Alchemy
Alchemy | |
---|---|
Info | |
Type | Small Expansion |
Icon | |
Cards | 150 |
122 (12 sets) | |
16 | |
12 | |
Theme(s) | |
Release | May 2010 |
Official Rulebook |
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in their cost, and many cards encouraging decks filled with Action cards.Contents |
Contents
Basic Supply Cards
- Potion is included in the Supply whenever at least one of the Kingdom Cards included in the game has
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in its cost.
Kingdom Cards
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
Transmute, Vineyard[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
Apothecary, Scrying Pool, University[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
Alchemist, Familiar, Philosopher's Stone[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
Golem[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
PossessionRules for Alchemy
Preparation
- After you choose 10 Kingdom cards for the Supply, if any of them have
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in the cost, add the Potion pile to the Supply. Also add the Potion pile if you are using the promotional card Black Market, and the Black Market deck includes at least one card with[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in the cost. If you don't have any cards with[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in the cost in the Supply or in the Black Market deck, do not use the Potion pile in this game. - When you have a Potion pile, put all 16 Potions in it, no matter how many players there are. In games using this pile, if the pile becomes empty, that will count towards the game ending condition, like any other Supply pile.
- You can play Dominion using any number of Kingdom cards from Alchemy, but we especially recommend playing with 3 - 5 Alchemy cards at once.
Playing the Game
- Potion is a new Basic Treasure card. It costs , and when played produces
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
rather than coins.[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
has no equivalent in coins. To buy a card with[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in the cost, a player needs[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
. - Buying cards using
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
works just like buying cards with coins. If a player has[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
, he could buy a card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
, or a card costing , and so on. If he has[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
and an extra Buy, he could buy a card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
and a card costing , or a card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
and a card costing , and so on. He could not buy two cards costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
, because he has only one[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
. He needs[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
per card he wants to buy that has[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in the cost. - Some cards refer to how much a card costs. Generally, adding
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
to a cost gives a a player a higher cost:[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
is more than . More specifically:- References to cards costing “up to” some cost only include
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
if[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
is in the given cost. If[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
is in the cost, a player can drop the[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
and it is still "up to," but a player cannot add[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
if it is not there. - If a card only costs
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
(Vineyard, Transmute), the number of coins in that card's cost is .- Example: when a player uses University to Gain an Action card costing up to , the player may not gain a card with
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in the cost. A card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
does not cost or less. It is just like Buying a card - if a player just has , he cannot buy a card with[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in the cost. However if a player uses Remodel to trash a card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
, he could gain a card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
or a card costing , as those are both "up to"[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
.
- Example: when a player uses University to Gain an Action card costing up to , the player may not gain a card with
- Adding coins to a cost doesn't affect
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
being in the cost or not. If[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
was in the cost, it still is; if it wasn't, it still isn't. Same with subtracting coins from a cost.- Example: Remodel allows a player to gain a card costing up to more than the trashed card. Trashing a card that costs would not let the player gain a card costing
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
using Remodel. However, a player could use Remodel to trash a card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
to gain a card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
. A player could also trash a card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
to gain a card costing (with no[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
). Bridge makes cards cost less this turn. This lowers the cost of a card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
to[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
. It does nothing to the cost of a card costing just[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
.
- Example: Remodel allows a player to gain a card costing up to more than the trashed card. Trashing a card that costs would not let the player gain a card costing
- References to cards costing some number of coins “or more” include cards with or without
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in the cost.- Example: since Saboteur trashes a card costing at least , it could trash a card with
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in the cost. A card costing costs at least . A card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
also costs or more. A card costing[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
does not cost " or more" because it does not have at least in the cost.
- Example: since Saboteur trashes a card costing at least , it could trash a card with
- References to a cost range in does not include cards with
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
in the cost.- Example: a card that refers to cards costing "from to " (Graverobber, Knights, Rogue) would mean cards costing exactly , , , or . Cards costing
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
or even[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
do not fall within that range.
- Example: a card that refers to cards costing "from to " (Graverobber, Knights, Rogue) would mean cards costing exactly , , , or . Cards costing
- Cards which convert a cost into a number do not do anything with
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
.- Example: Salvager trashes a card, and produces an amount of coins equal to the cost of the card. If a player trashes a card costing
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
, he will just get .
