Chandlery Supplies
Candles have long been used as a way to hold back the darkness, to provide a meager light against unlit nights. First created from animal fat, they could also be made from beeswax, spermaceti from sperm whales, and various types of oils. Chandlers, candle makers, create candles by casting molds or dipping candle wicks into liquid wax repeatedly until they create a candle of suitable length and thickness.
Chandlery Supplies
Chandlery supplies include animal fat, beeswax, wicks, a large pot, a small knife, incense, spices, and oils.
Chandlery supplies weigh 5 lbs and cost 10 gp.
Candle Making
The simplest way of making a candle is heating tallow until it melts, and then dipping a wick into the tallow, and then pulling it out to solidify. Once it has cooled off, the tallow hardens, and then the wick is ready to be dipped again. During a short rest, a chandler can make up to a number of mundane candles equal to their proficiency bonus times ten. This does not require a check and costs 5 cp for every 10 mundane candles created.
Specialty Candles
Sometimes a chandler needs to create special candles, this could be for special purposes, like during a spiritual ritual or for creating unique sensations. These specialty candles take longer to craft, requiring high-quality wax and wicks, and expensive ingredients to create specific effects.
When you attempt to create a specialty candle, you must choose what candle you are going to create and gather the required supplies. Most supplies are mundane enough that you can find in a large city, with smaller villages unable to supply the needed items per the DM's discretion. Once you have your supplies, you must then spend 8 hours of meticulous work carefully crafting a single candle. This requires threading the wick in a certain way, ensuring no bubbles or imperfections are trapped within the wax, and carefully carving intricate runes and symbols into its surface. After you spend 8 hours of work, you must then attempt a Wisdom (Chandlery Supplies) check against the DC of the candle you are attempting to create.
Crafting Check
Wisdom is your chandlery ability for your candles since these candles often require using natural ingredients and are often used to call on divine aid. You use your Wisdom whenever you must craft a candle or are attempting to design new candles. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a candle you crafted and when making an attack roll with one.
Candle Save DC
Candle Attack / Check
Known Candles
A chandler often knows a number of candle recipes equal to their proficiency bonus, though they may be able to find ancient ritual books, holy texts, and more that can provide new candle recipes for them to study.
Time To Craft
It takes at least 8 hours to create a candle, but that is only its first layer. You can apply additional layers to a candle, extending the duration of an effect or increasing its potency. This requires an additional 8 hours for each layer, and you must succeed on the Craft DC of the candle or else that layer fails to adhere, and the time, and cost of materials, is wasted.
After creating a candle, failure to apply additional layers doesn't normally destroy previously created layers. Every candle has a maximum number of layers that can be applied to it, exceeding that number means that the layer fails to adhere and the time, and cost, is wasted. Once a candle has been used, and lit, it can not have additional layers added.
Materials
Each candle requires different incense, oils, fragrances, magical spell components, and even parts of creatures to create it and imbue it with magic. A candle lists out the major materials required to create a candle, allowing you to reduce some of the cost of the candle if you have the material. This price decrease is based on the DM's discretion but ranges from 10% to 50%.
In some circumstances, candles may require certain spell slots to be expended while creating the candle. In this case, you must expend that number of spell slots each time you apply a layer to the candle, failure to do so automatically fails this application of the layer and the materials are wasted.
Activating a Candle
Anyone can activate a candle unless it specifies otherwise, and it takes an action to light the candle. Some candles might require a command word, or else they fail to light, or require a prayer to be uttered to a divine entity, in these cases, the DM may decide only certain individuals can activate the candle as it requires a certain amount of faith or is only able to be used by individuals blessed by the divine.
When a candle is activated, its effects begin immediately and may require to be held in a hand for them to grant their benefit, or can be placed upon the ground and they create an area of effect helping or hindering all creatures within the space. A candle is incapable of discerning friend from foe, and so it affects all creatures unless stated otherwise.
Reuse
A candle that hasn't finished its full duration can be extinguished as an action and used again later on. If it is in the middle of a layer of effects, that layer is expended and breaks off the candle.
