Alchemy

In Trilhamarga , a character can specialize in the meticulous art of extracting, distilling, and bottling the latent power of nature into concoctions that range from an herbal salve to a speed potion.

ALCHEMIST: If the character is at least Average (+1) in Create Concoction , they can be an alchemist, a scholar specialized in preparing concoctions. During character creation , an alchemist can acquire concoction recipes for one tenth of their original value.

Concoctions

A concoction is a mixture of ingredients that produce a natural or mystical effect. They can be divided into three types:

SIMPLE CONCOCTIONS: These are made from a common active principle. Simple concoctions are easier to prepare and require more common instruments.

ADVANCED CONCOCTIONS: These are made from a rare active principle. Advanced concoctions have a moderate level of difficulty and require access to an alchemy laboratory equipped with more sophisticated instruments.

SUPERIOR CONCOCTIONS: These are made from a legendary active principle. Superior concoctions are quite difficult to prepare, take time, and require access to an alchemy laboratory equipped with the finest and most sophisticated alchemy instruments.

Concoction Recipes

To prepare a concoction, the alchemist needs access to its recipe. The recipe of any concoction is made up of two main ingredients: an active principle and a solvent. Alternatively, an alchemist may also use catalysts to alter the outcome of the concoction by speeding up its preparation, increasing the quantity produced, or amplifying its effects.

Active Principles

Active principles are the ingredients that give a concoction its base effect; however, they must be mixed with a solvent for their effect to be properly extracted.

Active principles are divided into three categories according to their rarity:

COMMON: These can be easily found in nature or acquired from merchants, and they react with any type of solvent. Some examples include mint leaf, chamomile flower, ginger root, burdock root, oak bark, or wild bees' honey.

RARE: These are normally found in more inhospitable places or as parts of monsters, and they do not react with common solvents. Some examples include swamp serpent scale, giant toad tongue, dire wolf fur, the heart of a rare animal, young mandrake root, or the leaf of an ancient tree.

LEGENDARY: These are extremely difficult to obtain. They require facing powerful creatures, gathering them in very specific ritualistic circumstances, or confronting moral dilemmas. Some examples include a phoenix feather, chimera saliva, basilisk venom, unicorn blood, a lotus picked during a blood moon, or the left hand of a hanged man.

Solvents

Solvents are usually liquids that react with active principles to extract their effects.

Like active principles, solvents are divided into three categories according to their rarity:

COMMON: These can be easily obtained in nature or from merchants. Some examples include pure water, water from an ancient well, water mixed with wood ash, green apple vinegar, grain alcohol, or an infusion of neutral herbs.

RARE: These are more difficult to obtain and prepare, often requiring specific and infrequent conditions such as a phase of the moon or a season of the year. Some examples include the sap of an elder oak, golden resin balm, salamander blood, dew gathered on a full-moon night, an infusion of glimmering mushroom, or the milk of a hill goat.

LEGENDARY: Very rare fluids that are difficult to transport or that require very specific circumstances to obtain. Some examples include nocturnal lotus nectar, the blood of a young hydra, chimera bile, heartwood tree sap, the tears of a wounded unicorn, or the blood of a white raven.

Catalysts

Catalysts are optional ingredients that affect a concoction's production time, the quantity produced, or the potency of its effects. Catalysts are considered advanced concoctions.

POTENS: Doubles the duration of a concoction. If the concoction's effect is instantaneous, it doubles the numeric value associated with it. (1,000c)

PLENIUM: Increases the yield of the preparation, resulting in two concoctions instead of one. (1,000c)

PRÆSTUM: Reduces the required preparation time by one step. In the case of simple concoctions, it speeds up production to just 1 hour. (1,000c)

Acquiring New Recipes

An alchemist needs to research new recipes if they wish to expand their repertoire. To develop the recipe for a concoction they do not yet know how to prepare, an alchemist needs access to books and to a suitable alchemy laboratory in order to conduct an alchemy study.

An alchemy study aims to reveal the ingredients needed to prepare a specific concoction, so when starting a study, the alchemist must declare which concoction's recipe they are seeking.

To reveal one ingredient of a concoction, the alchemist must succeed on a Create Concoction check. The difficulty of the check, the cost in materials, and the time required for each attempt to reveal an ingredient vary according to the complexity of the concoction:

Once the alchemist manages to reveal both the active principle and the solvent of a concoction, they discover that concoction's recipe and must record it in a grimoire . A recipe takes up the equivalent of a spell when recorded in a grimoire .

