The Campaign Builder's Guild

Hellote! I'm running a solo DungeonWorld game for my favorite player this week, and one thing I want to include as a major theme in the game is gritty magic. Not quite low-magic, because every session will likely feature at least one magical thing, but I'd like the magic to be frightening, risky, and edgy.

One idea I had to show this was by making healing potions into dangerous intravenous drugs. Here's what I've got so far, and although it's pretty cool, it seems a bit cliche or crass. What do you think?

Healing Solution

• Made from a bioluminescent, toxic mushroom called a "corpselight."
• Graveyard Flora: Mushroom grows only in the presence of deceased sentient creatures (humans, elves).
• Undeath: Large clusters of the mushroom cause the dead to rise as mindless, hungry zombies if allowed to grow unchecked for weeks.
• Making the Solution: If harvested, can be carefully distilled into an expensive, non-toxic luminescent solution which acts a healing potion, bolsters flesh against decay and rot, rejuvenates dying flesh, fights infection, accelerates healing, and kills pain.
• Using the Solution: The solution can be administered orally (by drinking) or intravenously with a brass syringe and needle. The latter is most effective (halve all effects if imbibed).
• Addictive: The painkilling effect of the substance makes it physically addictive.
• Overdoses can be fatal.
• Glows in veins: The luminescence rapidly fades upon exposure to moisture (including that found in blood). Upon injection the luminescence is still visible, but soon fades.
• Blacklines: Stains user's veins black. The solution leaves a persistent black stain upon any porous substance, including flesh. Repeated use will stain the user's veins black (like a cool tattoo).
• Undeath: Users occasionally rise as the undead. Enough use of the substance can cause a build-up in the system; occasionally a spore from the original fungus can be present in the solution. Care must be taken or users may experience undeath.

Game Effects

• Restores HP
• Temporary bonus to constitution
• Immunity to pain

I like it, though I don't suspect something like this would be "non-toxic" seeing as you can overdose on it. Perhaps what you should do is have stacking penalties to non-hp stats of some form or another to represent the solution building up to dangerous levels. The more you inject the harder it gets to deal with the side effects (either some sort of increasing DC or stacking penalties which wear off over time; I'm not familiar with the system you're using unfortunately so I couldn't say exactly).

Quote from: NomadicThe more you inject the harder it gets to deal with the side effects (either some sort of increasing DC or stacking penalties which wear off over time; I'm not familiar with the system you're using unfortunately so I couldn't say exactly).

Right, I was thinking of a simple system to that effect. Some sort of a custom metric for addiction. DungeonWorld is one of the new, "indie", rules-light games; but it is, in fact, a game that encourages and helps you to make your own rules when needed - rules like addiction.

I don't think it's cliche or crass, though it's very "dungeon-punk."  If that's what you're going for, excellent.  I love your back-story for it.

Random ideas, just throwing them out there:

- wounds healed by the solution leave scars like any normal wound, they don't magically disappear.

- those hooked on the drug can experience a particularly vicious withdrawl symtpom: if they fail to administer the solution, wounds begin re-opening on their body.

- habitual users can often be found self-mutilating or seeking out danegrous situations where they might be wounded in order to "justify" administering the drug.

- junkies tend to begin believing that the drug has made them invincible, becoming progressively more reckless.

Quote from: Steerpike- habitual users can often be found self-mutilating or seeking out danegrous situations where they might be wounded in order to "justify" administering the drug.

So...adventures are a dangerous form of drug-seeking behavior.  Interesting.


And the idea of injected healing potions is cool.  The associations with undeath creepy.

This isn't cliche or crass - this is cool.

You've gotten far away from the basic "find a pink potion, quaff it, gain 8 HP," and I think that's great. It's certainly gritty; I'd think twice before downing one, and it feels more like an unnatural extension of life rather than just healing X damage. I think taking the time to describe the syringe, the feeling of it coursing through their veins, and the sensation of wounds closing and pain dulling goes a long way in making "health potions" gritty. 

I have done very similar in the past and it works quite well for a campaign. You might want to consider a topical variant as well with a twist to its effects (because who doesn't like variety).

i vote cool and gritty and it makes sense.  go with it.