TheRPGSite

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2014/04/10_dd_tips_from_dan_harmon_and_his_dungeon_master.php

Anyone follow these?

As to the booze versus pot...erm, no.

No.

I've gamed with people who were stoned* and it's equally as un-fun as gaming with raging drunks, i.e., it isn't.  I'll heft a glass or mug at a game and have a lot of fun but there's too much damn drama surrounding weed.  For one it's illegal here, two there's secondhand effects to think of, like, people at the table who may not want to smoke but - too bad! if you are, they are too.

I'm not a prude, I don't disapprove of pot in general and I wish it was legal, I just think the idea of "Don't drink and game, but bonghits+gaming = OK!" is pretty fucking ironic.

(now bracing for a zerg rush of people coming in to go all NORML on the thread...anyway...)

as to the rest of his "advice"...

Some of it is...kind of odd.  This one:

"Find a bag of holding!"

well...yeah, Dan, okay.  That should be less "find a bag of holding" and more "I hope you can find a bag of holding" or "Hire bearers until you can find a bag of holding".  I mean it's not like they're mandatory handouts from the DM, or all campaign worlds have trees that sprout bags of holding as fruit.

"Listen to your players [...] A good DM loves it when the players rewrite the campaign!"

n...no.  No.  When what the players do, in game, makes you adjust your plans as a DM that's fine.  That suggestion skirts too close to 4e's "magic item shopping list" for my tastes.

"Play with celebrities whenever you can!"  Okay, Dan.  Also, "Use dice carved from rubies!" and "If you're very careful, the Porsche Cayenne you drove to the game can be used a second time!" and "Everyone's far from the game?  Fly them to a central location in your Learjet!"



Good stuff:

"Avoid combat".  Yes, a thousand times yes.  If the magic-user discovers via ESP that the red dragon is in fact asleep and not faking, and then casts silence: 15' radius and then invisibility on the thief who wades into the beast's treasure pile and picks out the choice items and gems and the party comes out richer...that's awesome!  That's how you "do" AD&D!  Or heck even throw in "and I pour poison onto it's lips while I'm in there" (that's still avoiding combat).  

"Take breaks".  ABSOLUTELY.  Yes, get up, stretch your legs, grab a bite to eat - in my case on Friday nights I give the dog his last walk of the night and settle the kids in bed.

The smoking versus drinking thing is kinda weird. I too don't have anything against smoking pot once in a while versus having a glass of scotch once in a while. It just smacks of a political statement more than anything else, and I can think of a billion better venues to make such statements than a list of Dungeons & Dragons tips (YMMV). Now that said, it's not a set of terrible advice. They're decent, as far as advice tend to go.

I am not a fan of inebriation of any sort at the game table.  Probably the worst time was when this guy got drunk and puked and tried to puke back into the bottle.

Yay!  Great times.   Not.

And what does he mean by "professional DM"?  Am I supposed to be getting paid all this time or something?  Is there a circuit?

Jesus, what a tool.

That's like "do anything stoned" advice, like mowing the yard on pcp - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxee1uO3hTE


Though for some people, any excuse to get loaded is a reason to get loaded; but for those of us who don't, it's annoying.

"Professional DM" made me laugh as well.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;741998I am not a fan of inebriation of any sort at the game table.

I've gamed with drunks and I've gamed with stoners and the experience was equally unfun. Having a casual drink or two is usually ok, but can sometimes be a distraction depending on the person. No weed at my table anymore. Get high before you come over if you must.

9 and 10 made me laugh. (9) Avoid Combat and (10) Game With Celebrities? Safe to say his experiences with D&D are vastly different than my own.

A comedy writer writing tongue in cheek humorous advice? Well I'll never.

Though funnily enough, I have equally polar rule - drink, don't smoke (with reason, of course).

Though I've heard stories I've somehow managed to never sit at a gaming table where people were drinking/smoking pot...
except for one very bad night of Trivial Pursuit (I can never drink mescal again...).

