How Many Beers per Gaming Session?

[Wormwood]

Thursday night game: I usually drink 4 or 5 beers (depending on type) in the first couple hours of the game, stopping about an hour and a half before I have to head home. A couple of the other players also drink during the game, about three each.

I DM a different group on Sundays, and I generally polish off five or so (my wife being available to drive us home if I decide to get hammered). Nobody else drinks during those games, partaking of other mind-altering substances when available.

My beer of choice is Blue Moon, but like many habitual drinkers I'm not really picky.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

So you have to like alcohol in order to not be a prude? *Snicker* No one that knows me would call me prudish, but hey...think what you want.

According to you, you said that all alcohol was a "foul liquid," and a "crutch/escape for the weak willed," and that you believed those two statements. The first is your taste, and that's fine; I don't like all alcohols either. The second is prudish and bigoted You don't have to be a prude about everything to be prudish on one subject.

 

[Thasmodious]

It's the same Newcastle. I've had it both in America and the UK and its basically the same outside of that slightly different way everything tastes in another country.

The weird thing about beer is how people regard those from other countries drinking their beer. We here in America hear alot from Brits that Guinness is a pregnant woman's drink and Newcastle is cheap swill. While here, both beers are high end and among the more expensive commercial 6-packs. When my uncle visits from England, he drinks nothing but Coors Light. The Foster's here in the States is pretty good, certainly drinkable, Canadian brewed. But Foster's from Australia tastes more like cheap American beer here, while I love beer from the Coopers stable and Castlemaine, both of which are harder to get here.

I admire Australia and Britain greatly though. I have a simple rule for judging the value of a country - the quality of their cheap beer. And both nations have high quality swill.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

Well, Lord Mhoram kind of did, but that's because he's a Mormon, if I recall correctly. So it's actually part of the definition of moral uprightness for him.

Yeah, there are 4 of us in the group of 7. And it is from religious/faith based reasons that we don't drink, nor allow any alcohol in our house. But if someone wanted to drink, as long as they didn't do it at the game (or before), it isn't like I look down on them. To each their own choice.

We gamed once where alcohol was involved (back in '88 I think). Somebody got drunk, and it ruined the game. Even if we didn't have other reasons for not liking drinking at a game, that would be one.

Twilight 2000 actually, and it was the CO that got drunk. The characters' mutinied and left him behind because of it.

And as another note - I wasn't raised in my faith, but I was a teetotaler before that point. My father was an alcoholic (died from complications of it when he was in his mid 40s). So I grew up in a classically dysfunctional home with an alcoholic father (A fifth of Vodka a day). I saw the kind of destruction that can come from the situation, and swore to never touch the stuff.
I never did (aside from bowing to peer pressure at a party, where I had on beer - and I keep the bottle on my Knick Knack shelf as a reminder that even the greatest intentions can drop).

Not saying that everyone (or even anyone) who drinks turns into the kind of monster my father was, but having seen it happen even once completely soured me on the concept of drinking. Both my parents smoked, and I swore never to do that either. As I like to joke "Teenage rebellion worked for me"

End of depressing autobiographical anecdote.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I've played in games where lots of drinking took place, but mostly we're non-drinkers at game. We're (almost) all drinkers outside of game, so thats not it. From my perspective I enjoy myself more, and feel that I am contributing more to others enjoyment when I'm not drinking. D&D is one of those places where I realize just how slow-witted even one beer makes me, and I like to be at my sharpest in game.

 

[Orius]

I cant run a game drunk,

Now THERE'S a scary thought, me DMing drunk. If I was really interested in getting drunk, I'd have to try this once just for the fun of it. Probably a one-shot session of something like good old S1.

There's a bunch of good reasons folks can choose to not drink at game, and prudishness is only one of them. So far, the stated reasons are practical.
Nobody here has stated that for them, it is about moral uprightness or the like.

Yeah, I agree. People have to drive home, or they have busy lives and don't want to screw around at the game table while being drunk. There's nothing wrong with the latter sentiment, and anyone complaining about the former should probably get smacked upside the head.

My Bi monthly/monthly game has drunks, stoners and probably one or two heroin addicts in it. The only rule comes from the player who's house we game at, You can come to the party pre medicated but once your there legal substances only. I know for a fact one or two of them come in wasted, but strangley enough it doesn't affect game play at all.

I just have to ask: is there a Story Hour for this game?

Whenever these threads come up, I'm always struck by how many people equate having a few drinks with playing drunk. Some people may lack elements of self control but in nearly 20 years of having drinks while gaming, I've only encountered drunk gaming 3 or 4 times.

Well, talking about drunk gaming is more fun than talking about casual drinking gaming.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm voting 3, but it varies widely. Some nights, not a drop is consumed. Other nights, we'll go through several beers per person, including a few bottles of wine and maybe some of the hard stuff.

Sometimes game night turns into "lets just sit around, drink, and tell funny stories or debate religion and politics night."

 

[Dausuul]

I don't drink myself, but most of the rest of my gaming group does, and I haven't found it to be a problem. All told, I estimate we average about 3 drinks apiece, at least on the Thursday night games. (I drag down the average a bit. Among those who drink, it's probably more like 4.) Saturday afternoon games are more abstemious. It's very rare for anybody to get drunk; it's more a social thing.

 

[RefinedBean]

I like beer. Guess I'm in the minority.

D

The ELITE minority, my friend. Beer is awesome.

 

[Vegepygmy]

It's the same Newcastle.

FWIW, I'm an American, and Newcastle is one of my favorite beers. Fat Tire is also quite excellent, IMO.