Okay, the character doesn't necessarily have to be evil, but he does have to be Mad. MAD!! Mwahahahahahahahahaa!!!
Erm, anyway. I've always wanted to play such a character, and now I finally have the opportunity. The problem is I have no idea about how to go about creating one. Which class or combination of classes would be the most effective/interesting/entertaining.
Alchemist is obvious, but most of its abilities are selfish in nature; creating flesh golems or mutant nazi super-soldiers isn't in the capabilities.
Okay, the character doesn't necessarily have to be evil, but he does have to be Mad. MAD!! Mwahahahahahahahahaa!!!
Erm, anyway. I've always wanted to play such a character, and now I finally have the opportunity. The problem is I have no idea about how to go about creating one. Which class or combination of classes would be the most effective/interesting/entertaining.
Alchemist is obvious, but most of its abilities are selfish in nature; creating flesh golems or mutant nazi super-soldiers isn't in the capabilities.
Depends, what do you want your mad scientist to focus on?
If it's anything but potions/alchemical goods or possibly undead, I'd suggest going with the wizard, for several reasons. First of all, the Intelligence wizards depend on coincides with the mad scientist archetype and all of the Craft/Spellcraft/Knowledge skills used in making stuff. They also get lots of feats (there's a minimum of three you need to make constructs- Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, and Craft Construct. The spellbook mechanic also allows for collecting all the different spell prerequisites for various magical items and constructs.
A good, and perhaps more flavorful, secondary route might be the Alchemist. Also uses Int for main stat, gets bonuses on making alchemical items, and has a fairly good skill list. If you're wanting to go with poisons, potions, bombs, or Jeklyll and Hyde, this prolly will be your main route here.
A argument may be made for the druid or cleric, since they get access to all spells on their spell list. However, most of the golems are made with arcane spells prereqs, and they're dependent on Wisdom, not Intelligence. So aside from a few possibly interesting mad scientist type spells (animate objects and earlier access to animate dead for the cleric, awaken for the druid), I wouldn't go for these.
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Gnome Rogue (Trapsmith) 20
NG Small Humanoid (Gnome)
Init +2; Senses Low-Light Vision; Perception +25
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DEFENSE
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AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+2 Dex, +1 size)
hp 143 (20d8+40)
Fort +8, Ref +14, Will +6
Defensive Abilities Evasion, Improved Evasion, Trap Sense +6
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OFFENSE
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Spd 20 ft.
Special Attacks Master Strike (DC 26), Sneak Attack +10d6
Spell-Like Abilities Dancing Lights (1/day), Ghost Sound (1/day), Major Magic (Feather Fall) (2/day), Minor Magic (Mending) (3/day), Prestidigitation (1/day), Speak with Animals (1/day)
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STATISTICS
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Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 22, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +15; CMB +14; CMD 26
Feats Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Master Craftsman: Armor, Master Craftsman: Craft: Clockwork & Steam Devices, Master Craftsman: Weapons, Rogue Weapon Proficiencies, Skill Focus: Craft: Armor, Skill Focus: Craft: Clockwork & Steam Devices, Skill Focus: Craft: Traps, Skill Focus: Craft: Weapons, Stealthy
Traits Collector: Craft: Clockwork & Steam Devices, Improvisational Equipment
Skills Appraise +29, Bluff +24, Craft: Alchemy +29, Craft: Armor +35, Craft: Clockwork & Steam Devices +41, Craft: Traps +35, Craft: Weapons +35, Disable Device +36, Escape Artist +29, Fly +24, Knowledge: Engineering +27, Perception +25, Profession: Engineer +23, Stealth +33, Use Magic Device +24 Modifiers Careful Disarm, Fast Picks, Quick Trapsmith (max CR 10), Trap Master
Languages Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan
SQ Fast Stealth (Ex), Frugal Trapsmith (Ex), Gnome Magic, Hero Points (1), Illusion Resistance, Master Tinker, Quick Disable (Ex), Slippery Mind (Ex), Trapfinding +10
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Careful Disarm (Ex) Failed disarms only set off traps if they fail by -10 or more. Double Trap Sense bonus vs. traps set off while trying to disarm.
Collector: Craft: Clockwork & Steam Devices If have collection within 5 ft gain +2 trait bon to selected skill.
