Experimentor

At 4th alchemist level, you can collect field notes. These are insights, inspirations, or observations that you deem are worthy of investigation later on. 

You can spend notes in place of alchemy points.

You can hold (organize) up to as many field notes as your total intelligence ability score, and start with 1d3+1 notes.

Every long rest, you can accumulate 1d4+1 field notes.

At 4th alchemist level, whenever you would critically succeed a meaningful (subject to GM.) nature, history, arcana, medicine, or tool check, you can scribble a field note as an action until the end of your next turn.

At 4th alchemist level, choose one:

• Study transitions - When you succeed in performing an alchemical refinement which requires a tools check, gain 1 field note. Whenever you fail it, gain as many field notes as the refinements on the essence.

• Combat study - Every time you critically strike a creature, or when you stabilize an ally, you gain 1 field note. 

• Study design - Every rest, the first 3 alchemical items(multiple items at once counts as one item) you create generate 1 field note each. Gain an extra upgrade from the alchemical methods  (alchemist 1) list.

• Study nature - You gain 1 note each time you examine a new species of dead creature ( tiny or larger, subject to GM,) and 1 field note every time you visit a new region (Subject to GM.)

• Study the body - Whenever you critically fail or succeed a medicine check, gain 1 field note. Alternatively, you can gain 1d3+1 field notes once per rest by dissecting a creature you have not dissected within a year. Can only be done during a rest.

At 4th alchemist level, choose an upgrade:

Alchemist extraordinaire - Gain the following:

• You gain 2 extra alchemy methods upgrades from your 1st level alchemy methods list.

• Gain an extra method of study upgrade.

• Gain 1 note every rest.

Compare notes - You can spend 1 field note to gain a +1d4 bonus to an inteligence-based skill check. You can spend 2 field notes during a rest to duplicate an alchemical item you create or modify, creating twice the amount as you compare notes to try and optimize the process. This does not  require expending additional essences or materials. You can only do so once per rest.

Midal shortcut alchemy - (needs better balancing) You can sacrifice 100 gold when creating an alchemical item to apply two of the following(the same effect can be taken twice.):

• increase damage or effect dice by 1 size category

• double the duration of an effect it has.

• Increase the DC by 1.

• Increase an area of effect or an effect range by 5ft.

Electromantic knowledge - You can expend 2 AP and sacrifice spectral or warping essence to create an alchemist's wisp, which is a phial which emits dim blue light, but can be opened to either grant a charge to the nearest item, or to launch a DC 18 dexterity saving throw lightning bolt which deals 4d8 + int bonus(min 1) damage and half on a save, which erupts out of the phial in a 60ft ray. You may make a DC 15 arcana check when creating the phial, granting it 1 property of the sacrificed essence, if applicable  on a success(subject to GM.) If it is thrown at a target as a 30/60 thrown weapon, it cannot be blocked, and the target automatically fails the save on a hit. An alchemist's wisp item cannot be further modified in any way.

Arcane normalization theory - Gain the following:

• You gain a +1 bonus to checks made to cast or interact with scrolls or arcane parchments or notes. 

• You can sacrifice a valid scroll(subject to GM) and spend 1 AP when creating a potion or bomb alchemical item. If it is a potion or elixir, the scroll's effect is applied to the creature consuming it, as though the creature was the target of the scroll. If it is a flask, bomb or similar throwable item, the scroll's effect is applied to the main target. If it is a dust or area covering item, the affected tiles are the target of the spell. Only one scroll can be emplaced into an item being created.

Council of peers - You can spend 5 AP and 1 Rest dice to call a meeting in response to a dire or important situation(Subject to GM) with other allies during a rest. If all present can agree to a plan of action going forward, then each participant is restored 1 Rest dice, and may gain a +2 bonus to a skill they are proficient with until next rest.

Unstable alchemy - Gain the following:

• You gain a +3 bonus to alchemist's tools checks made to perform alchemical refinements.

