Alchemical Components [Archive] - Wizards Community

Alchemical Components [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Solanum
02-27-08, 05:41 PM So i like the concept of the craft skill. But i want to make a little more in depth thing for each one.

I wanted to set up stores which sold potions and/or alchemical components One could use.

So I'm asking the pro's out there, How should i approach this? I want the PC's to either go to the store and buy their things/Forage in the wilderness.

what I'm asking basically is what kind of plants/materials should i make up, What properties should i give to each material/What skill would be used to find said material and How much would the materials cost to buy from an alchemy store?

If you want to add any ideas and thoughts that'd be good too :D
sakuradm
02-27-08, 06:42 PM well ill say this right now, because i like the ideas in the site: www.crystalkeep.com

I'd recomend hunting down the herbs, knowledge? and craft?... its up to you about the ingredients on some things, usually they are already spelled out for you... take into consideration rarity,demand,availiblity, how easy it is to get, and the like... i prefer to just take into account herbs and such... but this is coming from someone who spends her summers working at a camp or in the woods mixing herbs for incense and remedies....
Kouk
02-27-08, 06:59 PM Ingredients are already taken into account in the crafting system, under the Special note for the Craft skill:

To make an item using Craft (alchemy), you must have alchemical equipment and be a spellcaster. If you are working in a city, you can buy what you need as part of the raw materials cost to make the item, but alchemical equipment is difficult or impossible to come by in some places. Purchasing and maintaining an alchemist’s lab grants a +2 circumstance bonus on Craft (alchemy) checks because you have the perfect tools for the job, but it does not affect the cost of any items made using the skill.

The system intentionally glosses over the micromanagement of crafting in favor of just assuming a player can quickly and easily exchange his gold pieces for whatever is needed to perform the craft.

If you want to be more explicit about crafting and require particular ingredients, then all you have to do to determine the raw materials' values is to determine how much it would normally cost a character to craft the item. Then just divide that amount up however you feel like into different ingredients.

The amount of money for raw materials to Craft is defined in the steps for crafting: Pay one-third of the item’s price for the cost of raw materials.

So for instance, if the player wants to make a Tanglefoot Bag, you divide the price by 3 to get around 16gp 6sp and 6 cp (rounded down). You might say that the bag costs 2sp (or more considering it is special-made to break), the majority of the goo could be involved with about 2gp, and the special adhesive ingredients would make up the other 14.6 gp.

Let me mention though, that dividing a crafted item into so many distinct parts might actually dissuade players from wanting to deal with crafting at all, and they might just buy already made items to save time and hassle.

If you want to "find" ingredients in the field, probably just relevant Craft checks would be able to harvest materials. Perhaps make the DC to locate materials equal to half the normal Craft DC, assuming the character is in the appropriate area to find the stuff: plants and herbs in the forest, mold and slime in the dungeons, animal parts from... wherever the right kind of animals are, etc.

I would recommend that rather than just requiring extra effort to craft normal items in the first place, you allow the players to find special materials which enhance the end product for their time and effort.

There is a similar theme with spells, "power components" I believe they are called. This way a player could make a Craft check of whatever amount you feel like, and he may find "A rare mushroom" or "A perfectly formed spleen of a beaver" or whatever is needed. When they make the item using this component (in addition to normal ones or not) the relevant parts of the item are enhanced, usually the DC or duration might be higher.
sakuradm
02-29-08, 07:36 PM Not true, you dont NEED a lab or those specific bits, if you dont have one you just take a -2 on your checks. if you HAVE a lab, you can add a +2 to your checks.
Kouk
02-29-08, 10:49 PM Not true, you dont NEED a lab or those specific bits, if you dont have one you just take a -2 on your checks. if you HAVE a lab, you can add a +2 to your checks.

What?

Anyway the quote is saying you need alchemical equipment, but not necessarily the entire laboratory. The alchemical lab is like a room full of stuff which grants you the +2 bonus but the character is assumed to have whatever basic tools may be needed (subject to DM approval I guess), according to the description of the lab.
sakuradm
03-03-08, 08:57 PM As i said (while i read my PHB 1e) alchemy labs cost 500 gp, add a +2 on alchemal craft projects, and -2 if you do not have a lab.
DarkBrandon
03-05-08, 11:18 AM So i like the concept of the craft skill. But i want to make a little more in depth thing for each one.

I wanted to set up stores which sold potions and/or alchemical components One could use.

So I'm asking the pro's out there, How should i approach this? I want the PC's to either go to the store and buy their things/Forage in the wilderness.

what I'm asking basically is what kind of plants/materials should i make up, What properties should i give to each material/What skill would be used to find said material and How much would the materials cost to buy from an alchemy store?

If you want to add any ideas and thoughts that'd be good too :D

I did something similar to this, and really, I just used Worldofwarcrafts alchemy and plant material for the craft system, mainly because it's already there and easy to find.
sakuradm
03-05-08, 03:29 PM hehehe but guess what WoW is based off of? D&D :P
DarkBrandon
03-05-08, 08:58 PM hehehe but guess what WoW is based off of? D&D :P

It's not what it's based off...just the fact it's easily there and done. You have a list of herbs and what they make.

