Gourmand (Alchemist Archetype)
(art by Htg17 on deviantart)
(If you know me this class is... not entirely surprising, but it sure is different! The idea of a class that temporarily steals abilities from monsters is a tricky one to balance, and I haven't got very far in my playtesting for this, so... handle with care!)
There are many reasons for adventuring; wealth, glory, or even just escaping your awful hometown. Among the oddest, though, is the motivation of the gourmand; the desire to taste. There are thousands of monsters out there, from carnivorous plants to magical animals to even the mighty dragon, and the gourmand’s desire is to taste them all- and gain a temporary modicum of their power!
Note that the gourmand has no restriction on the consumption of humanoids and other sentient creatures- but also note that such acts are almost universally frowned upon or even illegal in all but the most brutal and violent societies.
Delicacy
Rather than brew mutagens, a gourmand crafts perfectly made delicacies. These delicacies are specifically made for her palate, as well as for her unusual constitution gained by years of exotic meals; a creature other than the gourmand who eats it simply finds it a delicious meal and gains no additional effects.
Creating a delicacy requires an hour of time, as well as at least a half pound of organic materials. These materials can be as simple as plant matter harvested from the area or farm raised meat, but gaining access to rarer meats provides additional effects. This matter, however, must have been part of a living creature within the last week; beyond that, it has lost its freshness, despite any magical or mundane preservation effects it may have been treated with. Once created, a delicacy must be consumed within a day or its effects are lost. Note that some meats are poisonous, and that it sometimes may be impossible to remove the poison from the food; a gourmand must rely on the protection from poison granted by her alchemist abilities to overcome this. A gourmand can only be under the effect of one delicacy at a time. A delicacy is mutually exclusive with a mutagen or cognatogen; the taste of a delicacy is ruined by the presence of such elixirs in the gourmand’s body.
The effects of delicacy lasts 10 minutes per level in gourmand, and grats a +1 alchemical bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and fortitude saves, and 1 temporary hit point per HD. However, she gains a -1 penalty to reflex saves, as she is feeling a bit stuffed. Additionally, the gourmand may gain one of the following effects, based on any organic creature that is used as part of the recipe, henceforth referred to as ingredients;
Might- Access to one combat feat an ingredient had. The gourmand must match the prerequisites of that feat to use it, but treats her level in gourmand as levels in a full BAB class for this purpose.
Magic- Access to one spell or spell-like ability an ingredient had. The spell or spell-like ability must be of equal or lesser level to the highest alchemist extract the gourmand can cast. If the spell level is of the highest alchemist extract the gourmand can cast, she can cast it 1/day. Otherwise, she can cast it 3/day. This ability uses her intelligence modifier, rather than her charisma, to determine the DC.
Protection- Resistance 10 to one or fewer elements an ingredient is immune or resistant to.
Speed- A +10 bonus to her movement speed, provided an ingredient has a faster movement speed than her or a movement type she does not have.
This ability replaces Mutagen
Sneak Attack
A gourmand prefers to disassemble her victims, rather than blowing them to (overcooked) smithereens. She gains the sneak attack ability as a rogue of the same level. If she has sneak attack from another source, this ability stacks with it.
This ability replaces Bombs.
Scent
A gourmand’s nose is finely tuned to the variety of tastes and smells that surround her. She gains the scent ability, as the universal monster rule.
Bite
At level 2, a gourmand gains a bite attack as appropriate for a creature her size if she does not already have one. If she is wielding a weapon, this is a secondary natural attack. At level 6, the bite gains the grab ability, but the alchemist takes a -4 penalty to grapple checks made with this ability. If she already has a bite attack, she gains grab.
This ability replaces poison use and swift poisoning.
Discoveries
A gourmand gains access to the following discoveries in addition to those gained by normal alchemists.
Greater Delicacy
Prerequisites: Alchemist 12
A gourmand with this discovery gets a +2 alchemical bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and fortitude saves and 2 temporary hit points per level, rather than the 1 naturally granted. Additionally, she may pick two effects granted by her delicacy, rather than one, and takes a -2 penalty to reflex saves.
Grand Delicacy
Prerequisites: Alchemist 16, Greater Delicacy
A gourmand with this discovery gets a +3 alchemical bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and fortitude saves and 3 temporary hit points per level, rather than the 1 naturally generated. Additionally, she may pick three effects granted by her delicacy, rather than one, and takes a -3 penalty to reflex saves.
Taste for Combat
Prerequisites: Alchemist 8
When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Might effect for her delicacy, she gains access to up to two combat feats an ingredient had, rather than the one normally granted. These need not be from the same ingredients.