Quote from: thedungeondelver;741985http://www.toplessrobot.com/2014/04/10_dd_tips_from_dan_harmon_and_his_dungeon_master.php

Anyone follow these?

As to the booze versus pot...erm, no.

No.

I've gamed with people who were stoned* and it's equally as un-fun as gaming with raging drunks, i.e., it isn't.

Is this guy a Californicator? I bet he bans nicotine cigarettes as well as alcohol, just marijuana is good because it's hip. Fucking hippies. :banghead:  Luckily I mostly play/GM at London pubs, so drinking is compulsory and pot forbidden, as God intended. Thanks to us following US Fascists like Bloomberg, nicotine is forbidden in pubs too now, which I don't really mind as I'm a non-smoker. I oppose the principle but appreciate the clean air.

As for the rest of the article - pretty much a waste of time I thought.

Quote from: Old Geezer;741999Jesus, what a tool.

That about sums it up.

"Find a Bag of Holding." Not the players' choice.

"Don't Drink" and "Do Smoke." Too fucking dumb for words. Guess what, genius, marijuana is a CNS depressant too. Also I am very sorry to learn that you and/or your players can't hold your liquor.

"Game With Celebrities" is not bad in and of itself but smacks of gratuitous name-dropping.

The rest are okay.

Who is this guy and why should we even care?

I am hardcore pro-ganja and pro-booze, but only in moderation.

Cigarettes are utterly lame at all times, but I'm cool with a good cigar or pipe outdoors, but I rarely game outdoors.

Drunks and stoners are lame as they detract from the fun. Some tables do fine with a mild buzz - especially beer & pretzels gaming - and I totally enjoy and appreciate that. But I also enjoy sober & focused tables too where its all about the game, no cross talk and all about immersion (even if its immersion in the boardgame).

Also, its very different when a crew of creative people get together and game so I get what Dan Harmon is saying. Gaming with actors, musicians, writers (even the wanna-be variety) is usually much more about RP / immersion / off the RAW and for many people in performance backgrounds, a mild buzz while being creative is pretty commonplace.

I live in LA and have family in SF, so I do cons and game events in both NorCal and SoCal which creates fun comparisons for me as most of my NorCal groups were heavier with IT/engineering guys and my SoCal groups have had more music/movie people.

As for his other advice - taking turns being DM, have breaks, listen to players, take your time - that all sounds good and basic.

Quote from: Snowman0147;742017Who is this guy and why should we even care?

He is the creator of the TV show Community and they have had 2 shows about D&D and thus he is the voice of the D&D community on television.

Thus he matters to the hobby's public image since Hasbro's head is so rammed up its ass that the 40th Anniversary of D&D is passing by.

Basically good with all of them at some level or another except for the one about smoking weed at the game table and the one about playing with celebrities.  Those two I strongly disagree with.

I have no problem playing while stoned and have done it for years.  It's just plain rude to smoke, pot or cigarettes, at the table with others who don't also smoke.  You should take a break and go into another room or outside for either pot or cigarettes.

Drinking a couple of beers or whatever during a session is fine.  Downing a 12-pack and playing while hammered is fun only if everyone else is at the same place with you.  We have a term in our group called 'Whiskey role-playing' because we have played while being severely intoxicated in the past when we were younger.  Again, it's just rude to be severely hammered and playing while everyone else is not at the same place as you.

It comes down to common courtesy, manners, and self-moderation.

When we play these days everyone has a few beer, as this is one of our main social outlets and beer and socialization go hand in hand for my buddies. At a certain stage in our lives there was a fair amount of pot. Didn't have a problem with it, though it slowed the game down sometimes with "uh... so where are we?" moments.

Only had one issue with a player who liked to get blasted. He would start as one of the more focused and dynamic players. But by about the 6th beer and 5th pipe hoot, he became quite useless. Good guy, but I had to explain that D&D night wasn't 'get wasted' night for the rest of us.

Smoking pot with celebrities is now my new game goal.

average session at my place ends up with 5-8 bottles of wine and some mead gone.

