… you can keep your weed (and other drugs) at home, if you want to play at my table!
So today is 420 (BLAZE IT!), and since this is basically a Stoner Holiday, I thought we should discuss a little “Table Etiquette”, so to speak. I know a lot of people who enjoy some recreational drugs and alcohol, and thus over the years I have had to deal with many drunk or stoned players at my table, as the Gamemaster.
It. Sucks.
But where having a drunk at the table is inconvenient and occasionally a problem, having someone who likes to smoke weed at the table is so much worse. It isn’t that they are stoned that is the problem per se’, it is that they are constantly a distraction.
What do I mean by that? Well, it’s like having a tipsy player at the table, ones that distract other players, can’t focus on the game, drags things out, and so on… Only they constantly just leave the table! Whether it is on a search for more snacks or just to step outside “for a quick smoke” (that inevitably turns into a 30+ minute break from the game), it is always a major problem for everyone else at the table.
I don’t mind players having a bit of fun, but not if that fun (be it drugs or alcohol) makes the session less fun for everyone else at the table. Period.
Way back when, in my misspent youth, I indulged in a variety of chemical happiness myself. Frosty Cold Barley Pops, Weed, and in some rarer cases, Acid, Coke (not the soda brand, in this case), and so forth. But – and here’s the important point – I never let any of that ruin my game sessions. Either we were going to party, or we were going to play a game. Not both. Yes, I’m sure that makes me sound like a prude, but do you know what it doesn’t make me?
A bad Gamemaster.
I always ensured that my games weren’t ruined by intoxication. A little bit is fine, but when it becomes a distraction, it ends, or the session does. That was a hard-&-fast rule for me, and it remains so to this day.
But if you have a person in your tabletop group who is a distraction due to weed or other drug/alcohol use, what do you do? If it’s a player, ask the Gamemaster to speak with said players, and try to rein the problem in. Maybe they just don’t understand that their behavior is a problem, and need a nudge to get it in check. No big deal.
Now if it is the Gamemaster who is the problem, that might be a bit trickier. Maybe the whole table needs to sit down and talk with them, make it known that their activity is ruining the game for everyone else, and help them rein it in. Or maybe you just need to play at another, more restrained table, with a different GM?
Regardless, I know this is a bit of a downer on this 420 Day, but I think most Herbal Enthusiasts will understand where I’m coming from here. Your fun can’t ruin everyone else’s good time.
