Drugs

## We All Need a Little Edge

Adventuring is tough, both on the mind and body. Sometimes you need to be just one step better, or the pain to be dulled just enough to make it through the coming fight. Sometimes an adventurer wants to forget all the things they've seen, all the things they've had to do, or maybe see things they could never imagine. Whatever poison they pick, and their reasons for doing so, drugs of all kinds can be found in the packs of a hero or villain alike.

### Legality

The first thing most want to know is: can I get arrested for trying to buy this stuff? The short answer is yes. The long answer is that it depends on what you're trying to get and in some cases how much. While the innocuous jasper grass is legal in all but the strictest of cities, demon's lip is most certainly illegal almost everywhere.

When trying to buy drugs of any kind, you need to make a check if you don't already "know a guy." This could be an Investigation, Persuasion, Deception, Intimidation, or even Stealth check. Talking your way to a dealer, tailing the shady individuals, or even following a trail or unmarked cargo, whatever your character can reasonably explain as their method to getting it. How successful you are depends on legality. Legal drugs require a DC 10 check and might only take up to an hour, if that. Alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, jasper grass are examples where you'd likely be able to walk into an herbalist shop or tavern to acquire. Regulated drugs like euphoria, troll blood, and callback are difficult to find. Legislation has made them difficult to acquire without permits, or a greased palm. To find these, you must make a check with a DC of 10 + the addiction modifier (we'll get to that later), and probably take about 2-4 hours to locate. Illegal drugs like flayer, fury, and stardust are banned. Hazardous to the well-being of the user or others round them and often highly addictive, these powerful stimulants are difficult and expensive to get a hold of, however, they can be absolutely clutch in a pinch. These drugs require a full day to find if you don't know somebody who has them, and require a DC 15 + addiction modifier (again, getting there) to track down. Failing this check arouses suspicion to the character, from law enforcement or otherwise, and you might not want to keep trying everyday.

Brewing a drug yourself requires a check with the same DC as finding it, but with half the cost. You might also need to track down the raw materials needed to do so.

### Addiction

Nobody wants to be an addict, but it's an unfortunate part of cramming illicit and powerful chemical cocktails into your body. Eventually, repeated use might find a character developing a dependency on it, or worse,dying of it. But that rarely happens, and I mean that. It's hard to die from this stuff. **There are two types of addiction, physical and mental. Some drugs are physically addicting, some are mentally, and some of the powerful stuff is both. If a drug is physically addicting, you avoid addiction by making a Constitution saving throw. If it's mentally addicting, a Wisdom saving throw, and if both you make both**. Upon failing these saves, you start to gain levels of addiction, much like exhaustion, and suffer their effects.

Addiction Levels Table
 2. Disadvantage on Str checks
 3. Exhaustion level 1
 4. Poisoned
 5. Lose proficiency in physical skills until level removed
 6. Burnout, continuous

As you can see, it's not all that bad, completely manageable, until it isn't. Once addicted to a drug, add your level of addiction to it to the addiction modifier (hold on it's coming). This, as I'm sure you figured out, leads to a downward spiral where it's harder and harder to stay in control, that's the point. But it's not all bad! While addicted to something, you can roll out of it, same way you got into that mess. Whenever you're compelled by your level 1 addiction level to dose up, you roll for it. If you succeed against it, not only do you not have to do drugs, you are on your way to freedom. Succeed against it a number of times in a row equal to a drug's addiction modifier (here it is again), you're free!... until you do the drug again, relapsing. The first time you redo that sweet sweet nose candy or red-eye, if you've ever gone down to addiction level 2, you automatically regain level 1. It's hard to stay on the straight and narrow.

Burning out is a serious issue, that's when you're too far gone to save yourself, you need medical help from the outside. Every time you take the drug or go through an addiction cycle, you burn more and more of your body and brain. You lose stat points, permanently. Your physical or mental stats (or both) take damage every cycle equal to, you guessed it, a drug's addiction mod. Once any stat reaches zero this way, that's it, you die, withered away and a husk of your former self.