I have a waiting list in both live groups, and one is over 15 years old, the other over a decade.  Anecdotal as it may be, his advice seems...poor.

Quote from: Spinachcat;742020He is the creator of the TV show Community and they have had 2 shows about D&D and thus he is the voice of the D&D community on television.

Thus he matters to the hobby's public image since Hasbro's head is so rammed up its ass that the 40th Anniversary of D&D is passing by.

Yeah, putting out a new edition is totally ignoring the anniversary.


As to the advice... ehh, mostly sound enough (if obviously tongue in cheek). Bag of Holding is worth going out of your way for if you get any kind of indication there might be one around. He's right about the weed, but only if everyone at the table is high, if it's just a couple people it sucks as much as if one's drinking-- basically what Drohem said applies. I can't speak to celebs, but I'm reasonably sure anyone who claims they never wanted to be in Stephen Colbert, Alice Cooper, Wil Wheaton, or Vin Diesel's campaigns is lying.

Quote from: Spinachcat;742020He is the creator of the TV show Community and they have had 2 shows about D&D and thus he is the voice of the D&D community on television.

Thus he matters to the hobby's public image since Hasbro's head is so rammed up its ass that the 40th Anniversary of D&D is passing by.

Who watches Community?  No seriously that is a honest as god statement here.  That show is a failure and I don't know anyone that watches it.  We can safely ignore him.

Quote from: LibraryLass;742045but I'm reasonably sure anyone who claims they never wanted to be in Stephen Colbert, Alice Cooper, Wil Wheaton, or Vin Diesel's campaigns is lying.

Shrug.  Wil seems like a neat guy, and Alice Cooper cracks me up.  But I'd rather be able to game with Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax again.

Quote from: Snowman0147;742049Who watches Community?  No seriously that is a honest as god statement here.  That show is a failure and I don't know anyone that watches it.  We can safely ignore him.

A lot of people do.  I do.  And I think it's pretty funny.  I don't think you can call a show that's had multiple seasons and renewals a failure.  The GI Joe episode is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long while.

Here's my version:

• show up on time
• ready to play
• bring snacks, and share them
• step on up, or step on out
• momentum over perfection

And the GM gets to add I master the game, the game does not master me.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;742066Here's my version:

• show up on time
• ready to play
• bring snacks, and share them
• step on up, or step on out
• momentum over perfection

And the GM gets to add I master the game, the game does not master me.

Much better advice that can be enjoyed by all.

Quote from: LibraryLass;742045Yeah, putting out a new edition is totally ignoring the anniversary.

New edition = / = marketing

Quote from: Old Geezer;742050But I'd rather be able to game with Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax again.

Except nobody would be allowed to play a cleric because turning the DM would make the rest of the night really awkward.

"Be on the same page" rule is applicable to most social events, and especially on drugs. Synching is best, so people on the same drugs play well together -- as long as they can handle their shit. And be thoughtful, bring enough to share with the rest of the class.

If you're competing in the liver olympics though, we'll need to bust out the 178 rpm music to keep you company in an empty room.

Handling your shit is key however. If the nepalese temple balls and angel trumpets are your group thing, and you can handle it, well, damn I wish I could get in on your Tekumel campaign one day. Please be gentle...

One of the most disasterous gaming sessions we had was one where one of the players was stoned and the session pretty much ended with the DM burning the players character sheet.

Outside of gaming my experiences with people drinking have been the worst possible.

(http://www.gamer.ru/system/attached_images/images/000/447/290/normal/who_cares.gif)

Quote from: Snowman0147;742017Who is this guy and why should we even care?

Yeah, I'm in the camp of "Never heard of him," "Never heard of his TV show," and "Thinks that anyone who buys into the premise that he's a God of RPGdom is a fool."

See, even leaving aside the all-too-readily-ignored truism that there are lots of groups with widely differing notions as to What Is Best In Life, between who gets to GM, what drugs get passed around the table, how often/long the sessions are and whether they're combat-aversive or wall-to-wall, I honestly have never wrapped my head around gamers who give a damn about what gamers around the world do or pay homage to what alleged Big Name Gamers think.  I play to suit myself.  I GM the way I want, in the style I want, when I want, using the system and setting I want, and that wouldn't be materially affected if the industry shut down tomorrow and every gamer outside New England quit the hobby the day after.

