Archimedes The Great's page

Has anybody swapped the whole eldritch/lovecraftian theme of this book for something else? I personally feel like it's a really big straying from the classic undead / gothic European style horror that the rest of the book holds well.

Plus I feel like what makes lovecratian horror stand out is the way it challenges "real life settings". warping realities that we all hold to be true. When thrust into a setting where abyssal demons, and zombie wizards, and mosters already exists, really reduces the impact. Plus the migo are like creatures from space...

I'm just not a fan, but am wondering if anybody else has applied some other sort of theme/monsters/story to this book. Otherwise I'm probably just gonna stick with sea monsters and zombies and suff.

Has anybody explored expanding the roles of the guests of the lodge?

I'd like to create a little more interaction & intrigue for my players. They like to role-play and talk gossip with NPCs, but it seems like once they would even catch a whiff of Whispering Way or Estavion's nonsense, they'd pursue that immediately.

I'd like to create more social skill checks, and actual reasons to find out more about each of the guests and their interactions. Make it even more of a game of clue, and perhaps give them reasons to explore some of the many (too many) labeled rooms of Ascanor. Seriously why so many empty rooms with literally no impactful intel/loot/characters etc.

Anybody dive into something like this?

yea. clawhand shield is better and cheaper.

Idk if it's objectively better.. It's just different. Better is determined by what kind of style your table uses. If your GM is one that pushes play and forces the party to really manage character resources, then the Shield of the Mage is definitely better.

The clawhand shield has it's benefits
1. Two more AC bonus, but most full caster's won't really be relying much on AC anyways
2. Auto attack against a grappler
3. Allows somatic components, so you can hold something (staff, rod, touch attack etc.) in your off hand.

But the Shield of the Mage can truly be built around to the point where it becomes broken.
1. Though it is a 2-turn use in combat (1 for the shield to decipher the scroll as a full round, and 2 to cast it) It doesn't actually use any of your actions.
2. Here's the big one... You can control and determine your "spells known" through a variety of ways. A wizard can erase spells that they deem as unnecessary and a sorcerer can reselect spells known as they level, and as graystone pointed out an alchemist can limit spells known to 1. If the only spells that the shield can cast are ones that are always useful, then it's essentially a free lesser quickened spell every other turn, and virtually unlimited use outside of combat. Haste, Invisibility, fly, ray of exhaustion, heroism... How about a party that has permanent heroism 24-7?

I of course think that using the item this way is dumb and really takes the fun out of the "randomness", but still. It truly can be munchkinned into being OP.

I was looking at the Reveal Weakness ability from the Wizard's Void arcane school powers.

The text only states a "penalty to AC". Initially, it looks like this applies only to regular AC, but what if the target has no actual armor bonus or natural armor bonus? Then it would do nothing. Looking into it deeper, now makes me speculate that it would apply to all 3 types of AC.

I know there are rules for types of bonuses and where they apply, but I'm not certain on penalties.

Thanks

Would the Psychic Bloodline's arcana meet the prerequisite for Esoteric Knight?

Esoteric Knight states: "ability to cast 1st-level psychic spells."
Psychic Bloodline Arcana states: "Your sorcerer spells and spell-like abilities count as psychic instead of arcane."

The bloodline offers the sorcerer spell list, but they are cast using psychic magic rules... What about a psychicly cast sorcerer spell that just so happens to also be on the Psychic spell list.

I guess what I'm asking is if the requirement specifically needs the 1st-level spells from the "psychic spell list?". My inclination is no, since that would limit the prestige class to only to the kineticist or psychic classes.

RAW? RAI? Would you as a GM say that this is fine?

So last session by beloved sorcerer perished, and I am now tasked with creating a new character. I've decided upon an arcanist. A powerful and most importantly, an evil master of the arcane. I'm still debating on the archetype, but what I'm really having trouble with is narrowing in on are cool and unique magic equipment for an Intelligence based arcane caster.

I've got 140,000 gp to spend. But I'm really not looking for standard things. I already know about headbands of intelligence, cloaks of resistance, rings of freedom of movement, rings of displacement, and metamagic rods, wands, potions, etc.

I'm really looking for suggestions of unique items that really benefit or apply to arcanists, wizards, and evil necromancers in general. Maybe things that grant bonuses on top of other abilities. For example, a robe of runes is strictly better than a +4 headband and some other smaller things.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Level 100 is absurd.

