Realistic Alchemy Overhaul

[Iconian]

I think it'd be very cool to give the player the ability to distill, mix, and match potions or something similar. I think this would actually be pretty hard to implement, but perhaps someone would like to do it. Basically, from now on each ingredient and potion would (or could) have several components.

 

Types and Strengths of Potion Compounds

For each individual effect an ingredient can give, there would be a compound type. So an ingredient that regenerates your health, gives resistance to fire, grants invisibility, and damages fatigue would have four types of compounds, one for each effect. You could take any ingredient or potion you have and distill it down to these base compounds, and then you could mix and match the concentrates to more easily create the specific kinds of potions you want.

 

But the mod could also go a step further by making compounds of different strengths. You could have perhaps have four different strength levels--concentrated and diluted, and ultra-concentrated and ultra-diluted. Each increasing level might be ten times the strength of the level before it. So the quantities you have of each of the concentrate strengths would determine the duration and strength of the final potion. So an ultra-diluted healing potion might only heal you 1 point for 10 seconds, whereas the ultra-concentrated version with the same quantity of liquid might heal 100 points for 100 seconds. The ultra-dilute version would basically be much too weak for any practical application. But really, the ultra-concentrated version wouldn't be too practical either. How useful is 10,000 points of healing going to be for a character who has 300 or 400 health?

 

So, you'd be able to mix amounts of the concentrate with other types of concentrate to create a potion. Perhaps you could have potions of different sizes--maybe 50 milliliters, 100 ml, 150 ml, and 250 ml. Any time you create a potion it would have a certain amount of fluid, determined by the total weight of all the ingredients that went into it. Perhaps the exact amount of compounds different ingredients contain would be randomized within a certain range, maybe between 15 and 25 ml per 0.1 pounds, averaging about 20 ml per lb.

 

Right from the start you could make potions out of single ingredients, but until your skill and equipment improves they'd be next to useless. So, a specific example might be an ingredient that weighs .5 pounds. It might have 75 ml of ultra-dilute fire resistance compound, 20 ml of dilute health regeneration, 4 ml of concentrated invisibility (or chameleon) compound, and 1 ml of ultra-concentrated damage health. Every single ingredient would have its four compounds spread out in these ratios and concentrations--75% would be for the first effect, 20% of the compounds for the second, 4% for the third and 1% of the compounds would be the fourth effect--though these values would be adjusted slightly for randomness. Part of the catch though is that the more rare and concentrated the compound, the less effect it actually has when used in a raw, undistilled potion--since the other compounds are essentially "covering" it up--and further, lower alchemy skill and less effective equipment early on will result in less useful potions. In its raw form, the first compound in a potion might have half the strength than if it were distilled. The second compound might be 1/100 of the strength it would be if distilled. The third effect might be 1/3000 the strength it would be if distilled. The final effect in a raw potion is completely covered up. If distilled then the relative strengths of each of compounds in these quantities would be about 75, 200, and 400. But because the last two are partially "covered" up, since they're still in their raw forms, the strengths are going to be about 37, 2, and .13. What exactly does this mean?

 

Let's say that all three of these compounds happen to be restore health. One ml of ultra-dilute restore health is .1 health for 1 second. One ml of dilute restore health is .1 health for 10 seconds. One ml of concentrated is 1 health for 10 seconds. So, drinking this potion would give you perhaps .1 health for 37 seconds from the first effect, .2 health for 10 seconds from the second effect, and .13 health for 10 seconds from the final effect, for a grand total of about 7 health.

 

Such an amount is pretty much too small to be of much significance, but for a starting character I think it'd be pretty realistic. It's probably about equivalent to using the Minor Heal Wounds spell. And early in the game, it's going to be even less than this amount. An alchemist with level 1 skill and just a novice mortar and pestle would end up only getting about 20% of the compounds out of any potion they make, meaning that the above potion would only give the user around 1.5 health. Such a potion may as well be sold once made. But as the alchemist's skill increases, potions of far greater potency will become possible.

 

 

Identifying Ingredient and Potion Effects

At the beginning before doing any potion making the alchemist wouldn't even know the first of the four effects caused by a potion ingredient. Only once you make a potion will you find out the first effect of an ingredient, which could be done similar to how the player learns of new locations when visiting them. As in vanilla Oblivion though, the player would automatically gain awareness of the effects in an ingredient every 25 levels. At level 1 alchemy you wouldn't know any of the effects. However, all of the effects would be present in each potion you make, in varying strengths, because each the compounds would be in each of the potions you make. The effects would just be hidden when you use the potion, but they would still affect you or your target nonetheless. As a result, making and using potions, especially early on, could result in some unpleasant, if weak, side effects.

