Am I missing something? The alchemy skill talks about creating potions and setting difficulty based on rarity, however I haven't seen any potions in the book. The "Creating Items" section hardly has anything helpful about it (I thought of creating a "weapon", web potion, throw it to ensnare - but there is no guideline for the cost of consumable items like that either?).

Does anybody see anything that I'm missing? What thoughts do you guys have on Alchemy?

I'm thinking crafting rules will be in supplements just like SW.

Healing potion s are the fantasy painkillers. And the steampunk setting has an elixir or two that can be a potion in a fantasy world pretty easily.

As for the cost, I'd go with the rules for selling stuff and invert them: one success means it costs full price, 2 successes means 75% and three successes gives it to you for 50%. 2 advantages could net you another potion while a triumph could "supercharge" the effects. A healing potion won't count towards the daily limit, for example, or allow you to recover an equal amount of strain.

If it’s anything like the Star Wars Crafting system you will have two parts to the rules.

First is a list of “schematics” which I would call Recipes in this instance. Each will have a basic effect, a cost, a Difficulty and a time to make (number of hours work, not including rest):

Eg.

Strength/Weakness elixir, +1/-1 to a single characteristic for 1 encounter. 18hrs, $600, Hard (DDD) Alchemy check.

Heal/Harm: +5/-5 to Wounds of target. 6hrs, $10, Easy (D) Alchemy check or Average (DD) Survival check

Then you will have a list of ways to spend Advantage, Threat, Triumph and Despair. They will be things that enhance the crafted item either in a positive or negative way;

A: Drinker regains or suffers 2 Strain (players choice)

AA: Drinker adds a boost or setback to their next check (players choice)

AAA: Drinker is either Invigorated or Disoriented for the remainder of the encounter (players choice)

AAA: Extend the effects to last until Drinker has a full rest.

Tr: Double the basic effect of the elixir

Tr: Improved Recipe, may permanently reduce the difficulty of this recipe by 1 to a minimum of Simple, can only be activated once per roll.

Th: Drinker regains or suffers 2 Strain (gm choice)

ThTh: Drinker adds a boost or setback to their next check (gm choice)

ThThTh: Drinker is either Invigorated or Disoriented for the remainder of the encounter (Gm choice)

ThThTh: Shorten the effects to only 3 Rounds or 10min, Additional activation

D: The target looses or gains 1 from a characteristic until the elixir wears off (must be a different characteristic not already affected by this elixir)

Here is what I came up with based on your ideas for spends on Alchemy checks. It's a small system trying to give options to an Alchemist.

Alchemy.pdf

I ended up going a similar route as well, porting over poisons and drugs from edge of the empire. side note, i haven't renamed the poisons yet

This is cool! I don't have access to the Star Wars books. Genesys is basically my first contact with the system.

The two of you have done some great work there

5 hours ago, saethone said:

I ended up going a similar route as well, porting over poisons and drugs from edge of the empire. side note, i haven't renamed the poisons yet

