Transmuted Grenade

From: Elixir of Transmutation

Lore: The Transmuted Grenade has its origins in the laboratories of an alchemist known as Tiberius Forgeheart. Tiberius was fascinated by the potential of the Elixir of Transmutation and sought to create a weapon that could harness its power. After years of experimentation and refining his techniques, he developed the recipe for the Transmuted Grenade.

Legends tell of Tiberius using his creation to defend his homeland during a time of war. The grenades were renowned for their ability to turn the tide of battles, transforming the battlefield into a hazardous and unpredictable terrain.

Use: The Transmuted Grenade is a powerful explosive device that harnesses the transmutation energy of the Elixir. When thrown and shattered, the grenade releases a concentrated burst of transmutation energy, causing a localized transmutation effect in the surrounding area. This effect temporarily alters the environment, turning it into a different substance or creating hazardous conditions for enemies or obstacles.

Tier One Stats:

• Transmutation Burst: The grenade, upon detonation, creates a burst of transmutation energy with a radius determined by the TTRPG system’s mechanics.
• Environmental Transformation: The transmutation effect alters the surrounding area, changing it into a different substance or condition, such as ice, quicksand, or even stone.
• Duration: The transmutation effect lasts for a limited time, typically long enough to affect the immediate area and create a tactical advantage for the user or their allies.
• Skill Requirement: Proficiency in throwing or ranged combat skills enhances the accuracy and effectiveness of using the Transmuted Grenade.
• Single Use: The grenade is a consumable item and is used up upon detonation.

Temporary Skills Gained:

• Throwing/Ranged Combat: Proficiency in throwing or ranged combat skills is crucial for effectively utilizing the Transmuted Grenade. The user’s accuracy and ability to aim the grenade accurately will determine the success of the transmutation effect.

Preparation: To create the Transmuted Grenade, the following steps are involved:

• Elixir of Transmutation: A specific quantity of the Elixir of Transmutation is carefully measured and prepared.
• Glass Sphere: A hollow glass sphere is chosen as the container for the grenade. It is essential to select a durable glass that can withstand the explosive force.
• Filling the Sphere: The Elixir of Transmutation is poured into the glass sphere, ensuring it is adequately filled without excess air.
• Sealing: The sphere is securely sealed to prevent leakage or premature detonation. Various alchemical sealing techniques may be employed to ensure the integrity of the grenade.
• Stabilization: The grenade is allowed to rest and stabilize, allowing the transmutation energy to infuse into the Elixir fully.
• Testing and Quality Control: Each grenade is rigorously tested to ensure its stability and reliable detonation.

Cost: Due to the complexity of its creation and the potency of its effects, the Transmuted Grenade is a valuable and sought-after item. The cost of acquiring or crafting the grenades would reflect their uniqueness and destructive potential. Each grenade would have a significant cost associated with it.

Process:

• Acquire or prepare the necessary ingredients, including the Elixir of Transmutation and suitable glass spheres.
• Measure and pour the Elixir into the glass sphere, ensuring the right amount without overfilling.
• Seal the glass sphere securely to prevent leakage.
• Stabilize the grenade by allowing it to rest and infuse the transmutation energy fully.
• Perform thorough testing to ensure the stability and reliability of the grenade.

Tags:

• Explosive: The Transmuted Grenade is a powerful explosive device.
• Area-of-Effect: The grenade’s transmutation effect affects a specific radius, altering the surrounding environment.
• Tactical: The grenade is often used strategically to create advantageous conditions or hinder enemies in combat situations.
• Consumable: The grenade is a one-time use item and is consumed upon detonation.
• Additional: Alchemical Detonation, Elemental Conversion, Terrain Manipulation, Arcane Volatility, Battlefield Disruption, Transmutation Burst, Environmental Hazard, Strategic Explosive, Reactive Alchemy, Unstable Energy

Perception of Activation:

