Expanding Craft Alchemy

[Blackhawk748]

In a campaign i am currently running i plan on test running an idea. The idea is that you can take a Feat (at level 3 at the earliest) to be able to brew a selection of low level potions limited to 1st level spells only. The trouble is i cant think of what spells to include on the list, currently it consists of:

1.Cure Light
2.Endure Elements
3.Remove Fear
4.Longstrider
5.Pass Without Trace

While i understand its just a feat and it should be limited, it is just creating potions which cost money and time so i feel this list is a tad anemic. So any other ideas as to what spells to add?

[SkipSandwich]

The biggest issue with potions as I understand it is that they don't do anything that a 1-shot wondrous item couldn't do with fewer limitations, and buffing via potion takes too many actions for anything but very long duration buffs to be worthwhile.

If you honestly just replaced the caster level requirement to Brew Potion with a Craft Alchemy requirement it would not significantly affect the balance.


I've also considered creating a feat to allow a character to spend a full round action to chug down multiple potions determined by their BAB, something like the following;

Potion Drinker
Requires: BAB 6+, Con 13
As a full-round action, you may draw and consume 2 potions that you have ready on your person and benefit from both.
Special: You gain the ability to drink additional potions as your BAB increases, you can drink 3 potions in a single round once your BAB reaches +11, and 4 potions at +16. At the character's option, they may also chug down multiple potion-sized doses of other liquids in a single round with this feat, such as flasks water or wine, but they receive no particular mechanical benefit for doing so.

[noob]

Well it is EXT which is great in an antimagic zone to heal yourself.
I suggest with alchemy to be able to have effects scaling with the DC so you could decide to make super powerful alchemist fire dealing 20d6 damage for a dc of 60 and 30d6 with a dc of 90 and so on and with the price scaling as well.

[Sagetim]

I would suggest cribbing the alchemist fist level extraction list. Mostly because you're imposing a feat tax to do this. Feats are not cheap investments. There are a LOT of better things I could be doing with a level 3 feat than brewing some okay potions with the craft alchemy skill, especially if they are full cost and use the normal crafting speed for the craft skill.

Even if it's giving alchemical benefits as extraordinary abilities instead of magical effects, the extract list for the first level alchemist isn't that dangerous to allow the usage of. Youthful appearance is probably going to be the most blatantly apparent effect. Yes, more so than closing wounds with an alchemical healing potion. Because a person going from a craggy faced, balding, toothless creep to a suave, youthful, be-maned individual with perfect teeth is visually striking where...well, adventurers are probably used to seeing wounds get fixed fast. Or they're dead.

edit: with a third level feat in 3.5 I could be picking up a maneuver or stance, learning how to run up walls while psionically focused, grabbing metamagic feats like empower or persistent spell, oh, and Reserve Feats...mmmm, firey burst.

in Pathfinder I could be learning how to punch good with superior unarmed strike, grabbing some cantrips per day if I really needed them, getting an extra discovery, or an extra hex, or...etc.

[SkipSandwich]

Well it is EXT which is great in an antimagic zone to heal yourself.
I suggest with alchemy to be able to have effects scaling with the DC so you could decide to make super powerful alchemist fire dealing 20d6 damage for a dc of 60 and 30d6 with a dc of 90 and so on and with the price scaling as well.

The epic rules for craft alchemy already allow this, every +1d6 of damage is +20 to the DC and x5 to the cost. (which is ridiculous IMO, but I don't yet have a good system to replace it with written up).

[noob]

"The epic rules for craft alchemy already allow this, every +1d6 of damage is +20 to the DC and x5 to the cost. (which is ridiculous IMO, but I don't yet have a good system to replace it with written up). "
Except it is epic and needs an epic feat that most of the people will not take except wizards abusing fabricate.

[SkipSandwich]

"The epic rules for craft alchemy already allow this, every +1d6 of damage is +20 to the DC and x5 to the cost. (which is ridiculous IMO, but I don't yet have a good system to replace it with written up). "
Except it is epic and needs an epic feat that most of the people will not take except wizards abusing fabricate.

sorry, forgot that Augmented Alchemy was a thing, but even without requiring an epic feat, +20 DC and x5 cost for +1d6 damage is a terrible exchange rate. If you extrapolate, a 5d6 flask of alchemists fire requires a DC 100 skill check from an Epic Character and costs 400gp(200gp crafting cost), whereas a CL 5 single-use item of Shocking Grasp or Energy Ray requires no skill check and costs just 250gp (125 crafting cost), oh, and is available at level five.

Sorry if I sound salty, but this aspect of the rules is where the spellcaster-bias in D&D causes me particular annoyance.

[noob]

The only way for augmented alchemy to work is using nano-machines and get +30000 and then cast fabricate to create from 300 gp components 900 gp and create a chain reaching your epic product(like 20d6 which will take 40 castings of fabricate or if you want 400d6 but then 800 castings starts being hard and boring unless you use simulacrum of yourself) and then you would have needed a nano-machines master wizard of level 21 for getting a good chemical thing that nobody is ever going to buy because of the cost and in addition you would have crazily abused fabricate and crafting rules and epic level.
I think that doing good alchemical stuff should be doable at low level and without feat tax nor astronomic cost nor infinite dc.