The Secret of Herbs (2012)

From publisher blurb:

Do you wish that alchemy in your game had a little more “oomph?” Have you ever been disappointed that no matter what it is that you’re trying to craft, all it takes is gold, time, and a skill check, with no concern as to what ingredients you’re using or how they’re prepared? Have you ever GM’d for a player who always seemed to want to wander off into the woods (or the merchant district) in search of rare and exotic reagents and compounds for his next magical experiment, and struggled to come up with an exciting and suitably fantastic material for him to find?

Then this is the book for you. A Necromancer’s Grimoire: The Secret of Herbs introduces a new approach to the sorts of low-cost special substances that can be created with the Craft (Alchemy) skill. Presented herein are ten new herbs with very special properties.

Take dead man's head, a bulbous, highly volatile tuber that is prone to exploding if not harvested correctly. It can be used to make all kinds of things, from the nonlethal but debilitating firebelly poison to the dangerous arsonist's friend, a substance that can be applied to objects to make them more flammable.

Or perhaps you prefer polysap, made from the sap of a quasi-magical tree that can change its appearance, this versatile stuff can be used to toughen your skin if made into barkflesh, or to alter your appearance, if made into second skin, or even to close wounds and stimulate healing, if mixed into the substance known as troll's blood.

Other highlights include spellbane poison, a substance that makes it almost impossible for the victim to cast spells, and is perfect for keeping a powerful wizard imprisoned, or maiden's tears, which have the ability to stop bleeding, but, if prepared incorrectly, will come out as widow's tears poison, and likely cause the recipient to bleed out, instead.

By themselves, each herb can be specially prepared into a handful of different special substances with a successful check, and further information outlines additional special substances and poisons that can be created by mixing two of these herbs together, for a total of over 50 new special substances and poisons.

Also included are guidelines for foraging and preparing these herbs, as well as optional rules for cultivating herbs deliberately and identifying the properties of unknown herbs, and many of the herbs in this book have special properties even without any special preparation. Whether you want to make the best alchemist (or witch, or hedgewizard, or even druid or ranger) ever, and display your superior knowledge of special plants, or just want to make sure that your players never look at a flower stand the same way ever again, don’t pass this book up.