Carousing tables are too full on, so I had a crack at rewriting mine.

I'm just nutting this out as I go so excuse the stream of consciousness.  

Someone on the Dead Letters podcast recently mentioned that carousing tables as written don't work very well in-game. For those not familiar with carousing: players can chose to roll a d6 (usually) and spend d6*100 gp partying. Like in real life, going out and partying gives you life experience. Unlike in real life that experience correlates to the amount of money spent (e.g. 600 gold = 600 XP). If the number on the d6 is above your character level, you suffer a consequence which you roll for. On most tables, these consequences are quite out there. The problem is RAW the consequences either routinely create a high volume of campaign altering events, or they just need to be essentially ignored to keep things moving. You got shot gun married? Maybe you just pay off the groom's family and never speak of it again. At that point, it's sort of just a weird side note that's eating into your game time. 

I'm currently using a tweaked version of Luke Gearing's D100 carousing table (for reference mine's at the bottom of this post). Over the last two game sessions, carousing in my game has led to my players finding an abandoned mansion that they could keep, having a minor cult believe that one of the players was their prophet, one player getting a possessed weapon, one player smashing the town's favorite statue, one player hiring three hirelings and paying them all 2 weeks in advance (at a table that already struggles with book keeping) and one player joining the town guard. We play c.a. 3 hour games - I can't do this every session! Even in an open world campaign like the one I'm running, this is too much. 

 Image from Dragon Magazine #10

I think this is a good example of one of those things that is fun to read but clunky to play. Of course it's fun to write and read D100 tables of crazy events. But in practice it leads to total narrative overload. 

That said, I don't want to give up on carousing either. It's a good XP booster, and my players really enjoy the shenanigans. So I'm trying to think about how to keep some of it, while making it more playable. ShadowDark has an interesting approach that seems to be angling for the same thing. But it lacks some of the crazy twists and turns that our player table does enjoy, and it moves away from the simple "each player roles a dice" mechanism that works well for us.

I'm thinking of two possible tweaks:

1. Just drastically increase the likelihood of minor bad outcome (e.g. lots of -1 to rolls)

2. Drastically decrease the likelihood of a Consequence.

I don't think option 2 cuts it for me because Consequences are what makes carousing interesting. I think they'd still feel buzzy if they were simply not as frequently terrible. 

I guess what's left is to decide what sort of spread of Consequences I'm looking for. Maybe:

• 10% terrible
• 10% awesome 
• 10% Impactful but ambiguous
• 40% mid bad
• 30% mid good 

I started categorising the Consequences and realised something: I'm less worried about the exact split. What bothers me is that even many of the mid Consequences require a whole yarn, e.g.:

"You snuck or stumbled into a high-society party - and made a useful contact there." 

Okay so now the player and I have to (even briefly) come up with a whole scenario that really could constitute an entire RP session. What if I don't have any nobles prepped/this town doesn't have nobles? Or:

"Rode a horse (or equivalent) through a noble home or barracks. Considered a local legend, but gain an enemy." 

A smattering of these is fun. But they're so frequent that they just railroad your adventurers into being "The Hangover" level assholes every session. How many of these shenanigans will the town put up with in-game, and how many are fun to RP at the table? 

Even if the results aren't too game altering, they often feel too prescriptive.  

I mean the obvious solution is just to re-roll or fudge or creatively interpret it. But "just do it differently and wing it" isn't really good rule writing imo (despite what most forums will tell you if you ask for advice).

I'd prefer something like "you made a contact with a respected local" that could be as easy as making the burgermeister laugh, or becoming drinking buddies with the head of a guild. Or "you got pretty rowdy and made an enemy". Then I'd give the player a chance to narrate it, but if he's stumped I'd come up with something that makes sense for the town. I'm still thinking through this... I'm not sure if this is actually a meaningful issue, or whether I just am butting up against Gearing's writing style. I guess it doesn't matter because I'm doing this to unwind and have some fun. I'm going to indulge myself.

I think that every so often, the very specific "You stole the town's favourite statue" type outcomes can be fun an interesting. So maybe it's more a balance like:

10% Serious SITUATIONS

90% Buffs and interpretation

By which I mean 90% of the time it's a fairly open ended queue that comes with some sort of mini outcome. "You met someone interesting. Gain a rumour", "You got in a fight, lose 1 CON for a week" etc.

Oh ok wait ... Carousing is meant to take a week??

