So the party found a smugglers hideout and in a false bottom of a barrel found a powder. I now need to work out what this powder is.
So any suggestions for a Drug for DnD? something that gives a benefit for a short period before then giving a negative effect for a longer period, and a chance of addiction :).
There was a time in one of my games that the players stumbled upon a "key" of "fantasy cocaine". Literally just called "fantasy cocaine." The players then tried to move Fantasy Cocaine and the game went all Miami Vice for a session. But that's okay.
There isn't going to be an answer for every question and sometimes (often?) the best answer is to make things up.
There was a time in one of my games that the players stumbled upon a "key" of "fantasy cocaine". Literally just called "fantasy cocaine." The players then tried to move Fantasy Cocaine and the game went all Miami Vice for a session. But that's okay.
There isn't going to be an answer for every question and sometimes (often?) the best answer is to make things up.
More looking at a chance for other DM's to share things they have come up with :). I have a few sessions to think. about it
I"d say the "rationale" for most IRL drug use as far as "enhancement" goes are easily mechanically represented in D&D by potion effects and spells like blessing and heroism. So it sounds like you want a thing that does that; but then either does the poisoned condition afterward, or use some of the poison effects found with poisons outlined in the DMG if you wanted a situation where the withdrawal is more dangerous (like find more of it, and use it or risk a death save for cold turkeying your withdrawals, restoration magic could contend with that stuff of course). Of course, given that, since the "boost" most IRL drugs would give a PC are easily reproduced through magic spells or items, why do these drugs exist then in the game world?
I suppose you could opt for a low magic / gritty realism type game, where potions are in fact less great elixir and more akin to substances with short term benefits and toxic side effects. But giving "drugs" a place in your game world where magic is likely more prominent asks a lot of questions about your game world, which isn't a bad position to be in, but it is in the end up to you.
Sword and Sorcery characters needing herbs or chemicals to maintain their access to arcane powers are at least as old as Elric. Basically, it's up to you to decide whether drugs actually have a functional place in your game world, which will likely give your game world a darker edge, or if this is one off gimmick encounter where the players get to play like they were in a Cheech and Chong or Franco and Rogen movie (when they were still making movies). It sort of sits on what you want to do to your game.
Fey Dust: Also called Limbo dust, this rare multicolor powder shift taint with light and angle. A creature who snort this fine powder become dazed for 1d4 hours, during which it can see Feywild portals and crossings. It slowly induce with dissociative anesthesia, trance-like state, pain relief, sedation, and amnesia along with effect of Confusion spell. Repeated use over a week cause 50% chance to develop strong addiction.
Also, teranis, a drug that induces hysteria (random laughing fits, causing prone, and randomly using help from time to time) but gives resistance to psychic damage, and advantage on wisdom checks.
Mostly used by the elves of upper pants-bottom, after the dnd equivalant of opium wars happened.
I remember seeing something where consuming the drug caused the user to start floating in place as if affected by the Levitate spell... not as in being the one to cast levitate but as if it had been cast on you by another person. I believe it lasted for 1 hour, and afterward anyone who snorted it would get a level of exhaustion.
I don't think there was any mechanic for addiction... it was more just on the players to roleplay it.
I had an elixir that gave temporary hit points but caused necrotic damage an hour later (with a lower dice pool) and some herb that if smoked gave the effects of Haste for one round in my campaign (balanced by the spell's after effect) but the players never used them.
You could also make it a pleasure drug with effects similar to Suggestion or Friends. That way it would be something they use on other and you roleplay stoned/high npc.
Maybe a drug that makes non barbarians enter a rage with small odds of causing a confussion effect to simulate going berserk.
Or something that makes you roll every turn to see if you get the effects of bless or bane.
Or something that gives a good effect but you roll on the madness table in the dmg and the more you use it the more severe.
I"d say the "rationale" for most IRL drug use as far as "enhancement" goes are easily mechanically represented in D&D by potion effects and spells like blessing and heroism. So it sounds like you want a thing that does that; but then either does the poisoned condition afterward, or use some of the poison effects found with poisons outlined in the DMG if you wanted a situation where the withdrawal is more dangerous (like find more of it, and use it or risk a death save for cold turkeying your withdrawals, restoration magic could contend with that stuff of course). Of course, given that, since the "boost" most IRL drugs would give a PC are easily reproduced through magic spells or items, why do these drugs exist then in the game world?
I suppose you could opt for a low magic / gritty realism type game, where potions are in fact less great elixir and more akin to substances with short term benefits and toxic side effects. But giving "drugs" a place in your game world where magic is likely more prominent asks a lot of questions about your game world, which isn't a bad position to be in, but it is in the end up to you.
