Herbalism and Alchemy

Gathering and Harvesting Plants and Ingredients

These tables are used to understand where the ingredients are located within certain ecosystems, as well as to randomly find herbal and alchemical ingredients. Additional Rules differ by ecosystem. For example, Hydrathistle is found in 1 or 2 amounts while searching for it underwater, but can only be found in quantities of 1-2 in a swamp if its raining. Refer to ingredient descriptions for additional details.

Harvesting Check: Survival Skill Check DC 15

Whether you are traveling along roadways or adventuring deep in the forest, or have the potential to gather herbs, minerals, animal or monster parts, and more. The base check is once for every 3 days of travel at a normal pace or every day of travel at a slow pace. A failure means that no appreciable finds occur. A success means that you will find at least one ingredient from the terrain type the DM chooses. Use the following chart below:

Success of 15 - 19 means you find one ingredient.
If your check is at least 20 or higher you harvest 2 ingredients.
If your check is at least 25 or higher you harvest d4+1 ingredients.
If the main purpose of the days activity is for exploration of ingredients. you may add 1 to this result.

For each ingredient you find roll 1d20 and consult the appropriate environment tables below. Druids and Rangers and Clerics with the Nature domain may roll with advantage. See tables below for each environment. A result of a 1 is elemental water. A higher result indicates a rarer ingredient.

Quantity of Ingredient you found: 1d2 + modifiers

+1 for Rangers or Druids
+1 for Proficiency with the appropriate toolkit or +2 with Expertise in that toolkit (example: Herbalism Tools or Mining tools

As the DM wishes you can roll on the legendary table with a natural roll of 20 or at your discretion. Legendary ingredients have numerical values above 20. Some can just be found during certain solar or lunar cycles, or perhaps during specific weather conditions.

Recording Results, Alchemy and Harvesting Shorthand

If you have to roll for multiple Harvests, you can quickly record your findings using Harvest ShortCodes. This is a quick way to write it down without looking up the results right away. This will get you back into the game quickly so you don't miss anything the DM might be telling everyone.

Harvest ShortCode = 2FA16
(1d2 + any Bonuses) / Terrain Table Letter Codes / 1d20 for ingredient number

The use of ShortCodes is not only to speed up the time you spend rolling dice and recording your findings, but to also help when you don't know what the Plant is. Let's say you've found 2FA16, all you need to do now is find FA4 in your Alchemy Book's List of Ingredients and record that you have 2 portions. You're done. You now know that you have 2 portions of the 16th Plant found in Forests Table A and can use this information later to identify those ingredients.

As an example, a ranger traveling through grasslands would announce to their DM that they would like to search for useful herbs and minerals on their slow journey between towns which takes a week. The player would then roll a DC 15 Survival Skill Check two times for the first and second set of three days. They succeed the second roll with a roll of 21. The ranger harvests a total of 2 ingredients for the success above 20. They next determine the ingredient type and roll 1d20 for a result of 9. The DM tells them that the results will all be from table B. The ranger finally determines the quantity of the ingredient and rolls 1d2 with a result of 1. As a ranger class they get a bonus +1 and have harvested 2. The shortcode is 2GB9. The ranger records the result and while in town they discover that that ingredient GB-9 is Bloodgrass (Grasslands table B item 9). The ranger harvested 2 Bloodgrass along their journey!

A successful gathering attempt would result in the DM rolling 1d4 for how many ingredients were gathered, and then looking up the parties most relative terrain in Appendix B. Here the DM would roll for however many ingredients were gained.

A good general guideline to stick by would be allowing 2-3 gathering moments per session, or 1 to 2 gathering opportunities in between long rests. This will allow the player to craft decent potions and poisons, without giving them unlimited amounts of ingredients.