Taste for Magic
Prerequisites: Alchemist 8
When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Magic effect with her delicacy, she may gain access to up to two spells or spell-like abilities possessed by ingredients, rather than the one normally granted. These need not be from the same ingredients.
Used to the Spice
Prerequisites: Alchemist 10
When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Protection effect with her delicacy, she instead gains immunity to that element, even if the ingredient only had resistance.
Surf and Turf
Prerequisites: Alchemist 6
When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Movement effect with her delicacy, she additionally gains her choice of a fly speed (double her land speed, clumsy), swim speed (equal to her land speed), or climb speed (equal to her land speed), provided that an ingredient has that movement speed. If she gains a swim speed, she also gains the ability to breathe underwater.
Magically Delicious
When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Protection effect with her delicacy, she also gains SR equal to 7+her level in gourmand. The SR need not be from the same ingredient as the elemental resistance, if any.
Gastrolith
Prerequisites: Alchemist 8
When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Protection effect with her delicacy, she gains DR2 that is overcome the same way as the DR of an ingredient. This need not be the same ingredient as the elemental resistance, if any.
Lockjaw
Prerequisites: Alchemist 6
A gourmand with this discovery ignores the -4 penalty to grapple checks made with her bite’s grab ability and increases the damage dice for her bite as though she were a size larger.
Voracious
Prerequisites: Lockjaw, Alchemist 10
A gourmand with this ability gains the swallow whole universal monster ability. She may use this ability on any creature up to her size category. This ability deals 1d6 damage each round for every 3 levels of Gourmand, the damage being half acid and half bludgeoning. A creature eaten this way has not undergone the careful preparations required to turn it into a delicacy and as such the gourmand gains no other benefits from it.
Overstuffed
At level 16, a gourmand’s delicacy lasts 1 hour/level.
This ability replaces Persistent Mutagen.
Grand Discovery
A gourmand gains access to the following grand discoveries in addition to the ones normally available.
True Delicacy
Prerequisites: Grand Discovery, Grand Delicacy
A gourmand with this discovery gets a +4 alchemical bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and fortitude saves and 4 temporary hit points per level, rather than the 1 naturally granted. Additionally, she may pick any number of effects granted by her delicacy, rather than one, and takes a -4 penalty to reflex saves.
Incredibly Voracious
Prerequisites: Grand Discovery, Voracious
A gourmand with this discovery gains a permanent +4 bonus to grapple checks, the Fast Swallow ability as the universal monster rule, and their swallow whole ability deals 1d6 damage for every two levels in gourmand
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To address the big grey, candy corned horned elephant in the room. Yes I am a homosuck fan. I'm still mildly amused that people are so shocked that the nerds making animated shows, are into animated nerd shit? I've already been asked a few times so I've written out below what I think the Heeler's classpects would be.
HOWEVER unfortunately for all of you I am not only into Homestuck but am also a huge textual analysis nut for it. So before you can have dessert I'm going to use this as an excuse to lay out some of my fav pieces of writing regarding it. They sum up why I still have an immense reverence for this stupid piece of shit better than I could ever explain.
@hampermarketplace
Why I can’t understand Homestuck
@some-triangles
I’m trying to figure out why I like Davepetasprite so much.
@optimisticduelist2 & his wonderful YT channel
@mmmmalo is a never ending stream of interesting and intricate theories and I like to pretend I'm erudite enough to understand even half of them
There's too many artists still out there posting up and drawing extremely hard HS pics that I love to list out, but fruitegg has got to get a mention. Everything I attempt to do in my art when it comes to capturing the energy and attitude of living Aus she does far smarter and far funnier. It rules I have somehow fooled her into being my friend.
______
Alright done, here's what you wanted
Bandit: Bard of Hope
Chilli: Mage of Hope
Bluey: Knight of Void
Bingo: Page of Light
Bandit & Chilli are straight forward enough. The thinking behind Bluey & Bingo is as follows. Doing a close reading of them as kids you could easily argue they're Breath/Hope players BUT. There used to be a few working theories around Hiveswap characters mistakenly imitating the wrong classpects. And though I don't think the girls are doing that, it feels to me like their youth is masquerading what their classpects would actually be.
As they're very clearly delineated active (Bluey) passive (Bingo) and so close as sisters, I reckon they'd be a full classpect pair. As much as I think Bluey would really suit Knight of Blood, there's ways Knight of Void would act as a perfect compliment to Bingo's Page of Light. A helpful, positive Knight of Void who protects her friends from despair, and is socially intelligent enough to weaponise people's unawareness/ignorance to her and her friends own advantage seems like a really exciting angle to analyse her through.
Finally, the only classpect I would bet my life on is Muffin being a Mage of Rage. 🤡
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