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Old 03-27-2022, 02:03 PM   #21
Johnny1A.2
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Default Re: What could be a good recreational drug for my story?

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Originally Posted by tshiggins View Post
I can't remember the story, but I read one that included a drug that caused any nerve impulse to trigger the pleasure center of the brain -- including pain.

So, one could identify users by scars, rashes, and even open sores, because the act of scrubbing at the skin with a brush felt tremendously pleasurable -- but not so much as to debilitate.

Some, though, did much worse things to themselves -- or let others do things to them.

That might be a little dark for a Star Wars game, tho.....
Hmm...that sounds familiar. I recall a story that might be the same one, but I can't seem to find any reference to it on the Internet. IIRC, the drug was a painkiller, but as a side-effect it made the brain crave pain.
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Old 03-27-2022, 02:09 PM   #22
Johnny1A.2
 
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Default Re: What could be a good recreational drug for my story?

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Originally Posted by Polydamas View Post
I like some of the suggestions in this thread.


The first two are hard since the same mechanism which keeps us from knocking a stranger's head in when he cuts in front of us in line keeps us from wearing white after Labour Day. People internalize a set of social rules, some of which are harmful, many others of which are one way of doing things, and a few of which are really important. Drunks lose the inhibition which prevents them from hitting on that special someone, but they also lose the inhibition against burning that house down.
Exactly. It's actually worse than that. You can't divide the mind/brain into neat compartments and target just that one behavior or activity. Everything connects to everything, everything feeds back to everything else in incredibly complicated ways.

For ex, a drug might possibly exist that increases 'agreeableness' to some extent, with not-too-awful side effects. That's not inconceivable in reality. Of course, such a drug would have both good and bad applications. It might be used to ease tensions in stressful situations, but it would also possibly be an effective 'date rape' drug. If it could be aerosolized, it might be a useful anti-riot tool...or a nice tool for oppressive regimes to put in the water.

In the SW world, the existence of the Force complicates things further. A dose of the agreeableness drug might make one more susceptible to a Force suggestion from a Jedi or Sith, for ex.
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Old 03-27-2022, 04:54 PM   #23
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Default Re: What could be a good recreational drug for my story?

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Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2 View Post
For ex, a drug might possibly exist that increases 'agreeableness' to some extent, with not-too-awful side effects. That's not inconceivable in reality. Of course, such a drug would have both good and bad applications. It might be used to ease tensions in stressful situations, but it would also possibly be an effective 'date rape' drug. If it could be aerosolized, it might be a useful anti-riot tool...or a nice tool for oppressive regimes to put in the water.
Yes. High agreeableness could make someone an obedient concentration camp guard, or just a Good Citizen who cannot imagine why anyone would ever criticize the authorities.
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Old 03-28-2022, 07:20 AM   #24
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: What could be a good recreational drug for my story?

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Yes. High agreeableness could make someone an obedient concentration camp guard, or just a Good Citizen who cannot imagine why anyone would ever criticize the authorities.
"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better."
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Old 03-29-2022, 01:10 PM   #25
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Default Re: What could be a good recreational drug for my story?

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Yes. High agreeableness could make someone an obedient concentration camp guard, or just a Good Citizen who cannot imagine why anyone would ever criticize the authorities.

Is agreeableness a useful trait for a guard, concentration camp or otherwise? I picture a man who amiably complies when told to watch the undesirables, and then amiably complies when the undesirables ask to be released.
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Old 03-30-2022, 07:54 AM   #26
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Default Re: What could be a good recreational drug for my story?

