Smokepowder

Smokepowder was a magical alchemical equivalent of gunpowder. Though confusing matters, a few on Toril used the word "gunpowder" as simply another name for smokepowder. "The night breeze still smelt of burning wood and men, but at least the screams had stopped. As oily smoke bid the last stars from view, the flames dancing amid the rocks below found the precious smoke powder deep in the hold of the Kissing Shark and flared up in fresh fury, spitting spars and embers high into the air... The sea shook, and a fierce ball of flames rose up into the sky with slow, ponderous fury."

- An excerpt from The Mercenaries

Description
Bearing a resemblance to gunpowder, it was a coarse dark gray powder that exploded when exposed to fire or heat, producing force, noise, and smoke. However, smokepowder differed by being magical in nature. This rendered the substance vulnerable to anti-magic spells, dead-magic zones, and similar enchantments. Also like gunpowder, it burned rapidly and was rendered unusable when exposed to water, though it was not explosive. The scale of explosion was in accordance with the amount used. Two spoonfuls (one of each component) was sufficient for a large firecracker or a single arquebus shot. More could create explosions of significant size and force.

Smokepowder was typically sold and carried within either small wooden powderkegs or in powder horns. A pouch held enough for eighteen shots of an arquebus.

Those who used the substance on a frequent basis found that their fingers or gloves were left stained by it. And small, magically limited kernels of the substance were known as fireseeds.

Creation
The exact formula for creating smokepowder was a secret closely guarded by the Church of Gond, what they referred to as a "temple secret." They would never make the substance in front of outsiders or discuss its making with them. That being said, quite a few people outside of the clergy had figured out the ingredients, including a handful of alchemists, priests, and wizards.

Some believed the formula involved the mixture of two inert substances:  a steely blue granular material and a fine white powder, both harmless and unreactive when separate. It was only when mixed in a 1:1 ratio that they became explosive. Some claimed the ashes left behind by a killed tome guardian could be used in the process. It was reported that crystalmists could be used to make a high-quality smokepowder. The alchemist Surero claimed to use a combination of 75% sulfur, 10% saltpeter, and 15% charcoal mixed together in sacks to create the substance. At least one of the formula's known ingredients was magical in nature and circumvented Gond's prohibition on explosives.

Beyond the formula itself, the process of making smokepowder was difficult and fraught with danger, often ending in an unplanned explosion. This was because only those in the Church of Gond knew the precise proportions for the ingredients and how to mix them in order to make functional smokepowder. For those outside the clergy, determining these measurements and mixtures was a matter of (often dangerous) experimentation.

Gondsmen had their own special tricks for making the powder, which they often expedited with spells. The first was a way of getting three dry ingredients to bond and another was ensuring the final mixture stayed bonded.

Availability
Smokepowder was generally quite rare and difficult to obtain.

In the land of Shou Lung, one could find smokepowder for sale in the city of Chunming.

Beyond Toril

 * The prevalence of smokepowder was far greater in Wildspace than it was on planets, being a particularly good seller for the merchants known as the Arcane.
 * On Oerth, smokepowder was an inert substance, not functioning until it was taken off the planet. However, clerics of the Oerthian god of science, Murlynd, were capable of making smokepowder function by concentrating on it with their divine magic.

History
Smokepowder was first introduced to Toril hundreds of years prior to 1358 DR, when spelljammers came to Shou Lung in search of resources and trades. These vessels had failed to properly hide or safeguard it from the Shou, who would take it and go on to develop fireworks and firecrackers that would be used in much of Kara-Tur for centuries to come. However, beyond Kara-Tur the substance never saw extensive research or development into its use.

This was until the Time of Troubles in 1358 DR, when the craftsmen deity Gond was forced to wander Toril in a mortal avatar form and one day washed up on the shores of Lantan. In return for the people there sheltering his avatar, Gond revealed the secrets of smokepowder to the Lantanese, including how to make reasonably safe and accurate firearms that utilized the substance.

In the late 14 century DR, the city-state of Innarlith on the Lake of Steam made use of smokepowder to excavate the trench for a canal that was dug between the Lake of Steam and the Nagaflow.

At some point during this period, the city of Waterdeep and the nation of Cormyr had banned the substance, making it a lucrative item for smugglers to bring in.

