Alcohol and D&D

[Bricktop]

Two come to mind.

We were playing in a Ravenolft campaign earlier this spring, and several of the members brought some smoke with them. At about 11:30 we took a mid-game break, and we started smoking like fiends. Everyone but the DM was blitzed by midnight. The DM was well on his way, but he's a hardy vet and it wasn't hitting him as hard as it was the rest of us.

We were solving the murders of several women in Nartuk (?) and had been working the case for one session already. One of the players had it in his head that a total red herring (it was blatantly obvious to all of us that indeed it was just a red herring) NPC was somehow to be blamed and had to be punished. He passes around a note, which at this point I'm too far gone to comprehend so I look at the guy next to me for an explanation. He tries not to interrupt the game and starts whispering to me that the plan was to get this guy, but step one was to cast the Druid spell from MotW Power Sight to get his HD. We already knew who the culprits were, but still we went ahead with this plan due to the absurdity of it all. It took me about 10 minutes to finally clue in to what we were doing, and by then the DM had already snafu'ed us. The party split up before the spell was even cast, we never found out Lachance's level, my paladin and another pc were apprehended by the Kargatane, and two pc's got whooped by a female assasin.

Depsite this, not one of us could stop laughing for the next three hours.

Last week...again under the influence of the same intoxicant, the Kydder says to me, "You know what the toughest thing I ever threw at a party was?" I just started laughing at this point and he continues, "I think it was a colossol crab."

That started a two-hour discussion about the events leading up to the crab encounter, in which he cited that he really couldn't recall if it was a crab, lobster or spider. He was certain that it gave the pc's a whoopin'.

Another time I got hammered during an online game and passed out on the keyboard.

The DM (who was half-cut himself) said the next day that he had to boot me from the chat after about 10 lines of... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Good times.

 

[Bricktop]

Keeping it Rolling.

I like nothing more than hearing a good drunk story. We meet on Sunday this week, so if I get talking to the fellas and think of any more, I'll throw them down. We sometimes get lit up afterwards and we have some good buzzed-out chats.

This is the first thread that has interested me on these boards in the last six months! So much so, that I had to re-register.

Nice work Pete.

Cheers!

 

[Buttercup]

Mmmm.... red wine. I love a nice Shiraz (or Syrah). When I was living in Brazil, I had access to some nice Chilean and Argentinian wines at great prices (though neither makes anything as dry as a Shiraz).

Shiraz is wonderful! I love the depth of flavor. My other favorites are Sangiovese and Petit Sirah. We mostly drink California wines, and seek out tasting dinners. It's a great way to learn more about the subject, meet winemakers and get fabulous wine at a discount.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Thank you for the support, Tleilaxu.

I do not mind if other people drink, around me.
I only mind if that drinking causes trouble, or ruins an event or game.
I am cautious when people start to become inebriated ... there can sometimes be an astonishing loss of self control when a person becomes intoxicated.

I cannot influence a certain alcoholic I know in my family.
He will do as he pleases, and any input I could give, would only make matters far worse than they already are.

 

[Buttercup]

I only mind if that drinking causes trouble, or ruins an event or game.
I am cautious when people start to become inebriated ... there can sometimes be an astonishing loss of self control when a person becomes intoxicated.

I know what you mean. Watching people get drunk can be appalling. They think they're amusing or entertaining, but couldn't be more wrong. Most people go through a phase like this, usually in college, but grow out of it. The ones who don't end up causing heartache like you've been going through.

Take care of yourself, Edena.

 

[Dispater]

Back home we would usually drink a few beer before/after playing. It never got out of hand - I actually find that it loosens up your DMing a bit.

I have seen worse situations - particullarily when DMing at a game convention 3.00 AM with four other pissed gamers - we never got as far as the adventure, well I did but the players missed all the important plot hooks and just jerked around. After a few rounds in the bar I was getting slightly intoxicated myself so I didn't really mind - I think I had some of the funniest player killings and bizarre DM calls in the last hour of that session. We sure had a blast but I'm not sure so many of the players as I could remember the exact details the next day.

 

[Numion]

I know what you mean. Watching people get drunk can be appalling. They think they're amusing or entertaining, but couldn't be more wrong. Most people go through a phase like this, usually in college, but grow out of it. The ones who don't end up causing heartache like you've been going through.

It can be appalling, or it can be great fun.

In all the US television shows that air here people are having a drinking problem the instant they get drunk. Here in Finland it's quite different. Maybe the culture is just that much different there? About all my friends get drunk about 2-4 times a month. We rarely cause any ruckus. Hardly anyone would call us alcoholics, since we don't allow drinking affect our normal lives. We never drink alone, it's a very social event. and if one happens to do something stupid "I was drunk" is pretty valid excuse. (Unless you did something really stupid, like drove or got in a fight.)

And luckily for me I can be quite drunk and people will just say afterwards that "You didn't seem that drunk".

 

[Avatar28]

Well, that's TV. My experience is that most people who drink DON'T have problems as a general rule. Not saying there never is, but usually not.

TV is usually NOT an accurate way to judge people or a culture.

 

[Numion]

TV is usually NOT an accurate way to judge people or a culture.

Generally thats the rule, but I just thought that there might be some basis in reality for that, because, why would they come up with stuff like that otherwise? I stand corrected now, though.

 

[mythago]

why would they come up with stuff like that otherwise?

Time compression. Same reason they show people falling in love after knowing each other for two days. If you showed the characters getting drunk after four hours of drinks and chit-chat, the audience would have left.

I occasionally will have one bottle of pear cider over the course of (playing, not DMing) my regular D&D game, but that's mostly for the taste. As you can guess, one beer in five hours isn't very intoxicating...

With my CoC group I can't afford to get any stupider; my players would eat me alive.