Dancing Lights (1/day) (Sp) With Charisma 11+, cast Dancing Lights once per day.
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Fast Picks (Ex) A rogue with this talent can use the Disable Device skill to attempt to open a lock as a standard action instead of a full-round action.
Fast Stealth (Ex) You may move at full speed while using the Stealth skill without penalty.
Frugal Trapsmith (Ex) Mechanical traps cost 75% of normal price
Ghost Sound (1/day) (Sp) With Charisma 11+, cast Ghost Sound once per day.
Gnome Magic +1 to the save DC of all illusions spells you cast.
Hero Points (1) Hero Points can be spent at any time to grant a variety of bonuses.
Illusion Resistance +2 racial bonus to saves against illusions.
Improved Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead. If you fail you take half damage.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Major Magic: Feather Fall (2/day) (Sp) 1st-level spell becomes a Spell Like ability
Master Craftsman: Craft: Clockwork & Steam Devices +2 to the selected craft skill, its ranks count as caster level for Craft Magic Arms and Armor and Craft Wondrous.
Master Strike (DC 26) (Ex) Kill, paralyze, or KO the target of a sneak attack.
Master Tinker +1 Disable Device and Knowledge (Engineering), proficient with any weapon you have personally crafted.
Minor Magic: Mending (3/day) (Sp) A Cantrip becomes a Spell Like ability
Prestidigitation (1/day) (Sp) With Charisma 11+, cast Prestidigitation once per day.
Quick Disable (Ex) You can use the disable device ability to disable traps in half the normal time (minimum 1 round).
Quick Trapsmith (max CR 10) (Ex) Setting a pre-constructed trap is a full-round action.
Slippery Mind (Ex) Two saves vs Enchantment spells.
Sneak Attack +10d6 +10d6 damage if you flank your target or your target is flat-footed.
Speak with Animals (1/day) (Sp) Speak with Animals 1/day.
Trap Master (Ex) You can bypass traps with a sucessful Disable Device check, not success + 10, and can redirect magic traps.
Trap Sense +6 (Ex) +6 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Trapfinding +10 +10 to find or disable traps.
All his spell-like abilities would be explained as coming from various devices. For example, his rogue major magic: feather fall would be a specially designed cloak.
The only problem is that without a class devoted to this concept, you end up being very weak for quite a long time.
Start off as a derro: Madness: +6 Cha, -6 Wis, Cha to Will Saves.
Their spellcasters are even called Savants!
I'd go with alchemist, maybe devote some feats to Master Craftsman and Craft Wondrous Items, Craft Arms and Armor, etc.
Maybe archivist or artificer.
Definitely a class that begins with the letter A.
:-P
Are you talking truly mad? As in, a bit insane, or just power hungry and selfish.
If it's the first then I suggest a disorder or an obsession on something taboo.
If it is the second, then there is plenty of material out there to help with that. However, I have always liked the good guy who seeks power to protect and then it corrupts. That's always fun.
The first. I want the character to be insane, but not necessarily malign. Power hungry would be fun too, but I don't anticipate horrible evil.
The first. I want the character to be insane, but not necessarily malign. Power hungry would be fun too, but I don't anticipate horrible evil.Are you talking truly mad? As in, a bit insane, or just power hungry and selfish.
If it's the first then I suggest a disorder or an obsession on something taboo.
If it is the second, then there is plenty of material out there to help with that. However, I have always liked the good guy who seeks power to protect and then it corrupts. That's always fun.
This really is what the alchemist was made for, when you think about it. It has class features that make your character less mentally stable (mutagen) and you can collect bombs. BOMBS people!
... and go to Master Chymist. :)
Really, any spellcasting class will do, as being a mad scientist character is all about the flavor.
Go Summoner and instead of summoning your Eidolon, it's some patchwork creation that has to be shocked into life every morning.
Create an Oracle of Bones or Knowledge, take the Tongues curse, and pick "Scientific Gibberish" as your language.
Fly in as a Witch with a white lab rat familiar. Pick the Cackle hex and lay on with the mad laughter.
Whatever you pick, be sure to take plenty of electrical spells.
Really, any spellcasting class will do, as being a mad scientist character is all about the flavor.
Go Summoner and instead of summoning your Eidolon, it's some patchwork creation that has to be shocked into life every morning.
