TEXT: BY KENNETH HITE 
  alchemy
  
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  alchemy
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  Publisher: Cathriona Tobin
  Author: Kenneth Hite
  Layout: Cathriona Tobin     
  © 2016 Pelgrane Press Ltd. All rights reserved. 
  GUMSHOE ZOOM: 
  INTRODUCTION
  Not everything can support a game of 
  its own, or even a big sourcebook. For 
  those things, we present the GUMSHOE 
  Zoom, a sort of supplement focused on 
  a key game mechanic and its possible 
  applications. 
  In 
  general, 
  Zooms 
  are 
  interesting potential hacks, or intriguing 
  adaptations of the main rules. Some apply 
  to one specific topic or sub-sub-genre. 
  Others cross all manner of GUMSHOE turf; 
  you can slot them in and adapt them to 
  tales of Cthulhuoid investigation, mean 
  superpowered streets, or alien colonies 
  alike.
  Zooms are experimental. That does 
  mean that they haven’t been playtested, 
  necessarily. (If something in here is really 
  really broken – and it’s not, as this ain’t 
  our first rodeo – we’ll fix it in post.) But 
  that also means we encourage you to 
  experiment with them. Changing the cost, 
  or prerequisites, or point effect, or other 
  mechanical parameters of a given Zoom 
  changes how often it shows up and how 
  much drama it drives. The dials are in 
  your hands.
  Zooms will change the focus of your play 
  if you use them. Putting a mechanic on 
  the table puts it into your game. Adding 
  a Zoom means more actions, possibly 
  even more scenes, using those rules. 
  Since the Zoom mechanics are intended 
  to encourage specific actions or flavors, 
  to force a card in your storytelling hand, 
  they aren’t “balanced” against “normal” 
  actions or rules. In general, if you don’t 
  want to see more of it, don’t Zoom in on it.
  Zooms are optional rules. You can and 
  should ignore them if you don’t want 
  them, or change them at will. After all, if 
  a given Zoom turns out to be crucial to an 
  upcoming GUMSHOE game, we’ll change 
  it to fit that specific genre or form of 
  storytelling.
  CONTENTS
  GUMSHOE Zoom: Introduction 
  2
  Alchemy  
  3
  Alchemical equipment 
  4
  Alchemical Abilities 
  4
  Alchemy (Technical) 
  4
  Materia (General Abilities) 
  5
  Alchemical Abilities at Character Generation 
  5
  CSA: Crime Scene Alchemy 
  5
  Alchemical Mechanics 
  6
  Supporting Abilities 
  6
  Effects of Alchemical Magic 
  7
  Materia 
  7
  Remake the Man: Ashen Alchemies 
  7
  Customizing Alchemy 
  11
  Dials 
  11
  Sources 
  12
  
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  I NTRODUCTION
  “THEY FORMED THEMSELVES INTO 
  AN ORDER, HOLDING THEIR GOODS 
  AND MAKING THEIR RESEARCHES IN 
  COMMON, AND, AS THEY BECAME 
  PERFECT 
  IN 
  THE 
  ALCHEMICAL 
  DOCTRINE, APPARITIONS CAME AND 
  WENT AMONG THEM, AND TAUGHT 
  THEM MORE AND MORE MARVELLOUS 
  MYSTERIES.”
   
  -- WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, 
  “ROSA ALCHEMICA”
  Alchemy takes its name from the 
  Arabic 
  al-khimiya, 
  ultimately 
  meaning the art or science or matter 
  of Khem, i.e., Egypt. What it means 
  is still very much a live controversy: 
  after a century or so in which it just 
  meant “wrong or primitive chemistry” 
  Carl Jung and Mircea Eliade (among 
  others) reinterpreted alchemy as a 
  psychoanalytic or mystical tradition 
  in which all the metals and alembics 
  just 
  camouflaged 
  the 
  spiritual 
  seeking of the Great Work.
  The truth is likely closer to the first 
  than the second, if only because it 
  seems very clear that for at least 
  a thousand years (ca. 800-1800) 
  alchemists in Europe and the Near 
  East really did care about all those 
  bubbling retorts and weird metals, 
  and really did want to turn lead 
  into gold. Of course, every educated 
  person knew that these two courses 
  – material and mystical, exoteric and 
  esoteric – were complementary, not 
  contradictory. Everything operated 
  by divine law, and the microcosm 
  of man and matter reflected the 
  macrocosm of heaven.
  Alchemy begins as a historical 
  tradition with the Egyptian Greek 
  Zosimos of Panoplis (c. 300 A.D.), 
  who set down the basic precepts of 
  the Great Art: by a series of processes, 
  base matter can be refined into 
  perfected matter. When the Roman 
  Empire fell, the Arabs took up the 
  alchemical thread, correlating the 
  various weird Gnostic texts and 
  counterfeiter’s 
  formularies 
  into 
  something 
  like 
  an 
  intellectual 
  discipline. Jabir ibn Hayyan (a.k.a. 
  Geber, 721-815) insisted on laboratory 
  experimentation 
  and 
  introduced 
  the doctrine of sulfur and mercury 
  as the elemental metals; his works 
  made their way into Western Europe 
  in the 12th century via Muslim 
  Spain. 
  Geber’s 
  combination 
  of 
  Arabic experiment and Greek theory 
  launched an increasingly complex 
  assault on (or seduction of) the 
  medieval mind, which met it with 
  theological rigor and the doctrines of 
  magic stones.
