It's a "Common" item, but somehow I have 10 times less of it than "Epic" greater mutagens.

*POSSIBLE SPOILER*

Search various piles of wood found around containers and houses.

It's literally everywhere. And you never even need much of it. You'll find it everywhere on the ground in towns.

I've found that hoarding these ingredients is useless. If I need it, the crafter i'm working with probably also sells it. I also stopped carrying iron and silver ore, no need.

How could that possibly be a spoiler?

Silver ore I carry. Last crafter I found only had 5. I needed 6. And another guy I needed stuff from needed 7 for what I wanted crafting.

Can't hurt to hoard silver.

You'll want that silver ore in chapter 3.

Been corrected....now hoarding silver. :)

Maybe playing a character that doesn't ransack citizens' houses for loot is hurting me here.

I look at it like this: my Witcher medallion conveniantly informs me of things I can take that people won't mind me taking.

Oh, I'm not trying to zing people who do. I'm just saying on this particular playthrough, I'm not. I kind of like to see if they developed it in a way where this is possible (or painful).

It always bothered me that in Baldurs Gate (PC), people would dual wield Drizzt's swords (and that the developers of the game let it happen), when you had to be Lawful Good to wield them, and in order to acquire them you had to murder Drizzt.

I feel old.

You're on GOG.com, so feeling old is OK.

As I recall, only one of his swords required LG alignment. Besides, I don't think they wanted you to have them, anyway. In BG2 that guy comes and takes all the stuff you get from killing Drizzt's party and looting their bodies.

I'm also having a hard time finding timber at the moment I need it. Got plenty of meteorites though! No one seems to sell it in Vergen.

You should also horde oil if you make bombs. You can make it but need stuff from chapter 2 to do it.

You hit trees

Oil and bombs? I don't remember using oil for bombs. What kind of bomb are you talking about?