Create an Oracle of Bones or Knowledge, take the Tongues curse, and pick "Scientific Gibberish" as your language.
Fly in as a Witch with a white lab rat familiar. Pick the Cackle hex and lay on with the mad laughter.
Whatever you pick, be sure to take plenty of electrical spells.
These are all good ideas, I particularly like the gibberingOracle of Knowledge.
Fly in as a Witch with a white lab rat familiar. Pick the Cackle hex and lay on with the mad laughter.
I second the cackling witch. If you're starting at a higher level, take Improved Familiar to have an elemental, mephit, or fiendish monkey(!) assistant named Igor.
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I think you can accomplish the mad scientist with a minor change to wizards. Basically, you create steam punk type machines that do your casting but they do not hold together well so you can only use them a limited number of times per day (ergo spells per day). In all situations you can replace the VSM components with cursing at the device in hand and mentally working out how to get it to work this time, fiddling with it to get it to work, and finally adding some special material from your work pouch (material components).
So to make a fireball you pull out your handy etheric fire generator. You run some calculation out loud for range and windage, then you fiddle with the settings on the device to enter in the results, finally you put a little goose grease between some gears so that it won't blow up again.
You can really be crazy by always/sometime making yourself require a concentration check to get the spell off. You fail and oops you get a little singed or dazed.
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I just want to make a point, that if you do decide to make a mad scientist type character, you should be sure to note that all his abilities are Extraordinary Abilities.
Extraordinary Abilities (Ex): Extraordinary abilities are nonmagical. They are, however, not something that just anyone can do or even learn to do without extensive training. Effects or areas that suppress or negate magic have no effect on extraordinary abilities.
I just want to make a point, that if you do decide to make a mad scientist type character, you should be sure to note that all his abilities are Extraordinary Abilities.
Extraordinary Abilities (Ex): Extraordinary abilities are nonmagical. They are, however, not something that just anyone can do or even learn to do without extensive training. Effects or areas that suppress or negate magic have no effect on extraordinary abilities.
Hmm, if you want to do this there is the Natural Philosopher class from Northern Crown (a third party d20/3.5 sourcebook).
Artificer, or somewhere around here there is an Engineer class based off the Alchemist.
Wizard is a good fall-back.
I recommend watching the film 'Megamind' as my kids dragged me to see it a few days ago. Classic mad scientist evil genius stuff! And that's just the hero ...
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Wizard is an obvious choice.
Less obvious is the Cleric. You'd think that their high wisdom makes them less prone to madness, but you might be wrong. It's just usually a different kind of madness. You see, the cleric is the only one with any sense. And nobody can see that but the cleric, because only he has the sense necessary to do so. It's no surprise that some of these clerics decide to make the world see its own stupidity!
Clerics can craft just as easily as wizards (well, slightly less easily because they have fewer feats), and they have a different selection of spells. If you want to brainwash the masses into becoming your super-nazi soldiers, for example, you can always Enthrall them until they give in.
And clerics get to raise the dead into zombies earlier than wizards do.
Less obvious is the Cleric. You'd think that their high wisdom makes them less prone to madness, but you might be wrong. It's just usually a different kind of madness. You see, the cleric is the only one with any sense. And nobody can see that but the cleric, because only he has the sense necessary to do so. It's no surprise that some of these clerics decide to make the world see its own stupidity!
I believe the term for such a cleric that you are looking for is 'fundamentalist fanatic' - and yes, that is a VERY scary concept.
Less obvious is the Cleric. You'd think that their high wisdom makes them less prone to madness, but you might be wrong. It's just usually a different kind of madness. You see, the cleric is the only one with any sense. And nobody can see that but the cleric, because only he has the sense necessary to do so. It's no surprise that some of these clerics decide to make the world see its own stupidity!I believe the term for such a cleric that you are looking for is 'fundamentalist fanatic' - and yes, that is a VERY scary concept.
Only slightly off topic, but River Tam from Firefly and Serenity was EXTREMELY intuitive and also EXTREMELY off her rocker. So those with high Wisdom can also be insane...maybe they perceive TOO much of the 'verse!!!
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I believe the term for such a cleric that you are looking for is 'fundamentalist fanatic' - and yes, that is a VERY scary concept.
