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Mineral Attracting Bait Paste MAB193

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by

Dale
in

From: Gyre Leaper 771

A thick, pungent paste crafted from concentrated essences of the specific lichens and mosses that Gyre-Leapers favor, combined with crushed, mineral-rich salts from deep cave formations. This paste is not designed to be eaten in large quantities but rather to emit an irresistible, localized aroma that mimics the creature’s preferred food sources. A hunter can dab small amounts of this paste onto strategically placed smooth rock surfaces, away from high-traffic ricochet-lanes, to temporarily lure a Gyre-Leaper to a more accessible spot for an ambush or to encourage it to pause in a predictable location. The paste is slow-releasing and residue-free, ensuring it doesn’t leave lingering odors or marks.

Lore and Origins

The Mineral-Attracting Bait-Paste (MAB-193) is a closely guarded alchemical secret of the Chasm Wardens, a secluded order of naturalists and hunters who live in harmony with the harsh ecosystems of the great canyons. They developed the paste not merely for hunting, but as a tool for ecological management, using it to gently guide herds of Gyre-Leapers and other mineral-craving herbivores away from unstable rock formations or towards new, flourishing feeding grounds.

The key ingredients are a reflection of their deep knowledge of the local environment. They use a potent, concentrated essence of “Sun-Star Lichen” (which only grows on surfaces with maximum sun exposure) and “Wind-Whisper Moss” (which thrives in breezy, shaded crevices). The most crucial component, however, is the “Echo-Salt,” a crystalline mineral harvested from deep cave formations that possess unique acoustic resonance. The Wardens believe the salt absorbs the echoes of the canyon, and it is this “sound” that the creatures are truly drawn to. The MAB-193 formula is specifically designed to be irresistible to creatures like the Gyre-Leaper.

Tier 1 Statistics

  • Item Type: Consumable Alchemical Lure
  • Durability/Quantity: A single ceramic jar holds 5 applications (doses).
  • Aroma Range: A single application emits an enticing aroma in a 150-foot radius.
  • Duration: The aroma of one application lasts for 1 hour before dissipating completely.
  • Effect: Attracts non-hostile, herbivorous creatures with a craving for minerals (like the Gyre-Leaper). Creatures entering the aroma’s radius must make a DC 14 Wisdom check to avoid being compelled to investigate the source of the scent.
  • Weight: 1 lb per jar.

Slot

  • Consumable Pouch / Utility Slot: The paste is carried in a sealed ceramic jar, typically in a backpack or a specialized alchemist’s pouch.

Temporary Skills Gained

  • Scent Masking: The powerful, earthy aroma of the paste is highly effective at masking the user’s own scent from creatures with a keen sense of smell.
  • Behavioral Prediction: Using the paste effectively requires and imparts a greater understanding of animal feeding habits and territorial patterns, making it easier to predict where and when to set an ambush.

Passive Magics

  • Aromatic Time-Release: The paste is magically imbued with a slow-release property. A single dab will consistently emit its potent aroma for exactly one hour, ensuring a predictable window of opportunity for the user.
  • Traceless Dissipation: The alchemical binders are enchanted to break down completely when the primary compound is exhausted. After one hour, the paste evaporates, leaving absolutely no physical residue, lingering smell, or magical aura, ensuring the natural environment is left undisturbed.

Active Magics

  • Strategic Application: The primary “active” use is applying a dose of the paste to a surface. This action begins the one-hour countdown of the Aromatic Time-Release and establishes the 150-foot lure radius.
  • Scent Pulse: Before applying the paste, the user can speak a command word (“Call“) and tap the dab of paste with a piece of quartz. When this prepared dose is applied, it does not last for an hour. Instead, it emits one single, powerful pulse of aroma that travels out to 300 feet. Any creature within this larger radius is immediately subject to the lure effect. After this single pulse, which lasts only a few seconds, the paste becomes completely inert. This is used to draw in creatures from a much larger area at the cost of the paste’s longevity.

Tags: Consumable, Alchemical, Lure, Bait, Scent, Hunting Tool, Non-Lethal, Herbalism, Mineral-Component, Stealth Tool, Area-of-Effect, Attractant, Herbivore-Specific, Ambush, Trapping, Paste, Artisan-Made, Enchanted, Scent-Masking, Traceless, Exotic, Alluring

The Mineral-Attracting Bait-Paste is a specialized alchemical product, and its availability reflects its niche purpose and the reclusive nature of its creators. One does not find a jar of MAB-193 in a common market stall; it is a tool for professionals, sold through channels that cater to those with a deep understanding of the wild.

Types of Shops and Venues

1. The Professional Hunter’s Outfitter: This is the most common place to find the paste. These are high-end shops located in towns that border major wilderness areas or serve as hubs for hunting expeditions. Establishments like “The Tracker’s Rest” or “Wilderlands Provisions” cater to a clientele that understands the value of superior gear.

