Tavern Fun Time: Alcohol, Drinking, Intoxication, and After Effects

[flankspeed]

Here is a revision of some previously posted rules on alcohol, drinking, intoxication, and after effects. This version adds detail where needed while simplifying some complexities. It includes different strength drinks, spiked drinks, staggering, slurred speech, vomiting, sobering up, hangovers, alcoholism, and more.

First I will list the dice-rolling mechanics and then the text explanation. By the way, I hope you get the movie references embedded in the subheads.

Enjoy responsibly! Or not. Hehe. ;-)

[flankspeed]

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DICE-ROLLING MECHANICS

TAVERN FUN TIME: ALCOHOL, DRINKING, INTOXICATION, AND AFTER EFFECTS


SAVING THROWS AGAINST INTOXICATION
(Rated by Drinks Per Hour)

The following saving throws assume there is one ounce of alcohol per average drink and that an average human can handle one ounce of alcohol per hour without getting drunk.

Any roll of 1D6 or less is an automatic success, but be sure to take into account the saving throw modifiers listed in the note below.

1st Drink Per Hour: 1D6 vs ST

2nd Drink Per Hour: 2D6 vs ST

3rd Drink Per Hour: 3D6 vs ST

4th Drink Per Hour: 4D6 vs ST

For every additional drink per hour, add +1D6 to the difficulty. Extremely strong characters are able to drink more alcohol per hour but will eventually face challenging saving throws.

NOTE:

All modifiers are cumulative.

-- Carousing Talent: Roll -1D6

-- Eating While Drinking (GM must rule if enough food is consumed): Roll -1D6

-- Extra Strong Drink (more than one ounce of alcohol per drink): Roll +1D6 or more

-- High Alcohol Tolerance (may be a racial trait, e.g., dwarf): Roll -1D6

-- Low Alcohol Tolerance (may be a racial trait, e.g., elf): Roll +1D6


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FAILED INTOXICATION ROLL RESULTS
(Penalties are NOT cumulative.)


1st Failure
"Buzzed": -1 DX, -1 IQ


2nd Failure
"Tipsy": -2 DX, -2 IQ

— Balance is affected. To avoid falling prone when moving more than one-half of maximum Movement Allowance, roll 2D6 vs adjDX before entering each hex over half maximum MA. Failure means falling prone in the current hex before moving.

— Reaction rolls are -1 or +1 based on circumstances and the preferences of the other person, and the drinker's speech is slightly slurred.


3rd Failure
"Drunk": -3 DX, -3 IQ, -2 Movement Allowance (MA)

— Staggering begins. To avoid falling prone when moving one hex or more per turn, roll 2D6 vs adjDX before entering each hex up to one-half maximum Movement Allowance, and 3D6 vs adjDX before entering each hex over half maximum MA. Failure means falling prone in the current hex before moving.

— Reaction rolls are -2 or +2 based on circumstances and the preferences of the other person, and the drinker's speech is slurred.

— Physical damage taken is -1 Hit due to numbness.


4th Failure
"Smashed": -4 DX, -4 IQ, -4 Movement Allowance (MA)

-- Character may pass out if unable to shake off the drunken stupor. Take note of how many dice were rolled when the 4th failure occurred and immediately re-roll that number of dice vs ST.

If this second roll fails, the character passes out; treat the character as having failed their 5th saving throw (see below). If the roll succeeds, the character will remain conscious while suffering all penalties associated with the 4th failure.

— Character is now falling-down drunk if still conscious. Roll 3D6 vs adjDX to avoid falling prone on any turn when standing without some support. Failure means falling prone in the current hex.

The character needs either to sit down, lay down, lean heavily on something solid, or have someone put an arm around them for support.

— Roll 3D6 vs adjDX to stand up again if prone (no other action allowed while attempting to stand up).

— Roll 3D6 vs adjDX before every hex of unsupported movement up to one-half maximum Movement Allowance, and 4D6 vs adjDX before every hex of unsupported movement over half maximum MA. Failure means falling prone in the current hex before moving.

If able to lean heavily on something very solid, such as a wall, then roll only 2D6 before entering each hex up to one-half maximum Movement Allowance, and 3D6 before each hex over half maximum MA. Failure means falling prone in the current hex before moving.

