Co-Geeking

In one of the Dungeons & Dragons games I DM for, there is a player who is very into the idea of gathering herbs and brewing magic potions. The base game as written doesn’t have much in the way of rules for alchemy, so we’ve just been winging it for the better part of a year. That worked, but it wasn’t as satisfying as either of us would like, so I finally sat down and brewed up a set of rules for herb-gathering and alchemy. Here’s what we’re playing with now. Feel free to use this or adapt it, if it seems like it might be a fun addition to your own games.

Alchemy

An alchemical system for Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition.

Harvesting herbs

To collect herbs, you must be in an environment where wild plants grow. The DM will determine whether there is anything available for you to gather. Specific environments may give you advantage or disadvantage to your roll, at the DM’s discretion. Gathering herbs takes an hour.

Roll a Nature check to see whether you successfully collect herbs and how much. If you have an Herbalism kit and the proficiency to use it, you may add your proficiency bonus to the roll

Once you have harvested an area, whether you successfully gathered herbs there or not, the plants need a month to regrow before you can harvest the same area again (unless they are affected by magic that causes plant growth).

Nature check	Herbs collected
Less than 11	None
11 – 15	1 batch
16 – 20	2 batches
21 – 25	3 batches
26 or more	4 batches

For each batch of herbs you collect, roll 1d6 to determine what type of herbs you find. (You can also choose to target a specific kind of herbs when you harvest. If you do, you make your harvesting roll at disadvantage, but all herbs you collect are of the kind you want.) Keep track of how many batches of herbs you have of each type.

1d6 roll	Herb type
1	bark
2	berries
3	fungi
4	leaves
5	roots
6	seeds

Making potions

To make potions, you must have enough herbs of the right types (1 batch of each type listed on the table below, unless the chart calls for more). Some potions require special ingredients, to be determined by the DM. Each brewing attempt consumes the given amount of herbs and takes one hour.

Roll an Arcana check to attempt to make each potion. If you have proficiency with Alchemist’s supplies, you may add your proficiency bonus to the roll. If you do not have alchemical equipment, you have disadvantage on the check. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the herbs are consumed. The DC for the check depends on the rarity of the potion you are trying to make:

Potion rarity	Arcana DC
Common	10
Uncommon	15
Rare	20
Very rare	25
Legendary	30

• If you succeed on your Arcana check by 4 or less, you make 1 potion of the chosen type.
• If you succeed on your Arcana check by 5 to 9, you make 1d4 potions of the chosen type.
• If you succeed on your Arcana check by 10 or more, you make 1d6 potions of the chosen type.

(A DM might also allow a Medicine check in place of an Arcana check, or let proficiency with a Poisoner’s kit apply to the roll, depending on what kind of potions the character is brewing.)

Potion	Rarity	Herbs required
Antitoxin	Common	Bark, berries, seeds
Oil of Etherealness	Rare	Bark, leaves x3, roots
Oil of Sharpness	Very rare	Fungi x4, leaves x2, roots x2
Oil of Slipperiness	Uncommon	Bark, leaves, roots, seeds
Philter of Love	Uncommon	Berries, fungi, leaves, roots
Potion of Animal Friendship	Uncommon	Berries, leaves, roots, seeds
Potion of Clairvoyance	Rare	Fungi, leaves x2, roots x2
Potion of Climbing	Common	Bark, leaves, roots
Potion of Diminution	Rare	Fungi, leaves x3, roots
Potion of Flying	Very rare	Bark x2, leaves x4, roots x2
Potion of Gaseous Form	Rare	Bark, leaves 2x, roots, seeds
Potion of Giant Strength (Hill)	Uncommon	Bark, leaves 2x, roots
Potion of Giant Strength (Stone/Frost)	Rare	Bark 2x, leaves 2x, roots
Potion of Giant Strength (Fire)	Rare	Bark 2x, leaves 2x, roots
Potion of Giant Strength (Cloud)	Very rare	Bark 3x, leaves 3x, roots
Potion of Giant Strength (Storm)	Legendary	Bark 4x, leaves 4x, roots, special
Potion of Growth	Uncommon	Bark, leaves 2x, seeds
Potion of Healing	Common	Berries, leaves, seeds
Potion of Greater Healing	Uncommon	Berries 2x, leaves, seeds
Potion of Superior Healing	Rare	Berries 2x, leaves, seeds 2x
Potion of Supreme Healing	Very rare	Berries 3x, leaves 2x, seeds 2x
Potion of Heroism	Rare	Bark, berries, leaves, roots, seeds
Potion of Invisibility	Very rare	Leaves 3x, roots 2x, seeds
Potion of Invulnerability	Rare	Bark 2x, leaves, roots, seeds
Potion of Mind Reading	Rare	Fungi, leaves, roots 2x, seeds
Potion of Poison	Uncommon	Fungi 2x, roots, seeds
Potion of Resistance	Uncommon	Bark, berries, roots, seeds
Potion of Speed	Very rare	Fungi 2x, leaves 2x, roots 2x
Potion of Water Breathing	Uncommon	Bark, berries, leaves, roots
Restorative Ointment	Uncommon	Bark, berries, seeds 2x
Sovereign Glue	Legendary	Bark 2x, fungi, leaves 2x, roots 4x, special
Universal Solvent	Legendary	Berries, fungi 3x, leaves, seeds 2x, roots 2x, special

The table above includes only items listed in the Systems Reference Document released by Wizards of the Coast under Creative Commons. If you want to expand this table to include other potions and items, you can apply the following principles:

Determine how many ingredients the potion requires. The number of ingredients depends on the rarity of the potion.

Rarity	Ingredients
Common	3
Uncommon	4
Rare	5
Very rare	6 – 7
Legendary	9 plus a special ingredient

Determine which ingredients are needed. The table below gives some general suggestions, but feel free to choose whichever ones feel right for the potion in question.

Ingredient	Function
bark	protection, endurance
berries	healing, strength
fungi	harm, power
leaves	transformation, deception
roots	creation, discovery
seeds	restoration, growth

Images: Algorithmically generated images made with Night Cafe: alchemist’s workshop, forest, potion bottle

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