Alchemist: This specialist was first presented in Player’s Option: Skills & Powers . The alchemist’s whole work is based on the four classical elements of air,
earth, fire, and water. In other words, the alchemist considers gold (for
example) to be a combination of earth and fire. Alchemists are the most
scientifically-minded wizards, and they experiment constantly in search of knowledge. In
order to be an alchemist, a wizard must have an excellent education in the
sciences (minimum Intelligence or Intelligence/Knowledge of 15) and a steady hand for
experimentation (Dexterity or Dexterity/Aim of 14). The school of alchemy is
opposed by the schools of illusion and necromancy; a list of alchemy spells
appears in Appendix 3 .
The alchemist must maintain a large, well-equipped laboratory. The character
is assumed to begin play with a suitable facility in his home town or base of
operations, but building and equipping a new laboratory costs at least 1,000 gp
per character level, and existing laboratories cost 50 gp per level each month
to maintain. An alchemist without a laboratory loses access to the bonus spell
provided by specialization and can’t conduct research, make potions, or add new
spells to his spell book.
Alchemists enjoy the normal benefits of specialization, but have no saving
throw modifiers for their own saves or their targets’ saves.
At 6th level, the alchemist gains the ability to create potions. This is a
special chemical process that doesn’t involve magical materials or processes, but
it tends to be longer and more tedious than normal potion brewing. First, the
character must research the potion’s formula, just like conducting spell
research; consider the potion’s level to be equal to its experience point (XP) value
divided by 100. For example, a potion of clairaudience (250 XP) is treated as a 3rd-level spell for this purpose, while a potion of longevity (500 XP) is equivalent to a 5th-level spell. It takes two weeks per potion
level to research the formula, at a cost of 500 gp per potion level. The alchemist
must roll learn spells to find out if he learned the spell before he can be
considered successful in his research. The maximum number of potion formulae he
can know is limited by the maximum number of spells per level score that is
determined by his Intelligence (see Table 4 : Intelligence in the PHB). A character with an Intelligence of 15, for example, can know up to 11
potion formulae.
Once a character has successfully researched a potion’s formula, he can
produce one dose by investing 3d6 x 100 gp in materials and spending one
uninterrupted week in his laboratory. Again, he must pass the learn spells check to see if
he followed the directions correctly, with a +1% bonus per character level.
While the alchemist doesn’t have to adventure to acquire rare or unusual materials
for potions, he may still have to take time to make arrangements for special
requirements, such as the delivery of unusual chemicals or glassware.
Bordun the Chemist wishes to create a potion of fire resistance, since his thief friend wants to pilfer a dragon’s hoard. The potion has an
XP value of 250, so it must be researched as a 3rd-level spell. This requires 6
weeks, and costs a total of 1,500 gp—Bordun’s alchemical research is more
difficult than normal potion research, but requires no unusual materials. Bordun
makes his learn spells check, and his research is productive!
Having concluded his research, Bordun sets out to brew a potion of fire resistance from his formula. This takes one week, and costs him 3d6 x 100 gp (the DM
rolls a 15, for 1,500 gp—ouch!) He must attempt a second learn spells check to
execute the formula correctly, with a +7% bonus (he’s a 7th-level wizard), and he
succeeds again. Bordun now has one potion of fire resistance and can brew more
without conducting his research all over again.
The alchemist has access to a small number of attack and defense spells, but
he excels in enchantments that alter or analyze materials. Note that the spells
of the school of alchemy are considered to have no verbal component when cast
by an alchemist, since they consist of combinations of reagents prepared by the
wizard—an alchemist has little to fear from a silence 15’ radius spell.
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