If someone puts an arm around the character to assist walking, the pair may move up to half the slowest person’s Movement Allowance per turn without any danger of falling prone IF the helper can make a 3D6 vs ST check before the pair moves. The pair moves together on the turn of the slowest of the two characters.

If the helping roll fails, then the intoxicated person must roll 2D6 vs adjDX to avoid immediately falling prone in the current hex. Note that this helping ST check must be made each turn to continue supporting the intoxicated person before moving.

If two people work together to support the intoxicated person on each side, then no ST check is required and the trio can move at half of the slowest MA of the carrying characters while ignoring the MA of the intoxicated person.

However, the GM may rule that two very weak characters are trying to assist an extremely heavy drunken character. In that case, the helpers must combine their ST in order to succeed by having the stronger helper roll 4D6 vs the combined ST total of the two helpers.

If ever at the start of the intoxicated character’s movement the helper is no longer able to assist or intentionally lets go (for example, if the helper is attacked or tries to strike with a weapon or cast a spell), then the intoxicated character is once again unsupported and must roll vs adjDX as normal to either remain standing or to move.

— Reaction rolls are -2 or +2 based on circumstances and the preferences of the other person, and the drinker’s speech is very slurred.

— Physical damage taken is -2 Hits due to extremely dulled senses (such as when a person is put into a drunken stupor before performing primitive surgery).


5th Failure
"Passed Out": Unconscious

— Character passes out immediately and will remain unconsciousness for as many hours as the roll was failed by (rolling a 14 vs ST=10 results in 4 hours of unconsciousness), with a minimum time of one hour if an automatic failure occurs at the level of a 16 on 3D6 and the character’s ST=16 or higher.

— If the roll is a critical failure at the 3D6 level of a 17 or an 18, then the drinker will vomit, fall unconscious, and suffer fatal alcohol poisoning.

On a roll of 17, the drinker will die in as many minutes (not hours) as the roll was failed by (minumum of 1 minute) unless medical attention is administered before the time expires (Physicker or Master Physicker at 3D6 vs IQ).

On a roll of 18, the drinker will die immediately unless medical attention is administered within seconds per GM ruling (Physicker or Master Physicker at 4D6 vs IQ).


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DETECTING SPIKED DRINKS

Standard +1D6 drink: 3D6 vs IQ

— Roll +1D6 if prepared by a person skilled with alcohol, poisons, Alchemy, or Carousing

— Roll -1D6 if drinker is familiar with alcoholic beverages due to Carousing Talent or working with liquor, poisons, or Alchemy

— Roll -1D6 for each drink strength beyond standard (if the drink is twice as strong adding 2D6 to the Intoxication saving throw, then the detection roll is 1D6 easier)

NOTE: A detection roll reduced to 1D6 or less is an automatic success.

[flankspeed]

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TAVERN FUN TIME: ALCOHOL, DRINKING, INTOXICATION, AND AFTER EFFECTS
or, "Don't Split the Party, It Just Got Started!"

Adventurers often congregate in taverns seeking information, relaxation, or celebration. But while the wise taverngoer will pace her drinking to avoid overindulging, those who show less restraint risk getting tipsy or worse.

Anyone consuming only one drink (approximately one ounce of alcohol or one mug/glass of a typical brew) per hour rolls 1D6 vs ST to avoid the onset of intoxication. This is an automatic success so long as there is one hour between drinks and the drinker does not have Low Alcohol Tolerance.

For each additional drink per hour, add 1D6 and roll again. Note that the Carousing Talent and High Alcohol Tolerance both subtract 1D6 from the difficulty, while Low Alcohol Tolerance adds 1D6. See the “Saving Throws Against Intoxication” section of the Dice-Rolling Mechanics.

The GM may rule that certain alcoholic drinks contain the equivalent of more than one ounce of alcohol and count as more than one drink per hour, adding as many D6 to the roll as the number of equivalent normal drinks.

Spiked drinks may be given to a character, and if undetected, the character must make Intoxication rolls as per normal (perhaps rolled by the GM). Spiked drinks can be detected as shown in the “Detecting Spiked Drinks” section of the Dice-Rolling Mechanics.


