TL:DR mode, cooking up some homebrews since the group can't get together for our usual weekly game and I wondered about classes in a setting where both magic and a certain level of technology was available (thinking 1800's-1970's area. Steam locomotives, bolt-action rifles and revolvers, gasoline-powered generators and the like, nothing absurd) and while giving the players the option of Eberron's Artificer is certainly a fun option, what about a class that uses scientific knowledge and the innate magic of certain reagents and substances to create 'scientific' versions of magical spells?
I've also been working 60+ hour weeks for the past seven weeks and I desperately need some fresh minds to bounce some ideas off of before I go mad or make something so obscenely broken Gygax returns from realms unknown to slap me for my sins.
For flavour reasons, perhaps they can only duplicate a certain range of spells, ie nothing that 'calls' entities from outside reality, so no summoning angels, devils or outsiders, but creation of corporeal undead is certainly possible.
But there's also the point of how do we limit and/or measure their 'spells per day' mechanic. Mortals naturally can only handle so much magical energy, or at least that's my reasoning behind spell-slots per day, and channel too much too often and you either die or are drastically altered by it into a different form of life (or Un-life!). But a class that's using science and indirect application of magic? There isn't any 'direct' use of magic on their person, so perhaps rather than being a 'full' caster, they might only have access to 5th tier spells, but use 'stock' to use their scientific gadgets and alchemical bombs?
I'm thinking of tying the 'stock' to both a 'point' system and a something similar to the way firearms have a misfire chance. Every 'level' of spell that the Alchemist/Scholar is mimicking with their science costs a certain level of 'stock' to function. Cantrips should cost 1 'stock'-point (referred to hereafter as SPs to avoid head explosures), 1st levels should cost 2 SPs, 2nd levels should cost 4 SPs, 3rd cost 6 SPs, 4th costs 8 SPs and 5th costs 10 SPs. An Alchemist/Scholar starts the day with 20 SP and gains an additional 20 SP per level, and can regain 5 SP per level during a short rest. Much like a Spellcaster needs to have a fully stocked Reagent Pouch, an Alchemist/Scholar would need to have a fully stocked Supply Kit to fulfill the same function. Limiting spells to only 5th tier but giving the Alchemist a much larger 'pool' of uses, so let's say a 5th level Alchemist with an Intelligence Bonus of 16 would have 115 SP to burn during one day.
Compare that to, say a 5th level Wizard and we have the following match-up.
A 5th level Wizard would have 4 1st level spells, 3 2nd level and 2 3rd level spells.
A 5th level Alchemist would have a total of 100 SP and the ability to mimic Cantrips and 1st level spells, for a total of 100 cantrips or 50 1st level spells.
That seems like a staggering amount ... but remember that misfire chance I was talking about? And if the Alchemist is using only physical ingredients/reagents/alchemical doo-dadds, then they're not having to use any Verbal components for their spells. To balance that, I was thinking each Alchemist has the following restrictions:
Alchemists cannot use their 'spells' without access to their Dispenser, be it a nightmarish jury-rigged array of tubes, valves and storage-tanks, a flame thrower-like device or a goddamn Proton Pack, which not only ties up one hand (until the Alchemist comes up with something clever to get around this) but also means that without it, they're limited to nothing but their other abilities, which should also feed off their SP pool.
Stand Back, I'll Try Science!, or SBITS for the sake of shortness because I can't seem to come up with anyone else at this point, is essentially the Alchemist trying their luck with their know-how and previous failed attempts. Be it trying to make a bomb to blow a door open, detoxify a water-source or render the damned Bard impotent before he gets the party kicked out of yet another town, the Alchemist can make a skill-check and, before they know the result of the check, can declare "SBITS!" and give the other party members a chance to get behind cover. Declaring SBITS xpends a number of SP equal to their Level and grants them a +1 bonus for every three levels in Alchemist they possess, but they can only do this a number of times per day equal to their Intelligence bonus, which recharges after a Short Rest.
The Misfire effect applies to their Dispenser, which has a Misfire of 1 that increases by 1 for every three 'spells' they use without spending a full-round action to perform maintenance on the Dispenser. If it misfires, they roll a D8 to see what happens. A 1 should cause their Dispenser to suffer catastrophic damage, leaving it unusable until they can spend an hour repairing it, with 2-8 involving the 'spell' misfiring in comedic or hazardous fashion. Otherwise, the Alchemist merely needs to spend a full-round action to perform maintenance on their Dispenser. Repeatedly firing the Dispenser after it malfunctions doubles the Misfire chance with each attempt.
