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I've been playing with a concept for an alchemist archetype based on transmutation (because, really, that's what alchemy is all about). I have this picture in my head of a guy pretending to be a wizard, pulling out vials and chucking them at enemies while declaring nonsense loudly. "Abracadabra, you're tiny!" he shouts as he splashes you with a bottle of some faintly-colored liquid and the world around you grows to enormous proportions .
I've also added a dash of classic metals alchemy, though I didn't put gold on the table (silver is available however).
Anyway, take a look and let me know what you think of the transmuter.
Wording's a bit funky in places, but overall I like the direction. I think you could make Metallic Shift more useful. At 2nd level making something masterwork would be more useful instead of turning it into metal (or making it masterwork by turning it into metal or a higher quality metal). At 6th, making something mithril or adamantine for a minute 4-5 times per day isn't too nasty, and it's on par with a lot of the other abilities flying around by this time. It would be cool if by 10th the transmuter could make things magical or add magical enhancements to them, like how a paladin, warpriest, or magus enhances their own stuff. It'd sort of push the party support element here and make it so the party is always prepared for different types of damage reduction and whatnot just by having the transmuter around.
Honestly, you're doing enough to take away poison's nifty abilities in the class that you might as well replace all of the poison stuff. Taking away Brew Potion doesn't make a whole lot of sense, since you're already taking away Bombs, and the alchemist kind of needs brew potion to, y'know, brew potions. I always figured that was sort of how they had the knack for making their extracts, but that's just me.
Also, be careful of some of the super weird effects that throwing transmutation spells might lead to. Mirror Strike and Mage Hand are transmutation spells: how do these work when I throw them onto a goblin? If I have a bottle of stone shape, do I put it on my hands, throw it on the wall, or drink it? What happens if I throw telekinesis at my fighter friend? Does he get telekinetic powers?
I would put a use limit on Metallic Prison. Either that or a "once every 24 hours" clause so that creatures don't just get locked out by failing against a touch attack.
Otherwise, cool idea. I like the flavor on the Eschew Materials ability.
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Wording's a bit funky in places
I'm open to cleanup tips, but I tried to base it off of existing wording as much as possible. Still, there are some complex abilities in there.
but overall I like the direction.
Thanks!
I think you could make Metallic Shift more useful. *advice*
That's not really the direction I wanted for metallic shift. I wanted a versatile ability more than a simple buff. There are lots of options here, like pumping up your longsword into essentially a greatsword by transmuting it to lead, killing the rogue's finesse/twf by making his shortsword too heavy, giving the bard an arcane spell failure chance by turning his armor into medium (lead) armor, mitigating fragile weapon qualities, defending your quarterstaff against a wood wizard, etc. And then of course bypassing material-based DR is probably the most common use-case.
Taking away Brew Potion doesn't make a whole lot of sense, since you're already taking away Bombs, and the alchemist kind of needs brew potion to, y'know, brew potions. I always figured that was sort of how they had the knack for making their extracts, but that's just me.
I can see your angle, but this isn't the first alchemist archetype to steal away Brew Potion. I just think of transmutation as less... potion-y, I guess. Plus the transmuter already gets extra miles via oils, so she won't need as many potions.
Also, be careful of some of the super weird effects that throwing transmutation spells might lead to. Mirror Strike and Mage Hand are transmutation spells: how do these work when I throw them onto a goblin? If I have a bottle of stone shape, do I put it on my hands, throw it on the wall, or drink it? What happens if I throw telekinesis at my fighter friend? Does he get telekinetic powers?
They behave like spells, so what happens when you cast Mage Hand on a goblin? What happens when you cast telekinesis on your fighter friend? And as for stone shape, spells that affect contiguous areas are specifically called out already.
I would put a use limit on Metallic Prison. Either that or a "once every 24 hours" clause so that creatures don't just get locked out by failing against a touch attack.
There's no such limit on the spell it emulates. Also, the spell only requires a Fort save whereas the transmuter touch version requires the transmuter to succeed at a touch attack, then you get your Fort save. Plus the spell version is permanent. Plus you only get a handful of metallic shifts each day anyway.
EDIT: Or did you read it as unlimited? It just opens up a new way to use metallic shift, which in no way implies lifting the daily usage limit of metallic shift (by my thinking anyway).Otherwise, cool idea. I like the flavor on the Eschew Materials ability.
Again, thanks. And thanks for the feedback.
A caster alchemist, nice.
Expanded Formulae (by the way, the feature should be named Expanded Formula List) needs a clarification, since you can pick up spells as extracts that normally couldn't be used as extracts. It might be easier to put this and Transmutation Oil into a single feature.
Transmutation Oils should be Su, not Sp, since they don't work like spells.
'A transmuter may create any number of transmutation oils per day, but their combined formula levels may not be greater than her class level.'
