Wood Alcohol (remedy)

Also known as wood spirit, an anti-freeze and solvent that will attack molds & jellies as an acid. Wood alcohol has a high toxicity - an amount as little as a third of a fluid ounce (10 ml), if ingested, can cause permanent damage to the optic nerve, blinding the drinker. A fluid ounce is enough to be lethal and 3.4 fl. oz. is enough to have a 50% chance of killing. It must be imbibed, however; median amounts of wood alcohol will not cause damage to exposed flesh (though pouring it in an open wound will enable its toxicity).

Wood alcohol has a very wide variety of practical uses in many different industries. It serves to clean stone and metal, as a mix with perfume, as a preservative for dead flesh (for spell components) and as an additive that keeps water from freezing (with toxicity reduced by permitting a very low saturation). Wood alcohol is usually sold in gill bottles (6.3 fl. oz.).

When hurled as a grenade weapon at a jelly or mold, wood alcohol will cause 1-8 damage on a hit (if a gill of liquid is employed). It may be doused outward from an open bottle or the bottle smashed near the creature (though if the creature is hit this will probably result in the bottle striking a 'soft surface' and not breaking).

See Equipment Notes

Faerie Oil (remedy)

Made of camphor oil, tea, essence of attar of roses and powdered mithril (puddled, not wrought), which is then carefully cooked and distilled in a manner similar to drawing aromatic oils from incense.

The substance acts as a powerful addictive with regards to faerie creatures, who can detect the odor of faerie oil up to a distance of two hundred yards. The positive effect of the odor is so strong for faeries that they will be helpless to stop themselves from investigating the source (though they will be careful and take precautions). In most cases, faeries will be prepared to barter much for a single ounce of faerie oil - for a sense of how much, treat the substance as being worth ten times as much to a faerie as it costs a human or demi-human to make it.

Moreover, faerie oil will have a powerful hallucinogenic effect on faeries, making them extremely happy and non-aggressive. The oil will enhance their abilities with regards to charm, sleep, ESP and detection abilities by 50% with regards to range, chance of success, duration and area of effect, while applying a -4 modifier to enemy saving throws.

Apart from its relationship to faeries, the oil is also a key ingredient in golem manufacture and in the effectiveness of magical or mechanical tools. The mechanical hand that can be purchased as a substitute for a lost hand will require 1 ounce of faerie oil per month to operate. If applied to a crossbow, faerie oil will increase the chance of the first shot fired by +3 to hit.

See Equipment Notes

Citronella Oil (remedy)

Citronella oil is an effective insect repellent that will help preserve characters who are fighting these dangerous creatures. In game, one fluid ounce of citronella will last a full day in keeping away ordinary insects - however, giant insects are made of sterner stuff.

When there is a chance of being attacked by a giant insect (including spiders), any character that has had 1 fluid ounce of citronella oil applied to their body has a 2 in 6 chance of the creature hesitating, recoiling or otherwise behaving in a non-aggressive fashion due to having a whiff of the stuff. However, if the chance fails, the creature will attack characters normally.

Citronella oil has no effect on the spells summon insects, insect plague, creeping doom or other similar spells, as the creatures affected by these spells do not behave normally but are compelled to act by magic.

See Equipment Notes

Camphor Oil (remedy)

A waxy, flammable, white or transparent solid with a strong aroma. Typically stored in a clay glue pot, 3 in. high with a 4 in. diameter, sealed with a wooden lid and mastic of some form. It can be set aflame in its pot, but the flame will last but an hour (though it will illuminate an area equal to a torch).

Insect Repellent

Camphor oil will help drive off ordinary insects (½ an ounce will last 24 hours), it has no special effects against large insects. However, if rolled into small balls, it can be used to protect cloth articles from mold or insects for up to six months. About 1 ounce is needed per 5 lbs. to be protected.

Embalming Fluid

Camphor oil will also reduce the effects of degradation of a corpse following death. When 8 oz. of camphor oil is used, the length of time that a body can be dead before raise dead is cast will be extended from 1-4 sunsets. Furthermore, the time that a body can be dead before death's door is cast will be extended from 2-8 hours.

See Equipment Notes

Blue Mass (remedy)

A curious recipe, distinctly toxic, composed of mercury, honey, cornstarch and licorice, which has the potential to shock the consciousness of a creature that has fallen prey to madness, possession or charm. To be effective, 3 oz. of the recipe must be consumed.

If consumed by a creature that is not suffering from either of the maladies, the blue mass will react as an ailment-degree poison, causing 1 hit die damage per level (+1). However, if consumed at the proper time, the blue mass will cause no damage at all and will - if a save against magic succeeds - produce a complete cure.

Attempting to apply the blue mass treatment more than one time a month, however, will double the amount of potential damage on each subsequent attempt (a saving throw would cause 2 damage per level the second time from a failed save, 4 damage per level the third time and so on).

As most who have succumbed to madness, possession or charm will be resistant against taking a cure (as they are being controlled by other than their willing consciousness), the blue mass must first be waved under the olfactory organs of the creature to create a desire for its consumption. In such cases, blue mass is highly compulsive: if the creature can be encouraged to smell the blue mass, the creature will wantto consume it.

See Equipment Notes

Betel Nut (remedy)

When carefully powdered by an apothecary, powdered betel nut has the potential to kill natural parasites that have entered a character's body, including spores, rot grub, throat leeches and so on. The powder is typically sold as two doses, both of which must be taken in order to enable the body to rid itself of the parasite. A dose can be created in a period of a round once the betal nut powder and the liquid in which it will be drunk are in hand (it would then be consumed the following round).

The first dose renders the creature harmless for the space of a day; the second dose kills the creature.

The betal nut powder (approximately 2.25 oz. per dose) is poured into a liquid, stirred and then quickly consumed before the powder has time to settle. The effects of the first dose are very painful; the afflicted creature will then go into a state of shock that will render them incapable of any action for at least an hour. Thereafter, the creature will be extremely weak (strength considered equal to 3) for approximately 12 hours. This weakness can be improved by other means (spells or herbs), but if this is done the afflicted creature must make a saving throw against magic or fall back into a severe shock that will last 1-4 hours and cause 4-40 damage to the creature.

The second dose is much less damaging. However, the afflicted creature's strength will be reduced by 6 points to a minimum of 3, which can be safely improved with spells or herbs. The afflicted creature will also suffer from diarrhea and vomiting that will require a day of complete rest. After this period, however, the afflicted creature will recover completely.

See Equipment Notes