Gamifying Hangovers in ttRPGs (Patreon)

Hey, it's right between two holidays that often involve a lot of drinking, and that got me thinking.

It's pretty common for ttRPG adventurers to overindulge, either as part of some greater scheme, or because they live work-hard/play-hard lives. This can naturally lead to having a hangover later. But few games have any rules for hangovers, and sometimes such rules can enrich the impact of the fictional poor choices, consequences of taking a risk, or narrative of player character's lives.

So, how do you make game rules for a hangover? Well, let's look at the main causes of a hangover. Here we are looking specifically at the impact of alcohol on humans, but if you run a world where fairies get drunk on buttermilk, or skesilik who invoke blood-frenzy for too long are hungover with "crusteye" the next day, you can extend these real-world concepts to fictional physiology.

Hangovers are complex, but the main elements that cause them are:

Dehydration. Nuff said.

Disrupted sleep. You may go to sleep more quickly, but the qualify of the sleep is not as good

Inflammation. Both alcohol itself and other components present in many drinks can cause inflammation.

Mini-Withdrawal. While alcohol can make you feel calm or even euphoric, in an effort to seek balance your brain adjusts to those feelings. So when the alcohol wears off, you may be left feeling more anxious and restless.

So, how do we create game mechanics for that? Let's look at some common player efforts to negate a hangover in-character.

1. Yes alcohol is a poison, but once you have a hangover, it's too late to just neutralize it.

Lots of games have ways to neutralize poison, and if that is done well before a hangover sets in (before the alcohol wears off), that should reduce the intensity of a hangover. But unless the poison-neutralizing effect says it undoes all the negative effects the poison has already inflicted, it's not going to cure an in-place hangover.

2. Coffee and a shower have no effect. "Hair of the dog" can make things worse.

A shower just makes you clean and, in fact, coffee may make things worse, since it can lead to dehydration and jitteriness. And an alcoholic drink when you are already hung over may give temporary ease... but it may also make the entire effect worse and last longer once it wears off. 

3. Wait a couple of hours.

A hangover can last a day.

So, where does that leave us?

Different people have different levels of hangover, and the more you consume, the more likely it is for a hangover to be severe. So, if your game system has a mechanic to avoid the effects of a hazard (such as saving throws), use them. The more someone consumes, the higher the target number for that "saving throw" should be. But, base it on the amount of alcohol, not the character power level. Even if "higher level" characters are still mortal, they should certainly have a greater ability to fight through a hangover so it has no game mechanical effect, even if they still want aspirin and water.

If your game has rules for resisting the effects of poison, use them. Being resistant to poison should make you less likely to get a hangover. However, once you have a hangover, poison neutralization no longer helps.

The actual penalty for a hangover should be modest in most game systems. A -1/-5% is plenty.  Perhaps if there is a critical failure mechanic in the game system, that penalty can be doubled on a critical failure against the hangover saving throw. The duration may be random (4d6 hours), or also based on how badly you fail.

The penalty may only apply to efforts at mental tasks, or to all success efforts.

If there are effects in game that can deal with the underlying causes of a hangover, each can reduce the duration (perhaps -1d6 hours for each cause mitigated), or grant a new saving throw. For example, a nanite swarm that feeds the cells of the body directly, designed to treat victims of dehydration and starvation, could easily reduce the duration of a hangover, though it may not be enough by itself to cure the complex condition.

And, finally, keep the end rules from being more complex than the game calls for when dealing with something as minor as a hangover. In a slice-of-life game, where being on time to a date and making a good impression on the boss *are* the major goals, a hangover may deserve multistep rules given its potentially broad impact on characters' desired outcomes. In a cyberfantasy that focuses on breaking open the vaults of AI gods and slaying the androidemons within, a single save and -1 for a handful of hours if you fail is all the attention the consequences of slamming Painkiller Shots the night before deserves.

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