Drinking and gaming?

[was]

we usually do, but not to excess

 

[xrpsuzi]

I voted 'Yes. Sometimes'. Which is odd, because I attribute a large portion of my beloved homebrew World of CITY to the Paulaner and Maker's Mark that the respective creators drank in a bar whilst creating it.

There is something good and gratifying about breaking the wax seal of a new bottle of Maker's Mark. It makes a fine drink.

While drinking too much just makes me sleepy (damn getting older...), a little drink is nice for unwinding, which can spark the imagination, especially if you are trying to strug off unpleasent but unavoidable tasks of the day. I don't get a drink very often since I'm diabetic, but there has been more than 1 adult chocolate milk (milk and chocolate liquor) consumed in the writing of Magical Society Books.

-Suzi

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Go together like chocolate and peanut butter.

Oh, you mean not at all?

(Damn Americans with your foul chocolates . . .)

 

[SiderisAnon]

Had To Go Dry

I used to allow alcohol during the games I ran. I've had several groups where someone would drink a wine cooler or a couple of beers. One time, a couple of players were trying a wine. In general, it wasn't a problem because no one was drinking enough to even qualify for a DUI. (One or two beers in six hours; your liver can basically handle about 1 oz of alcohol an hour.)

Unfortunately, I ran into two players for whom alcohol was a problem. One insisted on drinking hard liquor at the game. The other would go through a 6-pack or two in a game, and when I played in a game at his house, both he and the DM would drink throughout the game.

For me, gaming is an intellectual exercise. The people who are drinking seriously during the game are dulling their intellect, so why bother? While I might someday allow a beer or a wine cooler back at the table, I believe that if you want to go drinking, then you should go drinking. If you want to play D&D, that's something else entirely.

I should point out that I'm not totally prudish on alcohol in general. When we're playing pool, I'm fine with people drinking. (Heck, it helps me win if I'm sober and they aren't.) Parties are fine. Going to the bar is fine. I just don't think it belongs at the gaming table. I'd think it was weird if people wanted to drink heavily while we were playing Monopoly (tm) as well.

 

[Tewligan]

I thought drinking beer during a game was was the first rule of D&D and mentioned in the first chapter of the DMG.

It used to be, but then 3e came along and changed it to Zima with a Jolly Rancher in the bottle.

 

[billd91]

I'm a home brewer, and I always have four beers on tap at my house. So if we play at my house, the pitchers flow freely. Since it's my beer, my guests are usually gracious enough to have at least one.

Can I come play at your house?

 

[Thurbane]

How common is this? I always read about "beer and pretzels" games, and about people having a beer while they play, but isn't something that anyone I've ever played this has eve done, except for a few very unusual times. We just don't do it and never have. The one time I remember actually drinking during a game we got so drunk we just stopped playing before very long because we couldn't keep it together any longer.


So, is drinking during gaming actually really that common? We drink coffee, tea, or pop (or soda, or whatever you barbaric outlanders call it ) We'd never even think of having a beer during a game (especially not me as I despise beer *YUCK* it tastes like urine.)

We usually have a few beers when we play. The guys who have to drive to the venue only one or two, but others have more. We never get really drunk...

Carlton Draught, Vic Bitter, Crown...

 

[Davelozzi]

I've tried to find a beer that didn't taste horrid, lots of them, in fact, because when my friends would get drunk they'd rib me about the Mudslides and other girly drinks I like (that, and the mild wings I like to eat, too... ), and I'd always say it still gets you drunk, but it tastes good too, so who're the dumb ones there?

I never liked beer in high school and in general am not one to keep doing something unpleasant until I like it, so I have never been a cigarette smoker or coffee drinker. However, in college I found that always having to find something else to drink instead of beer eventually became a hassle. Finally, after getting sick of hard cider and getting sick from rum, I decided to force myself to acquire a taster for beer. It wasn't very hard, and now I love a good beer. Anyhow, I hope that didn't come off as peer pressure, I'm just relaying my own experience...to each his own.

More on topic, most of the time we do have a couple of beers each at a session in my regular D&D group, though there are rarely beers involved when I play with other gaming friends.

 

[seans23]

My local pub won't serve Bushmills, as the owner feels it comes from the wrong part of the island. They have Jamesons 1780, though, which is a cut above standard Jamesons. I've had Redbreast once -- an excellent Irish whiskey.

I wonder how your local pub owner would feel if he knew that the same French company owned Bushmills and Jamesons.


(edited to add the missing word "owner")

 

[seans23]

I wonder how your local pub owner would feel if he knew that the same French company owned Bushmills and Jamesons.

ooh, I stand corrected! Pernod-Ricard sold Bushmills to DIAGEO in October 2005, the parent company of Guinness.