[Nomad Of Endings]

So I glossed over something for the longest time when reading overdose rules for drugs in the SR5 book.... The statement of "Whenever you take a substance while you’re already on that substance...."

My question is why would you already take the same substance twice? I was under the assumption if you took something like Psyche twice at the same time (a double dose) it would still just apply the +1 to Int and Log, not a +2... You cant stack the same drug, can you? (Obviously if you survive the Stun Damage + the Drug interaction rules from Chrome Flesh.)

[Xenon]

What they are talking about is if you take another dose of the same drug within (11 — Addiction Rating) Weeks.

In the case of Psyche that would be 11-6=5 weeks.


Edit. Never mind, you are talking about overdose. I am talking about addiction

My question is why would you already take the same substance twice?

You typically don't willing take the same drug twice. Having said that, a good reason might be that the drug is about to wear off and you wish to extend the duration rather than letting it wear off, take the drug again, and then wait for the new dose to kick in. There are also drugs where you will crash when the effect wears off. In some situations it might be better to stay high and risk the overdose and take the crash at a later time (you  typically don't want to crash during a combat scene, for example).

Overdose rules also applies when you take another drug that share a similar bonus. If you are currently on Cram you get +1 Reaction and +1D6 Initiative Dice. Say you run into a social situation and you, while cram is still active, inhale or inject yourself with Novacoke (for that higher Charisma and Social Limit) you risk overdose (because it, just like Cram, also share the +1 Reaction property).



(for future reference, rule questions that are not SR6 normally go here: https://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?board=29.0)

[Nomad Of Endings]

Ok, sorry about that, didn't know the question went to a different section.

But, the rules specifically state "while your already on THAT substance" not "A Similar Substance." So I kinda feel what you suggested didn't really apply to the RAW.... But then again I don't know WHAT actually addresses RAW since it's so vague to begin with. 

Like I get wanting to not let a bonus effect lapse while in combat but.... Most of the time you have HOURS worth of duration, so that doesn't seem like why that rule would be stated like that.

[Xenon]

Ok, sorry about that, didn't know the question went to a different section.

No problem. You also flagged the edition your question was aimed to in the title so no worries

But, the rules specifically state "while your already on THAT substance" not "A Similar Substance." So I kinda feel what you suggested didn't really apply to the RAW.... But then again I don't know WHAT actually addresses RAW since it's so vague to begin with. 

SR5 p. 415 Overdosing
Whenever you take a substance while you’re already on that substance or one that has a shared effect (like the way cram and novacoke both affect Reaction), you take Stun damage with a DV equal to the sum of the Addiction Ratings of the overlapping drugs, resisted with Body + Willpower.

Like I get wanting to not let a bonus effect lapse while in combat but.... Most of the time you have HOURS worth of duration, so that doesn't seem like why that rule would be stated like that.

Most times you can avoid overdosing. Overdosing is not really something that happen during game play. But if you were to take the same substance you are already on (or a substance that has a shared effect or if someone inject you with a drug more than once against your will) you now have the rules on how to resolve it =)