The Gay OSR Discord just pointed out to me that most DMs make carousing be a week long activity. That might actually dampen the amount of carousing that occurs. But in a way this changes everything and nothing. In an open world game there are only occasionally penalties for taking off that sort of time. E.g. currently we're on a timed adventure (I'm running UK2 and UK3). But if they're just doing their usual shenanigans, the adventurers won't mind taking a week off, and because D&D is all in the imagination, we're back to having to manage a slew of crazy consequences.   

Back to the drawing board

I'm going to try and create some fairly generic buffs and debuffs / items found, and then I will either just riff on how they happen, or create some sub-tables when I'm bored.

Mid negatives 50%

•  Take 1d8 damage (never takes you below 1 HP)
• -1 to attack and damage rolls for the next 1d6 days
• Halve how much you can carouse by for 6 months
• Theft of d6*100 gp (no XP gained)
• -1d4 to random stat
• You lost a random (non-magical) item
• Slept rough -d4 to all skill checks, attack and damage rolls for 1d6 days
• Theft of d6 gems (no XP gained)
• roll at a disadvantage on the next 1d4 skill checks
• -2 to the next 1d3 saves

Mid positives 40% 

•  Gain a reroll
•  +1 HP / level for the first day of adventuring
• Gain back half of your spent GP
• Found a gem (roll on gem table)
• Roll at advantage on your next save
•  +1d400 XP
• Gain advantage on your next skill check
• Found a magic consumable
• Found a pet dog (or equivalent)
• Free board for a week in this town

I think that will do for now. There's lots of variations on this theme that I could get into. I'll just build it out as I go. This list could maybe also include more specific but still minor things like finding a treasure map. Maybe also the contacts. But for now I'll leave those exclusively in the 10% Serious SITUATIONS.  

Thinking about it, I think I'll just leave the de/buffs as they are and adlib the stories. That allows me to be flexible in how much time I dedicate. E.g.

Gain a reroll: "On your way home, you found a stack of coins rolled in red cloth: a token of luck that the Rhennee occasionally leave in fortuitous place." or "The barkeep flirted with you and it gave you a serious boost to your self esteem."

Take 1d8 damage "The Vinsaahri youth bet you, you couldn't catch a Plains Porcupine with your bare hands. They were right" or "You fell down a flight of stairs at the inn."

Not letting folks game the debuffs

This may not even come up, but if I see players starting to game the debuffs (e.g. resting for four extra days to lose the debuff etc.) I will only give them the "flavour text" of what happened and wait for them to be in the wilderness for it to kick in. We've all had those delayed hangover where you wake up feeling amazing (aka still drunk and/or high) and by 11 you want to die.

My current carousing list 

For reference, here's my current list. I took out some of the situations I suspected to be annoying to litigate, added in some player ideas, and added some Greyhawk-specific stuff. 

