Uppers, downers, hallucinogens, intoxicants ... a player character is about to get high. But what can that mean in game terms? Not every gamemaster is an expert on every type of drug out there, especially concoctions that would be available to various peoples of a thousand years ago. Rather than trying to guess, I have compiled everything I can find here. As usual, audience participation makes these things more entertaining, so if anyone thinks of anything else, feel free to throw it in the forum.

Originally, getting “high” was probably a way for shamans to communicate with their gods or to bring them visions of how to best serve the tribe. Some forms of drugs became commonplace among the communities, used by everyone. In some cases, such as ergot among the rye, the consumers were unaware they were drugged, leading to legendary fits of hysteria.

What it comes down to is that characters are doing some sort of mind-altering substance in most gaming. From alcohol and tobacco to opiates and magic mushrooms, these drugs were used in medicine, magic, and leisure. Certainly the illegalities of Earth’s recent years were more lax in ancient times, and likely nonexistent in other “realms.” This is not to say you can’t have certain drugs be illegal in certain regions, but in any realm where there are multiple cultures, you will have different perspectives of the drug market.

Here’s a wide variety of the various available drugs of our world, with common effects of the more well-known ones for those who are utilizing real-world settings. Following the identifiable drugs are game statistics for effects on common character professions, addiction charts, and other fine things.

Common Drugs of Today

Tea drinking probably started the earliest. Some say the first writings of tea go as far back as the first millennium BCE. At the time it was considered a medicine—an antidote to overindulgence or a stimulant. Lao Tzu, founder of Tao, described tea as an essential ingredient in the elixir of life. It wasn’t until 59 BCE that Wang Bao wrote the first book on the preparation of tea, establishing tea not only as a medicine, but as an important part of the diet. Eventually it became a favorite drink for many. Tea estates became popular around Shanghai, considered the origin for the finest teas available. Taxes were levied and prices went up and up, to 1.5 ounces of gold per pound. Tea spread to Japan in the ninth century, and tea was used as an offering to the temples in Korea in the seventh century, finding regularly consumption during the Jongeon Dynasty (1392–1910). The use of tea did not spread elsewhere until after Marco Polo’s visit. While tea existed in India, and was probably used as a medicine by local tribes, the famous production of Indian teas did not begin until much later.

Chinese legend has it that the Chinese Emperor, Shennong, who was also the inventor of agriculture and medicine, was once drinking a bowl of boiled water and some leaves from a nearby tree blew into the bowl and changed the color of the water. He was surprised and pleased with the restorative potion. If the legend is true, tea first came into being around 2737 BCE. Another legend tells of Bodhidharma, founder of the Zen School of Buddhism, falling asleep while meditating. Disgusted at his own weakness, he cut off his eyelids and flung them to the ground where they grew as tea shrubs.

Tea: Boosts awareness and alertness levels. Caffiene is addictive, and a character who consumes caffeine regularly will be less affected by it. Add +1 to Nimbleness or Agility scores for the first half-hour. Gain an advantage when trying to think.

Chocolate residue found in a Mayan pot reveals that chocolate was probably first drunk 2,600 years ago. Chocolate was almost exclusively used as a drink. The Mayans use the beans as a form of currency. There was even counterfeit money—merchants would strip of off the husks and refill them with sand, mixing them in with the others to defraud the customers. The cacao beans were roasted, ground, and mixed with maize flour, flowers, and maybe sugar to form a paste. This paste was thrown into gourds with some water and shaken until it formed a frothy drink, which was drunk in one swallow. The rich drank xocoatl, a mixture of chocolate, chili peppers, corn flour, and water. When the Spanish arrived, they though the drink was horrid and used sugar and cinnamon instead, making sweet chocolate. While Mayans drank it hot, the Aztecs served it cold.

The Maya believed the cacao bean (kakaw) was discovered by the gods in a mountain containing all sorts of other delicacies to be used by the people. Legend states the Plumed God gave the cacao to the mortals. The Aztecs echo this legend, stating Quetzalcoatl discovered the bean in the mountain. The Mayans annually celebrated the cacao god, Ek Chuah, with animal sacrifices and offerings. The Aztecs believed the ritual drink was for men only, toxic to women and children.

Chocolate: Increases serotonin, which produces feelings of pleasure in the brain as well as dopamine and endorphins. Improves mood (social skills), increases endurance.

Coffee is the latest of these mild stimulants. Possibly as early as the ninth century, coffee was utilized in Ethiopia and spread quickly to Yemen, then Egypt. Its initial use was as a ritual stimulant. Roasting the beans became known in Arabia around 1200 AD. In the 1500s coffee was introduced to Mecca and soon after coffeehouses popped up, spreading throughout the Muslim world, including Iran, Spain, Egypt, and Turkey. Coffee didn’t come into contact with Europe until the 1600s, where it showed up in Paris, then Oxford and London. After the siege by the Ottoman Turks in Vienna in 1683, the first of the Viennese coffeehouses opened up. Defying Arab prohibitions, the Dutch smuggled seeds out in 1690 to start their own crops in Java.

