Alchemists

The great majority of alchemists are 0-level characters, as opposed to mages or specialists in the school of alchemy. They are skilled in the nonweapon proficiency of alchemy, but cannot cast spells or manufacture potions or magical items. What common alchemists can do is create nonmagical chemical mixtures that may be useful to an adventuring party, or provide a character with the opportunity to purchase spell components from the mineral list at the listed cost. Of course, the laws of supply and demand apply; the alchemist will charge what he can get for materials that his customers can’t get anywhere else.

Some of the alchemists’ other wares include the following:

Acid: Through careful distillation, alchemists can brew potent acid. (See the proficiency description, Chapter 4 .) A flask-full of acid can command anywhere from 50 to 100 or (1d6+4) x 10 gold pieces, while a vial might sell for 10 to 40 gp.

Incendiaries: These dangerous concoctions range from flammable oils and pitches to nasty stuff like naphtha or Greek fire. Again, refer to the description of the alchemist nonweapon proficiency in Chapter 4 . A flask of an incendiary substance usually costs 10 to 30 gp.

Pyrotechnics: Unlike the previous two substances, pyrotechnic mixtures are often powders. They can be used to create clouds of smoke of a variety of colors, or bright flashes of light when added to an existing fire. A vial of pyrotechnic mixture costs 5 to 20 (5d4) gp, while a flask costs anywhere from 10 to 30 gp.

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