Alchemal Compounds		Special: Though not Illegal, it still requires a Streetwise check to find Alchemal Compounds due to their underground nature.
Name	Encum	Price	Rarity	Illegal	Notes
Potion of Healing	1	25	2	No	Functions as Painkillers
Truth Potion	1	25	4	No	A character who has consumed this potion feels lethargic, and can only upgrade a single Ability to a Proficiency on any given check because of this mental torpor. Further, whenever this character intentionally tries to lie or conceal the truth, the GM upgrades any one Difficulty in the dice pool into a Challenge. The potion's effects last for one scene or combat encounter.
Booster Potion	1	10	3	No	A character who drinks this potion goes into a hyperactive mind state and may upgrade the ability of any Agility, Intellect, or Cunning related check he undertakes once. The effects last for one scene or encounter. However, this takes a toll on the mind - a character under the effects of this potion may not remove strain at the end of any scenes or encounters for the remainder of the session.
Glitterdust	1	100	5	No	Glitterdust is a highly addictive sweet powder with hallucinogenic properties the user must eat. Using it adds three Boost to all Perception and Vigilance checks for the remainder of a scene. Additionally, some users report gaining temporary telepathic abilities, which the GM may choose to grant to any user at his discretion.
Waking Potion	1	500	7	No	Rubbing this solution on an area of skin about the size of a baseball administers the dose. A character who takes a dose of this at least once every 24 hours does not need to sleep, and suffers no penalties or strain for lack of sleep. The character may remove strain as if he had slept a full night after any period of eight or more hours in which he did not engaged in any stressful activities. It's only noticable side effect is that it leaves odd purple stains where applied. If a character under effects of this potion goes 24 hours without a dose, he finds it increasingly difficult to stay awake until he gets more or falls alseep. Some say that prolonged use erodes the users feelings, morals, and compassion.
Potion of Bravery	1	350	3	No	For one scene, a character under the effects of this potion is not required to make any Fear checks - he counts as succeeding automatically. After this encounter, the user also adds One Setback to any Willpower or Presence related checks for the remainder of the session.
Draught of Ignore Pain	1	50	2	No	Allows the character to ignore the effects of a single Easy or Average Critical Injury Result until the end of the scene or combat encounter. Two doses allow the character to ignore a Hard Critical Injury result instead. Once its effects end, the character suffers the effects of the Critical Injury result as normal, and also suffers 2 setback on all checks he makes until the end of the game session.
Jackspice	1	75	3	No	Snorting this brown dust Increases user's Brawn characteristic by 1 (to a maximum of 6) until end of scene or encounter. Additionally, each dose a character consumes upgrades the difficulty of his Agility, Intellect, and Cunning checks once until the end of the game session.
Pixie Potion	1	100	4	No	Drinking the Pixie Potion grants the user an automtic 2 Advantage on Agility and Willpower related-checks until the end of the encounter. Once its effects end, the character suffers an automatic 1 Threat on all Brawn, Intellect, and Cunning related checks for the remainder of the game session due to nausea, muscle aches, weakness, and mental torpor.
Sharp Stick	0	125	3	No	Stored in a toothpick, which the user must suck on, Sharp Stick allows the user to upgrade the ability of any Agility based checks until the end of the encounter. After the effects of impact wear off, the character suffers 1 Setback to any Agility, Cunning, or Intellect based checks for remainder of game session.
Muon Gold	0	50	1	No	The user must inhale these gold-like flakes through their throat. The user can then add 1 Boost to all Cunning and Presence based checks until the end of the encounter. At the GM's discretion, repeated use can lead to cognitive empairment, imposing temporary or lasting Setback to a character's Intellect and Cunning based checks.
Potion of Focus	1	200	4	No	After a character drinks this sour syrup they may upgrade the ability of any Intellegence or Cunning related check once, though doing so requires single-minded concentration and causes them to suffer 2 strain. The effects last for about an hour.
Firebreath	1	200	1	No	When the character uncorks this bottle, the gas inside escapes. If the character inhales these hot fumes, they suffer 2 strain and add 1 Boost to any Brawn or Agility checks they make until the end of the encounter. Multiple uses continue to inflict strain but do not grant Boosts.
Numspice	0	80	2	No	Eating this spicy powder removes 3 setback added to checks from pain or illness for twelve hours, but imposes an automatic 1 threat on all checks for 25 hours as it slows down thought and reflexes.
Mind Slime	1	500	4	No	Drinking this slimy green liquid confers the benefits of this potion for one encounter. When the character suffers strain, they suffer 3 less strain. This does not apply to voluntary strain loss.
Alchemal Poisons		Special: Though not Illegal, it still requires a Streetwise check to find Alchemal poisons due to their underground nature.
Name	Encum	Price	Rarity	Illegal	Notes
Dendriton Toxin	0	125	7	No	Exceedingly lethal neurotoxin. Must make contact inside the mouth or an open wound (ie, coated blades). Target must make Daunting Resilience check, if fails poison inflicts 1 strain next turn, 3 strain the next, and 5 strain the next (end of turns, ignores soak). In addition, suffer 1 setback to any check they make while under effects, and each threat he generates inflicts 1 additional strain (ignores soak) as they are wracked with pain and muscle spasms. GM may spend despair on the initial resilience check to make the target make another check against the poison at the end of his third turn, or suffer an additional 5 strain (ignores soak) as the poison torments him.
Dioxis Gas	0	100	6	No	Contained in a glass vial, when exposed to oxygen converts to a gas. A single dose has a Hard difficulty, and two or more doses makes a Daunting difficulty Resilience check. The poison inflicts 5 wounds if the target fails a check (ignores soak). In addition, each threat generated inflicts 2 strain on the target (this ignores soak), who becomes overwhelemed by the nausea and muscle spasms caused by the choking gas. The gas lingers in the area for up to 3 rounds unless dissipated by high winds.
Raquor Venom	0	150	7	No	Target has a Daunting Resilience check. If fails, Staggers target for 2 rounds. Additionally, each Threat generated on the check inflicts 2 strain on the target (ignores soak), and the GM may spend Despair to Immobilize the target for 2 rounds. While normally ingestied, it can be aerosolized for gas grenades, though this reduces resilience check to Hard.
Sleep Gas	0	250	3	No	Target makes a Hard Resilience check, and failure inflicts 10 strain. Must be inhaled.

