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DestroyYouAlot
2006-08-04, 06:10 PM
Hi, folks!

What we've got here is my attempt at a drinking/hangover subsystem for d20. (Sort of a "Night at the Bar" minigame, if you will.) It arose out of my PC group's tendency to drink them selves irresponsible, and my desire to a) have a logical, fun way to adjudicate it, and b) have some consequences in the morning. Keep in mind, I have a party that - even with these rules in place - intentionally drinks themselves unconcious, on a semi-nightly basis, just so they can absolve responsibility for their actions while "in town." (It's only "semi-nightly" because, with the hangover rules, they need the recovery time.) Let me know what you think of them; they're still very much a work in progress, and I'd love some feedback. (The drink DCs, for example, I'm thinking about raising.) Feedback from playtesting would be even better, and I'd feel honored if anyone got any use out of these rules. Well, enough prefacing from me, here they are!

Fast'n'Dirty D20 Drinking Rules (or "How to Make Bad Decisions and Influence People") (or FnD3R, if you like unwieldy acronyms)


I came up with these drinking rules on the fly when running a session last night. We had two new characters to introduce, and the rest of the party was fresh off a momentous victory and ready to celebrate. Their task in the area finished, and their next destination several days' travel away, we could've had a generic "we meet at the tavern, buy supplies the next day, and have random encounters for four hours" session. (Hardly the stuff of epic sagas.) Luckily, I've got a group that can turn the "night at the tavern" cliche into a solid night's worth of roleplaying without batting an eye. So I whipped up a quick set of rules to govern the effects of the nights' overindulgence (and the consequences for the morning after).

To accomplish this, we're going to introduce two new game mechanics (the aptly-named Drunkard's Quotient (DQ) and Hangover Quotient (HQ)), and divide the drinking session into two phases: The Night Out, and The Morning After.


The Night Out:

First off, assign a DC to any given drink. I've provided some examples, feel free to adjust or improvise:

{table]


Average beer or wine
Strong beer or wine
Exotic liquer, mixed drink
Straight shot of liquor
(whiskey, vodka, etc.)
Elven wine, Dwarven mead,
or other fantastic spirit
(to those of the wrong species
to safely consume said spirit)- DC 14
- DC 16
- DC 18
- DC 20

- DC 30[/table]

A character's Drunkard's Quotient starts at 0, and is increased by two for every drink he has had. For example, Sliverwind has had one drink already, so his DQ is 2. A character's DQ is reduced by 2 every hour after her first drink, until she goes to sleep and/or passes out. So, Moldmoon has had six drinks since eight o'clock, and it is now ten, therefore her DQ is 8 ((6 drinks x 2 = 12) minus (2 hours x 2 = 4) equals 8). (Just keep a tally sheet with each character's name and mark off how many drinks they've had, and roughly what time they started. Odds are they'll be scraping each other off the floor before the first hour is up, anyway.)

A character who consumes a drink makes a Fortitude save against the base DC of the drink, plus their current DQ, to avoid becoming Impaired. A character who fails this save takes d2 points of temporary damage to each of the following ability scores: Dexterity, Inteligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Each score should be rolled seperately (I use four different colored dice), and I suggest the DM make this roll. ("Grandma, what a big DM's screen you have!" "The better to apply adhoc penalties for comedic effect with, my dear!")

A character that fails their save by twenty or more has Overindulged. First off, they're gonna lose the contents of their stomach. (If you're nice, give them time to stumble off somewhere, first.) Second, they lose 1d6 points to each listed ability score. Third, apply a +4 adjustment to their DQ - it only gets worse from here.

If, at any point, one of the character's scores drops to three or below, they're in danger of passing out - at that point, and every minute afterwards, they must pass a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + their DQ) to stay conscious. If a score drops to 0, unconsciousness is automatic.

At some point, the characters are either going to go to sleep (yeah, sure) or pass out (infinitely more likely, and preferably somewhere amusing). At this point, play switches over to the second phase.


The Morning After

At whatever time the character becomes unconcious, voluntarily or not, note their Drunkard's Quotient. From that point, the first four hours of sleep will restore one point to each affected ability, up to their normal maximum.

Now we're going to set the character's Hangover Quotient. This starts at 0, and after every hour of sleep past the fourth, we're going to add two. For example, Kilminster the Mage has rested for six hours, giving him a HQ of 4. (Zero after the 4th hour, + 2 after the 5th, +2 after the 6th..) After every hour of rest past the fourth, the character may make Fortitude saves to restore ability points against a DC equal to their HQ plus their DQ at the point where they passed out, restoring one point for each ability per successful save.

(This "diminishing return" mechanic ensures that you can only sleep off so much of a hangover, at a certain point you end up needing natural 20s to pass the save.)

After 24 hours have passed (i.e., the next normal sleep period), the character can be considered to have fully recovered. (Unless, of course, you want to be particuarly cruel, in which case have them start making saves again with a HQ of 0.)



