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# LENA'S GUIDE # to HERBALISM ##### Simple rules for simple adventurers ##### and lazy game masters _for the 5th edition of the world's greatest role-playing game_

``` ``` ### What is an Herbalism Kit? The **System Reference Document or SRD** v.5.1 indicates that a *Herbalism Kit* allows you to safely identify, harvest, transform and stock any plant material. Herbal effects obtained through the use of this kit are usually light but durable, such as the _Antitoxin_ example. _Potions of Healing_, and potions in general, should, however, remain tied to the _Alchemist's Supplies_. Official content went slightly more in-depth with the _Herbalism Kit_, but not quite enough. **Most people still agree that crafting is lacking some rules.** Homebrew authors took up the challenge to write them, but often ended with complex rules and dozen of tables to follow. I could not stop to ask myself: isn't it too much? With that in mind, this document was created to answer a specific need: **a simple yet flexible herbalism system**. Characters will harvest plant materials, craft herbal preparations, learn or create herbal recipes while remaining in the control of the game masters. --- ***- Please keep in mind that the game master can alter the rules, costs, and difficulty classes (DC) whenever it is needed.***

##### Credits **Lena's Guide to Herbalism ©2021** (version 1.1) --- Author: Hans '[Jyhnu](https://www.patreon.com/thereddragon)' Lone Sang --- _More rules & coloured version available on_ [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/thereddragon)

Illustrations: + _Snowdrop_ by Abraham Pether (cover, 1807) + _Pond in the Woods_ by Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña (page 1, 1862) + _Study of Water and Plants_ by Thomas Fearnley (page 2, 1837) + _Springtime_ by Pierre-Auguste Cot (page 3, 1873) + _Two-Color Headpiece_ by John Sliegh (page 3, 1866) + _The Alchemist_ by Cornelis Bega (page 5 1663) + _Flora's Beauteous Train_ by Philip Reinagle (page 6, 1807)

_Published using the OGL by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and the 5E SRD (v5.1) rule as the sole Open Game Content._

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\page ## Herbalism Fundamentals Characters can start an adventure with proficiency in the *Herbalism Kit* or can become proficient during play. However, anybody can attempt to use one. Buying a _Herbalism Kit_ only costs 5 gp after all. ### 1. Harvesting Plant Materials Harvesting plant materials takes time and effort. It cannot be attempted during neither a short nor a long rest. Plant materials must be harvested and stored in specific ways, so only characters in possession of a _Herbalism Kit_ (or equivalent) can harvest plant materials used in herbalism. For each hour that passes when trying to harvest plant materials this way, chose the plant material rarity you are looking for (_see the_ **Harvesting Plant Materials** _table below_) and make a _Survival_ (**Wisdom**) check. If you are proficient in the _Herbalism Kit_, add your proficiency bonus to this roll. This is relevant only if you are not already proficient in _Survival_. Other characters can use the _Help_ action and confer advantage on the roll if they are also proficient in _Survival_, _Nature_ or in the _Herbalism Kit_. The result of this roll is compared to the Difficulty Class (**DC**) set by the plant material rarity you chose (_see the_ **Harvesting Plant Materials** _table below_). Move the DC by 3 (a row) for each positive or negative effect that comes into play during the hour of harvesting (_e.g_. a scarce environment, stealth, bad weather, or even spells that can locate plants). Comparing the result of the roll with the final DC establishes degrees of failure or success: + **Failure by 5+.** You failed to harvest any relevant plant material and might fall into a dangerous encounter. + **Failure.** You can harvest a number of plant material of a lower rarity equal to your proficiency bonus (or none if this option is not available). + **Success.** You can harvest 1d4 plant material of the chosen rarity. + **Success by 5+.