Name

Skill

Dam

Crit

Ranged

Encum

Price

Rarity

Illegal

Special

Alchemical Fire

Ranged (Light)

6

3

Short

1

40

6

No

Blast 4, Burn 1, Limited Ammo 1

Name	Material Price/Rarity	Check		Time	Examples
Simple Brew	$10/0	Easy Alchemy check		4 hours	Rarity 0-2
Average Brew	$50/3	Average Alchemy check		8 hours	Rarity 3-4
Advanced Brew	$100/5	Hard Alchemy check		12 hours	Rarity 5-6
Epic Brew	$300/7	Daunting Alchemy check		24 hours	Rarity 7-8
Legendary Brew	$500/8	Formidable Alchemy check		48 hours	Rarity 9-10
Symbol	Effect
1 Advantage or 1 Triumph	Refreshing Drink	When the potion is drank it restores 1 strain. If it is a poison, inflict 1 strain instead. Each time this is purchased increase the strain by 1.
	Practice Makes Perfect	The character learns something valuable, and gains Boost on the next check he makes with the same skill before the end of the session
2 Advantage or 1 Triumph	Lasting Draught	The duration of the effects is doubled. This does not affect drawback effects.
	Lessons Learned	Reduce the difficulty of the character's next crafting check by 1.
3 Advantage or 1 Triumph	Efficient Construction	A sizeable portion of the material is unused or can be reclaimed from the process; the character retains supplies worth 50% of the Material Price needed to craft this item (can only be selected once).
	Strong Poison	Increase the difficulty of the Resilience Check to resist this poison by 1 (to a maximum of Formidable)
4 Advantage or 1 Triumph	Duplicate	Create one additional, identical potion (with all of the qualities, improvements, and flaws that the first possesses) at no extra cost
2 Triumph	Perfect Mixture	Ignore all of the drawbacks (can only be selected once).
1 Threat or 1 Despair	Exhausting Effort	Upon completing Step 3: Construction, the character suffers 3 strain.
	Unrefreshing Drink	When this potion is drank inflict 1 strain. If it is a poison, restore 1 strain instead. Each time this is purchased, increase the strain by 1.
2 Threat or 1 Despair	Quick Burn	Reduce the duration of the effect by one step (days to hours, hours or session to an encounter, minutes or an encounter to a round). This does not affect drawback effects.
	Side Effect	The character suffers the effect of one does of Alcohol, Cocaine, Marijuana, Heroin, or LSD. (can only be selected once)
3 Threat or 1 Despair	Weak Poison	Reduce the difficulty of the Resilience Check to resist this poison by 1 (to a minimum of easy)
4 Threat or 1 Despair	Supply Shortage	The character runs out of supplies midway through the alchemy. The crafter cannot finish it until he has a chance to acquire more supplies and spends dollars equal to 25% of the Material Price on these additional supplies (this can only be selected once).
2 Despair	Wrong Mixture	Double the effect of all drawbacks (can only be selected once).

33

Any chance on this in google-doc or pdf format?

13 minutes ago, Doomgrin75 said:

Any chance on this in google-doc or pdf format?

I do plan to soon, i'll post it here when its ready!

I would be curious to see what everybody thinks about the balance of above though? I lowered rarity of potions (ex drugs) by 2 to create a bit more of a spread. Also note that these are set for an urban fantasy game so skills and some references are tied to that (ie, the side effect threat of crafting, streetwise check to find components instead of negotiation like would be used in fantasy)

No Potion of Water Breathing? We're gonna need that to raid the mer-king's harem!

It's not quite complete, but I'd be interested in hearing what others think about Alchemy in Aethermere .

23 minutes ago, Simon Retold said:

It's not quite complete, but I'd be interested in hearing what others think about Alchemy in Aethermere .

Those look great

On 1/12/2018 at 5:52 PM, Simon Retold said:

It's not quite complete, but I'd be interested in hearing what others think about Alchemy in Aethermere .

Honestly that looks much better than mine, Lol.

On 13.1.2018 at 0:52 AM, Simon Retold said:

It's not quite complete, but I'd be interested in hearing what others think about Alchemy in Aethermere .

Looks cool. My own idea is a lot more simple, but yours still feels right for the system. Also, I like the neat categories.

It seems strange to go straight from increasing a skill for an encounter to increasing a characteristic for a day - perhaps add a difficulty 3 increase a skill for a day and a difficulty 3 increase a characteristic for an encounter template

you may want to add a dedicated way to create an antidote, and add tenacious to the advantage chart on the toxins