These rules are designed to be quick and easy, and to provide a framework for roleplaying a solid night of hard drinking. They should be considered an aid for roleplaying, not a replacement for it. Encourage your players to act out the effects of lowered Wisdom scores by making poor decisions, lowered Charisma by slobbering over barmaids, and so on. If they're anything like my group, they'll take the ball and run with it. Our party's ranger, towards the end of the session (and after striking out spectacularly with a rather homely peasant girl), clambered (precariously) onto a table, made a stirring (and completely unintelligible) toast, downed his final shot of the night (failing an impossible Fort save and reducing his Intelligence to zero), and toppled off the table into a heap, to the great amusement of the other patrons (and the other players).

If these rules are too number-crunchy for you, make them simpler, if you feel you need a more accurate and meticulous alcohol simulation, make them more complicated. Just use them to the their best effect in your campaign, and if you enjoy them (or have ideas or criticism), let me know at [email protected]. Cheers!

Elrosth
2006-08-04, 07:15 PM
I like it! ;D

Aside from the baseline for general consumption, have you made any more specifics for your campaign? Specific drinks, things that might cure hangovers, random action tables?

My group is pretty good in that respect, they wouldn't need tables, just curious how far you took it in your game.

Fax Celestis
2006-08-04, 08:04 PM
You forgot Slurrd:

Slurrd: Sip DC 15, Shot DC 20, Pint DC 30

Failure indicates the subject passes out for 1d4 rounds, and awakens with a mild headache that leaves in another 1d4 rounds. Slurrd, while potent, leaves the system extraordinarily quickly.

Wardog
2006-08-04, 10:42 PM
Just a suggestion:

For Wisdom (and possibly Int), rather than a 1d2 penalty, increase it by 2, then apply a 1d4 penalty.

(Possible net effect: +1, +0, -1, -2)

This represents the fact that sometimes being drunk gives you insights you would not normally have. (Although on average you will still take a Wis hit).

The Charisma penalty should be accompanied by an equivilent percieved increase in everyone elses Cha ;)

(I.e. if you have a -2 Cha penalty due to drunkeness, everyone you encounter gets a +2 circumstance bonus to Cha when then attempt any Cha-based test against you).

DestroyYouAlot
2006-08-04, 11:03 PM
I like it! ;D

Well, thank ya kindly, sir.


Aside from the baseline for general consumption, have you made any more specifics for your campaign? Specific drinks, things that might cure hangovers, random action tables?

Well, I run a FR campaign, currently, so "Suzale" is a brown ale from (appropriately enough) Suzail, in Cormyr. I usually wing it as far as the more exotic stuff, especially if they're not planning on staying in the town (or being allowed back in the bar); I had an Orcish wine that caused some trouble, if I recall.

I'd tend to shy away from a "random action table," 'cause I want to encourage free-form roleplaying with these rules - but, then, my group's more random than I'd like already, tables or no. ;)

Where I'm heading next with these is a "Drinking" Skill, and accompanying "Pseudo-Feats." I'm actually taking inspiration from another... "interesting" sub-system, the Guide to Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. I won't link directly to it, as per the "sexual content" policy, but it's a pretty detailed (almost disturbingly so) system for "intimate encounters" (random or otherwise). Basically, it creates a new skill, and every rank you take in the skill grants access to a new "Trick" (like a feat, but supremely frivolous when compared to, say, Dodge).

So, say Sliverwind takes one additional rank in "Drinking," he can then select:

Hangover Proof: +4 circumstance bonus on Fortitude saves made to restore temporary ability damage from consuming alcohol. (Prerequisites: 4 ranks in Drinking skill, Great Fortitude.)

Or whatever. It'll take some real careful planning to come up with balanced Tricks, especially as far as how many ranks of Drinking are required to meet the prereqs.

Another thing: Which classes should have it as a class skill? Off the bat, I'd say Barbarian, Bard, Fighter, Rogue. (Rangers don't live the "soldierly" life the way Fighters do, and they have plenty of skill points to spend on this kind of thing if they want, anyway.) Probably Monk, as well - even besides the "Drunken Master" thing, monasteries have a history of brewing/distilling/bottling the best alcohol, so they should qualify. For NPC classes, Aristocrat, Commoner and Warrior. I think.

Any thoughts?

DestroyYouAlot
2006-08-04, 11:15 PM
Just a suggestion:

For Wisdom (and possibly Int), rather than a 1d2 penalty, increase it by 2, then apply a 1d4 penalty.

(Possible net effect: +1, +0, -1, -2)

This represents the fact that sometimes being drunk gives you insights you would not normally have. (Although on average you will still take a Wis hit).


I see what you're saying... but it might be a bit much to keep track of. I'd prefer to keep the central mechanic as simple as I can. Anyway, that's a little too close to the debate I had to get into when I tried to apply a similar system to another mind-altering substance, with a player who was an avid consumer of said substance... He wanted his Wisdom to go up, every time, because "it gives you insights, man..." ::)

And 1d4 adds up really fast... I actually started with 1d3 per failed save, per ability - the PCs were on the floor in record time, it was way too much. Once you start failing saves, it's a pretty quick road to the floor, even at 1d2.