Spell assisted foraging

While there are no restrictions on who can gather ingredients for Alchemical purposes, some classes or races might have additional advantages. When a player casts a spell similar to locate animals or plants, they gain immediate knowledge on what type of plants are around, and the direction they are in. As a DM, roll against the Terrain Ecosystems tables in Appendix B (for the closest similar ecosystem) 1d4 times and let the player know what they would find. Additionally, they gain advantage on Herbalism rolls for those specific plants

Gathering During Downtime

During periods in between sessions, also known as Downtime, a player can perform Herbalism as well. When a player chooses to use their Downtime activity gathering ingredients, the DM would roll for the player in their stead. If the DM does not know the player’s skill scores, the player can decide to either wait to roll at the start of the next session, or have the DM roll d100 and add 3x Character Level, while trying to beat a 75.

An important thing to keep in mind as the DM, is to not give too many ingredients to the player that decides to gather as a Downtime activity. If given too many ingredients at low levels, the player can then create very powerful potions beyond their level. A good rule of thumb for Downtime gathering, would be to roll once or twice for gathering ingredients per day of travel during downtime, or for every 6 hours in game time if the party isn’t going to be traveling.

A successful gathering check results in the same fashion as if gathering during the session.

Identifying Specimens

After the player has gathered some ingredients, the DM can determine whether or not the character has past experience with it. This can be done either through a quick decision by the DM, or by rolling for the knowledge. If the second option is chosen, the player would perform either a

Survival or Nature check VS. DC of 10 + double the DC Difficulty of the ingredient.

Add 5 to the DC for legendary ingredients.

If the player fails the roll, the character does not recognize the ingredient enough to understand its purpose. Another attempt can be made after the player has researched more about the ingredient, or has another party member identify it for them. A player cannot roll again for the same ingredient if they do not already know what it is, or have gained insight on it.

If the player succeeded the roll, the character recognizes the ingredient and has a general idea of what it can do in a concoction. Additionally, if the player surpassed the DC by 5 or more, the character knows exact details about the ingredient and what it can be used for.

Finding Ingredients and Ecosystems

A roll of a 1 on any table is Elemental Water

Common Unspecified (C)
Result	Ingredient
2	Mandrake Root
3-4	Quicksilver Lichen
5-7	Wild Sageroot
8-11	Wyrmtongue Petals
12-15	Milkweed Seeds
16-20	Bloodgrass

Common Forest (CF)
Result	Ingredient
2-4	Mandrake Root
5-7	Bee Balm
8-12	Pine Resin
13-15	Wild Sageroot
16-18	Wyrmtongue Petals
19-20	Milkweed Seeds

Common Grasslands (CG)
Result	Ingredient
2-4	Faerie Leaf
5-7	Bee Balm
8-12	Bloodgrass
13-15	Sagegrass
16-18	Wyrmtongue Petals
19-20	Milkweed Seeds



G - Grassland Ingredients
1d20	Ingredient			Additional Rule(s)
2-4		Milkweed Seeds
5-6		Wild Sageroot
7-8		Bloodgrass
9-10	Arrow Root	
11-12	Scillia Beans		Find 2x the rolled amount
13-14	Lavender Sprig		Find 2x the rolled amount
15-16	Cactus Juice	
17		Drakus Flower	
18		Tail Leaf	
19		Harrada Leaf	
20		Hyancinth Nectar	 
 	 
 	 
HA - Hill Ingredients                                    
2d6	Ingredient	Additional Rule(s)
2	Devil’s Bloodleaf	
3	Nightshade Berries	
4	Tail Leaf	Find 2x the rolled amount
5	Lavender Sprig	
6	Quicksilver Lichen
7	Wyrmtongue Petals
8	Bloodgrass
9	Ironwood Heart	
10	Gengko Brush	
11	Rock Vine	Find 2x the rolled amount
12	Harrada Leaf	 

HB - Hill Ingredients                                    
2d6	Ingredient	Additional Rule(s)
2	Pixie Dust	
3	Mound Shade	
4	Mineral Silver
5	Lavender Sprig
6	Quicksilver Lichen
7	Wyrmtongue Petals
8	Bloodgrass
9	Ironwood Heart	
10	Mineral Garnet	Find 2x the rolled amount	
11	Mineral Antimony
12	Mineral Gold Find 1/2 the rolled amount	 
12	Black Haircap Moss 

