Okay, so I was looking over the effects of different drugs, and I noted that Red Mescaline is noted as: "+1 Charisma, -1 Reaction, +2 Perception, +1 Willpower, Disorientation."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't the Disorientation (-2 to all actions) make all the rest of the bonuses moot. The book also mentions that a Red Mescaline/Psyche speedball is a common mixture, but one of the selling points of Psyche is only a -1 for sustaining spells. If you speedball, wouldn't that selling point be basically moot as you'd be carrying a -2 already?

Or have I misunderstood and the Disorientation only lasts 10 minutes of the actual duration of the drug?

Disorientation lasts 10 minutes, if the duration of the drug is more than that, you spend only the first 10 minutes disoriented.

Thanks for clearing that up! I think I had mapped in my mind that, since Disorientation was one the listed major effects and not just a side effect, that it lasted the whole time. That DOES make things a lot handier for a few things.

I would even go so far and say: The user is PRONE to the negative effect disorientation when under the influence. It is funnier when its not just the first 10 minutes but can take effect whenever the GM thinks it would be funny... i mean appropiate.

I think the point of Red Mescaline is to have a religious experience, not as an enhancement. However, there's something to be said for allowing the bonuses to function; you could state that the disorientation does not affect those tests positively influenced by the drug. However, any attempt to use boosted traits will be very colored by the drug; someone with heightened charisma will clearly be in some kind of intense fit of abnormal inspiration. Oh, I'd let the disorientation last for the whole duration, it makes sense to me.

I like starting it off with disorientation for the first 10 minutes while the character adjusts to their new perspective, then running it as a dual-natured type of description for how they perceive things, but with the bonuses supplied. So, basically, things take on new and strange forms supplied by their natures as interpreted by the character's subconscious. But once the trend has been understood, the skeletal talking snake which used to be your assault rifle, still functions just like your assault rifle. It's just imbued with a bit of your personal Thanatos instinct.

Luckily, mescaline gives you a lot less of a mindfuck than most triptamines and doesn't give you that feeling of becoming unstuck in time with the sort of hallucinatory flash-forwards and flash-backs that I would associate with something like Warp.