Gaming and intoxication

[Mask_of_winter]

Role-playing is a social gathering. Drinking alcoholic beverages is often part of social gatherings.
Do you allow it in your group? Where do you draw the line? Is it alright if everybody is drinking? What if only one player is drinking or using drugs and becomes disruptive? How do you deal with it as a GM or a group?

A few years ago I put an end to my face to face group. I didn't consider any of them "friends" though we all got along. Some of us would have a few beers but our gracious host had the habit of pounding one after the other and becoming loud, obnoxious and very disruptive. I had a talk with him but he wasn't very receptive and it didn't change a thing.

Yet, as a teenager, our group smoked weed during our sessions and had a lot of fun gaming.

What are your experience with alcohol, drugs and gaming?

[JohnD]

Generally speaking, gaming kept me away from drugs and alcohol, at least in my younger, formative years.

[dulux-oz]

Personally, I keep the two separate - if people want to drink (or take drugs, or whatever) then that's fine, but I like to run serious or semi-serious games (like a spy movie is serious as compared to a rom-com movie) and so as the GM I say to players up-font that drinking and drug-taking is not allowed at my table - even when I'm not the host.

To say both activities (RPGs & drinking) are social activities is true, but so are playing baseball and drinking, and I would put it to the reader that you'll get a better baseball game when the players aren't drinking at the same time. The same argument applies with a large number of "social" activities - alcohol and drugs don't mix well with them.

Now, every now and then we'll run a one-off like Paranoia (usually around Christmas) when the no-alcohol rule is relaxed, or as a group we'll do some other sort of social activity where we can all enjoy a drink, so I'm not anti-alcohol (gawd, I'm an Aussie - our first military force was paid in rum and know as the Rum Corps!) - but there's a time and place for everything, and RPGs are neither the time nor the place, IMNSHO :)

BTW, Good topic! :)

Cheers

Edit: Damn! Ninja's by JohnD :ninja:

[Goltron]

I'm not to fussed about what ppl do 'around the table' whilst gaming as long as it doesn't interfere with the flow of the game, by means of time wasting, disruptions or altercations.
People can be quite capable of causing disruptions without the help of intoxication,it could also be said that many lightly intoxicated people are capable of being part of a disruption free game.
I'm quite happy for someone to enjoy a beer or two or whatever else may float their boat whilst playing but if a problem arises then it must be dealt with.

[GunbunnyFuFu]

I game with adults, and I certainly don't mind a drink (or three). But I don't really enjoy drinking to excess, certainly not to the extent that it clouds my thinking (as I'm usually the DM). Drugs are a flat no-go at my house. After all, it may have something to do with my occupation....And if someone drinks to excess during my game and is disruptive, I will deal with it politely at first. Repeat incidents usually mean that the invitation to chuck the 'ole polyhedrals around my gaming table is revoked. I run/play in games to have fun. Dealing with drunk people is generally what I do at work, and that isn't so much fun.

Gunbunnyfufu

[Trenloe]

For a long time I didn't allow alcohol at my table when running a game. That was based off the level of role-playing/attention I wanted from my players and also from bad experiences as a teenager (one player getting fall-off-the-chair drunk on one beer and completely wrecking a pivotal session in the campaign).

Now, I'm fine with it - as long as people know their limit and don't drink to excess.

The problem playing online games is that you don't know how much the other participants are drinking. There have been some games where after a few hours I'm pretty sure that one or more participants are reaching that point with attention wavering and less than intelligent decisions being made - is this caused by excessive alcohol consumption or gaming fatigue? Probably the former... If it effects the game and occurs more than once (and I was the GM) I'd have a word and try to see what's happening, asking them to either concentrate more or drink less (or both). If I was a player experiencing this from other players I'd have a word with the GM and if they felt it was an issue try to address it.

[Oberoten]

For most games we have a strict "no intoxicants rule" but for a one-off or a humorous game a drink to three might be allowed. Though admittdly as we all noted this DOES tend to end up with a session that is heavy on bad jokes and very very light in adventure progress. (Awesome for Paranoia, less so for Call of Cthulhu)

I have GMed once under the influence of morphine when I was at the hospital for a shattered foot joint... it was interesting. But lets just say that it really isn't an experience any of us is terribly eager to repeat.

