Character Help: Drug Dealer

[Jeenyus]

I'm planning out a character for a future campaign. I'll be using the drugs from the BoVD and LoD (possibly other sources as well) to addict and eventually control the party. The motivation for this character is an unquenchable thirst for power that he feels compelled to exert over others. Ultimately I want to gain complete control over the party and see what they do (or attempt to do) to free themselves from my influence while I use them to accomplish my goals. This character also needs to be a valuable party member so I have more sway over the group and because the combat in the campaigns I play in is generally very difficult and high powered (for example a CR 14 encounter at party level 5), though encounters make up very little of our play time.

In an attempt to prevent the party from curing their addiction with Greater Restoration or Heal I'll be coming to the party as a healer and alchemist. I also want Minor Creation to create the plant based drugs both for selling and bringing the party under my control, and to that end I've been looking at Archivist as a class. Archivist also makes an excellent support role which fits the theme of this character nicely, but I'd like more than role play and a few craft skills to really make this character feel like a drug dealer.

Does anyone have experience making a character like this? What class(es) would you recommend for this character?

[Diovid]

Artificer 5 / Alchemist Savant 5 / Master Alchemist 10 could be a way to go. Although officially the Artificer does not qualify for Alchemist Savant.

If your DM does not allow the Artificer to qualify for Alchemist Savant, then another option would be Wizard 5 / Alchemist Savant 5 / Master Alchemist 10.

Take feats such as Exceptional Artisan, Extraordinary Artisan and Legendary Artisan from Eberron Campaign Setting. Possibly also take the Delay Potion feat from Complete Mage.

Alchemist Savant is from Magic of Eberron and Master Alchemist is from Magic of Faerûn.

Edit: Also, look at these links:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8235956&postcount=11
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4854.0

[Crake]

You should probably make sure the other players won't just get up from the table and leave when you try to pull something like this. Also, whats to stop the players from just going to a lawful good church and asking to be looked after via heal checks while they get over their addiction? This sort of thing is only gonna work if the other players are into that kind of thing, otherwise there's no real way that it's gonna work out for your character.

[Yuki Akuma]

I agree with the notion of talking it through with the other players first. This isn't the sort of thing you can spring on people.

[Fouredged Sword]

I would second or third the OOC conversation before you play this character.

That said, also consider drugs as superweapons. Many of them have horrid overdose effects, and dosing a target multiple times is a quick way to provide serious problems for them.

[Piggy Knowles]

Artificer 5 / Alchemist Savant 5 / Master Alchemist 10 could be a way to go. Although officially the Artificer does not qualify for Alchemist Savant.

If your DM does not allow the Artificer to qualify for Alchemist Savant, then another option would be Wizard 5 / Alchemist Savant 5 / Master Alchemist 10.

Take feats such as Exceptional Artisan, Extraordinary Artisan and Legendary Artisan from Eberron Campaign Setting. Possibly also take the Delay Potion feat from Complete Mage.

Alchemist Savant is from Magic of Eberron and Master Alchemist is from Magic of Faerûn.

Edit: Also, look at these links:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8235956&postcount=11
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4854.0

Eh? Alchemist Savant explicitly allows infusions to qualify.

[Diovid]

Eh? Alchemist Savant explicitly allows infusions to qualify.
I'm thinking Master Alchemist then I guess? I know one of them doesn't work with Artificer.

[Jeenyus]

Artificer 5 / Alchemist Savant 5 / Master Alchemist 10 could be a way to go. Although officially the Artificer does not qualify for Alchemist Savant.

I've looked at these classes before I looked at Archivist, and though I do like that Artificer gives me item creation feats and points to spend rather than xp, I feel its a poor support character. The best infusions he gets for a support role are at second level, and besides making use of magical devices and healing salves or poultices I have no way to heal the group.



If your DM does not allow the Artificer to qualify for Alchemist Savant, then another option would be Wizard 5 / Alchemist Savant 5 / Master Alchemist 10.


Artificer does qualify for Alchemist Savant, but not Master alchemist. Alchemist Savant seems to encourage an expensive combat style and though I could opt to pay up to 1500gp for what is essentially extra 3rd or lower spell slots, this class seems to fall short. I do, however, like that it allows me to create multiple potions in a day without restrictions. It may be worth going into just for efficient alchemy and the allure of having single target spells without needing to prepare them.

Master alchemist seems like a great class on the surface. You get the ability to brew multiple potions in a day and can even brew up to 9th level spells as potions, plus it allows you to maintain full spell progression. When you start to put it under a microscope you begin to see minor flaws. The potions you brew daily can total no more than 1000gp for a maximum of two. When you get an improved version of this you can brew three potions in a day, however the DM could rule that because it does not state that the gp value per day increases, you are still limited to 1000gp in a day. While this skill is wonderful for earning 500gp in a single day at the cost of a little xp, you can't use it to brew your spells into potions. Looking at Brew Potion (4th), the first thing I noticed was the gold requirement was 50 x Spell Level x Caster Level, totaling 1400 gp as the absolute minimum for most prepared spellcasters. It does however synergize nicely with Alchemist Savant.

The other "problem" I see is that both prestige classes only grant 2+INT skill points per level, so keeping Craft (Alchemy) at max ranks while still putting points into useful skills could be difficult depending on my base class.

Thanks for that link to the haversack thread, it was immensely helpful. Do you have any other recommendations for a base class?



Also, whats to stop the players from just going to a lawful good church and asking to be looked after via heal checks while they get over their addiction?

What stops addicts in the real world from doing the same thing? Besides the fact that, at some level, none of them will want to quit, they may not even know that treatment options exist. Depending on how commonplace drugs are in the world where this campaign takes place, and even whether or not drugs are endemic to certain regions, the other PCs (and possibly the NPCs at the local church) may have never heard of the concept of addiction. If drugs are illegal to the point that those trying to seek aid can be charged or arrested then treatment may not even be an option. The NPC Cleric treating them might give up and turn them away after Restoration proves ineffective (after a few days of failed saves) if they are ignorant of addiction or if they recognize the signs of drug addiction and observe local laws that prevent them from treating addicts. Conversely, drugs could be so common that the PCs have no qualms of taking various drugs to increase their combat effectiveness or even to pass the time. It wasn't that long ago that cocaine was so commonplace in America that it was put in soft drinks and nobody believed it to be addictive. Of course, all of this will depend largely on the DM, but regardless I expect it to be an entertaining and unique aspect of the game.

I will be talking to the DM and the players that I know can keep out of game knowledge out of game. I feel that D and D is about more than a group of really good friends, who met in a tavern, that team up to defeat some ancient and arcane evil that has arisen for the first time in thousands of years. This will not be the first character I've made that upsets the normal group dynamics, or even the original layout of the campaign.