** If proficient in the _Herbalism Kit_, you can harvest an additional number of plant materials equal to your proficiency bonus. For each additional plant material, you can choose their rarity to be the same as the one you were looking for, or lower. #### Storage Costs Each plant material you can harvest will cost you money to cover the tool maintenance, container price, and most importantly, for game balance. If you cannot cover the required harvest costs for a plant material, it is lost and will have to be harvested again. A market price is also suggested if a character wishes to buy accessible plant materials from merchants. ##### Harvesting Plant Materials | Rarity | DC | Costs | Market Price |:----|:-:|:-:|:-:| | _Common_ | **13** | 1 gp | 2 gp | | _Uncommon_ | **16** | 10 gp | 20 gp | | _Rare_ | **19** | 20 gp | 40 gp | | _Very Rare_ | **22** | 100 gp | 200 gp | | _Legendary_ | **25** | 250 gp | Get it yourself | | _Unique_ | Quest only | N/A | Allow me to insist | ### 2. Crafting Herbal Preparations The harvested plant materials can be transformed into herbal preparations. They are 3 types of herbal preparations you can choose from: + **Salves.** These pastes are usually produced by grinding plant materials and mixing them with some poultice. Using a salve takes one action and have a range of touch. Their effects are instantaneous and affect the targeted creatures. + **Infusions.** These drinks are usually produced by drying, grinding and boiling plant material to make some sort of tea. Drinking an infusion takes one action and their effect can last from 1 to 8 hours. + **Inhalations.** These products require a heat source to produce fumes and enough time for people to breathe it slowly. You can use an inhalation only during a long rest. Their effects usually last for the current long rest or until the end of the next long rest. #### Spending Plant Material Producing safe doses of an herbal preparation requires training to become proficient with its herbal recipe. The rules to write, discover and learn new herbal recipes are covered in the next section. When you are proficient in an herbal recipe, you can make a number of doses equal to your **Wisdom** modifier (minimum of 1) per short rest, as long as you can spend the plant materials required for each dose. Add your proficiency bonus to this maximum if you are proficient in the _Herbalism Kit_. Choose the herbal preparation and the number of doses to produce. Then, spend the required plant materials and make a single _Herbalism Kit_ (**Wisdom**) check against the same DC as the harvest DC of the rarest plant material spent. Other characters can use the _Help_ action and confer advantage on the roll if they are also proficient in _Nature_ or in the _Herbalism Kit_. On a success, you produce the expected number of doses. Herbal preparations usually do not work on a construct or undead, but game masters have the last words to decide their effects, durations and exceptions. ---

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_Homebrew_ - HARVESTING & CRAFTING

\page ### 3. Creating Herbal Recipes In order to control safely what characters can and cannot do with a _Herbalism Kit_, the number of herbal recipes known by a character should increase slowly during play and remain under the scrutiny of the game master to preserve the game balance. Acquiring some of the rarest plant materials could also be the starting point of a new quest or used as a reward. #### Naming Plant Materials Creating interesting names for your plant material is key to convey a sense of fantasy and mystery. However, doing this will drastically increase the complexity of your herbal recipes. _This step is therefore optional._ The goal of the **Plant Material Inspiration** table (_see opposite_) section is to help you improvise plant materials on the fly if you choose to use complex names, such as: + _Common_ **Wild Moss** + _Uncommon_ **Crimson Flower** + _Rare_ **Midnight Seed** + _Very Rare_ **Sangria Sap** + _Legendary_ **Prismatic Fruit** --- _**- Even if you improvised on the spot, the plant material name should give enough hints on how it could look, where it could grow and which herbal effect it could produce!