Ingredients
Created Friday 13 June 2014
You make elixirs by mixing different ingredients with a solvent. You can mix up to four different ingredients together.
Each ingredient has up to four properties.
If two ingredients you mix have a property in common, it becomes a part of the elixir.
Examples of ingredient mixing
Suppose you have the ingredients eye of newt, toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog, with the following properties:
Eye of Newt: 1. Invisibility 2. Levitate 3. Poison
Toe of Frog: 1. Invisibility 2. Levitate
Wool of Bat: 1. Poison
Tongue of Dog: 1. Invisibility 2. Poison
Some possible elixirs would be:
- Eye of Newt + Toe of Frog = Invisibility + Levitate - a buffing potion with two effects.
- Eye of Newt + Wool of Bat = Poison - for enemies.
- Eye of Newt + Tongue of Dog = Invisibility + Poison - an elixir with both a buff effect and a poison effect. Use an alembic or retort (see: Alchemy:Equipment) to emphasise wither the poisonous aspect or the beneficial aspect.
Identifying ingredient properties
You do not initially know the alchemical properties of an ingredient.
You can identify the properties of a ingredient using Knowledge (Nature) for ingredients of plant or animal origin, and Knowledge (Arcana) for all other ingredients.
- DC 10 Know first property.
- DC 15 Know two properties.
- DC 20 Know three properties.
- DC 25 Know all four properties.
You may also find textbooks in the world that describe the properties and uses of specific ingredients.
Obtaining ingredients
All kinds of things can be used to make elixirs.
The majority of ingredients are embarassingly common. This includes food items and common herbs. You can gather them from the world, or find some of them at the general store.
More exotic ingredients include gemstones, rare minerals, and body parts of powerful creatures. Apocatheries may carry some of these ingredients at a premium price.
Spotting ingredients in the wild
Identifying plant ingredients in the wild requires an Acuity check and a Knowledge (Nature) check.
The Acuity check is simply to notice that the plant is there, and follows the usual rules for spotting objects. A tall saltrice plant is fairly easy to spot. A spot of lichen on a rock, in a poorly lit cave, is substantially harder to spot.
The Knowledge (Nature) check is to determine which plants are useful alchemy ingredients. There are many kinds of flowers in a flower garden, but only some have useful properties. Knowledge (Nature) tells you which flowers are useful, and which can be ignored.
Knowledge (Nature) DCs to recognise plants:
DC 10 - common foodstuffs. Everyone in Morrowind knows what saltrice looks like.
DC 15 - widely known plants, i.e. medicinal herbs. Most people know what comberry looks like.
DC 20 - uncommon plants, or plants that are hard to tell apart from each other. It is hard to tell the difference between various types of mushrooms.
You might collect samples of plants and consult with an alchemist as to which ones are useful, and which are not, but they will likely charge you for the privilege.
Special: If you have at least 5 ranks of Craft (Alchemy), you gain a +2 synergy bonus on Knowledge (Nature) checks to identify plants in the wild.
Revision Log
2014-06-13
First revision.
2014-07-01
Add new rules for spotting ingredients in the wild.
Backlinks: Alchemy