Powderjack

“Flame, fume, and fortune. They mix their luck by the ounce and throw the rest.”

Knaves survive by being clever where others are strong, quick where others are tough, and gone before anyone thinks to ask questions. They learn to read a room, find the angle, and exploit whatever the situation hands them. A Powderjack took one look at that philosophy and decided the best angle is usually an explosion.

Powderjacks are battlefield tinkerers — the ones crouched behind cover with a mortar and pestle while everyone else is drawing steel. They brew under pressure, mix by instinct, and throw things that smoke, burn, or dissolve on contact. There’s nothing scholarly about it. A trained alchemist would be horrified by a Powderjack’s methods: improvised reagents, unstable compounds, half-remembered recipes adjusted on the fly with whatever’s on hand. But a trained alchemist has never had to coat a blade with paralytic in the middle of a collapsing mineshaft. Powderjacks have. They’ve also blown the door off a sealed vault, distracted a garrison with a smoke pot lobbed through a window, and brewed a healing tonic in a boot. Precision is someone else’s problem. A Powderjack just needs it to work — right now, loud enough, and pointed the right direction.

Role & Identity

A battlefield tinkerer and volatile support character who combines dirty tricks, Concoctions, and controlled chaos. The Powderjack fights at mid-range, hurling bombs and compounds while coating allies’ weapons with quick-acting mixtures that burn, blind, or corrode. Their Concoctions are brewed on the fly — not prepared in advance like a scholar’s spells, but improvised from a kit of volatile ingredients, making them unpredictable and adaptable. They excel where Combat meets Exploration: sieges, heists, trapped corridors, and any situation where brute force hits a wall and someone needs a creative solution involving fire, acid, or something that smells terrible.

Choose a Powderjack if you want to be the one rummaging through a satchel of questionable substances and solving problems that steel and sorcery can’t — usually with a bang, sometimes with a hiss, and always with singed eyebrows.

Profession Table

Profession Group: Knave · Hit Die: 1d6 · Trained DR: Mind · Skills: 4 · Profession Resource: Ingredients

Linked Paths: Wildsoul, Gnarlhide, Saggitar, Witchmark — all currently concept-stage only (name + theme, see /paths/).

Craft Concoctions (Level 1)

“Every bottle on my belt started as ink in my book and a bad idea in my head.”

You are a trained concoctionist, capable of brewing alchemical solutions that others would barely dare touch. You begin with a Compact Alchemist’s Kit — the vials, compounds, and volatile materials needed to practice your craft — and 10 Ingredients to get you started.

Your Concoctions come in three types:

• Elixirs — imbibed brews used for healing or physical enhancement.
• Coatings — applied to weapons or armor to produce tactical effects.
• Bombs — thrown devices that cause area damage or control space.

After each Rest, you may craft a number of Concoctions equal to your Intellect modifier + Prowess (minimum 1). These prepared Concoctions always function at their base effect, each costs 1 Ingredient to make, and they expire after your next Rest. This prepared supply is your reliable floor — efficient and consistent, but modest in power. The real ceiling is what you can improvise under pressure. See Volatile Craft.

Ingredients are the raw alchemical materials — volatile roots, monster ichor, flint dust, and stranger compounds — that fuel everything you make. Each inventory slot (Pack or Quick) holds 5 Ingredients. Crafting during a Rest costs 1 Ingredient per Concoction; crafting via Volatile Craft during a Moment costs 2. Ingredients are not replenished automatically and must be purchased, looted, or scavenged.

Powderjack Formulas

“A good formula is three parts experiment, two parts gamble, and one part paranoia.”

Your formula book holds the research, tests, and refined methods that let you craft Concoctions reliably. All Concoctions you craft must come from formulas recorded here. You begin with three formulas and learn additional ones as you advance, as shown on the Powderjack Table.

As you adventure, you may come across new formulas in scrolls, alchemy manuals, or from other concoctionists willing to share — or sell — their methods. To add a found formula to your book, you must spend a Recovery period studying, testing, and transcribing it. You may add one new formula this way per Recovery.

Volatile Craft (Level 1)

“I can think under pressure — especially the kind with a burning fuse.”

You may craft a Concoction in the heat of a Moment using raw instinct and practiced chaos. This is a Magic Action that costs 1 Action Point, requires both hands free, and consumes 2 Ingredients.

