The 3 D’s
Drinking. Dungeons. Dragons
Here is a little breakdown to help you and friends around your table understand the dangers of having a few to many at the table. I can’t think of a better way to start the Ones Shot Dungeons blog than with a topic near and dear to our podcast (Don’t forget to listen on all podcast platforms).
Most people have been in this situation. You’re halfway into a dungeon trying to get a long rest after a fight with a troll, and your buddy Billy stands up to see if anyone needs another beer. The only issue is Billy might have already had a couple, and made some poor decisions during the fight that almost got some of you killed. Now take a moment to think about this situation. Ask yourself should we tell Billy to grab some water and think about his actions, or let the rage cage that is Billy grab another brew and get strange with it.
As a DM I have tons of rules and guidelines to remember, but one rule stands out above the rest. Make sure everyone at the table is having fun! With that in mind its a fine line to walk with people drinking while playing DnD. If it’s a situation like Billy then I think that’s completely up to the players to decide on. They are a team, and just like in the game they make decisions together. They can text the DM, or just offer that point in the story up as a nice stopping point for the week. Keep in mind just because the game is over the night doesn’t have to end. Grab a beer and kick back with Billy.
Now for a long hard look in the mirror. If you listen to the podcast then you know I clearly never drink too much, so with that in mind let’s bring back Billy. Let’s say he’s running a weekly campaign with 3 to 4 people. He might have had a game to run earlier or even just a pregame BBQ. Now it’s game time and he’s already feeling it a tad. I think before the game even starts someone should bring up skipping the game that night for some board games or just hanging out. If the people around the table trust Billy though it can turn into a great time. That all depends on what type of DM Billy is, and how comfortable he is with his game.
This is where the play style of a DM really begins to matter. I personally don’t have a lot of experience running modules. With the little bit that I do though I could see Billy having a difficult time keeping his story together. You don’t get the same wiggle room in a module as you do in a homebrew campaign. If Billy forgets little details for that night’s game and decides to just improv it then that next week can turn into a real shit show for Billy trying to remember what he made up.
Drinking and DMing definitely works better in a home brew setting. Lets say
Billy spent the week planning for another campaign, and put off his work on the weeks in person game. He has some simple outlines to fall back on, but the rest he is just going to have to roll with. He will want to keep it in a broad outline that isn’t going to apply to his main story. Think of it as a One Shot, but within the world of your main campaign. When they finish this up if they are pushing to play more you can always bring in random NPCs to help. This is all going to matter on how comfortable Billy is with Improv. Don’t forget to lean into the chaos and embrace it sometimes.
I think that’s covered the general feel of drinking and dungeoning. I’m sure we could go in deeper with what type of player you are, and how much everyone at your table is drinking. Maybe in the future we will, but for now be safe and have a kick ass time playing Dungeons and Dragons.
-DM Kyle