Quote from: RPGPundit;1056809Yes, though not executing. The last execution for witchcraft in England was in 1684. The last one in Scotland was in 1722.

Well that's sort of the bad news, good news. The bad news is various nitwitted Britons tried and convicted a woman of Witchcraft during WWII. The good news is, at least they didn't execute her.

Nitpicky point: Wikipedia says 1727, not 1722. And the last execution in Europe seems to have occurred in Switzerland.

Taverns are where pummeling rules are used.  

Jackasses who bring weapons to a fistfight may win the fight (most people will back down) but their name is now shit in that community as people afraid to settle minor dustups with their fists.

Quote from: Bren;1056883Well that's sort of the bad news, good news. The bad news is various nitwitted Britons tried and convicted a woman of Witchcraft during WWII. The good news is, at least they didn't execute her.

True, also if I recall correctly that case eventually led to the repeal of the Witchcraft laws.

QuoteNitpicky point: Wikipedia says 1727, not 1722.

Could be I remembered wrong.

Quote from: Charon's Little Helper;1056828I always figured that taverns in D&D were like churches in Highlander. They were sacred ground where fights just weren't done.

If someone/something did start something there, they'd get grumpy adventurers from across the land headed their way with vengeance on their mind.

Well that's one solution.  Maybe tavern's are sacred ground - consecrated to Dionysus (or whatever god is appropriate) break the rules and a random horde of cannibals will chase you down and eat everything except your head.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1057165True, also if I recall correctly that case eventually led to the repeal of the Witchcraft laws.

Yep.

In any case, 'taverns' as they usually appear in most standard fantasy settings are anachronistic.  Medieval drinking places, Freehouses and coach-houses (caravanserais) were very different. I think failing to make use of the more exotic style of those sorts of places and just using a model essentially based on 19th century British Country Pubs (thanks, Tolkien!) is really a pity.

My campaign has a very Dark Ages look, so the typical public drinking place is something like a mead hall from Beowulf or a Viking-era longhouse. Since this town hall is usually presided over by the local thegn/lord/king, anyone so foolish as to throw down will find himself set upon by the lord and his retinue: mid to high-level fighting men who respond ruthlessly to dipshits trying to destroy the premises.

A DM should look at it from the perspective of the locals. To them, a band of adventurers who loot and kill in their backyard will be treated the same as any other monsters despoiling the region. The locals will try to hide their valuables, keep their distance, flee if possible and seek aid from someone willing to fight these brigands. Or they might spike their drinks and kill the miscreants in their sleep.

Quote from: Elfdart;1059413My campaign has a very Dark Ages look, so the typical public drinking place is something like a mead hall from Beowulf or a Viking-era longhouse. Since this town hall is usually presided over by the local thegn/lord/king, anyone so foolish as to throw down will find himself set upon by the lord and his retinue: mid to high-level fighting men who respond ruthlessly to dipshits trying to destroy the premises.

A DM should look at it from the perspective of the locals. To them, a band of adventurers who loot and kill in their backyard will be treated the same as any other monsters despoiling the region. The locals will try to hide their valuables, keep their distance, flee if possible and seek aid from someone willing to fight these brigands. Or they might spike their drinks and kill the miscreants in their sleep.

And this is why we can't have nice things.  

If all villages behave like this, then there are NO adventurers. They are all bandits, and now players have no incentive to think of these places as anything other than loot or XP boxes to open.  Because Kings and Lords would not trust outsiders, they'd want the loot and gold they bring for themselves, and if the adventurers fight back (which is reasonable) they'd either get murdered, because the King and his Men are much better warriors, or they'd be run out of town after killing the RIGHTFUL RULER (no matter how much of a dick he is to outsiders) of the town.

You have to give some leeway here.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;1059417If all villages behave like this, then there are NO adventurers.

Beowulf did ok.

Quote from: S'mon;1055431IMCs a tavern full of heavily armed adventurers is not a place people cause trouble lightly. "An armed society is a polite society".

I subscribe to this philosophy.

Quote from: S'mon;1059418Beowulf did ok.

He also served the King of The Danes.

Quote from: S'mon;1059418Beowulf did ok.

He wasn't looting and killing in anyone's backyard, though. He went to kill a monster on the request of the local ruler, though motivated by glory, and got to fight two monsters for his efforts.
But either way, he wasn't behaving like a rootless wanderer, but like a classical hero;).
You can behave like Beowulf and expect the same treatment, or you can behave like Billy the Kid, and I'll leave it to you to guess whether the treatment's going to be different:D.

I was responding to the idea that you can't turn up at a Dark Age king's hall without being treated like shit.

My Wilderlands campaign is set in a basically Mycenean Dark Age type civilisation, with local petty lords having absolute authority. They still tend to be quite nice to adventurers like Beowulf who turn up offering to solve problems.

Quote from: AsenRG;1059722He wasn't looting and killing in anyone's backyard, though. He went to kill a monster on the request of the local ruler, though motivated by glory, and got to fight two monsters for his efforts.
But either way, he wasn't behaving like a rootless wanderer, but like a classical hero;).
You can behave like Beowulf and expect the same treatment, or you can behave like Billy the Kid, and I'll leave it to you to guess whether the treatment's going to be different:D.

Hmmm, I haven't read Beowulf for a long time, nut didn't he bring his boatload of warriors with him before the story starts? They were a band of vikings before there were vikings. They belonged to the class of wandering adventurer/raiders, who happened to sign up with a local king.

Yes he did.