So, the Alchemist. It's one of the most versatile classes out there, capable of specializing in almost anything. It's a good design, but that means there's a lot of possibilities that have to be considered. I'm curious what some good RP archetypes and what good mechanical archetypes people can come up with regarding the Alchemist.
Sub-Rolls:
Optional add-ons that require minimal investment and can't be the focus of the build.
- Healer
- Party Buffer
- Party Trapfinder / Rogue
- Poisoner
I have a high level character who, through plot, became very very interested in Grafting. Fleshcrafting Poison seems to be Pathfinder's equivalent to Grafting, so I'll probably be picking up that feat. Assume that the CR can be no more than half the Caster Level, rounded up.
What type of monster abilities/stuff would you go for? What's flavorful and interesting? To an extent, I'll be playing Megaman, but this also opens up seeking particular monsters for their parts.
I'm not looking to hardcore power-game this (which is entirely possible), I'm looking for neat/flavorful things that can be done. Ultimately, the price would be considered a guideline and the GM as well as myself would adjust it up or down based on its power.
This was brought up in one of those Monk threads, and I want to see this bear fruit.
The Premise:
Hidden away in a far off kingdom is a tower said to stretch from the deepest crevice of the Negative Energy Plane to the highest of the heavens (which afterlife changes with each telling). What is known is that twenty stories exist in the material world, at least partially.
Each floor consists of roughly five rooms connected by hallways--even a cursory awareness of one's surroundings makes it obvious that each floor is an extra-dimensional space. As one moves through the threshold from one floor to the next they are revitalized (full 8hr rest instantly), empowered (+1 Level), and rewarded for their efforts (access to WBL-appropriate equipment). Once a year this faraway kingdom brings in bands of four people (Traditionally each team is an Arcanist, a Divine Caster, a Thief, and a Soldier) to try their hand at making it to the top of the tower and defeating the Pit Fiend rumored to reside there. The fact that every inch of the tower is covered in Arcane Eyes and that the entire show is broadcasted to crowds of enduring fans via illusions is not lost on the King's coffers, nor the local merchants--or betting pools. The chance for Godlike powered rumored to be possessed by those that make it to the top of the tower is not lost on the contestents; but nor is the threat of their souls rotting eternally in its foundation. Will you brave the Playtest Tower, and will you survive?
Lets design this tower. The twenty floors correspond to the twenty normal character levels. Each floor represents a singular adventuring day with each of the five "rooms" representing one encounter. The total CR of all the rooms should roughly equal (CR)*5+2. Because the magic tower is magic, a "room" may be an entire plane of existance, if necessary (although I recommend the stranger stuff by in the higher levels, as a matter of thematic consistency). Likewise, unique / interesting encounters and situations should be encouraged.
Now, while originally designed to send Fan-Material through, this idea has a lot of potential even when considering Paizo products. The design of such a tower could help people playtest a wide variety of classes and changes. Note that, and I can not stress this enough: the tower would never be a substitute for actual play. It is simply meant to get the basics out of the way and add to the amount of data we can collect. Once complete, it'll also be a venue for people who play in groups opposed to playtesting, or who are having trouble finding a game.
The Goal
- Create a module that rapidly runs levels 1-20.
- Each floor should take no more than one session to play--ideally less.
- Each floor must contain challenges representative of that level, and maybe a few odd-balls to keep things fun.
- No single encounter should take over an hour.
- The playtest tower should be fun! White-room battles are okay, and should be there. But so should interesting situations and environments. Throw in an underwater battle or a ship conflict or something.
*Once closer to completion, we'll discuss ways to speed up the process so you can get through a bunch of the floors even more rapidly.
The Plan
The Tower will be designed individually and then compiled into Google Docs. Each "Room" should be roughly one page worth of material, two if you count NPC statblocks. When the Playtest Tower is complete to the point that its passingly useful a separate thread will be made to present the finished project.
I will ultimately create a Google Docs folder to compile everything, but until then those working on the project should create and link to their own Google Docs.
