Elements of Alchemy: A Blackjack solution
A recurring element of many role playing games is crafting systems, whether for alchemy and magic, or more mundane pursuits. These system often end up too simple to capture any interesting nuances of the crafting (spend X worth of "alchemy ingredients" and succeed an alchemy check), or too fiddly to engage with in a game where they are not the main focus (long list of specific ingredients for a long list of exact recipes). There are of course exceptions to this, where the level of abstraction allows for interesting gameplay while removing excess complication. One example of this is His Majesty the Worm , where monster guts will always yield an alchemical effect thematically appropriate for their origin, or the excellent Scrabblecraft from 400 independent bathrooms (among approximately one billion other blogposts each with their own solution ). In this blogpost, I will attempt another solution to the problem using playing cards and common blackjack mechanics. One of my m...