Keen Mind vs Drunk

[fireflyacire]

So drinking can cause you to have memory loss right?
My question is if you have the Keen Mind feature does this counter act the memory loss?

[Corpsecandle717]

That would be entirely up to the DM.

Personally I'd make the player do an int save with the DC depending on how many drinks they put away.

[PeteNutButter]

I’m no neuroscientist but I’ve heard it told that an excess of drinking doesn’t cause memory loss but rather it causes one’s brain to simply stop recording. It makes sense, as people don’t forget things that happened before a point where their intoxication got too high.

Yet I’d considering “forgetting” something as generally just not committing it to long term memory, seems like a fair use to allow the feat to prevent this effect. Not like it comes up that often.

In practice anyways, a lot of people cannot get that intoxicated before they pass out.

[Anymage]

If there's a specific rules effect that would cause amnesia, I'd either let Keen Mind overrule it or else give a hefty bonus to resist. It is a feat, and it's a limited enough situation that it's okay to be powerful in those circumstances.

In general, though, without rules for alcoholism and with the PCs being impressive heroes from early in their careers, the PCs can have as much to drink as they like with few to any aftereffects. A horse trough full of drink won't affect Paul Bunyan the same way it would affect you or me. If the player wants their character to be a sloppy drunk they can. However, if a player cares about his character having a sharp mind so much that he invests character resources into it, he's probably not going to want that.

[Man_Over_Game]

I’m not neuroscientist but I’ve heard it told that an excess of drinking doesn’t cause memory loss but rather it causes one’s brain to simply stop recording. It makes sense, as people don’t forget things that happened before a point where their intoxication got too high.

Yet I’d considering “forgetting” something as generally just not committing it to long term memory, seems like a fair use to allow the feat to prevent this effect. Not like it comes up that often.

In practice anyways, a lot of people cannot get that intoxiciated before they pass out.

That's kinda how it works. You don't pay much attention to what's going on, and you generally don't remember things you don't pay attention to (See: School).

Keen Mind is an investment, though, so whatever solution you decide upon must be better than the default scenario.

For example, if you were to require someone an Intelligence check to remember what happened the night before from drinking, someone with Keen Mind deserves Advantage, if not a guaranteed success.
If someone was completely unable to remember what happened the night before (like a spell that was framed to appear like a drinking incident), then someone with Keen Mind deserves a chance to remember when a normal person wouldn't.

[Jerrykhor]

I dont think anyone can answer your question. You can't compare what is (Keen Mind) to what it should be (drunk). There are no rules for being drunk, so the entire interaction is up to DM.

[ProsecutorGodot]

Personally, I think it would be absolutely hilarious for a character with Keen Mind to essentially black out midway through their drunkenness and only when they become lucid again will they remember with crystal clear accuracy exactly what terrible things they did.