I'm looking for an alchemical item that is a bomb - a BIG bomb.
Something that is too dangerous to directly use it in combat and that does massive damage. Its primary use should be for destroying structures (buildings, walls, rock,...), rather than killing enemies (although it should be quite lethal to anyone within the blast radius once it goes of).
As far as I know there are no rules for such an item yet. Anybody have any ideas?
I was thinking of simply extrapolating from the fuse grenade, especially damage and price wise. I'd use the same craft DC of 25. A few differences would be that it can't be thrown, has a longer fuse (maybe freely settable) and maybe even requires several rounds (maybe 10) and a successful alchemy craft check (15 or 20?) to set up and light.
Damage and price extrapolation from the fuse grenade:
I suspect a linear price-damage relation is unbalanced, so I'll go with a square relation. Thus a bomb that does 10 times the damage (10d6 fire and 20d6 bludgeoning) should cost 10² as much (10,000 gp). The range is should have a linear relation to the damage (thus for 10*dmg = 100 feet).
What do you think? Is this reasonably balanced?
EDIT: Maybe the bludgeoning damage type should be replaced with force damage, since most damage comes from the shockwave?
I think that is is reasonable balanced, I might go with making it harder to make and cheaper.i think the price would kind of be a linear progression because it would basically be a really big fuse grenade. Also I bomb this big would be more of a story element then a character item.
I would also do a 2d6 rounds on the fuse just to make it more dangerous.
sound like a cool idea let me know how it works in you game
I think that is is reasonable balanced, I might go with making it harder to make and cheaper.i think the price would kind of be a linear progression because it would basically be a really big fuse grenade. Also I bomb this big would be more of a story element then a character item.
I would also do a 2d6 rounds on the fuse just to make it more dangerous.
sound like a cool idea let me know how it works in you game
I thought about making the craft check higher, but there isn't a single alchemical item with a craft DC of over 25, so I thought that might be a hard cap.
About the fuse length, I think the person crafting the bomb should be able to set the length himself, but it should always be d3 (like the fuse grenade).
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Tiny nitpick: You're describing a square-relation instead of a cubic one. The square (what you use with your numeric example), is what you want to use anyway, though.
My 2cp:
True, there's no other alchemical item with a DC over 25... but is there any alchemical item that's this powerful?
Bump it to 30 at least. My 10th level characters usually have a 20 modifier to their important skill checks. Add to that the bonuses I assume Alchemists get, and a 30 is fairly easy.
Also, I agree that it'd work better as a story element, not something the PCs could craft whenever they wanted.
Just my 2cp :)
When does an item become a story element? I mean this isn't a unique item. Especially if you're an Alchemist.
When does an item become a story element? I mean this isn't a unique item. Especially if you're an Alchemist.
I mean that it is not going to come out for every fight, it should be used more often as a way to move the story forward. Like if you need to blow up a wall to get to end a siege or destroy a bridge. as apposed to using it in a fight with a few random monsters.
When does an item become a story element? I mean this isn't a unique item. Especially if you're an Alchemist.I mean that it is not going to come out for every fight, it should be used more often as a way to move the story forward. Like if you need to blow up a wall to get to end a siege or destroy a bridge. as apposed to using it in a fight with a few random monsters.
I see. I understood it more as an item that the GM has to provide, ie one a player couldn't freely create.