Greywander
2019-12-13, 03:31 AM
A while back I posted a thread on using flour to create explosions, and someone dropped a link to this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?590687-Better-living-through-chemistry) discussing several different types of chemical mixtures that could potentially be manufactured with medieval level tech. I was just thinking recently that it would be cool if we had more items along these lines, in part for use by artificers, but also for anyone with proficiency with alchemist's tools.
I think the most basic one would be blasting powder, or a rough equivalent. A basic explosive. What I imagine is that all alchemical compounds might have certain "dosages", and that by added more doses you can increase the effect. For example, 1 pound of blasting powder might deal 1 fire and 1 bludgeoning damage against a single target, while 2 pounds would deal 1d4 of each type to everything in a 5-foot-diameter sphere, and every time the dosage is doubled it increases the damage by 1d4 each and the diameter by 5 feet*. Something like that. You could also have something like a poison gas that is non-lethal at low dosage (e.g. inflicts poisoned condition) but becomes lethal with large doses (deals poison damage).
(*For reference, under this formula 16 lbs of blasting powder would deal 4d4 each of fire and bludgeoning damage (8d4 total) in a sphere with a diameter of 20 feet. Not sure if that's too strong or too weak. I should probably consult real-world explosives formulas to see how explosion power and size correlate to amount of explosive. Perhaps it's more linear.)
Unfortunately, my background is not in chemistry, so I'll need to do some research before I'd be able to whip up some homebrew. I was curious if anyone here with more knowledge than I on this subject might be interested in taking a crack at it, or at least be willing to offer some input.
I just think it's a little silly that Alchemist artificers are a bit short on explosives (no Fireball, for example), even though chemistry is generally more about making things go boom than it is about mixing potions. I understand the Artillerist is the blasty subclass, but it would be nice to have the option of making actual bombs, regardless of subclass, or even as any class with alchemist's tools.
I think the most basic one would be blasting powder, or a rough equivalent. A basic explosive. What I imagine is that all alchemical compounds might have certain "dosages", and that by added more doses you can increase the effect. For example, 1 pound of blasting powder might deal 1 fire and 1 bludgeoning damage against a single target, while 2 pounds would deal 1d4 of each type to everything in a 5-foot-diameter sphere, and every time the dosage is doubled it increases the damage by 1d4 each and the diameter by 5 feet*. Something like that. You could also have something like a poison gas that is non-lethal at low dosage (e.g. inflicts poisoned condition) but becomes lethal with large doses (deals poison damage).
(*For reference, under this formula 16 lbs of blasting powder would deal 4d4 each of fire and bludgeoning damage (8d4 total) in a sphere with a diameter of 20 feet. Not sure if that's too strong or too weak. I should probably consult real-world explosives formulas to see how explosion power and size correlate to amount of explosive. Perhaps it's more linear.)
Unfortunately, my background is not in chemistry, so I'll need to do some research before I'd be able to whip up some homebrew. I was curious if anyone here with more knowledge than I on this subject might be interested in taking a crack at it, or at least be willing to offer some input.
I just think it's a little silly that Alchemist artificers are a bit short on explosives (no Fireball, for example), even though chemistry is generally more about making things go boom than it is about mixing potions. I understand the Artillerist is the blasty subclass, but it would be nice to have the option of making actual bombs, regardless of subclass, or even as any class with alchemist's tools.