And heck, BNGs and pros are just gamers like anyone else.  I've had six GURPS authors as regulars in my campaigns, and that goes up to eleven professional regulars if you include D&D, MERP and WoD authors.  Just folks, and I'd only consider one of that number a particularly outstanding roleplayer.  No doubt a bunch of you have had pros in your groups as well -- or have been one yourselves.  Eh.

Quote from: Snowman0147;742049Who watches Community?  No seriously that is a honest as god statement here.

Not many people. But far more than play D&D.

Quote from: Snowman0147;742049Who watches Community?  No seriously that is a honest as god statement here.  That show is a failure and I don't know anyone that watches it.  We can safely ignore him.

(http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/500x/48419165.jpg)

I watched it, I like it (not the last season, but oy vey). And honestly, every time such threads are posted on RPG forums, the smell of Why Wasn't I Consulted pain is sweet symphony of pleasure to my nose. This whole thing probably went like this.

"I'm a freelance journalist and could use a few more bucks this week. What to write, what to write...hey I know, let's write about RPGs! Now that's a lousy topic...but hey, Dan Harmon is pretty famous and  a huge nerd apparently, let's see if he'll talk about it!"

Fuck, I do not even use alcohol and I have no trouble with basically any level of drunkenness at my table. Drunk just peels away the outside so you can see the asshole hiding down below. If you are not an asshole, there is rarely a problem.
I have never had any problem gaming with stoners either. If someone is an easily distracted moron, pot isn't really going to change that; it is just going to make it easier to see.

What a bunch of fucking angry hothouse flowers you guys are. Filled with the rage of a thousand suns and equipped with the resilience of a fucking soap bubble.

Ooooooh potheads, help me.... I'm  wilting. Oh my goodness someone touched a beer, call the temperance police, my elf is fucking crying.

Praise Jesus and pass the hohos.

I've gamed for a decade with a group made up half of stoners, and it works just great for them.  It's definitely a different thing than gaming with drunk people.  Though I've gamed with drunk people before, and that can also be fun.

Quote from: Rincewind1;742116(http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/500x/48419165.jpg)

It is not actually butt hurt though.  I don't even know this guy nor his tv show.  I ask my friends around last night and they never heard of it either.  What we do know is that it was once other than it got canceled.  Then I went to people I know in the internet and they didn't know what the show is.  The only thing I got to give out any impression is base solely on his shitty advice.

Quote from: Snowman0147;742121I don't even know this guy nor his tv show.  I ask my friends around last night and they never heard of it either.

Hard to argue with a rigorous objective standard like that.

I think that the polearm section was good thing.  Not every gamer is a historian or weaponphile and really doesn't know what some of these things  are or look like.  

One of my earliest memories of playing AD&D with the second group I ever played with was of my friend Scott and David.  David was the DM and Scott was playing a Thief.  We were in a standard dungeon hallway and we spotted a enemy up head in the hallway.  Scott announced that his Thief will sneak up on the enemy and backstab him with his awl pike!  David and I bust out in laughter and Scott didn't understand what was so funny until we explained that his weapon was 20-fricking-feet long!

Community is a great show.  And the two D&D episodes of that show are excellent, as are about a dozen other episodes at least.  Which is high praise - as excellent is a pretty high standard.

As for Community being canceled, that's not true - at least not yet. In fact, it just got upgraded to "Likely to be Renewed" (http://www.therpgsite.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=742121) this week. Which is awesome, because they've always said "5 Seasons and a Movie" since the very first season at the ComicCon panel, and that would be their 5th season.   Or was it "6 seasons and a movie"?

Anyway, it's a great show, Dan Harmon is doing great stuff to promote D&D on a national basis with his episodes where they play, and you guys should watch it if you get the chance.

