[Bushw4cker]

Went back to the drawing board on this one. I'm actually quite happy with new character.

Let me know what you think.

[spoiler]ATTRIBUTES (505)                                 
BOD      3      WIL      5      WLK      12   
AGI      6      LOG      3      RUN      24   
REA      4      INT      5      SPNT      (+2)   
STR      4      CHA      3      COM      8   
ESS      6      EDGE      3      JUD      8   
MAG      5      LIFT      7      MEM      8   
Init: 9 + 1D6   Edge: OOO                                 
                                 
PHY      5      MEN      6      SOC      6   
                                 
ACTIVE SKILLS (213)                        RTG      DP   
Etiquette                        1      4   
Impersonation                        1      4   
Animal Handling                        1      4   
Assensing                        1      6   
Perception                        3      8   
 (Visual +2)                              10   
Alchemy                        5      10   
 (Command +2)                              12   
Artificing                        1      1   
Disenchanting                        1      1   
Arcana                        1      1   
Clubs                        6      12   
 (Quarterstaff Fighting +2)                              16   
Throwing Weapons                        1      7   
Unarmed Combat                        1      7   
Longarms                        4      10   
 (Sporting Rifles +2)                              12   
Gymnastics                        1      7   
Sneaking                        6      16   
 (Urban +2)                              18   
Palming                        2      8   
Computer                        1      4   
Locksmith                        1      7   
Pilot Ground Craft                        1      6   
                                 
QUARTERSTAFF  TECHNIQUES                                 
Sweep                                 
Inflict Stun Damage when                                 
Opponent is Knocked down                                 

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS                        RTG      DP   
Magic Theory                        2      5   
 (Alchemy +2)                              7   
Small Unit Tactics                        2      7   
Magical Threats                        1      4   
Parazoology                        1      4   
Local Street Gangs                        1      6   
Trid Shows                        1      6   
Literature                        1      4   
History                        1      4   
Music                        1      6   
                                 
LANGUAGE SKILLS                        RTG      DP   
English                        N      -   
Japanese                        3      8   
German                        1      6   

POSITIVE QUALITIES                              RTG   
Catlike                              -   
Mentor Spirit (Cat)                              -   
Uncanny Healer                              -   
                                 
NEGATIVE QUALITIES (-1)                              RTG   
SINner (National, UCAS)                              -   
Prejudiced (Biased, Gangers)                                 
Day Job                              3   

CAT MENTOR SPIRIT                                 
 +2 Dice for Sneaking                                 
 +2 Dice Illusion Preparations                                 
Unless you make Composure (3) Test                                 
you cannot make an attack that                                  
Incapacitates your Target                                 

ALCHEMICAL SPELLS (15)                                 
Heal (Essence)                                 
M    Touch    Permanent    F - 4                                 
Levitate (Physical)                                 
P    LOS    Sustained    F - 2                                 
Imp. Invisibility (Realistic, S-Sense)                                 
P    LOS    Sustain    F - 1                                 

GEAR ACCESS (STAFF) (6)                                 
Staff (Force 2 Weapon Focus)                                 
Accuracy: 6   Reach: 2   Damage: 7P                                 

ARMOR (5,640¥)                              RTG   
o Armor Jacket                              12   
 Fire Resistance                              4   
 Nonconductivity                              4   
 Gear Access (Staff)                              -   
o YNT Armor Clothing Casual                              6   
 Concealed Pocket (x4)                              -   
 Faraday Pocket (x1)                              -   
 Biofiber Pocket (x2)                              -   

COMMLINK (2,820¥)                                 
o Renraku Sensei w/ Sim Module                                 
DR: 3     Data: 3     Firewall: 4                                 
Apps: Diagnostics, Ticker                                 
Program Carrier Modification                                 
Programs: VM, Encryption, Browse                                 
Matrix CM OOO OOO OOO O                                 
o Running Silent (-2 DP Matrix Actions)                                 
                                 
MATRIX ACCESSORIES (270¥)                                 
o AR Gloves (DR3)                                 
o Subvocal Mic (DR3)                                 
o Trodes (DR3)                                 
                                 
ID/LICENSES/NUYEN (10,800¥)                                 
Fake SIN (Rating 4)                                 
_____________________________                                 
Fake License (Rating 4)                                 
Possession of Weapon Foci                                 

