Managing your tavern: Q&A

[Dembo]

I love this game. I really do...
The problem is that tutorials are practically non-existent, and all available knowledge compedies are very fussy, where some entries are outright false. Players also seem to have a problem with being up to date, as the guides section is quite poor.

So here I am, creating this thread.
Recently we got the tavern DLC. I won't be discussing the quality of the DLC or if it fits the actual game or not, I am here just for facts and mechanics.

What I have learned:

- You can buy your first tavern in Tiltren for 1 krown piece!! (How about other cities? Can you manage multiple taverns?)
- Running the tavern will cost you noting as it has its own currency, which you are granted at the beggining. And with that amount you can easily hire staff and buy basic furniture.
- You can make small profit from the 1st shift.
- Earned money can be converted into krowns or kept to invest in your business
- You can man the tavern with your own mercs or hire civilians. Basically you are not forced to use your troop. Tavern can do just fine when civilians are in ALTHOUGH having your own mercs/animals as bouncers seems to pay off way more.
- Your tavern shift progresses when you rest, you can manage your tavern during camping.
- As you progress more features and furnitures will unlock. You'll be able to do multiple shifts by spending influence, spy on other taverns (is there someting else?)
- Your food, decor or events can influence certain clientele. Keep it fancy and lure nobility that will gladly feed you with lots of money. If you want, you can make your tavern look rough and shady, which will attract bandits and pirates.. but I don't know if there are any
good sides to that (except events)
- You will get random events at the end of the shift when visiting the tavern
- Adding animals as bouncers will get you certain perks per animal (alpha = increased security if i remember, bear = income... what else?)
- If you have just started a new game, do not spend knowledge into basic wolf or pork recipes. Assigning a civilian cook and picking those two recipes will unlock them for your mercs too!

What is confusing for me:

- What is the point of manning the tavern with your own folk (that is mercs with certain levels, stats, gear), except bouncers since their STR = security added. Can stats or items influence their actions or be beneficial in any way? Cannot say as it is not explained.
- Are there fights in the tavern? Do I need to gear up my bouncers?
- Similar with tavern keeper role. You can make anyone tavern keeper. I don't see any difference.
- Is there any perk to attracting "toublesome" clientele, like pirates? I would love to make a shady, dirty den for bandits. But I don't want to sacrifice my profit if it won't pay off with anything else.
- WHY CAN YOU DECORATE ONLY ONE WALL IN TILTREN FFS

Discussion/Reflection

Up untill tavern DLC I saw no point in leaving your mercs at the trading post. They won't cost you food or money, but what's the point of not taking a merc with you? They will just loose exp and fall behind. Better to let them go, no? The only situations I could think of where it would be actually beneficial to put your mercs on reserve is money/food crisis or lowering guard/merchant scaling to farm gear or crime path (but I don't know if it actually works this way).
Now we have an option to actually do something with our less wanted guys, or just for roleplay sake if someone is into that. Let's say I have picked up a tank, because I needed one badly (or maybe I wanted someone with cooking). After a while I have found a recruit with WAY better base stats and cool perks, now I can take the new guy and leave my old tank as a cook in the tavern (+ as a backup). So now this makes a bit more sense, but still I would love to see some more options to do with your troop, not only in the field.

Additionally. It seems like making money is super easy with the tavern. I don't know how it works later on, and yes, with frequent money transfer the rates go down... but still. Money can be easily earned in this game (and spent too, I know...)... with taverns being just another huge sources for income (on the other hand, whats the point of having the tavern if not for being rich, duh)

I would like to invite y'all to the discussion.

[mrak20105]

I have no experience in running a Tavern. But if you can leave companions and even animals in the Tavern, this is a HUGE plus. The fact that you did not see the point in leaving companions at the Trading Post indicates that you were playing at the Regional level. For the Adaptive level, leaving a veteran at the Trading Post reduces the level and power of the enemy. And vice versa - the detachment remains at the Trading Post, and the veteran can buy in-demand weapons from merchants and hire in-demand fighters in taverns.

[Dembo]

Originally posted by mrak20105:

I have no experience in running a Tavern. But if you can leave companions and even animals in the Tavern, this is a HUGE plus. The fact that you did not see the point in leaving companions at the Trading Post indicates that you were playing at the Regional level. For the Adaptive level, leaving a veteran at the Trading Post reduces the level and power of the enemy. And vice versa - the detachment remains at the Trading Post, and the veteran can buy in-demand weapons from merchants and hire in-demand fighters in taverns.

Oooh so you can explore the city if you leave someone in there?! Didnt know that, that changes A LOT.

[mrak20105]

Originally posted by Dembo:

Originally posted by mrak20105:

I have no experience in running a Tavern. But if you can leave companions and even animals in the Tavern, this is a HUGE plus. The fact that you did not see the point in leaving companions at the Trading Post indicates that you were playing at the Regional level. For the Adaptive level, leaving a veteran at the Trading Post reduces the level and power of the enemy. And vice versa - the detachment remains at the Trading Post, and the veteran can buy in-demand weapons from merchants and hire in-demand fighters in taverns.

