Alchemists and Brewing Potions


Rules Questions


1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

Alchemists get Brew Potion for free, and so many bonuses to Craft[alchemy], but so many of their extracts are 'personal' range, thus do not qualify to be made into potions. This seems kind of odd to me, since brewing is such a big part of the Alchemist's theme.
They can't make potions out of most of their formula list, and they can't make potions off of other lists (I think?). Is there some part of the potion crafting process I'm misunderstanding?


Nope. If you want to make personal-range "potions", you take the infusion discovery and hand out extracts.


Or use the co-operative crafting rules. As long as one person on the crafting team has the spell it's ok.

*edit* or you can skip a prerequisite, even knowing the spell, by increasing the dc of the craft check by 5.


you cannot increase the dc for not knowing the spell for potions scrolls or wands.

The DC to create a magic item increases by 5 for each prerequisite the caster does not meet. The only exception to this is the requisite item creation feat, which is mandatory. In addition, you cannot create potions, spell-trigger, or spell-completion magic items without meeting its prerequisites.


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

This has been discussed before (search is your friend).

Alchemists (as any spellcaster) must have the spell/extract on their list, must know it, and it must not have a range of "personal".

Yeah, that does really limit things. You are free to houserule some of those limits away if you want to give alchemists extra superpowers that spellcasters don't have, but it isn't the RAW.


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Speaker for the Dead wrote:
*edit* or you can skip a prerequisite, even knowing the spell, by increasing the dc of the craft check by 5.

Nope - this is one of the few occasions when even the RAW don't allow you to cheese the system. Not only must the spell/extract be on your list, but you must know the spell/extract.


Speaker for the Dead wrote:
Or use the co-operative crafting rules. As long as one person on the crafting team has the spell it's ok.

No. Personal ranged spells can still not be made into potions.


While they can't make personal potions(which seems like an oversight with potions...) they can still use their Infusion Discovery(if they take it) to pass their personal extracts around.


There are lots of spells on the alchemist list that are not 'personal' range. These can be made into potions, like say cure light wounds.

Also, the alchemist can brew a potion even if the extract formula is not on his wish if another caster is the source of the spell.

If a particular spell/extract is range 'personal', then no, it can't be made into a potion.

Liberty's Edge

Rub-Eta wrote:
Speaker for the Dead wrote:
Or use the co-operative crafting rules. As long as one person on the crafting team has the spell it's ok.
No. Personal ranged spells can still not be made into potions.

He wasn't suggesting to bypass the personal range limit, he was suggesting to bypass the "not on the alchemist list" limit.


I'm sorry then. His follow-up on the previous post got me confused.

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