**_ #### Choosing an Herbal Effect Herbal effects are intended to differ from potion effects, which should remain above in terms of power. However, they should still be desirable for your player to invest time and money in their _Herbalism Kit_. The **Herbal Effect Table** (_see next page_) describes game mechanics that could be affected by an herbal preparation depending on their types and a suggestion for the rarity of the plant materials used. Game masters are free to invent additional effects. However, one herbal preparation should only produce one herbal effect to keep its power in check. #### Writing an Herbal Recipe When introducing a new herbal recipe, the game master must write a quick reference of the plant materials to use, their rarity and harvest DC, and their total harvest cost. Then, the game master chooses the type of herbal preparation and its herbal effect with the help of the **Herbal Effect** table. --- _**- Due to popular demand, a list of basic herbal recipes is provided at the end of this document. Feel free to write recipes in your notes with your own syntax. Players should track recipes in their own style too!**_ ``` ```

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_Homebrew_ - CREATING HERBAL RECIPES

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##### Herbal Effect Table Pick a **Mechanic** as a base, then the **Herbal Preparation** you wish to create. _Rarities_ for the plant material are suggested. | Mechanic | Salves (1 action) | Infusions (1 hour up to 8 hours) | Inhalations (Long Rest) |:--:|:-|:-|:-| | **Food & Drinks** | _Common_. Makes a creature instantly puke | _Common_. ADV on Constitution saves against food or drinks | _Rare_. Reduces the need for food or water | **Poison/Disease** | _Common_. Immediately attempt to resist | _Rare_. Adds the crafter's PB on saves to resist | _Uncommon_. Cured or immune for a short time | | **Exhaustion** | _Uncommon_. Ignore the effects of exhaustion for 1 minute | _Uncommon_. ADV on exhaustion saves from harsh environments | _Uncommon_. Removes 1 level of exhaustion | **Temp HP** | _Uncommon_. Gain Temp HP equal to the crafter's PB | _Rare_. ADV on Temp HP rolls | _Very Rare_. Conversion of Temp HP to Max HP | **Hit Dice **| _Common_. Spend 1 Hit Die to immediately heal| _Rare_. ADV on Hit Dice rolls | _Uncommon_. 3/4 Hit Dice recovery | **Max HP** | _Uncommon_. Increases max HP equal to crafter's PB | _Rare_. Adds the crafter's PB to every hit dice rolls | _Very Rare_. Long rest time divided by 2 | | **Skills** | _Uncommon_. Adds the crafter's PB to the next check | _Rare_. Adds the crafter's PB to checks for a time | _Rare_. Negates DIS on a skill check for a time | | **Damage Rolls** | _Legendary_. Next attack is a critical hit | _Rare_. Reroll 1 on damage rolls | _Rare_. STR modifier cannot be below +1 | **Bait or Repellant** | _Uncommon_. You attempt to bait a type of creature nearby | _Legendary_. A type of creatures is poisoned when dealing with you | _Rare_. You resist a shapechanger curse for an additional day | **Sleep** | _Uncommon_. Awakens creatures close to you | _Rare_. Passive perception +5 while sleeping | _Uncommon_. Forces a creature to sleep or unable to dream | **Soaps** | _Rare_. An odor so strong, the first melee attack of any creature against you has DIS | _Rare_. A perfume masking your true odor | _Very Rare_. After a good night of sleep, awakens with an Inspiration die | **Movement** | _Uncommon_. Allows creatures closely around you to use their reaction to stand up | _Rare_. Allows to double a creature's maximum jump distance | _Rare_. Confers a +5 ft. movement speed bonus for the next day | **Travel** | _Uncommon_. Speeds up a mount for 1 hour | _Uncommon_. ADV on Forced Marches saves | _Common_. Ignore motion sickness (wagon, boats, etc.) for the next day | **Medicine** | _Uncommon_. ADV against sneezing effects | _Rare_. Make a drug which can make you poisoned | _Uncommon_. Morning-after pill | **Death Saves** | _Rare_. The creature is healed back to 1 HP | _Very Rare_. ADV on Death Saves | _Legendary_. Whenever rolling death save, your critical range is 18+ | **Concentration** | _Uncommon_. ADV on your next concentration check | _Rare_. For the next 1 hour, you can succeed on concentration check once | _Legendary_. You can concentrate on a spell while sleeping | **Class Features** | _Very Rare_. You can Rage as a Barbarian but will suffer 1 level of exhaustion | _Rare_. You gain one use of Uncanny Dodge as per the Rogue class feature | _Legendary_. You get one use of a class feature, but gain one level of exhaustion | **Racial Traits** | _Uncommon_. You can use the Savage Attacks half-orc feature for 10 min | _Rare_. You gain or increase darkvision (30 ft.) but suffer from Sunlight Sensitivity (Elf, Drow Monster) | _Very Rare_. You benefit from the Transe as per the Elf Racial Traits | **Minor Spell Effects** | _Uncommon_. 