Actually GOOD Alchemy in D&D | Crafting Skill Tree

[@Wharf922]

My Bartender Sorcerer is gonna have a field day with this!

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Oh helll yeh xD I hope they make some mayhem xD

[@infinitesheldon5710]

Bartender Sorcerer sounds like they've got some stories!

[@Wharf922]

@ let me tell you, I created a brand new Race with my antics. Turns out the Awaken Spell in the setting I’m playing in actually transfers to the offspring of the awakened animal… Capyborne are gonna be a staple of this world one day!

[@infinitesheldon5710]

@@Wharf922 That's phenomenal!

[@nin0f]

As a game designer, the idea of making players describe the actions and ingredients is genious! The only thing I would change (or rather build upon) is tables of effects, by introducing rarity. I would make a d12 table and say that a common ingredient only rolls a d4 on the table, an uncommon - a d6, rare - a d8, epic - d10, legendary - d12. And, of course, the higher the number the better the effect!

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Yes! This is a brilliant idea and something I’d absolutely love to do in the future :3 can base rarities off of the CR levels of creatures

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Also thank you n_n

[@nin0f]

​@@TheUglyGoblin You're welcome! I've been doing it with my own alchemy rules, but I'm pretty sure, I'll be switching to your alchemy after I make a few tweaks in it for my game system, so it's rather me who should thank you! Also if you're going to update the system, here's my advice: One thing I've learned while playtesting mine is that you certainly can tie rarity to CR, but you can do it in much more fun ways, too. Especially, considering that dnd hasn't been a game about combat for like a decade. Instead I propose two other oprions: 1. **Skill Checks with variable results.** Roll Nature, Alchemy Tools or what have you and let the die determine the quality of the ingredient: 5-10 - common, 11-15 - uncommon, etc. It also helps showcasing that harvesting is an important part of alchemy. This one can be a bit tricky with recipes, though, since it makes it much harder to get the same ingredient. But you can offset it by allowing using a material of higher quality as a substitute for a lower one. Overall, can work, but would require some work and result in some crunch (which is not necessarily a bad thing) 2. **Vibes.** Remember those stories about a cute little fragile creature that is on the brink of extinction because of its valuable scales or whatever? Or flowers that bloom in the heart of the volcano? CR could never work here. I'd rather leave it up to GM, but with some guidance from a designer, of course. But you could mix and match those: for example, you could say that harvesting flower from a volcano should be roughly equal to killing an adult red dragon, so, using the CR system, the volcano-bloom would be CR 17

[@nin0f]

@@TheUglyGoblin You're welcome! I've been doing it with my own alchemy rules, but I'm pretty sure, I'll be switching to your alchemy after I make a few tweaks in it for my game system, so it's rather me who should thank you! Also if you're going to update the system, here's my advice (I'll be splitting my comment into three parts, because YT antispam algo is very bad): One thing I've learned while playtesting mine is that you certainly can tie rarity to CR, but you can do it in much more fun ways, too. Especially, considering that dnd hasn't been a game about combat for like a decade. Instead I propose two other oprions:

[@nin0f]

1. *Skill Checks with variable results.* Roll Nature, Alchemy Tools or what have you and let the die determine the quality of the ingredient: 5-10 - common, 11-15 - uncommon, etc. It also helps showcasing that harvesting is an important part of alchemy. This one can be a bit tricky with recipes, though, since it makes it much harder to get the same ingredient. But you can offset it by allowing using a material of higher quality as a substitute for a lower one. Overall, can work, but would require some work and result in some crunch (which is not necessarily a bad thing)

[@FattyMcFox]

Another system i have seen is when you collect ingredients, they have a gold value determined by gathering rolls. You then use that abstracted gold value to craft a potion version of one of the spells you know, with a gold value determined by the spells level. When done this way, a concentration spell that effects yourself or a friendly target, last for the maximum length, but can be dismissed. They become like spell scrolls that can be used by anyone, but can not be used to learn a spell from.

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Oh that's a really lovely idea actually :D brilliant

[@FattyMcFox]

@@TheUglyGoblin It unfortunately leads to things like the Artificer alchemist not being able to make a lot of things you would think they could, so all the alchemists will be constantly giving you the sad puppy eyes. Honestly i dig some of the more involved solutions, because it doesn't lock you to spells you can prepare. Also the hunger of Hadar in a bottle got to be an issue. ( it was me, i caused the issue. )

[@TheUglyGoblin]

@ hahaha xD I appreciate “issues” like this xD I feel like they’re always going to be balanced enough as you’re not gonna be able to make them That often

[@GrimDarkHalfOff]

You made delicious in dungeon! I NEED it!

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Hahaha xD I did ;3 both this and my cooking video can be used to turn your games into a fun cooking adventure ;3

[@GameMastersGuide-GMD]

Alchemy is always something I struggled with in my games, and these look like a ton of fun!

