Delving Under the Influence
(Updated 1-28-99)
Drinks are rated in quality (and alcohol content) as:
When an alcoholic beverage is drunk, the drinker must make a CON SR based on the level determined by quality the drink. If he makes it, he remains sober. If he misses it, he is officially drunk (or "tanked") for half an hour per number he missed it by. If it is failed by a roll of less than 5, he immediately becomes sick and jumps straight to the "hung-over" stage.
If the delver remains sober after the first drink, each additional drink will have an increased SR level of 1 until he gets drunk, becomes ill or stops drinking.
Additional drinks quaffed while already "tanked" will increase the amount of time the delver is drunk by another half hour per inital SR level of the drink (weak +.5 hour, typical +1 hour, strong +1.5 hours).
A delver can continue to drink to maintain a steady, drunken state if he paces himself.
If a delver ever drinks so much that he will be drunk for a number of hours greater than his CON, he immediately passes out for one hour per exceeded CON point. He will awake "hung-over".
While "tanked", the delver gains the following modifiers: ST is 3/2. DEX, IQ, CHA and SP are 1/2. He can ignore up to 50% of the Hits that penetrate his armor per combat turn, being completely obvilious to the pain.
When the effects of drunkeness wear off, he becomes "hung-over". His ST and IQ return to normal and he is no longer obvilious to pain. Quite the opposite, actually. His DEX, CHA and SP remain crippled. He may make a L2 CON SR each hour. If he makes it, he sobers up and returns basically to normal. If he fails it, he remains "hung-over". If he fails it by rolling less than 5, he becomes sick and must make a L3 CON SR each further hour to recover (no higher than a L3 needs to be made however many times the hung-over delver gets sick).
Instead of letting himself sober up, a hung-over delver can start drinking and become "tanked" again, but each drink SR level is increased by +1, but only for the purposes of the CON SR to get drunk.
For each week that a delver spends drunk or hung-over, he will suffer a permanent -1 CON due to health problems.
Note, with the reduced IQ it is much easier for a "tanked" delver to go berserk (IQ of 8 or less will always berserk), but also harder to calm him down. Any SR to calm him is made at an added level of difficulty or two (GM's judgement).