Addictive Drugs
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Addictive Drugs
The habitual use of a mind-altering substance can lead to dependency. Abusers have the Addiction disadvantage, and may suffer withdrawal (see box) if forced to go without the drug.
Below are rules for three common classes of addictive drugs. Note that these are also poisons. If someone takes a large dose, follow all the usual rules for poison, except where specified otherwise.
Drug Withdrawal
Use these rules when you try to give up an Addiction, either voluntarily or because you are broke, imprisoned, or in a place where your drug just isn't available.
Withdrawal is a painful process that requires a series of daily withdrawal rolls. It normally takes 14 successful rolls to shake the habit (thus, it always takes at least two weeks), but the GM is free to vary this. Should you manage to withdraw, you must "buy off" your Addiction disadvantage immediately.
The effects of withdrawal rolls depend on whether the drug is physiologically or psychologically addictive.
Physiological Dependency: Your body has come to rely on the drug! Make daily withdrawal rolls against HT (maximum 13). Each success puts you a day closer to shaking off your Addiction. The results of failure depend on whether the drug is available. If it is, you give in and take a dose; if you still want to try to withdraw, you must restart the process from day one. If the drug is not available, you take 1 HP of injury and may continue the process...but that day doesn't count toward the 14 successful rolls needed to withdraw. You cannot naturally recover HP lost to withdrawal until you either succeed or abandon the attempt.
Psychological Dependency: You've convinced yourself that you cannot function without the drug. Make withdrawal rolls against Will (maximum 13). Use the physiological dependency rules, except that if you fail a roll and the drug is unavailable, you don't take injury. Instead, you gain -1 point of drug-related quirks, chosen by the GM. These vanish if you give in and take a dose of the drug (but then you must restart the process). If you don't give in, these quirks grow into progressively more severe mental disadvantages. If you make 14 successful Will rolls, you withdraw – but you must make one final Will roll. On a failure, you keep any quirks or disadvantages incurred along the way!
Stimulants
Stimulants elevate the user's mood and energy level...temporarily. Potent ones – e.g., amphetamine – restore 1d FP, and give Doesn't Sleep and Overconfidence (12). These effects endure for (12 - HT) hours, minimum one hour. After that time, the user loses twice the FP he recovered (e.g., if his FP jumped from 8 to 10, he drops to 6 FP), and gains the disadvantages Bad Temper (12) and Chronic Depression (9) for an equal length of time.
If the user takes multiple doses in 24 hours, he must roll vs. HT after the second and later doses, at a cumulative -1 per dose after the first. On a critical failure, he suffers a heart attack.
Stimulants are cheap and only slightly addictive. If they are legal, stimulant addiction is a Minor Addiction (-1 point); if they are illegal, it is a -5-point Addiction.
Hallucinogens
Hallucinogens – e.g., LSD and mescaline – cause disorientation, hallucinations, and fits of paranoia. They may induce psychological dependency, but not physiological addiction.
Most of these drugs are taken orally and require about 20 minutes to work. Make a HT-2 roll to resist. On a failure, the user starts hallucinating. This lasts for hours equal to the margin of failure. After that time, the user may roll vs. HT-2 once per hour to shake off the drug's influence.
Addiction is typically worth -10 points if the drugs are legal, -15 points otherwise.
Depressants
Depressants induce drowsiness, lassitude, and (in large doses) insensibility. All offer a HT roll to resist. As with any poison, a large dose gives a penalty – see Dosage. Massive doses may lead to overdose (see below).
Commonly abused depressants include:
Sedatives: These include sleep aids, anti-anxiety drugs, and many psychiatric drugs. A typical sedative is taken orally and requires 20 minutes to take effect. Make a HT-2 roll to resist. On a failure, the user becomes drowsy (see Irritating Conditions) for hours equal to the margin of failure. Habitual users need larger and larger doses to produce the same effect, increasing the risk of overdose. Sedatives are cheap and highly addictive. If the user acquires them legally, he has a -5-point Addiction; otherwise, he has a -10-point Addiction.
Painkillers: Potent painkillers, such as morphine, are used to treat chronic or surgical pain. Abuse is often the unintended result of legitimate use. Taken orally, there is a delay of 20 minutes; injected, there is no delay. Roll vs. HT-4 to resist. On a failure, the user acquires the High Pain Threshold and Unfazeable advantages, and the Laziness disadvantage, and experiences euphoria (see Irritating Conditions]]). All effects last for hours equal to the margin of failure. Painkillers powerful enough to produce these effects are expensive and totally addictive. Addiction is worth -15 points if the drugs are legal, -20 points otherwise.
Heroin: This opium derivative has few legitimate uses. It is typically injected, in which case there is no delay. Roll vs. HT-4 to resist. Failure incapacitates the user for hours equal to the margin of failure – treat this as ecstasy. In addition to the usual risk of overdose, there is always the chance the heroin was "cut" with toxic filler; effects are up to the GM. Heroin is very expensive, incapacitating, totally addictive, and illegal; Addiction to heroin is a -40-point disadvantage.
Overdose
Anyone who takes two or more doses of depressants risks an "overdose." This definitely includes taking a single dose of two or more depressants! Any alcohol at all counts as an extra dose. Drug interactions can kill...
Overdose occurs on a critical failure on any resistance roll for multiple doses. As with any poison, each doubling of dosage gives -2 to resistance rolls – and as for all success rolls, a roll of 10 or more above effective skill is a critical failure. For instance, heroin offers a HT-4 roll to resist. If a HT 10 man takes a double dose, his effective HT is 10 - 4 - 2 = 4. He overdoses on a 14 or higher.
Overdose causes unconsciousness for hours equal to the margin of failure. As well, the drug acts as a poison with a resistance roll equal to its usual resistance roll (the most difficult roll, for two or more drugs); e.g., HT-4, for heroin. It inflicts 1 point of toxic damage, repeating at 15-minute intervals for 24 cycles. If the victim reaches -1×HP, he slips into a coma.