That was a typo. I meant to say level 1000.

What good is having the Triforce of power if you don't have power attack right?!?!

Anyways, I'm wondering what some of you think would be a very appropriate build style for Ganondorf. Let's say a 10th level Ganondorf. You and I both know, that in reality, he wouldn't be anywhere less than level 100, but let's keep it simple, shall we?

1) Gotta have that juicy juicy Power
2) Can implement his schoolbus sized sword.
3) Can just as easily splatter your brains with his fists.
4) Can wield magic.
5) Did i mention power, this guy is one bad mamma jamma

Functionally, he feels like a bloodrager to me, though I'm not sure how appropriate I feel about the whole uncontrollable rageness panning out.

Thoughts?

I'm only loosely familiar with the character from my Ganondorf giving him the business in online smash play.

Though I imagine he seems to be maybe more of an Inquisitor than warpriest. Maybe with an investigator or alchemist dip of some sorts for the effective use of holy water?

Is it a whip? It looked more like a spiked chain to me.

As others stated, realistic concepts such as physics, chemistry, and biology don't really hold true in a world with magic. And the reasoning behind touch attacks and their dismissal or applicable armor bonuses varies from case to case.

A gunslinger's bullets are thought to be so forceful, that they'd puncture any armor that stands in their way. Therefore, "on target" should inflict damage on an enemy. Pretty hard to shoot pixies out of the air though.

Ray attacks usually represent elemental blasts of burning flame or intense cold. Things that sheets of leather or metal wouldn't protect from.

Most other touch attacks like calcific touch, shocking grasp just simply rely on magic to state that, the delivering hand only requires a target (armor) to discharge an effect that would hit the wearer of such armor.

Hits and misses in regards to the math of AC can be interpreted in many ways. From a solid whiff on a target to a glancing shot off a shield, to simply not being able to puncture plate mail even with a high roll.

As a DM I never outright tell my PCs what an enemy's AC is. But If the archer rolls a 22 on AC 24, I'll say. "you hear your arrow clink, connecting with the enemy's armor, but you realize that you missed the shoulder joint by mere inches".

I don't really understand the thing for reverse gravity. Are you saying he made the area it effects way bigger than it should have been?

Reverse gravity targets a 10 foot cubic area/level. This is different than a 10 ft square area/level in the sense that if you want want to make somebody fall all the way up and slam into a 150 foot ceiling, then you need to affect 15 (10 cubic foot area) in a column to make the gravitational force in that whole column reverse.

My GM was applying the reverse gravity to just area and ruled that the gravity in that area was reversed all the way up. So therefore our entire party with exception of the feather falling witch (spread out in a massive room) all slammed up 150 feet into the ceiling and then fell 150 feet the next round.

The toughest encounter that I've ever had was one in which the DM misunderstood the mechanics of two....very powerful spells.

Disintegrate, where the RAY was treated as a LINE... So 3 people were being hit at once.

And reverse gravity where 3D space in Cubic feet was treated as 2D square feet... so four people were being affected at once.

Surprisingly only 1 death...

Punishing a player for being emotionally connected in a game seems so completely backwards... Your frustration is completely justified.

Maybe if the GM had given the spells a chance at failure similar to a wizard wearing armour (10-20% or so) but heighten suitable spells it would've been okay.
But a 50% chance of failure is WAY to extreme.

Yeah, I said exactly the same thing. I don't care if it was a 40% chance, but I felt like it should at least favor the opportunity to do Something, as opposed to being a 50-50 coin flip.

Update: He now says that he stated that calm emotions now works at hours per level as opposed to rounds per level with concentration. Like... why even fight for this ground-breaking story fueled penalty only to have it essentially revoked at the cost of a single level-1 spell... It feels like a complete backpedal, but I guess I won't argue with it.

Kill your investigator and tell him to come back with an alchemist so that you'll have endless class specific loot to give him.

It depends on what levels your PCs are at, but you can include

orcs
orcs with PC levels (witch, barbarian, shaman, fighter, bloodrager etc.)
worgs, worgs with orc riders/cavaliers
a siege / battle mammoth

Also, I believe there are "Mass Combat" rules you could look into as well. Picking and choosing certain mechanics from them could incorporate a different kind of uniqueness to your combat which might be fun as your players do both normal combat as well as inspire the soldiers around them.