Getting the first five and the first ten levels complete are the primary benchmarks. I'd like people to sign up to do a level and then design that floor (5 encounters). NPCs, Terrain, and Basic tactics should be included with links to their relevant stat-blocks on the PFSRD. Please no custom monsters and please keep the amount of cross-referencing to a minimum.
What We Need
- Input, input, input! This is a community project for a reason. Are the designed encounters too hard? Too soft? Do you have an amazing idea we hadn't considered? Post here, and let us know. How can we best meet and exceed your expectations for the ultimate playtest experience.
- People to design floors. If you're interested, select a level, and start designing. Please announce your decision so we can keep track and minimize overlap. When you've got your rough draft, post your work here, where it'll be reviewed by the community.
- People to design "Stock Characters." I'd like to get a type of signature character for each Base Class, designed 1-20, including equipment at each level. These characters should be representative of their class. If there is enough of a divergence or an interest in one class, more than one stock character may be considered. Stock Characters should be made using PFS rules.
- Mapping software. I'd like this project to actually have maps like those found in Adventure Paths. I don't know what software is good for this. What's available?
For those that want to Skim
I won't be able to edit this post much longer. To help people jump in to the project while it is running and focus their attention where it is most needed, I will occassionally make a post titled, "UPDATE POST: THE PROJECT TO THIS POINT AND FORWARD." In that post I will note the cumulative efforts to that point and note where our attention is most needed. For the curious, our first order of business is getting volunteers for floors and the characters.
Under special, it notes that Monks may select Ki Diversity as a bonus feat. Monk Bonus Feats ignore all prerequisites. Does this mean that a Monk could hypothetically take (but not use without Ki, obviously) Ki Diversity as early as level 1? Or 6, if you say he has to have the Ki Pool. This also means, I believe, that he can ignore the 25 TPA?
Just fact checking, because it seems off. And Zen Combatant as early as level 1 (Ki Mystic) or 3 (Drunken Master, and more likely) is fantastic.
So, Monks are feat starved and MAD. How could the ugly Monk ever think to actually pump CHA up to 13? Lets see.
Example Progression:
Human Monk, 25-Pt Buy (if 20-pt, lower Wis by 2 or be an Oread and drop either Enforcer or Power Attack)
STR 17 / DEX 14 / CON 12 / INT 7 / WIS 16 / CHA 14
Alternate Racial Trait: Focused Study
Traits: Optimistic Gambler, Honored Fist of the Society
Skills: Acrobatics, Perception, Intimidate
We will compare a Monk beside a Falcata-wielding fighter going up the (Greater) Weapon Focus/Spec/Improved Crit tree, Power Attack, Furious Focus. It's simple, but it's a nice baseline for a DPR-specced character. Damage calculation will use the Monster Creation Chart to determine CR-appropriate AC. Power Attack is used for the Fighter at all levels and the Monk at level 6 (it's actually inefficient at level 10 and 11). I will show a Monk, the exact same Monk build as a Wanderer (except no Improved Grapple).
The damage will be shown over two rounds. One round will be spent approaching the enemy (charging, in the case of the Fighter) while the next will be a full-attack.
Level 6
- CHA Monk: 0 + 26.81 (38.62 with Ki)
- Wanderer: 0 + 26.81 (38.62 with Ki)
Equipment: +2 STR Item, Masterwork Temple Sword (wielded in 2 hands, mixed with kicks).
- Fighter: 24.18 + 35.67 = 57.81
Equipment: +1 Falcata, +2 STR item
Level 10
- CHA Monk: 0 + 58.72 (73.3 with Ki); includes Stunning Fist -> Medusa's Wrath*
- Wanderer: 0 + 78.32 (96.62 with Ki)
Equipment: Amulet of Mighty Fists [Cruel], Belt of Physical Perfection +2, Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2, Greater Hat of Disguise
- Fighter: 41.9 + 72.75 = 114.65
Equipment: +2 Falcata, Belt of Giant Strength +4, Greater Hat of Disguise, Gloves of Dueling
Level 11
- CHA Monk: 0 + 87.33 (106.66 with Ki); Includes Stunning Fist -> Medusa's Wrath
- Wanderer: 0 + 109.41 (132.09 with Ki)
Equipment: Throw in a Monk's Robe and upgrade the Headband to +4.
