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Originally posted by questing gm

On conflicting information on the nature of smokepowder

returnip — 09/24/2023 11:26 PM

Hello @Ed Greenwood There seems to be some conflicting information on the nature of smokepowder. In the 3e FRCS it's presented as an alchemical item and you have previously said this:

https://www.sageadvice.eu/is-smokepowder-a-magic-item-or-solely-alchemical/

But in 3e Magic of Faerűn smokepowder is presented as a magical item that you need to be a spellcaster with the craft wondrous item feat to create. And you have also said this:

https://www.sageadvice.eu/what-being-in-forgotten-realm-is-in-charge-of-making-sure-gunpowder-doesnt-work/

And this:

https://www.sageadvice.eu/i-know-that-fireworks-and-firecrackers-exist-in-the-forgotten-realms-but-what-makes-them-pop-is-it-smokepowder/

Is it a magical item if magic has been involved in its creation and non-magical if created only using alchemy? Or has it changed over time and we should just trust the latest version? Grateful if you can shed some light on what is intended in the rules and why.

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Ed Greenwood — 09/25/2023 11:12 AM

No conflict. Smokepowder is wholly alchemical (a physical mixture), but ONE of those powdered ingredients is magical. Smokepowder is a powdered material, not a "magic item." (An item is a device or solid “thing” that's been enchanted. We made that distinction in the game long, long ago when a gamer tried to argue that all the water that came out of a decanter of endless water was enchanted/magical; no, Gary ruled, the decanter was, but the water wasn't.) Gunpowder burns in the Realms but not rapidly enough to "explode." Smokepowder, if the powdered/granular ingredients are in the right proportions (and state: granules of the right size, not big lumps, so enough air can get at enough surface area) and the right situation (spark or flame within a sufficiently confined area that it will explode instead of just "flaring"/flame-jetting) WILL explode. Gond prohibited gunpowder, but hasn't prohibited smokepowder (because his priests, thus far, control access to it far more than they could gunpowder, which is a fairly simple mixture and the secret was "long out.") And because Ao doesn't want him to have that much power (banning both) and has warned him, though mortals in the Realms don't know that last bit.

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