How would be your take on transmutation alchemy like in the series Full Metal Alchemy? How would you realize the principle of equivalence?

Familiarize yourselves with the principles of alchemy and modern chemistry and apply accordingly, like the author did.

Joking aside, the rules as is covers most of it. Overperforming alchemy wears the alchemist out, which the strain cost reflects. Ed and Al often transmuted materials in the environment, usually dirt and metal nearby, so the GM and players can wave most of that away. It's only if the PCs are in an environment without handy materials that it would come into play; the GM could spend threat and despair to reflect 'running out' of the proper materials.

Out of encounters, it depends on what is being done. Most of it can be handled narratively. You really start getting into crafting rules for creating stuff, but generally you'd need items of equal encumbrance to transmute something different. Also, you need the proper materials to create something, generally; trying to create an engine, for example, would require metals, plastics, rubber, etc., or at least base components.

Step one: Acquire young adolescent female
Step two: Acquire healthy young dog
Step three: Blend well.
Step four: Sob quietly in a corner.

I just discovered this "old" series a couple of days ago and thought it sounded like a very intruiging Steampunk setting including a scientific approach to transmutation magic.

30 minutes ago, Swordbreaker said:

Familiarize yourselves with the principles of alchemy and modern chemistry and apply accordingly, like the author did.

Joking aside, the rules as is covers most of it. Overperforming alchemy wears the alchemist out, which the strain cost reflects. Ed and Al often transmuted materials in the environment, usually dirt and metal nearby, so the GM and players can wave most of that away. It's only if the PCs are in an environment without handy materials that it would come into play; the GM could spend threat and despair to reflect 'running out' of the proper materials.

Out of encounters, it depends on what is being done. Most of it can be handled narratively. You really start getting into crafting rules for creating stuff, but generally you'd need items of equal encumbrance to transmute something different. Also, you need the proper materials to create something, generally; trying to create an engine, for example, would require metals, plastics, rubber, etc., or at least base components.

That's true. Actually in encounters the standard magic actions involving transmutation could be used as written and explained narratively. So technically it would be the same summoning pillars of stone out of a wall to hit somebody or move a statue hitting someone with a stone fist.

Right now I'm planning an FMA game with a few friends staged several years after the events in the original anime. The way I want to run the "FMA -Alchemy" is like "magic". Depending on their rating, it get's easier to use.

This is what I wrote out to a fellow GM who's helping me design it:

"Alchemy as used in FMA is more complicated than just spell casting. It would likely require several checks based on the character...

For instance an untrained Alchemist with a "magic" rating of 1 would likely need to make a knowledge check, then a coordination check for drawing out the transmutation circle and finally a discipline check. This would be for players who lack the training as shown early in the show when the Elric brothers transmute small toys for their mother, and referenced a few times throughout the show. This also gives the GM some room to have fun with the players should they fail one of these checks."

IE: Player A wants to transmute a weapon before the group enters combat.

Roll the knowledge check, he fails.

Here the GM has the option to let him continue, throw in a perception check, if the player fails, let him continue with the process.

Player A draws the circle, rolls his check. Succeeds.

Player A transmutes, roll a discipline check. Succeeds.

As the player pulls his newly transmuted weapon from the ground it begins to dissolve in his hands, or they suffer two additional strain for picking up a red hot piece of metal.

The reason I do it like this instead of just having low rank characters have access to "arcana" or "transmutation" skill and just have the rolls be more difficult is it better encompasses the difficulty of untrained alchemy and exposes the places where the untrained make mistakes. Like in the scene above, the player thought they knew the chemical composition, and got it wrong, thus the weapon falls apart or there's a reaction and it heats up. Similarly, if they'd have failed the circle it could cause a recoil or if they fail the discipline they get distracted and only make half a blade or it's got bends in it giving it "low quality".




"Rank 2 in "magic" would let them skip the discipline and coordination checks and just use the "transmute" (arcana)skill this would also give them the opportunity to make an extremely difficult knowledge check to create some form of reusable symbols like Roy or Kimbley

Rank 3 makes it so they suffer 1 less strain and removes a black from all transmutations. They can also do an average roll to create reusable circles.

