Alchemical Children - General (And Not So General) Questions

[Lord Cyclohexane]

I was rereading the section on Alchemical Children from Chapter 4 in Van Richten's Arsenal. I came across a few things that I didn't quite understand and hoped could be cleared up...

1) How do Alchemical Children heal damage? Since they have the Construct type, it's assumed that they don't heal damage naturally. However, as they're not constructed from anything in particular (a flesh golem, for example, could be repaired by sewing replacement parts to it), it also doesn't look like the creator could just "repair" them. Would you have to use something like quintessence for their normal upkeep? Or should the "Lifelike (Ex)" quality count as allowing natural healing due to the limited biology it imparts? Or should the lifelike quality impart partial natural healing?

2) The first option for "Flawed Alchemical Life" says to apply the Dread Golem template. How does this work? Should you take the base creature (human, for instance), apply the Alchemical Child template (which then alters the type from humanoid to construct) and then apply the Dread Golem template (which can only be applied to constructs)? How should things stack in that instance? Should there be a +2 to AC from the Alchemical Child template and then add an additional +4 from the Dread Golem template for a total of +6 to AC? It seems a touch powerful to apply both, especially with the total +6 bonus to Dexterity (+2 AlChild, +4 Dread Golem), so I just want to make sure.

3) Under the "Lifelike (Ex)" description, it says, "An alchemical child is considered a living creature in respect to the effects of alchemical formulae." As such, would a sample from an alchemical child be sufficient to generate another alchemical child? Also, does that mean that coagulants can be made from the "corpses" (steaming ichor) of deceased alchemical children?

4) Assuming that the answers to #3 are both "Yes," (as the description seems to indicate), how do partial failures affect that? This should probably be broken into multiple questions based on the results of the "Flawed Alchemical Life." "A" will be the source Alchemical Child and "B" will be the subsequent Alchemical Child created from a sample of A. Keep in mind that these answers can affect how easy/hard it is to obtain immortality through alchemy, or how easy/hard it is to lose it due to a simple slight error in brewing...
a) If A is a Dread Golem, can B be a perfect Alchemical Child or is it doomed to also be a Dread Golem? If an Essential Coagulant is created from A and applied to B, how much does that affect the chances of B becoming a Dread Golem as well?
b) If A is permanently insane, can B be perfect or will it inherit the insanity? If B can be perfect (insanity not borne by the flesh) and an Essential Coagulant is made from A and applied to B, will the insanity generated by the original failed Alchemical Child body pass along or will it be cured due to having a pure physical body?
c) If A is a Broken One, can B be perfect or is it also doomed to be a Broken One? (Assuming that BrokenOne-ishness isn't really personality-based and so wouldn't pass along with Essential Coagulants).
d) If A has a drastically limited lifespan, can B be perfect or will its lifespan also be reduced? When A falls apart due to the failed bodyform, is that bodyform too degraded to create an Essential Coagulant from, thus ensuring that A is beyond immortality through alchemy?


And to anyone who reads this: I won't be insulted if no one answers for a while. I realize I've asked a lot of ridiculously difficult questions, but I honestly am curious as to how "genetic inheritance" should work in regards to Alchemical Children and how rates of mutation should affect things. I'll wait until later to get into the "If a Philosophical Child is created from a sample of an Enlightened Child, what is the chance that this Philosophical Child should inherit one of the three Special Attacks that the original Enlightened Child possesses?"

And to Mr. Mangrum: C'mon, admit it, you knew this was going to happen some day...

[Nathan of the FoS]

I was rereading the section on Alchemical Children from Chapter 4 in Van Richten's Arsenal. I came across a few things that I didn't quite understand and hoped could be cleared up...

1) How do Alchemical Children heal damage? Since they have the Construct type, it's assumed that they don't heal damage naturally. However, as they're not constructed from anything in particular (a flesh golem, for example, could be repaired by sewing replacement parts to it), it also doesn't look like the creator could just "repair" them. Would you have to use something like quintessence for their normal upkeep? Or should the "Lifelike (Ex)" quality count as allowing natural healing due to the limited biology it imparts? Or should the lifelike quality impart partial natural healing?

Healing isn't mentioned specifically in under "Lifelike" processes, so it would be reasonable to disallow it; but given that it does have so many of the weaknesses of a living creature, I would allow it to heal normally. Obviously, alchemical healing would work either way.

2) The first option for "Flawed Alchemical Life" says to apply the Dread Golem template. How does this work? Should you take the base creature (human, for instance), apply the Alchemical Child template (which then alters the type from humanoid to construct) and then apply the Dread Golem template (which can only be applied to constructs)? How should things stack in that instance? Should there be a +2 to AC from the Alchemical Child template and then add an additional +4 from the Dread Golem template for a total of +6 to AC? It seems a touch powerful to apply both, especially with the total +6 bonus to Dexterity (+2 AlChild, +4 Dread Golem), so I just want to make sure.

I would apply both templates. *shrug* Hey, you fiddle with the Creation of Life, you take your chances.

