Periodically trends in the course of human events shift the balance in a region and super-charge the old gods, nature spirits, and forces of weirdness bubbling beneath the surface of reality. This happened with the art scene in Europe after the Great War and in Japan in the 90's when cell-phones became ubiquitous before their mass adoption in the US or Europe. Neither of those magical waves ended well. And now it is happening again, in North America, with craft beer. And it is up to you to shape what kind of impact this magical wave will have, and stop whatever shadowy forces crashed the previous craft beer bubble in the 90's (that budding magical wave having been responsible for the increased UFO sightings and MIB sightings).
So go out, find the special brews that try to hide from the chalkboards and BeerAdvocate but yet cannot be hidden from or refused to someone who calls them by name. Obtain temporary supernatural powers from these strange brews and use them to keep the balance of nature in check, dealing with the weird creatures and happenings that will otherwise plague the industrial spaces and old haunted buildings of the craft brewing world until the magical wave is tipped into one of negative energy.
Remember, if you know the right thing to say, you would be surprised at the number of food trucks that can rent you a family's heirloom sword (smuggled out of China during the Cultural Revolution) or get you spelunking equipment on short notice.
tldr: the hipster craft beer scene is actual the site of the current magical underground in America
I'm loving the mental image of people becoming increasingly drunken in order to stack on the effects of these magical brews. One must balance the mystical boons with the most blatant debuff of all. The greatest beer wizards are all fat guys and raging alcoholics. Rumors emerge from New Orleans of a man who had Hoodoo worked on his liver to enhance the uncanny effects of these wicked brews. A beer hipster in Queens discovers life is worth more than plaid shirts and terrible tastes in music when a mixup at a tasting ends in him sampling something meant for the backroom of the bar. A party of D&D players attempt to track down a local nanobrewery after a certain saison purchased from a friend of a friend gives them vivid hallucination of the action as they play one night.
Noah Rogers
Bump for intrest.
Also lets talk nitty gritty. What brews take what effects better? Are stouts the best for strength/stamina buffs? Were those old Guinness adds right all along?
Could the hops in an IPA help hold the delicate mental buffs together longer?
Is a well rounded lager the best for beginers to learn on due to its blend of charicteristics?
Jacob Miller
This is too fantastical for me. Where are the elves?
Type - Ale Lager Stout Porter Malt Belgian Wild/Sour
Style - Amber Brown Cream Dark Fruit Golden Honey Pale IPA Pilsner Red Strong Wheat
So maybe we should pick a category of power, (offensive, defensive, support) perhaps even sort of a class/party role type thing for each type, and then brainstorm the specific trappings (fire, speed, etc.) different styles can bring?
Evan Harris
Sign me up!
The label of the beer is whatever power you can conjure (only once ever, though).
>Sex Panther! Attack! >no, not like that...that's not what I meant... >goddamnit, Sex Panther...
Eli Scott
Just think of the awesome powers you could wield!
Andrew Myers
The strange creatures you could summon!
Evan Thompson
When you step through a magic door into the Underworld, you find yourself in a Prairie Artisan Ales label.
Dominic Cook
>...in Oklahoma.
Jacob Miller
>Unknown Brewsters: The Game of Inebriated Eldritch Occultness.
Christopher Lopez
Maddened hipster-sorcerors would have epic slapfights over the rare beer labels of their dreams.
Nolan James
...
Aaron Reed
...
John Gonzalez
...
Jace Sanchez
...
Grayson Foster
Got my bottle of Dark Arts from Wicked Weed in Asheville. It is a wild/sour beer so it actually gets stronger and better over time like wine (and unlike ordinary beer).
Sebastian Hill
Stronger, yes, but better? Beer has a lot more volatility than wine and the chances of it going bad are much higher.
But nice score anyway.
Cameron Foster
Speaking of summoning angels...
Xavier Smith
Did you try the Angel of Darkness?
I was just going to post that, it's one of my favorite labels. Beautiful art.
Michael White
Beer Battles, Some basic rules:
>Only people who are drinking/drunk can see Beer Battles and all the effects thereof, including summoned creatures, magic effects and casualties.
>Beer Battle after-effects will be discounted as drunk deliriums by all sober persons.
>Permanent effects only accrue to the Brewsters who participated in the Beer Battle by using their Labels & Brews against each other.
>The potency of Label effects is determined by IBUs. Duration is determined by ABV.
>Summoned creatures are dispelled at the end of each Beer Battle, regardless of losing/winning sides.
>Hangovers are permanent effects from having lost many Beer Battles, and include Loserdom, Hanging Out At The Convenience Store, The Slumps, Involuntary Panhandling, Burpies and other hideous effects.
Carter Brown
>Alignments are determined by Malts (Good) and Hops (Evil). >Factions are determined by Beer Styles.
Maybe someone else could write those up, I don't have the time.
Jason Smith
That's just gonna turn into a magical realism downer, isn't it?
Oliver Long
Anonfriend, it already did.
Adam Ortiz
>summon skellies with a quick sip
Thomas Hill
...
Kevin Ross
...
Chase Butler
...
Jacob Nelson
Things could start getting nasty for our Brewsting anti-heroes...
Noah Lewis
Undead troopers rising to sing a song of doom...
Brody Ross
Demons from the lowest Pit of Hell rising to...snip something...painful? Damn.
Austin Collins
Then the GM gets bored of all this nonsense and sends in the zombies, until finally...
Henry Williams
...BAM! END TIMES!!!
GAME OVER, MAN!!!
Lincoln Cruz
>College fraternities are academic schools for fledgeling boozewarlocks >Gang members pouring a 40 for their homies are casting rituals to contact dead/incarcerated comrades >The 20's prohibition was an anti-arcane conspiracy >Cocktail umbrellas are protective talismans >Lemmy Kilmister has attained lichdom
Matthew Cox
>Lemmy Kilmister ...or Lemmy Caution?
Maybe they're one and the same. Maybe a tiny fragment of these Lemmys exists in every drink they drank, and whosoever collects all these drinks together and drinks them in a Grand Ritual of Al-kohl will wield their power!
Tyler Clark
...
Adrian Baker
>The Adversary
Nolan Harris
...
Cameron Roberts
>hops >evil don't be like this user
Michael Jackson
Well you would say that, wouldn't you, Hop Devil!
Bentley Anderson
>relevant to Veeky Forums
Connor Collins
Aww, I could only find a tiny thumbnail of this beer, sorry.
Tyler Anderson
>There be dragons in thine beer >Smoky, malty dragons
Blake Ortiz
As a brewer, I like this idea. Though the Type list is a bit too long to me. Ale and Lager would be two giant divisions, porter and stout are almost always a type of ale along with yours, Belgian and other nationalities are variants of the styles, and finally I just see malt as an ingredient.
Otherwise, I love the idea and play with it a bit in my own games
Brayden Long
*Sours, not yours
Aaron Green
If beer is street magic, wine should be glamours & wizardry, and whiskey should be cleric divine boons.
