Soylentmatt
2018-06-26, 01:57 PM
I've never posted before, please let me know if I'm doing this wrong.
I wanted to build a system for drugs to opperate in the world, only because they tend to do a really good job driving black markets and criminal enterprise. Hopefully my players don't just start dosing up on whatever drugs they happen across, but I just know that the second I don't prepare for something it's the first thing they do.
I Tried to make a simple system for any drugs that might show up, but it always felt a little forced. what might work for a cocaine allegory didn't really fit for an allegorical mushroom. I spoke to some actual medical doctors I know and what it came down to was that there are really five different types of drugs and they all operate differently: stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, opioids, and dissociatives. What I really needed was five different systems of drug functionality.
Once that was in place it was pretty simple to set up how certain drugs are similar and how some differ. This is totally a rough draft, and in many ways it's just a guide as a way to create different drugs and put them into the world.
I would welcome any feedback you all had... I homebrew stuff fairly often but I'm not in the habbit of sharing it, and I'm eager to see how you think this breaks down.
Stimulants
Stimulants give a jolt to the nervous system, increasing the user’s level of alertness, pumping up heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and blood glucose levels. They are notably addictive.
In Play: Each stimulant provides a gameplay bonus over a period of time. When the time is over, they require a DC save against a negative effect.
Addiction: Each dose of a stimulant requires a DC save vs addiction. When a player becomes addicted to a specific stimulant, they begin each morning with that stimulants negative effect. This effect can be removed with another dose of the same (or stronger) stimulant, but this will require a further save vs addiction at +1 to the difficulty. An addicted character can make another save vs addiction each morning, although different stimulants require a different number of successive saves in order to successfully end their addiction.
Examples:
Name: “Kaffe”
Real-World Allegory: Coffee
Type: Stimulant
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: the bean of a tree grown as a cash crop. They are collected, roasted, and dried.
Appearance: the dried beans are small and brown, usually packed in a thick breathable sackcloth.
Use: the roasted beans are ground in special devices into a powder and then steeped in boiling water to make a rich, beautiful beverage somewhere between tea and cocoa
Culture: Originally a item of extreme luxury only available to the vastly wealthy, it’s becoming more common now. In most fairly well-to-do inns and taverns, you can probably order a Kaffe with your breakfast. Some travelers even go so far as to carry a coffee grinder with them to brew kaffe over their morning campfire.
Benefit for Taking: +1 to init for 1 hour
Negative Effect: -1 to init for 1 hour
Save: Con DC 10 (2x successive success to end addiction)
Name: “Life”
Real-World Allegory: MDMA
Type: Stimulant
Severity: Moderate
Comes From: The thick creamy discharge skimmed away from the oil distilled from whaleflesh. The discharge is usually cast back into the ocean, but it is sometimes collected and stored in lye. When back on the shore, it is boiled and distilled down to a rich resin and strained.
Appearance: A dark rich oil, it is stored in bottles like wine.
Use: The oil is poured over small bites of bread in order to cut its strength. It’s effects are dramatically intensified if it’s actually swallowed on it’s own.
Culture: A party drug, it is fairly common in the more decadent parties in cities not known for their morality. While using the drug is not illegal, it is often a crime to produce or transport it.
Benefit for Taking: +2 to init, Advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks for 2 hours
Negative Effect: -2 to init, Disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks for 1 day
Save: Con DC 15 (2x successive success to end addiction)
Name: “Kakoa”
Real-World Allegory: Cocaine
Type: Stimulant
Severity: Extreme
Comes From: The leaves of the Kakoa plant. They are soaked in a blend of acids to dissolve the plant matter and leave the pollen, strained away and allowed to dry in the sun. process is repeated several times to refine and purify, eventually dried into tight-packed bricks.
Appearance: an extremely fine yellow green powder, transported in thickly packed bricks wrapped in fine-mesh cloth.
Use: bricks are scrapped with a fine blade to free the loose powder so it can be arranged and inhaled. The loose powder is often carried on it’s own.
Culture: A widely banned substance (just possessing Kakoa in sufficient amounts for more than one person to use is often a serious crime), Kakoa actually sees widespread use in extremely posh society. This has led to it being very expensive, and it is considered one of the most lucrative illegal drugs.
Benefit for Taking: +3 to init, Advantage on Ability checks for 1 hour
Negative Effect: -3 to init, Disadvantage on Ability checks for 1 day
Save: Con DC 20 (4x successive success to end addiction)
Depressants
Similar to stimulants, depressants impact the body's central nervous system, but with an opposite effect. Rather than spike the transmission of signals across the nervous system depressants slow them. They produce a sedative, relaxing effect, affecting the way the user interacts with the world.
In Play: Taking a depressant requires a wisdom save. On a success, you gain advantage a type of ability checks. On a failure, the user experiences disadvantage on the same ability, but must also save vs a more detrimental effect
Addiction: Depressants are non-habit-forming, but the DC saves increase by 1 for each subsequent day of use.
Examples:
Name: “Pipeweed”
Real-World Allegory: Marijuana
Type: Depressant
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: a flowering plant, it is cultivated for its buds and leaves which are collected and dried.
Appearance: a dried leaf herb.
Use: the dried plant matter is smoked in a variety of ways, or cooked into a baked good.
Culture: originally grown by halflings and smoked recreationally, pipeweed is one of the most common drugs in the known world. It began to spread in use by wizards and various arcane researches who would often grow the plant in their own towers. While it was outlawed for a time, it is becoming more benign all the time and it is not uncommon to smell pipeweed in most taverns.
Benefit for Taking: Advantage on either Int, Wis, or Cha checks (roll 1d3) for 1 hour
Negative Effect: Disadvantage on either Int, Wis, or Cha checks (roll 1d3) for 1 hour
Worse Effect: Becomes focused on finding things to eat.
