DnD 3.5 Alchemist class/build?

[Daydreamer13]

I'm interested in playing an alchemy-themed character, but what is offered by the craft alchemy option is very limited. Can anyone point me to any classes/prestige classes/sourcebooks that might be helpful for what I'm looking for?

Thanks

[TooManyBadgers]

The Artificer base class (found in Eberron Campaign Setting) is good for just about anything crafting-based. It has the potential to be very high powered, but its use mostly varies by available party wealth and prep time.

Pathfinder has the Alchemist base class, which is an odd sort of Gish-y caster thing. PF tends to favor higher HD and lower per-day uses than WotC 3rd edition, so you might tweak it accordingly if you're putting it in a WotC-heavy game. It sits nicely at around the Bard/Rogue/Barbarian in terms of power and versatility, if that's what you're going for.

There's the Alchemist Savant PrC in Magic of Eberron. I don't recall what it does exactly, but it might be worth a look.

This is some homebrew by Djinn_in_Tonic on these boards which might make alchemy a bit more interesting.

There are a bunch of extra alchemical items in Arms&Equipment Guide and [to a lesser extent] Dungeonscape.

EDIT:
And it's not an alchemical class exactly, but I'd be interested to try a Spellthief vial-thrower. It just seems like a fun combination.

[Volthawk]

Also for homebrew, these might make using Alchemist's Fire a bit more interesting.

[IdleMuse]

For completeness' sake, there's also the Master Alchemist PrC in the 3.0 Magic of Faerun.

[DragoonWraith]

My homebrew Invoker might be interesting to you - he has a fair amount of focus in Alchemy.

[Set]

Races of Eberron has a feat called Shaped Splash which is pretty awesome (it's halfling only in that setting, but there's no balance reason it couldn't apply to other races in other settings, or that one, for that matter).

PHB2 has Grenadier, also a useful feat for this style.

Either Quick-Draw, or an item such as a special bandolier or handy haversack that allows fast drawing of alchemical throwables might be useful.

Places to find stuff for an alchemy-heavy character;

Spoiler

Show

PHB 3.5 (p 70-71, 128-129)
Acid
Alchemist's Fire
Antitoxin
Smokestick
Sunrod
Tanglefoot Bag
Thunderstone
Tindertwig

Book of Vile Darkness (p 41-44
Feather Powder
Festering Bomb
Weeping Stone
Agony (Liquid Pain)
Baccaran
Devilweed
Luhix
Mordayne Vapore (Dreammist)
Mushroom Powder
Redflower Leaves
Sannish
Terran Brandy
Vodare

Libris Mortis (p 73-74)
Brittlebone
Embalming Fire
Ghostoil
Liquid Night

Races of the Dragon (p 122-123)
Bitterleaf Oil (DC 15)
Ditherbomb (strong (DC 20), weak (DC 15) or wyrm (DC 25), can’t take 10 on these checks)
Fire Beetle Lamp (DC 10)
Sundark Goggles (DC 15)

Races of the Wild (p 168)
Leafweave Armor (also requires Craft (armorsmithing))

Races of Stone (p 159-161)
Blasting Pellets
Blister Oil
Hearthfire
Spiderlily Essence

Complete Mage (p 134-135)
Auran Mask
Crackle Powder
Fast Torch
Screaming Flask
Weeping Flask

Complete Adventurer (p 118-122)
Blend Cream
Focusing Candle
Catstink
Fareye Oil
Flash Pellet
Freeglide
Hawk's Ointment
Healer's Balm
Keenear Powder
Lockslip Grease
Nature's Draught
Softfoot
Suregrip
Antitoxin Capsule
Ironman Capsule
Leap Capsule
Stability Capsule
Strongarm Capsule
Swiftstride Capsule
Ghostblight
Quickflame
Quickfrost
Quickspark
Quicksilver

Draconomicon (p 116-117) *requires Dragoncrafter feat*
Blood Elixir

Lords of Madness (p 114-115) *requires Grell Alchemy feat*
Grell Crystal
Lightning Lance (magic item, requires Alchemy)
Greater Lightning Lance (magic item, requires Alchemy)
Silver Spear (magic item, requires Alchemy)

Heroes of Battle (p 134-137)
Acid Stone
Alchemist's Stone
Holy/Unholy Stone? (should require a priest, not an alchemist)
Tanglefoot Shot

