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Woohoo I remembered my user name and password, ahem (calms down)
Hmm maybe this might work
The main difference between my proposal and the ones already suggested is that the recipe is constant and the degree of variance/difficulty is targeted at the actual ingredients.
First off each potion type would have a defined set of ingredients.
For example
1 whole lemon 1 clump of mudwort
Secondly all ingredients would have three variable range inclusions – potency, colour, and smell ( <- affix own defined inclusions labels here). These inclusions would be rated on a scale of 1-9.
Smell Colour Potency
Lemon 2 3 5
Mudwort 3 7 4
Thirdly each ingredient would have a weight.
Process
Okay, here is how it all fits together. The activity of making a potion would not be a straight forward mixing approach, but a blending activity - a process whereby the active ingredients within the potion are blended together to create a synergistic affect.
Players could find or be given recipes, like the one in the example. However, the actions that need to be performed to complete the potion would be determined by the variations within the ingredients used.
This means the different actions required within the activity of making a set potion would create a multitude of possibilities that would be different with each batch made – a sort of three dimensional tumbler lock.
Players would have to balance out the properties within each ingredient and also balance them in relation to the other ingredients.
+ Heat Burner - Increases Severity of Change
- Heat Burner - Decreases Severity of Change
Finish Potion - Last Minute Adjustment
Smell Colour Potency
1) Settle Flask 1 2 0
2) Swirl Flask 2 1 0
3) Stir Flask 1 0 2
4) Rotate Flask 2 0 1
5) Straighten Flask 0 2 1
6) Tilt Flask 0 1 2
7) Bathe Flask 1 1 1
8) Cool Flask 2 2 2
9) Release Flask 0 0 0
1 = Reduce Ingredient Value
2 = Increase Ingredient Value
3 = No Change Ingredient Value
The actions would only target one ingredient, so they would have to be added one at a time. Balance one then add next and so on. It could be done all at once but the permutations would require a lot of different commands and I cant think up some many on the fly.
Now the object is to balance out all of the values within the potion so that not only do they equal an overall sum of 5, but each ingredient also equals 5. Naturally this is a difficult thing to do, and due to the limited manipulation of numbers available it will not always be possible.
However, a degree of leniency would be included via the finish potion command – dependant upon the potion makers’ skill. This inclusion would allow for different degrees of expertise to have an impact on potion making. The finish command would permit the maker a measure of deviation that would allow them to complete the potion without all the necessary values being equal to 5. Obviously the closer to 5 that they are the less skill will be required to finish the potion with success.
I think this would solve your problem of having novices being able to complete any potion off the bat. Within this framework they still could, if they where lucky and found some very balanced ingredients, but it would be a rare event. However experienced potion makers could whip up a potion from the most unbalanced group of ingredients. The degree of difficulty would also be easy to manipulate, simply by increasing or decreasing the actual number of ingredients in any given potion recipe.
The final feature of the system would be weight. Each action, period of time over the burner, would reduce the weight of the active ingredients. This limitation would define how many attempts at correcting the balance of the potion the maker would be permitted.
This could be done simply, by using the weight of the active ingredient for a possible burn time figure. Alternatively it could be highly complex, each ingredient having a different burn rate and so on.
The makers skill could also be used to affect burn rate, a highly skilled potion maker could experience less ingredient burn than a novice.
Example By Numbers
Start
Smell Colour Potency
Lemon 4 6 5
Tilt Flask
Smell Colour Potency
Lemon 4 5 6
Aw it looked so neat in the editor. Well all number values follow ingredients or actions
Ingredient smell/colour/potency
and in the actions its the same with the numbers detailing what affect it has on the ingredients
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