The Devotee
of the Stone
Hello everyone, and welcome to another great edition of Best in Class, the gold standard in everything about classes. Speaking of gold, this is the beginning of Gold Week here at Necromancers of the Northwest. To kick off our week-long celebration of every adventurer’s favorite thing, I’ve loaded up a selection of archetypes representing some of the fantasy genre’s most beloved gold-loving characters. Let’s get started, shall we?
New Alchemist Archetype
Devotee of the Stone
The art of alchemy has numerous uses and practical application, but perhaps the most well-known reason for pursuing the alchemical arts is to transmute lesser metals into gold. There are some alchemists so obsessed with attaining this singular goal that they choose to forgo many other avenues of study in order to focus solely on this particular aim. They are the devotees of the stone, named for the mystical philosopher’s stone which is said to possess the power that they themselves seek.
New Class Features
A devotee of the stone has the following class features.
Transmute (Su): The devotee of the stone possesses the ability to create a solution which breaks items down into a fine powder of pure gold. Creating this solution is a standard action. This process takes about 1 minute, during which time the item continues to function normally. The devotee of the stone can only affect items weighing no more than 1 lb. per alchemist level with this compound. The amount of gold created in this way is equal to the cost to craft the item. This formula even functions on magical items, converting the magical energy into the appropriate quantity of gold. This gold dust is typically considered to be worth the same as gold coins of an equivalent weight. The devotee of the stone can use this ability a number of times each day equal to his Intelligence modifier.
Because this solution is unstable, it must be applied to the item within 1d4 rounds of creation, or it becomes inert and unusable. This ability replaces mutagen.
Metal Conversion (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, the devotee of the stone learns how to create a solution which can transform certain valuable metals into a different valuable metal. Creating and applying this solution is a standard action. This process takes place over 1 minute and can be used to transmute copper, silver, gold, or platinum into another of those kinds of metals. The resulting metal is always in an amount equal to the value of the original metal. (For example, a devotee of the stone could transmute 1 gold coin into an amount of silver equal to 10 sp.) When he uses this ability, the devotee of the stone may transmute an amount of gp worth of these metals equal to his alchemist level. The devotee of the stone may use this ability a number of times each day equal to his Intelligence modifier.
Because this solution is unstable, it must be applied to the metal within 1d4 rounds of creation, or it becomes inert and unusable. This ability replaces poison use.
Improved Transmute (Su): The devotee of the stone’s ability to transmute items into gold dust improves. Beginning at 14th level, whenever he uses his transmute ability on an item, he creates an amount of gold dust worth 75% of the item’s price, instead of the item’s cost. Additionally, he may affect an item weighing up to 5 lbs. per alchemist level with this ability.
Philosopher’s Stone (Su): The devotee of the stone achieves the height of his art, learning to create a philosopher’s stone. At 20th level, the devotee of the stone gains the philosopher’s stone grand discovery, except that he can make a philosopher’s stone as often as once per week. He gains no other benefit of the grand discovery class feature.
This ability modifies the grand discovery class feature.