Practice: The Fantasy Alchemy & Herbalism (5e)
Updated 9/16/19 The Practice is a complex fantasy alchemy and herbalism system for 5e. There are alchemists and herbalists¸ but a practitioner needs to be both¸ combining their skill sets in order to master drawing magical properties out of latent ingredients. All of the included rules are built upon a new crafting system¸ designed to be approachable and intuitive. Instead of basing the amount of time required on price¸ there are only two parameters; weight and complexity. The more a thing weighs¸ the more ingredients it requires¸ and the longer it takes to create. Alchemical concoctions are the most complex¸ next to magical items¸ and take the longest¸ while simple items such as weapons¸ tools¸ clothing¸ and any of the other mundane equipment¸ take much less time. What rules are included? I am so glad you asked. Crafting¸ as mentioned above¸ is retrofit and fleshed out for a more complete experience. There is also a new feat for players and GMs who wish to really dive into the system¸ and a slight modification of the existing damage rules. Collecting details everything you need to know about going out into the wild mountain ranges or your neighbor's backyard to gather your precious ingredients. The rules here are also complex¸ but only in the back-end¸ and once you get the hang of them you will be only a few rolls away from marking down your bounty. There are collection tables for determining what you find in arctic¸ coastal¸ desert¸ forest¸ grassland¸ hills¸ mountains¸ rural¸ swamp¸ underground¸ underwater¸ and volcanic locales. The Blood Practice¸ equivalent to the dark arts of alchemy¸ is the killing of creatures and beasts in order to collect their organs as ingredients. Though this is frowned upon by most practitioners¸ you will have the option to engage in harvesting¸ with tables for beasts of many kinds: arachnids¸ bats¸ bears¸ birds¸ cats¸ chargers¸ crabs¸ crocs¸ dinosaurs¸ faun¸ hounds¸ insects¸ lumberers¸ monkeys¸ mounts¸ octopi¸ plants¸ reptiles¸ rodents¸ sealife¸ serpents¸ sharks¸ skeletons¸ and zombies. As of this update¸ version 5 is in development. This includes much editing and updating: 1. Art. Though this will be black & white¸ I am including page backgrounds and small bits of very old art that I thing will enhance the mood and feel that I have always wanted for this supplement. 2. Editing. Previously the crafting systems for alchemy and everything else were exactly that¸ separate. Now I have combined and streamlined the rules so there is only one set of crafting rules that applies to everything¸ with specifics for the more complex systems such as alchemy and the creation of magical items. 3. Layout. The old design wasn't bad¸ as far as I could tell¸ but it wasn't great. I am trying to design an intuitive supplement that takes the user¸ step by step¸ through the rules they need as they need them. So in this latest version I have moved some sections around in an attempt to close in on this goal. 4. Paring. Another goal for this new version is the removal of extraneous verbiage¸ and there is a lot¸ I know. I have always wanted to create simple¸ streamlined¸ easy to understand and straight to the point rules¸ and I don't think I am there yet. So¸ to get closer¸ I went through with a scalpel and cut out and reshaped everything and anything I could¸ I hope I got it better. Thank you for reading¸ and I truly hope you enjoy this work of love.