Idea for the fresh start:
I really think that Alchemy should be more structured than the mess that we have now. I don't mean making an entire catalogue of terms and random herbs and flowers that will all have a specific good effect and bad effect (although I really like that idea), but rather something that the anime Full Metal Alchemist had going for it. Now, I don't mean that as in charting freaky symbols on the ground to create a Haraldur-like array of effects (that's Ein's job); in fact, the idea I like from FMA is not related to its version of Alchemy at all. It is that FMA has a set of rules for its Alchemy, and a clear idea of what people can and can't do with it that has never been established in DAL.
Anyway, as for my suggestion: there should be no potion that lasts "infinitely". The length of a potion's duration is dependent on the skill of the person making it, but the maximum duration for a potion should be about an hour. Potions that last a ridiculously long period of time (or infinitely) should be EXTREMELY rare, with perhaps a powerful but unsophisticated effect (like granting super strength, as opposed to granting increased agility, eyesight, and glowing fingernails when in the proximity of a black-crested Draken at night while wearing a backpack). In fact, I think those kinds of long-lasting, powerful potions shouldn't be called potions at all (maybe "tonics"?) and their main source should be finding them in long-forgotten dungeons, rather than being made by a "modern" Alchemist.
Me and DM have entertained the idea of having potions (the short lasting ones, not the tonics) have both a good effect and an adverse effect; which could lead to some really funny results (some of the more prominent ideas were granting invisibility alongside creating gaseous bubbles inside one's stomach, leading to extreme fits of flatulence; or spawning wings on the user, while simultaneously manifesting a great fear of heights). You could also drink several potions to balance the good and the bad, and so on, and so on.
In fact, when this came up in conversation with DM, we were thinking of creating a character that could make such potions. The reason I never went ahead with the idea of one character is that while, say, magic can be as diverse as possible, Alchemy should be kept consistent. If one character makes short lasting potions with adverse effects while another makes nothing but ridiculously powerful, perfect in all respects, infinite-duration potions, then there's a clear lack of balance (and reason as to why one can do it and another can't).
The reason for this sudden change in the DAL world could be explained by the idea that prior to the fresh start, all potions used a specific herb to give them longevity. This herb is now either extinct or extremely rare due to overharvesting; the potions remaining from before the break become "tonics", while everyone else is forced to perform Alchemy in the way described, as the power-herb is no longer available.
I think that this would make Alchemy a much more desirable trait to have. Alchemist characters would no longer exist to brew one potion that would last them a lifetime - instead, if you want to maintain some sort of an effect, you'd constantly have to drink potions.
What do you guys think?
