Items in this category are crafted with the Alchemy skill. Alchemical items include alchemist’s fire, smokesticks, and the like, as well as various potions, dusts, elixirs, salves, ointments, and similar creations. The effects of most alchemical items can’t be dispelled, and don’t allow spell resistance, although some alchemical items don’t function in a dead magic zone.
Every alchemical item has a recipe for its creation. An alchemist generally has to know the recipe for an item in order to create that item.
Following A Written Recipe: A crafter may attempt to create an alchemical item without knowing the recipe, if he has a written copy of the recipe to consult while crafting (working “from the book”, so to speak), or if he is being instructed during the crafting by an alchemist who knows the recipe. (This even allows characters untrained in the Alchemy skill to attempt the crafting of alchemical items.) When doing so, the character cannot take 10 on the crafting check, all of the recipe’s ingredients are always ruined on a failure, and the chance for a mishap (if the Alchemy check is failed by 5 points or more) is doubled (to a maximum of 100%).
See the Alchemy skill description page for more information on mishaps and other consequences of a failed check to craft an alchemical item.
Writing Down A Recipe: An alchemist can write down any recipe he knows. The first time that an alchemist writes down a particular recipe he knows, he must make an Alchemy check against the crafting DC of the item + 5 (this check represents the difficulty of formulating one’s procedural knowledge of technique, and intuitive sense of the process, into a verbal explanation). No check at all is required every subsequent time an alchemist writes down the same recipe, nor is a check needed if an alchemist is simply copying a recipe that he knows out of a textbook or another written source. (See Technical & Magical Writings for information about copying writings that a character does not fully understand.)
Writing down an alchemical recipe requires no special materials beyond what is necessary for any other sort of mundane writing. A handwritten alchemical recipe takes up 1d8 pages, with more difficult recipes usually (but not always) being longer. After an alchemist writes down a recipe that he knows, other alchemists may use the written recipe any number of times, whether to study it and learn the recipe, or to craft the item by following the recipe without learning it. A written alchemical recipe has no magical properties; it is simply mundane written text.
A crafter whose Alchemy skill bonus is lower than the item’s level cannot learn the recipe for the item. Each item’s level is listed in its description, on the Alchemical Items listings page.
There is no limit to the number of recipes that an alchemist may know. A trained alchemist automatically knows how to make acid. Recipes for other alchemical items may be learned in one of several ways, which are listed below, from the easiest to the most difficult.
Of the ways of learning alchemical recipes that are listed in this section, the last three—deformulation, reconstruction, and invention—make up alchemical research. Few alchemists have the skill, time, and resources to conduct such research; such activities are typically limited to powerful alchemists’ guilds, court wizards, or retired high-level adventurers.
Any alchemist can teach another alchemist of sufficient skill any recipe which he knows. The learner makes an Alchemy check against the crafting DC of the item; if the check succeeds, he now knows the item’s recipe. If the check fails, the alchemist cannot attempt to learn the recipe again from the same teacher until he has gained a rank of Alchemy (though he may still try to learn the recipe from a different teacher, or in some other way). (See the Alchemy skill description for more information about learning alchemical recipes from another alchemist.) Alchemists usually charge twice the gold piece value of an item for teaching another alchemist the item’s recipe (plus any costs incurred during the teaching process, such as the ingredients for a “demo run” item); for particularly rare or powerful items, this price might be much higher.
An alchemist can learn a recipe from a book, scroll, or other written description. Doing so requires reading the recipe carefully, then attempting to create the item. (For the purpose of this crafting attempt, the alchemist is considered to not yet know the recipe.) If the alchemist successfully crafts the item, he must make another Alchemy check against the item’s crafting DC; if this check is successful, he now knows the recipe. (Remember that an alchemist’s lab, and having assistance, provide no bonuses on Alchemy checks made to learn recipes, but do provide bonuses on checks made to craft items.) If either of the Alchemy checks (to craft the item or to learn the recipe) fails, the alchemist must try crafting the item again; rereading the recipe before making the new attempt grants the alchemist a cumulative +1 bonus on the Alchemy check to learn the recipe (although not the check to craft the item). Books containing common alchemical recipes may be bought in most major cities, or found in well-stocked libraries. Written recipes for rare items are harder to come by.
