Sphere-specific drawbacks must be chosen when a practitioner first gains the associated sphere, and grant the practitioner an extra combat talent in the prerequisite sphere. Drawbacks may be removed in place of gaining a new talent through your class progression or by taking the Extra Combat Talent feat.
Wiki Note: If a Base Sphere grants an additional talent (such as via a package selection or drawback) the additional talents do not count as talents spent for abilities that count the number of talents spent in a sphere. (This most often applies to gaining skill points or improving unarmed damage.)
Utility Starts
The [utility start] tag is described in Spheres of Guile. It is only possible to take advantage of a combat sphere as a [utility] talent if your game includes a way to gain combat talents restricted to those with the [utility] tag, such as using one of the variants in Chapter 1.
Piecemeal Utility Starts: If you have a progression or optional replacement that grants a [utility] combat talent or a [utility] magic talent, you can use it to gain a base sphere if you apply a drawback or combination of drawbacks that removes all of that base sphere’s benefits other than skill ranks and [utility] talents (and actions necessary to use such talents).
Alternative-Brew
Whenever this sphere uses or grants ranks in Craft (alchemy) or calls for a Craft (alchemy) check, you instead gain ranks in a Craft or Profession or attempt a Craft or Profession check. The particular skill used is determined by the GM when you first gain this drawback. You use your ranks in the chosen skill instead of Craft (alchemy) when determining saving throws and Alchemy sphere effects. It is also substituted for all checks made to craft the items in question. This drawback does not grant a bonus talent; removing this drawback does not require spending a talent, but requires GM permission. You use ranks in the chosen skill in place of Craft (alchemy) for prerequisites for feats and talents that require the Alchemy sphere.
Chemical Dragon (Requires Formulae Package)
Source: Spheres Apocrypha: Alchemical Formulae
You gain the Shaped Chemistry talent as the bonus talent with this drawback. All your formulae must be created either as a line or a cone using the Shaped Chemistry talent. Once selected, this choice cannot be changed.
Chemical Sensitivity
Source: Diamond Spheres: Erudition & Esoterica
You can only benefit from a single mutagen at one time, with any attempts to imbibe a second mutagen causing you to suffer its toxicity effect and gain no benefits from it. Also, you automatically fail the saving throw associated with a mutagen’s toxicity effect.
You gain Pill Popper as a bonus talent.
Distinct Biochemistry
Source: Diamond Spheres: Erudition & Esoterica
Only you can benefit from your mutagens. If another creature is subject to your mutagen, they gain no benefits from the mutagen and must attempt a save against its toxicity effect immediately.
You gain a (mutagen) talent as a bonus talent.
Expensive Chemicals
The materials gathered over the day and the alchemy kit are not enough to produce your formulae and poisons. Each poison or formulae you make requires a cost of 1 silver piece per rank in Craft (alchemy) used to produce it. They still go inert as normal and count towards the maximum you may maintain at once.
Hippocratic Oath (Requires Poison Package)
You can only make mutagens with your poisons, and your poisons no longer cause fatigue. You gain a (mutagen) talent as a bonus talent.
Mana Chemistry
Your formulae and poisons use magical elements as part of their designs. This makes the effects your formulae and poisons create magical in nature and subject to spell resistance. In addition their effects may be dispelled by dispel magic (and other such similar effects) and your formulae and poisons are treated as magic items for the purposes of dispelling effects.
Narrow Toxicology (requires (poison) package)
Source: Spheres Apocrypha: Alchemical Poisons
Choose one of contact, ingested, inhaled, or injury. You can only make poisons of the chosen type. You must choose a (toxin) talent as the bonus talent granted by this drawback.
Venomous Dragon (requires (poison) package)
Source: Spheres Apocrypha: Alchemical Poisons
Whenever you try to make toxic gases, you never quite get it right. Maybe the poison’s too light, and it spreads too thin to be of any harm, or maybe it is too heavy and it falls too low to harm anyone. Luckily, you have learned a special technique to get as much poison as you want, wherever you want. You must choose the Noxious Breath talent with the bonus talent granted by this drawback. You cannot throw inhaled poisons as a splash weapon, but can still use the Noxious Breath talent when you would normally be able to.
Weaponized Formulae (Requires Formulae Package)
Source: Spheres Apocrypha: Alchemical Formulae
You gain the Chemical Coating talent as the bonus talent with this drawback. You can only use formulae as part of the Chemical Coating talent. You may only select formulae talents that can be used with the Chemical Coating talent.