  • Atmosphere: These shops smell of oiled leather, canvas, and dried herbs. The walls are adorned with maps and trophies from successful hunts. The proprietors are often experienced hunters themselves.
  • Inventory: They will have a small, carefully stored supply of the paste, usually kept in a cool, dark place to preserve its potency. It is considered a premium consumable.

2. The Alchemist’s Guild or Master Apothecary: In larger cities, a well-stocked alchemist’s shop will carry a variety of rare compounds, and MAB-193 is among them. They are less interested in its use for hunting and more in its expert formulation and rare ingredients.

  • Atmosphere: Clean, organized, and filled with the complex aromas of hundreds of different ingredients. The alchemists here are scholars and artisans.
  • Process: An alchemist selling this paste would do so with a certain professional pride, perhaps explaining the quality of the “Echo-Salt” or the potency of the lichen essence. They might also be a potential buyer for the raw ingredients if an adventurer happens to find them.

3. Ranger and Warden Enclaves: In the deep wilderness, communities of rangers, scouts, and wardens often have their own supply chains. A ranger outpost at the edge of the great canyons might have a trade relationship with the Chasm Wardens.

  • Atmosphere: Rustic, practical, and communal. Not a shop, but a quartermaster’s store.
  • Process: They would not sell to just anyone. A trusted ally or someone who has performed a service for the enclave might be able to purchase a jar from their limited stock. It is a transaction based on reputation and need, not just coin.

How the Item is Bought and Sold

The sale of MAB-193 is a transaction between professionals.

  • The Seller’s Scrutiny: A responsible proprietor will not sell this paste to a novice. They might ask what the buyer intends to hunt and where. Using such a powerful lure irresponsibly could disrupt an ecosystem or draw a dangerous creature to an unwelcome location, and a professional outfitter’s reputation depends on their clients’ responsible conduct.
  • Proof of Potency: The paste is sold in sealed, dark ceramic jars, often stamped with the Chasm Wardens’ mark (a stylized canyon with a star at its heart). To prove its quality, a shopkeeper might have a “tester” jar. They would unseal it and allow the buyer to experience the overwhelming, pungent, and earthy aroma, a clear sign of its potency.
  • Instruction and Advice: A good seller will provide advice on its use: apply a small dab, place it on a clean rock surface with good wind exposure, and be prepared for a visitor within the hour. They will stress its “traceless” property as a key feature, highlighting that it is a tool for a clean, respectful hunt.

Cost and Value in the World of Saṃsāra

The price of the Mineral-Attracting Bait-Paste reflects the rarity of its ingredients and the alchemical skill required to create it. It is an expensive but highly effective consumable.

  • Standard Market Price: A single, sealed jar of Mineral-Attracting Bait-Paste (MAB-193), containing five applications, typically costs 15 Gold coins.
    • Calculation Breakdown: 15 Gold = 150 Silver. This makes each of the five doses worth 3 Gold, a significant but justifiable expense for a hunt that could yield a prize worth many times that amount.
  • Price Variations: In a remote ranger enclave, one might acquire a jar for as little as 10 Gold. A high-end urban alchemist with a monopoly might charge up to 25 Gold. A single dose sold by a fellow hunter in the field might go for 4 or 5 Gold.
  • Barter Value: The Chasm Wardens themselves have little use for money. They operate on a barter system. They would gladly trade several jars of their paste for items they cannot easily acquire in the deep canyons: high-quality waterproof cloaks and bedrolls, durable leather boots, books on advanced alchemy or botany, or a supply of rare, medicinal herbs from a different climate, such as a swamp or jungle.

The roleplay of using Mineral-Attracting Bait-Paste is about asserting a subtle but profound control over an environment’s ecosystem. A character using this paste is not just a hunter; they are a strategist and a manipulator, using their knowledge of the natural world to turn its inhabitants into unwitting pawns. It encourages a patient, observant, and often cunning approach to problem-solving, where the scent of moss and salt can be more effective than a drawn sword.

In the Rocky Canyons and High Mountains (Intended Environment)

Offensive Roleplay: This is the paste in its element, a tool for the perfect ambush. The roleplay is in the methodical preparation. A hunter, Kael, finds his spot—a high perch with a clear line of sight to a small, isolated ledge below. He checks the wind, then carefully climbs down to the ledge. He unseals the ceramic jar, and the pungent, earthy aroma of salt and lichen momentarily overpowers the clean mountain air. With a small wooden applicator, he smears a single, deliberate dab of the paste onto the sun-warmed rock. He leaves no other trace. He then returns to his perch. The roleplay becomes a test of patience. He sits, motionless, for what feels like an hour, his senses alert. He is not just waiting for any target, but for the right one, trusting that the irresistible scent is doing the hard work for him, drawing the creature to his chosen kill zone.

