Incendiaries
Incendiaries deal Fire damage, from the maker's dice.
Throwing
Thrown concoctions use the Aiming Trial (Combat) at range 15/30/45. Targets resist with an Agility trial against the maker's Mastery DC.
- Bursts. Serpentine grenades, wildfire pots, and quicklime pots burst wherever they land. On a miss, it lands 5 ft away for each point you missed by, in a direction set by 1d8: 1 is straight past the target, counting clockwise, and 5 is straight back toward the thrower. Everyone inside the area resists.
- Splashes. Aqua fortis and oil of vitriol are thrown at one creature or object. On a miss, the vial breaks harmlessly.
Lighting
- A rag wick needs an open flame within reach: a torch, a lantern, a brazier, or a light held by an ally. Lighting it takes 1 AP.
- Slow match lights fuses: Serpentine, and Corrected wildfire. Lighting one takes 1 AP.
Carrying
- Pots and grenades weigh about 3 lbs each, at 2 or 3 per Light object. Each takes 2 Quick Item slots in a pouch.
- The latched case keeps two safe from hazards (see Hazardous).
Serpentine (gunpowder, huoyao)
Saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal.
Serpentine is thrown as a grenade or placed as a petard. A grenade bursts in a 10 ft radius one phase after it's lit, dealing Fire damage and leaving everyone caught in it Deafened for a round. Its fuse gives targets a moment to react.
| Strength | Effect | Side effect | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grenade | Fire damage in a 10 ft radius. Deafened for 1 round. Fuse* | None | 1 sc |
* It bursts one phase after it's lit and thrown: Fast, then Moderate, then Slow, then the end of the round. Targets can react, and an ally holding for a trigger can kick it away.
| Type | Fire |
| Workspace | Laboratory |
| Delivery | Contact. Thrown as a grenade (see Throwing) or placed as a petard (see Petards) |
| Use | Any time |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Crash | None |
| Properties | Hazardous |
| Modifications | Concentrated**, Corrected** |
| Rarity | Imported |
| Notes | None |
** Concentrated: quick match; it bursts in the same phase it's thrown. Corrected: corned powder; it ignores damp.
To make (days for one dose, and the recipe's Social Class):
| Makes | No modifications | 1 modification | 2 modifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grenade | 1 day, Peasant | 2 days, Knight | 4 days, Burgher |
Petards
A petard is a bronze bell packed with Serpentine and fixed to a heavy wooden board, braced against a door or gate. It doesn't destroy the gate: it blows a hole through it large enough for a person to pass, whatever the material. Breaching a wall takes mining, which is the GM's call.
The larger the petard, the more skill it takes to make, and the bigger the gate it opens:
| Maker's mastery | Petard | Powder | Enc / Weight | Serpentine doses | Breaches | Powder price | Casing price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Untrained, Basic | Hand petard | 2 lbs | L / 10 lbs. | 1 | A shutter or grate (Small) | 1 sc | 8 ss |
| Skilled | Small petard | 5 lbs | H / 30 lbs. | 3 | A door (Medium) | 3 sc | 1 gs |
| Expert | Medium petard | 15 lbs | 8 / 75 lbs. | 7 | A gate (Large) | 7 sc | 3 gs |
| Master | Large petard | 25 lbs | 13 / 125 lbs. | 11 | A great gate (Huge) | 11 sc | 5 gs |
| Grand Master | Great petard | 45 lbs | 23 / 225 lbs. | 20 | A fortress gate (Colossal) | 20 sc | 9 gs |
- The blast: a petard bursts one phase after it's lit. The maker's dice strike anyone within 5 ft in front of it, including whoever lit it, who resist with an Agility trial against the dose's DC. The person placing it must stand there to light it.
- Price: the Serpentine doses at the grenade price (1 sc each), plus the bronze casing: about 4 lbs of bronze for every pound of powder, at 1 ss a pound. A recovered casing can be reused, and old bronze keeps its value as scrap.
- Weight is the practical limit. A hand petard goes in a pack. A large or great petard takes a team, and a way to get it to the gate under the defenders' eyes.
Wildfire
Pitch, naphtha, and sulfur in a thick clay pot about 6–7 inches tall, with a pointed base and a wick in the spout.
Wildfire is thrown as a lit pot or soaked into Wrapped arrows or quarrels. A pot bursts in the 5 ft square where it lands, dealing Fire damage and setting what it hits Burning. Arrows and quarrels soaked in it set their target Burning even through armor. Thickened, it clings, and only sand, vinegar or urine will put it out.
| Strength | Effect | Side effect | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pot | Fire damage in the 5 ft square where it lands. Attrition (Burning)* | None | 1 ss |
| Arrow or quarrel dose | Soaks six Wrapped arrows or quarrels. If the hit deals damage to Health or to durability, the target gains Attrition (Burning)* | None | 2 sp an arrow or quarrel |
* Attrition (Burning) equals the maker's mastery level. Smothering or dousing it takes 1 AP, by the creature or an adjacent ally, and ends the pending instance. Thickened fire clings: only sand, vinegar, or urine put it out, for 1 AP, or the creature can roll on earth or sand, for 1 AP, and becomes Prone.
| Type | Fire |
| Workspace | Field kit |
| Delivery | Contact |
| Use | Any time |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Crash | None |
| Properties | Hazardous |
| Modifications | Corrected**, Lingering (Burning)**, Thickened |
| Rarity | Common near oil seeps; Uncommon elsewhere |
| Notes | None |
** Corrected: a Serpentine-primed fuse instead of a rag. It lights from slow match and in wind or wet, but bursts one phase later. Lingering: one more instance of Burning.
To make (days for one dose, and the recipe's Social Class):
| Makes | No modifications | 1 modification | 2 modifications | 3 modifications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | 1 day, Peasant | 2 days, Knight | 4 days, Burgher | 8 days, Magnate |