Our last couple of builds have been characters that are primarily control/damage hybrids, so this week, we’re going to focus more on the support role of combat and take a look at a build that I personally resonate a lot with: the Brewmaster.
Character Concept
The brewmaster is a master at brewing and consuming various concoctions of the alchemical and (more importantly) alcoholic variety. He is always in good spirits, and always drinking good spirits. Our brewmaster in particular, Heinkel, is very much a sort of renaissance man, travelling the world in search of any knowledge he can find as he seeks to master his craft, understand the world around him, and better himself in every way he can. Though he holds a love for the science of alchemy, he is also a man of great faith, having initially learned the craft of brewing ale from a remote monastery in the mountains.
Physically, Heinkel is a hardy man, as expected of one with such a love of drink, but he is not particularly strong or quick, nor does he have much training in terms of martial combat. Though he may not be a physically strong fighter, and tends to avoid combat when he can, when things get violent, he can use his alchemy to great effect, bolstering his allies with potions and, when necessary, crippling enemies with poison and other weapons of an alchemical nature.
Mechanically, our focus will be around the Brewkeeper, a prestige class that focuses on the creation and use of potions and draughts. When used with the Alchemist as the base spellcasting class, these draughts act like extracts with the infused discovery, which allow them to be used by other creatures, and we can apply either certain metamagic effects or status effects to our draughts without increasing the spell level needed to create the draught. We’ll combine this with the Vaporous Potion feat to let us use potions on other targets from a distance as if throwing a splash weapon. This will let us sit back in combat and chuck buffs at allies and debuffs at enemies in the form of splash potions/draughts.
There are a couple of neat things we can do by using this method of delivering spells. The first is that draughts, like any other kind of infused alchemist extracts, can be used to apply effects that would normally have a range of personal (like True Strike) to others. This interaction is something confirmed by an official FAQ on the infused alchemist discovery and is, as far as I’m aware, the only official way to apply a personal-range spell to another, as normally these types of spells cannot be made into potions.
The second thing we can do is to grab two levels in the Underground Chemist rogue to let us retrieve alchemical items as if they were weapons. This allows us to use Quick Draw to draw our potions and draughts as free actions, which in turn means that we can throw multiple potions or draughts created with Vaporous Potion in a round using iterative attacks or (if you really wanted) Two-Weapon Fighting. This effectively means we have the ability to use multiple extracts/spells each round, something that is normally impossible to do in Pathfinder, though it comes at the risk of possibly missing some of our thrown potions/draughts on poor attack rolls.
How to Use Multiple Draughts/Potions
In the builds I’ve previously done, I haven’t delved too deeply into the individual rule iterations that allow those builds to work since they were a little more straightforward. This build is a bit different, however, as the interaction that allows for throwing multiple potions or draughts is a little more complex than these other two, and the net result (using multiple “spells” per round) is an effect that is not normally possible in Pathfinder.
I will preface this explanation with a warning that a lot of the involved rules and abilities that combine to make this work are a bit vague and there are certainly different ways to interpret some of these interactions work. There is not really a clear RAW answer to all of these interactions due this vagueness, though I do believe that the closest interpretation you can get to RAW here supports this interaction as legal. That said, this is still just an interpretation, and especially considering the potential for abuse these interactions can bring, I wouldn’t blame GMs for choosing not to allow this in their games. Unless I was running a game with a group of players that I know wouldn’t abuse it, I probably wouldn’t.
If you want to run this build or a variation of it using this interaction, be upfront with your GM about it and make sure they are okay with it. Just as importantly, make sure you do not abuse this power if it is allowed. Theoretically, you could invest all your feats into Two-Weapon Fighting and potentially toss out 4+ potions/draughts a turn. Please don’t. Your GM will hate you for it and you’ll be on the fast road to getting the GM’s decision to allow this interaction reversed or getting your character killed off if you abuse this. On top of that, you’ll be burning through your daily extracts too quickly if you’re using that many each round, so it isn’t as effective as it sounds unless you’re willing to invest all of your earned treasure into a constant supply of potions to supplement your extracts.
