I was, just right now, eating a very hot curry for lunch whilst contemplating how some people can take hot food, and some can't.

I just thougt it was an interesting point, but how exactly do people deal with hot currys, getting drunk, and other such situations if they were to come-up in games?

Do you say that alcohol is an ingestion vector poison which does stun damage, and base rules on that, or do you make-up your own rules?

I would make this a poll, but I have no idea what the options should be. the basic ones I'm thinking of are:

• Player Decides (My character drinks the bar dry!)
• GM Decides (Your character takes one sip and passes out)
• Use some bare-bones rules (Make a body roll)
• Make-up advanced rules (ingestion vector, does stun damage, speed 10 minutes)

[edit]Also: What odd systemless tasks have you applied rules to. Who can stand the strongest curry? Seduction (and whatever happens after it, but there are rules for taking 3M stun)? Who can spit the furthest? And, during character creation, who has the largest Dong.

Now all of the above I have seen systems applied to (I have not applied rules to any of them myself in my games though) but I was just wondering.

Generally I say the GM gets to make up the rules on the spot. I can appreciate pissing contests as much as the next guy, however making up an advanced set of 'dong size' rules seems slow and silly. For the purpose of roleplaying, however, I'll let players decide their own results on stuff that doesn't have a huge effect on the game (so if you're drinking at the bar just for fun, you say what happens until you get silly, if you're in a drinking contest, you roll your dice).

Most resistance tests (alcohol, seduction, tickling) is either a body or willpower test with a modifier depending on how much previous experience you have. In the case of hot food, target modifiers pretty much make or break the test (Governor Arnold won't be able to eat a curry without tears in his eyes if he doesn't often eat hot food).

I've never really had a spitting test, I guess I'd link it to the blowpipes skill which defaults to quickness, and Dong size I'd.. just sigh.

I've heard accounts of a D&D game run by a guy I know. Apparently he had this huge elaborate system of determining every possible dimension of the characters genitals and other sexual quirks (likes finger in the ass, tendancy for premature ejaculation, etc).

Needless to say, he was a very frustrated individual.

I might allow players to declare their own dong size and, more importantly, testicle size.

Then, if they're wearing something lighter than security armor, I think we know where most shots are going to go.

~J

Dear sweet mother of crap? You actually applied rules to dong size at character generation? That's just... wrong... ok, so it's just as wrong that I'm thinking about it now, and there'd have to be racial and ethnic modifiers, and geography would also... gah... make it stop!

Rules for spitting contests and the like (which way is the wind blowing?) remind me of the set of rules that was cobbled together this summer to govern bowling in SR.

Sometimes half the fun of a gaming session can come from strange situations the runners are put in. Last night, a player in my group was pitted against an approaching Lonestar officer. The test was (effectively) to mop up a gory murder scene before it became a problem. Now, what does mopping default to?

To add a bit of cyberpunk flavor to your sprawl, folks might conisder using belching contests as a way of establishing pecking order in some smaller gangs. Belching in a terrifying manner on commad is a body( 8 ) test where having the edge (aptitude: belching) gives -2 to the TN. Also, performance/belching may be used instead of body.

We love the occasional "hot curry" moment. If it adds flavour (pun noticed after the fact), we'll throw in a BD or WL roll or whatever seems appropriate - nothing elaborate. Drinking contests are always BD tests at ever-increasing TNs: first to fail is first under the table.

Curiously, the only PC I've ever played who had some intense seduction skills qua Knowledge skill (as opposed to basic CH, played with a strong sexual twist) was male (and all his contacts ended up female, and buddies). There, we used it as a complementary skill to Etiquette when used on an NPC. (They didn't become contacts until elapsed game time actively spent in the pursuit could be counted in at least weeks.)

Physical build is up to the player. If you want something that drags on the floor, go for it ... and expect to be nicknamed "Tripod" (and possibly have a few physical penalties thrown in).

