You are addicted to a drug, which you must use daily or suffer withdrawal. The value of this disadvantage depends on the cost, effects, and legality of the drug:
Cost (per day)
Cheap (up to 0.1% of average starting wealth): -5 points.
Expensive (up to 0.5% of average starting wealth): -10 points.
Very expensive (more than 0.5% of average starting wealth): -20 points.
Effects
Incapacitating or hallucinogenic: -10 points.
Highly addictive (-5 on withdrawal roll): -5 points.
Totally addictive (-10 on withdrawal roll): -10 points.
Legality
Illegal: +0 points.
Legal: +5 points.
Examples: Tobacco is cheap, highly addictive, and legal; a chain-smoker has a -5-point Addiction. Heroin is very expensive, incapacitating, totally addictive, and illegal; a heroin addict has a -40-point Addiction.
Non-Chemical Addictions: You can take Addiction to an activity instead of a drug – for instance, telepathic contact or spending time in virtual reality.
If this costs money, price the Addiction based on its daily cost. If it is free (e.g., telepathic contact), treat it as “Cheap” if it you can do it almost anywhere (telepathic contact with anyone) or as “Expensive” if restrictive conditions apply (telepathic contact with one specific person).
Such Addictions almost always cause psychological dependency (see Withdrawal, below).
A stimulating drug leaves you feeling energized . . . until it wears off. Then you are depressed and irritable. An incapacitating drug renders you unconscious (or just blissfully, uselessly drowsy) for about two hours. A hallucinogenic drug renders you useless for work or combat, though you might be active and talkative. Some drugs (e.g., tobacco) have none of these effects, while others have unique effects. Side effects are also possible.
For detailed rules, see Addictive Drugs.
Sometimes, voluntarily or otherwise, you must try to give up your Addiction. Addiction to a drug that causes psychological dependency is a mental disadvantage; withdrawal from such a drug requires a series of Will rolls, and may result in mental problems. Addiction to a drug that induces physiological dependency is a physical disadvantage; withdrawal is a function of your HT, and may cause physical injury. For details, see Drug Withdrawal. Should you successfully withdraw from an Addiction, you must immediately buy off this disadvantage.
For an Addiction worth only -5 points, the GM may rule that the expense, stigma, and detrimental long-term effects of use are the whole of the disadvantage, and waive the usual withdrawal rules. This is appropriate for such drugs as tobacco and caffeine. If forced to go without, you must make a Will or HT roll as usual, but the only effects on a failure are general anxiety, irritability, or restlessness. This manifests as a temporary -1 to DX, IQ, self-control rolls, or reaction rolls (GM’s choice) – not as insanity or injury. Successive failures prolong the duration of the effects; they do not increase the size of the penalty.
If you can make 14 successful rolls in succession, you must buy off your Addiction.
It is also possible to create a 0-point Addiction using these rules.
Use these rules when you try to give up an Addiction, either voluntarily or because you are broke, imprisoned, or in a place where your drug just isn’t available.
Withdrawal is a painful process that requires a series of daily withdrawal rolls. It normally takes 14 successful rolls to shake the habit (thus, it always takes at least two weeks), but the GM is free to vary this. Should you manage to withdraw, you must “buy off” your Addiction disadvantage immediately.
The effects of withdrawal rolls depend on whether the drug is physiologically or psychologically addictive.
Physiological Dependency: Your body has come to rely on the drug!
Make daily withdrawal rolls against HT (maximum 13). Each success puts you a day closer to shaking off your Addiction. The results of failure depend on whether the drug is available. If it is, you give in and take a dose; if you still want to try to withdraw, you must restart the process from day one. If the drug is not available, you take 1 HP of injury and may continue the process . . . but that day doesn’t count toward the 14 successful rolls needed to withdraw. You cannot naturally recover HP lost to withdrawal until you either succeed or abandon the attempt.
Psychological Dependency: You’ve convinced yourself that you cannot function without the drug. Make withdrawal rolls against Will (maximum 13). Use the physiological dependency rules, except that if you fail a roll and the drug is unavailable, you don’t take injury. Instead, you gain -1 point of drug-related quirks, chosen by the GM. These vanish if you give in and take a dose of the drug (but then you must restart the process). If you don’t give in, these quirks grow into progressively more severe mental disadvantages. If you make 14 successful Will rolls, you withdraw – but you must make one final Will roll. On a failure, you keep any quirks or disadvantages incurred along the way!