Spell Tonics
Cost: 5
Ability Type: Crafting Technique
Related Skill: Alchemy
Prerequisites: Persistent Magic and Alchemy 3
As a mage who is also skilled in alchemy, you have learnt how to mix a number of solutions that can absorb and preserve the essence of particular spells. These tonics gradually fade in effectiveness over time, but if drunk whilst they are still fresh they will imbue the effects of the chosen spell on their imbiber.
In order to prepare a Spell Tonic you must make an Alchemy check with a -3 penalty and difficulty equal to the casting total of the required spell, with this skill check also determining the effective 'casting total' of the resulting spell effect. However, your Alchemy skill is limited by your Spellcasting skill when making such checks, meaning that if your Alchemy skill is the higher of the two then it is effectively capped at the same value as your Spellcasting.
In order to create an effective tonic, Power must be invested into it in a similar fashion to normal spellcasting. This supply of Power must be maintained throughout the brewing process, which takes a number of minutes equal to the difficulty of the spell chosen. Once the tonic has been successfully created however, it no longer requires maintenance – instead slowly bleeding off the Power stored within it over time. The effective Power of a tonic is equal to 50% of the Power invested in it during its creation (round down), but this fades by 1 point every day. If the tonic's Power is no longer sufficient to meet the contained spell's Minimum Power requirement, then the tonic becomes useless.
Only spells of Touch form (and related sub-forms such as Direct Touch) are suitable to be made into tonics, and when drunk they will count their imbiber as both target and as caster – making some spells less than useful (such as Gift of Life). If the contained spell is Maintainable, it also gains the Persistent attribute and automatically counts as having been cut off from its source of Power – so rapidly fading after its first turn of operation.
In order for a spell tonic to be effective when drunk, its imbiber must consume at least a mouthful of the potion – at which point the spell is triggered and any remainders of the tonic become inert and non-magical. All spell tonics have the Resisted attribute.
