Barkeep on the Borderlands
A downloadable adventure
Gold ENnie Award Winner 2023 for Best Supplement
Dicebreaker Tabletop Awards 2023 Finalist
Polygon’s Best New Tabletop RPG Book of 2023
What if carousing in fantasy taverns were its own adventure?
Barkeep on the Borderlands is a barhopping, fantasy adventure amidst Mardi Gras-like festivities, including 20 detailed pubs and dynamic drinking rules.
Barkeep on the Borderlands flips the script on the tired trope of starting in a tavern. In this adventure, players explore the many taverns of the Keep in search of a missing antidote, getting into shenanigans along the way. The pubcrawl is like a dungeoncrawl but with bars and streets instead of rooms and corridors.
The Keep once loomed on the margins of civilization. It is now the center of culture and commerce.
Each year, the Keep celebrates the Raves of Chaos to commemorate the brave heroes who gave their lives to rid the nearby caves of vile monsters. Their sacrifice cleared the way for the Keep to expand to its current size and scale, the envy of all humankind.
The Monarch drained the royal coffers to pay for a powerful antidote, but it never reached their lips. The caravaners say it must have gotten mixed up in the deliveries to the Keep’s many pubs. Despite their illness, the Monarch was able to muster the energy to order the execution of every caravaner, ale draper, ale tunner and ale taster in the Keep.
The adventure includes:
- 20 detailed taverns, with unique premises like a speakeasy run by cultists, an undead dance club, a gambling den for kobold gangsters or a cozy bar in a witch’s cottage
- 36 character backgrounds for potential pubcrawlers
- 5 intertwined factions vying for control of the Keep for the player characters to interact with, including a wizard academy, a cult of chaos and an NGO run by goblins
- A timeline detailing a precarious political situation that the players can interact with and disrupt
- Over 100 full-color illustrations, with some on every page
- Grand total of 100 random tables with 745 total results to facilitate endless sessions of adventures in a fantasy city
NEW - Buy it in Print at:
As a Complete Adventure: The pubcrawl is a site-based adventure, just like a classic dungeoncrawl. But instead of rooms and hallways, characters traverse bars and city streets using a new pubcrawl procedure. This pubcrawl is set in a specific time and place but can be easily adapted to any setting with a vaguely fantasy milieu.
Stealings Bits and Pieces: Each pub is modular and can be used separately and dropped into any existing campaign. When you need a tavern, bar or speakeasy, simply pick the bar most appropriate to your need (or roll a d20).
System Neutral: This adventure is designed to be system neutral and can be easily adapted to fit most systems, including Old-School Essentials, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Knave, Into the Odd, Black Hack, White Hack, Worlds Without Number, Pathfinder, 5e, etc.
Writers and artists on this project include a who's who of the OSR ("old-school renaissance") and Post-OSR:
- Zedeck Siew of A Thousand Thousand Islands (writer)
- W.F. Smith of Prismatic Wasteland (lead writer)
- Ty Pitre of Mindstorm (writer, editor)
- TorTheVic of Riverbend (artist)
- Sam Miller of Save vs. Worm (artist)
- Sam Mameli of Better Legends (artist)
- Norn Noszka (artist)
- Nick LS Whelan of Papers Pencils (writer, editor)
- Marcia B. of Fantastic Medieval Campaigns (writer)
- Luka Rejec of Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City (writer, artist)
- Keny Widjaja (artist)
- Jim Hall of Brooklet Games (artist)
- Hodag RPG! Sheboygan's Favorite Son! (artist)
- Guy Pradel (artist)
- Gus L. of Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier (writer, artist)
- Emmy Verte of Flee (writer)
- Emiel Boven of The Electrum Archive (artist)
- Demidevilqueen (artist)
- Connor Ricks (artist)
- Chris McDowall of Electric Bastionland (writer)
- Caleb Nelson (artist)
- Bertdrawsstuff (artist)
- Ben Laurence of Through Ultan's Door (writer)
- Ava Islam of Errant (writer, editor)
- Artie Esquire (artist)
- Anne Hunter of DIY & Dragons (writer)
- Amanda Ho (artist)
- Acid Lich (artist)
Purchase
In order to download this adventure you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $10 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Community Copies
Support this adventure at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copy
If you can't afford Barkeep right now, grab a community copy while they're available.