Coffee: Increases awareness and alertness levels significantly. Caffeine is addictive, and a character who consumes caffeine regularly will be less affected by it. Gain two advantages while trying to think. Helps character stay awake longer.

Alcohol

The concept of fermenting fruits and grains to make inebriating beverages has been around since the Stone Age. Ten thousand years ago, grapes were definitely being consumed and, considering that grape skins have enough yeast and sugar to make their own wine once they start fermenting, no doubt Neolithic man was getting down with the juice even then. The elongated seeds of cultivated grapes found in Georgia dated back to 5000 BCE, and were found with what appeared to be wine-storage vessels. In fact, the search for inebriation may have propelled agriculture to new heights, leading to the domestication of other crops. Noah, in the Bible, plants the first vines to make wine, and is the earliest reference to cultivation in the Good Book. Osiris was considered the god of wine and beer by many.

The truth is one could write an entire book on alcohol alone. Ancient oral Chinese legends talk about royal astronomers getting drunk and missing an eclipse. Persian councilmen apparently considered important decisions both drunk and sober to ensure their decisions would sit well in both worlds, according to Herodotus. Alcohol is probably humankind’s most favorite high.

Beer

All it would have taken was a bowl of fermented barley porridge and beer would have become a staple. If anything, the invention of bread must have been followed quickly by the discovery of beer. In any event both bread and beer were consumed regularly by 3000 BCE. The first great beer drinkers were the Sumerians (they also made wines from both grapes and dates). Most of the early Mesopotamian breweries were run by women who sold the beer from their homes. About 1750 BCE, King Hammurabi set laws to regulate these informal taverns by controlling beer prices. Women who overcharged were thrown in the river, and women who served known outlaws without turning them in were killed.

In Egypt, alehouses were hangouts for troublemakers. An Egyptian papyrus from 1400 BCE warns drinkers of the trouble they can get into for loose lips in such establishments. Apparently, Egyptian beer was preferable to their wine, but as a whole, the Greeks and Romans felt that beer was the drink of barbarians, and wine was their choice drink. For the rest of the world, beer was just dandy—drunk by the Celts of ancient Britain, France, Spain, and Germany. It was the Germans who added hops, adding the bitter taste to the sweet beers of Egypt. Believed to be used by the ninth century, hops are referenced in the eleventh century by Hildegard of Bingen. Around 1031 CE, the monastery of Saint Emmaram had their own hops gardens. In the end, the monasteries took over the brewing for Europe by the Middle Ages.

The Chinese used fermented rice, honey, and fruit to make their wines; wine jars dating back to 7000 BCE have been found in the China provinces. Alcohol was considered a spiritual beverage, drunk at important events. By the time Marco Polo showed up, alcohol was one of the countries greatest sources of income. Alcoholic beverages were seen in India by 3000 to 2000 BCE, but under strict regulation. Both the Buddhists and Hindu Brahmin abstained from alcohol beverages, but the rest readily took a portion of their crops to make alcohol.

Asian Beer

What we call sake is a modern form of an ancient beer made by the Chinese as early as 1000 BCE. The Chinese form of beer was much stronger—15 percent as opposed to 5—and made from partially cooked wheat that went moldy.

Mead

Made from fermenting honey and water, mead was popular in Europe during the Middle Ages. The earliest reference to a fermented honey beverage is found in the hymns of the Rigveda, which dates back to 1700–1100 BCE. A bizarre use for a mead-like drink could be found among the chiefs of the Mayans during the first millennium CE. They fermented the honey along with a toad, leeching out the intoxicants in the toad’s skin. They then took the resulting concoction using an enema during religious ceremonies.

Wine

Although wine and alcohol may have a base in prehistory, the art of wine-making begins with the Egyptians. In 3000 BCE wine jars were manufactures in large quantities. Tomb paintings discussed in detail every step in the wine-making process. Although they may have been the first, it would seem they were not the preferred choice; the Romans felt the Egyptian wine was no better than vinegar. The Romans preferred the wine of the Greeks, especially from the islands. It was the Greeks who perfected wine-making, with beautiful pottery decorated for the beverage.

The Celtic Gauls of France impressed the drinkers of Greece and Rome; consuming large quantities in their addictions. The Greeks and Romans were also amazed by the Scythians of ancient Russia—they drank it straight without watering it down like the Greeks and Romans did.

Beer and Wine: For the average human, four drinks will start to make a character loopy. Consider that with other races, some characters will be “resistant” (needs 8) or “sensitive” (needs 2) to get the same effects. You can also have resistant or sensitive humans. If a character of unknown sensitivity starts drinking heavily, figure on first rolling for what physical attributes the character has to determine how strong the effect is, then roll for whatever mind attributes the character has to determine severity of the reaction. Common symptoms include slurred speech, impaired balance, poor coordination, reduced inhibition, and uncharacteristic behavior. Overuse causes lethargy, confusion, stupor, coma, or death.

