Kolweed

Kolweed, also known as Svartleef, Blackbush, or Blackweed, is a plant indigenous to Yothesh. The plant grows in dark, dry areas, mainly underground and in rocky terrain. It is thought to have come originally from the shadowy valleys between the Sep Mountains. Kolweed is often considered the lazier counterpart to Circuit.

The plant has some medicinal and alchemical values, but it mainly used as a recreational drug. The leaf can be imbibed by ingestion or, more commonly, smoking via a pipe. The effects of Blackweed vary based on the concentration and volume consumed, but generally speaking it will put the user to sleep and affect their dreams irrationally and extraordinarily. The dreams are indistinguishable from reality, causing many addicts to seemingly live two lives, or even stay high constantly to experience only the second reality.

Some alchemists and wisemen claim to use these dreams to farsee or predict the future accurately. Such claims are unfounded, but many stories profess the foretelling power of Kolweed.

In Game Use
Lasting an amount of time at the DM's discretion (based on amount consumed), the Kolweed user will experience a second fantastical reality. If two or more in the group take Kolweed, their realities may clash and intertwine. After the trip, the DM will roll a D8 to determine addiction depending on the user's state.

Addiction
If the DM rolls a 6, 7, or 8 after a Kolweed trip, the user shall become addicted.

First Stage
The first stage of addiction will cause the player to take -1 strength and -1 intelligence until healed. Healing can be done at a town cleric or by a skilled player in the party. If the user seeks to aid of a paid mage, addiction at this stage costs 50G to heal. Each day the user does not cure his addiction he or she will lose -1 strength and -1 intelligence up to -3. The addiction will be cleared automatically after being clean a full week.

Second Stage
Second stage addiction occurs when a 6, 7, or 8 is rolled upon imbibing Kolweed while in first stage addiction. Second stage addiction causes the same stat decrease as first stage, but with an additional -1 Wisdom and -1 Dexterity per day (Up to -4). Second stage addiction does, however, add +10 hitpoints while in the stage. Healing can only be done by a very skilled player of paid mage. At this stage, addiction costs 150G to drop down to the first stage. This stage cannot be healed by waiting it out.

Third Stage
The third stage of addiction occurs when a 6, 7, or 8 is rolled upon imbibing Kolweed while in the second stage of addiction. At this stage players are unable to distinguish the dream world from reality, leaving both drawbacks and benefits. Wisdom is sapped at the rate of -2 per day (up to -8), while strength, dexterity, and intelligence are sapped at -1 (up to -5). The player, however, is convinced he feels no pain as reality is experienced no differently than a dream, leaving the player with +50 hitpoints while in this stage of addiction. Healing can only be done by a paid mage, trying to outlast it will kill the player after one week without Kolweed. A paid mage will require ingredients to focus his healing spell and the players must quest for them in addition to paying 300G for the healing. After being healed in this manner, the player cannot become addicted to Kolweed again in any capacity.

Obtaining
Kolweed is an outlawed substance in all Four Kingdoms. As such, it is difficult to obtain. Most Dwarven characters will know the location of some Kolweed plant as they know the underground very well. They will not relinquish this information freely, however. In addition, drug dealers can be found in many taverns, especially in larger cities. Enough Kolweed for one player to experience a trip can be obtained from prices varying from 10G-100G depending on circumstances and the DM's discretion.

Should a player be taken into custody or discovered with Kolweed on his or her person, he will be jailed and sentenced to a 500G fine or a year in prison. Prison can be escaped and fines can be stolen back.