xXAmaroqXx
2020-11-10, 05:28 PM
Hello there. I tried my hands at a new archetype for the Alchemist Class in Pathfinder. While i did playtest it myself in two campaigns all the way up to level 10 (and tweaked it a lot as a result), I'd like to hear your opinions on this archetype, if you could see yourself playing it, or if it is significantly too weak or too strong compared to other classes. Below the actual class i wrote a couple of design notes, in case you're interested.
Please give me your feedback on this class, in terms of whether its fun, and how balanced / powerful you think it is.
Look here for the most up to date version of this class.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ufVsZBz3BpmbX1Vs1XhJGc73AtgnPidQp57CLw44aRU/edit?usp=sharing
Role: An Enchanter is an alchemist who studies not only the art of potion making, but the creation of magic items on a more universal basis. Unlike many magicians who never leave the safety of their ivory towers, the Enchanter does gain their knowledge first hand by exploring the world and adventuring by themselves, delving into dungeons and going on quests to get their hands on new magic items for them to take apart and study in an evergoing quest to expand their knowledge and craftsmanship. Since Enchanters are neither as strong nor as durable as most hardy adventurers they accompany, they rely on their self made gear and expendable (and often explosive!) items for their survival, while providing their allies with magically enhanced buff-food and supplies. This means however that they must try to prepare as well as they can before going to dangerous places, as they are a lot less suited for the spontaneity and fast decision making that are required when one is attacked by a swarm of murderous creatures.
In case the link does not work:
Enchanter (Alchemist Archetype)
Discoveries (SU):
An Enchanter cannot take the Explosive Missile or Fast Bombs discoveries.
This alters the Discovery class feature.
Magic Food (Su):
An Enchanter is able to apply a magical effect to a meal as if it were a potion. This functions exactly as the Alchemy class feature of an alchemist, using the same formulae list, with the following exceptions.
An Enchanter may either create extracts as normal, or they are able to enchant food items (or prepare any combination thereof). Enchanting food items requires the expenditure of two extract slots of the spells level. Any discovery related to extracts affects enchanted meals as if they were extracts. In addition, Meals can be shared with other creatures as if the Enchanter had the infusion discovery.
Enchanting a food item requires at least 2 minutes of work per single meal (as they use two spell slots instead of one), in addition to the necessary meal itself and the means to prepare it (such as a cooking pot and Alchemy Crafting Kit) — most enchanters prepare many meals at the start of the day or just before going on an adventure, but it’s not uncommon for an Enchanter to keep some (or even all) of his daily enchant slots open so that he can prepare meals in the field as needed.
Creatures must take at least 1 minute to consume an enchanted meal in order to acquire the meals effect.
A meal’s magic effect is automatically subject to Delayed Consumption, ignoring its level requirements and its duration is changed to 1 hour per level or until discharged. It can be activated as an immediate action or triggered automatically once the delayed consumption’s duration has run out. Should a creature eat another enchanted meal before the previous one was activated, the previous meal’s Delayed Consumption effect immediately ends and is replaced by the new meal’s Delayed Consumption.
A meal, once enchanted, remains potent until it spoils. However, it uses up the required enchants per day slots for as long as it is potent, meaning the Enchanter cannot stockpile more meals than they could produce during a single day. If they prepare a new meal, one already existing meals loses its magic effect (it can still be eaten as regular food though).
Meals do not stack with extracts, potions or spells bearing the same effect.
This ability alters the Alchemy class feature and replaces Poison Resistance and Poison Immunity.
Explosive Weaponry (Su):
Unlike a regular alchemist, an Enchanter does not spontaneously create and throw bombs. Instead, they infuse their weapons or ammunition with bombs, which then explode on the first target hit by an attack.
An Enchanter prepares their bombs in advance, applying a single bomb infusion to a manufactured weapon or a single piece of ammunition. Preparation of one’s daily allotment of bomb infusions takes 15 minutes. The Enchanter may leave a number of bombs unprepared to prepare them later during the day, but that process takes another full 15 minutes to complete once again. Similar to using metamagic, they must also select all bomb modifiers, including those gained from feats and discoveries, during the preparation ritual. An Enchanter may create an amount of bomb infusions per day equal to their Enchanter level in addition to their intelligence modifier.