Distillation

The distillation process was first seen in the Middle East some time around the eighth century, but was used for perfumery and cosmetics. Distilled alcohol was probably not seen in Europe until after the Middle Ages. The first evidence of distillation was performed by the Salerno doctors of Sicily some time in the twelfth century and was strictly medicinal. They stole distillation techniques from the Arabs, and the Arabian word al-kohl may be where we get “alcohol.”

Elsewhere, distillation was already well underway. Primitive distillation occurred in north China a thousand years earlier by Chinese nomads who used the freeze technique of getting out high-octane alcohol. The Chinese started to use the heating technique of making brandy by the sixth century, called it “burned wine.” The Chinese were also producing whiskey from fermented grains by the seventh century. Distilling was also common practice in Mesoamerica. When the Spanish arrived in Mexico, the Aztecs were making tequila from fermented cactus juice in pottery stills.

Distilled Drinks: Two will be “pleasant,” by four, the character is inebriated. Treat the same as wine and beer, but coordination and balance go first at four drinks.

Estimations for years of origins of distilled alcohols

Hard Cider: 1500s
Whiskey: 1400s
Brandy: 1200s
Gin: 1600s
Vodka: 1400s
Rum: 1700s (Fermented sugarcane beverage brum dates back to first millennium.)

Nicotine

Nicotine has one of the stranger histories in the world. Brought to Europe from the New World in the sixteenth century, tobacco immediately became popular in the royal court of France and throughout the continent. However, in the 1980s, a study of the mummy of Ramses revealed a strange situation, the mummy contained tobacco, leading to much speculation. Prehistoric tobacco users, such as the Warao Indians of South America, used the plant in ritual and ceremony as did most of the New World tribes. Nicotine produces a variety of effects. It is a stimulant that causes the brain to think more effectively, yet it is also calming substance that focuses a person and reduces anxiety. It is one of the most highly addictive dangerous drugs known to mankind.

Tobacco: In areas where tobacco is available, it is most likely best to keep it associated with god/goddess worship and spiritual journeys. Causes either stimulation or calming influence on the user, depending on what was needed for the situation.

Cannabis

Although cannabis is widely found, as a drug its home is in Asia. The most famous source is India and their traditional method of consumption was to drink a tea made from powdered cannabis, milk, sugar, and spice, called bhang. The effects on the consumer consisted of anything from hilarity, sleepiness, amorousness, or raging munchies. The Greeks described how the Scythians used special tents as vapor baths and cannabis smoke dens. According to Herodotus, who discussed these practices of the ancient southern Russian neighbors, the consumers would laugh and howl with delight as the breathed in the smoke. In ancient China, Taoists would inhale the smoke fro hemp incense burners. Taoist texts warn that over-consumption made people “see demons and throw themselves about like maniacs. But if one takes it over a long period of time one can communicate with spirits and one’s body becomes light.” (Shen Nung Pen Tsao Ching).

Cannabis: Can increase any spiritual scores, but does a number on mental abilities. Physical abilities are untouched, but the mind disconnects from them—active decisions to move are forgotten, but instinctive maneuvers would still work just fine, although afterwards the character would pause to wonder just how he pulled it off.

Possible symptoms include (you can use a d10 and roll for effect, or better yet… roll two)

1. Easily distracted by dust motes, a blade of grass bent the wrong way, etc.
2. Obsessive-compulsive behavior; spending an hour trying to translate a single sentence of an unknown language in the character’s mind. Or taking an hour at a simple task, or playing the same three notes on a musical instrument for twenty minutes straight.
3. Appetite boost beyond all belief
4. A fit of anxiety or paranoia. They’re all watching you.
5. An irresistible urge to talk about the effects you are having. Repeatedly.
6. Giggle fit!
7. Distorted perception.
8. Falls asleep/passes out
9. A fit of hypochondria—boy, that heartbeat’s going way too fast, and you mouth is so dry, but if you try to drink water, will you remember to swallow?
10. Sensory enhancement (smells, vision, hearing, taste, etc.)

Hashish

The origins of this concentrated product of the cannabis are unknown, but likely stem from the Arabs of the Middle Ages known as the “assassins.” They were a fanatical Islamic group founded by Hasan-ibn-al-Sabbah in the 1000s. In 1090 CE he gained possession of the mountain fortress and his goal was to use assassination as a political shortcut to establish a power base within a Sunni-dominated region. He introduced his followers to drug-induced visions of Paradise. They were first broken by a Mongol attack on the fortress, and then again by the Syrian rulers after the Assassins tried to rebuild there. The sect survived, becoming the Ismailis of today. The earliest known hash pipe was found in Ethiopia and dated back to the fifteenth century.

Hashish: Produces same effects as cannabis in smaller quantities. It could be stated that the character will feel the effect with much more intensity.

