i was talking to my gm last night and he made the comment about when he plays PF next, he wants to play an alchemist, and i stated that my biggest peeve with the alchemist is that eventually, you dont even have to make a roll to craft anything alchemical in the game.
i said that mechanically, you might as well put 1 skill rank into the skill and then every other level pump that skill point into another skill, since youre gonna get a bonus to the skill anyways from your class, and still be able to craft anything in the game without rolling (even though this may be later on). if you DO pump a skill point into it at every level, like the alchemist did in the game i ran not too long ago, he could craft anything in the game (save a couple of things) without even rolling by level 8.
but as we know, alchemy was the original form of chemistry, and chemistry is constantly growing, new things are being discovered and implemented. alchemy should be the same.
my point is that shouldnt there be some high alchemical items that are so tough to make that really only a character that devotes his life to alchemy, ie the alchemist, can craft, and even then with his skill points every level and bonus into craft alchemy still has to roll, and i mean roll at least a 12, 13, 15, etc to create?
where are the high level alchemical items? complex things? they dont have to be game breaking or anything, but something interesting. like an alchemical item like alchemist fire that does frost, fire, electricity, AND acid at the same time? how about advanced thunderstones, tanglefoot bags, etc? new items as well?
i know the krazy kragnars pdfs have maybe one or two items, but thats not enough in my opinion. the bonus alchemists get to that craft should be something they get to help them craft that tough crap at higher levels cause hardly anybody if anybody outside the class figures its impossible to make, not to be able to make everything save one or two items by level 8. im just not seeing much items that do this.
does anybody know of anything like what im describing? is there a vast amount of these items that im not finding? do they have ideas for items (if yes please post away, ill make a pdf of them)? if these dont exists in vast amounts, i ask Paizo if they will ever create items like this, and im talking about before a Mythic Level Handbook comes out, if ever? cause God knows i dont some 13th level alchemist creating a Mythic Level item at that point.
any input on this topic is greatly appreciated. hope to see many ideas posted. thanks.
I play an Alchemist in a game and 4th lvl and my GM is only allowing Paizo pruducts to be used but as we all know the Alchmist isnt getting any love with newer items to be made.
1) With the way Crafting works, how well you roll doesn't just determine whether you make the item but also how long it takes you to make it. If you only get the bare minimum to succeed on an item, the higher-end stuff will take you ages. Also note you can raise the DC on an item by 10 to finish it faster.
2) If you want something more challenging, you could look into poisons, which are listed under the glossary of the core rulebook for some reason. I wouldn't go down that path without the Master Alchemist feat from the APG (or a bit of houseruling) though, as it would be very time consuming to make even a single dose.