Does the Alchemist's "Explosive Bomb" discovery actually double the radius or simply add 5ft.?


Rules Questions


Hi, I was planning to roll up Goblin Alchemist and have some questions about some bomb discoveries.
As the title says, does the "Explosive Bomb" discovery double the bomb explosion radius or simply add 5 feet to it?

The discovery states that your bomb radius goes from 5 foot to 10, which could mean it's doubled or it's +5' so it could go either way, right?

Then Strafe Bomb states Explosive Bomb makes the line double from 40' to 80'.

Hypothetically, if Rocket Bomb (20' radius) was used in conjunction with Explosive Bomb (because Rocket Bomb doesn't have a *), would the radius be 25' or 40'?
This has me confused because of how vague it's written, how it could be interpreted, and I couldn't find this question anywhere else.

Another question, how would Rocket Bomb work if you combined it with Strafe Bomb? I mean, neither have a *, so theoretically, they could be combined, but the mind boggles trying to think of how it'd go off. It might do its small 5x40' explosion because of Strafe Bomb, but then nothing for a few feet, then do its 20' explosion from Rocket Bomb at the 50' mark. I've played with a lot of fireworks in my life so this helps visualize some of these effects, but like I said, the mind boggles.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

It does neither. The Explosive Bomb discovery sets the radius to 10. It is in a sense doubling it, but it is not doubling blast radius and only has effects on other discoveries that mention it, such as Strafe Bomb. Since Rocket Bomb doesn't mention it, it has no effect on it, leaving the bomb at 20 ft radius.

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