The Apothecary

In a forum discussion about alternative classes, someone brought up the idea of a non-magical alchemist. I already have a magical Alchemist class, but I could see doing a non-magical medieval chemist, based on the Thief or the Leech class. I would call this the Apothecary. Like the Leech, probably no player character will take the Apothecary class as a stand-alone, but maybe a player will take one of the three class abilities as an add-on or "prestige" class.

Apothecary

Concept: Mostly mundane expert on rare substances.

Alignment: Any. Chaotic Apothecaries could make a good Poisoner class.

XP/HD: As Cleric. Prime ability is Intelligence.

Weaponry and Armor: Any armor, but only trained in weapons purchased when character is created.

Abilities: Identification and manufacture of mundane compounds, in parallel to the abilities of a Thief (cleverness, and stealth.) Instead of a Thief's surprise attack, Apothecaries can produce and administer poisons and antidotes.

Identification allows recognizing compounds and their properties, as well methods of neutralizing them. Roll d6 + level; 5+ means success.

Manufacture allows the duplication of non-magical materials, if the Apothecary has a sample or has researched or located a recipe in a formulary. It also allows the adaptation of a material to new forms. Which forms an Apothecary knows how to produce is based on level:

Apothecary Compound Formulas

Level		Form		Cost
1		Liquid: Mix or Ingest only		5 x 2d6 100 for poison
2		Salves: Contact or Ingest for effect		20 x 2d6 200 for poison
3		Powders: Blow into eyes, nose, or mouth for effect		30 x 2d6 300 for poison
4		Incense: Burn to produce 50-foot diameter cloud, affects multiple targets		40 x 2d6 400 for poison
5		Perfume: Odor spreads invisibly, otherwise as Incense		50 x 2d6 500 for poison
6		Acid: Liquid does damage on contact, spreads to cover 10 foot diameter area.		600/die of damage

Costs given are for ordinary substances that produce simple physiological effects (stinging, temporary blindness, drowsiness, sneezing, coughing, gagging) or simple chemical effects (color change, flavor change, odor change, texture change.) Second cost given is for poisons or their antidotes, per hit die of damage. If an Apothecary has a known recipe in a formulary, there is no die roll to create the compound in a lab, just time spent (1d6 hours x minimum level needed for formulation.) To devise an antidote to a known poison or compound, roll 1d6 + level; 5+ means success.

Any of the above forms can be mixed with the ingredients of a known formula to try to create a novel formulation that has two or more effects. This also requires a d6 roll, as for formulating an antidote.

As mentioned in the Alchemist class, powders can be blown up to 10 feet. A blowgun multiplies this range by the length of blowgun, in feet.

Poisons includes not just creating poisons and their antidotes, as described above, but also stealth and subterfuge when using them. Roll 1d6 + level; on 5+, the Apothecary can slip poison into a drink without being seen, disguise the flavor of a contaminant added to food, or otherwise avoid detection when administering a poison.