Opium

Opium enjoyed a long life as a medicinal plant before users turned it into a recreational pastime. Opium’s main constituent morphine relieves pain, anxiety, and sleeplessness. Opium does not take away pain or block nerve receptors, and a drugged patient can still accurately describe where the pain is. The relief comes from the patient no longer being concerned or anxious about the pain.

Evidence shows that the Mediterranean region peoples smoked opium through specially designed pipes. One of these found pipes dated back to 1200 BCE. Numerous finds in Neolithic settlements of Switzerland, Germany, and Spain show that the plant found fame as far back as the existence of men. Opium was also produced in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt as well. In Egypt, use was restricted to magicians, priests, and warriors. The Greeks say they got it from the Egyptians; the Egyptians say they got it from the people of what is now Turkey. The Chinese, considered synonymous with opium-smoking today, did not even see an opium plant until the 7th century CE. The earliest use of opium as a recreational drug among the Chinese is not recorded until 1483, when Xu Boling discusses how opium enhanced male virility. However to the Sumerians of the third century BCE, the plant was known as the “joy-plant,” so we can assume that early people figured out the pleasures of poppies early on.

The method for collecting opium has not changed in over 2,500 years. A few days after the petals fall, the greenish seed pods are delicately incised in several places. The milky juice is collected and left to dry on the surface of the pods until the next day. This brown gummy resin is then collected and the process repeated until the poppy gives no more. Crude opium is difficulty to burn, therefore the resin is boiled until a much purer form is extracted.

Opium: Generally, the opiate high involves euphoria, a greatly enhanced sense of well-being, and a feeling of cool detachment. The opium is also capable of triggering internal visions; unlike LSD where the user is an active participant, the opiate user is generally an observer. Opium also stimulates erotic energy both on mental and corporal levels, allowing for fantastic visions straight up from the libido. The slight anesthetizing effect when strategically placed supposedly delayed orgasm.

Coca

The coca plant was quickly turned into a necessity for the local tribes along the Andes. Regarded by the Peruvians as a sacred and mysterious plant, it was introduced in almost all ceremonies, chewed or burned to produce smoke. It was used as a breathing aid for the higher altitudes of the Andes. It was believed that any endeavor undertaken without the blessing of coca leaves would fail. On average up to two ounces of leaves were consumed everyday, equaling about 5 to 6 grams of cocaine. The rest of the world went without until the Spanish conquistadores came. Initially they prohibited its use but then realized that it was very useful to give to the miners working the high altitude gold mines. In Europe, coca was rejected as unfit by the nobility that preferred the highs of coffee, tea, tobacco, opium.

Mummy bundles of the region show that the local tribes have been taking of the plant for at least 3,000 years, confirmed definitely for the 6th century CE Moche period. According to legend, Manco Capac, the divine son of the Sun, gave them coca to ease their stay on earth. Its use in Incan hands was restricted to the noble classes, some favored servants, and the army.

Generally taken with lime to facilitate the cocaine transference, the coca leaves when chewed produce a pleasant numbing in the mouth. Coca leaves act as a stimulant to help suppress hunger sensations, thirst, and fatigue. It is also an anesthetic and to suppress bleeding. It was not introduced to Europe until the 16th century. Queen Victoria of England was a coca user. The alkaloid we know as cocaine was not isolated until 1855.

Coca: Taken the traditional way suppresses hunger, thirst and fatigue; also makes it easier to breathe in high altitudes. The initial signs of stimulation are hyperactivity, restlessness, increased blood pressure, increased blood rate, and euphoria. The euphoria is sometimes followed by feelings of discomfort and depression and a craving to experience the drug again. Sexual interest and pleasure can be amplified. Side effects can include twitching, paranoia, and impotence, which usually increase with frequent usage.

With excessive dosage the drug can produce itching, tachycardia, hallucinations, and paranoid delusions.

Psychoactive Drugs

On Earth, 15 to 20 hallucinogenic drugs are found in the “Old World” of Europe and Asia. In the New World there are more than 100. There are more four basic categories of hallucinogenic constituents.

Tropane: Datura, belladonna, henbane, mandrake
Isoxazole: Amanita muscarii
Phenylethylamine: Peyote, San Pedro Cactus, possible kavakava and nutmeg
Indole: Indole can be further divided into tryptamines (Psilocybin and related mushrooms, yage, bufotenine, and DMT); lysergic acid amides (LSD, morning glory seeds); the b-carbolines harmine and harmaline; and ibogaine (found in iboga root).

Nightshades

Over 3,000 species and the leader in legendary plants of witchcraft, including datura, belladonna, henbane, and mandrake. Known from antiquity as deadly poisons, an ointment of these substances rubbed on the body produces a sensation of flying and dreams of sexual frenzy. Of the tropane alkaloids, scopolamine is the most hallucinogenic and is known for its brainwashing potential.

