GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Although the Crafting rules in DF2 say you can Brew between adventures, so I guess Jason's just wrong?

I am guessing so. The Alchemy skill is on the Artificer and Wizard templates as a primary skill; just having it for tasting stuff is a waste of points. Moreover, Henchmen has a version of the Alchemy skill just for tasting potions. I suspect he might have been confused about the prohibition about the Enchantment college, and crafting alchemical items might be verboten, but if my wizard is going to waste 8 points on the Alchemy skill, I'd want to be able to brew a few potions.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Although the Crafting rules in DF2 say you can Brew between adventures, so I guess Jason's just wrong?

Um Remeber when the source you're quoting when quoting from myGURPS page you're not quoting Jason as Assistant Line Editor, or are you quote him as Dungeon Fantasy author. myGURPS is his house rules page.

It's not weither he's right or wrong that just how he likes his campains as a GURPS GM

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

Um Remeber when the source you're quoting when quoting from myGURPS page you're not quoting Jason as Assistant Line Editor, or are you quote him as Dungeon Fantasy author. myGURPS is his house rules page.

It's not weither he's right or wrong that just how he likes his campains as a GURPS GM

The statement "For game balance, the original Dungeon Fantasy rules forbade PCs from creating potions" is clearly not about house rules, but about the published rules.

[PK]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

The statement "For game balance, the original Dungeon Fantasy rules forbade PCs from creating potions" is clearly not about house rules, but about the published rules.

Perhaps I should've said, "forbade PCs from using the standard alchemy rules in GURPS Magic to create potions," as that was my intent and is accurate. The rules in DF2 about "crafting potions" aren't standard potion brewing rules -- in effect, they boil down to a discount when buying your potions. It's less "I can brew potions" and more "I have a potion-store discount card with an activation roll." :)

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

Perhaps I should've said, "forbade PCs from using the standard alchemy rules in GURPS Magic to create potions," as that was my intent and is accurate.

I thought that was the case too, but now I can't find the reference. Can you point me at it? The text under the backpack Alchemy lab certainly seems indicate you can use the GURPS Magic rules.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I thought that was the case too, but now I can't find the reference. Can you point me at it? The text under the backpack Alchemy lab certainly seems indicate you can use the GURPS Magic rules.

The "crafting" rules on DF2, p. 3 indicate that alchemists can basically roll to get a discount on potions between adventures rather than using the regular brewing rules. In as much as alchemy is addressed in DF4, it implies that in-adventure potion-brewing relies on gizmos and Quick Gadgeteer, though it clearly uses the regular GURPS Magic rules for other uses of alchemy, such as identifying magical items.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

The "crafting" rules on DF2, p. 3 indicate that alchemists can basically roll to get a discount on potions between adventures rather than using the regular brewing rules.

I'd note that this isn't as cheap as brewing your own potions under the regular rules, but it's much faster and more reliable and doesn't pin your alchemist to a laboratory for weeks... and doesn't risk explosions either.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

The "crafting" rules on DF2, p. 3 indicate that alchemists can basically roll to get a discount on potions between adventures rather than using the regular brewing rules. In as much as alchemy is addressed in DF4, it implies that in-adventure potion-brewing relies on gizmos and Quick Gadgeteer, though it clearly uses the regular GURPS Magic rules for other uses of alchemy, such as identifying magical items.

Sure, and that's what I thought too, but now Rasputin has brought this into question. Where does it say, "PCs can't use the GURPS Magic rules to brew potions"? And what does the text for the Backpack Alchemy Lab "-2 to brew potions in the field" mean if you can't brew during adventures?

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Where does it say, "PCs can't use the GURPS Magic rules to brew potions"?

It does not, hence my use of "implies."

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

And what does the text for the Backpack Alchemy Lab "-2 to brew potions in the field" mean if you can't brew during adventures?

There are other uses of alchemy (GURPS Magic, p. 212). That said, an alchemist certainly can brew potions in the field. The implication is that the alchemist is going to use the rules for alchemy under Gizmos or Quick Gadgeteer. Attempts to use orthodox potion-brewing rules, which require weeks of not adventuring, appear to be the subject of the rules on DF2, p. 3.

[PK]

Thanks for the feedback on my phrasing. I've updated the opening paragraph of my DF Alchemy page for improved accuracy.

And to answer the question under debate: As far as I understand Kromm's intent, he didn't want PCs encouraged to stay at home doing boring things to earn money. So there's an explicit rule against PCs using the standard rules to craft enchanted magic items (DF1, p. 20) -- which was intended to apply to all crafted magic items, including elixirs. That's why DF2 replaces the standard, time-consuming potion-brewing rules with the much, much simpler ones in DF2 (p. 3). This DF-specific approach to brewing potions avoids downtime while also making it impossible to sit around getting rich, forcing PCs to boldly adventure forth and kill things to get paid.