Once placed on a piece of ammunition or a weapon, that weapon is now bomb infused. A bomb infusion remains potent until used, even if given to another person. If the Enchanter prepares more bomb infusions than their allowed maximum, an old bomb infusion of the Enchanter’s choice becomes inert.
When the infused item hits its target, it deals damage normally and detonates as if the alchemist had thrown the bomb at the target. This also deals the bombs damage to the item it was infused into as if it had taken a direct hit.
When the infused item misses its target’s currently applicable AC, but would still hit its touch AC, the bomb detonates on their armor regardless, inflicting its regular damage and dealing splash damage in squares adjacent to the target hit, but the item itself does not harm the target in any other way. (The Bomb explodes on contact, even if the weapon or ammunition does not pierce the targets armor)
You can instead target a specific grid intersection. Treat this as a ranged attack against AC 5. However, if you target a grid intersection, creatures in all adjacent squares are dealt the splash damage, and the direct hit damage is not dealt to any creature. You can’t target a grid intersection occupied by a creature, such as a Large or larger creature; in this case, you’re aiming at the creature.
When the infused item is a piece of ammunition or a thrown item and misses its target entirely, roll 1d8. This determines the misdirection of the throw, with 1 falling short (off-target in a straight line toward the thrower), and 2 through 8 rotating around the target creature or grid intersection in a clockwise direction. Then, count a number of squares in the indicated direction equal to the range increment of the throw. After you determine where the weapon landed, it deals splash damage to all creatures in that square and in all adjacent squares.
This ability alters the Bomb class feature.
Reverse Engineering (Ex):
Starting at 2rd level, an Enchanter may destroy a magic item and attempt to study its components in order to learn about its secrets. The Enchanter does require the necessary item creation feat to craft the destroyed item to be able to reverse engineer it.
Reverse engineering the item uses the same crafting rules and amount of time it would take the Enchanter to craft the item but does not cost any gold or material components other than the item to be reverse engineered. If the item has a limited number of charges or uses on a daily basis, it needs to be at full capacity to be reverse engineered.
At the end of that time period, the magic item is irreversibly destroyed and loses its magical power and the Enchanter must succeed at the usual spellcraft check with a DC of (5 + the item’s caster level). Failure means that the reverse engineering failed somehow and the studies are useless.
On a success, the Enchanter adds the required spells to craft the item to their formula book at no additional cost. If that spell is part of the Alchemist Formula list, they can prepare and use the spell normally. If it is usually not part of the Alchemist formula list, the Enchanter may only use these spells for the purposes of crafting, preparing and expending them during the crafting as usual. The learned spell is of the same level as it is for the class that used the spell to create the item. The Enchanter may only add spells to their formula book that are 6th level or lower and they must have a high enough level to prepare them in order to use them for crafting. Also I think it has more flavour when you study an item you dont necessarily want for yourself rather than sell it for gold and then buy the spell you want to add to your spellbook. Sure its less efficient gold-wise, but more in-character.
Magic Gear Expert (Ex):
At 3rd level, an Enchanter gains Craft wondrous Item as a bonus feat.
At 6th level, they gain Craft Magic Arms and Armor as a bonus feat.
At 14th level they gain Forge Ring as a bonus feat.
Enchanters are no spellcasters and instead substitute their ranks in the craft or profession skill they are required to use during the item creation for their total caster level. The DC to create the item still increases for any necessary spell requirement, although formulae count as spells known for the purposes of this ability. You cannot use this ability to create any spell-trigger or spell-activation item.
Enchanters may create magic equipment using already existing, non-magical equipment as crafting material. This does not grant any bonus to the crafting check, and if the item would need to be upgraded to a masterwork item, the Enchanter still needs to provide the necessary gold in components.
This ability replaces the Throw Anything, Mutagen and Persistent Mutagen class features.
