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Lots of replies, thank you very much.

Originally Posted by whswhs

I don't think I get what you're trying to accomplish. You describe alchemy as "canned magic and not it's [sic] own thing," which isn't so evident to me; the list of potions does not correspond 100% to the list of spells. But stipulating that, what you provide is a spell (or technically, perhaps, an enchantment) that produces a potion for any spell, one that provides the same effects as the spell. So you don't even have a separate list of potions; you have "turn this spell into a potion." I don't get how that isn't even more "canned magic" than the existing alchemy rules are. It seems like it's almost the exact opposite of what you say you're looking for.

So maybe I'm not understanding what your goal is?

Your quite correct that most of the Elixirs as things stand do not mention spells, but for a great many of them you have to ask the question: How does it work? And the only possible answer is magic. So my goal is to make a spell, or series of spells, so that if/when I turn Alchemy into it's own thing it doesn't disrupt the supply of potions.

Originally Posted by Phantasm

Seems to me is that the goal is to replicate the Brew Potion feat from That Other Game, which allows healing and buffing spells to be brewed into potions rather than cast, use of the Craft (Alchemy) skill optional.

Basically, it's another way of producing the "canned magic" more in keeping with That Other Game's mechanics and metaphysics than GURPS's.

Not sure if that's a good thing or not.

D&D (3.5) was one thing I was think of when I wrote this, but I delibratly shied away from duplicating it exactly. As for being good or bad, for DF players I'd say good.

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Make your spell work more like the Enchantment rules and make it an Enchantment spell rather than a much better, far more versatile and powerful Delay or Hang spell. Because that's what you've made...

I did actually intend for this to be an Enchantment spell, just sort of forgot to include that. Do you think I should change it to use the Enchantment casting times?

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Also you've completely removed grenade type potions from play if you follow your current set-up (which may be a bonus to you).

I did consider allowing them, but it felt too Minecrafty, changing this would be simple but, add Area spells to the list of allowed types.

Originally Posted by RyanW

If your skill is good enough to lower cost to maintain to zero, what keeps you from brewing a potion with infinite duration?

Originally Posted by Dammann

Cumulative penalties to casting? If you only have a single potion, no biggie, but if your party is walking around with 5 potions apiece, the penalties might become a burden until they use the potions. Which I guess could also be a feature rather than a bug? I dunno, it gives incentives to avoid miserly potion hoarding, if that is a thing.

This is why I post stuff like this to the forums, to have holes pointed out. But as the roll for the potion is made at the time brewing is finished, not when you drink it, as the rules stand that is possible with no side effects. Of course a nasty GM can easilyb place limits on the skill of NPC brewers, or simply state that a potion that lasts forever takes forever to brew...

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I am unable to conceive of a way this would work ina Gurps Magic framework except as an Enchantment spell and it would basically be a version of a Spellstone.

Right now it's so much cheaper than a Spellstone that it's basically broken.

It's not as portable or durable as a Spellstone so maybe it should get a discount for that.

I intended it to be more limited then seems to have come across. For example your limited to the amount of energy a single brewer can invest, before he falls asleep.

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Yup. My thought exactly.


It's also possibly cheaper than Hang Spell, in that it gets cost reduction for High Skill.


Eminently fair. Drop the $40xP portion of Spell Stone's cost?

I'd say dropping the P-Squared part of Spellstones cost would be required to balance it normally, otherwise just use the stone for a Powerstone and use it to power a regular item.

You guys have given me a lot to think about on this matter, so I'll sleep on it and try and preopare a better version for posting in the morning