When the dragon is slain, the lich is no more, the priceless artifacts are stolen, and the city has burned down, what’s an adventuring party to do next? Well, with the DnD campaign out of the way, they could start up a small business in Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern, a new RPG about former adventurers running a bar.
This tabletop RPG, published by Evil Hat, came to Backerkit on April 16, 2024 and soon smashed its $30,000 goal (currently it’s sitting at just over $50,000 raised). Created by Takuma Okada, it’s a cozy, slice-of-life collection of mini-games, where players must cook meals, tend bars, and go shopping for upgrades, all while learning a little something about themselves and their companions.
We can see it being the perfect bookend to your DnD campaign. The right kind of DnD campaign, that is. It might be a bit of a tonal clash if you were previously playing in a grimdark dungeon-filled adventure full of character death and misery (though that said, it could be quite the cathartic palate cleanser if things got properly emotional).
This game was first released on Itch.io by its author Okada, who took inspiration from other mini-game collections like The Sundered Land, Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands, and The King is Dead. But now a glossy hardcover book version, 112 pages in length, is on the way, expected to reach backers by March 2025. PDF and Roll20 versions are also available, at a lower price.
It’s not quite clear to what extent Evil Hat’s version is just a prettified copy of the original, and how much is new. We do note, however, that the currently crowdfunding version boasts 16 mini-games, whereas the Itch.io version appears to have 14. These games include handling a brawl, preparing for a festival, or mixing a troubled adventurer the perfect drink.
According to Evil Hat, short playthroughs of this game will last about three hours, but it will sustain a party that likes to take its time for multiple sessions.
Among Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern’s activities there are dice games, playing card games, and games that turn on the flip of a coin, and special versions of all of these are available as backer rewards.
For more tabletop RPG content, check out our guide to the best DnD subclasses and DnD settings.