GEAR (38,475¥)                                 
o Reactive Myomer Pack                                 
o Wireless: Retrieving Item is Simple Action                                 
o Goggles (Capacity 4)                                 
Thermographic Vision                                 
Flare Compensation                                 
Low-Light Vision                                 
Image Link                                 
o Silencer -4 Mod to Perception                                 
o Wireless: Alert if anyone reacts to shot                                 
*Imaging Scope                                 
o Wireless: LOS Shared with Team                                 
Vision Magnification                                 
Thermographic Vision                                 
Low-Light Vision                                 
Doses of Psyche x OO                                 
9 Hours, +1 Logic, +1 Intuition                                 
 +1 Mental Limit                                 
Doses of Long Haul x OO                                 
                                 
RANGED WEAPONS (3,790¥)                              CON      ACC         DAM         AP      RC      MODE               MODS                                                                     
o Remington 950                              (+6)      8         11P         -4      -      SS               Sling, Pers Grip, Easy Breakdown (Manual)*Imaging Scope, o Silencer                                                                     
(Internal Magazine) Subsonic Rounds (-1DV, -2 Perception) OOOOO     Subsonic Rounds (Ammo Pouch) x OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO                                                                                                                                                      
o Defiance T-250                              (+4)      5         11P         (+4)      1      oSS oSA               Sling, Personal Grip                                                                     
o Narrow Choke (-1 Def)   o Medium Choke (-1DV, -3Def, Med: -3DV, Long: -5DV, -1 Acc)   o Wide Choke (-3DV, -5 Def, Med: -5DV, Long: -7DV, -1 Acc)                                                                                                                                                      
Internal Magazine (Shot Rounds) OOOOO    Shot Rounds (Ammo Pouch) OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO                                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
CONTACTS (5)                  TYPE                     METATYPE               LOCATION                        CON      LOY      NOTES                                                            
Smiley                  Fixer                     Ork               Downtown Seattle                        5      2      CAS Accent,Infectious Tusky Smile, Former Shadowrunner                                                            
Everett                  Talismonger                     Dwarf               Bellevue                        3      4                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
VEHICLE (8,500¥)                     HAND         SPEED         ACCL      BODY         ARMOR         STR      PLT      SEN         SEATS               CONDITION MONITOR                              MATRIX CM                     
Yamaha Rapier                     5  3         6         3      5         6         -      1      2         1               OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO                              OOO OOO OOO                     

PREPARATION                  FORCE         POTENCY            FINISHED AT:               FULL POT TILL:            
Improved Invis                  5         5            0:05               10:05            
Improved Invis                  5         5            0:10               10:10            
Improved Invis                  5         5            1:20               11:20            
Improved Invis                  5         5            1:25               11:25            
Heal                  5         4            2:30               10:30            
Heal                  5         4            2:35               10:35            
Heal                  5         5            2:40               12:40            
Heal                  5         4            2:45               10:45            
Levitate                  2         5            3:51               13:51            
Levitate                  2         5            3:53               13:53            
Levitate                  2         5            3:55               13:55            
Levitate                  2         5            3:57               13:57            

FOCI (12)                                 
Enchanting Focus (Force 4)                                 
Giant Wooden Spoon            [/spoiler]                     

[Kuirem]

The big problem I see is that your alchemist main role is a fighter (with a couple of utility preparation) but as soon as you run out of preparation you are useless. 8 + 1d6 initiative and 3 AGI won't get you far. You probably need to pump a bit more of physical attributes if you hope to stay relevant. Exceptional Magic is probably a waste when you are only using your magic attribute for Preparations.

The first Detect Life preparation you have prepared has Potency 5 so it should keep its full Potency for 10 hours (Potency x 2 hours). You take 6 more hours to prepare the rest and yet at the end you have 10:07 before it lose Potency? Maybe I have missed something but that does not seems right.

Well even when all your preparation are active you are nothing amazing. 14 dice to shoot is what most fighters will start with without even adding Adept power or Wares. You have a high number of defense dice but that too is possible to reach with an Adept specialized in doding and it won't last long against any focused fire anyway (which you will take since even using preparation will flag you as mage).

Been wondering for a while if it was possible to make Aspected Magician (Enchanting), that didn't suck.

