Never a Dull Moment

Well, I apologise for not having a post out this week and just wanted to explain why. One of the aspects of medieval life that always fascinated me was the problematic relationship between science and religion. Fears of witchcraft may well have been responsible for delays in forwarding medicine, chemistry and biology by centuries, a delay only overcome once the age of enlightenment began.

I can understand why. Let's face it: the only way to really learn about the how the human body works is to cut them up. In societies where the body is a vessel for a soul that becomes an issue. People who want to cut up bodies to learn how they work become abominations. The entire premise to Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus was the interference of science in natural order. Even using the title "The Modern Prometheus" puts the moral message in its full context: Prometheus was punished by the gods for his 'stolen' knowledge of fire. His pride/hubris was his downfall, whereas, in reality, his only crime was helping his fellow man and removing their dependency on the gods themselves. Arguably, this was a similar situation for medieval scientists.

The most fascinating aspect of science in this age was the position of the alchemist. Alchemy was the first attempt at proper science, with practitioners attempting to properly quantify the nature and substance of what made up the world around us. Few would argue that alchemy was the basis of modern scientific investigation, but the fear of persecution led to a strange mixture of knowledge, faith and superstition that could possibly be seen as an attempt to stay 'in favour' with the church.

This doesn't seem to have any place in the D&D universe: priests follow many and various gods, demons and spirits. Magic users are, while not a 'day-to-day' experience, not either an anomaly, despised and mistrusted by their peers. They can mix with ordinary people and are often called upon to help communities.

The mage who best fits the position of alchemist is the Transmuter. He gets some abilities to alter properties for a short time (Minor Alchemy), the Transmuter's Stone (a poor man's philosopher's stone), and then, at 14th level, Master Transmuter, which comes with a panoply of abilities that match some of the Cliff Notes version of true alchemy.

Pathfinder has an alchemist class, favoured among goblins, that is effectively little more than a reskinned mage with bombs. The idea of an alchemist class is difficult to envision. It shouldn't, to my mind, just be a reskinned mage, but should reflect the essence of alchemy from a historical perspective. Naturally, to be useful in a party and attractive to players, the alchemist needs to have a bit of a wow factor and be able to hold its own in a fight, so some kind of chemical explosiveness is required. That's where the day-to-day stuff comes in, but she should also be able to discover deeper secrets than just what is handy in a tight corner.

So that's where I'm at. I'm trying to design an alchemist that is historical in context, but still useful to a party, and independent of other classes already in D&D. It's in testing, and I'll release it to the world when I can.