My first go at it. This is slapdash and I’m not convinced it’s at a solid point. Tear it apart!
Alchemist Playbook.
An inventor and potion-maker. Legion auxiliary.
A devotee of the Orite gods of invention and alchemy, the Alchemist brews ingredients into potions of various kind, and designs simple clockwork mechanisms to help in the fight against the Cinder King. Usually you work from behind the lines, but you are sometimes needed to work your inventions or creativity on the battlefield.
When you play an Alchemist, you earn xp when you help your squad through the use of alchemy or clockwork, or clever solutions to problems. People always want an edge, and in war, they need an edge. You’re there to provide it, or invent it if there isn’t one.
Notes: The Alchemist may gain Corruption when creating or improving alchemical concoctions on-the-fly. Inventing or improving clockwork items does not cause this to happen. Alchemists do not count as oathsworn to the Legion for engagement rolls.
How do you feel about working your craft when doing so slowly ruins your mind and body? Are you careful with your application or incautious in experimentation?
STARTING ABILITIES
• Spark : 1
• Research : 1
• Rig : 2
Starting Builds
If you need help choosing your first four action dots and ability, use one of the following templates.
MAD INVENTOR: Spark +1, Discipline +2, Research +1. Resistant.
ENGINEER: Spark +1, Rig +1, Research +2. Le Mac Guy.
SAPPER: Marshal +1, Wreck +1, Scout +1, Rig +1. Boomsticks.
WEAPONEER: Rig +1, Sway +1, Spark +1, Consort +1. Tact. Thinking.
Specialist Action
As an Alchemist, you start with one rank in SPARK. These are not rolled. Instead, each rank gives you one spark use per mission. Spark allows you to quickly build clockwork modifications for other gear or brew alchemical substances from the materials you carry or can gather.
Each spark use allows you to produce one use of an alchemical substance, or temporarily change the effect level of an item using a clockwork modification. Roll rig to determine the quality. For alchemicals, a particularly bad roll may result in needing to take a devil’s bargain or corruption to provide the benefit. For clockwork, if the quality is not high enough, the modification does not work.
Alchemist Special Abilities
MASTER OF AETHERIC SCIENCES : You have extensive training in the Craft. You may equip an Alchemical Bandolier on each mission. It holds four ‘charges’ of alchemical ingredients you can quickly mix into useful substances. You may produce any of various substances for varied purposes: extra rounds of blackshot, oils that harden steel, a use of fire oil, gases that reveal the hidden and supernatural, and both stranger and more dangerous things.
LE MAC GUY : You don’t need a repair kit when you use spark to tweak or build clockwork items and modifications, just a small cactus and some twine. Add +1 tick to any crafting attempt if a clock is involved.
STUDIOUS : You never did take your nose out of those books. You gain +1d to research when gathering information using written information from books, scrolls, or libraries, or when obtaining information from sages and scholars since you “speak their language.”
RESISTANT : By force of will, holy blessing, or mere human madness, you are insulated from corruption in your pursuit of the divine mysteries of alchemy. When you use spark and roll poorly, you may roll to resist. All other results of your roll still apply.
OUTSIDE THE ALEMBIC : When spending a use of spark to produce an alchemical, you may push to increase the number of uses a concoction has. Corruption may apply as usual.
TACTICAL THINKING : In another life, you might have been a soldier with a mind built for tactical intricacy. When marshaling a squad on the field in military maneuvers, you grant them potency.
BOOMSTICKS : Fire and explosives are a specialty, whether it is fireworks, canon-shot, or alchemical charges. Gain a +1d to wreck when creating or using an explosive or a canon. You may take a grenade (1 load) or alchemical charges (2 load) on any mission.
Alchemist Items and Loadout
LIGHT LOAD
• Books and Scrolls: You bring just the right section of the Annals of the Legion or academic treatise. Spend to gain +1d or +1 effect level to research rolls. Two uses.
• Fine Repair Kit: Hammers, files, nails, pins, planks, pulleys, rope, saws, files, tweezers, machine oil, gears, lenses, pistons. Can jam traps, repair doors or siege devices, build small clockwork devices, etc. Three uses.
• Alchemical Charges: One grenade (Load 1) or packed alchemical charges (Load 2). (Must have BOOMSTICK.)
• Fine Alchemical Bandolier: A bandolier that can produce alchemical substances; holds pre-mixed alchemicals and basic alchemical ingredients in pouches and vials. Can be used up to four times to produce a variety of special substances. (Must have MASTER OF AETHERIC SCIENCES.)
NORMAL LOAD
• Fine Pistol: A masterfully crafted Orite revolver (five shots) with fine embossing and balanced for quick reloading.
• Blackshot Ammo: Three uses of specially crafted bullets machined for your pistol. Grants potency against undead.
• Ammo: Powder, wadding, or paper shells for loading powder guns and pistols. Spend to reload ranged weapons. Five uses.
HEAVY LOAD
• Fine Wrecking Kit: Mallet, spikes, prybar, axes, drills. Vials of acid and small alch- emical hand charges. A sledge, cables, and large packed explosive charge.
• Armor: Legion-issue leather cuirass and chain shirt. Provides 1 armor against physical attacks. Who wore it last?
UTILITY CHOICES
Armor, Shield, Black Shot (3 uses) [2 boxes], Hand Weapon, Winter Clothing, Oil (3 uses), Supplies (5 uses), Books & Scrolls, Soldier’s Kit, Reliquary (3 uses) [2 boxes].
For Crafting new alchemicals/clockwork, use the BitD rules for invention, determining type, quality, weird aspect, and drawbacks (consumable, complex, rare, unreliable, volatile). Field-invented alchemy is always unreliable and may have additional drawbacks.
In order to take a Veteran Advance to become an Alchemist, the player and GM must decide exactly how they have honed their craft while on the road to Skydagger. Did they practice with the Legion’s alchemists? Study tomes of lore? Embrace their Orite heritage?