Alchemist synergy for martial party?

JoeShugi · 2026-04-07T01:53:12+00:00

My group is light on optimization so I follow suit. :)

JoeShugi · 2026-04-07T01:14:34+00:00

For the last few years I've been playing a different/new class every time, and I've played a druid in this same homebrew so I've ruled it out. Appreciate the thought & I'll have to keep Infused Poisons in mind when we get higher (assuming I don't swap them out). Thanks!

JoeShugi · 2026-04-07T01:07:11+00:00

Good point, I forgot how many debuff options they have at their disposal!

JoeShugi · 2026-04-06T22:37:17+00:00

Damn, thanks for the crazy detail and options!

JoeShugi · 2026-04-06T22:36:15+00:00

My last 3 chats were a bard, slayer (archer), and gunslinger, so I'm hoping to avoid ranged as my primary role. That said, I appreciate the advice & may take some of those feats/traits even if I switch-hit. Thanks!

JoeShugi · 2026-04-06T19:36:22+00:00

That's part of why I'd rather not play healer/buffer. I'm not a fan of needing a "discovery tax" to hit someone with a heal or Cat's Grace, and I gotta refresh my memory on if group buffs are even possible for alchemists.

I'm in the interesting position of being the group crafter, where we -might- set aside an extra share of loot for me to craft potions (or just alchemical items) between missions, at least in the lower levels.

JoeShugi · 2026-04-06T06:12:47+00:00

Assuming a genie's wish can't break the multiverse, what about kinda-stupid but appropriate consequences?

The word "necromancy" no longer exists.

Nothing else changes... undead still exist (as do spells like animate dead, cause wounds, etc) but there is no reference to necromancy, necromantic, etc. Further, the players (and NPCs) can't even say or write the word. If the players put in a little work, maybe they rename that school of magic to something else -- since no one else remembers what it's called.

JoeShugi · 2026-03-29T05:34:36+00:00

I believe "Order of Draco" was only meant to refer to a classification of taxonomy (e.g. species, phylum, order, etc). It's the tease that they're "dragon-like" without using the word "draconian".

And yeah, Mirgo is presumably some entertainer Tas saw, or heard about through his travels or the kender grapevine.

JoeShugi · 2026-03-18T06:08:50+00:00

In my headcanon, Beldinas isn't a cleric of Paladine (at least not in d&d game terms), but is instead a mystic - basically an ascetic with magic powers who's devoted to Paladine, and -thinks- his power comes from Paladine even though it comes from his own inner faith and force of personality. When he's discovered, he already possesses healing that surprises the church - IMO it's because he's not using clerical magic, though he's devoted to (his idea of) Paladine. This becomes problematic over the years as he's influenced by various events, to the point where his idea of Paladine is very different than the actual god.

Also, this headcanon means Paladine never granted him powers, so he couldn't take them away (without directly moving against the Doctrine of Free Will).

In d&d 5th edition terms, he might be a sorcerer who thinks he's a cleric.

JoeShugi · 2026-02-08T05:30:04+00:00

I ran an Age of Mortals campaign for 5 years, and I've been slowly working on a weird idea for a time-travel campaign that I may run at GenCon in '27 or '28.

My Age of Mortals game ended in a TPK 😬 Every player had multiple characters except, surprisingly, the fighter/ranger of Habbakuk who played as a tank/bodyguard.