Defensive Roleplay: As a defensive tool, the paste is a weapon of misdirection. Imagine Kael’s party is being relentlessly pursued by a pack of territorial, aggressive Tusk-Root Boars. They can’t fight the whole pack. Kael notices a side-canyon known to be the nesting ground of a large, even more aggressive beast: a Crystal-Horned Gazelle matriarch. The roleplay is in the desperate gamble. While his party creates a noisy distraction in one direction, Kael sprints to the entrance of the gazelle’s canyon and slathers the paste across the rocks. The party then flees. They don’t see what happens next, but they hear it: the enraged, stamping shrieks of the gazelle matriarch, followed by the furious squeals of the boars. He has used the paste to lure one threat directly into the path of another, creating a chaotic battle that allows his party to slip away.

In a Subterranean Mine or Ancient Dungeon

Offensive Roleplay: The paste becomes a tool to draw a threat out of a fortified position. The party knows a clutch of Basilisk’s lair at the bottom of a deep, twisting mine shaft. Fighting them in those cramped quarters is suicide. The roleplay is in the tense, calculated invitation. The party’s alchemist applies a dose of the paste to a large stalagmite in the center of a wide, open cavern they’ve prepared with traps. The scent, heavy and potent in the still subterranean air, drifts down into the shaft. Now, the party waits in concealed positions. Every scrape of stone, every distant drip of water, heightens the tension. They are willingly calling a petrifying monster towards them, using its own instincts to lure it from its lair and onto a battlefield of their choosing.

Defensive Roleplay: Here, the paste is a weapon of pure diversion. The party has stolen a relic and is now being chased by a horde of mindless, skittering cave-dwellers that hunt by scent. The party’s rogue, Elara, runs ahead to a fork in the tunnel. The roleplay is in her quick, decisive thinking. She doesn’t hesitate. She slaps a generous dab of the paste onto the wall of the tunnel leading deeper into the dark, a known dead end. She then silently gestures for the party to take the other path leading to the surface. The creatures, driven by instinct, are overwhelmed by the powerful, concentrated aroma of the bait. The party hears the sound of the entire horde scrabbling and clawing its way down the wrong tunnel, a sound that quickly fades as they make their escape.

In and Around a Besieged Fortress

Offensive Roleplay: This is an act of unconventional, biological warfare. An army is besieging a fortress built into a mountainside, its stone foundations seemingly impenetrable. The army’s scout, however, knows the region is home to massive, burrowing creatures called Stone-Gnawers. The roleplay is a high-stakes, nighttime infiltration. Under the cover of a moonless night, the scout and her team sneak to the base of the fortress wall. They don’t carry explosives; they carry several large jars of MAB-193. They smear the paste all along the foundations of a key tower. They retreat and wait. By dawn, the fortress defenders are in a panic. The Stone-Gnawers, drawn by the irresistible mineral scent, have begun to instinctively burrow through the “tasty” rock of the foundations, creating a breach and compromising the entire structure.

Defensive Roleplay: The fortress is being besieged, and the enemy is using giant, armored rhinos to push their battering ram. The fortress’s alchemist knows these beasts are herbivores that supplement their diet with mineral-rich rocks. The roleplay is a desperate, clever ploy. The alchemist loads a catapult not with a rock, but with a large, fragile clay pot filled with the paste. They launch it, aiming for it to shatter against a rocky outcropping in a nearby forest, upwind of the enemy’s siege line. The potent aroma drifts across the battlefield. The giant rhinos become agitated, distracted, and then uncontrollable, straining to get to the irresistible scent. Their charge on the gate falters as they fight their handlers, their instincts overriding their training, all because of a scent on the wind.

Perception of Activation:

Sight

  • What’s Perceived: A Shimmering Haze.
  • Description: The moment the paste is applied to a surface and exposed to open air, it begins to “breathe.” A very faint, shimmering distortion, like heat rising from sun-baked stone, wafts gently from the paste. This is not smoke, but the visual effect of the potent alchemical aroma being released into the environment. The paste itself seems to slowly lose its color over its duration, fading from a rich grey-green to a pale, inert grey.
  • Positives: The shimmer provides a clear, if subtle, visual indicator that the paste is fresh, active, and releasing its scent.
  • Negatives: The haze is extremely faint and is almost impossible to see in bright daylight, darkness, or windy conditions, making it an unreliable visual cue for its status.

Sound

  • What’s Perceived: A Faint Sizzle.
  • Description: The activation is virtually silent. However, for the first few seconds after application, a user with very keen hearing might perceive an incredibly faint, sizzling sound, like a drop of water evaporating on a warm rock. This is the sound of the magical binders reacting with the air and beginning the slow-release process.
  • Positives: The near-total silence of the activation is a massive tactical advantage, ensuring that setting the lure does not alert any nearby creatures.
  • Negatives: The sound is so quiet that it is functionally useless as a form of feedback, offering no reliable confirmation of activation.

