2nd edition (1999)
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- "Fillet of a fenny snake,
- In the cauldron boil and bake:
- Eye of newt and toe of frog,
- Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
- Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
- Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
- For a charm of powerful trouble,
- Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."
(the Second Witch, Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1)
Alchemy is not a separate class of Magic-Using. It combines elements of various Magic-Using disciplines, together with some chemistry and a lot of research. In its simplest forms, it is entirely chemistry, and no Magic-Using is involved at all. In its advanced forms, the Alchemist obtains a Recipe for a Potion by Binding a Demon, prepares a Potion Base by chemical means, adds relevant exotic Materials, and Casts a Clerical, Druidic or Elementalist Spell to produce the effect which becomes suspended in the Potion.
GUSION, the N/N Demon of Alchemy, exercises control over the Art for the Higher Powers. The Alchemists' Guild (the "Guild") exercises control over its practitioners, in both the Overworld and Underworld. GUSION imposes physical constraints, by defining what Potions are possible and how they are made. The Guild impose legal constraints, by defining what Potions are permissible, who may make them, and for what prices they may sell them. This system does not necessarily differentiate between physical and legal rules.
Alchemical Initial Basic Training ("IBT") comprises the necessary chemistry, the other matters which are the subject of this system, and sufficient practice. It does not result in the student becoming a L1 Alchemist. Alchemy is not a separate class, of Magic-User or otherwise, in which Characters gain Experience or levels.
Alchemical IBT would have ULT of 1 year, but it is not possible to learn it by concentrated study. The student must obtain an Apprenticeship with the Guild, which lasts a minimum duration of 2 years, of which 1 year (subject to ULT Mods) is spent on IBT, and the rest on menial tasks for the Master. On completion of the Apprenticeship, the student may be admitted (with sponsorship from his Master) as a Journeyman member of the Guild, and must spend a minimum of a further 2 years practicing his trade before he may be admitted (with sponsorship from two Masters and a two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly of the Guild) as a Master Alchemist. Only a Master may trade as an Alchemist for his own account.
GUSION can teach Alchemical IBT in 10 sessions as Minor Favours from the Circle. However, He has a Pact with the Guild which prohibits Him from granting such Favours to anyone who is not a Guild member or Apprentice. To break the Pact would require Triangling Him and the sale of a First Soul.
Alchemical IBT includes the knowledge to make the following items, all of which require chemistry but no Magic-Using:
All of the above require the appropriate Materials and a certain amount of time for their manufacture. As no Magic is required (except for Tanglefoot pills), they do not Detect as Magical. The knowledge of their Recipes does not count as SLL.
Tanglefoot pills do require a Dehydrate (Water El'ist) Spell in their manufacture. This simply removes the water from a tangleweed, and does not result in a suspended or continuing Spell effect, so Tanglefoots do not Detect as Magical. (Alchemists do not publicise the fact that Hydrate can be an effective no saving throw Spell against anyone carrying Tanglefoot pills!)
To make Magical Potions, the Alchemist who has completed his IBT must next obtain and learn the Recipe for each Potion he wishes to manufacture.
Recipes may be obtained from fellow Guild Members. The more common Recipes (e.g. Potion of Healing) are often taught during Apprenticeship or to a Journeyman who works for a Master. The more prized Recipes (e.g. Potion of Regeneration) must be purchased or traded for.
Recipes may also be obtained by original research, though this can be a lengthy (and potentially dangerous) process of trial or error.
Alternatively, GUSION will give the Recipe for any Potion on His standard list (known as "The Catalogue of GUSION") as a Major Favour from the Triangle. However, He has another Pact with the Guild which prohibits Him from granting such Favours to anyone who is not a Guild member or Apprentice. To break the Pact would require the sale of a Soul.
There are rumoured to be a number of Recipes for non-standard Potions in circulation. They are most likely to be obtained by original research, and might then be traded. Certain Cults are also known to possess Recipes, which may involve their own non-standard Spells or specialist Materials.
However, it is prohibited by the Rules of the Guild to possess, manufacture or deal in Potions which are not listed in The Catalogue of GUSION. Breach of this Rule is punishable as a disciplinary matter. Minor offences commonly result in fines, but serious offences potentially are punishable by expulsion from the Guild.
GUSION will not when Triangled give the Recipe for a Potion not listed in His Catalogue. The more enterprising Binders amongst Alchemists may attempt to induce Him to do so by offering generous Pacts.
Recipes for non-standard non-Magical Alchemical items may also exist. These are not prohibited by the Rules of the Guild, and GUSION may even reveal them from the Circle. The more trivial ones may even be considered by Alchemists not to be Alchemical at all, being no more than the wares of herbalists and mountebanks.
Some Recipes in circulation, particularly for non-standard Potions or other items, may be fakes or contain errors or omissions. Caveat emptor.
Potion Recipes have ULT, of an average of 2 hours. They may only be learned (in the sense that they will be comprehended and can be used) by someone who has completed sufficient Alchemical IBT.
Each Potion Recipe learnt counts as 1/2 SLL. (Possible systems change: the 1st edition of this system variously stated this as 1/2 SLL or 1 SLL. I have now ruled it is 1/2 SLL.)
The Recipe for a Potion will prescribe a Potion Base, Materials and a Spell, all of which are required for its manufacture.
The making of Potion Bases is learnt as part of Alchemical IBT, and is a matter of chemistry. The following Bases are so learnt:
Each Base is standard for all Potions of its type. So all Potions, strictly so-called (i.e. ones whose name begins "Potion of..."), require a Potion Base, all Oils require an Oil Base, and all Antidotes require an Antidote Base. Note that Oil of Burning is not an Oil in this sense.
