Alea Iacta Est

Meaner Addiction

In order to make the Drugs rules in the BoVD more vicious, consider the following change to the addiction rules. Currently, a character becomes addicted to a substance if they fail an initial fortitude save, after which addiction is much like a disease; characters take a saving throw each day (with a penalty if too much time has passed since the last dose) or take some ability damage, and after two consecutive successful saves, the character is free of addition.

I recommend the following. After two successful saves, the character has loosened the hold the substance has on him. One week after that, he must once more make a save, or he will suffer the damage. This continues until the character passes two weekly saves in succession. Really mean referees may want to go to months next; the sequence could be extended indefinitely.

Remember that a strong enough addiction should show in the way a character is played, and that ability damage, particularly Wisdom damage, can be roleplayed. Also, even when the physical effects are gone, the character probably still wants another fix.