• User’s Perspective:
  • Sight: The glass sphere trembles slightly in the hand, the liquid inside shifting and churning into a chaotic whirlpool of luminous gold, violet, and blue. As the grenade is primed, glowing cracks slither across its surface, pulsating with unstable energy. A faint distortion ripples through the air, making surrounding objects appear to briefly bend or shimmer.
  • Sound: A deep, resonant hum grows from within the grenade, rising into a high-pitched whine as the transmutation effect builds. Occasional sharp clicks, like stone grinding against metal, emanate from inside. Just before detonation, a brief vacuum-like silence falls around the user before the explosion reshapes the environment.
  • Touch: The grenade warms unnaturally in the user’s palm, sending tingling vibrations through the fingertips, as though the object itself is alive and resisting containment. A faint magnetic pull can be felt, subtly tugging toward certain materials.
  • Smell: A sharp, acrid scent fills the air—burning ozone mixed with alchemical reagents. Beneath it, fleeting traces of sulfur, wet earth, or molten metal shift unpredictably, foreshadowing the chaotic nature of the transmutation effect.
  • Taste: If the user breathes through their mouth, an unusual sensation lingers on the tongue—like tasting iron dust and heated air, with an aftershock of bitter herbs.
  • Extrasensory Perceptions:
    • Matter Flux: The user briefly perceives the world in layered forms—stone feels momentarily malleable, wood seems to pulse as if alive, and air carries the density of water for a split second.
    • Temporal Displacement: The moment of activation feels stretched and sluggish, as if the grenade exists in multiple possible states at once. A ghostly afterimage of the grenade appears in the air where it was a second ago.
    • Alchemical Instability: The user senses a creeping awareness from the grenade itself, as though it anticipates release, resisting containment. The feeling vanishes upon detonation.
• Observer’s Perspective:
  • Sight: The grenade emits a chaotic, flickering light that fluctuates unpredictably, warping shadows and giving the impression of shifting space. When thrown, a visible distortion follows its arc, like heat haze bending reality around it. Upon detonation, the environment reshapes—stone liquefies, air solidifies, or the ground turns to another material entirely.
  • Sound: A deep thrumming grows louder, almost unbearable, before collapsing into a sharp, ear-piercing pop. Depending on the transmutation, the impact may be followed by sounds of crackling ice, bubbling magma, splintering stone, or eerie silence.
  • Touch: If near the detonation, bystanders feel a strange pressure, as if the atmosphere is briefly heavier. The ground underfoot may shift unnaturally, either softening, crystallizing, or twisting with new textures.
  • Extrasensory Perceptions:
    • Arcane Disturbance: Those attuned to magic sense a ripple in reality, as if the laws of nature are momentarily rewritten. Some may perceive flashes of the grenade’s possible effects just before they happen.
    • Unstable Resonance: The lingering energy after detonation may cause residual sensations—mild static on the skin, whispers of past transmutations in the wind, or a faint shimmering in the air where the grenade exploded.
• Positives:
  • Transforms the battlefield, creating new opportunities for tactical advantage.
  • Disrupts enemy positions by altering the terrain unpredictably.
  • Can bypass traditional defenses, rendering walls, armor, or cover ineffective.
  • Single-use and easy to deploy, requiring minimal preparation.
• Negatives:
  • Effects are not always predictable, potentially endangering allies.
  • Highly unstable—improper handling may cause premature detonation.
  • Residual transmutation energy may linger, making some areas permanently altered or hazardous.
  • Can attract unwanted attention from those sensitive to arcane fluctuations, revealing the user’s presence.

The Transmuted Grenade and its recipe are not openly sold or readily available in typical marketplaces or legal establishments. Due to their destructive potential and the inherent risks associated with their use, the recipe and grenades themselves are usually sold through clandestine channels and secretive networks.

These grenades are sought after by individuals and organizations that operate in the shadows, such as mercenaries, rebel groups, or underground resistance movements. They are acquired through connections with skilled alchemists, specialized black market dealers, or covert arms dealers who have access to the recipe and the ability to craft the grenades.

The transactions for acquiring Transmuted Grenades often take place in discreet locations, such as hidden backrooms, secret rendezvous points, or remote underground facilities. The buyers must prove their trustworthiness or demonstrate their capabilities before gaining access to these restricted goods.

The environment in which the Transmuted Grenades are used depends on the motives and objectives of those who possess them. Here are a few scenarios where the grenades find utility:

• Combat and Warfare: The grenades are employed in battlefields or conflict zones to disrupt enemy formations, create barriers or hazards, or gain tactical advantages. They can turn a stable environment into treacherous terrain, hindering enemy movements or rendering defensive positions ineffective.
• Sabotage and Infiltration: In covert operations, such as espionage or sabotage, the grenades serve as tools to create distractions, confusion, or diversions. By transmuting the surroundings, they allow infiltrators to bypass security measures or create chaos, enabling their mission’s success.
• Defensive Measures: The grenades can be used to fortify defensive positions or create temporary obstacles. By transmuting the environment, they can erect barriers or turn areas into hazardous zones, dissuading or incapacitating attackers.
• Traps and Ambushes: The grenades can be strategically placed as traps to surprise or incapacitate unsuspecting foes. By transmuting the surroundings into unexpected substances, they create opportunities for ambushes or provide cover for escape.