There are ways out however, don't be scared. Lesser restoration can temporarily remove addiction levels until your next long rest. Greater restoration removes each level entirely, or restores stats lost to burnout. Heal can remove all levels of addiction until your next long rest. Wish restores you completely, but a gotta ask, how bad did it get for you there? and you can always get by with a little help from your friends. A party member can make a Persuasion or Intimidation check to either help you cope or scare you straight and grant you advantage on your addiction save when you're trying to get sober.

**The first one's always free: If you fail a save against a drug for the first time, you may choose to succeed.**

### Addiction Cycles

I've mentioned that (and another thing) several times now, so what is it? An addiction cycle is how long it takes for something to leave your system, and to crave it again. It varies from drug to drug. Simple enough? Not quite done yet. Each time you imbibe a drug before the cycle is over, you restart the cycle and add another +1 to the addiction save DC. Probably forgetting something important here...

### Addiction Modifier **Save is always 10 +**

Here's the big important number, the all important number for each type of drug I cook up for you. You see **the base save is always 10. Each drug has a modifier that changes that number.** Now we're getting somewhere eh? The more addictive it is, the higher the number. Stuff like caffeine and jasper grass have extremely low values, that actually *reduce* the save you need to make, while fury and stardust can add a hefty number that make it dangerous to use repeatedly.

Does this seem complicated? It'll make sense soon I swear.

## The Good Shit

Below are all the drugs I've come up with and deserve to change as I see fit. I'll warn you if something is less effective and your character will be reimbursed. Like if I nerf Wall or something you'll get your money back. Each drug will list it's primary effect, duration, side effect, cycle, legality, addiction mod, and addiction type.

### **Jasper Grass**

Good ol' halfling pipeweed.

Jasper grass is a pungent herb that grows in hot damp climates, rolled up and smoked or baked into cookies , cakes, pies, etc. It produces green smoke when burned. Jasper grass is enjoyed recreationally throughout the Free Realms and abroad as a low cost, resilient herb that can manage all sorts of incredibly mundane ailments like nausea, fatigue, and restlessness. It's not a miracle cure for everything like fanatics will tell you, but it's cheap enough to substitute for real medicine if your symptoms aren't real concerning.

*Primary Effects*: You may roll a single hit die to heal during a short rest without expending it. +2 Bonus to checks and saves made against the *frightened* condition.

*Side Effects*: Disadvantage on Intelligence checks for 2 hours.

*Legality:*Legal

*Addiction Cycle:*28 days

*Addiction Mod:*-5

*Dependency:*Mental

*Price:*10gp

### **Alcohol**

Booze, hooch, grog, sauce, etc. You know it, you love it. You only save against this if you get drunk. Most people have self control after all

*Primary Effects:* Poisoned, +5 to Cha checks

*Side Effects:* Poisoned for 10 - Con Mod hours

*Legality:*Legal

*Addiction Cycle:*7 days

*Addiction Mod:*-2

*Dependency:*Mental

*Price:*Varies, usually no more than 1gp.

### **Caffeine**

Go-go juice, coffee, tea, dwarven breakfast milk, orcish tabasco. Allows you to stay stave off the effects of exhaustion from staying awake by an additional 4 hours.

*Primary Effects:* Allows you to stave off the effects of exhaustion from staying awake by an additional 4 hours.

*Side Effects:* Negligible

*Legality:*Legal

*A*ddiction Cycle:1 day

*Addiction Mod:*-6

*Dependency:*Physical

*Price:*Varies, typically priced similar to alcohol

### **Callback**

A blend of herbal stimulants that help enhance mnemonic recollection and strengthen cognitive functions. In short, it makes you remember and learn better. This is an expensive option for students and diplomats to rapidly learn and remember for performance under time constraints. Although legal, many colleges and schools ban and punish its use.

*Primary Effects:* Allows you to clearly remember things that happened in the past 3 days. Allows for learning language and tool proficiencies at a step above the user's normal speed. Tutor-books can be completed in 20% less time. Lasts for 8 hours.

*Side Effects:* Disadvantage on fine motor control tasks. Dexterity tool checks, Sleight of Hand, delicate balancing, or aiming ranged weapons, etc.