Doesn't have to be fundamentalist, though that's a good place to start. He could be a progressive fanatic, a radical fanatic, a regressive fanatic... but fanaticism is pretty well-implied. It's really easy to achieve, too. Just have your character begin all conversation with the belief that he is right and the other person is wrong. No matter what they say.
Applying this to a mad scientist character wouldn't even be that difficult as there are many examples in fiction and real life of characters who treated science as if it were a religion.
Your character would probably follow a philosophy rather than a god, and might even be some kind of atheist.
The Archivist is a 3.5 class that is an intelligence-based divine caster. Could be interesting to adapt to Pathfinder ...
First, thank you everyone! I appreciate your help in my righteous (insane) quest to bring order to the world! The DM has finally provided some details to the upcoming game. We start at 7th level and are using a 25 point buy. The DM has restricted us to using 5th level starting wealth, but will be providing each of our characters with a special/unique magic item as well.
On to business. Alchemist is out; while I'm a fan of the archtype, I'm not fond of the execution. There are just two types of alchemists at this point: bombers and mutants. Every alchemist is one or both; I'd prefer to have my mad scientist be a bit more unique than that.
Regardless of what I pick, I plan on taking the leadership feat; every evil genius needs henchmen and an organization. As an added bonus, the other PC's will be assisting me in my goals (even if they don't realize it). I'll either start with the feat or acquire it once I hit 9th level.
Druid (Blighter variant)... Few things are more dangerous than a Druid who's actively turned against nature.
Lumusi the Crawling Horde agrees. It will eat you last.
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Fly in as a Witch with a white lab rat familiar. Pick the Cackle hex and lay on with the mad laughter.I second the cackling witch. If you're starting at a higher level, take Improved Familiar to have an elemental, mephit, or fiendish monkey(!) assistant named Igor.
But only if they cackle in sync with you! That could get kind of creepy, if they make no other vocalizations, and they do it in sync intuitively, without knowing ahead of time that you're going to cackle!
On to business. Alchemist is out; while I'm a fan of the archtype, I'm not fond of the execution. There are just two types of alchemists at this point: bombers and mutants. Every alchemist is one or both; I'd prefer to have my mad scientist be a bit more unique than that.
Well, you could try a gnome alchemist with the Master Tinker alternate racial trait from the APG (+1 Disable Device, Knowledge (Engineering) checks; treated as proficient with any weapon they have personally crafted) and Obsession (+2 Craft (Weapons) checks) specializing in personally crafted weapons such as: a repeating heavy crossbow with a variety of alchemically enhanced ammunition (bolts tipped with ceramic heads containing acid, alchemist's fire, alkali, flash powder, liquid ice, smoke pellets, sneeze powder, thunderstones, etc. or even bolts tipped with bomb vials), an alchemical silver battle aspergillum (for holy water and other substances, such as oil when under the effect of resist energy and using fire breath to ignite opponents after they are doused), an injection spear (a spear with a hollow metal head that can hold one dose of poison or a potion; when filled, any successful attack injects the dose into the target's bloodstream; weapon stats as normal spear, 100 gp; from Pathfinder 20, House of the Beast; works well with potions of blindness/deafness, deep slumber, ray of enfeeblement, ray of exhaustion, etc. created with help of an ally/henchman/follower or a high enough Spellcraft check), or any other weapons you may think up (possibly even firearms).
After all, Golarion gnomes are considered at least halfway insane anyway...
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Well, you could try a gnome alchemist with the Master Tinker alternate racial trait from the APG (+1 Disable Device, Knowledge (Engineering) checks; treated as proficient with any weapon they have personally crafted) and Obsession (+2 Craft (Weapons) checks) specializing in personally crafted weapons such as: a repeating heavy crossbow with a variety of alchemically enhanced ammunition (bolts tipped with ceramic heads containing acid, alchemist's fire, alkali, flash powder, liquid ice, smoke pellets, sneeze powder, thunderstones, etc. or even bolts tipped with bomb vials), an alchemical silver battle aspergillum (for holy water and other substances, such as oil when under the effect of resist energy and using fire breath to ignite opponents after they are doused), an injection spear (a spear with a hollow metal head that can hold one dose of poison or a potion; when filled, any successful attack injects the dose into the target's bloodstream; weapon stats as normal spear, 100 gp; from Pathfinder 20, House of the Beast; works well with potions of blindness/deafness, deep slumber, ray of enfeeblement, ray of exhaustion, etc. created with help of an ally/henchman/follower or a high enough Spellcraft check), or any other weapons you may think up (possibly even firearms).
