Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, but too lazy to look things up..

[Stray Cat]

Question for herodom...

 

I am trying to simulate some of the drugs in M&M's Freedom City Sourcebook. They can boost characteristics temporarily, but there can be harmful side effects. That's easy to simulate. Aids plus side effects with activation rolls. However, I want the drugs to be less effective for super people. I was wondering if anyone had already developed a way to do this. I was considering the following:

 

1. CON roll to see if the drug takes effect. If the character FAILS the roll, the drug's effect occurs. High-CON characters would not receive the benefits of the drug as often as plebes.

2. A second CON roll to see if the drug's side effects occur. If the character fails the roll, the side effects occur.

 

Often this means that supers wouldn't receive the benefits or the drawbacks of these drugs, yet the side effects could occur even if the drug does not enhance the character.

 

Would this be an acceptable mechanic for you? Gimme some feedback please!

 

Cat

[Monolith]

I would put a -1/4 Limitation on the drug stating it has a "maximum value." What I mean by this is that a drug which Aids 4d6 to CON will add +7 CON to someone with an average roll. So you put a Maximum Value of benefit of 27 (20 for a human maximum and 7 from the addition in this instance). So from one use a normal might go from a 10 CON to a 17. A 25 CON super would only go to 27 because of the Maximum Value Limitation. The Side Effect would still go off though, even if the character did not gain any value from the drug.

 

I would probably look at building a drug as follows:

 

Health Boost: 4d6 AID to CON, Delayed Return Rate 5/hour, Maximum Value (27 CON): -1/4, Does Not Work If CON Roll Failed: -0, Side Effect: -5 CON for 1 day after effect has wore off if CON Roll is failed: -1/2

[Stray Cat]

Thanks muchly Monolith!

 

Cat

[dugfromthearth]

or -1/2 affected by NCM (normal characteristic maxima)

 

so that the effect is halved for any attribute over 20.

 

str aid +10pts

str 10 person gets full benefit of +10 str

 

str 40 person only gets +5 str because NCM kicks in.

[Stray Cat]

That's a cool idea too! This is why I like postin here. I can always find multiple ways to tackle a problem.

 

 

Cat

[Monolith]

Here are my versions of the designer drugs from Freedom City. I decided to go with dugfromtheearth's NCM Limitation as that seemed to make more sense.

 

Freedom City Drugs

 

Cost	Power	END
14	Max: Aid STR, DEX, CON, & SPD 7d6 (standard effect: 21 points), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Minute; +1/4), Four Characteristics simultaneously (+1) (157 Active Points); 1 Charge which Never Recover (-4), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (3d6 Killing Damage taken if fail a CON Roll.; -2), OAF Expendable (Very Difficult to obtain new Drugs; -1 1/2), Addictive (EGO Roll -5 to avoid addiction) (-1), NCM Applies (-1/2), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-5 INT & EGO while Drug is in use; -1/2)
8	Zombie Powder: (Total: 60 Active Cost, 8 Real Cost) +20 PRE (20 Active Points); 1 Continuing Charge lasting Minutes per point of CON up to 1 Hour which Never Recover (-2 1/4), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (CON Roll when drug is used if failed lose all STUN for GM-determined time period; If CON Roll is missed by 5 or more character dies and is transformed into a zombie; each additional use is at -1 cumulative; -2), OAF Expendable (Very Difficult to obtain new Drugs; Drugs; -1 1/2), Only To Protect Against PRE Attacks (-1), Side Effect (Major Effect) (2 x effect from Mind Control ; -1/2), Addictive (-1/2) (Real Cost: 2) plus Physical Damage Reduction, 50% (20 Active Points); 1 Continuing Charge lasting Minutes per point of CON up to 1 Hour which Never Recover (-2 1/4), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (CON Roll when drug is used if failed lose all STUN for GM-determined time period; If CON Roll is missed by 5 or more character dies and is transformed into a zombie; each additional use is at -1 cumulative; -2), OAF Expendable (Very Difficult to obtain new Drugs; Drugs; -1 1/2), Side Effect (Major Effect) (2 x effect from Mind Control ; -1/2), Addictive (-1/2) (Real Cost: 3) plus Energy Damage Reduction, 50% (20 Active Points); 1 Continuing Charge lasting Minutes per point of CON up to 1 Hour which Never Recover (-2 1/4), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (CON Roll when drug is used if failed lose all STUN for GM-determined time period; If CON Roll is missed by 5 or more character dies and is transformed into a zombie; each additional use is at -1 cumulative; -2), OAF Expendable (Very Difficult to obtain new Drugs; Drugs; -1 1/2), Side Effect (Major Effect) (2 x effect from Mind Control ; -1/2), Addictive (-1/2) (Real Cost: 3)
13	Zoom: (Total: 95 Active Cost, 13 Real Cost) +10 DEX (30 Active Points); 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Hour which Never Recover (-2 1/4), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (3d6 Killing Damage taken if END reaches 0 and CON Roll is failed; -2), OAF Expendable (Very Difficult to obtain new Drugs; Drugs; -1 1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-15 END for 5 hours after use; -1/2), Addictive (-1/2) (Real Cost: 4) plus +2 SPD (20 Active Points); 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Hour which Never Recover (-2 1/4), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (3d6 Killing Damage taken if END reaches 0 and CON Roll is failed; -2), OAF Expendable (Very Difficult to obtain new Drugs; Drugs; -1 1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-15 END for 5 hours after use; -1/2), Addictive (-1/2) (Real Cost: 3) plus Running +20" (26" total), x4 Noncombat (45 Active Points); 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Hour which Never Recover (-2 1/4), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (3d6 Killing Damage taken if END reaches 0 and CON Roll is failed; -2), OAF Expendable (Very Difficult to obtain new Drugs; Drugs; -1 1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-15 END for 5 hours after use; -1/2), Addictive (-1/2) (Real Cost: 6)

Powers Cost: 35