UT Drugs - Hyperstim

[Snapshot]

Does anyone know the duration of Hyperstim (UT205)?

I tried modelling it as follows:

Recovery (Cosmic, Instantaneous, +50%) [15]
Hard to Subdue 10 [20]
Affliction 1 (
Blood Agent -40%;
Advantage, Innate Attack, 1 HP toxic, +10%;
Heart Attack, Secondary, +60%
) [13]
Linked, +10%

That adds up to a 53 point power. If it's a short-term drug (x$2), injected (x1), and no penalties to the resistance roll (x1), then that would make the drug worth $106. UT says $100, which is close enough.

The problem is, the description doesn't say anything about the duration. Did I misread something, or has this been errata'd? Is that stat block about right?

Edit: So I deduce that the recipient will be conscious for 25-HT minutes. Correct, or straight to the back of the class?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Snapshot

Does anyone know the duration of Hyperstim (UT205)?

I tried modelling it as follows:

<snip>

Edit: So I deduce that the recipient will be conscious for 25-HT minutes. Correct, or straight to the back of the class?

Your first problem is that Hyperstim didn't originate with a Powers-based drug creation system. It goes back to Space 1e and predates all that by a lot.

Then Gurps actual mechanics have morphed over that time period and I think there's been a cut-and-paste error or two without re-creation from scratch.

You might as well write it up in 4e rules however you want it to work in your campaign but the original method (from Cyberpunk as it was handier than Space) appears to be that it worked on a HT roll with consciousness lasting 1 hour per pt of success.

[Varyon]

Arguably, the effect of the drug is simply Immunity to Unconsciousness with something like Aftermath: Cardiac Stress (1/hr), but with 1d FP replaced with 1 HP (although honestly I think the 1d FP probably works out better). That Immunity is worth somewhere between [18] and [32] - Hard to Subdue 3 [6] is comparable to the x1/3 level of Resistant, Hard to Subdue 8 [16] is comparable to the x1/2 level, and Zombies has Immunity give a +15 when a roll is required, which would cost [30]. That Aftermath is -5%, so that's probably around [-1] to price. That works if the drug works for an hour or more; if it lasts for less time, you might be able to change it to every 10 minutes, for -10% and [-2] to [-3] to price. One could argue that having the gaining of immunity instantly wake you up is inappropriate, but full on Cosmic Recovery is a bit excessive. I'd eyeball an ability that lets you reroll a failed Unconsciousness roll at roughly [5].

However, while that Aftermath makes the drug less useful, in the real world it would likely end up making it more expensive - this is something you need a prescription (or some sort of license) to purchase, and the fact it can't just be sold over the counter is going to mean it needs a price markup to make it worthwhile to the company, not to mention that there's always the chance, despite proper labeling and the like, for a lawsuit. That's likely why the drawbacks increase price under the design system, rather than reducing it. I'd be tempted to just take the % discount the drawback should give and use that as the point value, sort of like Temporary Disadvantage in reverse - in this case, that Aftermath is worth [-5] or [-10].

If we go with it lasting roughly 10 minutes (which is where the short term drugs hover anyway) and with the price of Immunity as [30], that gives us +[10] for the Aftermath and +[5] for instantly waking you up, for a total of [45]. At $2/[1], that puts the drug at $90, which is probably close enough to $100.

[Snapshot]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Your first problem is that Hyperstim didn't originate with a Powers-based drug creation system. It goes back to Space 1e and predates all that by a lot.

Then Gurps actual mechanics have morphed over that time period and I think there's been a cut-and-paste error or two without re-creation from scratch.

You might as well write it up in 4e rules however you want it to work in your campaign but the original method (from Cyberpunk as it was handier than Space) appears to be that it worked on a HT roll with consciousness lasting 1 hour per pt of success.

Thanks for the history. As I was working through some others I couldn't for the life of me work out how the costs were arrived at - not being Powers based explains everything.

[Snapshot]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Arguably, the effect of the drug is simply Immunity to Unconsciousness with something like Aftermath: Cardiac Stress (1/hr), but with 1d FP replaced with 1 HP (although honestly I think the 1d FP probably works out better). That Immunity is worth somewhere between [18] and [32] - Hard to Subdue 3 [6] is comparable to the x1/3 level of Resistant, Hard to Subdue 8 [16] is comparable to the x1/2 level, and Zombies has Immunity give a +15 when a roll is required, which would cost [30]. That Aftermath is -5%, so that's probably around [-1] to price. That works if the drug works for an hour or more; if it lasts for less time, you might be able to change it to every 10 minutes, for -10% and [-2] to [-3] to price. One could argue that having the gaining of immunity instantly wake you up is inappropriate, but full on Cosmic Recovery is a bit excessive. I'd eyeball an ability that lets you reroll a failed Unconsciousness roll at roughly [5].

However, while that Aftermath makes the drug less useful, in the real world it would likely end up making it more expensive - this is something you need a prescription (or some sort of license) to purchase, and the fact it can't just be sold over the counter is going to mean it needs a price markup to make it worthwhile to the company, not to mention that there's always the chance, despite proper labeling and the like, for a lawsuit. That's likely why the drawbacks increase price under the design system, rather than reducing it. I'd be tempted to just take the % discount the drawback should give and use that as the point value, sort of like Temporary Disadvantage in reverse - in this case, that Aftermath is worth [-5] or [-10].

If we go with it lasting roughly 10 minutes (which is where the short term drugs hover anyway) and with the price of Immunity as [30], that gives us +[10] for the Aftermath and +[5] for instantly waking you up, for a total of [45]. At $2/[1], that puts the drug at $90, which is probably close enough to $100.

Thanks a lot for the detailed work through. I haven't got my books in front of me to work through that design, but I'll certainly do so tonight. Thanks again.