Psst...c'mere kid...
Go ahead and help yourself. The first one is free.
Disintegrator – This clear, tasteless liquid looks like water and is typically injected. It raises dex / str / con (or the equivalent in whatever system you use – all the physical traits, basically) to human maximum (18/00 or 18 etc) for about an hour and destroys some small part of the body forever (no save). It also gives the user a feeling of power – they are intellectually aware they cannot run through boulders and leap castle walls, but they damn sure feel like they can. Hence, it is extremely addictive. Also called Horrorface and Paddlehand for what long term users look like. D6 determines what bit is disintegrated. Fingers and toes go from the tip of the finger down.
1. finger jointBlue Death – Usually taken intranasally, though it can be smoked, injected, or inserted into the rectum as well. The user “fits in” among low level undead – skeletons, zombies, ghouls, up through about the power level of ghasts will treat the user as if they were undead as well. In addition, the user experiences a sort of slow, tantric, melodic ringing in the ears. This is exceptionally comforting, imparting a languorous feeling of peace, but if the user is trying to concentrate on something else (anything that requires focused attention, like combat or translation of an inscription, etc) it is very distracting – there is a penalty to concentration, perception, and skill checks as DM rules. The user can also be turned as an undead of HD equal to their level. It comes in the form of chalky ultramarine chunks, and is typically crushed into a powder.
2. ear
3. nose
4. eye
5. toe joint
6. tongue
Blink –User begins randomly teleporting as per the “blink” spell. While the effect lasts, the user has a sense of exhilaration (something like a big drop on a rollercoaster or freefall) when the effect wears off, users are extremely disoriented (treat as confusion spell or similar). Moderately addictive. This is a pale rose gas that is inhaled.
Bloop – This is a green liquid dancing with sparkles consumed orally. It produces a magical lighter-than-air gas in the user’s stomach, which allows them to gently float a foot or so off the ground and maneuver using the copious flatus also produced by the drug. It also causes hysterical fits of laughter, and potty jokes are much funnier than they would be otherwise. A bloop party is something to see, though not necessarily to smell, as the participants zip around a foot off the ground, farting and laughing.
Lifejacket - This drug typically looks like pale pink crystal, which is crushed and inhaled or cooked and injected. For the next week, the next time the user would die, they are instead spared with a single hit point. Also called Blood of Heroes and Widowmaker, it is extremely addictive due to the feeling of invincibility that results. Users often take it and then do something exciting but stupidly dangerous, like jumping from a cliff.
SDL – SDL stands for Sorcerous Dweomercrafty Liniment. This vaguely yellowish liquid is absorbed transdermally, or sometimes dropped into the eyes with a special glass dropper. For the next eight to ten hours the user trips balls, has true seeing as well as darkvision, and can speak with the thing on the d6 table below. However, you are otherwise incapacitated during that time – you can’t even really talk with fellow PCs – you are simply not making any sense to them. Relaying information gathered by speaking to whatever it is the PC can suddenly understand once the drug has worn off is extremely difficult, but possible. Not addictive, though it has a 10% chance each time it is taken to alter the user’s personality; this can be anything from simply making them slightly more open to new experiences to a spiritual awakening to a reversal of various core personality traits to insanity. If the thing rolled does not exist in present circumstances, the PC hallucinates it/them.
Battery – This amplifies the user’s bioelectricity to the point where they can use it as a weapon for d6 rounds, projecting it from their eyes. Treat these attacks as lightning bolts. The drug also imparts a feeling of frisson, a kind of anticipatory thrill. Additional doses create more powerful lightning bolts, but each extra dose has a cumulative 20% chance that the user will die of a heart attack or that his brain will be torn apart by the current. It is obvious when someone has used this drug, as blue-white bolts of St. Elmo’s Fire crawl across their body. The drug itself comes as small flakes of some dry, blue substance. It is smoked. Moderately addictive.
1. animals
2. plants
3. the dead
4. rocks and stones
5. the air
6. The Universal Consciousness Core
Battery – This amplifies the user’s bioelectricity to the point where they can use it as a weapon for d6 rounds, projecting it from their eyes. Treat these attacks as lightning bolts. The drug also imparts a feeling of frisson, a kind of anticipatory thrill. Additional doses create more powerful lightning bolts, but each extra dose has a cumulative 20% chance that the user will die of a heart attack or that his brain will be torn apart by the current. It is obvious when someone has used this drug, as blue-white bolts of St. Elmo’s Fire crawl across their body. The drug itself comes as small flakes of some dry, blue substance. It is smoked. Moderately addictive.