Instant Enchantment (Su):
Starting at 4th level, as a full-round action, the Enchanter may place a +1 enhancement bonus or a +1 special ability on any non-magical weapon or a single nonmagical piece of ammunition they are touching. This ability must be appropriate for the weapon type, but the weapon does not need to be of masterwork quality. This bonus lasts for 1 minute.
(Reminder: Bomb infused items count as magical and thus cannot be affected.)
The maximum possible bonus of the enchantment or special ability applied grows to +2 at level 8, to +3 at level 12, +4 at level 16 and +5 at level 20. Only one special ability can be applied using this ability, but any unused bonuses are converted into a regular enchantment bonus for the duration of this ability. Any weapon enhanced using this ability counts as a magic weapon for the duration of the enhancement.
At 8th level, this ability can also be used as a standard action.
At 12th level, this ability can also be used as a move action.
The Enchanter may use this ability a number of times per day equal to half their Enchanter level.
This Ability replaces the Swift Poisoning and Instant Alchemy class features.
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Design Notes:
Magic Food:
I always wondered what would happen if one was to enchant food and give it to someone to eat - and how i could make it different from just using a potion. With the concept in mind that it is supposed to be used before entering a dungeon or upon resting, i figured I would have the consumption time to be a lot longer. This way, the buff can't just be administered during battle and at the same time gives a nice excuse for having some slice of life sitting at the campfire together.
The next question was how to deliver the effect of the buff-food, and i experimented a lot with long durations and the like, before i settled on the delayed consumption effect. I believe that with how limited the alchemist's spell slots are, it is a decent option to go and prepare a few food items. I also made sure you cannot just stuff yourself by limiting the food to one dose at a time and no stacking with other similar effects.
Explosive Weaponry:
I wanted to give bombs a bigger variety in their usage without significantly buffing them or changing how they work, however, the bomb missile discovery felt very unsatisfying in the way it is used and honestly like a straight up downgrade, especially as you loose your ability to hit touch AC which was the entire draw of the bomb. Instead, I opted to make the explosive missile mandatory by having the enchanter place a bomb enchantment in any missile (or other item) they like. I even experimented with placing a bomb inside your armor and the like, or the option for your quiver to blow up when its stuffed full of bomb arrows, though that felt overly complicated and had too many drawbacks to feel reasonable. You might still want to add this stuff but i dont think a player should play around their classes drawbacks by default. The tradeoff that you must decide which bombs to prepare and where becomes more apparent at higher levels when options via discoveries become available and you start throwing frost or force bombs around or if you intend to spread your bombs over multiple different weapons or items or even keep a few slots open.
Reverse Engineering and Magic Item crafting:
This is sort of the heart of the Class, as it allows the Enchanter to create magic items even for items that are not on their formula list or to craft anything at all without going through a long feat chain. Crafting is considered unbalanced if done wrong, so the GM and player should work in unison on that one. Personally i like the idea of studying magic by trying to figure out and copy an existing item rather than just copying it from a spellbook, and the magic items are a lot more expensive usually than just writing down the spell, so I dont think that this particular instance of crafting ability is overpowered, though I would like to hear more opinions.
Instant Enchantment:
I like the idea of a character enchanting their sword for a short time as they go, and many third party classes do that. I felt that the class does need SOMETHING to do in the midst of battle in order to adapt to situations otherwise it would be too inflexible even next to a wizard, and i felt at higher levels the improvement of mundane equipment would not be as overbearing that it would rival abilities such as divine bond (weapon) of the Paladin. Enchanting something quick and dirty on the fly is something an adventuring enchanter could do, even if it takes them a few levels to get there.
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Rules Questions:
How does the Strafe Bomb enchantment interact with melee weapons? How with ammunition?
The strafe bomb discovery creates its area of effect through the first 40 (or 80 if used with explosive bomb) feet in a direct line as normal, the first square affected being adjacent to the creature that used it. If used in conjunction with a melee attack, the melee attack needs to hit the touch AC for the bomb to trigger. When it does, the melee attack hits (or still misses due to Armor bonuses) as normal, and the strafe bomb effect goes off in the direction of the enemy relative to the attacker. It still damages the weapon it is infused to, but the user is not caught in the Area of effect.
