RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Some wags who i play with have come up with the following - a sack filled with 2 flasks of alchemists fire + numerous flasks of lamp oil. They then throw this improvised 'bomb', claiming damage for all the flasks of alchemists fire & burning oil AT THE SAME TIME. any ideas how to adjudicate this ?
Well, let's see... For starters, this is clearly an improvised weapon, so a -4 to hit unless they spend a feat.
Also, alchemist's fire is in a breakable flask and the substance itself is made to ignite when the container breaks.
But this bomb is in a sack.
Have a look at this:
A pint of oil burns for 6 hours in a lantern or lamp. You can also use a flask of oil as a splash weapon. Use the rules for alchemist's fire (see Special Substances and Items on Table: Goods and Services), except that it takes a full-round action to prepare a flask with a fuse. Once it is thrown, there is a 50% chance of the flask igniting successfully.
You can pour a pint of oil on the ground to cover an area 5 feet square, provided that the surface is smooth. If lit, the oil burns for 2 rounds and deals 1d3 points of fire damage to each creature in the area.
Now, since the bomb is mostly oil (as opposed to AlchFire), it won't auto-ignite on a hit. So they should need to prepare it with a fuse, as with a flask of oil, quoted above. Thus, I would also apply the 50% ignition chance.
Now, there's only so much surface area on a body for it to be covered in burning oil, so having several "doses" of oil splash out at once shouldn't grant any extra damage on the initial ignition. Instead, if there's plenty of oil, I would replace the 1-point splash damage (remember that a successful ignition functions like AlchFire) with the 1d3-for-2-rounds (from the second paragraph) within the splash area.
Now, since the bag of oil will have softened the impact of the real AlchFire inside, I would rule that they don't burst on impact. Instead, IF the bomb ignites successfully, then on each of the two rounds of burning I would have one of the flasks of AlchFire burst and do damage as normal - and I would probably have that be splash damage only (same as if you throw AlcFire at a grid intersection instead of a target) since it's on the ground and not in someone's face; if you wanted to be generous, maybe give it a 50/50 shot at direct hit versus splash-only.
That's how I'd do it. YMMV.
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Of couse it doesn't work that way. An alchemists fire already is an optimal mix to do damage, adding more oil would probably even lessen the effect. You need to be a real alchemist to make proper bombs (like the class ability).
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Alchemists Fire is not an explosive. It is more like napalm. It is a liquid that catches on fire when exposed to the air and so you have semi-sticky fiery liquid splashing about.
If it is all inside a bag, then you will have a bunch of fire inside of a bag. When the bag inevitably burns up, then some of the unburned alchemists fire and oil will spread out in a fiery sheet across the floor for a few rounds.
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I ran them at Conception, and after the shock of the first Ka-Boom I made a few rules. First, I asked them to please inform any future GM's of such improvised weapons ahead of time. Second, for all future satchel charges they would need to subtract the bags hardness and HP (total 3pts) from the damage of both oil and Alchem fire damage. They had to burn through the backpack before doing anything to the target and they all went off at the same time so each flask had to subtract the hp/hardness from damage. It was very spur of the momement and they took it very well, even if it did nurf it down to almost no damage. They eneded up just tossing them all on to the fire caused by the first one and I had no more issues with them for the rest of the game.
A bag filled with glass jars will certainly break when thrown at a hard enough surface so the 50% ignition chance is being very stingy. I see where your player's heads were at, and I can appreciate it. But as has already been mentioned, extra flasks of oil wouldn't do extra damage per round. It would be logical however to increase either the splash radius, the number of rounds or both.
Given that the flasks are in a bag though, there wouldn't be any splash. The bag would burn quickly but it would just spread the hot mess out over time. So in the end, the splash radius would be contained to the smallest area possible (5 ft. or personal). Thus, the duration of the fire would simply increase.
Another concern to consider is that the flasks banging around in the bag have a chance of breaking preemptively, dousing the wielder in hot death. This could make for some interesting role-playing experiences.
In one of my campaigns an alchemist wanted bombs for his unlearned companions and so, simply used his alchemy lab to house 5 parts lamp oil to 1 part alchemist's fire in the same jar, separated by a wax barrier. They would still terrifying to carry around but the simplicity and low cost of the design meant he could pump out more than enough for his party everyday he cared to.
They also went on to design a bear trap, overlaid with a section of pitch treated canvas and a flask of alchemist's fire set at the joint. They covered the canvas with leaves and debris. When the trap was stepped in the enemy was mangled, immobilized (if trap was staked down) and left to burn. Made both the DC to remove the trap and put out the fire really high.
Every now and then you have to step out of RAW and remember that this is first and foremost about cleverness and role-playing.