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{{Info technology
#redirect [[Alchemy Point Buy]]
|image      = Talassan.png
|inventor  = [[Allar]]
|user      = All [[Races]], most notably Allar and Ailor
|proficiency    = [[Point-Buy]] System
|}}
While the base principles of Alchemy have long been studied by the [[Allar]] people, its widespread usage is one of the more recent technological advancements of Aloria. Since its discovery by the wider world, curious inventors from all walks of life have unearthed new ways to blend together both natural and magical ingredients in order to create effects available from no other known substances. People in occupations everywhere from [[School_of_Medicine|Medicine]] to [[Schools|Warfare]] have benefitted from the diversity of this once-secluded art, granting possibilities that were once limited to only the [[Magic]]-users and technological kingpins of society. The popularity of Alchemy only continues to grow as the equipment involved in making it becomes more predictable and advanced.
 
==History of Alchemy==
The practice of alchemical experimentation in its most basic form is thought to be so ancient, that even in the present day Scholars have been unable to uncover a definitive point at which the discipline was conceived. From the few texts which survived the [[Chrysant War]], it is believed that the [[Allar]] were the first race to truly practice the complex tenets of alchemy, learning the art from their ancestors and developing their society around discovery and chemical enlightenment.
 
The oldest known evidence of mixing natural substances to create new, more powerful effects comes from the [[Sendrassian Civil War]], beginning around 70 years before the [[Cataclysm]]. During this early period, alchemy was primarily used for crafting medicine, and the Al-Allar who practiced it (or those who gathered the materials for its limited practitioners) were able to earn a substantial amount of prestige and fortune. As the war progressed between the Void Converts and Empire Loyalists, alchemical weapons through the inclusion of local poisonous flora was discovered. By the conclusion of the civil war, the Al-Allar had become both proficient and reliant on their developing craft, and when the Loyalists fled [[Sendras]] to neighboring [[Hadaria]], they took their knowledge with them.
 
In the years following the migration, the creation of a formal Alchemical Element Lexicon and written language meant that for the first time alchemy became an easily teachable subject. It was during this time that the name ‘Alchemy’ was coined for the practice, in relation to the Allar’s primary religion: [[The Great Alchzech]], which taught that ‘every being, substance, and event is part of a greater existence’. The council of the [[Soor-Rassa-Allar]], majorly responsible for keeping the differing Kingdoms of the Naylar race unified, became colloquially known as the “Court of Alchemists” due to its close association with the growing sciences. Knowledge of alchemy was however kept secluded due to the Allar’s relative isolation, and beyond a few passive encounters by curious [[Elves]] and [[Ailor]] scholars, few civilizations took notice of the practice due to its perceived link with the race’s non-aggressive philosophy.
 
The first instance of alchemy being encountered firsthand by the wider world was during the [[Chrysant War]], when the [[Regalian Empire]] forcibly encroached on the Allar’s homeland. While the Ailor people were notably superior on the water, they were initially unprepared for the chemical warfare that the Allar had been perfecting for a long time. It was in response to this that the Regalian Empire targeted Hadaria’s libraries, resulting in the subsequent incineration of thousands of ancient texts depicting the Allar’s most powerful discoveries. A large percentage of recipes, with blueprints for advanced glassworking equipment were destroyed during the Chrysant War, along with the lives of countless expert alchemists who were henceforth unable to pass down their knowledge. When the Soor-Rassa-Allar peacefully submitted themselves to the winning Empire, the practice of alchemy was immediately outlawed within Regalian Archipelago, considered to be heretical and an anti-imperial practice, even if the Empire stole many of the surviving recipes. The most notable of these surviving recipes was the rumored substance eventually given to the Imperial Guard, which caused them to grow much larger and stronger than average Regalians, and also indoctrinating their mind to serving the Emperor.
 
