Watering Hole

Every role playing game should have a watering hole. A watering hole is defined here as a place that the Player Characters use to rest, re-equip, heal, gather information and get general down time between adventures.

Generating a good solid watering hole is an important job for a Game Master. A good watering hole can make adventure prep easier, can be used to generate adventure hooks and hints, and can be a source of motivation if the players care about the watering hole and the NPCs it contains.

In short, a Game Master needs there to be a watering hole almost as much as the Player Characters need one.

Speaking of which, if the Game Master doesn't create a watering hole, then the player will adopt one. As a Game Master, it is better for you and your ability to shape the story if the watering hole is one of your own design. Of course, if things change and the players surprise you, it is not impossible to convert another location into a suitable watering hole- it simply make more sense to have one ready and steer the Player Characters to it.

The easiest way to steer them is to start them in that town. This isn't Final Fantasy and the monsters difficulty isn't based on where the player characters are on the overworld map. As a Game Master there can be a wide variety of threats in the immediate area, they don't all have to be within the Character's power level.

Likewise, once a watering hole is established and anchored in the players’ minds, it isn't hard to draw them back to it, if necessary.

The watering hole can be virtually anything. Small Towns are popular in fantasy settings. Guild halls, barracks, army bases, and organization headquarter all work well when they are appropriate. In modern settings a group home is often adopted.

Likewise, in modern settings it is unlikely that a modern sized city will qualify as a watering hole (far too big), but a Game Master can easily define a small neighborhood or similar several block area that feels safe or feels like home. Looking at television, Buffy (the Vampire Slayer) has the high school library. Malcolm Reynolds and crew had the Serenity (Firefly). Zorro and Batman had their respective underground hideaways. The police station qualifies in almost any cop drama.

A watering hole can be almost anything as long as it has several qualities. They are listed below using the form they will assume in a fantasy role-playing game (and then elaborated upon).

Necessary Elements
A Watering Hole Town should have the following:

===An Information Center ===

A Heroes Guild, a Bar, a Cantina, a Briefing Room, an Ops Center, A Library, etc...

This is where the player characters go to get most new missions, and receive updates, try to get further information and so forth. This is where most games will start. Depending on the form of the information center the players may have their characters spend a lot (a bar) or a little (a briefing room) time in said information center.

To be honest this is a mostly incidental concern. Whenever an NPC is created for any part of the watering hole, they should be recorded and added to you watering hole file to avoid confusion- the players will often remember more of the NPCs than you. The Information Center needs to be useful, but doesn't have to be friendly or inviting. Many are friendly or inviting, but they do not have to be. Function is the primary concern when creating an information center.

=== Shelter ===

An Inn, the House of a Friend, a Hostel, Barracks, a Hotel, a Safe House, a Home/ House, etc...

The Information Center doesn't need to be inviting, but this should be inviting. The Shelter is the place where the players can feel safe. A Game Master should spend time building up that sense of safe for the Player Characters, so that they will be more affected who you smash that sense of safety later. Threatening a person's place of refuge is powerful, and player characters are as susceptible to this as anyone else. In order for this to work, they must first identify with the shelter and feel safe there- so work on this.

Beyond that, players will seek shelter and giving them a safe one allows the Game Master more control over game flow.

===A Supply Center (basic supplies only) ===

Stores or local market, blacksmith, equipment center or department, supply room, etc...

The players will need a place to stock up on necessities. This should not have anything fancy or special. Cool thing are earned through game play, not bought with a discount card. The supply center may end up being more than one place. A fantasy town for instance is likely to have a general store, a market, a blacksmith, and church (for healing) amongst other things.

All of this qualifies as supplies. This is a great place to build up connections that can be used as adventure hooks, make the owners of the different sections of the supply center memorable (see said section) and the players will remember them and given enough time, may care if something happens to them. And in the basic sense, the supply center must serve its purpose and keep our player characters fully stocked and ready for anything.

=== Transportation Access (Should only give access to nearby area though) ===

Port, stables, space port, car, transit system, stage coach, etc...

Player characters will need to get around. Not all adventures take place near the watering hole. As the players need to go further a field, there needs to be a way for them to go further a field. In the early stages this will likely be provided by other people, and thus the watering hole needs transportation access. As stated above, this access should only be to nearby areas, further freedom of movement is earned through game play in the same way that cool gear is.

This also applies to Science Fiction games where the player characters may begin with a star ship. If they player characters do begin with a starship, then as the Game Master keep said starship limited to a short range starship in the stages of the game.

===Minor Adventures ===

Minor Adventures are just what they sound like- little tasks that are not very difficult that are designed to give clues or small boosts to the player character's experience or similar. Minor Adventures should not take more than half and hour of play to complete. Their purpose is to bolster the characters, blow off steam, or give a hint. Keep them deliberately limited as a result. A Minor Adventure should have only one act- possibly two (Investigation and confrontation).

=== Optional: Advisor ===

Jedi, Occult Bookstore, etc...

The Minor Character is an NPC who will provide advice and limited guidance to the players throughout the game, although will not accompany them on their adventures. This is a good way to establish a character for the watering hole and to provide a link that makes it feel like home to the player characters. Once again, this is a great way to drop adventure hooks, especially in the early stages.

===Optional: Specialty Shops ===

Magic, Special Weapons, etc...

Certain elements of a particular role-playing game might require a particular specialty shop. In the Marvel Comics Universe, for instance, Spider-Man goes to the tailor who makes his Spider-suits to get one stitched up after it is damaged. The problem is that he shows up on a 'villain's' night and scares away a new super-villain. The point being that the tailor is a specialty shop for the local super powered characters.

Magic Shops are also specialty shops. Feel free to make these harder to find, or require a password or membership in a prestigious organization if you feel that the player characters should not have immediate access to the shops but should instead be forced to drool over them.