Got some good intoxication rules?

[Zhorn]

So the last campaign I was is a few of the other player characters liked to spend a lot of time in taverns between quests getting blackout drunk. Knowing they'll be in my next game, I want to be able to accommodate their particular pastime with some basic intoxication rules.

searched around a bit, but the best i could find were full on tables that pretty much played out as an additional exhaustion rules, which felt a bit too busy with all the different pluses and minuses to ability scores, hit points, etc. Trying to keep this simple to remember and execute.

I have a rough idea of what I'd be leaning towards, but am curious if anyone has another systems that has been play-tested, or suggestions for how it could be improved.

• A character can consume a number of alcoholic drinks up to their constitution modifier (minimum 0) without suffering any effects. Sober at zero drinks, requires a con modifier to hold your booze
• Character who exceed this number are intoxicated for a number of hours equal to 6 minus their constitution modifier (minimum of 1) hours since their last alcoholic drink. not sure if this should be changed to 8 to align with a full long rest, or leave it at 6 which is the sleep requirement of a long rest
• Intoxicated characters *edit*has advantage against being Frightened, but have disadvantage on Intelligence and Dexterity ability checks. From what I understand, this is the basic effect that Matt Mercer applies to Sam Riegel's character Nott in Critical Role (only with fear immunity instead)
• Characters that consume additional alcohol while intoxicate must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC 10) against becoming Poisoned. Each consecutive saving throw increases the DC by +2. The Poisoned condition persists until the character is no longer intoxicated. My attempt at making the rule ready to use for drinking competitions. Plus by specifying poison, the Dwarven Resilience racial feature comes into play, fitting the whole 'dwarves are good drinkers' trope
• A character that fails the saving throw by 5 or more falls Unconscious. Or should this be bigger margin for passing out blackout-drunk? 5 feels a tad low, 10 feels a bit high, and anything in-between feels off Let's stick with 5

input? (and thankyou for the feedback so far. Even the things I haven't used, I still find interesting to read)

[Unoriginal]

In Dragon Heist, you can meet a character who's intoxicated after drinking a considerable amount of wine. It's represented by being under the Poisoned condition.

[Zhorn]

I had originally considered applying the poisoned condition as soon as a character became intoxicated, but after seeing how drunkenness was being used in critical role, I liked the idea of someone drinking for courage (getting a bit of a confident buzz) vs drinking till puking (poisoned).

[Unoriginal]

I had originally considered applying the poisoned condition as soon as a character became intoxicated, but after seeing how drunkenness was being used in critical role, I liked the idea of someone drinking for courage (getting a bit of a confident buzz) vs drinking till puking (poisoned).

Well, you can do those two states if you want. Poisoned would also fit for the hangover afterward. IMO the rest should be hand-waved, precise rules only slow down and make complicated what the players just do for run.

[JackPhoenix]

I think temporary exhaustion levels (that all go away after long rest, unlike normal) would also be good model. The penalties increase the more drunk you are, you can literally die of alcohol poisoning, and the first few 2 levels don't affect combat performance, which, while unrealistic, does somewhat conform to the image of angry, drunk dwarf or barbarian.

[RSP]

I had originally considered applying the poisoned condition as soon as a character became intoxicated, but after seeing how drunkenness was being used in critical role, I liked the idea of someone drinking for courage (getting a bit of a confident buzz) vs drinking till puking (poisoned).

Do you distinguish between magical fear and non-magical fear? In my opinion, magical fear shouldn’t be effected by drinking: a dragon isn’t just scary because it’s dangerous, it also magically radiates fear. I could see an argument for “liquid courage” in terms of the dangerousness, but not for the magical fear.

I certainly wouldn’t want to cast Fear, only to have everyone in the bar be immune.

(Edit:) Shouldn’t the effects of intoxication kick in at the onset of intoxication? I find it out of place to have “intoxicated” be a state where you’ve drank your limit (Con mod) but aren’t drunk (Con mod+1). “You’re one drink past intoxicated” doesn’t really exist as a state: you’re still just intoxicated.

[Zhorn]

Temporary exhaustion might be workable, though I'm more inclined to ignore hangovers and death by alcohol poisoning, as those feel like one step too harsh and too fiddly to track if other exhaustion effects come into play. Most poisoned conditions are short term, and since poisoned on poisoned doesn't stack, it's unlikely to directly kill any of my players. Plus with poisoned already taking care of disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls, it does most of the things out of the exhaustion table I want anyway.

First level drunk: Tipsy. Overconfident (fearless), but bad at trivia and a little clumsy at slight of hand stuff (disadvantage on int and dex skills). Like the distinction here between poisoned as light drunks can still be full of charm, wise words and vigor, while still retaining the capacity to throw a good punch.

