Discord
Changelog
While some players (myself included) have a "Just say No" mindset regarding drugs, I do have to admit that some of Thay's stimulants and narcotics have their uses in extreme circumstances...some of them, mind you. Kind of like those people who say, "Oh, I've never taken street drugs in my life, but I'd consider shooting up with PCP if I had to fight off twenty Hell's Angels or something."
I briefly played a Sharessan Cleric/Bard on this server (back during Tristella's incarnation), and she was known to hit some Kammarth or Ziran here and there. Maybe some of your characters have gulped, huffed or smeared some illicit yet useful stuff too. In that case, feel free to contradict my appraisals with your own. ;)
The Stuff: Haunspeir
The Good Stuff: 2 to 5 extra points of Intelligence for anywhere from 16 to 25 minutes. The addiction risk is low but manageable (and it helps that Haunspeir's dirt cheap anyway). Not mentioned by the Description: Haunspeir also imbues you with a Haste effect, which is always good whether you're getting into battle or trying to escape it.
The Bad Stuff: 1d4 damage right off the bat, but that's not going to kill you unless you're a Level 1 Sorcerer with a sucky Constitution. Take too much haunspeir and you'll take an automatic 2d4 Damage, but again, that's nothing too scary. And enemies with Slashing and Piercing weapons do 1 extra point of damage to you while you're under the influence, so try not to get hit too much. (Enemies who do Bludgeoning damage don't get any perks against you, so suck it, Gnoll Shamans!) Not mentioned by the Description: The damage from your attacks is reduced by -1 Bludgeoning, -1 Slashing and -1 Piercing, for a total of -3 Damage. So while it Hastes your melee attacks and makes you harder to hit, your damage output also takes a bad hit, so plan accordingly.
My Appraisal: Okay Drug. Its effects are negated by sleeping, so wizards unfortunately can't use the Intelligence buff to prepare more spells. Use haunspeir to boost Intelligence-based skills like Lore and Appraise, or keep a dose for emergency exits and the like.
The Stuff: Kammarth
The Good Stuff: Expeditious Retreat for 2-5 minutes plus a +2 Dexterity bonus for up to 30 minutes make kammarth an excellent "GTFO!" drug.
The Bad Stuff: -1 Dexterity (for up to ten minutes) after that Dexterity bonus "crashes"...not all that huge a drawback, and if you drop kammarth then you're probably running away from all the fighting anyway. Taking too much kammarth inside of eight minutes can leave you paralyzed for 2d4 minutes (which is pretty scary; use kammarth in moderation, people), and the Medium addiction risk is a bit scary too.
My Appraisal: Useful drug. Consider carrying one or more doses of Kammarth around for those "OMFG RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!" situations.
The Stuff: Sezarad Root
The Good Stuff: Both the primary and secondary effects give you 1d8 bonus Hit Points, but they don't stack; only the higher of the two rolls takes effect. Considering that you're only going to average about 4 or 5 extra Hit Points from sezarad root, big whoop. At least it's impossible to overdose on the stuff.
The Bad Stuff: As if sezarad's good stuff wasn't weak enough, you also lose 1-4 Wisdom points while you're reeling with the feeling...you know, so those enemy wizards have an easier time nuking away those extra 4 or 5 Hit Points that you just scored.
My Appraisal: Crappy drug. Don't bother buying it. It's cheap, therefore, it's lousy shop food too; you might as well keep any sezarad root you find lying around for the occasional RP session, but don't depend on sezarad root for anything more intense than that.
The Stuff: Ziran
The Good Stuff: +2 Dexterity for 1-3 hours...not bad, really. Plus, "trippin' balls" RP is always fun. ;)
The Bad Stuff: After that 1-3 hours, you crash and lose 2 Constitution. Drop more ziran within 24 hours and you lose 2 more Constitution. And the addiction risk is High, so be prepared to buy more ziran to feed your new habit.
My Appraisal: Useful drug, particularly for archers, rogues and other Dex-dependent characters looking for a long-duration boost. But, thanks to the crash, the overdose risk and the addiction risk, ziran is a Crappy Drug for everyone else.
The Stuff: Katakuda
The Good Stuff: +3 Natural Armor Class bonus for 30 minutes. Katakuda only has one good effect, but it's one hell of a good effect. Also, the addiction risk is zero, and overdosing merely reduces that AC bonus to +2 instead of +3; no actual whammies result from taking too much katakuda.
The Bad Stuff: After that half-hour's up, you lose 1-4 Dexterity for 1-10 minutes...not that big a deal, if you ask me. If you can stay out of combat for an average of five minutes, what's the problem?
