What is Beer Fest? Beer Fest is game of tall tales similar to Munchhausen. The key point is that the assumed location is, rather than a victorian high society tea party is some ghastly dive or frat party. And rather than pretentiously sipping brandy during your storytelling you are swilling beer.
Here are the chargen rules:
Character Generation
Hello, my name is Harold Billingsworth the Third. But you can call me Admiral.
During the game of Beerfest it is imperative, as one can surmise from the title, that one drink a considerable quantity of beer. What quantities need be considered are a deeply personal question based on one's past tendencies in this matter, but it is rarely a breach of etiquette to exhort a fellow traveler to refill their glass during an especially juicy tale. But before the first toast is lifted or the first story is spun, it is only proper manners that introductions be in order.
Introductions, like the stories themselves must be made in character, and preferably already at a state that is quite distinguishable from mere sobriety and from the gauchity of true drunken stupor. The maintenance of this happy state is after all much of the game, and it would be a shame to do anything of such monumental importance to the game whilst not actually being a part of it as such. And as it happens, it is generally imperative that you actually create your character before climbing into it for the remainder of the evening of festivities.
Your Name
Howard Bond, actually.
The first thing you should write down on your character sheet is your character's name. Your name speaks quite a bit about you as a person, but more importantly it says a lot about your past. If a man has a name that could easily be mistaken for a woman's name (or vice versa) it is easy to imagine the many frustrations and disappointments they have experienced involving mistaken genders not to mention the substantial amounts of mocking they must have encountered from other children when they were young. A person with a very rare name must surely have had to explain how it was pronounced a thousand times, while a person with a very common name has surely been unjustly overlooked again and again - and has doubtlessly been confused for another unrelated person more times than they would care to recount. Remember also that we live in enlightened times when a man can walk into the DMV and change their legal name for $12. Whatever indignities a person has had to endure over easy rhymes with their name, it's nonetheless a name that they have grown accustomed to and on the balance accepted as being theirs.
And so it is no light matter when you choose your character's name. It will be one of your first and most indelible declarations during the game. So when you have decided, write that name down boldly! And to emphasize the fact that this is the name you have chosen, you should underline it in a dark color of ink.
- For Example: Harold Billingsworth the Third can be readily seen to have been repeatedly compared to his father and his grandfather, as each had the same illustrious name as he does. Further, while we Harold is a pretty common name, Billingsworth is rather rare even in Great Britain. Harold has presumably been taunted for his name on numerous occasions. And we also note that he has elected to be 'Harold' rather than 'Harry' - a point with clear implications on his opinions on being linked to a certain boy wizard.
C'mon Red, what happened next?
During a game of Beerfest, we are all friends. So we don't call each other Dr. So-and-so or such similar over-formalities. Indeed, we don't even refer to each other by name, but instead by their nick name. This nomme de plume is a declaration of your identity as ascribed to yourself by your own actions and demeanor. In many ways, a character's nick name speaks more about them than their given name. Because while a person's real name can be changed at any time with proper registration, a person's nick name is a purely social construct and cannot be fully lived down.
It is important to note that you as a player cannot fully control your nickname. Any proposed nickname that is simply not a good fit or worse one which is hard to say without the benefit of sobriety is going to inevitably be replaced by something else, regardless of the contents of one's character sheet. Therefore the player should be advised to choose for themselves a nickname that they can live up to - and one which over people can easily remember. This does not mean that a character's nick name need be truthful, for indeed there are at least as many nicknames that have been ascribed due to irony as to legitimate reference.
However, once a character's nickname is shown, it can be readily appreciated that other participants will doubtlessly want to know the why in addition to the what of your nickname. And so you should be prepared to tell the story of your nickname at least three times in as many different ways even before introductions have even been completed. It should be stressed, that enlargement upon tales is praiseworthy over and above even telling them in the first place; and as such it is not expected that these tellings be somehow mutually compatible. However, while they might wander about or even contradict themselves, there should be at least a vague appreciation that the person's question of why you are called that has been answered, or at least partially addressed.
Once your nickname has been settled upon in a final form, it should be written down on your character sheet. However, because it is of perhaps greater importance than your name, the font should be both taller and bolder than that given to your character's legal name. It should also be underlined, not once, but twice for additional emphasis.
- Example: Why do they call me 'Admiral' when it seems much more appropriate to call me 'Black Beard'? That's an interesting question, but see at the time I had not yet achieved the lustrous facial hair you see before you today. Indeed, when I stole my first boat, I was just a callow lad, busily escaping my father's plantation. Of course, at the time I was just called "Hairy Pirate" in light of my bare chin and my choice of profession. Aye, but children can be cruel. It was only after I had risen in rank to command the boat entirely after the crocodile experience that the other boys stopped making fun of me and gave me a rank. Indeed, by the time I had much of a bear to speak of, the bloom had come off the rose entirely as making references to my facial hair - or lack thereof. I had seen to that, and so bear or no, the name 'Admiral' has stuck.
