[Rq-rules] Herblore

Sun Aug 5 10:50:18 PDT 2007

These are the rules I have been using for a while.
They are a combination of my stuff and things I stole
from other source on the web and elsewhere:

Alchemy
Magic potions require sacrifice of magic points or
power and enchantments rolls during the manufacturing
process.
Alchemy (00) 
Lore Skill (Medium)
Alchemy is the theoretical skill associated with
potions and their ingredients. A successful check in
this skill will allow a character to identify proper
ingredients and determine the general effect that a
particular set of ingredients may have on a subject.
It may also be used to determine as to what
ingredients maybe substituted to achieve the same or
similar result.
Alchemy is a Lore Skill that can be acquired by
training as per normal rules. A character can become
an apprentice to a Master Alchemist. If done during
previous experience this gives the normal benefits
plus 6 weeks of tuition per year. To be accepted as an
apprentice a character must have positive Knowledge,
and Magic modifiers.
Learning a Recipe
Each recipe is a separate Knowledge skill (medium) and
must be learned separately. The potion's skill
percentage/5 determines the POT of the potion which
can be manufactured by the Alchemist. An Alchemical
recipe must be learned in a process similar to
learning a sorcery spell and is checkable, but does
not require free intelligence. A character may know as
many recipes as he wishes.
Potion cost
As a general rule the standard price for magical
potions starts at 5L and increases at each POT. The
price varies of course based on ingredients and
location. The cost of manufacturing is for a batch,
irrespective of the number of potions created at one
time.
1 - 5L
2 - 10L
3 - 25L
4 - 50L
5 - 100L
6 - 150L
7 - 200L
8 - 300L
9 - 400L
10 - 650L
+250L /POT to 20
A 'potion' is not necessarily a liquid in a bottle; it
could be a pill, powder or ointment, whatever. To
change a potion into a paste requires reduction of 3
doses = 1 paste, reduction to powder is 6 doses = 1
powder, reduction to solid is 9 doses = 1 solid. It
takes a full day to manufacture a potion in liquid
form.
Potions are indivisible in strength. Putting a Heal 4
potion into two smaller bottles gives two bottles of
colored water, not two Heal 2's.
Apothecary
Mundane potions are non-magical concoctions, which
derive their effect thought the base properties of the
ingredients.
Apothecary (10) 
Craft Skill (Medium) 
This is the skill used in preparing, brewing,
reducing, etc. of various compounds. This is the skill
used to manufacture both magical and mundane
concoctions. The level of success determines if the
proper ingredients have been successfully combined to
yield the desired results. Assuming an abundance of
ingredients a normal success will produce 2d6 doses, a
special 1d6+6 doses, a critical will yield 1d6+6 doses
at 1d6 POT higher, a failure 1d6 doses and -1 POT, a
fumble will waste the ingredients with no benefit and
may cause other damage.
Learning a mundane recipe.
Mundane recipe does not have a separate skill
associated with it. Once the proper recipe is found
and the ingredients are acquired a successful
Apothecary Craft check is all what is necessary to
create the potion.
The potion can be made weaker or stronger with the
appropriate adjustment to the amount of ingredients
used. This may or may not have stronger or weaker
effects.
Mundane potion cost.
The cost of a mundane potion is based strictly on the
availability of the ingredients and the skill of the
Alchemist.
Alchemist Equipment 
Some handy tools for alchemists to have include:
Small Bottles
Pouches
Parchment and Pen
Gloves
Recipe Book
Flasks (all sizes)
Mixing Stick
Food Color
Wood Bowls or Plates
Mortar and Pestle
Overall Rules for Alchemical, Herbal, and Poison
Compounds:
1 Vial = 1 Ounce = 1 Hit Point = 10 Seconds to
collect. You may collect 1 Vial of blood from a
creature for each 10 hit points the creature has.
(This assumes most blood is spoiled during combat or
the collection process, so only a small amount is
actually useful as a component.)
Blood and other simple bodily fluids can be collected
provided the character makes his Animal Lore roll. Any
non-liquid body parts require the Butchery skill to
collect.
Some Rare components are gathered from living beings
(blood, body parts, etc.). These components must be
"First Grown", which means they must be the original
part the person was born with. If a creature has a
body part removed, then regenerated, that re-grown
part is not eligible for a component. If a creature
dies, and is resurrected, the whole body is considered
"original" and any body parts may be harvested again.
Any component that is biological in nature (Blood,
teeth, leaf, bark, etc.) will gradually lose its
properties unless preserved. A component will become
useless one hour after being removed from the
creature, or the creature's death, or being removed
from its source. 
Taste Analysis (00)
Perception (Medium) 
This skill is used to identify alchemical potions and
other substances by means of tasting or smelling a
very small, harmless amount of the sample. 
It cannot be increased through experience, it must be
taught or researched. 
The user can only identify substances that he has
previously encountered, otherwise he can only hazard
an educated guess at what the substance is. If he
succeeds in the skill and has not met the substance
before the GM must tell him that it is probably a
particular substance, but he is not sure. It is up to
the GM or to other PCs, if they are doing the
training, to determine what substances have been
encountered. Most training will cover standard
potions, poisons and substances as those are the most
frequently encountered. 
The user can only identify the potency of the
substance within a certain range, giving an idea of
the strength of the potion. I play that a normal
success gives ranges of very strong, strong, normal,
weak, very weak etc., special success gives potency in
the ranges of 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 and so on, a
critical success gives the exact potency. 
A fumble with the skill means that the user is
affected by the potion - he swallowed the Hydra Venom
or the Impotency Potion. 

--- postmaster at runequest.za.org wrote:

> There is/was Alchemest career rules out there on the
> net, that as well as
> an Alchemest skill. However If its just herbs, one
> could perhaps open up a
> herbalist or apothecary skill under knowledge. Maybe
> start it at the same
> base as the characters plant lore and then go up
> from there. (Just dod a
> google search and see Simon Phipp has some rocking
> alchemy rules on his
> site) I am also sure I have some other alchemy rules
> I downloaded years
> back.
> Tony
> 
> > I've never seen a completely satisfactoy set of
> rules for that sort of
> > thing. Most try to make it too detailed, so the
> character has to master
> > more
> > than two or three skills to be a decent alchemist.
> Why not just add
> > "alchemy" as a skill, then require a Plant Lore or
> Mineral Lore roll as
> > well? (or Treat Disease, etc.)
> >
> > -- Joe
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: rq-rules-bounces at crashbox.com
> [mailto:rq-rules-bounces at crashbox.com]
> > On Behalf Of Bo Rosén
> > Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 7:54 AM
> > To: Discussion of RuneQuest rules.
> > Subject: [Rq-rules] Herblore
> >
> > I may be setting up a RQIII/BRP campaign which
> will have someone making
> > various types of potions and salves, mostly
> healing probably. Are there
> > any good rules for that kind of thing somewhere?
> > Think Rebecka the daughter of Isaac of Yorke.
> > --
> > Bo Rosén <bo.rosen at gmail.com>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > RQ-Rules mailing list
> > RQ-Rules at crashbox.com
> > http://crashbox.com/mailman/listinfo/rq-rules
> >
> 
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