
Prize Vegetable Contests (largest pumpkin, heaviest cabbage, tastiest tomato, hottest pepper, sweetest corn, juiciest peach, etc.)
Liar’s Contest: spin the wildest tale you can think of and the crowd votes on the best one based on belivability, complexity and incredibility. (Bluff/Deception Check)
The tent of ‘long rests’ in 20 minutes!
Prettiest Baby Pageant.
Deep-Fried Foods on a Stick.
Puppet show using randexpand Illusion and Mage Hand.
A booth selling Potions of Thirst Quenching (water).
A bored-looking devil sitting at a booth with a sign saying ‘Anything you want: $Your Soul’. Be very careful here, as what he offers starts out seeming great, but eventually is just terrible.
A �Guess the mimic� game. Players are brought into a fake house and must determine which object is the mimic. Maybe the mimic is the house itself? (Perception Check)
A Guess Your Weight stand.
A rogue favourite; Hide and Seek competition. (Stealth Check)
Cunning Linguists; replace a language at random (pick a random; non-common, language the player knows replace it randomly from a list as large as you want, if they crit, they keep their original language, if they crit fail, they lose their original language, and gain nothing)
Feat for Curse? (Your player can buy an extra feat, but they are stricken with a curse. Can be a strong curse or as simple as a new character flaw.)
Greased Pole Climbing contest – there’s a tree trunk liberally coated in grease and the first person to reach the top is the winner. Everyone tries to climb at the same time.
There is a kenku hermit from the neighboring hills who has a large wagon filled with nuts and berries. They are selling a handfull for 1 copper each.
There is a wizard who is running a -make your own potion- stall. The wizard will help players make any potion they want at half price.
There is a beefy half orc chef selling 2gp firewater, an ale that gives +1 strength for 1d8 hours to anyone with a con modifier of +3 or higher.
The town guard is giving free fighting lessons for ablebodied citizens. There is a list where the festival goers write their contact information for the towns militia.
A gnome trinket master is making clockwork trinkets for the townsfolk.
The local Thieves Guild is smuggling cheap ale off the back of a wagon and will pay the party to help them carry the items before the guard comes back with a warrant.
The mayor is letting the winner of the children’s foot race hit him with a custard pie.
There is a booth where town officals can be found. The booth is a guard station, water station, first aid station, lost and found, (one random item from the party can be found here) and fair management station. There is a donation jar. The officals have a few errands they ask of the party such as collecting late dues from some of the fairground shopkeepers.
A ‘Fungeon’ full of ‘Funsters’ and ‘Treasure’. Look out for the ‘Traps’ and the pickpockets.
A literal haunted house of past carnival workers, so they know not kill anyone.
Gurning competition. (Seriously, it’s a real thing. Compete to pull the most ridiculous face.) (Performance Check)
Living tower – teams of (your party size) need to build the highest tower out of their bodies. (Athletics Check)
A Fortune Telling Booth.
Cooking contest – player(s) need to prepare some exotic dish and the only thing they know is the dish name. (Cooking Check – and perhaps History, to see if they recognize the meal?)
Tag a Guard – you need to kick a guard and not get caught.
A table with bored guards looking for recruits, people are clearly walking around it.
A chess-playing chicken. 5 silvers to play, beat the chicken and double your money. (Intelligence Check)
Bake sale for the local orphanage.
Displays of the local children�s artwork.
Goldfish Scooping. Some say the goldfish are actually polymorphed fair-goers who were caught cheating some of the other games.
Exotic Nuts and Fruits Stall.
Sitting-On-Top-Of-A-10ft-Wooden-Pole-Competition. (Athletics Check)
A divination stand with an old lady with a crystal ball… Or she reads the lines in your hands… Either way, it’s up to the DM whether it’s true divination.
A stall that sells mildly enchanted jewelry that can change colors at will.
A lavender-skinned tiefling does palm readings while their (Make both parties male or female, whichever you choose) dwarven friend polishes weapons and armor for people who are having their palms read.
A nearby tent displays various works of art. The artists are there for questions about their pieces.
A team of 3-5 people are allowed to compete in an eating contest against a local hill giant. The hill giant rolls 2d100. Each player rolls 1d20+Con. Whichever team’s total is higher wins the contest. The party becomes fatigued for 24 hours if they compete.