However, despite its illegality, word of the new scientific discovery would soon reach Regalia through participating soldiers, scholars, and travelers. Explorers who visited Hadaria (along with a few collaborationist Allar looking to make quick coin) were able to salvage alchemical textbooks from the ruins, and broken knowledge of the art quickly leaked to the common citizenry. Despite attempts made by the [[Violet Order]], the spread of knowledge and the popularity of alchemy was too rapid to contain, and soon its tenants began to be practiced by both scholars and black market criminals alike. It wasn’t until late 293AC that the ban on alchemical practice was formally lifted, when a few notable advocates were able to shine a light on the beneficial opportunities that alchemy presented.
 
Since the legalization of alchemy, it has become commonplace to see practitioners of this study seeking employment within noble families, similar to that of scribes or scholars, and roaming throughout Aloria in hopes of regaining some of the rumored alchemical treasures that were lost during the events of the Chrysant War. Alchemistry has become a respected profession, and its creations can be seen and widely used in hospitals spanning the Empire, as well as in select military disciplines. Still, ask any Al-Allar, and it is told that the current abilities of alchemy are far below those which existed in the old Allar Empire.
 
===Pack One: Common Alchemy===
Common Alchemy costs 3 Proficiency points to acquire. Common Alchemy is free-form Alchemy within a certain framework, that allows Alchemists to make their own custom potions, salves, powders or capsules that achieve a wide variety of Alchemical results. Before explaining what Common Alchemy can do, it is important to establish the ground rules:
 
* Common Alchemy should primarily be dispensed from an Alchemy shop, or be sold from a vendor, or given to people in daily life situations. It is primarily aimed to give Alchemy shops more things to do and the ability to make their own unique concoctions.
* Common Alchemy cannot be used in Combat, give any effects that grant advantages in Combat, Criminal actions, or any other form of competitive scene unless all parties agree to the exact proposed effects (consent must be acquired before use).
* Common Alchemy should not be used to replace or usurp any functions from any Ability, whether it is a Racial Ability or other. They must in most cases be purely aesthetic, and to aid in social or slice-of-life roleplay.
* There is a general expectation of reasonableness. Players should not make alchemical mixtures that out-do permission holder aesthetics or interact with the world in unrealistic ways, or continually make better versions of each other’s proprietary mixtures.
* This Pack explicitly cannot contain any pain-relieving or ailment related Alchemy. Those are reserved for Healing Alchemy.
 
Common Alchemy, as explained, is a free-form Pack for Alchemy that allows players to dictate the exact effects of their mixtures so long as it fulfills the rules explained above. For example, it would be possible for an Alchemist to make a powder that specifically gets rid of chimney pests by turning the color of a fireplace purple, and causing the fire to emit a smoke that smells like oranges, but specifically kills chimney pests. Another example, it could be possible for an Alchemist to make a potion that repairs hair-loss, not so much that it would replace Abilities that add body hair, but enough to counteract hair thinning or balding. Another example, it would be possible for an Alchemist to create a powder that when dusted in an area, makes all the flower colors mix and turn into rainbow colored flowers while they smell of candy cane and vanilla. A final example, it could be possible for an Alchemist to make a capsule that when ingested by the user causes their anger issues to subside, not enough to counteract any forced-anger Abilities, but enough to be good for people who roleplay characters with anger issues who want to get rid of them.
 
In general, Common Alchemy exists for players to come up with a problem that their character is having, to walk into an Alchemy shop, and have the Alchemist come up with a creative solution by making their own imagined Alchemy. Finally, there are three explicit mixture that Alchemists get access to with this pack recorded below:
 
====Ground Cahal Tooth Potion====
The Ground Cahal Tooth Potion is Alchemy used to give more masculine qualities to a character in a purely aesthetic manner. Upon ingestion, a number of effects apply, this includes: A deeper voice, growing more facial hair, growing body hair (optional), and morphing the facial and body bone features to be more masculine. Note, this not the same as sex-change Alchemy, the effects are merely surface-level. The effects last for 1 week before the facial and body bone features revert. Any changes when applied or removed are painless and happen over a timespan of several minutes. Facial and Body Hair changes do not revert, as the hair does not shrink, but if the Alchemical ingredient is no longer ingested, these hair regions will stop growing, and can be shaved off without coming back, until a new batch is ingested. It is not mandatory to ingest this Alchemy in roleplay all the time, you may simply imply it in the background, but roleplaying out purchasing is always recommended. Ingesting another concoction within 24 hours before expiration of the last will top it off with another week.
 