Yeah sorry but I think you are fighting a lost cause, RAW alchemy sucks. Whatever you chose to do you will have someone who will do it 2 times as good and won't be limited by preparation time, potency and having to constantly spend nuyen. That's not to say it is impossible to play but that's like playing a blind street sam with no arm, you might be able to actually do something and have fun playing it but it will suck.

[Bushw4cker]

The first Detect Life preparation you have prepared has Potency 5 so it should keep its full Potency for 10 hours (Potency x 2 hours). You take 6 more hours to prepare the rest and yet at the end you have 10:07 before it lose Potency? Maybe I have missed something but that does not seems right

If I started making Preparatoins at 00:00 (Midnight, Military Time), and Finished making Potency 5 Preparation at 00:07, then it is Full Potency until 10:07. I wrote it that way to better keep track of Potency. Otherwise, if I just wrote down how long Preparation is full Potency till, there is no point of reference. Example: I spend 6 hours making 10, Potency 5, Preparations. If I just write down Full Potency, 10 Hours, for each Preparation, It would be very hard to to try to accurately keep track.

The big problem I see is that your alchemist main role is a fighter (with a couple of utility preparation) but as soon as you run out of preparation you are useless. 8 + 1d6 initiative and 3 AGI won't get you far. You probably need to pump a bit more of physical attributes if you hope to stay relevant. Exceptional Magic is probably a waste when you are only using your magic attribute for Preparations.

I should combine Alchemy with Drugs! Jazz would give him total Initiative 17 + 5D6 (using sample Alchemy Preparations). Psyche would help with Drain a little. (Might be worth it ,if it shaved off hour of total time to make preparations. He also is Invisible, and doesn't make a sound, nor does his shotgun, and he has very high Edge Attribute. Edge also will help when his super powers go away.

I thought Long and Hard about Attributes for this character. Exceptional Magic is almost a must have for Alchemist. It gives you ability to throw 2 more dice with your preparations and 2 more hours. (assuming you get enough net hits) 14 vs. 12. (Preparations roll Force + Potency)  14 dice vs 12 dice, might not seem like a lot, but I think it makes huge difference for Magic tests. A lot of tests are Opposed tests against two Attributes, like Logic + Willpower, or Intuition + Logic. Most NPC dice pools are going to be between 5 and 10, you want dice pool that is at least, on average, going to roll you 1+ net successes.. Yeah I could overcast or use Reagents, but with +2 to drain for Command Preparations, and not being able to heal physical drain damage, it would be suicidal.

Just for fun I tried rolling 12 and 14 dice, Against a 10 DP NPC.   12 dice won 50% of the time, tied 30% and lost 20%.  14 Dice won 80%, and lost 20%.

1, 5, 3, 4, 4, 2, 2, 4, 3, 3, .   3, 2, 5, 4, 4, 2, 6, 4, 5, 7,   4, 3, 2, 6, 5, 5, 6, 5, 4, 7

Yeah sorry but I think you are fighting a lost cause, RAW alchemy sucks. Whatever you chose to do you will have someone who will do it 2 times as good and won't be limited by preparation time, potency and having to constantly spend nuyen. That's not to say it is impossible to play but that's like playing a blind street sam with no arm, you might be able to actually do something and have fun playing it but it will suck.

I know.. but I like a challenge.

[Kuirem]

The worst thing with Alchemy is that you spend hours making your preparations, you chose carefully which spells to pick, you optimise your character to the brim and suddendly your Street Sam says "Hey I will pick an Alchemist contact C1/L6 which makes me preparation for super cheap because we are BFF".  There is so little risk for the alchemist that your GM will have a hard time finding a good reason not to be able to do that.

[Imladir]

An alchemist that good would probably be more than C1. It doesn't invalid your point though.
One of the big issues I think is that you must know something is coming and when. Is some runs (like B&E, extractions or maybe even wetwork), it's no big deal: you make the schedule.
But in some cases (mostly when you play defence), you don't know the schedule, you have no way to know when something will be going down. And you can't keep preparing potions and spending reagents (1400 nuyens for your potions, best not waste too much if you want to earn anything in the run. Even if you can find some of the reagents by yourself, given your consumption you'd need quite a bit of downtime to find the quantity you use.). And then...you're screwed. Not useless, you still have some stuff you can do, but the thing your alchemy will be.