- Example: Salvager trashes a card, and produces an amount of coins equal to the cost of the card. If a player trashes a card costing
- Cards which check if two costs are the same include
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
if it is there.- Example: Swindler trashes a card, and has the player who lost it gain a card with the same cost. If a player trashes a card costing
[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
with Swindler, that player will gain a card costing exactly[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
.
- Example: Swindler trashes a card, and has the player who lost it gain a card with the same cost. If a player trashes a card costing
- References to cards costing “up to” some cost only include
Additional Rules
- “In play” -- Action cards and Treasure cards played face-up to a play area are in play until they are moved somewhere else—usually until they are discarded during a Clean-up phase. Only played cards are in play; set aside cards, trashed cards, cards in the Supply, and cards in hands, decks, and discard piles are not in play. Reaction abilities like Moat’s do not put those cards into play.
- Alchemy includes a Treasure card with rules: Philosopher's Stone. Philosopher's Stone is in the Supply if it is selected as one of the 10 Kingdom cards for the game; it is not part of the Basic Supply. It is just like a normal Treasure, but has special abilities. Philosopher's Stone is played during the Buy phase like a normal Treasure. It can be stolen by a Thief and so on.
- During the Buy phase, all Treasures are played before a player buys any cards, even if he has +Buys. A player may not play Treasures after Buying a card. This is important for Philosopher's Stone.
- When a player discards cards from play, he may discard them in any order. This normally does not matter, but is important for Alchemist and Herbalist.
Flavor text
Cards Gallery
Basic Cards
Kingdom Cards
Alchemy Theme
Game designer Donald X. offered some insight into some themes of the set here.
- 12 Potion-related: Apprentice cares if it's in the cost and Herbalist can put a Potion on your deck for reuse, so, the whole set.
- 5 Actions theme: Transmute, Vineyard, Scrying Pool, University, Golem
- 10 Useful in multiples: Everything but Herbalist and Possession
Impact of Alchemy
Due to the Actions theme of this set, most of these cards are excellent for engines. That said, the awkwardness of the Potion cost can discourage some players from pursuing strategies with Alchemy cards. Because of this awkwardness, players often choose Alchemy as their least favorite expansion, and Donald X. has stated that it's highly unlikely he'll revisit Potions as a mechanic, mainly for this very reason. However, the set does have supporters, and once actually in your deck, most of the cards are quite powerful and fun to play with.
Engines
- Vineyard - Not an engine part, but greatly rewards engine players, as engine decks tend to consist of mostly Actions
- Apothecary - Clears out Coppers and Potions from the top of your deck, making your engine more efficient
- Scrying Pool - The ultimate engine card, one of these can draw your entire deck in the right circumstances
- University - Good for quickly gaining engine pieces, though it becomes much less useful in the endgame, barring Vineyards
- Alchemist - A Laboratory that can be Schemed every turn - an engine unto itself
- Familiar - A cantrip curser
- Golem - A Throne Room variant that seeks out Actions to play in your deck
- Apprentice - An excellent trasher; trashing and non-terminal card draw are always good for an engine
Potion
The addition of the Potion cost has notable effects:
- Slightly longer games if all players go for Potion-based strategies
- Potion strategies can be easily thwarted by trashing Attacks or Embargo - if your Potion is trashed, or the Potion-cost card is Embargoed, you may have to change your strategy
- Interesting interactions with cost-caring cards
Possession
Possession is (if you take[Warning: This Cost Template uses the old "P" syntax, please convert it to the new parameterized syntax.]
to be worth a little more than ) the most expensive Action card in the game, and the card with the longest FAQ to date. It gives an extra turn like Outpost, but the only limitation on the number of turns you get is how many times you can play Possession, rather than the artificial cap Outpost has. It features often in Combos, and is one of the more hated cards in the game, mostly due to the fact that it allows another player to use your deck.Trivia
Alchemy introduced the smallest number of different Kingdom cards of any set, containing only 12. It is also the smallest set to introduce a Basic card.