- Each PDF sale adds 1 copy
- Each rating and review adds 1 copy
- Cheers!
Download demo
Comments
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I think I remember listening to a podcast and you mentioned something about planning a jam for making new bars. Is that still a possibility for in the future?
It is definitely something I want to do! As soon as I can find the spare time to devote to organizing it.
I absolutely can’t wait to run this! Art? Stunning. Characters and factions? So flipping flavorful. Additional rules and procedures? Probably being slotted into near all my games moving forward. Can’t wait for my physical copy to come in.
Any chance you can add the Maps zip to the download package from the Prismatic Wasteland website? It wasn’t included in the download link for the physical+pdf bundle I was gifted.
Okay, I think I fixed that in the automatic email. But just in case, I also made the map files a "demo file" here on itch, so you (and anyone else) should be able to download those from here anytime!
Thanks for the kind words!
hi, its possibile to have a community copies?
Congrats on the Ennie! ♥
Thank you! The whole team is pretty thrilled
JP Coovert calls Barkeep on the Borderlands one of the Best Indie TTRPG Adventures!
Hi,
First off I want to say I that Barkeep on the Borderlands looks to be one of the most fun and inventive adventures I have ever heard of. JP Coovert's review on Youtube was glowing! I did have a slight hiccup with my order though.
I bought the Barkeep Bundle (Zine + Map + coasters + bookmark + PDFs) off of your website as well as the PDF for Big Rock Candy hexcrawl. When the order summary (#00109) for BRC hexcrawl came up there was a download link, but no download link for the Barkeep Bundle (order summary #00106). Also, nothing sent to my email. How do I get the PDFs for the Barkeep Bundle? Sorry for posting this in the comments but I didn't know how else to contact you.
Thank you-
John Lewis
John,
I think there is an issue with the email you listed on your website (the "att.net" address), because neither of the automatic emails you were supposed to have gotten appears to have made it, but they have for others since I turned on the automatic download emails. Would you please send me an email at prismaticwasteland at g mail dot com?
Thanks,
W.F. Smith
Hi W.F.,
I just replied to the email you sent to the john.p.lewis at att dot net address.
Thanks again,
John
W.F.,
I got the files you sent and after a quick perusal of the adventure all I can say is Wow! Barkeep is going to keep my group happily gaming for many months. The guys I game with love adventures like this.
Of course, the download issue was an email problem on MY end. Thanks so much for going to the trouble to sort me out so quickly. You can count me as a loyal customer for sure!
Thank you,
John Lewis
Woohoo! I am glad you like it and I hope your group does too. Feel free to drop me a line about how running it goes, I'm always curious to hear about that.
Happy gaming and cheers,
W.F. Smith
Ben Milton of Questing Beast reviewed Barkeep, and positively too! This short video might be a good one for "pitching" the adventure to your players since it gives a brief overview of the metaplot of the adventure:
And another interview with Tony at Plus One Exp. We talk about some of the inspiration for the adventure and my process for making it, and more:
I did an interview about Barkeep with Hexed Press:
Just two questions...
1) What is needed to play this game?
2) What does 1d6 gold or 2d6 spells means???
I am new to this, so apologies
1) It does require a "system", basically any fantasy TTRPG (e.g., a "D&D" or its many descendants). I recommend Cairn, which you can find for free online.
2) So "Xd6" means roll a number 6-sided die equal to the X and add them. Gold is for gold pieces, the currency/treasure the characters are trying to acquire. Spells here would just be either spells chosen at random or the referee might select specific ones. The "system" you are using tends to provide what spells are available.