Yup looks similar to what I filtered out. Now it's going through them all to determine if they are useful or optimal.

Sure a Potion of Disfiguring touch is possible, but it is hardly useful pending very specific situations/shenanigans.

It will take some time, but I'll put some sort of guide together.

which database?

if you're referring to the DBs on d20pfsrd, which i compiled the info for, I'd like to know how they could be better.
Less of a mess as it were.

Perhaps I was being inconsiderate and harsh in calling it a mess, as it actually functions quite well. It really is a culmination of both the lack of paizo's standardizations in the text of their spells and the difficulty in standardizing things based on text that was intended to be printed and read, not necessarily easily categorized and filtered electronically.

It would be much simpler if each spell could be broken down into perfect taxonomy, but I see the difficulty in doing such. Additionally, the conditions a spell must have in order to qualify as a potion don't help a filtering process. Let alone, qualifying as a "useful" potion or even an optimum one.

Paizo's text varies to where there are spells with a range of: personal, personal and touched creature, personal & close, you, you and one other creature, you and 46 brown & gold marbles that weigh less than 1/4 ounce each etc. The same goes for effects and targets.

Hopefully, in 2nd edition, spells will simply have a little flask symbol next to their entry if they are even able to be made into a potion, for simplicity and reduced confusion.

So, I have a Psychic Bloodline sorcerer/paladin (not actual psychic spell list) in our campaign. He was a character that was brought into the AP after the death of my previous character. I wanted him to kind of have a different type of backstory to justify this his relevance, and to avoid any tired chosen-one, or former mercenary tropes. So the character's concept became closely tied to my friend's new character that was also being freshly brought in (his previous character also died). He saw this new person as his best friend and believed that it was his purpose to defend and protect him, thinking that his friend had a far greater purpose in the world.

I followed this up mechanically by making him slightly capable in melee and using aid another, bodyguard, and combat reflexes to "protect" his ally. Alas, it proved to not be enough, and the friend met his fate two sessions ago. Now my GM has ruled that because I lost my best friend/purpose in life that I would be going through an emotionally tumultuous state of grief and it might include some sort of difficulty with my psychic casting. I said that's fair because it makes sense through the story and because I welcome the challenge.

However, yesterday we just played a long 8 hour session including a 27 turn combat with a dragon, and the penalty that he had in mind was that my emotional state is so fragile, that I have to roll a 50% chance to have a successful spell get off, otherwise it fails and I lose that spell slot. I figured it would last in the dungeon where the fallen comrade was, but it persisted for multiple days in game, and possibly multiple sessions.

I became frustrated and discouraged and complained a bit because I essentially was afflicted with the effects of Bestow Curse for multiple days with no mechanical way to handle it. I essentially had to roll 50% chance to cast a spell, 30-40 % chance to penetrate spell resistance, and 50% to target the creature via displacement (which we later determined was also wrong), and beat Saves and energy resistance on top of that. I was essentially 10% of a functional character.

I brought up my frustration to him later on, explaining that I agree and encourage story based effects in the game since I actually like the role-playing aspects of the game, but I thought the penalty was a bit extreme and didn't really promote a "fun" style of playing. He thinks that he's being generous by allowing me to cast spells at all, as per the rules of Psychic Magic.

It was my intention that the emotion-based components of psychic magic are tied to actual mechanical effects in the game. Things like a curse of melancholy, the crushing despair or rage spells, or Intimidation & fear effects. Things in the game that have actual mechanical descriptions as Emotion & Fear. I know they aren't the most common things in the game, but If a GM wanted to challenge a player, then he has the power to add any of these effects into the game as he sees fit. I explained using the logic of how limited the effects are to reduce verbal components (Silence effects, language dependent things etc.). He argues, that I should have just cast calm emotions on myself, but It is a round/concetration duration spell that eats up my standard action.. so it doesn't really help me cast spells at all (AND I have the 50% chance of failure to even cast it in the first place).

It really just feels like I am being punished for another character's death rather than being challenged. I as a player can research and find ways to use spells and scrolls and whatever to solve and circumvent the negative mechanics of psychic casting, but there's nothing I can do to deal with a penalty that transcends game mechanics... of a very mechanically heavy game.

Long in short... I still really can't do much about it, but is my frustration justified? I just don't wanna feel like I'm being a wuss or unnecessarily difficult. Maybe my interpretation of Psychic magic rules is wrong, maybe his are wrong? Any thoughts?