A Magician. (No actual magic, just smoke and mirrors)
A Mead Maker’s Competition. They’re short a couple of judges, and will offer the job to anyone who looks to have a strong constitution.
A simple cloth is laid out in front of a famous local hermit. He magically mends objects and performs low level spells at a deep discount. He uses the money to buy supplies so he can avoid town the rest of the year.
A booth is staffed by students from a local magic academy. They take requests for magic assistance but can’t really do anything themselves. An appropriate level mage will visit each customer within a few days. The students get a cut of the revenue towards their tuition, so they can be very pushy.
A Sparring Ring. Locals can take out whatever frustration they’ve had on each other over the past year here!
A Fancy Dress Competition. Tailors get to show off what they’ve been working on over the past year.
A small number of goblins can occasionally be seen sneaking around the fair, sometimes they will be spotted oh-ing and ah-ing at some of the attractions. If questioned, they flee. If found again later and questioned, they are doing research for their own Carnival.
There are temporary shrines from many different Gods and Goddesses. They can be prayed to for small blessings.
A group of local Living Trees are handing out apples and giving advice in their deep voices such as ‘make sure you plant the seeds’, and ‘don’t play with fire’.
A group of Yuan-Ti have set up an exotic (lightly cursed) amulet shop.
Some sprites and pixies are letting people fly in exchange for hunting equipment. They have a large furnace with a baby firenewt inside where they dispose of the hunting gear.
The town guard is hosting a make-your-own banner booth. An enchanter can be hired to enchant the banner.
There is a costume booth where a master tailor, doppleganger, illusionist, and thief work together to give anyone a makeover, haircut, or costume of their choosing.
Exotic pet rock dealer. (1 in D8 rocks is an elemental pet!)
There is a Slap-a-Guard booth. Once a year, the citizens can pay 50gp to slap a guard in the face that they don’t like. The players can choose any guard they’ve met. There is a small ledger where the citizens can write their names and become a guard. The guards are instructed to say ‘If you think you’re better than me, then you can prove it by signing the ledger’.
A male half-orc conjurer, a female tiefling monster hunter, and a female elf beast trainer are all locals in the town. Each year they meet for drinks at the fair, before competing in their own special game: Ooze Cruise. Each participant is required to bring an ooze to the event. 3 premade stone towers are erected at the outskirts of the fair. The participants climb some scaffolding to place their ooze at the top. The first ooze to eat their way to the bottom of the tower wins. Over the past few years, this selfmade competition has attracted the attention of the townsfolk who enjoy betting on the competition.
Underwater Wrestling. Contestants meet in a large glass tank. They both have to wrestle underwater. The first to surface loses. Some towns use a giant octopus as a champion for an added twist. (Strength/Dexterity Check)
Test your might booth; Challengers are tasked to lift an impossibly heavy rock for 1G, if you can the prize is 50g. (Strength Check)
Midsommar Maypole: Here, drink this. Bad things start happening.
Filthy-Filch’N: The local Thieves Guild branch’s secret booth. The local constabulary have had items reverse pick pocketed into their pouches. Bring them all back for a prize! (Sleight of Hand Check)
Greased Pole Climbing contest – there’s a tree trunk liberally coated in grease and the first person to reach the top is the winner. Everyone tries to climb at the same time. (Athletics Check)
Gnome Tossing contest – a gnome suitable dressed in padding and helmet can be tossed. The aim is to toss the gnome furthest or to a target. Various bonuses or penalties could be applied to the thrower. Does the gnome co-operate or not ? There are rules in some other subreddits on gnome tossing.
Mimic Or Money. 10gp per game. Players are sat in front of 3 chests and are told to choose one to open. Upon choosing one, the gamemaster will reveal one mimic and ask if they would like to change their answer to the other chest. If the player chooses correctly, they get what they bet plus 10. Upon choosing incorrectly, players have to fight a mimic, the battle lasts until the mimic dies or the player gets defeated, however, the player shouldn’t die.
The Cheese Race: Out run the old cheeses rolling down the hill.
A Freak Show. Come see some of the most gruesome sights in the realms! (It’s all illusion spells, don’t worry!)

Unique Magical Services

(DnD Speak)

Magical Memory Deletion – Will delete unwanted or unhappy memories for a price.