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Aw I really appreciate that :,3 (this video ain’t been doing super well 👀)

[@mathmusicandlooks]

Honestly, I was slightly dismayed to learn that “alchemy” was just being used to mean potion crafting. Again. I’m trying to design game mechanics for alchemy based on real world alchemical experiments, components, goals, and philosophy. Those generally are far closer tied to metallurgy than “potions.”

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Mmmm I was going for the more common understanding for it :P but this is also the first step of many for a crafting skill tree I'm desiging

[@Daltem]

Same brother, one day we'll get them via FMA Until then, we're just slowly chipping away with these black days, until we can finally see a white night But let's not try and guess at what rubies we'll be left with :)

[@ScorpioTech]

Wasn't ready for the instant jump scare! Great video once again, I agree that it's so exciting to have all these cool options and possibilities, however I am always concerned it will be overwhelming but the guide does a fantastic job at explaining things, thank you so much!

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Aww thank you so much Skorb xD Sorry for the jump scare xD heheh I might look t some simpler videos in the future actually xD

[@Daltem]

One day, Alchemists will rise up and throw off this false mantle of potion maker! We are more than this! More I say!

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Hahaha it's true :,) but it's a good "keyword" xD

[@clowny_thunder]

But where do I store all these things? I really want a back pack system.

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Really? XD would you use one of you had one? XD I’ve made one before for my players and it wasn’t used super often

[@gerozeal2410]

Great video! Love the concept and tying the alchemic traits of monster parts with the cooking mechanics of your previous video! Gonna have to look at the smithing video too. But, please explain that thumbnail.

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Hahaha though it might make people mad xD I just find it funny how min fma they keep talking about the rules and laws of alchemy as if the show was a hard magic system, but pretty much every character simply ignores the rules and just Does things xD

[@gerozeal2410]

@TheUglyGoblin how? As far as I understand, there are changes in structures and the environment whenever they use alchemy or when something changes form. If there is "cheating" there is a source for it i.e. the philosopher's stones. If nothing else, the story and the struggles of the characters took more of a front seat than the rules of the magic system, at least to me anyway. Not taking away from the point of your video, but in my eyes, admittedly being a fan of both FMA (2003 and brotherhood) and looking into real world attempts of alchemy, it just feels like an "easy jab" to say "fma not like real world alchemy, therefore bad"

[@TheUglyGoblin]

@gerozeal2410 no it's not a bad show at all. I think its an okay show. But the fact that it appears on the surface to put its focus on this "hard magic system" is very much not the case. It's definately a soft magic system. But like you said, the main focus is on the characters themselves. The alchemy in the story is just the flavour. It could have almost any other theme or gimmick to it :P which isn't a bad thing at all

[@gerozeal2410]

@@TheUglyGoblin i can understand that perspective. Fair enough. My one question now is, is your alchemy system able to affect objects as well, or is it only limited to consumable potions?

[@TheUglyGoblin]

@ oh certain potions can affect objects :3 Also yeah heheh sorry I know it’s not a popular opinion :,3 I know a lot of people love the show. And I like a lot of what it achieves, but overall it’s not for me :,3

[@loucavatlo5298]

The mighty one post! 🙏

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Aww shucks xD :,3

[@spiritfox6066]

I pretty much always take alchemy in Skyrim, so I'll be happy with more alchemy options in dnd.

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Ayyyr haha you and I both then

[@infinitesheldon5710]

Love seeing videos on alchemy and potioncraft! I'm gonna have to read through that pdf and share it with my gaming group, it looks super fun! As an aside, I made a Witch class on DM's Guild called Edith Banebrew's Coven Compendium (It's pay-what-you-want, so you can get it free if you want). Potioncrafting is an integral part of the class itself, and I also leaned into the idea of harvesting materials from certain creatures (specifically aberrations, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, monstrosities, oozes, or plants). Maybe if I ever do a second version of the class, I'll have to take some inspiration from this video and theme the potions crafted out of materials from different creature types. As is, right now the raw materials can be used in place of the gp requirement to craft potions of different rarities, and the higher DC of the creature, the higher rarity of the potion you can craft. I tried to keep it as simple as possible to keep it in line with 5e's design philosophy, so the class wouldn't wind up any more bloated and rules-heavy than it already is.

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Oh that sounds fab :D I should go take a looksee :3

[@Plaugus_Screenz]

More hombrew for my collection as i slowly gather the materials and motivation to make a truely masive and weird world i have plans and ideas but how to do it hmmmmmm i shall figure out later

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Hahaha hell yeh Plaugus XD I wish you the best of luck with it all >:3

[@Plaugus_Screenz]

@TheUglyGoblin yeh

[@Noah-xr5gp]

New character generating……

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Oh ho? XD

[@SamuelDancingGallew]

Something I think would be interesting, would be a system where you can fully customize an item, based on how many magical components and which ones you use, with each property stacking up on each-other. But, had an alternative for making pre-existing items faster, and with higher speed.

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Mmmm I’m slowly getting there with the crafting skill tree I’m making :3

[@IdiotinGlans]

This is brilliant, keep cooking my friend.

[@TheUglyGoblin]

Aw thank you n_n