1 use of Mending | _Rare_. You use Bless on yourself for 10 min | _Very Rare_. You can use Enhanced Ability once | **Metagaming** | _Unique_. Allows you to learn the AC and feature names of one creature you can see | _Unique_. Increases chances to get visions or dreams | _Unique_. Allow to ask the GM for a precision relative to a past event **Legend:** GM: Game Master - PB: Proficiency Bonus - ADV: Advantage - DIS: Disadvantage

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_Homebrew_ - HERBAL EFFECT TABLE

\page ### 4. Acquiring Herbal Recipes An herbal recipe provides the amount of plant material required to craft one dose of an herbal preparation that will affect one creature with its herbal effect. However, knowing the number and rarity of plant materials to use is not enough. Some training is still required to make doses that are safe to use and that will produce the intended herbal effect. #### Base Knowledge When you acquire a _Herbalism Kit_, you can learn a number of herbal recipes equal to your **Intelligence** modifier (minimum of 1) for which you know how to produce doses safely without having to train yourself. If you are proficient in the _Herbalism Kit_, you can memorize an additional number of herbal recipes equal to your proficiency bonus. The game master provides a short list of basic recipes you can choose from (without spoiling the plant materials used!) and that are relevant to your adventure. A short list is provided in the **Examples of Recipes** section. #### Learning New Herbal Recipes Creating an herbal recipe from scratch takes more time and money than trying to replicate them from a specialized book, or with the help of a teacher. + **Starting From Scratch.** When you finish a long rest, you can choose to use your *Herbalism Kit* and attempt to create a new recipe using plant material in your possession. Choose wisely the plant material to use and one type of herbal preparation to produce. Make a *Herbalism Kit* (**Wisdom**) check with disadvantage. The DC is identical to the harvesting DC of the rarest plant material used in this attempt. On a success, you produce a dose of a new herbal preparation and learn to use this herbal recipe to produce doses later. The game master chooses if its herbal effect is known by the characters and if they can name this new herbal preparation. On a failure, the plant material invested is lost without discovering anything useful. + **Partial Knowledge.** If you possess only fragments of an herbal recipe, such as rumors or a piece of written parchment, you make the *Herbalism Kit* (**Wisdom**) check without disadvantage. + **Specialized Books.** Specialized books are rare and costly. The game master chooses how many recipes are provided by such book. Buying such book should cost twice the total harvesting costs of every plant material used in the book. When you finish a long rest, you can try to learn one of the book's herbal recipes. Make a *Herbalism Kit* (**Intelligence**) check. The DC is identical to the harvesting DC of the rarest plant material used in the recipe. On a success, you learn the new herbal recipe without having to spend any plant materials. On a failure, you will have to try at another time. + **Learning from a teacher**. Numerous characters could teach you how to properly use a _Herbalism Kit_ and new herbal recipes. While the method of acquiring proficiency in the kit and the costs of a course is up to the game master, consider giving advantage to _Herbalism Kit_ checks when the character is taught by a teacher or a creature proficient in the _Herbalism Kit_.