Save: Wis DC 10
Name: “Deep Salts”
Real-World Allegory: Barbiturates
Type: Depressant
Severity: Moderate
Comes From: A deep-mined rock salt found only in certain parts of the western continent.
Appearance: the full size crystals are a dense purple, and are usually transported in larger bricks to be broken up later.
Use: the rock salt crystals are broken down into small pieces that are chewed and swallowed.
Culture: Often used medicinally by apothecaries to treat anxiety, insomnia, or other stress-related ailments. A controlled substance, shipments need a wax seal with their destination in order to be considered legal, and can generally only be purchased legally by apothecaries or mage guilds. It is also taken recreationally, however… generally by wealthy nobles who can afford to either forge the necessary documentation or pay someone to illegally acquire it
Benefit for Taking: Advantage on ability checks using two of the three mental abilities for 1 hour, either Int, Wis, or Cha. (roll 1d3 to determine which stat is not effected)
Negative Effect: Disadvantage on ability checks using two of the three mental abilities for 1 hour, either Int, Wis, or Cha. (roll 1d3 to determine which stat is not effected)
Worse Effect: Gain a level of exhaustion that persists until a long rest (or removed magically)
Save: Wis DC 15
Name: “Love Drops”
Real-World Allegory: Rohypnol
Type: Depressant
Severity: Severe
Comes From: the cocoons of the red death moths, a stinging moth with lethal venom. The residual venom of the developing moth larva is retained in the fibrous cocoons, but they must be collected within the first week or so of the moths immersion, making the collection extremely dangerous. The cocoons are finely chopped and boiled in a pot of wine over several days, the ratio carefully watched and maintained. The resultant liquid is strained of any remaining cocoon fibers.
Appearance: a honey-amber liquid with rich color. Transported in glass containers.
Use: often carried in special droppers, often used in the beverages of an unsuspecting subject.
Culture: created by alchemists in the distant south of very dubious morality, Love Drops are not meant to be taken willingly. An incredibly strong depressant, it’s intended use is to be slipped into the food or drink of an unsuspecting victim for all sorts of unsavory purposes. While it is absolutely an illegal substance it often requires an arcanist or alchemist to confirm what it is, making it very hard to regulate.
Benefit for Taking: Advantage on ability checks using Int, Wis, or Cha for 1 hour
Negative Effect: Disadvantage on ability checks using Int, Wis, or Cha for 1 hour
Worse Effect: become subject to the sleep spell for 20 minutes
Save: Wis DC 20
Hallucinogens
Hallucinogens disrupt and alter communication within the brain. Users report intense, rapidly shifting emotions and perceptions of things that “aren’t really there… are they?”
In Play: Taking a hallucinogen allows the used to perceive the influence of other planes of existence on our own. Different Hallucinogens allow perceptions from different planes. Each used must succeed at a Wisdom Save in order to interpret these new perceptions. On a success, the user can comprehend the nature of the plane being perceived. On a failure they are overwhelmed by their perceptions and are subject to a variety of negative effects.
Addiction: Hallucinogens are non-habit-forming, but the DC saves increase by 1 for each subsequent day of use.
Examples:
Name: “Blue Magic”
Real-World Allegory: Absynthe
Type: Hallucinogen
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: The toxin of the Blue-Speckled Tree Frog. They are kept and milked by highly specialized wranglers.
Appearance: a milky-blue liquid, it is transported in small glass vials.
Use: the liquid is poured over a sugarcube suspended over a shallow shotglass of high-proof liquor, which is lit on fire before swallowed all at once. Drinking the toxin directly will make someone violently ill (DC 13 Con Save for 3 rounds, 3d6 damage each failure)
Culture: The whole idea of deliberately adding a poisonous frogs toxin to a cocktail is pretty ridiculous, but just leave it to the bourgeois nobility to come up with something like this. The practice originated from somewhere in the noble class, likely the courts of some opulent king. It’s not very common, and only extremely upscale places would actually have it in stock. The practice of actually keeping and milking Blue-Speckled Tree Frogs is something only done by truly passionate mixologists. None of this is illegal, but it is decidedly weird.
Benefit for Taking: Allows the user to perceive the influence of either the astral, ethereal, or shadow plane for 1 hour (roll 1d3)
Negative Effect: your perceptions are alien and unsettling. Take a level of exhaustion.
Save: Wis DC 10
Name: “Shufflecaps”
Real-World Allegory: Shrooms
Type: Hallucinogen
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: A species of mushroom that grows in areas with a heavy confluence of magical energy. They are regularly farmed in swamps or along certain parts of the coastline
Appearance: a small tuber with a stumpy white body about an inch around with a more pronounced, rounded orange cap with little yellow spots. Once they are picked, they sprout tiny little white feet and are prone to run away. They are usually wrapped in cloth and packaged in wooden crates which allows them to squirm.
Use: Shufflecaps lose all potency if they are cooked. They must be eaten fresh. They can simply be bitten into and chewed like any other mushroom; despite the fact that they have mobile feet they have no consciousness at all and are completely nonplussed by being eaten.
Culture: relatively rare as drugs go, they are actually a very common spell reagent and are used more often in the construction of potions by alchemists and arcanists. They are a very commonly used drug among certain sailing cultures who originally discovered them, but are now usually a controlled substance.
Benefit for Taking: Allows the user to perceive the influence of either the astral, ethereal, or shadow plane for 1 hour (roll 1d3)
Negative Effect: your perceptions are alien and unsettling. Take a level of exhaustion.
Save: Wis DC 10
Name: “Yucca”
Real-World Allegory: Peyote
Type: Hallucinogen
Severity: Moderate
Comes From: The internal flesh of the Yucca Sprig Cactus. It is eaten raw and untreated by certain desert tribes as part of their rituals, but is harvested, dried and sugared when it travels.
Appearance: the cactus in it’s fresh form has a bright yellow skin with a lush green juicy flesh. When the flesh is cut out, dried, and rolled in powdered sugar it is transported in tins like turkish delight.