Rank 4 would remove a black from the knowledge check and increase the effects of certain transmutations. At this point an alchemist is as well studied as they can be without seeing the gate.

I’d make rank 5 a rank only achievable by attempting human transmutation. Rank 5 eliminates the knowledge check and removes the strain suffered when casting. It also gives the ability to transmute without a circle.

Keep in mind however this would allow players to skip ranks in "magic", but also increases the negative effects of the attempts rebound. IE: if a rank 1 tried it, it would likely cause a debilitating or even lethal effect like the Elric brothers experienced. Higher ranks would suffer lasting damage like their teacher. Even a rank 4 should suffer a negative effect should they decide to try."


I feel like, this would allow progression to happen over the course of several games, but not fast enough that they could over power things. I would make improving their "magic" rating fairly difficult like the force rating mechanics of the SWRPG that uses the same system.

If you are looking for more of a progression there is president for splitting aspects of alchemy up. I only dealt with the anime but 'alchemy' did have specialties regarding fire, life, healing, to grab a couple off the top of my head. Also worth noting for this setting is automail with its installation and upkeep which was not necessarily done with alchemy. There is also alkahestry if you want to pretty much start from scratch as that wasn't detailed out quite as much as alchemy so you could always do a game set in Xing where everything would be new and fresh. Let us know how your games go!

Thanks for the input!

This saturday, I will start my campaign in a steampunk version of Space 1889 mixed with FMA alchemy and some Lovecraftian horror. I created three PreGens (my group is new to Genesys and asked for them) and this was quite a cake walk. There is not much to adapt, most aspects I can take right out of the core rulebook without modification like inventing own archetypes or classes. Just used the standard content and it worked like a spell.

For alchemy I intend to simply use the alchemy skill for transmutation checks instead of arcana, allowing the following three magic actions with the restriction that you cannot create any trasmutation effect without the equivalent material at hand attack, barrier and conjure

After all, you cannot create a wall of stone without the propper amount of earth in the middle of the sea.

If the transmutation includes mending or creating more elaborate items, I fully agree that a second skill check is necessary to show the understanding of the "science" behind that item (most likely mechanics and knowledge). For example, if you want to create a sword out of ore you have to suceed in a mechanics skill check first to display your understanding of "smithing" and then the alchemy skill check to transmute the material into said sword. If the mechanics check fails in this example, the alchemy skill check could still suceed, but regarding the grade of failure it might be flawed or even completely scrap.

On 3/5/2018 at 5:57 PM, DarthDude said:

Thanks for the input!

This saturday, I will start my campaign in a steampunk version of Space 1889 mixed with FMA alchemy and some Lovecraftian horror. I created three PreGens (my group is new to Genesys and asked for them) and this was quite a cake walk. There is not much to adapt, most aspects I can take right out of the core rulebook without modification like inventing own archetypes or classes. Just used the standard content and it worked like a spell.

For alchemy I intend to simply use the alchemy skill for transmutation checks instead of arcana, allowing the following three magic actions with the restriction that you cannot create any trasmutation effect without the equivalent material at hand attack, barrier and conjure

After all, you cannot create a wall of stone without the propper amount of earth in the middle of the sea.

If the transmutation includes mending or creating more elaborate items, I fully agree that a second skill check is necessary to show the understanding of the "science" behind that item (most likely mechanics and knowledge). For example, if you want to create a sword out of ore you have to suceed in a mechanics skill check first to display your understanding of "smithing" and then the alchemy skill check to transmute the material into said sword. If the mechanics check fails in this example, the alchemy skill check could still suceed, but regarding the grade of failure it might be flawed or even completely scrap.

Just following up, how did your game go?

2 minutes ago, Darth Sanguis said:

Just following up, how did your game go?

My children were ill (flu) so the players didn't dare to show up. The session is postponed and will take place on 31st. I am planning to use the GenCon adventure in victorian age Rumania, beginning in Wallachia near Bucuresti (Bucharest) and Lady Eliza Farrow of course being the infamous Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed