PDA

View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Homebrew class - the Alchemist



Sammuthegreat
2016-01-19, 12:18 PM
Hi there.

This is my second homebrew class, following from the Saboteur which you will hopefully see in my signature by the time you read this. This time round I'm tackling the Alchemist, which is a class that's been done to death by now, but I figured I'd put my own slant on it.

I wanted to fill in the RP niche for a spellcaster who doesn't actually have any magic, the idea being that alchemy, herbalism and chemistry can produce the same effects as magical spells. The Alchemist is therefore a full spellcaster. To differentiate him from your Wizards and Sorcerers, though, he has a unique class mechanic known as Elixirs, which are powerful buffs that come with a nasty drawback in the form of Toxicity, as seen in the Witcher games (not that I've played them beyond the first couple of Acts of the first one... must remedy this sometime).

What I didn't want to do was to make the Alchemist a tinkerer/engineer type, because I personally prefer to keep my D&D fantasy-themed and like to steer clear of steampunk or anything too Victorian and/or sci-fi. This guy does not make bombs, he makes "brews" which are bottles of chemicals that replicate spells. If you want bombs, check out my Saboteur!

The base class has precisely zero brews that require an attack roll, because I didn't want to get into the realm of splash damage/missing with AoE weapons and suchlike. I dealt with that in the Saboteur and I wanted to steer clear of that theme again. The Alchemist then splits into three subclass archetypes - the Apothecary, the Elementalist and the Poisoner; the thematic split is loosely based on how the Alchemist's brews are applied.

The Apothecary applies his brews to himself and his allies, to give/gain buffs and healing. He can also brew potions of healing. The Elementalist is your standard "nuker"; he's most like a Wizard in that he focuses on maximising the damage caused by his brews when he applies them directly to his enemies. The Poisoner is the melee-oriented one, who applies his brews to his weapons in the form of poisons, which come with choices as to their effects.

Anyway, here's the class description document (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1APwsTf7bfz6LacUN5k8vbYiVsT-6l6Y7GxXwppKPZw4/edit?usp=sharing) - please have a read and let rip with your comments.

Thanks in advance!

Sam

Sammuthegreat
2016-01-19, 12:19 PM
Whoooops - managed not to link the Google doc - remedied now.

Probably just as well to reserve this post in case of future additions anyway.

Sammuthegreat
2016-01-21, 05:36 PM
Just gonna bump this (sorry) - I refuse to believe that it's criticism-proof in its first iteration.