The dong system was fairly simple from what I remember: Unaugmented Body + 1/2 Unaugmented Str in inches, +4 if the character is black. It got a laugh and served its purpose in the game.

In general the games I've played in have had micro-rules-sets applied to any odd or obscure things that come-up (I'm not just talking about SR here).

I like that belching contest idea. I'll have to try that some time in a game.

From what I've read, elves are very bald and badly-hung. Take that in account.

And don't forget about Orks and Trolls.

Joy of Awakened Sex

I should've known something like this would exist...

Oh, and, one of our campaigns, a guy who liked our Face (Hot human female with an Air Spirit to up her Cha... Ow.) had a mechanical. I don't remember the exact name of the part, but, it was very obvious as to what it was. ;p

Yes, the sex thing is getting...awkward.

I'd say that it's up to the GM as to the rules on drinking, but several factors probably should go into play. Things like body, a history of drinking, and types of alcohol should be considered, but to apply a formula isn't exactly necessary. if a PC wants to get drunk, he more than likely can do that. If he gets interrupted and only has a buzz, OK. If he's nearly unconscious, it would make for an amusing barfight. Maybe a drunkenness scale where:

1=mildly buzzed, +1 TN
2=fairly buzzed, +2 TN
3=drunk, +3 TN
4=too drunk, +4 TN
5=why is s/he still standing?, +5TN

Who knows maybe it's harsh, but hey? everyone can make their own scale.

IIRC they kinda have rules for alcohol in the form of Burn (pg 122 M&M). Ingestion vectored toxin with a speed of 10 minutes and 3D damage (which is pretty harsh considering that you could take 4 hits of this stuff and you'll most likely die. I would say most alcohol does 4M or so)

As for the other stuff:
Spitting would be default to quickness, maybe have a spitting background skill.
Hottest Curry would probably be a willpower roll.
Seduction before the fact is a form of negotiation after the fact... suddenly your Tantra knowledge skill becomes very very active.
Dong Size.... ::sigh:: I am not touching that one with a ten foot clown pole

Hmmm, had one or two of those crop up throughout my many years as a GM. Mainly the drinking option. I just assigned a basic BOD roll against a on-the-spot TN determined by how much alcoholic % the drink had and how much the character wanted to imbibe. Those with small physiques often got drunk on less or faster than those who had the mass to soak it up. In general I just used a Stun Damage rating and the associated modifiers and initiative penaltie that it presented.

I guess you could determine a basic threshold level or tolerance and then modify it based on the character's physique, their familiarity with certain types of drink (some things get people drunk like that, others have hardly any efect on them at all) and their racial stock - generally Native American and Asians can't hold their alcohol as well as a western White person can. Oh, but then you have to take cyber into account too because filtration systems and bioware kidneys will negate/remove the substance from the bloodstream. And as for those people with cyberlimbs, well - less meat means its going to get to your head faster seeing as you have less blood overall.

Generally I let the players decide these things when they ceate their characters, but often I must enforce certain practicalities when it comes to physical size - mainly to match the appropriate BOD and STR attributes. Their's no way a human with 1s or 2s in these is going to look like Arnie, that needs a 5 or 6 at the least. Use common sense and compare the ratings to the chart in the rulebook (don't know if 3rd Ed did that one though - 3 = Average; 4= Good; 5= Superior etc.)

Final question is though - how high can you piss up the wall, and does the Corporate Security system have a defence against it? Fusion Gate anyone?

Don't forget the power of alchohol increases with more Bioware you have. Your cerebral booster is probably verrrrry sensitive to alchohol.

I was actually speaking to someone on alcohol tollerance the other day. They said that they were slightly anemic (I think it was anemic) which, even though they were only of a slight build, meant that drink had a lesser effect on them due to differing blood sugar levels or similar. I should ask my flatmate who does pharmacology about that really. BRB.

[edit]After consultation, it is more likely that the effect is caused by drugs he is taking than the anemia itself. Forget I spoke.[/edit]