# Are prisoners all supposed to be avid readers?
**URL:** https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677
**Category:** The Drawing Board
**Created:** [January 3, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677 "2014-01-03T00:08:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@TheGrifter](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/TheGrifter)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/1 "2014-01-03T00:08:24Z")
At least nine of the last ten prison cells I hacksawed my way into held nothing but books in their cells. No shivs, no contraband, nothing besides samurai novels, poetry, and philosophy.
These prisons in real life are a den of savagery, rampant drugs and violence.
Hell, there weren’t even zombies in the prison. Just books. The criminal justice system in cataclysm is nothing but a Michael Dukakis revolving door nightmare, I say!
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### Author:  [@ClaytonRISING](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/ClaytonRISING)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/2 "2014-01-03T00:14:29Z")
Actually, most inmates spend most of their time reading. Most prisons have libraries, and even if they don’t there are usually book trucks that come, so A LOT Of inmates read. I mean…what else is there to do?
Source: I’ve never been incarcerated myself, but I know a handful or two of people who have, they all said they read most of the time.
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### Author:  [@TheGrifter](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/TheGrifter)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/3 "2014-01-03T00:23:24Z")
Fair enough. But books are ALL they have in cells. And I can’t find the item group that refers to it. Anyone know where the prison item spawns are held in the files?
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### Author:  [@Derschlact](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Derschlact)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/4 "2014-01-03T00:43:19Z")
“Extensive” testing reveals that prison spawns pull from the item group “novels”.
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### Author:  [@TheGrifter](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/TheGrifter)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/5 "2014-01-03T01:12:14Z")
It would seem so. If someone would be kind enough to commit a separate “prison” item spawn group in the next update, it’d be appreciated.
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### Author:  [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/6 "2014-01-03T01:19:34Z")
Well, from my experience, it’s not inaccurate to have incarcerated folks reading. Prison guards don’t actually want to live Oz and other such shows. I imagine the prisoners themselves don’t either.
Experience: knows folks who’ve been incarcerated
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### Author:  [@Rivet](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Rivet)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/7 "2014-01-03T02:05:36Z")
I’m all for prison cells having a rare shot at spawning a ‘contraband’ item group that might include a shiv or some drugs.
It’s a fun thing that makes sense, plus it would provide a nice payoff for the looting-type players.
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### Author:  [@TheGrifter](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/TheGrifter)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 5:58am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/8 "2014-01-03T05:58:30Z")
Yeah, a second contraband item group for beds would be nice. Not just in prisons, but elsewhere too. A lot of people store shit in beds.
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### Author:  [@jimboblordofeskimos](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/jimboblordofeskimos)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 6:19am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/9 "2014-01-03T06:19:26Z")
> [@TheGrifter](#):
>
> Yeah, a second contraband item group for beds would be nice. Not just in prisons, but elsewhere too. A lot of people store shit in beds.
WHO THE HELL STORES DRUGS IN THEIR BEDS?
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### Author:  [@TheGrifter](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/TheGrifter)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 6:28am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/10 "2014-01-03T06:28:08Z")
You’d be surprised what people store under their mattresses. Not just drugs, but cash, lotto tickets, thin valuables. It happens,
I read it in Abbie Hoffman’s book, “Steal this book”, and “Surviving Prison”. That one had no listed author…
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### Author:  [@VampyreLord](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/VampyreLord)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 8:29am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/11 "2014-01-03T08:29:30Z")
I’m also surprised that hospital beds/rooms have nothing in them, not even books.
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### Author:  [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2014, 9:08am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/12 "2014-01-03T09:08:44Z")
OK, the Contraband PR made it in and there’s a Counter-Contraband [PR](https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/pull/5366) to standardize the prison armories.
I’ll see about hospital rooms tomorrow.
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### Author:  [@TheGrifter](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/TheGrifter)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/13 "2014-01-04T20:43:12Z")
Awesome, KA.
Is there any chance I could get this code I altered put in as a pull request as well? I know this is off topic, but if you’re the magic man, the person who can get things done in the code, I figured this was a good time to ask.
I wanted to make it so that meth was more realistic. If this code works like I think it should, it ought to make meth injectable with a chance of causing infection as well. Please tell me if this is functional, and if so, would you kindly add it? I want to be part of the community.
[code]}
int iuse::meth(player \*p, item \*it, bool t) {
int duration = 5 \* (10 );
if (p-\>has\_amount(“apparatus”, 1) && p-\>use\_charges\_if\_avail(“fire”, 1)) {
g-\>add\_msg\_if\_player(p,_(“You smoke your impure meth. The world speeds up, slightly, and you taste burning plastic.”));
duration \*= (p-\>has\_trait(“LIGHTWEIGHT”) ? 1.8 : 1.5);
} else {
if (p-\>has\_amount(“syringe”, 1) && p-\>use\_charges\_if\_avail(“fire”, 1)) {
g-\>add\_msg\_if\_player(p,_(“You inject meth you cooked in a jug. Your heart races.”));
duration \*= (p-\>has\_amount(“syringe”, 1) ? 3.8 : 3.5);
p-\>add\_disease(“infection”, rng(10, 20));
} else {
g-\>add\_msg\_if\_player(p,\_(“You snort some of the worst shabu-shabu you’ve ever had. Your nostrils are bleeding.”));
}
if (!p-\>has\_disease(“meth”)) {
duration += 450;
}
if (duration \> 0) {
int hungerpen = (p-\>str\_cur \< 10 ? 20 : 30 - p-\>str\_cur);
p-\>hunger -= hungerpen;
p-\>add\_disease(“meth”, duration);
}
return it-\>type-\>charges\_to\_use();
}[/code]
People also inject cocaine. John Belushi died from such a thing.
```auto
}
int iuse::coke(player *p, item *it, bool t) {
g->add_msg_if_player(p,_("You snort a bump of coke."));
int duration = 21 - p->str_cur + rng(0,10);
if (p->has_trait("LIGHTWEIGHT")) {
duration += 20;
} else {
if (p->has_amount("syringe", 1) && p->use_charges_if_avail("fire", 1)) {
g->add_msg_if_player(p,_("You shoot up, injection site numb, heart beating like a race horse."));
duration *= (p->has_amount("syringe", 1) ? 3.8 : 3.5);
p->add_disease("infection", rng(10, 20));
}
p->hunger -= 8;
p->add_disease("high", duration);
return it->type->charges_to_use();
}
```
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### Author:  [@Pthalocy](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Pthalocy)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/14 "2014-01-04T21:42:39Z")
> [@jimboblordofeskimos](#):
>
> [quote=“TheGrifter, post:8, topic:4677”]Yeah, a second contraband item group for beds would be nice. Not just in prisons, but elsewhere too. A lot of people store shit in beds.
WHO THE HELL STORES DRUGS IN THEIR BEDS?[/quote]
I HID HOSS UNDER MINE FOR LIKE A MONTH.
Lol joking. I like the books spawning as it is, but yeah, a contraband pool of significant rarity/uncommon-ness would add a bit more flavour to prisons and a couple other places as well. Excited about the progress in this thread 😃
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### Author:  [@Dominae](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Dominae)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/15 "2014-01-05T21:10:03Z")
> [@jimboblordofeskimos](#):
>
> WHO THE HELL STORES DRUGS IN THEIR BEDS?
Until the container system is reworked and we can put the drugs in their proper place, inside rectal cavities, l guess it’ll have to be tucked in the mattress.
On a realistic note: cigarettes function as currency in prison, so if they’re not regularly spawning in cells it should be added.
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### Author:  [@VampyreLord](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/VampyreLord)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/are-prisoners-all-supposed-to-be-avid-readers/4677/16 "2014-01-06T14:57:15Z")
> [@Dominae](#):
>
> [quote=“jimboblordofeskimos, post:9, topic:4677”]WHO THE HELL STORES DRUGS IN THEIR BEDS?
Until the container system is reworked and we can put the drugs in their proper place, inside rectal cavities, l guess it’ll have to be tucked in the mattress.
On a realistic note: cigarettes function as currency in prison, so if they’re not regularly spawning in cells it should be added.[/quote]Yep, backing this up.