A Necromancer’s Grimoire: Herbs of the Jungle by Alex Riggs and Joshua Zaback is a role playing game supplement published by Necromancers of the Northwest for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
This is a 33 page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $4.99 but which was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, two pages are the front matter, one page is the Table of Contents, two pages are ads for other products and two pages are the Open Game License.
The single page Introduction discusses alchemy, the deficiencies it has in Pathfinder (it’s rubbish) and why The Secret of Herbs was created.
Harvesting Herbs explains, as it suggests, how to harvest herbs. There is a sidebar on foraging and why characters can simply buy the herbs if foraging does not interest them.
Next are the herbs themselves, of which there are twelve. Each follows a standard layout. First, there is a description of the herb in question. Next, the herb’s Forage DC, Environment (as per the Bestiary), Cost and Weight per dose are covered. Then each herb has a number of preparations that can be made from it. Most have four; one has three. These preparations cover a wide range, from poisons to equipment to useful elixirs.
Then there are 25 compounds. These are yet more preparations that can be made from two or more herbs.
There are three more sidebars, on preparing advanced preparations and compounds, how characters can grown their own herbs, what to do if a GM doesn’t want every character to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of herbs and what effect the cost of herbs can have in game.
Finally, there are a series of tables organising the herbs in different ways.
A Necromancer’s Grimoire: Herbs of the Jungle in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked, with all the sections, sidebars, tables, herbs, compounds and preparations linked. The Table of Contents is not as thorough, but is also hyperlinked. Navigation is very good for a supplement of this length.
The text maintains a two column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a few black and white stock illustrations. Presentation is okay.
There are two others in this series at the time of writing, The Secret of Herbs and Herbs of the Desert, but all of them are standalone. As a consequence, much of the material that doesn’t relate to specific herbs and concoctions is duplicated.
As mentioned, the Craft (alchemy) skill, Brew Potion feat and Alchemist class in Pathfinder are rubbish, at least for those whose vision of alchemy and potion making involves finding special ingredients and combining them in different ways. That’s where the supplements in this series come in. They add new and interesting ways of creating a whole host of different compounds and items using specially-sourced herbs. A far more interesting way and perhaps much closer to what many envisage alchemy to be. Alchemy has perennially suffered in D&D-based games, and this supplement helps fix that.
A Necromancer’s Grimoire: Herbs of the Jungle is a great supplement for anyone who wants to add a more interesting element to alchemy in their game, and it can be found by clicking here.
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