My Appraisal: Must-Have Drug. Druids? Get some katakuda so you don't have to burn through Barkskin spells as often. Everyone else? Your Natural Armor bonuses probably suck, so get some katakuda for emergencies. Seriously, why is Maurice Chevalier's merchant sitting on a hill of secondhand katakuda? That stuff should be flying off the shelves.
The Stuff: Mordayn Vapor (aka. Dreammist)
The Good Stuff: You get to roleplay being stoned out of your gourd for 20 or 30 minutes. Seriously. That's it for the good news.
The Bad Stuff: Let me count the ways. Any action you take? Count on half of them being auto-cancelled...spellcasting, drinking potions, swinging your dire flail at an ogre's face, POOF! Gone. You also lose 1-4 Wisdom and 1-4 Constitution for that half-hour, the addiction risk is High and there's a Will Save to resist going right back to inhaling mordayn vapor, which is a real bear because dropping mordayn vapor twice in one hour will flippin' insta-kill you if you booch a DC 17 Will Save. Good luck. Did I mention that this stuff's extremely addictive?
My Appraisal: Horrible Drug. Don't even touch it with the proverbial ten-foot pole, peeps, because it's death on a stick! Why would anyone ever buy this drug? Here, let me just inject some balor venom into my carotid; I might actually survive that, and the high will be better too.
The Stuff: Black Lotus
The Good Stuff: For 30 minutes, you get 10/- Damage Resistance to all forms of physical damage, plus 1-4 bonus Strength points. It also makes you happy and cheerful, apparently.
The Bad Stuff: That 30-minute high also comes with a -2 Dexterity penalty and 1d4 Wisdom damage. Once you come down from that high, you get all mopey and suffer 1d4 Charisma damage. The addiction risk is High, and if you take two or more doses of black lotus within a three-hour span, you instantly die if you fail a DC 17-ish Fortitude Save. Ouch.
My Appraisal Stuff: Okay or Useful Drug for heavily armored melee warrior types, Lousy Drug for everyone else. Fighters in full plate don't need a whole lot of Dexterity, and they can always use more Strength, so here's your dope, fighters. Clerics and Paladins could use the Strength and DR for melee, but they'll find those Wisdom and Charisma dumps to be real bogeys. Plus, Classes with strong Fortitude Saves may be better able to not die if they accidentally feed their black lotus addictions too frequently. Did I mention that it can make your greataxe-swinging Barbarian all happy-happy-joy-joy? "This is the way we harvest orc heads! Harvest orc heads! La la la la la!" Fun RP abounds. :D
So am I full of bat guano, or do I have the straight dope here? ;)
I briefly played a Sharessan Cleric/Bard on this server (back during Tristella's incarnation), and she was known to hit some Kammarth or Ziran here and there. Maybe some of your characters have gulped, huffed or smeared some illicit yet useful stuff too. In that case, feel free to contradict my appraisals with your own. ;)
The Stuff: Haunspeir
The Good Stuff: 2 to 5 extra points of Intelligence for anywhere from 16 to 25 minutes. The addiction risk is low but manageable (and it helps that Haunspeir's dirt cheap anyway). Not mentioned by the Description: Haunspeir also imbues you with a Haste effect, which is always good whether you're getting into battle or trying to escape it.
The Bad Stuff: 1d4 damage right off the bat, but that's not going to kill you unless you're a Level 1 Sorcerer with a sucky Constitution. Take too much haunspeir and you'll take an automatic 2d4 Damage, but again, that's nothing too scary. And enemies with Slashing and Piercing weapons do 1 extra point of damage to you while you're under the influence, so try not to get hit too much. (Enemies who do Bludgeoning damage don't get any perks against you, so suck it, Gnoll Shamans!) Not mentioned by the Description: The damage from your attacks is reduced by -1 Bludgeoning, -1 Slashing and -1 Piercing, for a total of -3 Damage. So while it Hastes your melee attacks and makes you harder to hit, your damage output also takes a bad hit, so plan accordingly.
My Appraisal: Okay Drug. Its effects are negated by sleeping, so wizards unfortunately can't use the Intelligence buff to prepare more spells. Use haunspeir to boost Intelligence-based skills like Lore and Appraise, or keep a dose for emergency exits and the like.
The Stuff: Kammarth
The Good Stuff: Expeditious Retreat for 2-5 minutes plus a +2 Dexterity bonus for up to 30 minutes make kammarth an excellent "GTFO!" drug.
The Bad Stuff: -1 Dexterity (for up to ten minutes) after that Dexterity bonus "crashes"...not all that huge a drawback, and if you drop kammarth then you're probably running away from all the fighting anyway. Taking too much kammarth inside of eight minutes can leave you paralyzed for 2d4 minutes (which is pretty scary; use kammarth in moderation, people), and the Medium addiction risk is a bit scary too.
My Appraisal: Useful drug. Consider carrying one or more doses of Kammarth around for those "OMFG RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!" situations.