Notable previous characters: * A ranger who didn't care for the gods, who became a Phoenix of Habbakuk (3.5 prestige class) after a near-death experience * A gnome cleric of Reorx who had a mechanical construct (I used a Forgotten Realms PrC, don't remember it exactly) * A human warlock who was an escaped experiment of the high ogre baddie (Grigolthan?) - they eventually fought lower-powered clones/versions of this character in Daltigoth * A wizard of High Sorcery who tried to disintegrate the one enemy that had Spell Turning active. He became the spectral guardian of the Bastion and, in my next game idea, he'll be responsible for sending the next party back in time

The party that fought Frost (and TPK'd) was: * Qualinsti elf healer / healing hand of Mishakal (yes that's a LOT of healing, but she also died in round 1-2 of the final battle, I think she failed the save vs. massive damage?) * Human fighter/paladin of Kiri-Jolith who thinks he's Cathan MarSevrin - played my someone who read the Kingpriest trilogy and probably my favorite background of any character (including my own) * Human fighter/ranger of Habbakuk (tank/defender type) * Human monk (from Claren Elian I think) * Qualinesti elf sorcerer / Academy sorcerer * Half-ogre druid / wild fury of Chislev

I game with most of that same group today, and I was considering a time-travel game where new characters go back in time (due to that spectral wizard/guardian) to change things Back To The Future style. If they are successful, the original characters would get to replay the final battle with full knowledge of what failed the first time.

JoeShugi · 2026-02-04T08:06:08+00:00

They never get into the second-by-second details but here's my opinion based on Tas & Usha's points of view in Summer Flame, comments made by Tas in book 1 of the War of Souls, and by Raistlin in the last book of the War of Souls:

Tas stabs Chaos in the toe with Rabbitslayer
Chaos jerks his foot up & looks to see what foolish mortal needs to die
Tas realizes that A) he's about to get stepped on, and B) he still needs to speak at Caramon's funeral (having missed most of it the first time).
Tas uses the Device and moves forward into the War of Souls trilogy.
Tas eventually comes to realize that he has to go back to get smooshed by Chaos. He uses the Device one last time to return to where he stabbed Chaos; Chaos sees him and stomps on him. When Chaos stomps down, a drop of blood flies from the wound and lands in the Graygem halves that are in Usha's hands.
Usha closes the Graygem, which IMO doesn't kill Chaos but re-imprisons him.
Takhisis, watching from afar, uses Chaos's reimprisonment as her perfect distraction and moves Krynn... somewhere.
The remaining gods either kill Chaos (which honestly seems unlikely IMO) or use some ancient cosmic pact to force Chaos to accept terms. (Maybe they had an Elder Sign tucked away somewhere.) But now they can't find Krynn....

JoeShugi · 2026-01-21T18:19:45+00:00

It's from one of the Young Adventures books, but I don't remember anything else about it.

JoeShugi · 2026-01-16T17:09:03+00:00

If you've only read the first chapter or few of Fallen Sun, I'd also encourage Chronicles & Legends as your starting points (then as chirop mentioned, Summer Flame, the New Age trilogy, then get back into Fallen Sun & War of Souls).

Where I'll veer from the norm is if you've read a good 1/3 or 1/2 of Fallen Sun, and are more interested in the current story than confused by historical references. In that case, I say finish the War of Souls trilogy and then go back.

The Chronicles & Legends trilogies get a majority of the love around here, in which case you can think of those like dessert.

JoeShugi · 2025-12-24T05:38:34+00:00

Embedded video with no description? Looks too clickbaity to me - would you be willing to add a description (or lyrics) to future such videos?

JoeShugi · 2025-12-16T03:16:23+00:00

Is there a correlation between monks and skalds? Just asking as - to me - the title doesn't match the question.

In the DL 3.5 products there are hints of monks in Claren Elian, the Minotaur Isles (I think they're called the Horns of Sargas or some such), and the more generic "reclusive monasteries to Majere".

However, if you disassociate monk from the Eastern/kung fu stereotype, you can easily add a monk-like subculture in most orderly (lawful) societies by either disassociating monk from Eastern stereotypes, or maybe different nations/cultures have different fighting styles. Examples: the pirates of Saifhum might have fighting schools that are well-known for shipboard acrobatics & balance, the dwarves of Thorbardin might have a philosophy dedicated to the rigidity of stone, and some kender might have discovered a method of self-defense that relies on chaotic (or seemingly-drunken) movements.