- Fighter: 45.89 + 111.09 = 156.98
Equipment: Upgrade weapon to +3.
There are three other pro-Cha-Monk things to note here. Immunity to Crits is the Fighter's version of DR. It drops his DPS by 20~30 points at the higher end, while the Monk loses ~11 points at the top of progression. The Monk's damage should actually be higher at levels 10 and 11, The other thing to note is that the Monk is almost always better than the fighter in terms of Defense and status effects. Enforcer + Cruel means that most enemies will be at -4 to-hit, -2 damage, -4 Save, and the Monk will have a comparable AC. And finally, as always, the Monk benefits more from allies--even something as simple as Flanking while spending Ki bumps the Monk's damage to be roughly equal to the Fighter's.
The Stunning Fist calculation does not include lower AC from successfully stunning someone, but it's worth +6~7 damage.
Note that while I'm using the Fighter as a comparison, the goal of this is not to say the Monk is better than a fighter. It's to build a Monk with 14 CHA at level 1, 17 CHA by level 20, that is still competitive.
Now, for the beyond. The real point and gem of this exorcise is that the Eldritch Heritage combined with the Optimistic Gambler makes previously inefficient many-attack builds a lot more interesting. The same principle can be applied to TWF Rogues, Archery Bards (because they needed help, obviously), Mysterious Strangers, et cetera. This is also a good source of damage for low-Strength builds.
Of particular note, this is an equalizing effect because the feats aren't really worth it for a THW Fighter, who can hit on a 2.
I don't mean the Wizard batman. That's too easy. I mean I wanna play a Gnome Grenadier with the Master Tinkerer racial feature and focus on utilizing alchemical items and a golfbag of weapons. So I'm going through, assessing what's there. I wanted to share it with you guys, and solicit your thoughts on what items are useful.
I also want to assess what effectively having "Weapon Proficiency: Everything" gives you, I want to discuss tactics involving these items/weapons, and what supporting choices (feats, etc) are recommended.
Right now I just have a list of the items going with some breif notes. Will discuss how the Hybridization Funnel and Alchemical Weapon change some of these, then list weapons, then get into tactics later.
Alchemical Remedies:
- ALCHEMICAL GREASE. Great for spellcasters, and also vs enemies with Swallow Whole. It's also something to apply if you think you're going to be captured. +5 to avoid/escape grapples is no joke.
- ALCHEMIST'S KINDNESS. Fluff item.
- ANTIPLAGUE. +5 to resist disease and/or allow a second roll to shake it off. Excellent if you know you're facing mummies or going into the sewers at low level.
- ANTITOXIN. +5 to resist poison. Not only is this preventive, it's curative. If you are poisoned, you can take this to better shake off the poison.
- BLADEGUARD. Make a weapon immune to rusting. If you're facing a Rust Monster, it's necessary. Otherwise, meh.
- FIRE WARD GEL. Give Fire Resistance 5 for 20 damage. If it didn't take a minute to apply I'd say it was really useful.
- FROST WARD GEL. Give Cold Resistance 5 for 20 damage. Same as above.
- MEDITATION TEA. +2 vs Mind-Effecting effects for 10 minutes. An excellent item, especially for Fighty McFighter. Fact: Bluff your party's fighter into thinking that drinking the tea will instantly attack/kill any of his party members. When the enemy Wizard commands him to "attack his allies" then he'll drink the tea.
- PADZAHR. When you get (Greater) Restoration this becomes useless. But I could see some situations, especially early level
- SMELLING SALTS. Always, always keep some of these. Give them to your monkey familiar to use on you/other people if necessary. It's cheap, it doesn't deplete, and when its useful it's golden. If someone drops your healer, you can use this to wake them up and let them use their standard action to heal themselves, for instance. Or just to negate a sleep spell.
- SOOTH SYRUP. +5 vs Nauseated / Sickened is nice but... too rare to bother buying it.