3) Under the "Lifelike (Ex)" description, it says, "An alchemical child is considered a living creature in respect to the effects of alchemical formulae." As such, would a sample from an alchemical child be sufficient to generate another alchemical child? Also, does that mean that coagulants can be made from the "corpses" (steaming ichor) of deceased alchemical children?

I think that the simplest way to adjudicate this would be to take it exactly as stated and allow alchemical manipulation of alchemical children exactly as if they were living.

4) Assuming that the answers to #3 are both "Yes," (as the description seems to indicate), how do partial failures affect that? This should probably be broken into multiple questions based on the results of the "Flawed Alchemical Life." "A" will be the source Alchemical Child and "B" will be the subsequent Alchemical Child created from a sample of A. Keep in mind that these answers can affect how easy/hard it is to obtain immortality through alchemy, or how easy/hard it is to lose it due to a simple slight error in brewing...
a) If A is a Dread Golem, can B be a perfect Alchemical Child or is it doomed to also be a Dread Golem? If an Essential Coagulant is created from A and applied to B, how much does that affect the chances of B becoming a Dread Golem as well?
b) If A is permanently insane, can B be perfect or will it inherit the insanity? If B can be perfect (insanity not borne by the flesh) and an Essential Coagulant is made from A and applied to B, will the insanity generated by the original failed Alchemical Child body pass along or will it be cured due to having a pure physical body?
c) If A is a Broken One, can B be perfect or is it also doomed to be a Broken One? (Assuming that BrokenOne-ishness isn't really personality-based and so wouldn't pass along with Essential Coagulants).
d) If A has a drastically limited lifespan, can B be perfect or will its lifespan also be reduced? When A falls apart due to the failed bodyform, is that bodyform too degraded to create an Essential Coagulant from, thus ensuring that A is beyond immortality through alchemy?

In all cases I would rule that the defect of the "parent" is necessarily transmitted to the "child".

And to anyone who reads this: I won't be insulted if no one answers for a while. I realize I've asked a lot of ridiculously difficult questions, but I honestly am curious as to how "genetic inheritance" should work in regards to Alchemical Children and how rates of mutation should affect things. I'll wait until later to get into the "If a Philosophical Child is created from a sample of an Enlightened Child, what is the chance that this Philosophical Child should inherit one of the three Special Attacks that the original Enlightened Child possesses?"

I would rule that the philosophical child loses its progenitor's special abilities, although if you strictly by what is written (the alchemical retains all special attacks/qualities of the base creature, it should retain them.

[Lord Cyclohexane]

Healing isn't mentioned specifically in under "Lifelike" processes, so it would be reasonable to disallow it; but given that it does have so many of the weaknesses of a living creature, I would allow it to heal normally. Obviously, alchemical healing would work either way.

I agree, though I think I'd limit it. I'd say an Alchemical Child heals damage at half the rate of its living counterpart (1/2 hit point per level per day, rounded down), similar to the Cold One feat from RPHB.

I would apply both templates. *shrug* Hey, you fiddle with the Creation of Life, you take your chances.

Sweet. This could make the return of an unpopular NPC become more more unpopular much more quickly...

I think that the simplest way to adjudicate this would be to take it exactly as stated and allow alchemical manipulation of alchemical children exactly as if they were living.

I'd agree, as immortality through alchemy would be difficult otherwise. That said, it'd kinda cool even if not, as the aspiring immortal would have to create numerous clone bodies sitting around long before his first death, which could lead to something like the cool battle in "Dark Empire" where Luke Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine fight in a room completely surrounded by clone vats filled with Palpatine clones in differing stages of development.

In all cases I would rule that the defect of the "parent" is necessarily transmitted to the "child".

Blah, you're no fun. That said, I could have always created my own, more complicated answers and submitted it as the most inane QtR article ever.

I would rule that the philosophical child loses its progenitor's special abilities, although if you strictly by what is written (the alchemical retains all special attacks/qualities of the base creature, it should retain them.

Yeah, I'm going to say that there's a percentage chance of inheritance, thus leading alchemists seeking immortality to continually seek to improve and customise their new bodies, evolving into "perfection."

14th March, 749 - My companions and I are worn ragged. I can still smell the burnt meat from where the fiend's acidic touch melted through my armor. Bertrand's breathing is still weak, an hour after the encounter. We can count a small victory, having driven the creature back, it melting into a pool and escaping between the flagstones, but how long can we last?

The monster which was once our friend Russell mocked us, gloating, "I am the way of the future while you are consigned to the dustbin of history." Increasingly I feel that he's right, as with each new body he's constructed for himself he's become stronger and stronger, long since surpassing our ability to battle face-to-face. But my companions and I continue, powered by the knowledge of a hard-won secret: his obsessive change from one body to another isn't due, as we'd previously thought, to a manic devotion to perfection. No, it turns out that an impurity in an earlier body has passed down to all future clones, causing them all to degrade at a vastly accelerated rate. That's why, while we lured the monster that was once our friend out to fight, Heinrich snuck into his laboratory to destroy his clone vats.

The thunder rumbles above me. My fancy wishes to believe that it's Russell roaring, discovering the shambles of his lab. For while the fiend may be right, that we cannot stand in the face of the future, we can ensure that the future remains free of his clutches, that is if we can hold out for one more day...