Recreational Drugs

[BobGreenwade]

I'm wondering what thoughts people here might have about how to build the effects of recreational drugs using the HERO System.

 

For those who would say "plot device," I answer: in most games, yes. I'm doing something special with them, though.

 

My initial thought is to use an "emotion control" version of Mind Control (Based on CON) for the exhileration or euphoria, Mental Illusions (No Conscious Control, and again Based on CON) if the drug is a hallucinogen, various Aids and Drains for the changes in physical characteristics, Gradual Effect to simulate the amount of time a drug takes to reach its full effect, 1 Charge for a single dose (a Continuing Charge if it's administered by smoking), and Side Effects to create an addiction.

 

Any other ideas are more than welcome.

[SCUBA Hero]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

IIRC, what you're looking for is written up in the original Dark Champions.

 

(Don't have my books handy right now)

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

I checked. It's not.

 

There's a treatise in An Eye For An Eye, but nothing this specific.

[SCUBA Hero]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

Oops, I didn't remember correctly. Sorry

[Guest Kolava]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

Don't forget Mental Images

[Mister E]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

To simulate PCP, I might use Damage Reduction (Stun not Body), to repressent the pain tolerance.

 

I'd also give Precognition, Telepathy, and either Flight, Gliding, or both.

 

Sleep Resistance, (Life Support: Diminished Sleep-8 Hours per week) and (+20 Stun; only to resist sleep attacks (-1)) on page 39 of USPDb, would be good for Stimulants, like amphetimenes.

 

I can't remember where, but there's probably a write-up for Sodium Pentathol build with Telepathy in the books.

 

If you do make a Recreational Drug List, could you post it? It might be handy for the rest of us.

[arcady]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

It might have been in one of the two Almanaca...

 

I would do it by putting a combination of Drains and Aids on the stats, and some Mind Controls. Psychadelics might also have Illusions.

 

Some of it should have some kind of side effect with an activation roll to represent risk of an overdose.

 

Also much of it would have a cumulative transformation to slowly give a person an addiction. Even modern Marijuana has this, as it's been bred to be a very different plant than it used to be, and seems to get more an more dangerous every year -in certain strains.

 

The most damaging drug known is alcohol though, so whatever you do with the recreational drugs, most over the counter beverages should have worse game effects - including for the risk of addiction. Only a few drugs are more addictive, but none are more damaging unless they are classed as poisons and not recreational at all.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

Alcohol is classified as an Inhibitor, meaning you'll perpetuate the same range of emotions once drinking that you started drinking with - in most cases. And in most cases the emotions perpetuated are the subconcious variety not the face you show the world. The one thing about alcohol is that most people are attracted to it during certain situations/moods which is why you have "angry drunks" and "happy drunks", people will tend to drink excessively under the same mental circumstances and end up in the same state. It's a fact that most people drink while depressed, and will stay depressed while drunk.

 

 

For all drugs, especially drugs with a mental componant, I'd add a Drain Ego that lasted as long as the drug was taken.

 

for normal drugs:

Drain, EGO 1D6, return rate 1 hour.

 

for really evil drugs:

Drain, AVLD (appropriate life support) 1D6, return rate 1 hour

 

Addicition could be handled this way:

Side Effect: Gain Dependancy on Drug; "only after X number of doses taken" or "only after taken for X consecutive days" .. X changes depending on the potency of the drug at hand (cocaine is more addictive than pot for example). The degree of the dependancy should also vary by substance.

 

Then add on the effect the drug itself has.

 

Example of a drug:

Whiskey,

Drain EGO 1D6, return rate: 1 hour + Mind Control: unable to change emotional states but wants to drink more. + Drain: DEX 2D6. Side Effect: Gain Dependancy on Whiskey after taken for 7 consecutive days.

 

I have no idea how accurate the dependancy issue is to be honest - I guess it all depends on the person - some people become addict more easily than others.

 

Here's a few more examples, accuracy can be adjusted to people's tastes and campaign flavor.

 

Weed,

Drain EGO 1d6: return rate: 1hour, Mind Control: becomes mellow & non combative, feels happy, Drain INT 1d6: return rate: 20 min.

[CorpCommander]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

What time period are you talking about? Recreation drugs have varied over the years with trends going for 5-15 years or cycles. From my memory (which i have because I never took the damn things) here is what I remember:

 

Reds, speed, pcp, LSD, H, low THC content weed are the 60's nd 70's.

 

Coke, Hashish (isn't this just weed though?) are late 70's early 80's drugs.

 

Designer coke seems to have dominated the news in the 80's until finally it became so expensive that suddenly people rediscovered Weed which was then manipulated into high THC content. Also becoming popular were Thai Stick and Crack. LSD makes various come backs.

 

Early 90's druggies rediscover Heroin. Why? All the old Heroin junkies are dead. Excepts Keith Richards. The 90's also saw E (aka Ecstasy, et al.)

 

Did I miss any major ones? Probably. I am sure someone here will help add to the list. I don't know much about opium, amphetemines, absinth or mushrooms. Of those I only saw mushrooms used once in college. The others are pretty old drugs, no?