- SOUL STIMULANT. Eh. Temporarily negating one negative doesn't sound worth 300gp.
- TWITCH TONIC. If you ever fight a ghoul, you will thank the stars for this item. Otherwise, use Smelling Salts.
- VERMIN REPELLENT. Eh... Swarm Suits are better.
Alchemical Tools:
- ALCHEMICAL CEMENT. It's quick-drying cement for 5g! I'm sure there are uses. Like making cement shoes or encasing an object.
- ALCHEMICAL GLUE. Superglue for 20g. It has a million and one uses, the least of which is gluing doors and containers shut. Mix it with some artificial flavoring and make a dragon eat it to muck up its spell-casting and breath weapon. If you know that rogue you're escorting will break free of his manacles, glue them to him. Glue a warrior's sword to his scabbard or his platemail on and just wait for him to need to use the bathroom. Think like a prankster.
- ALCHEMICAL GLUE ACCELERANT. 20g This lets the above shennanigans work in combat time. This lets you do things like have the fighter pin someone and then glue them together. Or glue someone's feet to the floor. Or fill a burlap sack with glue and then throw it over someone's head... bonus points if it closes by pulling a string.
- ALCHEMICAL SOLVENT. 20g... It's something to keep on you just in case, but is largely useless.
- ARMOR OINTMENT. ...Meh? Lowers ACP by 1. If you absolutely need every possible bonus to that stealth check.
- BLACKFIRE CLAY. A fluff item, mostly. If you need heat but don't want light for some reason, such as if you're hiding and don't want the smoke to trail to you, then this stuff is gold. Otherwise, just keep one on you just in case. 20g for 10 uses isn't bad returns, however.
- BLOODBLOCK. Dedicated healers really don't need this.
- BUOYANT BALLOON. I'm not sure if this only works in water. It's one of those things you bring en-masse if you know you're going to need it (going underwater, retrieving treasure, et cetera). If it also works in the air, you can actually make some pretty hilarious traps with them.
- CANDLEROD. Sure. Just have the magic folk cast light.
- CASTING PLASTER. It's 5g, keep some on you just in case.
- CHILL CREAM. Its duration is too low to even be useful in the desert.
- DEFOLIANT. Excellent splash weapon vs plant creatures. Otherwise, it's one of those items you'll be glad to have every once in a while.
- EMBALMING FLUID. One of those things you'll be really glad to have that one time per campaign it comes up.
- FOAMING POWDER. A great tool in and out of combat. Take several pounds of powder, wrap it in a breakable flask of water, then throw it somewhere. Suddenly you have a growing patch of difficult terrain. You can also use it to do things like dam rivers.
- GLOWING INK. Combine with marker dye to make targets easy to see in the dark. Otherwise, fluff item.
- IMPACT FOAM. A wand of featherfall is cheaper.
- INVISIBLE INK. Great for political intrigue. Also for identifiers. "This ink only reveals when exposed to a cursed item," for instance.
- LIGHT DETECTOR. Used largely for what is said in the fluff.
- MARKER DYE. Mark enemies or items. Potentially in invisible or glowing dye.
- MENDING PASTE. A wand of Mending is cheaper.
- NUSHADIR. Here's one for GMs--fill a room with Nushadir water. Force DC 10 Fort saves every round or be nauseated. Otherwise, meh.
- RUSTING POWDER. Useful when you really have to Disable some Device and need that +5.
- SCENT CLOAK. Useful when you know someone is tracking you by scent. Otherwise... why?
- SMOKE PELLET. Have your familiar ready an action to throw this at an enemy who attacks or an ally who is attacked. This grants concealment, and delaying allows the smoke to be gone fast enough to not interfere with your party's actions. Great item, especially vs the BBEG.
- SMOKE STICK. Fog cloud, the item! Love these. You can provide concealment to hide. You can muck up attacks. You can make fast getaways. You can separate ranged attackers. A million and one uses.
- SUNROD. For when you don't have the Light spell.
- TINDERTWIG. I usually just use flint. But hey, they're cheap.
