Disciples of the delectable dish, culinarians are culinary combatants who specialize in succulent surprises that spice up the battlefield. A chef needs discipline, class, a clean palate, a mastery of culinary magic, and a good knife hand. These are rare ingredients to find in a person; so, perfect preparation of both the chef and his tools are required.
The culinarian is an archetype of the chemist class.
Archetype Main Ability Scores: The culinarian mainly focuses on STR/DEX for martial combat and INT for his class features.
Archetype Feature Replacements: 1st – Weapon Proficiencies, Alchemy, Bomb, Craft Alchemical Item, Limit Breaks, Throw Anything. 2nd – Alchemical Touch, Discovery. 3rd – Swift Alchemy, Throw Items. 4th – Alchemical Mixture, Discovery. 5th – Alchemical Manipulation, Deft Hands. 6th – Alchemical Savant, Discovery. 7th – Improved Quaff Potion. 8th – Discovery, Item Lore. 10th – Discovery, Chain Reactions. 12th – Discovery. 13th – Quaff Potion Mastery. 14th – Discovery. 15th – Distracting Bombs, Defensive Bombing. 16th – Discovery. 17th – Reliable Bombs. 18th – Discovery. 19th – Instant Alchemy. 20th – Grand Discovery.
Weapon Proficiency
Culinarians are proficient with all simple weapons, plus all chef weapons. (see below)
This ability replaces the chemist’s normal weapon proficiencies.
Limit Breaks (Su)
At 1st level, the culinarian receives the Limit Breaks (Hell’s Kitchen and Perfect Feast).=
Hell’s Kitchen (Su): This Limit Break causes the culinarian’s hot pot to boil over, spilling forth a boiling and spicy broth that both scalds skin and torches tongue. All enemies within 30 ft. of the culinarian’s hot pot (or the culinarian, if his hot pot is on his person) take 2d6 points of fire damage + 2d6 per four chemist levels after 1st, and take a -1 penalty to attack rolls + an additional -1 penalty for every four chemist levels after the 1st, for 1 round + 1 round per four chemist levels after the 1st. A successful Reflex save (DC 10 + half of the chemist’s level + his Intelligence modifier) halves the damage and negates the attack penalty.
Perfect Feast (Su): This Limit Break allows the culinarian to prepare his next recipe perfectly. For a duration of 1 round + 1 round per four chemist levels after 1st, the culinarian’s recipes are maximized. In addition, for the duration, recipes are not used up. This limit break requires only a swift action.
These abilities replace the chemist’s standard Limit Breaks.
Mise en Place (Su)
As battle chefs, culinarians are masters of creating meals in the heat of battle. The culinarian achieves this by keeping everything he needs for his recipes within a magical hot pot that acts as his all-in-one cold box, fryer, oven, pantry, and stove top.
At 1st level, a culinarian’s hot pot can store ingredients as the large pouch of a handy haversack (8 cubic feet or 80 lbs). Beginning at 5th level, it counts as a bag of holding type I instead. At 10th, 15th, and 20th level, the hot pot increases to the next type of bag of holding (II, III, and IV, respectively). Because exotic ingredients can be almost anything, the culinarian knows what constitutes an ingredient for one of his recipes, but the Gamemaster has final say on whether it counts.
As a swift action, a culinarian can set down his hot pot within 5 ft. The hotpot has 10 HP per chemist level, hardness 5, and AC 18. If his hotpot is destroyed, the culinarian can repair it with 1 hour of work and 25 gil per culinarian level of materials, though the new hotpot will always have a couple noticeable cracks. A culinarian can recall a placed hot pot onto his person as a swift action, no matter the distance. Any ally within 5 ft. of the hotpot may use a standard action to grab a warm snack from inside of it and consume it, healing them for 1d6 hit points + 1d6 for every 2 chemist levels after the 1st. At 7th level, an ally can grab a snack and consume it as a swift action. The hotpot has a number of snacks per day equal to half chemist level (minimum 1) + the culinarian’s Intelligence modifier.
This ability replaces alchemy.
