I am looking to create a pure telekineticist in an upcoming game. My role will be as a scout, harasser and trickster first and foremost which is why blasting isn't that important.
Looking over the wild talent Telekinetic Maneuvers I realized that it is a perfect fit for my character. So much so that getting a few grapple feats might be worth it in the long run.
But there are two things that confuse me that I couldn't find the answer to.
1. If I make a grapple check to move an opponent how far can I actually move him.
2. Can I move him straight up into the air?
3. If I disarm an opponent using Telekinetic Maneuvers can I take control of the weapon somehow?
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I had a bit of luck and got to see a glimpse of the new Shifter class (Ultimate Wilderness) and the its hilarious archetype: The Oozemorph of a friend's copy. For me who love to play quirky characters this is a Godsend, but there's plenty of question marks that comes with this archetype.
So I thought we could have a this thread to brain storm and try to figure out how we should tackle the...unique challenges this archetype faces.
First of all a caveat: I only got to pour over the base class and archetype for about 5 minutes so I might very well be remembering things incorrectly; this is all based on the notes I took so I apologise in advance if I messed something up. I should get to read it through again soon though.
For those who haven't had the chance to see it yet: The Oozemorph is an inverse version of the regular Shifter. At level 1 you permanently lose your regular shape and become a new creature that's both your old type of humanoid and an Ooze. So for you count as both types for effects such as favoured enemy (ouch!) and other effects such as spells.
Your new form is that of a shapeless ooze, you can't equip, carry or interact with items at all as far as I can tell. Nor can it talk, be sure to invest in linguistics for sign language!
You do get to use Alter self to assume an humanoid form though, half your level times per day and with an hour/level duration. If you exceed that time you need to make fortitude saves to stay in that form. If you fail you revert back to your original form. The same happens when you fall unconscious.
Later on this power can be used to access Beast Shape I & II and also Giant Shape I.
The biggest question that arises for me is: How is the Oozemorph ever going to be a threat in combat? Granted at first level it gets two natural attacks which it can form from any part of its body, deals 1d6 of either bludgeoning, piercing or slashing. On level 6 and 15 it gets another one. All of these are primary attacks so we get to add our full strength bonus to them.
Having said that they don't seem to get any of the other benefits that the other Shifters get. No way to pierce DR, no damage increase, no special properties. This gets worse if the Oozemorph is in its natural shapeless form since it can't wear any equipment at that time. Amulet of mighty fists? No dice!
Granted it could just be that I missed something, but on the paper this looks like the major problem with the archetype. Someone elsewere mentioned that they get something called "Chemical touch" but I don't recall seeing that myself.
There's also one thing that I wonder about. According to the bestiary Oozes are blind unless otherwise stated. The archetype doesn't mention it at all so...are they?
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I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one that wants to build a Mystic Bolt focused Warlock now that the class has been made official but I am stuck on how to make the whole thing viable. It is great that the ability is unlimited but I feel that it is almost always better to cast a spell as things are now, and I was hoping to have more utility based spells backed up by a really powerful arsenal of mystic bolts.
This leads me to a question: What applies to these bolts? This passage is a pretty good explanation:
Ultimate Intrigue page 60 wrote:
Abilities that affect all weapon attacks the Warlock makes, such as the arcane striker Warlock talent, function with Mystic Bolts
I can't think of many feats or spells that applies directly to the ALL weapon attacks one could make in a round. I guess that maybe the Startoss Style might work since the blasts are technically light weapons that you throw, but when it comes to magical items and spells I'm drawing a blank. Anyone else got any ideas?
However in order to save my GM some headaches I thought there were a few question marks that needed to be straightened out before we continue playing.
1. For the first 3 levels my poison only last for one round as far as I can tell. Does stacking doses do anything at all since I technically don't have a duration to prolong? I'm curious as I will be having 3 attacks on level 3 and pretty good attack rolls.
2. Toxic Secretion states that it activates when the Toxicant is hit with a "natural attack or unarmed strike". Would this include grapple checks and touch attacks as well?
3. Are Swarms affected by this Toxic Secretion? It does makes saves as it was just one creature after all.
4. I've heard that you can "Stack" inhaled poisons from several sources but never seen how you actually use them mechanically. Can you just store several doses of poison in a big jar and throw it at the enemy and then have them suffer 5, 10 or 50 dozes at once? Heck maybe you don't even need a big jar, a small bottle might be enough considering that I can't find anything on the subject. FAQ?