The Hand That Threw the Changing Death

In the time when stone was soft and rivers forgot their paths, there was a man known to none but feared by all. His name was Tiberius Forgeheart, though in the tongues of those before, it was said as Ti’beru’us, Maker of Breaking. He was no warrior, nor a king, yet entire armies fled before him. He was not a god, yet the land itself reshaped when he walked. Some say he was born in a forge of stars, others whisper he was once human, but remade himself with the knowledge of the shifting world.

Tiberius, he sought change. Not the slow kind, not the creeping march of seasons, but the change that arrives like thunder—sudden, all-consuming, without mercy. He was an alchemist, but not one who healed or gave life. No, his hands twisted the very bones of the world, and his greatest creation was the Grenade of the Changing Death.

The first time it was thrown, it landed in a field of wheat, where golden stalks bent under the sky’s warm gaze. The farmers who toiled there saw only a small glass sphere, rolling between their feet. They laughed at it, called it a jewel, an omen, a child’s toy. Then the earth screamed. The wheat withered to ash. The soil turned to glass. The air itself hardened, trapping those who stood too near. When the wind howled through that place, it no longer sang—it cut.

But Tiberius was not done.

The second time it was thrown, it was in the heart of a great fortress, where stone walls had stood for a thousand years, unbroken even by war. A king sat in his throne, surrounded by knights who boasted of their unyielding might. But when the grenade shattered upon the steps of his hall, the stone lost its memory. It melted like wax, flowing into the courtyard, swallowing steel and flesh alike. The king was heard to cry out once—only once—before he and his fortress became part of the same, smooth slab.

The third time, it was in a battle where swords rang like falling stars, where men fought for a cause long forgotten. A general, desperate to end the war, cast the grenade into the enemy’s charge. The soldiers saw their own doom reflected in the glass surface before it shattered, and then the ground beneath them ceased to be ground.

Some sank as if into water, grasping at the sky as the battlefield swallowed them. Others found their flesh hardening into metal, their screams ringing like struck bells. Those who lived walked the world as half-made things—stone fingers, wooden bones, breath that crackled like fire.

Tiberius, watching from afar, laughed and wept, for he had succeeded. He had made something greater than war. He had made chaos itself.

But power, once made, cannot be unmade.

The last time the grenade was thrown, it was not by Tiberius’ hand. A thief, seeking the secrets of his forge, found one of the spheres resting upon a shelf of many wonders. She did not know what it was. She did not know why it pulsed with colors that had no names. She simply wanted to see what it could do.

And so, with curious hands, she hurled it against the stone of the alchemist’s own chamber.

What happened next, none can say.

Some claim the forge turned to air, and Tiberius fell forever into the sky. Others say the walls became mirrors, trapping him in an endless reflection of his own destruction. A few believe that he became part of his own creation, that every Transmuted Grenade still holds a whisper of his laughter, waiting to be freed.

And so, the legend endures. The grenades are still found, still thrown by hands that do not understand them. Cities fall, mountains shift, rivers turn to gold or to poison, and the world forgets what it was for a moment—just a moment—before remembering again.

But change, once made, never truly vanishes.

Moral of the Story: Those who shape the world must remember—the world shapes them in return.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition) – Transmuted Grenade

• Artifact, Alchemical Weapon
• Description: A volatile alchemical explosive infused with transmutation energy. When detonated, it warps reality, altering the material it touches in unpredictable ways.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Explosion Radius: 10 yards.
  • Effect: Targets within the blast must roll a Hard CON or DEX check:
    • Success: The target avoids the direct transmutation effect, taking 1D6 damage from the shockwave.
    • Failure: The target is partially transmuted (GM decides the effect), suffering 2D6 damage and a permanent bodily alteration (e.g., flesh to stone, limbs turning to wood).
    • Fumble: The target is entirely transmuted into another material, effectively killed or incapacitated.
  • Sanity Cost: 1D4/1D10, as the unnatural reshaping of matter defies comprehension.
  • Rarity: Rare and unstable; known only in occult circles.

