Drinking While Gaming? Warning -- mature content (I hope)

[Belen]

I often have 2 beers or a glass of whiskey when gaming (more or less for medicinal purposes. Yes, I'm serious).

Then again our sessions can last 8 hours easy, and I stop 3+ hours before we finish.

Like sugar, if it is disruptive, it is too much

You don't get disruptive, just mellow.

As Ph0rk can attest, heavy influence of either alcohol or illegal substances can ruin a game. My first 2 gaming groups both has members who chose to smoke pot either before or during the game. The lack of focus was noticable and nothing every got accomplished when the sobriety level disappeared.

JW: Sorry if you think me a prude, but I choose not to associate with people who use drugs. Yes, I may not know if one of my friends uses, but I am 99% sure that they do not. I do not want to deal with the potential consequences of drug use. (And I had friends, both in high school and college, who died and were murdered because of drug use). It's not my bag, and will not be a part of my game.

I trust Ph0rk to drink while gaming because he is sumpremely responsible. And I do not mind if someone buys a six-pack and has 1-2 beers in an 4-8 hour window, but I could not really allow more than that because I am legally responsible if they leave my house and get into an accident. In NC, it does not matter if you bought it or not, if they drink at your home, then leave, then the residents of that home are culpable in the event of an accident.

 

[Henry]

For our games, we solve it in three ways:

1) Most of us don't drink or smoke.

2) We game from Noon till 6pm, so even "social drinking" is not an issue.

3) The two people who host our games in their houses don't allow drinking or smoking in the house.

So it's a nonissue. We'll do "smoke breaks" if a gamer smokes, for 5 minutes every couple of hours, but in general we don't have any smokers who crave any harder than that. Lately, we have NO smokers, so we don't even prep for that anymore.

It's kind of an unwritten rule in the group - no drinking alcohol or doing anything else impairing while gaming. After some bad experiences in my teen years with dumbes who didn't know better, I refuse to game if someone at the table is drinking. If it were "happy hour" time (say after 7pm) I could understand, but them drinking anything stronger than 1 or 2 beers or ales would turn my fun off right there.

 

[Breakdaddy]

Man, this is a sore point for me!

I'm of the opinion that a beer or two is nice during the game. Getting drunk (or otherwise inebriated) absolutely, completely, ruins the game. There's a time and a place for getting drunk, and when someone's put in a lot of work to make your evening fun, that is neither the time nor the place. It's disrespectful to those who are there to game.

I guess the "everything in moderation" maxim is, as Khayman says, appropriate. Sure, have a beer or two (I'll probably have a couple myself), but don't be getting drunk - it ruins the game for everyone else.

100% agreement on this.

 

[Umbran]

I guess I'm like Morrus on this. If someone wants to have a beer during a gaming session, I have no problem with that. I won't tolerate someone becoming drunk at the table, though. Nor will I tolerate use of illegal drugs at the gaming table. If people want to entertain themselves by reaching an altered mental state, they can do it on their own time, in their own homes.

 

[MaxKaladin]

I don't allow alcohol, tobacco or other drugs at my table. If I were playing at someone elses house and someone insisted on doing them anyway, I'd leave even if they had the blessing of the hosts (which they wouldn't have from the folks who currently host our games). I'd leave even if I were DMing. Every time I had people drinking at the table, it ruined the game. I had one guy get so drunk he grabbed my sword out of the closet (something I bought at a Renaissance Fair) and started swinging it around to demonstrate how he was going to kill whatever he was fighting. Most of the other drinkers I've had either turned the game into a joke or just forgot about it completely. I also find the smell of beer disgusting and don't want to put up with it. Thus, I'm going to avoid any gaming situation where drinking is going on.

 

[Aluvial]

Thanks for everyone's responses.

I think I should address the DUI more closesly.

I DO feel responsible for it, but went through the normal operating procedure for checking my players who had been drinking. I felt reassured that he was ok, and he seemed mature enough to make his own decision.

I think the fact is (my friend blew a 0.08, the limit in NC) despite drinking just a few, he still was at the limit. I would have contested in court personally or even asked for my lawyer or witness to be present for a second trial. The officer did give my friend 45 minutes to sober up though, but he still blew 0.08 the second time.

My buddy weighs 260, and according to this chart http://www.health.org/nongovpubs/bac-chart/ (which doesn't even go that high) he can have up to 5 drinks without feeling the effects, and still should be able to process one average drink per hour. I know that the charts is a guide, but still...


Anyhow, the responses are clear, most gamers, especially the DM's don't like to mix drinking with gaming.

My experience has been different for the last 20 years, by and large, alchohol has always been present in some form during gaming and generally without incident. In fact, I think it helps players get into their roles. As with anything, too much can become "too much."

Drug use, especially pot, has been around in the past, college especially, but I haven't seen it in my social circle for years, not that I have a problem with it.

Thanks again for the responses. My lesson is, "Be careful, and DON'T drink and drive!"

Aluvial

 

[Nighthawk]

I strongly prefer no alcohol or drugs (or the equivalent thereof, even legal ones). State of mind is important to me - "altered state" is not my kind of thing at the gaming session. It's not that I am dead set against them. Rather, I have had enough poor experiences with those who used such substances that I do not care to expose myself to such situations again. Rightly or wrongly, that's my perspective.

 

[shadow]

No alcohol at my games! I don't drink and I've had some bad experiences with people getting drunk at games, so I've decided that drinking and gaming usually don't mix.

 

[Belegbeth]

Belegbeth, that's not necessary. Please don't let this thread devolve into finger-shaking from either side.

I apologize for my snarky post.

My more general point is that I don't understand the view that somehow consuming a couple of beers over a 4-5 hour gaming period is going to force the game to devolve into drunken mayhem. That might be the case for young players, but it seems patently absurd for anyone beyond their early 20's.

If anything, in my last campaign, having 2-3 beers in the evening, during the course of a game, helped people to relax and get into the role-playing. Hence moderate consumption actually HELPED people enjoy the game. (Of course, it is not necessary, and we had many fun "dry" sessions as well.)

To recap: drunken mayhem is no fun. But it seems strange that people think having 2-3 beers could possibly lead to drunken mayhem!

 

[Umbran]

But it seems strange that people think having 2-3 beers could possibly lead to drunken mayhem!

It isn't so strange, for a few reasons. Tolerance varies, for one thing. I've seen folks who get pretty darned tipsy on just a couple of beers. For another, if the beer relaxes you in terms of allowing you to role-play, it can also relax your attitudes on further beers. Unless comeone's counting and enforcing a limit, for some folks it is difficult to keep 2 to 3 from becoming 5, or 7. Alcohol is funny that way.

And enforcement can be a pain. Some really nice folks you like to game with may not like to be told that after three beers at a friend's home, they cannot have a fourth. Enforcement of a limit can be annoying and socially awkward, so many find it simpler to ban entirely and avoid the issue.