5.Can the poison that you gather as a swift action be thrown on its own, sort of like flicking water at someone? The Alchemist does have the Throw Anything feat after all.
I just noticed something interesting regarding the Alchemist. I'm surprised that I couldn't any thread about this subject since it's plain to see once you read through all the alchemist discoveries. Anyway; it seems to me that an alchemist can become completely immune to falling damage once she hits level ten, have these two discoveries and is in mutagenic form.
Rag doll mutagen:
Benefit: When the alchemist imbibes a mutagen, his body and bones become rubbery and easy to contort. The alchemist gains a bonus equal to his class level on Escape Artist checks, can squeeze through places as if he were one size category smaller, and can make a Reflex save (DC equal to 15 + 1 for every 10 feet fallen) to take half damage from falling.
At 10th level, all falling damage is considered nonlethal damage, and the alchemist can squeeze through places as if he were two size categories smaller than his size while under the effects of this mutagen.
Mummification:
Benefit: The alchemist has mastered preserving flesh and applied this knowledge to his own body, turning himself into an undead-like creature. After learning this discovery, the alchemist must perform a 30-day regimen of a special diet, rigorous exercise, and drinking a mildly poisonous alchemical tea. At the end of this regimen, he falls unconscious for 24 hours, then awakens as a “living mummy.” The alchemist’s type does not change, but he becomes immune to cold, nonlethal damage, paralysis, and sleep.
I know that falling damage isn't exactly the leading cause of death at level ten and above but I simply can't shake the idea of my alchemist falling at terminal velocity and then walking away like nothing happened.
So would this work or is there some caveat I'm missing somewhere?
I have been playing a Vivisectionist/Beastmorph for a few levels now and the theme of this char is that she is becoming more and more unhinged every level, basically turning into some kind of Lovecraftian monster as the game progresses (I'm seriously considering adding in a few levels of Souldrinker/eater as well, partly to help finance her simulacrum factory and partly for the joy of having a souleating tumour).
It is worth mentioning that I'm not going for the most optimal build here
, I'm just trying to have fun and keep the other players on their toes as they know very little of how the Alchemist class works. My combat role is basically that of a skirmisher and support.
The problem is that when I reach level 12 I have more or less run out of all the cool monstrous discoveries like vestigial arms and such but I still want to pile on the Lovecraftian, preferably without having to bring another base class into the mix.
What I wonder is if there is any way my char could alter her body in ways like the grafts from DnD 3.5 or the Symbionts from the Eberron campaign setting without resorting to 3rd party material? My GM is a-ok with all of paizos stuff but no material from earlier DnD editions.
I'm going to play a campaign with my friends in which there will be enough downtime to do some research/crafting/house building in between adventures. We will go from level 5 all the way to 20.
I wanted a class to take advantage of this and since we already have one fighter, one cleric and two wizards I decided to go with a Neutral Evil Vivisectionist Alchemist. I am thinking of being a clone master as well, the DM said it was ok despite the fact that both archetypes replace the bomb feature, but more on that later.
Now I first thought of this character as a regular Mr Hyde build using Weapon Finesse and an Agile Amulet of mighty fists to do damage in melee. However there is an idea that have been growing in the back of my mind.
My character is portrayed as a beautiful young woman with a thick French accent and an affinity for dressing in large and expensive looking furs (which are actually for covering a Tumor Familiar and a tentacle). She refuses to ride and travels by the means of a permanent floating disk filled with pillows. Her name is Vivianne and she smiles like THIS.
This coupled with the Savagery of her fighting style makes for a very fun character both to roleplay and to fight with. We've only had one session of character introduction but already I'm getting some very odd stares from my friends.
Now here are the two things I need help with:
1. I want to use my downtime to create Simulacrums(sp?)of various exotic creatures and then use Skinsend on them to create a living, wearable ensemble to aid me in combat and freak out the other party members, looking absolutely smashing while doing so. ;)
2. One of my goals is to murder one of the players, a burly fighter that rubs my character the wrong way in every sense of the word. Thing is that while he's not a great grappler he does know that he can overpower my character pretty easily that way and he has implied that he'll do something much worse to her following that. Yeah. :/
So I was thinking of killing him off in the most humiliating way possible: Swallow whole. I'm going to wear a skin that will devour him should he ever annoy my char. And I probably will do it anyway at some point.