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Originally Posted by ravenfish View Post
Is agreeableness a useful trait for a guard, concentration camp or otherwise? I picture a man who amiably complies when told to watch the undesirables, and then amiably complies when the undesirables ask to be released.
Good point; and I see some of the big components of Agreeableness as a "Big Five" trait are Altruism and Sympathy, neither of which are good for a guard at an oppressive regime's concentration camps. That's technologically surmountable, albeit more cyberpunk than Star Wars - put them in face-covering, noise-canceling helmets, with a live video feed rather than eyeholes. Then have the feed go through filters (not unlike those from Instagram, TikTok, Zoom, etc) that severely dehumanize the prisoners - an effective way would be to just make them silhouettes, so that facial expressions are invisible. The noise-cancellation would make the prisoners' pleas unable to be heard as well (alternatively, if being able to hear more than just the communications from other guards and/or your superiors is important, just feed it through a filter of sorts - voice-to-text going to text-to-voice gives all the prisoners a mechanical, emotionless voice, or you can make them sound monstrous, or whatever).

Alternatively, just have your spiced-up guards positioned fairly distant from the prisoners (your sadists and true believers are the ones that interact directly with the prison population), with orders to blast anyone who tries to escape.

Your general populace being spiced-up can also be useful. Sure, they're willing to let undesirables hide in their homes... but they're also perfectly willing to let their friendly neighborhood Gestapo come in and search, even helpfully pointing out where those undesirables are hiding. Just have the Gestapo give some lip service to "Oh, this is for these poor folks' own good, you see," or similar.
EDIT: Come to think of it, given the central idea of high Agreeableness seems to be "Assumes the best intentions," (that is, a belief that humans are inherently good), an effective PR campaign claiming the dissidents are mentally ill and Big Brother just wants to help them may be enough to get folks with Spice-enhanced Agreeableness to go out of their way to report dissidents and keep them locked up - these poor people are sick, their minds are twisted, but Big Brother will help them and keep them safe. You'll need to keep your atrocities largely out of the public eye to avoid dispelling the illusion, of course.
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Old 04-10-2022, 03:55 PM   #27
Johnny1A.2
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Default Re: What could be a good recreational drug for my story?

For the SW universe, the existence of the Force is a complicating factor. For ex, you probably wouldn't want to count on 'normal' drugs affecting a Jedi or Sith the way they would a normal person, the J/S might be able to neutralize the effects of say, a sedative or a lethal poison, using the Force, if he reacted in time.

The flip side of that is that I simply can't imagine that people haven't tried to find ways to make normals consciously Force-sensitive, though apparently nobody has succeeded. But it's something people would keep trying to do forever.

Imagine a drug appears on the scene that does do this, a little. It's an axiom in most versions of the SW canon that everyone draws upon the Force unconsciously. When Han Solo pulls off unbelievable flying maneuvers, for ex, that's partly him using the Force. Likewise other wild talents and people who can do stuff they shouldn't be able to. But it's entirely unconscious.

What sets potential Jedi and Sith and their ilk apart is that they are born with the potential to use and communicate with the Force consciously.

Imagine a new drug hits the scene, one that has the side-effect of letting a normal perceive/use the Force a little, although the users might not realize that's what's happening. But since they aren't really supposed to be able to do this, their bodies and minds are not properly 'wired' for it, and nasty side effects follow.

For ex, a user of the Stuff might find his mind open to the constant murmering thoughts of other minds around him, like an endless whisper gallery, and unable to close it off. He'd likely end up unable to tolerate the presence of other sapients, and worlds like Coruscant might be maddening from light-years away.

Another nasty potential side-effect: the Force might begin responding directly to his emotional states. I doubt he'd be able to produce Force-lightning or Force-choke someone...but he might accidentally induce a heart attack against someone he was madeat, or give someone a telekinetic shove that knocked them into traffic, again without even knowing he was doing it! It he (or she) found someone attractive, the Force might amplify it or otherwise respond to it, too. Or greed. Or any emotional state, really.

(One reason the Jedi practice calmness disciplines is just that tendency.)

I'm not sure this would lead to Dark Side corruption, necessarily, but if he was now open to the Force without realizing it, it's likely the Dark Side's whispers would be easier to respond to, since they don't require discipline or self-control...

Either way, I'd say there's a good chance this Stuff would rapidly lead to madness in its users...
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