Alcohol and Drinking system

[Haedrian]

Drinks and Drinking


Beer: Beer is the normal drink taken at bars, it has a value of 2AL in terms of strength. A glass would cost 7Cp
Mead: Mead is also quite popular at bars, it has a value of 2AL. A glass would cost 7Cp
Wine: Comes in Red, White or Rose`; with more expensive wines costing up to hundreds of gold for a bottle. Cheap wine drunk by commoners costs around 5Cp; or 1 silver piece for a bottle. A glass has a value of 1AL.
Rum: Less popular in bars and more popular onboard ships. A bottle would cost 7 Cp, and is normally the recipient it is drunk in. Has an AL value of 2.
Ramlel: A stronger drink, tastes strongly of strawberries. A glass costs 1Sp,making if very rarely drunk by commoners. Used to end a fine meal in somesocial circles. A glass has a value of 3AL
Dragon's Blood: Only the gods know what they put into this deep red liquid.A glass costs 3Sp, and is reputed to get you drunk fast. Very few people cansurvive drinking it without getting knocked out. A glass has a value of 10AL. [Note has nothing to do with dragons]

System for Drinking:


An average person can drink 2AL before requiring a check to fall drunk or not.
A dwarf can drink 4AL. A small sized creature can drink half; while a large
sized can drink double.
When a person overshoots the AL, he makes a constitution save against 12 +
excess AL.
A save results in the person not being effected by the alcohol.
A failure by less then 3 results in the person being slightly tipsy.
A failure from 3-7 results in the person getting drunk
A failure from 7-10 results in the person getting nauseous AND drunk
A failure of more then 10 results in the person being knocked out, making a
save each hour to get up.
The AL decreases by 1 per hour.
Reaching Nauseous or worse, results in a -2 constitution the next day
(hangover)
Tipsy: Person takes -2 to dexterity, -1 to wisdom and -1 to charisma, yet is otherwise
unaffected. A tipsy person who drinks and gets a failure which would make him
tipsy, makes him drunk.
Drunk: Person takes -2 to dexterity and -3 to charisma, -3 to wisdom, taking a -5 penalty to
diplomacy checks against him. Acts accordingly
Nauseous and Drunk: Person takes -2 to dexterity and -5 to charisma, -5 to wisdom, feels
like throwing up every other moment; and is unable to fight if provoked. Acts
accordingly [Is also under the condition "Nauseous".
Knocked out: Person is out cold.

[InaVegt]

Umm, wine is stronger than beer. (6-8% vs. 10-14% IIRC)

[Orzel]

Wine is stronger than beer


NO RUM?!

[Haedrian]

Not in this world it isn't :P

In the real world you wouldn't have orcs running around either...

Also: I'm not talking about equally sized glasses..

When i meant beer i meant a HUGE glass (the kynd you'd find in germany) While for wine, a wine glass.

[Orzel]

I repeat.

NO RUM?!

[Haedrian]

*sighs* ok ok.. let me add rum

Rum: Less popular in bars and more popular onboard ships. A bottle would cost 7 Cp, and is normally the recipient it is drunk in. Has an AL value of 2.

[InaVegt]

Even then, in the middle ages most beer barely held any alcohol and even such a huge glass would have less alcohol than a glass of wine. The reason people (including small children) drank beer was because it was healthier than the water you could get.

[Haedrian]

Ah, but in D&D its different.

A level 1 druid can create pure whatever if he wants (in a level 0 spell), so even then, you can drink water.

I wanted the alcohol system, so you can actually have bar fights, you can have proper drinking contests and you can have people rolling around on the floor.

The stable glass is HUGE on purpose. A glass of beer would be all a character/NPC would drink, two if its a long night.

We're not talking about realistic beer... we're talking about DnD beer :)

[InaVegt]

Ah, but in D&D its different.

A level 1 druid can create pure whatever if he wants (in a level 0 spell), so even then, you can drink water.

I wanted the alcohol system, so you can actually have bar fights, you can have proper drinking contests and you can have people rolling around on the floor.

The stable glass is HUGE on purpose. A glass of beer would be all a character/NPC would drink, two if its a long night.

We're not talking about realistic beer... we're talking about DnD beer :)

And that would be 5 gp for a gallon (1 *.5 * 10 (standard spell cost when cast)), mighty expensive for water, if you can get such a huge glass of beer for only 2 cp.