  Another tranche of Muslim and Greek 
  alchemical thought entered Europe 
  with the fall of Constantinople in 
  1453. The Renaissance humanists 
  pursued 
  alchemy 
  with 
  zealous 
  élan, culminating in the works 
  of 
  Cornelius 
  Agrippa 
  (1486-1535) 
  who blended it with magic and 
  kabbalah, 
  and 
  of 
  Theophrastus 
  Hohenheim (a.k.a. Paracelsus, 1493-
  1541) who added herbalism to the 
  mix and re-emphasized medicine. 
  For approximately the next 150 
  years, every court in Europe courted 
  alchemists, and every alchemist in 
  Europe courted kings; competition 
  drove further researches and weird 
  arcana alike in a blend of scientific 
  race and artistic throwdown. By 
  about 1720, although scholars like 
  Alchemy
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  Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, and 
  Jan-Baptist von Helmont explored 
  both fields, developments in actual 
  chemistry began to pay bigger 
  intellectual 
  (and 
  commercial) 
  dividends than mystically tinged 
  alchemy. By 1800, alchemy had 
  become a pastime of eccentrics 
  (who drew it ever more toward pure 
  mysticism) and a punching bag for 
  secularists, which is pretty much 
  what it remains today.
  This summary (and this Zoom) 
  completely 
  neglects 
  the 
  rich, 
  vibrant, 
  and 
  weird 
  alchemical 
  traditions of India and China, by 
  the way. Considerations of space 
  and resources dictate that our focus 
  remains on Europe, specifically on 
  European alchemy from Agrippa to 
  Newton, or about 1500 to 1700. That, 
  as you will find out if you look into it, 
  is more than enough base material 
  to try to refine gaming gold from.
  A LCHEMY
  “ISOLATED AS I WAS, MODERN SCIENCE 
  HAD 
  PRODUCED 
  NO 
  IMPRESSION 
  UPON ME, AND I LABOURED AS IN THE 
  MIDDLE AGES, AS WRAPT AS HAD BEEN 
  OLD MICHEL AND YOUNG CHARLES 
  THEMSELVES IN THE ACQUISITION OF 
  DAEMONOLOGICAL AND ALCHEMICAL 
  LEARNING.”
  – H.P. LOVECRAFT, “THE ALCHEMIST”
  There 
  is no “default” 
  or even 
  “authentic” version of alchemy, even 
  of early modern European alchemy. 
  Between 
  trade 
  secrets, 
  mystical 
  bafflegab, the normal variation and 
  drift of occult fashion, new chemical 
  discoveries, 
  and 
  quite 
  probable 
  mercury 
  poisoning, 
  it’s 
  almost 
  
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  impossible to find two alchemical 
  treatises that agree in specific detail, 
  although the broad outline of the 
  Great Work remains recognizable 
  throughout.
  The specific language, terminologies, 
  rules, and ordering of the various 
  operations 
  and 
  elements 
  in 
  this Zoom thus default instead 
  to maximum flavor and game 
  utility. My correspondences with 
  astrological 
  signs 
  and 
  classical 
  elements will look very wrong to 
  people who take the Golden Dawn 
  versions as gospel. Most of this is 
  still at least justifiably derived from 
  16th- and 17th-century alchemical 
  sources, but used idiosyncratically 
  for my own purposes. In short, this 
  Zoom is just like virtually everything 
  else ever written on the topic.
  ALCHEMICAL ABILITIES
  Alchemists 
  distinguish 
  between 
  the technical art of Alchemy (an 
  Investigative ability) and the mystical 
  or magical works, knowledges, or 
  operations of alchemy: a set of twelve 
  General abilities called Materia.
  ALCHEMY (TECHNICAL)
  This is an Investigative ability, 
  covering not just the technical 
  knowledge of alembics, athanors, 
  etc. but the theoretical study of the 
  nature and elements of matter. It also 
  covers the creation and identification 
  of mundane compounds, tinctures, 
  potions, metallic poisons, elixirs, etc.; 
  in a pre-Enlightenment campaign 
  setting it replaces and incorporates 
  the GUMSHOE abilities Chemistry 
  and Pharmacy.
  Each 
  rating 
  point 
  of 
  Alchemy 
  unlocks two more Materia abilities 
  (see table).
  ALCHEMICAL EQUIPMENT
  The well-stocked alchemist keeps plenty of gear around, to impress the 
  occasional visiting viscount as much as to investigate the realms of matter.
  Adopter: A widened tube placed over the neck of the retort to cool or 
  condense the effluent.
  Alembic: A vessel below a long spout for distillation of liquid or gas, 
  placed over the opening of a second vessel, the cucurbit.
  Aludel: A pear-shaped vessel open at both ends, for condensation of 
  vapor.
  Assay Balances: Precision scales for measuring matter.
  Athanor: The great furnace for calcination and other regulated heating 
  of matter; becomes a symbol of the Great Work. Also philosophical Egg.
  Bell Jar: Or bell flask; a flask open at the bottom or vaulted and bent at 
  the top, used for collecting gases.
  Bellows: Used to intensify fire, and to blow air over calcinating matter.
  Blowpipe: A tube to direct the alchemist’s breath or bellows to a specific 
  place in a working.
  Boiling-Glass: Also called a Moors-head, this large glass vessel has a 
  number of tubes or pipettes that can be sealed or attached to alembics for 
  distillation.
  Brazier: A metal vessel that can hold a flame and fuel.
  Calcinator: Small, very hot oven or furnace for rapidly reducing matter 
  to ash.
