| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
This class remaster unifies, improves, and in some areas simplifies, the existing Alchemist class.
No longer must one feel the need to be an item dispenser, nor scroll through a massive item list before deciding on what to Quick Alchemy.
The basic class formula is intact with prepared items and in-combat instant items (even still uses INT + Lvl infused reagents), and those familiar with the existing Alchemist will have no trouble adjusting to this glow-up.
To keep this as brief as possible, here's a list of *some* of the design changes in the pdf.
Research Field steadily unlocks unique and thematic items and Additives on odd levels so you don't need to spend precious Class Feats on niche Additives.
Additives by default are (Trigger: you made an infused ____) NOT Quick Alch only. Meaning all items can get more potent Additives as they fall behind in level, and the old anti-synergy with Quick Alch is dead.
Infused Alchemy is unified under Reservoir of Quintessence, which carries an item trait of your Field (Bomb, Healing, Morph/Polymorph, Poison)
* 10min auto-refill, can drain Reservoir via Siphon Creation to make insta-item, *must match class trait, gets +item level for improved Additives over prep items
* can daily prep 1 extra Reservoir with 2 infused reagents, so Bombers could carry 5 insta-alch pools, Mutagenists only the 1
* old daily prep infused items can be made at any time w Tools & 1 min. Infused reagent base batch = 1, if matches Field trait +1, if made w/ 10min & Laboratory, +1
* All infused items now decay when no longer attended by Alch, "end of next turn" is same for Siphon Creation insta-items. L6 Feat to bring back old item dispenser mode
Many new Feats and items designed to fill in the gaps of the old Alch's kit. Meaning, Field-specific Reactions, some item Reactions, and:
Knuckle Pinch: Alchs can hold multiple blk L items in each hand, starts at 2, +1 each -->expert, master
Full-Fingered Draw: 1 Act flourish to fill hands up to capacity. Quick Bomber is dead! (Quick Draw is there at L2 if desired)
Siphon Creation can be done as a flourish free action!
Many new Feats & Field unlocks are also flourish to compete with both the super-Draw and the 10min insta-item.
----------------------
Some old Alchemist Feats are outright deleted, but I made a real effort to remake and preserve as much as possible, even when the base Feat concept is problematic / broken (Miracle Worker being completely worthless until someone **is dead**, that kind of thing).
Every difference between this and the old/current Alchemist has a reason behind the design decision that I'd be happy to answer.
My current plan is to solicit 3rd party publishing with a polished version of this that includes the rules around the Dedication and those Feats. The moonshot is to get some piece of this in front of Paizo to make it into official material.
I do plan on keeping the boring document version free to access/read online.
Here's the link, will need to download the pdf to get the internal jump links, table of contents and such working
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12QtH0c4iLmJRZ_HFtodCjRODkSYFeigL/view?usp= sharing
The 0.91 version is uploaded/updated.
I'll not spam with incremental updates, once a week at most sounds good.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12XVC1_zBalPvNTDJm4EfTxrJ2Y-66Vxh/view?usp= sharing
Happy to present the .92 release!
After feedback I abandoned some of the wording that was inherited from Paizo on traits like Additive and rewrote them to be easier to understand.
I did a lot of hemming an hawing about adding a non-field related Class Feature, as Reformulated had no L13 Field Unlocks, nor design-horrendous Features like Alchemical Alacrity (which requires an impossible 5-action turns at base, and burns reagents like crazy).
After letting it stew, I'm happy with the addition of Flourish of Footwork. The Alchemist gains the ability to step after performing flourish actions. As both the baseline super-item-draw and free-action-flourish of the Quick Alchemy Siphon Creation have the trait, along with other Field Discoveries and Feats like Side-Barrel Surprise, it's IMO a great fit.
When Alchs need actions so dearly for items, but are also often limited by their reach, the Alchemist struggles badly with movement. There's also the creeping issue of Reactive Strikes pancaking the Alchemist more and more as the Lvls go up, due to all the Manipulates that are baseline, even in bomb Strikes. Once my poor GM designed a custom encounter for my Alch to shine via triggering a weakness, but the creature had Reach + Reactive Strike. It was a *really* rough time for the party. It was a good reminder of just how badly the Alch struggles to hit/attack. It's not just accuracy, but a complete lack of other tools to facilitate it.
