Potaatow ... Potato

[mhorgunn]

So I'm sure this will come up soon in my campaign. (Like next week ...) I've already asked on DM I respect but ...

Here is the situation:

The party will soon be going up against the young green dragon at Thundertree in the Lost Mines Adventure. Now they don't have to kill it ... just convince the beastie to move on. I have the feeling they are going to try and get it drunk. It's a pretty classical trope when you consider the Odyssey and the blinding of the cyclops. It is not a question of supply and yes I know it's going to take a large amount. But the monster manual says Green dragons are immune to being poisoned and so the question I have is ... can a creature with condition immunities of poisoned be fuddled. I realize there may be ramifications when he sobers up ... there always are.

And I would say no ... except when I look at the effects listing in Fantasy Grounds, under conditions there are poisoned AND intoxicated. And yes I know ... the very word has the word TOXIC in it, and in the game the effect is the same, disadvantage. Except for no immediate damage when you're drunk until you pass out. Whoops! Two more conditions to worry about.

Is there a difference? How would you rule. I invite your thoughts.

[El Condoro]

Mechanically, if being drunk is the same as the poisoned condition the dragon is immune but where's the fun in that? (There is no Intoxicated condition in 5e that I am aware of)

I love the idea of getting the dragon drunk but the question is, how will the characters overcome the dragon's intelligence (16) to do so? How will they role play the interaction to convince the dragon to drink whatever liquor they are trying to ply it with? If the dragon has never drunk alcohol before, it might not take too much but how will they get it to drink the stuff? That's where the fun is for me. And watching that drunk dragon fly off (if he is not killed) could be a lot of fun in itself (hitting trees, hiccuping etc.) and his hangover will be the motivation for a terrible revenge at some point in the future, too!

If played the right way, Venomfang is not too difficult to defeat (get to half hit points) and a lot falls on the luck of when his breath weapon recharges - the characters just need to make sure they don't bunch up and give him more than 1 target at a time.

[Nickademus]

I tend to side with the creators more often than not (though not all the time). I'd agree in this instance:
https://www.sageadvice.eu/2016/02/13/intoxicated-condition/

[LordEntrails]

I would say that the rules would support saying immune to poison means you couldn't be poisoned by alcohol. But, as El Condoro says, where's the fun in that?

As pointed out by others, if role-play leads to the situation, I think FUN means that the dragon can be gotten drunk :)

[Spin-Man]

Getting a character drunk could also be distinct from the mechanical drawback; just because the dragon is immune to the Poisoned condition doesn't mean he cannot enjoy the intoxicating effect of alcohol. You can roleplay effects such as suggestibility or drowsiness without giving the dragon Disadvantage to his rolls.

I would absolutely allow the players to get a dragon drunk, especially a dragon young enough to be Large or smaller. I wouldn't give a green dragon Disadvantage on its rolls for being drunk, but I would roleplay it with impaired judgment, and even have it make sub-optimal combat choices to reflect that judgment. (Allow them to flank even if he would normally be smart enough to maneuver out of it, make a physical attack even though his breath weapon just recharged, attack the nearby fighter even though there are squishy casters just past him.)

[Zacchaeus]

Since FG recognises the intoxicated condition (I believe there was such a condition in D&D Next but it didn't make it into the final cut) then I would go with it. :)

[tiawaz]

Ran into a similiar situation myself, and judged that getting him drunk would not work, using the druid to impart that info to my players.

The players then went back to the drawing board, and ended up using magic and disguise kit to turn their human monk into an downright herculean (pumped up, oiled, glittering) copy of the statue of the thundertree founder.

their characters then spent 2 hours 'roleplaying' interactions with the dragon, wrote an opening monologue etc.

Then the 'Hero' monk and his dwarf bard 'squire' went up to the dragons tower, called it out, the bard announcing his master, the monk player delivered the monologue about being the founding hero called back from the grave to defend his legacy.
At which point the dwarf bard, as planned, took over as the ' reasonable negotiator', with the 'hero' posing in the backround. Tthe characters having 'roleplayed' the interactions with the dragon beforehand, the talk went smoothly.
Cleverly using party inspirations and various buff spells allowed them to beat DC25 on both deception (hero) and persuasion (bard) checks.

Thus the dragon decided to 'deal with them somewhere down the road' and left.