Seems like everyone and their dog is trying to work out what shape Alchemy should be in. Far be it from me to pass up an opportunity to have my ideas shot down in flames.
My primary problem with the current Alchemy system is that a PC alchemist can currently exist entirely in downtime. Were it not for the ruling that you needed to attend an interactive to get a mechanical downtime, there'd be no real reason for a PC alchemist ever to show up (well, other than to get XP and roleplay, which apply just as well to 0-XP characters). They'd be able to acquire herbs, make potions, and sell potions, all in downtime. This covers almost everything an alchemist can do by virtue of their stats. I consider this to be rather a bug. Some efforts seem to have been made to patch it, by overcharging for herbs and underpaying for potions in downtime, but they're a bit bolted on and have more of the stick than the carrot about them.
As a secondary issue, the whole herbs-and-potions-and-selling stuff takes a moderate to great amount of effort (increasing as the number of PC alchemists increases) to provide what amounts to an income skill.
I propose a two-pronged attack on the problem. First, to increase the uptime utility of alchemists. Second, to simplify alchemy-for-money in downtime. I do not propose any mechanism for turning ingredients into potions; I think that's irrelevant to this issue.
Uptime utility
At present, alchemists can identify potions and detect poison in food and drink. These are great skills which haven't seen much spotlight time lately. More poisonings! More strange, unidentified, and possibly bubbling potions! These don't require any system changes (though something which made ingestive poisons and weird potions more readily available would help), but I just thought I'd acknowledge their existence.
So, anyway, extra things alchemists could do in uptime:
- Turn corpses into loot. Sure, manticore's heart gets all the press, but there are good uses for goblin spleen and swog venom-sac, and without alchemical help or handy flange getting them back intact is hard.
- Apply their own potions extra-well, or with extra efficiency. Optionally, allow them to make potions (in downtime) which only they can use.
- Possibly use other alchemists' "only I can use it" potions.
- Open up a potion of whup-ass on people. This is mostly an extension of "brew potions in downtime".
- I much prefer "extra utility/ability to use certain sorts of potion" to "extra utility/ability to use my own potions". I don't like having to keep track of who brewed what potion. --Jacob
Downtime simplification
Rather than have all the faff of potion-making without adding any actual potions to the system, add skills to the Alchemy tree which allow alchemists to sacrifice some of their potion-making points for the week in exchange for money, and abstract over the details (alchemists should feel as free to add flavour to their downtimes as any other player). "Alchemist" should be a perfectly acceptable income source for the straightforward Income skills, too (providing the character is in fact an alchemist).