The Charisma penalty should be accompanied by an equivilent percieved increase in everyone elses Cha ;)

(I.e. if you have a -2 Cha penalty due to drunkeness, everyone you encounter gets a +2 circumstance bonus to Cha when then attempt any Cha-based test against you).

Well, if it's a contest, you're already 2 down from them, that's probably enough... And it's rarely only two, anyway, at least not for long.

The main thing I'm trying to do is give the players the option to "spice up the action" with Tricks, while keeping the main mechanic as simple as possible. Otherwise this gets way too "simulation-y." (If we wanted that, we could just actually drink, and throw dice at each other. Not that that's never happened...)

belboz
2006-08-05, 01:56 AM
I like the general idea, but two points:

1) I agree that you shouldn't do the +2 -1d4 trick, but not just because of simplicity. I mean, honestly--drunk people are really never wiser or smarter than sober ones. At least, I've never once met someone who got wiser or smarter when drinking. I've known people who *thought* they did, and I've even known people who got a bit more charismatic after a *couple* of drinks (but it went down pretty quickly thereafter), but wiser and smarter? Nah.

2) I think the DCs start out a bit too high, and don't increase fast enough. Really, only people with an alcohol sensitivity are going to be noticeably impaired after a single drink of standard wine or beer, or, for that matter, a single shot of hard liquor--but this system has an average person losing an average of *6* ability points 65% of the time, after just one drink. On the other hand, an average person who consumes more than two drinks in an hour should be getting almost certainly increasingly impaired with each further one. I'd lower this starting DC to 8, and perhaps increase DQ to 4/drink.

I'd also be inclined to make the next four (strong beer-shot of liquor) all the same. They do have about the same amount of alcohol/serving. Characters will still get a lot drunker on the hard stuff, because you can't drink 10 beers in an hour, but you can drink 10 shots in an hour (it's a very bad idea, but you can). So maybe give all those a DC of 10. And give them a DQ of 5/drink.

Elrosth
2006-08-05, 02:21 AM
I'd tend to shy away from a "random action table," 'cause I want to encourage free-form roleplaying with these rules - but, then, my group's more random than I'd like already, tables or no. ;)


Yeah. Like I said, my group wouldn't need the tables. I just enjoy reading them from time to time. We've been known to spend a good chunk of time coming up with new random effects for the Rod of Wonder, for example. :)

DestroyYouAlot
2006-08-05, 09:40 PM
I think the DCs start out a bit too high, and don't increase fast enough. Really, only people with an alcohol sensitivity are going to be noticeably impaired after a single drink of standard wine or beer, or, for that matter, a single shot of hard liquor--but this system has an average person losing an average of *6* ability points 65% of the time, after just one drink. On the other hand, an average person who consumes more than two drinks in an hour should be getting almost certainly increasingly impaired with each further one. I'd lower this starting DC to 8, and perhaps increase DQ to 4/drink.

I'd also be inclined to make the next four (strong beer-shot of liquor) all the same. They do have about the same amount of alcohol/serving. Characters will still get a lot drunker on the hard stuff, because you can't drink 10 beers in an hour, but you can drink 10 shots in an hour (it's a very bad idea, but you can). So maybe give all those a DC of 10. And give them a DQ of 5/drink.


Hmmm... Interesting. I see where you're coming from. The lower DCs and higher DQs would make it a bit more of a level playing field. (I.e., our elven archer wouldn't pass out hours before our dwarven rager, just from the disparity in their Fort saves.) I'll have to give it a try that way on Tuesday; stay tuned for the results.

Mike_Lemmer
2006-08-06, 01:47 AM
Hmmm... I don't think it's as quick and easy as it should be.

First, I'd say put in a threshold. Below the threshold, the PCs can drink no problem. Above the threshold, they need to start making saves.

Drinking
1. Give each drink an Alcohol Quotient (AQ) instead of a specific DC.
2. Change the Fort DC to (-5 + Drink Quotient)
3. Make it a series of Fort saves:
-1st Failure: Becomes impaired, -2 to Dex, Wis, Int, Cha (no need to roll for such low values)
-2nd Failure: Overindulged
-3rd Failure: Passed Out

Recovering
Instead of a save every hour of sleeping after the 4th, make it after every 4 hours sleeping, but restore 2 points per successful save. That'll down the # of saves to make. They recover the rest at a rate of 1 per two hours.

That should have the same effect while cutting down on extra dice rolls.

knightsaline
2006-08-06, 05:37 AM
if you really wanted to be realistic, make it so that female PCs cannot go drink-for-drink than their male adventurer buddies *is dragged off and slapped repeatedly for saying that by the female members of the board*

i know that there is not meant to be (much) difference between male and female PCs, but what about FRs drow favoured classess? what if I want to play a male cleric of Zinzerena (drow diety killed by lolth)! what if i want to play as a female drow wizard!