Yeah, I've tried basically everywhere.

I might just make one myself. That database is a mess though.

Does anybody know of such a guide?

Something that includes a list of viable potions?
Efficient longer duration potions?
Worthey min/level or rounds/level potions?
Magic items that work well with potions, like a sipping jacket or bountiful bottle?

I've tried filtering through the database on pfsrd, but it is a lot to filter out and I still feel like I'm missing most things.

As someone fairly new to Pathfinder and TTRPGs in general, there are several reasons why I keep coming back to the table.

So I just turned 28, but for most of my childhood and my young adult life, I never really got much exposed into this kind of gaming. I was never too much into video games, was very much into athletics and schoolwork and stuff. But always in the back of my mind, I had this wildly rampant creative imagination, but I never really got to/chose to let it loose. I'd see movies like LOTR or Star Wars and think to myself... I've got these kinds of stories and characters and lore swarming in my head all the time.

By random chance, I had a friend who turned me onto a podcast (The Glass Cannon Podcast) and it really kind of opened my eyes to what RPG are all about. I never really thought that I looked down upon or thought that kind of gaming experience was weird or lesser. If fact I actually had no real conception of what it even was, but I guess everything else in my life never really led me to ever experience it.

I really liked that podcast. I found it witty, funny, charming, and the guys on it sounded like my friends. Just a bunch of guys sitting around, drinking beer, busting each other's balls and playing a cool game. But also... the storytelling. The ability to tell your own story and using lore and mechanics to flesh it out... I had found that outlet for this creativity that I never let loose before. That was the beginning of the end of it for me. Turns out I even really love the improv acting of it too.

Some of the other reasons why I play

• Consistent time for me and my friends. Often times as adults we get swept up in the ongoing and sometimes overwhelming monotonous responsibilities. This allows me to have scheduled (Me) time. (Me) time that I choose to spend with my buds
• Games: it is really not much different than al other games when you boil it down. There are solidly constructed rules, you get to apply strategy, build a player, and luck is involved.

Reasons why it is tough &/or reasons for migration to 5E

• Scheduling & consistency: As adults, its good to schedule the fun stuff, but the responsibilities are really more important. Scheduling and consistency is consistently difficult no matter what activity it is, whether it's RPGs, dinner with family, or pickup basketball.
• Work: This is probably the most Pathfinder specific answer. There are a lot of rules, lot of mechanics, lots of content in general. Having a fun experience through a well flowing game takes work. Work by the GM and work by the players. I personally enjoy reading the rules, understanding the RAW vs RAI, learning nuances, and getting in deep and knowing many aspects of the game. Work and Fun are not mutually exclusive for me, but some people prefer a more laid back, loose, and easier approach to their RPG games.

Get your allies some Truesight. I've made 3 Drow characters that focus around using Darkness/Deeper Darkness abuse, and persistently just make sure to either put them in a party where we can get some Truesight Permanency, or else delay the Deeper Darkness to around level 15 so that I can use the regular Darkness occassionally for what I need, and my allies have enough time to get their individual preps.

That certainly sounds powerful, but It is more costly and resource intensive for the party's capabilities.

I'm a 8th level alchemist.

I was more so trying to see if there was a way to reduce the spell's radius. I've seen meta-magic do everything-but for some reason.

I'm wondering if a scroll of (Eclipsed) Unbearable Brightness works. Eclipsed doesn't raise the spell's level, so there's no increased spell level (for pricing). The radius is much more bearable at 30 feet, but I'm still aiming for more the 10-20 foot radius range. Since there aren't a ton of large maps that we use.

But Also if Eclipsed spell depletes light now, instead of creating it, does it even dazzle or blind?

Say I have the See in Darkness ability and some other effects that capitalize on being unseen and in shadows.

I want to use this ability as an advantage, but know that it is a really rare ability. I'd like to gain an advantage over my enemies, but spells like deeper darkness have a radius effect that just takes over everything, and effectively blinds my allies too.

I was hoping to find some sort of magic item that either only puts the effect localized around my character, or simply a more feasible area (10 foot radius or whatever). Granting all allies the see in darkness ability doesn't seem to be feasible, and certainly not effective/efficient.

I see things like Eclipsed spell, but still, have nothing.

Geeze, I've been busy.

