Current Events > Any D&D 5E players on CE? I had a question about class creation

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I'm going to be playing in a 5E game soon but haven't played since 3.5. I'm interested in creating a "potion slinger" that focuses on alchemy rather than spells or swords, but I'm not sure what the best way to go about that is. Did they add any new classes that would fit naturally to that sort of role?
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Having a truly unique build is hard. 5e is very homogenized.
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5e DM here

ask your DM what books he's using

the PHB has no such class, but it DOES have a tool proficiency in alchemy, which may allow you to create potions of interest to the group over time. that is usually not something combat-ready, though.

are you thinking something comparable to the witcher?

i could see a cleric being reflavored in this way, although you'd still have to abide by the spellcasting concentration rules.
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Goats posted...

https://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/1_UA_Artificer_20170109.pdf

The alchemist subclass of Artificer does it pretty well. I think it falls far short of the mark when it comes to power though, but it's a good baseline for any DM to start nidoking

He would have to get DM approval to use it since not all DMs are okay with play testing stuff.
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TES_Nut posted...

Having a truly unique build is hard. 5e is very homogenized.

I wouldn't quite say that. It's hard to have builds that don't play well within the rules, such as someone wanting a potion slinger in a game where you really have only weapons and spells to use. I don't think the rules even go in depth on how/when to make potions, leaving it up to DM fiat
But on the positive side, you can very easily reflavor things if you want. There's nothing wrong with saying you have a wizard who instead of casting spells is actually drinking different potions, or a barbarian who takes a swig of a magic potion that enables rage, etc. The rules don't care how you make something appear so long as you don't actually change the mechanics

So it's a weird spot but given D&D is more popular now than ever, they must be doing something right

Darkman124 posted...

are you thinking something comparable to the witcher?

I think if that's the case, your idea of a cleric is a good idea but Matt Mercer's blood hunter class is homebrew but pretty well received
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/classes/blood-hunter
https://geekandsundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Blood-Hunter-Class-1.2.pdf
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Darkman124 posted...

5e DM here

ask your DM what books he's using

the PHB has no such class, but it DOES have a tool proficiency in alchemy, which may allow you to create potions of interest to the group over time. that is usually not something combat-ready, though.

are you thinking something comparable to the witcher?

i could see a cleric being reflavored in this way, although you'd still have to abide by the spellcasting concentration rules.

I'll be joining a game in process at level 8, and the DM is already allowing them to craft a certain amount of gold worth of items a day, so creating the potions the way a wizard has to prepare spells is already going to be allowed.

In terms of intent, I was thinking less of something like a witcher and more something like an alchemy wizard. So instead of casting an illusion, I sling/fire/etc a potion with a hallucinatory effect into the area, or an explosive potion, or I set a trap with an armor corroding chemical outside of a door with hostiles inside. That sort of thing.

I used to love playing a spellcaster that used underpowered spells to do creative things, but I didn't want to retread on old ground, so I thought alchemy would be a new way to try that sort of play style.
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s0nicfan posted...

In terms of intent, I was thinking less of something like a witcher and more something like an alchemy wizard. So instead of casting an illusion, I sling/fire/etc a potion with a hallucinatory effect into the area, or an explosive potion, or I set a trap with an armor corroding chemical outside of a door with hostiles inside. That sort of thing.

Like I said above, you can do this if your DM is fine with you playing a Wizard who has potions instead of spells. It doesn't really change anything, just the way you narrate your actions as "I throw my potion of grease at the floor under the goblins" instead of "I cast grease by waving my wand at the floor under the goblins"

Unless you want actual mechanical changes
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o0 they're making gold value items on a daily basis? is that being done by a wizard character with the fabricate spell? because otherwise the timeframe required is measured in weeks.

s0nicfan posted...

In terms of intent, I was thinking less of something like a witcher and more something like an alchemy wizard. So instead of casting an illusion, I sling/fire/etc a potion with a hallucinatory effect into the area, or an explosive potion, or I set a trap with an armor corroding chemical outside of a door with hostiles inside. That sort of thing.

got it. yeah, nothing in the PHB for that. but you can always reflavor an existing wizard class. transmuter works well for it, as with the stone you get you'll have proficiency in CON saves, so a relatively high probability that regular attacks won't break concentration, and you have an innate infinite use alchemy ability baked right in.

Hinakuluiau posted...

Like I said above, you can do this if your DM is fine with you playing a Wizard who has potions instead of spells. It doesn't really change anything, just the way you narrate your actions as "I throw my potion of grease at the floor under the goblins" instead of "I cast grease by waving my wand at the floor under the goblins"

the challenge is mainly the concentration spells. why would the web disappear when you got hit, if you created it from a bottle?
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