There is a big problem with that though: Skinsend shrinks the monster's strength down to a pathetic 3. That is a huge problem when I want to grapple someone, even if the form has other advantages.
Does anyone have a good idea for how I can remedy this without having to spend a lot of spells/extracts buffing the skin all the time? Technically I think it's legit for the skin to wear rings and other items, or at least benefit from them, but I'm not sure.
There are also some other questions I am having trouble figuring out.
* I can't see it in the description but I wonder what the skins of these creatures weigh. I guess it is quite possible to have them prop up themselves or to carry them around in portable holes, but it feels like something important to know.
* Is it worth it to become a Clone Master as well as a Vivisectionist? Some of the abilities, like making clones of yourself, seem great but I see very little reason to want to have simulacrum as an extract when I'm planning on having the Alchemical simulacrum three as it is a lot more economical in the end.
Yeah that's it basically. I appreciate whatever answers you guys can provide. :) Toodaloo!^^
I am playing a Cad currently and I'm enjoying it more than any character I've ever played but I am a bit unsure of how I'm going to progress further. Here are my stats:
Safir of the Scarlet Tides, Human Cad level 9
Str 20
Dex 20
Con 20
Int 14
Wis 11
Cha 10
Skills
Acrobatics, Stealth, Bluff, Intimidate all maxed out. Dabbles in all Knowledge skills because that's awesome.
Feats
Splintering Weapon (Awesome with improvised weapons!)
Weapon focus, Greater weapon focus and weapon spec with Nodachi
Improved and Greater Dirty trick
Power attack
Dazzling Display
Shatter Defenses
Critical Focus
Catch Off-guard
Combat expertise
I'm currently using a +1 Keen Nodachi so I'm threatening on a roll of 15 or higher. The High stats are due to having come across a Belt of physical perfection +4
I have been thinking of which feats I should get but can't quite make up my mind. Deadly stroke and Greater Weapon Specialization are both given, but I'm not sure if I should go for Critical feats next or get Quick Dirty Trick now.
There is also a feat that I'm unsure if I should get or not: Impaling Critical. It sounds awesome, but I'm not sure if it's really any good for my DPS build. I crit a lot after all and as it is an immediate action to pull your weapon out I could get stuck with it and still have attacks left that I can't do because my weapon is stuck!
Is it worth it if I also get Improved Impaling critical later?
Which other feats would you recommend for a Crit-loving pirate?
If I hit with several Deadly Stroke attacks does the Con-bleed stack? I have read that people assume that you can stack it but I have yet to find an official ruling on the matter. Does anyone know?
Deadly Stroke:
With a well-placed strike, you can bring a swift and painful end to most foes.
Prerequisites: Dazzling Display, Greater Weapon Focus, Shatter Defenses, Weapon Focus, proficiency with the selected weapon, base attack bonus +11.
Benefit: As a standard action, make a single attack with the weapon for which you have Greater Weapon Focus against a stunned or flat-footed opponent. If you hit, you deal double the normal damage and the target takes 1 point of Constitution bleed (see Conditions). The additional damage and bleed is not multiplied on a critical hit.
The alchemist is the perfect addition to the Pathfinder RPG. It takes an old Fantasy stereotype and turns it into a fun and crazy adventurer that feels more like an Indiana Jones type Character than a Professor in a lab (Even though he can be played as booth)
One complaint I’ve heard from some people is that they dislike the way the extracts work and just want the Alchemist to cast spells like a regular caster. Apparently they find that the creation of extracts and the fact that the other players have to spend their own actions to drink them to be a disadvantage. And that’s even if the Alchemist bothered to take the infusion discovery.
What..?
First of all, the Alchemist doesn’t need to share his extracts to be useful. He can act as the ultimate self buffer, bouncing around the dungeon and being able to healing himself and thus taking some lightening the load of the Party’s healer. The Barbarian is a self-buffer, and I don’t see people complaining about him. Not the ones onhis side anyway...