Sword and Sorcery characters needing herbs or chemicals to maintain their access to arcane powers are at least as old as Elric. Basically, it's up to you to decide whether drugs actually have a functional place in your game world, which will likely give your game world a darker edge, or if this is one off gimmick encounter where the players get to play like they were in a Cheech and Chong or Franco and Rogen movie (when they were still making movies). It sort of sits on what you want to do to your game.
Even in a world with magic there will be those who want a hedonistic experience, or those who can’t afford magic or be magical. The use of recreational drugs will always be a thing no matter what the situation, the question is legality in the nation the drugs are being ingested and the after effects for race/ability. For instance a flower in the fey wild that allows fairy’s to get High might have a very different effect on a human or an elf on the material plane. Or a mushroom ingested by the Druidic orcs of a forest to help them commune with nature may have a very different effect to a non magic user.
So barbarian decided to snort a line in the middle of combat hoping it would give him an extra rage, so I had him make a cons save (rolled an 18) so he basically had an acid trip where he could detect magic but took a point of exhaustion and had the poison condition. If he had failed he would have become paralyzed for one hour as he went into a fairy hole.
If the party decide to follow the supply route of the drugs they will have a chance to find a portal to the fey wild, so the possibility if taking the campaign in that direction :)
Talk to your players about this OOC before the next session. The worst way to find out that one your players is about to celebrate 6 months of sobriety is to have their character go through a really bad trip and the player to follow with a bad experience of their own. You don't need to "spoil" the story coming or the reveals but put out some feelers to the players to say "it could be this, it could be that, it could be this OTHER thing.... how do we all feel about that being part of our game?"
Talk to your players about this OOC before the next session. The worst way to find out that one your players is about to celebrate 6 months of sobriety is to have their character go through a really bad trip and the player to follow with a bad experience of their own. You don't need to "spoil" the story coming or the reveals but put out some feelers to the players to say "it could be this, it could be that, it could be this OTHER thing.... how do we all feel about that being part of our game?"
Oh I know my players don't worry :) recreational drug use is in no way a taboo for them lol,
With an enhanced effect for a while for a short time followed by a debuff (when either they can rest it off or the players fell you forced another encounter on them when they were down)
An alternative approach is to have a chance of a "bad trip". When they take the drug they make a saving throw if they succeed they get the benefit if they fail the save they get a de-duff.An example of this is suude (warning critical role spoiler)
Another appraoch would be an (increasing DC save) to avoid addiction. If they fail the save if they go 1d4 days without taking the drug they suffer "withdrawal sysmptoms" and then make it harder and harder for them to get supplies. It also should be hard for them to get cured of the addiction, if the PCs are low level they might need to seek out and NPC with greater ressurection and do a quest for them, at higher levels the healing cure would have to require a specific individual or a very rare ingrediant.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So the party found a smugglers hideout and in a false bottom of a barrel found a powder. I now need to work out what this powder is.
So any suggestions for a Drug for DnD? something that gives a benefit for a short period before then giving a negative effect for a longer period, and a chance of addiction :).
There was a time in one of my games that the players stumbled upon a "key" of "fantasy cocaine". Literally just called "fantasy cocaine." The players then tried to move Fantasy Cocaine and the game went all Miami Vice for a session. But that's okay.
There isn't going to be an answer for every question and sometimes (often?) the best answer is to make things up.
I had one that gave them the benefits of a barbarian's rage for a minute, but led to a level of exhaustion later. (with chance of addiction of course)
Etheris drugs gives them the benefit of see invisibility and detect magic, but your poison when it's active.
Gave them a few bags after they beat a bandit tribe.
My homebrew content: Monsters, subclasses, Magic items, Feats, spells, races, backgrounds
More looking at a chance for other DM's to share things they have come up with :). I have a few sessions to think. about it
I"d say the "rationale" for most IRL drug use as far as "enhancement" goes are easily mechanically represented in D&D by potion effects and spells like blessing and heroism. So it sounds like you want a thing that does that; but then either does the poisoned condition afterward, or use some of the poison effects found with poisons outlined in the DMG if you wanted a situation where the withdrawal is more dangerous (like find more of it, and use it or risk a death save for cold turkeying your withdrawals, restoration magic could contend with that stuff of course). Of course, given that, since the "boost" most IRL drugs would give a PC are easily reproduced through magic spells or items, why do these drugs exist then in the game world?
I suppose you could opt for a low magic / gritty realism type game, where potions are in fact less great elixir and more akin to substances with short term benefits and toxic side effects. But giving "drugs" a place in your game world where magic is likely more prominent asks a lot of questions about your game world, which isn't a bad position to be in, but it is in the end up to you.