In other languages
- Chinese: 煉金術士 (pron. liànjīn shùshì, lit. alchemist)
- Czech: Alchymie
- Dutch: De Alchemisten (lit. the alchemists)
- Finnish: Alkemia
- French: Alchimie
- German: Die Alchemisten (lit. the alchemists)
- Italian: Alchimia
- Japanese: 錬金術 (pron. renkinjutsu)
- Russian: Алхимия (pron. alkhimiya)
- Spanish: Alquimia
Secret History
Then I made some other games. My friends just wanted to play Dominion though. Okay; I could make some more expansions. I made a 3rd, then a 4th, then a 5th. That's where things stood when I showed the game to Jay at Origins. During development of the main set I made some more cards, and reconfigured everything I had into 8 smaller sets. Then I rereconfigured them into 6 large sets. The original 2nd set ended up as two full sets (it had two themes and I split them up). The original 5th set ended up 6th.
After we finished working on Seaside, we moved on to the 3rd set. We finished that up, or so we thought, and were soon to begin work on the 4th set.
Meanwhile, people were clamoring for smaller sets. And when I say people I don't mean players, although maybe they were too; I mean, some of the publishers of the game wanted smaller sets. They talked to Jay and Jay talked to me; maybe we should do some small sets here too. Not that we wouldn't keep doing the large ones. But you know. Give the people something that's not the full price of the main game. And the ideal timing would be, next. It would squeeze ahead of the now-misnumbered 3rd expansion.
Since we had just finished the set that was due, shortly before it was due, there wasn't much time. In order to have something that was as polished as possible, as soon as possible, it had to be a subset of one of the existing large sets. Only the 6th set leant itself to this. It had a theme that was just the right size and could stand by itself, and a sub-theme that could be expanded for another small set. And the set was missing some cards, due to stealing them for earlier sets, so it didn't feel like I was breaking up something finished.
So I broke up the 6th set. The Potions part went into this set, Alchemy. I did actually get some advance warning, and started working on it before Essen; then at Essen we worked out that it was in fact going to happen, and that I could have it ready about when they wanted it, although not quite that fast. I demanded an extra month, and then when the time came I got 10 more days, although that last stretch was just spent working on the rulebook and deciding which Herbalist to use.
In its original 5th-set form, Alchemy was 20 cards (7 with potion in the cost). It went down to 16 when everything did, and up to 25 (but unfinished) when I went to 6 sets. When I broke it up, at first it was 10 cards plus Potion, but the number of printed cards was going to be 100 or 150, so it went up to 12 cards plus Potion, since going up was way better than going down.
Two cards in the set do not have Potion in the cost (besides Potion itself). In games using lots of cards from Alchemy, you will not always have a card at any particular cost. The most important cost is . So the set has a . Then it has a because it's nice to have one of those. At and you have Silver and Potion, and if there are a lot of Alchemy cards then people will be pulled in that direction anyway (though obviously sometimes some other start will be better).
"Has a potion in its cost" is not actually a huge connection functionally, so I supplemented the main theme with a "cares about actions" sub-theme.
When I came up with Dominion, I figured it would have multiple resources. When I actually made it, I went with one resource, because it was simpler. I could always add another resource in an expansion. With Alchemy I finally got around to doing that. Originally I was thinking it would be Reagents or Mandrake or something. I didn't find a good enough picture to use for such a card, so I went with Potions. That's how these decisions get made.
The second copy of Dominion was Kelly Bailey's (cheepicus on these forums). He renamed some of the cards, redid all the graphics, changed a few cards, and added some of his own. He took most of the cards from all of the expansions I had, but did not take the cards with Potion in the cost from Alchemy. He figured, he was shuffling everything together, and some games he would just turn over one card with Potion in the cost. Do you buy Potion just to get that one card? He thought not.
So I always knew this was an issue. The cards had to be worth buying multiple copies of. They had to be compelling. With just one out, you had to still consider buying Potion to get it. So that's why the set has so many +1 action cards, and then a victory card and a treasure; it's all stuff you want as much of as you can get.