  Crucible: A small earthenware vessel for melting or fusing metal.
  Cupel: Small porcelain or bone-ash (nonreactive) cup, primarily for 
  assaying metals or mixing small doses of elixir.
  Descensory: Or descending furnace; a furnace designed to be fired on 
  top so that the product flows down to a receiver.
  Flask: A usually metal or glass container that can be sealed.
  Matrass: A flask with a round bottom and long upright neck.
  Mortar and Pestle: Useful for powdering things.
  Pelican: Two-chambered vessel with two arms joined at the top; when 
  heated, provides a constant recirculation of sublimation and distillation.
  Retort: A one-piece alembic-cucurbit combination; or just a flask with 
  a long downspout.
  Sand Bath: Also balneum siccum; a large container of sand, which 
  when heated provides even warmth to all sides of a vessel placed inside 
  it. A water-bath is a balneum mariae.
  Spirit Lamp: A thick vessel that holds alcohol and a wick, useful for 
  burning things or boiling liquids set on a tripod above the lamp.
  Worm: A coiled tube set inside a larger vessel; the longer tube increases 
  surface area and speed of distillation.
  
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  Players can also spend Alchemy on 
  Materia tests to produce magical 
  alchemical effects: a spend of 1 
  Alchemy pool point adds +2 to the roll.
  Learning Alchemy is just like gaining 
  points in any other GUMSHOE ability, 
  except that each 1 rating point of 
  Alchemy costs 2 build or experience 
  points.
  The Alchemy ability is capped at 6.
  MATERIA (GENERAL ABILITIES)
  Alchemists 
  produce 
  alchemical 
  effects 
  by 
  using 
  (and 
  often 
  combining) 
  Materia, 
  the 
  true 
  knowledge and virtue of specific 
  metals and compounds. An alchemist 
  must learn the Materia abilities in a 
  specific sequence, from Salt to Gold, 
  and only after the alchemist reaches 
  the prerequisite Alchemy rating level:
  Materia Abilities
  To add a new Materia ability at any 
  time, the alchemist must have:
  1. Enough rating points in Alchemy 
  to reach the desired Materia
  2. At least one rating point in each 
  earlier Materia ability
  To add a new Materia ability during 
  the game, the alchemist must have:
  3. Used all the earlier Materia 
  abilities in a game session, 
  though not necessarily the same 
  game session
  4. Access 
  to 
  an 
  alchemical 
  laboratory, metals, compounds, 
  and equipment
  For details of the specific Materia 
  abilities, see p. 7.
  ALCHEMICAL ABILITIES AT 
  CHARACTER GENERATION
  Buy 
  Alchemy 
  as 
  normal 
  with 
  Investigative 
  build 
  points; 
  each 
  Alchemy rating point costs 2 build 
  points.
  Zuleika spends 4 Investigative 
  build 
  points 
  and 
  gets 
  an 
  Alchemy rating of 2.
  Materia are special General abilities 
  and their build points come from the 
  pool of General build points. The first 
  rating point in any Materia ability 
  costs 5 build points; after that, build 
  points for that ability and for all 
  other Materia abilities become rating 
  points as normal.
  Zuleika wants to have Materia 
  abilities in the game, so she 
  begins by buying the Materia 
  ability Salt. She spends 7 General 
  build points, and gets Salt with 
  a rating of 3. The first rating 
  point costs 5 build points; the 
  next two each cost 1 build point. 
  If she then spends 2 build points 
  on Litharge, she gets Litharge 
  with a rating of 2.
  However, Materia abilities bought at 
  character creation must follow rules 1) 
  and 2) above: the character must have a 
  high enough Alchemy rating to unlock 
  the given Materia, and she must have 
  a rating in each earlier Materia ability.
  CSA: CRIME SCENE ALCHEMY
  It’s not too great a leap from alchemy as practiced to any number of other 
  investigative abilities. With the GM’s permission, in a heavily alchemical 
  game Alchemy can be used or spent in even more ways:
  • Alchemical tests for contagion can determine whether a bullet 
  came from a given gun, or whether a sword made a specific wound. 
  (Criminology, Forensics, Ballistics)
  • Alchemy makes great patter for a long con. (Unjustified Credit Rating 
  or Status favors from rich guys, Flattery, Reassurance)
  • Alchemy can detect forgeries, counterfeits, etc. (Forgery, Archaeology, 
  Art History)
  • By using the doctrine of signatures, Alchemy can read a man’s true 
  nature on his face (Bullshit Detector)
  • Alchemy can cover the nitty-gritty of investigating any magical item 
  or artifact without activating it. (Occult Studies, Archaeology)
  • Alchemy can identify meteors or other alien metals from kryptonite 
  to cavorite. It might even be able to replicate them with Sericon or 
  another Materia test. (Astronomy)
  Alchemy 
  rating
  Materia
  1
  Salt
  Litharge
  2
  Vitriol
  Colcothar
  3
  Sulfur
  Orpiment
  4
  Aes Cyprium
  Sericon
  5
  Lunar Caustic
  Quicksilver
  6
  Vermilion
  Gold
  
  6
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  For Zuleika to start the game 
  with Sulfur (the fifth Materia in 
  sequence), she needs to spend at 
  least 2 more Investigative build 
  points to raise her Alchemy 
  rating from 2 to 3, and at least 3 
  more General build points to get 
  Vitriol 1, Colcothar 1, and finally 
  Sulfur 1.