INTOXICATION SAVING THROWS
or, "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Getting Bombed"

Any intoxication roll vs ST that is reduced to a difficulty of 1D6 or less is an automatic success with no roll necessary. A 2D6 roll automatically succeeds on a 2 and automatically fails on a 12. Any roll of 3D6 or more follows the standard rules for automatic success and failure.

A critical success (3 or 4 on 3D6) subtracts 1D6 from the difficulty of the next intoxication roll if drinking continues and lessens attribute penalties by +1 DX and +1 IQ. A critical failure (17 or 18 on 3D6) increases the next roll for continued drinking by an extra 1D6 in addition to the normal 1D6, increases the attribute penalties by an extra -1 DX and -1 IQ, and causes the drinker to vomit on their next turn.

The practical effect of a critical failure for combat would be that the character may take no other action than vomiting on their next turn. However, the GM may rule that some other misfortune happens to the drinker instead of vomiting, such as falling off a chair, stumbling and falling to the ground, dropping whatever they were holding, etc., or may allow the player to make appropriate adjDX rolls to try moving to a better place before vomiting.

A normal failure on the roll means that intoxication has begun or gotten worse. See the “Failed Intoxication Roll Results” section of the Dice-Rolling Mechanics. When a character passes out after five failed rolls, they will remain unconscious for a number of hours equal to the amount by which they failed their save.

Success on the intoxication roll means no additional ill effects from drinking while still enjoying the revelry, though any accumulated penalties for intoxication remain in effect. If drinking continues within that hour, the difficulty of the intoxication roll increases by 1D6 for each drink beyond the first. Roll separately for each drink consumed.

If an hour passes between drinks, then the first drink during the next hour starts at 1D6 less than the previous hour’s last intoxication roll. For example: three drinks last hour at 3D6 carry over a base difficulty of 2D6, and the first drink after an hour has passed would add its 1D6 to again become a total saving throw of 3D6 vs ST.

If two hours had passed with no drinking, then only 1D6 of difficulty would carry over to become 2D6 total, and three hours later is long enough that the first drink would be back to a 1D6 automatic success.

Note that a successful Intoxication Saving Throw only means that no additional penalties accrue. It takes four hours of non-drinking to actually decrease penalties by one level of failure, as detailed in the following paragraphs.


SOBERING UP
or, "How to Get Shaken AND Stirred"

If the character remains awake and conscious, then for every four hours that pass without drinking, decrease the level of intoxication by one failure amount. Thus if currently suffering from three failed rolls for -3DX, etc., and four hours pass without drinking, reduce the penalties to -2 DX, etc.

A character who has not passed out or fallen asleep may try to sober up more quickly through home remedies or some other technique. The success of such remedies is up to the GM.

One possibility the GM might allow is for the character to drink stimulant beverages that grant +1 DX and +1 IQ for four hours (such as very strong coffee), but these modifiers may only accumulate to add +1 to DX and IQ over normal maximum values after cancelling out any negative modifiers for intoxication, fatigue, or wounds.

For example, a normal DX=10 can only be temporarily improved this way to DX=11 no matter how much stimulant is consumed. At some point, the GM may even rule that too much stimulant becomes counter-productive, causing jitters and inability to concentrate.

If the character takes drugs or potions that are strong performance enhancers, then penalites can be negated and actual positive bonuses applied fully beyond the maximum values of DX and IQ, but the GM may decide a saving throw is needed to avoid overdosing and/or becoming addicted to any drugs (perhaps 3D6 vs ST to avoid overdosing and 3D6 vs IQ to avoid addiction).


HANGOVERS
or, "If You Have Some of the Hair of the Dog that Bit You, You Better Hope His Bark Is Worse than His Bite!"

If a character either goes to sleep or becomes unconscious due to passing out, they are better able to recover. Their level of intoxication still decreases by one failure amount for every four hours without drinking, but the only effects of intoxication that remain after waking up — the “hangover” — are the penalties to DX and IQ (no movement penalties, no numbness, and no Reaction roll adjustment).

The lingering DX and IQ penalties for a hangover slowly wear off over time in four-hour increments. A character who fails five saves and passes out could wake up after 8 hours (perhaps partly forced unconsciousness and partly trying to sleep it off) and still be at -3 DX and -3 IQ.

