Making Mundane Concoctions (SNS)

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Apothecaries can make nonmagical pastes, pills and liquids w ith inte resting effects. To d o so, they need to gather all of the appropriate ingredients and bring them to their lab. They then make a check against their Concoction nonweapon proficiency. If they succeed, they end up with a potent concoction. If they fail, they end up with a mess. This mess is usually benign-unless the apothecar y rolls a 20 on his Concocting proficiency check. If this is the case, consult the Eureka table for results.
To create a concoction, the apothecary must first have a recipe. These instructions are hoarded and traded among apothecaries like spells among wizards. All apothecaries begin their career with a single recipe of their choice.
New recipes must be given to the apothecary by a colleague, found in another apothecary's recipe book, or discovered through diligent research. It is difficult to wrangle recipes out of other apothecaries, though, as these formulas a re the product of m any long hours of experimentation. Some apothecaries will sell their secrets to colleagues they trust implicitly. However, personal research is usually cheaper— though it takes more time.
Sometimes, it is possible to find recipes in old apothecary's journals, but these books are extremely rare. An a d venturing party might conceivably stumble across one or take it forcibly from an opposing apothecary, but rarely will such books be available in book shops.
==Researching recipes==
Independently researching a recipe is a time-consuming task. The Common Concoction table given later in this chapter describes the times and costs for researching several recipes, but DMs should familiarize themselves with these guidelines for researching new concoctions.
First, try to determine the concoction's equivalent spell level, if possible. If a particular spell can be cast by both mages and clerics, always use the mage spell. For instance, suppose an apothecary wants to come up with two liquids that glow brightly when mixed together. The DM, judging that this is a reasonable goal, checks for an equivalent spell and discovers that Light, a 1st level wizard spell, fits the bill.
===Optional Rule: Research Limitations===
Apothecaries cannot research a recipe for a concoction with a higher equivalent spell level than their own casting ability. For example, Sirellyn, a 3rd level apothecary, cannot research a flammable concoction that has similar effects to a fireball spell until he reaches 8th level. Such a concoction is simply beyond the realm of his understanding.
Second, the apothecary must spend one week in research per equivalent spell level of the proposed concoction. The cost of such research is 200 gp per week. Following this formula, the glowing liquid in the above example would require 200 gp in materials and one full week to research.
After the apothecary spends his time and money researching, he must make a Concocting proficiency check. If he succeeds, the apothecary successfully discovers the correct recipe. If the apothecary fails, he cannot attempt to research the same recipe until he reaches another level.
An apothecary can learn as many different types of nonmagical recipes as he can afford to research. Many accomplished apothecaries have nonmagical concoctions for almost every contingency.
===A Note about Nonmagical Concoctions===
Nonmagical concoctions should never be of equal power and duration to a magical potion or spell. Although these mundane mixtures may mimic some spell effects (such as the glowing liquid of the example) they should possess no more than one-tenth of the power and duration of their magical counterpart.
==Cooking Up a Concoction ==
Once the apothecary has successfully researched a concoction, he can "cook up" a batch any time. Each batch takes 2d6 days to make and costs 1d10x10 gp per equivalent spell level of the concoction.
Once the apothecary finishes the batch, he must check against his Concocting proficiency. If the check succeeds, the apothecary has brewed as many doses of the concoction as he rolled on the check.
For example, an apothecary with three slots of the Concocting proficiency and an Intelligence of 15 attempts to make a batch of painkillers. His -2 check modifier and his +2 bonus for extra proficiency slots balance each other out, so he needs to roll a 15 or less to make a successful batch of painkiller. He rolls a 12 and has successfully brewed 12 doses of painkiller.
If the apothecary rolls a 20, he should consult the Eureka table for the results. Any new material created still needs to be identified by the apothecary. Furthermore, he must still research the exact recipe for the unintentional creation. An apothecary receives a +1 bonus to his proficiency check when researching his own accidental creation.