Oooh so you can explore the city if you leave someone in there?! Didnt know that, that changes A LOT.

In order to better understand the mechanics in the game, you need to give up quick saving and train yourself to save before any event that is in doubt. For example, I fought with the King of the Creepers, at level 7, with two different squad assemblies - heavy armor and a long-range squad. How can you test your skills if you don’t save at the Brotherhood Test Site first?

[NEXORCIST]

Can anyone please explain how to hire a Thief for the tavern ?
The only one i can assign is my merc and that's all. No Thief profession shows up in staffing to recruit nor any of the hire-able professions can be made a Thief
Thanks

[drake_hound]

Originally posted by NEXORCIST:

Can anyone please explain how to hire a Thief for the tavern ?
The only one i can assign is my merc and that's all. No Thief profession shows up in staffing to recruit nor any of the hire-able professions can be made a Thief
Thanks

Thieves has to come from your Mercenary company, so basically just get a prisoner or recruit somebody with higher thief profession skill from tavern.
Then dump it in the tavern as thief.
The chests quests are great to level up thiefs by failing on purpose. and keep picklocking them again and again :P

[NEXORCIST]

Originally posted by drake_hound:

Originally posted by NEXORCIST:

Can anyone please explain how to hire a Thief for the tavern ?
The only one i can assign is my merc and that's all. No Thief profession shows up in staffing to recruit nor any of the hire-able professions can be made a Thief
Thanks

Thieves has to come from your Mercenary company, so basically just get a prisoner or recruit somebody with higher thief profession skill from tavern.
Then dump it in the tavern as thief.
The chests quests are great to level up thiefs by failing on purpose. and keep picklocking them again and again :P

Thanks for the info.

[MudCrab]

Originally posted by NEXORCIST:

Can anyone please explain how to hire a Thief for the tavern ?

I did try and assign my bouncer wolf to the role for a giggle.

"Go get the secrets, Boy. No, not the stick... Not the ball... No... You don't need another tummy rub... Go get the secrets...."

Didn't work. 0% success chance.

(I started a new run for this DLC and since I had been away from the game for a few months forgot that you need to try and steal something to unlock the Thief profession. So spent the first 8 hours of the game wondering why I couldn't hire in a Thief as a new party member... My bad...)

[Lt.Stock]

Also to note, some of your guard animals have their own quirks that your regular bouncers wont have, for example, if you put wolves there, you can't for instance use the cat you get as a gift and each animal can attract their own clientele on top or boost sales (I am not sure what kind of people would love a mosquito as a bodyguard)

[Egokrat]

> (How about other cities? Can you manage multiple taverns?)

Once you hit a certain prestige cap that you cannot go over (600 for Tiltren I think) you get a quest to buy a tavern in the next town (Marheim is next afair) that will cost a bit more gold to buy.
The new tavern replaces your old tavern and you move all deco objects/staff over. The newer tavern will have more room for deco/tables and more slots for staff. I assume this will go on until you hit max prestige.

Leaving people behind is indeed a bit questionable especially in adaptive mode because they don't gain XP meaning they will not be able to keep up after a certain level difference and you can't go to an area where they could safely level up with lower level enemies. Hiring a new mercenary seems much simpler at that point.
"Benching" someone in the tavern at least keeps them useful and you can have them earn profession XP there.

[Ctrekoz]

Can I rename the tavern?

And what's with "Gratuity: 5 copper coins" trait? Will the person gain them by the end of the shift for free?

[Oakshield]

Originally posted by Ctrekoz:

Can I rename the tavern?

You can name it once you buy it. Not sure if you can rename it after that.

Thorin

[Ctrekoz]

Originally posted by Oakshield:

Originally posted by Ctrekoz:

Can I rename the tavern?

You can name it once you buy it. Not sure if you can rename it after that.

Thorin

Oh you can rename in tavern management screen after your first shift.

[Tungsten]

Did you know that when you put a merc as tavern keeper or bouncer he will gain combat xp... all other position gain profession xp...

[Ichthyic]

why use your own crew? simple:
1. knowledge points. As your own crew learn different pastimes (cooking, brewing, etc.) you level up those, and you gain knowledge points.
2. leveling up in things like cooking can give you special bonuses when you camp (aside from the huge constitution bonus that comes with master cooking)
3. Your own guys can fill in for unavailable professions when you open a new tavern.
4. You can actually learn spontaneous "spins" to your profession (producing special food, faster brewing, more food for less, etc), which will apply both at the tavern, and on the road.

So yeah, it's worth spending some time training your own guys up.

[Lampros]

Thank you so much for posting this, OP. It was very helpful - and you are right: Documentation is hopelessly lacking in this game. I love the game but the devs have dropped the ball on so many quality-of-life aspects.