1. Rode a horse (or equivalent) through a noble home or barracks. Considered a local legend, but gain an enemy.
2. Save vs doom or lose: 1-2) A finger 3-4) Your hair 5) a front tooth 6) An eye Save again - on failure, you remember how it happened.
3. Awaken with a hideous, possibly shameful, tattoo or piercing.
4. Awaken with a wicked sick tattoo 
5. At some point in the evening, you fell in with members of the underworld and made a contact.
6. You snuck or stumbled into a high-society party - and made a useful contact there.
7. You met a new adventuring party. 1. they tell you of a local dungeon that got the better of them. 
8. You joined a religious faith. Perhaps you meant it, at the time. 1-4) The major local faith. 5-6) An Underground faith or cult.
9. A hangover to kill a god. Disadvantage to everything for d4 days. Carousing next time is only at half rolled value - once bitten, twice shy.
10. A gambling windfall! d10x10% of wealth gambled at a d10x10% return.
11. The house always wins. Lose d4x25% of wealth.
12. A gender swap spell was cast on you by a cheeky Leprechaun
13. You made an honest-to-god mate. Gain a Friend.
14. You outdid someone spiteful. Gain an Enemy.
15. You met a new adventuring party. You agreed to tackle a dangerous dungeon with them
16. You wake up with a companion - they're as amicable as they are keen to get home
17. You met a new adventuring party. You drunkenly told them of a dungeon you haven't plundered yet. They're on their way now! 
18. You met a new adventuring party. You did a hireling swap
19. That lovely expensive thing you own - not the magic one, the other really most expensive thing you own? It’s ruined. You broke it. You dumb fuck.
20. That lovely expensive thing another (random) party member owns - not the magic one, the other really most expensive thing they own? It’s ruined. You broke it. You dumb fuck.
21. You vowed to slay the most dangerous beast in the region
22. You fell off a building. It's a miracle you're alive! Spinal injury -1 constitution
23. You made an enemy in the local adventuring party
24. You and everyone else woke up in (randomly roll) wildnerness hex
25. Now you’ve had a drink (or whatever), they’re not so bad. Reconcile with an Enemy. For now.
26. You're on a river boat heading up the Hool
27. Last night, you hit rock bottom. You swore an Oath to sort your shit out - to clean your act up. Unfortunately, you swore this oath in public. Carouse at half-value here for the next 6 months, keeping your head low.
28. You promised to deliver (roll) to (roll town - include wild card) for X on delivery
29. You hired 1d3 hirelings and paid them 2 weeks in advance!
30. You freed livestock into the area, causing a stampede. The farmers are actively working to find out who did it (as well as all their sheep). 50% chance they find out, and starting planning agricultural revenge.
31. You made an enemy in the temple
32. You awake in a cell, with a cell mate sleeping on your shoulder - pulled up on minor charges. 2d20GP fine.
33. You awaken in an alchemist's lab. All your copper has turned to silver, your silver to gold, and your gold to platinum. The alchemist is sitting next to you. His head exploded.
34. You awaken in a lair alone
35. Target of lewd advances turns out to be a witch. Save versus polymorph or you’re literally a swine.
36. You just couldn’t find that fucking shell, no matter how hard you tried. Conned out of d10x10% of your wealth.
37. From your hiding place accidental, you spied the unveiling of a religious secret - a ritual, initiation or eldritch truth. The group in question know someone saw this, and are hunting the one who has defiled their secrets.
38. You somehow landed a wild animal pet
39. You shagged a local notable - or one of their immediate relatives. 50% chance it was at their place. 30% chance it was more than a shag to them.
40. You cannot believe you woke up in bed with them. Your Enemy.
41. You slept with a local priest
42. Wake up stark naked in a random local temple. 
43. Linked arm-in-arm, hidden behind disguises which failed to hide much, you saw them - local notables, out on the town - a tryst most troublesome, should it come to light.
44. Wake up alone, naked in the wilderness (d6 hexes away)
45. A Rhennee fortune teller cursd you -2 to all rolls for 6 days
46. You fell into a well and found a magic item. Half hp
47. You made friends with the Rhennee. They only fleeced you of 30% of your wealth, and gave you a bell shaped like a river boat. They say it is a symbol of trust.
48. You fought the law, and The law won. Reduced to 1HP and wanted for resisting arrest. 
49. You fought the law and you won. Lose half your HP and gain huge credibility in the area. The guards you beat up don’t report you - they’re too embarrassed. 10% chance any future interaction with the guards involve one from this fight.
50. You couldn’t say who won or lost the fight, but the gang will definitely remember you. Lose half HP, gain an Enemy (the entire street gang/avdenturing party).
51. Employer of the year. You fought with your hirelings and henchmen last night - all reduced to half HP and all hirelings taking Loyalty tests.
52. A Rhennee fortune teller blessed you +1 to all rolls for 6 days
53. Partied in the woods. Made friends/enemies with a group of fey
54. You blasphemed, profusely and at length. 1-5) Proscribed by the local clergy. 6) The god (or pantheon, divinity, slime etc) themselves heard your blasphemy, and is going to make a special project of you.
55. You made a friend in the temple
56. Everyone who caroused gained a cursed item
57. Food poisoning. Lose d6 days as you shit your guts out. 
58. You found a new drinking buddy in the form of a talking beast or similar fantasy being. Gain a Friend.
