I asked Dori and Merry to shoot me some prompts last night, and one of them was ‘A Dwarven Drinking Song Game’. And I basically went ‘aha, yeah, but no srsly’ and then ended up doing it for shits and giggles. Then it went out of control and turned into a full-fledged… thing. So, here you go! The official rules for ‘Mystery Mining’!
The game can be played with 4+ players (any fewer and it goes too fast). Each player has chips of metal, representing copper, iron, tin, aluminium, silver, gold, ‘platinum’, and ‘mithril’ (it is sometimes played with scraps of paper with the metals written on it, but most people can afford the game pieces). The players each have ten of each of the metals for gameplay. They sit in a circle (or around a table) and each selects a chip to put into play. They keep the chips hidden in their hands and as they pass them. No one is allowed to look at them until the song ends.
The chip is passed counterclockwise around the table through the duration of this song:
One for copper, iron, tin,
Two for aluminium,
Three for silver, platinum, gold,
Four for mithril bars of old!
The tempo varies wildly by region, person, and level of drunkenness, so the song is never sung the same twice.
The chip the player is holding at the end of the song corresponds with the number of shots they must take, as determined by the song.
Optional:
Often another kind of chip is introduced into the game: coal.There are only ten coal chips in total, and it is passed clockwise for extra difficulty. Each round, the coal chip starts with a different person, and whoever receives it must pay for the next round of drinks.
Cheating:
Cheating is so common that it’s in the official rules: anyone caught cheating or passing the chips the wrong way must drink a half-shot on the spot.
Song variations:
Half for copper, iron, tin,
One for aluminium,
Half again for silver, gold,
Two for mithril bars of old!
Mining for Mysteries
The strip version of Mystery Mining.
Also designed to make the game last longer. Basically introduces the option to take off articles of clothing instead of taking shots.
Also introduces endless offers for people to ‘mine for mysteries’ down people’s pants.
The summary:
People get drunk really, really fast, and everyone hates everyone else the next morning. Be careful when introducing that mithril chip, because chances are you’ll be getting it right back!
Thank you to docmanda for introducing the coal chip and whatever else they did that I can’t remember! You’re the best, truly.
AH HELL YESSSS FINALLY A GOOD DWARVEN DRINKING GAME SONG! DORI APPROVES! (very silently of course)
I´m soooo gonna do that even if I´ll probably either have a headache for a fucking week or a cold after doing some “mining for mysteries” ^^
Also I now I want that being played in Nori´s tavern, complete with hilariously botched cheating attempts, someone falling over and many an eyebrow wriggling innuendo to do some mystery mining down someone´s pants please ^^
I’m dying last night we had a house party and at one point I remembered I have a lit paper due this week and decided to get started on it, this morning I woke up to this
I know in the movie Legolas was “unaffected” but… these two being drunk as skunks is pure gold. They keep trying to smooch but Gimli’s nose gets in the way. (The concept of tilting their heads a bit doesn’t register) And they spill so much alcohol in their attempts.
this is the sweetest goddamn thing, and that is a nose OF EXTREME DWARFY GLORY
This list will also be in the Cast page in the sidebar, in case you need to find it again for whatever reason.
Congratulations to everyone, and to those of you not on this list, please try again in the next round; we loved all of your voices!
-Ricky Pulsifer
NEW CAST MEMBERS – WELCOME!!
To Ricky and HD: what a mammoth achievement! SO MANY AUDITIONS. You should be so proud, and I am in awe of how hard you work. You are so, so appreciated. love you both, thank you so much. go have a glass of wine and relax
CONGRATULATIONS NEW CAST HEY HEY HIIIII HEY! Please don’t hesitate to contact me about anything characterish or plot or whatever – I am SO HAPPY to talk about these characters with you! Hit me up for my skype addy – I already know some of you, and I am so eager to meet the rest!
Those who auditioned and didn’t make this round: Ahhh, dangit. Better luck next time! – but do remember! We have: Lady Selga, Arwen, Eowyn, Faramir. Bard II, Brand, Theoden, Freda, Eothain, Jeri, Bani, Wee Thorin… jeeeeeez, there are a LOT OF CHARACTERS OKAY. This is only the 2nd round! Your voice is awesome, you are awesome, and you might end up being any of these, so don’t be despondent 🙂
Hey, they’re not always grim! Thror is a deadpan snarker of supreme skill, to my mind 🙂
Yeah, I think Gror would be a bit of an outside ear for Thror. Not so involved in all the manic drama that is the watching of the Quest – a good confidante! They’d have a beer and chat, and Thror would grumble and then Gror would pat his back, and they’d sing old songs from the Grey Mountains, before the Dragons ever came.
Hey there, Nonnie! Thank you so so much! Oh my goodness, I feel sort of like I should put together a care package for you. Or at least slap Sansukh with a warning of sorts:
“Have these things on hand before attempting this fic. 1. Tissues. 2. More tissues. 3. Pet or a stuffed animal of your choice. 4. Blanket. 5. Even more tissues. 6. Chocolatey or warm beverage of choice (alcohol optional). 6. water (to replace tears) 7. No, even more tissues than that.”
(any more suggestions welcome heeheheheh)
Well, I’ve some rough plans for what needs to happen after the main plot of LOTR is through. Some of it will probably end up in the Appendices, tbh (there is a danger here of this fic dribbling out into as many endings as the movies had, lol). But we WILL be seeing out the books, including the Scouring of the Shire. We WILL see the opening of the Fourth Age, and the renewal of Erebor, Aglarond, Gondor and the Shire. And we WILL see Valinor.
Aw Yiss 