====Ash of Cielothar Hair Potion====
The Ash of Cielothar Hair Potion is Alchemy used to give more feminine qualities to a character in a purely aesthetic manner. Upon ingestion, a number of effects apply, this includes: A higher voice, removal of facial hair, removal of body hair (optional), and morphing the facial and body bone features to be more feminine. Note, this not sex-change Alchemy, the effects are merely surface-level. The effects last for 1 week before the facial and body bone features revert. Any changes when applied or removed are painless and happen over a timespan of several minutes. Lost facial and body hair will regrow upon the expiration of this Alchemy's effects, until re-ingestion causes them to go away. It is not mandatory to ingest this Alchemy in roleplay all the time, you may simply imply it in the background, but roleplaying out purchasing is always recommended. Ingesting another concoction 24 hours before expiration of the last will top it off with another week.
 
====Allar Sarraq Blood Potion====
The Allar Sarraq Blood Potion is Alchemy used to remove skin-surface level blemishes and faults for a week. Upon ingestion, a number of effects can apply, including: the vanishing of scars, blemishes, and surface wounds (after healing), and making the skin look naturally pristine and beautiful for 7 days.
 
===Pack Two: Healing Alchemy===
Healing Alchemy costs 3 Proficiency points to acquire. Healing Alchemy is a free-form Alchemy within the framework of healing or removing wounds from other Characters, with some rules applied. At its core, Healing Alchemy can heal any type of mundane wound or ailment (not disease or dismemberment), while alleviating pain for any non-mundane health issue. When applying Healing Alchemy, a Character must be either immobilized (for example bent over a patient with a bag of herbs and concoctions) or be in a Combat roleplay free Alchemy shop or home (Player Rental Region) where they can move back and forth between storage cabinets and drawers with ingredients. While applying Healing Alchemy inside a shop, the user is allowed to move around the shop and roleplay with others while the healing is applied, though the total duration remains the same. For Alchemy, any wound regardless of size or severity takes a minimum of 15 minutes to mend, thus making it slower than Healing Magic. Unlike Healing Magic however, the Target does not need to be laying down, Healing Alchemy can be used on the Alchemist themselves so long as they are conscious, and can be used to numb pain which Healing Magic cannot. When using Healing Alchemy, the aesthetics are up to the user. They can for example give a full-spectrum potion that works by itself, and they remain with the patient to check their pulse and any complications. Another manner of using Healing Alchemy is by mixing herbs together on the spot and applying them to a wound before bandaging them, while also giving something against the pain. In whatever way the healing is applied and what mixtures are used is entirely up to the user (including their own mixtures). The 15 minute minimum healing requirement can be extended if both players agree to a newly set time period. This can for example allow an Alchemist to heal an ailment over longer periods of time, or even weeks of recurring sessions. Additionally, the Alchemist is also able to offer custom over-the-counter ailment cures like head-ache pills or cooling salves for chest infections. Healing Alchemy has no cooldown, though the amount of people healed at any time is limited. While outside of an Alchemy shop or home (Player Rental Region), the Alchemist can only tend to one patient at a time. However, while inside such a region, the Alchemist can tend to up to 3 patients at a time, so long as they are all within the same room and grouped together. Healing Alchemy can be interrupted by attacking or knocking over the user. Interrupting a healing session causes the timer to pause, and if the Alchemist is able to return to the patient without being attacked again, they can resume the timer until completion. Healing Alchemy can even be used while imprisoned or captured, so long as both hands are freely usable and not in shackles, and the user was not body-searched before being put into a cell or holding area that would have reasonably removed their mixtures and ingredients from their inventory.
 
