Let's Make a Dope Deal

(n.b. there are couple of flaws in the rules which are yet to be cured!)

1. Introduction

You start the game as a penniless bum sleeping rough on the streets of London. One day in the soup queue, you and some of your fellow tramps wonder what happened to Nigel from Basingstoke, who hasn't been seen for some time. Suddenly a black BMW pulls up and out steps Nigel - sporting an Armani suit, Rolex watch and Gucci shades.

"Nigel - you're rich! How did you do it?" you ask.

"Well it was tough at first", he replies. "I started off by collecting banana skins from dustbins, drying them, and selling them to schoolkids. Resisting the urge to spend the proceeds on cider, I was able to gradually move up to buying and selling more and more profitable drugs, and now I'm a millionaire. Because you guys were good to me in the past, I'm going to give you each £100 to start up and a drug dealer. We will meet again in 50 days to see who has made the most money."

The game takes place over 7 postal turns. The ideal number of players is 6-8. There are half as many NPC dealers (round up) as there are players. The object of the game is to buy and sell drugs, the winner having the most CASH to show to Nigel - i.e. at the end of the seventh turn (unsold drugs do not count).

2. Buying and Selling

Drugs can be bought and sold in London at the following prices:

3. Getting Nicked

One of the main hazards of drug-dealing is getting caught....

3.1. In London

You start the game with a "heat" value of 1%, which means you have a 1% chance of being arrested the first time you buy or sell. Each day on which you make at least one transaction, your heat value goes up by 0-3% according to the most dangerous drug involved.

You can bribe the police at a cost of £1,000 per day to turn a blind eye.

If you don't the percentage is rolled each day you do at least one deal, with the following penalties:

Hash or Grass: £200 fine (1 week in jail if can't pay)

Ecstasy: £500 fine (1 week in jail if can't pay)

Cocaine: 1 week in jail

Heroin: 2 weeks in jail

3.2. Foreign Trips

A check is made against your heat value for both the police and customs officers. You can avoid one or both of these with separate bribes of £1000 each.

If caught, your drugs are confiscated. In Holland you spend the remainder of the current week in prison. In Morocco you also get all of the next week in prison. In Colombia you get 10 years, unless you can muster a £1000 bribe which reduces the sentence to 1 week. In Malaysia you get the death penalty.

Note that you can still win the game if you are in prison, but not if you are dead.

4. Addiction

Cocaine and Heroin are very addictive. At the end of any week which you have possessed either or both drugs, a check is made (for both if both possessed). The chance is 20% cumulative (e.g. after three weeks in which you owned some heroin, the chance would be 60%). If you become addicted, you may spend the next week in cold turkey. If you choose not to, you must get at least 1g of each drug you are addicted to (and consume it on one of the days) in the following week. If you fail to do so you will have to spend the next week (i.e. the one after you failed to satisfy your craving) in cold turkey.

5. The Play

The game takes place over a 7 week period, each consisting of 7 days, Monday to Sunday. Each postal turn comprises pre-weekly actions, 7 daily actions, then post-weekly actions.

5.1. Pre-weekly

5.1.1 Rent a Flat

This is payable in advance, and costs £100 per week for a cheap place, or £200 per week for a flat in a posh area, which reduces your chances of being caught (in London) by 5% (e.g. if your heat value is 10 then you have only a 5% chance of being caught) but you always have at least a 1% chance.

If you already have a flat, and are unable to pay at the start of a week you are booted out into the street. If you do not specify flat orders, it is assumed that you wish to continue renting your current abode.

5.1.2. Cold Turkey

You can decide to spend the week at a drug rehabilitation centre, which will cure you of all addictions. If you are addicted and have failed to sustain your habit, you must go cold turkey.

5.2. Daily

5.2.1. Collect Banana Skins

Enough for 10 bags can be collected in a day.

5.2.2. Visit School

You may spend a day peddling drugs to schoolkids. Not very nice, but when you're desperate for money, anything goes. Any number of sales can be done up to a limit of £40 total (e.g. ¼ oz of hash and 10 bags of "skins"). No drugs can be bought.

5.2.3 Visit Pub

You may buy or sell at the pub. This can be a combination of deals but may not exceed £200 total (e.g. buy 1oz of grass and 10 E's). At the pub, you always buy from non-player dealers and sell to non-player users. You cannot buy and sell on the same day.

5.2.3. Sell at Your Flat

You can sell any combination of drugs with no minimums or maximums, but not buy. What you are selling and for how much must be submitted as press. Note that you can specify a minimum and/or a maximum transaction size in your announcement (does not apply to NPCs). However, you may not refuse to sell to particular players, or set different prices for different customers.

Player dealers get first chance to buy, the transactions taking place in the order of smallest first (as these have the greatest profit margin), then NPC dealers will buy the rest if they are after that particular drug. They will buy all the drugs, as cheaply as possible (e.g. 17oz of hash would be one big deal (1lb) and one medium deal (1oz) for £830).

Note that you can set your own price, but if you have not publicised this the standard is used. NPCs will not buy drugs that are above the normal street price.

5.2.4. Buy at Another's Flat

This is subject to the same rules as selling (above).

5.2.5. Go to a Lab

You can buy ecstasy at a bent laboratory in multiples of £2000 per 1000 tablets.

5.2.6. Foreign Trip

You can spend 3 days taking a trip to a foreign country to buy cheap drugs. Details as follows:

This takes three days and cannot span a week (i.e. you must go on a Friday or earlier in the week).

5.2.7. Get Stoned

If you are addicted to Cocaine and/or Heroin, you must waste a day completed smashed on each drug. You can also order yourself to spend a day indulging in any drug that you own some of at no cost (you supply short measures or add extra cutting agents to compensate), just for the hell of it.

5.3. Post-weekly

5.3.1. Announcements and Press

You can announce actions for the following week, which you must honour if you can (you may have been put in jail or forced to go cold turkey).

For example you might say "I will be selling at my flat on Tuesday. I have recently returned from Morocco with large quantities of hash, and I also have a small amount of Ecstasy for sale. Standard prices for both".

You may also submit any other press you fancy.

5.3.2. NPC Dealers

Each dealer will announce which drug he wishes to buy in the following week. These are determined randomly but all dealers will be after a different drug (no dealers are interested in dried banana skins). Note that NPC dealers can visit more than one flat in a day.

6. Specials

Each round a "special" is rolled on a D6:

1, 2 = Glut of .....D6, 1=Skins, 2=Hash, 3=Grass, 4=E, 5=Coke, 6=Smack

3, 4 = Shortage of ..... D6, 1=Skins, 2=Hash, 3=Grass, 4=E, 5=Coke, 6=Smack

5 = Police crackdown, arrest chance = 2 * heat

6 = Police cuts, arrest chance = 0.5 * heat

Each effect lasts for only one week.

Drugs suffering a glut are worth half their normal value, those in shortage have their price doubled.

7. No Moves Received

Anyone who NMR's will honour his selling announcements, and spend all other days getting stoned.

8. Notes

The prices given in these rules are only approximate, and are set to serve game mechanics.

The author accepts no responsibility for anyone deciding to take up drug dealing as a result of playing this game.

Finally, remember: WINNERS DON'T USE DRUGS! (allegedly)

By Richard Smith June 1998