If the strafe bomb is used in conjunction with a ranged attack such as a piece of ammunition or a thrown object, the strafe bomb effect also begins adjacent to the creature that fired it and continues in the direction of the target. The piece of ammunition takes the bomb damage at the end of the 40 (80) foot range, thus usually limiting the ranged attacks range to that distance as the projectile breaks before it reaches any further destinations.
Can i reverse engineer potions?
Potions count as magic items and are a good and easy way to expand your formula repertoire, seeing how you start the game with the brew potion feat, thus meeting Reverse Engineerings requirement for this type of magic item. Being part cook it makes sense for them to taste the potion to realize the necessary ingrediences and then start to try and copy the recipe. There is a trait called Alchemist's apprentice that has this ability at a higher DC, though it felt too difficuilt, considering you permanently destroy the item instead of actually imbibing it, and the DC given in the current rules also correlates better with the general crafting rules. The less extra rules and numbers one has to learn, the better. Additionally, Alchemists should have an easier time with potions.
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FAQ:
Why the Enchanter?
I like the idea of expendable items, but i dislike the large amount of cost associated with them and the low bang they then provide for their buck. Admittedly, this is often so your party doesn't outfit an entire army of followers and NPC's with these items or spams them in huge amounts, but for a party of PC's who don't use them in some excessive or overly creative way, consumables outside of potions, wands and scrolls are usually shunned upon. Players in my gaming circle refrain from buying consumables alltogether and prefer to save their gold for a proper item that provides a long term benefit and consumables given out by the GM are often sold for the gold or kept indefinately thanks to the im-at-the-final-boss-and-have-99-of-everything-collectors-syndrome. The Enchanter offers to improve "vendor-loot" by enhancing nonmagic items with bombs or magic and makes them have a bigger impact on games and encouraging players to use them.
Firing miniature rockets at an opponent is fun. Taking something like a wooden table leg, infusing it with a bomb and then hitting someone with it, so it then explodes and the explosion hurts the enemy, you are also caught in the splash radius of the explosion AND it breaks the weapon in the process is fun. In a crude way. Even moreso if you add a bomb discovery such as directed bomb or strafe bomb.
Why not play a wizard as enchanter?
I wanted a class that actually fights, instead of standing in the background, casting spells. The medium Base Attack Bonus, D8 Hit Die and good Fortitude and Reflex saves allow the Alchemist to play a more active role with the big guys while still being a supportive character instead of a pure DPS machine. In addition, spellcasters often have that 4 fights per day syndrome, after which they tend to run low on spell slots and become incredibly weak, so the adventuring party is tempted to stop in the middle of a dungeon. The enchanters ability to still fight somewhat mitigates this a bit and may keep going.
Why not play a regular Alchemist?
The Enchanter offers more options at the cost of spontaneity. You CAN either make potions or food, you CAN use bombs in more ways than just throwing them at short range, and unlike the missile bomb discovery, they actually explode on contact rather than just being a pure hit or miss issue. Alchemists are also more limited at handing out their potions and bombs to allies as they require the infusion discovery for the former, and are unable to share bombs in any way. The enchanter helps getting past these barriers, making them less self-centered.
Isn't this Archetype just a buff to the Alchemist?
It depends on how much you value the necessity to prepare your class abilities. I have read a lot of debates on whether the sorcerer or wizard is stronger due to their different takes on adapting to a situation, and there hasn't really been a solution that sounded reasonable to me. The broad consensus seems to be wizards are better, but in actual play, they often are not prepared ideally. I playtested this class a lot and found that having options is fun, then attempted to balance the new options in a way that really makes me think whether or not they're still worth it. An option that is too bad to be used rarely sees use, an ability that is too good makes the other options redundant.
If you want everything to be prepared beforehand instead of being spontaneous, why the Instant Enchantment ability?