===Pack Three: Conning Alchemy===
Conning Alchemy costs 3 Proficiency points to acquire. Conning Alchemy should be treated less like a free-form Alchemy pack, and more like an actual Ability, which has a clearly defined function and execution, it’s just the aesthetics that are flexible. Conning Alchemy can either be used whenever the user wants to, or specifically to instantly respond to a character spotting them if they are attempting to sneak around or avoid detection. In either instance, when they use Conning Alchemy, they rapidly activate a volatile concoction that causes a puff of dust to appear on them or any other Target person they can throw the concoction on within Emote Distance. Whoever the concoction is thrown onto, turns invisible for a few seconds, not enough to sprint away, but enough to relocate within 10 blocks of horizontal walking surface without being seen, or get a headstart on running away. No other Abilities or Mechanics can be used while invisible. The dust affecting the Target does not cause obstruction of view for others, it merely turns the Target invisible for a few seconds and does not splash on anyone standing next to them, only objects that they could reasonably carry in their hands if they were carrying them at that very moment of impact. If the Character was specifically sneaking around, usage of Conning Alchemy upon spotting would void the initial spotting, and the user can change location within a 10 block radius. While technically it would be possible to carry multiple concoctions, due to competitive fairness, Conning alchemy can only be used twice per day. Pretend the ingredients are really expensive and it makes less sense to carry more than 2 at any time. How this puff of dust materializes, what color it has, what noise the concoction makes, etc is all up to the player.
===Pack Four: Volatile Alchemy===
Volatile Alchemy costs 3 Proficiency Points to acquire. Volatile Alchemy should be treated less like a free-form Alchemy pack, and more like an actual Ability, which has a clearly defined function and execution, it’s just the aesthetics that are flexible. Volatile Alchemy functions similarly to Light Shot from Ranged Combat, however Volatile Alchemy is not countered by Abilities that block Mundane Ranged Projectiles or Ranged Combat Proficiency, it is however blocked by Shielding or Ability based barriers. Volatile Alchemy involves rapidly mixing volatile ingredients and then throwing them onto another Target in Emote Distance for a harming effect. Each mixing takes 30 seconds, so using Volatile Alchemy repeatedly requires 30 seconds of waiting time in between each throw (in theory a supply should be limited, but for competitive fairness, no limit on amount of throws is imposed). With each throw, the user must do a “/dice 0 20”, with any roll above 5 resulting in the Volatile Alchemy hitting the target. When hit, Volatile Alchemy causes a hit equivalent like a dagger slash, or a puncture of armor if the Target is wearing armor. How Volatile Alchemy applies is up to the player, it can be grenade-like, or shrapnel from a liquid, or sharp razor-dust from a gas, or even a stinging plant vine that causes a laceration when hit. However the aesthetics apply, only one person can be Targeted at a time by Volatile Alchemy.
 
