Ideas for drugs or injury

[Phonsekal]

Anyone knows of a drug that might appear in fantasies or could appear in one that cause characters to see the dead(hallucinations) or any injuries that could cause the same thing

 

[Weaver]

If you're looking for historical examples (always popular for pseudo-European-medieval fantasy), I understand that ergot, from rye mold/fungus, causes hallucinations, which could cause someone to 'see the dead' if that's what they're inclined to hallucinate. The same could be said of anything that makes them hallucinate, though. I don't know of anything -- drug or toxin or injury that causes high fever -- that would specifically cause anyone affected to 'see dead people'. You want that kind of pinpoint result, you'll need to resort to a magical cause.

 

[Spider]

Why not create your own drug? There could be a plant in your world that, if consumed, causes people to see the dead. Maybe even create a cursed weapon, like a sword that causes you to hallucinate if you're scratched by it... or if you wield it.

Be creative.

 

[Phonsekal]

Yeah I was thinking of just creating one. I just wanted to see an example of real one as a base for my idea

 

[The Archivist]

There are a wide variety of plants that are considered hallucinogens, which are then divided into psychodelics (causing visions), dissociatives (separating mind from reality, such as many modern anesthetics), and delirients (causing confusion). The best known historical psychodelics were peyote (in North America) and psilocybin mushrooms (widespread). There is a good Wikipedia article about the mushrooms at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin_mushroom, which includes the background info you are probably looking for. You could either use one of them or create your own based on them.

 

[The Archivist]

Forgot the second part: on injuries, you could claim pretty much any head injury (even as basic as a concussion) could lead to the visions. Brain tumors are also known for causing hallucinations, though they may not work if you want the effect to be temporary/nonfatal.

 

[Mathias]

A suggestion for a made up drug that would cause these hallucinations could be a plant that grows atop graves. When the plant is picked and injested the person might dream or hallucinate of the dead person who's grave the plant grew from. just an idea

 

[SeverinR]

I would read about real hallucinagens and use these as a basis for describing the fantasy effects of the created substance.

I think "shrooms" might be the ideal reading material for hallucinations, not sure which mushroom it is but I hear its the ones that grow on cow chips.

Remember human nature, if the substance is too good, people will want it, buy it, kill for it. So concider the supply and demand of your drugs and herbs.
Many snake oil salesmen used drugs in "medicine" to make the person feel good, so they will seek them out to buy more.

Fungus of the dead sounds good. A shroom that grows over the buried dead in a certain area at a certain time. Maybe in truth it only makes the person see a "general dead person" but the individual creates the person they think it should be? The answers they get might be correct or might just be the workings of a stimulated imagination from the substance?
Maybe a side effect of eating a "coffin fly" that has fed on a human?

 

[Aosto]

Yeah. I would make up my own rather then use a true to life historical reference. I've found people will challenge you, especially if it's important to the novel.
I've made one called Fehrinyeh for my novel. It plays on the takers perception, making them susceptible to suggestion and altering how they perceive the world based on that suggestion. The kicker being the user is not aware it is happening. There are no physical indication you get with other drugs.

 

[Filk]

Not sure if you're still interested, but I've always been interested in these two substances:
Erowid Ibogaine Vault
Erowid Ayahuasca Vault

These two supposedly blow peyote and mushrooms out of the water. There are plenty of other hallucinogens on that site as well; I've found the experiences section to be very interesting/informative in the past. Hope that helps!