As the title says there are simply too many taverns and other places in Vallaki to spend the night, which spreads the playerbase thin and can make it (unnecessarily) difficult to find other roleplayers at night.
Taverns, inns and similar establishments in Vallaki:- The Lady's Rest, Western Outskirts
- Tigan's Rest, Slums
- The Prancing Nymph, Slums
- The Gaping Wound, Slums*
- Angler's Dive, Vallaki Docks
- The Drowned Rat, Market District
- The Broken Bell Inn, Market District
- The Blue Water Inn, Nobles District
- The Drain, Vallaki Sewers
*
Not always accessible to the public or closedOther forms of shelter from the night, religious sanctuaries or hospices:- Vistani Camp, Western Outskirts
- Sanctuary of the Coming Dawn, Western Outskirts
- Sanctuary of Eternal Dawn, Slums
- Abandoned Hospice, Slums
- Church of Ezra, Nobles District
There are also various faction bases, abandoned homes and warehouses, the library (in the bookstore) and another three taverns that are also a single transition (a boat's ride) away from Vallaki. All places where you could also spend the night, but I purposely kept them off the lists because most of these are not always accessible (requiring a key or relying on seasonal transport) or safe to spend the night due to hostile spawns.
This still leaves 9(!) taverns and inns in Vallaki alone, which is a little bit overkill for such a small town, in my opinion. The only one of them I could find a reference to in the sourcebook is The Blue Water Inn.
I believe it would be beneficial for the server to significantly reduce this number, encouraging players to wait out the night together and making it more likely for roleplayers to bump into eachother at night.
Suggestions:- Relocate one of the Vallaki taverns? I think Vallaki is currently the only town in Barovia with more than one tavern, as far as I know the Village of Barovia and Krezk both have only a single tavern.
- Close down or relocate The Drowned Rat? The establishment is essentially interchangeable with The Broken Bell Inn, except that it has no rentable rooms, and they are located on the same map.
- Make the NPCs in the Angler's Dive and The Drowned Rat retire for the night like they do in all the other shops in Vallaki? This would clarify that they do not accomodate staying there overnight.
(And perhaps also use this as an opportunity to move the NPC that offers the passive job as fisherman to the Angler's Dive building so that new players might have an easier time locating him?)
Thoughts?