In fact with some smart choices the Alchemist could become a rather decent frontline fighter himself.
Secondly; The Alchemist needs to be a regular caster.
What’s the point? Why the heck do we need another caster for?! The whole point of the Alchemist was to create something different and it worked! And don’t forget that you can actually create extracts later during the day, as opposed to the rigid memorize fist thing in the morning that wizards and Clerics do. How many times haven’t you wished that you memorized something else that could very well have saved your party a lot of unnecessary headache? Well the Alchemist offers a solution to that problem in since he can decide to leave a few extract “slots” open.
“You lost 6 whole constitution points from the poison? I’ll have a restoration whipped up for you in a minute.”
“OMG, trolls! I think we’ll need some more cure potions here!”
“Well what do you know, there was a Dragon here after all! Protection from Energy, anyone?”
And yes, they Hve to spend actions quaffing the extracts down themselves, but if you ask me the benefits outweigh the disadvantages here.
You do not, for instance have to be anyway near them. You can hand out the extracts at the start of the day and then you can be of help to your friends even if you’re forced to split up. And yet again, YES I know that they have to use the items themselves but when you hand out a Stoneskin to your Fighter, a Heal to the mage and a Transformation to the Rouge I think they’ll actually thank you.
The bombs are fun to use, but not overpowering. You have a chance of racking up some impressive single target damage, but nothing that really rivals that of rouge. You make up for it by being able to attack at range and being able to spread the damage out as you please. Friendly fire is a problem, but if you warn your team mates beforehand this probably won’t be a concern.
Having bombs that are ranged weapons that deal supernatural damage is good when you face creatures with spell resistance, but remember that as a “regular” weapons there are several low level ways of foiling their attacks.
The point I am trying to get across is that the Alchemist is great. It requires some advanced tactics to be sure, but it is an advanced class. It can play several roles which makes it a good class to add to a party that already has all it’s roles covered and it can also specialize enough to cover one role if need be.
Please don’t change the way the Alchemist works, because it’s not broken. The only thing I would like to be added is for the Alchemist to use extracts offensively in some way. I am thinking of something along the lines of Spellvials (Magic of Eberon) that makes it possible to deliver offensive one target effects like Hold person with ranged touch attacks. That's really the only thing that I would add to the class as of now.
Another thing that came to my mind was how ineffective an Alchemist becomes underwater. You can't throw bombs at all, and it takes several levels before you get extracts that aid you underwater.
Shatter creates a loud, ringing noise that breaks brittle,
nonmagical objects; sunders a single solid, nonmagical object; or
damages a crystalline creature.
Used as an area attack, shatter destroys nonmagical objects of
crystal, glass, ceramic, or porcelain. All such objects within a 5-foot
radius of the point of origin are smashed into dozens of pieces by
the spell. Objects weighing more than 1 pound per your level are
not affected, but all other objects of the appropriate composition
are shattered.
Does this mean that a failed will save (a real weak save for the Alchemist!) makes all the bombs, extracts and mutagens break?
I would assume that prepared extracts are OK, since they are already holding a magical effect, but it seems to me that unprepared extracts and bombs are very much viable targets of the spell.
I have never actually come up against shatter in game so I am sorry if I am missing something obvious here...
My group has been hard at work playtesting the Alchemist since it was first released. 2 weeks ago we began experimenting with some add-ons which we had a lot of fun with. Most of them turned out to be useless but the rest of these worked out really well. I decided to publish them here for inspirational purposes (not that you guys need it, evidently):
EDIT: I have most of these notes at the Game Masters house. I'll update this list during the weekend when I meet him.
Equipment:
"The Launcher"
A two-handed monstrosity of a bomb-launcher that comes equipped with a magazine capable of holding 10 bombs at a time. It has a range increment of 50 feet and the bombs fired from it counts as projectiles rather than thrown weapons.
It also comes in a one handed variety that has a range increment of 30 feet and a magazine capable of holding 5 bombs.
"The syringe"
One of these lovely things:
http://trendsupdates.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/3306623071_6419bba6ca.j pg
It's a device that allows you to inject an extract Potion (or poison) directly into the body of a creature as a standard action that doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity from the creature targeted. To hit an unwilling target you must succeed on an attack roll just as with a regular attack.
