This will be just a quick overview of my reagent house rules. More in depth rules will be covered in my Artificing Overhaul rules. I have added a new type of reagent called Flawless that is the step up from Radical. So instead of 30 Radical reagents being used to make Orichalcum it is 3 Flawless reagents.

For new Foci rules see here: New Foci

A big change is that only a single dram of a reagent can be used to aid a magical test or procedure. More than one reagent may be used in a long extended process by having the process be discrete. Each day of Artificing or building part of a Magical Lodge or each hour of Binding is a separate process for example allowing more than one reagent to be used in those cases.

Also, a reagent can be used by an Adept as long as the test is enhanced by their magic. An Adept with Nimble Fingers could benefit from the use of a reagent on a Palming test.

Each reagent has a Quality and a Grade. See Talismonger’s Guide to Harvesting Reagents for information about a reagent’s Quality. Alchemists use their skills to refine lower grade reagents to higher grade reagents following the rules on pages 210 and 211 of the Street Grimoire. The main changes are that there is one more step before making Orichalcum because of the introduction of Flawless reagents. The other is that during the process of refining reagents the Quality of a given batch is equal to the worst reagent. So, 9 Prime Quality Refined reagents mixed with a Sub par Quality Refined reagent would distill into a Sub par Radical reagent.

Quality of Reagents:

The Quality of any reagent that has undergone refining is determined by the lowest quality of any component dram. This makes accurate discovery of the grade of all reagents important during the refining process especially with Orichalcum and Flawless reagents because of their cost and use in Artificing.

Prime: 100% higher base cost and 50% faster to refine than baseline reagents.

A critical glitch is downgraded to just a glitch and a regularly rolled glitch is treated as a normal roll while the reagent is in use with any magical tests. When using a Refined or Radical reagent the magician has the benefit of spending Edge on a single magical test during the duration of the reagent as well as gaining the benefits of being unlikely to glitch.. This is compatible with the magician actually spending a point of their Edge.

Superior: 50% higher base cost and 25% faster to refine than baseline reagents.

Using a Superior reagent reduces the chance of glitching by ignoring a single rolled 1 from any magical test during the duration of the reagent. When using a Refined or Radical reagent the magician has the benefit of using the rule of 6 on a single magical test while the reagent is in effect.

Baseline: No modifer to base cost or refining time.

Sub par: 25% lower base cost and 25% slower to refine than baseline reagents.

All magical tests while the reagent is effective are modified so any 2’s rolled are counted as a 1 for declaring a glitch or critical glitch.

Inferior: 50% lower base cost and 50% slower to refine than baseline reagents.

All magical tests while the reagent is effective are modified so any 2 or 3 rolled are counted as a 1 for declaring a glitch or critical glitch.

Tainted: 75% lower base cost and 75% slower to refine than baseline reagents.

All magical tests while the reagent is effective are modified so any non hit is counted as a 1 for declaring a glitch or critical glitch.

Unusable: No value and impossible to refine with current alchemical techniques. Can’t be used with any magic test.

Grades of Reagents:

A magical test is any test that is utilizing a magical skill as a component or is being enhanced by magic in some way. An Adept with Improved Con could enjoy the benefits of increased social limit for example.

Raw: A raw reagent raises the limit by 2 for a single magical test taking place in an action phase.

Refined: A Refined reagent raises the limit by 2 for all magical tests for an individual in a Combat Turn (6 seconds). Refined reagents are used as a component of Magical Lodges and Binding spirits. Spirits vastly prefer Refined reagents to Raw reagents. A Refined reagent is also used to craft telesma for the purposes of creating minor Foci and other minor enchantments. A Refined reagent is also used to brew potions by master alchemists, create fetishes, and used to make ink for magical scrolls.

Radical: A radical reagent raises the limit by 2 for all magical tests for a minute. Radical reagents are used to craft telesma for major Foci and other major enchantments. Radical reagents can also be used in place of spending Karma by unweaving the concentrated mana from the reagent and channeling it exactly the way a magician unweaves part of themselves to empower a Quickened spell for example.

Flawless: Flawless reagents are used exclusively in Artificing as the reagent is refined to such a point that the mana can’t be unwoven from its physical matter except with extreme caution via the refining process to create Orichalcum. A Flawless reagent is dual natured and solid in both the physical realm and astral realm. They are used to create telesma for Grand Foci and other masterful enchantments.

Orichalcum: Orichalcum is created by using three flawless reagents and can be used by master artificers to create the mightiest of Foci and Enchantments. It is also dual natured and very obvious in the astral unless covered in some way. Any Focus crafted from Orichalcum allows a magician to bond to the Focus with much greater ease than normal. Each dram used to craft the telesma halves the amount of Karma necessary to bond.

More on Orichalcum and Flawless reagents will be covered with my future Enchanting Overhaul post.

Pricing:

Item Retail Price Availability Raw Grade 20¥ per dram – Refined Grade 450¥ per dram 6 + 1 per dram Radical Grade 5000¥ per dram 8 +1 per dram Flawless Grade 55,000¥ per dram 10 + 2 per dram Orichalcum 175,000¥ per dram 14 +3 per dram Prime Quality +100% Base Cost +2 Superior Quality +50% Base Cost +1 Subpar Quality -25% Base Cost -3 Inferior Quality -50% Base Cost -5 Enchanter’s Lab 5th Gen 75,000¥ 12 Enchanter’s Lab 4th Gen 40,000¥ 10 Enchanter’s Lab 3rd Gen 25,000¥ 10 Microlab 5th Gen 100,000¥ 12 Microlab 4th Gen 60,000¥ 10 Alchemy Kit 5th Gen 10,000¥ 12 Alchemy Kit 4th Gen 4000¥ 10 Alchemy Kit 3rd Gen 1000¥ 8 Alchemy Kit Enhancements 1000¥ each +1 Minor Foci (F x 900¥) + (F x OR x 250¥) (F x 2) Major Foci (F x 10,000¥) + (F x OR x 250¥) (F x2) +4 Grand Foci (F x 110,000¥) + (F x OR x 250¥) (F x 3) + 3 Focus Tailoring (Days x 1000¥) + (3 x Reagent) +2 OR is Object Rating of Telesma Doesn’t include cost of Telesma