Datura was sacred in India, China, and Arabia. In India in particular it has a history of being used by thieves to drug victims. Other species of Datura were universally used among the tribes of the Americas both in ceremony and in surgery. Belladonna was used in Italy by women to dilate the eyes, and was used in many witchcraft potions. It brought on hallucinations similar to datura. Henbane was known to the ancient Greeks as a poison but was used by both Greeks and Romans as a method of provoking madness and inspiring prophecy. Of the nightshades, henbane is the most vision-producing, after which the user falls into a deep sedation. Mandrake was an example of the power of witchcraft for centuries. The brew made from boiling the root caused severe hallucinations followed by a deathlike trance.

Another nightshade family member is the Pituri of Australia chewed by aborigines, mixed with acacia leaves, and passed from mouth to mouth or smoked like a cigar. In South America is iochroma, which was either smoked or made into tea.

Nightshades: Effects usually felt within 20 minutes or half an hour. Nausea, diarrhea, chills, dry mouth, and lack of coordination are common side effects. The predominant experience is one of intense disorientation, mental confusion, and nervous agitation. After that the mind is ripped open violently with hallucinations and visions. If a large enough dose is taken, the hallucinations can last for days. Both henbane and mandrake cause a stupor after the hallucinations end.

Amanita Mushrooms

The legendary toadstool of red and white, known over countless generations throughout hundreds of lands. Amanita mushrooms only grow in northern temperate regions and are a major part of the ritual ceremonies of North American, Europe, and Asian tribal culture. The most potent variety is found in the outer reaches and is called fly agaric. All species are chiefly found in birch and larch forests, or occasionally among pines, spruce and fire.

The Mazatec Indian only eat the mushrooms in the dark, so they are like disembodies voices coming together. Many believe the ancient Aryans introduced fly agaric to India and the result was the mysterious soma. A 13th century fresco in France displays the mushroom in place of the apple in the garden of Eden. There are theories that the Viking berserkers were under the influence of mushrooms. In Siberia, women were forbidden from taken fly agaric. Reindeer are partial to the mushroom and this may be part of the explanation for Santa Claus and his reindeer.

Amanita: Served in portions at first, increasing the intake at half-hour intervals as desired. It is wise not to exceed three. Effects begin between a half-hour and an hour and a half (faster when smoked). Initial reactions are dizziness and drowsiness, numbness in legs, loss of coordination, and possibly nausea. These symptoms give way to very dreamy visual hallucinations, especially size distortion a la Alice in Wonderland. It also gives the user a growing eupheroa and mental clarity where everything seems more alie. Physical strength and energy may increase dramatically. Eventually the consumer falls into a deep sleep.

Nixi Pae: Two vines are combines in South America to make a potent hallucinogenic brew called caapi in Brazil, ayahuasca in Amazonian Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, and yage in the Andean foothills of Ecuador and Columbia. Pieces of bark are boiled for up to 24 hours, often combines with other plants, such as datura or tobacco. The drink puts the use in touch with his ancestral spirits.

Ayahuasca: Effects are felt almost immediately. Start with a period of intense nausea, sweating, and vertigo, leading to fantastic color visions in the blue and purple range of wild jungle animals and birds, dark-skinned men, circular and ornamental patterns, images of creation and death, and visualizations of gods. The drinkers feel they are the animals visualized. Sound and hearing are enhanced and synesthesia is commonly experiences. There is usually dancing and then a dream-filled sleep. This experience can last up to 12 hours.

Iboga: The plant is native to the tropical forests of the Congo and Gabon. The root contains a powerful stimulant even in low doses, and in high doses is a strong hallucinogen. Use of the plant is ritual among many tribes, especially the Bwiti where it is used in initiation rites, for seeking ancestral spirit guidance, as a folk medicine, and as a giver of strength and endurance for hunting.

Iboga: Visions include wild animals, primitive men, and themes of aggression and sex. The hallucinations are powerful, like dreaming without the loss of consciousness. It is very nauseating. The effects come about 45 minutes after ingestion and last 8 to 12 hours.

Lysergic Acid Amide: The rye grain fungus has been used for centuries to aid childbirth. The hallucinations and convulsions caused by ergotism were known since the Middles Ages and called Saint Anthony’s Fire. Ergot has bad side-effects, including gangrene, so use in your game sparingly. Other sources of this lysergic acid derivative include Hawaiian wood-rose seeds and morning glory seeds. The morning glories of Mesoamerica were used by ancient Aztecs as sacred drugs in divinatory rites or as magical ointment. Called ololiuqui, two different forms of morning glory seeds were crushed and dissolved in water or in an alcoholic beverage called pulque, mescal, or aguardiente. The shamans who led these rituals were called piuleros and usually took the beverage with the others. Ololiuqui was a substitute for the powerful mushrooms once the rainy season ended. Side effects of morning glory include unavoidable nausea throughout the early stages. It was from these plants that the first lysergic acid amide was isolated in the 1940s, later moving the sixties’ generation to new heights of awareness.

LSD Effects:

30 to 45 minutes. The drug causes a series of biochemical and psychological reactions in the brain, and the user notices something “different.”