- WATER PURIFICATION SPONGE. Eh. Purify Food and Water is a thing. If you really need it, sure.
- WEAPON BLANCH. Amazing on ammunition. Meh on melee weapons. If you can use it on Pellet Grenades, it's cheaper to do so than to actually buy the metallic versions of them.
Alchemical Weapons:
- ACID. My personal bread and butter splash weapon, simply because it only costs 10 gold. IMO, everyone should carry some on them entirely for the sake of swarms.
- ALCHEMIST'S FIRE. The old tried and true. For people who aren't Alchemists, it's twice the damage (of acid) for twice the cost. It's straightforward damage with the possibility of also lighting things on fire. Non-Alchemists should keep a few of these on hand for spellcasters, swarms, et cetera.
- ALKALI FLASK. The ultimate anti-ooze for Alchemists. Other classes should skip this unless they -know- they are facing Oozes.
- BANSHEE BALLERINA FIREWORK. Automatic deafness, no save. It's great as a distraction, but the enemy's ability to move out of the squares and its 75g pricetag limits its usefulness.
- BOTTLED LIGHTNING. Less damage than an Alchemist's Fire, doesn't apply the Alchemist's Int to damage, and has twice the cost. Unless you need sonic / lightning damage, skip this.
- BURST JAR. Hybridization and Alchemical Weapon make this gold for Alchemists. Otherwise it's guaranteed deafness with a small chance to also stun. Keep a few on hand.
- FLAME FOUNTAIN FIREWORK. If it cost about 40 or less, I'd say go for it. Otherwise, it's really only useful low-strength characters who are in melee, or against creatures with massive (Natural) Armor and/or who are weak to fire.
- FLASH POWER. This is an amazing item, but throwing it against the ground is about the absolute last way you want to use it. Nothing stops you from wrapping them around ranged weapons (flasks or arrows, for instance) allowing you to add its effect to those weapons. Nothing stops you from setting it up before hand and then igniting the area with an alchemist's fire. You can even set it up as a trap, springing when someone walks on it, or in response to closing a door... opening a window, et cetera. It's best if you Sicken/Intimidate the foe first, but I wouldn't go through the trouble just to set this up, but it's a nice ancillary benefit.
- FUSE GRENADE. It costs 100g. Not worth it when Pellet Grenades exist and are more reliable.
- GHAST RETCH FLASK. They automatically apply the Sickened condition to the person hit and everyone around them for 3 and 1 round, respectively. They also have a small chance of nauseating the main target. This is a great set-up item to be nearly guaranteed to lower someone's saves, attack, damage, et cetera.
- HOLY WATER. Anti-Ghost. Otherwise, Alchemist's Fire is cheaper and more effective.
- ITCHING POWDER. There are cheaper options that are flat-out better.
- KEROS OIL. Maximum range of 5ft so you always provoke. Standard action to light it. Chance to harm yourself. Low damage. What's to like?
- LIQUID BLADE. Cool, thematic assassin weapon that's easy to conceal/hide/explain away.. I could see this used by the GM for that reason. Otherwise, meh.
- LIQUID ICE. You don't buy it for use as a splash weapon. You buy it for its use freezing liquids. Fighting enemies on a boat, and they are under water? Throw a Liquid Ice and turn all their squares into an ice cube (I'm not sure how this would actually function mechanically). In a trapped room with water flooding in? Throw a Liquid Ice and seal up the hole. Need to cross a river of lava? Throw a bunch of Liquid Ice to dam it up and force it to cool. Freeze the enemy's scabbard or their spell component pouch. Hell, make a bridge out of Ice. It has a million and one uses, few of them directly combat oriented. I wouldn't stock up on a lot of them, but I'd have a few.
- PAPER CANDLE FIREWORK. It's a 1gp distraction. That's very useful, but don't expect more from it.
