Due to an unchecked consumption of alcohol you have developed alcoholism.
Due to your addiction to alcohol, you must consume alcohol regularly. If you do not consume at least one dose of alcohol before your next long rest you risk going into withdrawal. Make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw, while also rolling your addiction dice (5d4), and subtracting the result from your roll.
On a success, you can go [10- (addiction dice roll) + (CON modifier)] days until you must have another drink or roll to resist withdrawal symptoms.
After that duration has passed, the addict must make their DC 10 Constitution saving throw every day. The addiction dice are also rolled, and the resulting number is subtracted from the character’s d20 roll, making the addict's roll [1d20 - (a roll of all the remaining addiction dice) + (CON Modifier)].
If the addict succeeds, one addiction die is removed from their pool, and they do not suffer any additional withdrawal symptoms. Once the addiction dice are depleted, the character is no longer addicted, and will begin to recover from any withdrawal symptoms.
If an addict fails one of these saves, then they gain a level of withdrawal and the next day must roll their Constitution saving throw with the same number of addiction dice. There are six levels of withdrawal, detailed in the chart above. As with levels of exhaustion, levels of withdrawal are cumulative.
If a character succeeds in breaking their addiction, their withdrawal level decreases by one for every completed long rest. A greater restoration spell will remove two levels of withdrawal.
| Withdrawal Level | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Addict can no longer take short rests. |
| 2 | Addict has disadvantage on all ability checks. |
| 3 | Addict has disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws (does not apply to the saving throw to break free from the addiction). |
| 4 | Addict's long rests have a 50 percent chance of failure. One physical ability score, randomly chosen, lose 1d4 points. |
| 5 | Addict acquires an indefinite madness (p. 259 of the DMG). One mental ability score, randomly chosen, lose 1d4 points. |
| 6 | Addict's Hit Points are reduced by half, and they can no longer benefit from temporary hit points. |
In the event that a character’s roll is negative, then that character falls off the wagon and must acquire a new hit of their addictive substance within a day or gain two withdrawal levels.
Relapsing
If an alcoholic consumes any alcohol any withdrawal levels they've acquired are eliminated.
Even if they successfully kick their habit, they still remain an addict, just not a user. If they drink again, they're likely to relapse.
In the event that an alcoholic who has successfully stopped drinking drinks again, they have to roll their addiction saving throw with disadvantage.
If they become addicted again they will begin with one addiction die, and for each day that they continue to consume alcohol, they will add 1 die to the pool maxing out at 5.
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