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Dark_Juggernaut
2010-09-11, 07:34 PM
So, I'm going to make an Alchemist in a pathfinder game coming up. I plan to take up poison use, two-weapon fighting, and some feats/discoveries towards bomb use.

One of the major shortcomings of the class is the limited number of bombs per day. I made sure I had a backup plan using a pair of weapons I could keep heavily poisoned mid-combat after 6th level, but I'd still like to have options for when I run out of bombs for things I absolutely can't apply any kind of poison to.

So far I haven't found anything beyond Stonebreaker Acid (for use against enemies made of stone). I thought the Fire Seeds spell would be incredibly useful until I realized the cost of each 1d4 damage would be 165g. I'm considering asking my DM if I could have Fire Seeds as a 6th level Alchemist extract.

I'd hoped to find something inside printed rules to supplement my splash weapon stock. Any ideas?

Darrin
2010-09-11, 07:54 PM
I'd hoped to find something inside printed rules to supplement my splash weapon stock. Any ideas?

From Shax's Haversack (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148101):

Acidic Fire (x5, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 5#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120)
What's better than burning things with acid? Burning things with flaming acid! Rather than carry separate flasks of Acid and Alchemist's Fire, it saves space to combine them into the same bottle. Although combining the two substances drops the damage die to 1d4, if you hit a creature that is still vulnerable to both acid and fire (I'm looking at you, Mr. Troll), you actually come out slightly ahead on the average damage (7.5 damage for Acidic Fire, 7 damage for Alchemist's Fire, and 3.5 damage for just plain ol' acid). The 2 points of splash damage isn't too shabby, either. Give a sack full of 19 flasks of Acidic Fire to an unseen servant and it can drop it in a square for 38 splash damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Eggshell Grenade, Dust
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 5'. A dust grenade that hits its target directly blinds the target for 1d4 rounds *NO SAVE*. Anyone else within the 5' radius splash must make a Fort save DC 10 or be blinded for 1 round. This is an amazingly effective weapon that works on a wide variety of opponents, but don't overuse this one or your DM will come down on you with a banhammer like a ton of bricks.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Firestone
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Dragon Compendium p. 117)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, it does 1d6 fire damage, but unlike a splash weapon, it has an area effect that damages everything in the 5' square without a Ref save. Ranged touch attacks are pretty easy to begin with, but targeting a stationary square rather than a creature makes them even ridiculously more so. This might allow you to throw a whole bag full of these into a square for Xd6 fire damage, X = however many firestones fit in the bag. Another interesting tactic might be to give this bag to an unseen servant, and have it drop or empty the bag into a square from above (doesn't require an attack roll). No weight was given in the Dragon Compendium or the original Dragon article, so I'm assuming a firestone weighs the same as a sling bullet (1/2 lb). Thus, an unseen servant could put 39 into a sack (20 lbs total) and drop it in a square for 39d6 fire damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Also from Dragon Compendium (but not currently mentioned in the Haversack):

Liquid Ice
Price: 30 GP
Weight: ??
(Dragon Compendium p. 118)
This does everything that Freeze Powder does (see the Haversack entry or Frostburn p. 79), but it's much cheaper, *and* can be used as a splash weapon.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25


Of course, this assumes you're not already using Shapesand to get an infinite supply of reusable alchemical items.

Dark_Juggernaut
2010-09-11, 09:10 PM
From Shax's Haversack (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148101):

Of course, this assumes you're not already using Shapesand to get an infinite supply of reusable alchemical items.

What do you mean exactly?

AslanCross
2010-09-11, 09:45 PM
What do you mean exactly?

The Shapesand magic item can be used to make any item the PC wants it to become. Now this is seriously dependent on the DM's interpretation of it, as the item is vaguely-worded. (Can it become a mundane hammer? Probably! Can it become a Candle of Invocation? Uh....)

EDIT: Since the item doesn't say what the limits on using it are, some people interpret it to mean that after using it as alchemist's fire, for example, it turns back into sand that can be reused.

Dark_Juggernaut
2010-09-11, 09:53 PM
Yeah...I don't think my DM would appreciate me turning a shapeshifting sand into a volatile substance just to pick up the pile of sand after it explodes.

Where is it from can can I craft it with alchemy?

Darrin
2010-09-12, 11:16 AM
Yeah...I don't think my DM would appreciate me turning a shapeshifting sand into a volatile substance just to pick up the pile of sand after it explodes.

Where is it from can can I craft it with alchemy?

Sandstorm p. 102.

Here's what the text says about it:

"Shapesand shares many properties with the stuff of uncontrolled Limbo—raw energy that can be molded into any form desired, according to the will of the shaper. The new shape is still composed of sand, but it has the qualities of the object it mimics."

Also:

"The new object is made of sand, but serves as a normal item of the same sort. A shapesand hammer functions just like an ordinary hammer, and a shapesand waterskin is just as watertight as an ordinary skin."

(emphasis mine)

For 100 GP, you can create any non-magical item up to 4 lbs with a simple Wisdom check, and it will retain it's shape so long as you're within 100'. One of the more troublesome consequences of this is alchemical items are non-magical, as are poisons, some explosives, and certain expensive armors (that could be created much more cheaply out of shapesand). The text says they function as any similar normal item would... so there's an argument that shapesand acid/alchemical fire would burn, gunpowder would explode, etc. This line of reasoning will most likely get sharp pointy hardbacks thrown at your head, however.