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The Demented One
2006-03-25, 02:29 PM
The search for the Philosopher’s Stone is a twofold journey. On the one hand, it is the literal quest for the most powerful artifact of alchemy, the secret of eternal life and true transmutation. But on the other hand, it is a quest in which the soul of the alchemist is transfigured, converted from a tarnished, mortal soul into a brilliantly shining spirit, a gem to match the Philosopher’s Stone. Philosopher-Alchemists seek out both goals through an esoteric combination of self-improvement and advanced alchemical reasearch.

Requirements:
Skills: Craft (Alchemy) 13 Ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 6 ranks, Knowledge (Religion) 6 ranks
Feats: Craft Wondrous Item
Spells: Able to cast at least one 5th level or higher transmutation spell.
Special: Must have some manner of instruction on the way of Philosophical Alchemy, such as tutoring from a Philosopher-Alchemist or access to a library of Philosophical Alchemic texts.

d4 HD
Skills per level: 4 + Int
Class skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Spellcasting: At each level but 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th, the Philosopher-Alchemist’s spellcasting is advanced as if he had taken a level in a previously existing arcane or divine spellcasting class.

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/573/philosopheralchemist4ix.jpg

Black Alchemist
A 1st level Philosopher-Alchemist is in the “Black” phase of his research on the Philosopher’s Stone. In this phase, alchemically, he begins decomposing substances to learn the nature of their constituent parts. He may use disintegrate once per day as a spell-like ability, with caster level equal to twice his class level and a DC of 10 + his class level + his Int mod. At every subsequent even level except 2nd, he gains an additional use of this ability.

Master of Alchemy (Ex)
A Philosopher-Alchemist gets a competence bonus on all Craft (Alchemy) checks equal to his class level.

Black Philosopher (Ex)
While in the “Black” phase, a Philosopher-Alchemist philosophically confronts the imperfections within himself, and begins to decompose them just as he can decompose various substances with his Black Alchemy. At 3rd level, as he begins to dissolve his inner doubts and fears, he gets a +1 competence bonus on all Will saves, and gains immunity to fear effects. This bonus increases by 1 at 5th, 7th, and 9th level.

White Alchemist (Sp)
A 4th level Philosopher-Alchemist is in the “White” phase of his research on the Philosopher’s Stone. In this phase, alchemically, he begins combining substances to give birth to new materials. He may use fabricate at will as a spell-like ability, and major creation once per day as a spell-like ability, both with caster level equal to twice his class level. At every subsequent odd level except 5th, he gains an additional use of this ability.

White Philosopher (Ex)
While in the “White” phase, a Philosopher-Alchemist philosophically begins the process of the creation of new knowledge within himself. At 6th, 8th, and 10th levels, he may choose one transmutation spell from the list of any class, and add it to his own class spell list. If he casts spells from a spellbook, he may scribe it at no cost into his spellbook. If he casts spells spontaneously, he learns it as a bonus spell known.

Yellow Alchemist (Sp)
A 7th level Philosopher-Alchemist is in the “Yellow” phase of his research on the Philosopher’s Stone. In this phase, alchemically, he explores the underlying principles of transmutation that govern the functioning of the Philosopher’s Stone. He may use polymorph any object once per day as a spell-like ability, with caster level equal to twice his class level and a DC of 10 + his class level + his Int mod. At 10th level, he gains an additional use of this ability.

Yellow Philosopher (Ex)
While in the “Yellow” phase, a Philosopher-Alchemist philosophically begins the process of the creation of self-transmutation. Whenever an 8th level Philosopher-Alchemist casts a spell of the transmutation school, the DC is increased by 1, as is his caster level for the spell. The bonus to DC increases at every subsequent level. Whenever he uses a transmutation on himself, the bonus to caster level is increased to +2.

Red Alchemist (Ex)
A 10th level Philosopher-Alchemist is in the final phase of his research–the red phase. He is finally capable of creating a Philosopher’s Stone. He treats it as if it were a normal wondrous item for purposes of crafting it. The cost to create the stone is 25,000 gp + 2,000 xp, and creating it requires fifty days of work. Philosopher-Alchemists have very strong emotional bonds to their work, and are generally unwilling to sell or give them away. In order to part with a stone, the Philosopher-Alchemist must make a Will save with a DC of 15 plus the caster level of the stone. If he fails, he may not give that stone away for a month, after which he is entitled to attempt another save.