That, and Annie's boobs (not the monkey).

Quote from: Black Vulmea;742124Hard to argue with a rigorous objective standard like that.

Okay it is not rigorous objective standard.  Still compared to the other names that been toss around in this thread Dan is pretty unknown.  Everyone heard of Steven Colbert, Alice Cooper, and the like.  Point is I don't know who Dan is.  It is kinda hard to be butt hurt over some one you don't even know.

Quote from: Snowman0147;742132. . . Alice Copper . . .

:rotfl:

Quote from: Black Vulmea;742134:rotfl:

GOD DAMN MY SPELLING MISTAKES!!

Still you got me there.

TV I watch with some regularity (TV isn't a priority, so if something else comes up, yeah): The Walking Dead, Vikings, Continuum, Elementary, and Person of Interest. What is special about community? IMO, on screen D&D play, like on Eureka or Big Bang Theory, came off as fairly geeky.

Community is hit or miss.  About one out of three episodes hits, but they hit HUGE when they hit.

They try a lot of different things, which is why they are so swinging in quality.  Some new things work, others do not, but they apparently were given the freedom to try new things.

The show is about (at least initially) a study group at a community college.

Things that have worked: Episode based entirely around a paintball fight at a college (and a return to it in another season); episode based entirely around making the world's largest pillow/sheet fort at a college; a Halloween episode where most students are turned into zombies from an experimental gas leak; a "bottle episode" where the study group tries to solve the mystery of one member's stolen pen; a conspiracy thriller episode where one study group member makes up a class he's been supposedly taking, but the professor for that class mysteriously appears and backs up his story; the "clip show" episode showing flashback clips from prior episodes which were never actually episodes; the chaos theory "Groundhog Day" episode and the creation of the "Dark Community" timeline; the Doctor Who episode; and I could go on...

Here, this is the newest D&D episode, which you can legally watch for free.  It's 20 minutes...give it a shot.  It's not brilliant, but it's decent:

http://www.nbc.com/community/video/advanced-advanced-dungeons-dragons/2757725#i

Quote from: Gib;742119Fuck, I do not even use alcohol and I have no trouble with basically any level of drunkenness at my table. Drunk just peels away the outside so you can see the asshole hiding down below. If you are not an asshole, there is rarely a problem.
I have never had any problem gaming with stoners either. If someone is an easily distracted moron, pot isn't really going to change that; it is just going to make it easier to see.

What a bunch of fucking angry hothouse flowers you guys are. Filled with the rage of a thousand suns and equipped with the resilience of a fucking soap bubble.

Ooooooh potheads, help me.... I'm  wilting. Oh my goodness someone touched a beer, call the temperance police, my elf is fucking crying.

Praise Jesus and pass the hohos.

:rotfl:

Dan Harmon matters because he has a national TV show that has been renewed at least five times. He has chosen to promote D&D with two television episodes. As such, Dan Harmon and his show get national and possibly international press and publicity.

I have never seen the show, but you don't get renewed five times without an audience.

Quote from: Gib;742119my elf is fucking crying.

Awesome.

Quote from: Spinachcat;742215Dan Harmon matters because he has a national TV show that has been renewed at least five times. He has chosen to promote D&D with two television episodes. As such, Dan Harmon and his show get national and possibly international press and publicity.

No, he was out after season 3.  He hasn't had anything to do with Community beyond his name on the credits in a while.  "Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" wasn't his writing or anything...

Quote from: Gib;742119Fuck, I do not even use alcohol and I have no trouble with basically any level of drunkenness at my table..

Then I'll send the guy who pissed on the table to you.

Quote from: dragoner;742143IMO, on screen D&D play, like on Eureka or Big Bang Theory, came off as fairly geeky.

This is largely true.  The only one who played D&D on community that is like how it really plays was the guy who was David Cross.  Although Danny Pudi is like most DMs I know when he says stuff like, "I'm the DM, I'm not here to give you anything."  ;)


Although, it was odd that he was the only one rolling dice.  Better than BBT though, where they roll 1 d20 to figure out the entire combat round.  You'd think some of these people would be familiar enough to make things a bit more accurate.