I don't have a perfect answer to this. This ability represents the idea of coming up and improvising something on the fly with gear that may not necessarily be their primary weapon. Weapons enchanted with this ability are usually a temporary solution and not a straight up buff, which is why it does not work on already magical gear as that would be naturally resistant to further tampering. Also, this ability is obtained at a level where it should not outshine a parties real weaponry but only supplement them when needed. Though this ability is the most likely i would change.
Please give me your feedback on this class, in terms of whether its fun, and how balanced / powerful you think it is.
Look here for the most up to date version of this class.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ufVsZBz3BpmbX1Vs1XhJGc73AtgnPidQp57CLw44aRU/edit?usp=sharing
Role: An Enchanter is an alchemist who studies not only the art of potion making, but the creation of magic items on a more universal basis. Unlike many magicians who never leave the safety of their ivory towers, the Enchanter does gain their knowledge first hand by exploring the world and adventuring by themselves, delving into dungeons and going on quests to get their hands on new magic items for them to take apart and study in an evergoing quest to expand their knowledge and craftsmanship. Since Enchanters are neither as strong nor as durable as most hardy adventurers they accompany, they rely on their self made gear and expendable (and often explosive!) items for their survival, while providing their allies with magically enhanced buff-food and supplies. This means however that they must try to prepare as well as they can before going to dangerous places, as they are a lot less suited for the spontaneity and fast decision making that are required when one is attacked by a swarm of murderous creatures.
In case the link does not work:
Enchanter (Alchemist Archetype)
Discoveries (SU):
An Enchanter cannot take the Explosive Missile or Fast Bombs discoveries.
This alters the Discovery class feature.
Magic Food (Su):
An Enchanter is able to apply a magical effect to a meal as if it were a potion. This functions exactly as the Alchemy class feature of an alchemist, using the same formulae list, with the following exceptions.
An Enchanter may either create extracts as normal, or they are able to enchant food items (or prepare any combination thereof). Enchanting food items requires the expenditure of two extract slots of the spells level. Any discovery related to extracts affects enchanted meals as if they were extracts. In addition, Meals can be shared with other creatures as if the Enchanter had the infusion discovery.
Enchanting a food item requires at least 2 minutes of work per single meal (as they use two spell slots instead of one), in addition to the necessary meal itself and the means to prepare it (such as a cooking pot and Alchemy Crafting Kit) — most enchanters prepare many meals at the start of the day or just before going on an adventure, but it’s not uncommon for an Enchanter to keep some (or even all) of his daily enchant slots open so that he can prepare meals in the field as needed.
Creatures must take at least 1 minute to consume an enchanted meal in order to acquire the meals effect.
A meal’s magic effect is automatically subject to Delayed Consumption, ignoring its level requirements and its duration is changed to 1 hour per level or until discharged. It can be activated as an immediate action or triggered automatically once the delayed consumption’s duration has run out. Should a creature eat another enchanted meal before the previous one was activated, the previous meal’s Delayed Consumption effect immediately ends and is replaced by the new meal’s Delayed Consumption.
A meal, once enchanted, remains potent until it spoils. However, it uses up the required enchants per day slots for as long as it is potent, meaning the Enchanter cannot stockpile more meals than they could produce during a single day. If they prepare a new meal, one already existing meals loses its magic effect (it can still be eaten as regular food though).
Meals do not stack with extracts, potions or spells bearing the same effect.
This ability alters the Alchemy class feature and replaces Poison Resistance and Poison Immunity.
Explosive Weaponry (Su):
Unlike a regular alchemist, an Enchanter does not spontaneously create and throw bombs. Instead, they infuse their weapons or ammunition with bombs, which then explode on the first target hit by an attack.
An Enchanter prepares their bombs in advance, applying a single bomb infusion to a manufactured weapon or a single piece of ammunition. Preparation of one’s daily allotment of bomb infusions takes 15 minutes. The Enchanter may leave a number of bombs unprepared to prepare them later during the day, but that process takes another full 15 minutes to complete once again. Similar to using metamagic, they must also select all bomb modifiers, including those gained from feats and discoveries, during the preparation ritual. An Enchanter may create an amount of bomb infusions per day equal to their Enchanter level in addition to their intelligence modifier.