Hour One. These changes rapidly intensify as the senses are flooded with numerous stimuli per second. The pupils dilate and fill with visual imagery. The user does not see what’s not there; it sees more of what’s there. Moods change rapidly. Objects, faces, colors swim and distort, disintegrate, and rearrange themselves. Hearing becomes acute and mixes with sounds to produce synesthesia. The sense of smell becomes strong and there’s increased sensitivity to air temperature and movement. A pervasive dryness of the mouth is noticeable until later when the desire to eat returns. In the early stages there is sometimes bodily discomfort, as in nausea, and the ultra-awareness of the body gets translated into paranoia and fear of normal body changes. Perception of time, space and even self distort.

Hour 2. The sensory overload fades, only to be replaced by an overactive mind processing all the direct input it just received. The present and past figure into reality very readily. Early memories are jogged loose and become emotional again. Some have “re-experienced” birth and their whole lies, previous lives, the history of humankind, or even return to the source of evolution and the existence of energy, with a high enough dose.

Hour 3. The consumer “peaks,” with a feeling of euphoria and transcendence. Elusive concepts are grasped, insight and inspiration are continuous. It is a near-religious experience even for the non-religious, and a compassion, tolerance, and love for all things.

Hours 6 through 14. Once the peak ends, the consumer returns circling in waves until he finds his own identity again. After 12 to 14 hours, the consumer is ready for a long and restful sleep.

Psilocybian Mushrooms: Psilocybin, Psilocin. The mushroom statues found in Guatamala and Mexico have been dated as far back as 1500 BCE, usually depicting a bemushroomed god. The Aztec name was teonanacatl, “flesh of the gods,” and documented evidence for the ritual use of the sacred mushrooms goes back to the coronation of Montezuma II in 1503. At that time the Spanish noted the mushrooms were subjected to quality control: the tawny ones were reserved for royalty and used at their feasts. The shamans ate the ones that brought “before the eyes all sorts of things, such as wars and the likeness of demons.” The poor used the deep yellow and acrid mushrooms to achieve “madness that on occasion is lasting, of which the chief symptom is a kind of uncontrollable laughter.” In Native American use, the mushroom ceremony was convened only when a serious problem needed resolving. These users also abstained from eating and sex prior to their psychic journey. Over a dozen species of Psilocybe as well as some similar genera comprise the sacred mushrooms known to have been used among the nine Mexican tribes. Psilocybian mushrooms have also been found in the Pacific Northwest and southeastern regions of the United States, England, Columbia, Australia, and Cambodia.

Psilocybin: In low doses (two to four mushrooms), one becomes relaxed, euphoric, dreamily introspective, emotionally detached. With large doses (ten or more), the effects are profound, with strong alterations in perception of time and space and in awareness of self- and body-image. There are powerful visual images of abstract geometric forms and fantastic landscapes. There is sometimes extreme hilarity. The mushroom produces effects within 15 to 30 minutes of ingestion that are very pronounced in an hour to 90 minutes. The total journey lasts five to six hours.

Peyote/Mescaline: This cactus only grows in America, from the Texas border to just north of Mexico City. Its name is from the Aztec peyotl and was used by the Mexican tribes. The tops are cut off and dried in the sun. They can keep their potency over a long period of time, but the freshest are the most powerful. It can take several hours to chew the buttons once the white hair is removed, both because of the toughness and from the extreme, nausea-producing bitterness.

Mescaline: Three to six buttons are needed. Mescaline blocks the neuromuscle complex and alters patterns in the brain. It comes on over a period of several hours and lasts for 8 to 12. Initial effects include nausea, body heaviness, and some minor spasms of the leg muscles. Similar experiences to LSD and psilocybin occur, except for the increased richness of the visions and a tendency towards emotional catharsis. Tolerance can occur, but not as quickly as in LSD or psilocybin. These three major psychedelics also cause cross-tolerance to one another.

Other Substances

Mescal Bean: Southwestern United states. Used often until peyote took its place with less toxicity. May have been in use for thousands of years. Used for ritual, divining, prophecy and the Red Bean Dance. More than half a bean can kill, but less caused severe hallucinations. Similar to genista from the Canary Islands, which was later introduced to Mexico where is became a sacrament of Yaqui brujas.

Mediterranean Juniper Tree: Inhalation of burning leaves and branches produces intoxicating and hallucinogenic effects as well as delirium and a trancelike state. The intoxicated state lasts no longer than 30 minutes and was used for ancestral communication. This plant’s berries also were made into gin.

Syrian Rue: Found from the Mediterranean to northern India and Manchuria, where the seeds have been used as medicine and as an Old World hallucinogen. There is evidence that Syrian rue had religious use in ancient times.

Passionflower: Native to the West Indies and southern United States, when smoked it produces a mild high, and brewed as a tea has a tranquilizing effect.

Kanna: Africa. Related to cactus family and used for hundreds of years. When chewed, laughter and buoyancy result followed by strong delirium and unconsciousness.