Anyways, I'm looking to see if there is an official ruling for what happens with an animal companion or familiar during a charm or possession event. More interested in yall's RAI suggestions vs RAW litigiousness.

So what happens?

• To the player?
• to the companion?
• Different for a highly intelligent/improved familiar
• Alchemist's Tumor Familiar?

I have an Alchemist with a mauler tumor familiar and also an intentionally bad Will save. The character/familiar combo is pretty powerful and I have decided to rule that the familiar while functional is extremely dangerous and essentially only under tenuous control of the alchemist at best, so he really only comes out to "play" in dire circumstances.
Now the Tumor Familiar is both its own creature, but also the same creature as the alchemist (especially) when burrowed inside the alchemist's chest cavity.

During (let's say a dominate person effect) happens while mauler is sleeping inside. Does it reject the idea of foreign control and eject itself, or does it also succumb to the effect as "part of the original 1 humanoid target".

I know this may be subject to table variation & GM ruling, but I wanted to get some opinions before we discuss a ruling.

Very good. Thanks everybody.

Though if it was your first attack, then aren't you wielding a thrown weapon, so you wouldn't be able to use rapid shot? It isn't like any of your first 3 attacks are significantly different if you use Rapid Fire and TWF together.

That is a very good catch. And also seemingly a pretty fair compromise for mechanical balance. You could throw the catalyst, then use all your iterative attacks for bombs, but you wouldn't be able to apply Rapid shot to bombs since your first attack wasn't with one.

Now you could apply rapid shot to splash weapons, but I'm really not sure if there is a way to even equip your hands with enough splash weapons for all your attacks, prior to you initiating the full round attack action.

i like picking that trait with a tiefling and getting the 'darksire amulet' it net you 12 resistance to fire\elec\cold.

You have done it. A true genius. Thanks

Anybody know of any magical items, spells, potions, equipment, etc that boosts any current resistances that a character might have.

Permanent or long duration buffs are obviously better. My searches haven't turned up anything.

I answer this question the same every time.

If you're the kind of player who thinks prepping, planning, and customizing a character is half the fun. And you enjoy looking at limitless different utility options as well as playing a character who can fill many many roles then you play an Alchemist.

If not. then you don't.

You can even pick a madness alchemist that is based of Charisma. Just do it for Barghest Feast. Nothing like eating people for some buffs.

You can have 1 'virtual' size increase. and 1 actual size increase, so Strong Jaw and Enlarge can be used at the same time to increase your damage die twice.

Ahhh I see.

Does this work because they are simply transmutation school spells and not necessarily polymorph effects?

I was under the impression that any kind of size change effects didn't stack, but that might only be limited to polymorph stuff.

And actually while I was copying that text I looked again and now I'm less sure. The last sentence there might contradict what I just said =P
Thoughts?

Right?! Luckily I'm not doing PFS and my GM/players are very open to RAI & balancing, but even as a player, I would think we'd be in agreement that there should be no all or nothing with bomb throwing. If you only have 1 bomb left and have 4 attacks in a full round attack action do you just throw a bomb, and then do nothing..? I'd argue that if you have a way to arm yourself via swift actions, quickdraw etc. then you can keep attacking.

Though I might advocate for banning of the catalyst's effect entirely. It's just way too powerful for a ranged touch attack. Unless the BBEG is straight up 100% immune to fire, a wizard, alchemist, cleric and at least..... 1 commoner to the throw the catalyst would destroy him in 1 round.

1 round isn't a lot, but when it's on a ranged touch.... that 50% to all typed damage is so controllable and abusable.

It's good teamwork, but you are burning a quarter your bombs in one turn that still gets to apply any resistances. And it's not 30d6+70, it's ((6d6+14x1.5)-R)x5, resistance would apply to each bomb, not the total, and at 12th level, it's very possible for resistance to do away with most or all of the bomb damage.

Right, I was simplifying totals without resistances. But like an average of 52.5 fire damage per bomb, not to mention 63 with a targeted admixture. Even with fire resistances, It's not preventing a ton of damage, and you're virtually guaranteed to hit on all attacks pending a fumble, and your bombs aren't going to be just fire... they'll be nauseating, cursing, and blinding.

Throwing Bombs is its own full round action, so no you can't switch between bombs and other alchemical weapons.

