What Happens When A D&D Player Falls Asleep?

I'm not sure this is the best advert for D&D, but what happens when you play Dungeons & Dragons online via a service such as Twitch, and one of the players falls asleep? And, to add insult to injury, begins to snore loudly? This video from Poke Your Eyes Out Games shows exactly this. The DM tries in vain to wake the player up, while the other players roll around with unrestrained mirth. This never happened in any of Wil Wheaton's or Vin Diesel's games!

You can watch the full session in a 45-minute Twitch stream here or just check out the all-important hilarious 2-minute section below.

[video=youtube;sz-RI43EinI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz-RI43EinI[/video]​

 

[werecorpse]

My solution to this is to harness the drunkenness and channel it to useful and hilarious purpose. Embrace the inebriation and make it work for you.

how do you do this?

 

[iserith]

how do you do this?

Generally by getting as inebriated and going with the flow.

 

[Barachiel]

Had a player that did the same thing a few times. We were on Roll20 so it was easy for everyone to mute his channel (he snores loud) while we continued.

 

[Quatermane]

Had seen this before in an online session I was involved with. We played during the week, so everyone was usually coming off of work and already tuckered out. One of the players would drift off regularly. He would do the classic head bob and next thing you know he would catch himself and wake up. Quite funny at first, but after awhile you could tell he was checking out of the game so much that he lost track of what was happening.

 

[Ranes]

This DM did a lot better than an old friend of mine.

A long time ago, in a Manchester far, far away, my DM ran a game for a few friends while I was out. When I got back, I opened the door to find all the players fast asleep, in their chairs or on the floor, and yet the DM was still rattling on. I thought it would be rude to interrupt, so I just quietly closed the door and left them to it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

how do you do this?

If the player is too drunk to control his character reliably, the PC is also under the influence of something. Then:

1) If the player is a mumbly drunk, have another player be the "interpreter" for the drunken PC.

DM: "The princess comments on the beauty of the wizard's finery, but is concerned about his condition."

Drunk: "Hrm? Wew, ah tellurrrrr...blardrrmmdlffdfd fgdmdlll mhmrmer...."

Interpreter: "In the language of his people, he said that you have a beautiful...ummm...I missed the last part there."

2) if the player is less tipsy, goad them into making inappropriate decisions.

DM: "As the party crosses the field of soon-to-be harvested hay in the gathering twilight, out of the corner of his eyes, the sorcerer notices movement that looks suspiciously like a troll..."

Drunk: "FIREBALL!!! Toast that mofo! Woot!"

DM: "The fireball's eruption reveals the sorcerer's target to a scarecrow...aaaaaand ignites the harvest."

 

[Warpiglet]

In general we beat people with reeds. It's one half zen meditation practice, one half back alley justice. I was beaten that way once and lost a tooth so it decided my character concurrently lost a point of charisma.

 

[Von Ether]

I had a guy that had some medical issues, but gene wake up enough to roll dice during combat and then pass back out.

He always played the same sort of PC/shtick. The biggest PC race (orc, minatour, half-hour, etc.) and deal massive damage, all a sad wisdom score. He loved seeing his team run whenever he failed a mind control roll.

 

[dalisprime]

Happened to me once in roll20 - was a late night game for me after a really long day. Passed out as we entered the final encounter. The DM managed to wake me up though the resulting situation was of me trying to cover up having dozed off while acting hopelessly confused as to what the heck transpired in the encounter by the time i came to.

 

[KahlessNestor]

I work nights, so sometimes I do the headbob thing, especially during other people's turns, though never done the snoring. Usually just getting up and walking to the bathroom or to the front of the store for a pop will do it for me.