Each Base requires certain Materials, which are readily-available but expensive, and a certain amount of preparation time, as follows:
| Base | Cost per Potion | Preparation Time |
| Potion | 10GP | 2 hours + 1 Cd to settle |
| Oil | 20GP | 4 hours + 8 hours to settle |
| Antidote | 5GP | 1 hour + 12 hours to settle |
Most Alchemists achieve economies of scale by purchasing the Materials for Bases in bulk, and by brewing the Bases in bulk using large cauldrons. This is a common task for Apprentices.
Pills and Dusts (including Non-Magical ones) are made with a paste of dried Potion Base. The quantities required are small, and the paste is commonly manufactured as a by-product of the scum cleared off the top of a Potion Base cauldron.
Settled Bases should be kept in sealed containers, but begin to decay after 1 week in temperate climates (sooner in hotter or humid climates, later in colder or drier climates). If a Base which has begun to decay is used to make a Potion, the result may be imperfect. The Guild is justly proud of its reputation for quality products. If a customer were able to substantiate a complaint of shoddy craftsmanship to the Guild, serious penalties could result.
Each Potion requires unique Materials in addition to those required to manufacture its Base. These Materials typically involve parts of Monsters, and can therefore be difficult to obtain. Some may even be illegal in certain places, or involve illegal acts to obtain. Most Alchemists therefore publish "want lists", of the prices they will pay for such items in useable condition. To avoid giving away Guild secrets, such lists often contain exotic items which are not actually required as Materials. It has been suggested by the cynical at Guild dinners that such items of apparent disinformation are in fact required for secret research into non-standard Potions.
The quantity of Materials for each Potion must be exact (e.g. one finger of birth-strangled babe (ditch-delivered by a drab) and one Weretiger's chaudron for th' ingredience of each Potion of Immunity to Weretigers). Therefore the base is poured from the cauldron into individual pots before adding the Materials.
The final stage of manufacture is to Cast the Spell required by the Recipe. The Spell does not have to be Cast by the Alchemist, by a Guild Member, or even by a Magic-User with Alchemical IBT. It may be Cast by an Apprentice or Journeyman, or even bought in from an outside Magic-User (e.g the Clerical Cure Light Wounds Spell for a Potion of Healing is often bought from a local Temple, and many Druids earn a little extra cash by Casting the Druidic Heal Wounds Spell for a Potion of Extra-Healing).
One Spell Cast is required for each Potion manufactured.
An extra one second's Old Speech Incantation in Old Speech or Alignment Tongue (for Clerics) is required for any Spell to target a Potion. The Incantation is learnt in Alchemical IBT, and does not require SLLs. It is not a Guild secret, and may be freely disclosed and readily learned by sub-contracted Magic-Users. When this Incantation is used, the Spell Effect (if successful) does not resolve immediately, but is suspended in the Potion. If the Base or Materials are invalid, there is no effect, or possibly a modified effect.
The Recipe will specify a Minimum Throw required for the Spell. If a Throw greater than or equal to that Throw is achieved, the Potion is successfully manufactured. Otherwise, there is no effect, the Potion is a "dud". A competent Alchemist (especially one with the Thievish Detect / Identify Potion Ability) can spot a dud by sight, smell and/or taste. Some Alchemists will also check the finished Potion using the Elementalist Identify Potions Spell (especially to verify if a more powerful Effect has been achieved).
Some Potion Recipes (e.g. Invulnerability) specify a range of Minimum Throws, usually triangling, the higher ones giving greater effects (e.g. Potion of Invulnerability +1, +2, +3 etc.).
Only a Master Alchemist may sell or barter Potions to non-members of the Guild. An Apprentice or Journeyman may sell or barter Potions on behalf of a Master. A Master may pay to a Journeyman a commission on sales (not exceeding 10%).
Each Potion in the Catalogue of GUSION has a Guild Price. Members may not accept less than the Guild Price for any Potion, except that they may offer a discount (not exceeding 10%) to other Guild members.
Note that giving a Potion away counts as accepting less than the Guild Price. There is a Guild Waiver permitting members to give Potions to their followers and fellow party members for use during an expedition on which the member is present or which has as its only or main purpose the gathering of Materials for the member. Any unused Potions must be returned to the member or purchased on conclusion of the expedition. Another waiver permits "sale or return" deals, subject to a minimum deposit of 10% (if the customer does not return, the Alchemist will forfeit the deposit and claim the debt against his estate).
Non-standard Potions do not have Guild Prices, as their sale is prohibited.
The Potion effectively suspends the effect of the Spell used in its manufacture, until the Potion is taken. It also usually standardises the effect. Provided the Minimum Throw has been achieved, the Potion has the standard effect defined in its Recipe, instead of the effect that would normally have resulted from the Throw and any varied parameters of the Spell as Cast. However, some Recipes allow for more powerful versions of the Potion to be produced by means of higher Throws on the Spell. Such Potions are sold at a premium.
See the General Systems page for the basic rules on the effects of Poison, Acid & Fire Bombs and Potions. Flash Pellets and Stink Bombs are activated by impact. Tanglefoot pills are activated by applying water.
- "Cool it with a baboon's blood,
- Then the charm is firm and good."
(the Second Witch)
Go to The Catalogue of GUSION (Standard Potion List and index to Recipes)
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© P.R. Wild, 1999
version 2.2, 9 September 2011