Use: both forms of the cactus are consumed, either like a fruit or like a candy.
Culture: The Yucca Sprig grows in certain deep parts of the eastern desserts. There are nomadic tribes that have made the ingestion of Yuccas part of many of their rituals, and they are very protective of the plant as a holy resource. It’s potency and rarity have made it a sought-after illicit drug in many parts of the world, and the pursuit of the plant is a constant illicit trade in the deep desert.
Benefit for Taking: Allows the user to perceive the influence of two of the inner planes (the elemental planes of water, fire, earth and air, and the positive & negative energy planes. Roll a d6 twice)
Negative Effect: your perceptions are warped by the juxtaposed natures of the planes at play, causing you to relive your own deepest fears. Your are subject to the Fear Spell for an hour (the subject of your fear is determined by the DM) & afterward take a level of exhaustion
Save: Wis DC 15
Name: “Dream Crystals”
Real-World Allegory: LSD
Type: Hallucinogen
Severity: Extreme
Comes From: The byproduct of specific types of conjuration and divination magical energies. In order to produce in sufficient quantities to harvest, an alchemical bundle is created in an arcane laboratory and suspended within a focal point of the proper magics, like under a permanently placed scrying pool. After many years, the crystals can be collected and broken apart with gem cutting tools.
Appearance: crystal shards of varying sizes in a nearly endless variety of colors. They can be transported in a nearly endless variety of methods.
Use: the crystals are usually broken into tiny, manageable pieces and the placed on the tongue where they dissolve. The various colors are said to correspond with particular effects. A tiny sliver of crystal placed into a tea can produce a very muted effect.
Culture: And incredibly volatile byproduct of divination magic, it generally does not accumulate in sufficient quantities to be used without taking deliberate alchemical steps first. While the drug itself is not directly lethal, the stresses involved in taking it can be deadly, and as such it is a widely banned substance. This of course has led to even further interest and higher prices. It’s often used by wizards and other magically attuned people who have little regard for safety.
Benefit for Taking: Allows the user to perceive the all the competing influences of the outer planes playing out at once.
Negative Effect: your mortal psyche wasn’t built to process all the information you are witnessing. You are subject to the spell Phantasmal Killer for up to three rounds or until you save from it’s effects, are subject to the fear spell for an hour (the subject of your fear is determined by the DM) & afterward take a level of exhaustion.
Save: Wis DC 20
Opioids
Opioids bind specific sensory receptors within the brain, altering the bodies ability to perceive sensory or psychoactive input, replacing it with a euphoric numbness. This gives opioids wide medical or anesthetic uses, although they are limited by their severely addictive properties.
In Play: Opioids provide a number of temporary hit points, as well as other gameplay bonuses over a period of time. When the time is over, they require a DC save against a negative effect.
Addiction: Each dose of an opioid requires a DC save vs addiction. When a player becomes addicted to opioids, they gain an addiction level dictated by the opioid taken. Any further doses of opioids will likewise require saves vs addiction, and further failures will add to the characters addiction level. Each morning an addicted character awakens with a number of levels of exhaustion equal to their addiction level. They can save in order to reduce their level of addiction by one, but still suffer their exhaustion. Alternately, their exhaustion can be removed for the day by taking any opioid dosage, but each new dose will require a further save vs addiction at +1 difficulty per day of addiction.
Examples:
Name: “Painkillers”
Real-World Allegory: Codeine
Type: Opioid
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: A specific breed of mulberry that is picked, suspended in an alchemical gelatin, and then preserved in a cold dry cellar for several years before the berries are cleaned and sun-dried.
Appearance: small, bright blue dried mulberries (similar shape to blackberries), they are packed tightly in jars to transport.
Use: individual berries are chewed and swallowed.
Culture: a fairly common medicinal product, almost every town or hamlet has a barber or apothecary that has a few jars of mulberries curing in their back room so that they can dry them and sell them to their customers. The risk of addiction keeps them from being too commonly used, but for certain chronic pain sufferers painkillers are a welcome balm.
Benefit for Taking: grants 2d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks for an hour
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks for a day
Addiction Level on Failure: +1
Save: Con DC 10
Name: “Goldcloud”
Real-World Allegory: Oxycontin
Type: Opioid
Severity: Moderate
Comes From: The Goldleaf Shrub is a cash crop grown for its beautiful shiny leaves that are often used in expensive leatherwork. It’s seed pods have a bright yellow, fibrous filling that can be isolated, chemically treated, and then spun into a tightly woven fluffy mass.
Appearance: bright gold little balls of fluff are all packed together tightly in bundles wrapped in cloth.
Use: the gold fluff balls are either burned like incense for a much more mellow experience, or kept in the gum and chewed to absorb it's nectar.
Culture: While Goldleaf shrubs are a very common cash crop, the process of treating and spinning the seed pods is time consuming and requires a huge amount of effort to produce a very small amount of Goldlcloud. This has prevented it from becoming very abundant. This, as well as the heavy regulation of and opioid, has kept it from becoming widespread. The demand is growing in a many parts of the world, however, and the harvesting of Goldleaf seed pods is becoming more common.
Benefit for Taking: grants 4d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks & saving throws for an hour (*special* if smoked instead of chewed, Goldcloud performs identically to Painkillers)
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks & saving throws for a day.
Addiction Level on Failure: +2
Save: Con DC 15
Name: “Black Resin”
Real-World Allegory: Heroin
Type: Opioid
Severity: Extreme
Comes From: The distilled nectar of a particular breed of poppy grown in the distant northern mountains. The small amount of rich, creamy nectar is collected, boiled to remove impurities, and allowed to dry in open air shacks for several years, leaving a pure extremely fine resin. Different techniques are implemented to refine the purity leading to a stronger strain.
Appearance: A black, thin, sticky goo that is sealed tightly in wax-sealed cloth in various size bricks.
