I have an idea for a character but really have no idea where to even start. The concept is a mad alchemist who primarily throws things that he creates at enemies (alchemists fire etc). Ammunition shouldn't be too much of a problem, the DM has some houseruled stuff to make item creation a bit easier. What I was thinking was take a few levels of wizard to be able to cast invisibility, possibly going as high as greater invisibility, and the rest of the character levels would be rogue. This would also allow me to create some useful potions for the rest of the party on top of nearly always being able to sneak attack. The character is starting at level twelve and we are playing 3.5 edition, and the DM has brought the 3.0 alchemy stuff into the campaign. Any advice is greatly appreciated
There's actually a Pestige Class in Magic of Eberron that does exactly what you're asking for. It also allows you to combine alchemical substances with magical effects. It's primarily designed for an artificer, which combines limited "casting" with the skills, trapfinding, and UMD of a rogue, plus pretty much every Item Creation feat in the game.
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Unfortunately Artificer and Magic of Eberron are not permitted, after looking them over I agree they seem to be right up my ally but the DM says no dice. Grenadier and Mad Alchemist feats are both nice and I'll be grabbing those for sure. So given my constraints is rogue/wizard the correct choice?
CJ, why don't you try to be helpgul? Within the constraints (specifically, wanting to play a missile alchemist), what classes should he use, feats, skills (if any are necessary other than Craft (Alchemy)), etc?
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This user has been brought to you by the letters "O-R-C" and the numbers "2, 3, 4, and 6"
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The concept may be weak, but it might be salvageable. The OP is right about one thing: thrown alchemical weapons + sneak attack isn't awful, assuming you can afford the ammo. However, you don't need to be a rogue to do it. You can even do it as a spellcaster, particularly as an artificer - as soon as you can, craft a staff of Hunter's Eye and use that to get sneak attack. You can also use swordsage 2 (timed correctly) to pick up Assassin's Stance as well as a few sneaky maneuvers - or use SSage 1 or Martial Study + a set of Shadow Hands (the gloves at the back of the ToB) to get Assassin's Stance with less of a level sink. Those are ways of getting Sneak Attack on a spellcaster without giving up too much elsewhere.
I'm away from my books and can't comment on the alchemist savant. I recall it being pretty bad, so you probably aren't missing much without it.
Since the DM's banned artificer, though, I don't think you'll have much luck. Your concept will drag you down without it. And pretty much the only non-artificer support for your concept is Grenadier + Mad Alchemist (there's also a Pyro feat in Song and Silence, which really only works on NPCs hucking alchemist's fire, and wasn't updated to 3.5, but it's the only other feat I know of specifically aimed at this concept).
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You might want to plead your dm to allow it but tell him you won't be pulling any tier 0 shenanigans or breaking the game. If you explain you understand your power and can prove you won't abuse it there shouldn't be a problem. The artificer is the easiest way to go about this concept and from a roleplaying standpoint is actually fairly cohesive and flavourful
What frost.fire said, but if that doesn't fly try this build out for kicks. Rouge 2/ spell thief 1/ wizard 2/ unseen seer 5/ arcane trickster 10. pretty simple with a few tricks, take master spell thief when you qualify and you should be able to steal up to 9th level spells when your able to cast them (level 20) you'll get to add two divination spells to your spells known through unseen seer from any classes spell list (I would go with hunter's eye and grave strike) and you come out naturally with 9d6 of sneak attack before any augmentation. takeing practiced spell caster will give you a caster level equal to your level, and you're caster level with divination spells will be 1 higher, meaning your hunters eye spell will give you an additional 7d6 of sneak attack (totaling to 16d6 so far) and wit the impromptu sneak attack class feature from arcane trickster you can auto sneak attack a couple of time a day.
