Golniri Fire

Golnir may not have needed to wage a major war in years, but that does not mean it is without a military. The wealth brought in by its trade routes attracts no small amount of piracy, and the nobles with holdings on the coasts command great fleets to protect themselves - and their investments. Inland, the ruins of the Fedrelines have been adopted as hideouts by bandit gangs and marauding orcs. And the feuding of rival nobles inevitably leads to conflicts ranging from border skirmishes to the odd civil war. Every Golniri noble of any respectable power commands an army, and they are a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

One important innovation that has given Golnir an edge in battle is the development of Golniri fire. Devised by the royal alchemist centuries ago, this compound has seen uses in many a conflict. A combination of pine resins and sulfur is loaded into a vessel of some sort - such as a small clay pot either wrapped in burning cloth or with a wick attached, or a siphon linked to a pump that blows the resin past a flame (these are often built into the figureheads of warships, but handheld examples exist). When the resin is ignited, it produces a potent flame. So great is the power of Golniri fire that it even burns on water - it can only be put out by packing it with sand, or using an acidic substance like vinegar.

The Golniri typically spray fire from specially-made ships built to accompany siphons, though it is used on land as well, often in siege warfare. It is a weapon of great power, and has made the Golniri navy rightfully feared. Because of its destructive potential, the crown of Golnir takes great pains to ensure that it does not fall into the wrong hands. The ingredients necessary to manufacture Golniri fire are a closely guarded secret, as is the construction of the siphons used to blow it - in fact, it is policy that those entrusted with the making of each component of the apparatus never have contact with one another, so that capturing one would not compromise the entire secret. Only the royal household is trusted with the manufacture of Golniri fire, and they rent it out to trusted allies - though, the fluid nature of Golniri ambitions means that those allies do not always stay loyal, and many noble houses that rival the crown have stockpiles of Golniri fire.

Nevertheless, a few treatises on making Golniri fire have slipped out of Golnir and found their way into the hands of alchemists elsewhere. Some of these are forgeries and won't work at all, but in other cases, alchemists have managed to successfully reverse-engineer weapons that work similarly to Golniri fire, though not always possessing the same properties. It is no secret that Golniri fire has made the kingdom's navy the envy of other powers, and surely they would pay handsomely to have the secrets shared.

New Items

Note that Golniri fire is not the same as alchemist's fire. In the Lunar Lands, alchemist's fire is a catch-all term that describes all other incendiary weapons - most of them were created as an attempt to reproduce Golniri fire, to varying degrees of success.

Golniri Fire, Flask

This sticky, adhesive fluid ignites when exposed to air. As an action, you can throw this flask up to 20 feet, shattering it on impact. Make a ranged attack against a creature or object, treating the Golniri fire as an improvised weapon. On a hit, the target takes 1d6 fire damage at the start of each of its turns. A creature can end this damage by using its action to make a DC 10 Dexterity check to extinguish the flames. Dousing an affected creature in water will not put the fire out.

 Weight: 1 pound.

Golniri Cheirosiphon 

A cheirosiphon is a handheld version of a ship-mounted siphon used to project Golniri fire. It cannot be bought at stores and must be obtained from a quartermaster or looted from enemies. Using a cheirosiphon requires its own proficiency; characters must be trained in order to use it. With a DM's permission, a character may replace any of their starting weapon proficiencies with proficiencies in cheirosiphones. If you wish to use a cheirosiphon for a character's starting equipment, get your DM's permission in order to do so.

Damage: This weapon fires in a 10-foot cube area within a 30-foot range. Every creature in the area must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 3d6 fire damage. Additionally, on a failed save, they catch fire and take 1d6 fire damage at the start of each of their turns. A creature can end this damage by using its action to make a DC 10 Dexterity check to extinguish the flames. Dousing an affected creature in water will not put the fire out.

Weight: 10 pounds.

Properties: Ammunition (Golniri fire), Reload (3 shots), Two-Handed.

Golniri Siphon

This weapon is designed to work with the rules for ships found in Ghosts of Saltmarsh. It was, in fact, created in response to something I pointed out on the Ghosts of Saltmarsh subreddit on the lack of rules for alchemist's fire siphons. All credit to Reddit user level3kobold for this one, hope you're doing well out there.

This rotating nozzle is mounted on your ship's deck, and has room for a pressurized tank of alchemist's or Golniri fire. As an action, a creature may aim the nozzle and throw a lever, causing the tank to shoot a 60 ft long, 5 ft wide line of fire. Any creature caught in this line must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 14) or be set on fire. Objects automatically fail their saving throw. While on fire, creatures and objects take 2d4 (for alchemist's fire) or 2d6 (for Golniri fire) fire damage at the start of each turn. A creature can extinguish themselves or a 5 foot square within their reach by spending an action to make a DC10 Dexterity check to extinguish the flames. Large objects take damage for each 5 foot square that is ignited. Golniri fire cannot be extinguished by water.

By itself, this ship-mounted nozzle costs 1,000 gold to construct and install.

Each pressurized tank for this weapon also costs 1,000 gold. In between firing, the old tank must be unloaded, requiring an action, and a new tank must be loaded, requiring another action. Empty tanks weigh 8 lbs, while full tanks weigh 32 lbs. Refilling a tank requires 1,000 gold worth of alchemist's fire or Golniri fire.

You'll notice this is an extremely expensive weapon to use. Still, it's a deadly weapon in ship-to-ship combat, as it deal massive continuous damage to ships, as well as burning low-level shiphands to a crisp.

Compared to regular alchemist's fire, it deals twice the damage and covers twelve times the potential targets (reaching our goal of 24x strength). The cost works out so that it's more expensive until you use the weapon 5 times, at which point it starts to pay off and become less expensive.

As a bonus, players might get creative and try filling the empty tanks with liquids other than alchemist's fire...