Once placed on a piece of ammunition or a weapon, that weapon is now bomb infused. A bomb infusion remains potent until used, even if given to another person. If the Enchanter prepares more bomb infusions than their allowed maximum, an old bomb infusion of the Enchanter’s choice becomes inert.
When the infused item hits its target, it deals damage normally and detonates as if the alchemist had thrown the bomb at the target. This also deals the bombs damage to the item it was infused into as if it had taken a direct hit.
When the infused item misses its target’s currently applicable AC, but would still hit its touch AC, the bomb detonates on their armor regardless, inflicting its regular damage and dealing splash damage in squares adjacent to the target hit, but the item itself does not harm the target in any other way. (The Bomb explodes on contact, even if the weapon or ammunition does not pierce the targets armor)
You can instead target a specific grid intersection. Treat this as a ranged attack against AC 5. However, if you target a grid intersection, creatures in all adjacent squares are dealt the splash damage, and the direct hit damage is not dealt to any creature. You can’t target a grid intersection occupied by a creature, such as a Large or larger creature; in this case, you’re aiming at the creature.
When the infused item is a piece of ammunition or a thrown item and misses its target entirely, roll 1d8. This determines the misdirection of the throw, with 1 falling short (off-target in a straight line toward the thrower), and 2 through 8 rotating around the target creature or grid intersection in a clockwise direction. Then, count a number of squares in the indicated direction equal to the range increment of the throw. After you determine where the weapon landed, it deals splash damage to all creatures in that square and in all adjacent squares.
This ability alters the Bomb class feature.
Reverse Engineering (Ex):
Starting at 2rd level, an Enchanter may destroy a magic item and attempt to study its components in order to learn about its secrets. The Enchanter does require the necessary item creation feat to craft the destroyed item to be able to reverse engineer it.
Reverse engineering the item uses the same crafting rules and amount of time it would take the Enchanter to craft the item but does not cost any gold or material components other than the item to be reverse engineered. If the item has a limited number of charges or uses on a daily basis, it needs to be at full capacity to be reverse engineered.
At the end of that time period, the magic item is irreversibly destroyed and loses its magical power and the Enchanter must succeed at the usual spellcraft check with a DC of (5 + the item’s caster level). Failure means that the reverse engineering failed somehow and the studies are useless.
On a success, the Enchanter adds the required spells to craft the item to their formula book at no additional cost. If that spell is part of the Alchemist Formula list, they can prepare and use the spell normally. If it is usually not part of the Alchemist formula list, the Enchanter may only use these spells for the purposes of crafting, preparing and expending them during the crafting as usual. The learned spell is of the same level as it is for the class that used the spell to create the item. The Enchanter may only add spells to their formula book that are 6th level or lower and they must have a high enough level to prepare them in order to use them for crafting. Also I think it has more flavour when you study an item you dont necessarily want for yourself rather than sell it for gold and then buy the spell you want to add to your spellbook. Sure its less efficient gold-wise, but more in-character.
Magic Gear Expert (Ex):
At 3rd level, an Enchanter gains Craft wondrous Item as a bonus feat.
At 6th level, they gain Craft Magic Arms and Armor as a bonus feat.
At 14th level they gain Forge Ring as a bonus feat.
Enchanters are no spellcasters and instead substitute their ranks in the craft or profession skill they are required to use during the item creation for their total caster level. The DC to create the item still increases for any necessary spell requirement, although formulae count as spells known for the purposes of this ability. You cannot use this ability to create any spell-trigger or spell-activation item.
Enchanters may create magic equipment using already existing, non-magical equipment as crafting material. This does not grant any bonus to the crafting check, and if the item would need to be upgraded to a masterwork item, the Enchanter still needs to provide the necessary gold in components.
This ability replaces the Throw Anything, Mutagen and Persistent Mutagen class features.
Instant Enchantment (Su):
Starting at 4th level, as a full-round action, the Enchanter may place a +1 enhancement bonus or a +1 special ability on any non-magical weapon or a single nonmagical piece of ammunition they are touching. This ability must be appropriate for the weapon type, but the weapon does not need to be of masterwork quality. This bonus lasts for 1 minute.