- PELLET GRENADE. 50gp for a 3d6 damage fireball. I'll take it. They make for excellent mook-clearers up until ~level 7, especially if thrown en-masse. While Alchemists and Arcanists have better options, they make for great backups if the melee types find themselves stranded or the party is out of spellslots, etc. A group of four adventurers can, on average, instantly kill up to CR 3 enemies by using them all at once. Throw in an Alchemist with a Tumor Familiar also throwing one and you can go up to CR 4 or 5. Also, you can poison Pellet Grenades, allowing for one dose of poison to apply to everyone in the radius.
- SHARD GEL. Low damage, and more expensive than alchemist's fire. That said, you use them primarily to block charge lanes. This is particularly effective if done as a readied action. This can force the enemy to keep at a distance.
- SKYROCKET FIREWORK. I don't know what happens if they strike a surface or person early. Assuming that causes them to detonate, they are a good option to use in an ambush. Unless the enemies have Evasion / Fire Resistance, it's guaranteed to either blind or deafen them, and it's easy enough to light two or three of them at once.
- SNEEZING POWDER. See Itching Powder.
- STAR CANDLE FIREWORK. These are really best used as a trap or as an ambush. Pre-aim them at the enemy, or just set like 20 of them underneat the BBEG's chair. Set them all off at once. You can hypothetically kill anyone not immune to their damage if you set enough of them up... and hey, 100g gets you 20 (or 60) of them. Also, they're good for signaling.
- STARFOUNTAIN FIREWORK. They cost 500g... If it didn't have the random duration, I'd say it was brilliant. As with all fireworks, its best if you ambush someone or have someone stealthy set it up in advance.
- TANGLEBURN BAG. If you have infinite money, these are fantastic. Otherwise, hybridize a Tanglefoot Bag and an Alchemist's Fire or a Tar Bomb. Otherwise, see Tanglefoot Bag.
- TANGLEFOOT BAG. Excellent item. Entangled is a horrible condition. It limits mobility, prevents spellcasting, and debuffs AC and to-hit. It's expensive, so it isn't something to spam, but it's definitely useful.
- THUNDERSTONE. Burst Jars are normally the better option. However, Thunderstones are an AoE and basically can't ever miss. I'd give everyone one or two so you can spam them against an enemy caster or an enemy with Blindsight.
Herbs, Oils, and Other Substances:
- OIL. Good thing to dump on the floor and set on fire later. I've used it so many times at lower levels its not even funny. Can also be used to be slippery.
- BOMB LAUNCHER. I wouldn't spam them, but keep a few on hand for when you need to lob a bomb a great distance.
- WOUNDWEAL. A great, if situational poison. Definately something to put on a Pellet Bomb. DC 18 Fort Save is no joke until post-10.
- GOLDEN MAPLE LEAVES. +1 DC is potentially great. I'm not sure if it's worth the cost though.
- PESH. Addictive, but 15 Temporary Hitpoints can make the difference against a big bad early on.
- ALCHEMICAL COAL. These actually make for a great injested poison. Their breath weapons suck, however.
- ALCHEMICAL PRESERVES. If UMD works on alchemical items, then this is the reason your Barbarians take UMD.
- TAR BOMB. A cheap way to set people on fire.
- UNSTABLE ACCELERANT. It's 50gp for +1d6 damage (+1d6+1 at level 10), single use. Honestly? Meh.
Other Items:
- PSUEDODRAGON. Get one of these per person who doesn't have a familiar. Load them up with Touch Injections and have them ride around on your front-liners. Suddenly, buffing doesn't take actions.
Supporting Choices:
- MONKEY FAMILIAR. It can use items without taking away your actions! And it has a million and one other uses. Improved Familiar opens up other options.
- QUICK DRAW. So you can use all those items.
- GRENADIER. Being an alchemist lets you add your Int mod to damage. Being a Grenadier lets you apply offensive alchemical items to weapons, even the weapons of friends.
- HYBRIDIZATION FUNNEL. Combine two liquid-based splash weapons. It's absolute gold later on, and changes the game enough to get its own section down the road.
- POWER OF SUGGESTION. So many uses... it's not even funny. I'm not sure it does anything you can't already do with a Bluff or Disguise roll though.
