The Addiction disadvantage is described on p. B30. Some Addictive Drugs are described in the sidebar on pp. CII 162-165, but many of those are not available at TL4-.

Note that legality is a highly variable factor. Cities or countries with organized law enforcement may outlaw the more dangerous drugs, or may limit possession to reputable physicians, mages or scholars. Lawless regions tend to permit the use of any drug by default. If the campaign crosses borders between restrictive and non-restrictive areas, use the more restrictive level for determining the point costs for Addictions.

The following is a list of drugs known to exist in Arcadayn, with information on the substance's uses, side effects, the variables used to compute Addiction point costs, and other notes. Daily dose costs are cheap (under $20), expensive ($20-$100) or very expensive (over $100).

Alchemical drugs: Skilled alchemists can make many kinds of semi-magical drugs. Failed attampts to make elixirs may also result in dangerous drugs. A typical "lab special" is very expensive (-20), highly or totally addictive (-5/-10), incapacitating (-10) and illegal wherever alchemists' or wizards' guilds regulate magic (0).

Alcohol: The effects of consuming alcohol are handled on pp. CII 162-268; Alcoholism is described on p. B30. Alcohol is legal in almost every part of Arcadayn. Special drinks (created by faeries, alchemists, etc.) may be especially potent, but most should be treated simply as high-proof beverages unless they have genuine magical side effects.

Barbiturates: Some forms of barbiturates ("sleeping drafts") are known in Arcadayn, and are used as sedatives or hypnotic aids. See the sidebar entry on p. CII 164 for game effects.

Elf Goblets: Mushrooms can have many effects if consumed: some are tasty delicacies, some are hallucigenic and/or highly poisonous, and some are simply inedible. The poisonous varieties tend to be most dangerous if eaten, but usually have some ill effect if burned and the smoke inhaled. Some become even more potent if their excretions are distilled. Hallucinogenic mushrooms, known by various fanciful names (elf goblets, seer's caps, vision trees, etc.), are most readily found in swamps, dark dense forests and faerie-tainted areas. (The mushrooms of a "fairy ring" are especially feared; they may have magical effects, or merely produce nausea.) "Elf goblets" are hallucinogenic (-10) and are time-consuming to collect, so difficult to obtain (treat as expensive: -10). They are psychologically rather then physically addictive (see sidebar, pp. CII 162-166), and tend to be highly (-5) or totally (-10) addictive. Exotic mushrooms may be illegal in some large cities (if drug abuse has been particularly disruptive), and are effectively illegal in regions of great superstition (where anything "magical" is persecuted).

Fangberries: Also known as zuk (cf. Zukuvor), fangberries are found only in the Bogmoors. These rare pepper-like plants produce 2"-long, green-black fruit that, when dried, resemble snake fangs. Dried fangberries are more potent, but fresh zuk can also satisfy an addiction (though more berries are needed). Zuk is expensive (-10), incapacitating (-10), totally addictive (-10) and illegal in Visala and Riversmidst (0). Outside of these two kingdoms and the Bogmoors, fangberries are very expensive (-20) and are usually legal by default (+5).

Kuva: This bitter drink is brewed from a waxy brown bean native to the Yangar River valley, and resembles both coffee and chocolate in flavor. [Neither of these two substances exist as such in Arcadayn.] The ground beans are also used in making candy or pastries. Domesticated plants yield more and richer beans, but attempts to transplant them to other regions have met with limited success. (Iluar is the only location of other successful plantations.) Kuva is a stimulant, and may lead to temporary Insomnia or Nervous Stomach if abused. It is cheap (-5), only mildly addictive (0) and legal (+5); treat a kuva dependency as a quirk-level Minor Addiction (p. CII 162). Outside of Krith, Visala and the Sandmarch, kuva may be more expensive (making addiction worth -5 points).

Pipeweed: This tobacco-like plant gives off a foul-smelling, mildly narcotic, blue-gray smoke. It is rare and difficult to cultivate; few people except mages, mystics and certain wealthy nobles acquire pipeweed habits. In many areas, smoking this noxious substance in public constitutes an Odious Personal Habit (-5). The best pipeweed "blends" come from Haria (in Visala), Olania (in Riversmidst) and southeastern Eastmarch (in Krith, near Kurbesim). Some varieties grow best as wild plants in graveyards; these must grow wild, but are supposedly useful for divinations and necromantic magic (see "Graveweed Summoning", p. G60). Pipeweed is expensive (-10), highly addictive (-5) and legal (+5); most "graveweed" is even more expensive (-20) as well as incapacitating (-10). [Unlike tobacco, pipeweed does not use the Minor Addiction rules.]

Tea: Genuine tea plants do not exist in Arcadayn (but may be possible in more tropical climes). Instead, tea is made from infusions of certain tree barks and/or herbs, and (depending on the ingredients) may be used as a mild stimulant, a pain-killer or a warming drink. Tea is cheap and legal, and most types are non-addictive. A genuine habit would be a quirk-level Minor Addiction at worst, and psychological in nature (see p. CII 162).

Return to the Arcadayn index. | Return to the Game Room. | Return to the Lair.