Is this true even with all the FAQs that address bombs as suitable for most ranged weapon feats? With TWF? Fast Bombs locks you into throwing only bombs..? Can a Throwing fighter only throw multiple javelins in a full round attack, and not also throw a dagger or anything else.

You can't tail retrieve or spring-loaded wrist sheath access the catalyst into your hand, throw it as your first attack, then throw 4 bombs while hasted?

I know that strong jaw can be used on animal companions and stuff, but for a PC like a barbarian, bloodrager, or alchemist with existing natural attacks. What value does this spell have over something like Enlarge Person, especially in the mid/late levels?

Yes the -1 to hit, and -1 AC, and being bigger, heavier, etc.
But Enlarge person counter by increase melee weapon dice by one or two steps(depending on starting die), and grants +2 STR and a natural reach. And it's only a 1st level spell for the same duration.

When most of your reliable damage comes from mods, what major value does strong jaw have? Am i missing something?

So I've got quite a bit of experience playing an alchemist and using things such as the hybridization funnel, and the grenadier's alchemical weapon ability, but I just came across this item for the first time while browsing.

Incendiary Catalyst.

Can this be used as part of a full round attack throwing multiple bombs?? Could you simply pass these out to your allies, hold your action to when they throw it on an enemy and then launch bombs at them for double damage?

Pending the enemy definitely has immunity to fire, the amount of extra damage that these would provide per their price is crazy, and the idea of crafting or using any other alchemical weapons seems laughable.

a 12th level tiefling alchemist with FCB & 26 Int score with fast bombs, TWF, rapid shot, and haste could potentially throw 5 bombs in a single round dealing (30d6 +70) x 1.5.

It also would help to preserve more of your bombs per day, simply by destroying everything faster.

TL;DR: Yes, you can voluntarily fail any saving throw. Fortunately, that still makes invigorating poison pretty terrible, as you risk ability damage every time you use it since nearly all poisons that do ability damage do so recurrently and invigorating poison only protects against a single instance of ability damage from a single poison.

So... say that you have a poison that deals 1 point of ability damage to physical all physical ability scores each round for 6 rounds. (I don't know all the poison effects, maybe its bought, found, harvested from a monster, or custom created, etc). But the poison's DC is idk, lets say 11 (they are usually terribly low).

A 2nd level druid could cast this on their animal companion, then an ally could inject the poison into it. The companion could voluntarily fail the initial absurdly low DC.

Not only would that initial ability damage not even happen, but the bear companion now gets +4 alchemical bonus to STR, DEX, & CON (which stacks with enhancements and other bonuses and further boosts it's con save) for 1 minute!

Then the bear companion could choose to actually make the recurring save the next round and end the poison's effect. All without even taking it's own action yet.

Shorter duration, but a far more powerful effect than even an anchemist's default mutagen... And there's no alchemist involved.

The use of this reasoning seems to be more of an abuse of RAW or more specifically lack there of, and contrary to reasonable realism and reasonable mechanics. Like... Does the bear really get to choose when and when not it's body's immune system fights off a poison...?

Does the fact that there is no specific rule prohibiting something mean that it is allowed? How do we draw the line?

I have been in discussion of using the spell Invigorating Poison.

Some people have suggested that the spell can be used as a pretty potent buff, by inflicting oneself with a multi stat poison for some beefy and cheap bonuses. The spell states that the poison has to actually inflict the ability damage, for the spell's abilities to be triggered.

The RAW in the core rulebook about voluntarily failing a saving throw only specifically mentions 'spells'. Otherwise, nothing is mentioned for things such as alchemical items or poisons etc.

From a realistic GM interpretation, I would say that you cannot voluntarily fail a fortitude save against such things. After all, it is the innate nature of your body and it's immune system that are fighting off the poison and most certainly not a willing decision of a character. If i get infected exposed to a titer of Tuberculosis, it is not really a conscious decision of mine to fight it off or succumb to infection.

While the effect still could work, you'd have to actually "fail" the save. In which a pass would result in a wasted dose of poison and a wasted action. Now there are many ways in which you could increase the chances of failure significantly, but it would mean lowering your Fortitude save and or misfortune effects etc.

Because the spell has a low minutes duration, it isn't viable for an out of combat plan either

Does anybody know of an official RAW ruling on this?

