I'm not sure why i'm having such a hard time with this, but for some reason I am. Perhaps someone can provide some help that will click the lightbulb on for me.
I basically have a player that is going to be putting some points into a crafting skill, Alchemy. I'd like to allow him to find some new herbs and oils that I make up along his adventures to allow him to create some "stuff". This is not based on magic, but on natural stuff.
In my head, I'm thinking that I'd basically like to assign him an herb bag with misc stuff in it that gives it a value, say 50g of components.
Then if he wants to produce a healing salve to cure some hit points, then that salve costs Xg to make, and it is deducted from his components.
However what I'm having a hard time with is understanding if there is some basic rules or guidelines that help me determine the value of his end product (ie, the healing salve), and from that how hard his DC check is to produce the product. I could just make stuff up of course, which in part I think I'm already doing, but if there is some guiding principle already in the game, I'd like to try to follow it.
Can anybody point me in the right direction? Or if I'm thinking about this all wrong, let me know.
Generally, crafting something requires components worth a 1/3 of its final value.
So if you give him a 50gp bag of "alchemy supplies" he can use it to make 150gp worth of alchemical items (such as 3 vials of antitoxin). If he were to trade or sell the supplies, it would only be worth 50gp (like an art object) or whatever proportion he might have remaining.
Simple as that.
EDIT: And for the record, I love that you are doing this as a GM. In my experience, GMs frown at me if I write down "Xgp of alchemical creation supplies" or "Xgp of magic item crafting supplies" on my character sheet prior to going into an area of the campaign where such supplies are supposed to be nearly nonexistent.
Thanks this helps a lot.
I think what I need to go find now is a better list of alchemical items. The list I had found in the core rulebook was pretty slim, and I'd like to expand on it more (if thats not already been done). Trying to price more "invented" items will probably just take some guesswork on their value.
The first time his character took part in the killing of some giant centipedes, he was looking looking to try to remove the venom sack to see if they could be used for some type of antitoxin. So I know if I can get a reasonable list of fun stuff to do with these items, he'll have fun.
GarrinB check out This link -- it has a lot more alchemical supplies from the various books and such that Paizo has put out (and some 3rd party publishers too). I think you'll find the list much more complete with those additions and almost exactly what you need.
GarrinB check out This link -- it has a lot more alchemical supplies from the various books and such that Paizo has put out (and some 3rd party publishers too). I think you'll find the list much more complete with those additions and almost exactly what you need.
Thanks for the reply. In fact that was one of the first places I went to look for other alchemy items, but for some reason I was really having problems finding any sort of list. If you come across a particular page of interest please share.
The Advanced Player's Guide has a few good items.
There's also a book called the Ultimate Equipment Guide by Mongoose Publishing... A ton of items in it can easily be considered alchemical. It will take a bit of work to use, though. The main problem is that it rarely gives Craft DCs, and the "alchemical" items are scattered throughout all sorts of equipment. As a Mongoose product, it has a few balance concerns too... a few items are clearly better in all ways than other items in the same book (Grapplegum vs. Gallowgum, for example). Some items are inferior to PHB equipment as they are (flare paste), and some items are simply too good (rust orb, paralysis pellet).
It's a good starting point, though, and really expands your possibilities, especially if you consider brewing and herbalism acceptable as extensions of alchemy.
Edit: I compiled a list of pretty much all the items I considered acceptable for my own character (converted for 3.5), along with modifications such as craft DCs and balance modifications. However, since it is a copyrighted product, I'm leery of sharing it...
Here you go it's still a bit hard to pull specifics out -- you have to scroll through the list.
Instead you might try this which has a *mostly* alchemical list after the 'normal' gear list.
both lists are linked to the specific items too.