Use: A tiny amount of resin is added to a tiny amount of water or wine to smooth out its severity, cooked to an incredibly high heat to remove impurities, and then applied to a mucous membrane or directly into the bloodstream.
Culture: By far one of the most addictive drugs in the world, Black Resin is easily the most in-demand drug in the world, as well as the most heavily illegal. Virtually all known drug-trafficking methodology was originally invented by the Resin trade. While opioid addiction can begin from a medical need, no one would ever deliberately use Resin unless they are already horribly addicted.
Benefit for Taking: grants 6d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks, saving throws & attack rolls for an hour
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks, saving throws & attack rolls for a day.
Addiction Level on Failure: +3
Save: Con DC 20
Dissociatives
Dissociatives distort the user’s perception of reality, and cause users to “dissociate,” or feel as if they are watching themselves from outside their own bodies. They may gain a false sense of invincibility, then engage in risky behavior. While having similar benefits to opioids and non-addictive, Dissociatives are not commonly used medicinally because of the extremely unpredictable and dangerous side-effects.
In Play: Taking a Dissociative provides a number of temporary hit points, as well as other gameplay bonuses over a period of time. When taken, the user must make a constitution save. On a sucess they retain control of themselves for the duration of the drug’s effect, and suffer a negative effect when it ends. On a failure, they lose control of themselves and must roll to see how they behave for the duration of the drug’s effect before they suffer the negative effects of the drug.
Addiction: Dissociatives are non-habit-forming, but the DC saves increase by 1 for each subsequent day of use.
Examples:
Name: “Swamp Puffer”
Real-World Allegory: Nitrous
Type: Dissociative
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: A species of puffer fish found in certain swamps that metabolize the methane given off by the rotting vegetation. A living fish can exhale a small amount of its toxin, but techniques exist to prepare the fish with it’s bladder still inflated. The toxin ferments within the fish, intensifying with age.
Appearance: oily, pink-fleshed, two-inch long fish have their mouths cooked and cauterized to seal the gas inside. They are sealed, packed in oil, and transported in glass jars.
Use: The fish are submerged in jars or bowls of water to clean away the preserving oil. The fish is then punctured, either with a hot knife or, in a pinch, simply by being torn, and the preserved gas is inhaled.
Culture: Swamp Puffers have an inherent unpleasantness to them. The practice originated in certain swamp cultures and was refined as the fish were being exported greater distances, but as it was refined and became more potent the results became more dangerous. Using them is no longer considered a delicacy but instead is something crass, a cheap way for tough, violent people to get a thrill.
Benefit for Taking: grants 2d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks for an hour
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks for a day
Behavior While Out Of Control: roll a d4
1 - Smash the hardest available object until it doesn’t exist.
2 - Break into the most secure location available and take something.
3 - Attack the closest available person relentlessly.
4 - Find & submerge yourself in liquid and don’t come up.
Save: Con DC 10
Name: “Juniper”
Real-World Allegory: Special K
Type: Dissociative
Severity: Moderate
Comes From: The hardened secretions of Juniper Wasps. Their hives are made from a mixture of their secretions and surrounding sand or dust, but each cell of the hive is flooded with their secretion where it slowly absorbs the nutrients of the surrounding environment to feed their larva. When the secretion is harvested, purified, and then mixed with a particular blend of sugars, it hardens when poured in little spirals into cold water.
Appearance: the poured mixture forms into little spun nests of blue spun sugar, like cotton candy. This is often packed tightly in little bricks, but is considered more pure in it’s freshly poured form.
Use: the light, sugary nests are eaten, or are melted into a tea.
Culture: Juniper was developed by alchemists as a curative medicine. It is intended to be given to patients in extreme pain, with the understanding that any patient would have to be heavily restrained to prevent them from hurting themself or someone around them. It is heavily regulated and absolutely illegal to be transported outside of specific medical needs. It is only used recreationally in very unpleasant company indeed.
Benefit for Taking: grants 4d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks & saving throws for an hour.
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks & saving throws for a day.
Behavior While Out Of Control: roll a d6
1 - Smash the hardest available object until it doesn’t exist.
2 - Break into the most secure location available and take something.
3 - Attack the closest available person relentlessly.
4 - Find & submerge yourself in liquid and don’t come up.
5 - Light everything available on fire.
6 - Climb & throw yourself off the highest available height
Save: Con DC 15
Name: “Blood Milk”
Real-World Allegory: PCP
Type: Dissociative
Severity: Extreme
Comes From: pulpy syrup harvested from barnacles that grow on the carcasses of giant sea turtles. Harvesting them is extremely difficult as you have to cut them free without puncturing them. The islanders that dive for them use it for a single rite of passage within their culture to ascend to tribal leadership, a ritual which kills most people attempting it.
Appearance: Syrupy thick and extremely dark red, almost black, liquid. transported in glass vials completely sealed in wax
Use: drinking it pure gives disadvantage on every check and is often absolutely lethal. It is mixed with milk to be sipped, making it appear like a rich blood-based hot cocoa with a sweet, earthy, umami flavor
Culture: Easily the most deadly drug in the world, it is used by only the truly desperate. It’s widespread use is kept in check by it’s sheer lethality. Completely banned across the entire civilized world.
Benefit for Taking: grants 6d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks, saving throws & attack rolls for an hour
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks, saving throws & attack rolls for a day.
Behavior While Out Of Control: roll a d8
1 - Smash the hardest available object until it doesn’t exist.
2 - Break into the most secure location available and take something.
3 - Attack the closest available person relentlessly.
4 - Find & submerge yourself in liquid and don’t come up.
5 - Light everything available on fire.
6 - Climb & throw yourself off the highest available height
7 - Hunt down & kill the most important person in your life.
8 - Heart Attack (DC 20 Con saving throw. take 8d8 + 40 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one). Roll again.