  ALCHEMICAL 
  MECHANICS
  “RATHER THAN I’LL BE BRAYED, SIR, 
  I’LL BELIEVE
  THAT ALCHEMY IS A PRETTY KIND OF 
  GAME,
  SOMEWHAT LIKE TRICKS O’ THE 
  CARDS, TO CHEAT A MAN
  WITH CHARMING.”
   
  -- BEN JONSON, THE 
  ALCHEMIST, ACT II, SCENE III
  To produce a magical effect with 
  alchemy (a working), make a Materia 
  test at the required Difficulty. The 
  alchemist must always spend at 
  least 1 point from one Materia ability 
  required. The class of effect depends 
  on the effect’s nature; the terms refer 
  to the quality of the quintessence 
  used, not to the style or effect itself.
  SUPPORTING ABILITIES
  Although the alchemist must always 
  spend 1 point from the Materia 
  governing the effect he wishes to 
  create, he may spend points from other 
  abilities, at the following ratios of spent 
  pool points to effective points added to 
  the Materia test die roll as follows:
  Other Materia: 1 pool point spent 
  equals 1 effective point.
  Alchemy: 1 pool point spent equals 2 
  effective points.
  Other Magical abilities: In School 
  of Night or other campaigns using a 
  Magic ability or the like, 3 pool points 
  spent equals 2 effective points.
  Astrology, Occult Studies: Or similar 
  abilities, depending on the campaign’s 
  theoretical underpinnings. 2 pool 
  points spent equals 1 effective point.
  Health, Stability: 4 pool points spent 
  equals 1 effective point. Describe the 
  specific debility, madness, or injury you 
  court or cause yourself to prepare or 
  complete the working. These points do 
  not refresh until the end of the adventure.
  Class of Effect
  Difficulty
  Base: “Dungeon adventuring” style physical effect
  4
  Base effect on pint-sized (+0) human-sized (+2) or room-sized (+4) amount 
  of matter
  In combat or strenuous activity (+2 or take 2 rounds for +1), in laboratory 
  conditions (-1)
  Volatile: Magical effect changing inanimate, physical world
  5
  Volatile effect on pint-sized (+0) human-sized (+2) or room-sized (+4) 
  amount of matter
  Volatile effect on living matter, e.g., turning blood to fire, or air in lungs 
  to water (+3)
  Make Volatile effect temporary (+2, automatically temporary on living 
  matter)
  In combat (+2), other strenuous activity (+1), in laboratory conditions (+0)
  Fixed: Magical effect changing ensouled or sapient matter: 
  humans, spirits, demons, etc.
  8
  Fixed effect on alchemist herself (-2)
  Fixed effect on crowd of mooks (+2) on multiple named PCs or NPCs (+2 
  per NPC); named PCs and NPCs make Difficulty 8 Stability or Health test 
  to resist
  Fixed effect duration: permanent (+7), one month or adventure (+4), one 
  day (+2), one scene (+0)
  In combat (+2), other strenuous activity (+1), in laboratory conditions (+0)
  Awakened: Magical effect changing the macrocosmic world; dynasties, 
  kingdoms, etc.; also a major alchemical opus such as the philosopher’s 
  stone, alkahest, resurrection, etc. Always requires three Workings, in three 
  adventures.
  First Awakened Working 
  9
  Second Awakened Working
  11
  Third Awakened Working
  13
  May also require specific actions (maneuvering a marriage into being), special 
  materials, further tests, etc. at the GM’s discretion; must be performed under 
  laboratory conditions; requires Alchemy 6, cannot spend Alchemy on test
  
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  Game-mechanical 
  effects 
  of 
  workings should generally match the 
  alchemist’s result (the total of the die 
  plus effective spends): at minimum, 
  1 Health, Stability, Athletics, etc. or 
  Difficulty shift per 1 point of result.
  MATERIA
  These abilities cover the magical uses 
  of alchemy. They do not necessarily 
  refer to the mundane substances 
  of salt, lead, etc. but of the active 
  quintessence 
  of 
  those 
  substances 
  either tincted into physical powders, 
  elixirs, etc. (“material components”) 
  or imbued within the alchemist 
  herself, depending on the campaign’s 
  underpinning 
  assumptions. 
  Some 
  campaigns might require both physical 
  and inner quintessences, or a ritual act 
  recapitulating the Operation.
  Each Materia writeup includes the 
  following:
  Name
  Followed 
  by 
  a 
  brief 
  mundane 
  chemical 
  explication, 
  traditional 
  alchemical iconography, classical 
  elements, and in parentheses the 
  sign of the zodiac representing it. 
  GMs who apply ad hoc modifiers 
  based on existing lore or other 
  magical correspondences can use 
  this header for hooks for such things.
  Operation: The stage of the Great 
  Work represented by this Materia, 
  and more generally the kind of 
  magical effect it produces.
  Base: 
  Standard 
  “dungeon 
  adventuring” effects possible with 
  this Materia. Begins at Difficulty 
  4. Any alchemist with a rating in 
  the corresponding Materia ability 
  can use a Preparedness test (“I just 
  happen to have the correct salve 
  on me”) instead of a Materia test to 
  create a Base effect, at +1 Difficulty.
  Volatile: 
  Other 
  sample 
  magical 
  effects possible with this Materia, 
  changing the physical, inanimate 
  world. Begins at Difficulty 5.