.
Adding Steps to flourishes eases this pain point, enhances the decision making behind when to use 1/ p turn flourishes, and further reinforces the Alchemist's theme/niche as an indirect combatant wading around the edges of the fray. The Feature auto upgrades at Master to allow the Step to be before or after the flourish, and at Legend to allow both if desired. Right now it's got a "and did not use this ability the prior turn" clause limit the power, but that may not be needed.
Added a Feat Furious Footwork (L10) to pair with the new Feature. Upgrades it to trigger off attack trait actions as well as flourish.
--------------------------
I had been thinking since the start on how to allow for the old "anything in the book" Quick Alchemy, (and feedback also wanted it back) and some version of it was not in the prior versions as a Class Feature auto-unlock because I think it is more appropriate as a Class Feat. Both developing Footwork and the Feat version (needs to be appropriately potent and not a Feat tax) helped me give them the time they needed to make the two of them really compliments the rest of the class.
I do think that the cognitive load / number of options each turn of "all book" is harmful / dangerous design from a fun standpoint, hence not making it a class Feature. But if it's an opt-in at the most competitive Lvl for Alch Feats, I'm fine with players who seek out such gameplay.
Instant Alchemy - - - - Alchemist Feat 8
Discovering a new exploit, you can use Siphon Creation to hasten and compress the process of Infused Alchemy into mere moments.
If you use Siphon Creation and drain a reservoir, you may perform Infused Alchemy as if you had spent 1 minute with Alchemist’s Tools on the process. The created item(s) may be in hand or stowed on your person.
So instead of "spend reagent and create 1 item" of old QAlch it invokes the out-of-combat crafting of Infused items. This trick/design quirk uses the "Free items" well to instead spend reagents on the out-of-combat Infused Alchemy.
It's both familiar in the need to spend reagents for all-book crafting, while still improving it. (trait matching for bigger batches, items don't decay next turn, ect).
It is also easy to understand. Instead of being it's own new subtype of alchemy, "it's just what I do normally, but instant"
On that note, the "add a trait to your reservoir" Feat got buffed, granting 1 more trait at Expert and 1 more at Master. It's an early Feat so it can't be super good right when you take it, but it was also not up to snuff as-is.
------------------------
Another new Feat is Ephemeral Spillover (L12) which creates and extra ephemeral item for free whenever you Siphon Creation. I think I still want to add a few more high Lvl Feats for the 14-18 levels. While I've done my best so that low-level Feats are evergeen enough to really be worth it even at that stage of the game, the selection is still a little more limited/bare than I would like.
Plenty of other tweaks and changes, but the Flourish of Footwork was the most game-changing. Even with all this, the Alchemist is still not going to top any damage charts, but it should be in a place that feels good to play.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ByXRfUMH4-r3ZDkWdZoBnbFgnoZXSn8P/view?usp= sharing
As always, I'd love to get feedback in any form. PDF comment, message, whatever.
Ah dang, forgot to remove the Gunnery prerequiste lock on Bomb Sabots and Side Barrel Surprise. If someone wants to use them with that Alch Crossbow, they shouldn't pay a Feat Tax for it IMO. First changes for .93 version I suppose.
Alrighty, version .93 is done and ready:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ycu8Sg_-mqeuX5_nwOjdN_R1tnXVSVBw/view?usp= sharing
This version was mostly language/text cleanup and tweaking.
Many little balance changes, like re-doing Metabolize Mutagen's scaling from scratch and adding a diminishing return line so that it's actually valuable/desirable to perform at least once in a combat.
Bomb-booted throw also got a buff after dwelling and comparing to what other classes can do, again. Still increments MAP after the initial bomb, but the 2nd boosted throw is now +2 circumstance to attack and dmg, but now adds flourish to 2nd throw.
Hopefully this better targets the sweet spot of something that is usually appealing for a Bomber to perform, but the addition of flourish makes it a bit more contextual, while offering a bigger bonus. Honestly, it's crazy looking at how via low-Lvl Feats, Fighters get so many evergreen "don't increment MAP until after" actions.
Some Feats had prerequisite Feat locks removed.
I think I'm at the point where I ought to start looking for artists and beautifying the document.
As always, you need to DL the .pdf instead of browser preview to get the jump links / navigation working.
