Best time to play a drunken master [Archive] - Wizards Community

Best time to play a drunken master [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
metamind
08-28-06, 11:40 AM In your opinion, in what kind of campaign setting is the Drunken Master most appropriate to play? Its my favorite Prestige class to play, and I was hoping to be one. However, I just don't know if it would fit the ordinary dungeon-raiding type of adventure.
If there are any ways to make the Drunken Master appropriate for such a setting while remaining fun, please let me now.
ArcTan
08-28-06, 12:00 PM One that's not entirely serious, where magic is heavy and comes out the wazoo in unexpected places, and one where other East Asian-flavored kung-fu-movie style things exist. It wouldn't be out of place along a lot of Tome of Battle characters, or in one of those campaigns that melds Oriental Adventures with core rules.

I wouldn't allow it in any campaign that was overly serious, as the idea of the class is inherently funny and disrupts any serious situation it's involved in.

Actually, if I were to have someone who wanted to play it I'd probably enforce a real-life roleplaying restriction. Just as a Truenamer player actually has to come up with unique, consistent babble for each Truename Utterance she casts and say them correctly every time her character uses one (who doesn't want to make a player say "Ugtabungawoogasnooga" every time she casts a spell?), a Drunken Master must take a drink of alcohol every time his character does. This way while the character becomes more mechanically powerful, he also becomes tactically stupider, which balances the class.
zvbxrpl
08-28-06, 01:31 PM This is probably obscenely obvious, but one that is heavy on dwarves.
KyussWren
08-28-06, 03:20 PM Me and a friend once got it in our heads to poison a dragon by feeding it a halfling that was loaded with poison.
So we found a drunk halfling, and bought some beer for the trip. The beer cost three GP.
So along the trip he had our paranoid dwarven leader asking all sorts of questions. All sorts of questions. Like who the hafling was, we told him he was a dragon slayer. And why the halfling was drinking so much, we told him he was a drunken master.
So anyway, we made our bluff checks, even convinced the halfling that he was a drunken master dragon slayer.
Found the dragon, loaded the halfling down with poison, and sent him into battle. The dragon ate him immediately. To which my friend remarked "Best three gold I've ever spent".

In short, if you get somebody drunk enough, and have a high enough bluff check, you can convince them that they are a drunken master. Hilarity ensues.
PiedmonSama
08-28-06, 04:48 PM One that's not entirely serious, where magic is heavy and comes out the wazoo in unexpected places, and one where other East Asian-flavored kung-fu-movie style things exist. It wouldn't be out of place along a lot of Tome of Battle characters, or in one of those campaigns that melds Oriental Adventures with core rules.

I wouldn't allow it in any campaign that was overly serious, as the idea of the class is inherently funny and disrupts any serious situation it's involved in.

Actually, if I were to have someone who wanted to play it I'd probably enforce a real-life roleplaying restriction. Just as a Truenamer player actually has to come up with unique, consistent babble for each Truename Utterance she casts and say them correctly every time her character uses one (who doesn't want to make a player say "Ugtabungawoogasnooga" every time she casts a spell?), a Drunken Master must take a drink of alcohol every time his character does. This way while the character becomes more mechanically powerful, he also becomes tactically stupider, which balances the class.

That's pretty harsh..... admittedly, while the Drunken Master movies with Jackie Chan are primarily action-comedies, they have dramatic moments in both the original (Drunken Monkey in a Tiger's Eye) and the sequel (Legend of Drunken Master.) Also, I hope you're aware, Drunken Boxing is a very real style of southern Kung Fu with its own subschools like Fist of the Eight Immortals. Of course in real life, the "drunken master" is not actually drunk--his movements merely mimic the swaying of a drunkard, making his attacks unpredictable.

Incidentally, in Legend of Drunken Master, they do touch on the ramifications drunken fighting can have. There are points where Jackie Chan is too drunk to tell friend from foe. In both original and sequel, Drunken Masters are shown "getting the shakes" when they go sober for too long.

I wouldn't limit the class for "comedy campaigns" (I didn't know there were such things), though if someone wanted to play a Drunken Master I might have to decide on whether I wanted to RP the adverse effects of alcoholism as well.
ressurrector
08-29-06, 01:17 AM The best time to play a drunken master?
Any time your party is in a barfight.
Dunelord
08-29-06, 01:38 AM Actually, if I were to have someone who wanted to play it I'd probably enforce a real-life roleplaying restriction. Just as a Truenamer player actually has to come up with unique, consistent babble for each Truename Utterance she casts and say them correctly every time her character uses one (who doesn't want to make a player say "Ugtabungawoogasnooga" every time she casts a spell?), a Drunken Master must take a drink of alcohol every time his character does. This way while the character becomes more mechanically powerful, he also becomes tactically stupider, which balances the class.

Tell me you are joking.
CaoSlayer
08-29-06, 04:34 AM obviously when for one reason or other your monk has broken this vows and become an ex-monk... he will then be depresed and become alcholic.

Seriously a slaadi drunken master must be wonderful.
Sulaco
08-29-06, 12:20 PM Actually, if I were to have someone who wanted to play it I'd probably enforce a real-life roleplaying restriction.
...
a Drunken Master must take a drink of alcohol every time his character does. This way while the character becomes more mechanically powerful, he also becomes tactically stupider, which balances the class.

Do you also require players to steal from each other whenever their rogue PC does? Or that a player destroy your home every time his Barbarian PC rages? Or that a player go out and murder a stranger every time his Fighter PC gets a kill? This really is one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard.

In answer to the OP, there is only one hard-and-fast rule: the best time to play a Drunken Master is any time it is played by a player capable of playing it well and in which it fits within the rest of the game and droup at that time.

