Brainstorming possible non-magical alchemical concoctions

[PhoenixPhyre]

What kind of concoctions would you like to see? These should be of two forms--

Hostile (bombs)
Non-hostile (elixirs)

I'm considering a non-spell-casting artificer-like class for my setting--it's resource would be alchemical concoctions, and its subclasses would focus on particular inventions--a powered exoskeleton (melee/tank), a gun (ranged), and possibly a pet

This is somewhat like the artificer UA, but completely non-spell-casting. I figure you'd have the concoctions useable 2-4 times per short rest that would scale with level like warlock slots (so always be at max power). I figure they could pass them off, but once primed they only last a minute or so.

So far:

Bombs: hostile
*Explosive/Shrapnel (piercing/thunder damage in aoe)
*Incendiary (fire damage, DoT like upgraded alchemist’s fire)
*Smoke (aoe obscurement)
*Poison (status effects)

Elixirs: utility
*Healing (similar to cure wounds?)
*Restorative (condition purging)
*Speed boost (haste)
*Mentats (skill boost)

[Joe the Rat]

Sounds like magical effects to me.

If you take alchemy as combining materials to produce effects, independent of any kind of spellcasting, you keep a wonderful range of effects.

Some bits and pieces:
Dyes and pigments - change your hair/skin/clothing color, permanent OR temporary by mix. Having a self-patterning dye (make anything camoflauged or plaid) could be interesting.

Oils - smokeless, heavy smoked, colored flames or fumes, scented, non-flammable oils that are excellent lubricants

Powders - stick to anything, stick to only certain materials, change color by temperature/substance/chemical properties. Make litmus sticks to detect poisons/healing/magic/elves.
Itching powder.
Ultimate Goblin Dust (contains powdered iron, silver, salt, garlic, and other elements mixed with ash - a cloud to irritate any creature, magical or no.

Aerogel. You have something that creates a thick cloud, which quickly sets into a block of spongy near-vapor. Basically web.

[Tiadoppler]

Class Feature Gadgeteer
With glass bulbs, springs, wires and pieces of clockwork, you cobble together a custom gadget that can aid you in specific tasks.
Choose a skill. As long as you're wearing this gadget, you may make skill checks for that skill as if it were an Intelligence skill you are Proficient in. It takes 8 hours of light work to create a gadget. You may have one gadget at a time (2 at level 11, 3 at level 17).


Utility effects (spell-like).
An acid that can melt metal, but not flesh.
A tunneler bomb that can reduce solid stone to sand.
A para-cape (one use) that eliminates fall damage.
A can of pressurized water (extinguishes one non-magical fire up to 5'x5' at range 10')
Wakefulness (caffeine) potion: you lose one level of exhaustion. In 8 hours, you gain two levels of exhaustion.
Oil of Traversal: Applied on a creature, eliminates the speed penalty from squeezing through small spaces. Grants Advantage on escaping Grapple. Last one hour.
Glue: Applied on any terrain, creates a zone that requires DC15 Athletics to move through or speed reduced to 0'
Instant Spiderweb Bomb: A sphere with radius 15' is filled with ropes covered in glue. If there are no walls or ceilings to connect to, the sphere collapses into Glue terrain. Any creature in the zone, or who enters the zone, must make a DC15 Athletics check or their speed is reduced to 0'
Grease Bomb
Caltrops Bomb


Personally, I'd prefer explicitly non-magical bombs and elixirs to be:

> Take significant time/expense to brew/create, but have no limit on how many you can have (except your carrying capacity)
> Have the same shelf life no matter who's carrying it (maybe your artificer has a refrigerated backpack that can store them for longer).

[PhoenixPhyre]

I guess I'm going for non-spell (as in no spell slots) rather that non-magical. The whole setting is magical, but this is more "weird science" than "magic powers." I figure the character is mixing up a stable base that, once primed with a specific, short-shelf-life ingredient, becomes a volatile compound with a specific effect. So the artificer can have lots of the base made up, but has to prepare the volatiles at a short rest and they only last a few hours.

I like lots of those examples and will probably use a bunch of them.

[hymer]

Maybe you can get some inspiration from my campaign wiki, here (http://nanmehtar.wikispaces.com/Salrog%27s+Alchemical+Items). It lists the readily available items from the local gnome alchemist, Salrog.

[Euclidodese]

Venenum-Insanis.
A strange series of throbbing and strobing lights erupts from a crushed vial and confuses all who gaze upon it.


Aqua-Corruptio.
A Metal-eating-acid that melts non-magical armour but leaves flesh intact.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

I very much like this idea. This is an idea I have been toying with and failed to recreate. Something I tried is using the Forge cleric and mixing that with the new school of invention wizard in UA. Other than that I would like to see what people come up with.

