THE PHARMACY DRUGS IN SHADOWRUN Drugs have an effect, which is presumably why they're used. They also have the following characteristics: Onset Time, Duration, Aftershock Code, Addiction Code, and Addiction Lethality. Body tests vs. Drugs are almost never affected by dermal armor. ONSET TIME The Onset Time is the amount of time it takes for the drug to take effect. Often, this will by multiplied by a Body test vs. an Onset Target. This target will usually increase with the drug's rating. DURATION: The Duration is the amount of time the drug's effects last, once the drug has taken effect. This will usually be divided by a Body test vs. the Duration Target which will increase with the drug's rating. AFTERSHOCK CODE: This is the damage code for Mental damage taken once the drug wears off. If the drug's rating is high enough with respect to the user's Body, this will be Physical damage. Staging is often affected by the dosage. ADDICTION CODE: If the drug is addictive, the user must make a Willpower test once the drug wears off. The 'Wound Level,' or Addiction Level is almost always the dosage. The Target number is proportional to the drug's rating. The addictiveness of the drug is measured in the staging. The final Addiction Level (after the Willpower test reduces it) is multiplied by the drug's rating, for the number of boxes permanently filled in on the character's Mental damage monitor. This is the Addiction Level, and it isn't additive. The only time the Addiction Level increases is when an Addiction test results in a higher Addiction Level than the character previously had. If a character with Willpower 5 takes two doses of a drug with a Rating of 3, and an Addiction Code of 4(dosage)2, the player rolls 5 dice against a target number of 4, staging 2. If the player rolls 1 success, the Addition Level is 2 -- the dosage. If the player rolls 2 or 3 successes, the addiction level is 1. If the player rolls 4 successes, the character is not addicted. While using the drug, a number of Mental boxes equal to the dosage taken times the drug's rating are freed. If a character has an Addiction Level of 6, and shoots up 1 dose of rating 2, the Addiction Level will be reduced to 4 for the duration of the drug's effects. If a character is addicted to more than one drug, keep track of each Addiction Level, but only apply the highest. Penalties due to Aftershock damage do not apply to the Addiction test. ADDICTIVE LETHALITY: Each day, the character must make a Craving test. This is a Willpower test with a target number equal to the character's Addiction Level. If successful, the character has no craving that day. If unsuccessful, subtract the highest die roll from the character's Addiction Level, for the additional Mental monitor boxes filled in. If the character goes the full day without getting a fix of at least Addiction Level (Rating times Dose), a Body Test is required, vs. the drug's Addictive Lethality, with a target number equal to the Addiction Level minus the fix taken (0 if none), and a staging equal to the Addiction Code staging. If the target number is greater than twice the character's Body, the damage is physical. Otherwise, it's mental. This is also how the character can reduce his, her, or its Addiction Level. If the addictive lethality is reduced to no damage, reduce addiction level by the number of extra successes, divided by the staging (and rounded towards 0). These tests are not affected by stun caused by the character's addiction level, but they are affected by other stun and physical damage that is there for most of the night or day. John is addicted to Crack, with an addictive lethality of Serious and an addiction code of (Rating times 2)(Dosage)(2). His addiction level is 5. He has a Willpower of 2 and a Body of 3. Monday morning, he rolls a craving test, getting 5 and 3. His target number is his addiction level, or 5, so he has no craving that day. On Tuesday, he rolls 2 and 4. He craves some crack, but his friends lock him up so that he can't get any. He must make a Body test vs. 5S2 (addiction level Serious addiction code staging). This is mental, since his target number is not greater than twice his Body. He rolls 2 and 4, taking Serious mental damage. On Wednesday, he fails the craving test again, and manages to sneak in 2 doses of rating 2 crack. This is a fix of 4, reducing the Body test to 1S2 (the target number is really 2, since that's the lowest possible target number). He rolls 4 and 2, taking Moderate mental damage. USING DRUGS Combat drugs (such as booster shots, nopane, and hul kaline) are most commonly administered via slap patches. This takes one action to self- administer, as long as the patches are readily accessible. The next most common means of injection is through built-in cyber- controlled injectors. These take no action to use -- a simple thought is all that's required. Of course, if a character with a loaded cyber- injector gets a craving, the mind will automatically trigger an injection. BOOSTER SHOTS EFFECT: Booster shots affect the user as boosted reflexes (see the Street Samurai's Catalog) of rating equal to the drug's rating. Booster shots are not cumulative with boosted reflexes. Booster shots interfere with wired reflexes. Subtract the booster shot rating from the wired reflexes rating, for the effective wired rating. If this is negative, Reaction is reduced, and negative dice are applied. COST: Booster shots originated in Korea, and Japan is trying very hard to keep them from