I've trying to find this and coming up short. Is there still a minimum drinking age, specifically in Seattle? Or has that anachronism fallen by the wayside in favor of "if you have money, I'll sell it to you"?

My group has a bunch of 18 year old PCs, we're trying to decide if they'd be able to enjoy a beer in a bar after a successful run.

Considering how easy it is to get highly illegal military grade weapons I don't think it should be a problem. If nothing else just have your false SIN state you are whatever the legal drinking age happens to be.

Although I personally don't think there is one or if there is that it is never enforced unless the bartender wants to hassle you.

Depends on the area, in some of the posher districts you'd have a bunch of those "for the children" types, whereas in the barrens I think it is safe to assume the bartender might not have a SIN, never mind asking a customer for one. In corporate territorialities and the CAS, as well as other breakaway states it could be assumed the age for legal drinking has been set at a differant point, but in the UCAS it likely remains 21 due to simple entrenchment. Basically just play it by ear.

Like Sixgun, I'd say it depends on the area-and who's in charge. Perhaps the Japan-a-corps only frown on out of control drinking, placing no limit on age. Where as maybe in AAA neighborhood controlled Humanis drinking anything other than beer before the age 18 is frowned upon. Perhaps in the barrens anything goes.

It all depends on what you want to have in your game.

Seattle is part of the UCAS, so I imagine the drinking age throughout is still 21. But, if you're in the barrens, or even one of the less regulated zones, I would imagine a bartender will sell pretty much anything to anyone with the nuyen to spend.

RL drinking age is 21 for US but 18 for Canada (19 in some provinces). Figure the two countries merged to form UCAS and tried to not ruffle too many feathers to get the merger accomplished. Drinking age was probably a minor issue and may have been kept the same as prior to the merge (after all, there were already ages based on province in Canada.)

If you want it lowered, I'd rationalize it either as other posters' offered or think how the US got states with under 21 drinking ages to raise their drinking age to 21 back in 1984. They were going to withhold federal highway funds from states if they did not comply. (This is big money.) Perhaps you can rationalize how this is no longer a viable stick in the SR future and states got a bit of power back and the ability to set their own drinking age.

Probably the best rationalization is alcohol is big business with big advertising budgets and lobbyists. Megacorporations are going to be involved and the earlier they can grab a new customer, the better, besides just getting a huge percentage of the population as customers that they were not allowed to sell to before. They would no doubt bring pressure on the government to lower the age and point to drinking ages world wide. Many countries have no age limit, and many have it as low as 16 years. The government might think it won by holding it to a drop to 18, if the megas were going for no age limit or 16 years.

If you want to play the Dystopian Corporate angle up you can lower the drinking age, and use it as one more way for the Corps to control the masses. To keep them lulled, and compliant. And if you want to mix some stuff in the drinks, well there's nothing like a nanite ruffie calada right?

With BTL and Magical drugs, alcohol is likely way down on the list especially if they can just put in a new liver.


Add in autopilots that can bring a drunk driver home safe and sound, and you cut the legs out of the raise the drinking age crowd.

Excellent point.

Ok folks, thanks a lot! This has been most helpful.

Please, instead of just saying thanks let us know what you've actually decided, although I have a feeling that I could guess.

There was a shadowtalk in the SSG written by an ork who complained that he had to wait half his life until he was allowed to drink since the legal age was still 21 for everyone.
I don't know if it was in Seattle, but it was probably in the UCAS (I don't remember if he said where he was living).

So because I can hack a street sam to commit murder as my shiny metal death-puppet snatching someone's credit information online is a less serious crime? I mean, in an information age economy it's not like the credit fraud does any permanent damage....

Hmm, I had forgotten that tidbit until now Blade, thanks for mentioning it although I still figure that such laws are only really enforced when the bartender wants to hassle someone.

Oops, sorry about that

For the most part, I'm going to say they can go in a bar and have a drink, though the runner with neotony will run into issues sometimes If they hit up bars downtown, I'll probably hit them with some ID checks here and there. Could provide some extra difficulty on some missions if I want - that'll be nice.

I seem to recall that in NAGNA, it mentioned the UCAS drinking age was changed to 19 after merging with Canada?

Either way, if these are runners, if they're in a crap area like Touristville or Hollywood (Redmond), I think "Are you alive and do you have money?" is enough credentials to drink.

Some quick scanning through my books does not turn up a UCAS drinking age.

I did find:

• Seattle allows beer and wine sales in grocery stores. The city has a legal monopoly on hard liquor, which is only sold in city-run stores for 25% more than the rest of UCAS, and only from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. (Seattle Sourcebook, p.12)
• Texas beer is especially cheap at 3¥ a six pack. BTL crimes always get the max sentence. (NAGNA, p.53)
• Québec has a drinking age of 18, a hallucinogenic use age of 21 (which includes even regular simsense). Beer, wine, etc. may be found in corner shops, but hard liquor, hallucinogens, and simsense are only available from government run stores. All of these things cost 200% of what they do in Seattle due to taxes. Possession of BTL is a felony, and trafficking is a death-penalty offense. (NAGNA, p.72)

Page 22 of SSG, says "most states of the UCAS is 21". I think with the reasons we gave, the author would should have lowered it. Between Corporate pressure and autonav, there's not much reason. Throw in Canada merger and weaker federal government, it makes even less sense. (And I have a feeling the author of that section wasn't from Canada or Great Britan.)

Thanks for the page reference, I had gone through SSG twice, and missed it.

I have to agree that 18 would make more sense given that SR diverged in 1989 when the 21 age was still new in many states. Ad to that that more and more people are coming to realize that a high drinking age does not prevent problems it just delays some and creates others.

Since Québec has a drinking age of 18 (and apparently NAN according to shadow talk) there would also be border crossing issues involving college-age sinners.

Obviously in the barrens, and underground, the sinless would be drinking bootleg liquor at the sixth world equivalent of speakeasies; where only the barkeep gets to decide reasonable drinking age.