of useful mixtures by expert hands. The potions which will be
in most demand by characters will be those that affect the
bodily functions of humanoids. The effects of these potions
range from stimulation and depression of emotions to deadly
poisons. In a sense, alchemy is a "poor man's magic"; it is
more cost-efficient in affecting the actions of beings than the
use of mana, albeit not as easily applied to the victim. There
are five main areas of study of alchemy. The first is that of
chemical analysis, the ability to determine the effects of
ingestion or application of a given liquid substance. The
others are: standard chemicals, medicines and antidotes,
poisons and potions. The creation of a potion often requires
the aid of an Adept. As a character gains experience in the
field of alchemy, they will increase the efficacy of the
mixtures they produce. The character will also decrease the
cost of goods (to himself). An alchemist must know how to
read and write in one language if they wish to advance
beyond Rank 1.
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liquid by its type (e.g., medicine, poison). If the liquid is not a common one, the alchemist
must spend (102 - [10 x Rank] ) minutes using the proper equipment to analyze the liquid's
type. If a liquid to be analyzed is particularly well-known to the alchemist (such as water or
wine), they will recognize it almost immediately. If an alchemist wishes to determine exactly
what a not readily identifiable substance is, the GM rolls D100. If the roll is equal to or less
than the alchemist's Perception plus (8 x Rank), the alchemist is told the common name of
the substance in question (e.g., hemlock, quicksilver). If the roll is greater than the success
percentage, the GM either informs the alchemist that they are not sure or gives an incorrect
answer. The greater the roll, the more likely the GM is to give false information.
An alchemist can injure himself while working with dangerous chemicals. Whenever an
alchemist uses or analyzes a liquid with potential injurious effects, there is a chance that
some of the substance will come in contact with their person. The GM incorporates the
accident chance into any other alchemy-related percentile roll; should there not be one, the
alchemist rolls D100. The chance of accident is (30 - [(2 x Rank) + (Manual Dexterity)] %. If
the roll is within the span of numbers for accident, the alchemist suffers from the chemical.
A roll of 100 always causes an accident. Example: An alchemist character with a Manual
Dexterity of 17 and of Rank 3 would have a 7% chance of failure. Any roll from 94 to 100
will cause the alchemist to have an accident The GM will determine the exact effects upon
the unfortunate character. The minimum damage will be from formaldehyde-type chemicals,
which will cause about 1 Damage Point and causes blisters. The maximum damage from a
non-magical liquid will be from something on the order of non-dilute hydrochloric acid, which
will cause about 12 Damage Points per pulse, and possibly permanent bone and tissue
damage. The effects of certain chemicals are described in the following Cases. Unless
either the GM or the player have a fair knowledge of chemistry, the alchemist should restrict
himself to common liquids. If the alchemist is dabbling with dangerous chemicals without
using the proper equipment, double the chance of accident. If an alchemist is working in
their lab, they may prevent damage due to chemicals after the first round (unless they are
incapacitated during the first round) by pouring the appropriate counteragent upon the
affected area. If a combination of chemicals forms a gas or a solid, the character's Agility
value is substituted for their Manual Dexterity when rolling for accident.
An alchemist will be able to better perform their skill when using the proper equipment or when working in a
laboratory. It costs 500 Silver Pennies per year to purchase basic equipment. This includes acid-resistant (not
proof) flasks, gloves, pipettes, etc. A character may not mix chemicals to specified measurements unless they
use proper equipment. It costs 2500 Silver Pennies to construct a lab, and 1000 Silver Pennies per year to
maintain it. An alchemist can only manufacture medicines, antidotes, poisons, or potions or distill venom in a lab.
A laboratory may be rented at a cost of 15 Silver Pennies per day. The chance of an alchemist correctly
analyzing a chemical is increased by 10 when they perform the analysis in a laboratory. The GM and an
alchemist player should scale costs and effects of improved alchemical support material to the above rules. An
alchemist must purchase the components necessary to manufacture each of their products. A medicine costs
(150 - [10 x Rank) Silver Pennies. An antidote costs (250 - [15 x Rank]) Silver Pennies. The costs for poisons
and potions are given with their rules. All costs given are for one creation attempt; if that attempt fails, new
ingredients must be purchased. The cost for a standard chemical will range from 1 Silver Penny for a quart of
flammable oil to 2000 Silver Pennies for a fluid ounce of non-dilute hydrochloric acid. The GM should scale the
costs of other chemicals appropriately.
An alchemist can mix standard chemicals beginning at Rank 1, and may add one additional ability to their
repertoire at Ranks 3, 5, 7 and 9. An alchemist chooses their additional ability from the following: medicines and
antidotes, poisons (including venom), potions, herbalism and animal harvesting and tattooing.
The ability to mix standard chemicals allows the alchemist to produce mixtures which can prove useful on
expeditions. An alchemist may produce well-known chemical combinations (e.g., oil and vinegar, water and
anything) at any Rank. The standard chemicals ability allows the alchemist to perform most distillations and
extractions, and mix the simplest of compounds.
