Apothecary Crafting

With crafting apothecary items, there is almost no limit to what you can create. By following the laws of alchemy, you can create various items using the ingredients property. However, there are guidelines that must be followed when crafting apothecary items.

1. Almost every apothecary item uses a base ingredient (clean water).
2. Ingredients have one property based on the different property categories.
3. There are several property categories: healing, antitoxin, poison, pain reduction, delay, and ability modifiers.
4. Equal parts to the class of the concoction are required for each ingredient used.
5. The strength of the item and the amount of ingredients needed depend on its class.
6. Only an Enhancer allows for class six or higher concoctions.
7. Only a Combiner allows for mixing property categories together.
8. Failing a crafting check causes the concoction and all its ingredients to be destroyed.

The basics of apothecary crafting are adding a specific number of ingredients to a base ingredient to create a concoction. What that concoction is depends on the ingredients being used. Whether that is a potion, tonic, toxin, poison, etc.

For example, to make a class five healing potion, combine five parts of a class five ingredient known for its physical healing properties with five parts of a base ingredient. When consumed, this potion will provide five times the character’s vitality in physical healing.

To make a more complex concoction, you can use a combiner to make a regenerative healing potion by mixing an ingredient with the combiner property with the class five healing potion and an ingredient that has a delay property. This creates a more advanced healing potion that heals over time. This can be advanced even more depending on if the delay ingredient is processed or unprocessed (see delay later in this chapter).

Apothecary Terminology

Antitoxin

A type of apothecary item that provides curing effects caused by poisons and some diseases. An antitoxin will stop any poison equal to its class or lower. If a creature is poisoned by a class five poison, using a class five or higher antitoxin will neutralize the poison's effects.

Brew, Brewed, or Brewing

Brewing combines ingredients to make a concoction that, if successful, turns into a useable apothecary item. All apothecary items are brewed in some manner. Cauldrons and other apothecary equipment are used when brewing concoctions.

Brewing Time

Every concoction made takes time to brew for the ingredients to combine and extract their properties. When brewing concoctions, the brew time is equal to the class in hours. So, if brewing a class three concoction, it will take three hours for the brewing process to complete.

Duration & Fatigue

Each item takes time to craft to completion. When working on items, a workday is eight hours. Working more than that causes fatigue equal to one for every two hours past the eight hours.

Class

A class is the indicated strength of an apothecary item. It determines how many parts of an ingredient are needed, the multiplier for potions, the damage for poisons, the time delay for item’s effects, and more. The property descriptions show how the class affects the aspects of crafting.

Class Dice

Each class, from one to five, has a die associated with it; class one has 1d4, class two has 1d6, class three has 1d8, class four has 1d10, and class five has 1d12. Some properties require a die roll to determine the effects of the item, such as poisons. See the individual sections for more information about how the class dice works.

Concoction

Apothecary items that are in their brewing process are called concoctions. Once the process is successfully completed, it becomes another type of apothecary item (potion, poison, tonic, etc.).

Poison

A general term for making a harmful brew (causing paralysis, health damage, etc.).

Crafting poisons that are higher than class five have their class dice increased based on the two classes being enhanced. So, if you are enhancing a class two with a class five to make a class seven poison, the class dice would be 1d6+1d12.

When making poisons, you must perform a handle poison check after completing its crafting to transfer it to storage containers. Cauldrons that are used to brew poison cannot be used to brew other items.

Poison Difficulty Rating

Some poisons have a difficulty rating to resist the effects. To determine what that difficulty rating is, add eight plus the class level.

8 + Class Level = Poison Difficulty Rating

Types of Poison

There are different categories of poisons based on how they apply to a target.

Contact Poison

This type of poison affects a target simply by touching it. It can be used as both a contact or an ingested poison.

Ingested Poison

This type of poison is the more common type and can only affect the target if it enters their body and has no effect when applied to the skin. It must be consumed, applied to an open cut/wound, aerosol, or entering the body through injection.