No need to apologize! The zine is pretty jam-packed, so does make some assumptions about baseline familiarity with classic, fantasy TTRPGs!
... and as I was about to claim, my laptop died... and I lost it...
... typically my luck...
Oh wow, they’re already gone?! I’ll add lots more if Barkeep ends up winning the Ennie for Best Supplement that it’s nominated for
A video review of Barkeep on the Borderlands (and one of the cocktails from the bookmark). Bottom line: maybe I should stick to writing adventures and not cocktails
An interview I did earlier this year on The Weekly Scroll to talk shop about Barkeep:
Barkeep on the Borderlands is a TTRPG where the player characters attempt to find a cure for the Queen of the keep while bar hopping, getting drunk, and causing mayhem throughtout the town.
Playing this with my group was so much fun! Everyone at the table loved it and I can't remember a time when we all laughed so much. This game will be in our regular rotation from here on in.
The systems the game uses work exceptionally well. Both the setting and 20 unique and varied taverns are well thought out and is loaded with different experiences and hijinks for the players to get up to.
The drinking and drunkenness mechanic is a standout system which I've never seen in any other TTRPG's I've played. It creates fun, interesting, and sometimes dangerous opportunities for the party. I'll definitely be using it in other adventures as it offers a great downtime activity for when your PC's are back in town resupplying or licking their wounds, and can easily be used to create new plot hooks for further adventures.
Due to it's modular nature, any of the 20 available taverns or even individual systems can be used in almost any other OSR TTRP's you're playing. They are ready made tavern settings, each with an abundance of character, as well as different PC's to interact with.
You can really tell this game was made with care and the author has done a great job with making the town feel alive and festive.
If you're looking for something different than your average adventure, or just want a bit of extra spice for your current campaign, I can't reccomend this game enough.
Thanks so much for this review! You may be one of the first groups (other than the playtesters) to have ran the adventure, and I am glad you all enjoyed it!
My pleasure! It was a blast to play :) Very creative! I've also left a review on Drivethru in the comments section to get the word out. Hope you have a nice day
Hi! Just wondering if there are going to be any more community copies made available? If not its totally fine.
P.S. I see the in your last update said you were getting married! Congrats! Hope the day was memorable and you're enjoying married life
My goal was 1 community copy for each itch sale or review, but so far there have only been 63 sales+reviews and I've put out 100 community copies 😅 I will put up a quick 5 more community copies. I hope, as more people get it, more people will be inclined to leave some reviews!
Also, thank you!
Thank you! I really appreciate it :) I will be sure to leave a review both here and on drivethrurpg in the comments section. When I'm in a better position i'll come back to purchase another copy. Hope you have a nice day and thanks again for your kindness!
I hope you enjoy it!!
If you are using the adventure hook of finding the cure for the monarch. In your experience, on average, how many sessions does it take for parties to find the antidote?
There are honestly too many variables to give a good prediction. A party that is single-mindedly dedicated to it (and lucky) may find it in the first day. But I think 6 days are enough for most parties to either find it, or find the ingredients to make their own.
To give an example of how unpredictable it is though, in one of our playtests neither the party nor the Heir found the antidote because they ended up killing the Heir in a case of mistaken identity, trying and failing to ally with the goblins, then went to Watchtower Without Wizard to cut loose the tether and leave the Keep (and their many pursuers) with their heads still attached to their necks!
gotcha! Thanks!
This looks amazing, I can't wait to pick it up! I love so many of the people that helped with this.
Looks like an awesome adventure for Troika! Waiting for physical version :)
Did you try to run it with Troika? If so how did it fit the system? :)
For a bit more from the early days of creating this adventure, here is an interview I did with Plus One Exp during last year's ZIMO where I pitch Barkeep on the Borderlands and talk about the OSR, and more.
Any chance of community copies?
There is an excellent chance of community copies, because I just added some. Go on, take one!