Quote from: thedungeondelver;742219No, he was out after season 3.  He hasn't had anything to do with Community beyond his name on the credits in a while.  "Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" wasn't his writing or anything...

Actually, that was reversed with the latest season.

He was out in Season 4 but in Season 5 he returned to being the showrunner and wrote the "Repilot" episode.  So he's back doing his thing.  Even though he didn't write that episode, as Showrunner he's pretty much got his hands back in the game full time.  (He's never really written most of the episodes in any event).  I'll bet they wouldn't have even done a second D&D episode if he wasn't back.

Quote from: Old Geezer;742222Then I'll send the guy who pissed on the table to you.

I play with drunks and stoners, not idiots.

Quote from: thedungeondelver;742219No, he was out after season 3.  He hasn't had anything to do with Community beyond his name on the credits in a while.  "Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" wasn't his writing or anything...

It's my understanding he returned for this latest season, actually.

Edit: Ninja'd.

Quote from: Old Geezer;742222Then I'll send the guy who pissed on the table to you.

WTF???

Tell us this story.

Disclosure:  Where I live, both are legal.

I can kinda see the alcohol vs weed thing.  Clearly it's mostly all about whatever the people at the table are about, but they are different drugs and have different impacts on how people act.  I've run drunk, and run stoned, and while I'd argue the former was a somewhat more successful campaign, there were also more telling mistakes/miscues as a GM.

Alcohol lubricates in a way weed doesn't.  Alcohol makes it easier to get angry and fuck up for some reason.  Alcohol doesn't slow you down in the same ways weed does, you can keep snappy conversation going longer, within limits, as long as you're used to doing that while drinking.  Alcohol can replace snacks/food, weed does the opposite.   Alcohol doesn't totally ruin your recall at the low end, the way even moderate weed use does.  Alcohol makes for faster response times in situations where a slow back-and-forth can make things dreary, such as combat.  Too much alcohol is severely injurious or fatal, and it's rarely obvious when your carriage is degrading until it's degraded a lot.  Alcohol can easily be consumed during game without inflicting alcohol on anyone else.

Weed chills you out, it's hard to ever lose your shit smoking up.  Weed makes you kinda dopey and slow rather than assertive-->aggressive-->angry.  Weed makes for a lot of hilarious one-off ideas, the value of which depends heavily on whether your campaign benefits from ninjas stealing mountains.  Weed tends to lead to munchies.  Weed leads to slower responses to anything and everything.  Too much weed is no biggie, and the progression from stoned to hella stoned is far easier to track.  Weed often requires it's own time, and if you do it during the game, even with a hand-held vape or a table-top, the smell of it is inflicted on everyone in the room.

Quote from: thedungeondelver;742219No, he was out after season 3.  He hasn't had anything to do with Community beyond his name on the credits in a while.  "Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" wasn't his writing or anything...

You're wrong. Dan Harmon was out after season 3, AND THEN BROUGHT BACK after missing one season. He's the showrunner for this season, and did directly work on this episode, and he's in the behind the scenes video for it.

Quote from: JRT;742228Even though he didn't write that episode, as Showrunner he's pretty much got his hands back in the game full time.  (He's never really written most of the episodes in any event).  I'll bet they wouldn't have even done a second D&D episode if he wasn't back.

The show is generally written as a collaborative effort, and he's the grand poo-bah of that writing session.  They described this during one of the comic-con panels.  And yeah that makes me a big nerd, but I was covering the panels as a reporter so I had to take notes :)

Quote from: Mistwell;742332The show is generally written as a collaborative effort, and he's the grand poo-bah of that writing session.  They described this during one of the comic-con panels.  And yeah that makes me a big nerd, but I was covering the panels as a reporter so I had to take notes :)

Still a nerd though. :D

Quote from: Alathon;742329Disclosure:  Where I live, both are legal.