Save: Con DC 20
I wanted to build a system for drugs to opperate in the world, only because they tend to do a really good job driving black markets and criminal enterprise. Hopefully my players don't just start dosing up on whatever drugs they happen across, but I just know that the second I don't prepare for something it's the first thing they do.
I Tried to make a simple system for any drugs that might show up, but it always felt a little forced. what might work for a cocaine allegory didn't really fit for an allegorical mushroom. I spoke to some actual medical doctors I know and what it came down to was that there are really five different types of drugs and they all operate differently: stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, opioids, and dissociatives. What I really needed was five different systems of drug functionality.
Once that was in place it was pretty simple to set up how certain drugs are similar and how some differ. This is totally a rough draft, and in many ways it's just a guide as a way to create different drugs and put them into the world.
I would welcome any feedback you all had... I homebrew stuff fairly often but I'm not in the habbit of sharing it, and I'm eager to see how you think this breaks down.
Stimulants
Stimulants give a jolt to the nervous system, increasing the user’s level of alertness, pumping up heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and blood glucose levels. They are notably addictive.
In Play: Each stimulant provides a gameplay bonus over a period of time. When the time is over, they require a DC save against a negative effect.
Addiction: Each dose of a stimulant requires a DC save vs addiction. When a player becomes addicted to a specific stimulant, they begin each morning with that stimulants negative effect. This effect can be removed with another dose of the same (or stronger) stimulant, but this will require a further save vs addiction at +1 to the difficulty. An addicted character can make another save vs addiction each morning, although different stimulants require a different number of successive saves in order to successfully end their addiction.
Examples:
Name: “Kaffe”
Real-World Allegory: Coffee
Type: Stimulant
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: the bean of a tree grown as a cash crop. They are collected, roasted, and dried.
Appearance: the dried beans are small and brown, usually packed in a thick breathable sackcloth.
Use: the roasted beans are ground in special devices into a powder and then steeped in boiling water to make a rich, beautiful beverage somewhere between tea and cocoa
Culture: Originally a item of extreme luxury only available to the vastly wealthy, it’s becoming more common now. In most fairly well-to-do inns and taverns, you can probably order a Kaffe with your breakfast. Some travelers even go so far as to carry a coffee grinder with them to brew kaffe over their morning campfire.
Benefit for Taking: +1 to init for 1 hour
Negative Effect: -1 to init for 1 hour
Save: Con DC 10 (2x successive success to end addiction)
Name: “Life”
Real-World Allegory: MDMA
Type: Stimulant
Severity: Moderate
Comes From: The thick creamy discharge skimmed away from the oil distilled from whaleflesh. The discharge is usually cast back into the ocean, but it is sometimes collected and stored in lye. When back on the shore, it is boiled and distilled down to a rich resin and strained.
Appearance: A dark rich oil, it is stored in bottles like wine.
Use: The oil is poured over small bites of bread in order to cut its strength. It’s effects are dramatically intensified if it’s actually swallowed on it’s own.
Culture: A party drug, it is fairly common in the more decadent parties in cities not known for their morality. While using the drug is not illegal, it is often a crime to produce or transport it.
Benefit for Taking: +2 to init, Advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks for 2 hours
Negative Effect: -2 to init, Disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks for 1 day
Save: Con DC 15 (2x successive success to end addiction)
Name: “Kakoa”
Real-World Allegory: Cocaine
Type: Stimulant
Severity: Extreme
Comes From: The leaves of the Kakoa plant. They are soaked in a blend of acids to dissolve the plant matter and leave the pollen, strained away and allowed to dry in the sun. process is repeated several times to refine and purify, eventually dried into tight-packed bricks.
Appearance: an extremely fine yellow green powder, transported in thickly packed bricks wrapped in fine-mesh cloth.
Use: bricks are scrapped with a fine blade to free the loose powder so it can be arranged and inhaled. The loose powder is often carried on it’s own.
Culture: A widely banned substance (just possessing Kakoa in sufficient amounts for more than one person to use is often a serious crime), Kakoa actually sees widespread use in extremely posh society. This has led to it being very expensive, and it is considered one of the most lucrative illegal drugs.
Benefit for Taking: +3 to init, Advantage on Ability checks for 1 hour
Negative Effect: -3 to init, Disadvantage on Ability checks for 1 day
Save: Con DC 20 (4x successive success to end addiction)
Depressants
Similar to stimulants, depressants impact the body's central nervous system, but with an opposite effect. Rather than spike the transmission of signals across the nervous system depressants slow them. They produce a sedative, relaxing effect, affecting the way the user interacts with the world.
In Play: Taking a depressant requires a wisdom save. On a success, you gain advantage a type of ability checks. On a failure, the user experiences disadvantage on the same ability, but must also save vs a more detrimental effect
Addiction: Depressants are non-habit-forming, but the DC saves increase by 1 for each subsequent day of use.
Examples:
Name: “Pipeweed”
Real-World Allegory: Marijuana
Type: Depressant
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: a flowering plant, it is cultivated for its buds and leaves which are collected and dried.
Appearance: a dried leaf herb.
Use: the dried plant matter is smoked in a variety of ways, or cooked into a baked good.
Culture: originally grown by halflings and smoked recreationally, pipeweed is one of the most common drugs in the known world. It began to spread in use by wizards and various arcane researches who would often grow the plant in their own towers. While it was outlawed for a time, it is becoming more benign all the time and it is not uncommon to smell pipeweed in most taverns.
Benefit for Taking: Advantage on either Int, Wis, or Cha checks (roll 1d3) for 1 hour
Negative Effect: Disadvantage on either Int, Wis, or Cha checks (roll 1d3) for 1 hour
Worse Effect: Becomes focused on finding things to eat.
Save: Wis DC 10
Name: “Deep Salts”
Real-World Allegory: Barbiturates
Type: Depressant
Severity: Moderate
Comes From: A deep-mined rock salt found only in certain parts of the western continent.
