The Taverner's Trusty Tome

This is something of an odd book for me to review, as I really don't drink. I probably average about 1 beer every 2 years or so, and about the only alcoholic beverages I like are Foster's Beer and Night Train (the stuff winos drink). So, my opinion on this might not be the best. Still, I did review "HeartQuest", and I am not a teen aged Japanese girl (nor have any desire to be one, nor date one, well, at least 'til they hit 25 or so. Okay, an exception for Chiharu Nîyama, who is only 23. But I digress)

Basically, it's a fairly in depth look at alcoholic drinks and taverns in a fantasy setting. While it's for the d20 system, much of it would be usable for other systems. Still, this book highlights one of the best parts of the d20 system - you see books for it that you would never see made for any other system.

It's from Dark Quest Games, which apparently used to be affiliated with En Publishing (from ENWorld, the d20 Mecca), but they are apparently re-releasing stuff under their own name. It's available as a PDF for $5.95 or as a print version (which I have), which is priced a bit higher than most 64 page books ($16.95, but much cheaper at amazon.com).

It starts off with drinking itself. After an introduction to alcohol and it's effects, there are rules for determining just how drunk a character is, though it's a bit tricky to figure out at first because of layout problems. As mentioned, while this book is for the d20 system, much of it could probably be easily adapted to any other system that has a score similar to "Constitution".

Basically, each drink is rated in "AU", or Alcohol Units. Characters can drink up to a certain limit of AU called an Alcohol Threshold (determined by their Constitution and other factors), and for every time they pass it, their drunkenness increases a stage. There are 5 levels of drunkenness, "Tipsy", "Merry", "Drunk", "Hammered", and "Ted Kennedy" (er, "Plastered").

For instance, I probably have an Alcohol Threshold of around 7 (being fairly sickly, I likely have a low constitution. Therefore, a bottle of Night Train (6 servings in a bottle, 6 AU each serving for Fortified Wine, total of 36), would completely floor me, taking me to the Plastered Stage (7 to get me tipsy, 7 more to be merry, 7 more to drunk, another 7 to hammered, and 7 to be finished).

Since it's mostly based on a constitution score ranging from 3-18 (with average being around 10), it can work easily with systems that have a similar range, like BRP or Gurps. And it's not that hard to modify to another scale - if stats in your game go to 100 (like say, Rolemaster), then just multiply/divide by 5. Or if they go to 6, like say Shadowrun, multiply/divide by 3.

I guess it does seem fairly realistic, because I know I get sick easily, and drunk easily. But on the other hand, Dashiell Hammett was famous for being a heavy drinker, and he also had health problems like TB and such that keep him in bed and which I think eventually killed him. Still, the premise seems fairly sound. And fairly comprehensive when it comes to drinks (though having them all in a table in the back would be more useful).

You can even simulate the death of Jimi Hendrix - there are rules for dying by choking on your own vomit. There are also rules for long term effects of heavy drinking.

Beyond rules for drinking, there is quite a bit of information on alcohol itself. Starting with an overview of real world drinks. This was fairly interesting. I now know what a lager is, and know why Night Train (a Fortified Wine) is do delicious and so cheap.

There's a small section of magical drinks. I'm not sure I would use these, they tend to give the drinker a permanent effect, either bad or good (or both). For instance, "Cat Fat Tonic", which is unfortunately made out of cats (those that were wizard's familiars) can literally turn the drinker into a cat-person.

After this, it starts to shift gears, and goes into the business aspect of alcohol - Brewing, and then on Taverns and Inns.

Taverns and Inns are divided into 3 sizes and 3 types. Each variation gets a fairly long detailed description. There are also fairly simple rules for those who want to actually run a tavern (Which is not actually that uncommon a thing for PCs to buy, at least if they are based in a city), and info and prices on common bar items.

What would a tavern be without the barflies? There are 15 basic archetypes for drunks/bar inhabitants and how they behave. These are primarily descriptions of them, not really any stats, although some have DCs for saving throws to avoid doing stupid things. There are also some feats that these characters might have, all drinking related. These are feats that most PCs probably wouldn't want to take. For instance, some improve some skill or other while drunk.

There's also a description (and this time including stats) for various bar staff, official (like the bartender and bouncer) and unofficial, like "Fishwives", who seem to find me irresistible in real life. (The combination of low lighting and alcohol does seem to improve my looks...). There are also some specific examples of staff members. For instance, there are about 5 different serving wenches, including a half-orc, a dwarf, and a halfling.

The last major section shifts away from taverns/inns back towards alcohol, and is on specific drinks, combining real world ones and fantasy ones. It differs from the first section on drinks in that it deals with a specific type, not general class. For instance, "Mint Gin" or "Yam Beer" as opposed to just "Gin" or "Beer". Most seem to be fantasy drinks, or at least very odd, but there are some normal things like "Pilsner". There are also rules for coming up with new drinks.

The layout is generally good. There's no index, but a very extensive table of contents. It would have been nice to have had all the charts repeated in the back or something, and there are a couple of confusing charts in the first chapter.

The art is quite excellent. The cover is very well done, featuring an attractive blonde waitress who actually bears a strong resemblance to a young Farrah Fawcett (nothing seems to be spelled out in her hair, though...). The interior art is also quite good, and is occasionally quite amusing (especially the pictures featuring rodents that are stealing drinks).

One thing I would have liked to have seen, is more information on entertainment in bars. Most bars I've been, there was been something other than really old married women ("Fishwives" according to the description in this book) and gay men hitting on me (this is why I don't go to bars very often, BTW), for instance, pool, darts, music, etc. The book just mentions bards and dancers. Also, as mentioned earlier, I think a master list of alcohol (along with the total AU of their common serving size) in the back would have been useful. But that's about the only thing lacking.

Honestly, how many people need a guide to alcohol in RPGs or d20? But then again, I didn't think there needed to be one for sex, and well, that's one of the better selling supplements. This might not be the most obviously useful product (unless your PCs spend a lot of time in bars), but it's fun. And it covers the subject real well. A solid B

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