Free The Maiden Saga: Role Playing Game by Aishling Morgan Page B

glass vials protected in a cage of golden filigree which are the traditional vessels.
    The musk of female nymphs has a similar effect on men, and so has to be prepared exclusively by women. Combine the two and a single drop introduced to a tureen of soup will be enough to turn the politest Aprinian dinner party into an uninhibited orgy. What the Aprinians in question will have to say about this afterwards is, of course, another matter.
    Such musks are the simplest of potions, requiring a single ingredient with a straightforward effect. Others are more complicated, such as that used by Aisla to bring on a berserk rage. The ingredients are; the sperm of an enraged troll, black mandrake, chevrotain milk, cherry juice and leather, each of which has an exact effect. The leather, for example, is the activant, and will trigger the rage. Proportions must be exact and errors carry unfortunate side effects. This is produced by the Aeg witch, Aurora.
    Using potions is simple, especially on yourself. If you have it, you can take it, and the consequences. Anybody can try to use a potion, although it takes skill to do so while avoiding detection. In game terms, the rules are similar to those for assassination. Once you have manoeuvred your target into a suitable situation, you roll with your Game Points in Craft or Wisdom against their Game Points in Constitution, building sixes if you have the right Primary Drive. If the target manages to roll a quadruple they have escaped. Otherwise if they run out of Game Points in Constitution before you run out in Craft or Wisdom the potion is considered to have taken effect.
    Obtaining potions is harder. If you attempt to steal them they are always at least level three (see rules for theft), while they will not be found at all except in a reasonable place. If you are skulking through an Aprinian hospital you might reasonably expect to come across a vial of one of their powerful soporifics, making it level three, but if you are seeking that same in a beached Makean corsair it will be a level five if it is there at all.
    Making potions is harder still. Books exist, but are rare and like the potions themselves will always be level three or more if you seek to steal them. If you have a book you can attempt to make anything listed in it. Otherwise, the process can only be attempted if you have all the ingredients and sufficient skill. In game terms this is expressed as the combination of your Game Points in Intelligence, Craft and Wisdom, your Thaumaturgy Points, which must exceed a specific value in order for you to have picked up the secret of any given potion. Different peoples have different skills and the values vary accordingly. The witches and warlocks of Aegmund, alchemists from Ythan and Aprinian physicians are generally the best.
    If you have more than half the required Thaumaturgy Points you are assumed to have picked up at least some of the crucial knowledge and are entitled to make a roll of the six dice. A triple indicates success.
    If you have a book that gives the relevant recipe you are entitled to make a roll regardless of the level of your Thaumaturgy Points. A triple indicates success.
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    In all cases you must have obtained the necessary ingredients
Eight significant potions
Ingredients
Effect
Distillate of Goblin Musk
Fresh goblin musk
Female aphrodisiac
Distillate of Nymph Musk
Female nymph musk
Male aphrodisiac
Fool’s Broth
Red Agaric, brandy
Torpor, prophecy
Mescarine
Distillate of white agaric, Purple Nightshade berries.
Death, eventually
Kenion’s Convenience
Petals of the White Lotus, mixed nymph musk, wine
Erotic Torpor
Dr N’Gazo’s Universal Soporific
Juice of the Imperial Poppy, petals of the White Lotus
Deep sleep
Dr Jago’s Instant Euthanasiac
Pollen of the Black Lotus, sweat of the viridian moss frog, juice of the Imperial Poppy.
Death, immediately
Aurora’s Sanguine Fury
Sperm of an enraged troll, black mandrake, chevrotain milk, cherry juice.