Okay, we continue with the pharmaceutical section of the book. The last of the standard drugs (other than the psi-drug, which I guess comes later) is the Truth Drug. Pretty straightforward; it's good for two minutes of interrogation, after which the victim is knocked out for an hour and takes two dice of wounds. Ouch; that's a rough side-effect. I'm sure the CIA would approve.
Then there's a table that lists the drugs described and their effects, as well as the costs. Oh, and the 'technological index' that is needed to produce it. You also have a roll to see if the drug is even available; slow antidotes and Aganathics are the rarest, requiring a 10+. Aganathics wins the 'most expensive' award at 20,000 CR, which means that JR could have afforded them! Except that the 'tech' level is 15, which I guess is pretty high. There's a note that the tech index will be explained in the next book, so that's that.
There is one effect of the tech index that is explained here: If the world you're standing on has a high tech level, the drug's availability roll gets a +1 DM for every point of tech higher than the required amount. For example, the Slow Drug requires a tech-level of 8 and has an availability of 9+. So, if you're on a world that is tech-level 10, you get a +2 DM for the roll, making it a 7+ to get hold of it.
The medical stuff is the cheapest (Medical Slow and Medical are both 100 Cr), and the Psi drugs, of which three are teased in the table, are expensive as heck. The Anagathics, Truth Drug, and Psi-Drugs are the most expensive, all being over 1000 Cr.
Finally, we have a paragraph on the legality of the various drugs. It refers us to Book 3, which fully describes worlds and the chances that local law will prohibit or regulate drug possession and use. There's something called a 'law level,' which I suppose is related to the 'tech level.' Once you know the world's law level, roll two dice and hope you roll high; the higher the law level, the more restrictive it's going to be.
That last part seems a bit odd; sure, I can see how Combat drugs and Truth drugs might be restricted, but medical? Fast Drugs as standard gear in a ship's locker? Shouldn't this be more of a case-by-case thing based on the drug itself, rather than where you're buying it? On the other hand, that could make for an interesting societal quirk: The planet's culture believes that any drugs are evil and bad, and rely solely on natural healing and really primitive medicine: "Here, drink this and bite down hard on this stick while I repeatedly stab you with this needle and sew you up like a pair of jeans. Hey, Charlie! Pass me that hacksaw, will ya?"
The other thing that comes to mind is that the focus in Book 3 is going to be individual worlds being independent, rather than an overarching body politic. Sort of like the Greek city-states, bound together by a common culture but having little or nothing to do with each other outside of that, and even going to war with each other on a regular basis. I like that idea; I'm kind of tired of the whole 'intergalactic empire/republic that controls everything, even at a distance' shtick. Let's get small and local. He says, while discussing entire planets. It's all relative, folks.
Alright! Five pages to go, and we're done book 2! See you next time!
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