Alchemy?

[adrala]

Well...a nice way of doing so would be having different side effect to different toxicity level in your body.
For example on the scale from 0 to 100:
0-10- slightly blurred vision
10-30- blurred vision and unable to move fast (run)
30-50- blurred vision and slowed down movements. higher chance of missing the attacked object. Unable to regenerate HP and "mana".
50-80- all the above + starting to lose HP and mana(poisoned).
80-90- unable to move. In need of urgent medic care.
100- death

Also if we have the writing skills players will be able to write down their own receipts and maybe even make some false ones in order to trick rivals. It would be fun finding some secret receipt follow its instruction and killing yourself after drinking it.

[Resin]

I would like to be able to set up a still and get grain alcohol from corn or potatoes. Could be used both in lew of an anesthetic and as a disinfectant for injuries - this goes back to the more complex healing system that was suggested.
I like the idea of tiered potions but I don't think every higher level potion should be more toxic. It would be cool if there were different processes, grinding, boiling, distilling, diluteing, maybe even a centrifuge based on a foot pedal spinning wheel design - these could be used to separate the 'humors' (I prefer ancient chemistry over modern) so you could have a pure toxic poison and health potion - but it would be a high level skill that was also a bit of a grind to produce.
Equipment should also come in various quality - and high level equipment should not be easy to come by.

[osteo]

Resin you nailed it on the head i dont have time to read all your posts but the one where you said there isnt one way to make it is exactly what i mean. The ingredients is what matters. Other plants or animals could have the same ingredient as another.

As far as transmuting i wouldnt know where to start. All I know is that edward (Full Metal Alchemist) knew the ingredients in almost every living thing. If he didnt know it by memory he could come back to you in ten minutes at least and tell you. that to me is alchemy. You all say transmutation is in a different category then the alchemy i have to disagree. I say transmutation is a enlightment stage of alchemy.

My final point to say about transmutation is lets say it is in a different category. Ok in order to transmute something you still need ingredients to do the change, and this is different from alchemy how? Ya it wont use flowers but its ingredients, and mixing stuff. Alchemy doesnt always use just flowers and the like.

[Resin]

I actually agree here. Alchemy should be the practice of changing, extracting, combining different properties of any ingredient. It should be a skill that requires an understanding of base materials to some extent or at the very least is greatly added to it. So that your average alchemist will probably want to put points into herbalism, zoology, metalurgy to understand base component attributes and perhaps get a bonus for success using that component, but then when it comes to the actual mixing and preparing of components that is all the alchemy skill.

[osteo]

I like the thought of having side effects. This could be pretty cool, but in my opinion it should only happen to lowered skilled alchemists. My only worry is this would have to go all the way across the board with all potions, and poisons. Everyone keeps bringing up healing pots.

My second point would be there would have to be some skill out there to make it where you could make potions with no effects or very little. Maybe chemistry or some form of distillery skill. Because, if you cant make something great, and there is no way to make it better then the system seems broke from the beginning. Ex you dont see a blacksmith with a problem of getting the impurities out. If there wasn't a way then it would be worthless.

Finally if this side effect idea is to keep from spamming these pots then i would rather go with the overdose idea instead. Seems more logical, especially having no message pop up saying you can't do this at this time. Also it could add humor to it the first time you do it. Then you are fighting someone and you see them overdose. Experiencing it then seeing someone go through it would be hilarious. Ill have to read that thread on toxicity to see if i like what i read.

Adrala and resin your ideas awesome. Now the next question would be how would the players figure out the attributes of what they are harvesting. Would there be a kit of some sort. For example: You know that kit that you have for pools to see if the water is clean then you add dyes to it and if the water turns a certain color then you know that your pool is in the beginning stages of getting algea in it. I think this could be a cool way of finding what attributes are in a flower or whatever. If this idea isn't good then i can only think that the player would have to ingest the "flower" and then attributes pop up based on a taste skill i guess. I dont like that last idea but i can't come up with any other ways. What do you all think?

[Resin]

A 'reagent' I believe is the word your looking for either that or 'indicator'. It would be a chemical, substance, herb that would change color (usually I suppose there could be other types of indicators) in the pressence of certain other chemicals. This is a great idea.

Oh and I am for both alchemists being able to separate ingredients and for players to be able to build both toxicity levels for healths or immunity levels to poisons depending on the substances properties, Just as in RL.

[osteo]

So in theory you Train your skill in poison immunity by poisoning yourself over and over again? Like in princess bride. Would this be a stat or a skill?

[Lachrymose]

Originally Posted by osteo

So in theory you Train your skill in poison immunity by poisoning yourself over and over again? Like in princess bride. Would this be a stat or a skill?

yeah, they used this in count of monte cristo as well. i'm not sure how realistic this is though.. any doctors or chemists know if you can actually train your body to be immune to poison? you could perhaps develop a higher tolerance to it, but i doubt you would become fully immune.

either way, i'm not sure whether this would constitute a stat or a skill. i guess it depends on how things like ice resist, fire resist, etc. work.. i'd say it should be the same as those, which might not be stats or skill but depend on the items you're wearing. in that case, i would say poison tolerance would be better suited as a secondary skill, which would probably be associated with some other resistance skill of some kind, or maybe healing or poisoning primary skills.

[Resin]

Originally Posted by osteo

So in theory you Train your skill in poison immunity by poisoning yourself over and over again? Like in princess bride. Would this be a stat or a skill?

The two examples I think of are alcohol and bee venom. Alcohol you can build a tolerance to, bee venom you build an allergy to. So I think it all depends on the substance in question.

While I wouldn't be against resistances to environmentally based heat and cold I hope the devs avoid the kind of standard +5 resistance to fire, electric, ice, dark, light, poison. I never thought this was a great system to begin with, and think it is entirely over used, particullarly when it is in connection to items.

[osteo]

I love the ideas everyone has come up with. With the ideas in this thread there could be so many different niche's of alchemy. Plus i like the fact that in order to be the best alchemists you have to have more then just two skills. Makes it more in depth.

Here is the My thoughts on the different skills you would need if you wanted to be able to make everything:
1) Alchemy
A) Herbalists
B) Zooligist
C) Chemistry or distillery to filter out certain agents to enhance the potion. Also learn how hot or how long you would need to heat something etc.
D) Transmutation
E) Poisoning
F) Cooking food => Hear me out on this one. You could add your potions to the food you cook making you the best cook in the world because not only will it bring your health back up but it could give you added abilities at the same time.

Any other ideas on skills that alchemists might need