Stormwrack (p 108)
Stinkpot

Frostburn (p 78-79)
Armor Insultation
Freeze Powder
Frostbite Salve
Ice Chalk
Melt Powder
Polar Skin
Razor Ice Powder
Whale Grease

Sandstorm (p 101-103)
Armorbright
Blackeye
Deep Draught
Ironthorn Extract
Keepcool Salve
Shapesand
Slumber Sand
Sunshade Lotion

Special: Oleum (no Alchemy Craft DC, but it seems like it should be craftable)

Arms & Equipment Guide (p 32-35) *some repeated in Cadv*
Bladefire
Acid Bullet
Flame Bullet
Focusing Candle
Restful Candle
Clearbreath
Darkvision Powder
Defoliator
Dehydrated Food
Dwarfblind
Farflame Oil
Fleetfoot
Ghostoil
Gravebane
Hawk’s Ointment
Instant Rope
Longbreath
Motelight
Nature’s Draught
Polar Skin
Signal Torch
Sparkstone
Stonebreaker Acid
Verminbane
Vicious Bleeder

Savage Species (p 46-48)
Breathing Mask
Flashtube
Frostfire
Sculpter’s Slime

Eberron Campaign Setting (p 120-121)
Acidic Fire
Alchemist’s Frost
Alchemist’s Spark
Noxious Smokestick

Magic of Eberron (p 139-140) *no Alchemy Craft DCs*
Bloodspike (defiling)
Bloodspike (glowbug)
Bloodspike (spatter)
Bloodspike (tempo)
Bloodspike (thickener)

Faiths of Eberron (p 153-154) *no Alchemy Craft DCs*
Breath of the Devourer
Euphoric Sacrament
Flayskin
Mordrei’in
Silverburn

Oriental Adventures (p 78)
Eggshell Grenades (dust, flashpowder, pepper, poison smoke)
Flash Paper (moeragara)
Jade Powder
Liquid Smoke (ekitai kemuri)
Sleeping Fire (hinemuri)

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (p 96-97)
Alchemical Sleep Gas
Disappearing Ink
Scentbreaker

Dungeonscape (p 34-37)
Acid Neutralizer
Bottled Air
Firmament Stone
Ghostwall Shellac
Lava Stones
Lockslip
Trollbane

Drow of the Underdark (p 93-94)
Bile Droppings
Darkvision Powder
Dwarfblind Stone
Shedden
Spelunker's Oil
Stoneburn Acid
Vilegrip


Dragon magazine 280, article Better Living Through Alchemy, has some great stuff. Issue 301 also has a large article on Alchemy, but I don't recall it specifically. Quite a few (perhaps even all of them) seem to be reprinted in the Dragon Compendium.


Places checked;
PHB 3.5 (p 70-71, 128-129)
Book of Vile Darkness (p 41)
Libris Mortis (p 73-74)
Races of the Dragon (p 122-123)
Complete Mage (p 134-135)
Complete Adventurer (p 118-122) quite a lot of ‘em
Draconomicon (p 116-117) requires Dragoncrafter feat (only 1 item)
Lords of Madness (p 114-115) requires Grell Alchemy feat (only 3 items)
Heroes of Battle (p 134-137) alchemical siege shot
Stormwrack (p 108)
Frostburn (p 78-79)
Sandstorm (p 101-103)
Arms & Equipment Guide (p 32-35) quite a few, some repeated in CA
Savage Species (p 46-48)
Faiths of Eberron (p 153-154)
Eberron Campaign Setting (p 120-121)
Magic of Eberron (p 139-140)
Oriental Adventures (p 78)
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (p 96-97)
Drow of the Underdark (p 93-94)

Of 3rd party stuff, the best one I’ve seen for a meaty and balanced selection is the Kingdoms of Kalamar Players Guide (p 113-116).

[Elvenoutrider]

The latest edition of pathfinder has an alchemist class

[FelixG]

go artificier, then at level 5 you can jump into the prestige class

Alchemist Savant (member of House Cannith who can create potions & alchemical substances faster and more powerful) from Magic of Eberron, page 54

its a 5 level PrC with full casting progression and was made specifically for alchemists, and is 3.5 legal