Blades in the Dark – Transmuted Grenade

• Alchemical Bomb (1 Load, Rare)
• Description: A forbidden alchemical explosive that reshapes the battlefield upon detonation, altering matter itself in unpredictable ways.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Explosion Radius: Small area (10 feet).
  • Effect: Anyone in the blast zone must make a Prowess Resistance Roll:
    • Success: The target avoids direct transmutation but is thrown back, taking level 2 harm.
    • Failure: The target is affected by a major transmutation (GM’s choice), possibly turned into stone, encased in glass, or fused with surrounding terrain (level 3 harm).
    • Critical Failure: The target is completely transformed into another material, removing them from play.
  • Unstable: On a Desperate Roll, the grenade may activate prematurely or affect unintended targets.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition) – Transmuted Grenade

• Wondrous Item, Rare, Single-Use
• Description: This enchanted alchemical grenade causes a sudden and violent transmutation upon impact, turning the environment and creatures within its blast into different materials.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Explosion Radius: 15 feet.
  • Effect: Each creature in the area must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw:
    • Success: Takes 2D6 force damage and avoids transmutation.
    • Failure: Takes 4D6 force damage and suffers a random transmutation effect determined by the GM (examples: turned to stone, fused with terrain, or partially converted into another material).
    • Natural 1: The target is completely transformed into another material (GM’s discretion).
  • Environmental Change: The affected area is permanently altered, turning into a random material (GM determines specifics).

Knave – Transmuted Grenade

• Explosive, Single Use
• Description: A dangerous alchemical bomb that warps matter upon detonation, reshaping the battlefield in unpredictable ways.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Explosion Radius: 10 feet.
  • Effect: Each target within range rolls a Save vs. DEX:
    • Success: Takes 1D6 damage and is thrown back.
    • Failure: Target is transmuted, suffering 2D6 damage and a permanent material change (GM decides specifics).
    • Critical Failure: Target is entirely transmuted into another substance, effectively removed from play.
  • Environmental Impact: The blast alters terrain, turning a 10-foot area into a different material (stone, ice, metal, etc.).

Fate – Transmuted Grenade

• Alchemical Weapon, Single Use
• Description: A dangerous explosive infused with transmutation energy, capable of altering reality in an instant. When thrown, it destabilizes the surrounding matter, reshaping the battlefield unpredictably.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Aspect: Reality Unraveled – When detonated, the grenade warps the environment and those caught in the blast.
  • Attack Roll: Use Shoot or Athletics to throw. Targets must make a Defend action or suffer the effects.
    • Success: Target takes a mild consequence and 2 shifts of stress.
    • Failure: Target suffers a moderate consequence and 4 shifts of stress.
    • Critical Failure: The target is partially or fully transmuted (GM’s discretion), permanently altering their form or removing them from play.
  • Create an Advantage: The explosion permanently alters terrain, granting a free invoke for cover, hazards, or difficult terrain.

Numenera & Cypher System – Transmuted Grenade

• Level 6 Alchemical Explosive
• Description: A glass sphere filled with volatile transmutation energy, designed to reshape reality upon impact.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Activation: Thrown as an action, affecting all within Short Range (Immediate Area, 10 feet).
  • Effect: Targets must succeed on a Speed Defense Roll (Difficulty 6):
    • Success: Takes 6 points of damage from the explosion.
    • Failure: Suffers 12 points of damage and a random transmutation effect (GM decides, such as turning to stone, becoming intangible, or fusing with terrain).
    • Major Failure: The target is permanently altered or removed from play.
  • Environmental Shift: The blast area becomes a different material (metal, ice, quicksand, etc.), creating a new obstacle or advantage.
• Depletion: One-time use, consumed upon detonation.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition) – Transmuted Grenade

• Alchemical Bomb, Rare, Single Use
• Description: This volatile explosive transforms anything within its blast radius, altering the battlefield in unpredictable ways.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Activation: Thrown weapon, 20-foot range increment.
  • Explosion Radius: 15 feet.
  • Saving Throw: Targets within the area must make a DC 20 Reflex save:
    • Success: The target takes 3d6 force damage and avoids transmutation.
    • Failure: The target takes 6d6 force damage and suffers a random transmutation effect (GM determines the outcome).
    • Critical Failure: The target is completely transformed into another substance (stone, metal, glass, etc.), becoming incapacitated or removed from play.
  • Environmental Change: Affected terrain is permanently transmuted into a different material, creating hazards or barriers.