Glamer - Think of this as the ultimate tik-tok beauty filter; it beautifies the user to an amazing degree, but they are still recognizable as themselves. Often used by assassins and spies for the purpose of seduction. While the effect lasts (usually several hours) the user also experiences waves of well-being and self-confidence, but for an hour or so after it wears off, users feel absolutely worthless, and nothing can fix this except another dose of the drug. An inferiority complex may result if the substance is used long term. Moderately addictive. Also called Face or Mascara. To take it, a special poultice is made and applied to the skin, where the drug is absorbed transdermally.
Jelly – For the time the effect of the drug lasts, a user’s body takes on the properties of a liquid. They can ooze under locked doors (provided there is even the slightest space to flow through), be poured into different containers, etc. Typically this drug is in the form of an off-white powder that can be taken by inhaling or injecting it. The physical sensation of flowing is exceptionally pleasurable to most people, and thus this is mildly addictive. Woe betide the user who has a divided body when the effects wear off.
Elucidia – Users are able to read and speak any language and comprehend any artificial pattern with meaning (e.g. red/yellow/green traffic lights when they have never seen one before, or an Xbox controller when their universe doesn't have them, etc). The user feels mentally alert and perceptive and they are; however, users will also attempt to derive meaning from patterns that are meaningless or are totally mundane, and this can (pass a save or check of DM’s choice) lead to a form of paranoia. If this happens, the PC thinks everyone is out to get him and will flee from their own party members, fighting using deadly force if cornered.
Bounce – Refined from bloop, this turquoise powder is dissolved in alcohol and then taken orally. Users can jump up to 100’ in the air and are treated as if they are under the effect of a feather fall spell. The gas produced is highly flammable and the smallest spark can set off a firestorm or explode the user.
Paint – allows the user to change their appearance, per change self / disguise / etc. Also referred to as Mask. Moderately addictive inhaled purple powder, everything just seems a little more interesting while the effect lasts – the skies a little bluer, the grass a bit greener, people a little friendlier, etc. With continued use, the user's features become rubbery and stretched, droopy in a horrifying way.
Grin – This dark brown powder is indirectly smoked (it is placed on a sheet of something heated and the resulting smoke is inhaled). It produces a strong, euphoric rush and the user is healed of a large amount or all of the damage they have sustained. The euphoric effect lasts for no more than one hour, and comedown is a bitch – a deep depression often ensues. It is extremely addictive; addicts will cut or otherwise hurt themselves in order to gain the euphoric effects of the drug - it has no effect on the unwounded.
Ghost – This renders a user invisible and non-corporeal (i.e. they can walk through walls etc). In D&D terms, this might mean they can travel ethereally. There is also a refined version of Ghost termed Specter that allows astral travel. The user also experiences small waves of euphoria in the case of consuming either drug and so they are mildly addictive. This is a white gas that is inhaled.
Remembrance – When the user takes this drug, he can absorb memories from the creature whose flesh he eats next. A little (or well, really, a lot) like Alzabo juice – ok, I’ll just face it, it’s exactly like Alazbo juice. There is a cumulative 5% chance per use that the user just cannot handle the memory absorption and goes insane, becoming catatonic or developing multiple personalities. This is a pink liquid filled with streaks of white light; it is ingested orally and tastes a bit like bubblegum.
Grunk – This black powder is rubbed against the skin, which it turns hard and knobby. Also called Scrut for the sound a fingernail makes scraping against the skin after it is taken. It improves the armor of the user considerably as well as being a mild stimulant. However, typically some of the skin stays hardened even after the drug wears off. Over time, this can get to a point where the user looks as though they have advanced epidermodysplasia verruciformis and will suffer all the debilitating effects of that disease. They will be in constant pain and have trouble moving or in some cases even dressing themselves.
Sorc - This strange drug is ingested by cutting a particular pattern into the skin with a specially consecrated dagger. It is also called Scar. For the next half an hour the user develops an affinity with magic or psychic powers (Ref’s choice if both exist in the campaign world). Long term users are covered with scars. Each pattern must be cut into virgin skin – the larger the pattern, the more powerful the effect. In a D&D campaign, cutting a pattern into the forearm that is 2” in diameter might allow access to cantrips and 1st level spells for a few rounds, whereas cutting a pattern a foot in diameter across the chest or back might allow access to 8th or 9th level spells for 8 hours. Ref determines the damage the user takes while the pattern is being cut into them according to the system in play, but it should be commensurate with the size of the pattern.