To break down the series of interactions that makes all this possible, there are three primary things that we are concerned with when it comes to the rules. First, we want to be able to treat our potions/draughts as splash weapons. This one is pretty straightforward – Vaporous Potion does this by RAW – it explicitly states that a vaporous potion can be delivered as if it was a splash weapon. The RAW for Brewkeeper’s Distilled Spells also states “a draught functions as a potion or oil, and can be used by any creature.” This would seem to imply that any feat or other ability that could be applied to a potion/oil could also be applied to a draught – in our case, Vaporous Potion.
Once our potions/draughts can be considered splash weapons, we have the potential to throw multiple of them as part of a full attack. RAW is a bit vague when it comes to splash weapons, so there is some room for interpretation here, but the most common interpretation I’ve seen, and the one that the rules seem to imply, is that you can make multiple splash weapon attacks as part of a full attack. This is certainly something that is possible with normal thrown weapons, and there is nothing in the rules that strongly indicates that splash weapons operate differently from normal thrown weapons in this regard.
There is one part of the rules that does call this into question – in the Combat section of the core rules, “prepare to throw splash weapon” is listed as a full-round action. That said, the rules are not quite clear on what it means to “prepare” a splash weapon. Most interpretations of this that I’ve seen, and the one that I myself follow, is that this action is intended for splash weapons that require some sort of action to be done to prepare them to be thrown (think something along the lines of a molotov – you have to light it before you can throw it). Vaporous Potion indicates that the splash potions created by it are used just by throwing them, so it doesn’t seem like these potions would require any sort of preparation to throw.
The third thing we are concerned with when it comes to the rules is the ability to draw multiple potions or draughts in a round. Obviously, the ability to throw multiple splash weapons means nothing if we can only draw one per round. Per RAW, retrieving an item in combat takes at minimum a move action and provokes an attack of opportunity. With normal thrown weapons, we could just grab Quick Draw and make that a free action, letting us make our full attack. Quick Draw, however, explicitly calls out alchemical items as a type of item that cannot be used with that feat. This is where the two levels in Underground Chemist comes in – that archetype’s Chemical Weapons ability states that the underground chemist can retrieve an alchemical items as if drawing a weapon. “As if” implies replacement – in other words, anything that would affect drawing a weapon, e.g. Quick Draw, would now also affect alchemical items, including our potions and draughts.
The Build
Heinkel Birre, the Brewmaster
Sacrament Alchemist 5 / Brewkeeper 1 / Underground Chemist 2 / Brewkeeper 9 / Alchemist 3
Race: Half-elf
Alternate Racial Traits: Arcane Training, Dual Minded
Our racial ability score bonus will go into Intelligence which is our main “casting” stat, and Dual Minded will improve our bad Will save. Arcane Training helps make up for lost caster levels from multiclassing when using abilities like the Brewkeeper’s Potion Master to enhance a potion. Most importantly, the alchemist favored class bonus for the half-elf lets us increase the range increment of our splash weapons from 10 feet to 15 feet, reducing the risk of us missing with one of our thrown potions.
Ability Scores:
As mentioned above Intelligence will be getting our racial ability score bonus, and will be our most important stat. Dexterity is important as a primarily ranged character, as is Constitution (both for suitability and for alcohol tolerance). None of our classes have great Will saves, so Wisdom can be worth some investment if you have spare points to spend. Charisma and Strength aren’t particularly important. Though dumping Charisma is probably mechanically better, I would dump Strength and put points in Charisma instead of Wisdom to better fit the “friendly drunken monk” concept.
20-point buy: Str 8, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 12
Traits:
Hedge Magician is a must have for cheaper potions. Since we only need to beat an AC of 5 to hit a targeted square with a splash weapon, we’ll most likely only miss when throwing a draught/potion on a natural 1, which we can mitigate with Called.