This would be a doozy of a hangover that will slowly wear off every four hours of the next day. If the character had woken up after only 4 hours, their hangover would have begun at -4 DX and -4 IQ!

If a character with a hangover is desperate to succeed at some dextrous or intellecutal task the next day, such as fighting a duel or working a job, the character may try folk remedies to cure the hangover. (See the “Sobering Up” section above.) It’s up to the GM to determine how effective folk remedies are, but trying the “hair of the dog that bit you” is a risky proposition.

Drinking more alcohol the following morning would only help if the character rolled a critical success (3 or 4 on 3D6) after consuming a drink of 3D6 strength or higher. As previously stated, a critical success reduces DX and IQ penalties by +1. Of course, if such a strong intoxication roll fails, the character starts to get drunk again and only makes things worse!


ALCOHOLISM
or, “Hit Me Again, Sam, and Make It a Double!”

Subject to GM ruling and player agreement, the first time a character tastes alcohol in their lifetime and then again every time a character passes out due to intoxication, roll 3D6 vs IQ to avoid alcohol addiction. Add +1D6 to the roll if the character has alcoholic relatives or some innate tendency toward alcoholism, and -1D6 if the character has some reason to be especially resistant to alcohol addiction.

NOTE: If the player of the character does not want to role play as an alcoholic, then don’t use this rule!

Assuming the roll fails and the character becomes alcholic, record the number by which the character failed the save (minimum value of 1). This becomes the severity of the character’s addiction until such time as the character is able to kick the habit. If the character ever becomes alcoholic again, a new addiction severity would be recorded at that time.

An alcoholic must roll 3D6 vs adjusted IQ to avoid taking a drink immediately after waking up each day, whenever alcohol is offered, and whenever a stressful situation arises. Once a drink has been taken, a roll of 4D6 vs IQ is required to stop drinking for the rest of that day, with failure meaning that the character must continue to make 3D6 saves to avoid drinking.

After a long time as an alcoholic (perhaps years), the GM may rule that the severity of these saving throws increases to 4D6 to not start drinking and 5D6 to stop drinking, but only if such a level of detail is enjoyed by the player of the character.

To kick the habit requires something that sparks a desire to recover, whether a tragedy of some sort, a momentous event, or an intervention by loved ones. To kick the habit alone cold turkey, roll 5D6 vs adjusted IQ per day until as many successes are achieved as the addiction severity recorded when the character first failed the save vs alcoholism.

Failure on the roll means the character must continue making the standard alcoholism saves per day to avoid drinking. A character could then become a “dry drunk” by failing the roll to kick the habit but making the roll to avoid drinking.

Decrease the difficulty to 4D6 per day if helped by a caring friend or loved one who refuses to enable the character’s addiction or by a skilled practitioner of medicine, psychology, or spirituality.

Decrease difficulty to 3D6 per day if helped by skilled individuals in a dedicated treatment program or similar healing environment, especially if it involves other alcoholics sharing their experiences and supporting one another.

[CardDiceian]

I used the original set of rules in my tavern last week.
The players party were approached by a group of boisterous orcs, already with a couple of drinks under their belts.

The orcs insisted the players drank with them, so all had to roll a couple of times on the drink tables. It ended amiably enough - No fight, the orcs had to leave due to over indulgence, the players went back to their room well oiled.

[flankspeed]

Originally Posted by CardDiceian

I used the original set of rules in my tavern last week.
The players party were approached by a group of boisterous orcs, already with a couple of drinks under their belts.

The orcs insisted the players drank with them, so all had to roll a couple of times on the drink tables. It ended amiably enough - No fight, the orcs had to leave due to over indulgence, the players went back to their room well oiled.

I am thrilled to hear that the rules came in handy. Thank you so much for sharing!

I have tried to refine the rules a bit here and there, such as allowing a -1D6 for drinking whle eating, assuming a character eats enough to delay alcohol absorbtion by the body.

I also added Movement Allowance penalties to some of the failed saving throw results and changed the saving throws for movement a bit, trying to find some way to approxmiate staggering around drunk while possibly falling flat on your face the farther you attempt to move.

By the way, I hope your son is doing better after his cycling accident. Best wishes for health and hope!