Editing Alchemist (section)

===Chronicles of Aeres===
In the 5e fansetting [[Chronicles of Aeres]], Alchemists are one of the three unique classes invented for the setting, alongside the [[Witch]] and [[Dreamcaller]]. In-universe, alchemists are an offshoot of the [[wizard]]ly traditions of spellcasting who focus on manipulating the raw magical essences imbued into inanimate matter, a feat they achieve by using magical [[rune]]s to channel and concentrate one or more of the Three Primes - the "conceptual" essences from which all elements are made. This is a lot harder than "regular" [[Transmuter]] spells, and in fact it can easily go wrong; the early days of the alchemy style resulted in a ''lot'' of explosions, clouds of poisonous gas, raging fires and virulent diseases, which meant alchemists were largely rejected in favor of wizardry. But they survived by going underground, and in fact flourished during the era of magical persecution.

The Three Primes, the alchemist version of the wizardly schools, consist of:
* '''Sulfur:''' This element represents an expanding force, the essence of evaporation and gaseous motion; it’s also tied to the spirit, or the ephemeral internal essence of aether that normally inhabits living creatures, but which is also present in a minute form in non-living objects. Sulfur is the element of fire, smoke, steam, and air. Alchemists associate this element with heat, light, and energy; its movements are chaotic and hard to control.
* '''Mercury:''' An element connected to water and the transcendence between solid and liquid states. The mercurial prime is the fabric that binds aether itself to material, and so it’s often connected with the mind, or the psyche (the intangible force that controls the external). The movement or decomposition of mercury is associated with cold, moisture, acidity, blood, and even necrosis. Conversely, mercury also bears a power of rejuvenation, and without the essence of mercury, alchemists believe that material would simply fall apart.
* '''Salt:''' A prime element that would seem to be the exact opposite of Sulfur. Salt is the physical embodiment of a thing, its matter and material, independent of the other forces holding it together. As a result, the element of Salt is considered restrictive and fixed, immovable; it represents not only the earth, ores, and stones, but also the concepts of crystallization, hardening, contraction, and solidification. It’s the force that gives an object its physical weight as well.

Aeres Alchemists are also known as '''[[Elementalist]]s''' or '''Thaumaturgists''', and they are very much ''not'' your typical potion-brewing doddering old sage! In fact, they're closer to a [[gish]] class than anything. They don't have the traditional spellcasting attack modifier or spellcasting focus due to the way that their magic works, but they do have a spellcasting save DC, which is based on their Intelligence modifier (8 + proficiency bonus + Int modifier, like a normal [[wizard]]). They don't get subclasses, mostly because they're complex enough as it is.

Did we say that they don't use a spellcasting focus? That's not entirely true. Alchemists need an ''Alchemical Sigil'' to focus their powers, which is branded with the rune of one of the Three Primes. This is a small amulet or ring. Because of the complex energies involved, initially, Alchemists can only have a single sigil active at a time, which means they can only invoke Transmutations from that specific Prime; to switch to a different Prime, the Alchemist needs to destroy or remove their original sigil (it has to be 100ft+ away) to stop it from interfering; a new Sigil can be crafted as part of a short rest, or an alchemist can attempt to create a temporary sigil by drawing, etching into the dirt, etc, which takes 2 turns. A rookie alchemist can still have different sigils for the different Primes, but they can only have 1 active at a time; they can switch between active sigils during a short rest. From 6th level, they can have 2 sigils active at a time, which is also when they learn to start combining Transmutations. At 12th level, they're powerful enough they can have sigils for all Three Primes active at once.

More than anything, the Aeres Alchemist resembles a [[Warlock]]; they know a number of Transmutations, which are specific powers they can evoke, determined by their level, and they can only have a small number of these powers evoked at once - starting with just 1 at a time at 1st level, then 2 at 6th level, and finally 3 (the maximum) at 12th level. 

So, how does transmuting something actually work? Well, the alchemist can place a Transmutation on any Medium or smaller object - for the most part, only weapons or armor are useful, as most transmutations are very combat-focused; you don't really want to use a Transmutation that electrifies something on your armor, now do you?  Applying a Transmutation is an Action, and Transmutations ''don't stack''; applying the same Transmutation to an object twice over does nothing. There's also a downside to Transmutations vs. spells; if you attempt to invoke two or more Transmutations on the same item, or even just a single multi-Prime Transmutation, you gotta roll a d20, about half the results of which will result in something going wrong, such as the item exploding, emitting a blinding flash, or becoming temporarily useless as the transmutational energies mix in unstable ways. It's not as bad as the traditional [[Wild Magic]] table, but it can definitely be a headache! If you attempt to apply a Transmutation to something an enemy is holding or wearing, that's a melee attack roll.

Now, all of this doesn't mean that alchemists can't actually make potions! At 2nd level, they gain the feature '''Apprentice Potion Making''', which lets them create a single potion worth 50 gold pieces as part of a short rest, so long as they have access to a set of Alchemist's Supplies or other alchemical equipment. At 6th level, they gain '''Journeyman's Potion Making''', which allows them to craft either 1 100GP potion or 2 50GP potions during a short rest. At 10th level, they gain '''Masterful Potion Making''', which lets them make 2 100GP potions or 4 50GP potions during a short rest, and 1 250GP potion during a long rest. Finally, at 15th level, they gain '''Potion Making Grandmaster''', which lets them use a short rest to craft 3d4 50GP potions, 2d4 100GP potions, or 1d4 250G potions.

Their class features consist of the following:
* 3rd level - '''Trifecta of Force:''' As a free action, you can change the damage type of your weapon to any other physical damage type (a sword from Slashing to Piercing or Bludgeoning) for 1 turn.
* 6th level - '''Alchemic Alacrity:''' You can ast single-element transmutations as a bonus action.
* 7th level - '''Elemental Projection:''' You can apply transmutations to a visible object within 10 feet.
* 9th level - '''Malleable Essence:''' As part of a short rest, you can grant yourself Resistance to one damage type for 1 hour.
* 13th level - '''Elemental Mastery:''' Double the duration of your transmutations.
* 18th level - '''Elemental Transcendence:''' Triple the duration of your transmutations. Also, you no longer risk failure for using combi-elemental transmutations.
* 20th level - '''The Philosopher's Stone:''' By spending 7 days and 500 gold pieces, you can fashion a Philosopher's Stone. This counts as a Sigil for all Three Primes, grants your transmutations an indefinite duration (you can still only have three active transmutations at once), boost Malleable Essence's duration to "your next rest" and lets you change your damage resistance by spending 1 turn doing so. Note that ''all'' of these benefits only apply so long as you have the Stone in possession.