Smell

  • What’s Perceived: An Overwhelming Wave of Primal Scent.
  • Description: This is the primary and most dramatic perception. The instant the jar is unsealed, a powerful and complex aroma floods the senses. It is not a single smell but a symphony of them: the deep, rich smell of a damp cave, the sharp and tangy scent of mineral salt, and the earthy, almost sweet perfume of sun-baked moss and lichen after a rainstorm. It is a primal, compelling scent of pure, concentrated nature.
  • Positives: The aroma is so potent and unmistakable that there is absolutely no doubt the paste is active and functioning at peak effectiveness.
  • Negatives: The scent is overwhelming for the user as well. It clings to hands, clothes, and gear, making personal stealth extremely difficult as the user will carry a faint trace of the powerful lure with them.

Touch

  • What’s Perceived: A Cool Grit and a Subtle Vibration.
  • Description: The paste is thick, gritty with crushed salt, and feels cool to the touch. When smeared onto a rock surface, a user with sensitive fingers will feel a very faint, low-frequency vibration begin after a few seconds. This is the paste’s magic beginning to resonate with the minerals in the stone itself.
  • Positives: The texture confirms the quality of the mixture (a lack of grit means a poor batch). The subtle vibration is a tactile confirmation that the magic has successfully activated.
  • Negatives: The paste is tacky and difficult to wash off completely without a solvent. The vibration is so faint that it can be easily missed or mistaken for a trick of the senses.

Taste

  • What’s Perceived: An Overpowering Salty Bitterness.
  • Description: If accidentally tasted, the paste is intensely unpleasant. The flavor is an overwhelming blast of mineral salt, followed by a deeply bitter, earthy aftertaste from the concentrated lichens.
  • Positives: None. Its terrible taste ensures no one would mistake it for a food item.
  • Negatives: It is extremely unpalatable and would likely cause nausea if ingested.

Extra-Sensory Perceptions

Arcane Sense (Aura)

  • What’s Perceived: A Rhythmic, Expanding Bloom of Magic.
  • Description: To a magic-sensitive individual, the inert paste in its jar has a tightly contained aura of Transmutation magic. When applied, this aura “blooms” and activates. It does not flare brightly, but instead begins to pulse outwards in slow, gentle, expanding waves of Divination (calling/luring) magic. The “Scent Pulse” activation, in contrast, is a single, powerful wave that rushes out and then vanishes completely.
  • Positives: An attuned user can magically perceive the exact radius of the lure’s effect and the steady rhythm of its “call,” knowing with certainty that it is functioning correctly.
  • Negatives: While the magical pulse is subtle, it is still a beacon. Any other magic-user or magically-sensitive creature in the area can perceive the rhythmic “pinging,” even if they are not attracted to the scent, alerting them to the presence of an active enchantment.

Geomantic Sense (Stone Sense)

  • What’s Perceived: An Offering and an Amplification.
  • Description: To a character with a deep connection to the earth, the act of applying the paste feels like making an offering to the stone. They can perceive the rock itself “tasting” the Echo-Salts. A healthy, mineral-rich rock will feel like it is “awakening” and actively “amplifying” the scent, willingly broadcasting the signal through its own resonant structure.
  • Positives: Provides an intuitive sense of how effective the lure will be in a specific location. A “lively” rock will make the lure far more potent.
  • Negatives: If the stone is magically dead, corrupted, or mineral-poor, the user will feel a “dullness” or “rejection.” This is a clear sign that the paste will be much less effective and its range will be significantly reduced in that spot.

Empathic Resonance (Hunger Sense)

  • What’s Perceived: A Beacon of Pure Craving.
  • Description: An empath does not perceive the smell of the paste, but rather the raw, conceptual “idea” that it projects. The activation creates a powerful psychic beacon of pure, gnawing desire. It feels like the concept of “the most perfect, satisfying meal” and “the essential nutrient my body desperately needs” rolled into one and broadcasted outwards.
  • Positives: Allows the user to understand the raw, instinct-compelling power of the lure on a primal level. They can feel how irresistible it is to its intended targets.
  • Negatives: Being near the active paste is psychically draining for an empath. They are constantly exposed to a powerful, artificial feeling of intense, gnawing hunger, which can be deeply unsettling and distracting.

Chasm Warden’s Formula for the Echo-Lure Paste (MAB-193)

This recipe details the meticulous alchemical process for creating the Mineral-Attracting Bait-Paste. It is a craft of patience and deep ecological knowledge, requiring not just skill in alchemy but a profound understanding of the rare ingredients gathered from the harshest canyon environments. The formula balances potent natural aromas with subtle enchantments to create a lure that is both irresistible and respectful of nature.

Materials Needed (for one 5-dose jar)

Primary Components:

  • One (1) handful of sun-dried Sun-Star Lichen, harvested from a south-facing cliff at midday.
  • One (1) handful of fresh, damp Wind-Whisper Moss, gathered from a shaded, breezy rock crevice.
  • Two (2) ounces of raw Echo-Salt Crystals, harvested from a deep, acoustically resonant cave.

Binding & Magical Agents:

  • Four (4) ounces of Cave Slime Gelatin, to serve as the paste’s slow-release base.
  • One (1) single drop of Moon-Petal Dew, collected at night, which provides the traceless dissipation property.
  • Half a pint of Pure Mountain Spring Water.