Feats:
Level 1: Throw Anything, Brew Potion, Vaporous Potion
Level 3: Improvisational Healer
Level 5: Improved Initiative
Alchemist already starts off with Throw Anything and Brew Potion, which we will supplement with Vaporous Potion, letting us brew and throw potions immediately no matter what level your game starts at. Improvisational Healer makes any healing potions we use or throw much better. Even late game when we have access to Brewkeeper’s Potion Master ability, this feat is strictly better than Potion Master when it comes to healing potions as long as we invest in the Heal skill. Improved Initiative is good on pretty much any character, but particularly for us, as we want to move as early in combat as possible so we can start buffing our allies immediately when combat begins.
Level 7: Quick Draw
Level 9: Healing Potion
Level 11: Extra Discovery
Level 13: Lengthy Potion
We get Underground Chemist’s ability to retrieve alchemical items as if they were weapons at level 8, so grabbing Quick Draw at seventh level lets us make use of this with thrown potions and draughts as soon as we hit level 8. Healing Potion lets us add extra healing effects to some of our buffing potions, and Lengthy Potion effectively lets us apply a version of Extend Spell to potions. There are some fantastic alchemist discoveries and we don’t get too many of them due to our multiclassing, so Extra Discovery helps make up for that a bit.
Feats for this build are pretty flexible in the endgame, and even the feats in this list so far (with the exception of Vaporous Potion and Quick Draw, which are necessities if you want to throw multiple potions/draughts each round) can be swapped out if you so choose. Extra Discovery can be taken multiple times, and there are plenty of goods ones to take, so grabbing it multiple times isn’t a bad idea; you can also grab some additional Item Creation feats if you want to make more permanent magical items for the party.
As I touched on earlier in this article as well, you could grab the Two-Weapon Fighting line to completely abuse the ability to throw multiple potions/draughts each round. As mentioned previously, I would not recommend doing this unless you seriously want to piss off your GM and/or get your character killed off. Throw potions responsibly, kids.
Discoveries:
Enhance Potion and Extend Potion are both great for giving us extra options to improve our potions, though they unfortunately only apply to potions we drink personally. Spontaneous Healing/Healing Touch are also good, though not as effective as normal due to our multiclassing. Wings work off of caster level, so multiclassing doesn’t hurt it that much, though we can’t grab it until later in the game due to the class level requirement. Combine extracts is also phenomenal for any alchemist, but we can’t grab it until level 20 because of its class level requirement – if you game does make it to level 20, though, grab this discovery immediately.
Bombs aren’t particularly great for us due to the low number of levels we have in alchemist, so bomb discoveries generally won’t be worth it. One exception is Cytillesh Bomb, which effectively lets you turn your bombs into AoE debuffs that can sicken enemies – unfortunately, however, our low class level will hurt the save DC of our bombs, so this and other similar bomb discoveries will lose some effectiveness as the game progresses into the later levels.
Skills:
Craft (alchemy) will be getting 20 ranks, and if you grab Improvisational Healer, you will want 20 ranks in Heal as well. Perception is always useful, as are ranks in a couple of Knowledge skills due to our high Intelligence. Between alchemist, rogue and our high Int, there will be plenty of skill ranks to go around, so you can afford to be pretty versatile here depending on what the party needs.
Equipment:
Most of the game, we’ll mainly be throwing potions and draughts around rather than making traditional attacks, so weapons aren’t going to be particularly important outside of early levels where we may not have the resources to throw potions constantly. Even then, bombs will still be useful in the early levels, so likely the most we’ll need is a backup ranged weapon like a crossbow.
We’re not using Two-Weapon Fighting in this build, and the alchemist only requires one free hand to make and use extracts/draughts and bombs, so we’re free to use a shield in our off hand for some extra AC. A darkwood shield is cheap and has no Armor Check Penalty, which makes it a great choice. Our proficiency limits us to light armor, so something like an enchanted chain shirt or Celestial Armor will likely be our long-term selection for armor.
Magic Items:
Boro Beads are fantastic for all alchemists, but especially for this build, as they will let us create more draughts each day. These and the cost of making potions will likely eat up a large portion of our wealth throughout the game. A Headband of Intelligence is also useful for some extra extracts/droughts per day.
