[Chalkarts]

I’m making a character for SRM.
I’ll be making alchemical preparations in downtime so the successes will be bought, 4dice=1 success.

My quandary is how many dice could I get for creating alchemical preparations?

Magic 6, Alchemy 6, Firebringer totem 2, lvl 4 alchemy focus, that’s 18, how can I get to 20 on a starting character?

[Beta]

Well, specialization in the type you rely on most would at least give you 5 in your core area, but I don't see an out of chargen way to get to 20 across the board.

I'm not by my books, but IIRC alchemy specializations can be by spell type or trigger type.  (in chargen you can only buy one specialization, but I forget if you can buy additional specializations once in play? If so could be interesting to have one trigger based and one spell type based, for up to +4 in one area)

[Shinobi Killfist]

specialization is all I can think of as well. I’d take potion master removing the drain increase of common triggers effectively increases the force you can budget on bought successes by a like amount.

[Michael Chandra]

Well, specialization in the type you rely on most would at least give you 5 in your core area, but I don't see an out of chargen way to get to 20 across the board.

I'm not by my books, but IIRC alchemy specializations can be by spell type or trigger type.  (in chargen you can only buy one specialization, but I forget if you can buy additional specializations once in play? If so could be interesting to have one trigger based and one spell type based, for up to +4 in one area)

Alas: "Characters can have multiple specializations within the same skill, but one applies at a time", p129 updated Core.

[HP15BS]

I’d take potion master removing the drain increase of common triggers effectively increases the force you can budget on bought successes by a like amount.

I'd bet there's better things to use that 15 karma on initially. Since mastery qualities stay the same price post-gen, I'd save that until after the first few runs.

For example, Practiced Alchemist grants a better effect at 1/3 the cost.

[Kiirnodel]

Well, specialization in the type you rely on most would at least give you 5 in your core area, but I don't see an out of chargen way to get to 20 across the board.

I'm not by my books, but IIRC alchemy specializations can be by spell type or trigger type.  (in chargen you can only buy one specialization, but I forget if you can buy additional specializations once in play? If so could be interesting to have one trigger based and one spell type based, for up to +4 in one area)

You can buy more specializations after char-gen, but unfortunately you cannot stack them. You only get +2 even if multiple specializations apply.

This does mean that it can be somewhat easy to pick up specializations for alchemy such that you (nearly) always get the bonus (by specializing in all the spell categories or every trigger type).

[Chalkarts]

specialization is all I can think of as well. I’d take potion master removing the drain increase of common triggers effectively increases the force you can budget on bought successes by a like amount.

90% of his preparations will be downtime creation so I’m not too worried about boosting my drain resist beyond what I’ll get from att.

[Shinobi Killfist]

I’d take potion master removing the drain increase of common triggers effectively increases the force you can budget on bought successes by a like amount.

I'd bet there's better things to use that 15 karma on initially. Since mastery qualities stay the same price post-gen, I'd save that until after the first few runs.

For example, Practiced Alchemist grants a better effect at 1/3 the cost.

I’d take both. But yeah he can do it list char gen for the same cost so other choices might be better.

[Shinobi Killfist]

specialization is all I can think of as well. I’d take potion master removing the drain increase of common triggers effectively increases the force you can budget on bought successes by a like amount.

90% of his preparations will be downtime creation so I’m not too worried about boosting my drain resist beyond what I’ll get from att.

When i did alchemy mine were as well. But, frequently I was still suffering the effects of the drain at the start of the adventure.

[Mirikon]

I’m making a character for SRM.
I’ll be making alchemical preparations in downtime so the successes will be bought, 4dice=1 success.

My quandary is how many dice could I get for creating alchemical preparations?

Magic 6, Alchemy 6, Firebringer totem 2, lvl 4 alchemy focus, that’s 18, how can I get to 20 on a starting character?

Magic 6, Alchemy (Command trigger) 6(+2), Firebringer 2, lvl 4 Alchemy focus, that brings you to 20 for command preparations, which are the most commonly used ones. (Not to mention the one you'll be needing for your Increase Reflexes, Heal, and other Health preparations.) That's probably the limit for a starting character.

[Chalkarts]

specialization is all I can think of as well. I’d take potion master removing the drain increase of common triggers effectively increases the force you can budget on bought successes by a like amount.

90% of his preparations will be downtime creation so I’m not too worried about boosting my drain resist beyond what I’ll get from att.

When i did alchemy mine were as well. But, frequently I was still suffering the effects of the drain at the start of the adventure.

What is the best way to deal with drain or to recover fastest?

[HP15BS]

What is the best way to deal with drain or to recover fastest?

Centering metamagic + Centering focus. Gotta grow into it post-gen.

There's also a few attribute boosts, but each method has its own drawbacks, whether it's 'ware, drugs, or spells.

As for recovering after the fact, you're limited to things that boost your natural, slow healing (hourly tests for stun, daily for physical) :

- First Aid skill test
- Symbiotes bioware
- Quick Healer quality (3 karma, +2 to all healing on/for/by you)
- or - Uncanny Healer quality (12 karma, +essence to your own natural healing tests only)

Or you could get the Pain Editor bioware and just ignore wound penalties. Until you suddenly collapse from all the injuries you don't feel, that is.

That's everything I can think of atm.

[Michael Chandra]

Oh, if your character can summon+bind spirits: Aid Alchemy lets you add the Force of the spirit for a Service. No time limitation noted, so you can do all your preps in half a day and just have the Spirit help you out. Perfect for your prepwork (and for quickening spells for quickeners).

[Kiirnodel]

In the case of Aid Alchemy (or Sorcery, or Study), a single service would assist a single preparation (or spell, or learning). It doesn't list a time because each of those things can be different amounts of time... (Ritual Spellcasting time is variable, and Learning is days based on the test's result)

Simply having a spirit bound doesn't mean you get an infinite amount of assistance for just one service.

[Michael Chandra]

In the case of Aid Alchemy (or Sorcery, or Study), a single service would assist a single preparation (or spell, or learning). It doesn't list a time because each of those things can be different amounts of time... (Ritual Spellcasting time is variable, and Learning is days based on the test's result)

Simply having a spirit bound doesn't mean you get an infinite amount of assistance for just one service.

While I'd understand that ruling, I think it's ridiculously expensive given how it costs a Bound Service (which is easily 500 nuyen if you're not real good and rolling dice) and the language (Tests, not Test) doesn't support it. Given how the other bound services explicitly note a duration, there is nothing solid here regarding the duration of this service. And I'd find it strange if 1 service could cover anywhere from 1 Initiative Pass to weeks, depending on the kind of aid.