Tools Required

  • Alchemist’s Distillation Kit: A complete set including a retort, condenser, and a low-heat brazier for extracting essences.
  • Marble Mortar and Pestle: Essential for grinding the Echo-Salts, as metal tools would react with and corrupt their magical properties.
  • Enchanted Glass Stirring Rod: A rod imbued with a minor ward against premature magical reactions, used for blending the final mixture.
  • Airtight Ceramic Jars: For storing the finished paste and preserving its potency.
  • Set of fine-mesh filters.

Skill Requirements

  • Expert Alchemist: The crafter must be highly skilled in distillation and the balancing of volatile magical compounds. One misstep can render the paste inert.
  • Adept Herbalist (Specialized Flora): Requires the ability to identify the correct species of magical lichen and moss, and to harvest them at the proper time to ensure maximum potency.
  • Mineralogist: A working knowledge of crystalline structures is needed to select the best Echo-Salt specimens and grind them to the correct consistency without destroying their resonant properties.

Crafting Steps

Step 1: Distillation of Essences (Approx. 4 hours) This phase is about capturing the core aromas. First, the dried Sun-Star Lichen is gently heated in the retort with half of the spring water. A golden, sun-scented oil is slowly distilled and collected. The process is then repeated with the fresh Wind-Whisper Moss and the remaining water to collect a pale green, airy essence. The two essences must be kept separate for now.

Step 2: Preparing the Mineral Base (Approx. 1 hour) Using the marble mortar and pestle, the Echo-Salt crystals are carefully ground into a fine, shimmering, iridescent powder. The grinding must be done by hand in a slow, circular motion to preserve the salt’s magical resonance. This fine powder is then thoroughly blended into the Cave Slime Gelatin, creating a thick, gritty, greyish paste.

Step 3: The Alchemical Blend (Approx. 30 minutes) This is the critical combination phase. Using the enchanted glass stirring rod, the golden Sun-Star Lichen essence is slowly stirred into the gelatin base until the color is uniform. Then, the pale green Wind-Whisper Moss essence is added. As the second essence is mixed in, the paste will begin to emit its signature, potent aroma and may warm slightly in the bowl.

Step 4: The Final Enchantment (Approx. 5 minutes) Once the paste is fully blended, the single drop of Moon-Petal Dew is added. The crafter must do this with focus and intent. As the dew touches the paste, the mixture will shimmer with a faint, silvery light for a moment as the traceless dissipation magic is locked into the compound.

Step 5: Potting and Curing (1 week) The finished, still-warm paste is immediately decanted into the airtight ceramic jars and sealed with wax. The jars must then be stored in a cool, dark place for seven full days. During this curing period, the alchemical and magical properties will stabilize, maturing into the final, potent lure. Attempting to use the paste before it has fully cured will result in a much weaker and shorter-lasting effect.

Hunter’s Shout and Warden’s Whisper

Hear this, for the story is old, and the wind has worn away some of the words. It is about a great hunger, and a greater foolishness.

There was a Hunter whose fame was a heavy cloak on his shoulders. His walls were covered in the heads of great beasts. But his heart was not full. He heard of a legendary Crystal-Horned Gazelle whose horns were said to hold the light of the stars. He wished to have this light on his wall.

He came to the lands of the Chasm Wardens, who know the secret language of stone and moss. He demanded their bait-paste. “I will pay you with much gold for your paste that calls the beasts,” the Hunter said.

An Elder Warden, whose face was like a canyon map, looked at the Hunter. He said, “The paste is not a command. It is a voice. With it, we speak to the herds. We do not use it to sing a death-song.”

The Hunter showed his gold. “All songs can be death-songs if the archer is true,” he boasted.

The Elder Warden sighed. He gave the Hunter one small jar. “The mountain has many hungry children,” the Warden warned. “Use only a crumb of this paste. A whisper is enough to invite a guest. A shout will summon the entire family to your door.”

But the Hunter’s heart was greedy, and he thought, “A crumb is for a small hunter. I am a great hunter, so I will make a great call.”

He found the territory of the legendary gazelle. He found a great flat rock. And he did not use a crumb. He used the whole jar, smearing the pungent paste all over the stone. The scent was not a whisper. It was a roar that filled the entire canyon.

He hid with his bow, and he waited. Lo, the great Crystal-Horned Gazelle came, its horns like stars. The Hunter drew his arrow. But then another gazelle came. And another. Then came the Tusk-Root Boars, their eyes red with craving. Then came the Cloud-Goats from the high peaks. Then came the great, lumbering Mossback Groots, shaking the very ground.

The great call had not summoned one prize. It had summoned all hungers. The rock was a table of war, not a table of feasting. The creatures, mad with the scent, fought each other for a taste of the stone.

The Hunter did not fire his arrow. He dropped his bow and he ran. He did not have his prize. He had only his fear, and the sound of the angry mountain at his back.

