This might belong in the modding questions thread, but it's a bit wordy so I figured I wouldn't force all that scrolling on people just browsing and such. Anyway, my problem is this: I'm trying to create a drink, food or animal that can bestow magical powers upon my dorfs, but have run into a few walls.
The first thing I tried was just turning the appropriate material:
[INORGANIC:ESSENCE_FIRE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STONE_TEMPLATE]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:100]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:4:7:0]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:fire essence]
[TILE:15]
[ITEM_SYMBOL:*]
[IS_STONE]
[REACTION_CLASS:ESSENCE]
[SOLID_DENSITY:20000]
[STATE_COLOR:ALL_SOLID:RED]
[SYNDROME]
[SYN_NAME:Fire Mage]
[SYN_AFFECTED_CLASS:GENERAL_POISON]
[SYN_INGESTED]
[SYN_CLASS:FIRE_MAGE]
[CE_DIZZINESS:SEV:30:PROB:100:START:1:PEAK:1000:END:7000]
[CE_NUMBNESS:SEV:20:PROB:100:START:1:PEAK:1000:END:7000]
[CE_DISPLAY_NAME:NAME:pyromancer:pyromancers:pyromantic:START:0]
[CE_ADD_TAG:NO_AGING:NO_EAT:NO_DRINK:NOEXERT:START:0]
[CE_CAN_DO_INTERACTION:START:0]
[CDI:ADV_NAME:Fireball]
[CDI:INTERACTION:MATERIAL_EMISSION]
[CDI:USAGE_HINT:ATTACK]
[CDI:BP_REQUIRED:BY_CATEGORY:HAND]
[CDI:FLOW:FIREBALL]
[CDI:TARGET:C:LINE_OF_SIGHT]
[CDI:TARGET_RANGE:C:10]
[CDI:MAX_TARGET_NUMBER:C:1]
[CDI:WAIT_PERIOD:30]
[CDI:VERB:throw a ball of fire:throws a ball of fire:NA]
into a drink, which would then give them the power upon drinking it, but that doesn't work for some reason.
[REACTION:MAKE_FIRE_ESSENCE]
[NAME:distill a fire essence]
[BUILDING:CIRCLE:CUSTOM_F]
[REAGENT:essence:1:BOULDER:NO_SUBTYPE:STONE:ESSENCE_FIRE]
[REAGENT:tallow:10:GLOB:NONE:NONE:NONE][REACTION_CLASS:TALLOW][UNROTTEN]
[REAGENT:barrel/pot:1:NONE:NONE:NONE:NONE]
[EMPTY]
[FOOD_STORAGE_CONTAINER] barrel or any non-absorbing tool with FOOD_STORAGE
[PRESERVE_REAGENT]
[DOES_NOT_DETERMINE_PRODUCT_AMOUNT]
[PRODUCT:100:1:DRINK:NONE:GET_MATERIAL_FROM_REAGENT:essence:DRINK_MAT]
[PRODUCT_TO_CONTAINER:barrel/pot]
[PRODUCT_DIMENSION:150]
[SKILL:ALCHEMY]
The drink is made and drunk, but there don't appear to be any side-effects.
The second thing I tried was creating a product which would evaporate and give them powers through inhalation, but that just ended up with magma.
Reaction:
[REACTION:MAKE_THUNDER_ESSENCE]
[NAME:distill a thunder essence]
[BUILDING:CIRCLE:CUSTOM_T]
[REAGENT:tallow:10:GLOB:NONE:NONE:NONE][REACTION_CLASS:TALLOW][UNROTTEN]
[REAGENT:essence:1:BOULDER:NO_SUBTYPE:STONE:ESSENCE_THUNDER]
[PRODUCT:100:1:BOULDER:NONE:STONE:THUNDER_POWER]
[SKILL:ALCHEMY]
Product:
[INORGANIC:THUNDER_POWER]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STONE_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:ALL:Distilled Thunder Essence]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:7:7:1][TILE:'#']
[SPEC_HEAT:800000]
[SOLID_DENSITY:9000000]
[LIQUID_DENSITY:9000000]
[MELTING_POINT:5000]
[BOILING_POINT:9000]
[IS_STONE]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:0]
[NO_STONE_STOCKPILE]
[SYNDROME]
[SYN_NAME:Thunder Mage]
[SYN_AFFECTED_CREATURE:DWARF:ALL]
[SYN_INHALED]
[SYN_CONTACT]
[SYN_CLASS:THUNDER_MAGE]
[CE_DIZZINESS:SEV:30:PROB:100:START:1:PEAK:1000:END:7000]
[CE_NUMBNESS:SEV:30:PROB:100:START:1:PEAK:1000:END:7000]
[CE_DISPLAY_NAME:NAME:electromancer:electromancers:electromantic:START:0]
[CE_ADD_TAG:NO_AGING:NO_EAT:NO_DRINK:NOEXERT:START:0]
[CE_CAN_DO_INTERACTION:START:0]
[CDI:ADV_NAME:Lightning]
[CDI:INTERACTION:LIGHTNING]
[CDI:BP_REQUIRED:BY_CATEGORY:HAND]
[CDI:TARGET:C:LINE_OF_SIGHT]
[CDI:USAGE_HINT:ATTACK]
[CDI:TARGET_RANGE:C:15]
[CDI:MAX_TARGET_NUMBER:A:1]
[CDI:VERB:gesture:gestures:NA]
[CDI:TARGET_VERB:are struck by lightning:is struck by lightning:NA]
[CDI:WAIT_PERIOD:50]
[SYNDROME]
[SYN_NAME:Thunder Familiar]
[SYN_AFFECTED_CREATURE:DOG:FEMALE]
[SYN_INHALED]
[SYN_CONTACT]
[SYN_CLASS:THUNDER_FAMILIAR]
[CE_BODY_TRANSFORMATION:START:0]
[CE:CREATURE:THUNDER_FAMILIAR:FEMALE]
[SYNDROME]
[SYN_NAME:Thunder Familiar]
[SYN_AFFECTED_CREATURE:DOG:MALE]
[SYN_INHALED]
[SYN_CONTACT]
[SYN_CLASS:THUNDER_FAMILIAR]
[CE_BODY_TRANSFORMATION:START:0]
[CE:CREATURE:FAMILIAR:MALE]
Another thing I tried with that reaction was turning dogs into familiars whose meat would carry the syndrome if eaten, but the magma issue prevented me trying that.
Finally, I tried just making a creature, but that killed the game, which I kind of expected to be honest.
As a side note, I do know that the syndromes themselves work, because I also put them in secrets as a healthy alternative to necromancy for the immortality inclined.