The Apothecary ยท Chapter 2
Reading an Entry
Every substance in this book is printed the same way.
Wolfsbane
Aconite, monkshood, leopard's bane
3 10 minutes 10 minutes 6
Ingested, Injury 80 Restricted Old World Lethal, Subtle 1
Effect 3 Wounds. The mouth and hands go numb at the first failed check
The Four Numbers
| Number | What it is |
|---|---|
| Potency | The difficulty of the Fortitude check to resist: 1 Easy, 2 Average, 3 Hard, 4 Severe, 5 Extreme |
| Onset | The time between exposure and the first resist check. Nothing happens during it |
| Interval | How often the victim makes a resist check once the poison has started |
| Course | How many resist checks the poison lasts for, unless it is ended sooner |
Wolfsbane above reads: ten minutes after it is swallowed, and every ten minutes after that, the victim makes a Hard Fortitude check, up to six times.
A Course of In cloud means the checks continue for as long as the victim stays in the gas.
Vector
How the substance gets into a body.
| Vector | Exposure |
|---|---|
| Injury | Carried into a wound by a coated weapon, a dart, a fang, or a needle. The attack must inflict at least 1 Wound after Resistance |
| Contact | Touching bare skin. Contact (eyes) works only on the eyes and is stopped by goggles or a visor |
| Ingested | Eaten or drunk |
| Inhaled | Breathed in as gas, smoke, vapour, or dust |
A substance with more than one Vector works by any of them. Chapter 3 has the rules for each.
The Rows
| Row | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Effect | What happens on a failed resist check |
| Resisted | What happens on a successful one. If the row is missing, nothing happens |
| Sleep | How long a victim put to sleep by a sedative stays asleep |
| After | What remains once the poison has ended |
| Antidote | The specific antidote, if one exists |
| Special | Anything else |
| Cloud | For a gas: how much space it fills and how long it stays |
| Stops it | For a gas: the protection that works |
| Use | For something sprayed or thrown at one target: the attack that delivers it |
Wounds and Strain from a substance are not reduced by Resistance, unless the entry says they are. Armour does not help against what is already in the blood.
Drugs Read Differently
A drug, a medicine, or an antidote is something a character usually takes on purpose. Its last two numbers change.
| Number | What it is |
|---|---|
| Potency | The difficulty of the check to avoid an Overdose |
| Onset | The time before it works |
| Lasts | How long the Benefit and the Side effect last |
| Limit | How many doses a character can take between full nights of rest before risking an Overdose |
| Row | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Benefit | What the user gains |
| Side effect | What the user suffers for as long as the drug lasts |
| Crash | What the user suffers when it stops |
| Overdose | What happens on a failed check past the Limit |
| Unwilling | What happens to someone given it in secret, where that differs |
Chapter 5 has the rules.
Price, Availability, and Period
Price is for one dose: enough for one person once, to coat one weapon for one hit, or one pot, grenade, or canister of a gas. It is in the units of the armory that covers the same period: Old World entries on the scale of The Fantasy Armory, Industrial entries on that of The Black Powder Armory, Modern entries in present-day US dollars as in The Modern Armory, and Stellar entries in credits as in The Stellar Armory. An entry with a dash for its price is not for sale at any price a character can pay.
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Common | Sold openly, or growing wild for anyone who knows it |
| Restricted | Sold by licence, by prescription, or to a recognised trade. Others are asked questions |
| Military | Made for a state or an army. Bought from a quartermaster or a thief |
| Rare | Made by a few people, or found in a few places |
| Illicit | Against the law to sell or carry. Bought with Streetwise, at the seller's price |
Period is the first period in which the entry is found: Old World, Industrial, Modern, or Stellar. Later periods keep it.
