Drinking During An RP Session

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by trooper6

I think one of the reasons I tend to keep dry is because I don't think of gaming as a social activity like a dinner party where we might all drink...but instead like a professional hobby like doing community theater...and I'd never drink while doing a play. Afterwards? Sure. But not during.

That's my stance too.

There's a sort of spectrum from "rpgs as casual entertainment" to "rpgs as improvisational art." This isn't a question of "fun versus not fun"; people who do the improvisational art approach, like me, are doing it because we enjoy improvisational art. But my tastes are way over toward the "art" end in general; for example, I really dislike watching video if other people in the room are talking, and especially if they're making jokes and sarcastic comments. (I know people who do "MST3King," but I'd rather not watch something than sit through that, because it totally doesn't amuse me.)

If I want something that's more like entertainment, I'll play Settlers of Catan. Or Munchkin, though it's not as much fun.

[Bruno]

For me I've simply never felt that lightly pickling my brain was relaxing, or reduced social anxiety. I don't associate alcohol with "relaxing with friends", because it's not relaxing for me, and my friends have caught on to that. I think part of the problem is that there's an overlap in the symptoms of alcohol and the symptoms of my brain damage; I can feel my brain malfunction on a day to day basis, and so I'm super-uncool with how booze makes my brain malfunction even more.

I know this is contrary to how the majority interacts with alcohol. It's still jarring to hear people articulate that alcohol is "relaxing" or that it "helps" with anything in particular.

[JMason]

Originally Posted by Bruno

For me I've simply never felt that lightly pickling my brain was relaxing, or reduced social anxiety. I don't associate alcohol with "relaxing with friends", because it's not relaxing for me, and my friends have caught on to that. I think part of the problem is that there's an overlap in the symptoms of alcohol and the symptoms of my brain damage; I can feel my brain malfunction on a day to day basis, and so I'm super-uncool with how booze makes my brain malfunction even more.

I know this is contrary to how the majority interacts with alcohol. It's still jarring to hear people articulate that alcohol is "relaxing" or that it "helps" with anything in particular.

Hm, I find this interesting as what you describe kinda reminds me of how pot effects me. The few times I've gotten high (mostly contact high at indoor concerts), I don't feel "buzzed"... I just feel confused and and annoyed at how I can't focus. It's all the bad parts of drinking w/o the good. Among my friends, I'm pretty unique in this (it seems).

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by whswhs

That's my stance too.

There's a sort of spectrum from "rpgs as casual entertainment" to "rpgs as improvisational art." This isn't a question of "fun versus not fun"; people who do the improvisational art approach, like me, are doing it because we enjoy improvisational art. But my tastes are way over toward the "art" end in general; for example, I really dislike watching video if other people in the room are talking, and especially if they're making jokes and sarcastic comments. (I know people who do "MST3King," but I'd rather not watch something than sit through that, because it totally doesn't amuse me.)

If I want something that's more like entertainment, I'll play Settlers of Catan. Or Munchkin, though it's not as much fun.

I'm the same way. I don't like talking during videos...I never could enjoy MST3K. And I tend to few RPGing as art rather than casual entertainment. I think that compatibility is one of the reasons I love gaming with you!

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by JMason

Hm, I find this interesting as what you describe kinda reminds me of how pot effects me. The few times I've gotten high (mostly contact high at indoor concerts), I don't feel "buzzed"... I just feel confused and and annoyed at how I can't focus. It's all the bad parts of drinking w/o the good. Among my friends, I'm pretty unique in this (it seems).

I'm asthmatic and sensitive to fine particulate matter (like smoke) so I haven't tried smoking pot and avoid second-hand smoke so I've never suffered a "contact high".

Fortunately my regular tabletop group doesn't smoke anything at all; the group with my cousins-in-law and their friends are all tobacco smokers, but there's a strict no-smoking-in-the-house rule. Our tabletop games with them are forced to halt every two hours or so for a smoke break, but I can hide from the worst of the smoke.

I'm not eager to experiment with edibles because I suspect this problem will pop up again.

[gibberingmouther]

i usually drink soda (including stevia sweetened root beer) and take caffeine pills during my rp sessions, no alcohol as i said before i quit drinking awhile ago. i only take 200 - 300 mg (2 or 3 cups of coffee equivalent) - i just hate the taste of coffee now, though i used to be able to drink a lot of it. i used to love green tea also, but now it makes me puke.

i'm always the GM so there's extra pressure. part of the reason i know the rules so well (for D&D) is that i played Neverwinter Nights like crazy, playing a lot of the fan made modules.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by trooper6

I think one of the reasons I tend to keep dry is because I don't think of gaming as a social activity like a dinner party where we might all drink...but instead like a professional hobby like doing community theater...

This is super important. When I'm a guest at an event, running a game with my company face on, that's work and I'd never drink (with the sole, rare exception of "someone who paid to be at the table bought me a drink" . . . that's happened twice in almost 23 years). My "professional hobbies" are Argentine tango (I don't drink when I dance) and bartending (only when somebody buys me one, and that's damned rare as well). When I game on my own time, outside work, it has to be a social activity or it feels like work and I dislike it, so I treat it as such.

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by Kromm

This is super important. When I'm a guest at an event, running a game with my company face on, that's work and I'd never drink (with the sole, rare exception of "someone who paid to be at the table bought me a drink" . . . that's happened twice in almost 23 years). My "professional hobbies" are Argentine tango (I don't drink when I dance) and bartending (only when somebody buys me one, and that's damned rare as well). When I game on my own time, outside work, it has to be a social activity or it feels like work and I dislike it, so I treat it as such.

That's very understandable. Makes a lot of sense.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Kromm

This is super important. When I'm a guest at an event, running a game with my company face on, that's work and I'd never drink (with the sole, rare exception of "someone who paid to be at the table bought me a drink" . . . that's happened twice in almost 23 years). My "professional hobbies" are Argentine tango (I don't drink when I dance) and bartending (only when somebody buys me one, and that's damned rare as well). When I game on my own time, outside work, it has to be a social activity or it feels like work and I dislike it, so I treat it as such.

The situation is rather different for me (from both you and trooper6) in that I don't drink on social occasions, and I tend not to go to social events where people drink, especially if the event is defined in terms of drinking—"cocktail party" or "beer bash" or "pub crawl" or whatever. But I can see the logic of boundary drawing, even if I wouldn't use that marker.

[Koshka]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I get my caffeine from Diet Dr. Pepper, now that Coke Zero has gone off the market. . . .

I'm told that Coke No Sugar tastes very much like Coke Zero, but since I can't stand the taste of anything carbonated this is very much secondhand information.

Getting back on-thread, I don't drink alcohol and the closest I've come to gaming under other intoxicants is the occasional game during cold season -- I use the 12-hour OTC meds because there's no point to the ones that wear off in four hours, so if I'm on them I tend to be a little drowsy. No one's ever told me to put my dice away and sleep it off, so I assume my gaming isn't affected too much.

For an assortment of medical reasons, most of the players in the two groups I'm in do not drink. One group keeps a collection of bottled water and soda available, and in winter there's a percolator full of hot water available for making tea and hot chocolate. The other group is less organized, people normally bring their own beverages (usually whatever came with their take-out combo meal).

The group that includes smokers has a house rule that e-cigs at the table are fine, real tobacco needs to go outside.

The only time I ever gamed with someone smoking pot during a game was back in college. That's when I learned that second-hand pot smoke makes me ill ... which means I really can't judge how it may have affected that player's gaming style.