Should we have contraband in New Britannia

Without reading the rest of the posts like a good contributor I have a crazy idea. So death magic is cool and all but I feel like it should be problematic. Like you are dealing with what is typically considered dark magic. So my idea is add a reagent that's only applicable to death magic spells (and some chaos magic spells I guess). Unlike other reagents, it doesn't decrease fizzle chance. Instead it makes the magic more powerful. BUT there is a cost. Using the reagent is addictive. I don't know how to simulate "addiction" but I guess for every 15 minutes you don't use the spell, you see some kind of stacking debuff?

I don't know. Probably a bad idea. But I think it would be one way to really separate death magic users. They are addicted. Mwahaha.

 

Simulating addiction would be fairly easy as a timed debuff that acts as withdrawal symptoms. The longer you go without the substance in question the worst the debuff gets until it peaks. Then eventually begins to wear off.

To use an example of silver serpent venom the debuff might come with applying additional texture to the skin and continued use can run the risk of sudden death such as heart failure as was the case for gargoyle warriors who would essentially use the stuff in battle knowing it would kill them when it wore off.

 

Alcohol addiction too?

 

You could.. if the game tracked how often you got drunk or something. My original vision with addictive herbs was a simple percent chance of withdrawal symptoms but alcohol I imagine would require more prolonged and regular use in excess. But any time getting drunk I think could run the risk of a hangover.

 

Would give a use finally for Spider Eyes. LOL

Eat a spider eye (Ewww) and get into the minds of spiders in order to temporarily control them. Muahahaha

 

Addiction could work like vampirism stages in Elder Scrolls Online, at least for the physical traits and buffs/debuffs

 

Wow the results of the poll were very surprising. I always thought this place as kind of having a square vibe to it. (Not that theres anything wrong with that, some of my best friends are squares)

I was wrong. Good on ya Avatars!

 

exactly. it may not have been the same thing, but it was the same thing in other ways.

Wiki: Sumptuary Law

it has been around for some time, but has been..ahem... refined.. over the years to be much more specific - still the same situation though, restricting some while others not so much. it is the nature of societies in general, once they hit a certain point in their growth, to control the masses by restricting things words and actions.

i'm of the personal opinion, at first it is needed due to the anonymity of 'the masses' once it hits a boiling point, but it can (and tends to) get out of hand at times. - enough sociopolitical stuff from me - i believe that it would be kind of neat to have a black market, as well as ways to enforce the laws if the grey market starts to flow into the white market. selling of body parts could be included in this, for trophy or cannibalism...

 

Psychedelic mushrooms were awesome in U8, proof that such shrooms in video games don't lead to real-life use? I played Ultima VIII in 1994 and to this day I've never had any desire to do shrooms IRL, but in-game it's a cool effect. The whole point of RPGs for me is you can have an avatar that's invincible and can do what you can't do IRL. Pipes w/ a magical plant that grows in-game, I would vote aye for it, but I would vote nay if the plant didn't have an original name. In Lord of the Rings they came up with an original name. If they need a name I'll come up with one right now by monkey style random mashing my keyboard, or I can have my cat walk on the keys. Oinefwoi <---- Call it that, as it was randomly mashed, it's a different universe please don't make it tobacco plants.

 

I wouldn't want to imagine a Britannia without contraband.

 

I highly recommend them