Appearance: the full size crystals are a dense purple, and are usually transported in larger bricks to be broken up later.
Use: the rock salt crystals are broken down into small pieces that are chewed and swallowed.
Culture: Often used medicinally by apothecaries to treat anxiety, insomnia, or other stress-related ailments. A controlled substance, shipments need a wax seal with their destination in order to be considered legal, and can generally only be purchased legally by apothecaries or mage guilds. It is also taken recreationally, however… generally by wealthy nobles who can afford to either forge the necessary documentation or pay someone to illegally acquire it
Benefit for Taking: Advantage on ability checks using two of the three mental abilities for 1 hour, either Int, Wis, or Cha. (roll 1d3 to determine which stat is not effected)
Negative Effect: Disadvantage on ability checks using two of the three mental abilities for 1 hour, either Int, Wis, or Cha. (roll 1d3 to determine which stat is not effected)
Worse Effect: Gain a level of exhaustion that persists until a long rest (or removed magically)
Save: Wis DC 15
Name: “Love Drops”
Real-World Allegory: Rohypnol
Type: Depressant
Severity: Severe
Comes From: the cocoons of the red death moths, a stinging moth with lethal venom. The residual venom of the developing moth larva is retained in the fibrous cocoons, but they must be collected within the first week or so of the moths immersion, making the collection extremely dangerous. The cocoons are finely chopped and boiled in a pot of wine over several days, the ratio carefully watched and maintained. The resultant liquid is strained of any remaining cocoon fibers.
Appearance: a honey-amber liquid with rich color. Transported in glass containers.
Use: often carried in special droppers, often used in the beverages of an unsuspecting subject.
Culture: created by alchemists in the distant south of very dubious morality, Love Drops are not meant to be taken willingly. An incredibly strong depressant, it’s intended use is to be slipped into the food or drink of an unsuspecting victim for all sorts of unsavory purposes. While it is absolutely an illegal substance it often requires an arcanist or alchemist to confirm what it is, making it very hard to regulate.
Benefit for Taking: Advantage on ability checks using Int, Wis, or Cha for 1 hour
Negative Effect: Disadvantage on ability checks using Int, Wis, or Cha for 1 hour
Worse Effect: become subject to the sleep spell for 20 minutes
Save: Wis DC 20
Hallucinogens
Hallucinogens disrupt and alter communication within the brain. Users report intense, rapidly shifting emotions and perceptions of things that “aren’t really there… are they?”
In Play: Taking a hallucinogen allows the used to perceive the influence of other planes of existence on our own. Different Hallucinogens allow perceptions from different planes. Each used must succeed at a Wisdom Save in order to interpret these new perceptions. On a success, the user can comprehend the nature of the plane being perceived. On a failure they are overwhelmed by their perceptions and are subject to a variety of negative effects.
Addiction: Hallucinogens are non-habit-forming, but the DC saves increase by 1 for each subsequent day of use.
Examples:
Name: “Blue Magic”
Real-World Allegory: Absynthe
Type: Hallucinogen
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: The toxin of the Blue-Speckled Tree Frog. They are kept and milked by highly specialized wranglers.
Appearance: a milky-blue liquid, it is transported in small glass vials.
Use: the liquid is poured over a sugarcube suspended over a shallow shotglass of high-proof liquor, which is lit on fire before swallowed all at once. Drinking the toxin directly will make someone violently ill (DC 13 Con Save for 3 rounds, 3d6 damage each failure)
Culture: The whole idea of deliberately adding a poisonous frogs toxin to a cocktail is pretty ridiculous, but just leave it to the bourgeois nobility to come up with something like this. The practice originated from somewhere in the noble class, likely the courts of some opulent king. It’s not very common, and only extremely upscale places would actually have it in stock. The practice of actually keeping and milking Blue-Speckled Tree Frogs is something only done by truly passionate mixologists. None of this is illegal, but it is decidedly weird.
Benefit for Taking: Allows the user to perceive the influence of either the astral, ethereal, or shadow plane for 1 hour (roll 1d3)
Negative Effect: your perceptions are alien and unsettling. Take a level of exhaustion.
Save: Wis DC 10
Name: “Shufflecaps”
Real-World Allegory: Shrooms
Type: Hallucinogen
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: A species of mushroom that grows in areas with a heavy confluence of magical energy. They are regularly farmed in swamps or along certain parts of the coastline
Appearance: a small tuber with a stumpy white body about an inch around with a more pronounced, rounded orange cap with little yellow spots. Once they are picked, they sprout tiny little white feet and are prone to run away. They are usually wrapped in cloth and packaged in wooden crates which allows them to squirm.
Use: Shufflecaps lose all potency if they are cooked. They must be eaten fresh. They can simply be bitten into and chewed like any other mushroom; despite the fact that they have mobile feet they have no consciousness at all and are completely nonplussed by being eaten.
Culture: relatively rare as drugs go, they are actually a very common spell reagent and are used more often in the construction of potions by alchemists and arcanists. They are a very commonly used drug among certain sailing cultures who originally discovered them, but are now usually a controlled substance.
Benefit for Taking: Allows the user to perceive the influence of either the astral, ethereal, or shadow plane for 1 hour (roll 1d3)
Negative Effect: your perceptions are alien and unsettling. Take a level of exhaustion.
Save: Wis DC 10
Name: “Yucca”
Real-World Allegory: Peyote
Type: Hallucinogen
Severity: Moderate
Comes From: The internal flesh of the Yucca Sprig Cactus. It is eaten raw and untreated by certain desert tribes as part of their rituals, but is harvested, dried and sugared when it travels.
Appearance: the cactus in it’s fresh form has a bright yellow skin with a lush green juicy flesh. When the flesh is cut out, dried, and rolled in powdered sugar it is transported in tins like turkish delight.
Use: both forms of the cactus are consumed, either like a fruit or like a candy.