Magical Tattoo Shop – Get tattoos imbued with magic, either gives stat bonuses or allows the use of a once daily skill.
Magical Fireworks Makers – creates fireworks that are much more impressive than normal fireworks, and twice as big.
Magical Teleportation. Teleport where you need to go.
TelEx. Teleport Express will deliver your items wherever you need overnight.
Magical Animal Breeder – Breeds magical animal companions for mounts or pets.
Dream Delvers – Allows someone to enter their dreams and create whatever they want inside.
Magic Item Hunter – will find specific magic items and sell them to you for an increased cost, depending on the rarity of course.
Medium – A necromancer that will become possessed temporarily by the spirit of a departed loved one for a fee.
A wizard who casts fly on people who pay and want to fly.
A wizard who uses Major Image to recreate a scenario or for a play.
Merlo’s Moving Company – uses Mage Hand and Telekinesis to move your boxes.
Restaurant that uses magic to create catered food for events.
An ‘Adjuster’ – Will magically alter your appearance for a price. Can change height, teeth, skin color, eye color, etc.
Soul Infuser – Infuses a soul (either one they sell, or one you happen to have laying around) into an item of your choice. I imagine it as either for instance infusing a kangaroo soul into your boots to allow you to jump better. If you pay enough you can summon the soul as an ethereal familiar.
Druidic Express – A high level druid who has designated stations(trees) to teleport people around for an aged oak leaf ticket.
Warlocks Vaults – A high level warlock who runs special vaults. Creates your own demiplane for whatever use you want, they won�t ask questions but ask for payment.
High level cleric that casts commune on your behalf.
Fire Brigade – mages that use magic to put out fires & rescue people trapped in fires.
Lamplighter – mage that uses magic to light streetlamps in towns & cities.
Mage Hunters – mages that specialize in tracking down & capturing mages that use their powers for criminal endeavors.
Magical Tattoo Shop – provide magically linked tattoos that allow people to communicate telepathically.
Magical Telegraph Office – Offices are located in cities & towns. Messages are sent & received by magic. If the recipient of the message isn’t present in the office, Then the message is delivered by courier.
Sculptors – mages that use shape stone to create their works.
Weather Mage – providing rain for farmers & guaranteed good weather for outside events.
Wind Mage – speeds up sea travel by providing a constant wind.
Swap delivery; when ordering an item, you receive a clay likeness of the item that will swap places with the completed good.
Makeover Mage – will change your gender, even if you just came in to ask for directions.
Laundry Service – A wizard with modified spells like Cone of Fold and Detergent Ray offers to have your clothing cleaner than the day you bought it.
Summoned Stories – they specialize in the magical aspects of construction. Magically built buildings at the highest end (might take a year or more). Magical traps and secret rooms at the mid-range. Magic windows or toilets at the low end.
Items lost – they specialize in untraceable getting rid of things. Depending on the thing this could just be casting disintegrate or could involve sending things to destructive planes like the center of the plane of fire. They say they won’t do people or bodies of sentients, but you have your doubts.
Smells By Design – magical perfumes.
Better Friends – they will cast awaken on your pets. No guarantees.
Vital Images – creating magical paintings that are photo realistic and may move or include sound.
Waukeen�s Walk In Clinic � all cleric spells available for a price. Including resurrection.
Witches Broom – a house cleaning service that specializes in using prestidigitation to get the house crazy clean.
Goat Coins. Originally invented as a toy for a sorceress’ daughter, Goat Coins contain one to three charges that allow the user to summon a mount for 24 hours. Goat coins are ideal for children’s parties, but packhorse, draft mule, giant charging chicken, and Heffalumps are also available. Prices subject to the size and value of the mount, as well as the number of charges in the coin. (Mounts cannot fight and will dispel if injured.)
A temp service that hires out undead servants (don�t worry! Our servants signed consent forms way in advance before they died!) to perform menial labor.
The War Zone – A shop that sells magical trading cards which are used for dueling. They are enchanted to create illusionary images that actually fight each other. There are also tournaments held in the shop, and the champion wins a rare magic artifact as a price: a golden eye that lets you read your opponent�s thoughts. (only works during a card battle)
Earwax Removal using a very small Mage Hand.
Flood Cleanup using Telekinesis and Mage Hand.