Don't do the hobbits and certainly not Frodo. I can see players taking over the roles of the other 3 hobbits, but it would create a very strange unbalanced dynamic where whoever plays Frodo is literally everything.

meh almost all of them. Paizo has commissioned some excellent work, and by no means am I attempting to downplay the artistry, but I usually prefer the visuals of my own mind (surprise surprise). If as a GM I ever use creature/NPC art during sessions, I will almost always search the web for other artwork with a similar feel for what the creature is, but with a better aesthetic. You can usually find something by browsing Pinterest, deviant art, or google.

You are this

Alignment Shmalignment!

From my experience, the most rewarding fights are when a (lower level) party fights against a similar number of enemies in a dynamic environment. Preferable 2-3 fights like these in waves, where the party is really challenged to balance their resources and partially use their characters in ways that they are not optimized for.

On many occasions I have included several specific obstacles/elevation changes/traps/ to the battlefields that all have respective benefits or drawbacks.
I even make up special rules for these sometimes. I once had a a waterwheel in a mill with essentially two open floors.

o While inside the wheel you gained partial cover from the water spilling over, but you also took a -2 to ranged attacks from standing on a moving base.
o Using a single move action and a Climb check to grab a hold of one side of the wheel allowed a character to ascend to the second level in one turn without having to run around the stairs. Up there they were treated with higher ground bonuses.
o If someone moved adjacent to the spending side of the wheel there was a % chance that the wheel caught their gear and attempts to drag them under with a CMB roll. If bull rushed or moved into that space then the CMB gets +5.

I described the wheel, benefits, and hazards to them via flavor though (not exactly all the numerical bonuses) and to my great pleasure, the party forced a cultist into the wheel who was dragged under and drowned.
But obviously... the bad guys didn't need intuition, they knew all the benefits of each position. Sometimes the bad guys even set up bear traps, or trip wires, nets etc.

The trick is to simply point out and specify certain things for free if you want your PCs to realistically use them. Sometimes maps can be hard to interpret or players are busy looking over spell/feat options. I used to force players to discover the uses of these elements on their own via Perception and other skills, but then they often were overlooked.

If you want your players to tactically utilize their environment just like your monsters can (I love when mine do) then its best to just say "Okay here is a large statue, there's a ladder over here, a slick oil patch right here, and dense bushes right there".

I had a GM who started an AP at a 20 point buy when most are designed for a 15 point buy. Regardless our players were experienced, tactile, and dominant.

The problem was, many of them lacked discipline and often got bored of their characters, basically allowing themselves to be killed or just writing off their character and bringing in a new one. This was making a cohesive and immersive story difficult to maintain, so my DM came up with a system and I feel like it was a good decision.

When a party member is killed or leaves, it has group and single player consequences.

o The party is not allowed to take any of their dead companion's gear (unless it was a story crucial item).
o The reputation of the party as powerful heroes/saviors decreases a step as their fragility or instability becomes exposed.
o A new character comes in with a 15 point buy in, and -2 for every subsequent new character for that player.
o You also come in 1 level below the wealth by level table, and 1 more for each subsequent character.

I understand that a player might just sincerely find themselves not enjoying a character or feeling lackluster, but I still agree with the strict ruling. There is always options to retrain what you can.
It taught us all to appreciate what we have a little more, work more carefully and diligently as a team, and grasp the consequences of death more realistically. He felt that pathfinder shouldn't work like call of duty where you just re-spawn 20 times a game.

Granted he also wasn't a sadistic DM who just wanted to kill players. After all, collective storytelling is more important to us all than playing video game style.

Of these, only Holy Water works with the Hybridization Funnel. Burst Jar is 2 liquids that react when combined, Ghast Retch is a powder, Fungal stun isn't described as... anything, and Tanglefoot bag is a tar or resin, not a liquid. And drugs aren't splash weapons.

Rules Shmules!

I was more just placing an overall statement that the hyb funnel is great, but you are right though Firebug.

Although my friends and I have largely ignored the semantic restrictions of alchemical weapons and the Hybridization, especially since they are such a lackluster option at mid/late levels.

As indicated, alchemical splash weapons are great, especially at low levels. And the DC can even scale decently well if you use the "full pouch" spell.

Here's some things that may help what you're looking for.

