Dev diary 80: The Renowned Apothecary Society (part 1)
This is the first dev diary related to the new society, and will be focusing on society powers and missions. However, before we get to those things, there is another thing to mention that also will affect the Hermetics.
New ingredients:
The Renowned Apothecary Society will be reusing the ingredient system that the Hermetics already have -- in fact, they will make even greater use of ingredients -- seeing as it makes quite a bit of sense, even though some of the Hermetic ingredients are a bit odd (particularly the animal body part ones). As such, it made sense to take a look at the ingredient list and add some new ones.
The following ingredients have been added:
- Ivy
- Lotus
- Dodder
- Broadleaf Plantain
- Boxthorn
- Foxglove
- Lead
- Antimony
- Cobalt
- Manganese
- Nickel
- Blue Vitriol
- Green Vitriol
- Red Vitriol
- White Vitriol
- Saltpeter
- Cinnabar
- Realgar
- Green Jade
- Lavender Jade
- Yellow Jade
- Orange Jade
- Brown Jade
- Black Jade
Some of these were used in Chinese alchemy, some of them were used in alchemy in general, and some are just additions to expand the available options (e.g. various kinds of jade were primarily used for vessels to brew potions in in Chinese alchemy, but conceivably could also be used in the potions themselves).
With that out of the way, let's get to the Renowned Apothecary Society. Here's the society window. Some localisation for the society might be missing, seeing as it is still rather WIP. Note that the "Temple vassal opinion" likely will be changed; it's copy-paste from the Hermetics.
Society ranks and powers:
New members of the Renowned Apothecary Society start out as a Novice. The powers available at this rank can be seen below.
Become Court Alchemist:
Aside from the associated minor title (see below), this power has not yet been implemented. However, being the Court Alchemist will be very powerful, as it both will put you in a position to maybe create some not-so-helpful potions for certain people and the position to ask for stuff in return (Favours, money, etc.) when someone asks you for a potion. Exactly how this will work will be covered in a future dev diary.
Acquire Ingredients:
This is very close to the Hermetics' decision by the same name. However, no apprentice is required (you don't get one), and there might be options available that the Hermetics do not have.
Self-Experimentation:
As every self-respecting mad scientist knows, experimenting on yourself is reasonable, at least when you lack other test subjects. This is also partially based on history, as there were alchemists that tried their own concoctions.
Experimenting on yourself is, as you might imagine, quite possibly going to result in some side-effects, though it is a good way to gain insights if you don't have other options available. A number of ingredients -- not all, but quite a few -- have specific effects, good or bad, and there is also some generic outcomes; I will not go into too many details, but women that are pregnant -- or that might be pregnant -- might wish to be careful with certain ingredients, and there are variables to track both lead and Mercury poisoning. What could
possibly go wrong?
Sell Potions:
Selling potions is a decent option to earn money, and perhaps to do some other things. More skilled alchemists will generally do better at what they are trying to do. You might have the option to sell potions in the provinces of other characters within the same top realm at times, but the local ruler could potentially get suspicious, even if you actually are trying to help.
Members that advance to the rank of Apothecary gain access to the powers shown below.
Conduct Potion Test:
This is inspired by something that occasionally happened historically in China. You can offer one of your adult prisoners their freedom in exchange for them taking part in a scientific experiment; quite possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
If they refuse, you cannot ask again for five years. If they accept, a variety of outcomes can happen, ranging from the target feeling a lot better to the target dying. As participation is voluntary you will not get execution/tyranny opinions or Kinslayer traits should things go wrong, and your council has no say in the matter. There might be some slight cheating depending on how much you like the target (e.g. rivals might be more likely to get not-so-helpful potions), but this is
not a guaranteed "Kill the target" decision. You
are expected to honour your agreement, should the target survive; only a tyrant would do otherwise!
Conduct Laboratory Experiment:
Assuming you have an alchemical laboratory (spoiler for the next main part of this dev diary: The "Construct Laboratory" and "Infiltrate Laboratory" missions have been ported from the Hermetics with only minor changes), you can conduct laboratory experiments. This is generally safer than experimenting on yourself -- and does not require an imprisoned test subject -- but it still has the potential to go wrong. Again, there are ingredient-specific events for some ingredients.
