Hi everybody, been around the forums for a few months while my group has been playing a mix of all 3 books since Nov. of 2015 and we love it!!

I was wondering, however, if anyone has made some house-rules for being drunk. The Lords of Nal Hutta and a few other books gives some rules for drugs and the like and what negative or positive effects inducing in those might be, but not just regular old drunkenness.

I was thinking of an easy resilience check that, when failed, adds a black die to all checks except brawn, charm and cool checks (might even add a boost?) since the effects of alcohol can numb pain receptors and a person's inhibitions. The resilience checks then get upgraded for each subsequent "drunk check" (each time they finish a bottle or glass within an encounter). A despair means they pass-out, even on a successful roll.

What do you guys think?

Depending on what and how much they drink I play around with the following effects: straight up strain damage, decrease of strain threshold (temporarily), setback die/dice to most checks, but of course circumstances could give you a boost instead - depending on ... stuff.

Huh, didn't think about strain threshold... nice idea. I might make it so that it follows the combat rules for threat with a resilience check then. Threat rolled could mean that the drink in question doesn't sit well with the PCs stomach, or maybe they drunkenly stumble around and smack themselves on the bar.

The strain threshold is pretty extreme for a night on the town though, but not an inherently bad idea. I think if they continue to drink to the point of being able to roll two despair (yikes!) it means not only passing out but a hangover as well and a decrease of strain threshold. Remember to drink responsibly!

I use the strain threshold reduction mainly with one brew, Groomaw's Ale... Groomaw is a recurring Wookiee NPC in my games, he's a bar owner and brewer, he basically brews the best (and the strongest) ale there is... a standard Groomaw Pint is 1.5 litres... so once you drunk that all the way through drinking, there's a rather hefty resilience check, failure means the strain threshold is reduced by 2 until after you've slept. Threats on a successful check means strain taken.

It is a heavy price, but I think it adds to the game, and normally you can only get this stuff in his bar, and trouble is a rare thing in his bar... people tend to play nice around him

For normal alcohol and similar intoxicating brews I'd generally go with strain damage and/or an encounter/scene/day long setback die to stuff.

I would probably let the player set the difficulty. I would say "So, how plowed under are you thinking of getting" and let them grab from the pile of purples to roll against their resilience. Mind you, I then might throw in a black or blue because we've all been there*, you get drinking with your mates, realize that it's 3 hours past when you were suppose to be somewhere and are far more blasted than you anticipated or the blues because the bar has a tendency to water down their drinks.

* Assuming the We is of legal drinking age. Sorry Haley, you've got to wait a couple more years.

After that, it's probably just the lingering effects of a black or two - perhaps even an upgrade to a red, depending on what they were doing. (Remember kids, no drinking and driving. That Despair could lead to a high speed chase with every Imperial in the garrison)

I use the strain threshold reduction mainly with one brew, Groomaw's Ale... Groomaw is a recurring Wookiee NPC in my games, he's a bar owner and brewer, he basically brews the best (and the strongest) ale there is... a standard Groomaw Pint is 1.5 litres... so once you drunk that all the way through drinking, there's a rather hefty resilience check, failure means the strain threshold is reduced by 2 until after you've slept. Threats on a successful check means strain taken.

It is a heavy price, but I think it adds to the game, and normally you can only get this stuff in his bar, and trouble is a rare thing in his bar... people tend to play nice around him

For normal alcohol and similar intoxicating brews I'd generally go with strain damage and/or an encounter/scene/day long setback die to stuff.

Do you mind if we steal that? It's a great little piece of flavor! What's the usual difficulty for the resilience check? And would certain species be given an easier check, or is Groomaw's Ale made to be harsh on all species?

The way I've homebrewed intoxication is

1 drink - 1 difficulty on Resilience checks after the first drink. If you've got a brawn of 4 or higher, then the second drink instead of the first. Failure adds 1 level of intoxication. Each level of intoxication until level 3 reduces a strain threshold by 1 and a setback on all characteristics except brawn. At level 4 the strain threshold reduction continues, but an upgraded dice is added instead of a difficulty on checks and then at 5, you're passed out. However, each level also adds a boost to interactions with other drunk patrons and at level 4 you've got an extra soak while at level 4.

When it comes to species, I tend to shy away from specific rules, unless the species is inherently better at retaining resilience which I guess should be constituted by their skill, but in trying to be a little more flavor-y, I'll reduce the negative and positive effects by 1 until level 4.

The higher levels of intoxication aren't usually something that comes up naturally as a player will not want to hinder their character when they're just trying to relax at a cantina. Usually what I'll do is throw in an NPC who will see someone getting drunk and try to pal around them for example, maybe goading them into drinking more or challenging them to an arm wrestle or betting game or sooomething. Almost had an NPC goad a PC into a swoop race when they rolled a despair, but it didn't pan out. At level 3 intoxication, a discipline check is then made to resist anything less than outright persuasion (charm), otherwise it would be Cool as normal. Failure on Discipline or the Cool check then gives the PC that whatever it is is a great idea. Sometimes the NPCs will also be performers looking for a big tip, a greedy bartender, or if the PC has spewed a lot of trash talk, a couple of thugs looking to rough em up. Just to throw in some conflict and escalation. Once in a while, I'll throw in a bar fight and have the combat oriented, tough guy or blood thirsty personality PCs do a Discipline to not engage themselves. It really depends.

Have had some cool story grown from a simple drunk interaction from new friends to new enemies to empty wallets and blind luck bets that grant a cool prize.

One drink? What the hell are they drinking? Doing shots of Big Gulp sized cups of Everclear and/or moonshine?