Alchemical Items

"Alchemical Items" are described in the "Alchemy" chapter in GURPS Magic. An alternative version (conditional spell ala "bottle magic") appears in Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic

Stacking

"Multiple elixirs may be used at once, but multiple doses of the same elixir will be wasted except on very large creatures, which may require extra doses at the GM’s discretion."

This "but" is not the only exception though. More follow in particular examples:

• M214 allows the Speed elixir to be taken 3x and stack.
• M215 allows the Foolishness elixir to be taken 4x and stack.
• M217 says "repeated doses have full effect" for Healing elixir, but that's probably because it is instantaneous
• Paut (elixir) can also repeatedly restore FP (or even overflow it) but has a daily limit, unlike healing

Alchemical Labs

There are several types of Alchemical Labs. The Workspace kits are from Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic

• No Lab: Just a fire and an ample supply of clean containers. -1 to Skill
• Basic Lab: sturdy table and $1,000 worth of equipment (athanors, retorts, etc)
• Workspace Kit, Basic: A collection of special pans, spoons, candlesticks, burners, etc. Takes an hour to safely set up or pack. Cost equals one month’s typical pay (e.g., $700 at TL3 or $2,600 at TL8). 20 lbs.
• Profesional Lab: 100 square feet of space and $5,000 worth of alchemical equipment. +1 to Skill.
• Workspace Kit, Good: Several boxes full of high-end gear, with inlaid copper pentagrams, magically inert utensils, etc. Gives +1 on all rolls. Takes five hours to set up or pack. Cost equals five months’ typical pay (e.g., $3,500 at TL3 or $13,000 at TL8). 200 lbs.
• Workspace Kit, Fine. Enough gear to pack a huge room! Anodized orichalcum handles, swamp-gas burn- ers, and so on. Gives +2 on all rolls. Takes 20 hours to set up or pack. Cost equals 20 months’ typical pay (e.g., $14,000 at TL3 or $52,000 at TL8). 2,000 lbs.
• Cutting-edge Lab (TL4): 200 square feet of space and $20,000 worth of equipment, +TL/2 Skill.

Industrial Alchemy

• Industrial Lab (TL7): A 1,000 square feet, $200,000, computerized lab equipped with sealed, climate-controlled vats and redundant automated safety systems. Allows the manufacture up to 1,000 doses at once. Penalties are -1 for 2-10 doses, -2 for 11-50 doses, -3 for 51-200 doses and -4 for 201-1,000 doses
  Note: The following comes from Classic which did not adjust cost for TL; Magic and Thaumatology's description of Paut (elixir) strongly imply TL does effect the cost of elixir and magic items. Assume TL(7+1) for the following:
  • Manufacturing Cost Per Batch: (Materials cost x number of doses in batch) + ($1,750 x weeks to make).
  • Retail Cost Per Dose: ((Material Cost*1,000 + 1,750 x Weeks to make)/number of doses in batch)*2
  • Example: A Chiron potion has a materials cost of $50 and a production time of one week. The cost to make a batch of 1,000 Chiron potions would be ($50 x 1,000) + ($1,750 x 1) = $51,750.  The retail cost of a single dose, "over-the counter" Chiron potion is thus ($51,750/1,000) x 2 = $103.50

Alchemy Elixirs Forms

Generic Universal Eggplant's Metatronic Alchemy made some of these into meta-enhancements.

• Grenade (Potion, Powder): Invariably stored in a fragile vial or thin, waterproof sack (e.g., a balloon), which shatters upon impact.
• Ointment: A cream or jelly. Lasts a week if exposed to air; neutralized by water
• Pastille: A thumbnail-sized tablet, kept in a sealed vial. When lit it covers an area 3 yards across and 8 feet high with smoke. An unburnt pastille lasts a month if exposed to air, but is destroyed instantly upon contact with water.
• Potion: Liquid form, taken by drinking. Loses its power in a day if left open or mixed with other things.
• Powder: Solid form that must be eaten in food, or dissolved in drink, to be effective. Only a 50% chance per year that a given powder loses its power while exposed to air. Powders mixed with food or drink last a month.

Higher Tech Level Options

• Aerosol (Potion, Pastille, Ointment; TL5 for simple atomizers, TL6 for pressurized cans ): five times as long to make
• Alchemical Warhead (TL6): 10x pastille cost
• Injection (Potion, Powder; TL5): onsets within 1d seconds
• Pills: (TL4 for Powder, TL5 for gelatin capsule Potion)
• Smokes (Pastille; TL4): intended to only effect on person

Alchemical Charms

Any Alchemy Elixir can be made into an "enchanted" item called a Charm While, depending on function, such an item is called Amulet or Talisman they have nothing to do with the spells of those names.

Exotic Preparations

• Alkahest: The “universal solvent”. Must be created on the spot via mixing two vials together.
• Homunculus: an alchemically created Ally with the Minion enhancement.
• Philosophers’ Stone: alchemical catalyst that grants a +6 to skill when used.

From Other Books

"Alchemic" preparation items from Classic: Greece cross over into other categories.

Item	Item Type	Asking Price	Book Page
Alchemical Arrow	Weapon	$35. Alchemical preparations are extra	MI1 94
Contortionist’s Lotion	Security	$2,500 per jar	MI2 95
Elixir of Eternal Rest	Necromatic	$225,000	MI2 79
Enchanted Epoxy	Household	$18,500 per jar	MI2 60
Falyang’s Fertilizer	Garden/Outdoor	$7,500 per lb	MI2 63
Gorgon’s Blood	"Alchemic"	$50,000.	Greece 94-95
Heracles’ Arrows	"Alchemic"	$1,200	Greece 95
Heracles’ Lionskin	"Alchemic" Armor	$500,000	Greece 95
Incandescent Nail	Extralegal	$500 each	MI1 74-75
Medea’s Ointment	"Alchemic"	$2,000 per dose	Greece 95
Salamander Droppings	Household	$500 for pouch of six	MI2 61
Self-Frying Fish	Food	$1,000	MI1 18
Spanglesand	Wizard Tools	$500 per pouch	MI2 126
Vigilant Nail	Security	$500 for one-shot items, $1,500 per die of uses (i.e., 3d uses for $4,500, 10d uses for $15,000)	MI1 79

Important Note

Some of the "potions" among the magic items listed in the three Classic: Magic Items books are "Alchemical" in the way Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic does them - an early D&D concept of 'spell in a bottle'. A few have both.

Additional Material

• Talismans - A Look At Historical Charms and Amulets

See Also

• Enchanting Items

References

• GURPS Magic p. 220
• Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic p. 28-30
• Classic: Magic Items 1
• Classic: Magic Items 2
• Classic: Greece