Games about drinking mead

So, thanks to The Rose and Dragon, I find myself in posession of a bottle of mead. Which means naturally my mind has turned to the question of how to turn its consumption into a larp.

Who drinks mead? Vikings! They’re the original mead-louts. What do Vikings do? Brag about their victories! Its an enormous part of their culture. So, a game about bragging Vikings then. Which leads me to this:

Hrothgar’s Hall

A monster has been attacking the hall of King Hrothgar, abducting his thralls in the middle of the night and eating them, leaving the bones for others to find. The King has been forced from his hall as a result. Now he has summoned his mightiest warriors, who have gathered to determine who shall have the honour of slaying this monster.

(Some people may find this tale familiar…)

This would be a “New Voices in Art” style Nordic framework game. The characters are all Viking (well, Danish) warriors. They’ll respond to some leading questions, then get a random piece of paper about how they feel about taking on the monster, and some social cues about the need to present as the biggest badass in a group of badasses. Hilarity should then ensue, aided by a monologue mechanic (though tankard-tapping seems a bit… weak… for Vikings. It needs another physical cue. Back slapping?)

Live combat to determine who is the mightiest warrior should be encouraged (with wrestling and so forth determined by paper-scissors-rock and then acted out). The game ends when they’ve reached a decision, or when they are “too drunk to continue” (say, two hours or so). As for the winner’s struggle against the monster, well, that is another saga…

For safety, actual mead wouldn’t be involved.

It sounds awesome. Can girls play?

Absolutely. You don’t need a beard to be a bragging Viking warrior.

Or alternatively, everyone has to wear a fake beard - even the people with real ones. It could really go either way :wink:

Or alternatively, everyone has to wear a fake beard - even the people with real ones. It could really go either way :wink:[/quote]

I’d rather be supportive of female players without requiring crossplay. That said, if someone wanted to do a fake beard, I’m sure it’d look cool.

Love it!

I would love to play this game. I’d just chuck on my armour and furs and pretend that girls are as legitimately allowed to be Viking monster slayers as the fellas.

I can see it as a giant “Back in my day” game.

Girls can always go in as Valkyrie or similar, they apparently serve mead when not collecting fallen heroes to swell Odin’s army in preparation for Ragnaroc.

I like Anna’s solution better.

One thing that occurs to me: New Voices in Art had the artworks to serve as a focus of conversation,. Every Badarse Viking should obviously have a great act of heroism (“I split Thorfinn from skull to groin with a single blow of my axe!”) both to justify their presence and as something to brag about. But these are likely to be private. Obviously you can ask them about “what have you done”, but there won’t be the “well, that’s a mighty act of heroism” aspect until the stories have circulated somewhat.

Still, it might work regardless. The only way is to playtest.

I agree. In New Voices, if you couldn’t think of anything else to say, you could always resort to bagging the artwork in front of you to everyone who’d listen. The stories would definitely be the biggest part of it in this game (as opposed to the artworks/physical props, although the stories behind the artworks were arguably the bread & butter of New Voices’ interactions), but I think it would be good to also have some sort of physical prop for each player, to give people something to play off or stare at. Perhaps it could be something related to their great act of heroism? Part of the challenge could be for players to work out a way to include it in their story (and with enough prominence for it to be worth displaying), regardless of how off-the-wall it is.

They could each have a different named epic weapon, shield, helmet, etc. with a story about how it was acquired and what they’ve done with it.

“This is my axe, the one I split Thorfinn with”
“This is Hrunting, the sword I pulled from the world tree and used to defeat the dread serpent Nidhog”

sort of thing?

I guess if I tag each item with a ribbon so people know that that is the one to talk about.

I was thinking more along the lines of really oddball items that would require outlandish explanations to work them into the story, especially to give them the sort of prominence necessary to justify bringing them along as a trophy, e.g. a water-skin or a crutch. Perhaps the setting could be a feasting/boasting hall, and arrayed around it are items that each character has supposedly brought in as a trophy from their greatest achievement, which would make it much like New Voices in that each player has an assigned object they talk about, but with the emphasis on mead and tall tales. I still have no idea about changing the glass-tapping mechanic though. I would suggest beard pulling, but you can be sure that there’d be someone with a real beard in the game.

I’m loving this idea of random items that need explaining :smiley:

"Hrothgar’s Hall

A monster has been attacking the hall of King Hrothgar, abducting his thralls in the middle of the night and eating them, leaving the bones for others to find. The King has been forced from his hall as a result. Now he has summoned his mightiest warriors, who have gathered to determine who shall have the honour of slaying this monster."

Play this game at next years Chimera and I’ll be inn. (pun intended). :mrgreen:

I’ve been reading Beowulf for inspiration, and have my teaser-quote (from the 1892 hall translation):

Oft drunken with beer
O’er the ale-vessel promised warriors in armor
They would willingly wait on the wassailing-benches
A grapple with Grendel, with grimmest of edges.
Then this mead-hall at morning with murder was reeking,
The building was bloody at breaking of daylight,
The bench-deals all flooded, dripping and bloodied

Also ritualised boasting (“By (supernatural entity), I will kill ten men tomorrow” (drink) ). I’d love to see this as a mechanic in a game, but it doesn’t quite fit in this one.

Anyway, everyone gets a random view of the prospect of fighting the monster. Here’s my initial list:

How do you feel about fighting the monster?

I am afraid, but I cannot admit it or I will be shamed
If I suceed, my name will live in song forever
If I fail, I will die with glory and honour
This will prove once and for all that I am the best
This is a chance to make a name for myself
I will do my duty, even if I must die
I am not sure I am up for the challenge
I could beat this monster with one hand tied behind my back
I am the best here. The honour should go to me.
I am not sure I belong in the company of such mighty heroes
It might be better if someone else weakened it first
Provided (pick another player) does not get the honour, I will be happy
I will probably be too hung-over tomorrow to do it

www.snorgtees.com

And it is complete. No publication yet due to KapCon SDC rules, but it’ll go online after KapCon.

Now I just have to work out where to run it. I’m already committed for KapCon 2014 and Hydra 2014, and I have at least two great games competing for my attention for Chimera 2014. Medusa is a possibility, but my attendance at that is heavily dependent on its game lineup.

So I ended up not entering this in the SDC after all. So, here it is.

Also available on Google Docs here:

drive.google.com/file/d/0B5BYLd … sp=sharing