Concoction
Apothecaries, physicians, herbalists, and kitchen witches can all forge remarkable substances from household ingredients. Nature itself produces material with medical uses from the very ground. Even beasts carry within them compounds known to heal or harm.
Creatures who ingest, inject, inhale, or imbibe these concoctions may experience physiological reactions. A creature subjected to a harmful concoction must make a Vitality check. If the result meets or exceeds the associated DL, the creature evades the negative effects.
The following categories represent a few types of concoctions. Each of these delivers a different kind of effect in dosed targets.
Remedy
A remedy is a substance that treats common ailments like headaches, nausea, coughing, inflammation, or pain. Using ingredients from the natural world, you can craft remedies in many forms including salves, tablets, and herbal blends. Unlike medications, which help creatures fight off disease, remedies alleviate the symptoms.
Antidote
Antidotes are solutions that neutralize poisons, toxins, or venoms. An antidote administered to a poisoned creature counteracts the harmful substance or removes it from the body — the associated Continual Damage ceases. Poisons are treated with chemical countering agents, so one antidote may apply to several poisons, whereas antitoxins or antivenoms are typically derived from the original toxin itself, so they combat toxins from a specific organism or category of organisms. Some antidotes have negative side effects. Worse still, some poisons have no antidote.
To create an antidote, make a Craft check against a DL of 15 + 2 for every level of poison (so for example, the DL to craft an antidote for a Level Four poison is 23). Antidotes take one hour per level of poison to create. You can create a batch of any size in this time given a sufficient amount of ingredients.
Medication
In this game, medications eradicate curable disease. Many compounds, from vegetables to mold, are known to fight infections, acting as all-natural antivirals, antibiotics, or antifungals. If a disease can be cured through medication, completing a course will rid a creature of the infection, whether that's a single dose or several administered regularly (depending on the disease).
To create a medication, the character must make a Craft check against a DL of 15 + 2 for every level of disease (so for example, the DL to craft a medication for a Level Three disease is 21). Medications take two hours per level of disease to create. You can create a batch of any size in this time given a sufficient amount of required ingredients.
Stimulant
Knockout track bonus
Sedative
Knockout track damage
Paralytic
A paralytic agent attacks the nervous system and renders parts of the body inoperative. These compounds typically last minutes to hours, and can impose any of the following conditions: blinded, deafened, hampered, muted, prone, paralyzed, suffocating.
Psychoactive
A psychoactive substance affects the mind. The wilds are absolutely teeming with mind-altering fungus and plant life, but if foraging isn't for you, the right combination of chemicals can also do the trick. Psychoactive substances can impose any of the following conditions: confused, distracted, mindless, rattled, unfeeling.