 

At level 25 you'd automatically find out the first effect of an ingredient, just by having it in your inventory. After all, by the time you're at least an apprentice you'd have to have already made quite a few potions, or eaten a lot of ingredients. Just by holding the ingredient, smelling it, and maybe rubbing or kneading it a little bit with your hands you could identify at least the first effect, since by then you'd have some experience in that regard. At level 50 you'd also learn the second effect just by having the ingredient in your inventory, at level 75 three effects, and with the experience of a master alchemist you'd know all the effects, since even the most elusive and rare compounds in the ingredient would no longer be able to fool your sense of smell and your other honed senses.

 

The player would also have some other abilities to help with making potions and identifying ingredients. Even at level 1 alchemy with just a novice mortar and pestle, as soon as you make a potion from an ingredient you'd be able to identify the first of its four effects. If the novice alchemist also used a calcinator to make that potion, they'd also be aware of the potion's second effect. However, using the other two apparatuses as well, or using improved versions, would not let the inexperienced alchemist learn anymore about the effects of a potion, but higher skill levels would. A level 25 alchemist using any mortar and pestle and calcinator could identify the first three effects of a potion they make, but only if they first distill the first type of compound in the potion (described later).

 

Identifying all four of the effects of a potion the player makes though would be more difficult. It would normally require require a level 75 alchemist using all four apparatuses to first make a raw potion, then distill that potion into two separate potions, and then distill the raw one of those potions into two potions, and then distill the resulting raw potion yet again (though it is possible for this process to be much simplified). Any level of apparatuses would be sufficient. However, improved apparatuses would increase the strength of the potions, by allowing the alchemist to make use of more of the compounds in an ingredient, as well as giving other benefits in the distillation process. The effects of the different apparatuses on just potion making--not distilling--would be as follows.

 

 

The Effects of Apparatuses and Skill Level on Potion Making

With just a novice mortar and pestle, the level 1 alchemist would be able to get about 20% of all the compounds out of an ingredient (the exact amount would be randomized a little, and then increased by, say, 1% for every additional five levels in alchemy--meaning that a master alchemist using just a novice mortar and pestle would get about 40% of the ingredient's compounds). So let's say for example that this alchemist decided to make a potion from a .5 pound ingredient. In total the ingredient would have 100 ml of compounds in it, but because the alchemist has no skill and is using such ineffective gear, the potion produced would only have about 20 ml of compounds in it. In addition to the potion though the alchemist would also get back .3 pounds of processed pulp from the ingredient. This pulp would still have 60% of the original ingredient's compounds left in it, with 20% of the compounds having gone into the potion, and another 20% of the compounds having been destroyed in making the potion. If the alchemist were to immediately attempt to reprocess that pulp, being on level 1 and still using a novice mortar and pestle, they would only get about 5% more of the compounds from the pulp--meaning a potion with 5 more ml of compounds in it. They would also get back .3 pounds of reprocessed pulp, which would be calculated by the system to contain 55% of the compounds of the original ingredient. Any further attempts at reprocessing the remaining pulp, on the same level of skill and with the same equipment, would not bring out any more of the compounds, so it'd basically be pointless, except that any further reprocessing attempt would count very slightly toward a skill increase. The player's time would better be used collecting superior apparatuses and more ingredients to process.

 

Beyond the initial 20% of compounds the novice alchemist is able to convert from an ingredient into a potion using a novice mortar and pestle, they will also get a further 5% more compounds for each other novice apparatus. So, with a novice mortar and pestle, calcinator, alembic, and retort, a level 1 alchemist would be able to get about 35% of the compounds out of an ingredient, turned it into a potion. If the alchemist had a single apprentice apparatus in addition to the three novice apparatuses, it would convert 2% extra; it would be 4% more with a single journeyman apparatus, 7% with expert, and 10% with master. So, if the level 1 alchemist has all apprentice apparatuses, they'd get 43% of the compounds from an ingredient when making a potion (4 x 2% more than with all novice). With all journeyman apparatuses, they'd get back 51%; with expert, 63%; and a level 1 alchemist using all master apparatuses would get 75% of the compounds from an ingredient. For more than that, the alchemist would need to have greater alchemy skill, seeing as an unskilled alchemist could still easily misuse good equipment, damaging, burning, and otherwise wasting ingredients. A level 99 alchemist with master apparatuses would be able to make use of 94% of the milliliters of compounds in an ingredient, and there would be no pulp remaining . On level 100 though the master alchemist would gain a small perk if using all master apparatuses--5% more compounds put into potions, meaning 99% at the maximum.

