Toxitician (Mesmerist Archetype)
If you know your fringe science history, you’re probably familiar with the pursuit of true mind control, and how at one point, chemical solutions were pursued in chasing the morally dubious dream of turning the agents and servants of “the enemy” reliably against them, or to ensure absolute loyalty in subordinates. Really is reassuring that people who were involved in such projects are not only still alive but also holding office, isn’t it?
Regardless, such efforts were inspired by, and continue to inspire fiction of such scientific mind control, which today’s subject emulates.
Combining mind-altering drugs with their occult power, toxiticians seek to emulate the more freely-used hypnotic power of a true mesmerist with their injections, while also improving upon their effects by adding other additives as well, though unlike the stare of a mesmerist, they work with a limited supply.
As mentioned before, these occult chemists brew mind-altering toxins, preparing a selection each day which can be stealthily or overtly injected, opening their mind to assault from any mind-targeting spells, including the toxitician’s own, they can even use their powers to delay their release, should they need to.
These injections can even intensify pain, much like the stare of a mesmerist.
Where these injections really shine is in the chemist’s ability to blend other sustances into them, attacking not just the will, but also the nervous system in terms of additional pain, sluggishness, or poor reflexes, or even the body, weakening them against attacks on the fortitude, or just simply weaken an aspect of body or mind.
Not all their concoctions are harmful, however, for they can brew minor remedies and stimulants to help assuage the suffering of others as well.
Finally, they eventually learn to add multiple such additives at once.
While toxiticians are just as much a debuffer as the classic mesmerist, this archetype has much more flexibility in terms of their debuffs than the bold stares of the mesmerist, at the cost of being able to be resisted. Still, if you don’t mind the setup, this archetype can add some fun flavor to the class.
The enchantment school and the mesmerist class in general are often of dubious morality already, and the chemical aesthetic and associations of this archetype don’t do it any favors, but I still think it’s possible to play at least a morally dubious antihero with the archetype, perhaps one that favors forcing the truth from the powerful by chemical means?
The party has tracked down the dread Dr. Hunan to one of his laboratories, but it is of course guarded by his chemically-enthralled minions, including a mighty otherworldly cyclops called an ohancanu. Dealing with both those brutish threats and his toxins is the work they have cut out for them.
Though on the surface charming, Emik the centaur is the very picture of a maloderous persona working against one’s desires, and the jealous and vengeful beastman has turned to dark mind-expanding and bending alchemy to get his way.
Part of the army, the party is tasked with escorting a prisoner to an interrogation facility where they will be subjected to their chemical and mental arts. However, as they make their way, the party may find their prisoner’s pleas to have the ring of truth to it.
