The Village of Smile is a Designated 'Adventurer Free' Town
/The world of an adventurer is perilous and uncertain. They can go from heroes emerging victorious from a dungeon under the mountains, to most wanted in their base town for disturbing the peace and killing those that cross them. As a Game Master, I suffer not a Murder Hobo to live.
When adventurers are on the road, seeking shelter and a place to Long Rest before they make it to the next site of their adventure, a small, quaint village is an ideal place. A kindly tavernkeeper will fill them with food and rumours, and the local shopkeeps will be eager for big city coin in their small businesses. Or that's how most would do it. I like to put fun spins on the conventional.
The Village of Smile
Village by GrandBlue Fantasy
Smile is the quaint village on the grand intercity roads, in the wilderness of any classic Dungeons and Dragons setting. To the unaware adventurer rocking up, they may think it's the perfect place to pit stop. As they approach the squat buildings and small enclosures of farm animals, they'd see the signage around the outside of the town. Big red stop signs around stick figures of fighters and wizards. Slogans like “there be no treasure here” and “heroes-b-gon” in big black letters.
For any curious adventure, likely not phased to obey signs like this, they'll find a wall of tutting and disapproving head shakes from each NPC wandering around the dirt road. Entering any of the stores; the tanner, baker, blacksmith, they will immediately be shooed away or have the sign turned to 'closed' and the door locked in their faces.
The only place they'd be reluctantly permitted into is the tavern: The Homestead. By the door, a pinned board says “no spells, no swords, no service”. The barkeep will explain the significance of Smile being well placed in the world. It's a village in the shade of a great mountain with which contains endless caves abandoned by Dwarves and is full of goblins guarding what little remaining treasure there is. The forest just under a mile from Smile also features an immense wolf run, where lycanthropes have hunted for hundreds of years.
Adventurers used to flock in their hundreds for treasure hunting and monster slaying. They turned the once peaceful township into a rowdy dive for adventurers of all alignments. The town collectively decided enough was enough, and no longer permits this kind of traveller to stay for more than one night, or use its services. The party may check into the lodgings at The Homestead for one night only, and must vacate at first light.
An Adventurer Free Zone
Adventurers have a reputation of being raucous and demanding the attention of multiple NPCs when they go anywhere. It makes perfect sense to me that there would be places in the world of Dungeons and Dragons that reject adventurer influence.
Now we want to hear from you. Would you let your players pass through Smile, or will they be even more strict? What other kinds of locations in your world are 'no adventurers allowed'? Let us know in our discord server or in the comments below.
Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com, they write about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out themselves. On Youtube, they can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes, or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere. Find where they dwell by climbing their Linktree.
