Using the Leech’s Bandoleer of achemicals, can the Leech use any achemical item on associated list or must it be his…

6 thoughts on “Using the Leech’s Bandoleer of achemicals, can the Leech use any achemical item on associated list or must it be his…”

1. Yes, the Leech can pull out any items on the sheet’s supply list, under “Alchemicals,” regardless of Tier (the book doesn’t mention Tier at all). The drawbacks on page 226 still happen, of course. (The Leech doesn’t get every item on page 226, if that’s what you’re asking; just the 13 on their playbook by default.)

   As well, any appropriate items the Leech crafts may also be employed in bandolier slots. And since the Leech isn’t limited to only crafting or using items at their Tier or lower, it seems odd to impose the restriction on the rest of the list.

   Also, there is only one Tier V alchemical on page 226–the Large Bomb–and that one isn’t on the Leech’s sheet, so the baseline Leech doesn’t have the ability to do that.

   Of the three Tier IV items on page 226, the Leech gets Quicksilver and Standstill [Poison] (but not Viper Potion), both of which can be read to only affect one person. And being able to bring 6 vials of Standstill to briefly paralyze 6 people doesn’t seem overpowered to me. (Nor does being able to get +1 on 6 Attune rolls at the cost of 6 instances of Level 2 Harm.)

2. The issue I have is that Tier is taken into account for *everything*. Other playbooks list higher tier potions, devices, and what-not for their playbooks, but those are specific items (the Cutter’s Rage Potion for example), not a general grab bag with everything in it.

   I do understand it is a special piece of gear for the Leech only. I am not sure it is game breaking, slightly over-the-top, or just annoying to my sensibilities.

3. John Williams Tier is “taken into account for *everything*” because it is abstracted measure of quality. It is not by all means a solid enforcing factor. Any given item owned by a faction can be fine, exceptional or substandard.

   Besides, your Tier IV guard might not have Tier IV metabolic system that resists everything Tier III stuff or lower.

4. Like Aron said, Tier is an abstraction of quality, to an extent. Often, employing gear that’s a higher Tier than an opponent’s will increase your position slightly–or it might be a dominant factor, as on page 25. But sometimes it doesn’t really make a difference, and can be ignored in favor of scale, potency, or something else.

   As for other playbooks, the rage essence vial doesn’t have a listed Tier, silence potion is Tier III, trance powder is Tier I, and vial of slumber essence also doesn’t have a Tier listed. All other items on a character’s playbook are considered to be the crew’s Tier (or Tier +1 for Fine, etc), generally. So I suppose you could say the Leech has access to more powerful items early, except you could also point out that the Leech does not have access to Fine weapons (or gear). They have just two pairs of tools, their bandoliers, and a delivery system. So their supply of alchemicals and bombs is fairly core to the playbook’s identity, right out of the box.

   In addition, I find that Tier often isn’t as important with alchemicals. Drinking quicksilver is always going to get you +1 to Attune for level 2 harm, regardless of your relative Tier; silence potions just do their thing, and quality doesn’t really factor in–haha, I imagine Tier 0 complete silence is functionally identical to Tier III complete silence.

   You could argue that something like trance powder should only be effective against low-tier targets, since it’s Tier I, but it seems unfair to give the Slide an item that’s only useful briefly, in the early game. Besides, I imagine if you threw a hallucinogenic powder in your friend’s face, a police officer’s face, and an FBI agent’s face, you’d get pretty comparable effects (obviously, nobody should test this)–I usually let alchemicals do their thing, and maybe use a fortune roll with their quality if there’s a question about efficacy. One dose only goes so far, anyway.

   And then there’s the fact that if the crew reaches Tier IV, suddenly the Leech is stuck with a bunch of comparatively low-tier items in their bandoliers. (I don’t think the playbook should become less effective for having made it to Tier IV.)

   So if you prefer, you could also just as easily rule that every item the Leech employs from their bandolier is considered to be at the crew’s Tier (as well as PCs’ alchemicals from other playbooks)–this keeps everything on an even level, gives you a concrete Tier number to work with, scales with the crew, and if the Leech wants access to a higher-quality version, they can craft it.

5. Aron Its not the Tier IV guard’s metabolic system, but if a Tier II leech has ready access to high quality toxins to affect the system of a healthy guard. But, you are right, maybe I should look at it in the form of Fine, Exceptional, etc.

   Steven Dodds I am not sure if I agree with most of your said, but the part about limiting the quality of the potions to the crew’s tier makes a lot of sense.

   I’m not sure if I am making a mountain of a mole hill. Its not incredibly game breaking. I will have to think more on it.

6. You have access to it even without a Leech in the crew – as long as you are willing to spend some coins. Also, what Steven Dodds​ said about Leech not having a fine gear, I guess…?

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