- Obe

[damned]

Im a bit of a cadbury these days and as i usually game fairly late my attention span would be impacted somewhat!

[dulux-oz]

I have GMed once under the influence of morphine when I was at the hospital for a shattered foot joint... it was interesting. But lets just say that it really isn't an experience any of us is terribly eager to repeat.

- Obe

The GMing while under the influence or the shattered foot :p

[Oberoten]

I can GM when in pain. But when high on morphine? I fell asleep once during the session and was so scatterbrained that I had problems keeping apart what we had allready run, what I was planning to run and which NPC was which...

[LordEntrails]

Never had a problem with drinking or drugs with any players or DMs when playing, even back in college. The groups I game with now the adults might have a beer or two, but I've never seen signs of intoxication and drugs are socially unacceptable in the circles I hang in.

I will say, I'm surprised (happily) that it seems the community at large is more conservative than my un-informed impressions were.

[Skellan]

I have had a few games where people (sometimes the gm lol) ramble and repeat themselves and get argumentative. It doesn't make for a good session. I don't mind drinking but a plastered player/gm tends to spoil it for everyone. I'd prefer sober players

[Black Hammer]

I have run games while drinking and while on prescription painkillers (within a week of surgery), although in neither case would I consider myself to have been "wasted." I only once played while actually drunk, and would not make that mistake again. Moreso because vodka and tequila are a bad combination, not because it ruined the game. Said game was deep into ruined territory from the get go, hence my indulgence in the first place.

I think being sober at a game is just as important as showing up on time, cancelling in advance if you can't make it, and taking a shower beforehand. It also depends on the nature of the group. If its a bunch of working guys having a couple of beers over the course of the night, that'd be fine. In a group of mixed ages and genders, I think it pays to be circumspect. A couple of people having or going out for drinks after the games works better in that case.

I've always avoided stoners and recreation drug users on principle; I dislike dealing with extra stress because someone else is too spacey to respect others.

[pacio49]

This raises the intriguing possibility of running a FG one-shot Drinking Game, where you might have to take a drink for rolling a 1, or failing a saving throw. Everybody drinks a Social on a natural 20 rolled for an attack. With the right crew and the expectation beforehand that the game is going to get sloppy, it could be fun. (For others, not so much, but my gamers are all old college and work buddies who are all adults so even over-indulging tends to be restrained nowadays. At most I could see them getting lightly buzzed.)

I'll have to keep this idea up my sleeve for a tavern RP session to break up the campaign when the guys get back to town. Could add an interesting dimension for a break in play pacing.

[ddavison]

I host games at my house and play at others homes on alternating sessions. We often drink 1-2 beers or a bourbon and coke. One of our group members is also a professional critic and novelist for bourbon and other alcohols. He will often bring a nice whiskey or bourbon and then lament the fact that I cut it with coca-cola. Since we drive, we wouldn't let anyone drink to excess since they would have to drive home. We are all adult enough to drink responsibly. I have a no illegal drug policy within my house and the one guy who smokes a pipe (tobacco), does so before and after the session outside the house.

[Willot]

I have GMed once under the influence of morphine when I was at the hospital for a shattered foot joint... it was interesting. But lets just say that it really isn't an experience any of us is terribly eager to repeat.

- Obe
Is that the game when you leaped up from your chair (teetering on one leg) screaming "Its all real! Its all Real!. Gygax tried to warn us. but we didnt listen! WE DIDNT LISTEN!!!!!!" Then you fell over passed out?

.
.
.
.
Players sat around in stunned silence.
.
.
.
Player three: "I roll to grapple..."

[dmkevin]

If you're going to have one drink at a session you have to have a bottle of something good which has a great name.

Hobgoblin Ale anyone?12722
I had a player in live 3.5 campaign who often brought one of these for himself and me, the dm.

[dulux-oz]

I had a player in live 3.5 campaign who often brought one of these for himself and me, the dm.

Ahh, bribing the GM! Yes, a good idea (IMNSHO - but only when I'm the GM, of course).