[Tiadoppler]

To make the class unique mechanically, you could consider making the artifice powers (concoctions, weaponized gadgets, grenades) prepared on a long-rest basis, then reset on a short-rest basis.

Let's say you prepare one electrofist, two vitalinjectors, a smokescreen bomb and an autokinetic springshot for the day. Now, you can reset those abilities on a short rest, but you can't change your loadout around until a long rest.


Electrofist: when activated, you make an unarmed melee attack (with proficiency). On a hit you do (some number + INT) bonus Lightning damage and (some amount of) push or prone.
Vitalinjectors: touch range healing - small amount but gives temporary hp too?
Autokinetic Springshot: a multi-use gun. You have to activate it, then you get some number of shots a la Melf's Minute Meteor spell.
Galvanoray: a single shot railgun. Act's like a Lightning spell with a push or stun.
Pyrospray can: a single shot flamethrower. Like Burning Hands.
Repulsoles: worn inside the boot. Boosts jump height+distance or eliminates fall damage as a reaction.
Chronomanipulator belt buckle: Like an Action Surge.

[Jama7301]

Tac-Tics - Breath so fresh, it's distracting! - The next enemy attack you take from an adjacent enemy is made with Disadvantage.

Popping Rocks - Bang! Snap! Crunch! - Scatter these small, alchemic stones on the ground in two spaces that are both adjacent to each other and to you. Creatures who step on squares containing these rocks must succeed on a Dexterity Saving Throw equal to your [whatever] DC. On a failed save, the rocks pop deal 1d6 damage, and the target loses all remaining movement for the turn. On a successful save, the target treats the square as difficult terrain instead.

[PhoenixPhyre]

My current workup (very WIP, PEACH) for the class is here (google doc) (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eNH1DpxdNWDSXCmGlJ7Ks-4WD2dOQrj43mv1Ftba-pU/edit?usp=sharing)

Only through the table is formalized, and there are still holes to fill. The rest are just brainstorming notes and are subject to change.

My thoughts--

* Int and dex/str dependent
* Level 1: bombs and tier 1 schema (alchemical concoctions). The concoctions themselves are stable (so you can abstract having a lot of various ones prepared), but require a volatile catalyst that degrades relatively quickly and takes some quiet time to prepare (SR recharge). Later, you can stabilize a few catalysts for later. Giving a catalyzed concoction to another character or throwing it can be done with the same action as catalyzing it, but only the savant can catalyze a concoction. Once catalyzed, they only last 1 minute before becoming inert.
* Level 3: subclass (obsession). This doesn't add much damage, but adds utility. One focuses on grappling and melee combat, the other on ranged combat and utility (including a bolt-on grenade/concoction launcher).
* Unique subclass mechanic--each time you get a feature, you can choose one feature chain to either increase one step or chose another chain. 5 such features and a cap of 3 steps (basic, advanced, perfected) means you can pick and choose. 3 chains are unique per subclass, 1 is shared (gadgets)

[LaserFace]

I'd visit classical chemistry stuff for inspiration. Imagine just taking regular things laying around in the wilderness and doing simple distillations.

Someone already mentioned dyes / pigments. But, maybe anesthetics could give temporary HP, stimulants could boost awareness skills or initiative, depressants could be administered to cause Sleep effects, curative mixtures could act like a treatment that delays a status effect, hallucinogenics could cause a confusion effect, perfumes might give advantage on specific CHA checks. Poisons can be cool, too; Curare has been used with blow darts, to cause paralysis and death.

Also, an important aspect of drugs is that the dose makes the poison. Maybe there could be side effects for repeated uses / day, or a tradeoff exists with each use? Like for an anesthetic, you might get that temp HP bonus, but have disadvantage on DEX checks, for example.

[Jama7301]

Also, a classic idea with drugs is that the dose makes the poison. Maybe there could be side effects for repeated uses / day, or a tradeoff exists with each use? Like for an anesthetic, you might get that temp HP bonus, but have disadvantage on DEX checks, for example.
This gives me an idea. What if a single dose of something is beneficial. At low levels you can use Tonic A to provide Temp HP or something, but at higher levels, you can essentially deliver a 'double dose' that has a detrimental effect, giving the same concoction a bit of flexibility.

For example, a Single Dose gives Advantage on Dex based Ability checks and Saving throws. A doubled dose deals 1d4 non-stacking Dex damage. Or disadvantage on attack rolls.

Basically, a higher level Chemist would know how much of a substance is beneficial, and how much is detrimental.

[LaserFace]

Yeah, I dig higher risk vs higher reward stuff.

[Jama7301]

My thinking was more "I can make this traditionally helpful potion hurt enemies now" as a train of thought, but I came to that idea through some inspiration of your tradeoff system.

It's one of the things I like about this place. It's a lot of ideas that can cause something to fire my brain into making a half-baked idea.