Kjatan's page

As the OP, I'll just go ahead and say that I felt no insult as a result of Andrew's contribution. Gaining excess power through certain uninhibited mechanics, even if entirely justifiable, is contrary to the PFS goals of providing a relatively balanced and reasonably consistent gameplay.

Items like the Hybridization Funnel and Focusing Funnel fortunately provide a legitimate Avenue for combining splash weapons, but even without them, adhering multiple vials together opens up a door to infinitely abusable damage. Quite simply, it should be banned under the context of an unspoken rule, like casters holding back with certain spells.

However, there is definitely reasonable concern from players in the case of GMs taking personal liberties when faced with unfamiliar mechanics. I've had plenty of perfectly legitimate characters made irrelevant because single attacks were deemed too powerful compared to other players, despite only ever being able to land a small number of hits in any given session.

I suppose what it may boil down to is, do you trust the players to help regulate the quality of gameplay, or do you expect the GM to be judge and jury? Obviously conventions need to be more strict because you get lots of people who aren't inclined to be team players or outright abuse the system for personal gratification and there is more at stake. At local games, the GMs should probably encourage and trust the players to actively engage with the community to ensure fair and enjoyable play. Let players keep a few tricks up their sleeves with the understanding that it is intended to be an exception, rather than a style. If there is repeat abuse, simply tell them that they risk missing out on gold, prestige, or experience by making the encounter too easy to qualify. (If GMs have that kind of control.)

The most common scenario for throwing multiple splash weapons might be in the case of a bandolier, which can hold 8 flasks at a time. A player may choose to throw the entire bandolier as a Hail Mary against a bbeg. No glue, no rope, no last minute modifications, or a caster might target a bandolier with Shatter and destroy all of the flasks simultaneously. Either way, all 8 flask are going to break, and a DM has to figure out the damage.

Actually... with a spell like shatter, carrying a large number of splash weapons suddenly becomes a very dangerous proposition. Alchemists have a very poor will save against such an effect.

For the potion sponge, there is no rule that you can't drink under water. Its possible to infer that from the potion sponge, or you can rely on a pool and an old coke bottle to see if its possible can do it. Its very annoying to have a rule come in from an alternate source that people may not have access to and have no way of knowing about.

For the underwater potion, at least, it's definitely not possible without investing in custom equipment. In a rigid vessel, the contents can only be evacuated by displacing it with another substance. In the case of potions on land, air does the displacing without causing problems, and gravity provides a clear means of separating the two substances.

Under water, the surrounding material is of similar density, and composition. This would cause, at best, a ruinous dilution as the water and potion mix within the vessel and pathway between mouth and vial. Worse yet, the potion will be at lower pressure than the surrounding water, so the aquatic environment will actually force a bit of fluid back into the container. Quite a pain in the rear.

A sponge is a reasonable fix, however, a better solution would simply be to put the potion in a flexible container like a waterskin, so that the action is to suck, rather than pour.