  Fixed: 
  Sample 
  magical 
  effects 
  possible with this Materia, changing 
  the ensouled or sapient world: 
  humans, spirits, demons, etc. Begins 
  at Difficulty 8 (Difficulty 6 if used on 
  the alchemist herself). +R = take the 
  result as a bonus, divided up how the 
  alchemist wishes
  Multiple Alchemists
  Multiple alchemists may participate 
  in a working by spending 1 Alchemy 
  pool point each, which does not add to 
  the die. Each participating alchemist 
  must also spend 1 point from the 
  Materia governing the effect, which 
  does add to the die.
  Formulae
  Players may wish to create workings 
  combining up to three Materia: 
  a Base napalm equivalent using 
  Sulfur + Orpiment; a Volatile lava-
  summoning using Sulfur + Salt; a 
  Fixed mirror that reveals the true 
  soul with Salt + Colcothar + Lunar 
  Caustic. If the player can justify it, 
  both (or all three) Materia become 
  “governing” for rules purposes.
  Once a PC has created an alchemical 
  effect with a Materia test, she 
  (the player) can write down its 
  combination of Materia and specific 
  effect. Her character can then repeat 
  that same working using the proven 
  formula at -2 to Difficulty.
  Artifacts
  An 
  alchemist 
  can 
  permanently 
  imbue an effect into a metal artifact 
  (e.g., an always-lit Quicksilver Lamp) 
  at +7 to Difficulty, or +4 to Difficulty 
  with a 2-point spend of a Craft skill to 
  make the artifact.
  EFFECTS OF ALCHEMICAL 
  MAGIC
  In many cases, especially with Base 
  workings, the spell either works 
  or it doesn’t: its effect is “enough 
  to solve the immediate problem 
  the alchemist set out to solve, or 
  better than that if you rolled a 6.” 
  GMs should default to this result 
  unless mechanical quantification is 
  absolutely necessary.
  REMAKE THE MAN: ASHEN ALCHEMIES
  The viroware enhancements in Ashen Stars make excellently alchemical 
  elixirs. For NPC evil alchemists, just use them as written, with maybe 
  one or two potions surviving the fire in the laboratory for our heroes to 
  experiment with.
  For an enhanced alchemist, each elixir (enhancement) costs 2 build 
  points to derive or discover the recipe. (The player can instead come up 
  with a suitable Fixed working of her own to replicate the effect, if the GM 
  allows it.) Using it in an adventure requires an Alchemy spend equal to the 
  enhancement’s initial therapy cost. After imbibing the elixir, take Health 
  damage with the Upkeep as the damage modifier. This Health damage 
  cannot be refreshed or healed until the end of the adventure, except with 
  Lunar Caustic or similar magic.
  
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  Awakened: Sample magical effects 
  possible with this Materia, changing 
  the 
  macrocosmic 
  world: 
  e.g., 
  the affairs of kingdoms. A major 
  alchemical Opus such as achieving the 
  Philosopher’s Stone, the Alkahest, etc. 
  is an Awakened work. Requires at least 
  three tests (beginning at Difficulty 
  9, 11, and 13), and in School of Night 
  campaigns, a successful Art-Making 
  test that creates a Masterpiece (SoN, 
  p. 4). Other campaigns should add 
  similar prerequisites for Awakened 
  effects. Performing an Awakened 
  working requires Alchemy 6; Alchemy 
  points cannot be spent on the Materia 
  test for an Awakened working.
  Players may want to copy (or cut-
  paste-print) each Materia writeup 
  onto an index card for ease of 
  reference during the game.
  Salt
  Not just sodium chloride, or even any 
  electrically neutral ionic compound, 
  but according to Paracelsus the actual 
  matter of all earths and metals. White 
  fish or salmon, frog, disc or pentacle, 
  bees. Earth of Water (Aries)
  Operation: Solution, the dissolving of 
  solid (or gas) into liquid.
  Base: purify food or water; preservative
  Volatile: transform solid to liquid
  Fixed: change made-up minds; +R to 
  Sense Trouble pools
  Awakened: ossify then erode a 
  bureaucracy 
  or 
  social 
  structure 
  (Church, state, etc.); Sal Sapientiae, the 
  salt of wisdom, conveys knowledge of 
  all languages including those of beasts 
  and birds (+1 to all Academic abilities)
  Litharge
  Technically a crystalline form of 
  lead oxide. Lead connects to Saturn, 
  melancholia, the raven, and the 
  scythe symbol; caput corvo (crow’s 
  head). Earth of Earth (Taurus)
  Operation: 
  Coagulation, 
  the 
  solidifying of a fluid. Solve et coagula 
  (dissolve then congeal) is the rhythm 
  of all alchemy.
  Base: darkness bomb; slowfoot resin 
  (Difficulty 8 Athletics test and at least 
  2 rounds to extract feet from); xerion 
  (stop a bleeding wound, restore 1 
  Health)
  Volatile: transform a liquid to a solid
  Fixed: 
  summon 
  Gnomes 
  (Earth 
  elementals), divide test result up 
  into Scuffling (damage +1 per Earth 
  spent), Health and Athletics pools -- 
  spending 1 Litharge refills one pool for 
  all Gnomes summoned; suspended 
  animation
  Awakened: pull together a loose 
  empire into a centralized state; freeze 
  time in a chamber; Cronus’ Knife (kills 
  anyone with flowing blood whom it 
  stabs)
  Vitriol
  The former name for a sulfate; 
  sulfuric acid is “spirit of vitriol.” Glass, 
  cobra or viper, eagle, the black sprite. 
  Fire of Water (Gemini)
  Operation: 
  Sublimation, 
  the 
  evaporation of a liquid.