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##### Basic Herbal Recipes The capital letters written in each recipe represent the rarity and the amount of plant materials used to craft one dose of the herbal preparation. **Example**: _"U CC" means that the recipe requires one uncommon and two common plant materials._ | Name | DC | Plant Mat. | Costs | Herbal Effect |:-|:-:|:-:|:-|:-| | **Liquid Dwarven Might** | **13** | CC | 2 gp | *Infusion.* ADV vs CON Saves vs alcohol for 1h | **Lemon Verbena Fumes** | **13** | CCC | 3 gp | *Inhalation.* Repels mosquitos for this long rest | **Pepper Balm** | **13** | CCC | 3 gp | *Salve.* The affected creature makes a DC 13 CON Save or instantly sneezes | **Honey Wax** | **13** | CCC | 3 gp | *Salve.* Mainly used for hair removal or to write things down like parchment | **Chamomile Infusion** | **13** | CCC | 3 gp | *Infusion.* Calms nervous humanoïds or giants for 1h | **Hunter's Veil** | **13** | CCCC | 4 gp | *Salve.* Decreases any DC related to hunting by 2 | **Traveler's Infusion** | **13** | CCCC | 4 gp | *Infusion.* Ignores the effects of motion sickness for 8h | **Refreshing Tea** | **13** | CCCC | 4 gp | *Infusion.* You ignore the next CON Save vs extreme heat within 4h | **Natural Glue** | **13** | CCCC | 4 gp | *Salve.* Allows on use of the Mending cantrip | **Blood-Moss Tincture** | **13** | CCCCC | 5 gp | *Salve.* Allows an affected creature to attempt to save vs poison once | **Lucky Charm** | **13** | CCCCC | 5 gp | *Inhalation.* You can use Guidance once in the next 24h | **Climbing Chalk** | **13** | CCCCC | 5 gp | *Salve.* ADV on any STR checks made to climb for 1h | **Exotic Spices** | **13** | CCCCC | 5 gp | *Salve.* ADV on any checks made to please when serving food |-|-|-|-|-| | **Unholy Mixture** | **16** | U | 10 gp | *Salve.* The affected creature makes a DC 15 CON Save or instantly pukes | **Healing Balm** | **16** | U C | 11 gp | *Salve.* Allows the immediate use of 1 Hit Die | **Blood-Rose Extract** | **16** | U CC | 12 gp | *Infusion.* Morning-after pill effect | **Fortifying Tea** | **16** | U CCC | 13 gp | *Infusion.* ADV vs Exhaustion Saves vs physical activities for 8h | **Floral Parfume** | **16** | U CCC | 13 gp | *Salve.* Adds the crafter's PB to Persuasion/Performance checks for 1h | **Balm of Bravery** | **16** | U CCC | 13 gp | *Salve.* Allows to attempt a save vs Frightened | **Phantom Bane** | **16** | U CCC | 13 gp | *Salve.* Allows one use of Spare the Dying | **Owl's Essence** | **16** | U CCCCC | 15 gp | *Infusion.* Adds the crafter's PB to Perception checks for 8h | **War Tonic** | **16** | UU | 20 gp | *Infusion.* Ignores the effects of exhaustion for 1 hour | **Rosemary Liquor** | **16** | UU | 20 gp | *Infusion.* Divides the time required for reading and writing by 2 | **Granma's Remedy** | **16** | UU | 20 gp | *Inhalation.* Cures a minor disease | **Valerian Incense** | **16** | UU C | 21 gp | *Inhalation.* Removes 1 point of exhaustion after this long rest | **Revigorating Fumes** | **16** | UU C | 21 gp | *Inhalation.* Your walking speed increases by 5 ft. for the next 24h | **Herbal Fortifier** | **16** | UU CC | 22 gp | *Infusion.* Any poison or disease last for half their duration for 8h | **Witch Incense** | **16** | UU C | 21 gp | *Inhalation.* The first concentration check within 24 hours will succeed | **Troll's Decoction** | **16** | UUU | 30 gp | *Infusion.* For 1h, each time you take damage, you then gain 2 Temp HP | **Oracle's Incense** | **16** | UUU | 30 gp | *Inhalation.* Vastly increases chances of dreaming or visions for this long rest **Legend:** PB: Proficiency Bonus - ADV: Advantage - DIS: Disadvantage

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_Homebrew_ - OPEN GAME LICENCE

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