+1 to this.
On to business. Alchemist is out; while I'm a fan of the archtype, I'm not fond of the execution. There are just two types of alchemists at this point: bombers and mutants. Every alchemist is one or both; I'd prefer to have my mad scientist be a bit more unique than that.Well, you could try a gnome alchemist with the Master Tinker alternate racial trait from the APG (+1 Disable Device, Knowledge (Engineering) checks; treated as proficient with any weapon they have personally crafted) and Obsession (+2 Craft (Weapons) checks) specializing in personally crafted weapons such as: a repeating heavy crossbow with a variety of alchemically enhanced ammunition (bolts tipped with ceramic heads containing acid, alchemist's fire, alkali, flash powder, liquid ice, smoke pellets, sneeze powder, thunderstones, etc. or even bolts tipped with bomb vials), an alchemical silver battle aspergillum (for holy water and other substances, such as oil when under the effect of resist energy and using fire breath to ignite opponents after they are doused), an injection spear (a spear with a hollow metal head that can hold one dose of poison or a potion; when filled, any successful attack injects the dose into the target's bloodstream; weapon stats as normal spear, 100 gp; from Pathfinder 20, House of the Beast; works well with potions of blindness/deafness, deep slumber, ray of enfeeblement, ray of exhaustion, etc. created with help of an ally/henchman/follower or a high enough Spellcraft check), or any other weapons you may think up (possibly even firearms).
After all, Golarion gnomes are considered at least halfway insane anyway...
This is... a cool idea. Really cool! Now, gnomes aren't my favorite race, but I can see myself playing such a character, provided I could find a way to optimize it. As it stands, alchemical items are fairly useless at higher levels, so I would need to find a method of increasing their effectiveness.
Also, I'm not sure that the spells you mentioned can be made into potions; I don't have much experience with item crafting, so I could be mistaken, but aren't potions limited to range personal? Or do I have that backwards.
I'd be interested in seeing how this build would be built, using 25 pt buy at 7th level.
I don't know how big they are, or if you could adjust the attire, but here are some inspirational images for the mad gnome look.
http://www.wdavidphillips.com/wp-content/uploads/the-incredibles-syndrome.j pg
http://www.cinecultist.com/archives/talkingedna.jpg
http://www.allmoviezone.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/mrshogenson.gif
Ought to be some action figures floating around out there somewhere.
This concept just made me think of the designer woman from this movie. The bad guy kind of fits too with the hair and crazed look if you go male.
Lol, she is very gnome-like. "No capes!"
Druid (Blighter variant)... Few things are more dangerous than a Druid who's actively turned against nature.Lumusi the Crawling Horde agrees. It will eat you last.
Holy Crap! I will need to use this in the future. Gryllen, the rat swarm D'ivers from the Malazan books, statted out for me. More or less.
Holy Crap! I will need to use this in the future. Gryllen, the rat swarm D'ivers from the Malazan books, statted out for me. More or less.
Glad I could be of service. :)
Well, you could try a gnome alchemist with the Master Tinker alternate racial trait from the APG (+1 Disable Device, Knowledge (Engineering) checks; treated as proficient with any weapon they have personally crafted) and Obsession (+2 Craft (Weapons) checks) specializing in personally crafted weapons such as: a repeating heavy crossbow with a variety of alchemically enhanced ammunition (bolts tipped with ceramic heads containing acid, alchemist's fire, alkali, flash powder, liquid ice, smoke pellets, sneeze powder, thunderstones, etc. or even bolts tipped with bomb vials), an alchemical silver battle aspergillum (for holy water and other substances, such as oil when under the effect of resist energy and using fire breath to ignite opponents after they are doused), an injection spear (a spear with a hollow metal head that can hold one dose of poison or a potion; when filled, any successful attack injects the dose into the target's bloodstream; weapon stats as normal spear, 100 gp; from Pathfinder 20, House of the Beast; works well with potions of blindness/deafness, deep slumber, ray of enfeeblement, ray of exhaustion, etc. created with help of an ally/henchman/follower or a high enough Spellcraft check), or any other weapons you may think up (possibly even firearms).
