Healing Euphoria
A Treatise on the Use and Abuse of Healing Potions
He held the vial of red liquid before the light. The motes floating in the liquid caught the light and shone, making his pulse race. Ever since the first time - the time he had a hangover, a minor potion, and an epiphany - he felt a little tug whenever he saw those motes of light.
He looked outside the door, making sure no one was nearby. Just a sip, he thought, as he uncorked the vial. He breathed in the aroma, then put a few drops on his tongue. The wave hit him, and he sighed with relief. He tilted the vial back, taking that sip, which soon became a gulp, and then the entire vial.
Several hours later, the footman who was sent to check on him cleaned up the vials scattered about the room, and gave the drooling nobleman a kick on the way out the door.
Transmission & Vectors
Oral ingestion.
Causes
Healing euphoria is caused by over-consumption of healing potions.
Symptoms
Healing euphoria gives the character a boost in energy and takes away any aches or pains, effectively making one feel in the prime of life. In combat, this translates to an extra bonus action each round for ten rounds. Out of combat, it translates to a +2 bonus for any Constitution, Athletics, or Acrobatics check for ten minutes. It also makes the character feel euphoric, and will be much more impulsive. If a character is asked to do something by a non-enemy, they should make a Wisdom check against the other beings Charisma - on failure, they should do it.
Addiction : When a character overuses a potion and causes euphoria, they run the risk of becoming addicted. Describe the effect if someone uses a healing potion overpowered for their wounds, or takes a healing potion without being wounded. First, emphasize the renewed energy, and downplay the euphoria. If they take a potion to give them extra energy to do something, allow, but emphasize the euphoria more. With the third use over necessary, they must make a DC 13 Constitution check with a cumulative -1 penalty each additional time or become addicted.
Once addicted, a player suffers from lethargy at all times. This causes the player to lose one action per combat round, and to suffer a -2 penalty to all Constitution, Acrobatics, and Athletics checks. It can also result in anger issues, where one might lash out. The euphoria cancels out the lethargy, with the penalties and bonuses canceling out. The feeling of euphoria still remains, and the player must make the same Constitution check they failed before or add a point of addiction.
Treatment
Every time a character goes a full day without the euphoria, they can make a DC 13 Constitution check (with the current cumulative modifiers). If they succeed, they lose one point of addiction. If they fail, they add +1 to the current modifier.
When a character reaches 0 addiction points, they are free of the addiction penalty. They are still addicted, and if they ever overuse a potion again, they immediately start making DC 13 Constitution checks with a -2 penalty cumulative every time the euphoria is experienced.
It can also be cured as described in Addiction .
Prognosis
Rage becomes more likely as one gets more addicted. The price will generally cause people to not proceed that far, but for wealthy enough individuals it can be a major concern. Given enough time, however, it can be beaten.
Prevention
Always use potions as directed by your enchanter, alchemist, or priest.
Epidemiology
Most common among the wealthy. Idle youth often turn to it for edges in competitions, or as thrill seeking behavior.
History
Healing euphoria has been a problem since the first alchemist distilled a healing potion. The first potions were all relatively powerful, so it was easy to take too high of a dose. This lead to the creation of different dose levels - a slight overdose does not lead to euphoria, and the different potion types generally reflect how much excess can be tolerated before euphoria is triggered.
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