Recipes
At 1st level, a culinarian cooks recipes drawn from the culinarian recipe list (see below). A culinarian must choose and prepare his ingredients ahead of time. It takes 1 hour to prep all his recipes. A recipe costs 1 gil to obtain the ingredient described in the recipe’s entry unless otherwise stated. He may do this even when out in the wilderness, having already stocked his larder while in civilization for such long trips. If he is in a region which lacks the appropriate ingredients, he may make a substitution which matches the flavor profile of the ingredient. A culinarian decides how best to use an ingredient in the moment, and does not need to decide which recipes to make during prep.
When serving a recipe, he may serve it either as a solo dish or as part of a meal as a course. See the meals class feature for more information about courses and meals.
A culinarian can cook only a certain number of recipes each day based on his level + Intelligence modifier. His base daily recipe allotment is given on Table: Culinarian Recipes. Once created, a culinarian can place a created recipe in a magic pot called a “hot pot”. This reduces the size and weight of a magical recipe to a negligible amount and allows it to stay fresh, hot, and viable for up to 24 hours. This is thanks to the innate magic of the culinarian. His food shares a mystic bond with his very essence. Should he rest, the food will spoil and must be recreated. The same thing will occur after 24 hours if unused.
Once a culinarian has reached a certain level, he will have more ingredients than he will want to prepare. A keen culinarian will know how many recipes he needs to prepare and how many he can leave unused. This saves him money and leaves them open to be filled later in the day as needed if all of his abilities are consumed.
Recipes Gained at a New Level: Culinarians perform a certain amount of recipe research between adventures. A culinarian begins play with 2 recipes. Each time the culinarian attains a new chemist level beyond 1st, he gains a recipe of his choice to add to his cookbook.
Using Recipes: The culinarian can serve any prepared recipe as a free action made as part of an attack with a weapon. If making a full-attack, multiple recipes can be used, one on each iterative attack. A recipe is expended after an attack is made using it, but the culinarian may prepare the same type of ingredient more than once in a day.
Table: Culinarian Recipes
| Level | Recipes per Day |
| 1st | 1 + Int mod |
| 2nd | 2 + Int mod |
| 3rd | 3 + Int mod |
| 4th | 4 + Int mod |
| 5th | 5 + Int mod |
| 6th | 7 + Int mod |
| 7th | 9 + Int mod |
| 8th | 11 + Int mod |
| 9th | 13 + Int mod |
| 10th | 15 + Int mod |
| 11th | 18 + Int mod |
| 12th | 21 + Int mod |
| 13th | 24 + Int mod |
| 14th | 27 + Int mod |
| 15th | 30 + Int mod |
| 16th | 34 + Int mod |
| 17th | 38 + Int mod |
| 18th | 42 + Int mod |
| 19th | 46 + Int mod |
| 20th | 50 + Int mod |
- Alcoholic
-
- Ingredient: A flask of good wine or high grade alcohol.
- Effect: Target must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + half of the chemist’s level + his Intelligence modifier) or be intoxicated for 1d4+1 rounds. This intoxication causes the creature to have a -2 penalty to attack rolls and reduces its base land speed by half.
- Aromatic
-
- Ingredient: Carrots, celery, or onions.
- Effect: The culinarian’s attack deals an extra 1d6 points of wind damage plus an additional 1d6 wind damage for every two chemist levels after 1st.
- Astringent
-
- Ingredient: a cup of black or green tea, or soda.
- Effect: The culinarian’s attack deals an extra 1d6 points of water damage plus an additional 1d6 water damage for every two chemist levels after 1st.
- Bitter
-
- Ingredient: A mug of coffee or beer.
- Effect: The DC of the next recipe the culinarian uses increases by 2. If the next recipe used deals additional damage, it improves the damage dice size by one step (d6 -> d8 -> d10). If this is used as part of a hybrid recipe, it grants that bonus to its partner recipe immediately. This ingredient may stack up to 3 times if used consecutively.
- Fatty
-
- Ingredient: Any fatty meats.
- Effect: Until the start of the culinarian’s next turn, he gains DR 1/- with an additional +1 for every four chemist levels after 1st.
- Filling
-
- Ingredient: Breadcrumbs and olive oil.
- Effect: Target must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + half of the chemist’s level + his Intelligence modifier) or be under the effect of slow (using the culinarian’s level as the caster level) for 1d4+1 rounds.
- Fishy
-
- Ingredient: A freshly gutted fish or other freshly prepared sea creature.
