Alchemy

The system below is adapted from Naively Simple Alchemy (opens new window) by Rook.

Requirements

All Potions require 4 things:

1. An Oil, which is consumed (1 item slot, provides adjective)
2. A Powder, which is consumed (1 item slot, provides noun/verb)
3. A Catalyst, which is consumed (light, provides potency)
4. Alchemical Equipment, which is never consumed (bulky)

A character can do 3 of the following as a Downtime Action:

• Turn something into an Oil or a Powder
• Create one potion

Oils, Powders, and Catalysts

All things can be reduced to either Oils or Powders by use of Alchemical Equipment. These substances produce a single, unchanging effect based on what they were derived from. Unless very large, most creatures or objects can only be reduced into a single batch of a single ingredient.

At its simplest, Oils provide an adjective effect and Powders denote a particular verb or noun. A single Oil, a single Powder, and a single Catalyst are combined to create a potion, the effects of which are the combination of the adjective and noun/verb and empowered by the potency.

Catalysts are special minerals that allow Oils and Powders to combine into potions. They are sold by alchemists. See table below.

Catalyst Potency	Cost
Mild	50g
Moderate	100g
Strong	200g

Example

An amateur adventuring alchemist slays two Blink-Dogs and reduces one into an Oil and the other into a Powder using his Alchemical Equipment. Using his Alchemical Equipment, he is aware of the effect the Blink-Dog Oil and Blink-Dog Powder will bring to any particular potion. (These effects are improv’d by the Referee)

Blink-Dog Oil: Capricious

Blink-Dog Powder: Teleport

Having discovered these effects, he (and the Referee) log the effects into a codified alchemical grimoire for future reference. The Alchemist can then combine these with a Standard Catalyst to make his Capricious Teleport (moderate) potion (drinking this potion will cause random teleportation).

Addenda

Potion Potency

Potion Potency is derived from the Catalyst used to distill the potion. The Referee ultimately rules for how powerful any potion is.

Some potions have instantaneous effects while other would work for a duration; take this into account when assigning potion effects. It would be best practice for the Referee to record specific potion effects for consistency.

See the below table for suggested scale of a potion's effects based on Potency.

Potency	Damage	Area	Range	Duration
Mild	1d4	Closet	Within reach	1-10 rounds
Moderate	1d6-1d10	Room	A stone's throw	10 mins - 1 hour
Strong	1d12	Ballroom	An arrow's flight	1 day - 1 month

Ignore any categories that don't apply to the potion's effect. If multiple categories apply to a potion's effect, only apply Potency to one of them, or balance them.

For example- the Capricious Teleport (moderate) potion could apply both Range (how far it makes you teleport) and Duration (how long it makes you teleport randomly for). Since it's Potency is Moderate, it could make the user teleport a stone's throw away but only once, or a very short distance repeatedly for a duration of 1 hour. Or, it could have an effect somewhere between those extremes; it's up to the Referee.

Exploitation of Mundane Substances

If players attempt to use incredibly mundane substances (like grass) in their potions, allow them. However, reduce the potion’s Potency by one step and think very carefully about what effects the Oil and Powder will give. The effects should be niche, dull and not terribly useful. Also consider the large quantity of the mundane substance the players would have to gather in order to produce an effectual yield of oil/powder.

Grass for example may yield:

Grass Oil = Wilt/Wilting

Grass Powder = Grass

Other Consumables

Potions are the most popular type of magical consumable. Nonetheless, others exist.

There are analogous methods to create magical foods, drugs, and so on. These are left unstated for brevity; if the Referee wishes to include methods to allow players to create these, adapt the method for potionmaking outlined above.