I can kinda see the alcohol vs weed thing.  Clearly it's mostly all about whatever the people at the table are about, but they are different drugs and have different impacts on how people act.  I've run drunk, and run stoned, and while I'd argue the former was a somewhat more successful campaign, there were also more telling mistakes/miscues as a GM.

Alcohol lubricates in a way weed doesn't.  Alcohol makes it easier to get angry and fuck up for some reason.  Alcohol doesn't slow you down in the same ways weed does, you can keep snappy conversation going longer, within limits, as long as you're used to doing that while drinking.  Alcohol can replace snacks/food, weed does the opposite.   Alcohol doesn't totally ruin your recall at the low end, the way even moderate weed use does.  Alcohol makes for faster response times in situations where a slow back-and-forth can make things dreary, such as combat.  Too much alcohol is severely injurious or fatal, and it's rarely obvious when your carriage is degrading until it's degraded a lot.  Alcohol can easily be consumed during game without inflicting alcohol on anyone else.

Weed chills you out, it's hard to ever lose your shit smoking up.  Weed makes you kinda dopey and slow rather than assertive-->aggressive-->angry.  Weed makes for a lot of hilarious one-off ideas, the value of which depends heavily on whether your campaign benefits from ninjas stealing mountains.  Weed tends to lead to munchies.  Weed leads to slower responses to anything and everything.  Too much weed is no biggie, and the progression from stoned to hella stoned is far easier to track.  Weed often requires it's own time, and if you do it during the game, even with a hand-held vape or a table-top, the smell of it is inflicted on everyone in the room.

Someone with firsthand knowledge. I have never seen or gamed while stoned or with someone stoned. It looks like it could be fun.... now drunk I know and your assessment isn't that off even in the worst case.

Ok, everybody knows it is possible to drink without getting drunk, right? Just checking.

Quote from: Machinegun Blue;742395Ok, everybody knows it is possible to drink without getting drunk, right? Just checking.

I thought nobody would mention it. Jesus. :rolleyes:

Quote from: Machinegun Blue;742395Ok, everybody knows it is possible to drink without getting drunk, right? Just checking.

That is what I was saying about getting loaded, people who are going to be getting drunk or stoned are going to be doing it whether there is a game or not, like anything else, it is a matter of priorities.

Quote from: Machinegun Blue;742395Ok, everybody knows it is possible to drink without getting drunk, right? Just checking.

I've noticed through lots of IRL conversations that people use the word "drunk" very differently.

I personally use drunk to mean "I can feel the alcohol in me" (and if you're drinking and you can't feel the alcohol in you then what's the point?)

Whereas others I've seen reserve the word drunk only for meaning "nearly non-functioning levels of inebriation".

And others use it for other degrees of meaning between the two.

Quote from: Enlightened;742418I personally use drunk to mean "I can feel the alcohol in me" (and if you're drinking and you can't feel the alcohol in you then what's the point?)

Some of us actually enjoy the flavor of certain forms of alcoholic beverages.

If I could get an alcohol-free Guinness, or IPA, or good Cabernet Sauvignon, et al, that was indistinguishable from the same thing with alcohol, I'd buy that.

Quote from: Alathon;742329Disclosure:  Where I live, both are legal.

I can kinda see the alcohol vs weed thing.  Clearly it's mostly all about whatever the people at the table are about, but they are different drugs and have different impacts on how people act.  I've run drunk, and run stoned, and while I'd argue the former was a somewhat more successful campaign, there were also more telling mistakes/miscues as a GM.

Alcohol lubricates in a way weed doesn't.  Alcohol makes it easier to get angry and fuck up for some reason.  Alcohol doesn't slow you down in the same ways weed does, you can keep snappy conversation going longer, within limits, as long as you're used to doing that while drinking.  Alcohol can replace snacks/food, weed does the opposite.   Alcohol doesn't totally ruin your recall at the low end, the way even moderate weed use does.  Alcohol makes for faster response times in situations where a slow back-and-forth can make things dreary, such as combat.  Too much alcohol is severely injurious or fatal, and it's rarely obvious when your carriage is degrading until it's degraded a lot.  Alcohol can easily be consumed during game without inflicting alcohol on anyone else.