Culture: The Yucca Sprig grows in certain deep parts of the eastern desserts. There are nomadic tribes that have made the ingestion of Yuccas part of many of their rituals, and they are very protective of the plant as a holy resource. It’s potency and rarity have made it a sought-after illicit drug in many parts of the world, and the pursuit of the plant is a constant illicit trade in the deep desert.
Benefit for Taking: Allows the user to perceive the influence of two of the inner planes (the elemental planes of water, fire, earth and air, and the positive & negative energy planes. Roll a d6 twice)
Negative Effect: your perceptions are warped by the juxtaposed natures of the planes at play, causing you to relive your own deepest fears. Your are subject to the Fear Spell for an hour (the subject of your fear is determined by the DM) & afterward take a level of exhaustion
Save: Wis DC 15
Name: “Dream Crystals”
Real-World Allegory: LSD
Type: Hallucinogen
Severity: Extreme
Comes From: The byproduct of specific types of conjuration and divination magical energies. In order to produce in sufficient quantities to harvest, an alchemical bundle is created in an arcane laboratory and suspended within a focal point of the proper magics, like under a permanently placed scrying pool. After many years, the crystals can be collected and broken apart with gem cutting tools.
Appearance: crystal shards of varying sizes in a nearly endless variety of colors. They can be transported in a nearly endless variety of methods.
Use: the crystals are usually broken into tiny, manageable pieces and the placed on the tongue where they dissolve. The various colors are said to correspond with particular effects. A tiny sliver of crystal placed into a tea can produce a very muted effect.
Culture: And incredibly volatile byproduct of divination magic, it generally does not accumulate in sufficient quantities to be used without taking deliberate alchemical steps first. While the drug itself is not directly lethal, the stresses involved in taking it can be deadly, and as such it is a widely banned substance. This of course has led to even further interest and higher prices. It’s often used by wizards and other magically attuned people who have little regard for safety.
Benefit for Taking: Allows the user to perceive the all the competing influences of the outer planes playing out at once.
Negative Effect: your mortal psyche wasn’t built to process all the information you are witnessing. You are subject to the spell Phantasmal Killer for up to three rounds or until you save from it’s effects, are subject to the fear spell for an hour (the subject of your fear is determined by the DM) & afterward take a level of exhaustion.
Save: Wis DC 20
Opioids
Opioids bind specific sensory receptors within the brain, altering the bodies ability to perceive sensory or psychoactive input, replacing it with a euphoric numbness. This gives opioids wide medical or anesthetic uses, although they are limited by their severely addictive properties.
In Play: Opioids provide a number of temporary hit points, as well as other gameplay bonuses over a period of time. When the time is over, they require a DC save against a negative effect.
Addiction: Each dose of an opioid requires a DC save vs addiction. When a player becomes addicted to opioids, they gain an addiction level dictated by the opioid taken. Any further doses of opioids will likewise require saves vs addiction, and further failures will add to the characters addiction level. Each morning an addicted character awakens with a number of levels of exhaustion equal to their addiction level. They can save in order to reduce their level of addiction by one, but still suffer their exhaustion. Alternately, their exhaustion can be removed for the day by taking any opioid dosage, but each new dose will require a further save vs addiction at +1 difficulty per day of addiction.
Examples:
Name: “Painkillers”
Real-World Allegory: Codeine
Type: Opioid
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: A specific breed of mulberry that is picked, suspended in an alchemical gelatin, and then preserved in a cold dry cellar for several years before the berries are cleaned and sun-dried.
Appearance: small, bright blue dried mulberries (similar shape to blackberries), they are packed tightly in jars to transport.
Use: individual berries are chewed and swallowed.
Culture: a fairly common medicinal product, almost every town or hamlet has a barber or apothecary that has a few jars of mulberries curing in their back room so that they can dry them and sell them to their customers. The risk of addiction keeps them from being too commonly used, but for certain chronic pain sufferers painkillers are a welcome balm.
Benefit for Taking: grants 2d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks for an hour
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks for a day
Addiction Level on Failure: +1
Save: Con DC 10
Name: “Goldcloud”
Real-World Allegory: Oxycontin
Type: Opioid
Severity: Moderate
Comes From: The Goldleaf Shrub is a cash crop grown for its beautiful shiny leaves that are often used in expensive leatherwork. It’s seed pods have a bright yellow, fibrous filling that can be isolated, chemically treated, and then spun into a tightly woven fluffy mass.
Appearance: bright gold little balls of fluff are all packed together tightly in bundles wrapped in cloth.
Use: the gold fluff balls are either burned like incense for a much more mellow experience, or kept in the gum and chewed to absorb it's nectar.
Culture: While Goldleaf shrubs are a very common cash crop, the process of treating and spinning the seed pods is time consuming and requires a huge amount of effort to produce a very small amount of Goldlcloud. This has prevented it from becoming very abundant. This, as well as the heavy regulation of and opioid, has kept it from becoming widespread. The demand is growing in a many parts of the world, however, and the harvesting of Goldleaf seed pods is becoming more common.
Benefit for Taking: grants 4d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks & saving throws for an hour (*special* if smoked instead of chewed, Goldcloud performs identically to Painkillers)
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks & saving throws for a day.
Addiction Level on Failure: +2
Save: Con DC 15
Name: “Black Resin”
Real-World Allegory: Heroin
Type: Opioid
Severity: Extreme
Comes From: The distilled nectar of a particular breed of poppy grown in the distant northern mountains. The small amount of rich, creamy nectar is collected, boiled to remove impurities, and allowed to dry in open air shacks for several years, leaving a pure extremely fine resin. Different techniques are implemented to refine the purity leading to a stronger strain.
Appearance: A black, thin, sticky goo that is sealed tightly in wax-sealed cloth in various size bricks.
