Tomarken: A Drug

[HeirToPendragon]

Hi guys, a player of mine and I have designed a magical drug that I'm going to implement into the world. We're playing off the drug as something that was corrupted from an enhancement potion. Once it was noticed that people became addicted to the substance, the makers started marketing it off and using the addiction to make massive amounts of profits. Here is what we designed thus far. Any comments are welcome!

Tomarken Level 1
Potion: 250 gp
Power (Consumable): Standard Action. You gain a +1 misc. bonus to attacks, defenses, an skills for 4 hours. The potion also makes a +7 + you level vs. Will attack against you. If it succeeds you also become inflicted with the disease Addiction. Increase the power of the attack by +2 for each additional time you’ve used a Tomarken potion before your last extended rest. (ex: If you are using your fourth Tomarken potion today, the attack against you is +13 + your level)



Addiction Level 5 disease
Attack: See Tomarken
Endurance improve DC 23, maintain DC 20, worsen DC 19 or lower

The Target is Cured ==> Initial Effect: When not under the effects of Tomarken the target takes a -1 penalty to all ability scores and skills. ==> Increase the Initial Effect penalty to -2 ==> Increase the Initial Effect penalty to -4 and is Weakened.

Addiction can not be cured by the Cure Disease Ritual. You can continue to make endurance checks at it's final stage.


We named it after his Religious teacher who, after hearing some of his lessons, must be on a permanent high sometimes.

 

[Khuxan]

Giving a bonus (or penalties, with the addiction) to ability scores is a bad idea, because it requires all sorts of confusing and complicated recalculations. Use bonuses to attacks, defences and skills instead.

Do the bonuses from multiple doses stack?

 

[HeirToPendragon]

Good idea.

I wasn't sure what to do about multiple doses. On one hand, that bonus could get HUGE. On the other, each dose adds more to the attack against.

So I'm really not sure

But if I up it for defenses instead of Ability Scores, I'm leaning towards only one being active at a time

 

[Khuxan]

Good idea.

I wasn't sure what to do about multiple doses. On one hand, that bonus could get HUGE. On the other, each dose adds more to the attack against.

So I'm really not sure

But if I up it for defenses instead of Ability Scores, I'm leaning towards only one being active at a time

Given the drug is so cheap (I think it should cost ten times that amount), I think it's dangerous to allow multiple doses. That said, I think the bonus should be fairly substantial, since you are flirting with addiction. I would like it to be expensive, allow a few doses but not unlimited amounts, and have a bonus that increases the more addicted you are.

 

[Szatany]

On the other, each dose adds more to the attack against.

So what. I'm level 25. I spend, say, 1000 gold on those potions for a +20 on all attacks, defenses and skills. I'm a god for 4 hours, near the end of which I cast Cure Disease. (irony is I even get a +20 on Heal check to cure this disease )

 

[HeirToPendragon]

So we raise the cost to 250 and allow only one to be in affect at a time?

And maybe go with Khu's idea and say that the bonus increases by +1 for every odd number after the first dose but the attack increase by +3 for every dose taken. So the consequences at level 3 would be a +13 attack against you and a +2 bonus to all those?

I don't know about raising the power, it feels like I'm flirting too much with something that is uber. Maybe we need to change the attack made against you to something that changes with your level?

I designed this to make the consequences of using it far outweigh the use. That's the point of it being a drug.

 

[HeirToPendragon]

Drastic changes here.

The attack from the potion now adds your level to the bonus. And Addiction can't be cured by Cure Disease but endurance checks can be made at the final stage.

 

[Cwheeler]

I was thinking about how to do drugs a while ago...

I'll see if I can dredge the notes up.

I think I was playing with a 'comedown' rule, whereby the drug gave a negative modifier = to the positive mod after the drug wore off.

I'll post more when I hunt it down.