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[lowroar]

Alchemy Rebrewed is a fan-made expansion and simultaneously a second edition to Alchemy, which expands the original set to 400 cards, replacing 6 of the original Kingdom cards. It has 31 Kingdom cards, 15 Elixirs, 13 Events and 13 Spells.

The goal of this project, in contrast to my former potion-less Alchemy expansion, is to make Potion more useful in every game it appears in. It avoids the treasure-chest approach by only adding the usual mechanics of the Adventures-era, which are Events & Durations, and adds fan-made mechanics instead (Pupils, Elixirs and Spells), to maintain and strengthen the sense of identity of the set and account for its increased size.

Most of the new Potion cards interact with Potion in some way to make you want to draw it together with them, others justify their price point by adding an on-gain advantage, and the rest, well, they just try to be something that makes you willing to go through with the Potion investment.

Note that none of this is playtested, as I don't have the means to do so right now.

UPDATE 7/19/24: See 5th comment down below;  quite a few cards have been updated, and the rules regarding Elixirs and the Potion setup have been changed. This post and its galleries stay the same; the links to the single card images at the end of this post link to the updated version.

Note on original cards

Alchemist, Apothecary, Apprentice, Herbalist University and Vineyard remain unchanged, as does Potion itself (though it is changed by the presence of Elixirs).
Familiar, Golem, Philosopher's Stone, Scrying Pool & Transmute received new 2E-styled versions, see if you can spot them all. Possession is just gone.

Pupils

A mechanic by ChungBog, who posted their excellent Agraria expansion on these forums a short while ago. This one is from one of their other projects, Dominion: Academia, Vol.1 & Vol.2.

Concerning the mechanic itself, the mat pretty much explains it. So it's basically the +Card token that never got to be in favor of Horses, and it solves Donald X.'s original concern of hoarding the tokens by controlling how much you can spend in a given turn. "After playing an Action" means, you can spend the token after you do what you can do immediately with the Action card you played, so you don't have to wait for e.g. a Duration card to fully resolve next turn, or Merchant Guild to give you the Coffers. You can't spend them on Durations played last turn that do something on your current turn, though, or Reserve cards you called.

With the original Alchemy set being so focused on strong draw, the Pupils seemed like a natural fit for this, so I implemented them with ChungBog's blessing and advice. In total, 6 kingdom cards, 2 Events, 1 Elixir & 1 Spell use them.






KINGDOM CARD GALLERY: POTION CARDS (rows of 4)










KINGDOM CARD GALLERY: NON-POTION CARDS










Elixirs

Before the game, when a card, Event and/or Spell with Potion in its cost is used, one Elixir is randomly chosen and put next to the Supply. It doesn't count toward the 2-per-game limit of other landscapes.

At the start of your turn, you may discard a Potion once to receive the effect specified on the Elixir. Once you play a card from your hand, that opportunity has passed (any effects that happen at the start of your turn don't count towards this).

Reddit user u/FordEngineerman originally suggested the Elixir mechanic in
this comment.


ELIXIR GALLERY












Spells

Spells are similar to Events like Plan or Training (from Adventures).

When a Spell instructs you to enchant a pile, choose a pile and put your Spell token on it. The tokens are used to track the specific effect it imposes upon that pile.

You may re-buy a Spell to put your token onto another pile.

Spells use Spell tokens. At the start of the game, each player may choose one token in their player color and take it. If there are 2 Spells, they take the 2 different Spell tokens in their player color.

If a game uses two Spells, use the Spell markers (on the right) and put one on each of the two Spells, in order to differiante the effects the tokens represent by the symbol on them.



The 13 Spells are inspired by Enchantments, which is a fan concept/mechanic about kingdom cards that modify piles.


SPELLS GALLERY












Events: Additional set-up rule

Short version: If there's a Potion event in the kingdom, there must also be a card with Potion in its cost. This is especially relevant to Dispense, which wouldn't make sense otherwise.

Longer version: When playing with randomized kingdoms, as soon as the first card, Event or Spell with Potion in its cost is randomly chosen, skip any other kingdom cards or landscapes until a second card with Potion in its cost turns up (if the first is an Event or Spell), or any of the aforementioned things turn up (if the first is a kingdom card), then continue normally.
If the last card in a kingdom is a card with Potion in its cost, skip cards until you reveal an Event or Spell with Potion in their cost. If you already have e.g. 2 Events at that point, nothing happens.
If you always use 2 landscapes and keep the randomizer decks for kingdom cards and landscapes seperate, first determine the 10 kingdom cards. If any of them cost Potion, skip any landscapes until one with Potion in its cost comes up, then continue normally. If none of the kingdom cards cost Potion, skip any landscapes with Potion in their cost.

The Event "Unleash" is an slightly modified version of "Divination" (3rd slide in this post)., an Event by reddit user u/theheirofbreath, who agreed to let me use it

u/TheRedKnight2's card "Hazard Dice" directly inspired the Event "Dice Roll".