The Moral of the Story: A wise man speaks a quiet word to get a single answer. A fool shouts his question to the world and is deafened by the reply.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

High-Level Overview: This is not a simple hunting lure but a dangerous alchemical compound, likely brewed from fungi found only in the deepest, most alien of caverns, mixed with mineral salts from a meteorite impact site. The paste doesn’t just attract animals; its scent is tuned to the unnatural appetites of things that dwell on the fringes of reality. It might attract Ghouls craving the taste of ancient minerals, lure a Byakhee from the void, or draw the attention of subterranean things that should remain undisturbed. Using it is a calculated and terrible risk.

Game Mechanics:

Unnatural Lure

  • Description: A small, lead-lined ceramic jar containing a thick, grey-green paste that smells of deep earth, ozone, and something else faintly unsettling. The jar contains 5 applications.
  • Function: An Investigator can apply the paste to a surface. For the next hour, it emits a potent aroma. The Keeper decides what, if anything, is in the area (up to a half-mile radius) that would be attracted to its unnatural, mineral-rich scent.
  • Effect: Any creature with an alien or unnatural diet (Ghouls, Dimensional Shamblers, certain Deep Ones, etc.) that catches the scent must make a POW x 3 roll. If it fails, it is compelled to investigate the source of the aroma. Normal animals will actively avoid the scent.
  • Sanity Cost: An Investigator who spends an hour studying the paste with Science (Alchemy or Chemistry) may make a roll to understand its composition. Success reveals the ingredients are bizarre and unnatural, costing the Investigator 0/1d2 Sanity. Successfully luring a Mythos entity with the paste is a profoundly unsettling experience, costing 1/1d4 Sanity when the creature arrives.

Blades in the Dark

High-Level Overview: In Doskvol, this is known as Ghost-Lure Paste. It’s a rare alchemical substance created by fringe physickers, made from powdered ghost-lilies and salts gathered from the corrosive shores of the Void Sea. It doesn’t attract living creatures; it emits an aroma on the spectral plane that is irresistible to lonely, hungry, or curious spirits. It’s a key tool for a crew of Whispers or a Cult, used to draw a specific spirit to a desired location for a ritual, or to create a chaotic diversion by luring a swarm of angry ghosts to harry a rival faction.

Game Mechanics:

Ghost-Lure Paste (Alchemical, 1 Load for a jar with 3 uses)

  • Description: A shimmering, cold paste in a sealed spirit-warded jar. It has no scent to the living but is powerfully aromatic to ghosts.
  • Function: This is a tool for manipulating the ghost field. Using it is often a Setup Action where you Attune or Tinker to apply it effectively.
    • On a success, you create a situation Aspect like Powerful Spectral Beacon with one free invocation. You can use this to lure a specific, named spirit to the location over the next hour.
    • You can also use it to create a diversion. Tick a clock for “Carnage in the Charterhall” by applying the paste to a Bluecoat precinct, attracting a host of angry spirits.
  • Consequences: On a failed roll, you might attract the wrong kind of entity—something ancient, powerful, and hungry—or the effect might be far wider than you intended, causing spectral chaos across an entire block.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

High-Level Overview: The Mineral-Attracting Bait-Paste is an uncommon, consumable Wondrous Item. It’s a prized tool for rangers, beast masters, and monster hunters. Crafted by druidic circles or reclusive alchemists, it allows the user to manipulate the battlefield by drawing specific types of creatures to a chosen location, perfect for setting up an ambush or luring a dangerous monster out of its lair.

Stat Block:

Warden’s Lure Paste Wondrous item, uncommon

This sealed ceramic jar contains 5 doses of a thick, pungent, grey-green paste. As an action, you can apply one dose of the paste to a point on a solid surface.

For 1 hour, the paste emits a powerful aroma in a 300-foot radius. This scent is irresistible to certain creatures. Any beast or monstrosity with an Intelligence of 5 or lower that eats plants or minerals (such as Basilisks, Gorgons, or some types of herbivores) and is within the radius must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is magically compelled to use its movement on each of its turns to move toward the paste’s location by the most direct route. If it reaches the paste’s location, it uses its action to examine the source of the scent. A creature is no longer compelled once it takes damage or witnesses a hostile act.

After 1 hour, the paste and its scent vanish without a trace.

Knave (2nd Edition)

High-Level Overview: In Knave, this is a highly useful piece of alchemical gear. Its rules are its description, providing a clear function that rewards clever players who take the time to understand their environment. It takes up a precious inventory slot but can turn a dangerous hunt into a controlled ambush or a deadly chase into a clean escape.

Item Description:

Jar of Lure Paste (1 inventory slot, 5 uses)

  • Description: A thick, gritty, and incredibly pungent paste in a sealed ceramic jar.
  • Properties:
    • When a dose is applied to a surface, it emits a powerful scent for one hour.
    • The scent is irresistible to any nearby creatures that eat rocks or plants (herbivores, basilisks, some drakes, etc.). The GM will determine which creatures in the area are affected.
    • Affected creatures must make a Willpower saving throw or be compelled to move towards the paste and investigate it.
    • The potent aroma masks the user’s own scent, granting advantage on saves made to hide from creatures that hunt by smell.
    • After one hour, the paste evaporates, leaving no trace.