F - Forest Ingredients
2d6	Ingredient	Additional Rule(s)
2	Harrada Leaf	
3	Nightshade Berries	
4	Emetic Wax	
5	Verdant Nettle	
6	Wyrmtongue Petals
7	Alder Resin
8	Mandrake Root
9	Arrow Root	
10	Ironwood Heart	
11	Blue Toadshade	
12	Wisp Stalks	Night: Find 2x, Day: Re-roll
12	Black Haircap Moss 

D - Desert Ingredients                              
2d6	Ingredient	Additional Rule(s)
2	Cosmos Glond	
3	Arrow Root	
4	Dried Ephedra	
5	Cactus Juice	Find 2x the rolled amount
6	Common Ingredient	Roll on Common Ingredient table
7	Common Ingredient	Roll on Common Ingredient table
8	Common Ingredient	Roll on Common Ingredient table
9	Drakus Flower	
10	Scillia Beans	
11	Spineflower Berries	
12	Voidroot	Come with 1 Elemental Water

 W - Water / Coastal Ingredients
2d6	Ingredient	Additional Rule(s)
2	Hydrathistle	Find 1-2x the rolled amount
3	Amanita Cap	Coastal Only
4	Hyancinth Nectar	
5	Chromus Slime	Find 1-2x the rolled amount
6	Milkweed Seeds Coastal Only
7	Haircap Moss Coastal Only
8	Lilytuber Puss 
9	Lavender Sprig	Coastal Only
10	Blue Toadshade	Coastal Only
11	Wrackwort Bulbs	
12	Cosmos Glond	Find 1-2x the rolled amount

M - Mountain Ingredients                         
2d6	Ingredient	Additional Rule(s)
2	Basilisk’s Breath	
3	Frozen Seedlings	Find 2x the rolled amount
4	Arctic Creeper	Find 2x the rolled amount
5	Dried Ephedra	
6	Common Ingredient	Roll on Common Ingredient table
7	Wild Sageroot
8	Common Ingredient	Roll on Common Ingredient table
9	Drakus Flower	
10	Luminous Cap Dust	Find 2x the rolled amount in Caves
11	Rock Vine	
12	Primordial Balm
13	Durins' Beard	 

S - Swamp Ingredients
2d6	Ingredient	Additional Rule(s)
2	Devil’s Bloodleaf	
3	Spineflower Berries	
4	Emetic Wax	
5	Amanita Cap	Find 2x the rolled amount
6	Milkweed Seeds
7	Minkel Tear
8	Lilytuber Puss
9	Blue Toadshade	Find 2x the rolled amount
10	Wrackwort Bulb	
11	Hydrathistle	Find 2x the rolled amount in rain
12	Primordial Balm	 
12	Black Haircap Moss 

A - Arctic Ingredients                                
2d6	Ingredient	Additional Rule(s)
2	Silver Hibiscus	
3	Mortflesh Powder	
4	Ironwood Heart	
5	Frozen Seedlings	Find 2x the rolled amount
6	Common Ingredient	Roll on Common Ingredient table
7	Common Ingredient	Roll on Common Ingredient table
8	Common Ingredient	Roll on Common Ingredient table
9	Arctic Creeper	Find 2x the rolled amount
10	Fennel Silk	
11	Fiend’s Ivy	
12	Voidroot	 

U - Underdark Ingredients
2d6	Ingredient	Additional Rule(s)
2	Primordial Balm	Find 1-2x the rolled amount
3	Silver Hibiscus	
4	Devil’s Bloodleaf	
5	Chromus Slime	
6	Mortflesh Powder	Find 2x the rolled amount
7	Fennel Silk	
8	Fiend’s Ivy	
9	Gengko Brush	
10	Luminous Cap Dust	Find 2x the rolled amount
11	Radiant Synthseed	
12	Wisp Stalks
13	Durins' Beard