Choose a Concoction you know and make a Trial using:

2d10 + Intellect modifier + Prowess (+ optional Hero Dice)

The Concoction is instantly created. Its effect depends on the Trial total:

• Failure (1–10): The Concoction fails. The Ingredients are expended and nothing is produced.
• Base (11–15): The Concoction is created at its base effect.
• Enhanced (16–20): The Concoction is created at its enhanced effect.
• Potent (21+): The Concoction is created at its potent effect.

As part of this action, you may immediately store the Concoction in an available Quick Slot. If the Concoction is an elixir or coating, you may also use it this turn with a Quick Action. Bombs still require an Attack Action to use.

(See /moments/combat/actions/volatile-craft.md for the combat-action write-up — that file was migrated already, held at draft pending this profession landing, and is promoted to locked alongside it.)

Blackfuse Belt (Level 1)

“Built by hand. Guaranteed to outlast everything except your worst idea.”

You have designed and crafted a personalized bandolier for your volatile arsenal. This unique harness expands your capacity to carry and deploy your Concoctions — and in a pinch, can become a weapon in its own right.

While wearing the belt, you gain additional Quick Slots equal to 2 + your Prowess, usable only for Concoctions or Ingredients. These are in addition to your normal inventory and allow for faster Concoction access in the heat of a Moment.

You may throw your entire belt as an Attack Action, treating it as a specialized bomb. This destroys the belt.

• The belt explodes in a 15 ft radius around the target point.
• Make an Attack Trial (2d10 + Agility + Prowess) against the Ward of all creatures in the area.
• On a hit, the belt deals 1d8 Chaos damage, plus 1d8 damage of a randomly determined type for each Concoction on the belt at the time of throwing.
• Any Ingredients on the belt are consumed in the explosion and contribute no additional damage.

Crafting a replacement belt requires a Rest and costs 50 + (Prowess × 25) gold in materials — leather, metal fasteners, treated cloth, cord, and small pouches or containers. You must also restock any lost Ingredients and craft new Concoctions before your arsenal is operational again.

Scrounger’s Instinct (Level 4)

“If it smells like burnt metal and you don’t know what it is, bag it — I’ve got ideas.”

You are trained in Wildcraft (Vitality), able to identify, gather, and repurpose unusual materials from the world around you.

Once per hour, you may spend that time deliberately foraging a suitable natural or urban environment for alchemical materials. This is not a quick scan — it requires focused effort, moving through the area with purpose and a trained eye. Make a Wildcraft (Vitality) Trial against DR 14. On a success, you find Ingredients equal to your Prowess. These might take the form of monster ichor, reagent herbs, fragmented alchemy glass, volatile dust from scorched stone, furnace soot, or crystallized residue — whatever the environment can offer.

Trademarked Chaos (Level 7)

“Everyone has a specialty. Mine just tends to leave a mark.”

At level 7 you have refined your craft into something deliberate. Choose one specialty that defines your preferred method of controlled chaos:

Elixirist (Elixir Focus)

Your brews stretch further and hit harder where it matters most. When you use an elixir, you may immediately duplicate its full effect to yourself and one adjacent ally — both receive the complete benefit. If you target only yourself, you may instead increase the elixir’s tier by one step without rolling, to a maximum of Potent.

Venomsmith (Coating Focus)

Your mixtures cling with unnatural persistence, and your reach extends beyond your own blade. When you apply a coating, it lasts for a number of strikes equal to your Prowess rather than the standard 1 strike. You may also apply coatings to armor or shields — your own or an adjacent ally’s. A coating applied this way triggers automatically when the wearer is struck by a melee attack, applying its effect to the attacker.

Blastwright (Bomb Focus)

Your bombs hit harder, spread wider, and send enemies sprawling. Increase the blast radius of all your bombs by 5 ft — this stacks with any radius increase from Potent effects. Once per turn, when a bomb you throw affects at least two enemies, you may push each affected enemy 5 ft directly away from the blast’s center and knock them Prone.

Alchemical Mastery (Level 10)

“Sometimes genius is just chaos with a steady hand.”

At level 10 you have pushed your volatile craft beyond instinct into something approaching art. When you use Volatile Craft, you may spend 4 Ingredients instead of 2. If you do, you gain Edge on the Trial — rolling 3d10 and keeping the highest two.

