Here’s something I’ve never heard anyone talk about, and it’s something I’ve done for years. Instead of spending time trying to come up with ideas about places and people, why not just use history as your guide? Back when I first started playing, the only resources for historic information, was the local library. Today, we have the entire sum of all human knowledge in our hand, literally. So why not use it?

 
What do I mean by using history? Well, for one thing, Inn’s, Taverns, and Ale Houses were not the same thing. By properly separating them, and adding things like Baker’s Booths, Meat Vendors, and other food shops you would find on Cook Street in any medieval town or city, you establish basic places the Party can go to get specific needs.

Ale Houses

An Ale House was just that. A house. This could be in a town, a city, or a village. The Ale Wife, would make a large batch of ale. She did this because the water was usually undrinkable. Something else you should put into your game, drinking water straight from a pond, lake or stream, would likely have consequences later.

 
The Ale Wife makes a large batch of ale for her family. Boiling the water kills all the nasties in it, but the Medieval person has no knowledge of this, they just know ale is safe to drink. The batch of ale is usually too much for her family to drink before it goes bad, which can happen in just a few days, so she hangs a broom outside her house, which advertises that she has ale for sale.

 
The broom hanging outside a house doorway would probably be common knowledge for anyone of that era, but you could always have the player asking about the broom, make a knowledge role, knowing full well that whatever they roll (aside from a 1) you’ll tell them about the symbolism of the broom.

 
An Ale House might be empty, save for the Ale Wife, or it might have a great number of people, both locals and travelers, drinking ale. In either case, it can be a great place for the Party to learn about the area, and any “odd” things that may be happening. It may be the Ale Wife, talking about the local rumor mill, or perhaps a traveler from a far away land, has news about some Grand Tournament.

 
The Ale House is likely to close in the afternoon, so the Wife can have time to get everything ready for evening dinner, for her family.

Taverns

“You meet in a Tavern”. It’s a trope from the very beginning of D&D, but it’s not only plausible, it’s actually likely. The tavern in a town or city, is going to be a place where people gather, after the day’s work is done. Any Ale Houses have closed for the day, so those seeking something to hydrate with, will be at the Tavern.

 
The Tavern is a place where you can get a drink, and something to eat as well. The food is likely to be some sort of stew, called potage, which has been simmering for months, years, decades or even longer. There are many places in England that have claimed to have the same potage for centuries. Of course, new ingredients are added daily, to replace what has been eaten, though since we’re talking a fantasy realm here, it’s possible that the Tavern has a magically enchanted cauldron of never-ending food. Look up Ceridwen’s Cauldron, for the mythology around this. You will also find other uses for such a cauldron.

 
Taverns are social places. You might even see a traveling minstrel, who regales the gathered crowd with song and news form far off places. Traveling Minstrels were the main source of information from outside the town or city. As a gathering place, Taverns attracted all manner and type of people. Anyone who drank too much, was likely to find that they were followed out of the Tavern, by a group of ruffians, intent on stealing whatever they could find. A Tavern is also a good place for a Party to find, and follow a person of interest.

 
Just like today, there are always going to be those who drink far too much, and end up getting sick all over the place. Remember, there are no bathrooms at the Tavern. While gross, it can also be used as a distraction by any Party needing such.

 
Taverns are likely to have wine, ale, or depending on the season, cider for sale. Anyone in Europe will understand that when I say cider, I mean hard cider. Only Americans drink apple juice, and call it cider. Wine is likely to be the most common drink available. Ale is likely, but cider will only be for a short time in the early Winter, when apples are ripe. Spring and Summer may offer mead, but that’s likely to be expensive.

You cannot get a room for the night at a Tavern. At least, not in most Taverns. Chances are though, that in a town of any size, and certainly in a city, the Tavern will be close to, if not next door to, an Inn.

Inns

The Inn, is where your Party is going to find a place to bed down for the night. Sure, they can camp out under the stars and keep watch, if they are in a place that is lightly, or never traveled, but if they are on a road, any road, there is going to be a series of Inns about a day’s walk from each other. How far is that? Well, I do a daily walk of 4 miles. It takes me about an hour and a quarter to finish the walk, so I walk about three miles an hour.

 
That means unburdened, a person or people could walk a hex (assuming the standard six mile hex) in about two hours. Someone in full plate armor is likely to walk slower. Someone on horseback (if they’re rich enough to be able to afford a horse) will move much faster. Figuring a base walking speed of three miles an hour, the Party could make it about four hexes, or 24 miles a day. Placing an Inn every three to four hexes, depending on terrain, would be realistic.
That’s also about the right distance between towns, villages, hamlets, or whatever. Even if there is nothing else, there is likely to be an Inn.

