Need some clarification on how alchemist's fire works. Two players are disagreeing and I can't seem to find alchemist's fire in the rulebooks to settle their argument (I'm probably skimming over it without noticing), nor do I know how it works myself (never had a PC use it or a player buy, find, or make it until now).
According to the first player, alchemist's fire is done via a range touch attack dealing 1d6 fire damage on the round it hits, 2d6 fire damage on the round following that, and 1d6 fire damage on the round following that, with 1 splash damage on the round it hits, and the ability to make a DC15 reflex save as a full-round action to extinguish it. He adds that while its burning is in effect, any fire damage that affects the burning target is increased by one damage die.
According to him this is how his pathfinder society GM does it, and therefore it's official.
According to the second player, alchemist's fire is done via a ranged attack (not touch) dealing 1d6 fire damage on the round it hits, and 1d6 fire damage on the round following that, with 1 splash damage on the round it hits, and the ability to make a DC15 reflex save as a full-round action to extinguish it. She says that normal alchemist's fire does not increase the effectiveness of any other fire damage.
Her ruling sounds more likely to be accurate, but according to her she just remembers having read it somewhere, which is a less-credible argument than the pathfinder society one. I figured I'd better get a third opinion from the forums.
well I am sure its a touch attack. but the damage is like how player 2 said I think. will some more
You can throw a flask of alchemist's fire as a splash weapon with a range increment of 10 feet.
A direct hit deals 1d6 points of fire damage. Every creature within 5 feet of the point where the flask hits takes 1 point of fire damage from the splash. On the round following a direct hit, the target takes an additional 1d6 points of damage. If desired, the target can use a full-round action to attempt to extinguish the flames before taking this additional damage. Extinguishing the flames requires a DC 15 Reflex save. Rolling on the ground provides the target a +2 bonus on the save. Leaping into a lake or magically extinguishing the flames automatically smothers the fire.
A splash weapon is a ranged weapon that breaks on impact, splashing or scattering its contents over its target and nearby creatures or objects. To attack with a splash weapon, make a ranged touch attack against the target. Thrown splash weapons require no weapon proficiency, so you don't take the –4 nonproficiency penalty. A hit deals direct hit damage to the target, and splash damage to all creatures within 5 feet of the target. If the target is Large or larger, you choose one of its squares and the splash damage affects creatures within 5 feet of that square. Splash weapons cannot deal precision-based damage (such as the damage from the rogue's sneak attack class feature).
That PFS GM is playing fast and loose, if the first player is telling the truth.
According to the first player, alchemist's fire is done via a range touch attack dealing 1d6 fire damage on the round it hits, 2d6 fire damage on the round following that, and 1d6 fire damage on the round following that, with 1 splash damage on the round it hits, and the ability to make a DC15 reflex save as a full-round action to extinguish it. He adds that while its burning is in effect, any fire damage that affects the burning target is increased by one damage die.
This fails the "Its better than most class features at level 1" test.
That would do 3d6 damage before the creature got to respond. And a very good chance of killing any CR1 foe. When you hear a ruling like that, you know its wrong.