... now with 35% more arrogance!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Alchemist and Witch

I decided that the Alchemist and the Witch do not work well using the "X Without Spells" paradigm. To me, the point of re-purposing the Cleric's Turn Undead ability is to represent a character's ability to dominate, command, or persuade another being to do something on the character's behalf. The Alchemist, however, is using knowledge of magical properties inherent in various substances, so the Magic-User paradigm seems more appropriate; they just wouldn't have the "memorize spells" mechanic. So, I wouldn't change much from my previous post on Alchemists. I'd require spell books, instead of making them optional.

Formal write-up:

Concept: Medieval alchemists, or fictional equivalents like Gaius from the Merlin TV series. Potion-brewer, instead of spell-caster.

XP/HD: As Magic-User. Prime ability is lowest of Int or Wis.

Weaponry and Armor: As Magic-User. Can use any magic item usable by Magic-Users.

Spells: Starts with book of 1d6 spells from the Magic-User spell list, but prepares these as potions instead of memorizing/casting spells or creating scrolls. Can research potions from any spell list. Ingredients are taken from a creature with 1 HD per spell level and cost 10 x 2d6 gp per HD, unless gathered by the alchemist.

Potions only affect living targets. Other alchemical forms are:
  • Salves (2nd level, cost x2): Affect any material they contact.
  • Powders (3rd level, cost x4): One target, 10 foot range (x length of blowgun, in feet.)
  • Incense (5th level, cost x10): 50-foot diameter circle, multiple targets.
A Witch is just an Alchemist who has a familiar instead of a spell book and starts with the Druid spell list, but can research potions from any spell list.

1 comment:

  1. If you want to "save" the cleric Turning Tables as a matrix for "opposing throws"- you could use the Saving Throws matrix to determine succes in a given task.

    ReplyDelete