Just add a DC to the items and boom, instant system
Nathreet
03-05-08, 09:17 PM Alchemy is more rock & fire than plant. Plants are more for medicine and poision.

You can get sulfur from sulfur mines, aka brimstone. If I understand correctly, you can burn it, wait, and add a tiny amount of water to get concentrated sulfuric acid. From there you add the acid to water until you get the concentration you need. I'd bet that would be the most common medieval acid.

Ash is handy too for different things. You can run water over it to get lye, which is a very caustic base. It dissolves organic materials. It is common in drain cleaner and hair removers. You can also add it to oil to make soap.

Potassium nitrate, aka saltpetre, is a good oxidizer for explosives. You can get saltpetre from concentrating urine and extracting it. For larger amounts you can get it from crystal deposits on certain cave walls and runoff from dung heaps or guano (bat poop, found in large amounts in caves). In olden times they manufactured it by composting manure mixed with other organic materials like straw. Then they passed water through it to get the saltpetre out. They could also do the same with urine and straw, likewise letting it sour for a year or more. To use saltpetre you just add it to some kind of fuel like wax, oil. With wax you can make a weaker form of plastic explosive. I'd go with this plus thick oil or grease for alchemist fire. Maybe some brimstone too. To make gunpowder you mix saltpetre with brimstone and charcoal.

To make charcoal you heat wood very hot without exposing it to air. I'd just put the wood in a covered iron pot.

Iron filings can be burnt to produce a tremendous amount of hight temp bright heat. You just need another very hot chemical fire to get it started. I'd go with saltpetre and whatever to get it started, then iron filings to fuel. Might make a good sunrod.

Etc.

An alchemical lab would have flasks and burners and drippers and pots and large vented containers and the like.
sakuradm
03-06-08, 03:32 PM True, if you are wanting to work with herbs and the like, you would be an apatharcy or however you spell it :P Alchemy was really started by trying to turn plain old common rock or other materials into pure gold...
Chrono Nexus
03-06-08, 08:54 PM I created an alchemy shop about a week ago for my game. It has a very, very large list of materials. Feel free to tinker with the name/introduction to suit your own campaign.
http://www.mediafire.com/?ymyyg2wflg1
Also, here is an introduction to the power of alchemy I did for one of my players.
http://www.mediafire.com/?fq1q12kmyzm