(Reminder: Bomb infused items count as magical and thus cannot be affected.)
The maximum possible bonus of the enchantment or special ability applied grows to +2 at level 8, to +3 at level 12, +4 at level 16 and +5 at level 20. Only one special ability can be applied using this ability, but any unused bonuses are converted into a regular enchantment bonus for the duration of this ability. Any weapon enhanced using this ability counts as a magic weapon for the duration of the enhancement.
At 8th level, this ability can also be used as a standard action.
At 12th level, this ability can also be used as a move action.
The Enchanter may use this ability a number of times per day equal to half their Enchanter level.
This Ability replaces the Swift Poisoning and Instant Alchemy class features.
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Design Notes:
Magic Food:
I always wondered what would happen if one was to enchant food and give it to someone to eat - and how i could make it different from just using a potion. With the concept in mind that it is supposed to be used before entering a dungeon or upon resting, i figured I would have the consumption time to be a lot longer. This way, the buff can't just be administered during battle and at the same time gives a nice excuse for having some slice of life sitting at the campfire together.
The next question was how to deliver the effect of the buff-food, and i experimented a lot with long durations and the like, before i settled on the delayed consumption effect. I believe that with how limited the alchemist's spell slots are, it is a decent option to go and prepare a few food items. I also made sure you cannot just stuff yourself by limiting the food to one dose at a time and no stacking with other similar effects.
Explosive Weaponry:
I wanted to give bombs a bigger variety in their usage without significantly buffing them or changing how they work, however, the bomb missile discovery felt very unsatisfying in the way it is used and honestly like a straight up downgrade, especially as you loose your ability to hit touch AC which was the entire draw of the bomb. Instead, I opted to make the explosive missile mandatory by having the enchanter place a bomb enchantment in any missile (or other item) they like. I even experimented with placing a bomb inside your armor and the like, or the option for your quiver to blow up when its stuffed full of bomb arrows, though that felt overly complicated and had too many drawbacks to feel reasonable. You might still want to add this stuff but i dont think a player should play around their classes drawbacks by default. The tradeoff that you must decide which bombs to prepare and where becomes more apparent at higher levels when options via discoveries become available and you start throwing frost or force bombs around or if you intend to spread your bombs over multiple different weapons or items or even keep a few slots open.
Reverse Engineering and Magic Item crafting:
This is sort of the heart of the Class, as it allows the Enchanter to create magic items even for items that are not on their formula list or to craft anything at all without going through a long feat chain. Crafting is considered unbalanced if done wrong, so the GM and player should work in unison on that one. Personally i like the idea of studying magic by trying to figure out and copy an existing item rather than just copying it from a spellbook, and the magic items are a lot more expensive usually than just writing down the spell, so I dont think that this particular instance of crafting ability is overpowered, though I would like to hear more opinions.
Instant Enchantment:
I like the idea of a character enchanting their sword for a short time as they go, and many third party classes do that. I felt that the class does need SOMETHING to do in the midst of battle in order to adapt to situations otherwise it would be too inflexible even next to a wizard, and i felt at higher levels the improvement of mundane equipment would not be as overbearing that it would rival abilities such as divine bond (weapon) of the Paladin. Enchanting something quick and dirty on the fly is something an adventuring enchanter could do, even if it takes them a few levels to get there.
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Rules Questions:
How does the Strafe Bomb enchantment interact with melee weapons? How with ammunition?
The strafe bomb discovery creates its area of effect through the first 40 (or 80 if used with explosive bomb) feet in a direct line as normal, the first square affected being adjacent to the creature that used it. If used in conjunction with a melee attack, the melee attack needs to hit the touch AC for the bomb to trigger. When it does, the melee attack hits (or still misses due to Armor bonuses) as normal, and the strafe bomb effect goes off in the direction of the enemy relative to the attacker. It still damages the weapon it is infused to, but the user is not caught in the Area of effect.