- Effect: On the culinarian’s next turn, he gains a bonus to his CMD equal to half his chemist level (rounded down).
- Healthy
-
- Ingredient: Fresh kale or other fresh vegetables.
- Effect: The culinarian is healed for 1d6 damage plus an additional 1d6 for every four chemist levels after 1st, if this attack successfully hits. When delivering this attack, all weapon damage is negated and converted to additional healing. The culinarian may heal himself or an ally within the weapon’s reach or first ranged increment.
- Minty
-
- Ingredient: Fresh mint leaves.
- Effect: The culinarian’s attack deals an extra 1d6 points of ice damage plus an additional 1d6 ice damage for every two chemist levels after 1st.
- Peppery
-
- Ingredient: Fresh cracked pepper.
- Effect: A successful hit causes the struck creature to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + half of the chemist’s level + his Intelligence modifier) or start to sneeze violently, continuously, and uncontrollably. This causes the target to be stunned for one turn. If this recipe is delivered as part of a meal, it affects all adjacent squares. The culinarian is immune to this effect.
- Pungent
-
- Ingredient: A block of aged cheese.
- Effect: A successful hit causes the struck creature to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + half of the chemist’s level + his Intelligence modifier) or be sickened for 1d4+1 rounds.
- Salty
-
- Ingredient: Sea salt or rock salt.
- Effect: The culinarian’s weapon has his critical hit range doubled for this attack. This does not stack with Improved Critical feat nor any other effect that increases a critical hit range.
- Savory
-
- Ingredient: Slow roasted beef.
- Effect: When making this attack, the culinarian gains a +1 bonus to hit with this attack and an additional +1 bonus for every four chemist levels after 1st.
- Sour
-
- Ingredient: A lemon and a lime (or 2 other mixed citrus fruits).
- Effect: The culinarian’s attack deals an extra 1d6 points of lightning damage plus an additional 1d6 lightning damage for every two chemist levels after 1st.
- Spicy
-
- Ingredient: Dried and crushed red peppers.
- Effect: The culinarian’s attack deals an extra 1d6 points of fire damage plus an additional 1d6 fire damage for every two chemist levels after 1st.
- Sweet
-
- Ingredient: Sugar.
- Effect: A successful hit causes the culinarian to be under the effects of haste for 1d4+1 rounds.
- Tangy
-
- Ingredient: Tamarind or mustard.
- Effect: The culinarian’s attack deals an extra 1d6 points of earth damage plus an additional 1d6 earth damage for every two chemist levels after 1st.
- Whole
-
- Ingredient: Naturally grown herbs.
- Effect: A successful hit grants the culinarian, or an ally within 30 feet of him, Fast Healing 1 (increasing by 1 for every 4 chemist levels) for 1 round, plus 1 round for every 2 chemist levels after 1st.
This ability replaces bombs.
Iron Chef
Also at 1st level, the culinarian gains the feats Skill Focus (Profession: Chef) and Skill Focus (Craft: Food), and may also add half his chemist levels to these same skills.
This ability replaces craft alchemical item and alchemical savant.
Always Full (Ex)
Beginning at 1st level, the culinarian no longer needs to eat or drink, though he finds the act quite enjoyable. He suffers no ill effects from starvation or thirst.
This ability replaces throw anything.
Take-Out Snacks (Ex)
At 2nd level, the culinarian can enhance the snacks from his hot pot to be much more nutritious. These take-out snacks can be served from an adjacent hot pot or carried on the culinarian’s person, taking one daily use of mise en place per snack served. He may serve these to one ally as a swift action (or use no action if serving to himself), and they can eat it as a standard action (provoking attacks of opportunity as normal). A culinarian may serve take-out snacks once per day, and an additional time per day for every five chemist levels.
Upon consumption, these take-out snacks grant temporary hit points equal to his chemist level + his Intelligence modifier that lasts for an hour. At 6th level, it also grants the effects of Restore, and the temporary hit points granted increase to his chemist level + twice his Intelligence modifier. At 12th level, it becomes Restora, and grants temp hp equal to his chemist level + thrice his Intelligence modifier. At 18th level, it becomes Restoraga, and grants temp hp equal to his chemist level + 4 times his Intelligence modifier.