That seems rather strict, especially at higher levels. Also, the alchemist's medium spell progression means that save DCs aren't going to be very high (and you have to hit with a ranged touch attack, which is less of a problem, but there is still an additional chance of failure). I would change that to 10 + 1/2 alchemist level + Int modifier. I'm not thrilled about the way area effects are treated.
I agree with Puna'Chong that a lot of spells will cause issues (just to name a few obvious ones: pyrotechnics, slow, telekinesis, disintegrate).
Duplicate Materials: Not sure why this is necessary. Alchemists being gear-dependant is something that I would consider to be vital to the flavor of this class (also, the alchemist would still need his tools - I can't imagine a situation where an alchemist would have access to his tools but not to the ingredients necessary for alchemy).
Metallic shift is really cool. However, I don't like touch attacks as a free action.
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Expanded Formulae (by the way, the feature should be named Expanded Formula List) needs a clarification, since you can pick up spells as extracts that normally couldn't be used as extracts. It might be easier to put this and Transmutation Oil into a single feature.
Good point on the name. I don't see the problem picking up spells-as-extracts personally. Of course you can then prepare an extract of Magic Weapon. What the heck are you going to do with it though?
Transmutation Oils should be Su, not Sp, since they don't work like spells.
Noted.
'A transmuter may create any number of transmutation oils per day, but their combined formula levels may not be greater than her class level.' That seems rather strict, especially at higher levels.
I didn't want this to be "free extracts all day". You can always and forever (from 2nd level anyway) have two *free highest-level extracts via transmutation oils if that's how you play it. Three if you take the Savant discovery once. I didn't want that to get out of hand.
Also, the alchemist's medium spell progression means that save DCs aren't going to be very high (and you have to hit with a ranged touch attack, which is less of a problem, but there is still an additional chance of failure).
This is an issue, to be sure, but that's what you get for playing wizard eh? It's the same issue bards and summoners face.
I'm not thrilled about the way area effects are treated.
What do you mean?
I agree with Puna'Chong that a lot of spells will cause issues (just to name a few obvious ones: pyrotechnics, slow, telekinesis, disintegrate).
I'm not sure I see the issue with any of these except telekinesis. Really the question (as I see it) is what to do with a spell that can be used continuously in various fashions, such as levitate or telekinesis. Do you get oils per effect (rather than per spell)? Do you get to make choices after the oil is in effect? I'm open to suggestions for wording as well as ruling.
Duplicate Materials: Not sure why this is necessary. Alchemists being gear-dependant is something that I would consider to be vital to the flavor of this class (also, the alchemist would still need his tools - I can't imagine a situation where an alchemist would have access to his tools but not to the ingredients necessary for alchemy).
I was in a campaign where the GM ruled that for the alchemist in our party to create harpy musk, we had to go harpy hunting. Flavor is certainly up to you to like or hate on this one. As for the tools, perhaps you could get by with masterwork craft(alchemy) tools for much less carry weight this way.
Metallic shift is really cool. However, I don't like touch attacks as a free action.
This was an oversight. The touch attacks should be a standard action.
Ah, yeah, standard action is much different than free action. I was imagining an alchemist that was turning everything adjacent to it into a block of metal that didn't make a save, and did it every round.
The issue with transmutation spells as things you throw is how they're being applied: if I throw mage hand at the goblin, does he then get to use the spell or am I now trying to affect him with it? What kind of control do I have over the spells? If my fighter gets hit with a glob of telekinesis, does he get to use the effects of the spell or am I hitting him? What if I put slow on a quiver of arrows? Do the arrows move slower? If it's my quiver, am I now being negatively affected by the spell's effects, or just my arrows? How does a slowed arrow behave?
It's mostly how some of these spells are designed to work as things that the caster is doing and controlling; the caster uses the mage hand to move things, but if I throw mage hand at something does that mark it as something I'm affecting with it, or am I giving it the ability to use mage hand? Some of them also don't lend themselves very well to being in a potion form or being something you could pour out. Imaginative, maybe, but there could be some strange rules headaches in there, especially if you have a party like mine that loves to try and break things.
Also, you might want to be explicit with what actually happens when you change something's metal type. Just saying, "You could turn that longsword into lead *wink wink*" doesn't tell me anything. Great. Now it's lead? That doesn't say that it's now getting a larger damage die. As far as I know (and correct me if I'm wrong), there is no Paizo lead special item material (though there is "lead-lined" by a 3PP). There's lead blades, but if your intent is to have the ability mimic that spell, then it's helpful to be explicit rather than leave it up to interpretation. Likewise, there's nothing that says making a rapier heavier keeps it from being a finesse weapon. That's an inherent item quality, not something based on its weight; a titan's huge rapier is just as finessable as a gnome's, in game terms.
