I’ve been thinking about narcotics in Duskwall (legal ones!), as part of fleshing out the world for and with my group. I wrote a longer-length blog post about it, here:
(Blades was on my mind when I made the blog… thus the silly title.)
Tl;dr version: 1) cigarettes and pipe smoking stuff made from seashells and fish eggs; 2) Brewery wars; 3) addictive perfume made from leviathan ambergris.
Andrew Fish Your perfume…
Maybe look at how alcohol was rationed out onboard ships in the British navy.
Josh Mauldin
That’s a pretty cool twist on the vice. Unknowingly addicted to leviathan ambergris…. Definitely something to explore!
This sort of thing is great in looking for things for characters to monetize, ways for them to express their personalities, flavor for NPCs, targets for scores, and so on. Well done!
Just read the blog, Michael. Phenomenal contribution, thanks! Very interested to see what further bits you spin out of your research into whaling, too!
This is so great!
Really interesting! An observation: Duskwall doesn’t seem to have a big potable water source (I doubt the ink black seawater that fills the canals are drinkable to start with, and that isn’t counting water pollution).
So as you point out, Duskwall must have an enormous brewing industry out of necessity. I’d tie this with factions like the Council and other political groups.
Thanks everyone!
Duamn Figueroa: That’s a good point! In making the NPC example, I was wary of giving them ties to a Tier 4 faction, just because they’d be able to call for some favors way disproportionate to their station. But it would make total sense, for the Council. And… for the purposes of my campaign, that would roll nicely. If my drug dealers start messing with brewers, it would make sense for some council bureaucrat to come knocking at the door or have some fines levied against their plant.
This also ties into Marshall Miller’s comment, above. Breweries and distilleries fighting over that lucrative Council contract.
Appreciate the responses. Glad y’all liked this!
Addictive perfume? That sounds great. Looking forward to reading that 🙂
Have you seen the TV show The Village? It reminds me of scene where the main character is so desperate for alcohol he visits the manor house and sucks out the ‘slops’ of watered down beer used for cleaning the floorboards from the bristle brush….
I can just see the hordes down at the flensing station desperate to lick the residue from the flensing grates for that little ‘somethin somethin’.