IMO, a core issue w/ the Alchemist is that everything they use can be bought from a store, or handed to an ally. No matter how I swing it, I think any "fix" to the class needs to give them some Alchemist-only pseudo-weapon, pseudo-spell thing.
My goal was to make something properly Alch, give it a consistent structure on the front-end rules wise, and allow for each Contraption to be as much of a blank check as possible while staying within the type's usual theme.
All those ingredients led me to thrown-to-terrain deployables that are decided/prepped w/ Reagents each day, but can be refueled for multiple uses, and even in the worst cases, should steal an enemy action or two to smash.
This first pass was intended to a bit "one of everything" type listing, from a zone that invokes penalties to elemental typed saves, to raw utility like the Spectral Hand-Off.
The Enhancements are where things get real mad-scientist, such as enabling any Contraption to have it's elemental fuel type swapped for any other.
Overall, it really just brings the idea of item-fueled equipment from the Treasure Vault, gives it a formal structure, and actually makes them Alchemist-options, instead of once again letting any class use to full effect.
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Don't hold back, critique this however you see fit, whether that's one Contraption or Enhancement triggering an OP alarm, or some core rule.
https://scribe.pf2.tools/v/rvr6HTRd-alchemical-contraptions-v-1-1
Yeah, I def want to simplify as much as possible, but only to a point. The mental one in particular could loose the sticky debuff entirely, and maybe up the dmg a bit to compensate. A bit much when it was not needed there.
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Half the appeal / idea is that if you want simple, you can just chuck the bombs.
For the Contraptions, the idea is that there are too many to ever use, so you pick one or two that you think mesh with your play-style / party and master that subset. Commit each day so you can't worry about changing them once you set off.
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Though I would like to add more simple ones like the Hand-off that are more designed as supplemental utility.
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In general, once you get used to the idea of using the fuel's [rank] in the math to let them scale, the only other math complication that's unusual is counting the Contraption's duration across turns.
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Also, I nerfed the Serpent-Wire at the last second by going from 2-->3 fuel cost, I think I'd undo that, idk, hard to foresee how powerful it might be.
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Most with triggers will use the save of the triggering effect for simplicity. Otherwise it's basic saves when appropriate. Some, like the Bumper-Blimp do just get the effect if you land the squares. Helps make it worth it, and keep things speedy.
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Happy to hear that they were to your liking!