After all, Golarion gnomes are considered at least halfway insane anyway...
This is... a cool idea. Really cool! Now, gnomes aren't my favorite race, but I can see myself playing such a character, provided I could find a way to optimize it. As it stands, alchemical items are fairly useless at higher levels, so I would need to find a method of increasing their effectiveness.
Also, I'm not sure that the spells you mentioned can be made into potions; I don't have much experience with item crafting, so I could be mistaken, but aren't potions limited to range personal? Or do I have that backwards.
I'd be interested in seeing how this build would be built, using 25 pt buy at 7th level.
A rough possible build, focusing on ranged attacks:
Gnome Alchemist 7
Master Tinker (APG), Obsession (+2 Craft (Weapons) checks), Pyromaniac* (APG)
*- Doesn't help the odd levels, but makes the even levels better; only works for fire damage, though; the alternate SLAs make a nice touch
Favored Class: Alchemist - +3.5 bombs per day
12 Str, 16 Dex, 12 Con, 17 Int (16 +1 advancement), 10 Wis, 12 Cha
Class Features: Alchemy (+7 Craft (Alchemy) checks, identify potions, create extracts), Bomb (4d6+3, 13 bombs/day), Brew Potion, Mutagen (+2 natural armor, +4 Dex, -2 Wis, 70 min), Throw Anything, Discoveries (pick 3; useful choices include Acid Bomb, Concussive Bomb, Dispelling Bomb, Explosive Bomb, Frost Bomb, and Shock Bomb), Poison Resistance +4, Poison Use, Swift Alchemy, Swift Poisoning
Skills: Craft (Alchemy) 4 (+18), Craft (Weapons) 6* (+16), Disable Device 7 (+13), Knowledge (Arcana) 4 (+10), Perception 7 (+12), Spellcraft 7 (+13), Use Magic Device 7 (+11)
*- Allows crafting of masterwork weapons and creation of magic weapons of up to +2 enhancement bonus; for making/upgrading starting weapons and/or ones found
Feats: Brew Potion*, Master Craftsman (Craft (Weapons)), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Throw Anything*, +1 feat (recommend Extra Bombs, Extra Discovery, Iron Will, or Leadership)
*- Bonus feats
Extracts: 1st-5, 2nd-4, 3rd-2
Formulae: pick 7 1st-level, 3 2nd-level, and 1 3rd-level formulae; additional formulae can be added at the costs specified on pg. 219 of the Core Rulebook ("...wizards charge a fee for for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to half the cost to write the spell into a spellbook..."; also, "an alchemist can also add formulae to his book just like a wizard adds spells to his spellbook, using the same costs and time requirements. An alchemist can study a wizard's spellbook to learn any formula that is equivalent to a spell that the spellbook contains..." per APG pg. 27-28)
Gear: 10,500 gp worth (a headband of vast intelligence +2 and a +1 repeating crossbow eat up 6,700 gp; the remaining 3,800 gp can be used for +1 studded leather or a mithral chain shirt, a masterwork alchemical silver battle aspergillum, a masterwork injection spear, and some alchemical items and potions)
You have the potion restrictions backward; you can't make potions of spells with with a range of personal. "It can duplicate the effect of a spell of up to 3rd level that has a casting time of less than 1 minute and targets one or more creatures." (Core Rulebook, pg. 477)
Very cool looking build!
So as far as potions go, can you make a potion of fireball? Assuming you increase the DC by 5 for not having the spell. Or do you have to make a potion something that needs to be drunk?
Very cool looking build!So as far as potions go, can you make a potion of fireball? Assuming you increase the DC by 5 for not having the spell. Or do you have to make a potion something that needs to be drunk?
Technically, you can't make an area effect potion; that's what the alchemist's bombs are for. A potion of sleep/deep slumber is perhaps stretching the rules slightly, but would only affect the imbiber and not an area; the spell's write up also states "one or more living creatures" and the description makes it clear that it doesn't affect everything in the "10-ft.-radius burst" like (for example) burning hands.