This ability replaces discoveries.
Iron Stomach (Ex)
At 2nd level, a culinarian gains a +2 bonus on all saving throws against poison and disease. This bonus increases to +4 at 4th level, then to +6 at 6th level, and again to +8 at 8th level. At 10th level, a culinarian becomes completely immune to poison and disease, and can enjoy spoiled food.
This ability replaces alchemical touch.
Meals (Su)
Starting at 3rd level, a culinarian can prepare a set of courses that form a meal when he serves his recipes. The culinarian may make normal attacks or perform other actions in between courses, but if he attacks with a recipe that doesn’t go with the next course, the meal ends prematurely. If he can pull off his entire meal, the final maneuver is extra powerful!
At 3rd level, a culinarian can pull off a 3 course meal and at 5th level, he can prepare a 5 course meal. In order to execute a meal, the order of the recipes used must correspond to the layout of the meals which they comprise. It doesn’t matter if these recipes are used on different turns but they must be used by the end of the battle in order, or the meal ends automatically.
3 Course Meals
Courses: (Appetizer, Entree, Dessert)
- Appetizer (Aromatic, Whole, Healthy, Fatty, Bitter, Spicy, or Salty)
- Entree (Savory, Filling, Fatty, Spicy, Peppery, Salty, or Fishy)
- Dessert (Tangy, Astringent, Sweet, Savory, Sour, Minty, Alcoholic, or Fatty)
Payout: When serving an entree as part of an attack, the culinarian gets a bonus on attack rolls equal to his Intelligence modifier (in addition to his Strength or Dexterity). When serving the dessert, the culinarian gets a bonus on attack and damage rolls equal to his Intelligence modifier (in addition to his Strength or Dexterity).
5 Course Meals
Courses: Soup, Salad, Entree, Appetizer, Entree, Dessert
- Soup (Salty, Savory, Spicy, Peppery, Aromatic, Astringent, Tangy or Bitter)
- Salad (Astringent, Whole, Tangy, Healthy, Bitter, or Sweet)
- Appetizer (Aromatic, Whole, Healthy, Fatty, Bitter, Spicy, or Salty)
- Entree (Savory, Filling, Fatty, Spicy, Peppery, Salty, or Fishy)
- Dessert (Tangy, Astringent, Sweet, Savory, Sour, Minty, Alcoholic, or Fatty)
Payout: When serving a salad as part of an attack, the culinarian gets a bonus on attack rolls equal to his Intelligence modifier (in addition to his Strength or Dexterity). When serving the appetizer, the culinarian gets a bonus on attack and damage rolls equal to his Intelligence modifier (in addition to his Strength or Dexterity). When serving the entree, creatures in adjacent squares take the recipe’s effect and minimum damage to all adjacent squares. Creatures can make a Reflex save (DC 10 + half chemist level + his Intelligence modifier) to negate this effect. In addition, he still adds his Intelligence modifier to attack and damage rolls. When serving the dessert as part of an attack, the culinarian adds half his chemist levels (rounded down) to attack and damage rolls (or healing done) and automatically confirms any critical hits he may register. In addition, he still adds his Intelligence modifier to attack and damage rolls while still causing creatures in adjacent squares take the recipe’s effect and minimum damage to all adjacent squares with a successful Reflex save to negate.
This ability replaces swift alchemy.
Mundane Food Expertise (Ex)
At 3rd level, a culinarian is so talented at making fine cuisine while also doing battle that normal food preparation becomes increasingly simple. Ordinary meals a culinarian prepares when not in combat are always of good quality, and he can prepare a banquet meal in half the time (around 1 hour instead of 2). For each creature with at least 1 rank in Profession (Chef) or Craft (Food) aiding him, the culinarian can reduce the time to prepare a banquet meal by an additional 5 minutes because those creatures will have already started the meal cooking before the culinarian stepped in. This cannot reduce the preparation time to less than 10 minutes without magical assistance, which a majority of culinarians abhor.
Finally, when using Profession (Chef) or Craft (Food) checks to earn income, the culinarian earns gil equal to the result of his check each week.
This ability replaces throw items.