This is excellent feedback, thank you!
________________________________________
Disorienting Squirt:
I was a bit worried about claims of "OP homebrew," and Squirt is definitely a victim / prime suspect of that. (especially as it's a uniquely bomb-usable talisman)
With the Squirt being 1-action no MAP, and giving a round of off-guard on Fort save success (as a debuff, not just to the Alch), I thought it appropriate to ensure some fail/miss contact was also required if squirting raw. The melee-swing squirt requires a Strike to land, which renders the two methods of delivery uneven.
Presented in that manner, do you think the idea of a ranged squirt having some drawback makes sense? Or is it fine/good design for both armor-affixed and weapon-affixed Squirts to be equivalent?
Perhaps leaving the non-Strike squirts to a single Fort save, but at a -DC? There's already words being spent on -2 range increment, perhaps that could be reworked/shortened to something like "range increment of your reach" leaving the melee Squirt to off-guard on save, while allowing the Alch to still Squirt at foes outside reach (might often be desired, as the action does provoke Reactions).
_________________________________________
Exsanguinating Carcinogen:
The language is important here, and I'm greatful you're not letting it slide. Luckily that bit of text can/should/will be simplified to something like "[...] -2 circumstance penalty to rolls with the attack trait to aim for the tumor. If your attack deals damage, it triggers the tumor as if you had dealt precision damage."
That bypasses any ?s about altering P/B/S dmg into precision dmg. It does alter the functionality a bit (removes the alt desire to use the action for resistance avoidance) so this new wording enables things like Trip crits to trigger the tumor.
________________________________________
Syringe Hooks:
Yes, the on-paper intention in .93 is to chop off all non-dice dmg in exchange for an auto-injector that does not need (extra) actions to function.
The item is crazy good with Quick Draw, as it essentially allows 1 Action Draw stabbing allies with elixirs, at the cost of being a missable MAP Strike (and leaving you w/ a Dagger/whatever in your hand).
It was originally a Tox ephemeral, but is locked for them behind Field Fusion due to it allowing double-dose Strikes (in exchange for Strike dmg). Note that it calls out liquid alch items, and Tox is the one with the weird syrup/not-liquid poison. Meaning they still need to spend reagents to load doses of injury poison, while the mo-reagent Treacle poison is limited to coating blades. And Chirugeon doesn't get a no-reagent Hit Point healing liquid either, they're all unique-use things.
Discussing this has bumped my thoughts on the matter. I do think having the Syringe Hooks only remove STR bonus dmg still provides a serious enough drawback to the use of the item, keeps the text super simple/easy to run, while also making it less "safe/free" for ally-stabbing.
I think I actually am going to delete the "free min-roll dmg" line, as the "standard" works on miss, not crit-miss ally Strike functionality is plenty generous, IMO.
_______________________________________
+1 bonus damage to melee strikes is hillariously unscaling
Assuming this is reference the possible Symbiotic Lump bonus, that's a good catch. That was tied with the Twirl Cordage for the last items added/designed, and both were "do I really want do this" kind of challenges while having the least time in the oven.
Lump (is intended to be) a no-reagent all-day booster for the whole party, while catering to those who don't want to micromanage mutagens. It's a one-and-done p day use that blocks the Alch from pushing their mutagens on the party, PCs can repeat-select the benefit w/o brain-tax while still getting poked for dynamic changes in decisions due to RNG drawback, and it allows opt out if drawback is not to taste.
While I want to fulfill that design niche, not being locked to the Muta means that the Lump is very scary to design in terms of "free power."
I think I might be leaning more toward swapping that entry out for an entirely different bonus over some form of "+1 for every 6 levels" type of scaling. Bonus to dmg is too vanilla / thoughtless, and not very "Alchemist" IMO. Though, while on the topic, I ought to adjust the Poison weakness/resistance entry to scale w/ PC level.
Perhaps "+- 1 HP per level" might fit better. It both can tie into & help (or hurt) the other mutagens that -HP per level, it would be the same HP gain as Toughness (but w/ a random drawback), and is that kind of flat "passive power" that's not really noticeable/ disruptive/ FOMO-inducing like a bonus to Strike dmg would be. If that option is on the list, Strike Martials would have to fight psychology to pick another entry.
