Alchemy

Alchemy is the art of combining alchemically active substances to make potions, oils and other consumables.

Alchemists quickly realized that they could refine a single ingredient into a preparation with interesting, but quite weak, properties, and alchemically active substances are still initially discovered by doing this. Things got interesting when an enterprising alchemist managed to combine two ingredients, one of Chaos and one of Order to get a much more potent effect of Creation. After some head scratching the alchemist concluded that they somehow managed to access a higher order effect that didn’t express at the lowest level, and began experimenting, eventually refining the Alchemical Principles.

Using Alchemicals

Anyone can use most alchemicals with 5 seconds appropriate roleplay (drink potion, apply blade oil, etc). A willing incapacitated character can be assisted by another to use an alchemical, and if so it counts as them consuming it. Some higher order alchemicals may have Advanced Alchemist Only or Creator Only on the label. Any character with Sense Magic can detect an alchemical substance on sight, including any food or drink that’s been alchemically treated, but not identify the exact substance.

The Trader and Alchemy skills give the ability to recognize commonly known alchemicals based on their external characteristics. The Alchemy skill also allows a character to identify unknown alchemicals with appropriate investigative roleplay, destroying the alchemical.

Making Alchemicals

To prepare an alchemical the alchemist decides their ingredients and puts them together with at least a minute of roleplay. This will then produce an alchemical according to the alchemical principles. Basic ingredients can be bought from the task force stores, but any advanced ingredients need to be provided specially. They can also specify what ingredient they’d like to manifest, or block manifestation of ingredients. If the effect that would manifest is outside of their skill range, they learn the order of the effect that would have manifested but the alchemical is too unstable and fizzles away. If the recipe can’t manifest any effect an inert alchemical will be produced.

If an alchemist is making an alchemical they know, and it’s entirely within their skill level, they can make a batch of alchemicals at the same time.

While only one alchemist is in charge of making the alchemical, others can participate. While they will make no difference to the alchemical made, when creating a new recipe having extra participants may give some extra insight into the ingredients used. How much information depends on how ambitious the recipe is, and how much is already known about the ingredients. Close observation of fallout is especially likely to yield insight; the alchemist can choose to use unstable procedures and deliberately cause fallout if they wish to take advantage of this.

Any number of ingredients used beyond the alchemist’s skill level will cause fallout. Only as much fallout can be caused as the alchemist can safely use ingredients, or the alchemy is cancelled.

Alchemists can make recipes they’ve made before and are entirely within their skill level in downtime, but can attempt to make recipes they’ve not made before or use a number of ingredients beyond their skill level in uptime only.

Alchemists can experiment with recipes they’ve never tried before a limited number of times per interactive. When an alchemist makes something for the first time, they should write it down (and check with the ref they’ve got it down right) so they can show this if they want to make it again. An alchemist can teach another by letting them copy the recipe, but if they do, get a ref to check the recipe.

Alchemical Principles

Principle of Partial composition

Alchemical ingredients contain elements isolated as partials. Each partial has an order and element. For a partial to have an effect on the the alchemical it must be activated by combining a sufficient number of the same element at the same order. It seems that first order partials can be activated with a single ingredient while at least two different ingredients of the same element are necessary to activate a second order partial.

Principle of Negation

An active partial will negate expression of any amount of same order partials of the opposite element.

Principle of Least Expression

The lowest order active partials that are not negated will express in a preparation. If there are multiple active un-negated partials in that order, they all express.

Principle of Singular Manifestation

Only one of the expressed ingredients can manifest in to an effect. The alchemist can encourage a single ingredient to manifest, or choose a number of ingredients to block manifestation of. If the encouraged ingredient can manifest, it will, otherwise a random expressed ingredient that isn’t blocked will manifest. If no ingredients can manifest, an inert alchemical is produced.

Side Effects

Alchemy almost always has side effects. The side effects seem to apply to the administrator of the alchemical regardless of how it’s administered; it seems the act of imposing an effect on the world through alchemy is what causes side effects, rather than any physiological process.

Alchemical preparations work via elemental manipulation that stresses the body. Using more than one alchemical per encounter will cause side effects. For each alchemical that a character uses over their limit the character will incur an overdose effect that must be resolved by seeing a ref.

Frequent overuse of alchemicals will result in more severe side effects than usual. Frequent use of the same type of alchemical can result in addiction, and eventually a lasting personality change in line with the alchemical’s side effects. This is especially true if alchemicals are overused in stressful circumstances.