Red Philosopher (Ex)
A 10th level Philosopher-Alchemist has transmuted his soul into a counterpart of sorts to the Philosopher’s Stone, allowing him to synchronize with the artifact. While he has a Philsopher’s Stone, he may cast one bonus spell of the transmutation school of each level per day.

Transmutation of the Soul (Sp)
A 10th level Philosopher-Alchemist may perform a ritual which uses a Philosopher’s Stone to purify a fallen soul. By performing an hour-long ritual, which requires the use of a Philosopher’s Stone, the Philosopher-Alchemist may use atonement as a spell-like ability, with caster level equal to that of the Philosopher’s Stone used. Once a Philosopher’s Stone has been used to perform five Transmutations of the Soul, it is permanently consumed.

Gildes
2006-03-25, 03:40 PM
Looks balanced to me. A transmutation specialist with powerful abilities at the expese of power in other areas. I was going to object to what looked like the ability to create wealth beyond what a character is normally able to do, but creating the Pilosophers Stone is perfectly balanced with normal magic item creation. Nice work. Did you have any specific inspiration for this class?

Ugly_Panda
2006-03-25, 03:45 PM
I think the atonement thing is kinda off, since an alchemist isn't a beacon of good or anything like that. It's nice, not too powerful, not too weak.

For the philosopher's stone artifact, it never says how many people it can resurrect with the total amount of quicksilver. Does anyone have a clue?

The Demented One
2006-03-25, 03:56 PM
Looks balanced to me. A transmutation specialist with powerful abilities at the expese of power in other areas. I was going to object to what looked like the ability to create wealth beyond what a character is normally able to do, but creating the Pilosophers Stone is perfectly balanced with normal magic item creation. Nice work. Did you have any specific inspiration for this class?
Well, for one thing, it comes from me being sick and tired of seeing Fullmetal Alchemist inspired classes. Don't get me wrong, I love the show, but there's just a glut of poorly worded and uninspired classes based on it. The inspiration for this particular class came from a book on European alchemy during the Renaissance, who saw the transmutation oof lead to gold as a metaphor for the moral development of the human soul. Now, of course, it's hard to tell how accurate this is, but it makes for an interesting class.

The Demented One
2006-03-25, 03:58 PM
I think the atonement thing is kinda off, since an alchemist isn't a beacon of good or anything like that.
As a mentioned in the previous post, some alchemists saw transmutation of base metals to gold as a metaphor for moral development of the human soul.


For the philosopher's stone artifact, it never says how many people it can resurrect with the total amount of quicksilver. Does anyone have a clue?
I believe it works as a one-time-only True Resurrection, meaning one person could be revived.

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Ugly_Panda
2006-03-25, 04:02 PM
I see, I'm inclined towards the historic "Accidently created concentrated explosives with my urine" type of alchemist.

The Demented One
2006-03-25, 04:06 PM
I see, I'm inclined towards the historic "Accidently created concentrated explosives with my urine" type of alchemist.
Dragonlance's (I think) Tinker Gnomes might be a bit more to your liking, then.

Altair_the_Vexed
2006-03-25, 04:15 PM
This is gorgeously thought out - well done!

Reminds me of obscure old French RRG, Nephillim - they had the pseudo-historical arcane arts down.

Hateable_Bastard
2006-03-25, 04:17 PM
Great work, I simply love the flavor, More classes like this one are needed....

Raum
2006-03-25, 05:59 PM
Don't you think an extra 6 disintegrate spells per day is a bit much? Particularly with a potentially higher DC than normal! Also, beware that at will powers (fabricate) can be easy for a player to abuse.

The Demented One
2006-03-25, 06:52 PM
Don't you think an extra 6 disintegrate spells per day is a bit much? Particularly with a potentially higher DC than normal! Also, beware that at will powers (fabricate) can be easy for a player to abuse.
Seeing as they lose 4 caster levels to do so, I'd say it's fair. While Mr. Philosopher-Alchemist can chuck disintegrates and PAOs around, Mr. Wizard is going to get a whole bevy of 7th, 8th, and 9th level spells Mr. Philosopher-Alchemist will never see.