Appearance: Juniper is a bush with thick
branches bearing short, scale-like needles
similar to pine needles. The bark is rough
and has a shredded appearance, and the
entire bush is very fragrant. Clusters of
berries are green in the first year of their
growth, and turn dark purple when they
ripen the following year. Each berry has a
strong, distinctive taste. Like garlic, juniper
is so well known that characters will automatically
be able to locate it and identify it
properly if they are seraching for it in
appropriate terrain.

Location: Juniper grows upon heaths and
in sparse forests. It is an evergreen.

Uses: Juniper berries help to counteract
all forms of poison, but not so effectively as
herb true-love (see above). Most importantly,
juniper is a powerful stimulant for
those who are severely wounded and near
death. If a character is able to, or can be
forced to, eat two juniper berries, he may
gain the strength to fight off some of the
effects of shock.

Game effect: If a character is brought to
zero or fewer hit points, and is unconscious,
the stimulant effect of juniper berries will
add 1-4 hit points to the character's total,
possibly bringing him back to consciousness,
or at least out of a coma. A character
revived in this manner cannot fight or
engage in any other strenuous activity until
he has rested long enough to regain as
many more hit points as he ?artificially?
got back from the juniper. (Note, however,
that hit points restored by juniper berries do
not ?fade,? as with Aaron?s rod.) If used as
an antidote to poison, juniper berries will
add +1 to a victim?s saving throw if they are
eaten within 2 rounds of the poisoning.

Precautions: Juniper berries may have a
strange effect on elves and half-elves. If a
member of either of those races eats even
one juniper berry, that character must make
a saving-throw vs. poison or be affected by
an uncontrollable attraction to the first
member of the opposite sex that the character
sees. The object of the character?s attraction
may be of any race as long as the elf?s
or half-elf?s normal preference for that race
is not hostile to begin with. This effect will
wear off in 2-8 rounds, and does not negate
the other, beneficial effects that the juniper
berries will bring. An infatuated character
may be too weak to do anything about the
feeling, but will feel it nonetheless.