Drug Rules
From Chronicles
Contents |
Drug Delivery and Effect
Note: Injected drugs may or may not include a needle or injection device, usually they dont. Cost of needle/injector subject to RMB or GM, cost for drug including a needle can be as much as 10% more and will usually be a very basic disposeable needle.
| Drug Form | Time to Effect | Can it be cut? |
| Pill, tablet | 2D6x10 Minutes | No |
| Gel Cap, Caplet | 9+1D6 Minutes | No |
| Paper Tab | 1D10 Minutes | No |
| 1D4 Melee | Yes | |
| Powdered, Snorted | 1D4/2 Minutes | Yes |
| Injected | 1D4+1 Melee | Yes |
| Liquid | 1D10 Minutes | Yes |
| Derm, Slap Patch | 10+2D10 Seconds | No |
| Contact | 1D4+1 Melee | No |
Availability:
| Very Common: | You can buy as much of it as you want, almost anywhere |
| Common: | You can buy large ammounts of it, almost anywhere you go |
| Uncommon: | You can only find it in certain areas (Such as, but not necessarily, high tech centers). Sometimes in large
quantities, other times only a few doses. |
| Rare: | Hard to find, usually only a few doses at a time (1d20) |
| Very rare: | Extremely hard to find, often only able to find 1D10 doses at any given time |
| Extremely Rare: | Usually pre-rifts or alien source. Extensive work is usually required to find any. Even then usually only
1d8 doses can be found. |
| Unique: | Never duplicated, there is only 1d4 doses of this to be found in the world, and your not likely to ever see it again in your lifetime. |
| Legendary: | Impossible to duplicate. The sort of thing that legends abound about. It's not even supposed to exist. Hell it probably doesnt, and even if it did some one probably used it all up allready. Dose amounts are up to GM. You will -not- find more. Ever. |
Speed/Time to Effect:
Instant: Applied at end of characters next action. Melee: Applied at the end of the melee round Minutes Days Months Years
Power: Save vs Drug requirement Power can be increased by increasing Doseage. Every extra Dose adds +2 to required saving throw level.
Overdose
The number of doses taken in a given time frame will cause an OD. This can be a scale or a set number. A set number with no timeframe indicator means it will cause an OD after that number of doses have been taken, regardless of when the doses are taken. IE: OD level of 4 would mean that after the 4th dose is taken the user will risk OD on the very next (and any subsequent) use, regardless of when they used the dose. This could be years appart, and they will -still- risk an OD. In the case of the scale, a staff rolls for the PC when they first use the drug using the dice indicated in the chart. This sets that PCs particular resistance to ODing on that specific drug. This number does not change.
Each dose counts towards their OD Risk level. IE If a PC has an OD value of 8 and they take 9 doses in the given time frame (Minutes, days etc) they will risk OD. This is a particulairly significant risk for PCs who are long time addicts. The stronger the addiction the more often they must use the drug, the more often they use the drug the higher chance they will exceed the OD cap and suffer an overdose. Mixing alcohol with drugs, or multiple drugs togeather adds a x2 Multiplier for -each- drug taken. Meaning that if some one goes on a bender and boozes up and takes 3 types of drugs in a given time frame, their OD risk count is multiplied by 2 for each drug taken. Giving them a total value of 4 'doses' x8 for a total OD risk count of 32. The drug with the highest chance to cause an OD effect is counted towards the chance of OD. So if the drug would cause an OD if that drug is taken more than twice in a day, it is now being counted as having been taken 32 times in a single day (And thus why you are now suffering from overdose)
In the event of exceeding the OD value, the PC must roll Save vs Drugs at the drugs power level or OD. In the event of having ODed due to mixing drugs (as above) use the highest saving throw and add +2 to the required number for each additional drug/dose taken or the OD raiting divided by 2 (Which in the above case would be 32/2 = 16) using which ever number is highest. If they fail, they must Save vs Coma/Death at -10% for every time they have previously ODed on the drug. A save means the OD experience is not fatal (this time). If they fail the PC has 3d20 Minutes to recieve proper medical attention or they will die.
