Bad Guy Bar

[A guy gets thrown out of a rowdy bar and lands on the street next to Kermit]

GUY: That's toughest, meanest, *filthiest* pest hole on the face of the earth!
KERMIT: Why not complain to the owner?
GUY: I *am* the owner.

—The Muppet Movie

Basic Information

The Bad Guy Bar is both a trope and a location. It is a dingy bar with shadowy booths, the perfect place for bad guys and minor villains to hang out, plot crimes, and network.

See also:

Bikini Bar
Wretched Hive

Sources

Bibliography

1. TV Tropes Wiki

Game and Story Use

• In some settings, the Bad Guy Bar may have a neutrality policy, making it a place where the bad guys and good guys can intermingle and check up on each other without a war breaking out.
  • Of course, this may be just because the bar owner is the Big Bad Evil Guy and is hoping to seduce the PCs over to The Dark Side.
• Likely hangout for Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.
• If the leads dry up or clues peter out, the investigators can seek a jump start by asking questions over drinks at the Bad Guy Bar.
• The sort of place where the PCs can hire some mercenary mooks.
• A Wizard walks in to the bar… and thus the quest begins.
• In The Western, the Bad Guy Bar might be a Dance-Hall or Brothel.
  • Or it might be the place where they organize the quick draw contest.