[Bushw4cker]

Thanks for your Replies

The worst thing with Alchemy is that you spend hours making your preparations, you chose carefully which spells to pick, you optimise your character to the brim and suddendly your Street Sam says "Hey I will pick an Alchemist contact C1/L6 which makes me preparation for super cheap because we are BFF".  There is so little risk for the alchemist that your GM will have a hard time finding a good reason not to be able to do that.

First off, using your example, the Street Samurai is not going to be able to pick what Alchemy spells his contact knows.

Second, Alchemist even if skilled at Alchemy (Rating 5), Magic Rating 5, is going to have trouble making Preparation with Potency greater than 3. Look at the Contacts in Run Faster and Core Book. More than likely Alchemist Contact (especially a Level 1 Contact) is not going to have Alchemy Dice pool more than 11. My character dice pool for Preparations is 21 for Command Preparations, and 23 for Command Manipulation Preparations, and it is still is difficult to make Potency 7 Preparations. Spells like Increase Attribute are going to be little use to Street Samurai. The Force of the spell must equal or exceed the (augmented) value of the Attribute being affected. Spells like Heal, have a negative dice pool modifier based on characters Essence.

Third, I'm almost positive the only Preparations someone other than the magician who made the Preparation can use, is Touch, which your going to need Alchemist Gloves to handle. You could use Timed Preparation I guess, but that wouldn't be much use on Sustained spell that only lasts few minutes. Command Preparations can only be used by the Magician. I could be wrong, but I haven't seen anything in rules that says non magician can use Command Preparations.  Magical Compounds (Advanced Alchemy Metamagic), are less effective on the Augmented. Magical compounds unfortunately don’t functionwell in combination with augmentations. When used on
such a subject, reduce both the compound’s Force andPotency by the amount of Essence the subject has lost to augmentations.

[Bushw4cker]

An alchemist that good would probably be more than C1. It doesn't invalid your point though.
One of the big issues I think is that you must know something is coming and when. Is some runs (like B&E, extractions or maybe even wetwork), it's no big deal: you make the schedule.
But in some cases (mostly when you play defence), you don't know the schedule, you have no way to know when something will be going down. And you can't keep preparing potions and spending reagents (1400 nuyens for your potions, best not waste too much if you want to earn anything in the run. Even if you can find some of the reagents by yourself, given your consumption you'd need quite a bit of downtime to find the quantity you use.). And then...you're screwed. Not useless, you still have some stuff you can do, but the thing your alchemy will be.

I didn't need to use Reagents for as many Preparations as I did, but it does save a little bit of time. You're going to end up having more Stun Damage to heal in between making Preparations. Probably saved only a couple hours using Reagents.

I tried making Preparations using No Reagents, actually was way better than I thought. Only had to remake One Preparation, and didn't have to spend any Edge.
[spoiler]
Start at 00:00                                             
Increase Reflexes (Force 7), 6 Drain                                             
Rest 1 Hour, Heal 5 Stun                                             
Increase Agility (Force 7), 1 Drain                                             
Increase Reaction (Force 7), No Drain                                             
Combat Sense (Force 7), 3 Drain                                             
Rest 1 Hour, Heal 4 Stun                                             
Deflection (Force 7), Potency 3, 4 Drain                                             
Rest 1 Hour, Heal All Stun                                             
Remake Deflection (Force 7), 3 Drain                                             
Stealth (Force 7), 3 Drain                                             
Rest 1 Hour, Heal 4 Stun                                             
Improved Invisibility (Force 7), 5 Drain                                             
Rest 1 Hour, Heal 6 Stun                                             
Detect Life (Force 7), 1 Drain                                             
Detect Life (Force 7), No Drain                                             
Heal (Force 5), No Drain                                             
Heal (Force 5), No Drain                                             
Heal (Force 5), No Drain                                             
Heal (Force 5), No Drain                                             
Levitate (Force 3), No Drain                                             
Levitate (Force 3), No Drain                                             
Levitate (Force 3), No Drain                                             
Levitate (Force 3), 1 Drain                                             
Rest 1 Hour, Heal All Stun                                             
End at 6:42                                             