EVENTS GALLERY












LINKS TO THE SINGLE IMAGES ON IMGUR (now v. 1.1)

New & reworked Potion cards

New Non-Potion cards

Elixirs

Spells

Events

Pupil mat, Spell tokens & markers

I know this has been quite a lot, but feel free to comment anything that comes to mind, whether it's concerns a single card, or mechanic, or your general thoughts on this.

[grrgrrgrr]

I think it is pretty cool, and much better than what you did in the other thread.

The Elixir mechanic is a nice way to offset the infuriating aspect of Potion cards (namely not hitting enough for the Potion card and having a very bad turn in result). That said, why are all effects at the start of the turn?

[lowroar]

Thanks!

That's indeed a good question. Well at first it just felt right, even though the first Elixirs I made were too powerful, I toned them way down by now. The main thing is, I want Potion to be a currency for cards, Events and (some) Spells first and a vehicle for Elixirs second. That's why I don't want to push players to get the Potions for the Elixirs only. In turn, this is why Elixirs are more of a turn-by-turn tactical decision instead of a strategic one. Even though that makes them a bit swingier, it just seemed more interesting to me as opposed to discarding them whenever. It also helps with keeping the complexity down. The Elixirs are an additional landscape slot, like Allies. So they can't be too complex, that's why you have to make that decision of discarding the Potion once per turn only, if at all. And then the decision has to be made right at the start, with the limited information of your starting hand, which also makes the decision more interesting (can I play 3 Actions in order to activate Elixir of Cleansing?).

That also makes certain cards like Herbalist, Ritualist, Dark Path (whose attack also works against it though) and Glassblower as well as Excavation (from the Events) more relevant. Sometimes Adept benefits from a discarded Potion.

[Jonatan Djurachkovitch]

After seeing these, I think you did a good job of making Potion worthwhile! I like the Elixir idea, it's really thematic. You use a potion to buy other cards, but what kind of potion is it exactly? Well, here's a card telling you what it does. And the spells are kind of like a trait you buy.

Some thoughts on the specific cards (Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not a pro.)
In a draw-your-deck kinda situation, Homunculus is a payload that is really easy to buy one or two every turn. Just looking at it, it looks a lot more busted than Stockpile in most situations, with the caveat that you can't buy it the first shuffle. The +buy on gain turns every potion to a borderline Loot gainer, and I think that it is too strong.

In general, "When you gain this, +1 buy" makes it pretty nicely on a potion cost card, since the amount of potion value you can have is strictly limited.

I think that Illusionist is a really slick card. It's not too fast, but it is what you need, when you need it. Using it to gain itself and then turn into a market makes for an interesting dynamic. The player interaction emerges out of a very simple card. I like it.

Adept is also nice. A DtX card that doesn't mind coming in multiples.

Alehouse feels a bit weird. It feels a lot stronger than Village, but when it's a dud, it either doesn't matter at all, or it's really a dud. It's also really easy to proc in a deck that needs it to. Should at least cost 4$ imo.

I don't think that Dark Path compares very favorably to Scheme. Sure, it gives you an additional card next turn, but it is terminal (Doesn't have to be, but it's nice on an attack card.)
I think that it could do with either costing a lot less, or giving +2$ for example.

Elixir of Vitality, Elixir of Clairvoyance and Elixir of Agility are all ways to try to bail out of a bad draw, and I like it.

Elixir of growth is like a mini Coppersmith, you're betting on that Potion turning into a Gold, and in the early rounds, it often will (A gold for 4$?). I thought about maybe removing the restriction to be more fun during later turns and possible to build your deck around, but that would absolutely wreck the early rounds with swingyness. Imagine getting a potion and four coppers, compared to drawing the potion later during the turn. This swingyness is there still, even if it remains as is. 4$ compared to 6$ on turn 3-4 is a big deal. I don't know what to do with this idea. It gains a lot from the fact that the potion can be used to buy something hopefully useful, even if you don't get to gild it.

Now onto Pupils. These feel like they could play out in three major different ways:
1. You just activate them directly, or next turn, if you've drawn your deck. Kinda like Barge.
2. You try to use them sparingly, carefully measuring up what you need. Harder than coffers
3. You save up for a megaturn. This one might lead to unfun game situations.
I reread the rules and it seems like you can only activate one Pupil per action card. Is that right?
Knowing how to play when #2 or #3 are relevant makes for interesting choices.

These are my 2¢, good job with these ones, playtest with your friends, and don't forget to keep us updated!

[NoMoreFun]

I really like this. I like all the cards that try to put a Potion on top of your deck so you can use an Elixir - including good old Herbalist.

I don't think every card from the original alchemy needs a direct replacement (Familiar comes to mind). On the other hand I really like Ritualist and the way it can play other Ritualists (which isn't always desirable) - maybe it could be cheaper for that reason.