If receiving medical attention for an OD, the adminstering PC must make a successful roll vs their appropriate Medical skill. It takes a minimum of 3 minutes to make a single attempt.
| First aid: | PC may only make a single attempt |
| Holistic: | PC may only make a single attempt |
| Paramedic: | PC may only make two attempts |
MD: PC may only make three attemtps
If the roll vs Medical skill is successful the PC being treated may make an additional 3 rolls to Save vs Coma/Death with the above noted Penalties for repeated cases of Overdose. The PC will then be able to recover at a rate determined by the GM.
| None: | Cannot OD on this drug |
| Mild: | Can OD if used more than 2d20 times in a minute |
| Very Low: | Can OD if used more than 1d20 times in a minute |
| Low: | Can OD if used more than 1d20+4 times in a day |
| Moderate: | Can OD if used more than 1d8 times in an hour |
| High: | Can OD if used more than 1d4 times in a day |
| Very High: | Can OD if used more than 1d4/2 times in a day |
| Extreme: | Can OD if used more than once a day |
In the event of having suffered Overdose, there may be long term effects. These potential effects will be determined by the drug(s) that were used at the time of the Overdose.
Addiction:
The Save vs Drug target number. Every time a drug is taken a Save vs Drug test must be done. The save value is based upon the drugs addiction level, failing to Save vs Drug means you are addicted.
Addiction Rating: None: Low: 4 Moderate: 10 High: 14 Very High: 16 Extreme: 19 + (If saving throw requirement is over 19 the drug will list the required saving throw, and then only roll bonuses or a natural 20 will save you from becomming addicted) Instant: There is no saving throw. You are hooked the first time you even try a little bit.
Once addicted a PC will have an 'urge' to use the drug again within a set period as per the chart below. The inital starting addiction level is based uppon the Addiction Raiting of the drug used. So if the drug has a low addiction rating, then the PC starts out at a low addiction level. If on the other hand the drugs addiction raiting is high, then the PC starts at a high level of addiction. To fight the addiction the PC must Save vs Drug at the drugs power level. In the event of a failure to save the PC gives into their craving. If this happens more than twice in a row the PC rises another addiction level. If a PC makes their save twice in a row, then they go down one addiction level. The only exception to this is Burnout. At the Burnout stage, it takes four consecutive saves to be reduced one level because the PCs system is completely lost to the need for the drug.
Addiction level (Of PC) None Mild: Must use once every two weeks Low: Must use once a week Moderate: Must use once a week times a week High (Mild heatlh issues): Must use at least four times a week Very High: (Moderate health issues): Must use at least once a day Extreme (Severe health issues): Must use at least twice daily Burnout (Stat loss): Mutliple daily use (2-4+)
Long term effects of Addiction: Addivtive drugs often list potential side effects along with a chance for these effects to happen, long term addiction once it has reached the stage of High or beyond has a cumulative higher chance to cause side effects to become permanent, or cause permanent side effects to happen, this includes side effects such as immediate death. In the event that a drug has no potential side effects allready listed, it instead becomes a chance to pick up a side effect at random from Body, Mind or both. Some of these effects are permanent, some are temporary.
High: +5% Very High: +10% Extreme: +20% Burnout: +40%
This means at the Burnout level there is a base 75% chance to pick up a side effect every month.
On top of this, for every month addicted at the High to Extreme level a user risks picking up an addiction side effect from either Body, Mind or both depending on the drug type. Drugs that affect the Body are drugs that do things to physical stats, add PP, PE, SDC, HP and so on. Drugs that affect the Mind are drugs that modify the IQ, ME, MA, ISP, PPE etc. Some drugs affect both areas. For drugs that affect both areas you roll for potential effects twice. Once for Body, and once for Mind.
Tolerance Risk:
As time goes on, the body can sometimes develop a resistance to a drug. As this resistance level increases, stronger doses must be taken to achieve the same effect. If this is not done the drug's effect is reduced by the tolerance level the PC has built up against the drug. A tolerance level of 2 gives half the effect, a tolerance level of 3 gives 1/3rd. At the 4th level of tolerance the PC MUST use two doses at the same time to achieve the same effect as one. Taking an additional dose to will counter up to 4 points of tolerance. Extra doses taken this way do NOT count towards the risk of an OD, however the user still only gets the effect of a single dose.