*Legality:*Legal

*Addiction Cycle:*1 day

*Addiction Mod:*+0

*Dependency:*Mental

*Price:*20gp

### **Tobacco**

You know what it is. Favored by scouts, rangers, and guardsmen for its ability to open up the senses. A natural strain of the plant that contains less additives that make it more addictive, and commonly combined with other inhaled substances to enhance flavor

*Primary Effects:* Provides an additional +2 to perception checks and passive perception

*Side Effects:* Negligible, mechanically. We all know it's stinky and gross if you overdo it. Long term use has consequences that only matter if you can't afford a greater restoration to remove cancer. So not for you.

*Legality:*Legal

*Addiction Cycle:*1 day

*Addiction Mod:*+0, cannot progress past level 3

*Dependency:*Physical + Mental

*Price:*1gp

### **Rocket**

A powerful stimulant concocted from tropical plants, rocket overloads the user's nervous system, tricking the brain into a constant state of panic. The resulting spike in heart rate and sub-somatic responses result in the body overproducing adrenal compounds, accelerating the user's perception of time and allowing them to shrug off fatigue for short periods. To prevent the panic response from resulting in terror, rocket is also engineered to latch onto dopamine receptors and create a pleasurable sensation of lightness for its duration. Rocket is typically only allowed to regularly checked military personnel, and very addictive.

*Primary Effects:* Provides advantage on Dexterity saves and initiative rolls. +5 to passive perception. Ignore one level of exhaustion Lasts one hour. Stay awake, jittery and alert for another 4 hours after.

*Side Effects:* Disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws (after you make your save).

*Legality:*Regulated

*Addiction Cycle:* 28 days

*Addiction Mod:*+2

*Dependency:*Mental

*Price:*30gp

### **Fury**

Fury is a yellowish fluid with the consistency of molasses, injected or dropped into the eyes. It overloads the nervous system with forced spikes of adrenaline as well as suppressing lactose build-up in muscle tissue, giving the imbiber immense physical prowess. It also suppresses the "flight" portion of the fight-or-flight response and can almost completely shut down the body's pain receptors. Fury can be taken as a bonus action by splashing it into the face, this leads to overdose and addiction much faster.

*Primary Effects:* The user gains resistance to bludgeoning and slashing damage, advantage on Str and Con checks and saves, and 10ft of movement. 5 temp hp a turn, can't be frightened. Disadvantage on Mental ability checks and saves. +3 Str. 5 minutes.

*Side Effects:* Disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws (after you make your save). Multiple doses within short times can cause fatal complications. When another Physically dependent drug is taken within 48 hours, the user must make a Constitution save of 8 + both drug's addiction mods or suffer a level of exhaustion and (addiction mod total)d8 necrotic damage, or half as much on a successful save. (So fury and wall would be 8d8)

*Legality:*Illegal

*Addiction Cycle:* 28 days

*Addiction Mod:*+3

*Dependency:*Physical + Mental

*Price:*30gp

### **Wall**

A small gray, clay textured tablet, heavier than it appears. Wall is always ingested, typically by mercenaries or thugs, or even hard working townsfolk defending their homes. Wall is a significantly more controlled derivative of fury, released in a controlled manner over time with stabilizing ingredients that don't bombard the body with a chemical cocktail all at once, administered without direct bloodstream or membrane contact.

*Primary Effects***:** You gain 10 + Con mod temp hp. You cannot be knocked down or moved against your will, and you can break a grapple as an action by spending 5ft of movement. Cumulative doses of wall stack, but overdosing is a possibility. Whenever you take another dose of Wall, you need to make a Con save equal to the addiction DC, +3 for each dose. On a failure, you do not benefit from the additional dose and suffer 3d8 necrotic damage for each dose you have taken before its duration is over. This damage bypasses temp hp granted by wall. Lasts for 2 hours **takes 10 minutes to take effect once ingested.**

*Side Effects***:** You have disadvantage on any check to remain standing up or to avoid being knocked back once it wears off for 2 hours. If you take the dash action you must make a Con save or fall prone. You have disadvantage on Dex checks. The exhaustion enzymes that wall was blocking finally return to your muscle tissue and flood your system with fatigue.

