The Alchemist NPC and alchemy ingredients

[Gthomas41571]

I understand the reason why an alchemist shoulnt be played as a PC
1 to powerful, he would have to be toned down
2 to much crap to carry
The ingredients on the other hand??
There are numerous creatures and monsters out there for ingredents, but not a whole lot about the plants and flowers in palladium...
Yes there are tons of narcotics and poisions.. but what Is in a healing potion or the invibility potion?? And what's the ratio of chemicals??and what area and climate are the thing found in??
Has anybody ever heard or thought of doing this before?
The second edition book cover some of this but theres a lot left out?
Any ideas??
PCs could make gold just by pickin the right plant, on there journies if the know what to look for..

[JuliusCreed]

I understand the reason why an alchemist shoulnt be played as a PC
1 to powerful, he would have to be toned down
2 to much crap to carry
The ingredients on the other hand??
There are numerous creatures and monsters out there for ingredents, but not a whole lot about the plants and flowers in palladium...
Yes there are tons of narcotics and poisions.. but what Is in a healing potion or the invibility potion?? And what's the ratio of chemicals??and what area and climate are the thing found in??
Has anybody ever heard or thought of doing this before?
The second edition book cover some of this but theres a lot left out?
Any ideas??
PCs could make gold just by pickin the right plant, on there journies if the know what to look for..

This is something best left to GM discretion and can come up easilly enough with your PC's next visit to an Alchemist's shop. They want a particular potion, weapon, item, enchantment, etc., the Alchemist needs a few select ingredients to make it happen. The player's can then undertake a nice little quest or 3 to obtain these rare and exotic items needed to get what they want from the alchemist. A good motivator for it is not only the fact that they'll be ab;le to get the item, but the Alchemist may even consider a generous discount for obtaining some of the neccessary ingredients.

[Gthomas41571]

Well what I'm really trying to find out is if anybody has done the break down on the potions? And if they actually made a list of plant extracts for certain regions of the world? I'm thinking about doing it, if other GMs would use it , or would it be more of a henderence then help? I know there are players that would love to pick money of the ground. But you always get that one player that will pick daiseys when the PCs are running or fighting lol.

[barna10]

Well what I'm really trying to find out is if anybody has done the break down on the potions? And if they actually made a list of plant extracts for certain regions of the world? I'm thinking about doing it, if other GMs would use it , or would it be more of a henderence then help? I know there are players that would love to pick money of the ground. But you always get that one player that will pick daiseys when the PCs are running or fighting lol.

I think this is best handled in the "Hollywood" style. Just come up with some cool ingredients on the fly: "Eye of newt, a baby's wisdom, and the voice of a goat!"

If you want, write down what you come up with to use as source material for later.

[zyanitevp]

I use the various pieces that the books say have value, like faerie wings, unicorn horns, dragon anything, etc...

[Justthis Guy]

I like to use an Alchemist as my plot driver. This allows two things. One- a ready source of adventures and quests toward the meta game. Second- This Alchemist provides a source for (and control point) for magical items in the game.
if the Alchemist is in a well located city, it provides a base of operations for the group and a good place to obtain all the mundane supplies they might need, plus the ability for the party to have special items crafted on commission for a particular quest. I had a group that had to create a glass diving bell once. They had to find a glass maker and bell maker to work together to make it. Unfortunately the bellows pump idea did not work and somebody almost drowned!
Alchemists are great foils to use to drive the game forward. "I need you to travel to . .. . , and bring back/ find/ kill (etc) "xxxxx" , I will pay you handsomely, and reward you with a bonus of <insert enchantment/ magic item>"
love it

[pblackcrow]

Suggestion: Use the herbalist information in Rifts England for some of the information.

I would use it.