[UA] For Critique: Cannabimancy

[George Guy]

Cannabimancy may be offshoot of Narcoalchemy or Dipsomancy, or both, or it
may have just started independently and grown to resemble those schools
through convergent evolution. Honestly, none of the pertinent parties
remember very well. Whatever, if you want street cred, you can say something
spooky about the Hashishim. Just hope you don't run into any Narqis or
Boozehounds, because they all treat us like bratty stepchildren.

The drunks and fucking junkies are wrong, of course, at least that's what
most of us think. Everyone has their own mythic history of the school, going
back to whatever dead non-white men seem the most mystical. The kids in
Humboldt have a legend about some bio students picked it up when they were
studying abroad in Thailand, the Rastas trace it back to Jesus Himself (but
doesn't everyone in the Underground?), and some of them are kind of offended
by non-Rastafarian Cannabimancers. There's even a bunch of classics geeks
who founded a "Scythian" sub-school and insist on throwing their sacred herb
on sweat lodge rocks like in Herodotus, not to mention the bhang-sipping
Kali-worshipers. And noobs always brings up the Hashishim again, and the
rest of all groan. I'm not sure I believe any of those stories, but I do
know that people have been smoking this herb for millennia, almost as long
as alcohol, so if the Dipsos want to be descended from Dionysus, they'd
better stop calling us babies.

We're the good stoners, and I hope both of us stay that way. We smoke out
our friends, watch for the po po, are great at parties, tend our own
stashes, and have day jobs. The bad stoners? They're the reason why a lot of
the Underground will treat you like a monster, not a child. They're the ones
who build the worst kinds of hippie communes, cults of brainwashed reefer
fiends of a kind you thought only existed in public service ads. They give
us a dangerous mystique sort of like Cthulhu cultists or the dangerous,
maddening kind of fairies, the edgy ones whose food you aren't supposed to
eat. Thankfully, these communes tend to burn out pretty fast unless they can
get good turnover rates going, since the longer people stay there the less
functional they become.

[b]Irony:[/b] Cannabimancers worship marijuana as a holy, but their magick
turns it into a social conservative's worst nightmare. This means that,
while other forms of cannabis-based magick may have existed at other places
and times, the form described is endemic to societies where marijuana is
illegal and taboo. In a marijuana school in a different culture would at
least have wildly different spells. Few Cannabimancers fully understand
this, and many are active marijuana reform activists, but if widespread
decriminalization was ever achieved, the current version of this school
would begin to die.

[size=5]Stats[/size]

[b]Generate Minor Charge:[/b] Toke up. Roughly two hits of good marijuana
get you one minor charge. The GM may lower or raise this for exceptionally
high- or low-quality bud.

[b]Generate Significant Charge:[/b] Significant charges come from special,
consecrated weed. The seeds for such a crop must either come from another
Cannabimancer's consecrated plants, or must be left out under the moonlight
every night for a full lunar cycle starting and ending at full moons without
ever seeing the sun before being planted. Before planting the seeds, the
Cannabimancer must also twist an effigy of himself out of his own hair and
place it in the soil or water where he wants to start his garden (so
maintain a good supply of hair just in case, you dirty hippie). Consecrated
weed must be smoked without being mixed with any materials that did not come
from a consecrated plant (this includes rolling papers) in a vessel that has
never in its life been used for anything other than consecrated marijuana,
even before a thorough wash. This means that only friction- or
water-extracted hashish are appropriate; alcohol and butane are forbidden
(although only a few purists worry about butane from lighters). Failure to
meet any of these conditions means the pot only grants minor charges. If any
plants other than consecrated cannabis take root in the dirt or water where
the crop grows or any chemical fertilizers or pesticides touch it, the crop
becomes profane and the Cannabimancer must start over (although he can still
use seeds from the corrupted crop if he harvested them before it was
corrupted).

[b]Generate Major Charge:[/b] If a Cannabimancer finds the Philosopher's
Strain, the Narcoalchemists would love to hear about it.

[b]Taboo:[/b] Like Dipsomancers, Cannabimancers lose their charges when they
sober up.

Cannabimancers also lose their charges if their special stashes are
profaned, although they can then begin gaining charges again before they
grow new sacred herb. A Cannabimancer who has multiple stashes will break
taboo if any of them are compromised.

