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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

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Treasure Vault

Alchemy Unleashed

Source Treasure Vault pg. 41 1.1
Alchemical items are a deep tool set that can be leveraged by nearly any adventuring party. However, they're particularly effective in the hands of an alchemist, or other alchemical specialists like herbalists, munitions crafters, fireworks technicians, and others who specialize in various fields of the alchemical sciences.

This chapter introduces an array of new alchemical items. Bottled monstrosities in particular bear special mention, as most include a line like, “Craft Requirements Supply the corpse of a roc.” While these crafting requirements can be ignored for the sake of the story being told, they can also be a potent storytelling tool, enabling your players to directly convert their triumphs on the battlefield into new tools for adventuring. For more information on integrating items from this book into the stories you tell at the table, see Nature Crafting and Story-Based Crafting in Chapter 5.

Alchemical Foods

Source Treasure Vault pg. 46 1.1
The following new traits are used for items presented in this section.

Lozenge: You Activate an alchemical lozenge by putting it in your mouth. It stays there, slowly dissolving and releasing its ingredients over time. You can bite a lozenge for a secondary effect. The action this takes is noted in the item. As soon as this secondary effect is over, the lozenge is used up and its benefits for you end. You can drink elixirs, potions, and beverages with a lozenge in your mouth, but you can't benefit from more than one lozenge at a time. If you have two lozenges in your mouth at the same time, both become inert. You can also spit out a lozenge as a single action to end its effect and make it inert. A lozenge dissolves due to its alchemical ingredients, so it typically still works even if you don't have saliva.

Processed: An alchemical consumable with the processed trait can be created with Quick Alchemy but is too complex to create in a single action. Using Quick Alchemy to create a processed item takes 1 minute. If the item would take more than 3 actions to Activate, the time the item remains potent after you create it is equal to its activation time. For instance, a processed item that takes 10 minutes to Activate would remain potent for 10 minutes when created with Quick Alchemy instead of remaining potent only until the start of your next turn. This trait doesn't change other specifics of Quick Alchemy. You could, for example, use double brew to create two of the same processed item over the course of 1 minute.

New Alchemical Items

The new alchemical options appearing in this chapter represent some notable expansions of the abilities available to anyone who uses alchemy, but the alchemist class in particular. It’s important to consider the impact these options can have on the play experience, not from a balance perspective, but from a story perspective. Characters specializing in alchemical foods will want an adventure that gives them time to prepare alchemical foods with the processed trait, like the new cooperative waffles. Be sure that your players choosing these options have the opportunity to take full advantage of them, or warn them if that option won’t be available.

Bottled Monstrosities

Source Treasure Vault pg. 56 1.1
An item with the expandable trait increases to a specific size when activated. Unless otherwise noted, this space must be adjacent to you and on the ground, and the item needs to have enough open space to expand into or else the activation has no effect. When the effect ends, the expanded item disintegrates if it's a consumable or shrinks back to its normal size if it's not a consumable.