Ingredients and Materials
Alchemy, crafting and surgery make use of a range of ingredients and materials available in the Renewal campaign.
There are two main types of ingredients and materials in the game:
- Raw ingredients and materials, which can be gathered in the wild in play; and
- Finished ingredients and materials, which may be created in game through various skills, or produced as a byproduct of other processes.
All ingredients can also be received via the Resources skill, bought from traders, received as a reward in plot or otherwise acquired in play.
| Rarity
A resource’s rarity is a measure of how common it is. Standard creation materials come in four degrees of rarity:
Rarity reflects how easy it is to find in the game, and should roughly indicate value. |
Alchemical Traits
Alchemy ingredients have three mystical alchemical traits: one primary, one secondary and one tertiary.
Traits including the spheres of magic, mystical aspects and other properties. These traits will suggest how best to use the ingredient in brewing and research.
- Examples
- A herb might have the traits “corporeal/healing,” “anti-hope” and “sorrow.”
The skill Alchemical Analysis allows the character to identify an ingredient’s primary alchemical trait.
Raw Ingredients and Materials
Raw ingredients and materials can be gathered in play using the Foraging and Gathering skills. Alchemists and crafters can refine these materials in various ways, creating finished ingredients and materials.
Lists of standard raw ingredients and materials follow. Others exist, but may be harder to source, or require specific in character actions such as harvesting the bodies of fallen foes.
By default, all raw ingredients and materials expire two years after being harvested, unless refined or used.
Raw Ingredients
| Material | Rarity | Material | Rarity | Material | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abscess Root | C | Digitalis | C | Muira puama | C |
| Acacia | C | Fenugreek | C | Nux vomica | C |
| Acorn | C | Fireweed | C | Oidium sano | C |
| Agaric | C | Gelsemium | C | Raknid blood | C |
| Agrimony | C | Gentian | C | Rosemary | C |
| Amaranth | C | Grave root | C | Scarlet radish | C |
| Ammoniacum | C | Hawthorn | C | Scopolia | C |
| Belladonna | C | Hellebore | C | Skullcap | C |
| Benne | C | Hemlock | C | Spider Venom | C |
| Beth root | C | Hyssop | C | Spikenard | C |
| Black horehound | C | Jambul seeds | C | Stag horn | C |
| Black mushroom | C | Jewel weed | C | Sweet geranium | C |
| Box leaves | C | Lotus leaves | C | Unicorn horn | C |
| Bugle | C | Lucerne | C | Viper venom | C |
| Cayenne | C | Lycopodium | C | White bryony | C |
| Chokeweed | C | Majoram | C | White horehound | C |
| Colewort | C | Master wort | C | Yellow fungus | C |
| Comfrey | C | Mistletoe | C | ||
| Cumin seeds | C | Moon flower seeds | C |
Raw Materials
| Common Materials | Rarity | Gems | Rarity | Ores | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chalk | VC | Agate | U | Cold iron | R |
| Clay | VC | Amber | U | Copper ore | C |
| Fleece | VC | Amethyst | U | Gold ore | U |
| Hide | VC | Beryl | U | Lead ore | C |
| Ore | VC | Bloodstone | U | Platinum ore | U |
| Rock | VC | Carnelian | U | Silver ore | U |
| Sand | VC | Garnet | U | Tin ore | C |
| Timber | VC | Gypsum | U | ||
| Wax | VC | Hematite | U | ||
| Jade | U | ||||
| Jet | U | ||||
| Moonstone | U | ||||
| Opal | U | ||||
| Peridot | U | ||||
| Topaz | U |
Preservation
Items harvested from dead bodies spoil one hour after removed, and must be preserved before being issued an item card as a resource.
Preservation must take place in an alchemist’s laboratory, at a cost of 1 work unit per item (body part, hide, blood etc.). It consumes one passive ingredient per item, typically oil, fluid, cream or powder. The alchemist performing the preservation hands the harvesting card and passive ingredient over to the referee logging the work, who issues an item card for the preserved item in turn.
If it is important (e.g. for plot or roleplay purposes), the form of the preserved item may reflect the passive ingredient used: an item preserved with cream may be tanned or leathery, for instance, while an item preserved with powder may be dry and somewhat crystallised.
Finished Ingredients and Materials
The following finished ingredients and materials can be created from various raw materials. The required skills, materials and cost in work units vary, and are listed below.
By default, all finished ingredients and materials expire three years after being refined, unless used.
Finished Ingredients
- Essences: Any alchemist can, at a cost of 1 work unit, refine three units of a given herb and one oil, steeping and pressing the herbs to produce one unit of a concentrated oil known as an essence. Essences have a rarity one step higher than the rarity of the raw herb.
- Humours: Students of the natural world know that blood is not one fluid but an admixture of three humours, the near-mystical substances that carry the body’s magic. Alchemists have learned to separate blood into its parts, to better study or use them in their work: thick, yellow-white chymos; thin, blackish-green cruor and rich purple ichor.
There are two approaches to separating blood. Wasteful alchemists with plenty of blood to hand can draw one unit of one humour from one unit of blood, discarding the rest, at a cost of 1 work unit. More careful alchemists can separate one unit of blood into one unit each of the three humours at a cost of 4 work units total.