  Base: strong acid (burn through locks, 
  chains, mortar, etc.); soundless steps
  Volatile: transform a liquid to a gas; 
  dry out a solid
  Fixed: levitation; breathe water; take 
  gaseous form (+Litharge)
  Awakened: exalt a figure to king or 
  bishop; Flying Ointment (not just 
  flight through the air, but intuitive 
  flight and communion with airy 
  spirits be they demonic or angelic)
  Colcothar
  Ferric oxide, hematite. Iron connects 
  to Mars, choler, the sword. The hag 
  of the wood, the bleeding stone, the 
  tortoise, the peacock. Earth of Fire 
  (Cancer)
  Operation: Fixation, the conversion of 
  spirit to matter.
  Base: seal or hold fast (superglue, hold 
  portal, etc.); fiery sword (+1 to damage)
  Volatile: transform a gas to a solid; 
  freezing
  Fixed: hold person; +R to Stability 
  pools; spider climb
  Awakened: resolve a battle or a war; 
  Sword Unvanquishable
  Sulfur
  Not just the yellow powdery element, 
  sulfur is the hot, dry, active nature 
  of metals and the soul of matter. Leo 
  rubeus (Red lion). Fire of Earth (Leo)
  Operation: Calcination, the conversion 
  into a calx (powder or metal) by the 
  action of intense heat, the expulsion 
  of volatile substance from matter.
  Base: firestarter; fireball (use Shooting 
  or Scuffling to cast; +1 per point in 
  result and per round spent; spend 3 
  roll 3 = +6 fireball if alchemist takes 6 
  rounds to cast)
  Volatile: transform a solid into gas 
  usually with explosive effect (damage 
  as fireball, doubled within 3 yards); 
  make matter fireproof
  Fixed: +R to Scuffling or Weapons 
  pools; contact the Devil or demons; 
  summon 
  Salamanders 
  (Fire 
  elementals, as Gnomes, p. 8 above; 
  damage +1 per Fire spent)
  
  9
  alchemy
  G UMSHOE ZOO M
  c
  c
  Awakened: awaken a sleeping king 
  (+Litharge); Gehennical Fire
  Orpiment
  From 
  auri-pigmentum, 
  “golden 
  pigment” of arsenic trisulfide. Sweat 
  or tears, phlegm, wheat, yellow swan. 
  Water of Air (Virgo) 
  Operation: Distillation, the thickening 
  of liquid from air or thinner liquid; 
  also the Citrinitas, or yellowing, or 
  xenosis.
  Base: 
  tear 
  gas; 
  poison 
  gas 
  (+2 
  Difficulty); 
  reassemble 
  a 
  burnt 
  document; make brandy or whisky 
  from wine or grain mash
  Volatile: transform a gas into a 
  liquid; shrink or compress matter
  Fixed: get someone really drunk; 
  fall as gently as the dew; summon 
  Sylphs (Air elementals, as Gnomes, 
  p. 8 above; damage +1 per Air 
  spent)
  
  G UMSHOE ZOO M
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  c
  c
  c
  10
  alchemy
  G UMSHOE ZOO M
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  c
  Awakened: 
  create 
  a 
  fanatical 
  movement; Palingenesis (restoring 
  life to burnt plants)
  Aes Cyprium
  “Cyprian brass,” also just copper. 
  Copper connects to Venus, blood, the 
  cup. Griffon. Water of Earth (Libra)
  Operation: Conjunction, the joining 
  of two substances.
  Base: tame animals of any kind
  Volatile: blend two materials; attract 
  lightning
  Fixed: become beautiful; engender 
  lust; 
  summon 
  Undines 
  (Water 
  elementals, 
  as 
  Gnomes, 
  p. 
  8 
  above; damage +1 per Water spent)
  Awakened: unify two houses or 
  nations, often used to set up the 
  Chemical Marriage; Chimera (joining 
  of two beasts)
  Sericon
  Antimony, which when reduced with 
  iron crystallizes into a star-pattern. 
  Thus star, pentagram, spider; lupus 
  pullus (gray wolf) or leo viridis (green 
  lion). Black King. Air of Earth (Scorpio)
  Operation: 
  Putrefaction, 
  the 
  decomposition of a substance or 
  oxidation of a metal; also the Nigredo, 
  or blackening, or melanosis.
  Base: +R damage bonus to weapons, 
  lasts until end of scene
  Volatile: rust metal; decompose 
  organic matter; cause a metal to 
  reflect gravity (+Sulfur)
  Fixed: 
  speak 
  with 
  the 
  dead; 
  kill; 
  imprison 
  a 
  soul 
  (+Aes 
  Cyprium+Litharge; +2 to Difficulty)
  Awakened: subvert and destroy a 
  great house; call a comet to change 
  the stars; Vampirism (+Aes Cyprium)
  Lunar Caustic
  Silver nitrate, also called lapis 
  infernalis. Silver connects to the 
  Moon, dog, milk, dove, mirror. White 
  Queen; white rose, lily. Water of 
  Water (Sagittarius)
  Operation: Ablution, the washing of 
  a substance clean and pure; also the 
  Albedo, or whitening, or leukosis.