If an alchemist has, in his possession, an alchemical substance for which he doesn’t know (or have) the recipe, he can attempt to perform research on the substance, to discover its secrets and learn how to craft it. This process, known as deformulation, has multiple steps; if successful, it ends with the alchemist knowing the recipe for the item.
Identify: First, the alchemist must identify the substance. Successful identification allows the alchemist to proceed to the next step. (Note that identifying the substance may reveal the item as one for which the alchemist has, or can easily acquire, the written recipe, or for which he can find another alchemist to teach him the recipe, making the rest of the process unnecessary.) If the results of the identification are inconclusive, or if the alchemist gets a false identification result, he may still proceed with the rest of the deformulation process, but takes a −10 penalty on all research checks. (As usual, the DM should make the identification check in secret, and not inform the player whether he’s received a true or false result. See the Alchemy skill description for more information about identifying substances.)
Analyze: Second, the alchemist must analyze the substance. Analyzing the substance requires making one analysis check (which is an Alchemy skill check against the substance’s crafting DC), plus an additional analysis check for every 10 points by which the substance’s crafting DC exceeds 10. Making an analysis check takes one day.
A successful analysis check reveals some information about the composition of the substance (in proportion to how many successful checks are required in total). This may include any special ingredients necessary to create the substance, likely processes and procedures which must be applied to those ingredients, etc. (Thus, if the alchemist succeeds at all the required analysis checks, he learns everything about what the substance is made of, though he does not necessarily learn how to properly combine those ingredients to yield the finished product.)
On a failed analysis check, the alchemist makes a Wisdom check against DC 5 (or rather, the DM makes the check for the alchemist, in secret). If this Wisdom check succeeds, the failure is recognized as such, and the alchemist receives no information about the substance’s composition. If the Wisdom check fails, the alchemist believes that the analysis check was successful, and receives erroneous information.
Analysis uses up some or all of the substance. Generally, if the alchemist has only one “dose” of the item on hand (a single vial, or a similar quantity), the entirety of the substance is used up. If the alchemist has more of the substance available than would be required for one “use”, then only the quantity corresponding to a single “dose” or “use” is consumed in the process of analysis. (Of course, if the analysis attempt fails—either partially or totally—the alchemist may wish to try again, for which the same amount of the substance is once more needed; if no more is available, then no further analysis attempts may be made, and the alchemist must attempt to work with whatever information he’s managed to gain, if any.) In all cases, the DM’s judgment determines how much of the substance is used up for analysis.
Craft: Third, the alchemist must try to craft the substance. After a successful (or apparently successful) analysis, the alchemist knows what the substance is made of, but must now perfect the process of making it. He attempts to craft the substance in the usual way; the crafting DC, however, is increased by 5, plus 5 more for each failed analysis check. (The DM should make the crafting roll in secret, as the alchemist may not know if some of his analysis checks failed, and thus does not know the crafting DC he must beat.)
Naturally, when crafting an alchemical substance in the course of the deformulation process, the alchemist is considered to be working without knowledge of the recipe, with the usual consequences (all ingredients are always ruined on a failure, and the chance for a mishap is doubled).
If the crafting attempt fails in such a way as to leave the alchemist with only ruined ingredients and no finished product (i.e., either a simple failure, or a mishap that only causes an explosion, release of poison gas, or other such accident; see the Alchemy skill description for details on the possible results of an alchemical crafting check), then the alchemist cannot proceed with the rest of the deformulation process. (He may, of course, attempt the crafting step again, assuming that he has more of the required ingredients on hand, etc.)
If the crafting attempt succeeds (or appears to succeed; e.g., by resulting in the creation of a cursed substance, a different substance, etc.), the alchemist can proceed with the next step of the process. (Of course, if the alchemist is brave, or impatient, or both, he may attempt to make use of the created substance immediately. This, however, deprives him of the chance to properly learn the recipe; should he wish to craft the item again, he may do so, but the crafting DC increase remains in effect, and he is still considered to be working without knowledge of the recipe, with all attendant consequences thereof.)
Analyze, Redux: Fourth, the alchemist must analyze the substance he has just created. This is a repeat of the second step, but applied to the newly created substance rather than to a sample of the reference substance. Successful analysis checks in this step reveal any errors made in the crafting step, as well as revealing the properties of the created substance (if it differs from the reference substance). (As usual, the DM should roll these checks, as well as any Wisdom checks triggered by failed analysis checks, in secret.)