If the strafe bomb is used in conjunction with a ranged attack such as a piece of ammunition or a thrown object, the strafe bomb effect also begins adjacent to the creature that fired it and continues in the direction of the target. The piece of ammunition takes the bomb damage at the end of the 40 (80) foot range, thus usually limiting the ranged attacks range to that distance as the projectile breaks before it reaches any further destinations.
Can i reverse engineer potions?
Potions count as magic items and are a good and easy way to expand your formula repertoire, seeing how you start the game with the brew potion feat, thus meeting Reverse Engineerings requirement for this type of magic item. Being part cook it makes sense for them to taste the potion to realize the necessary ingrediences and then start to try and copy the recipe. There is a trait called Alchemist's apprentice that has this ability at a higher DC, though it felt too difficuilt, considering you permanently destroy the item instead of actually imbibing it, and the DC given in the current rules also correlates better with the general crafting rules. The less extra rules and numbers one has to learn, the better. Additionally, Alchemists should have an easier time with potions.
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FAQ:
Why the Enchanter?
I like the idea of expendable items, but i dislike the large amount of cost associated with them and the low bang they then provide for their buck. Admittedly, this is often so your party doesn't outfit an entire army of followers and NPC's with these items or spams them in huge amounts, but for a party of PC's who don't use them in some excessive or overly creative way, consumables outside of potions, wands and scrolls are usually shunned upon. Players in my gaming circle refrain from buying consumables alltogether and prefer to save their gold for a proper item that provides a long term benefit and consumables given out by the GM are often sold for the gold or kept indefinately thanks to the im-at-the-final-boss-and-have-99-of-everything-collectors-syndrome. The Enchanter offers to improve "vendor-loot" by enhancing nonmagic items with bombs or magic and makes them have a bigger impact on games and encouraging players to use them.
Firing miniature rockets at an opponent is fun. Taking something like a wooden table leg, infusing it with a bomb and then hitting someone with it, so it then explodes and the explosion hurts the enemy, you are also caught in the splash radius of the explosion AND it breaks the weapon in the process is fun. In a crude way. Even moreso if you add a bomb discovery such as directed bomb or strafe bomb.
Why not play a wizard as enchanter?
I wanted a class that actually fights, instead of standing in the background, casting spells. The medium Base Attack Bonus, D8 Hit Die and good Fortitude and Reflex saves allow the Alchemist to play a more active role with the big guys while still being a supportive character instead of a pure DPS machine. In addition, spellcasters often have that 4 fights per day syndrome, after which they tend to run low on spell slots and become incredibly weak, so the adventuring party is tempted to stop in the middle of a dungeon. The enchanters ability to still fight somewhat mitigates this a bit and may keep going.
Why not play a regular Alchemist?
The Enchanter offers more options at the cost of spontaneity. You CAN either make potions or food, you CAN use bombs in more ways than just throwing them at short range, and unlike the missile bomb discovery, they actually explode on contact rather than just being a pure hit or miss issue. Alchemists are also more limited at handing out their potions and bombs to allies as they require the infusion discovery for the former, and are unable to share bombs in any way. The enchanter helps getting past these barriers, making them less self-centered.
Isn't this Archetype just a buff to the Alchemist?
It depends on how much you value the necessity to prepare your class abilities. I have read a lot of debates on whether the sorcerer or wizard is stronger due to their different takes on adapting to a situation, and there hasn't really been a solution that sounded reasonable to me. The broad consensus seems to be wizards are better, but in actual play, they often are not prepared ideally. I playtested this class a lot and found that having options is fun, then attempted to balance the new options in a way that really makes me think whether or not they're still worth it. An option that is too bad to be used rarely sees use, an ability that is too good makes the other options redundant.
If you want everything to be prepared beforehand instead of being spontaneous, why the Instant Enchantment ability?
I don't have a perfect answer to this. This ability represents the idea of coming up and improvising something on the fly with gear that may not necessarily be their primary weapon. Weapons enchanted with this ability are usually a temporary solution and not a straight up buff, which is why it does not work on already magical gear as that would be naturally resistant to further tampering. Also, this ability is obtained at a level where it should not outshine a parties real weaponry but only supplement them when needed. Though this ability is the most likely i would change.