Alchemy

Alchemy

Characters may combine items to craft potions, bombs, or oils. The most basic recipes are of oils foraged herbs to speed recovery, or jars of pitch, oil, or black powder affixed with a wick. More detailed information about alchemy is provided on the Alchemy handout.

For more advanced alchemy, there are two essential tools that the alchemist requires: an alchemy kit and hermetic bottles.

Alchemy Kit

An alchemy kit is a luxurious item that takes up 2 slots in your pack. It is a laboratory distilled down to its essentials: athanors, retorts, and alembics all wrapped up in a compact traveling case. An alchemy kit is needed for the Brew Alchemy Camp Action.

Hermetic Bottles

Hermetic bottles are common items that each take up one slot in your pack. Hermetic bottles seal tight, keeping both reagents and alchemical substances preserved and potent. Harvested reagents not stored in a hermetic bottle spoil after one watch.

Reagents

Guts and viscera from freshly killed monsters can be harvested as reagents. When you harvest a reagent and store it in a hermetic bottle, write down the reagent and the type of the creature it was harvested from like this:

Hermetic bottle: Eyes of salamander

Usually, any given creature can only produce one viable reagent. Huge monsters might produce several. Some monsters yield no reagents. A wraith, for example, has no guts. A magically animated statue has no guts.

Brewing

When you brew alchemy, you can turn reagents into alchemical substances. You transform as many reagents at the same time as you want. Each reagent is directly transformed into one alchemical substance: either a bomb (B), potion (P), or oil (O).

At the end of the brew alchemy action, the alchemical substance replaces the reagent in the hermetic bottle. Erase the reagent and write the substance’s name like this:

Hermetic bottle: Potion of lizard vision

Or

Hermetic bottle: (P) - Lizard vision

Alchemical Substances

There are three types of alchemical substances.

Potions (P)

Potions (P) are beneficial or transformational when drunk. Drinking the entire bottle gives you the full effect. Potions can be pulled from the belt and drunk using two actions; one to retrieve the bottle, and the second to drink.

Bombs (B)

Bombs (B) are thrown in combat, exploding into a reactive plume of smoke and chemicals. This destroys the hermetic bottle. Bombs are almost always harmful or debilitating. They can be pulled from the belt and thrown using two actions.

Oils (O)

Oils (O) have an effect on the environment. They can be poured out, slathered onto items, or have things dipped into them to create these effects. Oils can be thrown as bombs, or slathered on items as preparation before combat.

Alchemical Effects

Alchemy bundles up a monster’s abilities and sticks them into a bottle. When you use an alchemical substance, you’re using a monster’s ability. Reagents may provide a meaningful defense against similar monsters, such as a fire giant’s heart granting heat resistance.

Drink a potion to gain a dire spider’s wall climbing ability.

Throw a bomb to poison a foe with the spider’s venom.

Distill the spider’s webbing into a glue-like oil that bonds together whatever it touches.

Alchemical effects typically last for one watch - about ten minutes. When brewing, decide which of the creatures’ abilities you wish to distill into which substance. A character’s intelligence stat may provide bonuses to length and effect.