If the results of the crafting step are now revealed to be unsatisfactory, the alchemist may wish to acquire another sample of the reference substance and repeat the second (analysis) and third (crafting) steps of the process; doing so affords the alchemist another opportunity to determine the ingredients and key properties of the substance he’s attempting to deformulate, and correct any mistakes (i.e., failed analysis checks) made the first time. This is not required, however, and the alchemist may proceed to the final step regardless of the results of this one.
Learn: Finally, the alchemist may now attempt to synthesize the knowledge and understanding gained from the deformulation process to learn the recipe for creating the reference substance (i.e., that which is being deformulated). He makes an Alchemy check against the substance’s crafting DC. The DC is increased by 5 for every failed analysis check in the second or fourth step (i.e., the analysis steps). (Note that if a step is repeated, any mistakes—i.e., analysis check failures—made in previous iterations are rendered moot; only the last iteration matters.)
Success means that the alchemist now knows the recipe, and may henceforth craft the substance normally.
Failure means that the alchemist was unable to determine how to properly craft the substance. He may attempt to repeat the process, starting from the third or second (or even first) step. Note that if the alchemist tries to repeat the process from the third step (crafting) onward, any errors (i.e., failed analysis checks) originally made in the second step (analysis of the reference substance) continue to affect the DC to craft the substance as well as the DC for the check to learn the recipe, until and unless the alchemist repeats the analysis on another sample of the substance. Such errors typically mean that the alchemist mis-identified, or failed to identify, the ingredients of the substance; this, unsurprisingly, makes all efforts to duplicate the substance much harder, which is reflected in the increased Alchemy check DCs both to craft the substance and to learn the recipe.
Crafting an alchemical item requires two different kinds of ingredients. The first kind is reagents: various common organic or mineral substances, tinctures, catalysts, herbal extracts, and other such ingredients which are common to many different alchemical processes and techniques. Reagents required to craft an alchemical item cost 10% of the item’s gold piece value, and are readily available for purchase in most communities.
The second kind of ingredients for alchemical items is special ingredients (also known as special components). Such ingredients are specific to each item; one item might require a roc’s heart and the tears of a woman of noble birth, while another item might call for an ounce of crushed hellwasp wings, a shard of rusted mithril, and a bottled banshee’s wail. Special ingredients are often rare, and may not be available for purchase in any particular community or at any given time (it may be possible for adventurers to acquire them personally, however; the heart of a roc, for instance, may be gotten by killing a roc and cutting out its heart). When available for purchase, the special ingredients required to craft an item cost, in total, 40% of the item’s gold piece value. (Some particularly simple alchemical items, such as acid, are listed as required “Special components: None”. This means that the ingredients required to craft such items are common materials which are readily available for purchase in most communities, and are not worth specifying—they are merely “ingredients for acid”, etc.)
Crafting costs for any alchemical item (i.e. the cost of ingredients) is equal to one-half the gold piece value of the item; that value (also called “price” or “market price”) is given in the item’s listing, on the Alchemical Items page.
A journeyman alchemist can create up to a total value of 1,000 gp of alchemical items in one day’s worth of work; a more skilled alchemist can create alchemical items more quickly. A master alchemist, with a full 10 ranks in the Alchemy skill (or at least 7 ranks in the Alchemy skill, plus the Master Alchemist feat) can create up to 2,000 gp of alchemical items per day. This assumes 8 hours of crafting over the course of the day, which is the most time an alchemist can spend in one day on crafting; crafting a lesser total value of items in one day than the maximum takes proportionally less time.
The Alchemy check DCs for crafting alchemical items are given in the item’s listing, on the Alchemical Items page.
For some alchemical items, extraordinary success on an Alchemy check made to craft an item—beating the crafting DC by 10 or more—allows an alchemist to create superior versions of the item. Such items might do more damage, provide higher bonuses to checks, last longer, or might be more powerful than the base version of the item in some other way. The superior versions of alchemical items, if any, are described in the item’s listing on the Alchemical Items page. Although superior items do not take any longer to craft, and consume no more ingredients, than the base item, they are substantially more valuable; determining the market price of such an item is left to the DM’s discretion, as superior items are almost never found for sale to the general public.
See the Alchemical Items page for a complete list of alchemical items, and information about their effects and their crafting requirements.