I'm going to be playing in the Rise of the Runelords campaign very soon and was wondering if anyone had any tips as to what I should change about this character to better fit the bill as far as what the challenges will be goes. Aaaaaand here's the character. Though I should tell you that the starting stat array was 18, 16, 14, 13, 12, 10 and starting coin was 350gp. But don't worry, this GM has ramped the difficulty of the campaign significantly. As far as I know, though, the types of challenges are the same otherwise (types of opponents, skill checks, etc).
Issil "Smarts" CG RATFOLK ALCHEMIST I
STR 11 (+0), DEX 18 (+4), CON 12 (+1)
INT 20 (+5), WIS 14 (+2), CHA 10 (+0) [yay no dump stats~]
Skills: Appraise +10 (+12 if it has small markings/detail), Craft (Alchemy) +12, Handle Animal +4 (with riding rat and rodents only),
Heal +6, Knowledge [Arcana] +9, [History] +10, [Local] +10, [Nature] +9, Perception +8, Sleight of Hand +8, Profession [Merchant] +3,
Equipment
(x6) Bomb +6 (d6+5/x2; 30')
(x2) Pox Burster +6 (DC 13 FORT v Filth Fever; 20')
(x1) Thunderstone +6 (DC 15 WILL v Deafness 10r; 20')
(x1) Tanglefoot Bag +6 (DC 15 REFLEX v -2 to hit melee, -4 DEX; 20')
All used in conjunction with Bomb Launcher (+10'; added above)
Tailblade +0 or-5 if used as secondary attack (d2/x2)
Purely for lulflavor
Lamellar Cuirass (+2 AC) and Buckler (+1 AC)
Went low armor with shield bc weight restriction
MW Backpack + Belt Pouch
Formula Book, Ink + Inkpen
Bedroll, Iron Pot, Mess Kit, Flint + Steel, Soap
Trail Rations x5, Waterskin
Skeleton Key (+10 Disable Device v locked doors)
Periscope (-4 Perception v look around corners)
Magnifying Glass (+2 Appraise if item has markings/detail)
Hybridization Funnel (Combine alchemical items)
Formula Alembic (obtain new extract formulas)
Veterenarian Kit (+3 Heal v animal care)
Combat Trained Riding Rat (medium-sized dire rat, no filth fever)
Feat: Precise Shot
Extracts: Ant Haul, CLW, + either Firebelly, Shield, or Longshot
Traits: (He said to pick 3, but 1 campaign trait. Could get extra trait with 1 drawback)
Loner (-1 AC when adjacent to ally)
Business Venturer (+1 Appraise, Know Local, + Prof Merchant)
[picked Know (Local) as class skill]
Firebug (+1 to hit with bombs and splash weapons)
Rich Parents (+900 starting gp)
Scholar of the Ancients (+1 Arcana, History, read/speak Thassilonian)
[picked Know (History) as class skill]
That's everything. I've got 1/2lb left in encumbrance and 1gp 1sp tender.
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Very Nice you should do Ok.
As far as bombs go I would look at the ones for Reflex saves and Will saves. Fortitude saves on enemies seems to be pretty big throughout the entire campaign. You would be ok for the first 4 levels but after that the Fort saves against spells/abilities just seem to crash.
My Picks:
Confusion Bomb @ 8 Mostly because this will be effective against a large majority of your Foes.
Explosive Bomb @ 7+ Most enemies become Large by this level the only hope to hit 2 enemies is that they are stacking...this helps slightly increase your odds ever so slightly.
Force Bomb- Reflex is the Worst save on most the enemies in this Campaign and you are likely to be Knocking them prone. Which helps you to control an enemies movement.
Grease Bomb- See Force Bomb...Making a area of Difficult terrain can help a lot...knocking them prone makes it even better. (I'd pick either Grease Bomb or Force...but not both.)
Smoke Bomb- This helps control an area and if you get Fog Cutting Lenses you can do some awesome things with this. Like Smoke Bomb-> Confusion Bomb will leave an enemy wrecked. (Stink Bomb might not be a good choice in this campaign. It would work maybe for Book 1. Afterwards You will most likely never stink bomb again.)
Trait wise do not go with rich parents...it only is good level 1 then it is of no use to you. I would shore up on your weakest save. The best 2 Traits on your List ATM is Firebug and Scholar of the Ancients as what they provide will serve you really well.
My best advice here would be Pick Firebug, Scholar of the Ancients and +1 Will or +1 Fort save (Book 3+ saves become Majorly important). Drop the Drawback and keep it simple.
Now this is my honest advice on what I see and having Played RotRL all the way through 2 times and owning the Anniversary edition.
Fantastic! I really appreciate that, Thistlefoot.
I was considering going the TWF -> Rapid Shot -> Fast Bombs route so I could pelt enemies (obviously at a much higher level) with several bombs in a single round (I think that'd be three, right?). Would that be effective in this campaign, or do you think I should stick to status effects that aim for Reflex/Will saves?