Devil’s Foot Root: One of the strangest psychotropics. Grown in extreme secrecy on the banks of the Ubangi Rover in the Congo. Used as an ordeal poison, it’s possible to recover from low doses of this hallucinogenic, and excessive inhalation is probably fatal.

Hierba loca: “Maddening plant.” Found in Chile, the fruit can cause mental confusion and can culminate in permanent insanity.

Locoweed: Found in the American prairies, young animals can become addicted to intoxication, which causes them to display weird behavior as well as signs of physical degeneration. Mental excitement and illusionary thinking dominate the physical symptoms.

Yohimbe: West African tree; preparations include boiling the shaved bark or as a snuff or cigar. A psychic energizer and aphrodisiac, its use should not be repeated for several weeks and never with alcohol.

Yopo: The seeds of the northwest Amazonian are turned to a powder and snuffed. the effects begin within minutes and include extreme stimulation and lack of motor coordination, then visual hallucinations, especially macropsia. Shamans use it to talk to spirits.

Bufotenine: a hallucinogenic substance that has been found in toad skin, rabbit lung, Amanita mushrooms, the yopo tree, a vine related to ayahuasca, and human urine. It was probably an ingredient in a pre-Columbian ritual brew of Mesoamerica and possibly the active ingredient of a psychedelic fish found off the coast of New South Wales. Bufotenine was used by European witches in their potions and is a component of the Haitian snuff cohoba. Cohoba was the first New World hallucinogen discovered by Columbus.

San Pedro and Donana cactus: Pedro is a tall mescaline-producing Peruvian cactus that provides a more tranquil, palatable high than peyote. Ritually used for more than 3000 years for divination and confronting evil spirits. Cimora, a hallucinatory brew, is made by boiling pieces of pedro with other psychoactive plants, including a datura species. The ceremony is elaborate, takes place outdoors at night, and is led by a curandero who chants and engages negative forces. The effects of cimora are felt up within a half-hour and last up to eight hours. Donana is a small spiny cactus in the American southwest, and it contains a chemical similar to mescaline but with less potency. Once the spines are removed, eight to ten cacti are consumed on an empty stomach or crushed and brewed as tea.

Sweet Flag: This plant found in marshes and ponds in Europe, Asia, and the eastern part of North America. In low doses (2 inches of root) the plant is a stimulant. In high doses (10 inches), the plant produces a hallucinogenic experience. The Cree of North Aemrica have used it for years (The asarone constituents may produce tumors).

Nutmeg and Mace: Nutmeg is the seed and mace the fibrous covering. Used as a medicine in ancient times, at one point someone figured out that the fruit can cause hallucinations in large enough doses. In low doses (5 to 10 grams), it can cause euphoria. It has undesirable side and aftereffects, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, and back pain. The effects are felt two to five hours after ingestion; the hangover can last for more than a day.

Kavakava: The “national drink” of the Polynesian Islands. The lower classes use it for relaxation; the upper classes for pleasure; and the priests for ceremony and medicine. The roots are chewed by young female virgins and infused in bowls of water. A small dose of one ounce to ten ounces of water, blended with coconut oil, gives two to four people a mild euphoria followed by a pleasant sedation. The high lasts two to three hours followed by sleep. With larger doses the root can be hallucinogenic and is a powerful sedative. There are no hangovers, but the drink is habit-forming if used in access

Agara: The agara tree’s leaves and barks are mixed with the herb ereriba in Australia and Malaya to form a decoction that when drunk produces a powerful intoxication followed by sleep filled with fantastic dreams.

Galanga: Also called maraba, this member of the ginger family found in New Guinea produces hallucinations when the underground stems are chewed and eaten.

Turkestan Mint: Used as an intoxicant by the Tartars and other tribes of the Middle East and South Asia. The leaves are toasted and mixed with sugar and honey before eating.

Kwashi: a bulb used by African bushmen, it is rubbed on incisions cut into the head, producing visual hallucinations.

Pipilzintzintli: A Mexican plant used by the Aztecs, it has effects similar to psilocybin, with three-dimensional color patterns and kaleidoscopic hallucinations. The correct dose is about 70 leaves chewed and swallowed. It has a long history in divination and healing rituals.

Jurema: From the roots of a Brazilian shrub, jurema was used by Brazilian tribes for prophetic dreaming about future battles.

Colorines and piule plants: Similar to Mescal beans but not as toxic, their use is confirmed by a 4th century fresco representing the Aztec rain god.

Zacatechichi: Used by the Aztecs and the Chontals of Oaxaca, this plant is brewed in a tea to produce auditory hallucinations. Another plant with similar effects is the South American sinicuichi, which is drunk or smoked producing auditory hallucinations with either deafness or distorted sounds coming from a great distance, a darkening of the visual field, giddiness, drowsiness, and euphoria.

Herbal Euphoriants: Lobelia, damiana, most poppy family members, hydrangea, hops, passionflower, Scotch broom, tobacco.