59. You made a friend in another adventuring party
60. Mind altered, you thought nothing of the “gift”, bundled in sackcloth by a wan young man who yelled “I’M FREE” and wept as he fled into the night after you accepted the gift. Looking at it in the cold harsh light of sobriety, it’s so obviously cursed.
61. You made a friend in the guard
62. Your boasts have gotten you into trouble. You can’t gain experience until you do something really awesome, like killing a legendary monster or stealing a legendary treasure. You decide your heroic deed, subject to your DM’s approval.
63. Recruited to the guard, pledged an oath of loyalty 
64. You are mistaken for someone else, and charged with their tab. Pay 30% more money (xp for it) or wake up in the slammer.
65. Alcohol poisoning. Stats lowered by 2 until day long rest.
66. You learned the location of a local expert who can teach you something
67. Your cheek stings, and the glove in your pocket reminds you as to why - you’ve got a duel at noon today - in d4 hours.
68. You hit your head pretty hard there buddy. -1 Int
69. A birdy told you about a horrible underground space filled with monsters, treasures, traps and probable doom. They even gave you a (vague) location for the entrance!
70. A drunken aide spilled the beans on an ongoing political manoeuvre or scandal.
71. The proud new owner of a very valuable item would not stop talking about it last night - guided gently, they gave some suggestions as to the location too. 
72. A scorned wizard’s apprentice bitterly muttered into their pint of bitter about their ‘master’ abandoning them and their wizard tower
73. Through the braggadocio, the story of a magic item lost in the wilderness cut through the noise and sits atop your memory, remaining despite the dissipating clouds of hangover and regret, carrying away the other memories of the night.
74. Befriended some sailors
75. Your gambling opponent had to bet something unique to keep playing (d100gp + random minor magic item)
76. Through a bulb of pain which begins in the eyes and ends at the base of your skull, you can glimpse the past, and it is ugly. You fired all your hirelings, who have gone on to tell everyone else what a dickhead boss you are. Hirelings from this locale cost you double now.
77. In the spirit of universal siblinghood and transparency, you told the party your secret last night
78. A man who just returned from the barrier peaks sold you this useless piece of junk for 500gp
79. One of your weapons became possessed by a (spirit/ghost???) and gained sentience
80. You end up as a guest in an exclusive society or club. After a good performance, you are extended an invitation: join them for 500GP a month. Those failing to pay their dues are barred forever. For members, all carousing results here are multiplied by 200, not 100.
81. You and the whole party stumbled through a gate into another world. You have 24 hours to explore here
82. You hired an extremely strange hireling. Someone from another world.
83. You invented a new drink - and, bucking tradition, it’s pretty good. +1 to all carousing rolls in the area.
84. A solemn party to commemorate their very rich, very dead ancestor. Of course they’d be happy to show you where their tomb is.
85. Get in a fight, lose 1d2 teeth, get a black eye, or break your nose and you’ll be sore (-1d4 * level hp) in the morning.
86. For d10x10GP, you bought a map, promising to lead to treasure. 20% chance it’s a fake, and leads into an ambush. 
87. You stumbled ass-backwards into an assassination attempt and foiled it. Gain a (known) Friend and an (unknown) Enemy.
88. Partying with clergy was more fun than you thought. Receive a blessing.
89. On the piss, they promised no shop talk. And yet, as if haunted by a ghost, they all set about critiquing the sloppy work of those not there. Make a contact in a Trade.
90. Congratulations! You’re a godparent.
91. You earned and made a wish
92. You learned of an important shrine
93. Hidden libraries for the working man, the site where a highwayman was run through after killing a score of guards, the site where the first guild meeting was held - one of these hidden landmarks is shared with you.
94. You stumbled accross a long hidden dungeon right here in town problem is. You're in the middle of it!
95. Befriended fishermen, got a special lure / learnt of a special spot
96. You dictated a letter, complete with slurred words, to your 1) Ex 2) Parents 3) Enemy 4) Friend 5) Lover 6) Yourself.
97. In your wanderings, you found something - a sizable property, hidden from public view. Unlocked, unoccupied, unowned. Yours for the taking.
98. Gain a reputation as a lecherous lush. Social interactions in this town are *raises tone* awkward. You decide how you gained your infamy.
99. Drunken and alone in a graveyard, you bemoaned your lot. A spectral arm draped itself across your shoulders, and a grinning skull met you woe for woe. You’re now Friends with a Ghost.
100. A circus is in town and you made friends with a tumbler!
101. Do ye like degs? You got gifted one!
102. Befriend pilgrims - you can hire a cleric if you like
103. An invitation to a famous tournament module (timed) C1 C2 C3 S3 S4 S2 L1
104. Lobottomus Greenbottom's Greenjar 
105. You won an exotic pet from the Amedio Jungles (monkey, winged snake, parrot)
106. A treasure map to the Azure Sea
107. That knife trick didn't go so well. Permanent -1 Dex
108. You might have a drinking problem permanent -1 Wis
109. A map to the Sea Prince (the famous sunken ship)
110. You drank a dodgey potion last night and it's kicking in now...
111. you wake up in the middle of the road just in time to see a wagon run over your legs. move at half speed for a week 
112. Wake up under the influence of a quest spell.