Dog Walking using Mage Hand.
Magical beast walking/pet sitting.
The Finder – will track down who or what you need. Is basically psychic, so supplying an item important to the target will help.
Balthasar’s Bedazzling Beauty Boutique – A high mage who was once tormented for his appearance. In younger years he had a split lip, one eye with no iris and a semi developed nose. Being so shunned by his peers he focused manically on his studies and after many years of training became a spectacularly gifted transmutation wizard. Balthasar has since used his powers to transform himself into ever more perfect depictions of beauty and is the most sought-after guest for the high-end dinner parties in (whatever town you put him). He makes a fortune with spells such as seeming and modified versions of alter self (much like professional makeup artists), but his best-selling service is true polymorph. For the small price of a couple hundred gold (scale to your economy) he changes fat people into thin, does chin and nose jobs, gender swaps, anything you can pay for.
Witty Comeback Assist – The next time the player is insulted, a perverse and demonic trickster will remotely whisper 1d4 cutting responses in the players ear. They might even be able to divine personal secrets of their victim to make the remarks that much more legendary.
Magical Services locator – this ley line reader can tell you how to find many of the other services on this list by studying the vibrations of the magical ley lines. All their directions will be given using invisible ley lines as landmarks. They will give the customer a special ley line candle that burns blue when it is near a ley line. But the candle goes out a lot.
Magic Smack – For a fee, this vendor will cast an untraceable magical smack in real time, on any target the customer has a piece of (hair, skin, finger, etc.). The smack does no damage, but in Common a rude disembodied voice says your choice of, ‘You’ve been smacked!’, ‘That’s what you get!’, or ‘Don’t make me come back!
Supernatural Tracker – For a small sum, a local druid offers to track anyone of your choosing in the local forests. He employs creatures on land and air to stealthy track a target for up to 24 hours. A scribe will transpose the animal’s description and location of the events on paper for a small extra fee.
An �effects� seller who casts enchantments on clothes to make them sparkle or appear on fire.
Magical Tattoo Remover, transfer or wipe away a tattoo or similar marking from the body.
Divine investment/broker services, diviners who observe and modify markets to get the best results for them and their clients. This business can get rather hairy when different firms or individuals seek opposing results.
Last Will and Testament, necromancers who use their trade to provide closure to family estates (as long as the corpse is intact). Living wills are not accepted.
Divine Winds Acupuncture and Massage, a parlor that focuses on healing and enhancing the body by channeling the ambient magics of the world through key points in the body.
Clothing mender uses magic to repair and tailor clothes.
Magical match maker, the girl you like doesn’t like you? Time to change her mind with some enchantment.
Translation service using Comprehend Languages. They literally trade you the book for another one that you can actually read. For a small fee of course.
Anti- Surveillance/ Security – Magical surveillance can be a nuisance. This Private Mercenary Group doesn’t fight for you but will design and install methods of keeping your home safe from Scrying, Divining magics, and intruders.
A prostitute offers you a magical fun time, in reality they are using modify memory to make you think the best time of your life. Nothing of the sort really happens to you.
Last Chances – For the exceedingly wealthy, 1000 gp is a drop in the bucket. Why not spend it keeping yourself safe? For the cost of the components and a small fee, we cast Contingency, keyed to whatever spell you want!
Twendel’s Traveling Travel Agency – A wizard named Twendel travels around on foot to various towns bringing along with them a box full of vacations in a jar. After paying a small fee the client picks out a jar, each jar having its own terrain and what level of difficulty they would like their vacation to have. The wizard then shrinks down the clients, places them in the jar and after a predetermined set of time releases them from the jar either having enjoyed a relaxing vacation in a tropical paradise or battled their way through an orcish stronghold to claim useful artifacts. Based on the difficulty of the jar the price increases but the wizard also stocks the more difficult jars with better loot.
Sending House – A large building, full is Stones of Sending that each go to different cities, acting as a relay, will send a message for a small fee.
Lawson’s Legally Binding Legislation – Magical contracts whose contents must be enforced.
Druidic Gardening Service – They use plant magic to give you lush foliage and natural topiary. No more patchy lawns.
The Rite Choice – Mages in the business of performing funeral ceremonies for the wealthy, complete with interment and sealing of the tomb with your choice of curses for any who might come grave robbing. For a fee, they’ll also lift curses for family members who have decided they want to pawn grandma’s ring after all.