reaching the western world. The Japanese government does not want boosted reflexes within reach of drug addicts in their colonies. Within Korea, Booster shots are less expensive than in the Americas. BOOSTER SHOT COST Rating Korean American 1 200¥ 500¥ 2 250¥ 750¥ 3 400¥ 1,500¥ Unless Japan can stop the flow, American prices will drop to Japanese levels within 2 years. ONSET TIME: One Action. The onset target is the drug's rating+3. DURATION: (Dosage+2)d6 turns. The duration target is the drug's rating +1. AFTERSHOCK CODE: (2x Rating)D (dosage). If the rating is higher than body, the damage is physical. ADDICTION CODE: (Rating+1)(dosage)2. ADDICTINO LETHALITY: Deadly. NOPANE EFFECT: Nopane reduces the penalty for physical damage by the drug's rating. It reduces Reaction and Quickness by rating. Quickness can't be reduced below one. If rating is higher than or equal to Quickness, Quickness is reduced to one, and the character has a penalty of 1, plus rating minus quickness, on all quickness tests. Cost: Nopane was developed by the UCAS army, and its use has spread across the Americas. It is not common in Europe or Asia yet. NOPANE COST Rating America Eurasia 1 50¥ 200¥ 2 100¥ 300¥ 3 200¥ 400¥ Nopane is very illegal, and possession of Nopane marks the user as a seedy mercenary or killer. There are better and cheaper drugs on the market (illegal or otherwise) for normal drug-users. ONSET TIME: Two Actions. The onset target is the drug's rating+2. DURATION: (Dosage+1)d6 minutes. The duration target is the drug's rating +3. AFTERSHOCK CODE: (Rating+1)M(dosage). The damage is never physical. ADDICTION CODE: (Rating+1)(dosage)2. ADDICTION LETHALITY: Moderate. HUL KALINE EFFECT: Hul kaline (also known as Conananol or Scharzezine) increases the user's strength by causing the body to go into overtime. Hul kaline is very debilitating, though not very addictive. Hul kaline increases the user's Strength by rating,. It decreases the user's Quickness by half rating (round down) and Intelligence by half rating (round up). COST: Hul kaline was developed by the Aratech Arcology in the late 30s. When Aratech went under, they sold the formula to a consortium of military contractors, and Hul kaline is a staple of South American subcontractors. Rating Hul kaline Cost 1 500¥ 2 1,000¥ 3 2,000¥ 4 4,000¥ Possession of hul kaline is very illegal in most areas. ONSET TIME: Four Actions. The onset target is the drug's rating+2. DURATION: (Dosage+2)d6 turns. The duration target is the drug's rating +2. AFTERSHOCK CODE: (Special)D(dosage). The target number is the drug's rating plus half the user's original strength (round up). The damage is always physical. ADDICTION CODE: 2(dosage)2. The addiction code is not dependent on the drug's rating. Hul kaline is surprisingly non-addictive. ADDICTION LETHALITY: Deadly. SIMSENSE Simsense is almost exactly like drugs, except that Body is replaced by Charisma. Onset time and duration are chip in and chip out, and dosage is measured in time. "Simsense gives you the movie, but with all five senses instead of just two. BTL [Better than Life] gives you the same, but pushes the sensory signal to the red line. 2XS... hits you at the physiological level as well: adrenalin, endorphins, everything." -- Nigel Findley Shadowrun 4: 2XS Some less reputable simsense producers program their chips to degrade with use. Of course, even normal simsense will go bad under the typical handling it receives. Simsense users are not known for their organizational skills and hygiene. COMMON SIMSENSE: (rating 1 to 3) AFTERSHOCK CODE: (Rating+1)M2 ADDICTION CODE : (1+Rating)(dosage)1 DOSAGE : 30 minutes LETHALITY : Moderate Simsense is very much like movies: a sequence of pre-recorded actions and scenes. The simsense industry (centered in Hollywood) has directors, producers, and actors, just like TriVid. BETTER THAN LIFE: (rating 1 to 4) AFTERSHOCK CODE : (Rating+2)S3 If rating is greater than willpower, aftershock is physical. ADDICTION CODE : (2x Rating)(dosage)2 DOSAGE : 10 minutes LETHALITY : Serious BTL chips are the scummy side of simsense. The signals are amplified to provide a 'better than life' experience. Oddly enough, most BTL chips deal with violence rather than sex, although there's usually a sexual tint to the violence. 2XS : (rating 1) AFTERSHOCK CODE: (Rating+3)D4 ADDICTION CODE : (2x Rating)(dosage)4 DOSAGE : 1 minute LETHALITY : Deadly 2XS is new to the market. It requires a datajack. It must be fed directly into the brain. 2XS is so illegal very few people outside of illegal simsense users know about it. INTERACTIVE SIMSENSE: (rating 1 to 3) AFTERSHOCK CODE : (Rating-1)L1 Level 1 and 2 InSense will not cause aftershock, unless the user has penalties sufficient to bring the target number above 1. ADDICTION CODE : (Rating)(dosage)1 Rating 1 InSense is not addictive unless the user has penalties to the roll. DOSAGE : 30 minutes LETHALITY : Light Interactive Simsense (InSense) allows the user to change the flow of action, and make choices. Some insense gives the user a character-eye view. Others are like movies. In each case, however, the viewer has the choice of what directions to follow. Insense requires a special computer buffer to interface. Some insense won't work without the interface. Others will work as standard simsense, providing a pre-recorded sequence of scenes. It is rumored that FASA Corp, in conjunction with the Collegium for Research in Interactive Technologies, is developing a networking technology for insense.