*Legality:*Regulated

*Addiction Cycle:* 7 days

*Addiction Mod:*+2

*Dependency:*Physical

*Price:*25gp

### **Stardust**

A multicolored, somewhat damp powder commonly gummed, snorted, or burned. Stardust is suffused with magical aether and is often used by power mages to sustain themselves through combat or long excursions. While the drug itself doesn't provide a definitive sort of "high" it's described as being generally pleasant but distracting. Addicts find it hard to articulate and stutter frequently. The materials to produce it are quite rare, and the drug is somewhat dangerous to those who cannot cast spells, producing long lasting tremors and vivid, powerful hallucinations.

*Primary Effects:* The imbiber can recover 1d4 + Con spell slot levels, up to equal to half their level rounded down, but a minimum of one. (11th level Wizard with +2 Con rolls 4. 4+2=6 but is too many, so recovers 5) Multiple doses can be consumed at once to make the addiction save with disadvantage, useful for trying to chase the dragon or replenish high level slots. Two doses would be 2d4 and so on.

*Side Effects:*-2 to Dex, disadvantage on Concentration checks, migraines that give vulnerability to psychic, thunder, and radiant for 3 hours.

*Legality:*Illegal

*Addiction Cycle:* 7 days

*Addiction Mod:*+6

*Dependency:*Mental

*Price:*60gp

### **Euphoria**

A pink syrupy liquid injected into the body (DC 12 medicine check to not contract infection). It floods the nervous system with dopamine to generate a very pleasant out of body high and dull the senses. It has been widely used as a medical anesthetic, however only available to hospitals. However, due to its ease of abuse, many people on the streets have taken to stealing supplies to get a fix.

*Primary Effects:* Relieves the body of what ails it for 6 hrs. No addiction, poison, disease, exhaustion. Regain a hit die. Advantage on Insight, History, Arcana. Disadvantage on Str Dex checks.

*Side Effects:*Disdva on Str Dex checks until long rest. Disadvantage on Cha saves until long rest. Movement speed reduced by 10ft.

*Legality:* Regulated

*Addiction Cycle:* 28 days

*Addiction Mod:*+3

*Dependency:*Physical + Mental

*Price:*20gp

### **Demon's Lip**

A finely ground red powder that is always warm to the touch and somewhat course. The drug is chewed and sucked on until the effects take hold. Created by combining refuse from dead fiends with narcotics and often blended with tobacco, lip has an incredibly spicy, meaty flavor.

*Primary Effects:* Gain resistance to fire and necrotic damage. Gain 1d4 hp every round Lasts 1 minute.

*Side Effects:*Vulnerability to ice and radiant. After 1hr, intense bowel movements.

*Legality:* Illegal

*Addiction Cycle:*14 days

*Addiction Mod:*+2

*Dependency:*Physical

*Price:*35gp

### **Quick**

The eye of a quickling, surrounded in flavored alcohol and kept in a hard candy shell to last in the mouth for extended periods of time. As reaction, the imbiber may bite down on the quick to briefly experience the sensation of speed that quicklings do. It is an incredibly bitter and sour taste regardless of what it is created with, and the sensation of speed it provides can be a tempting thing to use continually.

*Primary Effects:* The imbiber can add 1d8+2 to their initiative for a number of minutes equal to 6 - Con Mod. They gain another reaction for just as long. If held in the mouth, which can be done for 8hrs before the shell melts, it can be consumed as a reaction when initiative is rolled.

*Side Effects:*Once it wears off, -10ft move speed, -1 reaction, lasts 1hr.

*Legality:* Illegal

*Addiction Cycle:*14 days

*Addiction Mod:*+1

*Dependency:*Physical + Mental

*Price:*15gp

### **Flayer**

Made from the recovered brain matter of illithids, this powerful drug taps the user's mind into the illithid collective consciousness. This gives the user unprecedented brain processing power, and knowledge absorbed by the collective. This is a dangerous effect, as tapping into their hivemind opens up the users mind to outside infiltration.

*Primary Effects:* The imbiber gets +5 Int. They also gain proficiency in any 3 languages and 2 skills. Lasts 4 hours

*Side Effects:*Vulnerability to psychic damage. Disadvantage on saving throws to avoid being charmed or dominated.