Brew Healing Potion:
This power allows you to brew healing potions for yourself or your courtiers, should the target be feeling unwell. The target might turn it down, should they feel less like trusting you. Depending on how well you know what you are doing, the target may or may not get better. When taking this decision, the assumption is that you are trying to help to the best of your ability, so you will not get a "Ha; I'm poisoning you!" option (spoiler alert for a future dev diary: Court Alchemists will have such options).
Members that advance to the rank of Master Apothecary gain access to the powers shown below.
Choose Alchemist Lifestyle:
This power allows you to select the Mystic, Gardener, and Master Schemer lifestyles in exchange for a small amount of society currency, and to swap between the three.
Brew Clarity Potion:
This power allows you to brew clarity potions for yourself or your courtiers, should the target be Stressed, Depressed, or suffering from certain other issues. Again, the assumption is that you are trying to help, success depends on how well you know what you are doing, and the target might turn down the potion.
Brew Fertility Potion:
This power allows you to brew fertility potions for yourself or your courtiers, with some restrictions (e.g. no brewing them for Eunuchs). The target might turn it down, should they feel less like trusting you (or be less interested in having children). Same deal as above for the rest.
Members that advance all the way to the rank of Grand Apothecary gain access to the powers shown below.
Interview Alchemist:
As it says, this power allows you to interview lower-ranking members of the Renowned Apothecary Society. If they are cooperative, you might learn some of what they know, which might help you do better.
Brew Aphrodisiac:
This power allows you to brew aphrodisiac for yourself or your courtiers, with some restrictions (e.g. no brewing them for your own spouse if you are Celibate). Same deal as with the potions above.
Combat Disease:
Not much to say that's not in the screenshot. Potentially quite useful if there is a disease outbreak.
Brew Immortality Potion:
This power is not yet implemented, but you can probably guess what it does. Historically, this
was what most Chinese alchemists at least supposedly were trying to do (
some might not have been completely honest...), whether for themselves or for those willing to pay them. For now, all I will say about this is that even the best alchemist will be
far more likely to fail -- with the outcome involving varying degrees of madness or death -- than to succeed, even assuming they're not trying to do something harmful and that supernatural events are enabled.
Excepting a small number of events (locked behind the relevant game rule) and a successful Immortality Potion (also locked behind the relevant game rule), none of the society powers are explicitly supernatural, though characters well might believe they are. For example, the event below might be due to a mere placebo, due to a placebo and unrelated factors (e.g. maybe the character started dressing less slovenly), or due to magic, depending on how you wish to interpret it.
Renowned Apothecary Society missions:
There are eight possible missions for the society (some require specific ranks), all but two of them tied to the society powers.
-
Acquire Ingredients. Unavailable if you have too many ingredients.
-
Engage in Self-Experimentation. Requires at least two ingredients.
-
Sell Potions. Requires at least two ingredients.
-
Construct Alchemical Laboratory; required prior to being able to carry out Laboratory Experiments, and largely based off of the Hermetics' "Construct Laboratory" event chain. Only available for Apothecaries or higher.
-
Infiltrate Laboratory. All but a copy-paste of the Hermetics' mission/event chain by the same name (including most of the localisation). Requires a valid target.
-
Conduct Laboratory Experiment. Requires at least two ingredients and having completed the "Construct Alchemical Laboratory" quest. Only available for Apothecaries or higher.
-
Conduct Potion Test. Requires at least two ingredients and a prisoner (that the quest giver doesn't like too much (even if there's nothing preventing you from selecting someone they like after accepting the mission...)). Only available for Apothecaries or higher.
-
Brew Immortality Potion. Only available for Grand Apothecaries.
That's all for this dev diary. There should be at least one more dev diary -- most likely also about the RAS (I currently think there will be three dev diaries focusing on the society in question) -- within the next few weeks; potentially there
might also be a small dev diary about something completely unrelated to the main focus of 14.1.0, should I get around to working on the relevant thing.