Spiced Up Snacks (Su)
At 4th level, the culinarian may expend ingredients – his daily uses of recipes – equal to half of his chemist level at the start of the day to apply one of his recipes to his hot pot snacks. When an ally eats a snack from the hot pot, they may then serve the associated recipe on their next weapon attack, gaining the effects of that recipe as if they were a culinarian. If an ally is served a Bitter snack, their weapon damage die is increased by 1 step for this next attack, without gaining the benefit of the DC increase. If the ally is a culinarian, they serve the recipe as if they had made it themselves, including being able to use it in a meal as a course. This effect lasts until the ally’s next weapon attack or an hour passes, whichever comes first. This ability cannot be used with take-out snacks.
This ability replaces alchemical mixture.
Gourmet Cooking (Ex)
At 5th level, once per day, the culinarian may spend 30 minutes preparing food for his party members. This requires rations (or equivalent foodstuff) equal to half the total amount a creature normally needs to be full for the number of people he is cooking for. After consuming it, all who partook heal an amount of hit points equal to the culinarian’s chemist level + his Intelligence modifier. Any excess hit points become temporary hit points that last an hour. Every four chemist levels after 5th, the culinarian can use this ability an additional time per day.
This ability replaces deft hands and distracting bombs.
Fulfilling Snacks (Ex)
At 5th level, once per day, the culinarian can maximize the hit points healed from his hot pot’s snacks or take-out snacks. This does not affect healing ability scores. At 9th level and every four chemist levels thereafter, he can use this ability an additional time per day.
This ability replaces alchemical manipulation.
Leftovers (Ex)
At 7th level, the culinarian can retain unused ingredients at the end of each day, gaining 1/4th of the gil used to stock the unused ingredients. At 13th level, he gains gil equal to half of the value of the unused ingredients and at 19th level, he gains gil equal to 3/4ths of the value of the unused ingredients.
This ability replaces improved quaff potion, quaff potion mastery, and instant alchemy.
Feast of the Damned (Su)
At 8th level, when a creature the culinarian has damaged in this combat dies, he may use an immediate action to move adjacent to that creature and carve up its body for food. He may move up to his speed to use this ability, and his movement is subtracted from the distance he can move on his next turn. Carving up a creature restores ingredients equal to the culinarian’s Intelligence modifier, up to his maximum ingredients per day. A culinarian may use this ability once per day, and an additional time per day for every four chemist levels after 8th.
Many cultures see the usage of intelligent humanoids for food as anathema – cannibalism especially so. Using this ability on such a creature may affect the culinarian’s alignment.
This ability replaces item lore.
Mundane Food Mastery (Ex)
At 10th level, a culinarian has surpassed the average chef in matters of ordinary food preparation. Any meal eaten within 50 feet of a culinarian is automatically of good quality if he had any say in its preparation (such as suggesting the inclusion of a spice or stirring technique).
In addition, the culinarian can prepare a banquet meal with the aid of one other creature in 30 minutes (additional creatures still reduce the time by 5 minutes each, to a minimum of 10 minutes). When using Profession (Chef) or Craft (Food) checks to earn income, the culinarian earns gil equal to the result of his check each day, rather than each week.
This ability replaces chain reaction and reliable bombs.
Complex Recipes (Ex)
At 15th level, the culinarian can use 3 ingredients to combine the effects of two recipes in a single attack. Using this hybrid recipe imparts both bonuses when using the recipe. This hybrid recipe counts as either recipe for the purposes of qualifying for courses as part of a meal, but not both.
This ability replaces defensive bombing.
Instant Meal (Sp)
At 15th level, the culinarian can cast summon feast as a full-round action, using his chemist level as his caster level as a spell-like ability, once per day.
This ability replaces distracting bombs.
Top of the Food Chain (Ex)
At 20th level, the culinarian is a true master of his craft. A culinarian can use 5 ingredients to combine the effects of 4 recipes in a single attack. This hybrid recipe counts as any single recipe for the purposes of qualifying for courses as a meal, but not more than one of them.
This ability replaces grand discovery.
Weapon Special Quality: “Chef”
Weapons marked with the “chef” special quality can be used to cook as well as being a weapon. They confer a +2 bonus on Profession (Chef) skill checks for being equipped with the correct tools. Characters with 10 ranks in Profession (Chef) are automatically considered proficient in the use of these weapons.