Chemistry! The study of chemicals and the ways they interact – some might even say that anatomy is just derivative chemistry, but who cares? The study of chemicals has many proponents in Dungeons and Dragons, from the humble alchemist to the much less humble Alchemist artificer.

But lets focus on the task at hand, shall we?

 

Read on below for more on the Chemist Rogue!

-Rogue- Chemist v1

You can also find the PDF version here.

 

The Chemist is a practitioner of practical alchemy, or chemistry plain and simple. Whereas others infuse magic into herbs and essences to achieve wondrous results, the chemist’s purview is much smaller. By using chemicals and mixtures properly, one can heal and harm quite easily – no magic required!

 

FEATURES:

• Create various herbal mixtures and draughts! From healing to poison, chemicals are your bread and butter (try to avoid using the poison for bread and butter though).
• Crafting potions can help you too… so get high on your own supply! (Note: the Lawful Good Rogue does not condone getting high on your own or someone else’s supply… but I mean, who am I, the freakin’ cops?)
• They’re poisons for your enemies, poisons made specifically for your enemies, your enemies’ poisons.
• Lastly, when it comes to medicine get cunning! After all, quickness of action can mean the difference between life and a third failed death save!

 

DESIGN NOTES:

• This subclass was actually originally paired with the Anatomist Rogue that I put out last week – they were two halves of one whole. Ultimately, however, I decided that they just didn’t mesh together well from a mechanics standpoint. So I split them instead.
• The Chemist is, ultimately, a non-magical alchemist. That’s the whole deal. Why is it a rogue subclass? Simple – rogues are, in my mind at least, the sort of “baseline” for combat. Being a fighter takes training, skill, and experience. Being a rogue just takes ingenuity. Think about it, if you ran into an untrained combatant in the streets, what class would they most likely be? Rogue, at least in my opinion.
• As far as mechanics go, this subclass is a bit of a tossup. I know a lot of DMs absolutely despise poison, and would never allow it in their games. I totally understand – it’s annoying as hell and in the wrong hands can completely derail a campaign. But hopefully these poisons aren’t game-breaking, and the healing hopefully is just a little bit better anyway.
• NOTE: While this isn’t currently planned, if I ever did make any homebrews that I’ve posted for feedback into PWYW products, this one is a good candidate for it. Seeing as 90% of the art is from the Voynich Manuscript, which is too old and non-credited and possibly fake to be covered by copyright, this would be much easier to monetize than something that requires more… recent art. Please keep this in mind if you don’t want to comment or give feedback on something that may one day be a paid product.

 

Thanks for reading!