How will be composed the rest of the party?
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Fantastic! I really appreciate that, Thistlefoot.
I was considering going the TWF -> Rapid Shot -> Fast Bombs route so I could pelt enemies (obviously at a much higher level) with several bombs in a single round (I think that'd be three, right?). Would that be effective in this campaign, or do you think I should stick to status effects that aim for Reflex/Will saves?
How you deliver the bombs is up to you. You can deliver them normally or like a carpet bomber.
But Bombs are a Resource that you do not want to blow through. Much like a Wizard or Cleric and their spells. Most wizards will not use more than 1-2 spells a encounter because they do not want to run out. They just want to impact the fight and put it in the PCs favor. I believe you should be able to do this with just a few bombs a fight.
The rest of your turns should be using ranged options and other resources to accomplish your win. I see your List does not Include Use Magic Device. I HIGHLY suggest this as you can pick up some level 1-2 wands and be effective. A wand of Ray of Enfeeblement comes to mind. If they save they take half the penalty. They will pass but you have a very good chance of hitting them and giving them a -1 or -2 to attack. A wand of Scorching ray comes to mind to as it is a ray and considered a weapon. You can make that 4d6 fire damage a regular thing. You also can play around with ranged weapons like Crossbows as well. After you impact the board it is about helping the team clean up and 5 points of damage is better than 0 and just standing there cause your Out of Bombs.
Fair points. I'll switch my point in Nature to UMD.
I have to ask, though, which bombs are you seeing that call for a Will save? A LOT of them are Fort saves which is a little disheartening given what you've just said about them.
I'll give the group composition as soon as I find out. :)
One is a human ranger (or slayer, they haven't decided) and a third is a human kensai magus. A fourth person hasn't responded yet.
"We're all.. gonna.. die." ~ Rattrap
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No archetype? Base alchemist is fine, but with a build like this, I could see Grenadier taking you quite far. Once you start to get more cash, I'd invest in a hybridization funnel too, grab some tangleburn bags, as well as all the other unfair alchemical items you can eventually get. Alchemical items get 'worse' as you level, but picking the right ones as well as use of the hybridization funnel can keep them valuable for quite a long time.
I hadn't looked at it tbh.
But can an alchemist with str this low be remotely effective in melee?
What with feats that will all most likely focus on range/splash, what's good about being able to swing a weapon that isn't that likely to hit or do much damage at all?
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I hadn't looked at it tbh.
But can an alchemist with str this low be remotely effective in melee?
What with feats that will all most likely focus on range/splash, what's good about being able to swing a weapon that isn't that likely to hit or do much damage at all?
You're thinking of it the wrong way, you need to do it with a longbow (that you get proficiency with), and then you're golden. Getting an alchemical item fused to a shot with your bow (including a tangleshot arrow) can be an amazing debuff, and since you don't have a strength penalty you're good on damage. There's tons of extracts that'll raise your strength too so you can get an adaptive bow later and not worry about your fluctuating strength bonus, and later you can get a conductive bow so that you can burn 2 bombs to fuse one into your arrows once a round. Combine with explosive missile, and that's 3 bombs used to combine 2 into a single arrow.
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Fair points. I'll switch my point in Nature to UMD.
I have to ask, though, which bombs are you seeing that call for a Will save? A LOT of them are Fort saves which is a little disheartening given what you've just said about them.
I'll give the group composition as soon as I find out. :)
Confusion Bomb is a Will save and will be corrected in the next printing of Ultimate Magic. It is also denoted in the Link.
Grease and Force Bomb are Reflex saves.
I would also Listen very closely to N. Jolly on this one. Not only is he a Veteran but he has also written guides on the Class.
Thank you guys so much! Amazing stuff here.
I'm definitely going to check out Jolly's guide when I can.
Thistlefoot, I guess my main issue with those is that they're all late game choices. I've no idea what I should pick earlier on. I was going to pick precise bombs, but being a grenadier makes that a freebie. And all the earlier ones are Fort saves. No point in picking them up early if they're just going to end up being worthless, right?
Fair points. I'll switch my point in Nature to UMD.
I have to ask, though, which bombs are you seeing that call for a Will save? A LOT of them are Fort saves which is a little disheartening given what you've just said about them.
I'll give the group composition as soon as I find out. :)
Confusion Bomb is a Will save and will be corrected in the next printing of Ultimate Magic. It is also denoted in the Link.
Grease and Force Bomb are Reflex saves.
I would also Listen very closely to N. Jolly on this one. Not only is he a Veteran but he has also written guides on the Class.
Don't forget Cursed Bombs. Very few things resist Cursed Bombs and 50% of someone's actions doing nothing is nothing to scoff at.
Also Tanglefoot Bombs are fairly effective for this campaign, Gluing targets down is worth its weight for the majority of the AP.
Don't be afraid of Fast Bombs. People think they will 'run out' but if its going to take you 3 bombs for the encounter, its better Action Economy to do them in one turn instead of spread out over 3.