This is the skill of taking raw components and combining them in a specific method to produce something you want. Alchemy lets you create powerful elixirs and salves, and potentially discover formulas for invulnerability and intense luck. Though the power of Alchemy, all of your dreams are but a mix away.
Alchemy, like all crafting skills, is derived from three component types:
The Base ingredient is the standard compound that all potions must be made of. As a general rule, if an alchemical substance needs to be drank for a beneficial effect, it needs an organic base; whereas many types of substances not meant to be drank can use either an organic base or an inorganic base (such as a metallic base).
The Active Ingredient is often what makes the potion work. There are many common active ingredients, and many substitutes for Active Ingredients. Generally, a recipe will list a specific Active Ingredient.
The Extra Ingredient(s) are additives that are often optional. There will generally be a limit on the number of Extra Ingredients you can put in, rather than a requirement of an Extra Ingredient. Every recipe is different, generally, an Extra Ingredient will be your choice and optional.
Each Alchemical Item you can create has a Recipe. A Recipe will consist of the required ingredients, the gold piece cost to make the item, the Downtime required to make the item, and the rank of Alchemy required for to make the item. Last, some recipes have special requirements, such as a requirement for proficiency in a skill or a focus or special equipment. Here is a very basic recipe:
Recipe: Potion of Healing |
| Required Skill: Alchemy Rank 1 Crafting Cost: 10 gp per potion Downtime Required: You can craft 1 potion per your rank in Alchemy, per day of downtime. Ingredients Required: ✺ Base Ingredient: Any Common Organic Base, 1 Unit ✺ Active Ingredient: Forest Sage, 1 Unit ✺ Extra Ingredient: Optional, Any Organic, limit 1. Special Requirements: None Result: You craft 1 Potion of Healing |
When crafting an Alchemical Item, you can often craft more than one per day of Downtime, based on your rank in Alchemy. You do not have to craft as many items as you are allowed, but unused crafting time in a day is wasted. If you are allowed to craft three Potions of Healing, and you only craft one, it still uses your entire day of Downtime.
If you have the ability to craft multiple items in a single day of Downtime, you must still pay the Crafting Cost and use the components for each item. If you wanted to make three Potions of Healing in a day of Downtime, and your skill in Alchemy is Rank 3, you would still need to spend 30 gp, 3 units of organic bases, 3 units of Forest Sage, and up to three units of Extra Ingredients. Each of those Extra Ingredients could be different, producing three slightly different Potions of Healing. You will be in charge of tracking these potions, so write notes on your character sheet when you have a unique potion!
Advancing Your Alchemy Skill
Like Subskills, you must spend your days of Downtime to learn a crafting skill. Crafting skills follow the same formula of days used to advance ranks, but there are some differences in how you can advance in a crafting skill.
All crafting skills must be initially taught to you by a qualified source, meaning that you will have to receive access to learning Alchemy in an adventure or special event. Once you have one rank in Alchemy, you may begin to use Rank 1 Alchemical recipes to make alchemical substances after any adventure. Simply mark the items made in the summary folder for the adventure on Discord.
Advancing your skill in Alchemy is slightly different than Subskills. You still need to spend the required Downtime to advance your skill in Alchemy, but cannot do so unless you are practicing with a master (or, in reality, have a reward from an adventure that allows you to progress to a certain rank in Alchemy); or you can practice Alchemy. Once you have spent your 10 days of Downtime to learn Rank 1 Alchemy, you may continue to craft by spending Downtime and resources. Days of Downtime spent creating Alchemical items count towards your Downtime Required to learn Alchemy; if you spend 20 more days making Alchemical Items, you will automatically advance to Rank 2, and so on.
As you increase in ranks, you will be given automatic recipes. All other recipes must be acquired.
| Rank | Downtime Required (Total Spent) | Automatic Recipes |
| 1 | 10 | Potion of Healing, Alchemist’s Fire, Anti-Toxin |
| 2 | 30 | Weak Healing Salve, Gluepot, Greater Anti-Toxin |
| 3 | 60 | Potion of Greater Healing, Flashbomb, Potion of Lesser Resistance |
| 4 | 100 | Potion of Lesser Restoration, Potion of Aid, Potion of Flying |
| 5 | 150 | Potion of Superior Healing, Potion of Speed, Pressure Sphere |
| 6 | 210 | Potion of Supreme Healing, Potion of Resistance, Potion of Invulnerability |
Other Factors of Alchemy
There are other factors that can affect your Alchemical skills and limitations.
Many recipes require proficiency in the Alchemist’s Tools, or an Alchemist’s Lab of a certain rank, or your ability to cast a spell or a rank in a Subskill. These recipes often produce more powerful or rare versions of an Alchemical substance.
If your character’s soul is bound to a Place of Power that has an Alchemist’s Lab, you will often gain a bonus to crafting potions associated with the Place’s magical energy types, and generally a reduction in crafting time. Additionally, Crafting Recipes can be “taught” to Alchemist’s Labs in a Place of Power, allowing any Chaos Seed that is bound to the Place of Power to produce the recipe, even if they do not know it on their own. This does not teach the Chaos Seed the Alchemical Recipe, but does allow them to make an item as if they did when using that Alchemist’s Lab.
Chaos Seeds with the Scribing crafting skill can work with an Alchemist to create Recipe Books for known Alchemical Recipes, which can then be taught to other Alchemists. Alchemy recipes can only be taught via Recipe Books. Further information on this is explained in The Basics of Scribing.