Has anybody written up a range of drugs for Sprawl? It seems to me it is a yet to be explored trope of the genre. It is mentioned briefly in the custom moves. I think it would be good to have a list of drugs with tough choice downsides.
Has anybody written up a range of drugs for Sprawl?
Has anybody written up a range of drugs for Sprawl?
I’m not aware of such a list.
There is such a thing in Mirrorshades, a Black Hack cyberpunk game that might be adapted…
“Sixth World”, the PotA Shadowrun hack, had a cool drug move:
POP PILLS: when you indulge in a drug, roll+Stamina. On a
10+, you experience the effects as normal. On 7-9, you ex-
perience the effects but you got a weak batch, so the effects
last half as long.
If you roll snake eyes when you pop pills, you become addict-
ed to the drug. If you go 3 sessions without a hit, roll 2d6w. If
you roll a 4 or higher, you are no longer addicted; otherwise,
you’re still hooked. If you are an addict and roll snake eyes
while popping pills, you overdose and take 8 Stun.
The drugs give you a +1 to a certain stat or move ongoing for a certain amount of time.
I might have a go at writing some up.
Mm, that move doesn’t quite tickle me right. To me, one of the salient bits about cyberpunk drugs was never “stat bonus or addiction.”
It was the range of quality: if you were zaibatsu, you could have the very finest in things that make neurons go zip. The hardcases out on the fringes, though? Their stuff was dirty. Livers hardened; kidneys oozed; lungs congealed. Washed drugs were as good as money, and a fool might just roll a salaryman trying to get at his very fine product.
In a future where the brain can be tweaked like a fine car, runners are using burnt-out old oil because nothing better was to be had, and who’d choose a liver if it meant facing this life sober? (Knock-on consequence: I guess you could always pick up a job to afford liver rehab…)
Maybe I’ll take a stab at writing up a drug move tonight that tries to capture that color.
Just added my attempt at a cyberpunk drug move: https://plus.google.com/100805782550359136513/posts/MX2KFxgpvp8
plus.google.com – As a follow-up to a post yesterday…
J Stein I dig that! Broad guidance with cyberpunk colour for days!
Hamish Cameron On re-reading, it definitely needs some more work, but thank you for being kind.
That cyberpunk core is there though, and that’s often the hardest part.
See my comment on your post. I’d buy a companion piece written by you. Your grasp of what cyberpunk is really makes me want to get down and dirty with the game. No offense to Hamish, but i wish the Sprawl had more of this flavor written into the moves. +1 for days!
Gregory Daily Thank you! That’s incredibly, incredibly flattering. Maybe if Hamish Cameron is interested in seeing a Joe Banner-style “flavor supplement”, it might happen. I wouldn’t be opposed to having a cyberpunk side project to work on.
I don’t get the Joe Banner reference, but I’m open to this kind of thing. My email is Hamish at ardens dot org.