Feats:
Some of these aren't really all that powerful, but definitely help an alchemist who wants to forgo the rout of using a stupid crossbow. You're an alchemist after all, not a wizard!
Concentrated SplashLike targeted bomb admixture, but for all alchemical weapons, and it doesn't use any action.
Spalsh Weapon MasteryObviously listed above, but pretty good.
Close Quarters ThrowerA reasonable GM would allow this to apply to both bombs & splash weapons for an Alchemist. Since there is no realistic difference for either action.

Items:
Portable Alchemy lab (You'll want it for crafting)
Alchemist's Atlatl to increase splash weapon range.
Hybridization Funnel This is an absolute must, especially for the price. Put that craft alchemy to work.
Focusing Flask Combine doses to make it more potent during downtime.
Spring Loaded Sheath Two of these will allow you to save action economy in arming yourself at least twice in a single combat.
Bombchucker You should already have this..best effect in the game for 12 gold.

Alchemical Weapons:
Some deal decent damage, some have cool debuffs, and with a hybridization funnel you can have both.
Holy Water
Burst jar
Ghast Retch Flask
Fungal Stun Vial
Tanglefoot Bag
Drugs..(Opium is an incredible debuff for only 25 gold) Inhalation, Injury, or Consumption (typically applied with a syring spear or a medlance). Yes it gives some temporary HP and +2 to fortitude saves to the target, but it also fatigues them for an hour, deals 1d4 Con and 1d4 Wis damage thus hindering HP and Fort/Will saves, with a base DC of 20.

The alchemist isn't the most powerful class, but It is the most unique and fun in my opinion. Hope you have fun, and good luck.

I've gone into EK as paladin/sorcerer. We've basically skinned the game to say that it is my divine touch that grants me innate arcane spellcasting, and not necessarily my blood or whatever.

Though mechanically using the Divine spell list, I'm not really sure.

A divine EK also wouldn't really be all that different from just being a normal cleric from a BAB perspective since Cleric is already 3/4 and you don't have all those levels sunken into wizard/sorcerer. Unless you really want those fighter feats..

"Too much" is whatever you determine to be an unreasonable amount. Which requires one to be honest with themselves, when determining what kind of imagery they want to envision in their games.

At my tables, If it doesn't fit into a backpack or you don't have a magical bag to contain it then I'll just say you can't carry it.

I have a character that has a TON of mundane equipment. But these are things like, marble, fishing wire, bell, whistle, threat and needle, mirror, whetstone, flint and tinder, magnet... But you get the picture,all that stuff is pretty minuscule in weight, but all easily fits into a reasonable pack suited for adventuring.

I'd say that your original gear list is pretty viable (maybe with exception for one collapse-able thing). But by no means, should a barbarian with 18 strength reason "but i can carry up to 303 pounds" to justify carrying a sword, shield, sledgehammer, bag of nails, toolbox, 50 pounds of lumber, 50 bounds of large stones, two small children, and bucket of gardening soil, 3 large masterwork great-clubs from a giant, and 22000 pieces of gold.

If you are a fighter who specializes with throwing weapons, sure it's realistic to say that you have some sort of quiver or pack designed to hold multiple javelins (5-6 ish), but you certainly are not going to be carrying 26.

Another thing that I do in my campaigns... I include weight values of money. Carry what you can, stash it somewhere, or find a bank or NPC you can trust it with.
I also rule that anything specifically not stashed in a pack or container is free game to be targeted. You want a few potions or scrolls hanging at your waist for ease of access (to avoid using an action to retrieve)? Fine, but if Mr. Orc is having trouble hitting your AC, don't get upset if he takes a swing or a swipe for your little exposed bag of goodies.

In several adventures that I've played through or DM'd, this is the coolest way that I've seen it used.

The PCs were rescuing slaves (normal people from a village) from an orc camp. The party was very stealthy, but among the group of slaves were some children. The children, much like their adult counterparts, were upset, hurt, and afraid.

However, unlike the adults they lacked the understanding of the ultimate imperative need for silence. Several of them began to wimper and cry, threatening to wake the slumbering Orc tribe.

The wizard used prestidigitation much like a doctor would utilize the old coin behind the ear trick, though we imagined that actual magic would create magical butterflies of light or something much more spectacular than a coin.

This intrigued curiosity, and temporarily provided enough of a distraction to stifle the children's fear (and noise) enough to make a safe escape.

There aren't as many arguments about rules at our table as there is just forgetting rules.....we drink a lot when we play

Rolling initiative every round. I ended up just delaying to the end of the round.

Oh god... I would kill myself