Drugs, Drug Tables and Drug Rules
This post was made as a submission for Dice Goblin's Adventure Calendar Jam 2023 where we post one short RPG idea every day until December 24. Here are my previous entries: day one, two, three and four
Here are some tables to generate generic, performance-enchancing fantasy drugs. First, a table of broad effects and side-effects.
| Name | Effect | Side-Effect | Overdose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | Burn Bright [+][^1] to Save vs Surprise and to Roll for Damage, Act First Regardless of Intiative |
Hothead Save or Intiate/Escalate Conflict; when you Take Stress, Lash Out1 or Take +1 |
Cardiac Arrest2 |
| Skin | Silver Tongue [+] to Save vs Charm and to Roll for Reaction; can Taste Intent from Bodily Fluids3 |
Ego Trip Save to Keep Secrets/Tell the Truth4; when you Take Stress, Save Face or Take +1 |
Split Personality5 |
| Moon | I Am the Key [+] to Be Unnoticed6, Invisible to Magic, can See as Well in Moonlight/Dim Light as in Daylight |
I Am the Gate [-] to Everything under Bright Light; when you Take Stress, Scream and Claw at Your Skin or Take +1 |
Permanent Psychosomatic Blindness |
| Cold | Steady, Now [+] to Save vs Panic or to perform Delicate Tasks, Ignore Stress, Ignore Pain |
Paranoia [-] when Cooperating or Heeding Advice, when you take Stress, Point Fingers or Take +1 |
Coma, 1d6 Days |
| 'Nife | Stay Sharp : No Need for Sleep Tonight or Next Day, then [-] to Everything until you Rest | The Shivers [-] to Save vs Fear or to Perform Delicate Tasks; when you Take Stress, Freeze Up or Take +1 |
Stress +1 Permanently |
| Eyes | All Seeing [+] for Spotting Hidden and Using Psionics7, can Smell Magic and Strong Emotions |
Bad Trip [-] to Save vs Panic, Unreliable Descriptions when Alone; when rolling for Panic, you can Choose to Run Away Instead |
Permanent Phobia8 |
And here's a spark table for some descriptions and extras.
| Description | Administration | Withdrawal Symptons (roll twice) | Avaliability (roll twice) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smooth / White | Snort It / Smoke It | Bleeding / Vomiting | Elite Indulgence / Low Life's Vice |
| Bioluminescent / Red | Drink It / Eat It | Depression / Anxiety | Over The Counter / Black Market Trade |
| Strange / Green | Shoot It Up / Rub on Wounds | Insomnia / Hypersomnia | Traditional and Local / Exotic and Foreign |
| Translucid / Blue | Rub on Eyes / Chew the Leaves | Like Insects Crawling / Pins and Needles | Shunned and Taboo / Celebrated and Idolized |
| Noisy / Brown | Pop a Pill / Wear a Patch | Weight Gain / Weight Loss | Religious / Recreational |
| Hard / Black | Dissolve in Tongue / Swallow Whole | Sweating / Chills | Cheap Thrill / Expensive Extravagance |
Finally, some quick and easy drug rules to bolt on to your system of choice:
- If you take one dose, you get the Effect and Save vs Side-Effect. If you take two or more, you Save vs Overdose instead. If you take two or more different drugs at the same time, get all the effects, but Save or Die instead;
- All effects and side-effects last for at least one Golden Hour. After the Golden Hour, roll a d6 every 10-minute turn. If the result is equal to or under the current turn number, the effect ends. Otherwise, it persists;
- If you have taken at least one dose per day for your character's level in consecutive days, you Save vs Addiction now and every consecutive day you continue to take it.
- When addicted, you only get the effect if you take more doses: two or half your character's level, whatever's highest. You also take a Stress for every day you don't take at least one dose.
- Spend at least a full week without taking it and you get to save vs addiction again, but this time to to shake it off. One save per week without using. Three successes and you're clean. Lose all progress if you take it again, even once.
- Stress (and Pain) add +1 to your fumble range (eg. with 3 Stress and 2 Pain, you fumble on a roll of 1-6 on the d20).
Thank you for reading!
[^1]:[+] is Advantage (roll twice and take the best). [-] is Disadvantage (roll twice and take the worst).
Destroy something, scream at someone, punch a wall, etc...↩
For the first time, Save or Drop on the Ground Dying. Afterwards, Save or Die. Level Drain for every survived heart attack.↩
At least a spoonful. Superficial, roll to discern minutiae or ask a question↩
Otherwise, Boast Wildly/Lie Compulsively.↩
Roll Up a new character, same physical stats, different everything else. Pick one at random to play as at the start of every session. Track XP separately.↩
Not quite invisible, just supernaturally hard to notice as long as you're really still or in a crowd.↩
Roll for Psionics again when using for the first time. Can only use psi-powers when under the effects if addicted.↩
[-] to everything as long as you can see/hear the object of the phobia. Save vs Panic if you can feel the object of the phobia.↩