And what, if you want you can just guarantee that you always have a few of them at once - say, once you've dealt out 8 cards from your randomizer deck, if you have any Alchemy cards, make sure the next two are also from Alchemy (by digging for them), and if you don't, make sure the next two also aren't Alchemy cards. Put the cards you skip over back on top of the randomizer deck. This way you see everything just as often as you would have (in the long run), but the Alchemy cards end up clumped together. Or if, like me, you don't manage to carry every expansion to the place you're playing, you can just specifically play with 3 cards from Alchemy on the nights that you bring it. Or whatever. There are lots of ways to manage this. I realize some BGG people are hung up on this point and well it's not hard. If you don't want to just see one card with potion in the cost out, and also want to see Alchemy cards as often as everything else, determined randomly, you can do it.
Retrospective
Recommended Sets of 10
Alchemy & Dominion
Forbidden Arts [images] | ||||||||||||||
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Bandit | Cellar | Council Room | Gardens | Laboratory | ||||||||||
Throne Room | Apprentice | Familiar | Possession | University | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Potion Mixers [images] | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cellar | Festival | Militia | Poacher | Smithy | ||||||||||
Alchemist | Apothecary | Golem | Herbalist | Transmute | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Chemistry Lesson [images] | ||||||||||||||
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Bureaucrat | Market | Moat | Remodel | Vassal | ||||||||||
Witch | Alchemist | Golem | Philosopher's Stone | University | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Alchemy & Intrigue
Servants [images] | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conspirator | Mill | Minion | Pawn | Steward | ||||||||||
Golem | Possession | Scrying Pool | Transmute | Vineyard | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Secret Research [images] | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bridge | Masquerade | Minion | Nobles | Shanty Town | ||||||||||
Torturer | Familiar | Herbalist | Philosopher's Stone | University | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Pools, Tools, and Fools [images] | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baron | Ironworks | Lurker | Nobles | Trading Post | ||||||||||
Wishing Well | Apothecary | Apprentice | Golem | Scrying Pool | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Alchemy & Prosperity
Counting Contest [images] | ||||||||||||||
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Bank | Counting House | Hoard | Goons | Rabble | ||||||||||
Quarry | Philosopher's Stone | Golem | Herbalist | Apothecary | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Lower Learning [images] | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Talisman | Mint | Bishop | Worker's Village | Peddler | ||||||||||
Vault | Familiar | Apprentice | University | Vineyard | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Alchemy & Hinterlands
Schemes and Dreams [images] | ||||||||||||||
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Apothecary | Apprentice | Herbalist | Philosopher's Stone | Transmute | ||||||||||
Duchess | Fool's Gold | Ill-Gotten Gains | Jack of all Trades | Scheme | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Wine Country [images] | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apprentice | Familiar | Golem | University | Vineyard | ||||||||||
Crossroads | Farmland | Haggler | Highway | Nomad Camp | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Alchemy & Dark Ages
Infestations [images] | ||||||||||||||
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Armory | Cultist | Feodum | Market Square | Rats | ||||||||||
Wandering Minstrel | Apprentice | Scrying Pool | Transmute | Vineyard | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | Ruins | |||||||||||||
Lamentations [images] | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beggar | Catacombs | Counterfeit | Forager | Ironmonger | ||||||||||
Pillage | Apothecary | Golem | Herbalist | University | ||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||
Potion | ||||||||||||||
Alchemy & Adventures
Haste Potion [images] | |||||||||||||||||
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Magpie | Messenger | Port | Royal Carriage | Treasure Trove | |||||||||||||
Apprentice | Scrying Pool | Transmute | University | Vineyard | |||||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | |||||||||||||||||
Potion | Plan | ||||||||||||||||
Cursecatchers [images] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Amulet | Bridge Troll | Caravan Guard | Peasant | Ratcatcher | ||||||||||||||||
Apothecary | Familiar | Golem | Herbalist | Philosopher's Stone | ||||||||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||||||||
Potion | Save | Trade | ||||||||||||||||||
Alchemy & Empires
Collectors [images] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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City Quarter | Crown | Encampment | Enchantress | Farmers' Market | ||||||||||||||||
Apothecary | Apprentice | Herbalist | Transmute | University | ||||||||||||||||
Landscapes and Additional Cards | ||||||||||||||||||||
Potion | Colonnade | Museum | ||||||||||||||||||