In 1369 DR, a fire broke out in Calimport that would come to be known as the Trades Conflagration. Not knowing what the true cause of the fire was, some blamed it on imported smokepowder that was sitting in the overcrowded Marekh Sabban.

Around 1372 DR, the city of Telflamm was considered a gateway for smokepowder and other eastern goods into the rest of Faerûn. Around this time firearms were available throughout Faerûn and many rulers viewed the Church of Gond with ire for having introduced them to the continent, seeing the weapons as a threat to their authority. It wasn't long before rulers began putting stricter regulations in place for the substance.

Around this time, following the Lantanna pirate Gimlet Watersprecht's creation of a portal between Lantan and the Pirate Isles, there was a frightening rise in the number of smokepowder weapons among pirates in the Inner Sea. This posed a great concern to the kingdom of Cormyr's then-princess and regent, Alusair Obarskyr.

15th century
Following the destruction of Lantan during the Spellplague, many artificers considered the secrets behind smokepowder to have been lost.

During this time, Scornubel and later Downshadow and Mistshore, were some of the few places in the Realms where one could openly and freely purchase smokepowder.

Cormyr relaxed its laws on smokepowder during this period, allowing for the importation or creation of the substance so long as one had a license from the Crown. However, these licenses came with a fee of 500 gold pieces and a variety of conditions. For example, most often the importer wasn't permitted to take the substance into Arabel or further south than Waymoot. Their licensing fee paid for two War Wizards and two members of the Purple Dragons to watch over the substance.

In addition to the license, those importing smokepowder to Cormyr were required to give a detailed report to a War Wizard or their second-in-command that explained their reasons for importing it, where and how it would be stored in the meantime, and when it would be used, among other other things. Approval was generally more lenient for those who cited a desire to conquer the Stonelands. Furthermore, any attempts to sell, gift, or hide smokepowder would result in a confiscation order that would be carried out by dozens of ruthless War Wizards and Purple Dragons.

By 1480 DR, smokepowder was still largely a banned substance in Waterdeep. The people who had official access to it were guardsmen. To a limited degree, members of the Watchful Order also had access for the purposes of experimentation, though such experiments had to be observed and supervised by officials. Around this same time, the substance could be covertly bought in small quantities at the black markets of Luskan and Westgate, though one was liable to attract the attention of spies.

Reputation
Across the Realms, many had misconceptions regarding the safety and effectiveness of this substance. It was most often viewed as being unreliable and some form of dangerous or corruptive magic. Smokepowder had a similar reputation among inhabitants of the Demiplane of Dread, especially the Vistani.

Notable Users of Smokepowder

 * The Red Wizards of Thay were known to have developed large siege guns, known as bombards, that operated on smokepowder. However, these were largely inaccurate and each shot consumed over a hundred charges.
 * In the land of Kara-Tur, there were known to be small rockets that were fueled by smokepowder.
 * By 1372 DR, the use of smokepowder was known to be quite common among rock gnomes.
 * The armed forces of Colletro, Sumbria, and other city-states of the Blade Kingdoms used smokepowder to arm the highly controversial arquebus and handgun troops by 1217 DR. That year, a nest of rats found a way into the smokepowder stash in the Palace of Sumbria. The hungry pests gorged on the substance, which let to an infestation of strangely annoying explosive rats that regularly created commotion in the palace.
 * Lorenzo Utrelli Da Lomarta, the prince of Lomarta of the Blade Kingdoms crafted gold pouch decoys, filled with smokepowder. Once a pickpocket grabbed the wallet, its long fuse was lit and eventually reached the smokepowder, causing an explosion.

Background
In 2017, Ed Greenwood stated in a tweet that the reason gunpowder didn't work on Toril was because executives at TSR, Inc. didn't want firearms in the setting. He also stated that Jeff Grubb later conceived of smokepowder, specifically for use with the giff. In 2020, Ed further elaborated in a tweet that the idea of smokepowder was borrowed from "jewelers' rouge", a fictional gunpowder-equivalent in the Chronicles of Amber novel series (which like the Forgotten Realms, is a setting where actual gunpowder is inert), with the permission of Roger Zelazny.

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
 * Novels:
 * The Council of Blades • The Mercenaries • Uneasy Alliances • Tymora's Luck
 * Video Games:
 * Baldur's Gate III
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate