Do recreational drugs feature in your campaign?

[Storyteller01]

Not featured, but they are available. As mentioned earlier, their mechanical penalties keep the players from using.

Ran a mini-adventure where one of the characters brothers was addicted to one (improved his piloting ability at the expense of Wisdom). Made for a good, if serious, adventure.

 

[Jackelope King]

I've shamelessly ripped off the spice melange in one of my games. A pleasant high for some, a trippy prescient tool for others. And since my players never read Dune, I had no trouble getting away with it.

 

[shilsen]

I'm running a couple of Eberron games set primarily in Sharn, so the drug trade is definitely present. One of my groups took out a drug den last session.

 

[demiurge1138]

I wouldn't say "featured", but yeah, they exist. Especially in my Sharn detective game - they've run into drug peddlers, a dragonsblood den and a few of the characters have had substance abuse problems (the Aerenal elf is mildly addicted to a drug said to simulate death, but most of the addictions have been alcohol and tobacco).

Other games, not so much. They exist, and are mentioned, but the players generally don't involve themselves with them.

Demiurge out.

 

[Rev. Jesse]

Interesting bunch of responses. I am surprised at the number of people who answered yes. Personally, I answered "No, but we haven't considered or discussed it," when relating to the D&D group I am in. For the other, Exalted / Adventure / HoL group I plan in, well, drugs are a must in those systems.

I'm mainly interested in D&D / d20, because it 1.) it is the most popular system here and b.) drugs aren't generally associated w/ medieval settings (but they existed and were common, historically), and IV.) I imagine that D&D / d20 has less drug use than, say, Exalted, because drugs aren't mentioned in the core books (and where they are, the rules are just stupid and unrealistic).

As for "featured," well, I meant, "Do recreational drugs make an apperance in your campaign?" Rather than worndering if they have a starring role.

Thanks for contributing, and keep it up!

 

[Gothmog]

Featured, no- but there are hundreds of herbal and alchemical compounds I've detailed in a couple long documents, about 30 or so are "recreational" in nature. One PC used a couple of minor ones frequently- one that acted like marijuana and another that basically amped up the sympathetic nervous system (+1 bonus to AC and init for 20 min, -1 to both for an hour afterwards), but that has been the extent of PC use. NPCs however use numerous drugs- from the debased cult of the god of murder and bloodshed that takes something similar to meth that also causes hallucinations and makes them almost impossible to put down in combat, to drugs spellcasters can use to augment certain spells (kinda like metamagic feats, but with side effects and chances of addiction).

 

[frankthedm]

Yep, Most are very bad, some include

the "Devil weed" of the stephen king Dark tower cycle
Sap from the cut down life tree- divinely sweet & cause things to grow up bigger [food of the gods sorta deal]
The "Living Dream" of B4 the lost city
A contraceptive drug that occasionaly leaves the user infertile/ barren for life [it is a drug used for 'recreation']

i even had a Player's PC whose living armor was driving him slowly insane [Daily DC 13 will save or 2 wisdom damage] carry some calming drugs in case things got real bad. The drug would have numbed his brain for a day, skipping the will save for the one day and ensuring a full day of bed rest. The drug had a mild addiction rate [will DC 5] so the character was not in a lot of danger since he had iron will.

 

[Aus_Snow]

People in most medieval analogues (and in my D&D games, in particular) tend to have less idle time and monetary resources, which means recreational drug use is almost nonexistent. While certain cults and sects might use something to commune with nature, or whatever, that's not recreational, and thus non-topical.

What are these conclusions based on? If you could point the way to the relevant books or other sources, I'd be grateful.


Anyway, for my own campaigns, recreational drugs other than alcohol do not usually *feature*, but they are certainly there as part of the wider 'reality'. Occasionally, a PC or NPC will be closely involved with these substances, for better or worse. Addiction is often the most damaging side-effect characters might suffer.

 

[Imperialus]

never played a huge role in D&D but my current Shadowrun character is addicted to heroin... Right now he's at the point where he smokes it once or twice a week but I plan on having him slowly start using more and more as the campaign progresses.

 

[3d6]

It depends on the campaign. In the normal D&D high-fantasy, only alcohol makes an appearance. In my d20 Fallout game, probably about 1/10 of the NPCs encountered are junkies, and the PCs tend to use drugs as combat boosters as well. I think its a genre and style issue.