Savage Worlds – Transmuted Grenade

• Heavy Alchemical Explosive, Single Use
• Description: A potent alchemical device that causes an immediate and violent shift in reality, transmuting materials and reshaping the battlefield.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Throwing: Requires a Throwing roll to land in the desired location.
  • Explosion Radius: Medium Blast Template (10 feet).
  • Effect:
  • Targets within the blast must make an Agility Roll (TN 6):
    • Success: Takes 2d8 damage and avoids transmutation.
    • Failure: Takes 4d8 damage and suffers a transmutation effect (randomly determined by GM, such as turning to stone, fusing with objects, or becoming semi-liquid).
    • Critical Failure: The target is completely transmuted, permanently altering their form.
  • Terrain Effect: The blast reshapes the environment, altering footing, line of sight, or creating obstacles.

Shadowrun (6th Edition) – Transmuted Grenade

• Illegal Alchemical Explosive, Restricted
• Description: A volatile grenade infused with unstable transmutation energy, designed to alter matter upon detonation. Its effects are unpredictable, making it a dangerous weapon even to the user.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Explosion Radius: 6 meters.
  • Attack Test: Throwing Weapons + Agility (Threshold 3).
  • Effect: All targets in range must roll Reaction + Body (Threshold 4):
    • Success: Takes 4P damage from the explosion but resists transmutation.
    • Failure: Takes 6P damage and suffers a random transmutation effect (GM’s discretion, such as becoming partially stone, metal, or fusing with nearby objects).
  • Glitch: The grenade detonates erratically, affecting an unintended area.
• Availability & Cost: Availability 12F, Cost 8,000¥ per unit.

Starfinder – Transmuted Grenade

• Hybrid Grenade, Level 8, Single Use
• Description: A rare alchemical explosive that warps reality, shifting materials unpredictably within its blast radius.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Range: Thrown (20 ft. increment).
  • Explosion Radius: 15 feet.
  • Effect: Targets in range must make a DC 18 Reflex Save:
    • Success: Takes 3d8 force damage and avoids transmutation.
    • Failure: Takes 6d8 force damage and is subject to a transmutation effect (GM’s discretion, such as armor fusing to the body, limbs turning to stone, or terrain altering beneath them).
    • Critical Failure: The target is completely transmuted into another substance, becoming incapacitated.
  • Environmental Effect: The area permanently changes material composition, creating new obstacles or hazards.
• Cost: 10,000 credits per grenade.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition) – Transmuted Grenade

• Experimental Alchemical Weapon, TL 14
• Description: A high-tech alchemical explosive designed to manipulate matter. Due to its unpredictability, it remains classified as an experimental weapon.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Explosion Radius: 5 meters.
  • Effect: Targets within range must make an END check (8+):
    • Success: The target takes 3D6 damage and avoids transmutation.
    • Failure: The target takes 5D6 damage and experiences a random transmutation effect (GM determines specifics, such as losing mobility, fusing with terrain, or partial petrification).
    • Critical Failure (Natural 2): The target is completely transformed, rendered unconscious or permanently altered.
  • Environmental Impact: The affected area’s material composition changes permanently.
• Cost: 30,000 credits per unit.

Warhammer (Wrath & Glory) – Transmuted Grenade

• Rare Alchemical Explosive, Forbidden Tech
• Description: A heretical weapon capable of reshaping matter. Some say its origins lie in the lost sciences of the Dark Age of Technology, while others whisper it was forged in the depths of the Warp.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Throwing Test: Ballistic Skill (DN 3).
  • Explosion Radius: Medium Blast (10 ft.)
  • Effect: Targets must make a DN 5 Toughness Test:
    • Success: Takes 2ED damage and avoids transmutation.
    • Failure: Takes 4ED damage and suffers an unpredictable transmutation effect (GM determines changes, such as skin turning to iron, limbs fusing to armor, or movement impeded).
    • Critical Failure (Complication Rolled): The target is completely transmuted and removed from play.
  • Corruption Risk: Using or handling the grenade may require a Corruption Test (DN 4).
• Rarity: Extremely rare; possession is punishable by execution in most Imperial territories.