  Base: 
  counterfeit 
  silver; 
  healing 
  potion (+R to Health pools), weapon-
  salve (a healing potion applied to the 
  weapon that did the damage to cure 
  the wound, cures it completely, R 
  uses); fulminating silver (explosive 
  metal, +R damage, goes off when 
  struck or stepped on; +2 Difficulty)
  Volatile: purify matter; amplify light; 
  Argent-vive (living silver) adds +3 per 
  point spent in workings governed by 
  earlier Materia (+3 Difficulty; convert 
  excess points of result into pool 
  points in Argent-Vive)
  Fixed: sleep; reanimate the dead 
  (either one NPC or zombies as 
  Gnomes, p. 8 above; damage +0); 
  +R to Shooting pools; invisibility (+2 
  to Difficulty to spot including Hit 
  Location for every 1 Health lost by 
  user, max +6)
  Awakened: purify (or reveal) affairs 
  of state; paint a living painting (with 
  Art-Making or Art); Alkahest (+Salt); 
  White Stone (creates and fulfills 
  desires and illusions, transmutes 
  metals to silver)
  Quicksilver
  Not mere metallic mercury, but 
  philosopher’s mercury or mercurius 
  nostrum, “our mercury,” the spirit of 
  all matter; cold, wet, reactive. Clouds, 
  fog. Rebis the Hermaphrodite, Cupid, 
  Melusine, pelican, mermaid, cervus 
  fugitivus (questing deer). Air of Water 
  (Capricorn)
  Operation: Cibation, the nutrition 
  of 
  matter 
  to 
  increase 
  it; 
  also 
  Fermentation, the implantation of 
  life in matter.
  Base: make surfaces super-slick; 
  create light; perfect mirrors to see 
  around corners; make beer
  Volatile: expand or increase matter; 
  animate statues
  Fixed: engender love; shapeshift; 
  clairvoyance
  Awakened: change or adapt an 
  institution; Homunculus (+Sericon); 
  Moonchild (+Lunar Caustic +Sulfur)
  Vermilion
  Mercuric sulphide, or cinnabar. The 
  Red King, also phoenix, ouroboros, 
  red dragon, red rose. Unifies all 
  elements: Fire + Water + Earth + Air 
  (Aquarius)
  Operation: 
  Multiplication, 
  the 
  increase in number and power; also 
  the Rubedo, or reddening, or iosis.
  Base: +R as Armor rating to flesh or 
  clothing
  Volatile: multiply matter or increase 
  its power
  Fixed: +R to Preparedness or Athletics 
  pools; +(R/3, round down) Magic pool 
  points; cure poisons; contact angels; 
  giant strength (lift up to R x 100 lbs.)
  Awakened: 
  Chemical 
  Marriage 
  (+Quicksilver 
  +Lunar 
  Caustic) 
  creates the environment for the 
  new golden age; Philosopher’s Stone 
  (+Quicksilver +Sulfur; changes base 
  metals to gold, resurrects the dead, 
  heals all wounds)
  
  11
  alchemy
  G UMSHOE ZOO M
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  c
  Gold
  Gold, the perfect metal of the Sun, 
  hence of the phoenix and the Golden 
  Fleece. Leo aureus (golden lion), 
  aquila aureus (golden eagle). Fire of 
  Fire (Pisces)
  Operation: Projection, the extension 
  of the power of gold into other metals 
  and materials.
  Base: make false gold; change 1 die 
  result by 1
  Volatile: Aurum-vive (living gold) 
  adds +3 per point spent in workings 
  governed by earlier Materia (+2 
  Difficulty; convert excess points of 
  result into pool points in Aurum-Vive)
  Fixed: change heart; Phoenix Pool 
  (put R points in pool, spend to 
  change any die roll on a 1 for 1 basis, 
  lasts until pool exhausted or end 
  of adventure, can only be cast once 
  per adventure); immunity to magic 
  (may involve contests of Result vs. 
  Magic result)
  Awakened: create the new Golden 
  Age somewhere on Earth; Aurum 
  Potabile or Red Elixir (perfects human 
  self; drinker becomes immortal, 
  annoyingly perfect, and hopefully 
  benevolent NPC)
  CUSTOMIZING 
  ALCHEMY
  The Zoom mechanics above are 
  designed to fit conceptually into the 
  “standard game space” of GUMSHOE: 
  capable 
  characters, 
  with 
  action 
  modeled on common storytelling 
  conventions. But an individual GM may 
  want to blow up or (comparatively) 
  de-emphasize the role of alchemy 
  in her game. This section helps her 
  customize the rules to fit exactly the 
  kind of story she wants to tell.
  DIALS
  These options change the Zoom 
  mechanics. The GM may want to 
  tinker with these dials until the 
  flavor fits the table as a whole, as 
  well as her notions of genre and 
  drama. Use as many or as few of 
  these dials as you wish for your 
  preferred, specific flavor.
  Dialing it Up
  The 
  following 
  changes 
  make 
  alchemy more powerful, prevalent, 
  or prominent in the game. A full-
  fledged game of pre-Enlightenment 
  paraphyics might wind up using 
  all of them! In some games, the 
  GM might restrict these dials to 
  alchemists with ratings of 3+ in 
  Alchemy. Each additional point in 
  the ability activates one more dial. 
  Alternately, she may want to unlock 
  one dial per new Materia learned.
  • Each point of Alchemy spent 
  during a Materia test adds +3 to 
  the roll, not +2.
  • Count up the elements used in the 
  working: e.g., a Litharge + Sericon 
  working to attach a dead arm to a 
  live body has 3 Earth and 1 Air. Add 
  the largest number of elements as 
  a bonus (+3) and adjust the effect 
  accordingly (Earth-aspected: the 
  arm is heavy, the subject suffers 
  melancholic fits)
  • Any 
  working 
  performed 
  while its governing Materia’s 
  astrological sign is ascendant 
  is at -2 to Difficulty.