 

The amount of the ingredient wasted outright from processing would also decrease with better equipment and skill. A novice alchemist using a novice mortar and pestle to make a potion would see 20% of the ingredient go into the potion, with 60% left over as pulp and 20% lost due to mishandling. For each additional apparatus the alchemist has the waste will be 1% lower, meaning if this alchemist also had a calcinator, alembic, and retort then only 17% ingredient would be wasted. At each new alchemy perk the amount wasted would also go down by a further three percent, meaning an alchemist with skill of 25 and all four apparatuses would only waste 14% of the ingredient. A journeyman would lose 11% of the ingredient, an expert 8%, and a master 5%. If the master was using all master apparatuses, they would only lose 1% of the ingredient.

 

Distilling and separating potions, however, is less efficient than actual potion potion making, but eventually can be much more powerful.

 

Potion Distillation

With this mod, the real advantage alchemists have would come from the process of distilling potions. As with regular potion-making, this would not be very useful early on, but later could result in potions far more powerful than in vanilla Oblivion.

 

A novice alchemist that uses any mortar and pestle and calcinator will be able to distill any potion they make (potions not created by the player would be assumed to already be distilled, and they could also have their weight reduced to .1 or .2 pounds as well, making them quite useful early in the game). However once distilled some of the content of the original potion is permanently lost. The amount of the compounds go into the new potions is once again dependent on the player's alchemy skill and the apparatuses they're using. At 1 alchemy with just the novice mortar and pestle and calcinator you'd probably be able to distill 15% of the compounds out of a raw potion. At 100 alchemy with all master apparatuses you'd get about 99%. This huge difference would be due to you not knowing enough about the compounds you're working with at low levels, as well as not having equipment to properly distill them out of your raw potions.

 

What this means is that the alchemist with 1 skill and a novice mortar and pestle and calcinator could first create a potion with that equipment, and the potion that results would end up with 25% of the compounds from the original ingredient. The alchemist could then distill that potion with the equipment, and in the process would get back back two potions. The combined milliliters of those potions would be 20% of what was in the original potion--the other 80% would be lost. In other words, such an alchemist would now have about 4% of the compounds from the original ingredient in potion form, plus some of the ingredient in pulp form with about 60% of its compounds still available.

 

One of the two new potions potions would be distilled, and the other would still be raw. The first potion, the distilled one, would only have the first effect from the previous potion. It would make up 10% of the milliters from the original potion. But the liquid in it would be a distilled ultra-dilute potion, meaning that per milliliter it would be twice as powerful as distillation. The distilled new potion would always be equal in milliliters to the new raw potion--each potion would comprise half of the compounds that survive the distilling process.

 

The second potion would still be considered raw and would also have 10% of the milliliters in it from the previous potion. It would have all the three other effects applied to it, just as it did before, but the alchemist would still only know the first of those three. Because the potion is still raw the compounds in it would still be as strong as they were before the distillation--the third of the compounds in the potion would still not even have any effect, and the two other compounds would have their strengths reduced by 3000 times and 100 times.

 

What would be the point in even distilling at this point then, seeing as almost all of the potion has been lost, and the distilled portion of the potion is only twice as powerful as before?

 

For one, the distilled portion is now lighter than before, making transport a little easier. It might even possibly be worth it to use the potion rather than sell it. If enough raw potions of the same type can be distilled down in this way, then the resulting potion might have enough of the distilled compound in it to actually be somewhat useful.

 

More importantly though, distilling a raw potion would provide the budding alchemist with a good deal more alchemical experience than simple potion making, so that leveling up is faster.

 

Of course, it might be wiser for the alchemist to wait to make potions or do any distilling until they also have a retort and alembic in their possession. In addition to having more potion available to submit to the distilling process, the amount of distilled potion left over would also be greater in the end. The alembic and retort would each increase the amount of liquid the alchemist gets back after distilling by 4%--meaning that with both only 72% would be lost, instead of 80%. Because there'd be more potion available to distill, leveling up would occur more quickly too.