Playstyle and Role
Heinkel is a support character first and foremost. Our biggest strength primarily lies in healing and buffing the party through our draughts and potions. Once the build fully comes online at level 8, we can throw up to two of these out each round, and our draughts let us apply effects from what would normally be personal-range spells to others, such as True Strike, Channel Vigor, or Beast Shape, giving us options for buffing and assisting allies that other support casters would typically lack.
Because of Improvisational Healer, once we have enough gold to brew a steady supply of potions, we will likely want to use thrown healing potions as our primary method of healing so that we can use our draughts for buff spells. In the late game, once we’ve gotten the Brewkeeper’s capstone, we gain the ability to spontaneously create draughts as part of the casting time of the spell. Though we can’t spontaneously create draughts and throw two of them in the same round since the casting time will typically be at least a standard action, this does give us the ability to leave one or two extract/draught spots unused at the start of the day so that we spontaneously create a particular extract to handle an unexpected situation.
Our actual offensive combat options are fairly limited. Though we can technically make potions of harmful effects and throw them at enemies, this isn’t always advisable. If our splash weapon attack with such a thrown potion works, the enemy is affected by the potion immediately; however, if it fails or if we instead choose to target the square an enemy is standing in, they can avoid the effect simply by holding their breath until the potion vapors wear off. Our bomb damage isn’t stellar due to our low alchemist class level, but the Underground Chemist does give us Intelligence to splash weapon damage, which helps mitigate this. Our bombs per day is still pretty limited though due to low class levels, so you will likely want to craft some backup alchemical weapons to toss in case of emergency.
Though this might vary depending on GM interpretation, you should in theory be able to throw contact poisons to apply their effects to an enemy, so you can modify the build to get some offensive options built around poison. There are some discoveries in particular that will help with this, chief among them Poison Conversion, which lets you convert any poison into a contact poison. If you want to run this sort of build, you will want to take a sixth level in alchemist before starting into Brewkeeper so you can take this discovery early.
Generally in combat, you will want to be in medium range from the action, close enough to not have to deal with too many range increment penalties with your splash weapons but far enough away to avoid most of the enemy attention. When throwing potions at allies, you will most likely want to choose the option of targeting a square – this only requires a successful attack roll against an AC of 5, which is pretty trival unless you stack too many range increment penalties or roll a natural 1. If you grab the Called trait, you can reroll one natural 1 attack roll a day, making it rare for us to miss and lose out on a draught/potion. Note that if we do manage to miss an ally, that ally can just move into that square and breath in the potion vapors to gain the effect, assuming another character or creature doesn’t beat them to it.
Priorities in combat will generally be to heal any critically wounded characters, then buff, then either heal less wounded allies or attack with bombs, contact poisons, or alchemical weapons. Do keep in mind in combat that you can combine all of your thrown weapon options in a full attack – you don’t need to choose between throwing all potions/draughts or all alchemical weapons. When possible, we want to avoid taking more than a 5 foot step so that we can full attack and throw multiple potions, draughts, or alchemical weapons. If enemies are approaching us, however, or if the action is getting too far away for our throwing accuracy, we can always use a move action to reposition then throw a single item with our standard action.
Roleplaying
Heinkel is fairly gentle and kind-hearted. This nature, along with his past monastery life, leads him to help those in need when he can, whether that be through healing their body via healing potions or healing their spirits though drink and friendship. Though he is usually lighthearted and easygoing, he also possesses an extremely curious mind, always seeking out new knowledge that will help him master his craft or better understand how the world around him works.
If playing in the Golarion setting, Cayden Cailean is the obvious choice for his deity. Keep in mind that whatever setting you’re in, Brewkeeper does require you to worship a neutral or chaotic good deity in order to take levels in it.
What Build to do Next?
Have a particular idea for a build you want to see in a future edition of Idle Rolling? Shoot me an e-mail at thegm@chaoticneutralgm.com.