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Posted by: Troyminator May 23 2011, 04:27 AM

I originally posted this here. The link is the first real Shadowrun gaming session we had. This is the follow up session.

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OMG. Just had the next session last night. I had to arrive a bit late due to family reasons.

The Face, GA, and Mage are there. They finish up their game of "Tragic: The Blathering" and we get ready to start. I've spent around 10-12 hours in the last month preparing and, while I'm always a bit nervous when I GM, I'm looking forward to it.

The Street Sam and the Hacker show up for this session and we have a full group. We start playing about 4:30pm.

IRL, the players of the Mage, GA, and SS all work at the same factory and have been working 70-80 hour weeks for the last month. They're a bit on edge. Also, the Mage is the SS and GA's boss (this becomes relevent later).

We're running "Ghost Cartels" and the SS is tailing Alex Littletree and watching him do his thing at the Safehouse in The Verge.

Then the GA starts pulling his psycho "Don't disrespect me or I'll fucking end you" roleplaying style. The Mage is on the commlink with the SS and the GA tries to talk to the MAge. The Mage says to hold on a second til I get off the 'link.

GA goes totaly apeshit! "Don't you fucking dare tell me what to do. If you treat me like a bitch again, I'll fucking kill you."

Now the GA is trying to get all the other players to gang up against to kill the Mage. He insists on being called "sir" and all decisions of the group must be made by him, or at least be approved by him. (of course, by this time the GA's player is very drunk and so is the Mage's player).

The rest of the characters realize that the GA is totally unstable and likely to hunt them down and kill them. They agree to meet him in a park and off him (except the Hacker, he's got the "Pacifist" quality and bails).

Just as it's going down (at 7:30 real time), we decide to break for dinner. It is also when we stop playing, as the mage is so drunk, he's wandering around his yard (we meet at his place) puking, roughly, every five minutes. The Face and I spend most of the rest of the evening following him, making sure he's ok. By 9:30 the mage decides that he has to head upstairs and head to bed. Now, I've been shit-faced, falling down, puking all over myself drunk before (although not in the last 20 years or so), so I understand. Everyone else decides to call it a night, except for the GA's player who wants to stay in the basement where we play, get drunker than he already is, then sleep/pass out on the couch.

I believe I am going to suggest that we go to non-RPG things until the work schedule for the Mage, SS, and GA, slows down a bit. I don't mind happy drunks (like the Mage), but the GA's player is unpleasant when he drinks. If that doesn't work, I will excuse myself from the group as I don't want to make things weird for the 3 who work together.

I tend not to take things personally, but it makes me sad that we finally get to Shadowrun, and the group may disband.

Any and all comments welcome. I need to laugh at this.

Posted by: Epicedion May 23 2011, 04:39 AM

Sometimes you just have to drop a smoke grenade and GTFO.

Posted by: longbowrocks May 23 2011, 06:58 AM

You want to laugh at this? Wait until your players murder the GA. At least I'll be happy when that guy's gone.

Posted by: Socinus May 23 2011, 07:35 AM

One lesson I learned early from a great GM was that alcohol and gaming DO NOT mix.

Gaming requires some basic level of mental acuity. Alcohol diminishes one's mental acuity. There IS a disconnect here.

We had a player who decided that bringing caffeinated malt beverages to a game was a GREAT idea. He chugged one can and was about halfway through another can when his gradually degenerating dice rolling accuracy became a problem. He would miss his dice box by FEET and then spend ten minutes trying to find his dice again. He started getting aggressive out of character when the GM was attacking his character.

After he managed to stumble home, our GM decreed that alcohol was no longer allowed at games but was careful not to name names.

It hasn't come up at any other game I've been in, but if I GM a game, my rule is NO BOOZE NO EXCEPTIONS.

Posted by: Elfenlied May 23 2011, 08:02 AM

Well, I suggest banning all alcoholic beverages from your games until further notice.

Btw, what does "GA" stand for?

Posted by: ElFenrir May 23 2011, 08:41 AM

Ouch. My condolences about the game...yeah, uncontrolled drinking can get out of hand in any gaming situation(I've raided in that MMO with drunk people and...yeah. Not fun always.)

I don't BAN drinks from my games, but I sort of go by a ''Pretend you're getting breathalyzed. Should you be worried?'' rule. In other words, I've gamed completely successfully on 1-2 drinks each with NO problems at all, but if someone has to ask themselves ''should I have another'', the answer is probably 'Shouldn't.''

