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Doctor Jekyll & Mister Hyde, Victor Frankenstein, H.P Lovecraft's Reanimator, various alchemists in history, Doctor Moreau (especially the Vivisectionist), etc. etc.
Think Renaissance- to Victorian-era mad alchemical scientist.
Once D&D came out, the 2nd issue of The Dragon had an alchemist class, which if I recall correctly, featured bomb throwing in place of spells. This pretty much cemented the alchemist as having bombs, coming from it's role as a type of artillery.
The alchemist as serves as a twist on the articifer.
The alchemist as serves as a twist on the articifer.
Wasn't the Artificer all about crafting?
This page, basically.
Welp, there went half my morning.
Actually, the direct inspiration for the Alchemist class was the video game The Witcher, in which you're an alchemically enhanced human that uses bombs, mutagens, and potions to enhance your fighting styles. It then merged with other alchemists of lore to become less focused on fighting, as the fully-Witcher-inspired class would probably have been a full BAB class.
James Jacobs came up with the idea of the Alchemist after playing The Witcher, IIRC.
Doctor Jekyll & Mister Hyde, Victor Frankenstein, H.P Lovecraft's Reanimator, various alchemists in history, Doctor Moreau (especially the Vivisectionist), etc. etc.
Think Renaissance- to Victorian-era mad alchemical scientist.
It's kind of a weird class, since it's really two in one.
The Mister Hyde and the Mad Bomber. Mr. Hyde's pretty obvious, but the Bomber doesn't have quite such clear origins.
V
Actually, the direct inspiration for the Alchemist class was the video game The Witcher, in which you're an alchemically enhanced human that uses bombs, mutagens, and potions to enhance your fighting styles. It then merged with other alchemists of lore to become less focused on fighting, as the fully-Witcher-inspired class would probably have been a full BAB class.
James Jacobs came up with the idea of the Alchemist after playing The Witcher, IIRC.
He may have, but considering the Alchemist class bears very, very little resemblance to Geralt or the other Witchers in how they function, saying it was based on them is a stretch.
Creative Director
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Yup. I'm probably the primary source of the class being in the game... I was more or less its champion during the stage where we were trying to decide what 6 classes we wanted to put into the book, but the design team was having a hard time envisioning how a class that basically stayed at home and made potions could be a viable adventuring option.
So I put my money where my mouth was and designed the initial class, which was indeed primarily inspired by the Witcher games. I wanted the class to have 3 themes—being able to throw bombs, being able to drink mutagens to transform himself for different roles, and being able to "cast" spells by quickly mixing potion-like things that he drinks. The idea sort of being that he was a spellcaster who didn't really buff other people, and that he focused his spellcasting on himself rather than others.
I finished my initial draft for the class and turned it over to the design team and they liked it!
So yes, I can confirm that the initial inspiration was indeed the Witcher—so that's hardly a stretch. ;) But I didn't want to make a total clone of Geralt because that's lame, so I also brought in elements of the mad scientist, particularly with regards to gothic horror like Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde and Herbert West and Dr. Moureau. And finally, made sure that they did actual alchemy stuff!
I wasn't doubting that you were inspired by it, just that the final product can't really be called "based on" something it doesn't really resemble. =)
I take the same issue with movies supposedly "based on a true story".
Yup. I'm probably the primary source of the class being in the game...
I rarely pop onto a thread just to say "you guys at Paizo are awesome," but when I do I really mean it. Alchemist is by far my favorite class and I literally never miss an opportunity to gush about how cool it is.
Thank you for making sure it made it into the game, Mr. Jacobs! It single-handedly got me into Pathfinder, after being unsure as to whether or not I wanted to take the leap from 3.5.
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Creative Director
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I wasn't doubting that you were inspired by it, just that the final product can't really be called "based on" something it doesn't really resemble. =)
I take the same issue with movies supposedly "based on a true story".
But... that's exactly what that means. Being based on something means "inspired by" more or less. It doesn't mean "An exact and 100% accurate translation."
In any event... it's good that folks DON'T think that it's a 100% accurate interpretation of the Witcher, since that'd be us infringing on their IP. The changes and adjustments I made to the class were intentional so that the end result was indeed just "based" on it (and other inspirations) but the sum total in the end was something new.
But... that's exactly what that means. Being based on something means "inspired by" more or less. It doesn't mean "An exact and 100% accurate translation."I wasn't doubting that you were inspired by it, just that the final product can't really be called "based on" something it doesn't really resemble. =)
I take the same issue with movies supposedly "based on a true story".
TL;DR: "Inspired by" has much much less adherence to the source material (real events in the case of the article, but The Witcher in this case) while "Based on" refers to something that clings much more closely to the original source.
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Fine. Inspired by. Doesn't change where it came from.
(Didn't come here to get into a semantics argument... just thought I'd offer some insight and behind the scenes info about where the class came from to answer the original poster, since I'm the one who is probably best qualified to answer this particular question.)
Hey, I appreciate you stopping in! I did not actually know who at Paizo was responsible for the class, and now I do, so I know who to thank going forward. :)
Good times in nightclubs which we don't talk about?
A fantastic niche in fantasy, really portrays the intelligent resourcefulness that seeks to 1. Make things go BOOM or 2. See the applications of alchemical tinkering.
Extremely flexible in how you build it too.
It delivers the "I'm smart enough to solve any and every problem you throw at me" flawlessly. One of the best designed classes in Pathfinder.
He may have, but considering the Alchemist class bears very, very little resemblance to Geralt or the other Witchers in how they function, saying it was based on them is a stretch.Actually, the direct inspiration for the Alchemist class was the video game The Witcher, in which you're an alchemically enhanced human that uses bombs, mutagens, and potions to enhance your fighting styles. It then merged with other alchemists of lore to become less focused on fighting, as the fully-Witcher-inspired class would probably have been a full BAB class.
James Jacobs came up with the idea of the Alchemist after playing The Witcher, IIRC.
The Witcher throws bombs, makes and drinks potions, poisons his weapons, makes traps and uses the witcher signs.
The Alchemist throws bombs, makes and drinks extracts and mutagens, and poisons his weapons. He is only missing the traps and signs, but that is balanced with the effect bombs and with the more magical types of extracts.First thing I thought after seeing the alchemist class was thinking I could use to build Geralt.
Alchemists can do anything they set their mind to. If you want to make traps, enjoy the Saboteur and the Trap Breaker.
I have a Saboteur at level 2 right now. I'm very excited for him to get to higher levels and start really exercising what he can do with Complex Bombs, and setting Land Mines. Plus, you can even disarm magical traps like a rogue.
Trust me, my avatar is the iconic alchemist. ;)