Why not? I mean, this is assuming the PCs wouldn't be inclined to do so on their own...
I would give them a path to become un-addicted /sooner or later/, and probably some chance to recognize the signs and avoid it...
but if they play thru being addicted (maybe blackmailed to serve the drugger?) for a while, sounds like STORY to me!
It's less of a big deal than dropping Geas or Dominate Person on them out of the blue.
underhanded, certainly. and I would know your group well beforehand. This could cause ALOT of issues. I admit, the RP possibilities are great, but I would certainly let them know the area they are in at the least before you do this.
Not at all. And I'm totally not just saying this because my sorcerer' unofficial title is Opium Peddler.
For extra fun, give the pusher the Beguiling Gift spell.
The only opposition to it (besides people mortified at drugs in an RPG setting at all) seems to be from the perspective of nothing bad can ever happen to characters except as mediated by mechanics with a numerical defense stat that is mediated by APL/CR, etc... which this bypasses, since it just depends on 'what is happening in the world' and how they play their characters.
Of course, getting addicted to a drug DOES involve some rolls... it's more than reasonable that some but not all PCs end up addicted, but if the idea is a blackmail plot around the addiction, it doesn't really matter if all of them or even just one of them is addicted, albeit the more that are the more pressure is on them. One, or a few, PCs that aren't addicted probably is an ideal approach, since it makes the scenario where the addicts are cut off and suffer harsh withdrawal symptoms more survivable than otherwise. (non-addict PCs could possibly conceal this fact from the BBEG)
Probably the best way to do it (muahaha) besides repeated Beguiling Gift, is arranging for them to also be buffed in a way which immunizes them to the down-sides of the drug (after it wears off), allowing them to take repeated doses without worrying about the down-side/side-effects, but building up towards addiction.
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hmm what's a good way to go about buffing them in that manner? as a slight 'ruse' I guess you could say. have these people everywhere that follow them around. OOH set it up to be like,
the PCs are investigating the dissapearence of a certain visitor of the town, and visitors go missing semi often, as they investigate they have drug peddlers kind of following them around, so they are convienently there, and they offer weaker willed Pcs the drugs under beguiling gift in secret. Like, when the fighter is alone or at least away a distance from other pcs. turns out the visitors have been subject to the same thing, viola they are blackmailed by the drug lord.
well, i'm not saying Beguiling Gift should be ruled out, but IMHO it would be 'funner' to find some way not to need to use that. whether thru concealing the nature of the drugs they are ingesting, or other means. simply seeing other NPCs consume it without ill effect could be a reason why many PCs might try it. by buffing, it could simply be a potion, long-term duration spell, continual usage of class ability, whatever works to suppress the effects... even another drug. you could even create a ruse by having an attack of some poisonous creature, and use the drug to 'cure' that, and any effects can be blamed on the cure not working completely.
alchemical items. iirc there are some that delay the onset of diseases/etc (which addictions are considered either disease or curse i cant rem which atm)
With beguilling gift, you may need to find a strong way to do it, unobtrusively (potion/still&silent).
i guess some people could see this sort of thing as grounds to increase paranoia of 'GMs out to screw them', but as long as it serves to further the story, they aren't permanently screwed for the most part, etc, then i don't think most players would be unable to appreciate it for what it is. probably will be a little more paranoid of NPCs offering mysterious substances, but hey, that's not completely unreasonable. repeatedly trying to do this in different scenarios would get very old very fast, but it doesn't sound like that's what you want to do.
like, rushing them into town to cure the poison, they visit an apothecary who gives them the 'cure' but tells them to keep dosing?
sounds like a possibility, or at least an element to use within a broader story...
if they are under the care of the apothecary/whoever for a bit of time, then arbitrary number of doses can be given,besides any additional ones they are told to self-administer...
something like pre-recorded saves might be good to prevent metagaming about fort/will saves coming up,
but that is a good approach for many things, including perception and knowledge and sense motive checks...
(you just need to remember to be aware of and use any 'temporary' modifiers they may have)
just ask for 5 rolls of each type (will/fort/perc) or ask for the modifiers and like 10 rolls. or roll secretely (add random rolls, too). and yea, knowing the additional modifiers they have is a strong point.
also depends some on your medium.