[Thaumatology] Drunkeness as Energy Reserve

Prince Charon · 08-24-2023, 12:43 AM

Imagine, if you will, a setting in which spending points in the the usual Energy Reserve for magic-users causes them to seem drunk. The level of your ER is derived from the lower of Will and HT. Spending points of ER is like drinking beer or wine, resulting in penalties to DX & IQ (but not Will or Per) when ER gets too low - at 1/2 ER, the caster takes a penalty of -1 to both IQ and DX, and may appear a bit tipsy; at 1/3 ER, the penalty is -3, and any failed roll on either (or skills based on same) will have you seem drunk to observers; when ER is reduced to 0, the penalty is -5, it is no-longer possible to fake sobriety without a very good Acting roll, and you must roll Will or HT to avoid losing consciousness. Recovery takes the usual ten minutes per point (unless you have an advantage or spell to speed that up), as you seem to gradually sober up. On the bright side, at least spending ER doesn't usually give you hangovers. (This idea started as an alternate magic system for the settings that relate to Sally the miller's daughter, though that had some other concepts, like the Critical Failures Table being the Comedy Table, and magic seemingly being something the Fair Folk are doing, among other things.)

I'm rather curious as to what effects this would have on not only gameplay, but on the setting, as well. What do you think?

08-24-2023, 12:43 AM	#1
Prince Charon Join Date: Dec 2012	[Thaumatology] Drunkeness as Energy Reserve Imagine, if you will, a setting in which spending points in the the usual Energy Reserve for magic-users causes them to seem drunk. The level of your ER is derived from the lower of Will and HT. Spending points of ER is like drinking beer or wine, resulting in penalties to DX & IQ (but not Will or Per) when ER gets too low - at 1/2 ER, the caster takes a penalty of -1 to both IQ and DX, and may appear a bit tipsy; at 1/3 ER, the penalty is -3, and any failed roll on either (or skills based on same) will have you seem drunk to observers; when ER is reduced to 0, the penalty is -5, it is no-longer possible to fake sobriety without a very good Acting roll, and you must roll Will or HT to avoid losing consciousness. Recovery takes the usual ten minutes per point (unless you have an advantage or spell to speed that up), as you seem to gradually sober up. On the bright side, at least spending ER doesn't usually give you hangovers. (This idea started as an alternate magic system for the settings that relate to Sally the miller's daughter, though that had some other concepts, like the Critical Failures Table being the Comedy Table, and magic seemingly being something the Fair Folk are doing, among other things.) I'm rather curious as to what effects this would have on not only gameplay, but on the setting, as well. What do you think? __________________ Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life. "The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates." -- Tacitus Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted. Last edited by Prince Charon; 06-19-2024 at 08:46 PM.