The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Inns & Taverns

Inns & Taverns is a software download product from Darkfuries available at RPGnow (www.rpgnow.com). It provides a variety of tavern and inn floor plans for use in fantasy games. The download is priced at $5.00 US.

The product comes packaged as a zip file. When unpacked, the product consists of a number of html files that the user may navigate with a standard browser, and a subdirectory with the gif file maps.

When opened, the content.html file has two frames. The left side frame provides navigation between the different galleries and each individual tavern and inn floor. The right hand frame is where the content appears when selected. Of course, you can use your own graphics viewer to browse the images directory.

In addition to the title page and introductory information, there is a thumbnail gallery page for the inns and one for the taverns. Finally, there is a legend page that describes all of the individual icons used on the maps.

There are a total of 20 inns and 15 taverns. Each building has between one and four floors, including cellar and dungeon levels. Each floor is an individual gif file.

The floor plans themselves are laid out with a dotted-line square grid, with each square 5 feet on a side (perfect for d20 System players). The icons are generally clear and the layout logical; the floor plans should fit nicely into a standard fantasy campaign. When printed on a standard 8 ½ x 11 sheet, the map grid is scaled such that it works well with standard 25mm miniatures.

My only complaint is that in the few cases where secret doors are used, they are listed on the map. It would be nice if those maps that use secret doors had a player and a GM version, so the GM doesn't give away the secret doors buy using miniatures on a printout of the map.

Conclusion

Inns & Taverns does exactly what it sets out to do: provide the GM with a variety of pre-packaged floor plans for use in the game. The presentation is excellent and the html layout very convenient. Other than having two maps in those cases where secret doors are used, I think it would be interesting to see a product like this with descriptions of tavern staff and visitors, possibly even complete with d20 System stats. That would truly give a GM everything needed to run tavern encounters. For what you get, however, $5.00 US is a bargain. There are just enough of each type of map that you never have to re-use a map.

-Alan D. Kohler

Inns & Taverns
Inns & Taverns Capsule Review by Alan D. Kohler on 27/02/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) This electronic product provides you with well done Tavern & Inn maps for your favorite fantasy game. Product: Inns & Taverns Author: Brian Mosley Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Darkfuries Line: Cost: $5.00 Page count: Year published: 2001 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Alan D. Kohler on 27/02/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	Inns & Taverns Inns & Taverns is a software download product from Darkfuries available at RPGnow (www.rpgnow.com). It provides a variety of tavern and inn floor plans for use in fantasy games. The download is priced at $5.00 US. The product comes packaged as a zip file. When unpacked, the product consists of a number of html files that the user may navigate with a standard browser, and a subdirectory with the gif file maps. When opened, the content.html file has two frames. The left side frame provides navigation between the different galleries and each individual tavern and inn floor. The right hand frame is where the content appears when selected. Of course, you can use your own graphics viewer to browse the images directory. In addition to the title page and introductory information, there is a thumbnail gallery page for the inns and one for the taverns. Finally, there is a legend page that describes all of the individual icons used on the maps. There are a total of 20 inns and 15 taverns. Each building has between one and four floors, including cellar and dungeon levels. Each floor is an individual gif file. The floor plans themselves are laid out with a dotted-line square grid, with each square 5 feet on a side (perfect for d20 System players). The icons are generally clear and the layout logical; the floor plans should fit nicely into a standard fantasy campaign. When printed on a standard 8 ½ x 11 sheet, the map grid is scaled such that it works well with standard 25mm miniatures. My only complaint is that in the few cases where secret doors are used, they are listed on the map. It would be nice if those maps that use secret doors had a player and a GM version, so the GM doesn't give away the secret doors buy using miniatures on a printout of the map. Conclusion Inns & Taverns does exactly what it sets out to do: provide the GM with a variety of pre-packaged floor plans for use in the game. The presentation is excellent and the html layout very convenient. Other than having two maps in those cases where secret doors are used, I think it would be interesting to see a product like this with descriptions of tavern staff and visitors, possibly even complete with d20 System stats. That would truly give a GM everything needed to run tavern encounters. For what you get, however, $5.00 US is a bargain. There are just enough of each type of map that you never have to re-use a map. -Alan D. Kohler