- Humours: Students of the natural world know that blood is not one fluid but an admixture of three humours, the near-mystical substances that carry the body’s magic. Alchemists have learned to separate blood into its parts, to better study or use them in their work: thick, yellow-white chymos; thin, blackish-green cruor and rich purple ichor.
- Example
- Sergey Kostova steeps three units of lycopodium (common) in one oil and presses them, spending 1 work unit and yielding 1 unit of essence of lycopodium (uncommon).
Finished Materials
| Material | Rarity | Skill | Costs | Work Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bone (O) | C | Artisan | 1 body part, 1 sand | 1 |
| Bone (H) | U | Artisan | 3 body part, 1 sand | 3 |
| Cloth (O) | C | Artisan | 1 fleece, 1 fluid | 1 |
| Cloth (H) | U | Artisan | 3 fleece, 1 fluid | 3 |
| Glass (O) | C | Artisan or Jeweller | 1 sand, 1 charcoal | 1 |
| Glass (H) | U | Artisan or Jeweller | 3 sand, 1 charcoal | 3 |
| Leather (O) | C | Artisan or Blacksmith | 1 hide, 1 cream | 1 |
| Leather (H) | U | Artisan or Blacksmith | 3 hide, 1 cream | 3 |
| Metal (O) | C | Blacksmith | 1 ore, 1 charcoal | 1 |
| Metal (H) | U | Blacksmith | 3 ore, 1 charcoal | 3 |
| Paper (O) | C | Artisan | 1 timber, 1 fluid | 1 |
| Paper (H) | U | Artisan | 3 timber, 1 fluid | 3 |
| Jewellery metal (O) (Copper) | U | Blacksmith or Jeweller | 1 copper ore, 1 charcoal | 3 |
| Jewellery metal (H) (Gold) | R | Blacksmith or Jeweller | 1 gold ore, 1 charcoal | 9 |
| Jewellery metal (O) (Lead) | U | Blacksmith or Jeweller | 1 lead ore, 1 charcoal | 3 |
| Jewellery Metal (H) (Platinum) | R | Blacksmith or Jeweller | 1 platinum ore, 1 charcoal | 9 |
| Jewellery metal (O) (Tin) | U | Blacksmith or Jeweller | 1 tin ore, 1 charcoal | 3 |
| Jewellery metal (H) (Silver) | R | Blacksmith or Jeweller | 1 silver ore, 1 charcoal | 9 |
| Stone (O) | C | Artisan | 1 rock, 1 sand | 1 |
| Stone (H) | U | Artisan | 3 rock, 1 sand | 3 |
| Wood (O) | C | Artisan or Blacksmith | 1 timber, 1 fluid | 1 |
| Wood (H) | U | Artisan or Blacksmith | 3 timber, 1 fluid | 3 |
Gemstones
Jewellers can refine gems in two ways. When gathered in the wild, gems start out cloudy, with a mix of colours, and uncut, with no facets. The Gemcutter skill allows the Jeweller to cut stones, which makes them useful for certain magical tasks; and the Gem Cleansing skill allows them to cleanse them, which simplifies and aligns the magics within them.
By default, cut or cleansed gems expire three years after being cut or cleansed.
Passive Ingredients and Materials
Already largely stripped of magic, passive ingredients and materials have use to both alchemists and crafters – tanners use cream to make leather, papermakers use fluid to bleach vellum, alchemists use oil as a base for their potions.
Costs and materials to produce passive materials are listed below. Many passive materials are also produced as a byproduct of other processes: cutting and polishing gems yields powdered gemstone, burning charcoal produces ash, working metal yields powdered metal etc. Byproducts are listed under the respective designs.
By default, all passive materials expire two years after being produced, unless used.
Passive Ingredients
| Material | Rarity | Skill | Costs | Work Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cream (3 units) | VC | Alchemist | 1 oil | 1 |
| Fluid (3 units) | VC | Alchemist | 1 oil | 1 |
| Ink (3 units) | VC | Alchemist or Artisan | 1 charcoal | 1 |
| Oil (3 units) | VC | Alchemist | 1 herb | 1 |
| Powder (3 units) | VC | Alchemist | 1 herb | 1 |
| Powdered dye (3 units) | VC | Alchemist or Artisan | 1 herb | 1 |
Note: Any herb can be used; this has no mechanical effect unless specified otherwise.
Passive Materials
| Material | Rarity | Skill | Costs | Work Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ash (3 units) | VC | Artisan or Blacksmith | 1 timber | 1 |
| Charcoal (3 units) | VC | Artisan or Blacksmith | 1 timber | 1 |
| Ink (3 units) | VC | Alchemist or Artisan | 1 charcoal | 1 |
| Powdered bone (3 units) | VC | Artisan | 1 bone | 1 |
| Powdered dye (3 units) | VC | Alchemist or Artisan | 1 herb | 1 |
| Powdered gemstone (3 units) | C | Jeweller | 1 gem | 1 |
| Powdered metal (3 units) | VC | Blacksmith | 1 metal | 1 |
Note: Any herb can be used; this has no mechanical effect unless specified otherwise.