  • Alchemists 
  can 
  make 
  Preparedness 
  tests 
  (at 
  +2 
  Difficulty) instead of Materia 
  tests for Volatile effects as 
  well as Base effects. For games 
  with really powerful, versatile 
  alchemists, they can make 
  Preparedness 
  tests 
  (at 
  +3 
  Difficulty) instead of Materia 
  tests for Fixed effects. 
  • Alchemists may spend Stability 
  on Materia tests at 1 point for 
  1 effective point, as in Trail 
  of Cthulhu. This is a double-
  edged advantage, at best (hello 
  mercury poisoning!), but it 
  does potentially vastly increase 
  the players’ available pools.
  • In 
  multiple-alchemist 
  tests, 
  the assistant alchemists are 
  not required to spend from the 
  governing 
  Materia, 
  although 
  they must still have a rating in it.
  • Making 
  a 
  permanent 
  alchemical artifact can be split 
  over three sessions, dividing 
  the Materia test into three 
  tests at Difficulties equal to 
  one-third (rounded up) of the 
  original Difficulty.
  • Enchanted, 
  ancient, 
  or 
  masterfully 
  wrought 
  alchemical 
  equipment 
  (alembics, etc.) can add +1 to +3 
  (the maximum possible total 
  equipment 
  bonus) 
  to 
  every 
  operation it’s used in.
  Dialing it Down
  These changes, by contrast, make 
  alchemy less powerful, or less 
  useful for players. They don’t 
  make it worthless – if you don’t 
  want alchemy in the game, don’t 
  use this Zoom at all! – but they do 
  raise the cost of meddling with 
  matter. 
  Once you’ve chosen which dials to 
  use, the GM might remove one of 
  them for an alchemist with a rating 
  of 3+ in Alchemy. Each additional 
  point in the ability removes one 
  more dial. Alternately, she may 
  want to remove one dial per new 
  Materia learned.
  
  G UMSHOE ZOO M
  12
  c
  c
  alchemy
  G UMSHOE ZOO M
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  c
  c
  • Each point of Alchemy spent 
  during a Materia test adds +1 to 
  the roll, not +2.
  • Non-governing 
  Materia 
  spent 
  during a Materia test provide 2 
  effective points per 3 total points 
  spent 
  (of 
  all 
  non-governing 
  Materia).
  • The plurality of points spent for a 
  Fixed, Volatile, or Awakened effect 
  must come from the governing 
  Materia ability. Harder yet: the 
  Materia ability must provide the 
  majority.
  • The ability to spend Alchemy on 
  Materia tests is only unlocked at 
  Sulfur 1. Or Quicksilver 1.
  • All workings performed when the 
  governing Materia’s sign is not 
  ascendant are at +2 to Difficulty.
  • An Awakened Working can only 
  be performed when its governing 
  Materia’s astrological sign is 
  ascendant.
  • There is no bonus to performing a 
  working with its formula written 
  down.
  • Learning 
  Materia 
  abilities 
  requires Potential Points (as in 
  Rough Magicks or Voodoo); in 
  an even stricter game, learning 
  Alchemy 
  requires 
  Potential 
  Points.
  SOURCES
  There has been far more chaff than 
  wheat on the subject of alchemy 
  since about the second century 
  A.D. Even picking the wheat from 
  the wheat can be a challenge.
  Rather 
  than 
  guides 
  through 
  alchemy 
  itself, 
  I 
  primarily 
  depended on guides through its 
  ever-changing imagery for this 
  Zoom: A Dictionary of Alchemical 
  Imagery 
  by 
  Lyndy 
  Abraham 
  and 
  Alchemy: 
  An 
  Illustrated 
  A 
  to 
  Z 
  by 
  Diana 
  Fernando 
  between them almost make one 
  comprehensive 
  book. 
  Alchemy 
  by Johannes Fabricius has a lot 
  of meat in its plentiful period 
  illustrations, 
  but 
  is 
  weighed 
  down by a serious attachment 
  to alchemy as a metaphor for 
  Jungian psychoanalytic analysis. 
  Alexander 
  Roob’s 
  Alchemy 
  & 
  Mysticism from Taschen is even 
  more full of gorgeous alchemical 
  imagery but provides little textual 
  guidance.
  Historians of alchemy are still 
  trying to extract the field from 
  the long, beguiling dead end that 
  Carl Jung and Mircea Eliade took it 
  down. Lawrence M. Principe’s The 
  Secrets of Alchemy makes a decent 
  start at the project; B.J.T. Dobbs’ 
  The 
  Foundations 
  of 
  Newton’s 
  Alchemy and William Newman’s 
  Alchemy Tried in the Fire have laid 
  down firm foundations for the 17th 
  century in Britain and America, at 
  least.
  There are very few good taste-the-
  cinnabar fictions about alchemy, 
  but reading Gregory Keyes’ Age 
  of 
  Unreason 
  series 
  and 
  Neal 
  Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle will at 
  least get you in the neighborhood 
  of the feel and vocabulary.
  Finally, all the alchemy you could 
  ever want is at The Alchemy 
  Web Site at levity.com/alchemy. 
  Primary sources, imagery, essays, 
  all of it searchable – another 
  alchemical 
  labyrinth 
  for 
  the 
  querent to wander down.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Ken Writes About Stuff/Ken Writes About Stuff Vol. 3/Alchemy.pdf