Suggestion: Add Narcan / Naloxone to Torn
With drugs being such a huge part of Torn, I think Narcan (naloxone, if you want the generic name) would be a great addition to the game.
I work in a hospital, and I see Narcan used all the time. In real life, it can be incredibly useful during an opioid overdose and can genuinely save someone's life. With how heavily drugs, overdoses, hospitals, and medical items already play into Torn, I think it would fit naturally into the game.
How Narcan Could Work
Narcan would be a medical item specifically used for drug overdoses.
The main feature would be the ability to administer Narcan to another player who has overdosed, similar to how you can revive another player.
If your faction mate overdoses, you could visit their profile and see:
[ Administer Narcan ]
Unlike a normal revive, Narcan would have a 100% success rate and cost no energy.
Narcan would completely remove the hospital time caused by the overdose and restore a portion of the happiness lost from the overdose. However, the player receiving it would have an additional drug cooldown added to their existing drug cooldown.
This keeps Narcan useful without simply making it a better version of reviving.
Narcan vs. Reviving
Narcan
- 100% chance of success
- Costs 0 energy
- Completely removes the hospital time.
- Restores a percentage of the happiness lost from the overdose
- Consumes one Narcan
- Gives the person administering it a significant medical cooldown
- Adds additional drug cooldown to the person receiving it
- Only works on drug overdoses.
- Gives a small amount of revive skill
- Has its own statistics and awards
Reviving
- Costs energy
- Has a chance of failure
- Completely removes hospital time when successful.
- Doesn't restore happiness lost from the overdose
- Doesn't add additional drug cooldown
- Works on far more than just overdoses
- Doesn't consume a Narcan/medical item
- Gives significantly more revive skill
- Continues contributing toward existing revive progression and awards
Neither option would automatically be better.
Narcan gives you a guaranteed way out of the hospital without spending energy and lets you recover some of the happiness you lost. Still, you're consuming an item, taking a medical cooldown, and giving the overdosed player an additional drug cooldown.
Reviving costs valuable energy and can fail, but it works in far more situations, gives substantially more revive skill, and doesn't interfere with the patient's drug cooldown.
Example
KingCookie overdosed on Xanax!
A faction member could choose between trying to revive me or using Narcan.
Option 1 — Revive Me
They spend energy and attempt a revive.
If successful, I'm completely out of the hospital, my drug cooldown isn't increased, and they receive their normal revive skill/progression.
However, the happiness I lost from overdosing stays lost.
There's also a chance the revive fails, and they waste the energy.
Option 2 — Narcan Me
They use one Narcan from their inventory.
It works 100% of the time and costs them no energy.
I'm immediately removed from the hospital, and a portion of the happiness I lost from overdosing is restored.
However, they lose the Narcan and receive a medical cooldown for administering it. I receive additional drug cooldown, meaning I have to wait longer before taking another drug.
The person who administered it would also receive a small amount of revive skill for successfully helping another player.
It shouldn't be anywhere near the amount received from a normal revive. The idea is to reward players for actually using Narcan on other people.
Narcan Progression and Awards
Narcan could also have its own statistic:
Players Saved with Narcan: 37
That could open the door to its own awards or honors based on how many overdosed players you've saved.
For example, there could be awards at different milestones for administering Narcan to other players.
This gives players another reason to carry Narcan and help random overdosed players instead of only saving it for themselves or faction members.
The small amount of revive skill would also mean dedicated revivers still benefit from helping someone with Narcan, but normal reviving would remain by far the better way to build revive skill.
Narcan Shouldn't Completely Undo an Overdose
The person who overdosed should still:
- Keep the overdose on their statistics.
- Only recover part of the happiness they lost.
- Receive additional drug cooldown from being given Narcan.
- Suffer the other normal consequences associated with overdosing.
The main benefit of Narcan is getting the player immediately out of the hospital while recovering some of what they lost.
It isn't a free "undo my OD" button.
Obtaining Narcan
Players can obtain Narcan through places like pharmacies, hospitals, missions, Duke, crimes, overseas locations, or other medical-related content.
It should also have an actual value.
Every time someone administers Narcan, they're sacrificing an item that could otherwise be sold or saved for themselves or a faction member.
Meanwhile, reviving doesn't require purchasing a consumable.
Why I Think It Belongs in Torn
Torn already has Xanax, Vicodin, morphine, blood bags, addiction, overdoses, hospital stays, reviving, and an entire, all-encompassing medical system.
Narcan fits right into that.
And as someone who works in a hospital and sees how useful this medication can be, I'd love to see Torn incorporate it into the drug/medical system.
Most importantly, Narcan wouldn't replace reviving.
It creates an actual choice:
Spend energy attempting a revive and risk failure, but get better revive progression and don't increase the player's drug cooldown — or use Narcan, guarantee they're getting out, recover some of their lost happiness, spend no energy, and gain a small amount of revive skill, but sacrifice an item, take a medical cooldown, and increase their drug cooldown.
Both have advantages.
Both have disadvantages.
Both remain useful.
Feel free to add suggestions; I'd love to see this added to the game, as it just fits.