Drugs in the Rifts setting

[9voltkilowatt]

I'd just make something up, that way you can give it your own brand of side effects as well as any possible benefits.

[Pepsi Jedi]

There's Psi cola and I think the new traix book has a listing. 10 or so pages of drugs, but I could be misremembering. Anyone verify that?

[glitterboy2098]

juicer uprisings has a number of drugs that might be suitable. these are largely designer 'hard' drugs with some nasty side effects, though they usually have some really potent main effects. (at least one gives you boosted reflexes and strength.. just enough to make you think you can take on a juicer.. not enough to pull it off though.. the side effects on that one are nasty though)

Triax2 has a number of 'mostly harmless' ones like energy drinks and such.. no more addictive than the real world ones for the most part, but with some interesting effects.

[Kovoston]

Juicer Uprising pages 61 to 64

[glitterboy2098]

frankly, for a character like that, morphine and/or its derivatives would still be the most probable.

[Ectoplasmic Bidet]

In WB5: Triax & the NGR, there are several designer drugs listed that run the gamut of addictiveness from minimum to high. There's also the JAEP system, that's like Juicer Lite, which is non-fatal, open to almost any class, and provides much lower but not insignificant bonuses.

[mobuttu]

See:

Designer Drugs - WB10 Juicer Uprising pg. 61-64
Chemicals/Permormance Enhancing Drugs - Rifts Merc Ops pg. 111-112

And this post un my Rifts blog for a drug addiction house rule. (as always click on the upper-right button for an automatic google translation).

Hope this helps.

[gaby]

I think thers Drugs in South America1.

[Shorty Lickens]

I'd use fake drugs, for fun. Same reason I dont use real religions in my Rifts Earth.

[glitterboy2098]

frankly, for a character like that, morphine and/or its derivatives would still be the most probable.

As someone that has struggled with chronic pain for years, I know the power of morphine all too well. Lortab is another good painkiller that is highly addictive. I imagine there would be future equivalents in the Rifts setting.

not even 'future versions' are needed, to be honest. since the Opium Poppy would be growing wild in places like mexico (and presumably other places in the southwest by 109PA)*, Opiates would be a fairly common set of drugs in rifts north america. you can make most of the main ones with just 19th century chemistry, making it as close to 'bathtub chemistry' as you can get.

i'd imagine that the more civilized places like the CS might have fairly advanced refining processes to make the more advanced products (opiates are still the base for most modern painkillers, no reason this would change for groups like the CS), but you could produce products like opium, morphine and Laudanum (tincture of opium)** just about anywhere.
the downside to this is that i'd expect Heroin to be common due to the same factors.


* it would be growing wild because you have lots of Opium Poppy's in parts of mexico and the american southwest due to the heroin trade. with almost 300 years to spread, the Opium Poppy would have ended up fairly common, i think.

** i'd imagine that Laudanum would become a common medication in rifts north america, and probably would form the basis for a number of snake oil type products sold by hucksters, as well as likely quite a number of legitimate herbal medications.

[Pepsi Jedi]

"Milk of the Poppy" Has been used for quite a long time. *nods*

Not sure I'd use it in rifts. It'd be more fun to go with something alien or exotic but yeah.

[glitterboy2098]

"Milk of the Poppy" Has been used for quite a long time. *nods*

Not sure I'd use it in rifts. It'd be more fun to go with something alien or exotic but yeah.

i'm of the opinion that the best results for stuff like this is when you mix the mundane and the exotic. if all you have is the exotic, it becomes mundane, and not as interesting. but if you put in the 'mundane' stuff people would recognize, your exotic and alien stuff becomes much more interesting. for example, in the OP's sceanrio, the lady might be hooked on Opium and Laudanum, but might well be looking to find the money to buy some of that Quik-heal stuff or other exotic drug in hopes of solving the problem more permanently. (whether or not it actually would work that way..)

plus it gives you a basis for comparison in dialog. an alien narcotic for example could be described as "worse than heroin".. something that players could understand, but if heroin isn't present in your setting, kinda kills the immersion in the game.

of courwe, either way you coudl still have people like Doc Terminus from pete's dragon (to use an intentionally humorous example of a snake oil salesman..)

[Pepsi Jedi]

Very true. *nods*