[Wids]

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? ;)

[Gatalis]

I know Shea keeps Black Lotus for tougher fights and for her highs (considering half the time she acts like she's on inderol anyways, she needs it lol), Milli keeps a dose of Kammarth for just those situations, generally. Since most items only provide up to 5/- DR or 10% immunity, a 10/- DR can make you pretty boss against most enemies (especially since as a heavy hitter Con or STR build, you probably won't have an AC that gets higher than 32 or so without major buffs, mounted combat, or excessive AC bonuses, and most enemies later on have ABs to match that of a max-STR fighter with twice the damage). The addiction risk is "high" but when you consider the fact that most fighters have a fort of 10+ by level 8 or 9, it's not too dangerous overall.

I'd assume Paladins would be straight edge unless they're like an Ilmatari one and took a plea of rest to go do evil shit (seriously, Plea of Rests are like... the best idea ever, thank you based Ilmater).

[Wids]

Out of my present roster of characters, I think the one who gets the highest AC is Wyren; with all of her AC buffs (Shield, Haste, etc.) and Improved Expertise running, she can get around AC 31. Too bad Conjuration (and, therefore, Mage Armor) are forbidden to her, or she might be able to bump her Dodge AC one point higher.

And yes, 10/- DR against Slash/Pierce/Bludgeon is pretty boss. The only other way of getting that that I've seen is Polymorph Self's zombie form. Which Wyren also has. So why has Wyren died several times? I blame all the beasties with Spell Resistance. Nothing's as disheartening as throwing a Lightning Bolt at a measly mercenary and seeing that all-too-familiar "puff" above his head. Then that mercenary throws Dispel Magic and wipes out five of your buffs. Friggin' mercenaries. I should get her some katakuda too.

[LooseWilly]

Had a rogue once upon a time, got himself so strung out on kammarth that he managed to paralyze himself at the outset of a couple of fights when he quickly did a line. Got himself straight, and wound up dead. Go figure...

Have another rogue now, hooked on Ziran, but that stuff doesn't seem to have the same withdrawal shakes and shimmies as kammarth... maybe let you know how that goes.

And then there's Veybold, who's always got a bottle or three of rum and usually a 6-pack or two of something lighter, like wine, on him. He's been in plenty of fights while drunk... sometimes while drinking and riding solo through the countryside. Hasn't yet passed out at the beginning of a fight... but then again, he usually hits the bottle after a fight, not before.

Hmm... not sure I've ever made a character without some sort of drug issue. And then there's the issue of the hookers...

[Gatalis]

We should honestly give alcohol a boost of some sort (maybe STR?) and a low addiction rate (maybe DC 8). Would be funny to see folks get addicted to whiskey or some such.

[DarkRanger]

We should honestly give alcohol a boost of some sort (maybe STR?) and a low addiction rate (maybe DC 8). Would be funny to see folks get addicted to whiskey or some such.

Hm, I'd think increased will saves, decreased wisdom fitting.

[Miscr3ant]

Too many shots in short order triggers Barbarian Rage/Confusion mix; cooldown is sex with a large phenotype half-orc of indeterminate gender. :P

[Wids]

Too many shots in short order triggers Barbarian Rage/Confusion mix; cooldown is sex with a large phenotype half-orc of indeterminate gender. :P

The way you think causes me no end of dismay, Miscr3ant. O_O

Hey, guess what I just noticed?



Somebody went in and bought up all of Maurice's katakuda!

You're welcome for the free advertising, Gwydion. :D

[dark_majico]

We should honestly give alcohol a boost of some sort (maybe STR?) and a low addiction rate (maybe DC 8). Would be funny to see folks get addicted to whiskey or some such.

Hm, I'd think increased will saves, decreased wisdom fitting.

If anything alcohol lowers your will power, maybe +1 bonus to attack and damage -1 intel, -1 wisdom, and to simulate the shitty hangover -2 attack rolls and AC, low addiction levels.

[Wids]

Meanwhile, in the vaunted halls of L.I.C.K.M.E....











Problem Solved.