When a Dungeon Crawl becomes a Pub Crawl
A Dungeon Shuffle adventure.
Some ideas take you down a rabbit hole.
Throughout April I've been celebrating the release of my Dungeon generator tool, The Dungeon Shuffle, with a mini-jam. Last week I got overwhelmed with deadlines and had to delay my weekly entry (it's a lot of fun though, so it will see the light of day eventually) and I was determined to return with a bang.
I was inspired by the efforts of several creators for Dragon Week over on YouTube (you may have heard of it, it's like Substack but the words make sounds and magically create dancing images) and thought about a themed dungeon. That's easy enough to do with the Dungeon Shuffle, just select a theme instead of rolling for one. But my first Dungeon for the jam was dragon themed, and I didn't want to repeat myself.
My thoughts drifted to the Alehouse Drake, a favourite tavern of my players in our home campaign. It was inspired by the Kobold Press monster in their Tome of Foes, but in-game is named after Grumpy, the pet of barkeep Hilda, who knew just one word in draconic: “whiskey?”
I briefly considered a roleplaying Dungeon built around the tavern, but even before I started shuffling the cards I knew that story would feel like a stretch to me. Then as I was considering what Dungeon crawl would suit a tavern, the idea of a pub crawl struck me.
Like the Bake Off, Doctor Who and the afternoon Tea alarm, Pub Crawls are a very British phenomenon. The idea is simple enough, a trail of pubs within walking distance of each other challenges drinkers to have one pint in each venue. It's perhaps best captured on screen by the Simon Pegg film The World’s End. Not only did the idea seem like a fitting challenge to stretch the Dungeon Shuffle, a story quickly presented itself:
For centuries the Copper Dragon Brewing company brought prosperity to the under-mountain city of Dwemner’s Rest. Ale enthusiasts travelled from far and wide to drink the wondrous brews from Copper Dragon and attempt the Dragon Trail - a challenge set by brewery owner Darrow Copperbarrel, to drink a single pint in all ten taverns across the city within twelve hours.
Many attempted the challenge, but all failed to win the prize - a grand banquet at the home of Darrow himself and his three daughters; Dara, Dorn and Rona.
After Darrow’s death, Dara and Dorn have argued constantly over the direction of the brewery, with business grinding to a halt as a consequence. The two sisters have barely spoken in a decade and the success of Dwemner’s Rest is beginning to fade. Desperate to save the city, her business and her family, Rona has approached the party to attempt the Dragon’s trail - hoping that her sisters will be forced to honour their fathers challenge and finally meet at a banquet where a truce could be discussed.
The pdf below contains the trail map, a rundown of the taverns with key features and NPCs at each. To complete the Dragon Trail a specific pint must be drank in each venue - with some more difficult to obtain than others. All players can attempt the challenge, but only one needs to complete it to succeed. There is no way to “split” the challenge between the party.
Success is limited by two factors - time and sobriety.
As a mountain city, only certain routes are possible between taverns, meaning that the party is forced to backtrack and waste time during the crawl. The map includes the time it takes to walk between each venue and this should be openly tracked by the DM.
Players can also choose how quickly they can finish their drink to save time, but this has consequences for their sobriety:
Down in one - add 1 minute to the overall time taken, but each player makes their sobriety check with disadvantage.
Enjoy the drink - add 30 minutes to the overall time taken.
And a pint of water please - add 1 hour to the overall time taken, but each player makes their sobriety check with advantage.
After drinking each pint, the players must make a sobriety check - a constitution saving throw with a DC of 5, increasing by 1 for every tavern already visited. On a success the player maintains their current level of sobriety, on a fail they gain a level of drunkenness as shown on the table below.
Sober - no negative effects.
Warmed - no negative effects
Tipsy - subtract a d4 from all ability checks and saving throws.
Lairy - subtract a d6 from all ability checks and saving throws
Barely standing - all ability checks and saving throws are made at disadvantage, all journey times are doubled.
Carry me home - disqualified from the competition.
Content warning:
While most pub crawls are about enjoying alcohol responsibly, some players may feel uncomfortable with an adventure based around heavy drinking. Consider changing the drinks for an eating challenge, like hot peppers, if this presents a problem for your group.
If you enjoyed this pub themed adventure, share the details of your party’s favourite tavern in the comments!
The Shuffle Compendium
Below is a list of all the submissions to the Dungeon Shuffle so far. I urge you to check them out, like and subscribe to these brilliant creators.
If you’d like to take part yourself, there’s still time! Subscribe before the end of April for your free copy of the Dungeon Shuffle.
Caves of the Marvelous Gate by
Pat
A nifty cave network with prompts to help your players construct the Dungeon with you.
Frederik W. Lund
Kobolds have taken residence in a Dragonborn Warlord's tomb. This adventure comes complete with a wonderful short story.
Rakshasa’s Lair & Elves of Bradford Tower by
NoizyDragon
Not one, but two Dungeons inspired by the shuffle, proving that this process is just as addictive as Pringles.
The Horror of Hangman's Hill by
Dougal Cochrane
A horror themed Dungeon, which sees your party facing Cultists and a shrine to Orcus.
…And from Mage Advice:
Leave it to a Rakshasa to "season" the Elves of Bradford Tower with MSG for maximum addictive fun (just like Pringles).
That's a really cool idea. I wonder if you could combine it with carousing in Shadowdark 🤔