Thaumboost: A Dangerous Drug for Threshold Limited Mages

[nanoboy]

Here is my writeup for a drug for my modern fantasy campaign.

Thaumboost
AKA: Liquid magic, Tommy, The Edge
Effects:
Users consuming Thaumboost immediately remove 20 points from their threshold tally, and this effect may lower the tally to negative numbers.
For two days, users gain the disadvantages:
Compulsive Spellcasting (9) [-15]
Overconfidence (9) [-7]
Odious Personal Habbit (Euphoric) -1 [-5]
With each dose, roll vs. Will - (number of doses of Thaumboost used in lifetime)
Failure indicates addiction.
Note that addicts only remove 10 points from their threshold tally instead of 20 points.

Withdrawal:
Addicts cannot reduce their threshold tally except by consuming Thaumboost.
Withdrawal begins 2 weeks after the last dose an addict took.
Addicts suffering from withdrawal have:
Compuslive Spellcasting (12) [-10]
IQ-2 [-40]; DX-2 [-40]
Obsession (Acquire more Thaumboost) (12) [-5]
Withdrawal ends after (number of doses used in lifetime) + 1d weeks.

To make: $100 in ingredients, Alchemy-4 roll and 1 week of work. (Requires Perk: Secret Alchemy Formula (Thaumboost))
Street Value: $1500

I thought I would share this little bit of nastiness.

[Black Rose]

This is a seriously dangerous piece of work. I wouldn't want to be on the same plane as this stuff. I'm curious as to whether or not you could make a comparably dangerous drug for regular Fatigue Mages. I can only assume it would aid FP recovery, maybe bump recovery time down one notch -- 1 FP every 10 minutes down to 5 minutes down to 2 minutes down to 1 minute -- and add the compulsive casting and overconfidence.

[nanoboy]

Originally Posted by Black Rose

This is a seriously dangerous piece of work. I wouldn't want to be on the same plane as this stuff. I'm curious as to whether or not you could make a comparably dangerous drug for regular Fatigue Mages. I can only assume it would aid FP recovery, maybe bump recovery time down one notch -- 1 FP every 10 minutes down to 5 minutes down to 2 minutes down to 1 minute -- and add the compulsive casting and overconfidence.

It would depend on the Calamity Table, of course. In the setting that this is for, the Calamity Table that I devised is perhaps more weird than devastating. It can definitely kill the caster, but it doesn't cause widespread damage like the original one. Someone could devise a similar drug for FP Mages, but I think it would be less interesting, because there wouldn't be the really fun calmity table. I guess that it could make all failures critical failures. That might be fun, so long as it made 15 or 16+ automatic failures, too. Just some food for thought.

[Refplace]

Talk about a drug that should be illegal!
And I mean in campaign justification (as in Capital offense) not the game itself :)

[Stone Dog]

There is a similar drug in GURPS Technomancer. HTP, I think it is called... something like Human Thaumakenisin Protien.

It is bad news and mages have to die to harvest it.

[nanoboy]

Please note that the following is my Calamity Table:
3-5: Nothing Happens.
5-10: Wizard gains an Unusual Feature for 1d days.
11,12: Wizard suffers 1d HP damage. DR does not protect.
13: Wizards threshold is reduced by 2d+5 for 1d weeks.
14: Wizard changes sex and appearance for 1d weeks.
15: Wizard changes sex and appearance and gains an Unusual Feature for 1d+1 weeks.
16: Wizard gains 2 Unusual Features permanently.
17: Wizard gains a 5-point mental disadvantage permanently, GM’s choice.
18: Wizard gains a 10-point mental disadvantage permanently, GM’s choice.
19: Wizard gains a 15-point mental disadvantage permanently, GM’s choice.
20: Wizard forgets his Realm skill and loses all levels of the Ream he just used permanently, but they may be relearned from scratch.
21: Wizard turns into an animal with animal intelligence and so on for 1d months.
22: Wizard turns into an animal with animal intelligence and so on for 2d months.
23: Wizard suffers 8d HP damage which cannot be resisted by DR and must heal naturally, if he survives.
24: Wizard gains the advantage Mana Damper 1 (8 yd radius) for 3d Months. Note that those with Mana Dependency can die in low mana areas, if they have this problem.
25: Wizard gains the advantage Mana Damper 2 (16 yd radius) for 4d Months. Note that those with Mana Dependency can die in normal or low mana areas, if they have this problem.
26: Wizard cannot use any magic, including alchemy elixirs and magical items, for 1d years.
27: Wizard changes sex and appearance and gains 4 Unusual Features permanently. If he or she rerolls this same result later, roll again.
28: Wizard gains the disadvantage Cursed for 2d years.
29: Wizard loses Magery permanently.
30-39: Wizard loses Magery permanently and takes 8d HP damage which cannot be resisted by DR and must heal naturally, if he survives.
40+: The Wizard takes 9d HP damage which cannot be resisted by DR and must heal naturally, if he survives. He is then transported to another location and becomes an NPC who is bent on hurting everyone and everything he loved before.

It's modestly less devastating than the one in Thaumatology, and you certainly won't blow up a city with it, but you also don't want to go too heavily past your threshold.

Also, note that it is possible to use the drug relatively safely with a properly equipped team. One person uses it to produce a large spell effect, perhaps downing multiple doses. Once that spell goes off, the rest of the team keeps the mage is kept in a comatose state by a professional physician. (This is possible, since it is a TL8 setting.) The comatose state lasts until the other drug effects wear off and the mage is out of withdrawal.

[SimonAce]

Neat idea.

[nanoboy]

Here is another drug for my setting. Keep in mind that the form of magic it gives to characters is Realm magic with Threshold Limited energy.

Magical Helper
Nicknames: Gandalf, Cheap Mage, Maggy

Effects: This drug does not affect characters who already have Magery.
Characters without Magery gain:
Magery (Realms Only)* 0 [4]
1 Random Realm at level 2 [20]
Realm skill at IQ
Odious Personal Habit (Hyper) -2 [10]
Compulsive Spellcasting (12) [-10]
Effects last one week.

Addiction:
Roll vs. Will - (total doses consumed in one lifetime.) Failure indicates addiction.
Addicts gain:
Obsession (Get more Magical Helper) (6) [-20]
Every time an addict takes magical helper, roll vs HT-3. Fairulre means the character gets one random Unnatural Feature permanently. (I have a table of 50 of them.) Critical failure gives the character -1 HT permanently.

Withdrawal:
If magical helper is not taken by an addict within one month after the last high, withdrawal sets in.
Withdrawn addicts have:
-2 IQ [-40], -2 DX [-40], -1 HT [-10]
Mana Damper (4 yd radius) [25]
Magical Susceptibility -4 [-12]
Withdrawal lasts 1 week.

To Make: $800 in ingredients; Alchemy-2, 1 week; Requires Secret Alchemy Formula (Magical Helper) Perk
Cost: $3000 per dose