Coincidentally, this holds true for every other class and race in the D&D game as well.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
metamind 08-28-06, 11:40 AM	In your opinion, in what kind of campaign setting is the Drunken Master most appropriate to play? Its my favorite Prestige class to play, and I was hoping to be one. However, I just don't know if it would fit the ordinary dungeon-raiding type of adventure. If there are any ways to make the Drunken Master appropriate for such a setting while remaining fun, please let me now.
ArcTan 08-28-06, 12:00 PM	One that's not entirely serious, where magic is heavy and comes out the wazoo in unexpected places, and one where other East Asian-flavored kung-fu-movie style things exist. It wouldn't be out of place along a lot of Tome of Battle characters, or in one of those campaigns that melds Oriental Adventures with core rules. I wouldn't allow it in any campaign that was overly serious, as the idea of the class is inherently funny and disrupts any serious situation it's involved in. Actually, if I were to have someone who wanted to play it I'd probably enforce a real-life roleplaying restriction. Just as a Truenamer player actually has to come up with unique, consistent babble for each Truename Utterance she casts and say them correctly every time her character uses one (who doesn't want to make a player say "Ugtabungawoogasnooga" every time she casts a spell?), a Drunken Master must take a drink of alcohol every time his character does. This way while the character becomes more mechanically powerful, he also becomes tactically stupider, which balances the class.
zvbxrpl 08-28-06, 01:31 PM	This is probably obscenely obvious, but one that is heavy on dwarves.
KyussWren 08-28-06, 03:20 PM	Me and a friend once got it in our heads to poison a dragon by feeding it a halfling that was loaded with poison. So we found a drunk halfling, and bought some beer for the trip. The beer cost three GP. So along the trip he had our paranoid dwarven leader asking all sorts of questions. All sorts of questions. Like who the hafling was, we told him he was a dragon slayer. And why the halfling was drinking so much, we told him he was a drunken master. So anyway, we made our bluff checks, even convinced the halfling that he was a drunken master dragon slayer. Found the dragon, loaded the halfling down with poison, and sent him into battle. The dragon ate him immediately. To which my friend remarked "Best three gold I've ever spent". In short, if you get somebody drunk enough, and have a high enough bluff check, you can convince them that they are a drunken master. Hilarity ensues.
PiedmonSama 08-28-06, 04:48 PM	One that's not entirely serious, where magic is heavy and comes out the wazoo in unexpected places, and one where other East Asian-flavored kung-fu-movie style things exist. It wouldn't be out of place along a lot of Tome of Battle characters, or in one of those campaigns that melds Oriental Adventures with core rules. I wouldn't allow it in any campaign that was overly serious, as the idea of the class is inherently funny and disrupts any serious situation it's involved in. Actually, if I were to have someone who wanted to play it I'd probably enforce a real-life roleplaying restriction. Just as a Truenamer player actually has to come up with unique, consistent babble for each Truename Utterance she casts and say them correctly every time her character uses one (who doesn't want to make a player say "Ugtabungawoogasnooga" every time she casts a spell?), a Drunken Master must take a drink of alcohol every time his character does. This way while the character becomes more mechanically powerful, he also becomes tactically stupider, which balances the class. That's pretty harsh..... admittedly, while the Drunken Master movies with Jackie Chan are primarily action-comedies, they have dramatic moments in both the original (Drunken Monkey in a Tiger's Eye) and the sequel (Legend of Drunken Master.) Also, I hope you're aware, Drunken Boxing is a very real style of southern Kung Fu with its own subschools like Fist of the Eight Immortals. Of course in real life, the "drunken master" is not actually drunk--his movements merely mimic the swaying of a drunkard, making his attacks unpredictable. Incidentally, in Legend of Drunken Master, they do touch on the ramifications drunken fighting can have. There are points where Jackie Chan is too drunk to tell friend from foe. In both original and sequel, Drunken Masters are shown "getting the shakes" when they go sober for too long. I wouldn't limit the class for "comedy campaigns" (I didn't know there were such things), though if someone wanted to play a Drunken Master I might have to decide on whether I wanted to RP the adverse effects of alcoholism as well.
ressurrector 08-29-06, 01:17 AM	The best time to play a drunken master? Any time your party is in a barfight.
Dunelord 08-29-06, 01:38 AM	Actually, if I were to have someone who wanted to play it I'd probably enforce a real-life roleplaying restriction. Just as a Truenamer player actually has to come up with unique, consistent babble for each Truename Utterance she casts and say them correctly every time her character uses one (who doesn't want to make a player say "Ugtabungawoogasnooga" every time she casts a spell?), a Drunken Master must take a drink of alcohol every time his character does. This way while the character becomes more mechanically powerful, he also becomes tactically stupider, which balances the class. Tell me you are joking.
CaoSlayer 08-29-06, 04:34 AM	obviously when for one reason or other your monk has broken this vows and become an ex-monk... he will then be depresed and become alcholic. Seriously a slaadi drunken master must be wonderful.
Sulaco 08-29-06, 12:20 PM	Actually, if I were to have someone who wanted to play it I'd probably enforce a real-life roleplaying restriction. ... a Drunken Master must take a drink of alcohol every time his character does. This way while the character becomes more mechanically powerful, he also becomes tactically stupider, which balances the class. Do you also require players to steal from each other whenever their rogue PC does? Or that a player destroy your home every time his Barbarian PC rages? Or that a player go out and murder a stranger every time his Fighter PC gets a kill? This really is one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard. In answer to the OP, there is only one hard-and-fast rule: the best time to play a Drunken Master is any time it is played by a player capable of playing it well and in which it fits within the rest of the game and droup at that time. Coincidentally, this holds true for every other class and race in the D&D game as well.