Use: A tiny amount of resin is added to a tiny amount of water or wine to smooth out its severity, cooked to an incredibly high heat to remove impurities, and then applied to a mucous membrane or directly into the bloodstream.
Culture: By far one of the most addictive drugs in the world, Black Resin is easily the most in-demand drug in the world, as well as the most heavily illegal. Virtually all known drug-trafficking methodology was originally invented by the Resin trade. While opioid addiction can begin from a medical need, no one would ever deliberately use Resin unless they are already horribly addicted.
Benefit for Taking: grants 6d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks, saving throws & attack rolls for an hour
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks, saving throws & attack rolls for a day.
Addiction Level on Failure: +3
Save: Con DC 20
Dissociatives
Dissociatives distort the user’s perception of reality, and cause users to “dissociate,” or feel as if they are watching themselves from outside their own bodies. They may gain a false sense of invincibility, then engage in risky behavior. While having similar benefits to opioids and non-addictive, Dissociatives are not commonly used medicinally because of the extremely unpredictable and dangerous side-effects.
In Play: Taking a Dissociative provides a number of temporary hit points, as well as other gameplay bonuses over a period of time. When taken, the user must make a constitution save. On a sucess they retain control of themselves for the duration of the drug’s effect, and suffer a negative effect when it ends. On a failure, they lose control of themselves and must roll to see how they behave for the duration of the drug’s effect before they suffer the negative effects of the drug.
Addiction: Dissociatives are non-habit-forming, but the DC saves increase by 1 for each subsequent day of use.
Examples:
Name: “Swamp Puffer”
Real-World Allegory: Nitrous
Type: Dissociative
Severity: Gateway
Comes From: A species of puffer fish found in certain swamps that metabolize the methane given off by the rotting vegetation. A living fish can exhale a small amount of its toxin, but techniques exist to prepare the fish with it’s bladder still inflated. The toxin ferments within the fish, intensifying with age.
Appearance: oily, pink-fleshed, two-inch long fish have their mouths cooked and cauterized to seal the gas inside. They are sealed, packed in oil, and transported in glass jars.
Use: The fish are submerged in jars or bowls of water to clean away the preserving oil. The fish is then punctured, either with a hot knife or, in a pinch, simply by being torn, and the preserved gas is inhaled.
Culture: Swamp Puffers have an inherent unpleasantness to them. The practice originated in certain swamp cultures and was refined as the fish were being exported greater distances, but as it was refined and became more potent the results became more dangerous. Using them is no longer considered a delicacy but instead is something crass, a cheap way for tough, violent people to get a thrill.
Benefit for Taking: grants 2d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks for an hour
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks for a day
Behavior While Out Of Control: roll a d4
1 - Smash the hardest available object until it doesn’t exist.
2 - Break into the most secure location available and take something.
3 - Attack the closest available person relentlessly.
4 - Find & submerge yourself in liquid and don’t come up.
Save: Con DC 10
Name: “Juniper”
Real-World Allegory: Special K
Type: Dissociative
Severity: Moderate
Comes From: The hardened secretions of Juniper Wasps. Their hives are made from a mixture of their secretions and surrounding sand or dust, but each cell of the hive is flooded with their secretion where it slowly absorbs the nutrients of the surrounding environment to feed their larva. When the secretion is harvested, purified, and then mixed with a particular blend of sugars, it hardens when poured in little spirals into cold water.
Appearance: the poured mixture forms into little spun nests of blue spun sugar, like cotton candy. This is often packed tightly in little bricks, but is considered more pure in it’s freshly poured form.
Use: the light, sugary nests are eaten, or are melted into a tea.
Culture: Juniper was developed by alchemists as a curative medicine. It is intended to be given to patients in extreme pain, with the understanding that any patient would have to be heavily restrained to prevent them from hurting themself or someone around them. It is heavily regulated and absolutely illegal to be transported outside of specific medical needs. It is only used recreationally in very unpleasant company indeed.
Benefit for Taking: grants 4d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks & saving throws for an hour.
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks & saving throws for a day.
Behavior While Out Of Control: roll a d6
1 - Smash the hardest available object until it doesn’t exist.
2 - Break into the most secure location available and take something.
3 - Attack the closest available person relentlessly.
4 - Find & submerge yourself in liquid and don’t come up.
5 - Light everything available on fire.
6 - Climb & throw yourself off the highest available height
Save: Con DC 15
Name: “Blood Milk”
Real-World Allegory: PCP
Type: Dissociative
Severity: Extreme
Comes From: pulpy syrup harvested from barnacles that grow on the carcasses of giant sea turtles. Harvesting them is extremely difficult as you have to cut them free without puncturing them. The islanders that dive for them use it for a single rite of passage within their culture to ascend to tribal leadership, a ritual which kills most people attempting it.
Appearance: Syrupy thick and extremely dark red, almost black, liquid. transported in glass vials completely sealed in wax
Use: drinking it pure gives disadvantage on every check and is often absolutely lethal. It is mixed with milk to be sipped, making it appear like a rich blood-based hot cocoa with a sweet, earthy, umami flavor
Culture: Easily the most deadly drug in the world, it is used by only the truly desperate. It’s widespread use is kept in check by it’s sheer lethality. Completely banned across the entire civilized world.
Benefit for Taking: grants 6d6 temporary HP & advantage on ability checks, saving throws & attack rolls for an hour
Negative Effect: disadvantage on ability checks, saving throws & attack rolls for a day.
Behavior While Out Of Control: roll a d8
1 - Smash the hardest available object until it doesn’t exist.
2 - Break into the most secure location available and take something.
3 - Attack the closest available person relentlessly.
4 - Find & submerge yourself in liquid and don’t come up.
5 - Light everything available on fire.
6 - Climb & throw yourself off the highest available height
7 - Hunt down & kill the most important person in your life.
8 - Heart Attack (DC 20 Con saving throw. take 8d8 + 40 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one). Roll again.
Save: Con DC 20