 

Today drug abusers seem to like Oxi Cotin (Hillbilly Heroin) and lots and lots of anti-depresants. Apparently and anti-siezure med I was on, Neurontin, has serious street value. I have no idea why. While it was great at stopping siezures it was also very good at nulling out emotions (you don't get too sad or too happy while on it.) Some drugs don't have a physical effect but can encourage violence, wild mood swings, disreality, phantom voices and so forth. When I had bad insomnia once I was given Ambien. You've probably seen the commercial for it on TV. Nice stuff. Sure gets you to sleep. Next day you wake up and YOU DON'T GIVE A DARN about anything. This isn't a side effect for everyone but in my case it was a real motivation killer. 4 hours after waking it would lift that mood. I gave up all those medications for more natural methods like exercise, eating right and stuff like that. (In my case I was in a bad accident and had a head injury which caused me to need all of those things. I'm 100% reovered now, 6 years later.)

 

Lots of anti-depresants have a side effect of depression. No, really, look it up. Go to webmd, they have tons of great writeups!

 

For the anti-depressants also note that some stay in your system for months or years. Celexa and Welbutrin are two I remember still occationally feeling the effects of 6 months after I'd stopped taking them.

 

Oh and lets not forget just about every drug suppresses sexual function and desire. Sort of Dr. Darwin's way of saying, stop taking drugs!

 

So, hopefully there is some fodder in here for you to work with.

 

I take it you are trying to do a comedy adventure? Just kidding!

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

Actually I was just on for a general sense of how they should be built, rather than cues on specific drugs -- I'm building some fictional ones.

 

Based on what's been posted thus far, I have a pretty good idea here that I'm on the right track with my original thoughts.

[Blue]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

Mechanically I think drains are your best bet. Primairly EGO, INT and DEX.

 

Minor Transformation might not be unreasonable. Consider someone who takes a drug and picks up a CON and END boost but also an Enraged or Berserk disadvantage to balance it out.

[CorpCommander]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

Sounds good Bob, hope you share your write up with us.

 

While many in game mechanics seem to work well, some things that drugs do are more like character disadvantages (social and psychological limitations) so keep that in mind.

 

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

 

--Pete

[TaxiMan]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

I'd be tempted to write up the few positive effects (no need for sleep, possibly quicker reflexes), then put Side Effect on the power to cover all the bad stuff. No need to pay points for the myriad of negative effects; possibly don't need to figure out a mechanic for some effects, either.

[arcady]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

Most drugs are going to make you -think- you've been enhanced, but not actually do any enhancing.

 

The only stats that might face actual enhancing are the ability to resist being stunned and a boosted Ego/pre for overcoming your disads and boosting ability to resist certain (but not) all mental effects.

 

The stun stat itself might go up, but also with the caveat that about 3/4th of the entire total (including pre boosted total) might get put under an activation roll or some other mechanic where it might suddenly fail you...

 

 

When I referrenced damage for alcohol, I wasn't talking psychology so much as bioilogy - it eats you alive and is both very fast and very harsh about it. The line between pleasantly drunk and dying is very thin for a lot of people.

 

Alcohol is the number one factor present in violence and accidental death and injury though, and is highly addictive.

 

 

Few recreational drugs have real physical benifits. Though Hero system makes stun a physical stat and it's really more about psychological shock - so in that case in Hero there would be the above mentioned possible physical effects - you can resist shock bettern with many drugs, but also at the gamble of going into sudden shock.

 

 

Addiction will almost always also carry with it the problem of losing the ability to produce endorphins (sp?) - lessoning the ability to feel good or feel pleasure without the drug present.

 

You could wrap that into a physical disad, or include it as an aspect of addiction. Eventually it will create a whole host of psych disads that come from the inability to feel good most of the time unless one is high, drunk, or whatever.

[pinecone]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

I have used the AID/Drain and side effects route myself...so "Wire" (the street version of a Viper combat drug is an Aid to DX, STR and CON with SE: trigger happy and overconfident....this Adds to any psych lim you may allready have...the Addictive effect I used Cumlative Transform (I don't think cumlative is needed any more) so if you take it too often (not allowing the effect to heal back) Bingo you're hooked...if you have an addictive personallity you have Vuln: to addiction effects...more or less straight foward...Several Vigilantes ended up hooked on Wire and on "Pep" (Aid to stun)....they became very enthused about raiding drug warehouses...

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

Keep the good ideas coming. Everything said so far is helpful. (Even things that are contradictory -- I can take different approaches with different drugs.)

[CorpCommander]

Re: Recreational Drugs

 

Keep the good ideas coming. Everything said so far is helpful. (Even things that are contradictory -- I can take different approaches with different drugs.)

 

Its amazing what you can find on the web...

 

Yaba (aka Nazi Speed) is a Rave drug that started hitting Europe in 1999. Its currently manufactured in Thailand and it was originally developed by German doctors on Hitlers demands that they find a way for soldiers to fight around the clock.

 

Yaba is extremely addictive and can cause elevated blood pressure and body temperature, irregular heartbeat, hallucinations, stroke and death.

 

The central nervous system (CNS) actions that result from taking even small amounts include increased wakefulness, increased physical activity, decreased appetite, increased respiration, hypothermia, and euphoria. Other CNS effects include irritability, insomnia, confusion, tremors, convulsions, anxiety, paranoia, and aggressiveness. Hypothermia and convulsions can result in death. May cause uncontrolled singing of "Whose got the Funk?" as well.