What drugs exist in your world? What do they do?
Also do you have any slang terms for money? We’re not fond of “coin” in play, feels like it’s referencing the mechanic directly. Trying to dig up words that work with eels, but figured hey, ask the community.
In addition to the ones John included on the list, we have added Blue Cloud, which is basically Morphine, and Kamali’s Vice of choice.
As for cash, we keep it abstracted. “Your fence names a price that’s about 4 Coin worth in exchange for the painting.”
“Coin” is a slang term. 🙂
We use “Stefa” in our game, a slang term used for a pile of cash. I have no idea which language it’s from.
Probably my favorite drug invented in my version of the world so far is “goat amp.” It is strong compound used like smelling salts to wake the massive goats. You put it on the end of a t-shaped stick and push the activator to break the capsule so you’re not standing right next to the goat when it hits.
Some NPCs experimented with trying to find a way to use it recreationally. Wrecked them for a week.
Most common term for money is “loot” and probably funniest is “casheesh.”
Depending on how directly you wanted the name of your money to relate to eels and also what your world is like, if you wanted to give it a sort of Cockney feel, you could go for something like “cockles” for coins and “mussels” for paper money. (“Cockles and mussels, alive alive-oh!” – I think this is a sort of sailor-y song called “Molly Malone”, though I might be wrong.)
For something more directly eel-y, maybe something gross and movement-based, like “squirms”, “wriggles” or something less rubbish.
The big drug in my game is Dreamsmoke which is your opium and gives you cloudy pupils as you trip. There’s some other leviathan blood-related drugs and hopefully future sessions will dive into some of that. 🙂
What about a drug that is basically undetectable and causes the user to believe that their non-dominant hand is now their dominant one, without any actual improvement in their ability to use that hand. Could cause some confusion or embarassment in social engagements and lead to significant vulnerabilities in duals or other combat, without being as easily identified or game breaking.
Poor connection dropped my response. Thanks for the feedback folks.
John – Thing is once you call it ‘coin’ in play, it’s like saying ‘I attack you with my skirmish’ – it feels like it’s breaking the forth wall because it’s on the character sheet.
Ben – That exact instance happened to us and i didn’t like the feel of it (to each his own), would be nice to discuss money in character, even as a casual reference, without using something that feels like a game mechanic.
Eric – I came across an old slang word I liked: “sinkers” or “plugs” and a player suggested “gills” which ties to eels in a way. I was looking at something that feels like the word “slippery” both to tie to the eel and to the notion that money doesn’t linger around, but I haven’t beaten the ‘less rubbish’ part yet…
Andrew – is that the equivalent of nutmeg up the horses ass to get it to run faster?
Adam Brimmer Sinkers and plugs are both pretty good, but I really like your suggestion about something slippery that doesn’t stick around. Very clever. I can’t come up with anything good based on it at the moment though I’m afraid.
The crew i’m GM’ing for is currently developing and setting up production for Last Memories. A drug made from blended ghosts that you drip into your eye. Gives you visions of the ghost’s past life.
I just realised how sinister this is probably going to get. What happens if the nobility (or others) get a taste for certain experiences and start hunting people for their last memories.
Slithers?
Slippers?
Using Cockney naming? Cons, Rons, Crons, Crones, Crims, Crimmenies, Crimmies, Rhymies, Crans, Cranberries, Tinkles, Jing Jang. The list goes on and on.
Edit: Because autocorrect made up a fucking word.
In our game, copper slugs are the coins used by the poor. The Duskvol elite use the Gold Imperial, the Iruvians generally use the Silver Leviathan, and the Tycherosi have a coin called a Devil made of indeterminate metal. All are legal tender in Duskvol, but we mostly abstract it all and just say coin.
Mark Griffin I’m guessing though that they are not at a 1:1 ratio though, right?
Jason Lee No. The hierarchy is imperial > leviathan > devil > slug. Their actual worth isn’t that important because all transactions that matter are done abstractly with coin, they exist only for flavor purposes.
Mark Griffin Of course. But I love that you’ve considered it. Really interesting idea. I’d love to see how some of the interactions would play out between people wanting to use different currencies and the misunderstandings that would happen. I’ve just been in Cuba where they have two currencies with similar names but a difference in value of about 25x. It can lead to misunderstandings and occasional abuse/trickery/etc so I’d imagine that in a more intentionally hostile environment it could cause even more problems and lead to more opportunities for your scoundrels.
Jason Lee There isn’t likely to be any confusion here since the currencies all look very different. Up til now what currency people use tends to let you know who is backing them. A merchant pays you in leviathans? Looks like he belongs to the red sashes. You find a pouch of Devils on an assassin hired to kill you? Maybe start looking for a Tycherosi you pissed off.
Now of course anyone of means can get any currency, but it’s a good starting off point.
I will soon be spring-boarding that comment to – what are Tycherosi like in your world?
There honestly haven’t been that many, but fortunately one of them was a PC so he defined a lot about their culture. The most important thing to a Tycherosi is their extended family, which tend to be very large (100s of individuals). Each family takes up a single business, and some families are so large they make up the entirety of that business in Tycheros and beyond. Almost any Tycherosi you see abroad is traveling in service of his family and whatever business they’re involved in. In the case of the PC, his enormous family was responsible for making nearly 100% of the time pieces that exist in the world, and he was in Duskvol working as a clock repairman because he had somehow offended his family’s patriarch. Unfortunately that game ended before we really found out what happened.
Our Tycherosi has opted for her people to be almost nomadic. They bred with demons centuries ago for unknown reasons and something in recent generations has forced them all out of their homeland. The old guard are spiritual, almost zen like in their approach to life which counters with the younger generations need to appear tough and be more ‘akerosi’. People talk about Tycheros in an idealistic way – they toast to their eventual return. We’ve also increased the way demonic traits show – they are hereditary and when passions flare up, they become extremely pronounced. Our Tycherosi struggles with the idea of being a cutter while trying to hold on to theses idealised values – however when she’s mad she manifests horns and her skin turns alabaster white.