[Haedrian]

*scratches head*

Good point, the prices need a bit of a work out...

Because if its too expensive, you can't have drinking contests...

Thanks for pointing that out... *tries to rebuild*

[InaVegt]

It's not that the prices are to low, it's just that common people can't afford druid created water, IIRC the general guideline for commoner wages is one cp per day, I usually make it one sp per day, creating something a commoner can actually live of (though still in deep poverty), A glass of druid created water would cost something like 2 sp, two whole days of work with my ‘wealthy’ commoners and 20 days of work for a standard commoner.

[Haedrian]

No you see...

I made the beer cheap on purpose, so commoners can afford it.

(Commoner wages is 1sp - begger's wages is 1cp).

But if i make it too big, i need to boost up the alcohol content in it...

[InaVegt]

You should probablu just make it like middle age beer and have 1/2 in that huge glass, otherwise would you give your child beer (keep in mind you can't afford very clean water)

[Haedrian]

So I'll boost up the alcohol content in it, so drinking contests can last without needing 15 gc worth of beer

[Demented]

Really, if you want to do it the standardized D20/D&D way...

{table=head]Poison|Type|Initial Damage|Secondary Damage|Price
Ale|Ingested DC 6|0|1d2 Dex + 1d3 Wis*|4 cp (Ale mug)
Wine|Ingested DC 7|0|1d2 Dex + 1d3 Wis*|5 cp (Wine glass)
Liquor|Ingested DC 9|0|1d2 Dex + 1d3 Wis*|1 sp (Shot glass)
Strong Alcohol|Ingested DC 12|1 Con|1d4 Con|25 gp[/table]
*Ability damage from alcoholic drinks recovers at 4x the normal rate.

The SRD has prices for mugs of Ale, but wine was extrapolated from the price of a pitcher. Liquor and alcohol are fabricated entirely. Alcohol is an alchemical ingredient, not a drink, though you could probably dare the half-orc barbarian to down a glass of it anyway.

Dwarven ale is actually liquor, though they may be kind enough to price it as ale.
Most other drinks qualify as liquor, depending on your locale.

Note:
The DCs are based on a level 1 Commoner. A level 4 fighter will have to settle for nothing less than liquor if he wants drunkenness. A level 20 fighter may have to suck down pure alcohol just for a slight buzz. (But then, what do you expect from a guy who's been shrugging off 9th level spells for the last few weeks?)

[Haedrian]

I'm not seeing it as being a poison, i'm giving it its own system...

And plus the DC stacks... for example

If you drink 3 beers, you need a DC of 11.

If you drink 5 you'll need to reach a DC of 13..

The numbers are a bit too low i admit, have to change them

Added: I changed the numbers a bit of the first post, better?

[Demented]

The point of making it a poison is that it already does 90% of what's needed, and requires very minimal implementation. But if you want to stick to your guns...


I recommend a wisdom penalty in addition to the charisma penalty, since Sense Motive is a wisdom skill. Without it, a nauseous and drunk character is still as resistant to bluffing as normal. Plus, it gives Clerics and Paladins extra reason not to drink.

Also, about the saves, I may have misspoken...
A level 1 Commoner is your average person, not the level 10 Fighter who's running around with magical weapons and the ability to cleave a tiger in two. Your average person can drink several glasses before passing out, but with the new DCs, a level 1 Human Commoner who drinks only two glasses of beer has a 30% chance of staying sober and a 20% chance of passing out (fort save is DC 14). A Dwarf is in the same boat after only three glasses of beer.

Also, nauseated (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#nauseated) is already a condition. The description doesn't match, but the symptom sure does. You can also find prices of ale and wine here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#foodDrinkAndLodging). Though, it only sells wine by the pitcher and bottle.

[Haedrian]

Yes Nauseated I saw, I was thinking of applying the same effect (in addition).

Hmm, you're right about the willsave, though I was more reducing the diplomany (since people could get you to do sooo many things).But I'll reduce the wisdom as well, either way he isn't going to be seeing straight.

The saves for a normal person are ok. The glass of beer I'm talking about here is HUGE... so a 20% knockout on the 2nd glass is ok.

[SpartacusThe2nd]

age factory?

