Alchemist Extracts per day refresh mechanic

[Khilbron]

How does an alchemist actually refresh his extracts per day?
It seems weird to think that an alchemist requires the 8 hours of a wizard as casting spells is not a completely mental thing for him and therefore he would not need to clear his mind for the 8 hours, nor does he need the 1 hour to prepare his extracts (only needs 1 min/extract).

With his ability to leave extract slots open the mechanic seems to be leaning more towards the cleric/paladin version of preparing spells however the whole needing an hour to pray at a specific time thing doesn't really fit an alchemist either.

with the "When an alchemist mixes an extract, he infuses the chemicals and reagents in the extract with magic siphoned from his own magical aura." sentence in the description of extracts it also seems like he would simply need to replenish his magical aura like a sorcerer. however this is a mechanic wich i cannot find and i assume is something along the lines of "at this arbitrary time you get your spells back"

Basically all i want to know is:
When do i get my extracts back and How do i go about doing it?

[Dasrak]

Regard him like a wizard; he draws power in much the same way, but expresses it differently. Where the wizard must ingrain his prepared spells into his mind, the alchemist instead places them in his extracts. This process is simpler and more straightforward than the wizard's method (hence the shorter preparation time) but because the source of power is very similar many of the other constraints are the same.

[Weirdo]

He definitely doesn't need to pray, and definitely doesn't need the hour to prepare extracts - though note that wizards, like clerics, can also leave spell slots open and fill them later by spending at least 15 minutes to review their spellbook.

I feel like alchemists should need rest (I wouldn't want to perform a delicate and possibly explosive bit of chemistry while sleep deprived) but I don't think there's anything in the rules that actually supports that. In some ways they are similar to wizards and can even crib from their spellbooks, but they aren't arcane casters. There is no Arcane Spell Failure for extracts, and they can't use spell-completion items.

In that case, I'd assume they just get their slots back at midnight and then need 1 min per extract whenever they want to mix them.

I'm not sure that was intended, though, and I might house-rule it.

[Khilbron]

Dasrak: That is what i thought when i first looked at it, however the process of ingraining the spells in the wizard's mind seems like it would be incredibly mentally draining and thus the 8 hours of rest. where as an alchemist's extracts are difficult to prepare (just like any real drug) however should not need the 8 hours of a wizard because he doesn't have to store the spells in his mind. I agree that under normal circumstances an alchemist should not be able to prepare extracts without rest from the point of view of sleep deprivation, however consider a character that doesn't need to sleep like a living construct or only needs a small amount of sleep like an elf is that rest still required for the ability to create the extracts?

Weirdo: that is what i thought with the whole "refresh like a sorcerer" thing, but i would prefer to use the rules as intended. If i can't find a definite answer in any of the source books/SRD that i'll probably use that idea as the basis for the system i will suggest to my GM. As i said to Dasrak i agree with the idea of needing rest but i am not sure how much is acceptable.

It is possible i am looking to hard for a mechanic that isn't really that important, it's just bugging me that i don't know how my character works.

[Xaratherus]

Khilbron wrote:

Dasrak: That is what i thought when i first looked at it, however the process of ingraining the spells in the wizard's mind seems like it would be incredibly mentally draining and thus the 8 hours of rest. where as an alchemist's extracts are difficult to prepare (just like any real drug) however should not need the 8 hours of a wizard because he doesn't have to store the spells in his mind.

In modern-day terms creating a drug may not take too long, but compare it to creating a potion - it takes 2 hours for potions that cost 250g or less, otherwise it takes a day.

From in-game terms, I would look at it this way: An alchemist is casting the spell, just using a very different medium from a wizard\sorcerer. He has to memorize all the same details a wizard does, and then imbue those into his extract through careful preparation.

Although the rules don't state this as a real possibility, in-game an alchemist would know that screwing up a step during the preparation of his extracts could have deadly results; the game gets around having to portray this by forcing you to have 8 hours to recuperate and mentally prepare for your next batch of extract-brewing.

[edit]
That actually would make an interesting rules addition: Allow casters of any type the ability to prepare spells without the requisite 8 hours of rest, but give each spell a chance to 'fizzle' or 'explode' upon casting.

[Weirdo]

If he needs rest, he should need 8 hours like all the rest-needing casters.

Unfortunately I'm not really sure what was intended. The alchemists mostly are intended to function as casters, but they have a few differences that make it hard to just treat them exactly as wizards unless otherwise stated. Spontaneous Divine casters are also a little unclear since they didn't exist when the section on regaining magic was written, but at least you can safely extrapolate from the prepared divine casters and the spontaneous arcane casters in that situation.