Evocative City Sites: The Rogue’s Gallery Tavern by Steve Russell is a role playing game supplement published by Rite Publishing for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
This is a 21 page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $2.95 but was purchased at a greatly reduced price as part of a special bundle. One page is the front cover, most of one page is the front matter, one page is the Open Game License and two pages are ads for other supplements.
Amongst the front matter are four adventure seeds for getting characters to visit the tavern. The first full page of content is mostly taken up by a map of the tavern, which is circular in nature. This is followed by an in-character narration about a visit to the location. The place is known for playing host to all types of rogues with a number of “quiet” booths to discuss less-than-legal matters without being overheard. The tavern is also decorated with portraits of many infamous villains; the one whose portrait is described is clearly Fu Manchu.
The two staff members of the tavern are then described, each of which has some secret information about them. The barkeep is a notorious poisoner – just who you want to be mixing drinks! – who was somehow spared execution. The server is a succubus.
There is then another map of the tavern, this one labelled with various points of interest, including secret doors and compartments.
The two NPCs then have their stats listed. The barkeep has new material related to poison. There is a poisoner’s ring, four new magical poisons, a master brewer feat and a brew magical poison feat, which is required to brew the magical poisons. The succubus is basically a dangerous demon.
The final nine pages of content are a battlemap that can be printed out.
Evocative City Sites: The Rogue’s Gallery Tavern in Review
The PDF is bookmarked, with the major sections linked but not the minor ones. Navigation is okay but could be better. The text maintains a two column black and white format and appears to be almost free of errors. There are some black and white illustrations, as well as the maps, a combination of custom and public domain. Presentation is okay.
It would appear, from the promotional text, that this supplement was originally a generic supplement that has since been updated for Pathfinder. As it looks as if the price remained the same, this has made it far better value for money. Taverns are a staple of fantasy settings, but this one is a bit different. It takes full advantage of linking taverns to the more dubious characters around, and provides some interesting NPCs and some logical, but surprisingly not common, material related to poisons. Creating magical poisons in a world of magic is quite logical, yet it is not typically done. Evocative City Sites: The Rogue’s Gallery Tavern is a more unique type of tavern and it can be found by clicking here.
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