 

In order to distill the second compound in a raw potion away from the third and fourth, the player would normally need to have alchemy skill of at least 50 and also need to have all four types of apparatus in their possession. The amount of potion remaining when the distillation is complete would again be dependent on the exact skill of the alchemist, as well as how advanced their apparatuses are. Unlike potion making though, every 25 levels of alchemy would result in wasting 1% less compound when distilling potions (with potion making, five levels result in 1% improvements in converting ingredients into potions).

 

Advanced apparatuses would also not help quite as much in reducing waste while distilling as they help with potion making. Individual apprentice and journeyman apparatuses would reduce waste by 1% successively; expert and master apparatuses would reduce waste by 2% more. This means that an alchemist with a skill of 1 that has all apprentice apparatuses would make use of 32% of the compound from a potion they distill, with the other 68% get wasted. With journeyman apparatuses it would be 36%; 44% with expert; and 52% with master. An alchemist with skill of 99 and master equipment could use 55% of the compound from the original potion. A master gets an additional perk if they have all master equipment of 2%, so that combined with the four standard increases every 25 levels, such an alchemist would be able to make use of 58% of the compound from a potion when distilling. Is this the maximum possible amount? No, because there is another feature the alchemist can make use of to greatly improve their ability to distill potions: the Still.

 

The Still

Purchasing the Still would be a great way of significantly increasing the efficiency of potion distillery, though it does not aid in the actual potion making. The Still would be available for purchase somewhere in the Imperial City for 8,000 septims, and a few can be found elsewhere for free, though they are not mobile. The amount of benefit the alchemist gets from the Still would be dependent on the other alchemy equipment they're using. With all novice apparatuses, the Still would increase the efficiency of distillery by 20%. Thereafter, for each 2% of efficiency added by obtaining new apparatuses, the Still's efficiency falls by 1%, until reaching 12%, which it will not drop below. However, if the alchemist is a journeyman or higher and the four apparatuses he has are at least journeyman, then he would have a perk to increase the efficiency of distillery by 4% more. Altogether then, a master alchemist with a Still and master apparatuses would have 74% distillery efficiency.

 

Once the alchemist purchases the Still they would be able to place it somewhere in the world, perhaps in one of their homes. The Still would make an excellent addition to any alchemist's equipment. Unlike the other apparatuses, the alchemist could actually store potions inside the still. This makes it invaluable to an alchemist because as the alchemist does more and more distilling, they will find that the variety of potions they have increases so much that it becomes almost unmanageable. For each effect type there are four possible levels of concentration. Further, potions can be used with other potions in all sorts of combinations. The Still can combine and sort the potions as desired, as well as separating out potions that have already been made into distilled compounds. Not only can the Still store many potions, but it can also distill as many potions as desired all at once. As such, the Still makes the alchemist's life much easier. However, the Still does take some time to distill any given potions inside it, as detailed later.

 

The Still also gives an apprentice or better of alchemy, with all four types of apparatus, the ability to distill a second compound from a potion. If the alchemist is not using the Still then they will not be able to distill the second compound out of a potion until they are a journeyman and have all four kinds of apparatus.

 

 

So it works like this:

 

A novice using a mortar, pestle, and calcinator can distill the first compound out of a potion, and will also be able to identify the effect of the second compound after doing so. This distillation process takes about two hours.

 

A journeyman using all four apparatuses can distill the second compound out of a potion, and will be able to identify the effect of the third compound. This distillation process takes about two hours.

 

An expert with all four apparatuses can distill the third compound out of a potion, and can identify the effect of the last compound. This distillation process takes about two hours.

 

A master with all four apparatuses can distill the fourth compound out of a potion. This distillation process takes about two hours.

 

 

A novice with the Still is not benefited by the Still beyond having increased efficiency in potion making, and having the time for the distillation process reduced to about one hour.

 

An apprentice with the Still and the four other apparatuses can distill the second compound out of a potion, and will be able to identify the effect of the third compound. It takes the Still about one hour to distill a group of potions inside it, though it can distill many potions simultaneously. Since two distillations will have to be processed, this will take a total of about two hours. The player will have to return after the first distillation in order to start the second, however.

 

A journeyman with the Still and the four other apparatuses can distill the third compound out of a potion, and can identify the effect of the last compound. A journeyman using the Still will also have the benefit of requiring one less distillation. In other words, such an individual only has to make a potion, then distill it two times with the Still and other apparatuses, in order to get three separate distilled compounds out. If not using the Still at the time, they would instead have to go through all three distillation processes, besides originally making the potion. It takes the Still about one hour to distill a group of potions inside it, though it can distill many potions simultaneously. Since two distillations will have to be processed, this will take a total of about two hours. The player will have to return after the first distillation in order to start the second, however.

