Alcohol and Fear

[Blood Legend]

I assign the penalties for tipsy and drunk as a bonus to Will for the purposes of ignoring that natural urge to avoid doing something stupid. This is outwardly displayed as bravery.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Blood Legend

I assign the penalties for tipsy and drunk as a bonus to Will for the purposes of ignoring that natural urge to avoid doing something stupid. This is outwardly displayed as bravery.

I think I heard of a study that showed it wasn't so much resisting the urge to do something stupid, as not caring about the consequences from the actions. That leads to those that avoid the idiocy due to purely social reasons far more likely to dangerous acts than those that avoid them through immutable justified rules. I wouldn't drive no matter drunk I got, because I can't drive sober.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by JCurwen3

Anything RAW I've missed

The penalty to IQ reduces Sense rolls to notice a threat, but doesn't affect Will rolls for fright checks (since it's a Temporary Attribute Penalty).

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

The penalty to IQ reduces Sense rolls to notice a threat, but doesn't affect Will rolls for fright checks (since it's a Temporary Attribute Penalty).

In fiction, both of these would fit Lampie from "Pete's Dragon." It takes him a while to notice that Elliot's a dragon, but once he does, there's nothing wrong with his panic reflex.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

In fiction, both of these would fit Lampie from "Pete's Dragon." It takes him a while to notice that Elliot's a dragon, but once he does, there's nothing wrong with his panic reflex.

Gross overreactions of fear are assumed for anything with comedic dangers like cartoon dragons.
But regardless of its realism it fits many genres of fiction that's for sure.
My experience with being drunk let alone dealing with drunk people is far too limited to help much in hammering out generic rules for such. But I would like my limited experiences to at least be possible for such rules.

[Blood Legend]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I think I heard of a study that showed it wasn't so much resisting the urge to do something stupid, as not caring about the consequences from the actions. That leads to those that avoid the idiocy due to purely social reasons far more likely to dangerous acts than those that avoid them through immutable justified rules. I wouldn't drive no matter drunk I got, because I can't drive sober.

Same thing here. My social and motor functions get impaired far more quickly than my cognitive functions. However, since there's no limit to the stupidity of the actions of players while their characters are sober, the game purpose is the same. ;3

[JCurwen3]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Alcohol is an anxiolytic at lower dosages than it is a cognitive inhibitor. In fact, there is some evidence that low dosages enhance specific learning responses. The trick is that dosage is hard to manage when self-administered via traditional channels . . . clinical results always speak in terms of blood-alcohol concentration, and that's almost impossible to meter with oral intake in a social environment. Roughly, the boundary is at about 0.5 unit (half a small drink) for someone who weighs about 150-160 lbs.

I find the information about the low dose alcohol enhancing learning very interesting. Thanks for that!

Originally Posted by Kromm

I think it's fair to say that half a GURPS drink would be a Mitigator against fear and Shyness, without causing any negative afflictions. Beyond that . . . use the drinking rules.

Currently, at the Tipsy level, you reduce Shyness by one level if you have it. So the rule would be that after half a GURPS drink, you can already ignore a level of Shyness, before the full on penalties come into play. That works. How would mitigating fear work though? Consider it a level of Fearlessness (+1)?