It’s main use is to apply a healing extract or potion to an ally who would not be able to drink it otherwise, such as an unconscious or grappling one. I have saved a lot of allies with this, I can tell you!
Feats:
Controlled explosion [Bomb]
Prerequisites: Alchemist, Disable device skill rank 3.
By expending one of his daily uses of bomb the Alchemist receives circumstance bonus on one disable device check equal to his class level.
The last resort [Bomb]
Prerequisites: Alchemist, BAB +3.
The Alchemist may detonate a bomb on her person while grappling as a standard action. The opponent she grapples takes damage as if she’d been hit with a direct hit whilst the Alchemist takes normal splash damage.
I was wondering how the Alchemist would fare if he was taken away from his equipment. Could he use stuff like moss and water to make his extracts or bombs? I am not sure if I'm reading the rules right...
I think it would be good idea to have our combat experiences with the alchemist posted on a single page to make it easier for Jason & co to glance over.
Here are some of mine:
Alchemist vs Bandits (humanoid fighters/warriors and rouges):
If you have a decent dexterity then you'll be a nightmare for any rouge that fails his stealth check. At the lower levels I have taken out several of them with nothing but one direct hit from a bomb. The smoke bomb discovery has saved my party from more than one ambush when I target an archers nest with it.
Alchemist vs Mages:
The most important factor here is range. If the Alchemist is 200 ft away from the wizard when combat starts then he'll have a real hard time. If you can get close without them noticing however (Invisibility and greater invisibility extracts comes to mind) they aren't much of a challange. Even without your bombs there are several ways to get rid of them. Even such weird tactics such as sticky poison+grapple has worked for me.
One thing that really worked well every time is the sticky force bomb. Kinda hard to concentrate when you're knocked to the ground and take even more damage the next round.
Alchemist vs Giants:
One thing that you need to keep in mind here is that most giants are either Large or Larger, which means that you won't have to worry about accidentally splashing your allies with your bombs. Unless you have the Explosive bomb discovery at least...
Also; Trolls will HATE you. Unlike mages who has to choose if they want to memorize a fire based spell everyday you are always ready to go.
That's all right now. I'll write some more when I can find the time.
When I first found out that Paizo was putting out a Alchemist class I rejoiced, but when I finally sat down and read it I almost made a somersault! Not only is it fun as heck to use, it is also very similar, almost identical to the Alchemist class I made a few years back (Not that I'm fishing for credit, mind you :p).
Here are some of the things I wanted to add to the discussion.
BAB: Good as it is.
Saves: Hardy fortitude is paramount when you taste everything and the good reflexes are no doubt a result of having to dive for cover every time something goes awry in the lab. Perfect.
Discoveries:
Here is one thing that I must address. If you pick infusion as your first choice your group will love you. If you don't, they will absolutely hate you and call you a hog. Seriously, imagine if you will how your entire party is half dead and you're standing right next to them quaffing potion after potion...
As a result every alchemist in a group is going to want to make infusion their first pick. That is why I would prefer if the Alchemist got a discovery at first level, one more at the 2nd level and a new one more at every even level.
I realize that it may look like a lot, but if you remove the poison abilities and the mutagen abilities and have them available as discoveries instead it would work well. Someone else mentioned this in another thread and I agree completely, as it frees up players from ending up with abilities that they don't want to use. More on that later.
If this change were to take place some of the discoveries prerequisites would have to be changed according so that alchemists won't be using inferno bombs at level 4!
Bombs: Apart from that I don't know the official range of the bombs and that it takes a move action AND a standard action to attack with it and that you need to use them in the same round. Otherwise I love it to death. Splash damage is a problem, but there are ways around that.
Mutagen: I have always had the idea that an Alchemist would experiment on his own body just for the heck of it so he could see the results. I say the Mutagen is a great idea. I do feel that it's a bit lackluster in it's current state though. I would suggest to keep the 2 level 2 ability as it is whilst giving the Alchemist list of Special qualities that he can access.
Let them have a point cost and give the Alchemist a pool of these points. This way he could choose if he'd want to have several lesser qualities or a few more powerful ones.
Discoveries could be used to unlock more interesting qualities and/or add points to the mutagen pool.
I feel that there is still a bit to add here. I'll get back to you guys when I have it figured out.
