Prerequisite: Alchemist 2
Benefit: You can create and store bombs above and beyond your daily limit.
A persistent bomb is a stoppered vial containing liquid and dissolved solid and/or gaseous reagents, with the catalyst suspended above it and held in place by air pressure. A ceramic plug prevents the reagents from contacting the catalyst if shaken. If the vial is unsealed, the catalyst falls onto the plug and immediately dissolves it, mixing with the reagent. Unsealing the vial results in a mishap at the beginning of the next round if not used.
Identifying the effects of a persistent bomb (including damage dice and secondary discoveries) requires a DC 25 Craft (alchemy) skill check and 1 minute of study (1 round if the character has the alchemy class feature). Once it has been identified, it can be used. Using an unidentified bomb has a 90% of a mishap, a 9% of wasting it to no effect, and a 1% of success. If the user of the bomb is the creator, this step can be skipped in all but the most unusual circumstances.
Activating the bomb is automatically successful if the user has the bombs class feature, the bomb's damage dice are equal to or less than her bomb class feature damage dice, and she knows the discoveries applied to the bomb. If these are not the case, a Craft (alchemy) skill check is required, with a base DC of 15 + the bomb's damage dice + 1/2 the minimum alchemist level prerequisite of the highest-level discovery. If this check is successful, the character may throw the bomb as if it were a flask of alchemist's fire, or as if it were a bomb if the user is an alchemist (allowing persistent bombs to be used with the Fast Bombs discovery). The damage dice and applied discovery are set at the bomb's creation, but Throw Anything damage, range, and discoveries such as fast bombs or delayed bomb are applied by the user. If the user is an alchemist with the bombs class feature, they may use their own Intelligence modifier and any relevant feats and abilities to set any appropriate save DCs. If the user does not have the bombs class feature the DC is instead equal to 11 + the number of damage dice.
Bomb mishap: If the activation check fails by 5 or more, or the bomb is otherwise mishandled, it goes off, making a touch attack against the wielder at a bonus equal to the number of damage dice plus 4. If it fails by 4 or less, the bomb is lost to no effect.
The base price of the bomb is 10 gp times the square of the damage die. Discoveries that involve the method of use rather than the inherent properties of a bomb cannot be made into the item and must be supplied by the alchemist at the time of activation. Such discoveries include but are not limited to Delayed Bomb, Fast Bombs, and Strafe Bomb.
Incorporating a discovery into a bomb increases the price by 50 gp x the number of damage dice x the level of the duplicated spell effect, or if there is no corresponding spell, 1/2 the minimum requisite alchemist level, rounded down. A persistent bomb cannot be crafted with fewer damage dice than 1/2 the alchemist level prerequisite of the discovery, rounded down.
Persistent bombs are alchemical items, not magic items. Crafting persistent bombs follows the rules for crafting alchemical items, and the base Craft DC is equal to 15 + the damage dice + 1/2 the prerequisite alchemist level for any discoveries applied. The creator must have the bomb class feature up to the appropriate number of damage dice and also know the discoveries to be applied to the bomb, as well as the Persistent Bombs discovery. Attempting the creation of a persistent bomb without these prerequisites automatically fails.
A roll of 1 on the Craft (alchemy) check to create a persistent bomb automatically fails with the loss of all materials, and also destroys the alchemical kit, lab, or other apparatus being used for the check. In this event, there is a 90% chance that the alchemist is affected as if by a direct hit, and a 10% chance that he instead takes the effect of splash damage.
The title was confusing, chance of misfire should only apply to non- alchemists, but it's a great idea.