______________________________________
'Three actions after' what the hell is this man? No timing uses this.
Oof, yeah that's a bit cringe in hindsight. Was originally "after the next action is resolved" but that felt too easy/good (the Additive does not compete w/ other Reactions), so I think removing all the "cuteness" and just rephrasing the whole thing to trigger during another's turn, and then decay the mutagen at the start of the next actor's turn would be a better way to go. Still carries the theming/mechanics of being unable to "delete the drawback" right before getting pancaked, which is great.
_____________________________________
And I will definitely re-write the Friendly Fires entry after re-reading the line of effect & targeting entries to keep that text tight w/o confusion. The Additive is intended to allow for keeping the room and clutter intact alongside not hurting allies, so there is need of abnormal/ additional language than the conditioned norm.
This feedback is the definition of "actionable," and it's much appreciated.
Aside from those changes / potential changes, version .94 will have a new Mutagenist synergizing (but not Field-locked) Class Feat for full polymorphing via mutagens, as that's a hugely desired fantasy / flavor, and there's plenty of shapechanging in the system to use as a template / measuring stick. (Chug multiple Bestial Feral mutagens w/ 2 Actions --> battle form morph w/ lingering but cleanse/treatable debuff. 2-A cost keeps it matching spell A cost, while making it a prime candidate for the Morphic Incubation pre-chug option only Muta's have, ect, ect.)
.
Some top of mind possible alterations I'm conflicted about:
- Field Fusion Feat unlocking one Additive & one Ephemeral minor discovery of the selected Field instead of a single minor total. Would open a whole lot more possibilities, as a couple of the minor discoveries are kinda stuck being needed tax-ish unlocks for the Fusion Discovery. The Feat is already like unlocking a signature spell, so it certainly does not need the extra power.
- Redoing Chirugeon + Muta Field-Found Discovery Feats. Now that Flourish of Footwork is a thing, the need for Alch getting a bit of mobility help is not as dire. Especially the Muta one; Polyeuphoric Rush lacks a mechanical quirk beyond the hasted action. The option to double up on movement is not inherently bad, though. Perhaps move Poly Rush into a general Muta-friendly Class Feat, and designing something else? Collapsing all the mutagen Feats into one Improved Mutagen has left a lot of room, lol.
- Oh, and it might be a good idea for Improved Mutagen to also benefit Warblood, Stone Body & or Choker-Arm. What a text monster of a Feat though, oof. Also kinda want to strip / hydraulic press all the old text down to min functional length.
- Field discovery unlock progression to stop at L9 instead of L7, meaning one more ephemeral and additive each. I'm a bit more reluctant / out of *great* ideas, but there's already a couple sitting on the cutting room floor.
_________________________________________
If the core conceit of Reformulated's reservoirs of quintessence, the very real nerf of no "full-book" Q-Alch, and such was not the priority of your critique, that's a huge win in my book.
Thanks again for taking the time to check it out and write out a post!
I can't promise everyone reading this that every point of critique is going to result in a timely change, but I can promise it will prompt some genuine rumination on whatever idea was presented.
Version .94 is done and online.
Now featuring a changelog to see the differences from .93.
_____________________
The main new feature in this version is the L10 Class Feat "Polymorphing Overdose"
There's always been a deal of enthusiasm for full alchemical polymorphing, and I'm satisfied with my take on it. Has the prerequisite of Enhanced Mutagens, but is not locked by Research Field. Of course, Mutagenist has a lot of synergy with the Feat that the others will not.
In brief:
- - Chug 4 infused bestial mutagens in a 2A activity to polymorph. Uses battleform spell as template. Auto-heightens, but-
- - Minor, but d4 random Condition debuff that lasts all day without treatment. Drop held items, and form-dependent prone (easier and more thematic to add penalties/tradeoffs to keep the potency just below spell polymorphing)
- - Adds mechanic to take samples and add other battle forms to formula book.
- - Optional mechanic for "malfunctions" with 10% + 10% per daily repeat to trigger, d10 table of consequence. Most malfunctions cause failure to properly revert, such as "One arm remains stuck, has form’s strike, but otherwise limited as a Mischievous Tail (Ganzi)." or otherwise complicate things "Dormant malfunction. Appear fine, but if still in effect, next morph or polymorph effect rolls d8 on this table."