However, you can make special ammunition/weapons with Master Craftsman that have spell effects: see dagger of venom, javelin of lightning, screaming bolt, slaying arrow, and sleep arrow in the Core Rulebook and boulderhead mace, dustburst bullet, searing arrow, sizzling arrow, and tangle bolt in the APG for examples. Some of them will be out of your price range to start with, though.
Very cool looking build!So as far as potions go, can you make a potion of fireball? Assuming you increase the DC by 5 for not having the spell. Or do you have to make a potion something that needs to be drunk?
Not exactly a fireball, but the spell fire breath is on the alchemist extract list that's kinda similar.
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All you need is a White Lab coat
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Regardless of class :)
However, you can make special ammunition/weapons with Master Craftsman that have spell effects: see dagger of venom, javelin of lightning, screaming bolt, slaying arrow, and sleep arrow in the Core Rulebook and boulderhead mace, dustburst bullet, searing arrow, sizzling arrow, and tangle bolt in the APG for examples. Some of them will be out of your price range to start with, though.
<grumble>
After re-reading the complete description of Master Craftsman, you will need to take the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat, as well. Since you can't qualify for Master Craftsman until 5th level, Craft Magic Arms and Armor may need to be your 7th level feat.
Performing necromancy on threads is frowned upon, but what about if it is in the name of science?
With the Ultimate Magic book now available to the general public, I wanted to take another stab at the mad scientist character; time has passed, a campaign has ended, and I now have another opportunity to try a mad scientist. Ultimate Magic has a wealth of options for magic-users, many of those seem to scream evil genius, particularly the new alchemist archetypes and discoveries.
I'm stating up a mad scientist myself. His character concept can be summed up as "science without ethics".
He's an Alchemist that takes Spagyric Devices (from the excellent, excellent Advanced Options: Alchemist Discoveries in place of Bombs. Basically, these devices allow him to emulate any magic item, and he can change which devices he emulates every day. Pretty nifty, and ties in with the tinkerer / artificer aspects of the class, which I wanted to emphasize.
Combatwise, he's going for a Master Chymist, due to experimenting on himself so often. He's taking the Feral Mutagen and a mutagen discovery in that PDF I mentioned called Chitinous that increases the natural armor by 4.
Hope that helped somehow.
I'm stating up a mad scientist myself. His character concept can be summed up as "science without ethics".
He's an Alchemist that takes Spagyric Devices (from the excellent, excellent Advanced Options: Alchemist Discoveries in place of Bombs. Basically, these devices allow him to emulate any magic item, and he can change which devices he emulates every day. Pretty nifty, and ties in with the tinkerer / artificer aspects of the class, which I wanted to emphasize.
Combatwise, he's going for a Master Chymist, due to experimenting on himself so often. He's taking the Feral Mutagen and a mutagen discovery in that PDF I mentioned called Chitinous that increases the natural armor by 4.
Hope that helped somehow.
That's a pretty fun concept. The low wisdom must be dangerous though; gods forbid some caster targets you with a spell that requires a will save.
Thanks for the heads up on the Advanced Options. I'll be sure to take a look at it. How balanced would you say it is? My DM might be open to using it as long as nothing is broken.
I don't think my characters wisdom is all too low. But anyways, my DM for this character focuses more on worldbuilding and stories than using spells on the PCs, so I'm not worriex too much. If i get charmed, then may god have mercy on my party, because I'd rip them to shreds.
The reviews listed on the web page do a better job of explaining the book than I could ever do. Suffice to say, this book gives a lot of options, and is my second favorite SGG book.
Coolio!
My bad about the wisdom comment; apparently, I was mixing up two different threads. My bad.
The Spagyric Devices intrigue me, and definitly fill a a nitch that seems to be missing from the alchemist: the insane inventer. I'll be sure to look at the reviews, but can you give me your own experience with the devices? How useful are they in game? And have you had any problems with the mechanics?
I haven't played the guy yet. I maxe him a few weeks ago, but most of our players are busy for a while. There's a sidebar that goes indepth about balance concerns about "free magic items. " They liken it to spells from a wizard. It's just another class ability that will let a smart group prepare in advance. Further, each device takes up 2 body slots and is bulky, meaning that it's an easy sundering target. Oh yea, and there's a cap on the worth of stuff you can make per level. The low levels will have few items to emulate, but that's more an issue with Pathfinder than with the pdf.
Theoretically, I find it balanced.