LazGrizzle |
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Hey guys! I was rolling up a new Ratfolk Alchemist yesterday, and I came up with an idea for a new Alchemist archetype, the Labrat (I know they already have a racial archetype, but it's not that good). Since in modern days we use rats to experiment with various chemicals and medicines before they reach human consumption, imagine in Golarion an evil sect of Alchemists who experiment on the physiques of Ratfolk to further their nefarious plots, or even a neutral organization experimenting on Ratfolk to better serve Mankind.. A PC Labrat would presumably have escaped their clutches.
So for abilities, I am thinking it would be very Mutagen based, maybe giving up Bombs, Swift Alchemy, Throw Anything and Brew Potion altogether.
I am thinking of a few different weird and gross "Discoveries" available only to the Labrat. They aren't set in stone yet, and the names are just descriptive suggestions, such as:
-Exude Swarm: the Labrat can grow and release a swarm of rodents from his body, similar to a Mogwai getting wet
-Grow Sense Organ: The Labrat can grow an extra set of eyes, ears, extra long whiskers, or nose, and receive bonuses to Perception, Initiative, gain Scent, etc.
-Instant Adaptability: Can gain the benefits of an adaptive physiognomy, similar in principle to the Animal Focus of the Hunter.
-Biological Healing: Shitty name, can't think of another right now, but the basic principle of "growing an ear on a rat's back". A labrat can take ten minutes to spontaneously grow a "tumor", that then can be removed and used to heal or stabilize an ally.
-Resistances to Disease and Bonus to Fortitude checks
-Feral Mutagen as Bonus Discovery
-Negate/Alter Poison/Potion: By ingesting a poison or potion, a reaction occurs in the guts of the Labrat. He then vomits it back into the container and changes it's function.
Any other ideas?
Ascalaphus |
I rather like the idea of a self-experimentation focused class. I do think I'd keep Brew Potion, but giving up or reducing bombs makes sense.
However, one of the strengths of the alchemist class is that it's very versatile with regards to builds. Try to keep that in; don't get stuck on a natural weapon melee only archetype.
What might be cool would be Mutations, somewhat inspired by for example the Hunter's Animal Focus. Being that you can choose temporary odd properties to add to yourself from a fairly large list. The perk of the archetype could be that you can adapt to a large variety of situations.
A balance point could be that if you try to manifest more than one Mutation at a time, that there's a % chance of also manifesting a Flaw for the duration.
SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |
Indagare |
I think getting rid of Bombs and Throw Anything makes sense. For a labrat you could consider a spell-like ability (or abilities). The abilities could be related to those spells normally found in potions or could be ones never found in potions (the experiments being to try and make potions). If you have something ala Rats of NIMH there could be increased intelligence and maybe some rogue skills related to picking locks and similar.
Goth Guru |
These are all good ideas. You could add my leveled mutations to the mix.
Alchemist mutagens make a temporary change, so you could have the labrat change based on some trigger, such as combat. They would change when the surprise attack happens, healing the damage of the attack as it happens. The monster form could be a winged rat ogre.
They would use mutagens on others, along with a flaw, which I call defects. It's like a contact poison, but their allies would forgo the save. A mutagen with continuous rage thrown at the middle humanoid will make it a party. Continuous rage will make them attack the closest thing till they lose consciousness or they change back.
DocShock |
Do you need anything new to do any of this? Seems like the baseline alchemist can pull off pretty much everything you want to do here:
-Exude Swarm -> Vomit Swarm. It's a spell, and it makes a swarm crawl out of you. Reflavor it as rats if you aren't keen on the other swarm types.
-Grow Sense Organ -> Heightened awareness. It's a spell, it does everything you mentioned except it gives you knowledge bonuses instead of scent. For that, use Bloodhound. Reflavor as extended whiskers, an ear growing out of your back, etc.
-Instant Adaptability -> Animal Aspect Spell. It's not quite as powerful as the hunter's animal shape stuff, but hey, you get it for free without giving up anything.
-Biological Healing -> Cure X Wounds Spell, Infusion Discovery. Reflavor any Cure extracts you brew as tumors that your pals can attach to themselves as a standard action.
-Resistances to Disease and Bonus to Fortitude checks -> I know you said you didn't like the existing racial archetype, but the option is there. I'm playing one now. He currently has a +6 bonus to saves vs disease and an outstanding Fort save to begin with. I use the plague vial well ahead of time and lick 10 arrows in advance of combat. Tagging multiple enemies with a DC20 fort save or 8 rounds of sickened is pretty solid.
-Feral Mutagen as Bonus Discovery -> There's no way to get bonus discoveries with the base alchemist, but you can always just take this. Alternatively, Ratfolk can use feats to pick up Sharpclaw and either Sharptooth or a Ring of Rat Fangs. Plus you're proficient with the ol' tailblade to begin with.
-Negate/Alter Poison/Potion -> The Transmute Potion to Poison spell does half of this. I don't think there's a way to switch it back, but you're halfway there.