AoS: Soulbound - Return to the Laboratory

#MortalRealmsMonday

We have a great new article from C7 Developer Elaine Lithgow on recent release -  Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Steam and Steel. If you missed Elaine's last post on the Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Bestiary, you can find it here.

Steam and Steel gives players and GMs a host of new items and gear to use in their games, including a suit of steam-piston powered plate mail, a magmapike that lets you shoot molten-hot magma at your enemies, and an aether-powered cogmunculus companion to assist you in your adventures. 

Greetings once more, mortals and monsters! Once more I have been torn away from the beakers and brews bubbling away in my laboratory to talk to you about Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound. I have been goaded by my man-thing translator to ruminate on the wonders of ‘Applied Alchemy’, as can be found in the newly released tome, Soulbound: Steam and Steel.

(I do not blame the specky man-thing for wanting to bask in my genius, but I refuse to share any of my secret formulae with them! No-no! You can rip-gouge them from my dead claws!)

What is Alchemy?

The arcane science of alchemy is practised in almost every culture across the Mortal Realms. From back alley apothecaries peddling illicit poisons, to the aetheric wonders that power the Kharadron civilisation. Alchemists reap a variety of materials from the ever-expanding realms. These masterful alchemists transmute and brew potions, poisons, and explosives of mind boggling variety using an exhaustive assortment of methods, many closely tied to the realms’ diverse cultures.

For generations, alchemy was all but stagnant, with most alchemists hiding behind towering walls, cut off from the materials they needed for their great works, or their secrets perished before the tide of Chaos and beasts that swept across the realms. But with the coming of the Age of Sigmar, and the advent of the Dawnbringer Crusades, countless brave or foolish alchemists are once more striking out into the wilds. Here they search the magically attuned landscapes for new materials, methods of transmutations, or lost knowledge from the Age of Myth. Each alchemist lives for the breakthrough that could secure their fame and fortune.

It certainly is a good time to be an alchemist in the Mortal Realms.

How Does it Work?

Soulbound: Steam and Steel provides a whole chapter on Applied Alchemy. In here you will find rules for gathering materials from the creatures and landscapes of the realms. How difficult is it to harvest a Fyrehunter’s webbing? What properties does Gurish rockfruit possess? All these answers and more, along with guidance for GMs to create their own exotic materials let players turn scrape together exotic materials for their wondrous creations.

Once you have your materials, it’s time to put them to work. Steam and Steel contains a thorough crafting guide which gives players and GMs the ability to create potions, poisons, and explosives of all kinds. From a simple brew that increases the imbiber’s speed or durability, to a bespoke poison that causes debilitating terror in its victim, or even a wondrous warpstone-powered explosive that restrains all caught in its blast with razor webbing… that then catches fire!... oh maybe it could also electrocute the webbing!… Yes-yes… Then just when they try to break free...

(Translator’s note: the following sentences devolve into an indecipherable rambling and several crude sketches. These have been removed due to concern for public well-being.)

But if you find the potential at your disposal a tad overwhelming, or are simply the type of player who wants to purchase goods from a pre-established alchemist, worry not! The Applied Alchemy chapter also includes a large collection of premade alchemical wonders that can be found on the shelves of all good alchemists, and many terrible ones. Examples include the metal consuming substance Chamon’s Bane (banned in all Kharadron sky-ports), or Blade-glimpse, a brew of questionable origins which can impart visions of the future and let a warrior dodge the fatal blow.

Truly, with the wonders of alchemy at your fingertips, anything is possible!

Now, that’s more than enough snout flapping. I must scurry-scuttle back to my laboratory. I have work to do!

(Translator’s note: The laughter from the Skaven’s ‘laboratory’ has increased to an unsettling level since our interview. I shudder to think what new creations we shall witness in the days to come.)

Pre-Order Steam and Steel here (includes PDF)

Buy the PDF only on our webstore here.

Buy the PDF only on DrivethruRPG here.

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