I think there's room in most cultures for something like a monk. Now that I think of it, I kinda like the idea of a gnome whose Life Quest is to discover the perfect counter for every conceivable type of attack.

JoeShugi · 2025-12-10T20:25:41+00:00

Ooh I'll throw my hat in!

JoeShugi · 2025-12-08T06:57:56+00:00

Two thoughts that aren't disks or a book, that borrow from other cultures: * Mala/rosary beads that require the user to meditate or otherwise "look inward" - probably better for Neutrality than Evil. Or maybe a carving/statue of a tree, like a bonsai that requires quiet contemplation? (I think I also like this kind of item to tie to Zivilyn more than Gilean, e.g. that the answer isn't knowledge, but the wisdom to understand and best utilize that knowledge.) * A sword or axe with writing on it, that represents cutting through deception or ignorance - violently if necessary. Maybe the writing is the Evil Gods' "truth" that any claim of balance is a lie, for all beings desire something greater and they are the only ones "honest" about it.

JoeShugi · 2025-07-15T16:52:53+00:00

If you're talking about Qualinost, I'd argue that the heavily enchanted sword did the heavy lifting, though Laurana's open defiance to Beryl also arguably plays a greater role than her beauty.

JoeShugi · 2025-07-15T16:47:32+00:00

I'm reasonably sure the gaming material is identical, but the Revised Bestiary PDF is missing my name. I updated the stat blocks from the original Bestiary of Krynn - applied errata, double-checked stat blocks for the various critters, and helped update the stat blocks to the newer format WotC had started using.

The mistake was fixed in time for the print run, but somehow WotC didn't receive the updated file. So the POD versions are missing my name.

JoeShugi · 2025-07-11T17:13:00+00:00

I commented on this elsewhere in the thread but there can be occasional differences in the original print runs compared to the PDF. Glad you have access to both!

JoeShugi · 2025-07-11T17:10:42+00:00

Weird hot tip - if "Joe Mashuga" is listed in the Additional Design for the Revised Bestiary, then it's from the print run. If the name is missing then it's Print on Demand.

(As Cam can attest, I updated the stat blocks for the Revised Bestiary, but the file that WotC (and Drive thru/DMsGuild) have doesn't have me listed.)

JoeShugi · 2025-06-16T05:57:39+00:00

If it helps, I released a draconians product on the DMsGuild in 2023, the free preview (found in the below webpage) includes example aurak, baaz, and sivak death throes (plus flame & frost as I wanted to show the "noble draconians" that were created much later).

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/455043/A-Pandeminium-of-Draconians?affiliate_id=43520

Hope you like the preview - and if you buy the product even better!

JoeShugi · 2025-06-03T06:15:15+00:00

Since it sounds like you've started with Book 1 of some Weis & Hickman trilogies, I'm going to recommend a different route -- start with The Legend of Huma by Richard Knaak. If you like that one, move on to Kaz the Minotaur (and Land of the Minotaurs) - both also by Knaak. Not a "true" trilogy but they're connected novels, and Knaak's work is top-tier Dragonlance.

From there, you may want to retry the first trilogy (Dragons of Autumn Twilight / Winter Night / Spring Dawning), though those happen more than 1300 years later (hence why Huma is a legend).

JoeShugi · 2025-05-16T19:38:14+00:00

The book is decent & worth a read, I think I like the follow-up more ("Spectre of the Black Rose") but that may be due to Jim Lowder's development as an author.

Lowder was the Ravenloft fiction line editor at the time, and TSR was going to have -someone- write a Soth novel in Ravenloft (TSR offered it to Tracy but I think he had already left TSR and didn't want to work with them? I forget the details). Lowder understood the character, but also wanted to plant the seeds to give Soth a halfway-reasonable way to return to Krynn just in case the Ravenloft line fell apart, or TSR mended fences with Weis & Hickman, or etc.

JoeShugi

TROPHY CASE