[b]Starting Charges:[/b] Cannabimancers start with no charges.

[b]Random Magick Domain:[/b] Cannabimancy spans a spectrum between peace and
madness.

[b]Blast Style:[/b] A Cannabimancer's wrath wracks his enemy with a
minutes-long coughing fit that exudes bodily fluids of many disturbing
colors.

[b]Charging Tips:[/b] Small-time Cannabimancers tend to break taboo and
start over like Dipsomancers and Oneiromancers. Note, however, that it is
much easier and less harmful to one's health to stay high at all times than
to stay drunk at all times given sufficient resources, especially if you
have access to hash or extreme chronic. An ambitious Cannabimancer can set
his alarm to wake him up once or twice in the night for a midnight toke,
insuring that he doesn't sleep off his high. The number of formula spells in
this school that last until you break taboo makes creates a large power
difference between those who manage this and those who don't.

[b]Notes on Consecrated Marijuana:[/b] Consecrated marijuana has a number of
special properties in addition to giving Cannabimancers significant charges:

--Non-Cannabimancers can charge off of consecrated marijuana if they smoke
it correctly, although they only get minor charges. Adepts can use these
normally, while non-adepts have weird experiences analogous to Mak Attax's
"special orders." These random effects always begin and end before the
smoker comes down from the high. The grower of the weed can choose whether
these occurrences are generally harmful or beneficial, if he is aware that
his stash is being smoked.

--If consecrated weed is smoked by someone other than the Cannabimancer who
grew it, that person becomes more susceptible to the Cannabimancer's magick.
Each hit gives the Cannabimancer a +5% shift on all magick cast on that
person as long as she is stoned.

--Narcoalchemists can grow sacred weed. They can't get significant charges
from it, but they can give Cannabimancers significant charges or give others
minor charges. They get the same bonus on magick against those they've
smoked out that Cannabimancers receive.

[size=5]Formula Spells[/size]

[b]Note:[/b] Spell that say they last until the target has gone without
marijuana for a number of days equal to the tens digit of the Magick roll
still work on people who haven't been smoking; the countdown just starts
when the spell is cast (although it starts over if the target smokes before
it wears off).

[size=4]Minor Formula Spells[/size]

[b]Space Out[/b] (1 minor charge)
One target forgets what she's doing and stares into space for a number of
seconds equal to the sum of the roll, or for an additional charge, a number
of seconds equal to the roll. This effect can be cut short by a loud noise,
a physical shock, or anything that would cause a stress check. In
high-stress situations like combat, a Space Out is usually cut short in a
fraction of a second, but it can still set someone back one space in the
order of initiative.

[b]Mellow Out[/b] (2 minor charges)
This spell gives one target a feeling of calm and well-being that she can
pass on to others. During this time, the target receives a +30% bonus on all
madness rolls, and cannot use flip-flops from her Passions or Obsession.
These effects last until the caster breaks taboo or the target goes without
marijuana for a number of days equal to the tens digit of the caster's
Cannabimancy roll.

[b]Most Prominent Martyr[/b] (4 minor charges)
This spell gives the target a +20% shift on all Soul rolls involving
interactions with stoned people, and a -20% shift on all Soul rolls with
those who aren't stoned. It cannot be cast more than once on the same
target. It lasts until the caster breaks taboo or the target goes without
marijuana for a number of days equal to the tens digit of the caster's
Cannabimancy roll.

[b]Memory Loss[/b] (5 minor charges)
This spell makes a person unable to remember a specific piece of public
knowledge that he could look up online or in a library and that no one is
making an effort to hide. It lasts until he looks the information up or is
told it, or when the caster breaks taboo or the target goes without
marijuana for a number of days equal to the tens digit of the caster's
Cannabimancy roll.

[b]Lightweight[/b] (6 minor charges)
This spell causes a coughing fit as with Bitch Lungs, but doesn't do any
damage. Another version called "The Giggles" induces uncontrollable laughter
instead.