Spell – as its name implies, there is no physical component for this drug. Instead it takes the form of a spell that can be cast, either on one’s self or on others. It is a potent stimulant, increasing dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. For the next five to ten minutes, users are allowed bonuses on things like perception, search, and insight checks. These are from 5e, but should be converted to apply to whatever system you are using – for example in Delta Green these might apply to HUMINT or SIGINT (depending on the situation), Alertness, Search, etc. In OSR systems that may not rely on the dice at all, you may give the PC a hint if they are missing something. For example, if someone didn’t investigate the trapped chest thoroughly enough, “You begin to raise the lid, but hear a clicking noise like something being wound up.” Use your best judgement. If this is used on a PC more than once in a 24 hour period, they run the risk of going into intense paranoia. For some period of time, they will look at everything and one in the vicinity as an enemy of some kind and act appropriately; if a fight is hopeless, they will flee, if not, they will attack.
Prowl – an incredibly powerful stimulant, this blue powder can be inhaled, injected, or orally ingested. The user becomes totally aware of their own body and the periphery around it. This lets them move extremely quickly but with absolute silence – they won’t accidentally snap a twig etc. Attempts at stealth / move silently / sneak / etc are treated very favorably. They can also sneak attack / backstab as a thief / rogue of their level. If they are already a thief, this increases the damage they do to the next level. An example using 5e rules: if they are 5th level fighter they would do an additional 3d6 damage while under the influence, but if they were a 5th level thief, they would do an extra 4d6 damage. They also get a bonus to initiative and are impossible to surprise. These effects last for an hour. The substance is very addictive – being more than peripherally aware of where every centimeter of your body exists is an exceptionally interesting and pleasant feeling and there are other uses for the drug – athletes and lovers use it as well. Comedown is described as though one were going blind or deaf over the course of fifteen or twenty minutes, eventually being completely blind or totally deaf. The drug turns the lips and the finger and toenails of a user a poisonous corpse-blue. On habitual users, this becomes permanent.
Block – This is made from leaves that have been dried and crushed. A tea is made from them which is usually a translucent shade of moss green. This is ingested orally. Someone who has done so is immune to the effects of charm, confusion, and fear, and cannot be stunned or poisoned for the next two hours. It also causes a narcotic drowsiness, which makes the user’s reaction times slower and makes them want to just lie down in a nice corner somewhere and dream for a while – in game, this can be a malus to initiative and sleep effects, as well as checks every so often to see if the PC is overcome with lethargy and just lies down for a while no matter what his comrades say or do.
...hmm. Well. Guess I better be going now, I see the city guard are headed our way. I'll see all of you later!
One problem with drugs and drug-related mechanics in TTRPGs is that the things we call drugs colloquially (or rather, things corresponding to the concept of illicit or scheduled drugs, vs. medicine; or something to this effect, might be a better way to phrase it...) are by definition pathological- maladaptive behaviors. They have to have negative consequences, and those negative consequences are generally well known, if not always well understood.
ReplyDeleteIn the real world, we actually experience the positive externalities of those drugs, or anyway the reasons why people end up doing drugs are rooted deeply in their own psychology and in society. In a TTRPG, since the Player does not generally experience what the PC is experiencing, it is arguably necessarily the case that drugs have to become more like a gamble, or less interesting, a Faustian bargain (less interesting because it is deterministic, you know with certainty there will be consequences).
And combined with the fact that so many RPGs have magic or other supernatural abilities, and it becomes easier to gamify drugs in that way, but they also lose something of what it means to be a "drug", and/or are necessarily gamified in a way consistent with a medical model (for better or worse).
In any case though, I do think these are all really clever and flavorful. They have game implications, but many of them as much reflect a kind of drug experience as just providing superpowers at a cost.
Ah, thanks for your thoughtful response here. You raise really good points.
DeleteI think you are right - IRL it is more about feeling a particular way (or not feeling a particular way) which is an experience that could potentially be role-played, but without the player experiencing the effect, it becomes difficult to determine why a particular PC would be motivated to become addicted. So, from a GM perspective, just as you said, it is easier to gamify the whole thing such that the attraction of the superpower becomes the "positive externality" for the player vs what consumption looks like IRL. I wonder if there is a way to explore this in RPGs without falling into the gamification model (the gamble) or the Faustian bargain. It seems to me there must be though I'm not coming up with anything off the top of my head.
Definitely something to think about!
Ya I'm inclined to agree with you that it should be doable, and I think these are really good in those regards. Like Blue Death, it does have obvious game implications, but it's also just a weird and interesting idea. I could totally imagine as a Player wanting my PC to try Blue Death even if there is no immediate need, because it seems like a compelling experience in itself to roleplay and to see what the GM does with it.
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