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Solanum 02-27-08, 05:41 PM	So i like the concept of the craft skill. But i want to make a little more in depth thing for each one. I wanted to set up stores which sold potions and/or alchemical components One could use. So I'm asking the pro's out there, How should i approach this? I want the PC's to either go to the store and buy their things/Forage in the wilderness. what I'm asking basically is what kind of plants/materials should i make up, What properties should i give to each material/What skill would be used to find said material and How much would the materials cost to buy from an alchemy store? If you want to add any ideas and thoughts that'd be good too :D
sakuradm 02-27-08, 06:42 PM	well ill say this right now, because i like the ideas in the site: www.crystalkeep.com I'd recomend hunting down the herbs, knowledge? and craft?... its up to you about the ingredients on some things, usually they are already spelled out for you... take into consideration rarity,demand,availiblity, how easy it is to get, and the like... i prefer to just take into account herbs and such... but this is coming from someone who spends her summers working at a camp or in the woods mixing herbs for incense and remedies....
Kouk 02-27-08, 06:59 PM	Ingredients are already taken into account in the crafting system, under the Special note for the Craft skill: To make an item using Craft (alchemy), you must have alchemical equipment and be a spellcaster. If you are working in a city, you can buy what you need as part of the raw materials cost to make the item, but alchemical equipment is difficult or impossible to come by in some places. Purchasing and maintaining an alchemist’s lab grants a +2 circumstance bonus on Craft (alchemy) checks because you have the perfect tools for the job, but it does not affect the cost of any items made using the skill. The system intentionally glosses over the micromanagement of crafting in favor of just assuming a player can quickly and easily exchange his gold pieces for whatever is needed to perform the craft. If you want to be more explicit about crafting and require particular ingredients, then all you have to do to determine the raw materials' values is to determine how much it would normally cost a character to craft the item. Then just divide that amount up however you feel like into different ingredients. The amount of money for raw materials to Craft is defined in the steps for crafting: Pay one-third of the item’s price for the cost of raw materials. So for instance, if the player wants to make a Tanglefoot Bag, you divide the price by 3 to get around 16gp 6sp and 6 cp (rounded down). You might say that the bag costs 2sp (or more considering it is special-made to break), the majority of the goo could be involved with about 2gp, and the special adhesive ingredients would make up the other 14.6 gp. Let me mention though, that dividing a crafted item into so many distinct parts might actually dissuade players from wanting to deal with crafting at all, and they might just buy already made items to save time and hassle. If you want to "find" ingredients in the field, probably just relevant Craft checks would be able to harvest materials. Perhaps make the DC to locate materials equal to half the normal Craft DC, assuming the character is in the appropriate area to find the stuff: plants and herbs in the forest, mold and slime in the dungeons, animal parts from... wherever the right kind of animals are, etc. I would recommend that rather than just requiring extra effort to craft normal items in the first place, you allow the players to find special materials which enhance the end product for their time and effort. There is a similar theme with spells, "power components" I believe they are called. This way a player could make a Craft check of whatever amount you feel like, and he may find "A rare mushroom" or "A perfectly formed spleen of a beaver" or whatever is needed. When they make the item using this component (in addition to normal ones or not) the relevant parts of the item are enhanced, usually the DC or duration might be higher.
sakuradm 02-29-08, 07:36 PM	Not true, you dont NEED a lab or those specific bits, if you dont have one you just take a -2 on your checks. if you HAVE a lab, you can add a +2 to your checks.
Kouk 02-29-08, 10:49 PM	Not true, you dont NEED a lab or those specific bits, if you dont have one you just take a -2 on your checks. if you HAVE a lab, you can add a +2 to your checks. What? Anyway the quote is saying you need alchemical equipment, but not necessarily the entire laboratory. The alchemical lab is like a room full of stuff which grants you the +2 bonus but the character is assumed to have whatever basic tools may be needed (subject to DM approval I guess), according to the description of the lab.
sakuradm 03-03-08, 08:57 PM	As i said (while i read my PHB 1e) alchemy labs cost 500 gp, add a +2 on alchemal craft projects, and -2 if you do not have a lab.
DarkBrandon 03-05-08, 11:18 AM	So i like the concept of the craft skill. But i want to make a little more in depth thing for each one. I wanted to set up stores which sold potions and/or alchemical components One could use. So I'm asking the pro's out there, How should i approach this? I want the PC's to either go to the store and buy their things/Forage in the wilderness. what I'm asking basically is what kind of plants/materials should i make up, What properties should i give to each material/What skill would be used to find said material and How much would the materials cost to buy from an alchemy store? If you want to add any ideas and thoughts that'd be good too :D I did something similar to this, and really, I just used Worldofwarcrafts alchemy and plant material for the craft system, mainly because it's already there and easy to find.
sakuradm 03-05-08, 03:29 PM	hehehe but guess what WoW is based off of? D&D :P
DarkBrandon 03-05-08, 08:58 PM	hehehe but guess what WoW is based off of? D&D :P It's not what it's based off...just the fact it's easily there and done. You have a list of herbs and what they make. Just add a DC to the items and boom, instant system
Nathreet 03-05-08, 09:17 PM	Alchemy is more rock & fire than plant. Plants are more for medicine and poision. You can get sulfur from sulfur mines, aka brimstone. If I understand correctly, you can burn it, wait, and add a tiny amount of water to get concentrated sulfuric acid. From there you add the acid to water until you get the concentration you need. I'd bet that would be the most common medieval acid. Ash is handy too for different things. You can run water over it to get lye, which is a very caustic base. It dissolves organic materials. It is common in drain cleaner and hair removers. You can also add it to oil to make soap. Potassium nitrate, aka saltpetre, is a good oxidizer for explosives. You can get saltpetre from concentrating urine and extracting it. For larger amounts you can get it from crystal deposits on certain cave walls and runoff from dung heaps or guano (bat poop, found in large amounts in caves). In olden times they manufactured it by composting manure mixed with other organic materials like straw. Then they passed water through it to get the saltpetre out. They could also do the same with urine and straw, likewise letting it sour for a year or more. To use saltpetre you just add it to some kind of fuel like wax, oil. With wax you can make a weaker form of plastic explosive. I'd go with this plus thick oil or grease for alchemist fire. Maybe some brimstone too. To make gunpowder you mix saltpetre with brimstone and charcoal. To make charcoal you heat wood very hot without exposing it to air. I'd just put the wood in a covered iron pot. Iron filings can be burnt to produce a tremendous amount of hight temp bright heat. You just need another very hot chemical fire to get it started. I'd go with saltpetre and whatever to get it started, then iron filings to fuel. Might make a good sunrod. Etc. An alchemical lab would have flasks and burners and drippers and pots and large vented containers and the like.
sakuradm 03-06-08, 03:32 PM	True, if you are wanting to work with herbs and the like, you would be an apatharcy or however you spell it :P Alchemy was really started by trying to turn plain old common rock or other materials into pure gold...
Chrono Nexus 03-06-08, 08:54 PM	I created an alchemy shop about a week ago for my game. It has a very, very large list of materials. Feel free to tinker with the name/introduction to suit your own campaign. http://www.mediafire.com/?ymyyg2wflg1 Also, here is an introduction to the power of alchemy I did for one of my players. http://www.mediafire.com/?fq1q12kmyzm