Herbal Energizers: Ginseng, gotu-kola, Fo-ti-tieng, Betel nuts, Areca nuts, Khat, and goldenseal.

Unknown Mysteries to Play With

Soma: Believed to have been anything and everything from cannabis to magic mushrooms, Soma was both a god and the name of a drink that supposedly brought worshippers the powerful attributes of the gods. Used first by the Aryan ancestors of both the Hindus and the Mazdaists of Persia (called Haoma in Persian), the identity of the plant known as soma was lost.

Satyrion: Possibly concocted from some sort of orchid. Hercules supposedly deflowered fifty virgins in a night on this stuff. Mentioned twice in the Satyricon of Petronius, it was believed by some to be made of ragwort.

Nepenthes: A drug of forgetfulness mentioned in Greek mythology. It was said to have originated in Egypt. It appears in the fourth book of the Odyssey by Homer. Most likely opium, but still a mystery.

Game Stats

These are all guesses on my part. No, I did not look up anything previously written. If anyone disputes any of this, add your thoughts to the forum.

Effects on Character Classes

• Caffeine: Stimulant +1 Endurance/Agility, Magic-Boosting +1 to power, +1 to Prayer, -1 to Focus/Concentration
• Nicotine: +1 to Talking to Spirits, +1 to Mind Abilities
• Alcohol: -2 to Physical Feats, -2 to Senses, +1 to Bravado
• Opiates: -2 to Emotional Stress, +2 to Pain-killing
• Coca: +3 to Endurance, +1 to Willpower, +1 to Problem-Solving
• Hallucinogens: +4 to Magic Capabilities, -4 to Magic Control, +2 to Priestly/Monk abilities, +2 to Deity/Spirit Communication.
• Euphoriants: +2 to Willpower
• Tranquilizers: +3 to Relaxation/Sedation

Effects on Races

Humans: As it stands

Elves: Sensitive and readily addicted to caffeine, alcohol, and coca. Resistant to hallucinogens and tranquilizers.

Dwarves: Sensitive to hallucinogens and readily addictive to opiates. Resistant to alcohol, nicotine, and tranquilizers.

Vampires: Sensitive to fungus-based hallucinogens (causes damage as fungus rots physical body). Resistant to alcohol, opiates, tranquilizers, and nicotine.

Werewolves: Susceptible to losing control on hallucinogens. Resistant to tranquilizers, takes twice as many.

Addiction

In other realms, addiction to certain drugs can cause different results than in the real world. Alcohol, opiates, caffeine, and nicotine can all cause addictions in humans. I know there’s a LOT more to addictions and drug abuse than what I’m going to go into here. Let’s just keep it easy for now.

Alcohol Addiction: Two types—one is for the high and the other for the sugar. Some are just very susceptible to alcohol addiction (roll a die, call it one in six). Others have to work at it (constant drinking, roll for one in six after six days of consistent drinking). Once a person is addicted to alcohol, the following side effects can result:

Malnutrition
Muscle cramps
Nausea
Appetite loss
Depression
Bone weakness
Hypoglycemia
Blackouts

Withdrawal from alcohol can occur 12 to 48 hours after discontinuation and last two to five days. Symptoms include:

Craving and seeking behaviors
Denial
Hallucinations: In stages, white worms are common, shadow people less so, “anything goes” is rare.
Low self-esteem, anxiety, hostility
Paranoia, Phobias, such as agoraphobia
Tremors/Shakes
Heart Failure

Caffeine Addiction: Tolerance occurs rapidly in heavy caffeine drinkers. Overuse/Overdose symptoms include nervousness, irritability, heart palpitations, sleeplessness, headaches and muscle twitches.

Withdrawal from caffeine can occur 12 to 24 hours after discontinuation and last one to five days. Symptoms include:

Headache
Nausea
Fatigue
Anxiety
Irritability
Inability to concentrate
Stomach Aches

Nicotine Addiction: Dependency can occur after a few days of smoking for new smokers, but within hours once a former smoker starts smoking again. Chronic smokers face withdrawal symptoms 30 minutes after cessation. Withdrawal symptoms include confusion, restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, and dysphoria. Most symptoms fade within 72 hours, but memory loss and mental confusion can last for weeks.

Opium Addiction: There is little evidence that opium addictions occurred in the ancient world. Basing information on morphine addiction, addiction can occur within five days of use.

Withdrawal from opium can occur six to twelve hours after discontinuation and 8 to 12 days. Sudden withdrawal by a chronic used in poor health can cause fatality. Symptoms include:

Craving
Watery eyes
Insomnia
Diarrhea
Yawning
Dysphoria
Sweating
Restlessness
Irritability
Loss of appetite
Body aches
Abdominal pain
Nausea/vomiting
Tremors
Depression
Chills
Elevated heart rate/blood pressure
Hot flashes
Kicking movements

During withdrawals of any substance, feel free to knock attributes and skills for a loop--blame the cravings, the shakes, whatever, but basically stick it out for the character as long as possible.

Next up: The Plant Trade in Gaming