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I’ve been thinking about the beginnings of adventures and how some characters meet, especially in D&D games. One of the most common starting points is a tavern, which is why some parties unite over an initial barroom battle. It could be caused by all of them or just one. In the end, this results in them seeing what each other can do and maybe even get dragged into the same adventure.
The barroom starting battle is one that I’ve used both at the start and in the middle of a story. Is it a trope? Pretty much. Yet, it has a handful of uses:
- Characters who have just met can bond over the action. It helps with party conflict as well because they have to work together. It isn’t an organized battle, so there isn’t any time to plan. Everything is out of instinct and reacting to what is going on, which means grudges can be undone. A grudge typically requires conscious thought to act on, but if you’re in a pitched battle alongside the person you’re feuding with there is a higher chance you will depend on them. Not even consciously, but actions can be done to show each other is helpful.
- Bar brawls can show how active a city’s guards are and reveal how the locals act to such disturbances. If it happens with a minor spark then a reader can assume the city has a higher rate of crime or at least a weak security force. It can also reveal that the locals are already tense or suspicious. They might not like outsiders, so are looking for any reason to start a fight.
- If you are having a hard time getting your characters or players to move on in the story then this helps to get them kicked out. There are times where a city is too welcoming or characters settle in a bit too much. You start to realize that they might not realistically want to leave or at least stay longer than the timeline you’ve already set up. So, you get them into trouble and force them to move on.
- This kind of scene can set the tone for a story that is going to have plenty of action. It will demonstrate how you write such scenes as well as give an idea of what the characters can do. This isn’t where you reveal all of their tricks, tactics, and tools, but you can show how they are in a battle. Is a character aggressive or more likely to hide for a variety of reasons? If it began with taunting, it can show if a hero has a general temper or has a specific trigger. Use it for character and world building, which will continue throughout the adventure.
- If it’s right at the start and the heroes don’t know each other, it can lead to another type of beginning . . . Jail, which is Wednesday.
So, what do people think of the bar brawl beginning?
Legends of Windemere 
I like it. Sounds like a blast to write.
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They’re fun and chaotic.
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I’ve never written one, though I’ve enjoyed bar scenes in books and movies. Sooner of later in many novels characters seem to visit a tavern to get information. Fights ensue.
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Bars do seem to be a great place for info. Wonder if that’s true in the real world. Though I assume drinking and less inhibitions play a role.
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Okay, I totally lied. I wrote a bar scene. Just not at the beginning of a story. (I’m not sure why I forgot about that scene.)
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I’m not a gamer, but this reminds of how barroom battles along the road add a robust atmosphere to Henry Fielding’s novels, possibly our last great panoramic view of old England before industrialization.
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Interesting. Those happened lot in his stories?
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Yes, poor Tom Jones and Joseph Andrews wander an English countryside filled with hilarious hypocrites, lusty barmaids, irascible innkeepers, and the like. Both Tom and Joseph being a little on the warm-blooded side, they didn’t have a chance against such clever adversaries but were continually hoodwinked into battles and bedrooms despite their own good nature — and luckily so for the reader in search of robust comedy 🙂
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Action packed with lots of excitement. I have a song named Bar Room Blitz running though my head!
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Haven’t heard that one in a long time. Should find it on YouTube.
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Yup, by Sweet and on YouTube.
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I like the idea of a bar fight to kick things off. So many possibilities from the initial fight. Good discussion, Charles.
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Thanks. 🙂
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I have used openings like this in one of my novels, Too Many Princes. It showed the main character was good in a fight, but also feckless and needing to grow up. Which he did over the course of the story. It also showed some of the palace workings, since he was a younger prince and it was one of his older, mature brothers who showed up to tamp things down.
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Good point. Bar fights can be useful in showing fighting prowess as well as ingenuity. It isn’t a battle with clear rules, so you get a lot of flexibility.
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Bar room fights are waaay more fun in fiction than they are in reality. Head on a swivel and duck (and pray)!
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Good point. I feel like fictional drunks are more coordinated in bar fights than real ones too.
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