Fate Core System

High-Level Overview: In Fate, the Warden’s Lure Paste is a consumable Extra that allows a character to influence the environment and its inhabitants. It is a narrative tool for creating advantages, compelling animal behavior, and solving problems through a deep understanding of nature rather than force. A single jar of paste is a valuable asset that can shape the outcome of an entire scene when used cleverly.

Game Mechanics:

Extra: Warden’s Lure Paste (A jar has 5 uses)

  • Aspects:
    • Irresistible Scent of the Deep Earth: You can invoke this Aspect when using the paste to attract a specific creature or to create a chaotic diversion by drawing in a whole herd. A compel could be that the overwhelming scent attracts something far larger or more dangerous than you intended.
    • A Whisper, Not a Shout: This speaks to the paste’s intended, subtle use. You can invoke this when using a small amount to gently guide an animal. A compel might be that using too much (a “shout”) has unforeseen and chaotic consequences, as detailed in the lore.
  • Stunts:
    • Perfect Ambush: When you use the paste to Create an Advantage for an ambush against a creature susceptible to its scent, you get a +2 bonus to your Survival or Lore roll.
    • Scent Cloak: You can expend a use of the paste to mask your group’s scent. For the rest of the scene, you automatically succeed at overcoming any obstacle related to being tracked by scent from normal animals.

Numenera & Cypher System

High-Level Overview: This is a Cypher, a piece of leftover biotechnology from a prior world. Known as a “Bio-Lure Canister,” it contains engineered pheromones and nutrient aerosols designed to attract specific herbivorous or lithovorous bio-forms, likely for ecological management or large-scale automated harvesting in a bygone era. To a Ninth Worlder, it is a magical paste that sings a song only strange beasts can hear.

Game Mechanics:

Bio-Lure Canister

  • Level: 5
  • Form: A small, soft-bodied canister that dispenses a thick, grey-green paste. It contains enough paste for three applications.
  • Effect: One application of the paste can be applied to a surface as an action. For the next hour, it emits a powerful, wide-ranging aerosol. Any herbivorous or lithovorous creature (of level 5 or lower) that comes within a long range of the paste is drawn to it. The creature is compelled to move toward the paste and, upon reaching it, will investigate it for one minute before the compulsion ends (unless the creature is attacked).
  • Wearable: A creature can smear the paste on themselves. For one hour, they have an asset on all stealth tasks against creatures that rely on a sense of smell.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

High-Level Overview: In the tactical world of Pathfinder, the Warden’s Lure Paste is a consumable alchemical item. It is a tool for characters like Rangers, Alchemists, and Druids who excel at manipulating the natural world. Its mechanics are focused on creating a specific area of effect that can control the movement of certain types of creatures, making it an excellent tool for setting up ambushes or managing the battlefield.

Stat Block:

WARDEN’S LURE PASTE ITEM 3 RARE ALCHEMICAL CONSUMABLE OLFACTORY

  • Price 10 gp
  • Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L
  • Activate [A] Interact

You smear this thick, pungent paste onto a surface, after which it and its aroma are active for 1 hour before vanishing completely. It creates a powerful lure in a 60-foot emanation.

Any non-sapient animal or beast with a diet that includes plants or minerals that ends its turn in the emanation must attempt a DC 17 Will save.

  • Failure The creature is fascinated with the lure’s origin point. For the next minute, it must spend its actions moving toward the lure. If it reaches the location, it remains fascinated, observing the lure. This effect ends if the creature is targeted by a hostile action.
  • Critical Failure As failure, but the fascination lasts for 10 minutes.
  • Special The powerful aroma is an effective scent-mask. All creatures within the emanation are concealed from creatures attempting to find them using scent.

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE)

High-Level Overview: In Savage Worlds, Warden’s Lure Paste is a piece of Rare Alchemical Gear that provides a straightforward and potent advantage. Its rules are designed to be quick and effective, allowing a character to influence the battlefield by drawing enemies into a trap or creating a useful distraction without slowing down the game.

Game Mechanics:

Warden’s Lure Paste (Jar with 5 doses)

  • Description: A pungent, grey-green paste that is irresistible to certain creatures.
  • Effect:
    • Lure: As an action, a character can apply a dose of the paste. For the next hour, any targeted creature type (herbivores or mineral-eaters, at the GM’s discretion) within a Large Burst Template must make a Spirit roll opposed by the user’s Survival roll. If the creature fails, it is compelled to move toward the paste and investigate, ending its movement adjacent to the paste if possible. This compulsion ends if the creature is attacked.
    • Scent Mask: The aroma is a powerful masking agent. Any creature attempting to track the user or their party by scent while they are within the paste’s area of effect suffers a –2 penalty to their roll.
  • Special Trapping: The paste is traceless, and both the substance and its scent vanish completely after one hour.