Many spells don't require attack rolls to affect a target - line of sight is often enough. If you introduce an ability that relies on touch attacks, the GM will have to come up with special rulings (for example, in the case of pyrotechnics, the GM needs to figure out touch AC for a fire source). Also, I'm not convinced that an oil that is 'applied' as a ranged touch attack should be able to affect a 20-ft.-cube (in the case of pyrotechnics).
Slow is a multiple-target spell - can it affect one or more targets?
Disintegrate has a ray effect. By a strict reading of the rules, I have to make two touch attacks.
...
The list goes on.
There are a lot of wonky mechanics that the GM needs to figure out on their own.
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Ah, yeah, standard action is much different than free action. I was imagining an alchemist that was turning everything adjacent to it into a block of metal that didn't make a save, and did it every round.
The issue with transmutation spells as things you throw is how they're being applied: if I throw mage hand at the goblin, does he then get to use the spell or am I now trying to affect him with it? What kind of control do I have over the spells? If my fighter gets hit with a glob of telekinesis, does he get to use the effects of the spell or am I hitting him? What if I put slow on a quiver of arrows? Do the arrows move slower? If it's my quiver, am I now being negatively affected by the spell's effects, or just my arrows? How does a slowed arrow behave?
It's mostly how some of these spells are designed to work as things that the caster is doing and controlling; the caster uses the mage hand to move things, but if I throw mage hand at something does that mark it as something I'm affecting with it, or am I giving it the ability to use mage hand? Some of them also don't lend themselves very well to being in a potion form or being something you could pour out. Imaginative, maybe, but there could be some strange rules headaches in there, especially if you have a party like mine that loves to try and break things.
Also, you might want to be explicit with what actually happens when you change something's metal type. Just saying, "You could turn that longsword into lead *wink wink*" doesn't tell me anything. Great. Now it's lead? That doesn't say that it's now getting a larger damage die. As far as I know (and correct me if I'm wrong), there is no Paizo lead special item material (though there is "lead-lined" by a 3PP). There's lead blades, but if your intent is to have the ability mimic that spell, then it's helpful to be explicit rather than leave it up to interpretation. Likewise, there's nothing that says making a rapier heavier keeps it from being a finesse weapon....
A weapon transmuted into lead is treated as one size category larger for all purposes except reach and space occupied.
Perhaps this should be worded: "...for purposes including damage, attack penalties, two-weapon fighting penalties, etc"? RAW, a larger weapon deals more damage, kicks up a category (light > one-handed > two-handed), and takes a -2 to attacks.
Tell me something. If you cast slow on a quiver of arrows, what happens? Well by game rules, you can't, because it's not a valid target. Flavor-wise, you can try to cast slow on a quiver of arrows all day long and it won't work. But since your wizard probably isn't an idiot, he probably won't waste his time (six seconds at a time) casting spells on things that aren't affected by them. Likewise, if your alchemist is not an idiot, he won't be throwing oils at invalid targets. If you want to let your players cast slow on a quiver of arrows, feel free. You can house-rule that it does something, or that it does nothing but uses a spell slot, or does nothing but cost them an action, or just leave it how it is (you can't do it). With the transmuter, technically by RAW you can throw a spell effect at an invalid target. By RAW, you'd use your action and some daily oil to zero effect. This does not require interpretation. You are welcome to house-rule that it does something, or that they can't use their action that way (like with spells), but that does not reflect an issue with the class feature as written.
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Many spells don't require attack rolls to affect a target - line of sight is often enough. If you introduce an ability that relies on touch attacks, the GM will have to come up with special rulings (for example, in the case of pyrotechnics, the GM needs to figure out touch AC for a fire source). Also, I'm not convinced that an oil that is 'applied' as a ranged touch attack should be able to affect a 20-ft.-cube (in the case of pyrotechnics).
Slow is a multiple-target spell - can it affect one or more targets?
Disintegrate has a ray effect. By a strict reading of the rules, I have to make two touch attacks.
...
The list goes on.
There are a lot of wonky mechanics that the GM needs to figure out on their own.
If a character wants to throw liquid ice (alchemical weapon) at a fire, you have to come up with an AC for it (and determine the effect, though by RAW there is none). If I want to throw a smokestick into a fire, guess what, I need an AC for it. There are pre-existing rules for inanimate objects and their AC, and a transmuter using a pyrotechnics oil is not the first use of those rules by a long shot.
Haste is a multiple-target spell (on the alchemist spell list) - can it affect one or more targets (when the alchemist drinks it as an extract)? There are several game mechanics in existence that apply effects by touch acting as precedents (such as the Domain Strike feat or the Close Range magus arcana), but I am open to restating such mechanics here as well.
As for disintegrate, yes, by a strict reading you'd have to make a touch attack to hit, then make a touch attack from the origin of the spell effect (the surface of the creature) to your target (the surface of the creature).
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I made an updated draft of the transmuter. This version:
- clarifies transmutation oils
- fixes some minor typographical issues and omissions
- removes all poison dealings
- adds two new abilities