*Legality:* Illegal

*Addiction Cycle:*84 days

*Addiction Mod:*+6

*Dependency:*Mental

*Price:*150gp

### **Overload**

A mixture of various tonics, herbs, strong alcohol, and rare ingredients like dragon scales, overload is a potent substance that ravages the weak and enforces the strong. The dark black sludge contained within a vial of overload catapults the body and mind into a blazing example of peak form. This state of maximum potential is something many people have difficulty leaving behind once its effects wear off.

*Primary Effects:* +4 to all stat modifiers. +4 Initiative. Critical threat +2. Advantage on attack rolls and saving throws. +10ft of movement speed. Regain 2+ Con mod hp at the start of your turn. Lasts 6 minutes

*Side Effects:*You must succeed on a DC 18 Con save or suffer 10d10 necrotic damage, or half as much on a successful save. Your max hp is reduced by the amount of damage taken, which cannot be reduced in any way. You suffer this damage again when it wears off, if this damage brings you to 0, you vomit a frightening amount of blackened, burned blood, collapse into violent spasms, and die.

*Legality:* Illegal

*Addiction Cycle:*28 days

*Addiction Mod:*+5

*Dependency:*Physical + Mental

*Price:*500gp

### **Ripper**

This chemical compound overstimulates muscles and sends the user's brain into a deep psychotic trance. When on ripper, the user can deal significantly more damage to their foes, but at a cost to their sanity. Ripper addicts have trouble telling friend from foe, and are often unleashed into fight pits to cause havoc and shred meat.

*Primary Effects:* You deal an additional +3 damage on all of your melee weapon attacks.

*Side Effects:*When you take damage you must make a Wisdom save against ripper or attack the closest target until you succeed. You fail all other mental saving throws (after you save against ripper)

*Legality:* Illegal

*Addiction Cycle:*28 days

*Addiction Mod:*+4

*Dependency:*Physical + Mental

*Price:*70gp

### **Eagle**

A curious substance brewed based on old recipes from the Waywatchers, eagle allows the user to contract and dilate their pupils at will, and also alters the ocular structure to be more receptive to outside input. The result is a powerful sharpening of the sense of sight affecting depth perception and low-light vision, as well as color saturation and level of detail. Eagle is a very pale, clear, greenish liquid and dropped into the eyes as an action.

*Primary Effects:* You gain an additional +2 to hit on all ranged attacks rolls, and +4 on Perception and Survival checks relying on sight. You gain 30ft of darkvision, or 30ft more if you already had it. Lasts 1hr. You can do additional doses to extend the duration.

*Side Effects:*You have disadvantage on any check or save to avoid being blinded. Sudden bright lights, such as flashbangs, the *daylight* spell, or large explosions in the dark, can blind you until the end of your next turn. Make a DC 13 Con save to avoid that. After it wears off, you have disadvantage on ranged attacks and checks that rely on sight until you finish a long rest, and lose darkvision if you have it as yours eyes rather painfully reform to normalcy.

*Legality:* Legal

*Addiction Cycle:*14 days

*Addiction Mod:*+2

*Dependency:* Mental

*Price:*10gp

### **Ronin**

A potent red powder refined from herbs native to Jirrahl and ritualistic warrior chants, ronin sharpens reflexes and reduces muscle fatigue. The results are highly controlled, and allow the user just a little bit of edge to apply precision violence by putting them into a slight trance, disrupting this battle focus is extremely jarring.

*Primary Effects:* Your critical hit range increases by 1 (19-20 by default). Multiple doses stack

*Side Effects:* You make mental saving throws with disadvantage

*Legality:* Regulated

*Addiction Cycle:*28 days

*Addiction Mod:*+5

*Dependency:* Mental

*Price:*60gp

### **Alacrity**

A serum distilled from quickling blood and other street drugs, alacrity not only increases the user's perception of time, it allows them to keep up with it. The drug is extremely addictive and wreaks havoc on the user's metabolism.

*Primary Effects:* You gain the effects of the spell *haste* for a number of rounds equal to 8- Con Mod.

*Side Effects:*When the effect ends, you must make a DC 16 Con save or become stunned and suffer 2 levels of exhaustion. If you succeed, you suffer 1 level of exhaustion and are not stunned.

*Legality:* Illegal

*Addiction Cycle:*28 days

*Addiction Mod:*+6

*Dependency:* Physical

*Price:*70gp