[Bushw4cker]

Anyone ever give their players Karma incentives for Drinking/Partying/ect?

In a couple of weeks, I'm starting new campaign with players Fixer calling them saying the players might want to take a 3 to 1 odds on the coming up Seattle Urban Brawl game. Having a bookie meet them at a bar in Loveland, Puyallup, where the game is on the Trid. The players are going to get into bar fight. After that a riot starts when heavy favorite Seattle, loses. I think it would be fun if characters got a little intoxicated, but just knowing some of the players, I don't think they are going to have their characters drink (Even if their characters probably would) Especially if they suspect I'm going to throw some fighting/chaos in.

I was thinking having NPC challenge one of the players to drinking game? or having NPC buying rounds. and have characters make Willpower + Logic rolls or something.

Any ideas, suggestions?

[Namikaze]

Anyone ever give their players Karma incentives for Drinking/Partying/ect?

No.  Drinking and partying isn't usually something that takes place in my games, unless it's business.  The tavern games of D&D don't fit into SR's themes necessarily.  Not that they can't, but the world is generally much grittier than D&D.

I was thinking having NPC challenge one of the players to drinking game? or having NPC buying rounds. and have characters make Willpower + Logic rolls or something.

If you want to get your characters drunk, one of the easiest ways is to have an appealing member of the opposite sex ask them for drinks.  Consider then slipping the players a mickey and making them a little loosey-goosey.

[TormDK]

I would be very careful with forcing something on the players like that.

Besides, a few beers will not make an average human intoxicated to a degree where you'd start rolling against logic+willpower. Worst case should IMO be removal of a dice or two from their dicepool.

If you really must force such a scene I think it would be perfectly valid to have an NPC or two do the classic move of spilling a drink, and then blaming the otherwise sober PC for life's miseries. Once the PCs start defending themselves verbally, you could escalate it with the classic "Are you calling my friend a lier!?"

Obviously drunks would be extremely outclassed by a runner, but it could show the cauldron that is just waiting to explode later that night.

[Bushw4cker]

I definitely do NOT want to force things. But I was wondering about rewarding behavior that would be in character. Even shadowrunners have to let loose sometimes right? The first couple of runs and riot scene are just to get a feel for 5th edition. I want there to be some risk, but I don't want anyone dying. There is going to be a lot of unarmed fighting, and hopefully all my players are smart enough that there won't be any firefights. I was thinking about rewarding characters who have fun and role play their characters with Karma.

 In past games if someone had whole table roaring with laughter, I awarded them with a point of Karma.

One of the best was when 2 runners (Both runners were female) where interrogating someone in the Women's Bathroom, and the Cortex Bomb in the woman's head went off when she tried to talk about her employer. A girl came to inspect what happened. "Is Everything OK? in there, I thought I heard something, oh my god there is blood all over the floor!"
"Just having a very heavy flow day."
The timing was perfect.... we could not stop laughing.

[Namikaze]

In past games if someone had whole table roaring with laughter, I awarded them with a point of Karma.

Appropriate and I've done the same thing on multiple occasions.

One of the best was when 2 runners (Both runners were female) where interrogating someone in the Women's Bathroom, and the Cortex Bomb in the woman's head went off when she tried to talk about her employer. A girl came to inspect what happened. "Is Everything OK? in there, I thought I heard something, oh my god there is blood all over the floor!"
"Just having a very heavy flow day."
The timing was perfect.... we could not stop laughing.

Yuck, and double yuck.  I have no words to describe what kind of a horrid topic this is to laugh at.