Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
 

From a private message, posted in thread because I'm more likely to remember it if it's found here:

Cocaine poisoning in the 1980s
 

Have we no older forumites who, for reasons which no one needs to inquire in if that is not desired, have some information about the dangers of American cocaine in the 1980s, the great cocaine decade?

I tried asking before, but no answer. As I'd really like to get in some discussion about this before the next session, I'll try again.

In our day, the trendy hazardous cutting or lacing agent in illicit cocaine is levamisole, which has caused several deaths. Of course, a famous one which is almost as old as drug legislation is strychnine, rat poison, which has been and is used to adulterate cocaine.

What chemicals might there be in 1988 cocaine from Florida, Montréal, Massaschuttes or New York that might cause dangerous side-effects to an otherwise healthy person?

Obviously, cocaine is not healthy even uncut, but assuming a habitual user, it's something he has survived so far. I'm looking for something more dangerous than a habitual couple of grams combined with heavy drinking. On the other hand, it can't hurt to get ideas on how cocaine (maybe laced with something) could plausibly accidentally kill a new user almost immediately, perhaps someone drunk who tries a single snort.

Are there any common household drugs or frequently used medications in the 80s which react violently to cocaine and/or common adulterants in it?

Re: Cocaine poisoning in the 1980s
 

Lactose is commonly used to cut cocaine and if a user has a severe dairy allergy there might be enough in a single line of cocaine to trigger a fatal allergenic reaction.

Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
 

I thought meth is the big drug that was/is ****ing over rural people in the US?

Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
 

It is and has been for a while. In modern Aroostook County, there is allegedly a lot of meth being cooked.

I don't know how it was in the 80s, though. I think that methamphetamine wasn't a part of the drug world until 1980 or so and that originally, it was confined to California and the Mexico border.

And the 80s are a time of cocaine. That's the drug that Special Agent Rene Ledoux (PC) encountered most often in his undercover work in Miami and the PCs have reason to believe that cocaine is the favourite drug of Jackie Flowers, the Montréal-based felon that they arrested in the process of beating up attorney Ricky Sommiers.

Re: Cocaine poisoning in the 1980s
 

That's interesting. Good one.

Keep the ideas coming, I need a range of possibilities. My players read the forums and their characters are red-hot investigators, one of whom has fairly extensive knowledge of the East Coast drug world, so it would be good if their skills would yield a number of possibilities.

Also, as I won't reveal which, if any, suggestions from the forumites I do use, reading them won't reveal damaging spoilers for the game.

Musical Instruments
 

Using the rules for Musical Instruments from LTC1, there are a few TL5+ instruments which aren't accounted for there.*

Ought the simple harmonica fall under the Sheng skill or should it be its own skill?

What ought to be the defaults between a harmonica and a saxophone? Or any other wind instrument, for that matter?

What instruments would you learn as a hobbyist, amateur musician and later academic/connoisseur studying blues, jazz and cajun music in Louisiana and New Orleans?

*Which is understandable, as Low-Tech should only cover TL0-4.

Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
 

Harmonicas don't have fingering, so it's not really a close match for Sheng as described in LTC1. Closer to panpipes, as you select different pitches with horizontal motion of the instrument. But it's still a bit different as you've got the internal reed rather than having to form a stream of air to split across the flute opening. I might just make it its own skill, since it doesn't really match the characteristics listed for the other categories.

Default to saxophone? Looking at the existing ones, probably -6. It's as different from a sax as is a flute, and not nearly as close as the horns are to each other at -4.

Classic blues instrumentation includes the guitar and piano, as well as the harmonica and drums.

Dixieland jazz will bring in trumpets and trombones, clarinet, tuba and/or string bass, and maybe the banjo.

Cajun folk music will throw in the fiddle (violin) and accordion.

Re: Musical Instruments
 

What would the defaults from Musical Instrument (Harmonica) be?

He's got Musical Instrument (Fiddle) and, I guess, Musical Instrument (Harmonica). Fiddle gives him banjo and guitar at a decent default, only -3 from his Musical Instrument (Fiddle) skill. We've got around 2 more points to play with. A point in Piano and another in Single Reed (isn't that what covers the saxophone?)?

Dogs that suit the owner's personality
 

Two characters will have dogs that are present in the luxury cabin. I want breeds that suit the characters in question, even to the point that they may be considered archtypical of aspects of their personality or their role in the story. At the same time, I want it to be possible for these dog breeds to be kept in 1988 Maine.

1) For Dr. Harvey Allen, I was thinking a Chocolate Lab. Dr. Allen was raised in rural Maine, by a rugged outdoorsy kind of father, a lumber magnate, but Harvey was a continual disappointment to his harsh father. The upbringing succeeded in instilling a fondness for nature walks and at least a modest interest in shooting sports, but instead of becoming a lawyer from a local college on a football scholarship, working summers in the logging camps, Harvey went to Harvard on an academic scholarship and ended up a neurologist.

Dr. Allen was and remains 'soft', nervous around violence and blood, but appears to be both intelligent and capable of great affection. He is loyal to his family and friends, as well as having been in the same loving relationship for all of his adult life. Harvey might be perceived as slightly feminine, at least by the standards of 20th century manhood, in that he has a strong home-making, nesting aspect to his personality. He is the sort to provide accessorized lavender bath towels, robes and hand towels for his guest bathrooms, he wears flowery aprons and stylish eyeglasses with mother-of-pearl frames.

Physically, he is an inch or two above average height and neither weak nor unhealthy. Considering his healthy hobbies, generally happy disposition and attention to a good diet, his physical health is probably exceptional for a man in his late forties in a high-stress occupation, but he is in no way, shape or form any kind of action man.

Any suggestions for a breed which might be better suited?

2) Phil Willette is a burly man's man, 6'2", 240 lbs., hirsute and strongly built. He looks like Powers Boothe and he wears jeans, plaid shirts and working boots. The PCs aren't sure if he's a good guy or not, but if he's a bad guy, he's a Big Bad Wolf, whereas if he is a good guy, he's the kind of dog who keeps the wolves from the door. He fought in Korea all those many decades ago, likes to hunt and has a lot of outdoorsy hobbies.

What kind of dog should he own?