Totally amazing work. I even made my own alchemic store based on this guide!

While I wouldn't necessarily run this supplement with every table, if you have someone who wants to play an alchemist, I'd call this guide essential. From a balance perspective, everything seems to be in order and the Forgotten Realms fluff doesn't prevent you from using this in other settings.

Solve et Coagula is a certified DM's Guild Masterpiece by the Going Last Tabletop Gaming Podcast!

Alchemy has always held a troubling position within D&D as intrigued players suddenly start searching for reagents in the world, while underprepared DMs start to panic. Or was that just me? It might have just been me. I mean, how was I to know which kind of insects should give out the really good poisons? Was this the blue beetle with green wings or the green beetle with blue wings? These are the questions that matter, right?

Turns out, author Joseph Carriker has created a guide expertly designed to allow anyone to play an alchemist with little to no fuss at all.

To begin, Carriker introduces the tools and processes of an alchemist, developing them in a way that has heft and consequences, but don't take an absurd amount of time or rigour to complete. Given any recently deceased monster type, an alchemist rolls a single d20 on the Harvesting Table to to determine if they can find any worthwhile reagents. If the roll is successful, the alchemist takes the base GP value of the creature type and multiplies it by the CR of the creature. The end.

• "I rolled a 16 on my Harvesting check."
• "Great, it's a CR 6 Monstrosity."
• "10gp times CR 6 is 60 GP of alchemical ingredients. Moving on!"

Once an alchemist has their generic "alchemical ingredients" and a bit of spare time, they can start making alchemical recipes. And here is where this book truly shines. Carriker has SEVENTEEN pages of recipes, ranging from inks and household goods, to drugs and elixirs, to those legendary recipes that can only be created by the greatest alchemists. This list includes many things from the PHB, but also has many new ideas that show a wide range of usefulness and creativity.

Finally, the Guide ends with three archetypes of the alchemical persuasion. The College of the Great Work allows a bard to search for Truth while throwing fireballs and using their songs to enhance their potions. Those shifty Montebank rogues gain the ability to deal sneak attack damage with alchemical items, as well as run cons using potions! Adding a twist to Guide, the Azoth-Infused sorcerers gain a Homunculus familiar as they become part of the alchemy swirling within their very hearts.

Solve et Coagula is an incredible guide to the ideas of alchemy. From start to finish, there are tons of ideas here for anyone interested in adding alchemy to their character, or in my case, my own campaign. I can't recommend it enough!

You can hear more of my thoughts about Solve et Coagula on Episode 184 of Going Last!

A good gaming supplement expands the game; it provides some new and interesting spells, items, few cool plot points, maybe some adventure hooks. A great gaming supplement changes the game in exciting ways that make you want to dive into the world. Solve et Coagula, from the first paragraph of the first page, is a great supplement; while still remaining absolutley true to the lore and feel of the world, this short supplement adds a whole new axis of play to the game, inviting whole new stories revolving around and expertly weaving in other elements of the game (such as the "lifestyle" rules) that, while otherwise mechancially necessary, didn't really feel like an integral part of the game until this connected the dots.

There's more, of course, but this book is only 32 pages long, and I don't want to give away the farm. If you find yourself curious, even a little, about the material in this book, do yourself a favor and pick it up. You won't regret it.

Every page in this sourcebook is immediately useful to DMs and Players alike.

The expanded list of alchemical equipment and associated rules are is well designed and easy to understand, and are sure to make the downtime activities for players at the gaming table fun, interesting, and potentially lucrative.

The content in this book could easily find its way into a future Player's Handbook. I hope WotC gives this work a serious look.

What struck me is how the concepts mirror realistic concepts from the actual history of alchemy. Very cool for a history buff. Joseph Carriker has a great mind for description. The rules seem logical and easy to learn.

Solve et Coagula does the thing you want a product on a niche subject like alchemy to do, namely give you more than you expect. Its pages are positiely packed with useful content and ideas for both players and DMs, while grounding those ideas in the setting of the Forgotten Realms (although it is easy to export them to other D&D settings). If you're at all interested in the subject of alchemy for your games, you owe it to yourself to pick up this book.