Preparing a Concoction

To prepare a concoction for which the alchemist has the recipe, the ingredients, and the necessary instruments, they make a Create Concoction check . The difficulty and the preparation time vary according to the complexity of that concoction.

If successful, they manage to prepare the concoction correctly. Otherwise, they prepare a suspicious version of the concoction.

Suspicious Concoctions

When a character consumes or uses a suspicious concoction, they roll 1d3 to find out what happens:

Alchemy Laboratories

Setting up an alchemy laboratory can be an arduous task. This type of facility requires a large number of complex and delicate instruments that can be very expensive and hard to come by. In addition to a place to set up the laboratory, such as a room or a chamber, the cost to set up a basic alchemy laboratory is 5,000 coins, while the cost to set up a complete alchemy laboratory is 10,000 coins.

List of Concoctions

Below is the list of concoctions that can be prepared by an alchemist.

Simple Concoctions

Herbal Salve

STANDARD EFFECT: See herbal salve .

REVERSE EFFECT: The character has a negative chance on the check to recover a wound that has spent a day covered with it.

RECIPE VALUE: 500 coins.

Stamina Potion

STANDARD EFFECT: Recovers 1d6 of Stamina .

REVERSE EFFECT: Deals 1d6 of fatigue damage .

RECIPE VALUE: 1,000 coins.

Potion of Clarity

STANDARD EFFECT: Recovers one level of arcane fatigue .

REVERSE EFFECT: Causes one level of arcane fatigue .

RECIPE VALUE: 1,500 coins.

[Poison]

STANDARD EFFECT: See poisons .

REVERSE EFFECT: Produces no effect at all.

RECIPE VALUE: 1,500 coins. Each poison has its own recipe.

Antidote for [Poison]

STANDARD EFFECT: See antidote for [Poison] .

REVERSE EFFECT: Produces no effect at all.

RECIPE VALUE: 2,000 coins. Each antidote has its own recipe.

Minor Healing Potion

STANDARD EFFECT: Reduces the severity of a wound by 1d3.

REVERSE EFFECT: Increases the severity of a wound by 1d3.

RECIPE VALUE: 2,000 coins.

Ethereal Shield Potion

STANDARD EFFECT: Grants +6 Magic Protection until the end of combat.

REVERSE EFFECT: Suffers −6 Protection .

RECIPE VALUE: 2,000 coins.

Advanced Concoctions

Speed Potion

STANDARD EFFECT: Grants 1d4 extra actions. When making a major action , the character can use an extra action to make another major action , a minor action , or a movement .

REVERSE EFFECT: The character is slowed for 1d4 turns .

RECIPE VALUE: 5,000 coins.

Flaming or Freezing Oil

STANDARD EFFECT: Applied to a weapon, dealing 1d4 extra damage until the end of combat.

REVERSE EFFECT: Applied to a weapon, reducing its damage by 1d4 on every attack (minimum 1) until the end of combat.

RECIPE VALUE: 5,000 coins.

Potens

STANDARD EFFECT: See catalysts .

REVERSE EFFECT: Produces no effect at all.

RECIPE VALUE: 5,000 coins.

Plenium

STANDARD EFFECT: See catalysts .

REVERSE EFFECT: Produces no effect at all.

RECIPE VALUE: 5,000 coins.

Præstum

STANDARD EFFECT: See catalysts .

REVERSE EFFECT: Produces no effect at all.

RECIPE VALUE: 5,000 coins.

Appearance-Altering Potion

STANDARD EFFECT: Takes on the appearance and voice of another character of the same size for 1 hour.

REVERSE EFFECT: Takes on the appearance and voice of another character of the same size for 1 hour. The GM can spend a Bane to dispel the effect at the worst possible moment.

RECIPE VALUE: 7,500 coins.

Alchemical Fire

STANDARD EFFECT: Explodes within a 10-foot radius, dealing 1d6 + 6 of fire damage and setting fire to everything within range.

REVERSE EFFECT: Explodes within a 10-foot radius, dealing 1d6 + 6 of fire damage and setting fire to everything within range. The GM can spend a Bane to trigger the effect at the worst possible moment.

RECIPE VALUE: 7,500 coins.

Superior Concoctions

Major Healing Potion

STANDARD EFFECT: Heals a wound .

REVERSE EFFECT: Causes an internal wound of severity 1d6.

RECIPE VALUE: 10,000 coins.

Invisibility Potion

STANDARD EFFECT: Becomes invisible for 1 hour.

REVERSE EFFECT: Becomes invisible for 1 hour. The GM can spend a Bane to dispel the effect at the worst possible moment.

RECIPE VALUE: 10,000 coins.