Alchemical FIRE!

[escaflowne777]

Alright, my friends have been having an argument and I want to step in and settle it. The topic, alchemist fire. Does it just burn or explode, do you catch of fire or not, could you put more than one dose in a bigger bottle or barrel for more damage? plz help, the more info on it the better.

 

[Artoomis]

Alright, my friends have been having an argument and I want to step in and settle it. The topic, alchemist fire. Does it just burn or explode, do you catch of fire or not, could you put more than one dose in a bigger bottle or barrel for more damage? plz help, the more info on it the better.

It's always best to start with the rules:

You can throw a flask of alchemist’s fire as a splash weapon. Treat this attack as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet.

A direct hit deals 1d6 points of fire damage. Every creature within 5 feet of the point where the flask hits takes 1 point of fire damage from the splash. On the round following a direct hit, the target takes an additional 1d6 points of damage. If desired, the target can use a full-round action to attempt to extinguish the flames before taking this additional damage. Extinguishing the flames requires a DC 15 Reflex save. Rolling on the ground provides the target a +2 bonus on the save. Leaping into a lake or magically extinguishing the flames automatically smothers the fire.

There is no explosion, if that makes any difference. Certainly it coudl be put in bigger containers. Nothing prevents that. I would not allow such a container to be thrown by a medium character, though - too big and awkward and too full of weird rules implications for other flasks.

It would appear you do not catch on fire (which seems silly) but only burn for two rounds if you don't put it out.

 

[escaflowne777]

but one could, say roll a barrel of it down a hill with a hole in the barrel to spread it everywhere? and could you put one on the end of a metal pole and smash it on someone? Would there still be splash?

 

[moritheil]

but one could, say roll a barrel of it down a hill with a hole in the barrel to spread it everywhere? and could you put one on the end of a metal pole and smash it on someone? Would there still be splash?

You're getting into the realm of things you should ask your DM, as different DMs will have different takes on ingenious uses of things.

 

[escaflowne777]

alright. Thnx all

 

[Artoomis]

but one could, say roll a barrel of it down a hill with a hole in the barrel to spread it everywhere? and could you put one on the end of a metal pole and smash it on someone? Would there still be splash?

Certainly. But the rules don't tell you HOW you would do such a thing. What rolls to make, what saves to make, etc.

 

[frankthedm]

It would appear you do not catch on fire (which seems silly) but only burn for two rounds if you don't put it out.

Actually the DMG says you will catch fire...

Catching On Fire
Characters exposed to burning oil, bonfires, and noninstantaneous magic fires might find their clothes, hair, or equipment on fire. Spells with an instantaneous duration don’t normally set a character on fire, since the heat and flame from these come and go in a flash.

Characters at risk of catching fire are allowed a DC 15 Reflex save to avoid this fate. If a character’s clothes or hair catch fire, he takes 1d6 points of damage immediately. In each subsequent round, the burning character must make another Reflex saving throw. Failure means he takes another 1d6 points of damage that round. Success means that the fire has gone out. (That is, once he succeeds on his saving throw, he’s no longer on fire.)

A character on fire may automatically extinguish the flames by jumping into enough water to douse himself. If no body of water is at hand, rolling on the ground or smothering the fire with cloaks or the like permits the character another save with a +4 bonus.

Those unlucky enough to have their clothes or equipment catch fire must make DC 15 Reflex saves for each item. Flammable items that fail take the same amount of damage as the character.

And with how little HP magical cloaks have, you can see why fire protection is a popular choice. In my own game, I have the “catch on fire save” rolled at the end of a person’s action. Thus, those who use their action to get away from the fire / put out the fire don’t have to worry as much as those who stand in walls of fire and would rather extinguish enemies than the fire clinging to their body.

As far as coating someone in numerous alchemist fires, I do limit the total damage from that to 5d6 per round. I say after 5 pints of the stuff, the rest is falling off with more harm to the floor than the victim.