View source for User:Xandar/Complete Alchemy/Reagents Compendium

=Reagent Harvesting=

Harvesting Reagents is a Hit-and-Miss process, in both player and DM terms. Consider the frequency of Traffic in an area that you're searching, if its close to a civilization, chances are that the Reagent sources nearby have frequent visitors who harvest them as they become available. This lowers, and in some cases eliminates the chances that the Reagents of an area can be harvested at all. Areas such as this are referred to as '''High-Traffic''' areas.

If on a Trail or road of some sort between civilizations, reagents may have been harvested as someone passes along, situations like this only reliably result in Half as many reagents as could be found otherwise, these areas are known as '''Medium-Traffic''' areas.

Areas where the only trails that can be found are those created by wildlife are known as '''Low-Traffic''' areas, and have an abundance of Reagents, with minimal possibility of being discovered and harvested by others.

:*'''High Traffic Areas''' have a number of properties to them, the previously mentioned chance for a Majority of the Reagents to have been harvested before you arrive is perhaps the most debilitating to your searches. The barren status of the area often makes it difficult to discover reagents that others may have missed, but those more keen of skill can still accomplish this. If you successfully make your Harvest check with a -10 Penalty to the task, you will successfully find reagents, though anywhere between 50-75% less as far as quantity goes, which is up to your DM.
:*'''Medium Traffic Areas''' have similar properties, the Harvest check is instead done at a -5 Penalty, and the Penalty to Reagent quantity is only 25-50%, once again up to DM decision, making areas like this still viable to search in as opposed to being written off due to the visible traffic.
:*'''Low Traffic Areas''' are different than the above areas in that no Penalties are instated for either Harvest checks, or Reagent quantity, as Low Traffic areas are meant to represent the unbroken wilderness.

Variables exist in this system, assuming that a Civilization has no Alchemists or Herbalists, High-Traffic areas could be just as untouched as Low-Traffic Areas. Situations like this call for the Penalty to Harvesting to be removed entirely, and for the Reagent Quantity to be diminished to 0-25% instead, as some reagents are still Discovered and picked. The Same Penalty could be included in a rudimentary form under the argument that Wildlife consumes the reagents, but this complicates it further than Necessary.

Alchemist and Herbalist Presence can also impact Medium and Low Traffic areas, if a moving convoy has an alchemist or two, Medium-Traffic areas could be more barren akin to High-Traffic areas, owing to the alchemists in the group gathering for their craft. Low-Traffic areas could have the same effect if a Hermit Alchemist frequents the area.

All of these variables are up to your DM, but the most important factor is the Quantity of Reagents harvested. Variables already exist to Diminish them, but what is the Standard Quantity that they're Harvested in? This is determined by Rarity, as listed below.
:*'''Common''' Reagents can be found in Abundance. When searching and harvesting from an Area, Roll 2d6 and the result is the quantity you find.
:*'''Uncommon''' Reagents can be found in decent quantities, roll 1d8 and the result is the quantity you find.
:*'''Elusive''' reagents can be found in limited quantity, Roll 1d4 and the result is the quantity you find.
:*'''Rare''' reagents can be found in singular quantity exclusively, only granting a single reagent when discovered.

Harvesting from an area can be handled in a few ways, the first method listed here requires a player to be looking for a Specific Reagent, which allows for them to harvest from an area repeatedly while "Targeting" different Reagents each time until you've exhausted the area. The Second method is to simply roll a Spot/Perception, Alchemy, or Survival check (Whichever is deemed appropriate to the character) and compare the result to the DC of the Reagents in the area. Once this is done, reward the player with the reagents they've found accordingly, rolling for the quantity as well.

The time table for these methods of searching work in Hours, for each reagent that you find or search for, it takes One Hour of time searching and harvesting, making some searches day-long endeavors.

Reagents of course can be purchased from herbal shops and Apothecaries, hence the notes of the Reagent value. Each value section is marked as a range as opposed to a specific value, the lower end marks an appropriate per-sample cost for the reagents when they're either common to an area, or in surplus, while the higher end of it marks appropriate per-sample costs for reagents when not native to an area, or in low-stock and potentially high-demand.