I can understand if people completely ban it, though, Just In Case. So far we haven't run into problems so leaving it to ''have a couple and that's it'' has worked fine.

Posted by: Eimi May 23 2011, 10:42 AM

Gun Adept, Part 1 of the story was in the "player doesn't know the 6th world" thread, should still be around the front page's vicinity.

Posted by: nezumi May 23 2011, 01:09 PM

I'd disagree slightly. Drinking and serious, thought-provoking gaming do not mix. Drinking and drinking games do mix. In cases like you describe, I'd tend to go with something lighter. Check out Old School Hack and convert it to SR for some more light-hearted, monster-bashing fun:
http://www.oldschoolhack.net/

It really comes down to what the players want, though. If your players want to get smashed and be stupid, play a smashed, stupid game. If they want a serious game, don't let them be smashed and stupid. Discuss it OOC, come to a consensus, enforce it. A drink at the table isn't bad in theory, but when you're dealing with drunks like that, I'd make it a dry table, just to avoid any finagling.

Posted by: Prime Mover May 23 2011, 02:40 PM

Got no problem with a "few" beers with food it's a great social lubricant. But trying to chug and game is a total fail. I banned all serious drinking till after game time long ago. This has gotten easier as my group has aged and chilled alot since first edition .

I still recall an all weekend long game that ended at 3am with us busting down a door only to run into security......the x-men. The GM was shut off.

Posted by: suoq May 23 2011, 04:17 PM

I have to disagree with a lot of people.

It ain't the alcohol. It's the person. It isn't the alcohol's fault that he's drinking too much of it.

I have friends who game that I won't game with because they can't control their behavior. It doesn't matter if they can't stay on their doctor prescribed meds or stay off their self-prescribed meds. The problem is them. They need to fix the problem.

Now if they ask you guys to run a dry session to help them stay dry, that's cool. That's helping someone trying to help themselves. But face the problem squarely. It's the player, not the booze.

Posted by: yesferatu May 23 2011, 04:44 PM

You could always get some players who are adults.
I'm all for drinking, even and especially at games, but if you can't keep your shit together for a full session...you are disrespecting your GM and your group.

Tell the little shits...
You can game or you can get plowed, but you can't do them at the same time.
If you want to go get sloppy drunk...fine...do it after game or go do it somewhere else.

It's much harder to get people together for a 4 hour game session than it is for a drinking binge.
There is a ton of work involved and some people actually care about their gaming group.
If one or more of my players pulled this kind of thing...they'd be out. No second chances.

How would they like it if you ran the game totally off your ass?

Posted by: Critias May 23 2011, 04:55 PM

A couple beers during a friendly game session as everyone is relaxing and having fun is one thing. Drinking so wildly you're walking in circles on the lawn and puking? That's an issue with the person, not the alcohol (or the game or the rest of the group, or anything else).

Posted by: Socinus May 23 2011, 07:18 PM

I forbid alcohol to avoid it ever becoming an issue. Yes I know if someone is drinking to excess it's their fault or whatever, but I'd rather have people just not fucking drink for a couple hours and not have to worry about someone overdoing it.

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein May 23 2011, 10:41 PM

I just do not associate with those types of people, whether in a gaming environment or out of it. Cuts way down on the Drama.

Posted by: AStarshipforAnts May 24 2011, 04:13 PM

I'm of the opinion that alcohol only makes a person more of what they are at that particular moment. And after gaming with other inebriated players, I'm not a fan of it. If they have issues going on IRL (which it sounds like your players do) that makes it even worse. In game terms, the GA should have been killed by now. Like someone else said, the (N)PCs in Shadowrun are every bit as dangerous as the GA, if not more. Mr. Johnson isn't going to take that kind of behavior. After all, he has his reputation to keep in mind.

In my humble opinion, if your group is going to roleplay you might want to call for dry games.

Posted by: Nebular May 24 2011, 05:34 PM

I'd actually argue the drinking and gaming don't mix thing. Well, depending on the people drinking. I used to play D&D with a guy who had at least a 6-pack every session and would come up with great ideas and memorable moments in the game (both silly and just really useful) which always made the nights fun, and was a great roleplayer to boot. I, on the other hand, would probably be fall-down drunk at that point, so I'd be a good example for not allowing it.

Posted by: Draco18s May 24 2011, 06:21 PM

There's only one person I know who I'd let game and drink, and then only at the table if he's the GM.

He ran a Scion game, hero to god, in 11 weeks (entire year-spanning campaigns can be done in only ONE of the tiers and he spanned all three)