==Alchemy Lexicon==
The Alchemy Lexicon exists to provide some inspiration with regards to ingredient names. Note, these ingredient names are not final, and you don’t even need to use them. They are merely a list of commonly used and understood terms that Alchemists can use to talk to each other. Note, you cannot use these ingredients in Emotes as if they are Abilities, they should primarily just be used for Common Alchemy and Healing Alchemy where applicable, or just in conversations.
* Vocadine = Alcohol liquid, common base for all potions.
* Tallow = Gel cream, common base for Alchemy creams.
* Salpeter = Powder, common base for Alchemy powders.
* Popfruit = A gas maker, common base for Alchemic gas.
* Pyrignis Powder = A substance that makes Alchemy volatile.
* Vocalitic Dust = A substance that adds cooling.
* Fermanic Acid = A substance that reacts to water.
* Fireweed Extract = A substance that adds heat.
* Rubyflower = An anti-inflammatory ingredient.
* Lady’s Shine = A Toxic-nullifying ingredient.
* Yuntia Cactus = A plant that clears the throat and airways.
* Poppy Milk = A milk made from crushed seed that dulls the senses.
* Ogrebait = A plant that can sedate a person to sleep.
* Avant Leaf = A plant that makes someone alert and awake.
* Hagaan Blood = A substance that clears vision problems.
* Garuda Stalk = A substance that damages the eyes.
* Corpse Weed = A substance that makes wood weaker
* Iceleaf = A substance that instantly freezes when broken
* Black Grass = A substance that rapidly burns wood to coal
* Shademarsh = A hallucinogenic.
* Serephalo = A substance that causes arbitrary amnesia.
* Slizzar blood = A substance that applies a color to a mixture depending on heat.
* Solacrux = A substance that makes a mixture glow.
* Axford Maiden = A substance that can retain scents effectively and add them.
* Modra Root = A substance that gives the feeling of warming up limbs.
* Aetyton = A substance that improves fertility.
* Bitterbean = A substance that decreases fertility (effective contraceptive).
* Chrysete = An effective fertilizer.
* Nightshade = A poison that causes blood poisoning.
 
==Final Notes==
In any and all cases, for a Character who has 12 Points invested in Alchemy, they are treated as an “Progression Alchemist” in progressions if they are used as retinues. This does not strictly mean they are more effective or guarantee more success, it simply means that a DM or Progression writer can aim to include the Character using some form of free-form Alchemy to solve a problem in the progression, so long as rolls permit it. Even if Volatile Alchemy is not super flashy in server-side CRP, Progression Alchemists can do considerably larger things in Progressions with more harming effects and wide-spread application of their mixtures as writing demands. There is no guarantee to be included or given special writing attention if the DM has decided Alchemy is not needed in the Progression, however in Occult progressions, Alchemists can be particularly useful (for example to provide underwater breathing potions or heat-stroke resistance salves). The user may submit ideas for what the Progression Alchemist would be used for in a certain Occult Progression (and Occult Progressions only), for example, if the group is going to a mountain, to cover the boots of the adventurers in bounce salve that will cause them to bounce off any floor if they slip off the mountain without harm. It is also possible to apply for a Special Permission called “Alchemy Enhanced”, meaning someone who has been enhanced somehow through Alchemy, creating mundane preconditions that make them better or stronger than the default person of their origins. For more information, see the Special Permissions Applications page on the Forums. 
==Trivia==
*Many alchemists will create a ‘brand’ for their creations by individually naming them or putting their own unique spin on the contents, such as by using an oddly-shaped vial or adding mild dyes.
*Some ancient texts speak of an object known as the ‘Stone of Ssentra’, an alchemical artifact capable of curing all known ailments and turning stone and coal into gold. Attempts to uncover this mystical stone have thus far been unsuccessful, but a few surviving Chrysant War Allar are adamant of its existence.
*While the Soor-Rassa-Allar remain the largest overarching authority, offshoot alchemical organizations do exist. The other formally recognized by Regalia are The Iron Fist, a wealth-seeking organization head by an Ithanian noblewoman.
*The most prestigious alchemy school in the Regalian Archipelago is Die Akademie von Kaiserman, based in Waldmark. Students of this school get access to the highest quality equipment available, but tuition fees are notoriously steep.
{{Technology}} {{Proficiency}}
{{Accreditation
|Writers = MonMarty, Eccetra
|Artists = Betterer, Bellarmina
|Processors = HydraLana, TheBioverse, FireFan96, Birdsfoot_Violet
}}
[[category:technology]] [[category:Technological Developments]] [[category:Point-Buy]]

Revision as of 19:00, 5 May 2022

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