On Strong Waters and Potent Simples

Being the collected notes of Hesper Aldwine, apothecary. Compatible with 5.5e and 5e.

A working book, not a grimoire: what a plant is, where it grows, what heat does to it, what it does to a body, and what to do when it has done too much. The drink of the world from small beer to the things that come off a still, the herbs that steady a hand or take it, and the rules for the three things every table ends up improvising — how drunk, how badly wanted, and how much is too much.

Open the consoleStart reading

Contents

1. Chapter 1Of this bookWhat the apothecary Hesper Aldwine set down, who she wrote it for, how a receipt is read, and the three things she asks of anyone who works from it.
2. Chapter 2The craftGathering and keeping components, the six preparations every receipt in this book uses, what each one suits, and which spells genuinely shorten the work.
3. Chapter 3Weak watersThe drink that carries nothing — the sparkles, the infusions and the broths, what each is good for, and why she will not have water drunk on its own.
4. Chapter 4Strong watersThe drink of the world from small beer to the things that come off a still, with the rule for capacity, the four levels of intoxication, what it asks for afterward, and what the morning costs.
5. Chapter 5Weak simplesThe harmless things sold as the dangerous ones — what a creature that believes it took the real thing actually gets, why the count rises anyway, and how a practitioner tells them apart.
6. Chapter 6Potent simplesThe catalog: what a measure is, what an overdose does, where each simple is sold, and the six families — the waking, the quieting, the seeing, the steadying, the numbing and the souring.
7. Chapter 7Harm and treatmentThe morning, the comedown, the wanting and the overdose — how to tell them apart, the ladder of care from a cup of water upward, and exactly where magic stops.
8. Chapter 8The spellsThe eleven spells at the back of the book — the bench’s two named helpers, the treatments magic can honestly give, and the mimicry of the catalog — and what each of them refuses to do.
9. Appendix AIndex: need & priceThe whole book on two lists — what answers a given need, cheapest first, and what any given coin buys, from a 1 cp tankard to the 120 gp bottle.
10. Appendix BCards & handoutsThree reference cards for behind the screen — the drinker, the counts, the overdose — and five boards to hand across the table, from a poor tavern chalkboard to a club cellar book.
11. Appendix CRunning it in OpenFrayHow the three counts are kept in the OpenFray console: which library to turn on, which preset stands for which count, and what the console leaves to the Game Master.

Run it in the console

This book carries no creatures. What it puts in OpenFray is its spells, and the presets for the tracks it runs on — intoxication, craving, and the states a measure leaves behind. Open the console, then turn on On Strong Waters and Potent Simples in Settings (the gear at the top right). After that its spells show up in the compendium and in Cast spell, and its presets in Apply effect. See Settings and appearance in the handbook.