 
A lone Inn, where no town or village exists, will be a walled enclosure with a single gate, that only the Innkeeper has the keys to. The gates will be close at sunset, or whenever curfew might be, and reopened the next morning. The walls and gate are not just to keep the less than friendly creatures out, but they also ensure the Innkeeper gets paid, before anyone leaves.

 
Unlike the town or city Inns, a lone Inn on the road like this will have food and drink. Typically, the food at least, will be part of the price for staying the night. If you’re not staying the night, you aren’t welcome. That goes for any Inn, in any location. They make their money from tired travelers looking for a safe place to sleep.

 
The Innkeeper will have a lock box where guests can keep any valuables for the night. Only the Innkeeper has the key, so the valuables should be safe.

 
After you’ve eaten and had something to drink, and spent a delightful evening talking to the Innkeeper and any other guests, you’ll head off to bed. You won’t get your own room. At least, not unless you are willing to pay handsomely for it, assuming such a private room is even available, which it is not likely to be. In fact, chances are, if there’s even a bed, you’re going to share it with anyone willing to pay the price. If you aren’t willing to pay for a bed, you’ll get a pallet, with some straw on it.

 
This isn’t really as bad as it sounds. The guests would remove their shoes and cloaks, but otherwise remain clothed in bed. There would be no place to put their clothes anyway, so this was normal practice. Remaining clothed and sleeping together also helped travelers stay warm during the Winter. There might be a fireplace in the main room of the Inn, but there was no central heating.

 
In either case, all the guests that will fit, will be sleeping in the same room. Any late night visit to the Privy means carefully stepping around everyone else as they sleep. I’m sure you can figure out a proper DEX DC for anyone who needs to use the facilities. Also, bathing would happen at Bath Houses, not the Inn. An Inn would have a well and a basin for washing, if needed. You would supply your own washcloth.

 
Speaking of facilities, and the members of your Party would know this, there will be two buckets provided for relieving yourself. One is for solids, the other for liquids. Both liquids and solids are valuable commodities for the Innkeeper, who will (likely) have one of his children empty the buckets every morning into the appropriate barrel.

 
Every week or so, the Innkeeper will take the barrels to a nearby town, where he can sell the contents to appropriate businesses. If the Inn is located in a town or city, there will be people who will come around to collect the refuse. The solids were used by gong farmers. The liquids were used for tanning leather, bleaching linen, and after the invention of gunpowder, the nitrates would be collected.

 
Now, does your Party need to know any of this? No, but if you know it, it allows you to make your world building much deeper. It could also make for an interesting session. Imagine your Party waking up from a good night’s rest, and the Innkeeper asking them if they would be willing to guard his wagon while he took “supplies” to the next town over. The party doesn’t need to know what it is they’re guarding, just that it’s valuable.

 
Now imagine their reaction when they are attacked by bandits, looking for valuables. I’m positive that at some point in the fight, someone will find their head rammed into one of the barrels, breaking it open and, well, you can take it from there.

Why Bother?

There are a couple of really good reasons for using historic fact as the basis for your world. First, you don’t need to figure any of this stuff out. It’s already written down for you. You know it’s not just possible, but plausible. Also, you don’t have to remember what you told everyone three sessions ago. You’re using historic fact, so worst case, you just look it up.

 
There are all sorts of things you as the DM, can use historically, to make your world feel real and lived in. Chances are, if you’re playing D&D, you are already fascinated by the time period, and if you are a DM, your fascination probably goes deeper. I’ve just scratched the surface here. I didn’t even go into money, which very few get right. I’ll save that for a later blog.

 
The point is, you don’t have to make it all up. You can use actual history to fill in all the little details when someone in your Party asks, and you know they’re going to ask. So where do you find all this information? You can always do a Google search, but one of the best sources for medieval information I’ve found, that isn’t dry, and is actually fun to watch, is the YouTube channel Modern History TV. It’s presented by an actual English Knight, and he has videos on everything from “Could a Knight do…” to “What did people eat?” It was the video on visiting a Medieval Inn, that caused me to begin writing this.

 
Speaking of food, Tasting History With Max Miller, is another, but different source. He’s more interested in making and eating food from different places and times, but he does also cover some interesting facts. He also put out a video on medieval taverns which is worth a watch. The Internet is full of these type of resources, you just have to look for them. They aren’t hard to find, and you may realize that using historical fact as the basis for your descriptions, leads you to interesting game play that I guarantee your players will never expect in a million years.