Weed chills you out, it's hard to ever lose your shit smoking up.  Weed makes you kinda dopey and slow rather than assertive-->aggressive-->angry.  Weed makes for a lot of hilarious one-off ideas, the value of which depends heavily on whether your campaign benefits from ninjas stealing mountains.  Weed tends to lead to munchies.  Weed leads to slower responses to anything and everything.  Too much weed is no biggie, and the progression from stoned to hella stoned is far easier to track.  Weed often requires it's own time, and if you do it during the game, even with a hand-held vape or a table-top, the smell of it is inflicted on everyone in the room.

That's my experience as well. Moderate amounts of pot are likely to screw up the game more than moderate amounts of alcohol, but in higher dosages the risk flips.

Quote from: Simlasa;742005Though I've heard stories I've somehow managed to never sit at a gaming table where people were drinking/smoking pot...
except for one very bad night of Trivial Pursuit (I can never drink mescal again...).

There's a difference between "had a couple of beers / joints" and "off your face".

One is fine, the other not, and given that we're all adults I don't think we need to go into more detail. We play at a pub, so some of his have a couple of beers... I would too, if I wasn't driving.

Smoking at the table though, no, anyone wanting to do that can go away or - better still - learn to cope for a few hours without their addiction.

The community has some truly amazing episodes; most of them from the first and second season, mind you.

Anyways, I would be way more interested in reading Pendleton Ward's D&D tips than Harmon's.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;743315Anyways, I would be way more interested in reading Pendleton Ward's D&D tips than Harmon's.

Hear hear!

Quote from: thedungeondelver;741985http://www.toplessrobot.com/2014/04/10_dd_tips_from_dan_harmon_and_his_dungeon_master.php

Anyone follow these?

The proof is in their LIVE Hangout session. Is there one?

Quote from: LibraryLass;743322Hear hear!

I'll say this, he's been a truly huge influence on my DCC campaign setting.

Like most lists of advice from any D&D player or GM, some of the tips are valuable, some are useless. I thought the Bag of Holding one was funny, but useless. The "take breaks" one was valuable.

I've played in teetotaler groups before, in groups where multiple cases of beer, bottles of scotch, and grams of weed were consumed, and in games where moderation ruled the roost. My personal preference is to be in the teetotaler group, mostly because I don't drink, do drugs, or smoke any more and I'd rather not be around those things all that much. Though if someone in my current D&D group cracks a beer or two over a five hour session I'm not exactly going to complain.

That's me, though. Different strokes for different folks. I've seen a guy take two hits off a joint and be completely useless for the rest of the game. Equally, I've seen guys put down a fifth all to themselves in the span of an hour and be rock-solid for the rest of the session. All depends.

Edit: Also, I quite like Harmon's stuff. Community is one of my favorite shows, though there is the occasional swing in quality. The various D&D episodes are absolutely great, though they're likely to piss off people expecting to see D&D portrayed absolutely correctly with no comedic variance.

Long before Community, Dan Harmon was also part of the group that made this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-leYc4oC83E

(just the audio skit, not the 8-bit reenactors.)

Quote from: hexgrid;744233Long before Community, Dan Harmon was also part of the group that made this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-leYc4oC83E

(just the audio skit, not the 8-bit reenactors.)

Well, Hell. No wonder Abed wears a Dead Alewives t-shirt for much of this season of Community.

Quote from: hexgrid;744233Long before Community, Dan Harmon was also part of the group that made this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-leYc4oC83E

(just the audio skit, not the 8-bit reenactors.)

Huh! How about that.

Quote from: LibraryLass;744241Huh! How about that.

Think it's pretty obvious that this was intended as tongue in cheek at the very least. It's not that funny but apparently it was over most peoples head. Guess it helps if you know who Dan Harmon is and been exposed to his writing. You should read the article on SRS. It's a terrible disease but this is hope....

https://medium.com/@abobrow/d703b80ff3e5