Sword and Sorcery characters needing herbs or chemicals to maintain their access to arcane powers are at least as old as Elric. Basically, it's up to you to decide whether drugs actually have a functional place in your game world, which will likely give your game world a darker edge, or if this is one off gimmick encounter where the players get to play like they were in a Cheech and Chong or Franco and Rogen movie (when they were still making movies). It sort of sits on what you want to do to your game.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Drugs would probally exist because you can't mass produce spells, like you can drugs.
My homebrew content: Monsters, subclasses, Magic items, Feats, spells, races, backgrounds
Fey Dust: Also called Limbo dust, this rare multicolor powder shift taint with light and angle. A creature who snort this fine powder become dazed for 1d4 hours, during which it can see Feywild portals and crossings. It slowly induce with dissociative anesthesia, trance-like state, pain relief, sedation, and amnesia along with effect of Confusion spell. Repeated use over a week cause 50% chance to develop strong addiction.
Also, teranis, a drug that induces hysteria (random laughing fits, causing prone, and randomly using help from time to time) but gives resistance to psychic damage, and advantage on wisdom checks.
Mostly used by the elves of upper pants-bottom, after the dnd equivalant of opium wars happened.
My homebrew content: Monsters, subclasses, Magic items, Feats, spells, races, backgrounds
I remember seeing something where consuming the drug caused the user to start floating in place as if affected by the Levitate spell... not as in being the one to cast levitate but as if it had been cast on you by another person. I believe it lasted for 1 hour, and afterward anyone who snorted it would get a level of exhaustion.
I don't think there was any mechanic for addiction... it was more just on the players to roleplay it.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
I had an elixir that gave temporary hit points but caused necrotic damage an hour later (with a lower dice pool) and some herb that if smoked gave the effects of Haste for one round in my campaign (balanced by the spell's after effect) but the players never used them.
You could also make it a pleasure drug with effects similar to Suggestion or Friends. That way it would be something they use on other and you roleplay stoned/high npc.
Maybe a drug that makes non barbarians enter a rage with small odds of causing a confussion effect to simulate going berserk.
Or something that makes you roll every turn to see if you get the effects of bless or bane.
Or something that gives a good effect but you roll on the madness table in the dmg and the more you use it the more severe.
I came across something called Traveler's Dust. I think it'll work:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Traveler's_dust
Even in a world with magic there will be those who want a hedonistic experience, or those who can’t afford magic or be magical. The use of recreational drugs will always be a thing no matter what the situation, the question is legality in the nation the drugs are being ingested and the after effects for race/ability. For instance a flower in the fey wild that allows fairy’s to get High might have a very different effect on a human or an elf on the material plane. Or a mushroom ingested by the Druidic orcs of a forest to help them commune with nature may have a very different effect to a non magic user.
So barbarian decided to snort a line in the middle of combat hoping it would give him an extra rage, so I had him make a cons save (rolled an 18) so he basically had an acid trip where he could detect magic but took a point of exhaustion and had the poison condition. If he had failed he would have become paralyzed for one hour as he went into a fairy hole.
If the party decide to follow the supply route of the drugs they will have a chance to find a portal to the fey wild, so the possibility if taking the campaign in that direction :)
Another thing to toss out there:
Talk to your players about this OOC before the next session. The worst way to find out that one your players is about to celebrate 6 months of sobriety is to have their character go through a really bad trip and the player to follow with a bad experience of their own. You don't need to "spoil" the story coming or the reveals but put out some feelers to the players to say "it could be this, it could be that, it could be this OTHER thing.... how do we all feel about that being part of our game?"
"Teller of tales, dreamer of dreams"
Tips, Tricks, Maps: Lantern Noir Presents
**Streams hosted at at twitch.tv/LaternNoir
Oh I know my players don't worry :) recreational drug use is in no way a taboo for them lol,
With an enhanced effect for a while for a short time followed by a debuff (when either they can rest it off or the players fell you forced another encounter on them when they were down)
An alternative approach is to have a chance of a "bad trip". When they take the drug they make a saving throw if they succeed they get the benefit if they fail the save they get a de-duff.An example of this is suude (warning critical role spoiler)
Another appraoch would be an (increasing DC save) to avoid addiction. If they fail the save if they go 1d4 days without taking the drug they suffer "withdrawal sysmptoms" and then make it harder and harder for them to get supplies. It also should be hard for them to get cured of the addiction, if the PCs are low level they might need to seek out and NPC with greater ressurection and do a quest for them, at higher levels the healing cure would have to require a specific individual or a very rare ingrediant.