Shadowrun (Sixth World)

High-Level Overview: In the Sixth World, this is a specialized alchemical compound known as EvoCritter Lure (ECL-193). It is a product of corporate bio-science, designed by Evo’s xenobiology divisions for the study and capture of paracritters. Each batch is tailored to a specific dietary need (herbivore, lithovore, etc.). Shadowrunners acquire it on the grey market as a powerful tool for diversion, luring guard beasts away from a patrol route, or even for hunting valuable paracritters for their magical reagents.

Game Mechanics:

EvoCritter Lure (Herbivore Formula)

  • Type: Alchemical Compound
  • Availability: 8R
  • Cost: 400 nuyen per jar (5 uses)
  • Description: A sealed biocontainer holding a pungent, grey-green paste.
  • Effect: Applying a dose of the lure takes a Minor Action. For one hour, it emits a powerful scent in a 100-meter radius.
    • Any non-sapient paracritter of the specified type (herbivore) that detects the scent must make a Willpower + Logic (3) test. If the test fails, the creature is compelled to move towards the lure’s source and investigate.
    • Scent Masking: The powerful aroma provides a +2 dice pool bonus to Stealth tests made against any creature that relies on its sense of smell for tracking.

Starfinder

High-Level Overview: This is a dose of Xeno-Pheromone Paste, a standard but effective piece of technological gear used by xenobiologists, explorers, and big-game hunters across the Pact Worlds. Each variant is synthesized to appeal to a broad category of alien fauna (e.g., silicon-based lithovores, ammonia-breathing grazers, etc.). It is a tool of scientific study and controlled hunting, allowing users to draw out timid or hidden creatures for observation or capture.

Game Mechanics:

Xeno-Pheromone Paste, Mk I Level 3

  • Price 150 credits (for a pack of 5); Bulk L
  • Type Technological item (consumable); Hands 1
  • Description: A small, sealed pouch containing a single-use dose of a thick, pungent paste.
  • Effect: As a standard action, you can apply the paste to a surface, where it remains active for 1 hour before becoming inert. It emits a powerful scent in a 500-foot radius that is irresistible to a specific category of animal (such as non-sapient herbivores, lithovores, or insects; chosen when purchased).
    • Any creature of the chosen category that starts its turn in the radius must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or be forced to spend its actions moving toward the paste. This compulsion ends if the creature is attacked or takes damage.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

High-Level Overview: This is simply Bio-Lure (Type H – Herbivore), a standard piece of equipment for planetary survey teams and hunters, available at Tech Level 8. It is not magical but a concentrated chemical compound designed to mimic the ideal food source for common herbivorous lifeforms. Its effectiveness varies wildly from planet to planet, requiring local knowledge to be used properly. For a hunter on a new world, using the wrong lure can be a costly, or even fatal, mistake.

Game Mechanics:

Bio-Lure (Type H)

  • Tech Level: 8
  • Mass: 0.1 kg per container (5 uses)
  • Cost: Cr 250
  • Description: A container of pungent, nutrient-rich paste.
  • Function: A character can apply the lure and make an Animals or Survival check. The difficulty of the check is determined by the GM based on the local ecosystem.
    • Routine (6+) Success: On a world with compatible biology, a successful check will attract 1D6 small, non-threatening herbivores over the next hour.
    • Average (8+) Success: Can be used to attract a specific, known herbivore in its native territory.
    • Difficult (10+) Success: Can be used to lure a large, dangerous, or particularly wary herbivorous creature into an ambush.
  • Failure: A failed check means the lure does not work. A spectacular failure may attract a local carnivore that preys on the herbivores the lure was designed for.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

High-Level Overview: This is Beast-Bait, a potent and jealously guarded alchemical concoction. Its creation is known only to a few Amber Wizards and some reclusive halfling communities in the Moot. It is a powerful tool for hunters, but like many things in the Old World, it is crude and has dangerous side effects. The scent doesn’t just attract beasts; it drives them into a state of single-minded craving, making them heedless of danger but also aggressive if denied their prize.

Game Mechanics:

Beast-Bait

  • Type: Alchemical Compound
  • Enc: 0 (for a small pot with 3 uses)
  • Qualities: Alchemical, Consumable, Rare
  • Effect: When a dose is applied, it fills an area roughly the size of a village square with an irresistible scent that lasts for 1D10+2 hours.
    • At the end of each hour, the GM should make a secret Test to see if any beasts (typically herbivores, but may affect creatures like Jabberslythes or other strange forest-dwellers) are attracted.
  • Special Rules:
    • Mindless Craving: Any creature successfully lured by the bait is so focused on reaching the scent that it suffers a -20 penalty to all Perception Tests to notice anything else, such as a hidden trap or an ambush.
    • Scent-Rage: If a creature reaches the bait and is then attacked or prevented from consuming it, it must make a Cool Test or gain the Frenzied Creature Trait for the remainder of the encounter.
    • Foul Stench: The bait’s smell clings to the user. For the rest of the day, they suffer a -10 penalty on all social Tests with non-rustics.