If the two kept dice show the same number, the Concoction is automatically created at Potent effect regardless of the total, and all of its effect dice are increased to d12s.

Masterwork Mixture (Level 12, Capstone)

“The hard part isn’t making it work. The hard part is making it work twice, in the same bottle, at the same time.”

You have pushed your understanding of alchemical interaction to its limit — combining two formulas into a single volatile compound without one destroying the other. Once per Rest, in addition to your normal prepared Concoctions, you may craft a Masterwork Mixture. This costs 7 Ingredients and requires two formulas of the same type — two Elixirs, two Bombs, or two Coatings.

The Masterwork Mixture contains both formulas simultaneously. When used, one formula activates at Potent effect and the other at Base effect. You choose which formula is which at the time of crafting. The Concoction is delivered and used as normal for its type — imbibed if an Elixir, thrown if a Bomb, applied if a Coating.

Your Trademarked Chaos specialization applies fully to the Masterwork Mixture.

Powderjack Formulas — General Rules

“Measure twice, mix once (only while the arrows are flying).”

All Concoctions — elixirs, coatings, and bombs — occupy 1 inventory slot each, whether stored in a Quick Slot or a Pack Slot. Concoctions stored in Quick Slots can be accessed without first using a Retrieve Item action.

Elixirs. Elixirs are brewed compounds that are imbibed to enhance the body, mind, or senses. Using an elixir costs a Quick Action (1 AP). You may use an elixir on yourself or spend a Quick Action to hand it to an adjacent ally — they receive the full effect without spending their own action.

Coatings. Coatings are volatile compounds applied directly to a weapon — a sword, dagger, arrow, or similar — seeping into the blade or surface and activating on the next strike. Applying a coating costs a Quick Action (1 AP) and immediately consumes the Concoction. You may apply a coating to your own weapon or an adjacent ally’s weapon.

A coating lasts for 10 minutes or until it triggers on a successful hit, whichever comes first — this allows you to apply a coating before entering a fight and have it ready when needed. The coating triggers automatically when the coated weapon hits a target as part of a successful Attack Trial — there is no separate Trial for the coating itself. Only one coating may be active on a weapon at a time — applying a new coating replaces any existing one.

Ammunition. When applied to ammunition such as arrows or bolts, a single coating covers 5 pieces. The coating triggers on the first successful hit made with coated ammunition.

Bombs. Bombs are thrown ranged weapons and a form of alchemical ordnance unique to the Powderjack’s craft. As a Powderjack you are trained in their use — you add your Prowess to Attack Trials made with bombs. Any character can attempt to throw a bomb, but untrained characters do not add Prowess to the Attack Trial. Throwing a bomb uses an Attack Action (1 AP).

Bomb damage and effects vary by formula — see each entry in /professions/knaves/powderjack/concoctions/. All bomb damage adds your Ego modifier. When you throw a bomb, roll one Attack Trial (2d10 + Agility + Prowess) and compare that single result to each affected creature’s relevant DR. You do not roll separately for each target in the area. The target point must be within range and within line of sight.

(See /equipment/weapons/bomb.md for the Weapons-compendium entry for the Bomb weapon category itself.)

Design Notes for Future Work

Powderjack carries no in-file design notes of its own on either source — a clean landing, similar to Arcanist. Two items surfaced during migration, neither a design gap:

1. Two Concoctions carry a naming discrepancy between the local cross-check doc and the live Notion database — resolved in favor of Notion (the more current source) for both. The local doc’s Ironblood Draught and Notion’s Fire Flower Drops are the same Elixir, mechanically identical (Base: restore Prowess d6 + Intellect modifier HP, Regeneration I; Enhanced: +1 Guard, Regeneration I; Potent: +2 Guard, Regeneration II) — read as a renamed entry, not two different Concoctions. Similarly, the local doc’s Ghostwine and Notion’s Ghostwine Draught are the same entry with a slightly fuller title live. Migrated under the current Notion names.
2. The Bomb weapon-compendium stub (/equipment/weapons/bomb.md) is now partially resolved, not fully. Its damage field can now read “Per formula + Ego modifier” directly from this page’s own Bomb table — no longer varies as an unexplained placeholder. But Weight, Encumbrance, and Traits are still genuinely unspecified anywhere in either source, unlike every other weapon in the compendium. Cross-logged to design/open-questions.md — not resolved by this landing.