_____________________
Rather unsure about an outright optional mechanic inside a Feat like that, but I've seen how much players crave a more monstrous / unpredictable Mutagenist concept.
I have a rather fun update to share about the Alchemist: Reformulated homebrew!
The lovely ThirtyLove built out a Pathbuilder module to easier play the Reformulated Alchemist at the table.
On top of that, Kizo, @kizo_also_known_as_kizuna made a Foundry module!
Super neat to learn that not only are there some eyes on this, but that people are willing to put in the work to not only bring the content to their tables, but share that effort publicly.
Okay, the 1.0 release of Alchemist: Reformulated is here! This change log has a lot of small changes for clarity and edge-case catching.
Some changes include Chiurgeon's Mr. Misters and Proactive Patches. The misters now grant THP on exposure to any creature, and the patch's reactive heal is cut in half each recurrence if the patient is hit multiple times in a single turn. In exchange, the patch can be Readied for 1 action instead of 2.
A few non-buff buffs, such as clarifying that by removing the splash trait, the Heavy Bomb Additive does enable the use of Strength to thrown damage.
The reservoirs of quintessence now wait until all item created effects are gone before they begin to refill. Prevents long-lasing buff dispensing, while granting a "reset" action upon the well that dispells ongoing effects.
A lot of minor text cleanup to cut down the unnecessary words and enhance clarity.
As promised before, even if/when I commission some fancy art and put it up on infinite, the basic text versions will always be free to access.
1.0 Changelog: Here.
Reformulated 1.0 .pdf: Here.
Reformulated 1.0 .odt: Here.
I very highly recommend you download the files and open them instead of viewing the preview in-browser, as things like link navigation will not be functional.
Thirtyttrpg already finished their update to the Pathbuilder module! Making for easy use and comparison with the vanilla.
Instructions for using a json file pack with Pathbuilder:
Click link to Refomulated's file, then download that json file onto your computer.
In Pathbuilder: at the main screen w/ a loaded character,
click Menu --> Custom: Custom Pack --> Import Custom Pack --> select downloaded json file.
The page will ask to reload. Once done, you'll have Alchemist Reformulated as a class option!
===================================
TBD on an update to the Foundry module, and I'll be sure to post to this thread with a link.
The Alchemist Reformulated has hit 1.0 as a Foundry module!
I'm just the guy that wrote the document, with thirtyttrpg being the mind behind the Pathbuilder, and Kizo being the one to take it all the way into a playable Foundry module. I'm just thrilled that a pair of someones found the design fun enough for them to decide to put in the effort to make it real.
Huge kudos goes out to thirtyttrpg, Kizo, and everyone who sent me their feedback & wishlist ideas.
=============================
=============================
For a quick pitch to spark interest in this reformulated in comparison to the PC2 remaster:
* Decide each day how much of your prep budget you want to convert into 10-min refilling "wells." Don't get stuck with the one-size-fits-all of PC2!
* A much larger focus on Alchemist as a skirmishing item user first, in contrast to Paizo's Bomber first ethos. Features like Full-Fingered Draw + Knuckle Pinch give the Alchemist a unique way to engage with the item action economy. Feel no pressure to get an item-relay familiar!
* Every 1A Quick Alchemy can instead be done as a 0A flourish! Alchemists are truly free from the tyranny of Quick Bomber, but keep an eye out for all the other flourish actions sprinkled around the reformulated overhaul.
* Use of level X Additives to help all alchemical item formulas scale as you outlevel them.
* The "Bottomless" Additive enables very outleveled items to be endlessly manifested without hurting balance.
* A list of evergreen "ephemeral" items that auto-acquire for each Research Field to provide a baseline set of tools available at all times.
* An emphasis on filling mechanical gaps in the class that are still empty in PC2, such as multiple Reaction options.
* Fills thematic gaps, providing options like alchemical gunnery, mutagenic full-form shapeshifting, and even time-tampering alchemy.
* Keeping the mechanic of infused reagents enables prep alchemy to be performed throughout the adventuring day, no need for the player to guess the future and prepare the perfect suite of items before the day has begun.
* No finicky gotchas with PC2's VV-crafted items versus QVs versus FVs, and all the Feat & Feature incompatibility that arises from that new distinction.