The Dispenser violently malfunctions. Pipes jam and burst, tanks split open, valves pop their seals. Until the Alchemist can spend an hour and 50 gp worth of materials to repair it, their Dispenser cannot be used.
The Dispenser shudders and drops the payload directly under the Alchemist. If the Spell had a single-target effect, the Alchemist is targeted. If it was an AoE, the Alchemist is considered to be the center of the effect.
The Dispenser misfires horribly. It shoots forth a cone of poison mist 15 feet long in the direction the Alchemist was facing. The Fortitude Save DC is equal to 8+your Proficiency Modifier+your Intelligence Bonus. The Mist vanishes by the beginning of the Alchemist's next turn.
The Dispenser coughs and splutters and sprays forth a 20 foot cube cloud of smoke centered on the Alchemist. All targets within the Cloud must make a Fortitude Save against a DC equal to 8+your Proficiency Modifier+your Intelligence Bonus or start coughing uncontrollably, which may cause a break in concentration or inhibit spellcasting at the DM's discretion. The smoke cloud lasts for 1d4+4 rounds and extends around corners and under any door or similar structure that is not air-tight.
The Dispenser jumps in your hand, and a random target is chosen for the spell the Alchemist was trying to mimic, including the Alchemist themselves.
Glowing narcotic bubbles shoot out of the Dispenser and form a 30 foot cube. All targets within the bubble-cloud must make a Fortitude Save DC equal to 8+your Proficiency Bonus+your Intelligence Modifier, or be confused for 1 round as per the Confusion spell.
Emitting a horrible screeching noise as the internal mechanisms grind against each other, the Dispenser automatically deafens Alchemist and all targets within 5 feet of them, the noise of which can be heard up to 300 feet away. This effect only lasts until the Alchemist's next turn.
With a loud clatter and bang, the Dispenser shoots a random target with a barrage of tiny gold nuggets that deal 1d10 damage. Inspection of the nuggets proves them to be mostly lead with only a very thin coating of gold around the lead core.
An Alchemist could possibly have access to Clubs, Daggers, Sling, Quarterstaves, Simple Firearms and Martial Firearms, as well as access to Light armor. Using a shield or type of armor in which the Alchemist is not proficient with using doubles the Misfire chance of their Dispenser due to the added bulk of the armor interfering with their movements.
An Alchemist should also have access to thematic abilities to such a dangerous job, such as the Barbarian's Danger Sense given how often their experiments and contraptions tend to explode in their faces, Evasion at 7th level as diving for cover in the face of a fireball has become second nature, and proficiency with Dexterity and Intelligence Saving Throws.
This is just me chucking ideas at the wall to try and kick-start the mental gears, and again, I could really use some uninvolved heads picking at the idea so it's useable without being some broken monstrosity or completely unfun to play.
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TL:DR mode, cooking up some homebrews since the group can't get together for our usual weekly game and I wondered about classes in a setting where both magic and a certain level of technology was available (thinking 1800's-1970's area. Steam locomotives, bolt-action rifles and revolvers, gasoline-powered generators and the like, nothing absurd) and while giving the players the option of Eberron's Artificer is certainly a fun option, what about a class that uses scientific knowledge and the innate magic of certain reagents and substances to create 'scientific' versions of magical spells?
I've also been working 60+ hour weeks for the past seven weeks and I desperately need some fresh minds to bounce some ideas off of before I go mad or make something so obscenely broken Gygax returns from realms unknown to slap me for my sins.
For flavour reasons, perhaps they can only duplicate a certain range of spells, ie nothing that 'calls' entities from outside reality, so no summoning angels, devils or outsiders, but creation of corporeal undead is certainly possible.
But there's also the point of how do we limit and/or measure their 'spells per day' mechanic. Mortals naturally can only handle so much magical energy, or at least that's my reasoning behind spell-slots per day, and channel too much too often and you either die or are drastically altered by it into a different form of life (or Un-life!). But a class that's using science and indirect application of magic? There isn't any 'direct' use of magic on their person, so perhaps rather than being a 'full' caster, they might only have access to 5th tier spells, but use 'stock' to use their scientific gadgets and alchemical bombs?