The Stuff: Sezarad Root
The Good Stuff: Both the primary and secondary effects give you 1d8 bonus Hit Points, but they don't stack; only the higher of the two rolls takes effect. Considering that you're only going to average about 4 or 5 extra Hit Points from sezarad root, big whoop. At least it's impossible to overdose on the stuff.
The Bad Stuff: As if sezarad's good stuff wasn't weak enough, you also lose 1-4 Wisdom points while you're reeling with the feeling...you know, so those enemy wizards have an easier time nuking away those extra 4 or 5 Hit Points that you just scored.
My Appraisal: Crappy drug. Don't bother buying it. It's cheap, therefore, it's lousy shop food too; you might as well keep any sezarad root you find lying around for the occasional RP session, but don't depend on sezarad root for anything more intense than that.
The Stuff: Ziran
The Good Stuff: +2 Dexterity for 1-3 hours...not bad, really. Plus, "trippin' balls" RP is always fun. ;)
The Bad Stuff: After that 1-3 hours, you crash and lose 2 Constitution. Drop more ziran within 24 hours and you lose 2 more Constitution. And the addiction risk is High, so be prepared to buy more ziran to feed your new habit.
My Appraisal: Useful drug, particularly for archers, rogues and other Dex-dependent characters looking for a long-duration boost. But, thanks to the crash, the overdose risk and the addiction risk, ziran is a Crappy Drug for everyone else.
The Stuff: Katakuda
The Good Stuff: +3 Natural Armor Class bonus for 30 minutes. Katakuda only has one good effect, but it's one hell of a good effect. Also, the addiction risk is zero, and overdosing merely reduces that AC bonus to +2 instead of +3; no actual whammies result from taking too much katakuda.
The Bad Stuff: After that half-hour's up, you lose 1-4 Dexterity for 1-10 minutes...not that big a deal, if you ask me. If you can stay out of combat for an average of five minutes, what's the problem?
My Appraisal: Must-Have Drug. Druids? Get some katakuda so you don't have to burn through Barkskin spells as often. Everyone else? Your Natural Armor bonuses probably suck, so get some katakuda for emergencies. Seriously, why is Maurice Chevalier's merchant sitting on a hill of secondhand katakuda? That stuff should be flying off the shelves.
The Stuff: Mordayn Vapor (aka. Dreammist)
The Good Stuff: You get to roleplay being stoned out of your gourd for 20 or 30 minutes. Seriously. That's it for the good news.
The Bad Stuff: Let me count the ways. Any action you take? Count on half of them being auto-cancelled...spellcasting, drinking potions, swinging your dire flail at an ogre's face, POOF! Gone. You also lose 1-4 Wisdom and 1-4 Constitution for that half-hour, the addiction risk is High and there's a Will Save to resist going right back to inhaling mordayn vapor, which is a real bear because dropping mordayn vapor twice in one hour will flippin' insta-kill you if you booch a DC 17 Will Save. Good luck. Did I mention that this stuff's extremely addictive?
My Appraisal: Horrible Drug. Don't even touch it with the proverbial ten-foot pole, peeps, because it's death on a stick! Why would anyone ever buy this drug? Here, let me just inject some balor venom into my carotid; I might actually survive that, and the high will be better too.
The Stuff: Black Lotus
The Good Stuff: For 30 minutes, you get 10/- Damage Resistance to all forms of physical damage, plus 1-4 bonus Strength points. It also makes you happy and cheerful, apparently.
The Bad Stuff: That 30-minute high also comes with a -2 Dexterity penalty and 1d4 Wisdom damage. Once you come down from that high, you get all mopey and suffer 1d4 Charisma damage. The addiction risk is High, and if you take two or more doses of black lotus within a three-hour span, you instantly die if you fail a DC 17-ish Fortitude Save. Ouch.
My Appraisal Stuff: Okay or Useful Drug for heavily armored melee warrior types, Lousy Drug for everyone else. Fighters in full plate don't need a whole lot of Dexterity, and they can always use more Strength, so here's your dope, fighters. Clerics and Paladins could use the Strength and DR for melee, but they'll find those Wisdom and Charisma dumps to be real bogeys. Plus, Classes with strong Fortitude Saves may be better able to not die if they accidentally feed their black lotus addictions too frequently. Did I mention that it can make your greataxe-swinging Barbarian all happy-happy-joy-joy? "This is the way we harvest orc heads! Harvest orc heads! La la la la la!" Fun RP abounds. :D
So am I full of bat guano, or do I have the straight dope here? ;)
Corella d'Margo, arch-liar
Wyren Caul-of-Amber, alchemist
Tirah Het-Nanu, courtesan
Wyren Caul-of-Amber, alchemist
Tirah Het-Nanu, courtesan