Medicine Man [Alchemist Archetype]

[Vhaidara]

So, I was going to call this Hedgewitch, but that's already a Witch archetype. The goal here is to create the old man/woman who lives on the outskirts of town and works exclusively in potions and draughts, not spells.

As it stands, I am more than open to better ideas for a name.

Alchemy
The Medicine Man's Alchemy is based on the experience of ages and past mistakes. Medicine Men use Wisdom instead of Intelligence as a casting stat and for all other purposes directly related to the Alchemist class (Discoveries, Bombs, and such, but not skill points)

Medicine Men do not have a formulae book. Medicine Men learn new extracts by memorizing them from scrolls or from independent experimentation. The scrolls used in this way are not consumed.

Familiar
A Medicine Man gains a familiar as a Witch, treating his Medicine Man level as his Witch level.

This replaces Mutagen

Discoveries
The Medicine Man may select Witch Hexes as Discoveries. This modifies Discoveries, but is compatible with other archetypes which do so.

Infusion
At level 1, the Medicine Man gains Infusion as a bonus discovery.


So, I know it needs more polish, but that's the basics. Opinions?

[Extra Anchovies]

As it stands, this has no downsides other than the switch from Int to Wis (which means fewer skill points). No formula book to lose/have stolen, a free familiar (not that it can do much without being attached to a spellcaster), the ability to pick up witch hexes, and a bonus discovery.

If anything should be changed, it should probably be the bombs. That class feature doesn't exactly scream "hippie potionmaster from the nearby swamp". Removing the feature entirely, though, would get rid of a few really cool discovery options (like the chain that replicates various cloud spells). Maybe have bomb damage scale up every four levels (increasing at levels 1/5/9/13/17), grant a free hex at levels 3/7/11/15/19 (maybe with the option for a major hex at levels 15 and 19), and remove the ability to trade discoveries for hexes? The familiar still isn't much use, though, so maybe grant an ability to share imbibed extracts with the familiar? It would be pretty cool for a mutagen-using Medicine Man to have his familiar hulk out alongside him.

Also, I would totally play the hell out of this. Hippie witch brew is the best medicine.

[Vhaidara]

Actually, I had a specific reason for not touching bombs. I wanted comparability with vivisectionist.

You do trade out mutagen, so there is a loss there, if only a minor one.

[Extra Anchovies]

Actually, I had a specific reason for not touching bombs. I wanted comparability with vivisectionist.

You do trade out mutagen, so there is a loss there, if only a minor one.

Oh, huh, missed the loss of Mutagen. Whoops. That's not really a downside, though, because they can get it back with a discovery and get a bonus discovery anyways... if you prevented them from ever picking up a standard mutagen I think it'd be balanced. Cognatogen should still be available, though, because you can't be a wacko swamp wizard without some mind-altering substances.

[Vhaidara]

Forgot mutagen could be grabbed through discovery.

It is worth noting that this isn't supposed to be hippie wizard. This is supposed to be the classic fantasy witch, who can whip up the right potion in a matter of minutes (as opposed to days needed for brew potion).

[Aergoth]

The Herb Witch (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/witch/archetypes/paizo---witch-archetypes/herb-witch-witch-archetype) archetype might give you some good ideas here. If you allowed herb lore to replace say... poison use, you might be closer to what you want. Your healing archetypes typically strip out poison use anyways.

The other thing that might be useful (i'd have to compare the spell lists) would be granting access to the witch spell list as a source for new formulae, rather than the wizard's spell list.

[Vhaidara]

Again, this isn't meant to be a healer. Medicine Man is more of a placeholder name until I come up with something better.

As I mentioned, the goal is the old man or woman who lives outside of town. The one that people go to in search of love potions or things to get rid of rivals, which means they should be poison capable.