[size=4]Significant Formula Spells[/size]

[b]Stoner Moment[/b] (1 significant charge)
This is a bigger version of Space Out. It affects either a number of targets
equal to the sum of the roll for a number of seconds equal to the roll, or a
number of targets equal to the roll for as many seconds. For an additional
charge, it can take a number of targets equal to the roll for as many
seconds. This spell always targets at least as many people as the sum of the
roll or as many people as the caster can see if he looks around, whichever
is lower, including the caster if necessary. This unpredictability makes it
less useful in combat than Space Out.

[b]Reefer Madness![/b] (3 significant charges)
The target temporarily loses one Hardened notch or gains one Failed notch.
If this fills up one of the target's Failed bars, the caster chooses the way
in which the target loses his mind. The target will instinctively know to
blame the caster for this. This lasts until the caster breaks taboo or the
target goes without marijuana for a number of days equal to the tens digit
of the caster's Cannabimancy roll.

[b]Bitch Lungs[/b] (3 significant charges)
This is Cannabimancy's blast. It only does minor blast damage, but
incapacitates the target for a number of minutes equal to the tens place of
the roll. All rolls the victim makes are at a -30% shift during this time.

[b]The Easy Virus[/b] (4 significant charges)
This spell gives a target a Soul skill called "Take It Easy" at a level
equal to the magick roll. Take It Easy can be used in all attempts to
convince people to be cool, calm down, and just get along, and for
socializing in a laid-back, stoner sort of way. It can also alleviate the
effects of stress checks like a Psychotherapy skill. The Easy Virus is
contagious. Anyone who is affected by a successful use of the Take it Easy
skill gains the full effects of The Easy Virus, including the Take It Easy
skill at a level equal to the roll used to effect her. In addition, all
Cannabimantic effects on the person from whom the Easy Virus was caught are
cast on the new victim, using the Take It Easy roll for all the spell rolls.
If someone who already has a Take It Easy skill is affected by another use
of the skill, her skill rises by number of points equal to the tens digit of
the roll on top of any new Cannabimancy effects. The effects of this spell
last until the caster breaks taboo or the target goes without marijuana for
a number of days equal to the tens digit of the caster's Cannabimancy score.
This lasts until the caster breaks taboo or the target goes without
marijuana for a number of days equal to the tens digit of the caster's
Cannabimancy roll. When the original casting wears off, all its progeny do
as well, along with any spells riding on them.

[b]Stash[/b] (8 significant charges)
This is probably the most powerful stealth spell the modern Underground has
to offer. Rather than making something truly invisible or even encouraging
people to ignore it, this spell bends their attention around it. This is
more effective than other "Someone Else's Problem Field"-type concealing
magick because it persists even if someone is looking for the target, can
see the target and has her attention called to it; she still keeps getting
distracted and forgetting about the thing that's Stashed. In game terms,
anyone trying to pursue, investigate, watch, or interact with the Stashed
person or object must succeed on a Mind stat roll until she physically
touches it, at which point the spell is broken for purposes of that person
until it's recast. In addition, this applies to people who indirectly
research the target as well as those who physically search for it. Stash has
two shortcomings: first, can't be cast on anything that couldn't fit in a
midsize closet. Second, its concealment has no effect whatsoever on anyone
who is stoned. It lasts until the caster breaks taboo or the target goes
without marijuana for a number of days equal to the tens digit of the
caster's Cannabimancy score.

On top of the use that this spell's name implies, malicious Cannabimancers
can use Stash to alienate new members of their "herds" from their non-stoner
friends.

[size=4]Appendix: Marijuana Rules[/size]

There are no specific rules for marijuana in Unknown Armies, so here are
some:

1-3 hits give you a -5% shift on Initiative rolls, Mind rolls involving
focus, analysis, or quick thinking, and Soul involving interaction with
people who aren't stoned, as well as a +5% shift on on all stress checks.
Roughly 3 or 4 more hits will increase this to -10%/+10%, while a truly
legendary smoking session (20 hits or so) can bring it as high as -15%+15%
(though not usually higher). A "5%" high will stay with you until roughly
two hours after you stop smoking, while a "10%" high will drop to 5% after
two hours, and a "15%" high likewise lasts two hours before it drops to 10%.
Decent hash incurs double the bonuses and penalties: 10%, 20% and 30%.
Finally, matched successes on stress checks while stoned incur no notches,
Failed or Hardened (although this apathy may cause Self checks after you
come down), while matched failures tend to cause bigger and more
inappropriate reactions.
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