Second Level Drunk: "I'm gonna hurl". The body has decided drinking just isn't fun any more. Poisoned condition, so disadvantage across all skills and attacks now too. Disadvantage doesn't stack, so only having to track a single state at a time.

Third level Drunk: zzzzzzz. Leave them on the bar floor, they'll be fine in a few hours

[Zhorn]

I would distinguish between regular fear and magical fear. I'll amend that into my opening post.
Personally I'd still think they would gain some advantage against being frightened, but I agree a magical fear aura should be strong enough to knock some sense back into an inebriated mind.

[Lunali]

I would remove the fear/dex/int line. The immunity to non-magic fear is more of a role playing aspect and doesn't need mechanical backing, the disadvantage on dex and int can come from the failed save that gives the poisoned condition.

Give a second save if you keep drinking after getting drunk, on failure, throw up, failure by 5 or more, pass out.

[Arcangel4774]

I think the alcohol effects, # of drinks, and time to wear off should be table based for a more linear increase

[Ganymede]

I treat it as a roleplay decision. If you get drunk, you have to act drunk. I don't apply any mechanics to it.

[Zonugal]

I honestly really enjoyed the rules during the open beta/playtest of fifth edition.

You have disadvantage on near everything but you have damage resistance.

Which I think tracks well enough as I have definitely become impervious to pain when very drunk.

[kenposan]

This is a combo of a couple different intoxication rules I found (one here):

Every drink triggers a Con save; DC depends on strength of the booze:
Beers, ales and meads: 12
Wines: 14
Spirits, etc: 16

*Every failed save adds a level of drunkenness. Effects are cumulative.


Level Description Effect
1 Tipsy- Disadvantage on Persuasion and Deception; Advantage against Frightened
2 Merry- Disadvantage on Ability Checks; Roll Hit Dice and gain temporary hit points
3 Drunk- Disadvantage on Saving Throws; Cannot dash or move more than 10' in the same direction
4 Blotto- Disadvantage on Attack Rolls; Damage Resistance
5 Falling-Down Drunk- Become Unconscious

To cast a spell, make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or the spell fails. The spell is not wasted. A short rest removes one level of inebriation; a long rest removes all effects of inebriation.

[Arcangel4774]

Level Description Effect
1 Tipsy- Disadvantage on Persuasion and Deception; Advantage against Frightened
2 Merry- Disadvantage on Ability Checks; Roll Hit Dice and gain temporary hit points
3 Drunk- Disadvantage on Saving Throws; Cannot dash or move more than 10' in the same direction
4 Blotto- Disadvantage on Attack Rolls; Damage Resistance
5 Falling-Down Drunk- Become Unconscious

[...] A short rest removes one level of inebriation; a long rest removes all effects of inebriation.

These are what i was talking about. Id suggest possibly having the drunkeness decay at 1 level per 2 hours, but at double rate when resting. Otherwise theres a permanent drunk possibility.

[Zhorn]

I would remove the fear/dex/int line. The immunity to non-magic fear is more of a role playing aspect and doesn't need mechanical backing, the disadvantage on dex and int can come from the failed save that gives the poisoned condition.

Give a second save if you keep drinking after getting drunk, on failure, throw up, failure by 5 or more, pass out.

I'm thinking I'd rather keep the int/dex/fear thing. Most of the players in my groups watch a lot of critical role, so for our group it has a bit of consistency to keep that as a baseline level of intoxication as more people in the group will remember it from the show when thinking how drinking before encounters would play out.

I'll stick with the fail by more then 5 pass out, but for simplicity's sake I'll just change the duration of intoxication to a flat value rather than something that is modified. 6 hours since last drink. No fuss no muss.


Level Description Effect
1 Tipsy- Disadvantage on Persuasion and Deception; Advantage against Frightened
2 Merry- Disadvantage on Ability Checks; Roll Hit Dice and gain temporary hit points
3 Drunk- Disadvantage on Saving Throws; Cannot dash or move more than 10' in the same direction
4 Blotto- Disadvantage on Attack Rolls; Damage Resistance
5 Falling-Down Drunk- Become Unconscious

[...] A short rest removes one level of inebriation; a long rest removes all effects of inebriation.
This is a nice table, but as per my original post I'm looking to set up something basic that I don't need to refer to a table to remember. I have a small display binder for quick referencing rules in my games, and while I have a few houserules in there, I tend to avoid adding anything that I can't just recall off the top of my head, or deviates too far from a system that's already part of the RAW in the PHB or DMG. This table (along with all the additional checks and numbers in the post) is too big a deviation for my tastes (still a nice table though).
Being said; changing 'immunity to fear' to 'advantage against frightened' is nice and simple. Using that.

[Zhorn]

Rewatching a clip for Nott's drunkenness from Critical Role (S2E6), her baseline intoxication lasts for just 1 hour...

Maybe change the rule here for baseline intoxication to have the same duration, but keep the poisoned duration as the 6 hours?