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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 9038377" data-attributes="member: 50987">So far so good; the player is having a lot of fun with it.  He's spending his downtime modifying and expanding his SeCrEt LaB in the basement of his favorite tavern (he's friends with the owner), and he's looking forward to getting up to all sorts of No Good at the next cider festival.The Con save DC is in the first passage, under "Poisoner."  DC = 8 + Prof Bonus + Int modifier....I use the same save DC that is used for spellcasting.Yep, that's true.  And it would definitely be tedious for tabletop play.But we play on Roll20, so it's not nearly as much of a hassle as it sounds.  The player chooses his target and clicks "attack."  A macro checks the selected target, and reports damage if the attack hits.  Then the macro rolls a Con save for the selected target, and then rolls the additional damage if the save fails.  Super fast and easy.This was the reason for the change.  The player was frustrated with the assassin's namesake ability, and how incredibly rare it is for him.  We've been playing every Friday night for most of the year, and he's gotten to use this ability exactly ONCE.  And he missed the attack roll.  He's clearly not having a good time, and so I tried to lean into his Alchemist Background and his Starting Faction a bit to reflavor it.  "After all," I thought, "why shouldn't an assassin specialize in poison?"Here's some notes on the character's custom background.  I'm not sure where he found it, I think it came from GM Binder or maybe DM's Guild?  Anyway, I looked it over and gave it the thumbs-up:[SPOILER=The Alchemist Background]ALCHEMISTYou are an alchemist of some renown, having established yourself in the ﬁeld after a lengthy apprenticeship to a well-established master.  Forgoing the mercantile side of the profession, you’ve spent years tinkering, experimenting, and improving upon alchemical concoctions and received instruction directly from a master of the craft.  You may not have the mercantile success that comes with the Guild, but that has allowed the freedom to experiment and explore new theories of your own.Skill Proﬁciencies: Medicine, NatureTool Proﬁciencies: Alchemist Supplies, plus your choice of either the Poisoner's Kit or the Herbalist’s KitEquipment: A set of alchemist’s supplies, a poisoner's kit or an herbalist’s kit, one vial of acid, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing ten empty vials.ALCHEMICAL SPECIALIZATIONAlchemists live in large cities where they can develop and enhance their craft, but it is not unusual to ﬁnd them even in the smallest of villages. Often eccentric and obsessed with a particular ﬁeld of study, most alchemists choose a specialty to master:1d8    Specialization 1    Snake oils and “miracle” cures2    Deadly toxins3    Restorative elixirs4    Explosives and inflammables5    Glues, solvents, and similar agents6    Acids, bases, and caustics7    Cosmetic aids and alterations8    Hangover cures and minor remediesYour choice of specialization may give you Advantage on skill checks made to use, produce, or identify related substances, at the DM’s discretion.FEATURE: LABORATORY EXPERTAs an alchemist, you’ve been exposed to a wide range of chemicals, and you have learned to work safely and efficiently with materials.  You never risk accidental exposure or contamination when examining, using, or identifying unknown liquids, powders, potions, poisons, or other chemical substances.FEATURE:  LONG LIFEYour knowledge of bodily functions, toxicology, and medicine has served you well.  Your natural lifespan extends by 20 years or by +10%, whichever is greater.SUGGESTED CHARACTERISTICSChoose your Personality Trait, Ideal, Bond, and Flaw from those available to the Sage background, on page 138 of the Player’s Handbook.  Alchemists are academics like any other, but tend to focus more on chemicals and compounds than on books and scrolls.[/SPOILER]And all player characters (and certain NPCs) in my campaign start the game as members of a Faction of their choice.  This gives them a "starting point" in the bustling port town, gives them some friends, a residence that they can claim as their "home base," a handful of starting gear, and a minor ability bonus or feature that's roughly on par with a starting feat.[SPOILER=Starting Faction - The Iron Cauldron]You’ve chosen my favorite Underground Faction!  The Iron Cauldron is an underground group of alchemists, artificers, chemists, apothecaries, and brewers. This clandestine group seeks to undermine and embarrass the religious institutions (both the Temple of Dawn and the Enclave of the Old Faith), who they believe hold an unfair monopoly on medicine, healing magic, and alcohol.  Your organization supplies these to everyone, regardless of their religious affiliation or Guild status…you aren’t overly concerned with profits or guild status; you care more about getting people the goods they need, at a cost that they can afford, without judgment.YOUR COVER AND CONTACTHave you ever wondered why Nadia has won the Threshold Brewing Festival for the last eight years running?  Well, she can thank her husband Marciano, who happens to be a long-time member of The Iron Cauldron.  Nadia has no idea that this organization operates out of her establishment, and would likely be heartbroken if she found out her husband was “fixing” the Ale Festival in her favor.                           Boon:  You gain the following at 1st level.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ability Score Increase: your Dexterity or Intelligence increases by 1, to a max of 20.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Alchemist: You gain proficiency with Alchemist Supplies.  If you are already proficient, you gain Proficiency with one other set of tools of your choice.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Pharmaceutical Specialist: choose Healing or Poison.  Your choice gives you the ability to add healing medicines (or toxins) to the items you create.  See the sidebar for more info.</li> </ul> PHARMACEUTICAL SPECIALIST If you choose Healing, all beneficial items that you create will also cure X hit points when used, where X is your proficiency bonus.  This healing is applied even if the item doesn’t normally heal damage (such as antitoxin). If you choose Poison, all harmful items that you create also deal X points of poison damage, where X is your proficiency bonus.  This damage is applied even if the item doesn’t normally deal damage. <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Potion Crafting: if you know the formula for a particular potion* and you have all the ingredients, you can brew potions in your Downtime.  This feature works as described on pages 128-130 of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, except the crafting time for each potion* is always 1 workweek (all other costs and restrictions still apply)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Starting Equipment: You start the game with a set of Alchemist’s Supplies, your choice of an Herbalism Kit or a Poisoner Kit, and a thick leather book of Alchemical Formulae.  You also start the game with three different potions* of your choice from Tables A and B, and your Formula Book contains the recipe for each.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Faction: you are affiliated with The Black Vials, and have Renown 1 for this faction.  See Chapter 4 for more information.</li> </ul>Residence: Your contact has set you up with a room at Chaos, the busiest and most popular tavern in town in the House District.  Here you enjoy a Comfortable lifestyle, provided you are able to keep your operations a secret.  You are posing as a traveling salesman, and you have arranged for a shipment of “perfume” to be moved in the next few weeks.Working: Maintaining your Comfortable lifestyle doesn’t require you to spend any money, but it does require you to maintain your secret identity and protect your contact.  If you fail to do so, you will lose your free lodgings and the money will dry up immediately.  (That will be the least of your problems, but it needs to be said.)Downtime Activities:  When your character is between adventures, you can spend your spare time doing any of the following activities:  Brewing Healing Potions, Carousing, Crafting Items, Crafting Magic Items (potions* only), Gambling, Recuperating, Sowing Rumors, Training, and Working.[/SPOILER]</blockquote>

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