Sleep helpers – A group of mages cast sleep to help insomniacs or people that need a nice rest.
Emergency Food – a dedicated magic-using chef will use ‘Create Food and Water’ to instantly make food for you, although it’s pricey and there’s a limited supply! (Of spell slots)
Hidden Magic Item Store – the owners have an illegal list of magic items bought from shady connections. Only through thieves’ cant can you identify the store and order a magic item. Otherwise, the store seems a normal store.
VSM Arcade – a team of wizards have mastered the Programmed Illusion spell and have essentially turned their workshop into a ‘VR’ arcade for PC’s. They can fight hordes of monsters (or DM can get more creative with what they can do) and perform spells and abilities without cost or rest without being in any actual danger. Costs 10gp per hour.
Body Mods – A mage will alter your appearance to take on the characteristics of different creatures. Fur, fangs, claws, gills, bird eyes, even wings if you have the coins.
The Auction of Many Things – An Auction house that specializes in obtaining artifacts and magic items throughout the multiverse. The cost may be expensive, but the various artifacts are well worth the cost. You may feast your eyes on the Book of Asmodeus one day then the next day is an artifact that gives you insight into the draconic prophecy.
Speak with Well-Read – using something similar to Telepathic Bond but with a potentially longer duration depending on how much you pay; these wizards will act as translators or on-call assistants for nearly any intellectual problem you have. They bill more if the customer exceeds a certain number of questions per minute.
Boss Music – they’ll put a spell on you. Specifically, they’ll give you the ability to play one song or other musical arrangement of your choice (no action required) at will. The song emanates from your location and can also be turned off at will.
Sloomba? Roomslime? The name is a work in progress, but the wizard presents a small slime. This magically created creature will move slowly around your house casting prestidigitation to keep things clean and maintained! And for the adventurers, I have a travel model! Basically, one installed in a custom backpack. This kind of magical labor-saving creature will revolutionize domestic life. Presto-slime?
Imagined Intimacy – a perfectly legal way to have the very realistic illusion of any kind of fantasy you could desire – just speak to the slightly sweaty wizard behind the counter, fill out your Fantastic Fantasy Form(tm) and head to one of the rooms in the back. Your Intimacy Awaits.
Alms Aplenty – A food bank run by a fairly exhausted cleric and their disciples. Constantly creating food and water for the poor and making sure it’s distributed fairly.
On The Mend – For a small fee will cast mending on any object brought into the store.
Frosty’s – A shave ice stall that manages to never run out of ice even on the hottest days of summer thanks to the proprietor knowing Frostbite.
Zone of Trust – A marriage/ relationship counseling group that one can go to and be ensured that your partner will not be speaking any lies within a 15ft radius. (The can also Calm Emotions)
Allie’s Appraisal – An antiques appraisal store that will be able to Identify the object, Detect Magic, and Comprehend Languages that may be written on your piece.
Dr. Feelgood’s – Not a real doctor. He is, however, a washed up one-hit-wonder bard who can Cure Wounds for a small fee.
Magical Cleaning Service – Enchanted tools and prestidigitation. Please do not leave apprentices alone in the room.
Dr Drenzel’s Dentistry – A half-orc who doesn’t actually fix your teeth but creates beautiful decorative metal or gemstone caps and bands for all sorts of teeth or tusks.
Manpower – Need a few extra hands for menial labor? We provide golems that can do a wide range of physical labor jobs.
Tunneling & Mining – Mages with shape earth & shape stone.
The Ice Mage – providing ice whenever & wherever you need it. Ice cubes, ice blocks, a frozen pond, or even ice sculptures.
Body Doubles – An illusionist that can make it look like you�re in two places at once. they can also make someone look & sound like you, so you can be seen somewhere that you�re not. Great for party tricks, alibis, or confusing assassins.
Soul Jars – keep the soul of whoever you like in a jar. No questions asked.
Pet Translators – Druids and rangers casting speak with animal to let pet owners communicate with their pets
Adventure Tours – Will teleport people to places like undersea ships they have made breathable and give interactive tours
Magical Confections – All manner of candies and pastries with magical twists: will it turn you green? Will you be able to lift a tree out of the ground with your mind? You never know until you try one!
