[MUD-Dev] Virtual Chemistry

[Adam Wiggins]

[Matt C:]
> At a proposal from one of my wizards, I took into consideration a global
> 'alchemy' setup, which would allow the mixing of potions from ingredients,
> for various uses (magical effects, and spell components notably).
> 
> We pondered upon storing lists of recipes, and so forth, and then I
> thought:
> 
> What if we just simulated our own chemistry? Certain objects could as
> 'ingredients' (not really elements, more compounds), and combining these
> ingredients would have predetermined reactions and results. Further
> compounds could be obtained by appropriate mixes, which would all have
> varying effects on the body (infusion of magic could somehow guide these
> effects). This would obviously extend the alchemy idea - the creation of
> poisons, herbal compounds and literally anything in any state (which the
> PC was able to store).
> 
> Has anyone actually attempted anything of this nature, or contemplated it?

We have something much like this, although the aesthetic is more like
herbalism than alchemy; ie, harvesting various plants, mixing them into
salves, tinctures, and so forth based largely on Celtic druidism.
There are a bunch of low-level 'chemicals' (which don't really map to any
real-world chemicals) which have various effects, ranging from the mental
effects (hallucination, dulling of the senses, sedative..) to the phyiscal
effects (neurotoxins, paralytic agents, vomiting..).  Also there is usually
taste associated with it like any normal food item.  Then we have a whole
bunch of plants raning from trees to ground cover to vines to parasites (ie
mistletoe).  These all have parameters you'd expect for plants (bark type,
size range, color of various components, seasonal cycles..) as well as info
about what chemicals are found in which parts and in what concentrations.
End result is that fooling around with various types of plant parts can get
you some pretty interesting effects.  This encompasses everything from
poisons to cold remedies to berserker mushrooms to stuff that mellos you
out when you smoke it.
It gets interesting, of course, because not all plants are availible everywhere
or during every season; the best poisons are made from extremely rare plants,
since you (usually) need that same plant to make the anti-poison.  Also
you get stuff like, 'Well I could cure that in a jiffy if I had some crushed
petal of dogwood, but unfortunately that won't come into bloom for another
six weeks...'  A smart herbalist will dry and store lots of useful herbs
while they are in season for use during the off-season.
Also we tie in one of the gods who is oriented around nature stuff.  Unlike
the other gods he doesn't help his followers directly (smiting enemies
or catching blows for his worshipers)...instead he gives them indirect
help via herbalism.  Thus a given salve made be effective for soothing burns,
but if you're a follower of this god, it will actually help the burn heal
more quickly and with less chance of infection.  A lot of it I drew from
Celtic mythology; ie, carrying an acorn is good luck, and thistledown woven
into a piece of clothing can turn away harmful spells.  This won't do
anything for you unless you're one of the faithful for the nature god.