 

An expert with the Still and the four other apparatuses can distill the fourth compound out of a potion. An expert using the Still will also have the benefit of requiring two less distillations. In other words, such an individual only has to make a potion, then distill it two times with the Still and other apparatuses, in order to get four separate distilled compounds out. If not using the Still at the time, they would instead have to go through all four distillation processes, besides originally making the potion. It takes the Still about one hour to distill a group of potions inside it, though it can distill many potions simultaneously. Since two distillations will have to be processed, this will take a total of about two hours. The player will have to return after the first distillation in order to start the second, however.

 

 

One final word about the Still: the Still is not the only kind of still available. The Master Still is also available for purchase from an individual somewhere in Cyrodiil, and there is one other Master Still hidden in the province (the latter cannot be placed where desired, however). The Master Still costs 120,000 septims to purchase and provides many benefits compared to the Still, though like the Still it does not provide any benefit to potion making either--only to distillery. The amount of benefit the alchemist gets from the Master Still would be dependent on the other alchemy equipment they're using. With all novice apparatuses, the Master Still would increase the efficiency of distillery by 40%. Thereafter, for each 2% of efficiency added by obtaining new apparatuses, the Master Still's added efficiency falls by 1%, until reaching 30%, which it will not drop below. However, if the alchemist is a master or higher and the other four apparatuses he has are all master then he would have a perk to increase the efficiency of distillery by 8% more. So, a novice alchemist with all four novice apparatuses and the Master Still would have distillery efficiency of 70%. An expert alchemist with all master apparatuses would have 85% distillery efficiency. At the maximum, a master alchemist with a Master Still, four master alchemy apparatuses, and a Master Alchemical Tome (described in the next section) would have 98% distillery efficiency. At this efficiency even the fourth compound in potions, which is the most difficult to distill, can be distilled rather quickly and easily. In addition to all the other benefits the Still gives, the Master Still the time it takes to distill a group of potions to half an hour, though. The player will have to return after the first distillation in order to start the second. But, if the player is a master alchemist, has the master apparatuses, the Master Still and the Master Alchemical Tome, the final master perk will make it so that the alchemist only needs to set the Master Still a single time to completely distill all the compounds out of any potions inside the Master Still. All four compounds can be distilled from any potion in the Master Still in just 30 minutes with this perk.

 

 

Alchemical Tomes

Alchemical tomes are available to further aid the alchemist. There are five types available, one for each alchemy perk level. Each will train the reader's alchemy skill by 1. If the player actually reads these books they will give specific details about the finer aspects of potion making and distilling. The cheapest tome costs 100 septims and can be purchased from most general traders. The more advanced tomes are increasingly rare and expensive, going for 500, 2000, 5000, and 10,000 septims where they can be bought. The apprentice and higher tomes also give the player the ability to identify one, two, three, or four of the effects of ingredients and potions, if the ingredient/potion is in the player's inventory at the same time as the tome. The Expert Alchemy Tome will make the distilling process 1% more efficient if the player is carrying it when performing or starting distillery. The Master Alchemy Tome does the same effect, except 2%. These effects do not stack, so having both books in your inventory at once provides no greater benefit.

 

 

The Potions

For all this the alchemist would be able to create some truly amazing potions. Potions can have up to ten effects each. Distilled compounds can be easily mixed and matched to customize potions to the alchemist's desire. Potions can last up to ten minutes (or more if Oblivion can handle it), and thus last a player through an entire dungeon. Even without the best equipment and the highest skills, alchemists will still be able to create very useful potions, though with more time and effort than would otherwise be required. A mid-range potion might cause 5 healing for 100 seconds, with 75% frost shield, fire shield, and shock shield for 300 seconds, 5 magicka regeneration for 300 seconds, and other similar effects. Potions that last 3000 or more seconds may even be possible.

 

 

Conclusion

The mod I have described is something I would really like to see. It would overhaul a lot of aspects of alchemy to make it much more useful around mid and late game, though less useful in the beginning. I think there are probably some things that would need to be changed with it. For instance, I'm not exactly sure how the game would determine the duration and strength of a given potion effect. Hopefully it wouldn't need to be changed too much to actually work.

 

I myself don't have anywhere enough ability to create this sort of mod, but if anyone would like to make it, please feel free. I'd be happy to try and think through any poor ideas I may have suggested here, as well as to aid in the less programming oriented aspects.

Iconian