• When you fail an alchemical refinement, you instead create an unstable essence, which has the following:

  • +1d4 to attribute / +1d4 to property

  • lightning, fire, cold vulnerability

  • contact: electrified surface (1d4 lightning damage) / electrified ( -2 to saves vs spells. +2 lightning damage taken and dealt.)

  • restore 1 Rest Dice / duplicate an effect

Utility pack - You can spend 2 AP to create and maintain a utility pack during a rest. So long as you wear the utility pack, you can spend 1 field note or AP as an action to create an alchemical creation that you have the essences and materials for(they are consumed in the process) without further modifications(abilities that modify an item after creation, or duplicate items.) A utility pack incurs 1 bulk.

Collection and study - Gain the following:

• Gain an extra ring slot and an extra pendant slot.

• Your field note and AP maximum is increased by 1. 

• Ignore 1 bulk. 

• Gain proficiency with a skill and language of choice.

At 5th alchemist level, choose an extra special interests upgrade.

At 5th alchemist level, during a rest, you can spend 2 AP to attempt to combine two alchemical items to create an alchemical item of choice. The two items are sacrificed to create the item. You must be able to justify the items construction or nature, but the GM may require that you expend additional items or materials. Doing so can do the following:

• Create an item equivalent to both sacrificed item in power combined (negotiated with GM.) and of a type that you could craft. It must have at least 1 property from each item.

• Create 2 items of equivalent power to one of the two sacrificed items (negotiated with GM.) and of a type equal to one of the two items sacrificed. They must have at least 1 property from each item.

When doing so, you may make a DC 15 alchemist's tools check, allowing you to apply one extra property from an available alchemical essence. This does not destroy the essence.

At 6th alchemist level, you may learn one special alchemical discovery:

• Perfected manufacture - Alchemical items you create may take 1 additional effect from the essences used to create them. Once per rest when creating an alchemical item, you can spend 1 AP to triplicate it, creating 2 additional items(or 3 times the initial amount in case of multiple items) free of cost.

• Calculating criticality - You learn a new alchemical refinement, which allows you to sacrifice one volatile or warping essence to increase all dice effects of another essence by 1 die. Cannot be performed more than once.

• Ethermantic knowledge - Any lightning effects of your alchemical essences, or any effect which is transformed into a lightning effect has its dice size and count increased by 1.

• Spectral-goggles - You may spend 2 AP, 1 spectral essence, and 2 gemstones worth 200g or more to create a special set of pectacles which cost 1 AP per rest to maintain, and grant the wearer the following:

  • Darkvision 100ft

  • Heat vision 30ft

  • +1 bonus to ranged attacks.

  • Can see particularly strong auras as energized outlines for objects at a range of 50ft, typically (Subject to GM.)

• Resonance staff construction - You may spend 3 AP, 1 mana phial or potion, 1 spectral essence, 1 warping essence, and 1 caustic essence, as well as a sufficient metal weapon(such as shortsword or longsword) to create a resonance staff. A resonance staff is a metal +1 quarterstaff that costs 1 AP to maintain each rest. Up to 3 scrolls can be emplaced in a resonance staff, allowing the casting of them by the wielder so long as they expend a number of Rest Dice or AP equal to the spells level.

• Power launcher - You may spend 2 AP, 1 mana phial or potion, a metallic clask or cannister, and 1 caustic or spectral essence to modify a launcher weapon, improving its item bonus by 1. The modified launcher costs 1 ap to maintain every rest, losing its extra abilities when unmaintained. The launcher gets the following abilities:

  • Attacks with this weapon gain a +2 bonus to block DC.

  • Wielder can sacrifice a volatile or warping essence as a bonus action to grant the next attack within this turn a +1 bonus to hit, a 1 die increase to all damage(base, bonus, and ability)

  • increase the damage/effect/duration dice of thrown alchemical items by 1 size category.