Curse Delivery Service – Do you really hate someone? Send them an item imbued with a randexpand curse! Try some of our favorites including incessant screaming inside of their head, a curse to make every food taste like something the recipient hates, and many more.
Culpert’s Construction Company- A magician speeds up construction efforts for large structures by using Move Earth to create the basement, leveling off the ground and smoothing the earth out.
The Phantom Opera House – An Opera house owned and run by a collection of illusion-based wizards who create visual spectacles to go along with the performances.
Perfect Paintings – A wizard creates what are essentially the world’s first photographs by magically superimposing the target’s image onto his own specially made material. they are in perfect clarity and he has a variety of fun pose and background options to choose from.
Grenden the Enhancer – By night, this shady guy will sell you magical performance enhancers (jump, longstrider, etc.) to win races. By day he is a successful sports gambler.
Snilloc’s Cold Storage – these ice wizards will keep your meat cold until you can sell it. Gentle repose is a specialty of theirs.
Locksmiths – Need an arcane lock on your door? Need an alarm on your entrance hall? Need a glyph of warding on your safe? These wizards have got you covered.
Roland’s Replicators – Will make an exact magical copy of any item brought in. Cannot replicate magical effects but will give off a similar magical aura.
Melvor’s Magical Mead – Magic infused ‘mead’ that will get you drunk with only a thimble full. Contains all the effects of heavy drinking, but no alcohol.

Exports

(DnD Speak)

1	Airships
2	Alchemical items
3	Ale
4	Animal companions or particularly bred pets
5	Baked goods
6	Beast claws/teeth
7	Black powder or fantastical variations
8	Boats and ships
9	Bonds or investments
10	Brick or cobblestone
11	Canned goods or cans/jars themselves
12	Cheese
13	Chocolate or other delicacy
14	Clerical acolytes and clergy
15	Clockwork mechanisms or mechanical artefacts
16	Cloth
17	Coal
18	Coffee
19	Collegiate education or equivalent (students come here and return with new skills)
20	Dramatic Literature
21	Drugs
22	Dyes
23	Elaborate counterfeit luxury goods
24	Exotic meats
25	Fake teeth and dentistry equipment
26	Fine clothes
27	Fine sculptures/carvings or masterworks from particularly gifted artisans
28	Finished armors
29	Finished clothing
30	Finished tools
31	Finished weaponry and arms
32	Fireworks
33	Fruit
34	Furniture
35	Furs
36	Gems
37	Gladiatorial contestants or challenges
38	Glass or stained glass
39	Grains
40	Granite
41	Herbs for medicinal or other special purposes
42	Honey
43	Horses
44	Hunting animals (dogs/hawks)
45	Hunting traps
46	Incense
47	Inks
48	Ivory, worked or raw
49	Lamp oil
50	Leather
51	Livestock
52	Living fantastic creatures: wyverns, voltaic lizards, gryphons, etc.
53	Local Flora (flowers, tree saplings)
54	Lumber
55	Machines of war or siege equipment
56	Magic items
57	Marble or other luxury stone
58	Mercenaries
59	Metallic ores
60	Monster parts (for potion making, jewelry, trophies, etc.)
61	Mushrooms (nutritional or narcotic)
62	Musical instruments
63	Nuts
64	Ornate masks
65	Painted artwork
66	Paper
67	Pearls
68	Perfume
69	Pillows
70	Poisons
71	Porting on to other boats to avoid waterway obstacles (less an export but a good city purpose)
72	Potions
73	Pottery or fine or artistic ceramics
74	Refined metals
75	Religious trinkets or objects
76	Roof tiles
77	Rugs
78	Salt
79	Seafood
80	Silk
81	Skilled labor
82	Slaves
83	Smuggling activity or other black market environment
84	Souls
85	Specialized raw materials (mithral, adamantine, quicksilver, densewood, soarwood, etc.)
86	Spices
87	Sugar
88	Sweetblood, a sugary tree sap with addictive properties.
89	Syrup
90	Tea
91	Textiles or embroidery
92	Trade skills and knowledge (books or otherwise)
93	Trained military
94	Vegetables
95	Wagons or land vehicles
96	Warforged
97	Wines, liquors, or other spirits
98	Wire and cables
99	Wool
100	Worry dolls or other children�s dolls