-Nate
Love
Vine Potion
On
the islands of the Bahamas, and elsewhere throughout the Caribbean
Sea, grows a species of parasitic vine known as the Bahamian Love
Vine. According to local legends, it can be used to brew powerful
aphrodisiacs. Many settlers dismiss such notions as nothing more than
superstition, of course, but those who've spent their lives
inhabiting the wild places of the Caribbean know better. There are
two subspecies of the vine; the more common one has no romantic
influence whatsoever, but the rarer variety is just as potent as
reputed.
In
game terms, it takes a Survival check, or a Knowledge: nature check,
to locate the effective variety of the Bahamian love vine. After
that, a Craft: alchemy check is required to process it properly.
These two efforts should be treated as a combined DC 50 check, so
that a lower result on the first makes the second even more
difficult. For example, if a character seeking the vine rolls a 20
for the Survival or Knowledge: nature check, then the base difficulty
for the Craft: alchemy effort is 30.
DC
/ Resulting Concoction
50
/ Potion of charm person
55
/ Potion of charm monster
60
/ Philter of love
In
this way, characters who seek to harness the love vine's power might
end up with less effective varieties, but those who really know what
they're doing can capture its full potential. Note that the GM may
need to adjust the relevant DC's, depending on the abilities of the
PC's and NPC's in a campaign.
Interlude 40: The
Potion
Much of the time,
magical items only help the PC's succeed in their adventures.
Sometimes, however, the items become the cause of the adventures.
Take, for example, the concoctions that can be derived from the
Bahamian love vine. While the lesser varieties have their uses, the
actual philter of love can be
used to create all kinds of interesting scenarios. A few of the many
possibilities are detailed here.
- First and foremost, the PC's could learn of a source for the plant, perhaps by acquiring a Mayan or Taino pharmacopoiea or something similar. At that point, the possibility for cashing in on it is only limited by the Player Characters' ambitions.
- There is always the possibility, of course, that someone could send thieves to steal a potion, or the materials needed to create one.
- Should an unscrupulous individual acquire a philter of love, that person could use it for any number of nefarious purposes. These might include causing a wealthy heiress to fall in love with a dishonorable rogue, or even trying to gain influence over a nobleman in the same manner.
- For an added twist, someone could sow dissention among the PC's by feeding a philter to one of them.
- Given these possible uses, someone could try to irradicate the vine from the Caribbean.
- Considering its vast assemblage of lore from around the world, the Cabal is a likely candidate for trying to acquire the plant and its derivative.
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