Let's Build Let's build an illegal substance!

inviato 4 mesi fa da ta_21475

You hear a whisper in your ear as you round the corner: I hear you're looking for some of those
Granny Smiths. You turn to see a hooded figure, holding a green apple...
PSA: With this topic, comes a potentially touchy subject of drug abuse, addiction and the rest of it
so I'd like to remind everyone that this the exploration of a viable and realistic aspect of your world
building to maintain the verisimilitude and the idea of a larger world. If you feel your players are
uncomfortable with the idea of exploring addiction and substance abuse: DON'T PUT IT IN.

Thieves' cant with rogues, merchant guilds and the darker desires of humanoids all are more than
enough reason to include a black market in to your campaign. Inspired by things like Suude
and /u/kanedotca 's Star dust, let's give our players another reason to walk into the shadier parts
of town, make deals, and get into bad situations with the law. We'll discuss the major
characteristics that will give you a template to (hopefully) make your own.

Source
Your product has to come from somewhere initially and the source of your product can determine
difficulty in its production, method of consumption and hence, its rarity and price. Three main
types you can explore when creating your product:
Synthesized - a substance made by normally unsuspecting materials. For example, water
from the elemental plane of water mixed magically with the sap of a tree from the feywild.
Raw Material- a single material taken directly from the source. For example, a leaf of the
Dragonhide Tree.
Processed Material- a single material taken from the source and following a simple or
complex process to create the substance. For example, Suude's process from the residuum of
Whitestone.

Short-Term Effects
These effects are usually what drive people to curiosity and hopefully consumption. Take our
everyday marijuana, the first immediate effect provided is usually its ability to promote a relaxed
state of mind. Star Dust's mental state creates a sense of euphoria, sexual arousal and lack of
inhibitions; while Suude's effects are more mechanical, providing the ability to use a sorcerer's
metamagic. As such, the first question you should ask yourself when creating your contraband is:
"Why would people want to use this?"
Other example beneficial effects include things like:
Physical alterations such as extra limbs, extra strength, literal alterations (think polyjuice
potion)
Mental alterations such as a relaxed state, a lack of empathy or inhibition or a sudden
ability to understand a language.
There are also more subtle Physiological Alterations such as a heightened sense of
awareness, not needing to eat/drink or even the ability to change core perceptions (being
able to eat faeces because it tastes like cinnamon donuts).
Now that we've talked about the hooks and benefits of your drug, let's talk about its deleterious
effects. This is somewhat easier to determine once your benefits are outlined because you can
almost tack on any relatable symptom to it. However, the more important aspect of ensuring that
these effects don't overshadow the benefits. If your symptoms or negative impacts aren't worth
the benefit, chances are no one will take it either in the long or short term. We could also discuss
how this links in with smoking tobacco, but IMHO, the negative effects of tobacco outweighed its
benefit; hence we now have the eventual movement away from its consumption.
You could also take inspiration for these negative effects from the very effects which make it
desirable. Extra strength? Have fun dealing with your 3 day exhaustion as your body reels from its
effects (unless you take another hit). Becoming able to understand a language? Welcome to the
world of hallucinatory voices and schizophrenia and last but not least: A heightened sense of
awareness? You're now paranoid of almost everything.
By this point, your consumers are often trying to determine if the benefits outweigh the
consequences of your product, and the closer the balance is between the two, the more likely they
will continue using it.

Addictiveness and Long Term Effects (causing further effects)

Over the first few doses of your product, your consumers are becoming accustomed to the benefits
of the drug, thus becoming more dependent on it and by the time they realize, it will most likely be
too late.
Most drugs and illicit substances are addictive in nature in order to maintain the viability of
maintaining a business around it. As such, explore the idea of the addictiveness of your drug. Are
they hooked after the first hit? or does it take a little longer for a Wisdom saving throw to stop
yourself from buying another dose? This addictiveness can also frame your mind in to how long the
long-term effects of your product interact with the imbiber.
Once again, the easiest method of finding inspiration for these long term effects are to simply take
its short-term counterpart and extrapolate it over a long period of time. For example, taking the
idea of a ability to understand a language can be taken to the extreme where the user becomes
perfectly capable of understanding the language without the use of the drug, but eventually being
unable to speak without speaking in incoherent babbling tongues.
Another good method of determining its long term effects is to understand the source of how the
product provides its benefits. Star dust does this well by providing a short-term effect of
hydrophilia: eventually extrapolating into the constant state of wanting water. A rather dark image
of bloated lifeless bodies filled with excessive amounts of water after a festival comes to mind
which can truly create a cultural stigma to non-users.
Alternatively, like Suude, you could skip these long term effects and increase the severity of
repeated doses over the short term or take inspiration from diseases in the real world: behavioural
changes (amnesia, dementia), personality changes, madness (aggression, paranoia,
hallucinations).

Names
Once you've outlined these effects, you've got enough information to come up with a name. Most
illicit substance names follow basic marketing decisions and are oftentimes created not by the
producer, but the users themselves. There are four types to creating a name for the product:
Descriptive - often describing characteristics or effects of the substance. Such as dragon's
wings: a herb found high in the mountains that when consumed, provides the ability for the
imbiber to fly.
Made-up- the act of taking a really cool word that could be inspired by the substance's root
product or some other source. For example, Severin, a highly addictive dust made from the
dried, coagulated blood of a vampire named Severus Snape.
Experiential - these names are often related to the experience of taking these substances
such as Etherjuice, an ichor-like substance that is originally from the ichor of collected
ethereal undead (specters, ghosts, wisps, wraiths, etc.).
Positioning - a more complex type of name can be made by identifying based on how the
product is going to be perceived in the market. Friendship, a small tablet of packed
dragonbone dust distributed by a very friendly salesman asking buyers if they want a friend.
Method of Imbibing
Now the product has a name and what it does, you'll need to be able to tell your users how to
actually use the product. This can range from a complex procedure including multiple applications
or methods but can [non-exhaustively] include:
Inhalation - Burning of the substance whether it be raw or processed (e.g. dust, or fumes)
or even mixing it with water and boiling the solution.
Injection- If your campaign doesn't have a method to insert substances intravenously,
there's always magical sigils!
Application - Whether it be in the nose, on the skin or up the... ear. Often applicable for
creams and solutions.
Consumption - Again, this can be raw or processed such as tablets, leaves, flesh.
Dilution - Playing chemist with a alchemist's tools can lead to some interesting chemical
compounds. This also includes teas, spiking and distillation.

Further Inspiration
While you can look at the real-world examples of illicit drugs, the fact that your campaign most
likely has magic and potentially widely varying cultures, these examples fall short of interesting
decisions that the PC's can make when weighing the benefits and the dangers of consuming your
product.
The Limitlessmovie has an interesting exploration of the idea behind an intellect enhancing drug.
If you're struggling for names, you could always ask here or in AskReddit. They're
always good at comingup with examples
Alternatively, just like with villains, illegal substances don't have to have negative impacts for them
to be illegal. They could be made illegal in a single city just because they disagree with its method
of production or simply don't like the unfair advantage it provides its users (e.g. it could be limited
to only the most wealthy because they're the only ones who can afford it, as such the product
creates a growing disparity between socio-economic classes)
Looking forward to seeing what hooks your players!