For example, an alchemist can produce Greek fire and methane with the standard chemicals ability. The
components for 12 ounces of Greek fire (enough to fill a grenado) cost 600 Silver Pennies. Enough methane to
fill a grenado can be manufactured at a cost of 300 Silver Pennies. If a creature is directly hit by a grenado filled
with Greek Fire, that creature will suffer D10+7 Damage Points per Pulse until the flames are extinguished (the
virtue of Greek Fire as a weapon is that it sticks to the target). A partial hit will cause D10-3 Damage Points per
Pulse; if a shield is interposed between target and grenado, the shield catches fire, though the intended target
suffers no more than 2 Damage Points. A methane grenado creates a ball of fire in the hex in which it detonates
and the adjacent six hexes. Any creature in one of these hexes will suffer D10-3 Damage Points, but will be able
to avoid further damage by exiting the fire hexes (methane is not a persistent inflammable). Whenever an
alchemist wishes to manufacture standard chemicals, they must spend D10 + 6 hours (-1 per two ranks) in a
laboratory and pay for the components. The quantity mixed does not affect the time required, but an alchemist is
limited to the manufacture of one end product during a given laboratory session. An alchemist can produce
standard chemicals for the use of local businessmen (e.g., embalming: fluid for the undertaker), and earn
between 50 and 75 Silver Pennies per full week of labor. Alternately, they may produce chemicals which are
likely to be put to illegal uses (e.g., a corrosive for iron) or manufacture addictives (e.g., cocaine, heroin). The
alchemist must discover an outlet to sell such chemicals, and the return on the goods is up to the GM's
discretion. Medicines and antidotes are used to cure a being suffering from disease, fever or poison.
Medicines and antidotes are used to cure a being suffering from disease, fever or poison. An alchemist may
manufacture three types of medicine: bactericide (remedy for disease), antipyretic (remedy for fever) and salve
(remedy for skin inflammation). A bactericide or antipyretic must be ingested, while one dose of salve can cover
up to two square feet of skin. Whenever a being uses a medicine to counteract an affliction from which they are
suffering, the GM rolls percentile dice. If the roll is equal to or less than ([8 x Alchemist's Rank] + [User's
Endurance] ), the user is completely cured. If the roll is above the success percentage, the user subtracts 10
from their next dice-roll to see if they naturally recovers from their affliction. The failure of one medicine to work
has no effect upon any subsequent medicines used by a being. When an alchemist manufactures an antidote,
they must specify the type of poison they are negating. Natural poisons are classified by the source from which
they stem. Thus, a snake antidote will cure all poison from snakes, and so on. Synthetic poisons (those
manufactured by alchemists) are cured by an antidote from an alchemist of equal or higher Rank than the
alchemist who created the poison. When a being ingests the proper antidote, the poison in their system will no
longer affect them.
Poisons cause damage when introduced into the blood stream of a being. Poisons come from two sources: those
which occur in nature (venom from animals and plants) and those which are created in a laboratory (synthetic
poisons). An alchemist may distill venom and synthesize poisons. A venom is distilled from either the poison sacs
of a poisonous animal (the most common being a snake), or from certain plants. An alchemist may distill D10-1
doses of poison from poison sacs. The amount they may distill from plants depends on the type of plant (GM's
discretion). An alchemist requires (11 - Rank) hours to distill one dose of venom from either source. The cost of
a poison plant or sac is [750 + (150 x Average Damage per Pulse)] Silver Pennies, and there is no cost for the
distillation process. Venom come in two forms: Nerve Agents and Blood Agents. Nerve Agents work quickly
(doing damage every Pulse) while Blood Agents (such as arsenic) work over a long period of time, inflicting
damage like Infections (see 116). The damage a being will suffer from a dose of Nerve Agent venom is equal to
the damage it would suffer from the venom of the source animal or plant. An alchemist may also manufacture
synthetic poisons (both venom and paralysants) in their laboratory. A synthetic venom will do [D10 + Alchemist's
Rank) -5] damage points per Pulse and costs [1000 - (75 x Rank)] Silver Pennies to manufacture. If a synthetic
paralysant (see 116) is used to affect a being, the formula used for the Willpower Check of the victim is [(4 x
Willpower) + 20 - (5 x Alchemist's Rank)] . A synthetic paralysant costs [750 - (60 x Rank)] Silver Pennies to
manufacture. An alchemist can produce up to three doses of synthetic poison per day.
Potions are created by an alchemist with the aid of either an Adept, Healer or by collecting the natural
ingredients. Potions are designed to create a specific effect when imbibed by a being. They are manufactured in
one-use doses and the entire dose must be swallowed for the effect. Magical potions are treated by the
concerted efforts of an Adept and the alchemist (who may be one in the same person). Any spell or talent which
the Adept knows and which is designed to affect only the Adept or some facet of their own person may be
imbued into a potion. It takes two whole days of continuous combined effort to create the potion. It is successfully
created if at the end of the time the player roll is less than [(10 x Alchemist's Rank) + (Adept's Rank with the spell
or talent)]. A roll above this indicates the potion is useless and the process must be repeated with new
ingredients, etc. The effect of a successful potion for the imbiber is as if the Adept had already made a
successful Cast Check and the spell had taken effect. The workings of magical potions are immediate. The cost
to manufacture a magical potion is equal to [(Experience Multiple of spell or talent x 20) - (Alchemist's Rank x
10)].
An alchemist and a healer working together may create a healing potion (again, they may be the same person).
The potions possible and their Base Value are listed on the page for potions. The time required to produce the
potion is the same as a magical one, and the equation to see if the process was successful is [(10 x Alchemist's
Rank) + (3 x Healer's Rank)]. If successfully created, the potion will act on the imbiber as if a healer of the
creator's Rank was attempting to heal them must still be attempted). The cost to manufacture a healing potion is
[(Base Value) - (50 x Alchemist's Rank)] Silver Pennies.
The final and cheapest resort of the alchemist is to collect the necessary animal or plant parts to make a specific
potion. This will often require the use of a Ranger or Sage familiar with the item the Alchemist needs for his or
her potions.