Light
All candles, unless specified otherwise, sheds bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light for an additional 5 feet. If a specialty candle is lit, it stays lit until its effects end and then immediately extinguishes itself.
Example Specialty Candles
Bursting Candle
Wondrous item, uncommon
- Craft DC 15
- Material Price 20 gp per layer
- Materials Charcoal, Saltpeter, Sulfur
- Maximum Layers 5 layers
- Spell Slot two 1st-level slots
When this candle is lit, it can be tossed up to 20 feet as part of the action to light it. It must roll initiative (-5) and on its turn, it explodes out in a 10-foot radius of burning wax. Each creature within 10 feet of the bursting candle must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 10 (3d6) fire damage and is knocked prone. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and isn't knocked prone.
The candle continues to explode every turn for each layer it has. It can only be extinguished by one gallon of water, destroying the candle in the process, or by the same creature that originally lit it spending an action to extinguish it.
Candle of the Deep
Wondrous item, common
- Craft DC 12
- Material Price 1 gp per layer
- Materials Octopus fat & Spermacti
- Maximum Layers 10 layers
The flame of this candle is not extinguished when immersed in water. It remains lit for 10 minutes for each layer applied. Otherwise, it functions as a normal candle.
Everburning Candle
Wondrous item, uncommon
- Craft DC 13
- Material Price 10 gp per layer
- Materials Old spellcaster clothes
- Maximum Layers 4 layers
- Spell Slot one 1st-level slot
The flame of this candle is merely a piece of illusion magic and produces no heat. It sheds bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light for an additional 5 feet. It can not be extinguished, though its light can be hidden by covering it in cloth. For each additional layer applied, its radius of bright and dim light extends by 5 feet to a maximum of a 20-foot radius of bright light and dim light for an additional 20 feet.
Smoking Candle
Wondrous item, uncommon
- Craft DC 13
- Material Price 20 gp per layer
- Materials Boiled fats & sugar
- Maximum Layers 10 layers
When this candle is lit, thick smoke pours out, filling a 10-foot radius sphere centered on the candle. The area is heavily obscured and lasts for 1 minute for each layer applied, or until a wind of minor or greater speed (at least 4 miles per hour) disperses it. It does not emit any light.
Tapering Spirits Candle
Wondrous item, uncommon
- Activation requires a cleric to light and hold it
- Craft DC 15
- Material Price 15 gp per layer
- Materials Rendered fat from a creature you wish to question
- Maximum Layers 5 layers
This grisly candle was created by clerics of death and torture and is used to compel answers from death itself. The candle must be created from the fat of a dead creature who you wish to question with a speak with dead spell or similar magic. When lit, it must be placed on the head of the creature, and then a speak with dead spell, or similar magic, must be cast on the victim within 10 minutes, or else the candle burns itself out and is destroyed.
This candle gives additional questions equal to the number of layers applied. In addition, you can compel an answer by burning a layer of the candle, reducing the number of additional questions, and forcing the spirit to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a fail save, the body is compelled to answer the question but can make the answer as cryptic as it wishes while answering to the best of its ability. On a success, the question is wasted.
Undead's Guise
Wondrous item, rare
- Activation requires a cleric to light and hold it
- Craft DC 18
- Material Price 30 gp per layer
- Materials Holy ashes, incense, and silver dust
- Maximum Layers 5 layers
- Spell slot two 2nd-level slots
When this candle is lit, a silvery mist pours out, filling a 10-foot radius sphere centered on the candle. Any living creature within the mist is invisible and undetected to all undead creatures with an Intelligence score of 5 or less. If an undead creature has an Intelligence greater than 5, they can attempt a Wisdom saving throw against this magic once they are within 60 feet of the candle, ignoring the effects of the candle on a success. This effect ends for all targets protected by the candle if any creature within the mist attacks or casts a spell.
If an undead creature is within the mist, they use their reaction to immediately move up to their speed and leave the mist unless they have an Intelligence greater than 5 and succeed on their saving throw.
This candle burns for 1 minute for each layer applied.