PREPARATION                  FORCE         POTENCY            FINISHED AT:               FULL POT TILL:            
Inc. Reflexes                  7         6            0:07               12:07            
Inc. Agility                  7         7            1:14               15:14            
Inc. Reaction                  7         7            1:21               15:21            
Combat Sense                  7         7            1:28               15:28            
Deflection                  7         7            3:42               17:42            
Stealth                  7         6            3:49               15:49            
Improved Invis                  7         7            4:56               18:56            
Detect Life                  7         4            5:03               13:03            
Detect Life                  7         5            5:10               15:10            
Heal                  5         5            5:15               15:15            
Heal                  5         5            5:20               15:20            
Heal                  5         5            5:25               15:25            
Heal                  5         5            5:30               15:30            
Levitate                  3         3            5:33               11:33            
Levitate                  3         3            5:36               11:36            
Levitate                  3         3            5:39               11:39            
Levitate                  3         3            5:42               11:42            

[/spoiler]

And this is what I rolled for using Preparation (Force + Potency)

Increase Reflexes (8 Hits, Limit 7)                                                   
Increase Agility (4 Hits)                                                   
Increase Reaction (3 Hits)                                                   
Combat Sense (9 Hits, Limit 7)                                                   
Deflection (7 Hits)                                                   
Stealth (5 Hits)                                                   
Improved Invisibility (4 Hits)                                                   
   
Character Temporary Stats.                                                                                                
Agility: 7                                                   
Reaction: 6                                                   
Initiative: 18 + 4D6                                                   
25 Dice Against Ranged Attacks                                                   
18 Dice Against Melee Attacks                                                   
Intuition + Logic (4) for any chance to See Character                                                   
Intuition + Logic (5) for any chance to Hear Character                                                   

[Kuirem]

I have just realized, is there a particular reason to make all your preparation with Force 7?

You can make a preparation at a Force up to twice your Magic rating

Just wanted to point it out in case you thought it was Force x 1 and not just to avoid Physical Drain.

I also thought of a fun thing to do with Alchemy : Pick up a Crossbow (Heavy for the range) and put Stick-n-Shock bolt in it. Put a Knockout Force 7 preparation, Touch, on the bolt head. That's a 3S Drain only. Now an enemy hit by your bolt will take 8S from the Stick-n-Shock + up to 7S from the spell. Of course you can do the same thing with a Death Touch for Physical damage in which case you go up to 10P (11P with Barbed Head) + 7P.

By the way I know that you are a fan of karmagen but for such a character Priority/SumToTen will get you a much more powerful runner.

[Bushw4cker]

I have just realized, is there a particular reason to make all your preparation with Force 7?

Force is part of the spellcasting test when you use Preparation (Force + Potency), and it affects maximum Potency level. (Unless you want to spend Reagents, but you still can't use more Reagents than 7, or else you risk Physical Drain)

Force 7 for Increase Attributes to get Reaction and Agility to Rating 7.

Force 7 for spells like Detect Life, Improved Invisibility, Stealth

(Force 7, Potency 7) 14 dice vs (Force 6, Reagent 6) 12 dice, might not seem like a lot, but I think it makes huge difference for Magic tests. A lot of tests are Opposed tests against two Attributes, like Logic + Willpower, or Intuition + Logic. Most NPC dice pools are going to be between 5 and 10, you want dice pool that is at least, on average, going to roll you 1+ net successes.. Yeah I could overcast or use Reagents, but with +2 to drain for Command Preparations, and not being able to heal physical drain damage, it would be suicidal.

Just for fun I tried rolling 12 and 14 dice, Against a 10 DP NPC.   12 dice won 50% of the time, tied 30% and lost 20%.  14 Dice won 80%, and lost 20%.

1, 5, 3, 4, 4, 2, 2, 4, 3, 3, .   3, 2, 5, 4, 4, 2, 6, 4, 5, 7,   4, 3, 2, 6, 5, 5, 6, 5, 4, 7

I also thought of a fun thing to do with Alchemy : Pick up a Crossbow (Heavy for the range) and put Stick-n-Shock bolt in it. Put a Knockout Force 7 preparation, Touch, on the bolt head. That's a 3S Drain only. Now an enemy hit by your bolt will take 8S from the Stick-n-Shock + up to 7S from the spell. Of course you can do the same thing with a Death Touch for Physical damage in which case you go up to 10P (11P with Barbed Head) + 7P.

Thought about that, but Shotgun is almost as good. (and it would be silent like a bow, if using Stealth Preparation.) Gel Ammo 13S. 10 round clip, or 24 round drum. for Enfield AS-7

By the way I know that you are a fan of karmagen but for such a character Priority/SumToTen will get you a much more powerful runner.