Impossible: Cannot develop a resistance Mild: Can develop a resistance rank if used more than once a day (1% chance) Low: Can develop a resistance rank if used more than once a week (5% chance) Moderate: Can develop a resistance rank if used more than once a month (10% chance) High: Will develop a resistance rank if used moer than once every 6 months Extreme: Will develop a resistance rank if used more than once ayear Instant: Will immediately develop a resitance rank on every use Legendary: Will become immune to drug effect after duration of first use.
The above chart lists how often a user must take a drug before having to roll Save vs Drug or risk gaining a tolerance rank. On a successful Save vs Drug 1 tolerance rank is gained. Every 2 ranks adds +1 to Save vs Drug for that particular drug. This effect is also countered by taking an extra dose of the drug. As above however, the extra dose has no effect other than to counter the side effects of Tolerance Rating. The average drug has a Tolerance Risk level of Mild.
At a certain level a GM may decide that a drug will no longer gain any benifit from a drug and will forever more be considered Immune vs that drug. As such they will no longer be able to gain any benifit (or suffer any downsides) of using that drug ever agian.
Lacing:
Any drug has the potential to be 'laced'. That is to say that it may have one or more other drugs mixed with it. This is relatively common with drugs sold on the Black Market. Some drug users also tend to mix their drugs togeather which effectively does the same thing. Any laced drug uses the highest addiction raiting for the drugs mixed togeather. In the case of the user having developed an addiction when using laced drugs, use the following table.
1-3: Drug addiction is for the specific combination of drugs 4-6: Drug addiction is for the most addictive drug in the mix 7-10: Drug addiction is for the base drug used (The one the character thought was pure)
Augmentation and Drugs:
Crazies, and to varied extent Cyborgs and other augmented beings will either be immune to a drugs effects, suffer compatibility issues, or even perhaps be highly susceptable to negative side effects. This is due to the fact that their systems are already 'tweeked' to a certain extent and drugs that modify the body's present state can have a profound negative impact. For the most part these potential side effects will be done on a case by case basis as determined by the GM. As such it is highly inadviseable for agumented players to use drugs, especially juicers who are allready on some of the most powerful drug combinations in the megaverse (That wont cause instant death in the user).
Juicers and Drugs:
Juicers are one special item to take into account when it comes to the use of drugs beyond those their systems are already saturated in. This affects all juicer variants including Dragon Juicers and even the Splurgoth variants. Juicers on the whole are only really prevented from OD or other horrible side effects with very carefully calculated doses of a massive array of drugs. Changes to this system can have some serious side effects. This is also one reason why generally only humans or near humans can be juicers, and why it's so risky for other species to even attempt the conversion (Such as the extremely high death rates amongst converted dogboys and other CS mutants who have had the conversion process tested on numerous times). As such, and due to the rather unique nature of the juicer treatment, a juicer using additional drugs risks all sorts of things, from immediate death to permanent imbalances of their bio-comps, early onset of last call, early onset of the symptoms of last call (without the actual last call kicking in), drastically shortened lifespans (for a juicer's already short life), to any number of strange and/or dangerous effects, especially when combined with exotic things such as Dragon Juicers and the Splurgoth varients that use all sorts of simboites and parasites.
It is for this reason that the effects of additional drugs that are not medical in nature (Things like stimpacks and other life saving drugs) will be determined by staff on a case by case basis. This may even time to time include unexpected results even from using things such as stimpacks and other medical drugs. Afterall the Juicer Bio-comp allready holds a number of these chemicals or similar chemicals as part of it's usual stockpile. As such there is a 2% chance whenever a juicer uses these additional benefical drugs that some unexpected side effect (determined by staff) will occur.
The Supernatural and Drugs:
Unless specifically stated, a drug has NO effect on those with supernatural stats. Overdose, Downers and Side Effects may still apply at GM discretion. '