I've played the 5e playtest recently. Coincidentally, I'm in a Pathfinder game that is hitting level 13+. The story is progressing and definitely of the proper scope, but the GM is having very real trouble creating challenges. It's not that it can't be done, it's that it takes longer and longer to make encounters and to contrive reasons a bunch of high level Orcs are in generic Orc Camp #5678 so we feel challenged.
Therefore, I'm flexing some of my homebrew / design background coupled with some stuff learned from 5e and elsewhere to tweak the PF system to better allow for higher level play.
I'd like your guy's assessments on what is being presented here and if any changes need to be made. These rules do invalidate some feats. Some I'll just let be invalidated (removing them from prerequisites), while others will have replacement effects on an as-needed basis.
I also recognize that every monster, in particular, will need to have its stats directly toned down which can be rather trivially done.
So! Apparently the Alchemist is arcane for purposes of the Samsaran's ability to add spells to the spell list. I'm curious as to what the gems are for this option. So far I have...
Locate Object (Sorc/Wiz 2)
Locate Creature (Sorc/Wiz 3)
Enter Image (Sorc/Wiz 3)
Clairaudience/Clairvoyance (Sorc/Wiz 3)
Scrying (Sorc/Wiz 4)
Detect Scrying (Sorc/Wiz 4)
Lesser Astral Projection (Sorc / Wis 5)
Ancestral Communion (Bard 2)
Glibness (Bard 3)
Ancestral Gift (Bard 4)
Fool's Forbiddance (Bard 6)
(Greater) Bladed Dash (Magus 2 or 5)
Spit Venom (Witch 3)
Reincarnation (Witch 5)
Swarm Skin (Witch 6)
Aspect of the Wolf (Witch via Moon 5)
Divine Power (Witch via Strength 4)
Divine Favor (Witch via Strength 1)
I mentioned in a previous thread that in an ideal world the monk would be rewritten to have a clear focus and involve Ki POwers for, if nothing else, thematic consistency with the other classes. I also mentioned that it would take too much time to do.
Then I got a job that allows me to have a whole lot of free time exclusively to type. So, I've been doing this piece by piece for a little less than a week.
I don't have much time right now but in future posts I'll talk about design goals and why I did some things. Note that tweaking Style Feets is work for another day, although this stuff should work with almost all of the styles.
So, it's an old question, but Boar Style deals 2d6 bleed damage, while Boar Shred deals 1d6 bleed damage. As written, this doesn't stack, and Boar Shred does literally nothing (except the intimidate as a move action--meh for a 9th level feat). I'm aware of the potential interpretations / house-rules (the first feat gives Rend Damage instead of Bleed, et cetera), but was this ever actually clarified / solved?
The goal of this fix is not to make the Monk a fighter. It is to make the core Monk more intuitive, level of efficiency have a greater central tendency, and to make it effective at what the book says the Monk should be effective at: targeting weaknesses and rushing in to support allies. I also want to narrow the gap between a fully buffed monk and an unbuffed monk.
This fix is -not- designed to work with the Monk Archetypes beyond the most passing fancy.
This is also not a class rewrite. While I would positively love the Monk to be based on Ki Powers instead of bonus feats (for consistency if nothing else), doing so is beyond the scope of this fix.
EDIT: And now other people can actually view the document. Whoops. :x
I've always loved the concept of the Gnome Alchemist--screw stat mods! I've been looking into the Saboteur Archetype, possibly combined with either the Cryptbreaker or Grenadier Archetypes.
I'm curious as to the viability / community opinion on the Saboteur, in particular complex bombs. I'm... unsure. On the one hand, some effects combine really nicely. On the other, bombers tend to be very short on discoveries / bombs. On that note, what combinations do people feel are interesting?
I can think of:
- Explosive Bomb + Smoke Bomb(s) = Smoke in a wider area.
- Immolation Bomb + Anything = Increased Damage per turn
- Dispelling Bomb + Anything = Dispelling Bomb that deals damage
- Breath Weapon + Immolation Bomb = Everyone creates an AoE damage aura around them. This damage stacks.
- Breath Weapon Bomb + Anything Dependent on a Direct-Hit = "Direct Hit" multiple people.
