Instead of Spells or similar casted / activated abilities Alchemists know Recipes that enable them to brew or create certain Potions and similar Alchemical compounds and substance (elixirs, salves, powders, etc) without actually being able to cast a corresponding Spell or activate a magical effect at will.

Creation of Alchemical substances can be a little bit time consuming, but given sufficient lead time and raw materials an industrious Alchemist can churn out quite an array of goodies. Alchemical substances never cost character points to create; they do cost money and or materials and time to make.

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KS: Alchemy

A large part of Alchemy is scholarly knowledge and lore. This is represented by the KS: Alchemy skill, which is required for a character to be an Alchemist.

The measure of mastery might vary from region to region, but an Alchemist must have at least KS: Alchemy 16- and have created at least one original Recipe to be considered a true Master.

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RECIPES

Alchemists must pay for a 1 point Familiarity for each Recipe they know. They do not have any Spellcasting capability, or a Magic System to speak of; all they can do is create Potions (inks, dusts, creams, salves, unguents, elixirs, and so on) based upon the Recipes they know.

At the GM's discretion they could also know Recipes for simple explosives, smoke bombs, agents and reagents, glues, poisons, and other such classic Hermetic Alchemy concepts.

Each distinct Power write up, no matter how similar, requires a separate Recipe. The learning and creating of recipes is left to the GM's discretion on a case by case basis, but learning a Recipe requires the following:

Alchemist has a written out copy of the Recipe:

• 1 day per Real Cost of the Power write up the Recipe represents

Alchemist does not have a written out copy but has at least one usage of an exiting Alchemical substance to reverse engineer from (expending the usage):

• 1 day per Real Cost of the Power write up the Recipe represents multiplied by 1d3

Nothing to go off of / brand new effect:

• 1 day per Real Cost of the Power write up the Recipe represents multiplied by 2d3

At the end of the relevant amount of time the Alchemist makes a KS: Alchemy Skill Roll at -1 per 20 Active Points in the Power write up the Recipe represents. Failure indicates that the Recipe is not learned at that time; the Alchemist may try again however.

If the Alchemist already knows a very similar Recipe they may gain a +1 bonus to their KS: Alchemy Skill Roll at the GM's discretion. If the Alchemist has the Research skill, they may use it as a complementary skill.

An Alchemist can attempt to rush the process and take xd3 days fewer, but suffers a -1 to the Skill roll for each 1d3 days trimmed off in this fashion. Thus an Alchemist could opt to trim the time by 3d3 days, in which case he would suffer a -3 to his eventual KS: Alchemy Skill roll. The time required can never be reduced to less than 6 hours in any event.

The time spent on learning a Recipe does not have to be consecutive. For purposes of calculation, each "day" is considered to consist of a minimum of 8 hours spent working in an alchemical lab or equivalent. A character spending, say, 16 hours per day might reasonably cut the time required to learn a Recipe in half at the GM's discretion.

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PACKAGE DEAL

A Base Package Deal is provided for Master Alchemist, but check with your GM to determine if such types of Characters are permitted in the game setting, and if so to establish guidelines for how powerful they feel Alchemical effects should be within the context of the campaign (for instance some GM's might want to place an Active Point on the abilities created using Alchemy; in such cases between 30 and 60 Active Points is recommended).

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ALCHEMICAL SUBSTANCES

The majority of Alchemical substances come in the form of a potion, however more creative options are viable including inks, dusts, powders, creams, salves, unguents, elixirs, and so forth. The basic theme is some kind of topical or ingested or inhaled inanimate substance that imparts its magic upon being consumed.

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Ephemeral Magic Items

Some Magic Items are of limited use; the number of uses are finite. When modeling such items in the HERO System Nonrecoverable Charges should be applied as a Limitation to the Powers in the Item instead of the Independent Limitation.

Though finite in their number of uses, the advantage to Ephemeral Items is that they do not have to be paid for with Character Points ever. They are treated as a commodity (see below), and are bought and sold and traded and stolen like any other valuable commodity.

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Alchemical Substance Creation

Creating an Alchemical substance requires:

• Knowledge of the Recipe
• Available substances (GM's discretion)
• 1 hour per point of Real Cost of the effect the Recipe represents
• A successful KS: Alchemy Skill Roll at -1/10 Real Cost

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Potions

Potions are a popular form of Ephemeral Magic Items, particularly among adventurers, and are the most common type of Alchemical substance encountered. Potions and their like, such as elixirs, salves, creams, etc. basically hold a magical effect in stasis until they are imbibed, applied, etc. Further, potions and their like require no magical skill or talent at all to use and thus are usable by the masses at large and are therefore more useful to those not initiated in the Magical Arts.

However, Potions usually are fairly weak, filling more of a "utility niche" vs. acting as receptacles of vast power.

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POTION SHORTHAND LIMITATION

Potions can be quickly built by applying a straightforward "short-hand" Limitation which works for the majority of Potions (and by extension, inks, dusts, creams, salves, unguents, elixirs, and so on).

POTION: 1 Nonrecoverable Charge (-3), Obvious Accessible Focus (Fragile; -1 1/4), Extra Time: Full Phase (-1/2), Restrainable (Must be Imbibed or Applied, -1/4); Total Limitation: -5

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COMMODITY

Potions and other Alchemical devices can usually be bought and sold as a commodity. The following section suggests some guidelines for determining the monetary value of such items.

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Suggested Monetary Rates

As a basic guideline, the following baseline formulas for Magic Item costs are recommended:

• Base Value: Real Cost * Active Points in xc
• Creation Cost: 75% Base Value

xc = base currency of economy; gold coins in a gold based economy, silver coins in a silver based economy, etc.

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Figuring Active Points of Framework-based Items

Some multi-purpose Items are built using a Power Framework, particularly a Multipower or an EC. The following modifications to the above process apply in such a case:

• Multipower: Consider a MP as a single Power Construct with Active Points equal to the Pool, +10 Active Point for every slot in the Multipower
• EC (5e) or Unified Power (6e): Consider it a single Power Construct with Active Points equal to the largest Power in the EC, +5 Active Points for each additional Power in the EC
• VPP: Consider it a single Power Construct with Active Points equal to the Pool plus the Control Cost

Actual sales prices should be heavily modified by economic forces such as supply and demand, availability, and of course game mechanics like Trading Skill Rolls.

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EXAMPLES

Potions

Potion of Barkskin
Real Cost: 8
Active Points: 45
Description: This potion changes the drinker's skin into a thick damage resistant bark for up to a Day.
Effect: Armor (10 PD/7 ED) ({Natural}), Difficult To Dispel (x2 Active Points; +1/4), Hardened (x2; +1/2) (45 Active Points); 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Day which Never Recovers (-1 3/4), OAF Fragile (-1 1/4), Extra Time (Full Phase, Only to Activate, Delayed Phase, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1/2), Restrainable (-1/2), Visible (-1/4)


Potion of Cure Critical Wounds
Real Cost: 4
Active Points: 30
Effect: Healing BODY 3d6 (30 Active Points); 1 Charge which Never Recovers (-4), OAF Fragile (-1 1/4), Restrainable (-1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2)


Potion Of Invisibility
Real Cost: 11
Active Points: 37
Invisibility to Sight Group , No Fringe, 3 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Hour each (+1/4) (37 Active Points); OAF Fragile (-1 1/4), Restrainable (-1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, Only to Activate, Delayed Phase, -1/2)

Magic Systems