I'm thinking of tying the 'stock' to both a 'point' system and a something similar to the way firearms have a misfire chance. Every 'level' of spell that the Alchemist/Scholar is mimicking with their science costs a certain level of 'stock' to function. Cantrips should cost 1 'stock'-point (referred to hereafter as SPs to avoid head explosures), 1st levels should cost 2 SPs, 2nd levels should cost 4 SPs, 3rd cost 6 SPs, 4th costs 8 SPs and 5th costs 10 SPs. An Alchemist/Scholar starts the day with 20 SP and gains an additional 20 SP per level, and can regain 5 SP per level during a short rest. Much like a Spellcaster needs to have a fully stocked Reagent Pouch, an Alchemist/Scholar would need to have a fully stocked Supply Kit to fulfill the same function. Limiting spells to only 5th tier but giving the Alchemist a much larger 'pool' of uses, so let's say a 5th level Alchemist with an Intelligence Bonus of 16 would have 115 SP to burn during one day.
Compare that to, say a 5th level Wizard and we have the following match-up.
A 5th level Wizard would have 4 1st level spells, 3 2nd level and 2 3rd level spells.
A 5th level Alchemist would have a total of 100 SP and the ability to mimic Cantrips and 1st level spells, for a total of 100 cantrips or 50 1st level spells.
That seems like a staggering amount ... but remember that misfire chance I was talking about? And if the Alchemist is using only physical ingredients/reagents/alchemical doo-dadds, then they're not having to use any Verbal components for their spells. To balance that, I was thinking each Alchemist has the following restrictions:
Alchemists cannot use their 'spells' without access to their Dispenser, be it a nightmarish jury-rigged array of tubes, valves and storage-tanks, a flame thrower-like device or a goddamn Proton Pack, which not only ties up one hand (until the Alchemist comes up with something clever to get around this) but also means that without it, they're limited to nothing but their other abilities, which should also feed off their SP pool.
Stand Back, I'll Try Science!, or SBITS for the sake of shortness because I can't seem to come up with anyone else at this point, is essentially the Alchemist trying their luck with their know-how and previous failed attempts. Be it trying to make a bomb to blow a door open, detoxify a water-source or render the damned Bard impotent before he gets the party kicked out of yet another town, the Alchemist can make a skill-check and, before they know the result of the check, can declare "SBITS!" and give the other party members a chance to get behind cover. Declaring SBITS xpends a number of SP equal to their Level and grants them a +1 bonus for every three levels in Alchemist they possess, but they can only do this a number of times per day equal to their Intelligence bonus, which recharges after a Short Rest.
The Misfire effect applies to their Dispenser, which has a Misfire of 1 that increases by 1 for every three 'spells' they use without spending a full-round action to perform maintenance on the Dispenser. If it misfires, they roll a D8 to see what happens. A 1 should cause their Dispenser to suffer catastrophic damage, leaving it unusable until they can spend an hour repairing it, with 2-8 involving the 'spell' misfiring in comedic or hazardous fashion. Otherwise, the Alchemist merely needs to spend a full-round action to perform maintenance on their Dispenser. Repeatedly firing the Dispenser after it malfunctions doubles the Misfire chance with each attempt.
An Alchemist could possibly have access to Clubs, Daggers, Sling, Quarterstaves, Simple Firearms and Martial Firearms, as well as access to Light armor. Using a shield or type of armor in which the Alchemist is not proficient with using doubles the Misfire chance of their Dispenser due to the added bulk of the armor interfering with their movements.
An Alchemist should also have access to thematic abilities to such a dangerous job, such as the Barbarian's Danger Sense given how often their experiments and contraptions tend to explode in their faces, Evasion at 7th level as diving for cover in the face of a fireball has become second nature, and proficiency with Dexterity and Intelligence Saving Throws.
Skills? I'm thinking Acrobatics, Arcana, History, Investigation, Medicine, Nature and Science (home-brewed Skill I'm cooking up).
A d8 for hitdice?
This is just me chucking ideas at the wall to try and kick-start the mental gears, and again, I could really use some uninvolved heads picking at the idea so it's useable without being some broken monstrosity or completely unfun to play.