I think just having an event that costs P should be enough to add potions to the supply. Dispense could have an "in games using this" text.

[lowroar]

Update 1.1

This update is based on feedback I received here and elsewhere. Its two main goals are to 1) reduce complexity with the cards themselves and by streamlining the Potion setup rules and 2) change the Elixir rules to a mechanic that is less swingy. There are also some minor changes and rebalanced cards.

If there's ever going to be an update 1.2, it's going to be after some playtesting happened; I'm hoping to get that ball rolling next year. If anyone wants to try out the set or part of it on their own, you're more than welcome to do so. The (updated) single images of all the cards are available in the original post.


Potion card changes



Novice's Zombie Spy effect was too lackluster for how often you could get it in a game even with the free Buy, now it's a non-terminal Bridge lacking the +Buy, for $1 more, and the below-the-line text has been simplified to just +Buy and now also applies to Vineyard.
Perfumer was way too complex and playing a Treasure twice + the Pupil and Action were the most attractive combination of choices on the card, so I changed it to just that (minus the Pupil) and moved the Bridge effect to Novice; the Gold gaining to Enforcer and the Pupil to the new Mage.
Concoction seemed ok at first but with just needing 3 Action cards to fully upgrade, it just feels too automatic. With the amount of non-terminal Actions in the set, it also seems overkill to have 5 splitters (Alehouse, School, Ritualist, University & this), so I scrapped the second +Action, replaced it with +P, and now the card only gives +1 Action +$1 upfront. It's now the only Action card that can produce a Potion, making it easier to gain copies of itself once the ball gets rolling, and making it really exciting with other strong Potion costs in the kingdom.


Non-Potion card changes



Mage was way too complex, and with Alehouse's cost increased from $3 to $4, I now wanted another $3. So it got the discard for Pupil to still look exciting.
Enforcer is the new Dark Path and needs way fewer words to do its thing. Have them discard a Treasure now, gain a Gold to your hand next turn. It's usually weaker than Pirate but you'll still want it often enough.


Elixir changes

First, the new rules:

The setup remains the same; one randomly chosen Elixir per game that has anything with Potion in its cost.

At any point during your Action phase, other than during resolving an Action card, you may reveal then set aside a Potion once from your hand to receive an Elixir. If the Action phase ends because there are no Actions (not Action cards) left, it's not possible to set aside a Potion anymore. Setting a Potion aside does not cost an Action.

Put the Elixir next to your play area, on the set-aside, face-up Potion, to track it and follow its instructions. Unless otherwise specified, they happen immediately. At the end of your turn, if you received an Elixir during it, put it back next to the Supply and put the set-aside Potion onto your discard pile.



With the new rules in place, the Elixirs had to be rebalanced somewhat. Clairvoyance now reveals only the top 2 cards; Duplication can only duplicate Actions.



Elixir of Growth now specifies the Buy phase to avoid any confusion with Coppers played during your Action phase (via e.g. Storyteller); Luck is a bit harder since you now have more choice of when to use the Potion.


Spell changes



Fuse was too close for Piazza for my taste (especially with Conjure already mimicking Citadel) so I changed it to this; Possess can now give more points, gives more weight to 6/4 splits and is also cheaper.


Event changes

Now, the streamlined setup-rules:

Basic rule
When playing with randomized Kingdoms, as soon as the first Kingdom card, Event or Spell with Potion in its cost is randomly chosen, skip any other Kingdom cards and Events etc. until anything with Potion in its cost turns up. Then continue normally.

Special cases
If you already have 10 Kingdom cards selected at this point (without any of them with Potion in their cost), also skip over any Kingdom card with Potion in its cost until an Event or Spell with Potion in its cost turns up.
If you already have 2 Events etc. selected at this point (without either of them with Potion in their cost), also skip over any Events and Spells with Potion in their cost until a kingdom card with Potion in its cost turns up.
If you already have 10 Kingdom cards and 2 Events etc. selected at this point, with only the last of them having Potion in their cost, discard it and skip over anything with Potion in its cost for your last Kingdom Card or Event etc.
This method also applies to any card that adds extra kingdom card piles to the game, other than Black Market.





Grow and Dispense have switched effects, but Dispense's (now Grow, dig?) old effect has been replaced with a conditional Duchy gaining effect, which is very situational but can spice up Duchy dancing with an otherwise useless Potion at that point. Unleash now allows for 6 cards but lost the +Buy, mainly because it made the text too small; Transmutation is now straight-up Expand: The Event.



Manufacture ditched its topdecking so players with a lucky early hand don't just run away with the win.


Minor updates

- removed DeviantArt credit on all cards with such a credit
- ChungBog credit & fixed bonus order on School
- added "more than it" on Tinkerer
- removed "you may" from Conjure
- added Illustration & ChungBog credit to Study
- minor formatting improvements.