For Metahumans I would totally agree. Humans, not as much.

After using Karmagen it's hard to go back to using Priority. I really like the Flexibility Karmagen offers. How many times have you made character and you have too much Nuyen and you buy stuff your character really doesn't need, or you really want to buy some ware to complete your character, but you don't have quite enough nuyen left..

[Hobbes]

You run into the same issue that other Aspected mages run into.  It's a small resource cost to just be a full mage.  It's compounded by the fact that you're an Enchanter which is the least flexible of the Aspected options.  In all but a few odd-ball cases this build is strictly better as an Aspected Sorcerer. 

Aspected Enchanters are borderline NPCs IMO.  The best thing most Alchemists can do is buff the other players.  If that playstyle works for you, then rock on.  Creating a giant pile of preps and passing them out as needed isn't a bad way to make a living.  That said, it's a luxury pick for a team.  Most encounters are going to happen quickly, combat is usually over in a single turn.  You're not going to be able to consistently keep your buffs up for an entire run like an Aspected Sorcerer could.

The most dangerous encounters where your team needs you to contribute the most are the unexpected ones.  If you need 4 or 5 turns (actions if house ruled) to get wound up you're least helpful when most needed.  But you're awesome when the team needs you the least (when the team is setting up and controls the encounter).

From a character resource allocation standpoint, you're a heck of an Alchemist though.

[Bushw4cker]

You run into the same issue that other Aspected mages run into.  It's a small resource cost to just be a full mage.  It's compounded by the fact that you're an Enchanter which is the least flexible of the Aspected options.  In all but a few odd-ball cases this build is strictly better as an Aspected Sorcerer. 

Aspected Enchanters are borderline NPCs IMO.  The best thing most Alchemists can do is buff the other players.  If that playstyle works for you, then rock on.  Creating a giant pile of preps and passing them out as needed isn't a bad way to make a living.  That said, it's a luxury pick for a team.  Most encounters are going to happen quickly, combat is usually over in a single turn.  You're not going to be able to consistently keep your buffs up for an entire run like an Aspected Sorcerer could.

The most dangerous encounters where your team needs you to contribute the most are the unexpected ones.  If you need 4 or 5 turns (actions if house ruled) to get wound up you're least helpful when most needed.  But you're awesome when the team needs you the least (when the team is setting up and controls the encounter).

From a character resource allocation standpoint, you're a heck of an Alchemist though.

Enchanter Aspected Magician is easily the worst of the three Aspected Paths, and Aspected mages are the worst of the possible four total choices for Magic. (Full Magician, Adept, Mystic Adept)

I made this character because I like a challenge, and I'm making some Archetypes for when I GM, (Currently I GM for two Groups.) I was debating making a Alchemist Archetype, I was wondering if it was even possible to make one that was decent.

A few things that might help character:

 Automatic Weapons instead of Shotguns. Using Suppressive Fire to hold down enemy while he activates Preparations.

 Better Scouting Abilities- Raise Sneaking, Preparations to detect Magic (for Elementals, critters, ect.

[Hobbes]

Enchanter Aspected Magician is easily the worst of the three Aspected Paths, and Aspected mages are the worst of the possible four total choices for Magic. (Full Magician, Adept, Mystic Adept)

I made this character because I like a challenge, and I'm making some Archetypes for when I GM, (Currently I GM for two Groups.) I was debating making a Alchemist Archetype, I was wondering if it was even possible to make one that was decent.

As long as you know what you're getting into 

[Bushw4cker]

As long as you know what you're getting into 

Well.. I'm starting to see why I've never seen anyone post an Alchemist character before. 

To make even halfway decent character, I'm thinking it would probably be best to focus on just 2 or 3 preparations, and make the character decent in other ways that don't relate to magic.

[Hobbes]

Alchemy is good as a secondary thing.  Pick a couple Preparations to always have on hand and a low to moderate skill investment, you're all set.

[Bushw4cker]

Alchemy is good as a secondary thing.  Pick a couple Preparations to always have on hand and a low to moderate skill investment, you're all set.

You're right. I think Trying to make master Alchemist is a mistake, alchemy works much better as complementary abilitiy. Like Improved Invisibility Preparations for Infiltrator.

Did you check out new character sheet Hobbes?, I changed a lot. 

Aspected Magicians can use Weapon Foci right? I can't find anything in the rules that says they can't.