[Raveler1]

I'd actually reccomend a mild Charisma bonus on Tipsy, rather than straight negatives across the board.

Tipsy: +1 Cha, -1 Wis, -2 Dex
Drunk: +1 Str, -2 Wis, -4 Dex, -1 Con,
Nauseous: -3 Wis, -4 Dex, -4 Con, -2 Cha

This way, it encourages people to drink under certain conditions, such as when they wish to encourage someone (drinking as a social lubricant), or when they wish to ignore pain (the strength bonus is from ignoring the aches of muscles due to the influence of the alcohol). If they go too far, they get nauseous, which no one wishes.

[Haedrian]

Hmm, I kind of like it, I'll change it when i ahve the time, perhaps add another level which gives that

:)

[alchemy.freak]

I rather like it, I've been looking for rules that make sense for a long time.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

That looks workable, but you've mentioned that your drink are all specific to your campaign setting. That's not helpful to other people's games.

Not to hijack the thread, but here's my system, using the british alcohol "units" system (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HealthAndWellBeing/HealthyLiving/DG_10036434):

The UK government mentions a "rule of thumb" that for men, 4 units of alcohol is the top limit for driving, and 3 units for women (women really do metabolise alcohol less than men do), but they point out that this varies with body mass, health, etc, etc. Let's ignore the gender difference in favour of WotC's gender equality. I'll use the driving limit as the point at which impairment starts.

One "shot" of spirit (25ml or 1/8 gill of vodka, whisky, tequilla, whatever) = one measure of liquer (sherry/mead spirit/irish cream) = 1/3 pint of strong beer/cider/lager = 1/2 pint of ordinary beer/cider/lager = 1/2 glass wine/mead = 1 unit of alcohol.

Alcohol is literally a poison. It has an onset time of ten minutes, with secondary effects after one hour.
For medium sized characters (small characters can consume half as much for the same effects), based on an average CON of 10, this means one can have 5/10, or half of your CON in alcohol units before you become "drunk".

The beer-induced charm and wit that some people claim to be a benefit from alcohol is a role-playing only effect, with no applicable rules. Temporary ability damage from alcohol is healed at a rate of one point per hour.

Once a character has imbibed half his CON score or more in alcohol units, he needs to make a Fort save DC 15 or take 1d2 temporary WIS damage, with a secondary damage of 1d2 temporary DEX damage (you lose will power and judgement skill first, and maybe get a clumsier). Each unit of alcohol after that increases the Fort save DC by one. Each new input of alcohol requires a new save.

Once your number of alcohol units imbibed reaches 3/4 of your CON score, the poison - ahem - alcohol effects your INT as well as your DEX on the secondary damage.

When your alcohol intake is equal to or goes over your CON score, you must save every 15 minutes or throw up. Throwing up only removes undigested alcohol, it does not sober you up.

If alcohol intake goes over double your CON score, you may fall unconscious (if your ability damage hasn't rendered you unconscious already). In this state, a Fort save DC 15 must be made every 15 minutes. During this period, failed saves for new alcohol intake also damage your CHA.

All the effects decribed above are cumalitive.

Alcohol disipates from the system at a rate of one unit per hour. Aside from magic, there are no ways to speed up this process, contrary to popular belief.

[Mewtarthio]

I'd actually reccomend a mild Charisma bonus on Tipsy, rather than straight negatives across the board.

Tipsy: +1 Cha, -1 Wis, -2 Dex
Drunk: +1 Str, -2 Wis, -4 Dex, -1 Con,
Nauseous: -3 Wis, -4 Dex, -4 Con, -2 Cha

This way, it encourages people to drink under certain conditions, such as when they wish to encourage someone (drinking as a social lubricant), or when they wish to ignore pain (the strength bonus is from ignoring the aches of muscles due to the influence of the alcohol). If they go too far, they get nauseous, which no one wishes.

Your "force of personality" doesn't increase when you're drunk, nor do you have any chance of becoming better at bluffing, negociating, or returning from the grave as a Ghost. You may be more apt to engage in social situations and you may appear more confident, but only because your judgment has been muddled and you're becoming more impulsive (now, if your "judgment" is introversion or cowardice...). It's entirely possible that people will like you less after you've had a few drinks if you come off as too forward or if you're the kind of person who probably needs a few inhibitions.