Potion

A general term for making a potion that heals and restores (healing, essence, and mental health potions). Potions use the class to determine the healing factor of the property. Physical healing uses the class multiplied by the character’s vitality. Mental healing uses half the class multiplied by the character’s mental. Restoring essence uses half the class multiplied by the character’s channeling.

Physical Healing = Vitality x Class
Mental Healing = Mental x Half the Class
Restore Essence = Channeling x Half the Class

Toxins

A general term for alchemical items that have a wide range of uses (acid, apothecaries curse, neutralizer, etc.). Toxins that use class dice are treated the same way poisons are. This includes transferring the toxin to an appropriate storage container without harming yourself. Therefore, toxins are treated as if they were poison and a handle poison check is required for every completed toxin that uses the class die. For example, making acid or a fire bang would use the class die to indicate how much damage they deal. You would need to refer to the poison section to determine their damage based on their class. Cauldrons that are used to make toxins cannot be used to make other items except poisons.

Toxin Difficulty Rating & Area of Effect

Some of these items can be used as an attack which causes damage in an area of effect. Alchemical items that have this require a difficulty rating to avoid the area of effect. To determine this rating, add eight plus the class level.

8 + Class Level = Toxin Difficulty Rating

To determine the area of effect’s radius, every five class levels increases the radius by five feet up to a max of fifteen feet. Class levels under five have a minimum of a five-foot area (equivalent to a single target).

Every 5th Class Level = +5ft. Area of Effect Radius (Max 15ft.)

Daily Potions Consumed Limitation

Starting with a base of one potency towards your daily potions consumed, every fifth class increases its potency by one. Consuming apothecary items that count against your daily potion intake that has a class of fifteen or higher gains the addictive property with a potency of one for every five classes.

Categories of Ingredients

Each ingredient has a unique property that determines what type of concoction is being created. Ingredient properties encompass base, healing, antitoxin, poison, pain reduction, delay, and ability modifiers.

Ability Modifiers

Some herbs can grant increases in statistics and other abilities for a short duration. These types of properties are like additives in that they do not require equal parts to their class. Instead, they are per part being added and have limitations on how much can be used. The effect of the modifier is based on the delay ingredient added to the concoction.

All statistic modifier ingredients affect both the statistic and any skills associated with them. However, once the effect wears off, it causes one fatigue per every +1 to the statistic.

Modifiers that affect vision last for the indicated amount of time per ingredient. However, the side effects caused by using these ingredients are blurry vision for half the total time, of the duration and -1 perception for every hour active.

Additives

Some ingredients can provide an extra property when added to concoctions. Additives differ from other ingredients because they do not require equal parts to the class of the concoction. The more you add, the more boost the concoction gets. However, additives can have their own limitations, such as how many can be added before the concoction is ruined. Only two can be added before the concotion is ruined.

Base

All concoctions require an ingredient with a base property without it, the brewing process automatically fails. Clean water is required when brewing concoctions.

Combiners

A combiner is an ingredient that merges concoctions, allowing you to combine property categories. So, you can combine the healing and antitoxin properties to make a healing potion that cures poison. Or a regenerative potion by combining the delay and healing properties. However, only two concoctions can be combined at a time.

Delay

Delay slowly applies the effects to other properties. There are two ways delay works: processed (instantly) or unprocessed (starts ten seconds after the concoction is taken).

Unlike other properties, this one does not require equal to the class in parts. Instead, the more parts you use, the longer the effect takes to fully apply.

When using a delay ingredient, the effect of the concoction starts based on if the ingredient is processed or unprocessed. The total amount the property would give is divided between the duration of the delay. This can apply to nearly any type of concoction, but the effects are always rounded down when dividing between the duration of the delay.

For example, creating a class one regeneration potion with a twenty-second delay. Let's say for this example the character taking the potion has a ten in vitality. They drink the potion and ten seconds later they heal for five health. Another ten seconds later and they heal for another five health. However, using a processed delay ingredient will instantly give you the first five healing effects, followed by the next five effects after ten seconds.

Enhancer

To create custom concoctions beyond class five, you need an enhancer ingredient and each ingredient used must be equal to the class in quantity. So, if making a class six potion, you need two class three concoctions plus six parts of the enhancer.